Turkey Day!!

So another Thanksgiving has come and gone. Time is flying by it seems! My sister Shawna and I were going to go to Utah for Thanksgiving so she could help Tasia get some wedding stuff planned and I wanted to tag along because I love a good Utah visit. Mother Nature did not get our agenda however and decided to give Arizona a storm that weekend. I can't remember the last time it was even cold on Thanksgiving much less rained! It was a disappointment not to go, but I didn't forgoing the 12 hour drive, and it meant that I could do the annual Pima Turkey Trot. I did it last year and was really excited to do it again. Waking up at 6:30 AM to a rain storm though I thought my Plan B for Thanksgiving would be shot down as well, but oh no! Those Pima Planners are die hard trotters! They did change the course to be on all paved roads which was nice and very smart of them! I decided I would attempt to job the 3 mile trot (with no previous warm up or training mind you!) and didn't do to horrible. The fact that I had a 60 year old man in front of me kicking my butt and my ex-brother in laws step kid neck and neck with me the whole time kept me motivated! With only half a mile left the rain came down and hard! By this time I was hyperventilating, snot freezing like icecycles down my nose, and my long sleeve soak shirt I swore could brake off into little tiny shards of frozen glass. Me being the dork that I am thought of the Jack and Rose in the Titantic when Jack's hand is frozen to hers and she brakes it off. Why I was thinking this I don't know! Let's be honest though, none of you are really surprised are you?! As I am quoting Titanic movie lines outloud I notice that the step son whose name is Jacob by the way is starting to pass me, well I can't let this happen and I stop quoting Titanic and try to beat the kid. I didn't but I did at least finish the race. So between Titanic and my need to beat or keep up with an old man and 11 year old brat I did it rain and all!
My sister and I took off to Gilbert after dinner so we could wake up at 4AM and start the shopping. I did manage to fit in Twilight and oh what an Emo-riffic Spanish Soap Opera it was. I actually enjoyed it. I just hope they spend a little bit more money on the next one! I survived shopping and actually got a few good deals! I hope everyone had a great Turkey Day as well. I am very grateful to have such awesome friends and family. You all rock!!!

Create Your Own

My new Job!

So after almost 4 months of unemployement I finally got a job! It's part time and pays a lot less then what I used to make but hey I get to wear a fanny pack so who can complain right?! I have to say you can store all kinds of things in them. I can see why Hulk Hulgan held on to his for so long! I also get to wear a whistle while I am on lunch and recess duty! I opted for the bright yellow neck lanyard I mean why stop at just the fanny pack! I am an aide at Lafe Nelson Elementary and every 30 or 40 minutes I am doing something different with different kids all day. I start by helping 2nd graders who need extra help in reading and good grief I have forgotten all the rules there are! I mean it's a wonder I learnded to read with all the rules and different sounds a letter can make; who ever thought up the English language had a wicked sense of humor! I then read with two 3rd grade boys, and can I just say this is funny considering the fact that I am not a fan of reading! I have to say I am getting into it though, those Goosebump books are genius! I then get to spend a whole hour with a 1st grade class that I love! I can be having the worst day and then one of them will come up and say "Hi Miss Leslie" and give me a hug its great! I work with the slower readers in that class as well, but the teacher Mrs. Lewis is great and lets me do other things as well. After that it is Kindergarten recess duty and owe the drama these kids have! A day does not go by that a little girl or boy does not come up to me crying because their friends don't want to be their friends anymore! There are also some Pop Warner cheerleaders that give me a cheer everyday! For those of you that know my "love" of cheerleading this is always a fun time! I then get the lovely job of lunch duty with the 6th graders. Now I ask you...how in the Heck does one try to show that they are in charge and should be respected when they are wearing a freaking fanny pack?! Seriously? would you I wouldn't! I have learned to use it as a source of punishment though and if or when a kid gets out of line they get threatened with the fanny pack and having to wear it for the duration of lunch. I have to say it works like a charm! Once that is done I finish my day with 2nd graders in math! Many of you are laughing at this and I can understand as it has been my nemisis all my life. I get to work with the kids that need a lot of help so we are about on the same level so it works just fine! It has been fun and I enjoy it a lot. Don't be surprised if you all get fanny packs from me for Christmas though!

NKOTB The Sequel!

So as many of you know I was pretty much the biggest New Kids on the Block fan ever! It was border line over the top my best friend at the time Erika Baysinger and I ate,slept, breathed everything New Kids. The ultimate was going to their concert back in the 8th grade! By the way if anyone who reads this knows or keeps in contact with Erika I would love to get back in touch with her. Back to the subject though. My dear caring friend Randy Quinn was nice enough to get me into the New Kids fan club and on the email list when they first made their come back! Bless his heart! I won't lie when they were on the Today show I was planning on mocking the upper 30-40 year old "boy wonders", but no it was like I was 13 again and Jordan Knight was singing directly to me! I got as giddy as a school girl and planned right then and there that some way I would go to their concert again! As luck would have it a couple of friends thought the same thing (they were no where near the die hard I was LOL!) so sure enough we got out tickets and oh my goodness I am not ashamed to say it was by far in the top 2 of the best concerts I have ever attended. Mind you I have not kept up on their music old and definitely not new, however all I needed to hear was the first 3 notes and I was "Hangin Tough" all night! I screamed all night and new Jordan Knight heard my many pledges of unfailing love to him. I only wish I had my camara, my friends took pictures but as mentioned above they are not the devoted fan like I am and do not understand the critical importance of getting me the pics ASAP. It was a great night and I have to give a big thank you to my friend Randy Quinn! I'll I have to say is "You got the Right Stuff!"

A little old school for ya!
And a little new school!
a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7M1V1M7rNZ3I4OyOsZVUGP92wiVIV1WCAufA7wvl4Ns-RagNuq5-zTA5NW9PUclXj6pKMNGHc6c35ut7a6MIhoOYoAOuZEZZiYp2HJWE6VVEWOwJqy_QlXa-JgqRvaOHkqFFFaBg0XEgt/s1600-h/New+pic+group.jpg">
Same sweet moves!

Math Aarghhh!

Ok so this whole going back to school thing has been quite an adjustment especially since I have been out of school for about 10 years. I wasn't the brightest student then and so it makes it a lot of fun now! Most of the classes are ok as long as you actually read the chapters in the book. This is new to me, but I'll be darned if the answers to the tests really aren't in there! The one class that has been my biggest worry is the Math for Elementary Teachers. You would think it would be easy, and for most it is, just a bit of a refresher course and learning the teaching techniques. I am what they would call math challenged though and have been my whole life. As many of you probably know since you are all parents yourself a lot of schools are now going to a new method for teaching math which involves using "manipulatives" and the "base 10" blocks. Let me just tell you that I had a hard enough time learning the basics as it was now they want us to teach the kids how to show how math works. Fractions in particular are my newest pain. We have to show with blocks what 1/2 of 2/3 looks like. Back in the day this would be a multiplication problem that you just multiply and reduce if possible. Not so much now! It's been fun! I drive to Willcox every Monday and spend 4 hours learning this stuff because the teacher at EA is a Freak! Seriously 4 of us are driving and I know that 3 others just dropped the class because he's so special! The teacher over at Willcox is awesome though and totally understands my math anxiety! In fact she even gave me a paper on it with the Math Bill of Rights. I have to share these because if any of the rest of you feel the way I do about Math you will love these! At the end of the semester I will do a blog just on this class as well because it is a very small class being offered my Cochise Community and each person it that class is quite interesting. So I'll keep you posted on that as well.

Math Bill of Rights

* I have the right to learn at my own pace and not feel put down or stupid if I'm slower than someone else.
* I have the right to ask whatever questions I have.
* I have the right to need extra help.
* I have the right to ask a teacher or tutor for help.
* I have the right to say I don't understand.
* I have the right to not understand.
* I have the right to feel good about myself regardless of my abilities in math.
* I have the right not to base my self-worth on my math skills.
* I have the right to feel view myself as capable of learning math.
* I have the right to evaluate my math instructors and how they teach.
* I have the right to relax.
* I have the right to be treated as a competent person.
* I have the right to dislike math.
* I have the right to difine success in my own terms.

Here's a quick run down!

Ok so it's been a while! I did a little slide show of some pictures that I meant to post oh...two months ago! I have left Varsity Gold after 4 great years and decided to go back to school. Not just any school but the hallowed halls of EAC! Yep that's right! I am hoping that whole 3rd times a charm thing is legit! The pictures are from my last day there, which everyone really made me feel loved and decorated my cube and made me a really awesome poster that was signed by my co-workers. It has been a big adjustment to not have that has part of my life anymore! Especially the money!! Lucky for me though the awesome girls in the neighborhood were there for me and suprised me with a trip to California for a "Wicked" weekend and cupcakes! Singing and butter cream, who could ask for more! As soon as I got home from my last day at VG there were all the girls ready to road trip! I had no time to feel sorry for myself! I really suck at Thank you cards so girls, this is a pathetic thank you and long over due, but you will not ever know the support you were to me that weekend and it meant a lot to me! The fact that Wicked is about true friendship and sisterhood and that I got to see it with my "clique" it couldn't have been better. I got to go to the ocean which it had been about 15 years since I've actually swam in the ocean. Jenn and I got to be bed buddies and we had cupcakes seriously I was spoiled! Thanks again ladies!
School has been going for little over a month now which in itself deserves its own blog which I will do. For those of you lucky enough to be EA Alumni you know exactly why it needs it's own blog! 10 years has passed since I went and it's funny how some things haven't changed! I am living at home with my parents which has been a big change too! It's cheap which is great, definitely humbling, and pretty fun I have to say! Since I have no social life nor plan to it works out pretty good. The fair is coming up which much like EA will get it's own blog! After the pictures you will understand why! For those of you that know about the "Your Team" Game let's just say it's a free for all! I moved down with the intention of working at the new Marriott Springhill Suites and up until the 2nd interview pretty much thought it was a for sure deal. Not the case though and really it was a blessing in disguise! After finding a few things out I don't think I could have worked there, and my school work would have been neglected. I did find it funny though that after they didn't hire me they asked my Dad to cook for their staff! How funny is that?! FREAKS!! I got even more humbled when pretty much the crappiest grocery store wouldn't even hire me to stock! It's true! I am currently waiting for my background check to clear though at Lafe Nelson to be an aide. I am excited and can't wait! Apparently I get to help with lunch time duty! How fun is that going to be! Thanks to Donelle, Alene, and Tracy for being my references! If this doesn't pan out I may very well have to start selling body parts because we all know I have no hair to sell!
I also got to go to Utah and spend a week with my sisters and some friends which was great! I got to ride up with the Winingers which was awesome! I love Jenn's boys they are great! My sister and I met up with them at Lagoon which is another happy place of mine. Josh rode with us and I was impressed that he didn't mind hanging out with the old spinsters! I just wish I had taken pictures! Hangin out with Jenn is always a good time and I am grateful for the opportunity I had to bond with her and talk Gerry since we drive everyone else crazy with it! I rode back with her sister which was fun too and the trip went by really fast. Thanks Jenn for the good times!
Well that is about it as far as what I've been up to. Stay tuned for the Graham County Fair post it should be a hoot!

Shock and Awe I'm posting!!!

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

TAG I'M IT!!

So Igot tagged, but to be honest I love these things! I love reading other people's especially! I was rolling after reading what you would do if you saw a midget Becky! I might have to find one when I move back just to watch that happen! (I'm kidding I wouldn't be mean like that!) Anyways, here it goes!
3 JOYS
Family
Butter Cream Frosting
Friends

3 FEARS
Anything with wings & can fly
Calling people on the phone
Never finishing school

3 GOALS
Actually Finish School
Compete in a Trialthon
Have long hair!

3 CURRENT OBSESSIONS
My new Great Nephew Caden Joseph Hardesty (see pic above!)
Cupcakes with Butter Cream frosting
Going to the gym (due to the obsession listed above!)


3 Surprising Facts
That getting marred is not one of my 3 main Goals, obsessions or fears!
I moved to California for 2 days!(That's for you Nells!)
I am going to the NKOTB concert in November! (yes you can be jealous!)

Friday, June 20, 2008

Cupcakes n Hotdog Reunion tour!!

Ok so back in September my great friend Sarah and I took a road trip down to LA for three things 1. Sprinkle's Cupcakes 2. Pink's Hotdogs 3. See my best friend Rich. Yes, in case you are wondering that was the priority level of all three as well! We'd heard a lot about how amazing Sprinkle's cupcakes were in Beverly Hills and you all know my love of the buttercream and cake so the fact that we had to stand outside an hour and half outside to get them was a no brainer! We happened to pass another cupcake shop along the way called Crumbs with no lines and ended up hitting that on the way back. Let me tell you Crumbs wins hands down so that was the cupcake destination for the 2nd road trip. Apparently Pink's is a popular celebrity hotdog joint that has amazing hotdogs. Hotdogs would be the 2nd thing on our top food list so we had to check it out. We were so amazed and in hotdog heaven that it quickly jumped to the #1 reason for the 2nd roadtrip!
With this background information I can now discuss the 2nd roadtrip, that I have to honestly say in my opinion outshined the 1st one! One of the great things was my new phone has GPS on it and what a life saver it was! We got where we needed to go without getting lost once it was great! We did not mess around and got straight to business the 1st day there. We walked Hollywood blvd. and did the wax and Guinness museum tours. I did provide some pictures. Not the greatest wax jobs, but it killed some time! While we were walking the strip we got free tickets to be part of the "According to Jim" TV show. We were pumped. A little factoid I was not aware of before this was that its not a quick event. We had to be there at the taping for 5 hours. So if any of you ever want to do that, just keep in mind its kind of an all day or night thing! The show will air in Jan. Back to the good stuff. After the blvd. walk we went to Pink's I truly believe I heard Angles singing from the roof tops when we got there! Keep in mind that you wil have at least a half hour wait at this joint, but it is well worth it! The craziest things are put on hotdogs and people love it (yes the thing that looks like a burrito that my friend Rich is eating is really a hotdog!) Their french fries defintely deserve an award for the greasiest yet crispiest bites of heaven! You know you've had a successful Pink's visit when you walk out holding your gut with your pants undone! The next day we hit up Universal Studios which was a lot of fun and Crumbs! Believe it or not though I did not actually purchase one cupcake for myself! I think I was still in buttercream and cake overload from my birthday! They are divine though and worth every cent 375 cents to be exact! So anyone going to LA anytime soon I highly recommend a stop at Pink's Hotdogs for lunch and dessert at Crumbs! And don't forget your GPS it will save your life! Stay tuned for road trip part three!!

Monday, May 19, 2008

Happy Late BDay to my bud Trevor!!!

This is one of my most favorite pictures of one of my best buddy's Trevor Quinn! He is so cool and I miss him a lot. He has the best personality and you never know what he's gonna say! I have been lucky enough to be with Donelle 2 out of the 4 times she's given birth. I'm pretty sure I'm not a good luck charm (take note any of you future mom's!) but I'm very grateful to have shared those experiences. I wasn't able to be there for Trevor's birth and go figure it was an easy time for Nells! I love him all the same though. He is so creative and friendly! I was lucky enough to have him ride with me to Dallas, and even though he wanted to go with his Mom he was a trooper and rode with me the whole time. We sang our hearts out to the Disney CD and played a few games it was a great memory for me. One of my other favorite Trevor things is when he says "What the heck?!" I don't know if he says it anymore, but it would crack me up everytime. Or the classic line "I'm taking a rest!" He is a kid after my own heart! Happy late Birthday buddy!

5 THINGS I LOVE ABOUT TREVOR QUINN
1. Playing Football and Basketball with him
2. His funny sense of humor
3. Playing Star Wars and fighting/wrestling with him
4. His loving personality
5. His Creativity

Sunday, May 18, 2008

My Puma skating party! Oh Behave!!

So for the past two years I have wanted to go skating like they used to back in the day. Of course back in the day it was all the rage, times have changed a bit!! Some girls from work and a couple of people from the gym totally made my skating dream come true! Of course as with anything with me there had to be a theme. Because I am not yet a "Cougar" my friend Christina and I have been classified as "Pumas" so we had a Puma skating party! Tube socks or headbands were mandatory! We had one guy bring a fro wig which I of course took over by the end of the night. Let me tell you that much hair really throws of your balance when you are trying to skate! It was great though! Everyone knows my love of buttercream and so my friend Drea got me a cupcake cake in the shape of a skate. It was awesome! I thought we'd be the oldest people there, but there were a couple of "distinguished" men there that had some really sweet moves! Alene and I tried to do a few moves from "Blades of Glory" but it didn't quite work out. We did almost run into each other and I ended up copping a feel. Be jealous boys! We never fell though I think it was due to the many nights we'd go skating in the "Hood"! It was fun and I had a great time. I'm looking forward to the end of the month when Donelle is down and we get to concert it up with the good looking boys of Country Music! Concerts are twice as fun with Nells! Something eventful always happens which makes it good times. Here I come 31!!!

Baseball Season!!!

It's Baseball season once again so I had to go support the DBacks. Since Donelle and Randy aren't here this year I feel it my duty to represent! I get discount tickets from work so that helps too! The fact that I love popcorn and crackerjacks is a bonus, don't even get me started on my appreciation for the diamond dog! They didn't win this game but I have hopes for them! Of course one my favorite parts of being at a game is the condiment race and as usual it was "Team Mustard" for me! Mustard won and my whole section gave me high fives. I must be a little loud! It's great to have good friends to go with as well, and the girls I went with to this game were great! Go DBacks!!

Sunday, April 27, 2008

It ain't nothing but a Pole thang!!!

So my awesome roommate Alene joined the "Dirty 30" Club this year and so what better way to celebrate than learning how to Pole Dance!! We had a neighborhood party for both Alene and LIz the week before and because it has already been blogged by a few people. It was a great time too and man do we have amazing friends and parties! Pole Dancing has always been a hobby, fascination, talent or whatever you want to call it of Alene's! And after our little party I can definitely call it a "kick your butt" work out! I have also been fanscinated with the art of the "Pole" and so I immediately looked into a possible pole dancing party/classes! It was a hoot! The place was called "Pole Dancing Divas!" and the chic that taught the class was amazing! She made sure and pointed out telling us at the beginning of the evening that she was not a stripper and never had been. She was just a fan of the pole like us. Man could she do some tricks! The place was in downtown Phoenix which is a shame. If it were closer to here I would sign up our whole neighborhood click for classes!! We went with some of the girls we go to the gym with and had a blast! Of course Alene was the most skilled! Already having previous pole experience we knew we were going to be getting a work out so we left the stilletos at home, however the next time, and oh yes there will be a next time! it's all about the stilletos!! There was a party before us for a 50 year old lady that her daughters booked for her. She had a snazzy gold shiny shirt that said something about turning 50 it was great! I do have a new respect for pole dancers though, man does it take some muscles and grace! Muscles I might have but the whole graceful, sexy thing not so much! As you can tell from my upside slide compared to Alene's! I hate to mention but feel that I should so proper dues are given the 90 pound teacher had to help me get my leg up the last few inches by boosting my butt up! Now if that isn't pure sexiness I don't know what is!! Nothing like having a 90 pound tooth pick help your fat butt up a pole! Rest easy pole dancing strippers out there, your profession is safe with me!! I hope Alene had a great birthday and I am very glad that she is also a fan of Pole Dancing too! Some day we will have a pole in the house!!

Friday, March 21, 2008

MARCH MADNESS BABY!

It is once again one my favorite times of the year! I don't have any BBall pics really so I picked this cat because I think he means business! Go figure that I pretty much hate cats yet have used them twice in my posts. My Dad was stuck in a house with 6 girls, and somehow he lucked out and got us all hooked on sports. College basketball is definitely no exception! We all have our brackets (usually 3 each) that we will all converse with each other on and compare our pics. You can never have just one bracket that would just be silly! It's also great when I can go home during this time because my Dad will have 3 tv's going all next to each other so that nothing is missed. Of course thanks to the magic of DVR no free throw is left unaccounted for! This was a sad year and out of pure respect I like to put U of A going through to the Magic 8 round, but I just could not do it this year. Ok well in my 3rd bracket I did. (I can't help it) I have had several upsets already and I'm quite put out (GONZAGA!), but my top teams are still hanging in or haven't played yet. I'm hoping to go down to Safford next weekend and watch the sweet 16 with my family! There's nothing like eating chips n dip/salsa, drinking soda or water in my case and yelling/cheering for you pics! Well that's about all I have going on in my neck of the woods!
I would also like to post a special congrats to Debbie on finally having her baby! I'm not sure if Yvonne has had her baby or not, but I would like to give her a big congrats as well as a big happy birthday to baby Elise! That baby girl is going to grow up with a designer bag in one hand and some sort of ball in the other!

Friday, March 7, 2008

Random Leslie Facts!

1. 
   

Ok so Tanisha "Tagged" me a long time ago, and after much harrassment I am posting the random things of Leslie! Really is there anything that is not random about me?! I got some help from Donelle as she has known me the longest. She thought it would be good to share with those that might read this all the places I've lived and for her enjoyment how long! #1 is for you chica! Enjoy and don't judge or do either way as long as you're entertained it's good times right?! I wanted to add a pic of Gerry just because if I'm writing about me he needs to be included!

1. All the places I've lived besides Safford and here in Gilbert of course!

1. *Indiana for 2 months - Sold Fireworks for a summer
2. *California 2 days - Donelle & Randy's favorite!
3. *Orem, UT 1 & 1/2 yrs - Young and stupid
4. *Flagstaff 2 yrs - School, no I did not graduate!!
5. *Provo, UT 2 yrs - UT was just not the place for me, sorry Brigham!
6. *Las Vegas 3 mos - Another Quinn Favorite! No comment!

2. I love to Crochet, and watch either Murder She Wrote or Days of Our Lives while doing it!

3. Taught Swim aerobics to senior citizens and college students

4. Related to the guy that used to do the Mr. Clean commercials

5.Hate and deathly afraid of anything with wings! (yes that includes butterflies!)

6.Have the weirdest shaped skull ever! I have two bones or one massive 1 at the top of my head that pointy! I think I was meant to be one of the "Coneheads"

Monday, February 11, 2008

SARS HAS LEFT THE HOUSE HOLD!!

Ok so Starting Wednesday afternoon I swore I got the SARS disease! Working in the lovely cubicle atmosphere that I do with little to no ventilation it was only a matter of time! Little did I know this little virus would run amuk as it did! Alene got hit with it Thursday so the two of us were in sad shape that night. Luckily Melody was going to Dave's so she hopefully missed out on this crap! Our weekened was spent couch high in snot vaults "dirty kleenex" and Sonic Slush cups. I don't know what we would have done w/out Sonic and their grape slushes! Not sure about the healthy factor but they made us feel better dang it! I went and saw Sweeney Todd while under this SARS epidemic and let me tell you, the play on its own is pretty trippy, but when you add a fever, nyquil, and lack of sleep it really is quite the show! Johnny Depp was amazing though! (I know I know it's Rated R, but well...nothing I got nothing!)

I have no idea what I taught my poor Primary kids Sunday! I was way overdosed on Nyquil and couldn't breath to save my life! It was really fun when Debbie had the kids Hum part of a song during singing time. I don't know how many of you have ever tried to hum when you're nose is congested, but I would not reccommend it. I literally thought I was going to pop my eyes out of their socket. I blame the fact that I just didn't stop humming on being over medicated! I was very relieved to be able to breathe threw the nose once again this morning. I sound like I smoke at least 2 packs a day, but I can breathe again and that's all that matters! I now have to make sense out of the "work" I did on Thursday and Friday because I'm not quite sure what I was thinking when I did it. My poor reps! Well I hope all of those who read this are spared the SARS epidemic. If you do get it, my condolences to you. I will also spot you your first large grape slush and box of Puff Pluses (do not even attempt generic on this!).

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

NKOTB for Life Baby!!

So to my amazement I saw on the internet that NKOTB might be getting back together again. Now for those of you who know me at all this is very big news!!! I of course had to immediately research this further and came to find out that so far it is just hear say. I am starting to think though that this is just a ploy and they want to see how many people go to their official website (which I have posted under "friends") before they launch anything for sure. My dear friend Randy Quinn (bless his heart!) signed me up to receive email updates! That's when you truly learn who your real friends are!!! I of course heard about the website this morning on the radio and thought to myself as I was driving to work that I needed to check this website out so I could be in the know. How suprised I was to open up my email and to see an email already in my inbox from NKOTB.com welcoming me to the official update club. I surely thought this was divine intervention! You could almost hear the angels singing "You Got The Right Stuff" above my computer I swear! After reading that email I saw the one from Randy and realized that it was him who signed me up. Ladies its true the men in our church really do have divine insight! (there's my blaspheme for this week!!) I know many of you are probably to young, but for those of you who were also part of the NKOTB band wagon I will gladly keep you all in the loop! We will just keep "Hangin Tough" because we know "We have the right stuff" and they will never have to worry about saying "Please don't go girl" to me!! This blog gets my blaspheme and nerd alert out of the way for the week by the way!!

Monday, January 28, 2008

One of the Greatest Men

President Gordon B. Hinckley emphasizes the value of the Book of Mormon to all Christians.

So I can only imagine the reunion that took place up in Heaven last night! All the high fives by all the previous profits! Can you even imagine him getting to talk face to face with all the old school profits like Nephi and Moroni, as well as Josephe Smith etc? How cool that would be to witness! As for us here though, there is definitely a sense of loss. How great to have the knowledge we do though to know that this is not the end. President Hinkley magnified his calling a thousand times over! The growth in membership and number of temples is truly amazing. How priviledged we are to have been a alive during his time as president! He asked us all to read the Book of Mormon by year end, and I am so excited that I can say that I was one of the members who did this. (That doesn't happen very often!) Looking through the different pictures of him posted on the LDS website I found this one with the heading listed above. I have already given you all my New Year's Resolution and I plan on keeping that one and seeing it through to the end of the year; but I feel like this one has a little bit more importance so I am adding this to my list, to read the BofM before the end of the year. I am sure to many this would be easily done and could probably be done several times in a year, but I know myself so I am keeping it realistic! I am glad that in Primary this is a goal as well so along with my fellow 7 turning 8 year olds I will be reading the BofM every day. I again so grateful President Hinkley and the great Man, Leader and example that he was and is to me.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

IS THE CHURCH STILL TRUE?!!!!

Holy Crap! So I was just informed this morning that Matta's has closed down! I'm pretty sure they did not check with church officials on this to make sure it was ok! Pretty much this restaurant has been a Mormon Staple and a standard post marriage eatery! Where will we go? What will we eat now? Pete's Fish and Chips? Denny's?! I am perplexed! Apparently the owners retired and the sons are going to be opening up something somewhere else. Granted the area around the temple has become quite the "Ghetto Fabulous" Hood, but I'm pretty sure Matta's had some kind of Divine Angelic protection guarding it! I also feel that way about calories there! How could a place so Divine have calories? Surely the all the bad fattening ingredients turned into pure muscle! (Ok that might be stretching things a bit!), but I do believe had it been there during Brigham Young's time he would have stopped and ate there and would've totally said "This is the Place!" I feel that way about a lot of restaurants actually, but because this one is such a Mormon Staple I think it's true! I fear I may never marry now! I would have no where to eat afterwards! Well there is my blasphemous posting for the month! May we all take a moment of silence today for the loss of Matta's!

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Twilight!!!!

Ladies! Mark your calendars!!! Donelle we will fly you down for this if needs be, but December 12th we have a date with Edward! Or with Jacob for you werewolf fans! I'm still not excited about who they cast as Edward, but he does look the part in this little pic. I think I might have to start a countdown calendar for this! Good times ladies, good times!!!

Friday, January 18, 2008

My New Job!

My new boys! Lew is the one with the beer and he is basically Director over all the K-8 Sales Reps. Love him! Michael is the Operations Mgr. at the home office and a great friend (owner of retreivers!) The guy sneakin in the pic. is one my new Reps who coincidentally was the top selling rep for our Elementary div. and made $200,000.00 this last year! Go Arthur! (He's from DFW Nells!)

This as a great pic of Jacksonville bridge right outside our hotel. Two blocks further down was the Landing that was great for people watching!
That's right I rode a mechanical bull while I was in Jvillle! It was a hoot! 8 Seconds baby!!!
This a really bad fuzzy picture of my new team. These are all sales reps for the elementary schools throughout TX, WA, OH, SC, AZ, & MO. I am over all the AZ reps and a few TX and OH reps. 14 total and boy do I have my hands full! I needed something after doing Player's Pass for 3 year's, but I wanted to stay with the main company of Varsity Gold. I have been friends with the Operation Mgr. of VG2 or the K-8 Division as they are now calling us and a position became open and I said what the heck. Right now I am a little overwelmed with my new job as there are so many new things and so many people that I am helping at one time, but I'm hoping I'll find my niche! The people are great and really accepted me at the Jan Mtg. The main company Varsity Gold holds two national meetings a year where all 600 plus of us all come together as one company. For the most part and the high school reps. it is one big frat party as most of the sales reps there are old athletes or coaches. In January they have an awards banquet for all the top sellers for that year. Every body gets all done up, hence my shiny shirt! I decided since I was in JVille I might as well rock it JVille style a.k.a "Ghetto Fab!" I got the fab gold shirt for a total of $1o! Then by dear southern friend Dalinda, told me "Gurl, you gotta have sum asseries!" So she hooked me up with the big gold necklace and earrings! My outfit, besides the pants cost me a grand total of $23!!!

The meeting is a lot of work and you are seriously exhausted by the third day! It was fun to go to Fl though because I have never been there, and I got to meet a lot of great people and now have a fabulous gold shiny shirt! They also had Karoake one night, and yes I got up there with some girls and sang "Heartbreaker". It was crazy though because they had a live band that we had to sing to so it was bad!

My Varsity Gold dreams finally came true this trip as well. One of the HS reps used to dance back up for Vanilla Ice (yes, its true!) and we finally got him to do the dance for us! It was great! The guy looks like the elf in Rudolf that wants to be a dentist! Also, one of the HS reps used to be a semi pro wrestler and during one of the general sessions he totally pile drove someone! It was great! Ok so I think this is long enough and you are all probably very sad you told me to post something!

Christmas n New Year's Baby!

Ok so it's a little late, but better late than never right?! Christmas was an adventure as I watched my bosses two cracked out golden retrievers. Not that big of a deal but they did get to travel with me to Safford for two days! Coop who was an abused dog I think is even more tramautized now! It was good though, and hangin with my family is always good times! As with the rest of the "neighborhood click" I was really looking forward to the week after Christmas when the Quinn Family would once again be in good ol' AZ with us. Oh yeah I survived my talk in church, it wasn't great, but I did it!

As with all Donelle involved events there was an itinerary and outline of events the entire time they would be down. I forget how nice it is to not have to try and come up with things to do. Nells is a natural born planner and big bonus that the things she plans are always fun. I am very glad that I did get to get some Movie and Youtube time with Randy! I'm sad we didn't get to see Christmas Vacation, but the fact that you had the dickey makes it better! Let's face it "You're kind of a big deal, and people know you!"

New Year's Eve was interesting this year! The food was great and the friends were fabulous, but I'm pretty sure we can put the Newly Wed game to rest! I did post two of my favorite pics from that night. I wish I could remember which question we were discussing in the picture of the group, it must have been a good one though. I am giving up Chocolate and soda for my New Year's Resolution. I have already done this one, so those of you that think you have me cooking dinner in the bag don't start polishing your silverware just yet! I can be stubborn!