Only in Utah

I had the experience of a lifetime last night! I am staying at a hotel near my parents' house, and I decided a nice dip in the hot tub would be a perfect way to end the night. So, I headed down to the pool area. The workout area is next to the pool, and there's a big window connecting/separating the two. I walked past the window and saw this:

It's a polygamist in her pioneer dress running on treadmill. Now, I'm not making judgements, I'm just saying that I'm sure even the pioneers had workout clothes -- didn't they? Anyway, I feel bad (kind of) for taking the picture -- actually I made someone else do it and send it to me on my phone because I'm just not that brave anymore. I apologize for the surveillance camera quality of the picture, but I think it just adds to the uniqueness of the event.

Regardless, Lindsey said it was blog material. Hence, this post.

Oh I'm so excited!

YouTube actually uploaded my video of the Christmas lights on crack! Enjoy my commentary!

My #1 Turns FOUR!!!!

My dear sweet Mary Ann turned 4 on Wednesday, and though this is belated I must recognize it! Happy Birthday beautiful girl! I am so stinking proud of you, and I can't believe how much you've grown. I mean I can believe it, but it just makes me all happy thinking about how far we've both come. It's been an absolute honor to walk this path with you by my side. I am so grateful for your friendship and sisterhood, and I'm sorry for having to post this ridiculous picture. Actually I'm not because if I was really sorry I wouldn't post it. I love this picture because it's US. Me and my #1. You and your #2 -- ok the pig is DEAD, can I get bumped up please!? I love you Larry Dan!!!

Uhm, Where's the Snow?

I went to bed last night really excited to wake up to the white stuff. We were supposed to get hit about midnight with near white out conditions through the night and this morning. I woke up all excited this morning about the white stuff, so I open my windows .... nothing. I swear being a meteorologist has to be the easiest job in the world. It's not like you get fired if you're wrong. All you have to do is ballpark what the weather is going to be like, and like I said you never have to be right. Maybe that's what I'm destined to do... yeah not so much.

I am getting super excited for Christmas. I leave for Utah on Monday, and I come back the next Monday. A full week of bliss, really. Especially after how crazy this week was. I was just busy! I had my friend Jaime's 4-year-old Haley on Sunday night because her baby was having tubes put in her ears early Monday morning. Can I just say sharing a bed with a 4y/o is a task. She was such a bed hog, and I contemplated moving to the couch except I didn't want her to wake up and freak out upon seeing I wasn't there. Anyway, it was fine. So Monday I was exhausted from not sleep, but I had a ton of stuff to do -- like head to Target. Tuesday was our work Christmas party, Wednesday was a get together with the girls, Thursday was hanging out with Emily and going to dramatic meetings, then yesterday was the finish up shopping day. Alas, I survived. I got all the kids' stuff done at work, so that's exciting. Plus now I don't have to work until January 7th. Amazing, I tell you.

One of the perks of my job is parent gifts for the teachers. Can I just say I have mountains of baked goods and sugary treats in my kitchen? Not to mention leftover treats from girls' night on Wed. I don't even know what to do with them. I'm afraid some will get thrown away, but seriously, it's crazy.

Anyway, I was going to upload pictures with this post, but my camera has gone missing. I'm thinking I left it at Bethanie's apartment. I'm actually just hoping it's there because I have searched high and low in this apartment (which I finally cleaned!). I swear I'd lose my ass if it wasn't attached!

The Five.

I've decided to post the top five beauty items I cannot live without -- well WILL NOT live without... in no particular order.


1. DDF Pumice Acne Scrub & Brightening Cleanser. Okay, I know those are two products, but together they're my one skin care regime. I use the cleanser daily with the scrub every other day. If I'm really broken out, I'll use the scrub daily. Regardless, DDF products rock my world. Having a Dermatologist in the family is such a bonus.


2. Mary Kay Oil-Free Hydrating Gel. I totally lied when I didn't include this product above, but it's so amazing it deserves its own spot. First of all, one jar lasts forever. Second, it hydrates perfectly, and I definitely notice when I haven't put it on. It doesn't leave an residue behind, and it absorbs quickly. I also like that my face doesn't feel all dried out hours later. This stuff LASTS.


3. Joico Daily Care Treatment. My hair has this really bad habit of getting super tangled when it's wet. I always brush it before I wash it, and I comb through it after I've applied the conditioner. However, something unknown and terrible happens by the time I'm ready to comb it out and dry it. It's like a freaking rat nest. Really, it sucks because I have a fairly sensitive head, and I can hardly stand combing it out sometimes. Well that was until I discovered this stuff. I had tried a bunch of other detangling products, but they all left my hair weighed down and didn't do such a swell detangling job. This Joico stuff works like a charm without leaving a mess behind. Love it!


4. Toe nail clippers. Very basic item, but very necessary. I can't stand having growth on my toenails. I am constantly trimming them and filing them because growth just freaks me out. I think it's because the thought of a toenail snag on a sock or something else sends a chill down my spine. Eww. I just don't like it, so clippers are a must.


5. Aveeno Stress Relief Moisturizing Lotion. I put this on every day right out of the shower, and my skin loves me for it. I have very sensitive and dry skin, so a lot of products either have too much fragrance & crap and irritate my skin or don't do enough in the hydrating department. What I love about this lotion is that hours later it my skin still feels all soft like I just put it on five minutes before. Also, it smells AMAZING.

What are your favorite beauty products?

Ooh SHINY!

I had a super fun day that included babysitting Liam & Kellan (2 of the 4 Quinn boys), shopping, and Christmas lights on crack. I have to tell a funny Liam story. Liam is 3 and has verbal diarrhea like most 3 year olds do. So we were sitting at the table eating lunch, and Liam was going through all the sounds animals make. He stops after saying "And a Crocodile says 'chomp'" and looks at me all concerned. He goes "Uhm Wachel, what does a moose say?" I had no answer for him, but I have decided that in life, if you are indeed close enough to hear what a moose "says" than you better freaking run for your life. I'm terrified off moose, and well don't really care what they have to say. But it was funny as crap because I was so taken aback by the fact he even knew what a moose was (this is Kansas people, moose-free), I couldn't even BS an answer. Funny funny.

As far as shopping, I got 2 pairs of shoes that rock. It's super exciting. We also made it to PetSmart where I bought super diet cat food and kitty litter. Gah, I'm so the weird cat lady. Disregard that statement.

And onto the highlight of the evening... The Vince & Associates Christmas Lights (on crack). Seriously, it's so exciting. I made a video with my camera. The commentary would be all me, and you have to watch it to the end to get the Super Troopers quotes.

Please note the lack of video. Blogger won't upload it, so I'm trying to do it on YouTube, but apparently YouTube hates me right now too. Damn.

It's my FRIDAY.

Dear TWIN... you should blow this picture up into massive proportions and gift it to me for Christmas... mmkthx. Moving on....

Ok, I have to do this to motivate myself. I'm so serious. I survived all my crafting at work today. That's about ALL I survived. Oh, and an apology for yesterday's blog. I get REALLY emotional when I get tired, and now I read and laugh. Seriously, I think laughing at myself is the best thing I've ever learned to do. So I still mean 99% of what I said, just in a way less dramatic fashion...

I am so distracted. I was going to start talking about my apartment... I'm already unmotivated to finish that train of thought. And now another one starts. Grey's was a freaking re-run tonight! THEY NEED TO WARN ME when this happens because I was SO looking forward to vegging and getting my Grey's on. But alas, such disappointment followed by surprise of the missing new Private Practice episode from last night --- it's on tonight. So there was no new PP last night, and no new Grey's tonight, but a new PP on Grey's night. Like I need any help with the confusion people. For the love of Pete!

I was going to post my apartment pictures because I got asked again today via text message what the place looked like. And posting these pictures was supposed to motivate me to get it all pretty again, but I just received new motivation via email. And I have ADD really bad tonight, so it didn't take much. Chris just emailed me (and by just I mean hours ago) about hosting a girls' night, and I'm so stoked. She's going to make a vegan artichoke dip that seriously excites me. I love when she cooks and/or bakes for me because it always agrees with my stomach, and it's always delicious. Have I told you about the Strawberry Cake I got for my 3 years? Seriously... that cake was bananas... except it was Strawberry, but you get my point. SO FREAKING GOOD... and it didn't make me sick at all. Uh-may-zing. Back to girls' night... so excited. Last girls night at my apartment was when I got my cake after celebrating 3 years... and it was a blast. I love my girls. Seriously...

I'm half paying attention to Private Practice right now, but not much because it's being DVR'd, and since the invention of DVR my attention span has been less and less likely to maintain across a commercial break.

And on that note... the plot thickened, so now it's time to focus on the PP.

Ice, Ice, Baby!

We've had this "big" ice storm the last 24 hours, and I have to say I'm pretty disappointed. Granted, Kansas City has had some huge ice storms in the past that knock out power to hundreds of thousands of people and wreak havoc on general living. However, this storm was not one of them. That picture is one I took last night from my phone, so that's why the quality is crap. I feel a little jaded about the whole thing. Like, I got all excited that we would have this monumental storm that would mean hours of ice scraping to gain access to my car. It so didn't happen. I had ice on my car when I ran to the gas station this morning*, but it came off with my windshield wipers in the first swoop. Totally disappointing. Also, they cancelled schools all over the metro, which means tomorrow I have to work. Which brings me to a point -- tomorrow is going to suck royally. It's been raining all night and day, and as the temperatures drop all the wet will indeed turn to ice. Yay for a big skating rink, boo for the fact that the school districts have all wasted a snow day on nothing and will not be cancelling life tomorrow. I will probably for sure have stuff to scrape off my car in the morning -- not to mention the roads will be slick. I can handle that much, the millions of other Kansas City drivers, however, have yet to master the art of driving under adverse weather conditions. Whatever. This whole post just signifies the fact that I am bored out of my mind.

*My cats, my dear precious kitties, annoy the SHIT out of me at times. This morning being one of them. They ate all of their food last night, and I had none left prompting an early trip to get more. You see they don't wait patiently... they wake me up and whine until they have food in their bowls. It's not like they're small and going to waste away if they miss a meal. My one cat is freaking fat. Like she's got 3 chihuahuas hiding under her fur fat. She's huge. She could miss a meal or 10 and be fine. I bought them cheap gas station food, but the next big bag is going to be super duper kitty diet food because those suckers are out of control!

Gatorade, Chicken Broth, & Jell-O

I've had the stomach flu for way too long now. I had it bad last weekend, and I thought I was good until it reappeared before work on Thursday morning. I managed to suck it up and get to work, but I was practically useless. God intervened, and we only had 5 kids that day, so it was an easy day. Thursday night just got ugly. I'll spare you the details, but I ended up in the ER after getting what I can only describe as an abdominal "Charlie Horse." Poor dad was an absolute trooper, as I can only imagine how helpless he felt. I've been taking it easy ever since. I spent most of yesterday in bed, and today I'm still testing the waters by slowly eating. I think I'd be lost without Gatorade, Chicken Broth, & Jello-O.