Chicken with it's head cut off.

So, I was thinking about how crazy my life has been lately and the title for my blog popped into my head, "Chicken with it's head cut off". I really feel like I have been running around like a chicken with it's head cut off. I haven't even finished Christmas shopping and I still have so many other things to do before Sunday. I was looking for a picture that I could post with this entry when I came across this picture and fascinating story. It cracked me up and so I thought I would share.


Have you ever felt you were running around aimlessly, like a chicken with its head cut off? Well, in Fruita, Colorado, you can do that every year at the annual festival that honors Mike, the headless chicken!
Believe it or not, and many people don't, a Colorado farmer attempting to dispatch a chicken for dinner in 1945, ended up with one of the biggest non-hoaxes of the era, and a place in the Guinness World Book of Records for the headless chicken who survived the longest.
Lloyd Olsen had been sent out to the yard, to sacrifice a plump young rooster of about six months. And guess who was coming to dinner to eat it? His mother-in-law. Knowing how she favored the neck, Olsen went about his task with the idea of keeping on the mother in law's good side, by keeping most of the neck on the chicken. He succeeded in a way he'd never have expected in his wildest dreams.
When the chicken (who later became known as Mike, although nobody remembers why) was decapitated, he refused to lay down and die. While many birds slaughtered this way will appear to run around for a few seconds, it's actually a nerve/adrenalin response by the body, with no actual intent to escape. They drop down, and die. But not Mike.
He continued to run around the chicken pen. Olsen let him be, and the next morning, found Mike asleep with his "head" under his wing. Figuring that any bird who wanted to live that bad, was worth the work, he began feeding grain and water directly into the gullet through an eye dropper. When Mike was still alive a week later, Olsen packed him up, and drove him to the University of Utah, to explain the phenomenon.
Apparently the axe had severed the head above the brain stem, missing the jugular vein and leaving the entire brain, and one ear. A large clot had stayed any major bleeding, and the wound healed over, leaving the gullet open for feeding.
Not only did Mike live for another 18 months, but he grew to a creditable eight pounds, and became a national news story as well as a sideshow attraction. Mike went to that great chicken coop in the sky during a road trip in Arizona, when he began to choke in the middle of the night, and Olsen was unable to find the eyedropper with which they kept his throat cleared.


Pretty amazing huh!

Cosmic blow-outs

Scott and I pride ourselves on our unique relationship. We feel it a blessing that we rarely ever, and I mean hardly ever, fight! But of course, no one is perfect and therefore on occasion, and again it is rare, we can get into a tiff or two.
Yesterday just happened to be one of these days. I had a full evening planned and was just getting home from work when Scott called me on his way home and asked if I would take him over to Spencer's. Spencer had asked Scott if he could borrow our ladder and since they had plans to drive to Draper together for a dinner meeting, he thought he would be nice and deliver the ladder before they left. I had need of the truck for some errands I had to run and so Scott asked if I would drop him off at Spencer's, along with the ladder(since the truck was needed to get the ladder to Spencer's) and then I would take the truck for myself.
Since Scott was fully aware of my plans and time limit for the night, I felt that this request was a little too much. Unfortunately I handled the situation wrong, and from there everything back fires. I won't get into the even longer story, but for whatever reason, whenever we get into a heated argument and feelings linger for over thirty minutes or so, something disastrous happens. It's like the cosmos feel the unusual disarray and a cosmic reaction occurs!

The cosmic reaction:(we've left the house in the truck together and we're not talking) Suddenly, the ladder is lifted from the back of the truck and slides out into oncoming traffic.

Scott; "Holy $%&8!"

Me; " " (nothing) I mean come on! We're still fighting!

Scott recklessly pulls into someone's driveway and turns around heading the other direction to retrieve the, hopefully still intact, ladder. As we head toward the ladder, cars are running all over it. Ok, it was just one car, but it was a good run over.

After we finally retrieve the ladder and it's securely in place in the back of the truck we silently head off toward Spencer's again.

Rewind 6 1/2 years: Scott and I are living in Holladay. We decide it's about time we return the twin mattress that Scott's parents let us borrow. We load the mattress and box springs into the back of our then purple Tacoma!

Tiff, Tiff, we start to fight (can't remember the details) and we're off again, silent, heading toward the freeway. We're getting on the on ramp when all of a sudden the mattress catches wind and sails out and lands in the middle of the freeway! We watch in horror as multiple cars drive right over the top shredding and mutilating the just minutes ago, almost new, twin bed!


Forward 5 1/2 years: We are on our way home from camping. Everything has been shoved into the back of our truck. We're exhausted, we've had a very long weekend, and we are in the middle of a pretty good fight. BAM!!! du dun du dun du dun. The tire blows on the truck and were going 75 mph. Scott is frantically trying to gain control. We finally pull over and survey the damage. It's pretty bad, and we realize we're pretty lucky we didn't roll.


Rewind 3 years: We're in our Apt. in Holladay again. We have a free Friday night, it's summer, and we decide to walk to the store to grab some drumbsticks. As we are leaving I snidely say, "do you have your keys and your wallet?."

Scott; "Why do you ask that all the time! I ALWAYS HAVE MY KEYS AND I ALWAYS HAVE MY WALLET."

the door is locked, and we are on our way. Five steps later Scott stops and informs me that he doesn't have his keys. GREAT!

long story short, we finally get back into our apartment 4 hours later!

I guess there's a reason we choose not to fight as much as most couples. We are trying to survive, trying to make it through the day, having a uniquely "non-fighting" relationship will in the end truly be what allows us to live as long as we do!

You can never cry too much in one day...Right?

I consider myself a generally happy person, but that all changed for me in a period of about 12 hours! I'm sitting at work yesterday morning and I got this unbelievable rush of emotion. For really no apparent reason the flood just started to come, so much that I have to get up and leave and go to the bathroom to finish off my burst. Yes, it's true, I started my period two days ago but unfortunately this is nothing new! And I admit, I've cried during months that I felt there would be some progress in our fertility situation to find out I was wrong, but it was nothing like today.
I sat in the women's bathroom for about 15 min just sobbing. After I got back to my desk from my uncontrollable breakdown, I get a call from my manager asking if I will come to her office to speak with her. Great!!! My eyes are red and my nose is throbbing from being blown so much. So after a few hand sweeps across the face for air I make my way to her office hoping in the next few seconds the walk will magically make me look refreshed.....Uh, NO!! I get to her office and the first thing she says to me is, "Are you ok? Have you been crying?" Oh crap, oh crap, here comes the flood and all of my dignity gone! So I blunder through what I think is upsetting me. My manager is a very great human being! She was very understanding and sympathetic. I cried and laughed in her office for over 30 min. Then, later we have a meeting and we're talking about the sub for Santa we are doing this year through work. AGAIN, I start to cry. Just talking about this family we'll be giving Christmas to just made me well up and I cried again. I had to leave the meeting just to get control over myself. Holy COW!! This is absolutely INSANE!! I needed to get over this, and quickly. I was coming across as a nut case. Nothing bad has happened to me, and I haven't experienced anything upsetting, at least nothing new. It has to all be hormonal. It has to be!
So I go to lunch with a friend from work and we laugh so much that I start to cry. Can I not get away from this today, Geez. It was great to be laughing and enjoying the rush of endorphins that were sweeping through my body, but did I have to end it with tears coming out my eyes?
I finally leave work. I'm absolutely exhausted from crying. I get in the car and my radio is tuned to FM 100. All Christmas music. The song comes on about the boy in the shoe store who's trying to buy shoes for his dying mom. You know the one that everyone should know by now because it's played so much during the holiday. Yeah, so I cry again. WHAT IS GOING ON!!!
I get home, Scott if fully aware of the state I have been in all day, thanks to texting. He takes me into his arms and all of a sudden the world is right! He's the only one who can calm the giant bawl boob inside! We had plans to go work out when I got home. Instead we spent the night in enjoying each others company. Exactly what I needed. Later that night I fell asleep and never slept better. I guess I needed a good cry, but the whole day, COME ON!!!

My Year In Review

Well, this year has, like most years once you're an adult, flew by!!! I might be a little premature in writing this blog, but this topic has been on my mind. I was writing in my journal yesterday and thought it might be fun to do a review of my year. So many interesting things have happened both good and bad, I thought I might share.

In January I made up to 400 rolls and sold them to a lady who needed them for a banquet she was in charge of. I sold two other batches later that same month. (maybe I should open a bakery.)

Scott and I attended our first Valentines dance since being married. We really ripped up the floor.

Attended a funeral that was held for my sister-in-laws mother. My thoughts are still with you Kristen!

Made homemade chocolates for the first time. Truffles, nugget, and mints.

Celebrated Scott's birthday snowmobiling and spent the night at a bed and breakfast.

Taught myself and almost perfected Russian punch needle.

Did not win the "Harmon's biggest looser" contest.

Attended my first LDS expo.

Bought a house.

Remodeled our house.

Didn't sale my hand made jewelry on e-bay.

Met Sherrie Dew.

Attended the Endowment session and Sealing ceremony for Douglas Schwartz.

Helped my parents landscape their yard.

Had not one, but two families live with us this year.

Only ovulated 4 times this year.

Never got pregnant.

Moved 4 families.

Took a youth group to the Ludlow's cabin up in Midway, UT.

Found out our best friends are having their second child!

Went to Raging Waters for my company party.

Went to Lagoon the next day with my Aunt and her family.

My Dr. put me on a load of hormone elevating medications.

Attended the I-Max premiere of Superman Returns.

Vacationed in Oregon for a week.

Attended Michael and Megan's stake play titled, "Saul".

Started this blog.

Participated in a Polynesian dance festival.

received the means to help start our family.

Attended our first ever parade of homes.

Had my first "cap" placed on one of my back molars.

Celebrated my 7th wedding anniversary.

Did not attend my 10 yr. High school reunion.

Did not go camping for the FIRST TIME in my life!!

Got Shingles.

Attended my first BYU game in over 7 years.

My sister got engaged.

Attended my first ever marathon and was inspired.

Wasn't inspired enough to loose my goal of 20 lbs.

Brett and Mindy moved back to Utah. Yeah!

Found out Ty and Kim are having a BOY!

Had a painful procedure done without an anesthetic.

Surprised my parents with a romantic get-a-way.

Michael and Danielle had their 4th child. Congratulations!

Spencer and Rheina got engaged.

Did not start my home salon.

Kelly and Andrew visited Utah 4 times this year.

Scott and I started a membership at a local gym.

On Dec. 29th my sister is getting married.

Kept a pretty good journal this year.

I hope you all have had a good year. It's been fun going back and reading about all the things that happened this year. With 2007 coming I hope to check off the things I wasn't able to do this year. Like they always say, "there's always next year." And boy does it come fast!

Happy Thanksgiving

I Ate Too Much Turkey

I ate too much turkey,

I ate too much corn,

I ate too much pudding and pie,

I'm stuffed up with muffins

and much too much stuffin',

I'm probably going to die.

I piled up my plate and I ate and I ate,

but I wish I had known when to stop,

for I'm so crammed with yams, sauces, gravies, and jams

that my buttons are starting to pop.

I'm full of tomatoes and french fried potatoes,

my stomach is swollen and sore,

but there's still some dessert,

so I guess it won't hurt if I eat just a little bit more.

Time flys by

Today was another crazy day. Plus it's Monday, which makes it even better! Work was non- stop, and with it going, going, going, the time flys by! So much that I get to work and the next thing I know it's lunch time and then all of a sudden it's five o' clock! During this crazy day I had this feeling that today was important, today was significant, today was a day that six years ago changed my life forever! To be honest, I will NEVER forget what happened on this day six years ago. Life becomes all encompassing that these moments, when we finally have a moment to reflect, are all of a sudden upon us!

It was a Monday night. We had just been informed that Scott (my little brother) had only one month to live. He had been suffering from leukemia for over two years and his organs had fought as long as they could and were finally shutting down. It's amazing the strength we all had during that last family home evening. We had no idea this would be our last time with Scott here on earth. Just before we left that night, I remember sitting down next to Scott and whispering in his ear, "Good night pooker, I love you forever through all eternity and beyond." (we would always say "I love you forever through all eternity and beyond") It's ironic how appropriate it truly was that night. When we got home we got a call from my mom informing us that Scott had passed away. It had only been twenty minutes since we had last seen him. I never cried so hard in my life!

It's amazing how raw your emotions are after a moment like that. It stays with you for a long time. It changes you; you face new challenges in ways you never thought possible, and you sympathizes with others on a different level. Life also goes on and before you know it it's been years. This thought in itself just reminds me of how short our lives truly are on this earth. If you die when you're 13 or when you 95, life whizzes by. I'm so thankful for the plan of salvation.

Tonight we went down to the cemetery to remember and honor his life and we left with a greater understanding of this great plan our Heavenly Father has for us!

Love you Scott forever through all eternity and beyond!

The Miracle in Sunday School

On Saturday Scott and I were invited, by Scott's grandfather, to attend Legacy's Sunday school meeting which are held every Wednesday night. He is currently the Sunday school president and was having a guest speaker come for the meeting and thought we'd be interested in attending.

Let's get a little background: Scott's grandfather is 85 yrs old and has only been a member of the church for about a year and seven months. Before then he was a great support to all his grandson's when they were on their missions, but he had no interest in becoming a Mormon! None of us realized the great change that would take place in this man once he moved here to Utah after living in San Francisco for some time. He was set in his ways, and we never imagined the miracles that would result in his move.


So, there we were last night, sitting in a room full of senior citizens. We were getting ready to hear Prof. Victor Ludlow, who's a professor at BYU, give a well anticipated lesson on Prophetic repetitions. Scott and I were thrilled we had the night open so we could come and learn.

It's funny how the spirit works, and it's funny the individual lessons we take from a church meeting. I was there to hear and learn from this professor, which I did. But the real lesson came when I watched as Scott's grandfather stood up to conduct the meeting. This was the first time I had seen him conduct and it's amazing how touching it was. He stood there, very humble, and welcomed everyone, shared a thought, announced the opening hymn and then held the microphone for the sister who gave the opening prayer.
After the wonderful message that was given that night, Doug stood up again and thanked the speaker and announced that our closing hymn for the night was, "We thank thee O God for a Prophet." He then gave a quick history of this hymn and then we proceeded to sing. I couldn't even finish the song. All I could think about was how amazing it was that I was able to attend a church meeting where Douglas Schwartz was conducting and that I was singing about the prophet who I love and know to be a man of God. All this, these feelings, the spirit, miracles, they all stem from one thing; our Heavenly Father and his Son and their amazing love for us!
I am so thankful for making the time to attend this meeting. I was deeply touched by what I heard and saw and for the miracle that stood before me.

The Internet

My life revolves around the internet almost daily. I'm using the internet as soon as I get to work and clock in. I'm constantly using websites to check patient insurance eligibility, and making sure they have the coverage for certain medical items. During my lunch breaks I read up on the local and world news and usually pay a few bills in between. If Scott calls and wants to know if we can see a movie (which we haven't done in a very long time come to think of it) I pull up the internet and find the local listings and times. I communicate to people through the internet. It's a very handy tool and it's amazing how I have taken this great invention for granted.
Since Friday I have been without the luxury of this great tool here at work. For some reason, when I open my browser and punch in a website it pulls up the site but then instantly shuts down the browser with no error message. I immediately contacted our IT administrator and informed him of the problem. He came, checked it out, ran countless programs to help fix the problem but to no avail! He has no idea why this is happening to my computer. I've had to resort to calling insurance companies to get information that only days ago took me less then 30 seconds to attain. AAAGGHHH!!!
I know that there are a lot of horrible thing accessible through the internet, but there are also some very great things that can be looked up, checked out, or downloaded to help make life easier through the internet. I was able to help my sister, who lives in Oregon, find her voting precinct during the elections through the internet. I've been able to contact people from around the world through the internet. We can buy or sale the "it" we've been looking for or trying to sale through the internet. I could go on.
I think back to the time when the internet was just barely a new idea, something that could be very big someday. It is BIG, it spans the whole world and right now it has sent my little world here at work crashing down. I'm thankful for the internet, and if used wisely it is an amazing tool. I hope very soon that the IT guy here at work will figure out and fix my internet problem. In the mean time I'll just have to wait till I get home from work to check my e-mail. Whew, at least I have it at home!!

Moonlight Madness

I'm obsessed! Every 6 months at Gardner Village they have their Moonlight madness event. I never have a lot of money to spend, and most the things I love there is way too expensive, but I love it!!!!
About two years ago I started attending this grand event. I invited my mom and sister and since then it's become a tradition. Our men like it enough that they even join us. We start out with a nice dinner at Archibalds and then the rest of the night is spent wandering in the village through the different shops hoping to win door prizes and getting good deals on fun new decorations for our homes. We often make our last stop at the Village sweet shop for a nice big caramel apple and other old fashioned goodies. The ambiance of the village is spectacular as well. During their summer midnight madness they had a Hawaiian themed event and we sat out side and ate chicken pineapple sandwiches all while watching hula dancers. I'm telln' ya, it's fun. This year they are having wandering carolers, carriage rides, and free hot cider.
Since we've attended I've won some nice looking fabric, a serving dish, 75% off coupons for anything in store, candle sticks, and a free massage at their spa cottage. So, I may not have a lot of money during this event to spend, but I end up going home with a lot of nifty free things, and yes, some of them I also paid for, but at a really low price!
This year this event is happening on the 18th. For the past couple of days, knowing this event is coming, has gotten me through my days. Kinda pathetic huh? This year my sister and her soon to be husband will be joining us.
It's funny how these little events in life help bring happiness. So if you notice a bit more spunk in my step around June and November, you now know why!

www.gardnervillage.com

The Love of my Life

I was sitting at work, like most days, and I get a call from Scott:

"...Ok, I Love you too. Bye"

After I placed the phone back on the receiver I got an amazing feeling that swept through my body. You know, the kind that seems to take your breathe away for a moment and to recover you need to take another deep breath. Scott and I call that "having a moment." The one where you realize that life is wonderful because you are married to your best friend in the whole world. It's like shoving your dating days and wedding day into one fleeting moment. Scott and I have never let a day go by without saying we love each other, calling each other during the day when we're apart, or giving each other a kiss.

I was thinking about some of the great things I love about Scott.

Scott loves to surprise me, and he has always done a flawless job of it. He gets so excited when he's accomplished his feat and loves to react to my reaction. (as shown above) We were celebrating his birthday once and it turned into a "let's pamper Shawna instead" birthday.

Scott loves to be silly sometimes, and we always laugh our heads off. Sometimes I think we get a little too silly. One night we were up eating Oreos and I made a stupid remark that got me roaring into that "it's really late" laughter. We laughed so flipp'n hard that Scott actually shot milk through his nose, which got us rolling even more.

Scott loves his brothers. He loves to be with them, hang out with them, give advice, get advice, and he loves that he's the tallest. I love that he's the tallest, it has really come in handy! (that in itself is a whole other subject for another day.) He really admires and loves his family!

Scott loves to do his research (and fold his legs) He spent one afternoon trying to find the perfect rotary saw for our new counter tops. His diligence, and aptitude for the right questions got him exactly what he WANTED. This goes for every aspect of his life. He doesn't make a move until he's got all his facts straight, and all the right information. He's a very smart guy!

Scott is very open about the things that make him truly happy. Scott loves "eyegasms", as he calls them. We all know that he loves to talk about pooh, and we all know that he has a really hard time not saying something about how fantastic his gas is (not the kind he puts in his truck) And what's so weird is that Scott wouldn't be Scott without all these things.

I'm so very thankful and blessed to have Scott in my life. I know I couldn't survive without him. He knows what makes me happy, he knows what needs to be done, and yes, there are times where he says, "I can't read your mind, will you just tell me what you need me to do.' And then he does it, and continues to do it until I tell him other wise. (man is he whipped) And when we finally have children (blessed be the day) he will become an amazing father as well. Scott, I LOVE YOU!

You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep, because reality is finally better then your dreams. -Dr. Seuss

Congratulations!

So, last night we are out to dinner with some friends. We have a great table, secluded and with no one else around. Our friends let their boys run free for a while. All is well until we hear little Michael call out, "Daddy, Timmy's licking all the ketchup bottles." And sure enough, there over on the corner table stood Timmy amongst a sea of ketchup bottles (which he had collected off all the nearby tables) licking away as drool trickled down his front. It was Awesome! Moments Scott and I love to chuckle over. We watch to see how our friends react to this situation. As so many other times in the past, we observe, take notes, and hope to gain some knowledge from the mishaps, sticky situations, or just good times we see all you parents have with your boys and girls!
I bring this up because over the course of the last two weeks we have been getting calls of the good news that, "We're having a boy." or "We're having a girl.", "Can you believe, it's twins" (we haven't really heard that one yet, but it was fun to throw in anyway.)
Currently we know about 8 close couples who are expecting. Some, days apart, some due this month, and some due in the spring. It's a wonderful thing, and we're so glad that we can be apart to observe and wonder.
Our friends, who we went out to dinner with last night, just called this afternoon to announce they're having their first girl, after having their two boys!! We also received the same great news when we heard that Scott's brother and his wife are expecting their first boy, after having two girls. Our other dear friends are having another girl, after having one. Is there a trend going on this year? Maybe their next child will be a boy.
I just wanted to take a moment and just express how happy I am to all of you who are expecting. It's been fun to get your calls of excitement as you tell us of your good news. Thanks for sharing and letting us be apart of all your great and wonderful families. Scott and I feel very blessed!

OCD, quirk, or tick?

So, last night I'm laying in bed. Scott has instantly fallen asleep and I'm a little annoyed that he's done this. I'm jealous and I get the urge to poke him or kick him so he'll wake up and talk with me. But, I decide that would be rude and I let him sleep. Then it happens, I start running my hands through my hair. I start twisting and twirling and making sure every strand of hair goes in and out between every finger. I do this until my hand and arm can no longer function. It's called my little "OCD" (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) I do this all the time, and I've done it ever since I can remember. Then I got to thinking, everyone has some little 'tick', or 'quirk', or 'little OCD' that they deal with, right? For my mom it's the phone or the light switch. After almost every phone call she gets, she has to take the phone touch it to her left ear, and then again to her right.

Mom:"Ok, goodbye, we'll talk to you later." Touch left, Touch right, hang up!

As for the light switch, whenever my mom leaves a room and flips off the light switch. She doesn't just walk away, she has to flip it down once, flip it down twice, and then flip it one last time.

mom:"Just making sure the light switch stays off."

So I got to thinking some more and I wanted to try to figure out if I could recognize some of the little 'ticks' that the people I associate with have. (I know, I know, what a subject huh!)

My sister, whenever she's concentrating, listening, or focusing in on something, she's always got her hands up next to her face with her birdy fingers scratching her eyelids. Can you say "quirky". Just thinking about it makes me laugh. Another quirky thing she does: Rubs her pinky finger along her lips (as if she's putting lipstick on) .

My brother in law (my sister's husband) has to always shake his leg. Whenever we're eating, the table starts to move, if we're watching a game, the bleachers start to move, if we're anywhere, he's shaking his leg. It drives me crazy! My sister is so used to it that she can't sleep now if he's not shaking his leg.

A co-worker of mine is so obsessed with germs that he actually buys the huge tub of hand sanitizer and goes through one once a month.

Rocky:"yeah, but Sherrie was the last one to touch the coffee pot and she was sneezing last week."

Our copy guy at work, the guy who comes in to service the machine, wears glasses and without fail he is always twitching his nose to make sure his glasses stay in place.

Copy guy: "Don't worry (twitch, twitch) your copy (twitch) machine will (twitch) be as good (twitch) as new." (twitch, twitch, twitch)

For my friend Michelle, it's adjusting her shoulders while she talks.

My friends dad, he HAS to move his eyebrows while he's talking. Just watching his eyebrows alone you might be able to interpret what he's saying.

For Scott, it's tickling his arms while it sticking straight up. I have found him doing this at night, in his sleep. He's got one arm shot up in the air, and his other hand lightly tickling his arm.

Just talking about all this reminds me of Ray Ramono's brother on "Everybody loves Raymond." Whenever he eats, he has to touch his food to his chin before he can put it in his mouth. This is what I'm talking about. Can you think of a weird 'quirk', or little bout of 'OCD' that you, a family member, or friend may have? It's interesting. I know for me, my little OCD brings comfort. For others it may be nerves, or a serious disorder. I'm not making fun, just observing.

This is what I was thinking about last night just before I finally drifted to sleep as my arm and hand hit the pillow with a THUD!!

Our Halloween Happenings

It all started out with our adventure up at "This is the place" state park. During the Halloween season they put on "Haunted Deseret", or "Sleepy Hollow." Last year we did "Haunted Deseret", which takes you to various pioneer homes in the park and they tell you the story behind the haunted house. We got to see the lady in the window, and hear the child who still moans for her mother. This year we participated, with the Millers in "Sleepy Hollow." An interactive play where you become a part of the village. We followed Ichabod Crane and his fellow towns people to the dance hall where we celebrated "All Hallows eve." They told the story of the headless horseman. Ichabod, who didn't believe this tale set off on his own to find out if it was true. We got to follow!To Ichabod's dismay, he was chased off by the headless horseman, and never to be seen again!! The headless horse man was a real treat and if it hadn't of been too dark, we would have loved to have taken a picture. We saw him galloping through the hollow toward Ichabod. It was great fun. It snowed while we were up there, but it really set the mood!

Over the weekend we had our annual pumpkin carving party. We invited some couples from our last ward over. We all carved pumpkins while the kids played.

We really had a great time, and everyone left with there bellies full of spiced cider, good food, and a carved pumpkin ready for Halloween night!

Tomorrow is Halloween and we are having a costume contest at work. Do you think I'll win?

Happy Halloween everyone!

For the love of Edamame!

Edamame is a green vegetable more commonly known as a soybean, harvested at the peak of ripening right before it reaches the "hardening" time.
The soybean is rich in vitamins and minerals, contains omega 3 fatty acids which benefit many of our body functions, Isoflavones that help prevent cancers, and it reduces the risk of heart disease.
As of last week this bean has become our favorite snack food. We love the soybean so much that we took a special trip to Costco to stock up! I was introduced to the soybean earlier this summer and enjoyed the taste. Scott was introduced to the soybean at work (as a joke from a fellow co-worker) and fell in love. I jumped on the idea of stocking up when I learned that Scott really enjoyed something healthy for the first time!
If you get a chance, and you haven't before, try a soybean. It may just change your life!

Inspired by a comment

My dear friend Edith made the comment that Shott and I looked as if we were in a clothing ad. Here's the finished product that she e-mailed me today. I thought it would be fun to share! thanks for the laugh Edith. Love ya!

Owning a home....a bed of roses, or just plain stinky?

Since we've been in our home we've been doing nothing but upgrades, improving, and changing! For the most part we have enjoyed every moment. The feeling that we can do anything, change anything, and just call this place we live in our own is a wonderful feeling. All of you who own a home can attest to this. There's a lot of pride that goes into doing these great projects that help make our homes unique.
Lately, we've been focusing on our yard. Since we put a lot of time, effort, and most important, money, into the interior of our home we thought we'd focus on cleaning up the yard a little. This cleaing effort has been low cost, and very fulfilling. From the pictures you can see that we've done a little. With some prodding, Scott has really become a man! Next week I plan on putting all my spring bulbs in. I love yard work.


Then there's the "not so great" part of owning a home. Last Saturday Scott was getting ready to finally finish laying the hardwood floor in the bathroom. (I had nagged him for over a month) Since we've been in the home, and before we moved in, there has been a leaking problem with one of the faucets in the main bathroom in the bath tub.
Scott went to pull the toilet off it's base and found a whole load of mold! Yippy! MOLD. I love mold. Everything under the bath tub, the toilet, and even the lower part of the wall behind he toilet was mushy, moldy, and easy to poke.
So, since Saturday we've had a hole in our bathroom with a straight shot to the sewer. (it smells divine) We had to take out the particle floor boards, and now we are pricing a new bathtub and saving our money. Why did we stop renting? "Just call the landlord, he'll take care of it!"
To be honest, I hate the bathtub. It had major water build up and stains plus, if we hadn't of decided to lay the floor, think of the SEVERE damage we would have to deal with later.


But don't worry, we're still as happy as ever to be home owners! We love where we live, and we are thankful for what we have. Come next spring I'll have those beautiful flowers in my yard, and a brand new tub to go along with it!!

True SCARY stories!

Last Saturday night we were at my parents house. It was after twelve, we were licking down our ice cream "drumsticks" when the conversation drifted into things that have happened to us that have either freaked us out, made us stop and think, or made us scream out loud. Under the right light, these stories can be fun to tell. I want to share with you a few of the stories that were shared that night.

* My Dad grew up in a very small mining town in Eureka, UT. For all of his teenage years he was the "paper boy." He would get up early every morning to deliver the news before the sun came up. One dark wintery morning, snow was lightly falling, the crunching of my dad's tire wheels could be heard on the side walk as he passed the houses along the street. It was just him, the papers, and the snow. He had been delivering papers for about 1/2 hr. When he noticed a figure coming toward him down the street. As the figure passed under a street light he noticed it was a young boy and he looked weary and his clothes were all torn. The boy approached my dad, obviously hurt, and in a very ragged and muffled voice he asked for help, "help me,.... help me. My family.....They are hurt." My dad told the boy to stay put and then he ran down the street to Sheriff Bernini's house to get help.
About 2 hours earlier, in the wee of the morning a small passenger plane carrying a family of four had crashed in the mountains above Eureka. Unfortunately this boy was the only survivor. He had climbed out of the pit of the mangled plane, and walked down toward the town lights trying to find help for his family.

*My mom also grew up in the small mining town of Eureka. (obviously strange things can happen in small towns) When my mom was also a teenager she loved to sneak out of her room during the summer months. She would usually go up about 5 houses to visit her friend Donna. On her normal nightly route she would pass by a small catholic church nestled in between the 3rd and 4th home. On this one particular night, she quietly crept out her window and dashed out behind the homes where she couldn't be seen. It was rather warm for a summer night and she was taking her time as she passed by the dark homes. As she approached the bell tower that stood a little off kilter behind the catholic church, the air around her seemed to get a little cooler, and to her right, bounding from the bell tower came an old pale man with his arms stretched out towards her. At that moment she heard a blood curdling scream from her friend Donna who was watching from her room window. My mom took off, heart pounding out of her chest, towards Donna's window. While Donna and her sister were madly pulling my mom in through the room window, sobbing, they watched the old man disappear into the field that slopped toward the mountain.
The next day, my mom found out that a funeral was to be held in the catholic church that day, and that the body of an older gentleman had been kept there over night ready for his funeral!

* My sister Kristy, while living at home, would often stay up reading on the weekends and fall asleep on the couch.
One paticular reading night, she was engrossed in a fantasy fiction book. She had dozed off to sleep for a few hours and was awoken by a faint thud. As she strained to adjust her eyes to the darkness she noticed a hooded figure sitting across from her on the other couch. The couch was against the window so her view of the hooded figure was silhouetted and very menacing. She lay there not breathing, trying to rationalize what she was really seeing. Finally, as she gained the courage to get up and go toward the "hooded figure", It peered up toward her with glowing eyes. (not really, but that was a fun sentence to throw in there)
The hooded figure was really a pile of blankets, and the faint thud was her book falling from her hands.

*One late night, as Scott and I lay in bed, my mind was going wild with all the small noises and non-noises that were around me. Usually, after I here the noises I start making up horrible scenarios to go with the noises. (the things that TV and movies can do to our minds) Sometimes it really freaks me out and I wake Scott up to help bring me back to reality, or I'll just think of lovely things. This one night, my mind had really gone too far. I moved toward Scott and realized that he to was awake and couldn't sleep. He couldn't sleep because he was too hot, not because his mind had gone wild.
As we lay there together I explained to him what I had been thinking.

Me:"Wouldn't it be freaky if you noticed the shape of a man standing in the adjoining room just staring out at you."

Scott:"Yeah! But let's not think about that."

Me: "Sorry if I woke you, and I'm sorry that you are hot."

Scott: "No problem, let's just get back to sleep."

Me: "Goodniiiii.......Snnnooorrrr."( and I was off to sleep)

For the next hour or so, Scott laid awake waiting to see if the man in the other room WOULD appear. In his mind his only protection from this man was the blankets he had on him, the very blankets that were making him hot. The next morning I chuckled at the fact that I had REALLY scared Scott with the idea of a man in the other room. And here I had slept like a baby!

*Having a dog can be great enjoyment, or pure terror! Scott was downstairs playing the x-box, I was upstairs snoozing off to bed. It had been a full week and I welcomed that fact that we had no plans for a Friday night and retired early. Sam, our dog, had joined me. She was nestled next to my arm, warm, and fast asleep. I could hear the very faint sounds of the TV downstairs and was having trouble falling asleep. As I laid there thinking of ways to relax more, Sam shot up from her dead sleep and started growling toward our walk-in closet. Then she started to bark. She was stiff as a board, baring her teeth and staring feverishly toward the closet.
"What the H#@@ is in there!!"
immediately I text Scott (that's the quickest way to communicate with him) and told him to come get Sam out of the room. Scott came and got her, and I left the lamp light on until Scott finally joined me later that night. Whatever was in the closet could stay, I wasn't going to go look!

Happy Halloween!

The BUDGET

As an adult, money can be a tricky thing. Here the devil is on your left telling you to go out and buy that new $2000 micro-fiber sectional for the basement, but the angel on your right is telling you to put what money you do have toward paying off your debt, you know you'd feel so much better. Sometimes the devil wins, and hopeful more then that you let the angel win. Either way it sucks!
Then there's the moment when you think you have money to burn, it's usually on something stupid and frivolous and later you wish you hadn't have made the purchase (and sometimes you're really glad you made the purchase, that's not the point!) Other times you DO buy what you want, feel overwhelmed with emotion because you have it and then turn to your bare fridge and hope you have enough food to feed your family for the next week. I believe we've all been there, and if you're the one soul who hasn't, then you need to fill me in on your secret!

In our family, I'm the one who makes sure all the bills are paid each and every month. Everything down to the registration on a vehicle to paying off student loans. I see the money come in and then instantly see it fly right back out of the account! It can be very depressing at times. But on that one rare occasion I see the money come in, and then I see a little stay. That's when I think, "hummm, maybe this weekend I can finally go out and buy those pants that Shott needs so desperately." Or, "Our house needs another touch of love, maybe I'll run down to Lowe's and pick something up." It's amazing how going into a store and buying something, even groceries is INSTANT gratification for me. I love the high. I know it sounds really silly, but it's totally true. Am I alone in this?

Then there's the ONE thing I can not stand about managing money......The BUDGET! When ever Shott calls, or pulls me aside and says, "let's look at our BUDGET.", or "Can we sit down tonight and go over our BUDGET?" I feel like ripping my arm off and hitting him with it. I despise doing a budget! It ruins my day if I know I have to go home and "go over the budget." Shott has to usually make a deal with me to make this event even happen. "If you sit down with me tonight and do the budget, we can go outside and do yard work." (I love doing yard work) or "When you come home from work this evening, we can go pick up that movie you've wanted to rent." Pretty pathetic huh?!
I think the reason I hate it so much is because we evaluate what we owe, what items we need to put on hold, and what we can't have for a while.

"I need to buy a gift for a friend at work."

"Nope, sorry, it's not listed here in the budget."

"I need to go and buy some milk for those rolls I'm making."

"Can't this week, but you can on the 11th."

"Oh look honey, I got a bonus from work."

"Great, we'll put that toward those student loans."

It's really not that bad, I merely made up (some) of those comments for laughs, or "I know what you mean, we've been there before" type of situations. HA HA HA

Now, don't get me wrong. I have a testimony of budgeting. We were able to purchase a home thanks to budgeting. I was able to pay for college thanks to budgeting, we have been on some great vacations thanks to budgeting. But whenever Shott yells from down stairs, "Hey let's do the budget." I roll my eyes, grab a pillow, and scream into it as loud as I can.
Ah, the joys of being a responsible adult.

The package that came from an Angel

Yesterday was like any other ordinary day. Stopped off at the dr's, slipped into work at 9:00 a.m., took off for home at 5:00 p.m., stopped and picked up the mail, started dinner, and put in a load of laundry....WAIT, back up a little. reeeeeeeeeeeee (my rewind noise) Ok, STOP!, there, at the part where I pick up the mail. This part was the NOT ordinary part of my day.
Background on the mail: We are the only cul de sac in our neighborhood, or street for that matter, that doesn't have mailboxes outside our home. We have a nice little community mail box right on the corner of our street. I love this set up, which I'm sure most of you are used to, it helps out with the whole "identity fraud" situation. Anyhow, next to the conglomeration of mailboxes there are two larger mail boxes designed to hold larger packages. If a key is left in your personal mailbox, this means you have received a package.
This such thing happened to me. There in my small, personal mailbox lay a "package key". Great, did Scott order something from e-bay and not tell me, did I order something and forgot. These were the thoughts running through my mind. Then I thought, this must be a mistake, the mailman must have put this in the wrong box. We never get packages unless it's a birthday, or a holiday. These thoughts were all going through my mind, all before I even had the chance to open the other mail box. With the key in my hand I proceeded to open the "package box".
The package was larger then I expected. I pulled it out and there on the front it read, "To: Shawna Harmon". Well all be darn! It was for me, and when I read who it was from I actually got tears in my eyes! I had no idea what could be inside, but I knew it would be special!
When I finally got inside, I ripped the package open, all while crying of course, and found a very sweet, very personal array of goodies and remedies! The Angel who had sent me this package had put in a lot of time and thought. It was the nicest thing I have had done for me in a while. It was a package full of love and I was very grateful and touched!
The contents of the package was full of remedies and comforts to help combat my blasted shingles. Later that night I used my new bath pillow and soaked in a warm bath that consisted of a combination of colloidal oatmeal, and lavender all while savoring a box of " Junior mints."

What's up? Well, let's see.......

It's funny how we always have our weird bouts of different things to deal with. Lately, Shott's been having allergic reactions to all pain relievers. About 4 weeks ago, Shott was experiencing a headache and so he went and took an excedrine, like he would normally do for a headache. Two hours later, BAM, he had swollen eyes, and his eyes were itching.We were right in the middle of sacrament mtg. He had to leave to take some benedryl. The next Sunday the same thing occurred, then the next. We thought he was allergic to church, but then we got to thinking, was it the excedrine he was taking. He finally (like having a headache is a good thing)got a headache during the week and took some aspirin this time, the same thing. So, he wasn't allergic to Sunday's! He's taken almost everything and what seems to have been the magic charm is tylenol. Wahoo! No more swollen eyes. At least we hope!Oh so swollen, and this was just the beginning.

Last weekend, my sister and her husband came to visit. My sister Kristy just got engaged. Kelly and Andrew didn't have to start their fall school term until the 25th so they came in to visit and to get to know Ryan, Kristy's fiance'. While they were here, we celebrated Kristy's birthday on the 20th, went to a huge family engagement party to get to know Ryan's family, went to the BYU game, and attended the General Women's conference at the conference center. It was a very nice week and it flew by. I love it when I can be with my sister's. When Kristy gets married, she'll be moving out of state too. I'm really going to be lonely then. It's during these times where you wish you could go back in time. I love my sister's!!

Here we are at the BYU football game. It was pretty chilly when we first arrived, but by the end of the 1st quarter we all had our sweat shirts off.

Here's some more of the fam. At the football game.

Ryan & Kristy Jones. That's what their invitation will read. Ryan was a hard kid to get to know. He was never talkative, rather shy, and never stuck around during family events. We thought he was a little stuck up. Now that we know him, we admire him. His parents were divorced when he was only 3, He lived with his sister during his high school years, his sister is 8yrs older then him and pretty much was his mom. He had great friends in high school and joined the church. He served a full time mission, was such an example to his sister that she and her husband joined the church. Currently, he is going to school to be a dentist. With all his family troubles we realized we were the ones who were being snobs. Of course that quickly changed and Ryan is adjusting well to all the hugs, especially the ones from Shott and Andrew. We are so excited to have Ryan a part of the family.

Family picture up Big Cottonwood Cyn. It was a beautiful Sunday, we had to take advantage!