New Calling and Taxes

Well, I definitely need to get better at keeping people posted about what's happening with me.

I got realeased from Primary today as the Sunbeam teacher. I was just getting to know my 4th class, and I'm really going to miss Primary, but I'm actually pretty excited about getting to know more of the sisters in the ward. I was feeling inadequate but certainly willing. Getting set apart always makes a huge difference.

I've been helping people with their taxes at Jackson Hewitt. Finished up the classes and passed everything I needed to pass, so I'm helping out in a couple of the stores. I love the face time I get with people!

I haven't been seeing a lot of the family, but I spent the night at Bryce's and then I got to see Megamind with Amie and the girls on Saturday night.

Six weeks till our family vacation to Destin!!!

Tax classes and Roaches

I'm taking tax classes through Jackson Hewitt on Monday and Wednesday nights from 6:00 to 9:00. I am always the last one to finish my tests and I'm not leaving until 9:30. We haven't had books to take home and study, so it's been a challenge. I'm diggin the fact that I'll have a second income in January. I'm hoping to put together enough to get a car.

I'll be getting some shopping tips from Bryce on the car. He just traded in his truck and bought a different truck for his new side business AND a car that he can drive to work. Not sure what he paid for the truck but the car was under $3,000. Sweet!

So everybody knows that I have a paralyzing fear of roaches. You also know that I have seen the big ones that look like Transformer bugs with unnaturally large bodies that seem like tanks because you seriously can't kill them with less than a very powerful swat with the heaviest shoe you can find. Wimpy fly swatters from the Dollar Store are ineffective.


I found one of these still alive but upside-down and flailing its ugly legs on an over-turned pot I had left out to dry. I FREAKED OUT! I grabbed some bug spray that has the attached pump sprayer and left the mutant to die in a pool of poison. Yeah! It WAS STILL MOVING after all that spraying! Well, Amie and Clay came over the next day while I was at work and got rid of that one, a dead one under my bed, and another I had left by the downstairs bathroom as an example to his mutant friends of how THEY would be crushed if they showed their ugly faces.

They put some killing powder around the walls and put out roach traps. The next day Bryce told me he laid down 3 gallons of spray. I sleep snug as a bug in a rug now! Especially on Monday and Wednesday nights.

I moved!

Well, I finally moved out of Amie's basement! Yay for Amie and Clay regaining their privacy! Holy smokes, I lived there for a lot longer than anybody EVER expected. I REALLY appreciate having a place to stay and I am even more thankful for this new home.

I miss the noise! I've been to dinner and home evening and I had some time to play with Lia on Sunday before we went to a farewell break-the-fast for some people moving from the ward.

Clay and Bryce were over here on Saturday helping to set up things like the washer and dryer, stove, and tv. Bryce looked like Ghostbusters over here spraying for bugs. The roaches are the HUGE flying kind. I found a dead one Sunday morning and didn't see another one until tonight. It's dead and is in the downstairs bathroom. I have to work up the courage to go get it and throw it away. I envision it coming back to life and crawling on me or flying in my face. I may have to make friends with a neighbor and see if I can convince someone else to come in here to dispose of it. OR... I can put on my Big Girl pants and just take care of it. Yeah. That's what I'll do. Tomorrow.

Tonight I'm going to watch the rest of America's Got Talent.

Tyler and Andrea's Wedding

I haven't posted a thing in forever and decided that despite the lateness of the hour, I wanted to get some pictures of the wedding posted for everyone to enjoy. I think I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

I see a difference

Here's a picture of me and Amie in December last year. I had actually lost a bit of weight by then. I was feeling like I had not made any progress over the last year, but I do see a difference. Here is a picture of Caetie and me ready to go see Wicked. When I went to see them for Thanksgiving, I had a girl's night out with Caetie and it was a ton of fun! I'll be posting more pics and telling you about my best vacation EVER. For now, I am just getting myself psyched to keep up with my Biggest Loser workouts through the holidays.

Telling on myself

My mother called me Joan when I was growing up because she said I acted like a martyr. Yep. Joan of Arc. She would also call me Sarah, for Sarah Bernhardt, a movie star known for being melodramatic. She would put her hand on the back of her hand on her forehead and strike a pose to mock me. Man, my mother had me pegged.

So I guess, from an early age, I was trying to be manipulative to get my way. I do remember thinking that if I turned on the tears, people would feel sorry for me.

My mom would make us go out to play when I was a kid, and even though I didn’t always like it, most of the time I would be playing so hard, I would lose track of time. We had a rule that wherever you were in the neighborhood, or no matter how far you had pedaled your bike, when the street lights came on, you needed to be home.

We had a bike route we would ride that went down the Tyson’s driveway, across the street to the Rosemary Marston’s yard where we made a groove in the ditch to get around the stop sign (known in our circles as “Dead Man’s Curve”), back across to the Tyson’s yard, going back up the driveway, through the back gate, around the patio, and back through the gate to the driveway to start all over again. The hardest part for me was not Dead Man’s curve, but feeling confident enough to not lose my balance through the back gate.

The Marstons had a huge sycamore tree in their yard that hung with Spanish moss.We used the moss to build forts and armed ourselves with “sycamore balls” to stage battles And yes, we did get itchy. If I had ever seen a picture of a moss bug, I might have thought twice before covering myself in moss to hide from the enemy.

I didn’t always like being outside. When mama sent us out, we needed to really have to go to the bathroom badly or have something else seriously wrong before she would unlock the sliding glass door and let us in. One day it was unusually hot and I wanted to be inside so I threw up to “prove” to mama that I was sick. I think I could do it at will sometimes, because I definitely remember throwing up at school and getting to go home. That particular day when I "got sick" I got to go inside and sit in Daddy’s swivel recliner and watch TV, and it was so nice and cold inside, I even got a blanket. But when mama caught me making faces at the unfortunate kids who were still outside, she jerked me by the arm outta that chair, spanked my butt, and threw me outside so fast I barely had time to comprehend what had happened before I heard her tell me that I could throw up all I wanted to, but I was NOT coming back inside! It was hard to pull one over on my mother for very long.

Summer...YAY!

I enjoyed Memorial Day weekend. Amy and Bryce came over for a barbecue and we got to sit outside. We had a feast of steak, watermelon, corn on the cob, smores, homemade oreo cookie ice cream and chocolate cake. Yes. I gained a little at Weight Watchers this week. *funny story coming*

I went walking with Amy on Tuesday and walked a HALF MILE! Woo hoo! Got to see Maddie, Presto, Action Jackson, and Gare Bear mid-week, so that was cool. It wasn't so bad seeing Bryce either. So Amy and I are going to be walking regularly on Tuesdays. There was a downpour on the way over, but I'm glad I stuck to the plan because we were able to get to the track. She lapped me once, but that's ok. It's just nice to get some one-on-one time with ya, Amy. *keep going.. funny stuff ahead*

Cailey had her piano recital last week. She did great! I have to figure out how to ddownload pics from my camera. When I do, I'll post some. Kendall had her ballet recital today and she was awesome. Nice cartwheel in the middle of a dance routine to "You Ain't Never Had a Friend Like Me." Faith was sick last weekend but she's better now. Clay's brother Brian is here visiting with his family. His Gracie is a clone of Faith. It's insane how much they look alike, down to their glasses.

No more suspense... Here's the funny story:

So we were all outside eating and enjoying the wonderful summer evening. Perfect weather. Clay and Brian had the kids on the trampoline and the rest of us were visiting at the table. Amie put Lia on the grass to let her crawl around, but soon realized that she may be eating something. She moved her and told us that she had been right by a dead worm. So close call, right? Well, Lia loved that grass and soon she had booked across the lawn to the edge by the trampoline. She got some playtime there, but Clay's dad brought her back over to the deck. Amie decided to give her a little more playtime on the grass, and within less than a minute I laughed and told Amie, you'd better check to see if she's eating that worm. I was only teasing, but apparently Lia had made her way right to that worm and had it in her mouth!!!!

Gnarly! Gave us all the jeebs.