Home Improvements

This is what our front flower area used to look like.

Jake and I took a Saturday morning and ....

Voila!  It looks so much better.  I can't believe the difference.  We got the bark chips at the city recycle area for $15!

Jakes 29th B-Day

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New Pickup

Well, they day that I have been waiting for since I sold my Ranger 3 years ago has finally come!  I have purchased a 2000 Ford Ranger!  I am really excited.  I got the truck for 3k and it is a 4x4 and has 75k miles.  There is an interesting story that accompanies this, however....

When I arrived at SLC to purchase the pickup, I met the Mexican and asked if I could drive it around first.  He agreed and I took it for a drive around the block.  Because he was in an industrial part of town, the roads were gravel with a lot of pot holes.  I never drove the truck faster than 25 mph, but that was fast enough to try the 4x4, radio, feel how it accelerated, etc.  I went back and we haggled price.  I got him down to $3k and I purchased the pickup.

I drove away and got on Bangerter highway and had about 8 blocks to go to get on to the freeway.  When I accelerated to 45 mph, the Ranger started shaking really bad and the steering wheel jerked back and forth.  It wasn't a small movement, but one that made me realize that there was now way I would be able to take it on the freeway.  My heart sunk as I believed that I had just been swindled out of $3k.  I was even more upset that I didn't test drive it on a real road and see how it drove.  I saw a Les Schwab tires on the left, so I went in.  I told them the symptoms and they took a look.  About 45 mins later, he called my name and I asked him if it was serious.  He responded, "is someone playing a joke on you?"  He went on to tell me that there was about 5 gallons of water in the front two tires.  He emptied the water, and everything else looked good.

I paid Les Schwab and got on the road.  The pickup drove like a dream :).  I am not sure how the water got into those tires and I'm not sure that I want to know.  All that I know is that I now have a Ford Ranger![gallery]

Beautiful Moonset

I was surprised to see the moon still shining at 7:30 this morning. I watched it as it gradually sunk lower and lower; it only took about 10 minutes to disappear. I love nature and its beauty. It makes me happy. :)

Teaching Tidbits

Some Incovenient Things:

• Most mornings my door is locked when I get to my classroom.  People are assigned to unlock my door, but inevitablly they forget.  If I am lucky a teacher will be walking in the hallway and can unlock it, if not then I have to walk back to the fron of the building and find the principal or the secretary to let me in.  If I am really unlucky, the principal and secretary will not be in the main office.  Then I am left to wait in the hall by my door until a teacher happens by.  This is especially frustrating when I am running a little late.


• Computer technicians are people who have students in the computer lab for a half hour, in order to give elementary teachers some prep time.  Computer Techs do not have teaching degrees.  The other day the computer technician was kind enough to point out to me that one of my students was using bad technique.  I did not appreciate her "help" / butting in very much.  The kid had his feet under his chair instead of flat on the floor in front of him.  Big deal.  This is one area of technique I choose to let slide, as long as their legs are not crossed and they are not siting on their feet.


• Today I saw a boy picking at a scab and then he ate it.  Gross!  Sixth graders can be so disgusting.

Neighbor Gifts

This is my first year giving neighbor gifts for the holiday season.  I was so proud of myself for actually getting it done.  I gave away jars of canned spiced peaches along with a recipe for yummy peach cobler.  It made me feel happy to give something I would like.

Merry Christmas!

While Jacob was in San Diego

• I hosted the Bishopric FHE. A small group of us played a Star Wars trivia game. I of course had my traditional Krispy Kreme Doughnuts for the treat. I love this treat because I don't have to make anything. I also have a coupon for buy one dozen get the second dozen free. A good treat at a great deal--you can't beat that.


• I spent one evening doing endowments at the temple with the ward.


• I had my middle eastern dance class.


• I took Cuddles to get her nails clipped and also to get some of her shots. I go to this bargain place, however I had to wait forever and it ended up taking about 3 hours.


• I attended various back-to-school meetings and set up my lab.


• I taught my first week of school.


• I read a book.


• I looked online for new recipes. I am really struggling with eating. Nothing sounds good and I honestly would rather be hungry than eat. I figured if I could find some new recipes this may help me eat better. Trust me, I don't have an eating disorder, I just really hate cooking and nothing ever seems to be worth eating.


• I discovered the amazing Eyre family and their blogs and valuesparenting.com. I went on an Eyre binge and checked out as many of their books at the library and read up on good parenting. I also was introduced and actually checked out the book written by said Eyre family on "How to Talk to Your Child about Sex." I was intrigued that they would encourage parents to have the birds and bees talk when children are 8 years old. This way the communication door would be open, children really don't know enough yet to be too embarrassed, and you can influence they way they view sex and leave a wholesome impression before the world distorts everything.


• I went to an enrichment opening social. We played a cool get-to-know you game. Have people line up in two even lines. The person opposite from you is your one-question conversation partner. Out of the norm questions were written on a piece of paper and you would talk to your partner about it for one minute (literally, she had a timer). Then the paper is passed down the line one way while one of lines rotated in the opposite direction. This way you got to know at least one obscure thing about everyone in attendance. It was fun.


• I had the viser in the Honda fixed at the dealership for free as it is still under warranty.


• I spent an evening with John, Amber, and kids eating dinner and playing a game. I'm sure John and Amber were taking pity on me.


• I met with a Caroline from Classic Demo's so I can have adventures demonstrating new products in stores and earn some quick cash.


• I wrote and mailed letters inviting everyone to mom's surprise birthday party.


• I bought a box of peaches from


• I did not do any cooking. I mainly ate sandwiches, peaches, toast, and cereal/oatmeal.

New Server

Well, this post is going to be geared for those who are technically minded.  I decided to get a server for my office that could handle several instances of vmware running simultaneously.  For work, I need to be able to test integrations from SCOM, MOM, SCCM, and several other Microsoft management servers.  I also need to test Active Directory, eDirectory, LANDesk, Altiris, SMS, etc.  I decided that the easiest and best way to do this would be by having several vmware instances that I would not have to blow away, but could activate whenever I needed them.  I would like to have many of these servers running all of the time so that I could use them while I am at Mark's house or elsewhere.

To accomplish this, I needed a powerful server.  To purchase this server from Dell.com or elsewhere online, it cost several thousand dollars.  I decided that I would build one myself to save money, and it ended up costing my a little over $400 due to some rebates that were available on the parts. This server has a top-of-the-line Intel quad-core processor, nice motherboard, 4 hard drives (each dedicated to a vmware instance which gets its own processor core dedicated to it), and 4GB RAM.  I believe that this setup should allow up to 3 vmware instances to run at the same time with very little performance hit.  I should be able to run even more if I need to.

It took me a little longer to assemble it than I thought that it would.  I didn't read any instructions (I never do :) ), and when I put it together, there were some things that didn't look right.  I noticed that the back of the motherboard was touching the metal case and I worried about that shorting-out.  I peeked at the assembly instructions for the motherboard and found out that I was suppossed to install some spacers between the board and the case.  I took it apart again and fixed it.  To be honest, I was pleasantly surprised when the time came to plug it in and turn it on. I half expeced it to spark, pop, and die.

Anyway, I am very happy to have my server!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

This winter so far has been very mild;  it has not snowed once.  I have to admit that I was sad to think we wouldn't have snow for Christmas.  This is what it looked like a week before Christmas.  Yeah!  Finally, we got snow.  Lots & lots of snow.

Funny Guy

• The other day on Simpsons, Homer said in a sing song voice to Marge who was helping Lisa upstairs, "Marge, the dog is hungry"  and she replies in an exasperated sing song voice to Homer down stairs, "Then feed him."  Then Homer goes grumbling off muttering, "Yes, Master".  The reason this is so funny is because it depicts our marriage perfectly.  I can totally see this situation really happening with Jake and me.  --See what I have to live with! :)

Chaquita Fruit Bites Demo

Fun with Friends

Mark and Jen came over to play last Saturday. We had a lot of fun. Jake and I both enjoy Mark and Jenny so much. It is nice to have good friends to hang out with. It is also nice that they are willing to get a sitter :).

We played Settlers of Catan. Jake won both games. :)

Fertility Update

Jake and I decided we needed to get more aggressive on the fertility front. So this month in conjunction with clomid, I will be injecting follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) on day 7 and 9. This will make me produce more than one egg and is supposed to make the eggs a bigger better quality.

I was so nervous to give myself a shot. Jake was really supportive and helped me feel better about it. He even offered to give me the shot even though he doesn't like needles. In the end it ended up being easier for me to give myself the shot. Jacob gave me a big hug from behind and I stuck the needle in my belly. It really didn't turn out that bad. The needle is small and short and doesn't hurt that much. It is just so weird to watch myself put it inside me.

On day 10, I went in for an ultra sound and the Dr. looked at the eggs to see how many of them there was and to see if they were ready to be fertilized. I am so glad to now be doing ultra sounds. It takes all of the guess work out of knowing whether we timed the artificial insemination right. It also creates more confidence that things are working when you can look at the screen and see the eggs.

I had 3 eggs that were a good size and ready. That night at 12:30 am I had to inject a shot of HCG. This is neccessary because we confused my body by taking the FSH. The HCG will force the eggs to get released and be ready and waiting for the sperm during IUI (artificial insemination).

Even though, we are taking a more aggressive route, Jacob and I are still doubtful that it will work. We have been waiting so long that it just seems like we won't ever get pregnant. I don't really think we will never have children, but I will definitely be surprised and grateful when it does happen.

Anyhow, we both think we will probably have to do invitro. The scary thing about invitro, besides the cost, is the toll it takes on your body. It is so stringent everything you have to do just to prep your body for invitro. I have heard the shot I have to inject myself with on invitro hurts like h*%& and it has to go in the bum.

Our game plan is to do the less expensive FSH injections 3 more cycles then if I am still not pregnant we will start invitro.

Fall Floral Arrangement

For Enrichment tonight we made our own fall floral arrangement. I had a lot of fun. The class is taught by a professional flower arranger. K-I know this doesn't look the best, but we are going to do more arrangements throughout the year and I feel like the next arrangements I do will improve and I will hopefully get better and better. :) I still giggle to myself when I think back to my Ricks school days and remember when I wanted to be a professional flower arranger...until I took a class and that cured me real quick. :)

Shanty Panty

Jacob was kind enough to sign me up for some free samples of tampons. If you look closely, you can see that he had them sent to "Shanty Panty," a nickname he call me quite often. (Lucky me :)) But boy does this kid make me laugh!

When I was younger I always thought it was weird when women would jokingly count their husbands as one of the kids. However, now I understand. Jake is always pulling pranks and keeping things light. I love it and need that in my life. Just another reason why I love this kid.

I love Flowers!

New York!

We loved going to all the shops on the famous 5th Avenue. It was a tradition to stop in at the Lindt chocolate store and buy some truffles. My favorite is hazel nut and mint.
One of my favorite things on the trip was being part of the live audience at Regis and Kelly. I have never seen the show and never would have thought of going, but Debbie sent in a post card and got us FREE tickets. It was fun to see how it all works and how fake everything is. The scene of the city behind Kelly and Bryant Gumbal (he was filling in for Regis) is actually a huge mural. The studio is actually buried deep in a huge building. Before the show the producer came out and coached us on how to cheer. Throughout the show he would give us signals of when to cheer and for how long.


Kelly Ripah was what made it so fun. Every time the show went to commercial she would jump off her chair and chat with the audience. She is so spunky hilarious and a good story teller. She told us about her experience getting front row tickets to a recent Madona concert and her embarrassment when she heard a recording of her voice singing after Madona thrust the mike at her. She even made the producer get the clip and show us.
A previous guest on Regis and Kelly, mentioned that he saw what looked like a Christmas tree in the hall on the way to the stage. When he got closer he realized it was indeed something other than a Christmas decoration. He asked a stage hand about it who informed him that it was Kelly's gum pile. She would quickly deposit her gum on the wall of the building before running onto the stage. Thanks to Debbie I was able to appreciate this gum pile on my way to be seated for the show.

Front of the New York Stock Exchange.
Back of the New York Stock Exchange. Don't worry, we didn't see anyone crying!
This famous bull sculpture in the financial district represents the hoped for bull stock markets. I sure do wish we could see a bit more of the bull in the stock market today.
Of course I had to try a famous New York hot dog. New York has hot dog/pretzel stands on every corner. I was so excited to eat one. They always look so good in the movies. Unfortunately, I was bitterly disappointed. The hot dogs are scrawny and the toppings were definitely ordinary.
This is the view from the Empire State Building. Manhattan really is wall-to-wall buildings. As you can tell, the city never goes to sleep. The prettier bright building in the lower right hand corner is the famous Crystler Building--the one used in King Kong.

Me in Central Park. Central Park is huge! It is 843 acres or 6% of Manhattan's total acreage, including: 150 acres in 7 waterbodies, 250 acres of lawns, 136 acres of woodlands. There is even an ancient castle in the park along with many statues you have probably seen on T.V. The statue that is used in the intro to "Friends" is there.
I carried around raw almonds and crackers to munch on. We fed this cute squirrel some nuts in Central Park.
A picture of me and the Crystler Building in the day light.
You would think a city as big as New York would be ugly, but NOT so. I found the mix of old buildings with the new architecture very beautiful. It reminded me a lot of Scotland. It was so fun to see beautiful old statues sprinkled throughout the city. The older buildings have fine workmanship in them. Pictured below. So even thought they were older and dingier they were still pleasant to look at.
Since Debbie travels to NY so much and has a lot of friends there, she was able to find us a sublet. A girl was going to be gone for two weeks and she wanted to rent her place out during that time. This cut our housing costs in half! It also gave us a lot more room than a cheap hotel and we had a kitchen. We bought some milk and cereal and had it for breakfast instead of eating out. This is the bedroom window of the apartment we stayed at. The pole that goes from the ceiling to the floor is the only thing that heats this room. Hot water is in the pipe and this gives off some heat. New York is such a big modern city it is hard to imagine such archaic ways of heating. The old brick and stone buildings were built to last and I guess as long as they are standing the old ways of heating will continue. It's funny to see things like this in such a big and modern city as NYC.
Time Square. It is so crazy this place is real. These bill boards are as large as a house and the whole area is covered with them. Fun to visit! The streets really are as crowded as they look on TV and in movies. During rush hour and on the weekends it is shoulder-to-shoulder people traffic walking down the side walk. So many people are walking that it is hard for cars to get around. I would hate to drive in NYC.


I was so happy to be able to see such an inspiring American icon. I love the history of our nation and enjoy celebrating the greatness and freedoms we enjoy in the United States of America. What a rare blessing it is to live in this blessed nation! Worldwide, the Statue of Liberty is one of the most recognizable icons of the United States^[10] and was, from 1886 until the jet age, often one of the first glimpses of the United States for millions of immigrants after ocean voyages from Europe. The Statue of Liberty is amazing! We did not have enough time to go to Staten Island and climb in her, but the ferry went right by it. My favorite quote in association of the Statue of Liberty: "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
Later on we went to Ellis Island which was the head quarters for all immigrants.





This picture is to depict the crowds on top of the Empire State Building.  I can't believe how many people they can stuff up there.  I am glad I did the touristy thing and went up the tower, but it is one of those things you only do once (because if I didn't I would be thinking I was missing out on some fantastical New York moment). :)






I found New Yorkers to be both uncommonly kind and plain rude.

• One of the street vendors gave me a Pashmina scarf!  He said he could tell I was NOT from New York because I was so happy.  When I asked if I could take his picture he politely declined saying he was wanted in 3 other states.  Well, at least he was nice to me!---EVERYONE in New York wears Pashmina scarves.


• A gay couple holding hands made a point of running smack dab right into me on the street.  There was no way I could get out of their way.  Then they walked down the street laughing.  I was so mad.  There was no point to their blatant rudeness.  Grr!


• There was a man begging on the side of the street.  I stopped and offered him my left over lunch (the best 7-grain turkey sandwich from Bryant at Central Park).  He asked what was on it and then declined my free food stating that he did not like bacon!  I eventually did find a homeless man who was willing to eat bacon.  I told him he had to eat the tomatoes too because they were healthy. :)


• Another young man on the crowded subway stood up and gave me his seat.


• As we were walking out of the subway, a boy flicked a gum wrapper in Debbie's hair.

One of my favorite things about New York was the subway.

• I actually found it entertaining to try and find the rats that were running around down on the tracks.


• People would often be playing an instrument.


• The variety is wonderful.  Some stops would be dirty and covered w/ graffiti while others were clean and had artistic paintings.


• I loved people watching.  New York truly is a melting pot.  I could hear all sorts of languages and accents.  People of all sorts of colors and races mixed in the sea of people.


• There is NO style.  People wear whatever they want.

We also visited the oldest church in New York City, Trinity.

My Very Own Booth at the Farmers Market

Last year a scrapbooking company invited Nebo School District teachers to their warehouse to get stuff to use for personal or classroom use. Seeing money signs, I grabbed as much stuff as I could. Now I have boxes of scrapbooking stuff. I found out it It only costs $15 to have a booth at the Farmer's Market. On Saturday I set up a booth with my money savvy neighbor, Amanda Peeler (the same girl I did the yard sale with earlier). I displayed all of my scrapbooking stuff and she sold chocolate covered strawberries, carmeled apples, and "hair blooms." I discovered that the Farmer's Market is NOT a good avenue to sell scrapbooking stuff. Who knew? My visions of getting rich were crushed. I was selling my stuff for dirt cheap and I still didn't sell very much. I only made about $22 after costs. :( I am determined to make some money out of all this so my next attempt will be to advertise on KSL. I'm not too keen on selling stuff on Ebay because I don't want the hassle of mailing everything. Wish me luck!

Date Night

On Friday John and Amber and Jake and I went to the Desert Star play theater. We went to a spoof on Mary Poppins called "Scary Poppins" It was fun to go out on a date with my hot husband and of course, we always enjoy spending time with John and Amber.