Nell Family Reunion

Today was my father in law, Jack's 85th birthday. Tomorrow is my mother in law, Marion's 85th birthday. To celebrate, all 6 of their children and their spouses went to their house for an afternoon of chatting and eating. I had so much fun!
It was my first time meeting Rick's older brother Dave. He was so very nice. I was fun to see how each of them interacted with each other. I am so very proud of all of them for being adults and getting along even though some had not talked for many years.
Rick and I bought a tripod and I was able to get the self timer work on my camera so we were able to have a photo with everyone in it! I also had my mom's camera with me. I have decided she doesn't take enough photos to deserve it and that I should keep it for myself. =) (It is a Nikon SLR of some sorts)
After Rick and I drove down to Saratoga Springs to look at the floor plan of a house. When we got there the place was all locked up. We were both irritated because of spending the gas and to have no one there even though they were supposed to be open until 5:00. Sheesh!
I was able to spend time at the pool again yesterday. There were some people from our ward there and I actually spent time in the pool. It was a lot of fun. I hope to get in a lot of pool time during the up coming long weekend.
Rissa is coming home this weekend and I am excited to see her. I am going to try and take a day off work to be with her.
I also look forward to talking with Maddy tomorrow to find out how Drew's birthday was and how their excursion was.
All in all, it was another great weekend!

Pool Time

I was able to leave work around 2:00 the last two days. Yesterday I went up to Jim and Carrie's house and went swimming with Carrie, Jimmy and Katie. We went to a great place for little kids. It is at the West Valley Rec Center. I had parked my car in the parking lot near there many times over during my working at England. I remember hearing the kids screaming and having fun playing in the water while I was taking my lunch break, always wanting to go join them. Well yesterday I was able to do so!
Jimmy seemed to have a really good time other than not being able to go down the big slides alone.

Friends or lack of

So I was just thinking...man there sure are a lot of people I know in this world but really there aren't that many that I am friends with. This especially applies to people I went to high school with. I get on facebook and see all these names and I recognize them but I think, was I really friends with this person? Usually the answer is no. I think I am depressing myself lately by doing this watching and such.
Maybe the problem is me though. I guess I don't know how to have a normal friendship with a girl or anyone other than Rick or my siblings. Maybe my problem is that I like them all so much there aren't that many people I would rather hang out with. Yeah that must be it. I am sure I am the problem and just not social enough. I will admit though, Rick working the hours he does so he goes to be so early sure doesn't make it easy to do things on week nights and there are only so many weekends.
While doing my surfing I found some really cool things on other people's blogs...like slideshows. I think I am going to figure out how to do that today.
Maddy~ I miss you!

Indiana and The Host

I remembered what I wanted to blog about. We went and saw the new Indiana Jones movie last night. It was REALLY good. I kept thinking to myself, man they need to update the Disneyland ride and get some of this in there. It is definitely a movie we will purchase.
Also, The Host. It took me forever to read this book. I had it probably 3 weeks before I even got back chapter 5. I just couldn't get into it but once I got to about page 200 I was really liking it. I did see the end coming but not exactly as it happened. I did quite enjoy it though.
So all in all I have had a wonderful weekend!

Moving?!?

Earlier today I had thought of something I really wanted to post and now I have no idea what it was! This afternoon we went driving around looking at houses. We went all the way out to Eagle Mountain. Can I just say that actual Eagle Mountain, not the Ranches but all the way out in the boondocks Eagle Mountain is a HOLE!! It was so depressing out there. The homes were so ugly. Most people didn't take care of the yards. There is no way we could ever live out there. The Ranches weren't so bad but we did find one area in Saratoga Springs that we really liked. Now the hard part... do we wait until we are further out of debt or do we buy now. I do know that I can't wait to get into a house. I really look forward to being in a place where I can make friends with my neighbors and really feel past of the group. As it is right now, I know I have friends but because of living in the apartments, I am "forgotten". Guess we shall just see what happens.
Yesterday was a great pool day. I was out for about 3 1/2 hours. I sure love pool days. Next weekend is the Lavender festival. Jimmy and Carrie are planning on going so we are trying to decide if we want to go or not. Rick is playing golf in the morning with his dad and brothers. We also have his "family reunion" on Sunday. I am excited for that!
I haven't worked on my ancestry stuff in weeks! I need to finish up a chart for this party though. I think I will go to that or watch Pride and Prejudice. I think I only have about 45 min left.

This week has been interesting and a flood of emotions up and down. Last Saturday we spent time at Jim and Carrie's. It was so much fun playing with little Jimmy. Jim and I cooked dinner then Rick and I played with little Jimmy. Poor Carrie seemed to tired. She looks good though, as does the baby.
Prior to going over there I was able to get in some pool time. As you can see by the nice red hugh to my skin.



As you can see, Baby Katie is looking great. She has such beautiful color and is so pretty. She also is very good at keeping her parents awake. Apparently she does not like to have a pacifier and therefore they have to just hold her and calm her down. Doesn't make for getting much sleep.
This hammock was hand made especially for Jim while on his mission. Rick pushed Jimmy and me in Jim's hammock. in Venezuela. We had little Jimmy laughing so hard.So then on Sunday we went to see Rick's parents and then over to his sister's house. Going up there makes us want to move further north so it would be easier to see all our family. Who knows what will happen once we get to that point. So after we had to go by my mom's to pick up my car registration paperwork. On the way we drove past Cottonwood Mall - More accurately, what is left of Cottonwood Mall.

So we got up to my mom's and I ran inside to get my stuff. Since no one was home I had to go in the back door. The yard looked so bad. Inside the house smelled and felt so dirty. As soon as I got back into the car I just started crying. The house felt so horrible to be inside. There were none of the comforts that used to be there. I mentioned this to my mom today and she thought I was criticizing her because that is what she does to people. She didn't get that I was trying to tell her that I don't want to spend time there because she doesn't take care of the things that she has.
Then my visiting teachers came by Tuesday. They are so nice and friendly. They are great! Wednesday was an apron exchange with some ladies in my ward. Here is the thing, I thought it was Thursday! I felt like such a tard when I realized this and I felt so badly. I had really wanted to go and to spend time with these wonderful ladies. They are all so nice to me and I feel so badly that I have to work and that we don't actually live in the neighborhood with them. It makes me really wish we were in a home not an apartment. Sometimes I just feel so left out between not having children and working full time. Don't get me wrong, I love my job but it just isn't conducive to having a life.
Also on Thursday, Maddy and Drew left for Mexico. Yes I know Maddy lives in Oregon and I don't see her all the time BUT I know where she is. I can always call her. While in Mexico she has turned off her phone and she only has the interwebs while at school. I was able to talk with her today though. That made me very happy. She is also having a very hard time and is homesick. So yes both my sisters have left me. They don't understand how attached I am to them! If they knew I would think that the would do a better job at not leaving me alone.
So here is it, Friday afternoon. I stayed home today from work because I had food poisoning last night. (Stupid Harmon's Salsa - It must have been the tomatoes). I have been able to get a few things done today but not all that I had planned. Such is life.
One good thing - I lost another pound! HOORAY for me! I suppose it is time to get off the computer and get some of my house cleaning done so I can have another day at the pool tomorrow. So as I end this, the flood of emotions up and down, ends on the up side as it is 3:30 on a Friday. Life can't be all bad on a Friday in the Summer!

Private or Not

As some of you might have noticed you couldn't read my blog the last few days. I was trying to decide if I should keep it private or not. I decide just now to not. Rick doesn't want people just seeing the things I write on here since there are blog stalkers out there. You know who you are! So anyway, I decided that I want people to be able to read my blog so I am going to leave it open.
Monica~ Sorry you had problems this week. I know I put you on with permissions but probably the wrong email.

Ricardo the Pool Boy

So there is this lady I have known since high school. She was in the stake young women's at the time and I really liked her. I came across her on facebook and decided to add her. Today she added me and wrote asking who was the good looking guy in the photos with me in Cancun. I told her that it was "Ricardo the Pool Boy. Isn't he a dish?" And yes I used that term. She wrote back to me telling me "Ricardo the pool boy?!?!?! He's a hunk!!! Nice work girl!" Yeah she is jealous. She actually is about the same age too. She graduated in 77 from Skyline. It makes me giggle!

I love my ward

Tonight I went to my first book group for my ward. I had a really good time and learn some interesting things. During the discussion it was good but talking to him alone, he didn't seem to want to hear what I had to say. Oh well.
I did talk with some of the ladies in my ward after. They are SO awesome. As I was driving home I thought to myself, man I wish we could afford a house in this ward. I so don't want to ever move. So much so that I almost started to cry. I have never felt to welcomed. It is so hard driving home so far away from them, yeah I know it is only a mile, but when they can just walk next door and hang out and chat all that. It just made my feel goods sad.

Old Friends

Last night I received a phone call from my best friend growing up, Katrina. I have known Katrina pretty much my entire life. Seriously, we were in the samw ward when we were like 2 years old. I don't think anyone influenced me like her family did. They lived across the street and down the alley from us. I can't tell you how many hours were spent in that alley and in their back yard. Since talking with her I have had a flood of memories hitting me this morning. Most of them are good too....like trying to catch the alley cats in a sandbox trap. lol (Those darn cats kept getting out!)

Katrina also told me that when we moved away when I was 13 that "it broke her heart." I had NO idea. There were many people who I figured just tolerated me when I was growing up and probably still do. I thought she was one of them. This made me feel so sad and so good at the same time. I wonder if I would have done things differently had I known. Would I have done more to have stayed in touch with her once we moved? It was hard though not being old enough to drive and get around.

I feel like I have found my long lost friend now. Talking with her was SO easy. I felt like I could tell her anything and everything all right away. Like I had been talking with her the day before. Now I am going to have to go to my mom's this weekend and try and find some photos of us together. I can think of one off the top of my head but I probably don't have many.

On another note, I feel great this morning. My pants were even a bit loose and that makes me super happy. Tonight is a book group for Relief Society to which I think I might attend. The author is in our stake presidency and the book is about receiving personal revealation in the Temple. I haven't read the book but it is on old at the library for me. I think I will probably go because it will probably be interesting. I think I also wrote about this in a previous blog as well.

Work is going slow this week. It is about 10:30 and the first person just got here. I need to make a to do list again as things have changed on what I need to do. Probably #1 is finish transfering mini videos to regular size so I can get the video camera back to Scott. #2 is figure out how to use the timing feature on my camera. I can probably do that at work so maybe I will work on that this morning.

It should be warm this weekend and that means Pool time! Rick agreed to go with me last night. =)

Ok off to do other things

Random Thoughts

This morning I had a random thought I wanted to post on here but for some reason I can't remember what is was. Until I remember here are some other random thoughts.
I learned yesterday that during this time of year, the sun is not setting in Leicester England until around 10:00pm. I forget how far north England is. I would love to have sun that late at night.
I almost crashed my computer last night. I was uploading the scriptures from my work network to my computer and then to Rick's so I could put them on our ipods. I almost ran out of space. I have so much crap on my computer I had less than 100mb of space at one time. I had to cancel everything and hurry and delete some stuff. I learned how to make back up dvd's really fast! I now have 4 gb of space on my computer at home. I shall be pulling stuff off tonight. I would die if I lost my 6000+ photos that are on there. I also need to burn all of my scrapbook pages to a dvd so I can play them on my playstation. It is so cool how the ps3 can play photos.
So I finally remember...I was thinking this morning about my good friend Carrie Ann. (I have to designate between my sister in law Carrie and my friend Carrie.) Carrie Ann is a stay at home mom with 3 beautiful girls. Who would have thought 7 or 8 years ago when they knew both of us that Carrie would be the one at home with babies while I am the one who is a director at work barely married and no kids. Isn't life interesting how things happen? I know that we are both very happy in our lives too. Just goes to show that you never know where life will take you and just because you don't expect it doesn't mean it won't be great.
With that said, I need to upload some Spanish vocab cd's for Maddy.

I found another Survey!

What is his name? Richard Arnold Nell but you had better just call him Rick - Maddy and Rissa can call him Ricardo since they didn't realize Rick was a nickname for Richard!
How long have we been married? 18 months this Saturday
How long did we date? Uh....too long...1 year and 9 months!
How old is he? 48
Who eats more? Depends on the day
Who said I love you first? Rick! I know exactly where it happened and I didn't say it back
Who is taller? Rick
Who sings better? Me
Who is smarter? Me
Whose temper is worse? Me
Who pays the bills? Me
Who does the laundry? I am good at putting it in the washer but that is where it ends...Rick!
Who cooks dinner? Me
Who drives when together? Usually Rick
Who is more stubborn? Neither
Who is the first to admit when wrong? We are never wrong
Who wears the pants in the family? Rick
Who mows the lawn? If we only had a lawn to mow....
Who kissed who first? Um...probably Rick kissed me
Who asked who out first? Rick
Who proposed? RICK! Down on one knee!!!
What is my favorite thing about him? He has a cute butt!!

I found a Survey! - Thanks Maddy

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE?
My mom's middle name and Anastasia was the first name in the baby book that my parents liked AFTER I was borned
2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED?
One week ago before my period started!
3. Do you like your handwriting?
Sure
4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT?
Honey Maple Turkey from Harmon's
5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS?
Only the 6 in my Sunday school class
6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU?
But of course
7. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT?
uh, no
8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS?
sadly, yes but Rick doesn't want me to go through surgery just for snoring
9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP?
no way jose
10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL?
Cookie crisp, Product 19
11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF?
Yes
12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG?
In many ways, other than in regards to babies. lol
13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM?
Probably orange sherbet or vanilla frozen yogurt
14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE?
Teeth - definitely!
15. RED OR PINK?
PINK
16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF?
The yuck skin after losing weight and my big tatas
17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST?
My grandma
18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU?
Sure
19. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING?
Black pants and black sandals
20. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE?
Carnation instant breakfast
21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW
Jon Schmidt
22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE?
Probably a baby pink one
23. FAVORITE SMELLS?
Outside after it is rained on freshly cut grass
24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE?
Max - I am at work
25. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU?
No but I do love her
26. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH?
Good NASCAR races, not like the one at Pocono this week! Gymnastics is good too
27. HAIR COLOR?
Dark brown
28. EYE COLOR ?
Brown
29. Do you wear contacts?
No I have 20/20 vision as of my check up 3 weeks ago
30. FAVORITE FOOD?
I don't know anymore...probably still tacos
31. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS?
Happy, Happy, Happy
32. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED?
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
33. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING?
White and Black
34. SUMMER OR WINTER?
SUMMER
35. HUGS OR KISSES?
Hugs, - kisses have more germies
36. FAVORITE DESSERT?
Cookies, White store made cake, ice cream, brownies, etc
37. Most likely to respond?
no one
38. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND?
Maddy - I stole this from her myspace or whereever it was
39. What book are you reading now?
The Host which I just can't get into and A Nation at the Crossroads: Spiritual Decline in the Promised Land
40. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD?
No mousepad here
41. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON T.V.?
Sports Center
42. FAVORITE SOUND?
Ocean waves, crickets in the summer
43 ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES?
Stones!
44. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME?
Italy
45. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT?
I can kill HOURS, not DAYS on the computer without anything to show for it
46. WHERE WERE YOU BORN?
Salt Lake City, Utah
47. WHOSE ANSWERS ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO GETTING BACK?
Anyone who will take the time
48 WHAT TIME IS IT RIGHT NOW?
10:12am

A Quiet Monday Morning

Here is it Monday morning at work. It is 9:45 and the phone hasn't even rung yet. There is only one other person here. I have been playing the never ending movie quiz on facebook this morning. I have over 10,000 points. I have a goal to catch up with Walt before the end of next week. I think he has 18,000 points.
I don't think anyone reads my blog other than Maddy. That is fine because someday I can just print it off and put it in my journal. I guess my life is just too boring. =)
For those of you that do read...post a comment here or there!

Weekend Follow Up

I had forgotten that I put a list of things I needed to do on here. Guess I should check it out and see what I actually did...
#1 - I made a new folder for some of my photos that I want to pull off first. They are from the Mexico Carrier Conferences I used to plan and attend when I was still at England. Don't really need those on here anymore. I also moved folders from some "hidden" places and put them in my normal photo file. I was able to consolidate stuff from 2005, 2006 and other older things. Guess I am about ready to starting some burning.
#2 - Well I did clean off the futon. Then I paid bills and didn't finish. I still have stuff on there that needs to be filed. At least there isn't unopened mail on there anymore.
#3 - Next
#4 - Next
#5 - Deferred

So Rick and I went to the ReAl game Saturday night. It was ok. It was pretty darn cold. Especially for June. It wasn't as cold as some of the football games we have attended but it sure wasn't summer. The game was pretty slow. ReAl had easily 10 really good shots on the goal and not a single one made it in. The final was 0-0. Oh well. We don't think they have won when we have actually been there for a match. Maybe someday.
Today we had the 5 year olds with us in class. That means we had 10 kids. Good things the one who causes the most problems wasn't there. We had them run around the building and that seemed to help. I wouldn't make a good teacher like Maddy. I can barely handle 9 kids with Rick being there for 1 hour alone!
This afternoon we went and visited Rick's parents. Their yard is SO beautiful. It really made us want a house. Who knows when we will be able to do that. Doesn't look like it will be soon but you never know what might happen. We think that if they try to raise our rent too much that we will look more into renting a house.
Then we came home and I was knitting while watching the race. After one row I decided I could barely keep my eyes open and so I fell asleep. Rick said I kept talking to him essentially in my sleep. I know I did at least 3 times. I slept for probably an hour. When I woke up the race wasn't on. I asked if it was really that bad. Rick said it was so boring he fast forwarded through most of it and Kasey Queer won anyway so I am glad I didn't waste my time.
Then we had a deliciouso dinner and started watching The Order of the Phoenix. It is such a good movie and with our surround sound it is awesome. Especially the part then they are leaving Surrey and fly over the Thames. That is probably my favorite part of the entire movie. I wish they had some Quidditch. It is always good!
So here I am writing my blog. Thinking about the things I didn't do, the things I need to do and the things I should do. Trying to decide what to do for about half an hour until I go to bed.
Here is one good thing...I have lost 2 pounds! Hooray for me!

I can't believe I almost forgot...our apartment is being painted. Yesterday they painted the top half. And they painted right over my bird's nest! I was SO worried that they killed the birds. For more than 12 hours there were feathers sitting in the same spot. Late this afternoon when i was out checking I saw they had moved and there was a little head popping out. Usually they dive bomb us when we leave our apartment but they hadn't all day yesterday or today. I sure hope they are ok. If not, I am certainly going to be very angry at the painters!

Here it is 10:00 on a Friday night and I am up on my computer watching Princess Diaries 2 while Rick is dead asleep in our room. That is alright though. I need to make a list of things I need to do in the Jeff Gordon bedroom.
#1 - I have over 6000 photos on my computer. I need to start clearing them off. The problem? I need to clear them off in an organized manner onto cd's so that I can find them when I need them again.
#2 - Clean off the futon - I have a lot of filing to do which leads me to...
#3 - Clean out the filing cabinet
#4 - Clean up the closet floor. Ever since we got a storage unit about 3 weeks ago I have stuff just all over the floor in the Jeff Gordon closet.
#5 - Overall cleaning of this room! There is just stuff all over that needs to be put into its home

As for tomorrow, well if the weather is at all like today, I will probably be working in here getting some of that done. We are going to the ReAl game in the evening. It should be fun. We always have a good time when we go and this time we have seats on the west side and near Carnival ReAl. Should be a new experience since we usually are on the east side facing the sun but down by the corner where all the crazy season ticket holders sit.

The only new photos I have are of baby Katie so why don't I post some... Good idea MicheleThis was little Katie checking out Rick. She already likes him more than me. Then again, all of our little nieces and nephews do. When I went to visit Wednesday afternoon I walked into the room and little Jimmy didn't even say hi. His first words to me were, Where's Rick? I am glad they all like him.
Princess Diaries 2 is such a good movie. Since I got on facebook and have been playing the never ending movie quiz I think about questions that should be on there when I am trying to go to sleep. Alright..I guess I am off to try and start really getting my photos organized. I am doing a better job than what I used to do so that should help.

OH I almost forgot...I saw THE ugliest baby today that I have ever seen while doing my blog stalking. If you want to see this freak of nature/alien, drop me an email and I will let you know where to check out the photo.

Welcome Katie

Since Jimmy was able to post photos of Katie first I feel that I can post some on here now too. I am so excited for them. And to be honest, I am glad it is them and not me. I am doing really well in the other people having the babies and not me. Quite surprising and refreshing. I guess that is why you should have children in your 20's before you know any better!

I was reading a friend's facebook page the other day and a friend of hers talked about her sister's website www.allthingsribbon.com I have to make a plug for it on here cause it is great! They have THE cutest ribbons and bows on there.

Rick and I are going to try and get to the hospital tomorrow night so I should have some more good photos. Jimmy I know has a ton.

Little Jimmy was so cute with Katie. He wanted to check her out and hold her. The first question he asked was "Where's her diaper?"
Then a few min later my mom was holding Katie (see the first photo) little Jimmy was concerned that she was crying. He told me then that "when the monsters come at night I will crawl into her bed and sing to her so she won't be scared." He was so serious and so cute!!! Katie is sure lucky to have him as a big brother and we are sure lucky to have her in our family!

And the winner is....a GRIL or is it a GIRL?

I know that Jimmy has tons more photos that I do which are much better quality but I just had to post a photo of such a precious new baby on my own blog.