Continue the Legacy: Justin and Kathleen Lofley

Insights by J (and K!)

2009-10-04T18:01:00.005-06:00

I realize that it has been a looooooooong time since I last posted. I blame nursing school. But, a special occasion deserves a special post.

Justin and I have been playing around with photography for a while and I am here to shamelessly give us some PR...

Want FREE photos? We take them ALL for free- weddings, family, senior pictures, babies, dragonflies, sunsets, you name it.

You need pictures, we need practice- it's a fair trade! So hire us! (for FREE!)

We just put together a portfolio. Check it out!

STD Group Activity

2009-02-11T17:21:00.001-07:00

Don't get excited. It was WAY less fun than what you're thinking. It only involved reading CDC fact sheets....

Is it STILL Today?

2009-01-14T19:29:00.003-07:00

I really should've been named Murphey.

It's been a bad day. One of those Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Days!

Today's events in the never-ending process of being readmitted to not only the College of Nursing, but also the the University of Utah were harrowing. They included a trip to the BYU bureaucracy which started out very very badly with power-tripping student "supervisors" and many trips across campus... and during which I was recipient of a small miracle, watching someone's heart soften before my eyes.

Lest I sound like all I do is gripe, here are some blessings I noticed and good things about today: my nausea from my meds went away earlier than usual; I didn't crash driving anywhere; the chiropractor saw me 30 minutes early; the regular doc did my tests and shots and it just happened to coincide with my one day off/week; I bought myself a Starbucks for the drive which always seems to make things better; my Stats final went better than expected AND way faster than I thought AND it was all multiple choice; I got good parking spots all day; after the headaches and prospective BIGGER headaches, everything at BYU wound up working out (for today. All I was asking for was that today would work out); I made it back to the U 10 minutes before they closed with my BYU transcripts that were to be hand-delivered, thereby preventing having to make J late for work tomorrow by driving me back to lower campus in the morning and then up to my building.

So, while today was very hard and the culmination of stress finally broke me down for one humiliating moment of crying in public, I continue to be blessed throughout, making me know that while it's difficult, I am not forgotten nor alone.

It's the Small Things That Mean So Much

2009-01-12T20:41:00.004-07:00

Sorry I haven't been around. I've been a little busy. I did an entire Statistics class for BYU Independent Study in 10 days and it almost killed me! I took 3 midterms for it on Friday and then ran out of time to take the final. Went back down Saturday to take it and the office was closed. I even asked the kid at the desk, "So you'll be here tomorrow for me to come in and take the final? We're all set?" "Yes," he answered. "We're all set." I guess he didn't know that "tomorrow" meant the day after Friday, meaning Saturday. Oh well. We had a birthday dinner with some great friends and it all turned out. But I have to go down this Wednesday and take it.

While I was taking that last midterm, I got a message from the University of Utah telling me that I had been accepted to restart the nursing program with the 2nd semester class! Monday. And it was after 5, so no one was there for me to call back. I didn't even know where to show up or when today. So I just showed up. And got yelled at for not being in uniform. Twice. It's been a whirlwind of a first day. There have been a LOT of speed bumps (not knowing where to be, having to reapply to the University, no computer access, being the "new kid", etc.) and a LOT of little blessings.

For instance, I was told by the clinical instructor that the only opening for me was on a Saturday/Sunday clinical group which would mean that I would miss my opportunity to go to church and teach my little 5 year-olds, let alone the benefits I get personally. After hearing this, I said a prayer in my head that it would work out. It was a pretty fervent and almost panicked prayer as I have come so far and jumped over so many hurdles and through so many hoops to get back in this program, only to feel like it was one more barrier trying to keep me from achieving my goals.

When I went to sign my life away on the paper to join the Sat/Sun group, it came to my mind to ask one last time. I mentioned that there were 2 students that hadn't continued and asked if it would be at all possible to see which group the other one had been in. It was a Mon/Tues group and after checking with the boss's boss, they let me in it! I know this seems so marginal, but to me it is a big thing. I'm not sure how I would've made it through the whole semester.

Lately in my life I've just really felt blessed. Maybe it's just that I'm recognizing it more, but I've just felt Heavenly Father's hand in my life lately. It started a couple months ago when I got food poisoning and was as miserable as I've ever been. My husband gave me a priesthood blessing and I didn't feel better, but I felt an overwhelming peace that I'm not sure I've ever felt before. I knew that it had to take its course, but I felt that I wasn't alone through it and that He would stay the night with me. It was a miserable night, but I just felt the comfort of knowing that I wasn't alone. What a beautiful feeling to have. I don't know why I deserved it, but I'm so grateful for a Heavenly Father who cares about someone as insignificant as me when I'm sick and when there's so much else in the world that needs fixing.

Since then, there have been so many little things. Last Sunday, Justin was telling a story to our Primary class who were so rapt with attention. I just had a moment of joy looking at their bright little faces and so grateful that I get to be a part of shaping these little lives and teaching them about how important they are and how much they are loved. I didn't think I'd love these little ones so quickly, but I do.

Well, I know this has been a jumble and there aren't even any cool pictures to look at. I just had to get a few thoughts down. I need to get to sleep because tomorrow it begins again. I'm just trying to take it one day, one hour at a time. That's about all I can do right now, but for right now it will have to be enough.

The First of Many

2009-01-01T10:32:00.003-07:00

Welcome to 2009! I think it's going to be strange writing that for a while. I hope you had a wonderful night celebrating the New Year and that your Martinelli's hangover isn't too bad.

I spent the day yesterday, will spend the day today, and will spend all the days in my foreseeable future studying. Joyous.

The current subject is Statistics, an Independent Study class that I need for graduation. I think I've learned enough, but I'm no where near finished with it.

The update on school is that hopefully there's a spot for me to start with the 2nd semester students on January 12th. I won't find out until it gets closer, but keep your fingers crossed. I'm terrified out of my mind about everything I've forgotten and am downloading medical reference applications on my iPod as fast as I can so that I can look stuff up. I know it will all work out like it's supposed to, but I'm scared silly.

And I'm sure this day of feeling intellectually incompetent is only the first of many!

I Am Not My Mother

2008-12-14T20:03:00.004-07:00

...but I wish I were that good!
...and I have a greater appreciation for her today!

She is out of town, in Sacramento to be exact, with my dad, and they are picking Andrew up from his mission! (Can you believe it's been 2 years already?)

Welcome to My Day:

Today, I was My Mother's Sub. I had to hold choir practice at 9am. We've also started having 90 minute choir practice to work on the Christmas music. That was...rough. Mostly from my ineptness at choir leading and my nerves about it. On a side note, when I was about 12 years old, I substituted for my mom directing the choir all the time and I don't remember ever being nervous about it! Why I'm more nervous now, I don't know, but probably because now I realize my inadequacies a lot more than back then! I'm not even sure that I'm better at it now than I was then. We also had a substitute piano player, so it was a lot of learning together. I was so nervous that I woke up at 5am with the choir songs running through my head and couldn't get back to sleep.

Did I mention that the piece we were mainly practicing is a beautiful piece that my mom wrote and wouldn't be here to direct on its maiden voyage?

No pressure.

After the practice, I was both cold (the weather) and had sweat running down my back (the practice). I raced home and got Kimberly, who had a meeting at the church. I opted to wait in the car for her since it was snowing and the meeting was only for 15 minutes. The 15-minute meeting went about an hour, during which time, I shoveled the walk in front of the church since I felt super guilty sitting in my warm car sipping hot cocoa and watching old people from the other ward try not to biff it on the ice. After stated hour I had to RACE back home and change for church. Fat day, nothing looked good, hadn't thought to do my makeup before leaving for Kimberly's meeting, so didn't have time to do it. Left feeling overly self-conscious, but slightly festive since I settled on a red top (and a black sweater!).

Once at church I had to direct the congregational music for my mom! The music stand in itself is an interesting dynamic to this endeavor. It doesn't stay raised, so it's down around my knees the first time I have to look at the music. Good thing Mom has the geriatric large-print Hymnal.

THEN was MY calling: PRIMARY. 5-year olds. Enough said?

After church was emergency choir practice with the actual pianist (who had been lucky enough to see the MoTab's Christmas concert this morning in SLC. I'd miss choir for that!) for the piece we were to perform tonight at the Stake Christmas Cantata.

Raced home. Got some dinner reheated for Kimberly. Wound up eating 90% of what Justin had made for himself for dinner (oops. Thanks, babe.). Raced Kimbers back to the church for 5:15 Youth Choir rehearsal. Went home. By then I was so pumped on adrenaline from the day that I couldn't sit still for the 15 spare minutes I had. I paced instead.

Turned around and went back to the church, this time with husband and brother in tow. Also pinned in place was my green yarn Christmas wreath pin that my mom made for our church choir in Ohio about 15 years ago (what can I say? I started in with the choir singing young!). It's kind of my lucky charm and I wear it every Christmas when I perform.

Spent the next 45 minutes nervous about conducting my Perfect Mother's Amazing Choir Piece. I really do love this song.

Conducted said choir, sounding better than we ever had before. I only messed up minimally, and thankfully, only the people who know the music better than I do watch me anyways. :)

Relaxed and enjoyed the rest of the Stake Christmas Cantata.

Now I'm home and ready to take off the green yarn Christmas wreath pin until....next week. When I'm singing. Oy ve.

It's Like Ripping Off the Band-Aid. S-L-O-W-L-Y.

2008-12-10T13:34:00.002-07:00

Why do I do this to myself? For 3 years now, I've had to finish Stats class for my graduation. Due to medical circumstances, I didn't get it done the first time (on campus). So, in order to get my degree from the University of Utah, I have to finish it before I start my last 3 semesters in the Nursing program. In January (providing all the stars align and I have a seat in the 2nd semester class).

Here we are, less than a month from the deadline and... I'm blogging.

While my Stats book sits next to me on the dining room table with pencil and paper at the ready and my Stats cd is already loaded in the computer.

I've decided it's subconscious.

Tutus Make Life Happy

2008-12-07T10:27:00.012-07:00

Yesterday I completed my first 5k. I say "completed" rather than "ran" because I wasn't able to run the whole time. Oh, to be 4 years old again and be able to run and run and run and never get tired! We were invited to the Nutcracker 5k in Orem, UT, which is themed after the Nutcracker ballet. Everyone who ran was supposed to wear a tutu. And that made it fun. I made our tutus and they were "his and hers" camo. They were pretty much amazing. Best ones there, in my humble opinion.

Here I am, warming up, also sadistically smiling for some reason (it might be from the caffeine buzz from the 3 Excedrin I dosed up with before running...):

Here's Justin in his camo tutu. He placed 2nd in his age division, even though according to him, he "sucked." Not so! He also barfed. That part does suck a little. (#694 is not Justin although I'm glad we got such a good picture of him; his tights are really cool.)

Please note the amazingly camo tutu Justin is sporting (which he promptly took off and wadded up in a little ball afterwards. I won't mention how long it took me to make aforementioned wadded-up tutu...)

Here's Wendy, who invited us, in all her tutu'd glory finishing the race with a smile:

And MUCH later, here's me with my 169th place overall finish. Again, please note the amazingly camo (and pink!) tutu. I had 4 shirts on too, hence the resemblance to the Michelin Man:

And for your tutu comparing pleasure, here are some of the others and their festive creations:

We don't think this guy was wearing shorts:

This loser may have won the race, but didn't even wear a tutu. Personally, I think this should have been grounds for disqualification:

This guy's tutu had a 'modernist' feel to it. We also think he filled it with helium to cheat:

Here's Wendy's mom, with her matching thermals:

And her Grandma, who's in her 80's, getting run down by a car while she tries to finish:

I think I'll hang on to the tutus and save them for next year's race. Hopefully then I can tell you that I ran the whole thing! If nothing else, it was memorable....because every time I walk down the stairs today, my muscles remember those hills...

Work in Progress

2008-11-23T21:47:00.003-07:00

Uh.... I followed the "it's so easy!" instructions from a link on a friend's super cute blog to change mine to a Christmas theme...and...well, it's never that easy, is it.

I'm still trying to figure this out, and exactly what I did wrong, so it's going to look a little strange around here until I get this background stuff figured out! Whoops! Right now it's this weird mix of the new background with my old colors in all of the posts and headers and stuff. What an ugly little blog I have right now! I'll have to work on it some more.

Also, can anyone help?

Like College Humor, Only Holier...

2008-11-21T22:07:00.003-07:00

Have you ever been to the website called College Humor? I'll warn you that it's not all PG rated, but they have a hilarious section of really stupid questions overheard in college classrooms. Laugh out loud, kinda funny. And also a little sad...

I heard about a new website this afternoon called Overheard in the Ward. It's the same idea, but set in the LDS meetinghouses. Gotta love Utah for this one. Feel free to contribute.

Insert Snappy Title Here

2008-10-29T07:48:00.007-06:00

We're headed out today to go to Las Vegas with Justin's parents. We're making a stop in Mesquite (the crappy Vegas) on the way because his parents are in a slot tournament.

I'm a little nervous to be going to Vegas for Halloween. I haven't planned a costume because digging through the storage unit to find my pink wig was way too overwhelming once I got there. Maybe I'll wear a knee-length skirt and a shirt with sleeves, carrying around a glass of Sprite and when people ask me what I am I'll tell them,"Mormon!"

I do love walking around and seeing all the architecture in Vegas though. And we have (semi) fond memories of the place: it's where we honeymooned and I got incredibly sick and was in bed wishing to die for 3 days (that's pretty sick to wish to die on one's honeymoon!); where I lost a diamond out of my brand new wedding ring (also a fun story); where we went on our 1st anniversary to make up for the tumultuous honeymoon happenings and received Justin's call to be deployed with the Army and had to come home early. Ahh, memories...

Let's just hope this trip is MUCH less eventful!

And I plan on winning big there...seeing as the only machine I put my money into dispenses soda. Every time!

Viva, Las Vegas!

Politics and Candy

2008-10-25T10:18:00.002-06:00

For any of you needing ideas for costumes, I've enjoyed looking around on this site. I've particularly enjoyed the Quick and Easy and Unique Ideas sections.

I also heard THE BEST costume idea for a trick-or-treator that I've heard in a while: dress up like a voting booth (I couldn't find a good picture of one. So, I guess it's up to your imagination.) with the presidential tickets listed (Obama/Biden, McCain/Palin) over 2 holes. The holes have bags attached inside to hold the candy! The lady that I heard about this costume from did this during a big election year and had the neighbors vote with candy.... she went home with about 4x the amount of candy that her friends had because she said the neighbors would ask which candidate had more 'votes', she'd feel the bags and tell them, and the neighbors would shovel the candy into the hole for the candidate of their choice. Genious. And perfect if you live in a swing state! If I could get away with it, this would be my costume this year!

Draft Notice

2008-10-25T10:05:00.002-06:00

I was going through my old posts and found a few drafts that I never got around to finishing, so although they're pretty outdated now, I figured I'd throw them up on here anyways...

Stuff I Made

2008-10-25T10:01:00.002-06:00

These are two of the baby blankets that I made a while ago. They went to Justin's cousins Velicia and Jamie. People tend to underestimate both my sewing prowess (it's rather slight), but also how much thought goes into selecting the perfect fabric the mom will like (so then she'll use it!). I swear, I spend at least 30 minutes wandering the aisles of baby flannel for each blanket. Probably overkill, but hey, I try! These two are a couple of my all-time favorites, also when I began experimenting with using 2 different fabrics. I'm posting the picture so you can admire them and hopefully seeing them again will inspire me to sew the 3 I've got material for that I need to get done before the next wave of babies.

My Nose is Part Ear. A Hybrid of Sorts.

2008-10-25T10:00:00.002-06:00

But my hearing hasn't improved.

As many of you know, I had surgery on my nose to correct a bunch of stuff gone wrong in there. Little did I know that they'd be taking a graft from the back of my right ear to fill in cartilage where it was needed. I did take some pictures, mostly of my gross ear since that was intriguing to me. I'll spare you the really gross pictures.

Here are the nifty socks and oh-so-flattering gown they gave me:

Here, they wrote 'yes' on the ear to take the cartilage graft from the back of. Nice of them to make sure we were all clear on that one.

In the recovery room with ice on my ear, gauze taped to my nose (I won't post the pics of the incisions), and plenty of morphine in my system.

A couple days later, looking like I brawled. You shoulda seen the other guy!

Update: Everything has healed nicely and I can breathe again. The back of my right ear will always have a chunk of cartilage missing, but that's okay. And my nose finally has feeling in it again.

Like Stealing from a Baby?

2008-10-24T21:41:00.005-06:00

I was going to email everyone about this, but consider it your little insider reward for reading my blog....

I just saw a piece on tv about a website that many of you may be interested in. It's called www.babysteals.com. Every weekday, they have a sale on a baby or maternity item. The sale is online at 9am (sharp) Mountain Standard Time and they sell out of the items pretty quickly each day. For those of you who are local, items may be picked up at a couple different locations along the Wasatch front. For those of you around the world, you can have them mailed. The sales are for 50-80% off the normal retail prices and they have had some REALLY good deals. For example, this Monday (Oct 27th) they said they are having a popular diaper bag brand (Bumble). The set retails for over $200 and is going to be on sale for $60.

In other shopping news, I was recently emailed another site that you can join. It's called Shop It To Me and it sends you an email (you choose how often) of the stores and brands that you choose and what they have put on sale. It's pretty neat. There is everything from Jimmy Choo to The Gap (over 400 choices). You input your sizes, types of clothing/accessories you're interested in, and how often you want the emails from them. I say it's worth a try. I've enjoyed it so far. Their site has more info on how it all works. And it's free.

Happy (discounted!) shopping!

Twilight

2008-10-18T22:31:00.002-06:00

This post can be blamed on my Mia Maids (14 and 15 year-olds at Church) because they begged and begged me to read the Twilight series. I finally relented after one of my sweet girls, who is nearly as Type A as I am, actually entrusted me with her copy of the books, which were very special to her. I took good care of them, even making paper bag dust covers like we used to make for text books. The rest, as they say, is pathetic. I mean history. The rest is history. But a little pathetic. I'm an adult. And I'll probably take the Mia Maids opening night to see the movie...

So, I took the quiz that was linked on Allison's blog and wasn't surprised at my results. Although Alice is my favorite and the one I would want to play in the movies. Go ahead, join the craze. You know you want to.

Take the Quiz and Share Your Results!

Potato St. George

2008-10-11T15:16:00.014-06:00

That would be the name that was almost chosen for the city of St. George, named after George A. Smith. I learned all about it while we were down there and Wendy and I went to the LDS Church historical sites while the hubbys golfed.

We visited Brigham Young's Winter Home

and the St.George Tabernacle.

I thought I'd also post a picture of Wendy smiling after having run 26.2 miserable miles. Okay. Well, this is actually mile 26.199 because she was a few yards from the finish line here. She's pretty much amazing.

Here's one of the scenery we got to enjoy:

A rare treat- an actual picture of me. There aren't many of these in existence for the last few years, so enjoy it!

We also went rock climbing and the weather was perfect. Not too hot, not too cold (it had been raining the whole time we were there, so this was great.) Scott (of Scendy) is a ranked rock climber and so he took us climbing. The red sandstone is so smooth that we climbed without shoes! Here's some photographic proof of the event:

The back of Justin's head- always nice:

The Amazing Scotty:

Me attempting:

Wendy Lady is part squirrel:

We also saw one of my all-time favorite Broadway musicals, Les Miserables, at Tuacahn outdoor theater. It rained. Big time. If only I were allowed to take pictures of the actors getting poured on! But we did manage a cell phone picture before the show while it was only raining off an on. The ponchos were lifesavers. We even brought a couple extra and ended up giving one to the lady behind us with the crinkly silver space blanket.

The show was incredible and I'd watch it in the rain again and still enjoy every minute of it. I had a big, stupid grin on my face the whole time (well, apparently every minute except the minute that we were taking the picture!). And there was only a little while when the wind was blowing so hard that we couldn't keep our ponchos out of our faces to see. Oh, the dedication of the actors! Actually, the girl that plays Cosette is my cousin's siter-in-law. Small world. She did great. And got totally soaked in the closing number. I would've stayed after to introduce myself and say hello, but....yeah. That didn't happen. Maybe next time.

I hope this St. George Marathon trip becomes a tradition for the four of us. I was so inspired by all the runners that maybe I'll run it next year! And maybe it won't rain. We'll see.

Girl Can RUN!

2008-10-09T12:30:00.005-06:00

This last weekend, we went down to St. George, Utah with our friends Scott and Wendy, known to us as Scendy, to support Wendy running the St. George Marathon! This was only her 3rd official race and, lucky for Wendy, it was the 2nd time in 32 years that it rained on the marathon. Poor Wendy was tired, sore, and very, very cold, but she pushed through and made it! We are so so so proud of her.

The entire event was inspiring to me, watching as each person crossed the finish line, I imagined their individual stories and what they overcame to get there and to finish.

Here we are after the race:

This is the group of friends and family that came out to support Wendy:

Wendy, I am so inspired by you and had so much fun this weekend!

Weather, weather, what will the weather be?

2008-10-09T12:25:00.004-06:00

I have been using this site lately to get the weather on all my driving trips. It's really handy to use and you can see the forcasted weather for each leg of the trip. Very useful!

I use the 2nd option, "Weather on your route".

Just a Quick Note...

2008-09-25T17:11:00.004-06:00

...to tell you we're still alive and that I'm just a lazy blogger. I need to go sit down at the PC and upload a bunch of pictures of what we've done this summer, but I'll refer you back to my earlier comment about my laziness. For now, here's a picture of us at the Bar J Ranch dinner show in Jackson Hole, Wyoming on Sept 5th.

Feel free to cut it out, frame it, hang it on your wall, or place it on your mantel by all of your other favorite things.

What I've Been Up to Lately...

2008-06-03T16:12:00.008-06:00

...the short answer is: nothing much! But I took a few pictures on my camera phone.

I learned to knit! This is my first coaster. Ok, actually it's the second one, but the first one was pretty sorry

I cleaned our townhome and put it up for sale. This was me, highly caffienated, around hour 6 or so of hard-core cleaning. I was rockin out to my iPod and mixing bleach with ammonia.

I took a picture of a cool hotrod driving down the road

I occasionally channel Posh Spice/Victoria Beckham when trying on sunglasses, or in this case, coral lipstick from Bec's bridal shower

I taught my family the finer points of Stove S'mores. They all said that they'd never had them before, yet I've been making them my whole life, or at least since I've been old enough to use the stove.

Here is my little sister, Kimberly, post-shower, enjoying a Stove S'more.

Wow. Can you believe that I packed ALL that into about a week? I know. I'm amazing.

Wanna buy a house? Wanna buy our house?

2008-06-02T20:18:00.002-06:00

We just put our house up on the market!

Here's the link to our listing. Check it out! Tell your friends!

I can never listen to Sting the same way again

2008-05-26T23:14:00.002-06:00

I had to tell this to someone, but feared the inappropriateness of the story. So I decided I should post it on the world wide web for the viewing pleasure of everyone...

Tonight I went into the bathroom to take out my contacts before bed and my beloved, but kinda gross, husband decided he couldn't wait one second longer, so he came in to do his thing. Well, the toilet and the sink are in very close proximity, and after a moment, my foot got wet. Completely grossed out, I told him loudly that peeing on one's wife's foot, even if only "collateral damage" was not okay.

In response, he looked me dead in the eye, and without missing a beat started singing, "Don't stand, don't stand, don't stand so close to me!"

Lesson learned.

A link to the past

2008-02-08T18:00:00.000-07:00

I heard an interesting story on NBC's Nightly News about an IT teacher who is posting in "real" time (meaning the same date, but 90 years later) his grandfather's letters from WWI. I'm just starting to read it, but thought that you might enjoy it too. Here's the link.

Six Things

2007-12-13T11:56:00.000-07:00

I just got tagged by Tara to tell you six things about me that you may not know. As I consider myself an open book, this is a little harder for me to do than I thought!

1. As long as I have sweets and chocolate in the house I don't eat them. This is backwards from most women I know, but I think the deprivation I feel mentally when we don't have any is what makes me crave it.

2. Before I left for college, I went skydiving- twice- without my parents' knowledge. I remember them asking me where I was going and I answered, "I'm just going to go hang out with some friends." They didn't know how literal that was; hanging out of a plane at 13,000 feet. And I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Sorry, Dad.

3. I really love new Peds and Danskin socks. The ankle ones that have the elastic around the arch. They make me downright giddy. In fact, I've been known to buy some and then wear them to drive on a long trip, no shoes. It's the little things in life. I also love winter hats and scarves.

4. I think I'm way funnier than I really am. But I'm a really bad joke teller; I can never remember the punch lines. Ruins everything, but I'm still laughing. My mom says I started laughing at 2 months and haven't stopped.

5. Everyone (even most of my extended family) thinks I'm the oldest child. I'm not. Brad is 20 months older than me.

6. I have a fist-sized birthmark on my left hip that is shaped like Australia. I've never been to Australia, so I don't know what the significance of that is. Maybe it's Hawaii. I've never been there either. At any rate, it's always half-covered by my swimsuit and it tans.

Now I get to tag people! I'm tagging Chelsea, Suzanne, Becky, Jaime, Cameo, Heather, and Rachel. Have at it!

Dear Santa

2007-12-09T15:43:00.000-07:00

Christmas is my favorite time of year. Usually. At least it has been every year of my life until this one. We've had a rough fall: they found a big cyst on my ovary in addition to my other stuff being worse, and a week later Justin got laid off from his job and hasn't had any luck with a new one yet.... but all that isn't the point.

The point is that Christmas is Christmas, it's not about me, and I need to get my act in gear regardless. Here's a cute one that a dear friend of mine, Julie, sent to me:

Dear Santa,

I've been a good mom all year. I've fed, cleaned and cuddled my children on demand, visited the doctor's office more than my doctor and sold sixty-two cases of candy bars to raise money to plant a shade tree on the school playground. I was hoping you could spread my list out over several Christmases, since I had to write this letter with my son's red crayon, on the back of a receipt in the laundry room between cycles, and who knows when I'll find anymore free time in the next 18 years.

Here are my Christmas wishes:

I'd like a pair of legs that don't ache (in any color, except purple, which I already have) and arms that don't hurt or flap in the breeze, but are strong enough to pull my screaming child out of the candy aisle in the grocery store.

I'd also like a waist, since I lost mine somewhere in the seventh month of my last pregnancy.

If you're hauling big ticket items this year I'd like fingerprint resistant windows and a radio that only plays adult music, a television that doesn't broadcast any programs containing talking animals, and a refrigerator with a secret compartment behind the crisper where I can hide to talk on the phone.

On the practical side, I could use a talking doll that says, "Yes, Mommy" to boost my parental confidence, along with two kids who don't fight and three pairs of jeans that will zip all the way up without the use of power tools.

I could also use a recording of Tibetan monks chanting "Don't eat in the living room" and "Take your hands off your brother," because my voice seems to be just out of my children's hearing range and can only be heard by the dog.

If it's too late to find any of these products, I'd settle for enough time to brush my teeth and comb my hair in the same morning, or the luxury of eating food warmer than room temperature without it being served in a Styrofoam container.

If you don't mind, I could also use a few Christmas miracles to brighten the holiday
season. Would it be too much trouble to declare ketchup a vegetable? It will clear my conscience immensely. It would be helpful if you could coerce my children to help around the house without demanding payment as if they were the bosses of an organized crime family.

Well, Santa, the buzzer on the dryer is calling and my son saw my feet under the laundry room door. I think he wants his crayon back. Have a safe trip and remember to leave your wet boots by the door and come in and dry off so you don't catch cold.

Help yourself to cookies on the table but don't eat too many or leave crumbs on the carpet.

Yours Always,

MOM...

P.S.
One more thing...you can cancel all my requests if you can keep my children
young enough to believe in Santa.

Mormon Geometers for President

2007-12-07T14:46:00.000-07:00

Theology: LDS god is in harmony with the Bible
By Orson Scott Card
For the Deseret Morning News
Published: December 7, 2007

Editor's note: The following essay is by Orson Scott Card, a member of the LDS Church best known as an award-winning writer of science fiction, as well as other fiction, screenplays, and commentary.

Poor Mitt Romney.

Well, not actually poor, but you know what I mean.

Little did he know that in order to run for president, he was going to have to take America to Sunday school class.

Officially, of course, there is no religious test in order to hold public office. But in practical terms, if a candidate believes in something completely insane, people have a right to take that into consideration before voting for him.

Besides, we Mormons spend a lot of time and effort trying to get our message out there. We can't become suddenly shy about our religion just because one of our number is running for office.

Our first senator, Reed Smoot, had to go through a grueling investigation before he could be seated in the Senate. We can hardly expect the first serious Mormon candidate for president not to face a similar gauntlet.

The doctrine that our opponents would love to hang around Romney's neck is the one about human beings having the potential to become like God.

Or, as our opponents like to put it — because it sounds more insane — Mormons believe that they're going to become gods.

Now, that's just not accurate. We believe that those who repent of their sins and become perfect of heart will be, by the grace of Christ, exalted. But how many people have you known who are truly perfect of heart, desiring nothing but to serve God and their fellow humans?

I've known a few. But I'm most definitely not one of them. I'm in the category called "sinners," and I have a pretty good notion that most of us are.

We also believe that people who never heard the gospel during mortality can accept it in the next life. Certainly many who were never "Mormons" in their mortal lives will be exalted.

But that's quibbling over their phrasing. The point of contention is whether anyone can become Godlike.

It all comes down to what we mean by "God."

In one sense, we're in perfect agreement. We all point to the Bible and say, "We believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." We believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, that he is divine himself, and that only by his grace can we be cleansed of our sins and return to the presence of the Father.

As far as I'm concerned, anybody who believes that is a Christian. You can be wrong about a lot of the details, but all who accept Christ's divinity and try to live by his teachings are Christians.

However, something happened between the writing of the Bible and the settling of the traditional Christian doctrine of God. What came between them was Plato.

Technically, it was Neoplatonism. But I'm not writing a book, I'm writing a newspaper essaycolumn, and a lot of fine distinctions are going to be left out.

For a thorough treatment of the details, read "How Greek Philosophy Corrupted the Christian Concept of God," by Richard R. Hopkins.

Plato taught that all physical objects are unreal because they're corrupt and imperfect and doomed to change and die. The perfect chair or star or stone or man has no tangible existence — only the "idea" of these things can be real because only the idea does not change or corrupt or break or die.

Likewise, whatever we call true, beautiful or good in this world is merely a shadow of the ideal, and therefore real and unchanging Truth, Beauty and Goodness.

In Plato's view, the only god worth worshipping is the perfect ideal of the True, the Beautiful and the Good.

That god cannot have any physical presence in time and space because physicality and duration would diminish its perfection.

The Bible, however, is thick with references to the physical existence of God. We are made in his image, says Genesis. Christ went to some trouble to show his disciples that he had become a resurrected being with a body of flesh and bone. Yet somehow, within a few generations after the writing of the New Testament, "traditional Christianity" had adopted Plato's definition of the perfection of God, and treated the biblical physicality of God as metaphor.

The main point of disagreement between Mormons and traditional Christianity is that we believe in the biblical God — the God in whose image we were made, the resurrected Christ with a perfect body of flesh and bone — and they don't.

Or, rather, their theologians don't. Most ordinary Christians ignore the creeds; when they pray, they're thinking of God as a person with a face, with arms and legs, who actually exists in space and time.

They believe in the biblical God, as we do. You have to go to college to accept the paradoxes of the platonic God that traditional Christianity has embraced.

To help make the difference clear, let me use, as a parable, some "doctrines" we all learned in high school geometry class: A line is perfectly straight and infinitely long.

All lines in the same plane either touch or they don't touch. If they don't touch, they are parallel and they go in the same direction, infinitely.

Those are the only two choices with lines in the same plane: They're either parallel or they intersect somewhere.

Now here's a theological argument between a traditional Christian (TC) and a biblical Christian (LDS):

TC: The Trinity consists of three parallel lines, which touch each other.

LDS: If they touch each other, they're not parallel.

TC: Nevertheless, they are parallel, and they touch. They touch at every point.

LDS: If they touch at every point, they're the same line. Not three.

TC: They touch at every point, yet there are three.

LDS: That doesn't make any sense. Lines can't be different yet the same, parallel yet intersecting. The words stop having any meaning when you say such things.

TC: That's because you have a finite, mortal mind, which cannot comprehend the nature of geometry.

LDS: That's just crazy. The Trinity is three lines, completely distinct, perfectly parallel, so they go infinitely in the same direction. That's simple, it's clear, and it's true. In fact, we've seen the lines.

TC: That's blasphemy! You can never see the lines! They're only imaginary!

LDS: Your lines are imaginary. The lines we've seen are real.

TC: Then you are not Geometers!

And that's where the discussion always ends.

There's no way any human being could become like the platonic God. By simply existing, we are infinitely inferior to that perfection. To be perfect, we would have to shed everything that makes us individual human beings and approach the same nonexistence that epitomizes the platonic God.

The biblical God, by contrast, is approachable and embraceable. We are forever his children and will never be his equals; everything we are comes as his gift; our hope comes entirely from the grace of his Son; our understanding comes from the Holy Spirit.

After this life, all who have become perfect in their obedience to God and are forgiven their sins by the grace of Christ will spend eternity serving God in his great work of continuing creation. Only thus can the best of us humans obey Christ's commandment to be perfect, even as our Father in Heaven is perfect.

We believe that all of God's children who serve him and embrace the atoning sacrifice of Christ (in this life or the next) will be taken into God's service and trusted by him with a portion of his eternal creative work. They will be like him, as adult children are like their parents.

It's why you have children, isn't it? So they can eventually take their place as adults?

That's what we Mormons believe about the nature of God. That's the God we find in the Bible. We can't find the platonic one there. They found him somewhere else.

But when it comes to choosing a president, does a person's opinion about the nature of God make any difference at all?

What makes a difference is the candidate's character: Does he actually live by the rules he professes to believe in? Does he keep his word?

Character is the only issue that matters, in my opinion. A person who professes correct opinions but has no honor won't be much good as president, while a person of honor can believe what he wants about God and still be a president we can trust.

"Merry Christmas to All and to All a Good Night"

2007-12-06T19:10:00.000-07:00

This a poem about Christmas that has always struck a chord with me. I hope it does with you too.

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.

Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.
The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.

My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.

The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know, Then the
sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.

My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.
Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.

A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.

"What are you doing?" I asked without fear,
"Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"

For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts..
To the window that danced with a warm fire's light
Then he sighed and he said "Its really all right,
I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night."

"It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.
No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.

My Gramps died at ' Pearl on a day in December,"
Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers."
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of ' Nam ',
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.

I've not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile.

Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red, white, and blue... an American flag.

I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.
I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.

I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother..
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall."

"So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I'll be all right."
"But isn't there something I can do, at the least,
"Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast?

It seems all too little for all that you've done,
For being away from your wife and your son."
Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
"Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us."

Mitt Romney Tackles top LDS Issues

2007-11-20T12:34:00.000-07:00

At last — Mitt tackles top LDS issues
By Doug Robinson
Deseret Morning News
Published: November 20, 2007

Good morning, everyone. I'm Brother — I mean, Mitt — Romney, and I'm running for president. As you might know, for months people have been pressuring me to discuss my Mormon faith the same way my twin, John Kennedy, discussed his Catholicism before he was called to be president.

Somehow my religion has become the issue of my campaign. One Washington Post poll showed that people would vote for a woman and a black but not a Mormon.

So Gladys Knight just missed.
Ba-da-boom.

A Harvard professor called me the "most qualified" of all the candidates — have I mentioned in the last five minutes that I saved the Salt Lake Olympics? — but noted that my faith could prevent me from moving into the Oval Office. So I have called this press conference to address this issue. I am thankful for this opportunity, and I know that I'll get more out of this than you will. I'll take questions now.

No. 1. Why is this press conference starting 10 minutes late?
It was scheduled to start at 9 a.m. MST — Mormon Standard Time. MST is about 10 minutes later than the rest of the world. Most BYU football fans, for instance, have never heard "The Star Spangled Banner."

No. 2. Can you discuss the widespread rumor that Mormon men are subjected to horrible violence and unspeakable ugliness regularly in the Mormon culture?
I'm not here to talk about church ball. Not in front of the women anyway. Next question.

No. 3. If you win, will there be a Second Lady and Third Lady in the White House?
Listen, the only thing Mormons know about polygamy is what they learn on "Big Love" and the 10 o'clock news. We marry one partner — of the opposite sex — and have 3.5 kids and that's pretty much it.

No. 4. What about this Warren Jeffs guy we keep hearing about?
Warren Jeffs has about as much chance to become the president of the Mormon church as a Mormon has to become president of the United — oh, wait; never mind.

No 5. Do Mormons have horns?
Yes, and they use them frequently in the traffic jams that form outside of general conference biannually. No, in all seriousness, we drop our horns at puberty.

No. 6. Do Mormons still drive wagons on the roads?
Please, that's the Amish gig! We do like vans and Suburbans, though — aka the Mormon Cadillac.

No. 7. Is it difficult being a Mormon?
Nah, it makes life easier. LaVell Edwards noted a few years ago that one of the benefits of church membership is that when you forget a first name there's always an out — "Hey there, um, Brother Smith."

No. 8. Are Mormons a threat to national security?
Not unless you're on the road on the last Sunday of the month. It's an inside joke.

No. 9. Why should we trust a Mormon?
Because the 49ers and Eagles did. Because the Miss America pageant did. Because so did Black & Decker and voters in Nevada. Here's a list of Mormons (you can sing it to the tune of Adam Sandler's Hanukkah song) "Sharlene Wells-Hawkes is a Mormon; so is Dale Murphy, Steve Young and J. Willard Marriott; Warren Jeffs — NOT A MORMON! Neither is B.J. Honeycutt, but everyone thinks he is; We've got John and Glenn Beck and a senator and coach named Reid; Robert Redford and Larry King both married Mormons; Mike Wallace is not a Mormon, but he really likes our leader; Larry Miller, Johnny Miller, Donny and Marie; all of them are Mormons, just like Ann and me."

No. 10. Could you discuss the confusion about your former Mormon leadership title of steak president?
I've had several people ask me if they could have theirs "medium well." It's s-t-a-k-e, not s-t-e-a-k.

No. 11. As a long shot, how do you ever expect to move to the White House?
The elders quorum.

No. 12. Can we count on you to visit us regularly once you're in office?
I'll bring a friend. How about the last Sunday of the month?

"Who do you know who's lost a buttock?"

2007-10-30T22:23:00.000-06:00

What do you think of my new look and my mad camera phone skills?

This is my wig for Halloween. I'm Tonks from Harry Potter! I'll put more pictures up after I get them from the Young Women Halloween party.

Hey, not all my titles can be winners... Spring 2007

2007-10-16T11:01:00.001-06:00

Okay. Here are some pictures from Spring of this year:

This one is where the Lofley family goes every year for Easter. We have a big pot-luck lunch in the desert and somehow, the Easter Bunny knows we're all going to be there and so he hides lots of eggs all over the desert for us to find. Sometimes we find eggs that he left last year. And even batter, sometimes they have money in them...I wonder why I never got money eggs at my house? Eh. Candy's better anyhow.

Funny story about it, the first year J and I were dating he invited me to "Easter dinner with the family" and so I went and bought a new dress, heels, did my hair and makeup all nicely....only to pull up and figure out that I was the only one not in jeans and sneakers. It's all about first impressions, right?

I saw this cool cabin in the desert. I think I want to move in!

After all that fun in the sun, grandma put our nephew, Cameron in the tub to play. I went to check in on him after a couple minutes and this is what we found (I added the washcloth for the pic):

We took a trip to Hogle Zoo with our neighbor Shelly and her little guy, Boston, and their foster daughter Kiley; J's sister, her husband, and their 3 boys (Cameron, Jordan, and Bryson)

Happy for U

2007-10-16T10:53:00.000-06:00

I just figured out how to get the pictures from my camera phone to actually work out size-wise so that I can post them. So, I'm gunna photo dump!

Here are a couple more from Becky's wedding. I made these picture frames for the bridesmaids to give to her and the groomsmen to give to Keith. We all signed them and took the obligatory bride-with-bridesmaids and groom-with-groomsmen pictures that they can put in the middle. How cute am I, right?

What's Blonde and True Blue and Red all Over?

2007-10-14T16:38:00.000-06:00

I just attended my first football game at the University of Utah (gasp). I figured that since I do go there now that I could muster up some school spirit and support the team... that and BYU is sold out for the rest of the season...

I realized that I don't actually own any red t-shirts. I considered (briefly, for fear of physical harm) wearing a BYU shirt or hat just to have a little fun. Glad I didn't- I've heard stories. I did, however, wear my blue and white scarf cause I just can't give up the blue blood.

Aubrey, my friend from nursing school at the U, and I had a great time dancing to the music and cheering on the boys. Oh, and there's good news: they won! (It was against San Diego State, in case you cared) Here are a couple pics of us (and by 'us' I mean me) acting like idiots:

The view:

Um, Go Utes?

Reboot, Retry, Abort

2007-09-20T12:53:00.000-06:00

Any of this look familiar?

I Steal Photos...

2007-09-20T10:51:00.000-06:00

...from other blogs! The girl cousins all met up at our cousin Lauren's wedding reception and the next week had lunch at the Happy Sumo (my new favorite restaurant). Here are a couple of photos of all us us gettin our pretty on....

(photos courtesy of Chelsea, although she doesn't know yet!)

Ode to Grammar

2007-09-17T15:19:00.000-06:00

Remember the post about my shiny new grammar books? Well, I have been reading Eats, Shoots, & Leaves and have found myself laughing out loud, usually while in public places where it is not appropriate to be laughing out loud, especially while holding a book with pandas on the front.

Here's an excerpt that demonstrates a little bit of why I love this book:

Here are the weapons required in the apostrophe war:
correction fluid
big pens
stickers cut in a variety of sizes, both plain (for sticking over unwanted apostrophes)
and colored (for inserting apostrophes where needed)
tin of paint with big brush
guerrilla-style clothing
strong medication for personality disorder
loudhailer
gun

The author also would like a squad of so-called punctuation vigilantes.

Ahh, my new best friend....

Calling All Bloggers

2007-09-17T14:10:00.000-06:00

Our Young Women have the once in a lifetime opportunity to sing in a Young Women's Choir for the Saturday Afternoon session of the LDS General Conference this year. We are in the Springville West Stake and the choir consists of stakes from the Springville/Mapleton areas in Utah. As one of the leaders, I have been taking our girls to their rehearsals every Sunday and let me tell you, the Spirit when these girls sing is just incredible. It's one of those times where I begin wondering to myself if I could just wear the outfit, no one would notice me slipping in to sing, would they? I can still pass can't I? Well, sadly, my conscience got the best of me on that one and I watch rehearsal from the lobby and wish wish wish I were still 17...

The reason I tell you all this is because I'd like to see what kind of magic we (collectively) can work. We've been issued just enough tickets for the girls to go and take one parent. So, here's where you come in. The Church issues tickets to Stake Presidents all over the world to be distributed to their local members. I am looking for any tickets to the Saturday Afternoon session (October 6th) that you may be able to get your hands on. I know that, particularly for out-of-Utah Stakes, there are often unused Conference tickets resulting from members not being able to travel to Utah. Would you please call around a bit, forward this request, and just generally see what you can do to help me out?

We have 2 girls whose dads are completely inactive that have expressed a great interest in watching their daughters sing in the Conference Center. That's who the first 2 tickets will go to --if we can secure them. I talked with my Bishop tonight and promised him I will do whatever I can to see if we can find some tickets for these Dads. The experience of participating in Conference will provide these young women's fathers an opportunity to feel the Spirit unlike any other they may experience in their lives.

So, will you make a call or send an email? If you need any additional information, please contact me. My Bishop is even going so far as to place an ad in the classifieds to try and get some tickets, but I'm hoping the power of the world wide web will work for me. Again, it's the Saturday Afternoon Session (or 2pm MST) on October 6th, 2007.

Thank you in advance for checking. It's something small, but this could make a huge difference in a lot of lives.

Reach Out and Touch Someone

2007-09-15T21:35:00.000-06:00

Recently I have noticed an alarming occurrence as I drive our 1974 Volkswagon Super Beetle through town.

My car inspires violence.

I mean, just look at it. Are you a little hot under the collar? Does this look like a car that just makes you want to reach out and pummel someone?

I speak of course, of the infamous "Slug Bug" factor. You know, when you see a VW bug, you clamor to be the first to yell, "slug bug!" (or some variation) and then you punch your nearest neighbor before he gets you. What is this teaching our children? Is it really a social injustice veiled by the pretense of a harmless game, only masking a historically anthropological drive to establish alpha-status and dominance in society? A senseless, random act of unprecedented violence? A way for picked-on younger siblings to level the playing field? I can think of a number of lessons to be learned and observations made from this practice: the militarial 'pre-emptive strike'; violence solves problems; Germans sound angry whenever they speak, so it's more or less a knee-jerk reaction...to name a few.

Where did this come from?

Ever the scholar, I turned to everyone's favorite non-reliable and non-fact-checked source for information when one wants to sound intelligent without actually having to put forth any effort...or be intelligent, for that matter- Wikipedia. Here's what 'they' have to say about it:
Most references about the game originate from unofficial sources and personal accounts from players. No facts about this game are certain, though top estimates suggest that it has existed since the 1960s.

Wow. Gripping. There's the justification your mother is looking for before she sticks your nose in the corner for slugging your brother....or maybe she once slugged her sister that way and is happy to pass on a tradition. Whatever.

Anyhow, I was waxing philosophical as I drove my bug at a break-neck 55mph (in the 75mph zone...pedal to the metal, baby) home, air-drying my hair and rockin out to the BOSE stereo system the previous owners installed (my car is an oxymoron on wheels), and I wondered to myself, could this problem be made worse? I feel kinda bad that my car inspires so much violence.....dude. That guy just totally got clocked by his girlfriend...rock on, sista...this really is an effective blow-dry for my hair and it's saving me loads of time........(more random thougts)...

The answer (at least to my question and not to the ceaseless ramblings in my head) is yes, by the rules I grew up on (which afforded many more slugging opportunities), yes it could be worse (at lest for you and your arm, if you're sitting next to me).

Three (alright, four...and an exclamation) words: Perdiddle. Woody. Slug Bug. Ow.

And here's the rules (at least according to Wikipedia)

idk, brb, lol, and the like....

2007-08-28T15:32:00.000-06:00

Is it wrong to think that we're cheating on the English language with a younger, hipper, more trendy language? I think we are. Or did I just miss the Cool Train?

Imagine my surprise when I got an email from my dad and he's all, "OBTW . . ."! I had to laugh.

I'm an avid opponent to "netspeak". (Notice that period outside the quotation marks? It's okay; I looked it up. Less I digress to another rave of my shiny new grammar books...) Maybe I'm showing my age here (I AM a whole quarter-century now), but when I email, and even when I text, I still spell most everything out. Call me a grammar prude or whatever, but I hate all of the abbreviations and feel like I'm having to translate a foreign language just have an electronic conversation with someone. And the feelings of unfaithfulness? I can barely stand it.

He's Sooo A Missionary Now

2007-08-27T17:15:00.001-06:00

You know your little brother is officially a missionary when he uses the word 'stoked' for the first time in his life.....Here's Andrew's latest letter:

Subject: Don't Panic
Date: Saturday, August 25, 2007 9:19:38 PM

Preparation Day this week was moved to Friday. I wasn't able to email on Friday due to a baptism in the evening, so I'm emailing today.

Speaking of baptisms, the one we just had was the first one since October of last year, so the ward's pretty stoked. That and I had another baptism today in my last area that I got to go to - the most notorious Dry Mormon in the mission finally took the plunge - 8 Elders and the Mission President all showed up for it, including yours truly.

Also, since I've been gone (transferred), most of the people I was working with in my old area (Sacramento) have gotten baptized, so I'm pretty happy.

Other then ensuring people's eternal happiness and salvation, nothing exciting has happened this week. Well, exciting for Stockton that is. I could go anywhere in the next few days due to transfers on Monday Night, I'll give you the news on Tuesday. . . AND I'm sending pictures.

Who loves ya?

That'll Do, Comma

2007-08-25T15:45:00.000-06:00

I'm giddy. What's making me giddy? Being a complete and utter NERD is making me giddy! Why? Because I went to Barnes & Noble and got shiny new GRAMMAR BOOKS!!!! Yay!!!

I have gotten back into book editing...although this time around is a bit different. It's all online and it's for authors who are just writing for fun- not for actual, real-life publishing. It's a lot of fun! I have 3 authors that I'm working with and they are keeping me pretty busy. It's all fiction. I started having doubts as I recited my grammar rules (nerd alert) in my head and so had the need (more like, had the excuse, really) to go and get books....wouldn't want to lead anyone astray, would I?

Here is a picture of what I spend (nearly all of my) time doing! (the titles are:The Grammar Bible: Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Grammar but Didn't Know Who/Whom to Ask; Eats, Shoots & Leaves; and Grammar Sucks: What to Do to Make Your Writing Much More Better.....Don't you just love a good title?)

Who's Your Daddy

2007-08-23T17:21:00.000-06:00

Guess who's new to the blogging world? My Dad! Given it's a (gasp!) political blog (were you actually surprised?) but it's blogging nonetheless. If you're interested in reading his editorials or striking up a debate, you can read through his stuff here.

Our Miner Update

2007-08-22T15:04:00.001-06:00

We went to see Justin's cousin at the hospital today. He had just gotten out of surgery to wire his jaw shut. His ear looks really good. I think he even had the same doctor that I did cause his gauze was stitched to his ear too. He looks really good considering what he's been through; he looks a lot better than we were expecting. His hand is all bandaged up and will need more surgery and I didn't get a look at his foot. We only stayed for a minute since he was post-op, but I thought I'd do a quick post. He is one lucky dude.

It's a Small, Small World

2007-08-19T21:17:00.000-06:00

I know you've probably heard.....

There are those 6 trapped miners here in Utah. Then there are the 6 injured and 3 killed rescue miners who were trying to find "our 6." Well, this all happened right where Justin grew up and where all of his relatives live.

And what we all knew was possible happened. His cousin, Carl, is one of the 6 injured in the rescue attempt when there was another "mountain bump" on Friday night. He was buried up to his chest when the walls blew in. It ripped off his ear, broke his jaw, severed the tendons and shattered his wrist, and smashed his foot. But he's alive. He was life-flighted up to the University of Utah (where I go to school for nursing) and his ear was reattached, they've worked on his wrist, and they'll wire his jaw this week and fix his foot. The good news is that he's okay. The bad news is that 3 others weren't quite so lucky.

We just got back from the Lofley Family Reunion down there and were moved by the mood, but also by the support. We took some pictures so you can get a taste of just what it's like down there right now.

Carl will be ok. There's no brain or spinal cord damage, but we don't know what affect the other injuries will have on him in the long-run. For these miners, their physical well-being is their livelihood. Please keep him and the others in your prayers.

Here's a couple from the drive home through the canyon. Kinda gives you hope.

And then we looked outside after the rain. And what do you think was at the end of the rainbow? Our house!

Um...Hi?

2007-07-07T13:01:00.001-06:00

...My name is Kathleen and I'm a bad blogger...
"Hi, Kathleen"

Okay. I know I've been gone for a while. I'm not dead. Although if I were it would make this entry just that much more impressive.

On the 4th (at an AMAZING cousin dinner/bbq at my parents', which incidentally is the first time I've been outside in a few WEEKS), my oh-so-understanding cousins (of the female variety and very cute new haircuts I might add) let me know on no uncertain terms that my blog has been lacking and thereby yielding NO entertainment value when sought out on boring work-days.

Well, Hereyago, ladies! A shiny, new blog entry...about nothing in particular...

Have you ever felt that all your learning (and student loan money) has been for naught? Ugh. Me too. So maybe I'll pick YOUR brain about medical mumbo-jumbo. Know anything about cortisol? Specifically a LOW serum cortisol level when tested after 1mg dexamethasone? Me neither. Geez, I thought I passed pathophysiology with an A. Well, normal range values are 5-25 parts/unit and I came back with a whopping 1.0. What does that tell us? Well, the presenting symptoms indicated a cortisol "problem", namely, Cushing's Disease. However, my labs were the exact opposite. Have I lost you yet? Good. We're in the same boat. Now, while this all points so Adrenal Insufficiency, symptoms and labs are pointing in opposite directions. I've been all over the internet and have seriously considered digging out my old patho books and notes, but those tend to give me nightmares which I'm not inclined to missing. Any ideas? My next Dr. appointment is on Monday, but it bugs me when I can't diagnose myself, especially (this is for the Weight Loss gals) when I'm just trying to friggin' feel better! Grrrrr. Sick of being sick- that's what I am. I've gotten pretty good over the years of diagnosing myself and then checking it over with my Dr.s and then getting some drugs, but I'm stumpin myself! The good news in all of this is that I have a new Doc who is really intrigued and therefore very interested in fixing me, once and for all. *cheers and applause here*

Well, nobody likes people talking about their medical problems and I just made you do it. Sorry. That's about as exciting as my life has gotten.

But, for sticking in there and reading till the end of my ramblings, I shall treat you with something you may or may not have already known about me and that I am no longer embarrassed to admit. I am a Harry Potter freak. Love everything. The books, the movies, and especially the books on cd. If you haven't listened to Jim Dale read to you, you haven't lived. Best narrator ever. Period. You MUST listen to Harry Potter on audiobook. Must. Imperative for living fulfilled life. And I already have my tickets for the Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix in IMAX. Yup. Just that much of a nerd. Now, not sooo hardcore that I'm going to the midnight showing, and I don't own any costumes, but enough that I should still probably be embarrassed. And, since I'll be traveling on the day that the final book is released, I have made my parents promise that we will stop and buy the audiobook and listen to it on the drive back from the Van Duker Family Reunion....I even briefly considered not going on the trip so that I could make sure I could buy it! Now is that lame or what?! But I only BRIEFLY considered it, so I'm not THAT bad a person....

Yup. There ya have it. Freak. But I'm okay with it. We all have our guilty pleasures and mine happens to be getting swept away by my imagination and some really great writing....at least it's not alcohol!! ;)

Well, my friends, I have to get back to my reading. It's about all I do these days. And yes, it's Harry Potter...but not the books, although I am re-reading the sixth one so I'm all caught up for the seventh. There's this great stuff called FanFiction that a bunch of people write using the characters from JK Rowling and making their own stories and I'm addicted to it. Good stuff. You should check it out.

Alrighty. Another pointless blog entry. I promise I'll post some pics of the 4th of July (my 2nd favorite holiday after Christmas) and the bbq and even some of the fireworks if I can get them to load after Heather sends them to me. (love ya!)

So, until next time my faithful blog-followers. Go read a story. Or tell me what you know about cortisol.

Just a quick update

2007-05-16T01:43:00.000-06:00

I'm alive! It's my internet that's having health problems now...

I am finally back with the living post surgery. I'm not a really great recover-er in post op like I would hope. That being said, I have dutifully documented my jaunt with the scalple via my camera phone and I need to make a post about that and all the other things going on.

That being said, our internet is having some "technical difficulties" and won't be reliable (fingers crossed) until the guy comes on Friday. Hopefully then I can put all my posts and pictures up.

One other important note: My family is moving to Sacramento! It's about 98% sure right now with the job offer for my dad and mom is already fixing everything up to sell the house. It's looking like just a couple months away and we are really considering heading out there too. We have been looking at moving out that way for a while, mostly for Justin to do law school and me to have nursing opportunities, either to finish school out there or to finish here first and then practice their while J is in law school. So lots of changes and thoughts swimming around in my narcotics-filled little brain!

Hope that wasn't too confusing for you. Like I said, once I can get my computer to run faster I'll be better at this.

And yes, Megan, I'm trying to catch back up to being on the Doezie wagon. Today I got out for the first real time since my surgery and my sister in law took me to the store to get Justin birthday cake stuff and then to the mall, which I walked the length of-twice. For me, that was a big, exhausting step! And I'll try to do more tomorrow. We're gettin there. Thanks for not giving up on me! As for the the dieting, I've been pretty much living on cinnamon toast since surgery. Don't know why I've been craving it, but it's on whole wheat!

Happy Birthday to my Hubby

2007-05-15T09:36:00.000-06:00

Today is the day Justin made his way into this world 26 years ago! I am so blessed to have found him (although unconventionally) and so lucky to have him in my life forever. Here are some of the great things about him:
1. He NEVER judges or speaks badly about anyone
2. His little "birthmark" blond patch on the side of his head
3. He always tries to cheer me up when I am sad
4. He proudly served his country in great capacity for 8 years, traveling around the globe fighting the bad guys and all thanklessly.
5. He can fix ANYTHING
6. He wrestled in high school and only lost 1 match
7. He's not prideful or conceited
8. He got accepted to Harvard and MIT from his SAT and ACT test scores alone
9. He loves loves loves to debate: anyone, anytime, anything
10. He's from the tiniest little town in Utah: ELMO and moved out when he was 16.
11. He also went to high school, college, and held down a full time job from 16-18.
12. He's always looking at things and saying "there has to be a better way" so much like Grandpa Olson
13. He trained our dog, Carson, to detect heart attacks and had her with him through his whole deployment
14. He secretly likes to watch Desperate Housewives with me and he's addicted to Tivo
15. He is so stinkin smart it's not even funny. He's a wealth of useless information too
16. He'll do anything for anyone who needs him
17. He's put his education on hold to go into the military and then to support having a wife until we can get it all figured out.
18. He's the oldest of 3 siblings
19. He indulges my craziness and has been there like a rock through all of my health issues, never complaining
20. He's almost done with his undergrad in Mechanical Engineering/Business Management and then will go to law school for patent law
21. All kids and all animals loooooove him.
22. He's been growing out his hair since the day he got out of the Army and so he wears a hat every day until it's how he wants it.
23. He never works out but is incapable of gaining weight and can run a 4:30 mile without ever training
24. He loves hunting and fishing and golfing and would be completely happy doing nothing but for the rest of his life
25. He's a great percussionist and I often have to stop him from drumming on everything
26. He's my perfect everything.

Elder Awesome Update

2007-04-24T15:06:00.000-06:00

Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2007 18:31:08 +0000

Don't panic, P-Day is on Tuesday this week, because it's TRANSFERS! Coincidentally, I'm getting a new companion again, but not moving. I'll send you my plaque scripture later today via Elder Leatham's pocketmail - speaking of which, they hold your mail until everyone's done with transfers. It got to the office on the 18th, but I won't receive it until later this week; I hope you asked my president if it was okay first, I don't know if you've gotten the survey back yet. [Dad is sending Andrew a pocketmail thingy so that he can send email more readily. Currently, the computers at the library have a 20 min/once a week limit. This will allow Andrew to at least READ all the email he gets and then he can use his 20 min for responses]

I might have misinterpreted it, but did you guys pick up a puppy off the street? And you're getting a new puppy from Brix and Peabell? That ought to be interesting. Hopefully it takes after it's mom. [Peabell is a very nice, quiet dog...the opposite of Brix] Speaking of old barky, has he stopped looking for me around the house yet? [Brix, also known as Barky Van Schnauzer, is going to be bred with the neighbor's dog, Peabell and they will keep one of those puppies...don't know where he got the "pick up a puppy off the street" thing unless I haven't heard the news]

As to Jeremy, or anyone else writing me, I'll do personalized responses as soon as I get the pocketmail thing, as previously I've been doing one big happy group email. Does the pocketmail handle pictures too? That would be cool.

Oh, and a funny story - through a series of truly bizarre happenings, I happened to have that can of beef stew in my backpack one day, and it might have saved someone's life in keeping them from going into diabetic shock.

Oh, and I've now lost a total of 20 pounds since I started. I'm not sure if that's a good thing. [Yes its a good thing!] I'm also tanner then the Asians in my apartment too now on my arms. Biking has it's benefits, but I still hate it.

Well, the other elders want to use the computer too, so I have to go now.
Ba-bye, I'll send my plaque scripture later.

Always the Bride, never the Bridesmaid...wait...that didn't sound right...

2007-04-22T19:06:00.000-06:00

I recently got back from Becky and Keith's wedding in Savannah, GA. It was April 14th and it was beautiful! She looked amazing, the whole thing went off without a hitch, and I even managed to remember to take a few pictures! It was the first time that I've ever been asked to be a bridesmaid, but between you and me, I totally rocked. Worth my weight in gold (I'm worth a LOT then!) Seriously. There should be an award for Bridesmaid of the Year. So, if you need a freakin awesome bridesmaid have your people call my people. I have references. I also do bar mitzfas.

I'll have to post more pictures later when I get some from other people (like pictures of the actual ceremony since I don't have any cause I was IN it!). It was a lot of fun learning about the Scottish culture and sharing some American ways too. I have to mention one almost tragic but pretty funny thing: when I was walking down the isle (we walked in facing the crowd not from behind them) my heel got stuck in a brick and I nearly biffed it. That would've been pretty good, but, like any good Miss America (that totally should have been me by the way. I think I missed my calling) I saved it and hopefully no one was the wiser....but that leads to a question....when walking down the isle towards the crowd do you look professional, perhaps with a pleasant smile as you gracefully wedding-march it on in, or do you flash the (temporarily un-brace-ed) pearly whites and work the catwalk? Obviously, I worked the catwalk. I bet I looked like such a pageant contestant. Ha!

Less I digress too far, Here are some photos from the whole trip:
This is Becky and I on our Dolphin Tour that we took with her family. There were 4 dolphins and a baby dolphin, but of course none of my pictures of them turned out....good thing we're cute enough to make up the difference. Can you believe we've been best friends since we were 8? That's closing in on 20 years. Ouch. Feelin old.

We stayed in a rented townhome on Tybee Island. This is Brandi, Becky, and I

Friday all the gals went and got our nails done. Here's the blushing bride:

Larina (bridesmaid), Keith's aunt, and Marion (Keith's mom)

Here's Becky's Sister-in-law Wendy, Aunt Jane, and another sister-in-law, Erin. These women are so much freakin fun!

Did I mention the Dress would-be fiasco? The other girls' dresses had this boning in them that made them fit all funny and so I spent the whole time at the nail salon ripping hundreds of stitches out of dresses with my eyebrow scissors! The dress makers didn't bother to sew a casing for the boning, they just stitched it all in. One girl's dress even had a straight pin left in it in between the layers- saved her from certain death I'm sure! I mean, it could've had SARS or the Bird Flu! These dresses were made in China afterall. I know, I know. MacGyver I am not, however, I must say my work was somewhere between something worthy of a 007 and a neurosurgeon....(also notice how I smiled with my teeth! Teeth without braces...at least for a couple weeks)

Here's all the bridal party at the rehearsal dinner(Larina, Ashley, me, Becky, Brandi, Nikki):

Here are some cute Bridesmaid tootsies. Mine are the pink ones!

Me and my groomsman, Keith's Uncle Eric. He saved me from falling on my face when my shoe got stuck in the brick and he taught me a traditional Scottish dance that we did at the reception. He was a lot of fun. We had a blast. Now I have an Uncle Eric too!

I did ask the groom's mother, Marion, and his aunt the million dollar question that all Americans are dying to know: What DO they wear under those kilts?! The answer? (In your best Scottish accent)"Don't you ask any of them because they just might show ya!" So I never did find out......but you know you were wondering too!

All the girls, just before showtime (Larina, Brandi, me, Becky, Ashley, Nikki, Sarah):

The bridesmaids at the wedding dinner. I'm holding a picture frame that I decorated and we all signed for Becky. The guys gave one to Keith too.

And here is the happy couple having their first dance

It was such a blast. As soon as I get more pictures of the fun Afterparty that the bridesmaids had, I'll put em up! We stayed up ALL night.

Virtual Virtual Blogging?

2007-04-20T22:20:00.000-06:00

So, I've been blogging a LOT lately....in my head. So I have a Virtual virtual record of my life. Hmm....I'll have to do some catch up.

Mostly for my own sake, here are some future blog topics you can look forward to:

1. The GA wedding
2. Winning the Happy Mail binder
3. My recent Happy Mail packages (I've even left the contents in the boxes waiting for me to take pictures!)
4. My current health-related experiences....a preview: I have a new "Getting Better" Binder for my new doctor's treatments that will hopefully get me better! In the meantime, check out my latest and greatest diagnosis: Wilson's Temperature Syndrome for Subclinical Hypothyroidism!
5. Next week's surgery on my noseity-nose. I'll be having my honker filleted open like a trout next Thursday (the 26th) to fix my deviated septum once and for all (this is actually the THIRD go around at this, but with my new and improved, also a plastic surgeon, and not really really old, doctor) so that my nose can be the nose it always dreamed of being! Before and after pictures of course.

Now don't you again feel a part of my crazy little world?

Elder Awesome Update

2007-04-17T12:19:00.000-06:00

Okay. I've been behind on this, but here are Andrew's 2 latest emails:

Subject: Happy Belated Birthday
Date: Mon, 9 Apr 2007 23:59:48 +0000

First, I would like to note that is was my full intention to email you guys last
week, but due to he unforeseen event of other Elders dropping by to use the
washing machine I didn't have the chance. Second, you cannot get cucumber ranch
in CA, and my former trainer was overjoyed to get some. Third, the rest of the
package was great - Pooh Corner put the entire apartment to sleep in minutes.

As for myself, I've been in better shape before, even though I lost 10 pounds
since I got here. I won't go into details here and leave everyone in suspense.

[editor's note: Dad recently got a job offer in Sacramento that they are seriously considering, although nothing is set in stone yet] As to the issue of the family moving to Sacramento: In a word, NO. In two words,
HECK NO. If you think Sac City is anything like the small bit of California
you've seen, I'll just tell you that it's a hole. An expensive hole at that, as
a small 2 bedroom house runs around $1000 a month here, and any worthwhile house
is well out of price range. If you had my vote, it would be against moving. I
might also add that Sac and Stockton have the highest crime rates for car theft
and homicide in the USA. Not to mention some of the people here are all wackos
and druggies. On the other extreme are the supper rich, who are complete snobs,
are a so arrogant that you'd never be given the chance to socialize with them
anyway. I know I'm not supposed to talk bad about my area, but you would have to
pay me a LOT to live here, and it's almost out of the question for families. If
you move just outside Sac, It might be tolerable. It depends on the area.

On a lighter note, happy birthday to Kathleen! I haven't been able to see those
pictures yet because the library won't let me see attachments, but I hope I can
soon. And to all wondering parties, I don't care if you call me Andrew or
Elder. Until next week, I still love everyone; except for those no-good friends
of mine who haven't written to me. And has Jeremy put in his papers yet? If not,
please call him a pansie for me.

Andrew

PS. I don't need any more Book of Mormons really, and the Laos already have
plenty of resources.

Subject: To Clarify
Date: Mon, 16 Apr 2007 17:39:06 +0000

I'm not really sick, I've just been running myself into the ground on my bike -
I'll be fine.

There hasn't been too much happening this week outside of the usual carrying on
of the Lord's work here; with the exception of the pair of pants you sent my
split right up the seam on the right leg yesterday while I was biking - I saw
all these stickers on it advertising the great warranty, it's time to exercise it
already.

We had interviews with the president the other day, but I didn't bring up the
issue of you moving here. I haven't heard a Yay or Nay yet on that issue from
you, so I'll take the cue from Brad and take it in stride when it hap pens. In
the case that you do move here, there are plenty of deep country areas that they
could send me, or you could live close but not IN mission borders. What exact
area is your job site located at? Besides, I don't think Dad could listen to
California Politics for more then a few days without internal combustion kicking
in - the few pips we hear about are pretty stupid.

Next week is the fabled Transfer Week, where I may or may not be transfer ed or
switching companions or whatever else. In case I do get moved, I at least have a
baptism scheduled for the day before, so I can say I'll be happy about that.

Well, I only have 20 seconds left, so I need to let you guys go. Love you all,
tell Jeremy he's a pansie if he hasn't put his papers in.

Andrew

Random and Quick

2007-04-10T17:40:00.000-06:00

So, I have a few things to take care of really quickly:
1. Tomorrow I leave for Becky's wedding at 4am and won't be back until Sunday
2. Friday was my 25th birthday....the big Quarter Century. I'm depressed and having my quarter-life crisis (you're allowed to have those now)
3. Saturday we went down to the Lofley's for their desert Easter. Literally, the desert. It was fun though and I took a couple pictures I'll put up later.
4. Sunday we went to my parents for traditional Easter and like always, my mom told me I was singing in the choir. Sight reading. Fun fun.
5. Remember THE DRESS from a while back? The cute bridesmaid one? Well, long story short, China couldn't get it made for me with 5 months notice and so my mom and I wound up making one ourselves. The great part was that it only cost about $30. the bad part was that it didn't fit and the piping wasn't done right so we had to remake the ENTIRE dress in 2.5 days (including having Easter and all), so more like 12 hours total. It looks perfect though and I'll take pictures of it at the wedding.
6. I finally checked my mail and I got HAPPY MAIL from Chelsea and Amanda! I will make the individualized, public thank-yous when I get back, but thank you so much . It really made my day since I've been so stressed about the dress and getting all packed and all. And Amanda, those magnets are PERFECT. I have a magnet board and black magnets and the clear stones but never got around to making them. So thank you. I looooove them.

That's about all I have time for for now. Oh. One last thing. My dad just got a job offer in Sacramento, which is where my mom's 5 sisters and mother live....and incidentally where my little brother is currently serving his mission. No word yet on whether he'll take it or not, but proof positive that God had a sense of humor!!

I promise I'll write more when I get back from Savannah!!

Happy Birthday, Andrew!

2007-04-03T14:12:00.000-06:00

Today is Andrew's birthday! He turns 20. He's also on his mission in Sacramento, so if you want to send him an e-card or a note, send it to jwavanduker@myldsmail.com . I'm sure it would be appreciated. He is also looking for jokes and funny stuff as well as good LDS quotes, so if you have any of those, he'd really like it.

If he's ever send us some pics, I'd post em, but you'll just have to use your imagination!

Bombshell or just Bombed?

2007-04-03T13:59:00.000-06:00

So I finally scratched the itch to go blond. What do you think? I'm not sure if I'll keep it this blond. It was a little darker at first but pulled funny from the brown that I had on it at one point so it wound up a little blonder than I would've liked.
Anyways, I'm not a very good picture taker, so you'll have to forgive the dumb-ness of my face and the lack of toothy grin because I HATE showing my braces. But notice how tan I'm getting for the wedding in 2 weeks? At least that's lookin pretty good.
Whatever the case, here it is:

I may be a day late and a dollar short, but here's hopin!

2007-04-02T17:15:00.000-06:00

Okay. So the time to plant spring bulbs was technically last fall, right? Well, today, the 2nd of April, I planted my bulbs! Lame, huh. I figure that I'll just have late-spring, early-summer daffodils, tulips, and hyacinth. Longer to enjoy my favorite flowers, right? I'm just hoping that they didn't go on strike for the year and that they actually come up.
Here are the before pictures:
This is the "garden" area in front of our townhome. It's all dead and yucky from winter right now.

And this one is my pot next to my door:

Not much to look at now, but hopefully in a few weeks we'll have some buds. This is the first time I've ever planted flowers....it's the first time I've ever had some where to plant them!

Keep your fingers crossed.

The Latest on Dave's dad

2007-03-28T22:08:00.000-06:00

I just got a call from Dave. The brain tumor removal went well and they've moved his dad from the ICU to regular Med/Surg. The diagnosis is non-small cell carcinoma, which is lung cancer. I've done some research for Dave that I just sent to him and it doesn't look too promising, but I told him to wait until they talk with the oncologist on Thursday. Miracles happen.

The good news is that his dad is up and around already and his personality is normal- all good signs.

Keep their family in your prayers.

I'll update you when I know more. It still rips my heart out.

The C-word

2007-03-27T09:17:00.000-06:00

One of our friends, Dave Kleparek, has had a crisis that we've been really involved in. Have you heard the Tim McGraw song about living like you were dying? In it he says that his life stopped on a dime. That's about how we've been feeling through all of this. Dave wrote a good email to us and everyone else and I thought I'd share it with you:

"Justin and Kathleen,

"I took emergency leave [Dave is in the Army, stationed in Salt Lake. He and Justin became best friends while they were deployed together] to come up here to Washington to be here for my Dad's surgeries. We found out he had cancer out of the blue. One minute he was at work feeling dizzy, and then he's getting rushed to the hospital because he's not able to walk straight. They did a CAT scan and found a brain tumor the size of a golf ball. They checked him out with a full body MRI and found two more golf-ball sized cancer lumps in his lungs.

"Today when we went in for my dad's preparatory MRI for Tuesday's brain tumor removal surgery, we found out that the cancer in his lungs is "large cell cancer" meaning it does not respond to radiation and Chemotherapy. The good news is that his bone scan shows NO sign of cancer, and large-cell cancer does not spread easily, so when they do the operations to remove it, he should be good as new instead of constantly fighting outbreaks of cancer in whatever part of the body it migrates to.

"The locations of his lung cancer is a problem. One growth is in the back part of his left lung and the other is between his lungs, possibly near his heart.

"I have all the confidence and faith in the world that my dad, who just last year spent the summer bicycling from Seattle to Washington DC [he is in his early 70s and rides his bike to and from work every day.]will be strong enough to recover from whatever surgeries he goes through.

"My parents will be facing some financial trouble if my dad isn't able to get back to work at the start of the new school year in August [he is a janitor at a school].

"I'm praying that he will be healed quickly so he and my mother can move towards retirement and going on a mission.

"This whole trip has helped me repair some of the damage to my soul that I didn't realize was there from my childhood. My older brother, Kyle was my enemy as a kid, but since we've grown up, we've been able to make a truce. Neither of us really went out of our way to help the other. A couple days ago, we stayed up talking about all the things we did when we were kids and how it seems like it was a different lifetime ago, or that those events happened to someone else. We have truly forgiven each other. I stayed up until 4 in the morning becoming a true 'brother' to my older sibling. We talked about family, the past, the future, religion and even love with our spouses.

"I feel a deep healing has happened here. Maybe that's what this whole thing was about. It was a way for God to bring my family closer together than we have ever been."

I'm sure you can guess how this has affected everyone in the Kleparek's lives. It shows the power of prayer and faith and the Heavenly Father truly sees the end from the beginning and He knows what we need.

We faced a similar situation with my dad in recent history...my dad went hunting with Justin and his dad and had a little slip on the side of a mountain, twisting his knee. He went to the doctor and they found a large tumor on the back of his femur. The big scare was bone cancer, which is not treatable and always fatal. To make a long story short they removed the tumor and found it to be benign (that's good. malignant is bad.) and after a pretty good recovery it hasn't returned. He has to go in periodically to get his clean bill of health and to make sure it's in remission. We always talk about how he wouldn't have even known until it was much worse an possibly too late if he hadn't slipped on that mountain. (by the way, he didn't get a deer that time)

I can't describe the feelings in one's heart when you fear you're going to lose your daddy....when he hasn't met his grandchildren and when you are still convinced your daddy is superman; when you still need him and so does your mother. The sadness and loneliness is overwhelming and you find yourself trying to bargain with God while still saying Thy will be done.

I think that the best therapy for such a tortured soul is knowing through the gospel that we are a family forever. That your daddy will always be your daddy and that having faith means letting go- of control, of fear, of anger, of doubt.

I'm so glad to still have my daddy and that he'll be around for a long, long time. I know that prayers were answered on his behalf, just as they're being answered on Dave's dad's behalf.

Gotta have faith....who knew Steven Tyler could be so profound.

Elder Awesome Update

2007-03-27T09:09:00.000-06:00

Here's this week's letter:

First I'd like to point out that while I can only read emails on Monday, you can
write them whenever. Second, I'd like to request a few pictures from home - the
goofy family picture with Brad and myself brawling in particular. Other than that,
I can't think of too much I want for my birthday out here. Maybe one of these
email gizmos like the one I'm using, but you have to run it up the chain of
command to get it approved, which takes a while.

The weather here is getting brutal, 80 degrees or more unless it's raining. The
entire mission is holding it's breath waiting for "Otter Pop Season" to start.

The work here is going fairly well. Its California, and apparently asking
commitments from people is like pulling teeth. Those who are willing to listen
are pretty sweet though. California is way different than Utah, let me tell you.
Everything is far more expensive, and half our ward moves in 6 months. I think
it might be the area I'm in too, as Camillia City is by common consent one of
the most ghetto areas in the mission.

I'd like to write longer, but I'm short on time now. There may be a few item
requests after my birthday, but for right now music and pictures will be fine.
Have to go, love you all!
Andrew

How cute am I?

2007-03-23T17:09:00.000-06:00

Tomorrow I'm going to a bridal shower for Justin's cousin, Tiffany. The theme is ABC's and my letter was E. What the freak starts with E?! Think about it. Now remove everything with "egg" in it. Nada. Well, I called around and after much thought, I think I've done pretty well:

The Easter basket contains: (notice EEEEaster basket!)
Egg timer
Egg slicer
Exhale body wash by Suave
EPT test (who doesn't need one of those after you get married!)
Exfoliating facial cloths by Ponds
Elastics for her hair
Elmer's glue
Energizer batteries
Extra gum

I know, I know, I'm amazing (I wouldn't object to you telling me that though!). I tried to get EEEEverday items that EEEvery woman needs. Ha! I crack myself up.

Hooked on Phonics worked for me!

2007-03-23T11:02:00.000-06:00

In keeping with the "100" list theme.....

Do you love to read? Did you when you were a kid? I think that the plethora of entertainment available thanks to technology has really dampened our creativity and imagination and ability to entertain ourselves. I remember staying up late and reading as a kid and teenager. One summer I read The Work and the Glory series (the 8 books that were available at the time) in one month and one day. I didn't eat much, I read through the night, I even took baths so that I could read in the tub.

I've been doing a little research and have found several lists of "100 best" books- fiction, non-fiction, children's, etc. I thought I'd give you one list and the links to the others. What a great goal to have all these books in your library (already read, not just taking up space and looking good).

The National Education Association came up with a list voted on by kids.
Teachers First.com has suggested reading by age/grade level.
100 noted writers came up with their list of the 100 best books of all time.
The Modern Library has 2 lists: Novels and Non-Fiction-, both lists having one segment decided on by a board and another voted on by all of us Average Joes.

I thought I'd post the age/grade levels list because it's shorter and thereby a great place to start! I think one of my goals will be to read these with my kids (one day). I have such great memories of my daddy reading to us every night in the hallway while we were in bed. He did it for years and years, and he still reads to my little sister. The series that he read to us is by David Eddings, the Belgariad Series. Great fiction that really inspires the imagination.

With summer coming up and an intensified need to find things for kids to do, why not pick a couple from the list! Growing up, my friends had mandatory reading time every day in the summer. They all (all 6, ranging from 15 to 3) loved it after getting over the initial "do I haaaave to?" period. I like to take books on vacation and carry one in the car for whenever I'm waiting somewhere or when at the pool or park.

Do you already have a few check marks on the lists? Do you have any really great recommendations that you need to share?

Happy reading!

100 Best Books

Here is a list of one hundred books selected by the National Education Association as great reading for children and young people.

Books for All Ages

The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
Where the Sidewalk Ends: the Poems and Drawing of Shel Silverstein by Shel Silverstein
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
Heidi by Johanna Spyri

Books for Preschoolers

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see? by Bill Martin, Jr.
The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister
Corduroy by Don Freeman
The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise
Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney

Books for Children Ages 4-8

The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg
Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss
The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss
Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
Love You Forever by Robert N. Munsch
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst
The Mitten by Jan Brett
Stellaluna by Janell Cannon
Oh, The Places You'll Go by Dr. Seuss
Strega Nona by Tomie De Paola
The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams
How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss
The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by John Archambault
The Complete Tales of Winnie the Pooh by A. A. Milne
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Joffe Numeroff
The Lorax by Dr. Seuss
Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman
Jumanji by Chris Van Allsburg
Math Curse by Jon Scieszka
Are You My Mother? by Philip D. Eastman
The Napping House by Audrey Wood
Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig
The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter
Horton Hatches the Egg by Dr. Seuss
Basil of Baker Street by Eve Titus
The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper
Curious George by Hans Augusto Rey
Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge by Mem Fox
Arthur series by Marc Tolon Brown
Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes
The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton
Amelia Bedelia by Peggy Parish
The Art Lesson by Tomie De Paola
Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina
Clifford, the Big Red Dog by Norman Bridwell
The Paper Bag Princess by Robert N. Munsch

Books for Children Ages 9-12

Charlotte's Web by E. B. White
Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Little House on the Prarie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner
Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan
The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks
Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell
Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli
The BFG by Roald Dahl
The Giver by Lois Lowry
James and the Giant Peach: A Children's Story by Roald Dahl
Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor
Stone Fox by John Reynolds Gardiner
Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh by Robert C. O'Brien
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson
Matilda by Roald Dahl
Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume
Ramona Quimby, Age 8 by Beverly Cleary
The Trumpet of the Swan by E. B. White
The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery
The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder - Laura Ingalls Wilder Webquest
Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar
Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh
A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein
Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard Atwater
My Father's Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett
Stuart Little by E. B. White
Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech
The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis

Books for Young Adults

Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien
Summer of the Monkeys by Wilson Rawls
The Cay by Theodore Taylor
The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare

The List

2007-03-22T11:12:00.000-06:00

So, I've recently expanded my blogging acquaintances from the recent Happy Mail and I've noticed that a lot of girls have posted 100 things about themselves, their friends, etc. I decided to get in on the action so I started typing. And typing. And typing. I wound up with more than 100 after a lot of thinking and due to my attraction to symmetry (see #200) I felt compelled to write 200!

Don't think you need to read it all! Or any of it! If you do read the whole thing, then you definitely deserve a pat on the back. And a cookie. Go get yourself a cookie.

1.I love pink. Anything pink. Everything is better when pink.
2.I was born in San Diego
3.I grew up in Ohio and still say I’m from there
4.New dishes, bedding, and curtains get me all hot and bothered
5.I hate shopping. Go in, get it, get out. I don't mind shopping for others.
6.I got married on 02/02/02
7.I was on chemo for 4.5 years and just finished. Not many people knew, which is how I wanted it
8.Chemo gave me 50lbs and fine hair
9.I have 3 semesters left for my nursing degree, but I’ve been in school since 2000, having to take a couple breaks when the chemo got tougher
10.I've majored in Psychology, Broadcast Journalism, Music/Dance/Theater, and Nursing
11.I’m a Republican and not ashamed of it
12.I looooove being near so many cousins out here in Utah
13.I nanny for 3 of them
14.I’m glad my parents moved to Utah the same year I did (2000) although I thought they were following me and wouldn’t leave me alone at the time
15.My Aunt Lorraine says she only eats dark chocolate because milk chocolate is “adulterated” and I kinda agree
16.I’ve always wanted to be a news anchor
17.I have two puppies, Carson and Tonks, whom I love but drive me crazy
18.I have braces and so do all the 14 year old girls I teach at church!
19.A lot of people don’t notice, but that’s because I try not to show them
20.I have paint chips on all my walls but haven’t painted anything since moving in over a year ago
21.My inspiration for my family room came from a blue Mega M&M so I taped it to the wall and took it with me to find paint chips
22.It’s still there
23.I’m an optimist
24.I have a rule that I give out at least one complement a day
25.I think naked baby pictures are super cute. My husband calls them baby porn
26.I stick my foot in my mouth every day
27.What you see is what you get
28.I believe in being nice
29.I’ll stand up for anyone, but can’t seem to stand up for myself when I should
30.I cry when people are mean to me
31.I love doughnuts, hot chocolate, and microwave popcorn with extra butter
32.I hate it when published documents have typos in them, mostly books and spam email. Spell check, people!!
33.I cheered in High School and was on the BYU squad but I dislocated my shoulder in judo and that ended my cheer career
34.I’m no good at doing hair
35.I think dogs wearing clothes are really funny
36.I can’t seem to keep my house clean, but it was ALWAYS clean when Justin was deployed
37.I want to learn how to take really good pictures
38.I like reading about celebrities
39.I used to have a really great singing voice and then someone close to me told me they didn’t care for it and I’ve lost a lot of talent since then
40.I’m obsessed with vinyl lettering on walls, but can’t decide what I want on mine
41.I’m extremely indecisive
42.I’m also a perfectionist
43.Gerber daisies are one of my favorite flowers
44.My others are: lilies, tulips, daffodils, and roses
45.I don’t like flowers on Valentine’s Day because they’re so overpriced
46.Little things make me happy
47.Spring is my favorite season
48.I think I’m waaay funnier than everyone else does
49.I like doing stitchery
50.I started sleeping with a sleeping mask while I was on chemo and sleeping during the day and now I can’t sleep without it
51.I refer to my life in distinct segments: pre-chemo, chemo, and post-chemo
52.Most people didn’t know I was on it until I finished. Fine by me.
53.I hate it when people feel bad for me, but will always say thank you
54.I sleep with a teddy bear that Justin gave me
55.I’ve always hated stuffed animals. Except that one.
56.Fresh flowers make me so happy it’s almost ridiculous
57.I’ve been known to buy myself flowers
58.I would do it more often if I could
59.I go to spin class at 5:45am and haven’t been able to sit properly since I started
60.And I haven’t lost a pound
61.I wish I had a British accent
62.I listen to Harry Potter on cd EVERY NIGHT to fall asleep
63.It was the only thing that worked while Justin was deployed and now I’m addicted and can’t sleep if it’s not on
64.I can’t sleep with the tv on
65.My alarm clock has to have red numbers because the green-light ones wake me up
66.I love movies that take me to imaginary places, like Harry Potter, Narnia, and Pride and Prejudice
67.I was in the Army
68.I like to make lists; sometimes it’s compulsive
69.I am very insecure about my cooking because Justin wouldn’t eat anything I made, so now he cooks and I handle dessert
70.I secretly wish he’d change and like, or pretend to like, my cooking
71.He doesn’t read my blog, even though I tell him to
72.I always buy cake mixes when they’re on sale, but I don’t really like eating cake
73.I DO however, like eating brownies
74.Purses should have lots of pockets
75.I enjoy woodworking but I don’t have many tools yet
76.Putting on jewelry makes me feel fully dressed
77.I sing in the car constantly
78.I think HDTV if freakin awesome
79.My little brother is on a mission for my church (we’re LDS) in Sacramento
80.My mom’s whole family lives in Sacramento
81.We’re not telling the mission president
82.Primary songs make me cry
83.Once I lived on carrots and ranch dressing for an entire week
84.I don’t have a problem with fake-baking (tanning) in moderation and can justify it
85.I like debating, but I can’t stand it when it starts to feel personal or when emotions are involved
86.It eats me up when I think I’ve offended someone,
87.Or worse, if someone doesn’t like me
88.I love being organized, but can’t get my house that way
89.I can’t remember anything since chemo; I used to be able to remember everything from homework and due dates to my entire calendar without having to write anything down. Now, if I don’t write it down, it is lost in the nether-regions of my brain
90.I am most photogenic when I am thinking, “be photogenic” in my head
91.I think women in their 30s and 40s are the most beautiful
92.I am an open book. If you ask, I’ll tell you. If you don’t ask, it might just come out anyways
93.I enjoy negotiating and have gotten some super sweet deals. My motto is “the worst they could say is ‘no’”
94.When I go to sports games, I watch the cheerleaders more than the game
95.I miss my maiden name
96.I don’t lie, maybe I should sometimes
97.But I’m a very convincing liar
98.No one came to my Sweet 16 party, so now I have a phobia of party-throwing
99.I make friends fast, but often feel that my friendships are one-sided
100.So that means I have a lot of acquaintances and not many friends, but not for lack of trying
101.I remember faces well, but not names
102.I introduce myself by my nickname, Kat, but prefer that family and those close to me use my full name, Kathleen- kinda backwards
103.I could never keep Greek and Roman mythology straight. Still can’t
104.I don’t really understand Shakespeare
105.People tell me that I have a very expressive face
106.I have trouble hiding my emotions
107.I would love to have a dozen kids
108.I think I’ll be the strict parent, but I don’t want to be
109.My goal is to never raise my voice to my children….my mom never did
110.I live for Girls Camp and when I’m in a new ward I basically beg to work in the Young Women program
111.I’m not a very good teacher, but always get called to teach. I prefer discussions and encourage “deep thinking” rather than textbook answers
112.I don’t believe statistics- 70% are made up on the spot
113.I think you can prove anything you want if you ignore the contrary information….it happens every day
114.I miss ballroom dancing at BYU. I was good at it. I made back-up team
115.I often say seemingly unrelated things, but will gladly tell you my train-of-thought in getting there
116.I adore words. One of my favorite high school classes was etymology (the study of the roots and origins of words)
117.I can touch type because I made up my mind not to cheat in 8th grade typing class
118.Holding a sleeping baby always makes me feel better
119.I believe that everyone is innately good
120.I think writing rough drafts is pointless
121.I hate Microsoft Word’s auto formatting
122.I tend to over-extend myself and regret it later
123.I’m not a good dog-trainer and I can’t figure out why
124.I wish The Dog Whisperer would come to my house
125.I like talking on the phone
126.I like hand-writing letters
127.I believe in random acts of kindness
128.Being Mormon has made me a better person than I would’ve been
129.My faith is good all the time. I am not.
130.I think everything happens for a reason, even if I don’t know the reason
131.I’m an overachiever
132.BYU is way harder than it gets credit for
133.I took a calligraphy class, but don’t remember much
134.I call people from Utah “Utards”
135.Driving here scares me
136.I only yell at other drivers when someone’s in the car with me
137.I call driving here a “stupid people’s parade on wheels”
138.I was always the teacher’s pet in school, but I was just trying to be nice
139.I like making other people happy
140.Cloudy days make me sluggish
141.I love the beach
142.I can’t stand having sand stuck to my feet
143.I hate the profile of my face
144.I’m a total believer in cosmetic surgery….only the pretty people are ever against it. You never see an ugly person denouncing it, do ya?
145.I want laser-hair removal. From the neck down.
146.I sometimes tell people more than they wanted to know
147.I like being surprised
148.I used to snoop for Christmas presents, but only to see where the bags were from because I didn’t want to ruin the surprise, but if there was a Toys ‘R Us bag, it meant a good Christmas.
149.I think my eyes are my best feature, but I think I have pretty cute feet too
150.I’m way more forgiving of other people than myself
151.I would pretty much give you anything of mine that you ask for, but it drives me NUTS when people take things without asking.
152.I’ve learned not to be as possessive of material things. See above.
153.I’m still possessive though
154.I have a keen sense of smell, which is not a good thing
155.I love wearing skirts and dresses
156.I think I should’ve grown up in the 1940s when ladies were ladies
157.I swear in my head, but I won’t do it out loud
158.I feel bad when I swear in my head
159.I think Caffeinated soda is just as bad as coffee
160.I’ve had both
161.My Bishop gave me permission to drink caffeine while on/getting over chemo- he laughed that I was feeling guilty about it
162.I still feel bad about it and hope I’ll be able to quit
163.I talk a LOT when I’m caffeinated
164.I find the human body completely fascinating and enjoy knowing how and why it works
165.I often diagnose myself and then suggest my prescriptions to my doctor; but I let him figure out the doses…that’s what I pay him for
166.He knows I know what I’m talking about
167.Being inconsiderate really bothers me
168.I think taking a pole dancing class would be really fun
169.I hate getting my nails done because it hurts, but I like the way it looks
170.I’m more confident when I have makeup on, especially lipstick/gloss
171.I love big sunglasses, but I refuse to pay more than $8 for them
172.And watches. I love watches. Same price rule.
173.I’ve only seen half of one Broadway play…..Britani and I snuck into Miss Saigon at intermission because it was her old cast, but I’ve sung songs from many of them
174.The cast assured me that we’d have gotten in for free, but I still felt dishonest
175.I refuse to fart in front of anyone, including my husband
176.I may have given you too much information, but I don’t feel bad about it
177.I think that everyone should know how to change a tire before getting a license
178.I have never been out of the US; except Tiajuana, but that doesn’t really count
179.I think blogging counts as scrapbooking
180.I am very easily entertained
181.I’ve been skydiving. Twice. But I didn’t tell my parents until a couple of years ago. I'd do it again in a heartbeat
182.I get really motion sick and puke every time I fly. But I didn’t get motion sick at all when I went skydiving
183.If I hadn’t gotten married at 19 and diagnosed at 20, I’d be sterile
184.I hope I’m not sterile
185.I would love to have twins. First. Then all subsequent babies require HALF the bottles and HALF the diapers. Positive thinking.
186.I visualize being skinny again all the time, but “The Secret” hasn’t worked yet
187.I would love to travel
188.I want to make a difference in people’s lives
189.Everyone I know impacts my life in some way and I try to be cognizant of it
190.I love reading but feel that I am slacking off if I read for pleasure while I should be only reading text books until I graduate
191.I love it when people comment on my blog
192.I wish more people did!
193.I think my husband is totally hot and I get twitterpated looking at him
194.I think that one day I’ll be wise
195.I’ve been told that I look younger and act older than my age
196.Almost all of my friends are older than me by at least a couple of years
197.I really want to be blonde and blue-eyed
198.I don’t want to be any taller than 5’3 3/4”
199.I feel weird when I’m taller than someone older than me
200.I feel things need to by symmetrical and ordered; asymmetry makes me uncomfortable, so that is why I’ll stop here!

Check it out

2007-03-21T06:45:00.000-06:00

Check out my new phone (Amanda will appreciate this because it's PINK, PINK, PINK!):

And it has a camera! And it text messages WAY faster than my old smart phone (I swear I could've walked my texts to people faster), plus, Justin really needed a new one and these were free, free, free (but his isn't pink. It's blue). The only bad thing is that the calendar pretty much sucks, so I've gone back to Ye Old Paper Calendar (Remember the un-cute calendar made cute thanks to Chelsea and Amanda?...by the way I'm still lovin it even though I over-stickered it by putting on every single sticker that you gave me!). It also doesn't have any cool ringtones or games and I'm too cheap to pay every month for them. Does anyone know any sites to get free games and stuff? I haven't found any. We'll see if this lasts or if I wind up getting something else with a PDA again because of digital calendar and solitaire and writing with a stylus withdrawls.....but the new phone is so cute! And so pink!I couldn't resist it!

The Revenge of Little Smeared in Poo

2007-03-21T06:35:00.000-06:00

Little did I know how prophetic the name Little Smeared in Poo would become...

According to Britani, the ever-so-patient and unshakable sense of humor momma, Little Smeared in Poo has a new trick up her sleeve...er...maybe not so much up her sleeve as on the floor...
Apparently, Livi has decided to combine her limited vocabulary and vast baby-sign knowledge to let you know that she wants to go potty on the potty. Well, she really wants an excuse to take off her clothes and diaper. She obediently sits on the potty for about 3.2 seconds and then exclaims she's all done, upon which, she promptly hops off, runs away, and poops on the floor somewhere else. Guess what happens if you don't find her fast enough....

Did I mention how great it is that Britani recently got hardwood floors?

Tastes like chicken?

2007-03-20T10:21:00.000-06:00

Mom, Kimberly, and I went to Tai Pan Trading to do some shopping. (I looooove that store! It's one of my most favoritist stores ever! But anyways, I found rooster galore and had to take a picture because it made me think of my Aunt Cristie!

We also found the biggest mug in the world which Kimberly modeled:

Pretty funny, huh.

Elder Awesome Update

2007-03-19T20:06:00.000-06:00

This is Andrew by the way, I'm using Elder Leatham's nifty little email gadget so, I have more time to send a decent email.

Things are going great here in the mission. The first 6 weeks or so were miserable, but all that hard work has paid off; we’re getting blessed left right and sideways here. We had several golden investigators drop into our laps in the past few days, one of which already wants to be baptized but is waiting for her husband's paperwork to be done so he can come from the Philippines. Another family just got fed up with the Catholic Church and is looking for god to show them the truth - and then they found us. These are just two of many awesome experiences out here.

It’s a LOT of work though. Covering two areas is really tiring, even if we have a car. Planning is real important; we even have to plan nap time on our days off, as ridiculous as it seems. However, skills that each person has can contribute to e work in very odd ways. For instance, members are much more likely to give you referrals after you hook up their HDTV for them.

I just got the checklist letter returned to me, so I'll try to send it again. Oh, and before I forget, thanks for the new shirts and slacks. There are a few items that would be nice in the near future, maybe as a birthday gift: Return to Pooh Corner by Kenny Loggins, a bottle of CUCUMBER Ranch dressing for Elder Martin, and some more music CDs that aren't in MP3 format. Also, it appears that the Guild Wars dragon festival is based off of Asians New Year events, so my Asian speaking roommates want to see some screenshots - Brad can send those to my normal email account in an attachment. Other than that stuff, I can't think of much that I want.

It's almost time for my nap, so I'll need to wrap this up. See if you can get a few of my fiends to write me too, and I'm interested to know if Jeremy has his papers in yet - if not, tell him he's a pansy. Also, those cool spiritual thoughts Dad's sent have been great, I might even be able to use some of them for investigators. Love you all, and I'll see you in 21.33 Months; time's really starting to pick up, huh?

Happy Mail

2007-03-19T16:50:00.000-06:00

Today I felt kinda crappy. Getting over chemo is just as bad as being on chemo. But then in walked my cute hubby with not one, but TWO pieces of HAPPY MAIL!!! One was an invitation to a bridal shower for Justin's cousin (hey, it may only be an invitation, but it sure wasn't a bill!) and the other was from CHELSEAand Amanda, who I don't know yet, but I'm excited to get to know!!! Anyone who sends me happy mail is worth knowing. How dang cute are they?!

THANKS Chelsea! I immediately used everything you gave me and I'll think of you every time I use them!!

I have this very un-cute new calendar that I'm using since I got my new cell phone that doesn't have a cool calendar, but thanks to Chelsea and Amanda, it is now CUTE!

And oh yeah, the invitation is to an alphabet bridal shower and my letter is E. Any ideas?? She's a fun girl, so I want to think of something creative....and I'm not above bringing something to make her blush! hehe.

More pictures to come!

Elder Awesome Update

2007-03-15T12:58:00.000-06:00

Andrew says:

Well, my preparation day for this week is on Tuesday, as transfers are tomorrow - hope you didn't freak out about the lack of mail yesterday. You can also stop writing me about my socks now. I got the shirts, haven't gotten the pants or had time to drop them off. You're also probably noticed the bad spelling in these emails by now, but in my defense there is no spell check with this email client.

Speaking of transfers, all sorts of weird stuff is happening. My trainer is being transferred to the YSA ward and is now the Zone Leader. I'm now in a threesome with two Lao elders, and we'll be covering English AND Lao work in our area until another Lao elder gets here, at which point I'll go back to mono-English with one of the Lao elders as my companion. My new companion is - funny enough - Elder Van Nederhausen. That's going to mess with a lot of people. The other Lao elder is Elder Leatham, who already lives in my apartment. When the new Lao elder gets here, it will be the fifth greenie he's trained, which we believe is an all-time record for the mission.

We've had a lot of cools stuff happen. Last Sunday we went to see the Hughes Brothers on a fireside, which was incredible to say the least. Before that, we were treated to a Stake Conference with one of those localized Church Presidency broadcasts. Elder Uhkdorf was particularly funny, as he made note how California was very conditioned for his accent. Then there was the Lao/Mienh/Hmong New Year. We didn't get to go, but the entire Asian sector of the ward was buzzing about it.

Well, I'm running close to my 20 Minute mark, so I have to go now. Love you all, ...and I only have 16 sets of 6 weeks left!

Andrew

Family has a way of making me feel better

2007-03-10T18:17:00.000-07:00

Today was MUCH better. Last night Jensen and Erika tied the knot and had a really fun reception at Cactus & Tropicals in Draper, UT. It was fun to see family all dressed up and having a good time. They even had a magician doing tricks! What a cool place to have a reception. My dad even did some shopping around for fountains for their house! Somehow, that doesn't surprise me! It was just really rejuvinating to be around family for an evening.

When I came home, I took a nice, long bath complete with candles and some laid back music complements of Justin's iPod.

This morning I made it to both spin class and yogalates. Then I took a long nap!

Today was a good day.

P.S. Photos to come as soon as Chelsea posts them! Thanks for taking pictures, Chels!

So you had a bad day

2007-03-09T12:01:00.000-07:00

Today is one of THOSE days. I slept through Justin's alarm and so did he so I missed spin class. I thought I'd be okay and still make it to yoga this morning, but when I got in the car I realized that the back tire is TOTALLY flat. No idea on that one since it was fine as of 11pm when I got home last night. No big deal, right? I can change my own tire. No tire jack in the trunk. I'm not THAT good. Friends not home so no help there. AAA membership's service calls were used up on a previous car trouble time. Ugh.

It's just one of those days....and it's only noon

One Little Indian

2007-03-09T08:02:00.000-07:00

What goes through your mind when the little one who has been in bed for 20 minutes isn't asleep? What goes through your mind when upon entering Little One's room you are greeted with, "Yucky! Yucky!"?

Yeah. Little One, or more commonly known as Livi, has been renamed with her true Indian name: Little Smeared in Poo.

I'll spare you all the details, but you should share in my misery just a bit. Imagine a baby's first birthday and the First Birthday Cake. First, it's interesting. Then it gets smashed and smeared all over baby and anything baby can touch or feels needs some artistic improvement, including self. Now, imagine baby is now a toddler and not in the high chair, but the crib. Now, imagine it's not cake being used as artistic medium. Voila. My day on Wednesday.

Little Smeared in Poo is not just an artist, she's also a magician, which she may get from her dad who actually was a magician. I liked his tricks better. Lil Smeared in Poo has a desperate aversion to pajamas while sleeping. And diapers. I was sure that she was past her taking-off-everything-during-naptime phase. I should have remembered that she is indeed posterity of Grandpa Olson who was a lifetime believer that clothes are, above all, optional. After the poo smearing incident, toddler was bathed, with antibacterial soap mind you, and redressed with safety pinned zipper on pjs. Toddler thought she got out of a nap. Ha. Not with SuperNanny. Bedding was washed, crib was scrubbed and disinfected, toddler went for walk with daddy to get Big Sister from bus stop. Toddler was put back in bed after lunch. Big Sister, Taylor, heard LSiP, Livi, waking up. I was greeted with, "Kiki, [that's me] you've got to see this." "Good or bad?" No answer. Upon walking into the room, I was amused to see LSiP sound asleep and naked as a bluejay; but dry. Whew. She (here's the magician part) had managed to get her pjs off by coming out entirely through the neck. Safety pin still in place.

I've got to admire her perseverance.

I'm gunna pump....you up!

2007-03-07T17:54:00.000-07:00

In realization to my ever-nearer doom of being The Fat Bridesmaid at Becky's wedding next month, I have decided to take action. Said action presents itself in the form of

Two-a-Days

Ugh. At 0'dark hundred (that's military for the-buttcrack-of-dawn for lack of a more refined term) I wake up and put on my padded-butt shorts, my weight lifting gloves, and head off to Spin Class; the kick-your-trash and hand it back to you class made famous by Sex and the City. I also take my gel bike seat because after one day at spin class I learned that butts are not meant to get along with bikes. One would think that, especially with extra padding such as mine, the butt:bike seat ratio would lean in the butt's favor, almost as an "in your face" to all skinny people without extra padding and therefore comfort on a bike ride. Not true. So, after not being able to sit without considerable pain and regular doses of Motrin for the remainder of the day, I purchased a lovely pair of bike shorts with built in junk in the trunk. As Borat would say, "vedy nice." The combination of aforementioned shorts with the gel seat brought from rarely-used personal bike created a situation that even the paddiest butt could be proud of. Take that, skinny people.

After envisioning myself in a yellow jersey with throngs of people cheering me on and a coach pushing me to go harder for an hour I head to weights. I must mention that I enjoy the environment of spin class because 1)it's dark in there 2) I close my eyes and ride hard, focusing only on myself, the music, and the coach and 3) it's dark in there. I tell myself that it's like taking a nap for an hour because I can close my eyes. And I can truthfully tell you that I'd rather be there than sleeping.

Weights is where I love to be. I really got into it in high school when I cheered and did gymnastics. At my prime I could out leg-lift most of the guys. That's my goal. I have Guy Gym Ego. I have a need to outdo the guy next to me. And I really could with that leg press. I'll get back there. After an hour of weights I do another hour of abs and stretching. Stretching is my nirvana. My Gym Ego presents itself as I constantly try to do the impossible and make as many people cringe in pain as possible. Once upon a time at another Gold's Gym, my favorite ab/stretching spot was conveniently located adjacent to the men's locker rooms, which provided me with enough ego-stroking yelps of sympathy pain to keep me entertained.

In case you're keeping track, that's 3 hours in the gym.

So far.

And is that not enough, you ask? No. Not for Fat Bridesmaid. After all that I nanny all day and then head BACK at night for yoga or pilates.

I figure this is gunna give me the best shot at shedding a few pounds and the Fat Bridesmaid title as anything. I have just over one month to make a difference. Maybe I'll get Funny Bridesmaid or Most Congenial Bridesmaid.

But now I have to go. I'm late for pilates.

Elder Awesome Update

2007-03-07T17:40:00.000-07:00

Here's this week's letter....

Everything is going well. I'd like to write you more, but I can only send letters - even by snail mail - on Mondays.

The work is going pretty well - People in California can't seem to keep commitments - or even remember if they'll be in the state the next day – but we're always finding more people to teach.

I also appreciate the letters you've sent me, especially the Epistle from the Elders to Dead Letter Writers, more funny stuff like that would be good. I'll tell you more on the back of that survey dad sent me. Until then, love you all, and there's only 21 Months until I get back!

Let's Just Lay It All Out on the Table Right Now!

2007-03-03T00:08:00.000-07:00

I'm sure my posterity will have wondered......

[cool picture inserted here.... if it had worked]

1. Can you cook?
I can bake. Justin won't eat my cooking

2. What was your dream growing up?
To be a mommy, an obstetrician, an actress, and a news anchor

3. What talent do you wish you had?
The ability to draw...stick people are my limit

4. Favorite place?
Anywhere that feels like home...usually where family is

5. Favorite vegetable?
Sweet carrots or Britani's green beans

6. What was the last book you read?
That I actually finished? Wicked.

7. What zodiac sign are u ?
Aries. Year of the dog. Baaaa. Woof.

8. Any Tattoos and/or Piercings?
Strictly tan-on/rub-on tattoos, only pierced ears.

9. Worst Habit?
Talking toooo much.

11. What is your favorite sport?
Cheerleading, ballroom, dance, football

12. Negative or Optimistic attitude?
Optimistic about others, pessimistic about myself.

13. What would you do if you were stuck in an elevator with me?
Fart.

14. Worst thing to ever happen to you?
Chemo.

15. Tell me one weird fact about you?
I like surveys. Makes me feel important. And I refuse to fart in front of anyone.

16. Do have any pets?
2- Carson, the dog, and Tonks, Carson's dog.

17. Do u know how to do the macerana?
Who doesn't?

18. What time is it where u are now?
Too late to admit

19. Do you think clowns are cute or scary?
Cute, but I just learned why some people think they're scary.

20. If you could change one thing about how you look, what would it be???
I look a lot to the left. I'd probably try to look to the right more.

21. Would you be my crime partner or my conscience?
I'd make you feel horrible for what you were about to do....

22. What color eyes do you have?
Green/Brown that change with what I wear. Sooo fashion forward. And coordinated.

23. Ever been arrested?
Not in this country.

24. Bottle or Draft?
Root

25. If you won $10,000 dollars today, what would you do with it?
Put it in the bank for 6 months so no one could come asking for it.

26. What kind of bubble gum do you prefer to chew?
None. I have braces and a recurring nightmare about gum.

27. What 's your favorite bar to hang at?
Candy

28. Do you believe in ghosts?
Boo!

29. Favorite thing to do in your spare time?
Think about all the losers who don't have spare time....

30. Do you swear a lot?
In my head, like a sailor! It's annoying. I'm trying to kick the habit.

31. Biggest pet peeve?
Lack of proof-reading on professional documents or published materials or anything that I have to pay to read. Grrrrr.

32. In one word, how would you describe yourself?
work-in-progress. hyphens don't count.

34. Did you ever think about joining the Army?
I DID join the Army. And married a guy in the Army. Beat that.

Jamie's "Lad Mag" Rant

2007-02-27T19:54:00.000-07:00

Justin's cousin, Jamie, who married Martin, an Englishman, now lives across the pond with her hubby and wrote this really great piece that is not just applicable in England. It was so well written that I thought you should see it....

On the phenomenon of “Lads Mags”

So I know that growing up in rural Utah is like being raised in a plastic bubble. You are completely cut off from mainstream popular culture. But I moved away at an early age; saw the world, experienced life, etc. I wouldn’t say that I was completely sheltered (despite my parents’ best efforts). I have come across something in England that shocked me at first, but now just disgusts me. It’s the infamous “Lad Mag.”

The “Lad Mag” is a semi-reputable publication, either a newspaper or a magazine, which caters to an audience of 16-35 year olds. The news is gossipy and fun—the literary equivalent of a Big Mac opposed to a 3 course sit down meal. The articles are mostly about various sports or the newest cars, and are generously broken up by pictures of half naked women.

The page three girl, a regular feature of the less reputable newspapers, is practically an institution over here. Remember the pop star Samantha Fox from the mid-80’s? She got her start as a page three girl. There are loads of quasi-celebrities over here that are famous for their appearances on page three of The Star, The Sport, or equally “classy” papers. These girls, like Zoe, 24, London, are famous just for taking their tops off and appearing nearly naked in a national newspaper. One paper even lets the girl show off how clever she is, by printing one of her comments on a little news snippet called “the news in briefs.” Clever play on words, but still disgusting, and the magazines are worse. Page after page of topless girls is briefly broken up by some stupid story about the latest antics of some football club’s manager. And where can one buy these magazines? Anywhere! They’re not even put on the top shelf so young children can’t reach them. They aren’t even covered up, like Cosmopolitan in most Utah grocery stores. You can walk into any supermarket and be greeted by a bevy of bare breasts.

You can almost forgive the “lads” who buy the magazines. I know the whole “boys will be boys” argument is a pathetic excuse, but it’s still socially acceptable. It’s all the married or otherwise attached men who buy them that really bother me. They sit in the cafeteria during their breaks and ogle the pictures of scantily clad young women, commenting lewdly on their bodies with no consideration for their female colleagues sitting next to them. They sit there with their pasty pale faces and sagging beer bellies critiquing the figures (never faces—funny, that) which would be the envy of most women. And then they go home to their wives or girlfriends, who will never look like the page three girl, and don’t even think twice about how degrading their actions at work are to the women they profess to love. People say that women set an unrealistic standard of beauty for themselves, but I think it’s mostly the men.

I think perhaps one of the worst things about this casual nudity is that it becomes normal after a while. Even the most sensitive person still reads the story on page two, seeing the picture of Zoe, 24, London, on page three but not really noticing it. And maybe that’s the worst part. These women are exposing their bodies to the world, and most of the world glances at them without really seeing them. This shocking display goes completely unnoticed, and that girl’s desperate bid for attention is, in the end, a waste of time.

Elder Awesome Update!

2007-02-26T16:54:00.000-07:00

From Andrew:

Well, I'll just answer all the questions I was sent in my massive batch of long emails this week.

I'm living in Camilia City, a subsection of Sacremento near the center of the city. I'm companions with Elder Martin, your typical super-trainer, and live with two other missionaries (Elders Burt and Leatham) who speak Lao.

All the mail needs to be forwarded to the mission home still, and I can only email my immediate family. Yes, I received the lost package this Tuesday, with the brand new CD player in it --right after I had bought a CD player, and the 2 1/2 week old cookies included in the box were are still good.

No, I don't get to visit you if you come up here for the wedding.

No, I can't write more often.

Yes, I'm working like a dog out here.

No, I'm not homesick, but I am curious as to what's happened to my room, my computer and stuff, and my Guild Wars account. You can do whatever you want with them, but I'd like to know.

I'll send photos on a member's computer when circumstances allow it - I'm on the library computer now.

Well, sorry for not having a more intimate letter, but I only had 10 minutes to read/write email. Love you all, hope to have more time next week.

Andrew

Mesquite, the Crappy Vegas

2007-02-26T13:15:00.000-07:00

We just got home from Mesquite, NV, the wannabe although not very good interpretation of Vegas. My in-laws entered themselves, us, and Kristia and Russ (Justin's little sister and hubby) into a "Sweethearts Slot Tournament" where you both play 2 times and they add up your scores.

I have been hearing from my mom and Aunt Cherilyn about this life changing book called The Secret and how positive energy thrown out into the universe will return positive energy. I though this application would be a perfect time to throw some positive energy to the Slot Tournament gods of the Universe and get my lost $500 back. I don't gamble, so this would be my first time playing a slot machine. I usually just invest in a good 99cent word search the first day and rock that while they play. Oh. And play bingo with the old people spending their kids' inheritance (more power to em) and the Indians, spending tax dollars they get for being Indian. I do love bingo. Even won $50!

Anyways, we came pretty close. Probably the top 15-20. Unfortunately, they only gave cash to the top 10 and to get the $500, we'd have had to get 4th place. It was all plausible, until the last round when J-dawg got a sorry machine that was lacking in the points-giving arena. They add up your best 3 out of 4 scores. We had two 9000-somethings by yours truly and a mind blowing 12K-and-something from Justino. Justin only needed a mere 14-grand to place. Not impossible, just improbable....which became impossible with a 7500something score.

So, positive vibes aside, it wasn't too bad a weekend. Justin gets his money to go play, I get my money that I gamble at the gift shop. Always a winner. He actually won a little the last day so we were up 15 bucks by the time we left mini Sin City. And I got to spend a $40 gift certificate at the spa that they sent us to entice us to come visit, along with our free rooms and meal vouchers. All in all, the casino loses money every time we come. That's stickin it to the man.

Boredom, blogger style

2007-02-21T23:37:00.000-07:00

When I'm bored I go on MySpace and do these quizzes that my friends have up.... and now you're subjected to them

Body: My 10 Names!
Okay, this one is actually really fun and interesting.

1.YOUR REAL NAME:
Kathleen

2. YOUR GANGSTA NAME (first 4 letters of real name plus izzle):
Kathizzle

3. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME ( color and fav animal):
pink otter

4. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME (middle name, and childhood street):
Melissa Montrosse

5. YOUR STAR WARS NAME (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first name, first 3 letters of mom's maiden name):
Lofkaols

6. YOUR SUPERHERO NAME (favorite color, favorite drink):
Pink ChaiTea

7. YOUR IRAQI NAME (2nd letter of your first name, 3rd letter of your last name, any letter of your middle name, 2nd letter of your moms maiden name, 3rd letter of you dads middle name, 1st letter of a siblings first name, last letter of your moms middle name):
Afeluky

8. YOUR WITNESS PROTECTION NAME (grandmother/grandfather's first name):
Marjorie Don

9. YOUR GOTH NAME (black, and the name of one your pets):
Black Tonks

10. YOUR PORN STAR NAME (One of your pets names, and a street you've lived on)
Carson Kingsbury *I think this one should be interchangeable with your opera name*

****Yet Another****

FAVORITES

01. show- Grey's Anatomy
02. flower – Gerber daisies, lilies, tulips
03. colors - Pink
04. sport - Cheerleading
05. mall – Provo Towne Center, the Gateway in SLC
06. music - whoever Leno's band is tonight
07. food – Americanized anything
08. season - Spring
09. day – Saturday
10. city - Seattle

TEN FACTS

01. homestate - Ohio
02. hair color – Dark brown, but getting the itch to go platinum
03. hair length – Longish
04. hair style – I only know about 5
05. eye color – Change from green and brown
06. shoe size – 6 1/2
07. mood - Sleepy and anxious about tomorrow
08. smell – Sweet, baked scents like vanilla or pumpkin pie
09. available - Married!
10. lefty/righty – Righty tighty

TEN THINGS ABOUT YOUR LOVE LIFE

01. have you ever been in love – Yup
02. do you believe in love – Yes!
03. why did your last relationship fail – Met the right guy
04. have you ever been heartbroken – Yeah
05. have you ever broken someone's heart– Once
06. have you ever fallen for your best friend – Yep
07. have you ever loved someone but never told them – Liked
08. Are you afraid of commitment – No, more the fear of what might have been
09. have you ever had a secret admirer – A couple of times, but I think they got over me
10. do you believe in love at first sight - I believe in like and lust at first sight

TEN THINGS: THIS OR THAT

01. love or money- Loving a rich guy?
02. hard liquor or beer - neither
04. one night stands or relationships - Relationships
05.television or internet – Both
06. pepsi or coke - diet either, vanilla
07.Wild night out or romantic night in - Romantic night out, Wild night in!
08. colored or black and white pictures – Black and which makes everything look better
09. phone or in person- In person
10. msn or myspace- MySpace

TEN HAVE YOU EVERS

01. have you ever bungee jumped- bungee, no. skydive, yes
02. have you ever been on a house boat - every summer at Lakes Mead and Powell
03. have you ever finished an entire jaw breaker- only the Gobstoppers
04. have you ever wanted someone so badly it hurt- Yes
05. have you ever been streaking - Not outside the house
06. have you ever ran away- No, my parents said they'd spank me and I wasn't old enough to cross the street, but my bags were packed, man!
07. have you ever caught your parents doing it - thought so once but thy denied it

TEN EMOTIONS

01. are you missing someone right now ? Yes, I miss my little brother who's on a mission for our church for 2 years!
02. are you happy - I'm blessed
03. are you talking to any one right now - No
04. are you bored- I'm sleepy
05. are you german - no
06. are you irish- Yes
07. are you french- Never. who would admit to it?
08. are you Italian- no
09. are your parents still married - Yes! almost 30 years
10. are you mexican- nope

Elder Awesome Update

2007-02-20T09:50:00.000-07:00

Dear family,
I finally got an email from Andrew. It sounds as if he is really getting into his missionary work. His P-day is Monday. If you would like to email him, his address is jwavanduker@myldsmail.net
Cyd

*************Last Week's Message*************
Dear Family,

It appears that I've finally gotten this email thing worked out now, as you might have guessed, so feel free to send mail to this address. I can also attach files to my email, so I'll probably send photos that way from now on.

Well, week 2 has been long and hard. I've spent more time on a bike than off during my waking hours, and my legs are all bruised up now - I've even gotten 2 flat tires within three hours. It's all worth it though, as we had a baptism on Saturday and another one coming up this weekend. It's a grueling schedule most of the time, and I get the distinct impression that many times we're working just for the sake of working, and not really for progress.

I took the liberty of using the debit account to buy some creature comforts; and a Nerf gun - it's a district thing. My fellow missionaries aren't the sober bunch I expected - for better or worse. My roommates aren't too bad, but there are some crazy people in our zone. Our Zone leader elder Duce is one of them, and had the funniest baptism commit I've ever heard of: "So you know it's true, but still aren't baptized? That's dumb." There are a few other jewels of wisdom, but I'll save them for when I have more time.

Love, Andrew.

Well, I have no idea why my first email didn't get to you, but it didn't have anything important in it anyway. The weather you guys have been having sounds pretty nice right about now, it's been in the 80s a lot up here. All my stuff is fine - it turns out the Assistants care more about clothing then the president; President Huff is pretty mellow. Some short sleeve shirts might be nice though.

My trainer has been pretty good - I'm mainly just trying to keep up with him. Not sure if I can stay on bike much longer though. Other then that, I think I'm adjusting to mission life as well as can be expected. Apparently the ward loves me, so I'll see if I can milk that for some Member Missionary work. Speaking of which, I'd recommend everyone in the family picks up a copy of Preach My Gospel, it's good stuff.

Well, I let you know if I'm instrumental in anyone's salvation. Until then, take care.
Love, Andrew.

Thanks, Suzanne!

2007-02-16T19:43:00.000-07:00

My cousin Suzanne posted a link to Julian Beever's website. The 3D pictures are amazing!

Is it all about the Benjamins?

2007-02-14T15:03:00.000-07:00

I'm just sick. Monday, Justin handed me $500 cash for my upcoming trip to Georgia to pay for everything- bridesmaid dress, hotel, food, travel expenses- everything that I'll need and then extra that I don't. I stupidly folded it in half and put it in my back pocket because we were walking out the door. Now it's gone. We went out to eat with my sister-in-law and went to the mall. We did laundry that night and I washed the jeans that had the money. When I went to put the jeans on Tuesday morning, I remembered the large amount of cash. Not there. I checked the washer and dryer. I've called my sister-in-law, hoping that she saw it fall out and put it somewhere. She didn't see it. I've called the mall security and the individual stores that we went in that night. The only place I haven't gotten ahold of is the restaurant that we ate at. They're my last hope.

To some, money is just money. When you don't have much though, it becomes more important. Justin says that it would be weird for someone who found it to turn it in. I guess I'm hoping he's wrong. To me, getting $500 returned is more plausible than $5. I couldn't imagine finding that much money and not turning it in. Maybe I am still blindly trusting of humanity. Maybe I'm delusional. What I do know is that $500 is more money than I have EVER held at one time and now it's gone and I don't know how I'm going to pay for my trip without causing a budgetary pinch because that was from our tax return.

I guess I'm just venting. I don't really know what else there is to be done. Money is just money, but to me it's about honesty and faith in mankind. I even read a story in the Ensign about a man who withdrew the rent money and it fell out of his pocket at the mall and every single dollar was turned in by people. I suppose that he's the anomaly, not me. I mean, it's not my rent money and life will still go on without it, but....I don't know. I just don't know how to feel about it. Sad.

What I do hope is that, if someone did find it and keep it, that it answered their prayers and that somehow, my loss is a blessing to someone else who really needed it. At least, that's what I'm going to choose to believe.

Guy Anniversary Gifts

2007-02-08T17:57:00.000-07:00

Recently I posted what are considered by etiquette to be the traditional and modern anniversary gifts. One problem: Guys don't care about that stuff.

I am in the process of creating a list specifically for wives to give husbands.

This is all I have so far, so tell me your ideas/changes and we'll make the ultimate list:

1^st: Sports Equipment

2^nd: Power Tools

3^rd: Sports Lessons

4^th: Favorite TV show dvds.

5^th: Big Screen tv

6^th: Season Tickets with the option of Lifetime Season Tickets

7^th: New electronics (pda, cell phone, iPod)

8^th: Hobby equipment (new gun etc.)

9^th: Unnecessary recreation vehicle (atv, snowmobile, jet ski)

10^th: Getaway with the Guys

11^th:

12^th:

13^th:

14^th:

15^th: Theater room of his dreams

20^th:

25^th: Sexy Sports Car

30^th:

35^th:

40^th:

45^th:

50^th:

55^th:

60^th: Pre-planned funeral

THE Dress

2007-02-08T16:24:00.000-07:00

So I have big, happy news (no, no baby news). Becky asked me to be a bridesmaid! I am sooooooo excited. I was pretty much a poser bridesmaid before, but now I'm a real, live, bridesmaid! She pretty much made my day/week/month/season.

I fly out on Wednesday, April 11th and come back that Sunday. The wedding is Saturday, April 14th at The Ships of the Sea Museum in Savannah, Georgia. It's going to be a beautiful garden wedding. I'd post Becky's dress too, but I know she shows my blog to her hunny, Keith.

I went and looked at her registries and Target and Bed, Bath, and Beyond. The girl's got good taste. I'm trying to find her something that whenever she uses it she goes, "Awww. Kathleen gave this to us. I love and admire that girl." I'm not thinking a paper towel holder says just that...I'll keep looking.

Here is our uniform (in baby blue, not pink):

It's super cute and my mom's adding cap sleeves. The dress will be in baby blue with black piping. The shoes are almost exactly like a pair that I already have, but we all have to have the same, so who am I to complain about having to have new shoes. The good thing is that they're more comfortable than my other ones.....come to think of it, I think I threw my other ones away because Tonks ate them. So I guess we're good.

Does this make me look fat?

2007-02-08T15:44:00.000-07:00

All the messing with my estrogen over the past 4 1/2 years has done something to me- it's made me into a girl who likes shoes. Now I've never been one to go shoe shopping unless what I already had was falling apart or just had no fathomable chance at looking alright.

I think one of the reasons I've been so in love with shoes and jewelry and accessories, like sunglasses, in recent history is because no matter what havoc chemo/drugs wreak on your system, these inanimate friends will never make you look fat. Accessories can only do good things for you. And if you're like me, you only shop clearance anyways, so there's not much buyer's remorse to be had.

This all brings us to the picture of this post. My newest purchases:

Teal is one of my favorite colors to wear lately. I took off the cherries because although cute, they don't match the outfits I plan on wearing them with.

I've always laughed at these; they're huge! But they're also pretty cute.
These next ones are cuter in person. I usually only like glasses that you can't see my eyes though, but Justin thought these were cute. Of course they're knock-offs, but I'm not paying $300 for plastic that I will probably lose or break!

Worth a thousand words

2007-02-05T23:36:00.000-07:00

I found these old pictures and thought I might throw them up here....

16 years old, before the "Decades Dance" at school. As you can see, I've always been rather introverted.

Prom my Jr. year in high school. Mom made this amazing dress. One of my favorite memories ever.

My friend Jessi Petty (now Burg) in the middle, me and my prom date, Dan Woestman, on the end. Good times.

I am still in love with this dress! It was actually a wedding dress pattern that my mom and I used. My mom spent a longa longa time and it was perfect. Perfect dress, perfect date, perfect night. It's nice to have a couple of good high school memories...I've blocked out most of the rest.

MORP- Mormon Prom- and my friend Jocie Young. We thought we were hot stuff.

My first trip to Salt Lake in 2000, spring break of my senior year. I had come out to try out for BYU cheerleading, and I had to give up my spot on the team because I dislocated my shoulder. I cried a lot over that one. My dad surprised me and showed up unexpected, which was just what I needed. He was in town for a job interview that moved the family to Utah 8 months later. I also turned 18 while I was in SLC. My cousin James and his roomates picked me up in a jeep without a top. It was April and coooold. I saw mountains for the first time in 10 years. I stayed at Heritage Halls with Jessi Petty.

Last day of my first Pioneer Trek through the mountains in Kentucky with my friend, Jon Fajen. I'm buff.

We were the tough, non-complaining ones in our family. No room for whiners!

The only princess treatment that week!

My last stake dance with my best friend and swing dancing partner, Adam Buffington. We always put on a show swinging to "Sing, Sing, Sing"

My first week at BYU, Heritage Halls! Also my first "Utah hair" experience.

My first date with the guy I'd spend the rest of my life with on my first weekend at BYU.

For Homecoming, Justin and I got all dolled up (Ok. I did most of the dolling) and took pictures at the Maeser building on campus and at the Provo Courthouse. My home teacher's dad (who is an LDS bishop, ironically) owns The Little Chapel of the Flowers in Las Vegas and he was the photographer. I've always loved these photos. We have several of the framed in our house.

It's fun remembering.

Paper, Clock, Wood, and Silverwear

2007-02-04T22:52:00.000-07:00

Kathleen Van Duker
Justin Lofley

Justin Lofley and Kathleen Van Duker have chosen Feb. 2, to be sealed in marriage in the Manti LDS Temple.

Parents of the groom are Keith and Vonda Kay Lofley of Elmo. Parents of the bride are Doug and Cydney Van Duker.

The couple will make their home in Springville. Justin, a supply sergeant for the United States Army, is attending law school. Kathleen is in dental school.

02/02/02. A day that will live in infamy. Or just famy, because it wasn't bad. It was a good day. The day Justin and I got married and I became Kathleen Melissa Van Duker Lofley; a name that will live in infamy.

It was 7 degrees that day. But it was sunny and beautiful. I don't remember much of anything that was said in the Manti temple although I remember really trying to consciously remember everything. Here's some of what I can recall: (I'll have to find our disks with the wedding photos on them to put more pictures in)

I do remember that we were sealed in the room that the original Temple President lived in with his wives. I also remember that the first loving words uttered after we were sealed were, "you're stuck now!" Although I can't remember who said them. ; )

Justin's ring has an engraving: Put it back on.

4 of my mom's 5 sisters were able to make it, which was really special to me.

Neither of my Grandparents were healthy enough to come.

In the lobby of the Temple, right before we went out to take pictures, my mom told me that I needed more lipstick. She and all 4 aunts offered me lipstick and it was all the exact same color.

My Uncle Mort kept offering me his wool overcoat but I wasn't cold until they put us in the shaded doorway for pictures.

I forgot white shoes. And lingerie. We went to Wal-Mart and bought some white shoes. Felt too awkward to buy lingerie with my mom.

We had our cake picked out from a fancy place and then took the picture of it to the grocery store and they made it, beautifully.

My daddy and I danced to "Sunrise, Sunset" and "Because You Loved Me"

Because the retrieval of the garter is so awkward, we decided to have some fun and first Justin pulled out a squirt gun that we had hidden, then a rubber shark, before he pulled the real garter. My cousin, Stephan, caught it.

We stayed our first night in our little apartment in Springville, after spending a lot of time after the reception at the car wash.

I got really really sick and wanted to die on our Honeymoon in Vegas. I always thought it was funny that we went to Sin City to celebrate our Temple Wedding. Justin drove an hour to find me sweat pants because I had forgotten p.j. pants and I can't sleep if my legs are scratchy and touching. Awww. The hotel offered him a limo and free tickets to whatever he wanted, but he wouldn't leave me. He sat in the window for 2 days and watched the airplanes.

On our Honeymoon, a diamond from my ring fell out and we never found it. That was the beginning of our realization that we got jacked by the guy who made my custom Justin-designed ring. Last year it broke down completely and I had to get a whole new ring, using my original diamond.

So, now we have reached the monumental 5 year mark. This past weekend we went up to Salt Lake and stayed at the Little America Hotel. They gave us a bottle of sparkling grape juice, chocolate covered strawberries, a long-stemmed pink rose, and a commemorative key with our names and anniversary engraved on it. We also went to the Gateway Mall where we ate at Z'Tejas (which isn't worth the hype) and saw Epic Movie (which is really bad). We also got my absolute favorite chocolate dipped strawberries.

Traditionally, the 5-year gift should be wood, but more modern etiquette books say that silverware is the way to go. Justin gave me Silverware in the form of silver-to-wear; a beautiful diamond band to go with my engagement and wedding rings. I love it and stare at it constantly. I'm twitterpated with it. And the giver.

I gave Justin silver-to-wear as well (great minds think alike; and so do ours)-- his first cufflinks, in silver, with 2 French cuffed shirts. I got a bonus because the cufflinks came in a wooden box. Score one extra for me. Score another bonus because he isn't taking them back, unlike most of his Christmas gifts.

Justin and our neighbor Zac were discussing the lack of testosterone in anniversary gifts. According to etiquette, these are the appropriate gifts:

Anniversary #	Traditional Gift	Modern Gift
First	Paper	Clocks
Second	Cotton	China
Third	Leather	Crystal / Glass
Fourth	Fruit / Flowers	Appliances
Fifth	Wood	Silverware
Sixth	Candy / Iron	Wood
Seventh	Wool / Copper	Desk Sets
Eighth	Bronze / Pottery	Linens / Lace
Ninth	Pottery / Willow	Leather
Tenth	Tin / Aluminum	Diamond Jewelry
Eleventh	Steel	Fashion Jewelry
Twelfth	Silk/Linen	Pearls
Thirteenth	Lace	Textiles / Furs
Fourteenth	Ivory	Gold Jewelry
Fifteenth	Crystal	Watches
Twentieth	China	Platinum
Twenty-Fifth	Silver	Silver
Thirtieth	Pearl	Diamond
Thirty-Fifth	Coral	Jade
Fortieth	Ruby	Ruby
Forty-Fifth	Sapphire	Sapphire
Fiftieth	Gold	Gold
Fifty-Fifth	Emerald	Emerald
Sixtieth	Diamond	Diamond

According to Justin, there should be a woman's list and a man's gift. Some of the possibilities of these anniversaries are: the Sports Equipment Anniversary, the Electronics, the Large Appliance, Power Tools, Season Tickets Anniversary (although this one should be relatively early so that he can have life time season tickets, probably the 10th anniversary), the Getaway with the guys Trip, the Big Screen.

I'll have to have him come up with a list and we'll see what we can do about it.

"Do dumb blonde jokes bother you?" "No, because I know I'm not dumb and I know I'm not blonde."

2007-02-04T22:33:00.000-07:00

I am getting the urge to go blonde again. I've been polling my friends and family to see what I/they think would look good. I found a picture of the color that Justin wants me to do, but I'm not sure that I can pull it off....

I think I could pull off blonder. This is a picture of me from when I went blonde the first time....Please excuse my sexiness.

Elder Awesome Update

2007-01-30T14:57:00.000-07:00

Dear family and friends,

I thought you might be interested to know that I got a surprise call from Andrew today. He and his district were at the airport waiting for their plane to Sacramento. He told me that it was okay to call home for a few minutes.

He was in very good spirits, and sounded excited to bo going on this next leg of his mission.

He mentioned that he appreciated everyone’s letters, and especially the cookies and cinnamon rolls that we had delivered to the MTC.

When I asked him if he would like to have some girls write to him ( apparently, this is a common thing to do), he said yes! (Can you believe it? He’s hardly ever even talked to a girl.) Evidently, one of the elders in his district has about 12 girls writing him, and gets lots and lots of mail. I think there is some sort of unspoken competition to see who gets the most letters.

Just in case anyone wants his mailing address in Sacramento it is:

Elder JWA Van Duker
California Sacramento Mission
9480 Madison Ave.
Suite 4
Orangevale, CA 95662-7037

He will also have an email address that we will distribute when we know it.

He is also sending some photos to us, and we will put some on his website:
http://www.dearelder.com/AndrewVanDuker

We’ll keep all of you updated as we hear from him.

Love,

Aunt/Mom/Cyd

Where the Legacy Began....

2007-01-27T22:31:00.001-07:00

I thought that I'd take my blog posts from myspace and move them over here so that they're all in one place....

Wednesday, April 05, 2006
Happy Birthday to me

Well, tomorrow is birthday #24. I've tried to forget about my birthdays since about 19. I feel like I've just been on pause all this time. It's like I don't want to recognize another birthday when I'm still on chemo, still not graduated, still nothing much to show for myself. Kinda depressing. We'll see how spilling my guts on a blog works out....

Monday, April 10, 2006
Nursing

Have I told you how much I love being a nursing student? I loved music/dance/theater (MDT) major at BYU, and I also loved my broadcast journalism major, but I found my niche. Nursing is so awesome and I love the program at the University of Utah. All my life I wanted to be a doctor, but I also dreamed of being a mommy. I found something that will work for both! I figured that with MDT or BCJ that I'd have to drag my (future) family to New York or California or something to make it work, but with nursing I can be a stay-at-home mom and get to use my brains and talents to help other people. It's about a 6 year program all together and I'm 1 semester into my 4 semesters of actual nursing program. I love it and I'm good at it. I'm a pro at making shots NOT hurt and sticking IVs....probably because I know how it feels when people aren't good at it and so I'm OCD about making sure that I'm the best!

Monday, April 17, 2006
Easter

So, Easter was pretty good. My mom still makes me an Easter basket, which is nice to come home to. Being a grown up kinda sucks! It's nice to be able to go home, enjoy family, and then remember why you left home for college in the first place! : )
We had a fun family dinner for all of the cousins living in Utah. I fell asleep and didn't have to cook/decorate everything this year. I woke up in time to play with my cousin's cute kids and eat all of the good foods.
My new favorite thing to do: audio books! Have you tried them? It's great for my hour long drive to campus or to clinicals.

Tuesday, April 18, 2006
High School

So, I'm new to this whole myspace thing. I just went searching for people that I graduated High School with. I found a bunch of people that I remembered and a bunch that I didn't. There have been a lot of people that are really going somewhere. Some are just like they were in high school, others are completely different. I wonder if I turned out as expected or different. I think it'll be fun to go to my class reunions in years to come and see what everyone's doing.

Tuesday, December 19, 2006
My Grandpa

So, we just got back from California and my Grandpa Olson's funeral. A first for me. I sure miss him, but I know I'll see him again someday. I'm sure he was there looking at all of us and thinking, "stand up straight!" I had the best grandpa ever. He has 20-something grandkids, not counting spouses and almost 40 great-grandkids and he made every single one of us feel like his favorite. I can attribute most of my knowledge of BTUs and engineering to Grandpa. I hope that we'll finish inventing his Perpetual Motion Machine. What a legacy that man created. I'll never forget hugs so tight I couldn't breathe, bone crushing handshakes, and working on the houseboat.
My grandpa had a great mind, worked hard, and lived right. I'm proud that he is my grandpa and I can't wait to see him again. I'm sure he's up in heaven right now and has already figured out the Motion Machine and is teaching my future children all they'll need to know about BTUs.
Question: How many BTUs does it take to raise 1 lb of water 1 degree celcius? Answer : one

I love you, Grandpa.

Well, in addition to those blogs, I should add my favorite blog that I've ever read. My cute cousin, who I didn't much know growing up, is now someone to whom I really look up to. She's one of those people that just has it together. She knows who she is, what she likes, and isn't afraid to stand for what she believes in. She wrote the most beautiful sentiment about our Grandpa, so using some of her links, this is what she said:

"BTU's and Handshakes
"I really enjoy my kids and my husband and my family. I wonder if most people enjoy their families like I enjoy mine. When I was growing up I loved hugging my grandpa because he would make such an event out of it. He would always squeeze us grandkids so tightly and then he would ask if we could feel the energy that was being generated. He is/was an engineer and so he would always talk to us about BTUs and energy and power. He would do the same thing when he would shake hands. He would squeeze so tightly and make sure that we squeezed just as tight. He was always shaking peoples' hand and I loved that he would always keep hold of mine while we talked. He would shake my hand and grab my wrist with his left. I find myself doing some of the same things with my children now, especially my little boy. He will run up to me and say, "hug me, mom" and then he will say "squeeze me, mom". I will squeeze him tight and say "doesn't that feel good?, can you feel the energy we make?" and he'll respond, "it feels good, mom." I enjoy having that dialogue with him because it makes me feel connected to my grandpa somehow. My grandpa is aging and his health is declining. I haven't seen him in a few years but, my mom gives me updates on his health and condition every week or so. He was a wonderful grandpa and I have so many awesome memories of him. I always felt like he and I were close and I remember overhearing him tell my mom once that he felt like he and I had a special connection. I always felt like I knew my grandpa and I always knew that he loved me. I grew up near a lot of my cousins and the whole family would get together frequently for holidays and events. Grandpa would stand up and give a speech at our get togethers and they always consisted of commentary about how great our gene pool was and how we don't have any real screw-ups in our family and how lucky and blessed we all are. It makes me smile when I remember those times. I bet that every member of my family would say they had a close relationship with him. He was close to everyone and he knew all of us really well. I look back on my times with him and I feel happy. I really want my kids to know their grandparents. I look back on my experiences with my grandparents (all of them) and I feel really blessed. I have rich, rich, memories of my grandparents
and I wish that for my children."

I couldn't say it any better and so I won't try. She also has a great entry from the funeral that I'd like to include here so that I have it forever. (Thanks, Chelsea, for letting me borrow so much from you. I just couldn't do it any better myself)

Saturday, December 23, 2006
Saying Hello and Good-Bye
"Last Thursday my Grandfather passed away. The funeral was last week and all but 2 of my cousins were able to come. It was so great to see everybody, even under such sad circumstances. Some cousins I hadn't seen in years, like Justin and Quinn, but we all picked up right were we had left off and it didn't take much time at all to get reacquainted. Not everyone was able to bring their families, but all of us grandkids were there. It was so great to hear about everyone's children and about their wards and their lives. I am part of such an awesome family and I really enjoyed being with everyone.

We all sang at Grandpa's funeral and met over at Catrina's house for a practice a few hours before the service. It was so cool to all sing together and we sounded beautiful. Grandpa always loved it when all of us were together singing. In fact, the last time I ever spent with Grandpa was last month when we were here house hunting. We all met at the park for lunch and Grandma and Catrina had brought Grandpa out in his wheelchair. We were all sitting down visiting and Grandpa told me he was bored and I asked him what he wanted to do and he said "let's sing." So, all the sisters sang.

The funeral was so nice. Uncle Mort gave a traditional eulogy with some personal sentiments at the end. The 6 Olson sisters sang and then each of them took a minute or two talking about their dad and things they remember and will miss about him. All of the talks were wonderful and some of them made us laugh. Grandpa's brother Earl was at the funeral and each time he would laugh we would all turn around and look at him because his laugh sounded JUST LIKE Grandpa's. Britani commented that she was drawn to Uncle Earl all day long and I think many of us felt the same way. Uncle Earl has so many of the same mannerisms that Grandpa did and we all couldn't help being drawn to him.

Uncle Tom also spoke at the funeral and did a great job of very clearly explaining the Plan of Salvation. The service was very reverent and thoughtful and all of the music was beautiful and moving.

After the funeral we walked out to the gravesite and Whit consecrated the grave. He did a nice job. My favorite part of a funeral (is that weird to have a favorite part?) is when the grave is consecrated. I find a lot of comfort in it--knowing that Grandpa will lie peacefully in that spot until his resurrection. Whit gave a nice prayer and after the prayer we were able to take pictures and visit and be together for a while.

We headed over to the Church next where the Relief Society prepared dinner for our entire family. We were able to relax and eat and we took turns sharing memories and stories of Grandpa. Some stories were sweet and some were funny, but all of them validated what we all knew, Grandpa knew every single one of us personally and we all felt loved and cherished by him. What a blessing to have had such a remarkable man as our Grandfather.That night Mike and I went over to the Martin's house to hang out with all the cousins and catch up a little more. I wish we all lived closer. It was so cool to hear about everyone's family and hear about all the things they are involved with. I hope that it won't take a death to bring us all together again---we're lucky to have one another, we should make a better effort to stay connected.

Goodbye dear Grandpa, I love you and I miss you. You were one of the greatest men I have ever known and I am proud to be your granddaughter."

Everything she said just sums it up.

I guess I'm all caught up now in moving everything to one place.

Here comes the bride!!

2007-01-25T22:42:00.000-07:00

My BFITWWW (that's Bestest Friend in the Whole Wide World), Becky, is gettin hitched! We met in our Huber Heights ward in Ohio when we were 8 and the rest is, as they say, history! (We came up with our original acronym as oh-so-inventive 8 year olds. We were sooo before the BFF phenom...)

Well, Becky, the perpetual crush of anything male, is finally settling down with her cute guy, Keith. She has always been the soccer star, even getting MVP at her college and becoming Team Captain in I think, her sophomore year. She is quite the woman. She now coaches soccer in Savannah, GA.

It just so happened that the OTHER soccer coach in little Savannah was single. And cute. And into Becky (although I'm sure he wasn't the only one, he was the best one). And now they're done gittin themselves hitched! I'm so happy for them!

I always felt bad that she couldn't make it to my wedding (we were all young and poor) but I am so lucky to be in a place that I can get to hers! Nothing could keep me away from that chick! It's April 14th and I've already booked the hotel with some other girls that I don't know who are all her bridesmaids and I'm just gettin ready to book my flight. Flying is expensive!

I love ya, Becksters! Here's to Happily Ever After!

Missions and Weight Loss...no Relation

2007-01-25T22:25:00.000-07:00

Okay. So I haven't posted in a while because nothing is going on! I've been sick. It's kinda sucked! There is a good side though to the ominous "stomach bug" affliction. It's called involuntary weight loss. So far so good! At this rate I only have to be sick for like a month more and then I'd have a chance for a real career in Hollywood.....

Right. Anyways, not much has gone on here. Andrew has written one letter from the MTC. Apparently he hasn't found this Holy Grail of all-you-can-eat ice cream freezers in the cafeteria. That's about all I know. I hope he finds it!

I finally got the pictures from my mom of the MTC day and I thought I'd post em:

Here's his professional "before" shot that goes on the bulletin board at the Church...

These are of our little send off lunch at the Brick Oven. We weren't the only ones with that brilliant idea because 2 more MTC parties came while we were there!

(That's most of the fam, cousin James who sprinted over from BYU and cousin Britani with her little one, Livvy...oh yeah...and Dad's Christmas till Valentine's Day mustache.)

Here's another much the same....

This is Andrew making his last phone call as a free man to Justin who wasn't able to get off work...

This one is right before the sign that read "Please take all family photos outside"...

And this is the official "Before" photo of Andrew....we hope the energy holds out!

Pretty funny kid.

So if you go on www.dearelder.com you can actually write letters that they print out and take over to the MTC! Saves me 39 cents whenever I feel the whim to send my little bro some friendly words of encouragement. Once he leaves (next week!) for Sacramento you can still write online and you just pay the site the 39 cents and it saves me having to remember to take the letter to the mailbox, which is my worst habit in the correspondence arena. I'm good at writin em, but really really bad at mailin em!

Elder Awesome

2007-01-10T21:16:00.000-07:00

This is the email that I sent out to family today. Pictures to follow when I get them!

Dear Family,

We just wanted to let you know that Elder James William Andrew Van Duker has successfully begun his mission at the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah! A big thank you to the cousins that were able to attend our "send-off" luch at the Brick Oven. It meant a lot to Andrew to see you there and James got him looking forward to the possibility of dessert after every meal...for free!!

For those of you unable to make it, due to other engagements, we had a nice lunch and then the immediate family headed over the the LDS Stake Center across from the Cougar Stadium for an orientation meeting. They sure know what they're doing over there. They had missionaries directing traffic and Sister missionaries handing out seam rippers to open the brand-new-suit pockets, which almost everyone needed! We took one last family picture and then headed inside. We sang "Called to Serve" with all the missionaries and their families and the Spirit in that room was very strong. We watched the Church movie "Called to Serve" and all the mommies started crying watching the missionaries in the movie open their mission calls and remembering that special moment in their own homes. Then we heard from the MTC President and his wife who assured us that our missionaries will be well cared for, loved, and looked after. We know he will be. We tearfully said our goodbyes and then Andrew was first out the door to start his mission. As we left in the buffalo-bitten minivan (a story for another time) we even got to see Andrew get on the bus headed for the MTC with all the fresh faced new missionairs with their "I'm-a-new-missionary-so-please-tell-me-where-I-need-to-be" dots on their shiny name badges.

So there you have it. He's off to serve the Lord and the people of Sacramento, California for the next 2 years! We're extremely proud of him and anxiously awaiting our first letters from him. We'll pass along what we hear from him through the Cousin Chronicle, email, and Kathleen's blogger page at kathleenlofley.blogspot.com as we get updates! Andrew can only receive snail mail so here are his 2 addresses:

(until January 30th, 2007)
Elder Van Duker
MTC Mailbox#240
CA-SAC 0130
2005 N 900 E
Provo, UT 84606-1793

(January 31st, 2007 an on)
Elder Van Duker
California Sacramento Mission
9480 Madison Ave.
Suite 4
Orangevale, CA 95662-7037

Thanks for all of your love, support, and prayers on Andrew's and our family's behalf. What a blessing in all of our lives to have Andrew serving a mission! We look forward to updating you soon and Andrew looks forward to hearing from you!

With love,
the Van Dukers of Syracuse/Springville

Babysteps

2007-01-08T11:15:00.000-07:00

Okay. So I figured out how to post links to others' blogs so that I can read them more easily. Still confused on the other basic stuff, like adding pictures. Maybe I'll try a couple of them...

This one is from July a couple years ago when Justin came home from 18 months of deployment for the Army. That was a good day! A lot of pomp and circumstance though.

This one is from when I chopped off 14" of hair for Lock of Love when I was going through chemo. (Speaking of which, I just finished my last chemo in September, only 50lbs (!) heavier than when I started it. ugh) Anyways, I chopped the hair in November and so I had to buy a scarf to keep my newly-exposed neck warm that winter.

This is our dog, Carson. Justin got her at Ft. Carson, Colorado while he was deployed. Actually, we got her together on New Year's day 2003. She's also a Service dog for Justin. He taught her how to detect heart attacks which is especially usefull because Justin has had a couple from an unknown heart condition! She's a very good dog. Carson also has a dog, named Tonks, who I can't find any pictures of right now. Until we have kids, the dogs are gunna have to do it for ya!

How do you work this thing?

2007-01-08T00:47:00.000-07:00

So, maybe I am as technologically-inept as I always thought my parents were...

I've been looking at friends'/ relatives' blogs on here and trying to figure out how to work this site. Any help and advice that you may be able to offer would be much appreciated. Currently, I am trying to figure out how to contact other people from their blogs and how to add links of others' blogs to mine.

So to anyone reading this, can ya help a sista out? (Of course that would include contacting me since I can't figure out how to contact you!)

Much love, Kathleen