Park it!

I thought I would give you a little taste of how we spent conference weekend, between sessions of course.

You make me, promises promises...

I have taken several photos from our Easter in Turlock with Sam's sister and our 2 darling nephews. They'll be up later tonight.

I finished my taxes last night. I did not wait until the last minute. I had time to spare.

I miss Heather, the girl I sit by at work. She has been gone for a week and was supposed to return today from vacation. She got strep throat.

We are looking to buy a new car this month. Thinking of purchasing a Camry or Accord. Know any good deals?

Danielle and I are throwing a baby shower for Ambyr this Saturday. I'm excited.

Next weekend we are going to Ben's wedding in Utah and I cannot wait. He has the cutest wife-to-be. I like her a lot (or "a lock" as Luke would say).

I have been so busy I have not been practicing the piano every night. It makes me sad. I like to practice, but I need to sleep.

Pianoman- er Woman

It’s difficult to express how I feel about music. I don’t want to trivialize my feelings by saying it’s an obsession, and it isn’t in the same realm as love...
Music understands how I feel. I can always find the perfect melody to cheer me up. I can be walking along minding my own business when I hear a familiar song from back when and immediately all of these emotions surface. I can usually name the artists featured on the radio, movies, and television shows, and if I can’t, I’ll go look it up. I listen to entire CD’s, and feel that if I can’t listen to 10 of 12 songs it isn’t worth buying. Most mornings I wake with a song in my head. I sing all of the time, to the chagrin of those within earshot. When I meet someone else who has a similar appreciation for music, I have an instant friend. I love all genres . Music is a big part of who I am, and if you know me well, you already know this.
That being said, I have never played a musical instrument. I sound terrible when I try to sing. I’ve never been able to read a note to save my life. When someone would learn about my passion for music the first question they’d ask is, do you play an instrument? My reply would always been along the lines of, I am a music appreciator but I don’t have that kind of talent.
As of 6 weeks ago I started to take piano lessons! I love it. I can read music, I can play songs (really basic easy ones, but recognizable tunes non the less)
My teacher, Trudy, is the sweetest woman I have ever met. She is kind, encouraging, and very musically talented. In exchange for these piano lessons, Sam tutors Trudy in Spanish. It’s a great situation and I am really enjoying getting to know music in a different way. So for those of you out there who want to learn the piano, I say now is the time! Learn it. It is easier than you think. All it takes is a bit of interest and most importantly : PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE!

Sweeping your own porch

Let me preface this by saying I hope this comes of as humorous because I think it’s pretty funny.
A while back I was having breakfast with my family at a cute breakfast place in Burlingame. I ordered the Raspberry Crepe. It sounded so yummy and I was really looking forward to it. About 10 minutes later everyone received their breakfast except me. The waitress then came over to me and said, “we are all out of Raspberry sauce so what can I get you instead?” I then repeated “oh, you are out of Raspberry sauce hm…” with a bit of disappointment to my tone, to which she replied, “Yes, it’s probably for the best, you don’t need the sugar anyway.”
I thought it was really inappropriate but at the same time really funny; things like this happen to me all the time. People parent me everywhere I go.
The other day I was on the phone in my car without a Bluetooth which, in the great state of California, is illegal (no excuses I know better). When I came to a stop light, still chatting on my phone, and all of the sudden the man in the car in front of me throws his car into park, gets out of his car and walks up to my window and motions for me to roll my window down. He then yells at me, “IT IS ILLEGAL FOR YOU TO BE ON YOUR PHONE WHILE DRIVING”. To which I calmly replied, “it is also illegal to vacate your vehicle in the road while driving”. From the look on his face, this was the last response this man expected. Flustered he then yells, “NO IT ISN’T.” I smiled and rolled my window up and then quickly got off of the phone. And yes, it is illegal to exit your car while driving which probably went into effect around the time Chinese Fire Drills were gaining popularity.
My reason for this post is to share with you my mother’s saying which I love and try to live by, “Sweep Your Own Porch.” My mom has several pearls of wisdom but this one pops into my head most often. Thanks mom.

Spring Summer resolution

I hear by resolve to take more photos of all of the fun things we do. Sam takes me to do all kinds of fun things and I haven't taken any pictures at all. I am terrible. Last weekend we spent 4 amazing days in Napa. The weather was perfect, the place where we stayed was incredible. The food was delicious. But you'll have to take my word for it because I didn't take a single snapshot. We're spending next weekend at the beach and you better bet I will have my camera in hand! You can hold me to it.

Here are the only 2 photos I have taken since Christmas, they were from Steve and Becky's wedding. I didn't get a single photo of the venue, decorations, the happy couple or the ceremony, but I have one of Sam and I and one of Am and I. I'll get better. I couldn't get any worse.

...and just like the movies, we'll play out our last sceen

I was chatting with my father the other day when he wished me a happy Friday the 13th. I quickly told him I was not a fan of the day, as it reminded me of the the Friday the 13th when I was 8 years old. I'd taken my late great grandmother's necklace to school for show-and-tell. It was a rather long necklace and while riding home on my sister's banana seat bike I leaned down and then sat up and the necklace got caught under the seat and broke all over the middle of the street. Ambyr and I tried to pick up the scattered jewelery but as the pieces were in the middle of the street it wasn't long before cars came along and crushed anything that may have been salvageable.
My dad said he'd completely forgotten all about that, but asked if I could somehow find a little humor in it? He said replace 8 year old Heather with some generic actress and think of the story again, wasn't it a little amusing? And I did just that, and you know he was right; It was pretty funny. He then suggested I try the same exercise in various situations in my current life. And you know something, I think it is pretty great advice, so great I wanted to pass it along. I have been trying this the last little while and I have found that although it allows me to have a fresh perspective, it is really tough to follow the advice I am shouting at the main character (me). Anyway we still don't have the internet so I have to post when I can.

I have been "tagged"

25 unremarkable things about me:

1. I don't like when people say "clearly", I think it sounds condescending.
2. I like to practice my handwriting, and I LOVE when people compliment me on it.
3. I lose things (and think I lose things) all the time, it drives me nuts!
Yesterday I freaked out on my way home from work thinking I'd left my purse on the roof of my car; it was in the back seat.
4. I only buy stuff on sale, even at Nordstrom Rack. I refuse to pay full retail.
5. I am a stickler on the following pronunciations:
Supposedly, there are no B's in this word people
Height, this word does not end in a TH sound
Clothes, I pronounce the TH
Saying "I couldn't care less" as opposed to the incorrect yet more popular "I could care less" (which I realize is
not a pronunciation thing but I still see relevance).
6. My pajamas have to match.
7. I only believe 15% of what people tell me.
8. I still think of myself as a blond, but I have had brown hair for 2 months.
9. I feel guilty when I don't talk to my friends at least once every other week, even if I haven't seen them in months or years.
10. I text while driving but I never speed.
11. I try to be a really considerate driver, well minus the texting.
12. I have good parking luck and usually get front spots, even in December.
13. Ambyr thinks my mind works like a guy's.
14. I know more about professional sports than I let on, but I don't care about them.
15. I do not have Cable or the Internet (which explains my blogging absence). Sam and I get movies from the library twice a week for entertainment.
16. I like to buy the same things I have already had.
For example I lost my wallet (see #3) I'd had for 2 years and Sam found me the exact same one and I was sooo happy I nearly cried.
17. I drive an 88 Honda Civic Hatchback and I am not ashamed of it.
18. I LOVE sauerkraut, even though I hardly ever eat it.
19. My favorite thing to do is go camping at the lake with my cousins (and aunt and unlce of course!).
20. I am a height snob, if my friend is dating a new guy, the first thing I say is, "how tall is he?" I have always been this way. Sam is 6 ft 7.
21. I am really good at telling you what movie/tv show actors have been in. Unfortunately I do this most often with Sam while watching shows and he couldn't care less.
22. I am obsessed with music.
I sometimes think about how if Kurt Cobane hadn't … er died we may not have the Foo Fighters and then I feel really conflicted.
23. I constantly bounce my leg. Most of you know this.
24. I sometimes wonder why you are supposed to use a question mark when phrasing "Guess What?"
25. I have felt REALLY guilty about not updating my blog which has made it even harder to write a new post.