The Simple Things in life

Today I was looking out the big spacious window next to my desk. I'm 5 stories up and I have a great view of the west side of the valley. I love to watch the clouds roll in, and the balloons take off from the local car dealership nearby. Simple things, yet things that really make me happy. From my window I can literally see the seasons change. We just found out that our company is moving to the 2nd floor and I will have no window. It's amazing how just subtracting this window will make a huge impact on my everyday life now. No more runaway balloons, and no more amazing sunrises and thunderstorms. It's the simple things in life that truly make us happy. Here are a few simple things in my life that make me happy:

- When my husband puts his hand under my thigh when we get in bed for the night.
- Listening to my books on my MP3 player at work.
- Making dinner
- Reading through my "Better Homes and Garden"
- Receiving text messages
- When my parents stop by the house unexpectedly
- the smile I get when I'm done doing someone's hair
- When Sam greets me at the door
- talking on the phone with my sister's
- teaching primary
- Kisses from Scott when he gets home
- "Friends"
- The water cooler at work
- Decorating
- Clorox wipes
- When the Dr. bill states "0 balance due"
- Peanut butter
- Thai Chili Gardens (Scott and I both get giddy)
- Shopping at Costco
- Taking trips to Eagle Mountain(it's true Brett & Mindy, we enjoy it)
- Taking pictures
- My window at work!

Take the time to just reflect on the simple things, it will surprise you what truly makes you happy!

Bee's ball

Tuesday, Rheina called me up and asked if we were interested in going to a Bee's baseball game. She had four tickets and wanted to share. Scott HATES baseball and I love it and since we rarely ever go I said yes. All Wednesday I was looking forward to the game, something fun and different to do. Scott on the other hand was in a bad mood. We were determined to make that all change for him when we got to the game (plus it was "Hotdog Wednesday" all hotdogs a buck!) A buck for a hotdog, Scott WAS going to like it!

Here we are after we had our hotdogs, I told you Scott was going to cheer up!

This guy desperately wanted a fly-ball. He had his mitt on his left hand and his huge fishing net in the right hand. Every time someone got up to bat, he had a hold of his net and mitt. He actually got a ball. His hard work finally paid off.

This guy played for the Colorado Sky Sox's. He was so cocky that he hardly ever had his mitt on. He would just walk around 1st base holding his glove. His coolness finally shone through when he missed a catch during the last inning. What a dork!

Here we are with the "BEE"

Scott and Spencer were so determined to finish off all the sunflower seeds before the end of the game. Yippy, they did it!

Thanks Rheina and Spencer, we had a great time.

Happy Anniversary Honey, I bought you some brakes!

For the last couple of weeks I've been having problems with my brakes. There has been a lot of high pitched squeaks and horrible grinding noises. There have been times where I've applied the brakes so hard that I felt like Fred Flintstone.

I was fearful for my life and I expressed my concern to Scott. So, we took the car in for a diagnostic test to make sure it was the brakes. It was, and the damage was so bad that the brakes were totally gone, and the brake pads had worn down to the "rotary girder" ( I don't know if that's the term, but it reminded me of Tommy Boy) So simply, they were as bad as brakes, or no brakes, can get. So obviously for my anniversary gift, I got new brakes. No worries ladies, this is exactly what I wanted. For my safety, peace of mind, and due to the fact that we can't go without a vehicle. Scott was planning on repairing and replacing the brakes and "rotary girder" himself, but after calculating we realized that it would take him 10 hrs to complete the job, vs. 2 hrs it would take the car shop. So, goodbye house remodel money, hello brake repair money. Geez, it was expensive!

As Monica from "Friends" once said, "Welcome to being an adult, it SUCKS, but you'll love it!

So, for our anniversary we ate out at our favorite restaurant (the Thai Chili Gardens) and went and caught a late night movie. We enjoyed each other's company, had a great time laughing and reflected on all the things we've been through, and the great memories we've created, plus all the safety we received while using our new brakes!

Copper or Wool

Around this time of year, I get a little anxious.
Shott has always had this Knack for making anniversary's, birthday's, holiday's, and some everyday's special. With our seventh wedding anniversary approaching this weekend, I'm a little on edge.
"What great idea does he have up his sleeve this time."
As a tribute to Shott and all the great things he done for me over the years. I want to share a few of my fondest memories:

- During our third month of marriage I came home to the tent up in our living room. We cooked hot dogs over the grill and roasted smore's over a candle.

- After school one night I came out to find my car decorated with confetti and roses. Inside was a personalized card telling me to "hurry home". I hurried home so fast I ran a red light. (This was the first and last time I've received a ticket.)

- Our Bahama trip was Shott's idea. He surprised me with the idea, and then planned everything.

- On Valentine's day one year, Shott sent an acapella group to sing to me along with a bouquet of flowers.

- During one paticular bad day Shott sent me a season of "Friends" to cheer me up. He spent the night watching the whole season with me.

- The day I graduated from College, I came out to find my car covered with the biggest card I have ever seen. It was almost as long as the car. Inside it read, "Congratulations on your BIG day, Here's to our BIG future. Your BIG gift to recognize this BIG day is in the BIG trunk of your car. Love, your BIG husband. Come home and I'll give you a BIG kiss." In the trunk was a beautifully wrapped gift from which, after it was un-wrapped, revealed my Cannon digital camera.

- On our fifth wedding anniversary, Shott made me his first music video montage. He also surprised me with plane tickets to California.

- I love Jack Johnson. On our sixth wedding anniversary Shott surprised me with tickets to see Jack Johnson perform at the Gorge amphitheater in Washington.

- This last winter Shott surprised me with a snowmobile trip up to Hardware Ranch to see the Elk. Later we spent the night at the beautiful Alaskan Inn with a complimentary spa basket that to my surprise, Shott had put together.

- Yesterday I came home to my Kitchen totally (totally meaning: All cupboards closed, all countertops washed off, and every little dish put back exactly where it goes) clean and laundry in the washer.

They say that the traditional anniversary gift for your seventh year is either Copper or Wool. Whatever the plan is for the weekend, it will sure beat out pennies and coats! Thanks babe for making EVERYTHING special!!

Our Random Weekend

So, are weekend started out with us coming home to no dog greeting us at the door. Let's go back a couple of days: Earlier in the week Scott and I had left some garbage down in the basement. We had used the Albertson's grocery bag as a small garbage. Inside was wrappers from some cheetos, a candy bar, and some other great stuff. During the whole week Sam hadn't touched the sack. Proof of how great our obedience training had been. Wrong!

When Sam didn't greet us at the door Scott went down stairs to find Sam whimpering in the deepest, darkest corner of the basement. She was totally wrapped up in the Albertson's grocery bag and there were wrappers strewn all around the room. She knew she was in trouble and she couldn't hide the evidence. We laughed so hard we couldn't even get mad. Instead, as punishment, we made her go upstairs and walk around the yard for a while with the bag on. It was Hilarious!!

So, there's this urban legend going around about Mentos and Diet Coke. We've been told that if you strategically place mentos in a bottle of diet coke you get this awesome geyser that shoots from the top of the bottle. Friday night we went to the store, picked up a few liters of Diet Coke and some Mentos. Here's proof that it works! We had fun. On Sunday we were watching Myth Busters on the Discovery channel (one of our favorite shows) and they tested this same "urban legend" It was awesome. If you want to know the secret, you'll have to go to the Discovery Channel web site. And it ONLY works with Diet Coke and mint Mentos. Have fun!

Since we haven't been able to get out and do some serious camping this summer we thought we would do some here in our back yard. Right as we put up the tent and settled in for the night we got hit with a huge thunder and lighting storm. It was awesome!!!! And we made it through the night. Of course Scott had the fan and the lap top with him to keep his mind off the storm.

Saturday, we were putting our base boards in and we could hear some racket going on outside. We put the hammer and nails down and opened up the door to a huge hail storm. It rained and hailed on and off for almost two hours. Here's pictures of some of the hail that came down over the course of two hours.

Scott playing in the hail storm

"These are my sons, Walker, and Texas Ranger" -Talladega Nights

So last night we had a "Walker and Texas Ranger" moment. About 3-4 times during the summer and fall months Shott and I will take a drive with my parents up to the Copper Mine farm fields to watch the deer graze in the evenings. It's a nice time to quickly get away from the city and take in a little country. The farm fields are protected by Kennecott land and there are some pretty nice looking wildlife to behold.
So last night we all had our binoculars out watching the big Bucks grazing in the hay fields. About 5 min. Into watching the deer a man with his 2 boys and wife pull up in a Chevy SUV. He gets out and comes over and asks if we could see the "36" spread" (referring to one of the big bucks)

My Dad says, "no, just small ones out tonight."

" Do you mind if I look through your Scope?"

"Sure, no problem, help yourself."

As the man was looking through the scope, I noticed in my binoculars a flock of Turkeys heading toward some of the deer in the pasture.

"Hey dad, I think I see some turkeys out there."

"Turkeys, you see the turkey's out there", the man said.

"Yeah, just over to the left of the deer."

"Oh, Wow, can my boys take a look, they've been wanting to see them there turkeys for a while."

"Sure", I said, "they can look through my binoculars."

So the man turns toward the truck and yells out to his boys, "Hunter, Fisher, come over and see these turkeys."

HUNTER, FISHER! Are you kidding me. As soon as the names left the man's lips my mom turned into the cab of the truck and started to laugh. Shott was laughing so hard he had to slide back behind the truck. My dad and I gave each other looks and tried desperately not to react!

Just earlier that evening we had been talking about how hilarious that part in the new Will Ferrell movie was. You know, the one where he has named his two boys, Walker and Texas Ranger. The hilarity of the movie was so close to the surface that we had no choice but to react to such a similarity. After the man and his family left we spent the rest of the time coming up with the rest of their children's names. Like Fawn, Archer, Trigger, and Feather. I know, we're bad but it sure did give us a good laugh. Maybe you had to be there, but we sure did enjoy it!

Parade of Homes

So over the weekend Shott and I attended our first Parade of Homes here in the valley. Our first stop was up on the east side. We were shuttled up to see the 7.5 million dollar home. The exterior was beautiful. Something you'd picture right out of Europe. The inside was unbelievable and totally impractical. Huge chandeliers and an indoor swimming pool designed to look as if you were swimming in some remote lake up in the mountains. There were secret rooms and an elevator. Totally out of control, and totally un-inviting, but very entertaining and a perfect example of the eccentric! Our next stop ended up being our favorite home of the day. It was in Holladay, just a few blocks from where our old apartments were. It was nestled in some trees. This home was only valued at 3.5 million! Everything about it was amazing. Like most of these million dollar homes, it had it's pool, indoor gym, theater room, a craft room to make Martha Stewart yearn with desire, and an amazing kitchen and great room. But the feature I loved the most were the rooms designed for the kids. As you walked into the basement to your left there was this cool playhouse. As you walked through the little door it opened up into this amazing little (big room) house equipped with mini stairs with a kitchen and a living room. It had a closet full of dress up clothes and a small hardwood area for tap dancing and ballet. For a child this was heaven. Saturday we went through 5 homes in 7 hrs. all of them had some cool rooms or features just for kids. It gave Shott and I such great ideas that we could apply in our own home. By the end of the 5th home Shott was done. He actually was done after the second home. Even though he complained A LOT, he stuck with it! The tickets we purchased allows us to see 32 homes here in the valley and after just 5 we were totally worn out. I'll be taking my mom with me later this week. Shott's very happy about that!
Speaking of homes, Shott and I just moved Spencer and Rheina into their new home in West Valley. It's a great home with a lot of potential. Last night we were helping them hook up their washer and dryer and found that there were some pipes that were leaking in the basement. Welcome to owning your own home, right! I'll get some pictures posted soon. (Spencer is aware of these blogs but with the military and driving trucks all day he hasn't had time yet.)
Shott and I have also been taking trips down to Eagle Mountain to see how Brett and Mindy's house is progressing. We've really enjoyed our trips down there. Their house is coming along I think quicker then what was expected. It's beautiful at Eagle Mountain and the quite is very serine. Last time we were there a thunderstorm was rolling through.
Shott and I love our home and the progress we've made. We've also enjoyed watching others in the family get into their own home as well. Yeah, over the weekend we saw some amazing homes, homes we'll never be able to build in this life time. Some too eccentric to really be called a "home". One thing we walked away with from this experience is realizing that we have a home, our haven from the "world"!

Superman

Since we moved in to our new home, Shott's office was the first room to be occupied. With him living and breathing technology and wireless communication, it was unfathomable to let his "space" be the last thing unpacked. As soon as we set foot in our house comcast was over putting in new cable for our internet. Shott was wiring his room. His wireless router was connected and by evening he was set to surf, download, connect, and interface. All was well in the world......Until Monday July 24th!
I, Scawna, had Monday July 24th off from work. I had such plans for the day. Shott may have had his computers set up, and his printer plugged in but he was lacking some super power. Power that would take him anywhere, allow him to do anything, and most importantly, let him fulfill his dream of flying! My plan for the day was to fulfill that very dream. I woke up, got ready for the day, ran to the store and found the very thing I was looking for, the "dream". I found a 3' tall Superman with moving body parts. Shott's ticket to endless superpowerdom! (of course all imaginary and with endless hours of fun) On top of that I got him a Superman garbage can, some Superman office supplies, and a cool poster that will hang on his wall.
When Shott got home from work later that day he was overwhelmed with emotion when he saw his hero standing on the table beside his desk. From now on he can now go down to his office, play a little with his computer and spend some well deserved time in imaginary land with his pal Superman! Now all is well in the world!

Imagination comes to life here in our back yard!!

What I Love about Summer

*The weather is warm & sunny about 85% of the time with a 15% chance of an awesome thunderstorm.
*The water parks open
*The sun adds more freckles to my face
*I can finally get out and start my garden
*I NEVER watch T.V.
*Gardner Village's Midnight Madness
*Vacation time
*Camping
*BBQ's
*Spending time working in my yard
*Playing catch with my husband
*Celebrating my wedding anniversary
*Enjoying the evening in a lawn chair or on my bike
*Sweet white corn on the cob
*Farmer's Markets
*Walking down to the Snow Shack to get a refreshing treat
*Finding shapes in the clouds
*Going to fun summer movies
*Flowers
*Listening to the crickets

Once Upon A Summer Day

Once upon a Summer day, Birds chirped in a musical way, Grass drenched in the morning dew, The sky covered in a vast color of blue. Once upon a summer day, Flowers bloomed in full array, Bright rays of sunlight spilled upon my garden on the hill. Once upon a summer day, Thunder rumbled and prolonged its stay, But after the rain tumbled down, This summer day wore a glorious rainbow crown.

Saul

Our quick trip to Boise was not in vain, in fact, it was rather entertaining!! We really enjoyed Mike and Megan perform in this play about Saul and his conversion. We got to see a lot of them both and they both had solos. We were glad we got to make it up there for this great performance and wish Mike and Megan all the best in their future acting endeavors!

Mike and Megan entering on their first scene. They play Christians who are running from Saul. Here they are about to sing a song called "Believe."

Michael is trying to save his daughter Perpetua. He's singing, "please eat the idol meat." We got a great picture of him here hitting his high G. Perpetua ate the idol meat and DIED!!

Megan seen here singing her solo. She sounded like an angel!

Mike and Megan at the end of the play. Megan's favorite part of the play, her make-up. Mike's least favorite part of the play, his make-up. Don't they look pretty.

p.s. Mike, I'm going to miss washing our make-up off together. Paula's Select face cleanser really came in handy for you. Too bad I can't be there to tell you when your mascara starts to clump!

Saturday in Boise

The heat was unbearable, Mike and Megan had just got home from performing in the matinee show of their play, "Saul". We had a few hours to kill before we were to go see Mike and Megan in their last performance. Danielle's brother, Mark and his son Schuyler were also suffering with us in the heat. Danielle, like always, came up with a brilliant plan. "Let's take the kids to Lucky Peak and we'll play in the water." Brilliant! So we took off up the canyon, behind Mike and Danielle's house, and played at Lucky Peak!! ( I don't know why this is underlined!!) Danielle was brave enough to endure the heat. What a great Mom!!

Jordan was so hot he couldn't keep his shirt on. Doesn't he look so tough!

Just below the dam they have this amazing pressure spout. It was shallow enough you could walk out all the way to the spout. Schuyler really wanted to check it out. So with Mike and I keeping an eye out for him (we were the ones who really wanted to go out, Schuyler was just our excuse) we set out to check out the spout. It was awesome!

Here's me, Mike, and Danielle's nephew Schuyler.

Thanks Mike and Danille, we had a great time at Lucky peak!

Down to Up

The other day I a was having a downer. The kind where every failure and inadequacy come to mind: I'm fat, I have no children, my hair's a mess, I could be a better wife, a better co-worker, friend or sister. I have rats in my bushes, I need new clothes, I wish I didn't have to work, The brakes in our car need to be fixed, our grass is dying, I'm not serving enough....On & on. Very damaging thoughts!
Then on my way home I sat at the light at an intersection and noticed a homeless man holding a cardboard sign asking for work or money. Seeing this man sitting in the sweltering heat hit me like a ton of bricks and I started to cry. I have everything! It may be a little different then what the world has defined as everything, but I do and probably more! I have food, an adoption application, I'm a hair dresser, my husband loves me and shows me that he does every single day, I enjoy work, I call my sister's every week, I have poison for the rats, I have money, we can afford to get our brakes fixed, we fertilized our lawn, I have a house, and I'm a primary teacher. Everything that had brought me down was gone. The Lord blessed me with the opportunity to realize that I have everything that I need to make my situation better. It's what we do with our blessings that will determine the outcome of our trials.
It's rare for me to have a downer, I thank my Mom for the example of being happy even through tough times, but when I do, there always seems to be a reminder of how great I have it and then I'm back UP!!

Happy 30th

We wanted to publicly wish Kim Harmon, our awesome sister, a very Happy Birthday. We hope that she has a fantastic day, that her kids are nice to her and her Husband gives her whatever she has wished for! We're sorry we can't be with you to celebrate this momentous occasion. We are celebrating here at home (as you can see with our awesome banner). We got so into celebrating that we cleared out the basement and did a little dancing. Sam got so wound up that she was able to hold herself up long enough to pose for our picture. Have a wonderful Birthday Kim!
PS - Scott is trying to get a patent on the glowing white paper.

Can'n my goods

So i walked into Reams and there stood a tower of raspberries all stacked nicely in there own crates. Then i saw the price...8.00 a crate. Hello! That's unheard of. So i bought a few crates and took'em home. Now,.. what to do with them. Put them on ice cream, yummy! But there were so many. I was so excited about the deal i got that had to call my mom.
Before we knew it we were in the kitchen with all our mason jars and stock pots watching "How to loose a guy in ten days". With in two hours we had these beauties. We split the harvest 50/50 and I now can preserve my beautiful purchase until i want to put them on ice cream or make a pie. I was so excited to can my first batch of fruit. Yea me!

Oregon Trip

Our view from the beach house in Lincoln City, OR.
Our (kinda) fox hole that we dug. Great place on the beach to watch the fireworks

Here you see me and Shott with my family and Kelly's in-law's.

Seaside, OR. July 4th

A view of Portland, OR. from the Rose Gardens

The show before the show. It was like this all night out here on the beach!

Great view from our hole. Seaside, OR. July 4th

We hated the banister so, we got rid of it and put in a half wall. It was fun to see the change it made. Shott put the wall up. I taped it, puttied it, sanded it down, and then painted it! All these projects have been very time consuming, but totally worth it.

The Living Room

The living room was nothing like the Kitchen, it was much easier. We ripped out the old carpet and put down hardwood floors (we have hardwood in the Kitchen and down the hall way) I have such great ideas for this room. With limited money I hope I can atleast do some of them. The table is from Grandma Harmon. We went to DI, found another table, took off the legs, and put them on this beauty. The rug is a little too small but it will do for now. I'm liking this room!

p.s. the floors no longer squeek. Wahoo!

The Kitchen

So as you can see, it's still a work in progress. We only had enough money to paint the walls and paint the cupboards. I love bead board, the whole country look, so that's what I tried to shoot for. We took out the cupboards that hung over the island and put in recessed lighting. Shott still needs to put the molding and base boards in and I still have some decorating to do.

Side note: Don't ever install your own laminate counter tops because it SUCKS!!!

We love our amateur kitchen!!

A first thought

Journaling and documenting our thoughts and memories allows us to share our personalities with others. If you want to leave a mark here on earth, you need write these things down, share them, express them, use them to help others learn from our experiences. It allows people to peek into a life different from their own...