Happy Holidays

I just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas! I hope you spend the next 2 weeks with those you love. I know we will and we are very excited.
I was thinking about my favorite Christmas memories the other day... They kind of all run together. We spent most Christmas' in Southern California with my Grandma and Grandpa Ducks. My Grandma always had a party on Christmas Eve and it's only now that I realize that that is a lot to do, with a house full of guests and Christmas the following day. The extended family always came to the Christmas Eve party, they always brought gifts for me and my siblings. Ambyr, Hannah, and I usually prepared a dance performance for everyone. We always had matching pajamas, and the four of us kids would sleep in the same room, and suffer from anticipation insomnia. Christmas was always such a magical time...
This year we are going to Disneyland on Christmas Eve which is also Luke's 4th birthday. We are having Christmas dinner at my Aunt Shelly's home which is also becoming somewhat of a tradition. I can't wait. I am so excited to see my family, enjoy their Christmas this year, especially my niece and nephew. I promise to take tons of photos and post them ASAP.

Merry Christmas to all!!

Shelves

I need shelves for my living room. Sam and I have a million books and we really need a home for all of them. I found exactly what I want on this cute blog www.littlegreennotebook.blogspot.com (see the photo of my future shelves below) but I cannot find anything like it anywhere. I don't dare attempt to make them myself... What's a girl to do?

Photos

I don't have much to say so I will post some fun photos from my trip to San Fran:







I'll post some from our trip to Utah ASAP.

For the Bird

I am a little scared.
I can't leave my house.
I am hearing loud noises.
Why you ask?
This:



What the freak is it you ask? A Black-crowned Night Heron. I looked it up.
It's perched right outside my front door.
I am not kidding, I'm pretty scared.

Sam's reply? At least it isn't this guy:



My biggest bird fear?

Sam and I work in the Nursery at church every Sunday. We both swear this calling is the best kept secret. We get to play with babies for 2 hours, and have snack time. We both LOVE our calling. The little kids are all really smart, very active and entertaining. This Sunday started a little more challenging than usual. One little boy came to nursery wailing and screeching and the nursery leader handed him off to Sam and instructed him to do whatever he had to to make the kid pipe it. Sam had a panic stricken look on his face, as I have never seen. I took the crying baby and held him for a half hour. The kid did not relent. We found his mom and asked her to take over. Phew.
When we rejoined the rest of the group we arrived just before singing time, which I lead. I started with “follow the Prophet”. For this song we have several laminated 5x7 photos of President Monson on tongue depressors the kids waive around as we sing our song. When I began to hand the photos out one little boy yelled “I want a puppet!!” I briefly thought about how a 2.5 year old may think this picture on a stick was a variation of a puppet. I handed one to him and began the song. When we hit the chorus I looked over at the cheerful boy who was happily singing “FOLLOW THE PUPPET! FOLLOW THE PUPPET! HE KNOWS THE WAY!” I started laughing so hard I cried. It more than made up for the rough start.

Wedding Photos

I just received the disc of photos from our wedding. What?

We only got married a year and a half ago...

Here are a few of my favorites:

Where we will be on Saturday

At Stacy and Matt's watching the BYU game.

It's so much fun watching with people who get really into it.

PS. I stole this photo from Brooke's blog

Yum

I have to say, Arizona has the best of all worlds when it comes to restaurants.  They have In-n-Out, Cheesecake Factory, Jack in the Box, AND Cafe Rio!

(Me and Sam at Cafe Rio last weekend)

You may be thinking to yourself, Heather doesn't like Mexican food so what's going on here?  No, I am not diluted enough to think people pay attention to my likes and dislikes which is why I used the word MAY and not probably.  Anyway let me just say, I don't know anyone who doesn't love a chicken salad from Cafe Rio, they are delicious.  I'd only change one tiny thing, when I ask for both kinds of cheese all of the workers yell "EEEEEXTRA CHEEEEEESE!!", it's kind of  embarrassing.

Arizona Science Center

I'll let the photos tell the story:

No idea what this exhibit was

The balancing experiment

My very own Atlas

I road this bike all the way across a tight rope.  It was $5 which they tell you after you commit.  I mean seriously, $5?  For 30 seconds?

Sam experimenting sleeping on a bed of nails; he liked it.  Se how relaxed he looks.

Hardest!

My hero.

Besides the depressed Dragon the Science Center was a hit!

You'd miss him too

I am pretty sure Sam misses him as much as I do.

Restless Leg Syndrome

I have received so many dirty looks for my bouncy legs. They shake the church bench, and bleachers, and entire cars. I have always had this problem. Someone once asked if I was on drugs, saying they'd never seen anything like it. I've always said I am just anxious. Recently Sam and I had our DNA tested for various diseases.
Turns out I probably have RLS, restless leg syndrome. I mean results won't tell you you have something but they let you know what your genes are predisposed to.
Here is my RLS result:
To calculate your estimated lifetime risk, we looked at two places in your genome that are associated with restless legs syndrome. At each location, there are two markers, for a total of four possible risk markers. You have four of the four risk markers we looked for. Each risk marker increases your odds by a different amount — some a little, some a lot.

Saturday I told one of our friend about this and she said they have medication for it, but one small possible side effect a medication induced gambling addiction. Wait... What?...

Hot Town Summer in the city..

I have been really good about not complaining about the Arizona heat, ask anyone.  I am keeping my complaints to myself because let's face it, I knew what I was getting into when I moved here.  That being said, this in not a complaint, just an observation.  

Today was an exceptionally hot day.  I went to Costco and Walmart and then home to unload the groceries.  Usually Sam carries our stuff in from the car while I unload everything but today I did it all solo (Sam has unofficially moved into the library) and oh my word it was just so stinking hot!  And honestly all I kept think was how I felt so sorry for the women who have small kids who are running errands without their husbands, in this heat, with children who are also miserable in this heat.  

I also found a nice little weather warning on yahoo weather referring to Glendale:

AN EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 PM MST SUNDAY.

 

STRONG HIGH PRESSURE WILL BE CENTERED OVER THE AREA THROUGH SUNDAY...

AND THE AIRMASS WILL REMAIN QUITE DRY. THIS WILL RESULT IN CONTINUED

VERY HOT TEMPERATURES ON SUNDAY RANGING FROM 108 TO 114 DEGREES.

THESE TEMPERATURES ARE 8 TO 11 DEGREES ABOVE LATE-AUGUST NORMALS.

IN ADDITION...EVEN THE NIGHTTIME HOURS WILL PROVIDE LITTLE RELIEF...

ESPECIALLY NEAR CITY CENTERS...WHERE LOW TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED IN

THE MID 80S.

 

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

 

EXPOSURE TO EXTREME HEAT CAN BE UNHEALTHY AND DANGEROUS. IT WOULD BE

WISE TO COMPLETE ANY NECESSARY OUTDOOR ACTIVITY IN THE EARLY MORNING

WHEN THE SUN AND HEAT ARE LESS INTENSE. IF YOU PLAN TO BE OUTSIDE FOR

AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF TIME...STAY IN THE SHADE AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE

AND DRINK ABUNDANT AMOUNTS OF WATER. WEAR LIGHT-COLORED AND LOOSE-

FITTING CLOTHING...IN ADDITION TO A WIDE-BRIMMED HAT...YOUR HEAD AND

BODY WILL BE MUCH COOLER. IF AT ALL POSSIBLE...TRY TO SPEND MORE TIME

IN AIR-CONDITIONED OR WELL-VENTILATED PLACES

The Low Down

As you may know I work for PetSmart. Sam likes to tell people I am a canary trainer, I wish! My official title is Senior Replenishment Analyst. I have been working in Distribution most of my professional career but it's much different at PetSmart, in a good way.
There is a lot more responsibility, because basically it is you and a merchant making inventory decisions. It keeps me really busy which is exactly what I need, otherwise I get really bored and eventually frustrated. I'll spare you the details but I thought I would mention how much I love my job. PetSmart is a great place to work. It has a positive work environment, it's professional, the work ethic is very strong, they have training available, and everyone is really nice. I would honestly feel blessed to have any job, but I feel overwhelmed with gratitude to have such an amazing situation. PetSmart is about 4 miles from our apartment, my commute has never taken longer than 12 minutes, and that is during really bad traffic.
Here are a few fun facts and observations I've noted during my first 6 weeks:
People hold the door open for you 100% of the time.
Employees bring their pets to work every Fridays. It's actually really funny.
The elevator says "going up" and "4th floor" in a woman's voice with a British accent.
There's a gym in the building, and it's brand new and really nice.
You cannot access facebook from your computer.
People talk about work 99% of the time while at work, very different than all of my other jobs.
Everyone is married.
Most employees have been at PetSmart for +3 years and no one leaves by choice (not that people get fired a lot it's just that only 1 person has left since I have been there and he was let go and apparently people know how good they have it so they stick around).
Everyone drinks "pop" (soda) all of the time.
Working hours are 7am to 4pm. If you work too much your boss will tell you to stop over doing it.
People love happy hour, they go once or twice a week... Of course since I don't drink I don't go.
Directors work with you to make sure you feel supported, managers do this of course but I have never seen directors so involved with the day to day.
They have a childcare center in the building... Maybe someday I'll need it.
Everyone has a tan, or a sunburn.
PetSmart really does love animals, it is not just for show. Most employees give 1% of their paycheck to the PetSmart Charities which is primarily animal rescue. No joke.
Quarterly PetSmart holds team building events.

PetSmart is a great place to work. If you move to Phoenix and you need a job let me know.

Arizona Review

I miss my family...