Our Welcome to Colorado

I'm sitting here with a bowlful (yes a whole cereal bowl) of M&M's. I need to get back into blogging and the M&Ms were the only way to do it.

Okay, so we've lived here in Colorado for one and a half weeks and within the first 24 hours of being here . . . we had moved TWICE! And we're thinking about moving again.

Let me explain (and get ready for some grimacing). The first apartment smelled really bad of cigarette smoke from the carpet and walls. It wasn't until we had all boxes in the apartment from the moving van and some things unpacked onto shelves that we both had headaches and felt sick! (I later found out our neighbors would chain smoke all day and we had a connecting vent. Ugh.) We finally went to management and asked if they had another apartment available - we were willing to move all our stuff all over again, it was that bad. So, we moved to a different apartment room . . . 4 floors up. WHEW! Talk about a lot of work - Taking doors off hinges just to get the couch in and out (Twice); lugging the stupid couch up the 3 flights of stairs b/c it wouldn't fit into the elevator; unpacking, repacking, backpacking - Are there any unemployed Sherpas around here?

Well. Now that we're mostly settled and unpacked in our 2nd apartment, we can breathe much easier with only the occasional faint smell of second-hand smoke (as it turns out this complex is full of smokers. lovely. Really nice people though.)

BUT WAIT! The fun ain't over yet my friends!

3 days ago, a new challenge surfaced. I woke up that morning with about 10 little red bumps on my stomach and feet. Hm. That's weird. I checked Mike out - nothing. Throughout the morning he would tell me it was something I ate or touched that I'm allergic to. "But I'm not allergic to anything!" I proclaimed. (Now, you may not know this about me, but I've actually prided myself on the fact that whenever I went to the doctors I could unabashedly skip all the items of things people are allergic to and proudly check off the box that said "None". So please.)

My husband's reply: Well, you're getting old now and you're developing allergies.

Excuse me? Not, you're: 'older' or 'aging gracefully ' or 'gosh I love your hips and that new sparkle (grey) in your hair'. Old. Well, sweet husband, why don't you just drop me off at the nursing home just down the street and make sure to stop by for a visit once a week.

Anyway, I'm not allergic - I refuse to be.

The next day I woke up with - More Spots! Arms, stomach, legs, back, and feet at five times the amount. And now they're getting itchy! But still, my sweet husband insisted I was allergic to something . . . until he woke up with spots this morning. Ha! So what the heck with all the red dots? It got us thinking . . . was it the new detergent I used? Have we been eating something bad? (and my own personal runaway thought train . . . Am I really getting *gulp* OLD??). Slowly a thought came to us. We both remembered finding and killing little bugs that we found around in the bedroom and livingroom every once in awhile, but never though much about it - until today. We looked online, and whadduya know - they're famous! They're called bedbugs. Yup, we have bedbugs! Have you ever known anyone with bedbugs? Now you can say you do! I'd heard of them, but never seen them. And now I've decided I never wanted to.

So! We traded a smokey apartment for one that has blood-sucking, crawly, beady-eyed little vampires. Please click here and enjoy.


Good night. Sleep tight. Don't let the . . .

Johnson Family Photos

I've been too busy to post (obviously) plus, my husband has been taking the computer to work with him lately so I haven't had the means anyway. We recently got our family pictures back from the wonderful and talented photographer . . . Mike's brother! It was fun getting together, especially since we will all be spread about for the holidays.

I can't resist that silly, grizzly man!
I LOVE YOU

A Shout - Out for Baby Deer design

Check out this blog for a sneak peak at some of the up-coming products that will be on the etsy website soon!

www.babydeerdsn.blogspot.com

Blog-Fart

The title isn't meant to be crude. It's just that I haven't blogged for so long (has it really been a month and a half???) that I can't think of what to right about! A lot has happened and I'll give you the extremely short version now and embellish later. Since the end of September I have (in consecutive order):
1. Found a new job as a waitress at my favorite seafood restaurant - Market Street Grill

2. Thus, I have been eating A LOT of seafood.

3. Gained 10 pounds. (I can only fit comfortably into 2 pairs of pants now - thus, I've been wearing the same pants for the last two months)

4. My car was vandelized by a drive-by pumpkin smashing at 2am. Small pumpkins are really hard I guess. Pumpkin guts and pieces of my rear lights were scattered everywhere. Oh, and I started not liking my job.

5. Called to teaching primary just as they were starting weeks of practicing for the Primary Sacrament Presentation. I got a part to read. I had no idea what I was doing. Get up, sit down, hum or mouth along to words of songs I don't know . . .

6. Kicked out of primary. I was only in there for 2 weeks. I guess they noticed I didn't know what I was doing.

7. Called to nursery. I guess they decided to start me off with small people. Oh, and I did NOT like my job.

8. Mom, Dad, Meghan and Dustin came to Utah for a week!

9. Took Dustin to the MTC. He's off to Puerto Rico in a few days!

10. I achieved my goal and ran 6 miles.

11. Spent Halloween with Mindyn and Clint! Carved pumpkins, watched scary movies and handed out candy. Oh, and I started hating my job.

12. I started riding my bike to work.

13. Mike & I joined a gym. We go about 5-6 days a week.

14. I quit my blasted job. I am NOT waitress material. I don't like working for $2.00 per hour (yeah, Utah is crazy like that)

15. I've been making homemade christmas presents which has turned into an obsession and crafts are taking up my time and lots of room in my bedroom.

16. Thus, the creation of a hopefully lucrative and fun side business of making/selling homemade crafts.

17. Oh, and I got a NEW job working at The Children's Place. I love that store.

The End

The HOTTEST place to visit . . . Merced!!! (Mostly because of the people who live there)

Mike & I flew into San Fran. a few days ago and fake kidnapped my brother Brandon (he totally went willingly - it was just my idea) to go and visit our other brother Sean and his family in Merced, Yay!! It was fun to see where they live and hang out with Sean and Patty and hug, cuddle, and kiss my two nephews!! Lots of play and good times. Thanks Sean and Patty! We miss you guys!

Visit To India??

Mike is taking this really cool class right now called 'World Religions'. When I heard he was taking that class I begged him to let me tag-a-long. He won't let me - something about not me not being a paying student and school regulation and honesty blah, blah, blah.
BUT, I do get to join him on his school projects. Some of which are going to a service of a religion not familiar to the student and attending different cultural festivals or celebrations of some type.

The first one we've been to was actually a Hindu Festival that turned out to be much more authentic than I could have imagined.

We drove 40 min. to Spanish Fork, Utah to find the location. This particular area has a lot of cute, older houses that eventually gave-way to farmland and rolling green hills near the base of the mountain range.

Never did I expect to see THIS . . .



I got really excited at that point - a Hindu Temple! You cant get much more authentic than that for $3.00! The architecture was beautifully designed and of course the inside was very ornate.


There was a lot of music being played, dancers from local and national areas as well as a few from India. Many Hindus were present, most dressed in authentic robes.











We had the very tasty food that was prepared - I have no idea what it was. We were able to go through the temple on a self guided tour. We had to take off our shoes before entering the temple.











They had mantra chants and discussions open to the public within the temple.


Before we left we saw a woman working with thread on a man's face. I had to get closer to realize what she was doing.


She had the string intertwined between forefinger and thumb of each hand as was twisting while jerking upward. Each time she did this the man winced. She was tweezing!!

A Fond Farwell to Summer

As the days pass I notice signs of Fall approaching - no matter how much I to try to deny it. So here is a recap of some sweet memories we've collected over the Summer. . .
(P.S. If photos are too small, click on the slideshow)