And Again!!

                                                                 Here's my sad car.

                                            My friend Rob playing the guitar in the pawn shop.

                                                       Suzanne's Special Sunday School

                                 They will be great parents...they found out London likes Funyuns.

                                                  And then things got a little out of control

         The little kids FLEW.  I missed the air in the pictures I took, but this one shows a little of the action.

                                     Lunch at Bridge's elementary school, such a fun playground!

So here is a quick summary of a few things. 

It's become practice in the Taylor family, to have a special sunday school class when there's a family event.  It started when my nephew Josh left on his mission.  After Sacrament Meeting, the teen-ager grandkids and a few adults skipped Sunday School and headed out to the lawn.  We had chips and sat on the blanket while we shared some thoughts.  It's continued for each mission departure are return home.  The crew grows each time.  I even pulled a few kids out of Primary to make sure they were there.  It is so fun to get to share thoughts, and testimonies about the gospel, especially when we're celebrating missionary work, and the incredible message that we really do have to share as members.  It's one of my favorite things. 

One of my regrets is not taking pictures of the event 2 years ago when the blanket toss happened.  It was Jake's departure, and...it just happened.  So I took pictures this time.  It was a fantastic celebration to end his mission.  Oh, we were laughing so hard.  And the meeting we had was incredible.  We talked about General Conference.  I'm glad we get a little mix of everything when we're together.

It was such a miracle that I even got to go home.  A friend in my ward in AZ had bought a ticket to Idaho Falls for this weekend, but moved, so he couldn't use the ticket, but could transfer the ticketholder.  He asked me.  So kind and generous.  I arrived in Idaho Falls, and just hung around with my family, even having a little sleep-over with the grandkids.  Went to a swim meet - not quite the Olympics, but very cool to watch my nephews.  More playing, then a fun trip to the golf course.  Perfect day.  Delicious BBQ and fun conversation.  Pazooki's.  BYU v Utah game (go Utes!)  Church.  Bill & Genie all to myself for the evening.  Such a treat to be with my family.  I love them, and I love how fulfilled I feel when I'm with them.  

Special Delivery!!

  One of the coolest things happened today....this lovely little book showed up in my mailbox.  hahahahahahahahaha!!   This special delivery totally made my day.  Someone out there...thank you, thank you, thank you.  Such a sweet gesture, and very secretive...and so highly appreciated.  I'm excited to read the last chapter!!!  Thanks for looking out for me.  I've had that feeling for a while in a lot of different circumstances.  And not to get sappy or anything, but just the kindness that has been shown to me has been overwhelming at times.  :0)  So watch out for FULL book review!!

Sights & Sounds

Just needed to share some pictures.  I just love my family.  They are the best.  And with them, I've seen some beautiful places, and been highly entertained.  Last weekend I got to huge, awesome chance to go home for the weekend.  Pictures to come later.  There have been some huge blessings. 

10 Stupid Things Women do to Mess Up Their Lives

It's a book.

Sounds like a good read, eh?

I've had it on my shelf for years.  Dr. Laura (I'm not even going to spell her last name, because I can't) is a radio personality who used to host therapy on her show.  I have 2 general memories about my dad and getting in his pick-up.  Either Rush Limbaugh was on, or Dr. Laura.  So I had a little exposure to her growing up.  She's quite the lady. 

One morning, I was just staring at my bookshelf, and my eyes kept coming back to this book.  So I started reading it.  She goes through 10 things women do in their lives that adds extra baggage and heartache to our lives...which is stupid.  She uses a lot of examples from her talk show, people calling in and being fed up with their relationship and that moment of realization of, "yeah, that was stupid of me, what was I thinking..." 

The chapters go through being stupid in not having self-esteem and relying on a less-than-par guy to give you that.  Not going to happen.  Having babies to make a guy stay, not having any goals but only following his, not being yourself, putting guys before children.  Although a lot of these situations will not happen for me, there is a lot of truth in all of it that we can be smart and avoid.

My problem in reading this is that I will never finish the book.

Why?

It got stolen.
Out of my car.

Yep, I was on the last chapter of the book, and had it in my gym bag, on the front seat of my car.  When I left work, I saw glass everywhere by my passenger door.  Are you kidding me?  It was a mess.  All they took was my favorite black bag, my favorite workout ensemble...including my favorite sports bra, and that book.  Stupid thing I did to mess up my life was leave my workout clothes in my room.  Or was it needing to workout...not sure.  The thing is, I totally thought earlier that day, "don't leave that on the front seat."  Grr.  The whole ordeal was quite devastating.  I was already a mess that week because of stupid things men do to mess up their lives.  Otherwise, I'm sure I wouldn't have just sat in my backyard and sobbed.  Kind of pathetic, but I think we all have our breaking points, and clearly someone breaking into my car is mine.  But all in all, it was a good experience. I have some great people in my life as a support.  Not a stupid thing to do.

I recommend the book...let me know how that last chapter is :0)

Looking back

 

Last week I had the pleasure of going home to Idaho for a family reunion.  It was such a fun week.  The first day, we all loaded up on a travel bus and drove up to Jackson WY.  Beautiful up there.  We did some hiking and listened to the Bar J Wranglers.  Perfect day.  As I thought about the experience, I was led to this train:

Last month of so, I attended my dear friend Carly's wedding in the Mesa AZ LDS Temple.  After the ceremony, the sealer had the beautiful couple look in the mirrors that are on either side of the alter.  "What do you see?"  Carly: me.  Laughter ensued.  Apparently the right answer is "us" followed by "eternity."  It's a pretty cool thing to think of yourself as in the middle of endless reflections, which encompasses the teachings of eternal marriage.  

As we sat on the bus, almost all 50 of my family members, it really brought into perspective what this means.  My parents stood at the front and looked back at us.  Without them, and their decisions, we wouldn't be here.  We wouldn't all be packed onto a bus, being loud, singing ridiculous songs, laughing, eating laffy taffy, putting small children in the overhead bins, falling asleep on each other, talking, and watching a movie without sound because the driver didn't know how to get that to work.  Because of their diligence, they are very literally standing in front of a mirror that will extend for eternity.  With the people that they love so deeply sitting there, this is what eternity can look like.  Seeing faces.  Knowing the people.  Enjoying the ride.

 

Kind of a bad shot, I never got to the front, that's where the adults sat.  That's a mess of kids.

Check out this talk:

 

 Gerrit W. Gong, "Temple Mirrors of Eternity: A Testimony of Family", Ensign, Nov. 2010, 36–38

Sexual Harassment

At my work, I gave them my 2 week notice.  And this was right before my new manager left for Iran for holiday.  She came back and got nervous that I only had 4 days left of work.  So yesterday, they hired Seth to come in. 

A lot of cologne and a few hours later, he asked about smoke breaks.  Clearly I don't smoke, so I go to ask my manager and she says we don't have smoke breaks.  A little while later, she lets us know that it's okay, but please don't smoke where anyone can see you.  Cool.  But he didn't take a break and you could see him get so nervous and agitated.  It wasn't until a commercial was on the tv playing "yankee doodle" in a very flute-like manner, that this agitation exploded.  "What is that sound!?!?!?"  Wow.  I stepped back and explained to him the tv.  Wow.

Before I left for lunch, I was informed that he wasn't going to be asked to come back.

Why?  Because he's a smoker?

Nope, the boss wants a female to answer the phone.

Really?

Yep.  That happened.
Just another reason I am glad to be leaving this job.

Oh, and the replacement we got today...it's his sister. 

Clothing

First off, I bought a new pair of shoes.  But it's like I got 2 for 1.  I can't consistently tell what color they are. Sometimes they look black, sometimes they look brown.  Fantastic!  But also annoying.

One of the new shirts I bought has been begging me to wear it.  I have almost worn it several times, but decided that I would wait for the 4th of July.  It's important to wear a cute outfit on this holiday, as with any holiday.  On July 2, I was looking at it hanging in my closet.  Admiringly, of course.  I noticed the tag.  "Julie's Closet."  What are the chances?  How precious.  It was meant to be.  Then I noticed a little extra print: MATERNITY.  What!?!?!?  I totally tried on a maternity shirt AND bought it!  I could not stop laughing.  Mentally, I tried to shirk the meaning.  It looked fine in the dressing room.

My mom does have an interesting observation though:  clothes for pregnant women accentuate the belly.  Clothes meant to hide the belly aren't found in the regular clothing sections.  Guess I found that out...and bought the maternity shirt.