9spotmonk

I love these cards from 9spotmonk. They have a new line called their recession line that you can check out here. They are so funny.

Seriously...I should send this card to everyone in my family. I think they would love it.

Who wouldn't?

What A Fun Night

What a fun weekend...too bad it had to end. Now it's back to work and cleaning the house. Bummer. Saturday night we went to a surprise dinner for Marie. You always hope that the person you are surprising really has no idea what is going on, and she had no clue. It was so fun to visit and catch up with everyone...and eat really yummy food.

Sarah...Megan...Lisa...Jamie...Marie...Dawn...Katie...Brit...Leah

I love hanging out with these guys. (we missed Hannah) Who knew that a job would have brought me such great friends...people I would have never gotten to know otherwise. The kind of friends that when you get together after not seeing each other for a long time, it is so easy to talk and pick things up right where you left off.

After our dinner I went with Alicia to a Twilight party. Now I have seen it twice...and I have to admit that I enjoyed it so much more this time. I think a lot of that had to do with Sarah's commentary throughout the movie. I think she knows everything there is to know about Twilight. It was hilarious. Don't look at this picture too closely...my eyes are closed! Drats.

Good friends and food definitely make for a great weekend.

Vi-Smell-Ya

Today was the last day that I can say that my parents live in California. They are officially Idahoans. It's weird, but I am really excited for them. So, in honor of this exodus to Idaho, I thought I would list a couple of things that I will miss about good old Visalia.

1. Fresh fruit stands in the summer...seriously, the best strawberries you've ever had.

2. Great family friends who have known my family since I was a baby and still love us.

3. Saying Vi-smell-ya instead of Visalia.

4. Sunshine and warm weather...can you tell I'm tired of gray skies.

5. Hiking trips with friends to Idaho Lakes.

6. Being in the same ward for at least 28 years. It's like you're a celebrity when you go home to visit.

7. Having warm beaches close by. With water you actually want to get into...not like Oregon's beaches.
8. The swimming pool! I don't think those exist in Idaho.

This picture was just to make my siblings jealous. I was, after all, the last kid to be at home. Boy are we all going to miss that pool.

So long Visalia. You were home for many wonderful years.

To quote California's governor... Hasta la vista baby.

Twilight

So, I finally saw Twilight this weekend. The best part was I got to watch it for free...thanks to Steven and Alicia, who provided the movie for us last night. I feel like I was practically the last female under the age of 50 to see it. I'm really out of it, I guess. I have read the books. I think they are entertaining and I enjoyed them. However, I'm not in love with Edward. As crazy as it sounds, I like my human hubby. I think I'll keep him.

With all the hype this movie has gotten, good and bad, I did want to see it. I did go in with pretty low expectations, and I ended up enjoying myself. There was definitely some entertaining parts of the movie. Of course that means there were some not so great parts. Ummm...like Edward sparkling in the field.

Yeah. Not so great.

Whether you loved Twilight or not, you're going to love this...

I can't help but laugh. It's just so funny.

Our Garden

At church a couple of weeks ago, our Bishop challenged us all to have some sort of garden this year...even if it was just a tomato plant in a 5 gallon bucket. So, Mark and I decided to embrace this challenge. Here is our garden!

Well, it's the start of our garden anyways. We decided to get a head start and plant a bunch of seeds inside. We planted about 100 veggie seeds and 50 sunflowers. I really like sunflowers and I have always wanted to line our fence in the backyard with them. Compared to a lot of people in our ward, this will be a baby garden. But, for just the two of us, this will be a huge. Despite the fact that I really won't eat much of anything that we've planted...remember how picky of an eater I am....I'm excited to have this little garden, and to watch it grow.
Wish me luck.

We had a BBQ Friday night at our house. It was great to hang out with such fun people....and eat a lot of yummy food. I ate so much food, I think I am still full. After we finished stuffing our faces all the kiddos played outside and then we snuggled them up to watch a movie. That way the grown ups could hang out uninterrupted. This was such a fun way to get to know some friends better. Especially one of the guys that Mark plays X Box with. Really, I've only heard of him referred to as his gamer tag...Stonesand. When they play together they never refer to each other by their real names. So, all I hear are names like....Conan, Enforcer, and Stonesand.

Stonesand(Ben).....Recon(Mark).....Enforcer(Steven)

So, now I know Stonesand is really Ben. He and his wife were a ton of fun. I'm so glad I could finally meet them. We're totally going to have to do this again....especially if we can get "Conan" and his family to come too.

One of the best things, though, about inviting people over to your house....it forces you to really clean it. Well, at least the parts of the house they were going to see. Just don't look in our bedroom, or we'll make you help us fold the mountain of clean laundry just sitting there waiting to get folded.

Comfort Zone

I was looking at this blog the other day, and I saw this...

It was just one of those random times where something like this was just what I needed to see as a reminder. I totally need to be spending more time in the "things that make life worthwhile and interesting" circle.

Three

You know how they say that things usually happen in threes? Well, I would have to agree with that statement. Remember earlier when Mark and I both bought milk? Yeah...so a couple of days later we noticed we were running low on dog food. You guessed it. We both bought dog food on our way home from work....and we're talking 2, 50lb bags of dog food. I guess it's good for our dogs to have food storage too.

Then just a couple of days ago I made a little grocery run, and I thought to myself....I should surprise Mark and buy him his favorite ice cream. It must have been my lucky day, because they were on sale buy one get one free. So, of course I picked up a second carton. Once I got home I realized I forgot to get one thing I needed. I called Mark and he was going to pick it up for me on his way into town. I was in the other room when he got home, and all of a sudden I hear him say, "Aw man." As soon as I walked into the kitchen and saw him looking in the freezer, I knew he had bought two cartons of ice cream too.

We have four cartons of ice cream in our freezer.

All four are different flavors.

I just might have to go and have a scoop of each.

*********

I am happy to say that we have less than two gallons to go out of the six gallons of milk.

I feel like that is an accomplishment.

A big one!

Let's hope this duplicate buying spree is over for us.

Can I Get An Amen!

Oh man...have you seen this? Had me laughing the whole time. Don't get me wrong, I have a facebook. All the cool kids do. This guy, though, was spot on.

A Letter

Dear Mom and Dad...
I hope that all the packing is going well. You should be almost done by now! That's gotta be nice. You are still packing even though I'm gone, right? I hope so...moving day is fast approaching. Anyways, I was checking out Cake Wrecks blog this morning, and I think I have found the cake that you should have at the fancy going away party your friends are throwing you.
It's perfect....It'll be a hit...Talk about a conversation starter.
You're welcome.
Love you tons,
KatieP.S. The only thing I would do differently is change out the red and the green for something that doesn't make you want to break out the Christmas decorations and sing Jingle Bells.

I Belong ...

In a Bowling League!

When I was in California I bowled with Mark and my Dad and I bowled a 266. Can you believe it! I think that if I didn't have pictures to prove it, I might not even believe it. I had 8 strikes in a row. 8 strikes people...when does that ever happen?

I guess I should clarify that the bowling league I belong in should probably be a Wii bowling league. I'm actually a horrible bowler in person. Besides, this way I don't have to rent gross bowling shoes that have been worn by more people than I really want to think about.