thanks a bunch

hey all you bloggers out there...i just wanted to say that i love this...i love reading your blogs and getting to know all of you better and better...it's really fun to see your creativity, to hear about your lives and to see your pictures etc...so, thanks for enriching my life and making my day much more fun...it makes me smile every day!

good samaritins

i just read marty's post on the wanderers from her train and it made me think of what good people there are in the world...i know there are lots of rotten, terrible people, but on a whole i think there are really good, helpful people...it made me think of times when people have helped me...kelly and i were in nyc and we didn't really need help, but i remember some different new yorkers asking if we needed directions...one even told us where a really neat place to go was...another couple, tom and i met on a train in norway, we spent quite a few hours together and they told us places to go etc, got us hooked on a special ice cream...neighbors that come together in times of need, like an earthquake, a fire, a death...people that guide you somewhere after you've asked directions..people help you find something that's lost...it's nice to have faith in mankind to know that if you need help that you will be able to find it...that makes me very happy and grateful....think about who has come to your aid...someone that is a stranger or someone you don't know really well...i am sure that you'll will think of quite a few....,be a good samaritan yourself.

love it or hate it?

i just fiinshed my exercising...and i am pooped...actually more like i can only move my10 fingers, so that's why i'm typing....carrie, my trainer is a task master...after every session i feel like it's never been so hard...it never seems to get easier...but, by the end of the day i feel happy with myself for doing it...i just read kelly's blog on her "affair" with biking and running and i commented that she takes after her dad..he was the same...me...it's more like i'm in prison and this is my punishment...it's a real love/hate relationship....i love that i have more strength etc...i hate doing it...plus, it's not like i look any better...that would take going to the next step...dieting, which is a bad word in my mind...i'm a slow mover...so maybe one of these days i'll get on the diet plane...we'll see...so for now, i'll just be tortured every day with the idea of going out and excersising....listening to her say "just one more" , "keep at it", "that's great"...life is returning to my legs so i better get moving....

aloha dreamin'

it's been a fun, but busy week...lots of goings on with kerry and russ, their friends...having kathy and taryn here...kelly and babies visiting...very fun...i will be sooooo lonely next week....but that's how it goes, i guess...i've been doing some crafting, so, i need to keep on it...also, i need to keep cleaning out cupboards and things that i started a few weeks ago...so, back to normal life...and in two weeks....hawaii....can't hardly wait...i will start dreaming of sandy beaches...warm waters...and laying out...what fun...i love vacations....although i guess, technically, i've been on vaca for a week already..so, it's back to getting busy until the fun starts....

spring has sprung

spring has sprung...i always know it's spring when it's tom's birthday...his birthday is a couple of weeks before mine and as a kid i always knew it was coming soon...so happy birthday(the 23rd) brother tom...your'e the greatest brother ever...of course, my only one...but, that wouldn't matter...so, since it's spring and today turned out gorgeous...we went down to malibu...it was a gorgeous day after a week of gloom ...sunny, warm, just perfect...it was a nice time...we went to this great greek restaurant...food was good...then, took the babies to the park...gavin had fun running around...he ended up hitting on denise richards little girls...she wanted to give him her ice cream and he wanted it...until kelly stopped him...taryn, shannon, kerry and i shopped around, they have fun stores there...we saw kelsey grammer and his wife...so, that was our star search for the day...anyway...it was a nice way to spend a spring day...so, we are lucky to have great days like this one...we should always be thankful for all of them....

crazy fun

Saturday i drove down to the airport and picked up kathy fryer and her daughter taryn, they are here for spring break for a week...we then drove on to newport to pick up my cousin mare ward...she has been down there for a few days for a girls getaway...we then had lunch, drove over to kellys to visit and see the babies..then drove home to a sort of chaos where kerry had a bunch of kids over for a barbecue..russ had some friends over...along the way we stopped at this new cupcake shop called sprinkle...cute idea..but we think they made us sick...kathy and i felt sick to our stomachs that night...so fun....later that night kerry's friend shannon was staying with us and her parents were gone, so her dog came also...she was sweet but didn't like our dogs...i think she was scared and sophie just followed her in a worried way...then, mare was outside with taryn and the kids had left these brown Rootbeer bottles outside and taryn said, guess the kids were drinking...so, mare thought the kids had been drinking beer...and wondered why they didn't hide the bottles...finally taryn said it was rootbeer...then, yesterday we all went to church and i think our ward has disappeared..there was no one there..it was weird...then we had to take mare to the airport, so we left early also..by last night i was pretty tired,because my dumb dogs barked all night because kerry left a plate of hamburgers outside...oh what fun it is...anyway that was happened over the weekend...it's either crazy or dead here...i think i prefer crazy....

aging or ageless?

so, if any of you noticed...i (or rather kelly) added the "younger" picture of me to my profile...i was really a cute little girl....i've always had a theory that when you get old, you look like you did when you were a baby...so, maybe there's hope for me that i will be cute again! i was talking to marty and we were talking about age...i'm turning that age in april...the big 50...wow...i can hardly believe it...i'm not supposed to be this age...it doesn't really bother me..it mostly surprises me...it just creeps up on you and wham...you're old! of course...i'm just in my "prime"! i remember grandma lundgren saying that she felt 20, even if she was 80...i understand that now...your head still thinks you're young when your body says no...i truly believe that you're as young as your mind is...so maybe when i have alzheimers, i will really be young...it will be great...i'll look like i did when i was a baby and not know anything...but, i'll be in an adult size body...that's actually pretty creepy...so, maybe i'll quit while i'm ahead...so, the gist of the is...enjoy the age you're at..and every age...there's always something great about it....oh, by the way...this is me in about 30 years...

party on!

russie came home tonight...it's always so fun to have him hear...he adds life to the house...the dogs were so happy to see him...they were crying...kerry picked him up at the airport...i've never let her drive that far before...at least toward L.A. , it's so crazy down there...but i guess she's leaving soon, so she better learn how to do stuff....plus, i realized how wonderful it is...i didn't have to go! wow! she'll have to do it more often...i often wonder why they have a senior year...she doesn't really do much...it's a social time then they go to lunch...tomorrow she has a class, a rally, then she wants to leave early to go to the beach with russ....and you know what? i don't really care as long as she graduates...so, the party has started!

mary mary quite contrary

Mary, Mary, quite contrary,

how does your garden grow?

with silver bells and cockleshells,

and pretty maids all in a row.

so, i've been working like a dog...trying to get projects done around the house that i've put off for months....it was time...i've been painting, gardening, cleaning, fixing things up that have broken etc...and this is just yesterday and today! actually, most of it was done yesterday...i was soooo stiff and tired today i could hardly move...which makes me think, why am i still awake? i must be stupid....oh well, things are looking better around here...i'm not used to my plants freezing and dying, so when they did this year it was terrible...so, now my pots look much better...it's such a nice feeling to have my pretty maids all in a row.....

what makes you dream?

i think i need a vacation or i just like dreaming of them....i was looking at these pictures, and many more and i just want to be there! don't you? what is it that makes these places so fantastic....to visit in person or in our dreams? so while you're sitting...dream a little...i think i do this all the time...so, this could be a repeat...but, it's a nice repeat...

honesty is the best policy...for me

last sunday as after we sat down in church, i noticed that my diamond bracelet was missing...kerry went outside to retrace our steps and look in the car....no bracelet...when we got home i looked and looked outside, in the house, my bedroom etc....no luck...trying to think where i had been on saturday, thinking that's probably when i lost it...on tues. i called the temple asking if they had a lost and found..told them my problem, but, they had not seen it...at that point i thought...that's it...no more bracelet...today (thursday), i came home while the gardeners were here and as i walked into my door, i saw my bracelet! i was so excited! so, i went and asked them if they had found it and one of them said yes, he found it out on the patio....i was so grateful that he returned it and told him so...i told his boss also..that would have been so easy to pocket...so, tonight i am very grateful for a person that is honest.....a little story to remember.

chinese torture

yesterday in my blog i talked about my favorite things of my childhood....and as i was writing i thought about all the tortures i had also...so, i thought i would mention those...just in fun mind you...and this goes out to my big brother and sisters..look at the pictures of those sweet kids, and think how did they torture their baby sister like they did?..these are a few of the "fun" times we had as kids...i know why i don't like teasing....it brings to mind so many of my tortures....the most famous one is that they told me i had an orange head...now, it was only orange at the back and i could't see it in the mirror...i can hear marty laughing "you have an orange head"...of course i believed them....tom would point his finger at me and laugh silently...that got me...mom would tell him to stop, so he would put his hand under the table and just look at me....i would cry of course...mom told me once when i was older that i cried alot when i was a kid...i was asking her because kerry,being the youngest was always picked on and cried all the time.....polly would have "torture" time...she actually called it that...i would have to smell her feet for 100 years....and of course, i would do it....we also had tickle time where she would tickle me for 100 years...she also told me these "uncle rishard" stories...but, she would make me say uncle rishard and of course i never said it right...if i said it uncle rishard, it was really uncle ree shard, or uncle riShard...or whatever...we never got an actual story because i couldn't say the word right...then there was tom chasing me around our kitchen with a wet dish rag, whipping me...i was polly's slave in the fact that i always had to find anything she lost...i was always looking for her glasses...tom would have me clean his bedroom including the bathroom and changing the sheets for $.50 a week! of course i thought it was great...i was a little stupid...and then i would scratch his back for 1 minute for 1 piece of candy...he would go buy a bag of penny candy and i would earn it....that's not really torture because i was paid...i just can't believe i was so cheap! there were many other things that i was tortured with, but these were just some of my favorites...of course, i was just such a sweet little sister...i never did anything to bug them because i was the perfect child.....right?

my favs

here is my list in respone to marty's questions...

Movies-i like all types of movies...action, adventure, romance, drama, comedy..you name it..i don't like slow moving movies..a few of my favs over the years are: the princess bride, wayne's world, tomb raider, i love the old errol flynn movies like robin hood, raiders of the lost ark, musicals are great like the king and i, chicago,i love the romanctic movies like you've got mail, the holiday, i loved devil wears prada, pride and prejudice, i love cartoons like shrek, cars, cinderella, all of the disney movies...it's easier to say what i don't like...i hate gory scary movies or horror type movies...,

Books- well, i'm a book a holic....it's hard for me to resist any book...i love to have them in my house...i love to go to book stores and browse and find new and different authors etc..it's almost a sickness...but, then, i love to read them also...i like all types of books, romance, action, mystery, ficiton, some non fiction, church books...a few of my favs are...Katherine, anne of green gables series, shadow castle, robert ludlum books, the eight, louis l'amour, the da vinci code, emma, the work and the glory series, mary higgins clark, rosmund pilcher..there are really too many to name.

TV-i guess i watch alot of tv also...i must not have much of a life...i like reality shows..i love the amazing race...i like to watch shows on bbc america, a favorite there is hustle....i like the watch shows with kerry,we watch one tree hill, grey's anatomy etc...i think psych it fun and i like the law shows like shark..i also like to watch travel shows and cooking shows in case i ever cook again.....tivo is the greatest because you can watch so many different things when and wherever you are...,

Magazines ...once again i love magazines and take a lot of different ones...travel mags, fashion, church, entertainment, also home mags are wonderful, i love to conde nast travel, people, home, cottages, town and country, you name it and i've probably read it....

Music...i love music and i like to rely on kerry for alot of her music..she's introduced me to alot of groups i wouldn't have thought to listen to...but, i like all types of music...just depending on the mood...i like rock, alternative, classical, church, musicals, oldies...i really don't like songs if they are too draggy...my favorites are ones that are faster...a few of my favorite artists are...james taylor, abba, postal service, beatles, jack johnson, willie nelson, queenso,

in doing this little exercise, i realize that i overdue it quite a bit...but, it is one of my favorite things to do...keeps me informed on the world, i also think it educates you... and keep me very entertained...

rain drops on roses

so, martys last blog reminded me of some of my favorite things...it's fun to think back at what you love and in my case, miss.....here is a sampling....i love lilacs, i remember walking to school in the spring and smelling all the beautiful lilacs when they were in bloom...in that same remembrance, i remember hearing the 5 min. bell ring and being late, i would take off running, we would cut through all the yards...the princes, the wallins, some others on panorama, until we got to mares house which was just by crestview...then, we would run through the school yard grass, most likely being late for school...school memories are fun, but, i think they are a whole other post...i love fresh peach pie that dad would bring home from grandma's house...he would stop on the way and pick up corn and the pies, we would dig into those right away...i remember sitting outside on our grass when there was a lightening storm, pretending that the lightening was a movie...playing kick the can in the street at night, riding harold glazier's big board when it snowed, he would pull us with his truck, playing in the old tarzan tree, playing with chili, and all of the other imaginary friends that polly came up with...playing house in the garage with polly and tony, actually i think they were playing and i was watching, not being allowed to play with them...sleepovers with kathy, mare and robyn at kathy's house...toilet papering, riding dapple with suzi., singing outside with all the cousins, eating grandpa's homemade raspberry ice cream...crawling into mom and dads bed in the mornings, when i was sick and would stay home, dad would say i had boob toobitys, since i just layed there watching tv, mom just always being there, knowing she was around made things safe and sound....the list could really go on and on...it's fun to think of these things..as i was thinking of my favs,i thought of the terrors.maybe my next blog should be about child hood tortures....

sistas(and bro)

so, i'm very lucky to have great sisters...i love talking to them...marty calls at night and we can talk late into the night until her sleeping pills kick in...it's fun...tonight we were chatting and she mentioned that aunt marie writes things down to tell aunt jean...i thought to myself, we will still be talking about our kids when we are in our 80's...wow! we'll just have more people to talk about...it's just human nature to want to know what's going on in our loved ones lives...i love finding out about my family and friends...keeps life interesting...that's why these blogs are fun...to read others thoughts...you get to know people so much better...plus it gives me something to do at 12:30 am...