today's adventure

Today I drove 30 minutes to Noah's Bagels and got a bagel. It was good.

death and distance.

I would do anything to be home right now. We drove all day Tuesday to Pocatello for grandma Jocelyn's funeral. Then the following morning, right before we got in the car to drive back, my mom called me and told me about Bryce Millward's helicopter crash. I should have stayed and had Taylor go back, but I wasn't really thinking straight. It wasn't until we made it back to California that I just wanted so badly to see Emma and Elise. and Gavin, Lily, and of course Megan and Curtis, Bryce's older brother.

The service for Jocelyn was wonderful. I was able to finally meet Taylor's other side of the family. Halfway during the service I started crying, opening the flood gates and made me continue crying nonstop. Taylor gave the benediction, which made him cry, and sent me over the edge. I had to excuse myself to the car to recover. Even though I was an outsider and she wasn't my grandma, I was inconsolable. I couldn't help but think about my grandma and how little I cried at her funeral. It made me cry in the car all the way over to the cemetery to make up for it.

I am so thankful for my family. I'm thankful for the Grows and relatives who welcomed me with a warm hug and included me in their family affairs. I'm thankful for my mom and sister for dropping everything to accommodate Taylor and me on a moment's notice. I'm so thankful for the way my dad and brother Joel instantly stepped up to the plate to deal with the public and attention from the media so that Megan and Curtis can retaliate and lay low for a while. God bless their little family.

co-reate

Let me describe my current situation.
AC and ceiling fan oscillating above my head. Laptop in my lap as I sit in this plump oversized love seat. I'm finishing up one more episode of Barefoot Contessa then will resume watching some Mad Men that arrived in the mail just barely. Letting the rice cool before I devour some steamed veggies and rice smothered in italian dressing. One of my all time favorites, thanks to Jenn. Jonas contently going back and forth between chewing his toy and napping in the nook of the couch. I think the most strenous thing I'll have to do today is compile a list of groceries and maybe accompany Taylor at Winco for some together time.

I'm not trying to rub my perfect life in, but holy cow. I haven't had this much 'me' time since I can remember. Last summer was pretty laid back, except I had a rambunctious doggie living with me who took priority over everything. I have been watching more TV in this week alone than I have ever watched in the entirety of my existence. And I have also discovered the joys of sleeping in til ten. Heaven.


I actually watched the entire two hours of So You Think You Can Dance. It really makes me want to get back into dancing. Except I'm super annoyed with the latest trend of modern dance. I can't explain- I just don't like it. It's almost too pretentious and overdone. It's just because I love extensions and technique and I hate Hair Flying around in their FACES! It sorta reminds me of what Steph and I used to make fun of whenever we danced around our living room. A lot of spastic movements that very well could have been made up on the spot, with a few 'bajingo' shot leg lifts and hair flipping. HATE IT. It equivaltes the same as Locking and popping, to me, except I enjoy watching Locking a lot more. I also enjoy watching Ciara and Beyonce in their leotards more than I like watching the "lyrical" dancers. On a positive note, I do enjoy Nigel's comments. Constructive and sincere, which I appreciate.


I used to enjoy Jon and Kate plus 8, even though Jon actually did kinda give me the creeps and Kate was kinds of a hoochie and rude to Jon. It doesn't surprise me at all, especially with hair like that. I can't wait til they get their shiz figured out so we can get on with our lives.

Well I'll finish this off with a few pictures of a HGTV home makeover that I absolutley loved.

come on gabba gabba

The einernet is finally up and running. We have officially made it to the promised land and wow it's great here. People are friendly and will just talk to ya at the swimming pool like it's normal. The drive went well, and I didn't get a wink of sleep. We drove all day Sunday, stopped in the middle of nowhere Nevada, then again in the middle of nowhere somewhere else. Then we hauled it through the Sierra's and Taylor did a wonderful job of not driving off the side of the mountain. Jonas didn't make a single peep or turd in the backseat. Then we arrived all greasy and baggy eyed. Chris and Daneile warmly greeted and fed us even though Jonas decided to take a dump on their carpet. Then we ran a few legit errands (you need toilet paper even if it's Sunday), sorta unpacked, took cool showers, and realized the only form of entertainment we had on hand was some Mad Men from Netflix. Luckily we hadn't watched it yet, so I watched about two seconds of that and then I was asleep. Felt so goood. I definitely loved not having to wake up at the butt crack of dawn the next morning too. I slept in til about noon because that's how I roll when I don't have to be somewhere until 1. Went to the office for a bit,, grocery shopped some more, then took a relaxing dip in the pool. Taylor was hanging out taking apart his XBOX for some reason. The strawberries here are amazing. Good for my digestive health too. My nice cousin from LA Chris emailed me and said I look like the younger version of actress Rachel Blanchard. He's so sweet.

ohh yeahhhhh. Recital went really well.
Four dances, 10 dancers, a lot of helpful moms and supportive dads...I think my blood pressure dropped significantly just after that alone. can ya tell I'm not a fan of stress?! But then again, I tend to do better when I have it. Ahhh..guess it's time to go throw Taylor's old Apex and Firstline work shirts away since he won't stop wearing them, even though Chris has told him a million times to. Things are great. and we are excited for this California summer and the adventures it has in store for us. check back and I'm sure you'll hear about something really crappy happening, like a maggot infestation or heat stroke. I'm not promising anything though.

poppy fields

Look how precious this picture is. I believe this is somewhere near Bakersfield, CA, circa 1960's. From left to right is my uncle George, grandma Betty Anderson, and then my mom. I'm not sure who the people in the background are.

storys that make me chukel when I think about them

• When I worked at Elmer's Restaurant, I was only a hostess. I was responisble for sitting customers and getting them some water or coffee until they were waited on. One Sunday morning a huge brunch group came in and after they ordered their food, I was in charge of keeping their mugs refilled with coffee. I wasn't used to handling such situations, especially when they were sitting close together and I had to maneuver between tables with a hot coffee pot. I was almost done when I snuck my arm between two ladies heads and began to pour. Thinking I had mastered the reach around technique, I accidently rested my arm on a plate of mixed fruit. I raised my arm slowly as to not make it obvious that my arm touched the lady's food, but somehow a sliced banana stuck to my skin. In my head, I found it kind of funny because that's my sense of humor. But the lady was totally grossed out, as she should be. I didn't really know how to respond other than raise my arm up and out of their eye level, exposing the piece of banana basically super glued to my arm. Thank goodness the food came out just then. I would have probably tried to explain that my arm gives out when it has to reach long distances.
• One time I was driving and saw a car that I recognized parked on the side of the street. I thought it might be the guy I had a little crush on at the time, so I pulled over a few houses down and parked behind a car so I wouldn't be discovered. It was nighttime and I couldn't really see very much. I suddenly remembered I had binoculars in my trunk so I got out my binoculars in case he happened to walk out of the house, I'd get an even better look. After ten minutes of waiting, I decided this was stupid and creepy so I figured the best thing to do was leave a note on his car. He'd like something like that. By the way, this was way before text messaging. So I found a scrap of paper and wrote something like "hey, just passed by and saw your car" etc. I got out of my car and noticed that I'd probably get caught in the act if I walked directly to his car, because it would mean that I would have to walk past the house and who knows? they could have all been in the front room and seen me. That would be embarrassing!! So instead I ran around the block the opposite way so that I'd be approaching his car on the other side of the house. I think I was wearing flip flops and trying to run before the adrenaline wore off. I finally get around the block, come from behind and his car wasn't there. Huffing and puffing, I stood there like an idiot, trying to catch my breath and make my side stop hurting. I finally recover and realizing I didn't want to walk in front of the house to get to my car, ya know in case someone saw me, I walked ALL the way around the block again, got in my car, drove home, and realized that I put forth WAY too much effort over a silly crush. I'm just glad NO ONE witnessed my frantic running and the look on my face when the car was MIA.
• One time I actually went to FHE in my singles ward. It was over at my bishop's house and after the activities I was scoping out the family pictures hung up on their walls. The bishop's wife came over and described the location of one of their portraits and my reply was "it's beautiful, and your kids look just like you." She didn't really respond back and I didn't really think much of it. The next Sunday the bishop was speaking at the pulpit and started talking about his twin sons, the ones who were in the family picture, and talked about the long and trying process of adoption and him and his wife's difficulty trying to conceive for so many years. ahh I was so embarrassed.
  
• I was working one morning with my friend Jenn and somehow ended up with a batch of spoiled dough. So we put the dough in a plastic bag, and started over. Hours had passed and the dough that we put in the sack had doubled in size. Jenn named it "Donny" the dough, and started drawing a face on the bag (Jenn is an artist, so this is normal behavior). We were laughing pretty hard as this bag was growing by the minute, stretching the bag to its capacity. We decided we should give Donny away as a gift, as a joke, or just set it on someone's doorstep and run. So we took it to our co-worker's apartment and decided to leave it with her roommate. Days passed. Didn't hear anything about a mysterious bag of dough. So we started to wonder if her roommate just threw it away. Nope. Instead she put the already-rancid bag under her bed and apparently it sat there for at least a week or two. Our co-worker finally discovered the bag after a week of horible sour yeasty fumes penetrating her bedroom. By the time she discovered Donny, he was busting through the sack and growing mold like you wouldn't believe.
  

talking nonsense

Things I say/do while in deep, deep slumber*.....

~(sit up) Where's the duct tape?? (after feeling around the sheets) I'm hot. (zzzz)
~get the white stuff out of the church.
~hahahahahahahaha. <--- me laughing. (zzz)

*according to TJG