Parallel Parking

So this may seem strange to those of you who have known me for a long time, but I parallel parked for the first time ever yesterday!!! It was kinda fun but hard. It wasn't a tight space but it is hard to get the whole car close to the curb. One of the teachers on my team at school helped me!! Thanks Cindy!

I have had a driver's license since I was 14, but haven't driven too much until the last couple of years and have never had a need to parallel park. I guess as I do it more, it will get easier!

2010 Scion xB

So for those who haven't heard....we got a new car!!!! We looked at several different options before buying our new xB. I LOVE IT!!!! Brent took care of EVERYTHING over the phone. I just went in and signed the papers at the dealership and bank. What a wonderful husband!!! He also picked out the color and such but I like too!

Funny story though, as you will notice in some of the pictures, the hub caps are missing (and what you can't see, is the radio was also missing). So I guess the new xBs don't come with either one since the car is so often customized. Normally they come in a few days after the car which is generally not a big deal EXCEPT the dealership hadn't received them yet!!! However, today, I went back up to SLC to get both of them installed and now the car is even better!!! (I picked up the car on Monday).

Enjoy the pictures!!!

One of the best things about the car is that it comes with a port for an iPod to be plugged in AND the cord to do it with!!!

I love this car!!!

Jack and the Skunk

This post is to explain how Jack got sprayed by a skunk. I have had a few people ask and so I thought I would post it, plus the pics I am posting with it are cute.

It all happened about two weeks ago...

Jack was having a good morning and than all of a sudden he started limping. He wouldn't walk on his back right leg. We were concerned that he had something stuck in his paw but we couldn't find anything. Jack wasn't his normal playful self, instead he slept most of the day. It was rainy (of course) so it worked out well because he didn't whine about going out. The slide show below shows him throughout the day as he is sleeping.

So when Daddy came home, I took Jack at to go to the bathroom and to meet him. I didn't concern myself with putting his leash on him because he wanted to be carried and still wasn't walking on his back right paw. I didn't think he could get into that much trouble. ... I was wrong...

I set him on the ground and he took off running! I was shocked. Now you need to know two things 1. it is very dark and there aren't many lights (and most of the ones they have don't work). 2. a skunk (and other small critters) like to hang out by the dumpster.

Anyways, I set him on the ground and he took off running. The next thing I hear is him wrestling an animal but I still can't see anything. I start yelling his name and he comes to me. But starts rubbing his face into the ground. At this point I begin to smell that nasty skunk smell. However when I picked Jack up, he smelled different. Just so you know skunk smell up close doesn't smell the same as the far away smell. It smells like wet, hot, nasty garbage.

We took Jack inside and started giving him baths. We even used dish soap (which did help quite a bit). He got a bath a couple of days in a row but it wasn't going away all the way. However, it got to the point where you can only smell it when he is wet and hot. It is hard to scrub him because he was sprayed mostly on his face.

The reason we didn't soak him in tomato juice is because we couldn't plug our tub and because he would jump out. But it is turning out ok now.

So this summer, Jack actually caught a woodchuck (that is for another day) and a skunk! Now you all know the story of the skunk!

The Rope Swing!

I can't believe this is my fourth post today!! I am doing better!!! Today my wonderful friends Cam and Emily took me to the rope swing. It is located just outside of Mona, Utah (If you don't know where that is, don't worry, I didn't either - It is just south of Nephi). It was a beautiful day and perfect for getting wet! Here are some pics of our adventure. (sorry there are no pics of Emily we will have to get some next time we go!)

This first pic shows the two platforms that most people swing from. You can also swing from the ladders up to the platforms or other branches. We think the short platform is about 9 or 10 feet from the water surface. As you can see it is a little higher than the gentleman standing below it, but the water is at least one or two feet lower than that because the tree is on a hill. The other platform is about 15 or 20 feet from the water's surface.

This is me swinging on the rope over the water. There is a method to doing this. You step off and lift your feet NOT jump. Trust me. I know. It is way easier to hold on!

This is Cam jumping off the really high one. Emily and I were not brave enough to attempt this yet but Cam was!

We had a lot of fun and next time we will bring an actual camera and have it the whole time. It is a wonderful place to have fun!!

Go Fetch!!

So this summer Jack learned to play fetch! We have tried to teach him but it never happened before. Well playing with Patch helped him learn to play, and now he LOVES it! Is this a good thing? Yes and No. It is easier to play with him and I can throw the ball when I am doing other things and it tires him out. But...sometimes he doesn't want to stop or give you the ball to throw it. Here are some pics of us playing ball outside since we have been back in Utah! (This ball squeaks and so that makes it all the better!)

Look how happy he is!!

Jack caught the ball and is bringing it back to Mommy!

This face says, "Mom throw the ball, please."

This is happy face. I got to play ball!!! YAY!

Baby Kaden!

So I know I haven't put up most of my fun adventures from this summer yet, but the thought of that is overwhelming to me right now so I thought I would just start with now and slowly go back and post those updates. So here begins my time back in Utah!

My beautiful friend Tasha had a healthy baby boy back in May, but since I was already in Atlanta, I never got to meet him. Well, yesterday, Tasha and Kaden came for a visit!!! I was so excited and I was able to hold him for a long time. Jack was a little jealous but it was okay. The next few pictures are of Kaden. Sorry I don't have any pics of Tash and I together or me holding Kaden, but I am sure I will eventually.

Isn't he so adorable!!!

More of my projects!

I finally downloaded more of the pics, so here they are! The first two pictures show the new alphabets I made. They are flatter and so they are easier to make and read.

The next picture is of Mariah's birthday present this year. I designed the purse myself and so I know I it is not perfect. Also, the gold stitching was the first time I had ever used a decorative stitch on my sewing machine so it also needs some work. However, all that said, I am really pleased with how it all turned out and so is Mariah. I know, I know, it is not her birthday yet, but I am going to miss it again this year so I wanted her to have her present before I left!

The first picture is of all the letters in her purse. The next two pictures show the letters and purse separately.

Enjoy!!!