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!!!

Utah!

I am now back in Utah!! I know a shock, I wasn't supposed to be back for another few days but I am back! Someone else booked my flight and I got my itinerary last night just after 8:00 pm (CT time) and it says that I am flying out TODAY at 1:45 pm. So my wonderful friend Ashley helped me pack and clean while our dogs played. We left for the airport at 11:00 AM (CT time) today and landed in SLC at 7:00 pm (Utah time or 9:00 pm CT time). It was a long day but not that bad. Jack and I miss Brent but we know this is for the best.

A funny thing did happen on the flight though. Jack has always been perfectly calm on the plane and doesn't get too upset with flying. He never barks but he does fight getting into his carryon kennel (man that do has STRONG legs!!). The first flight from Hartford to Cincinnati was fine but not long into the flight from Cincinnati to SLC, he started trying to scratch his way out of his kennel. He has never done this before! I got him some ice because he was thirsty and that helped a little. But than it happened again and I got him calmed down. And it happened again! I finally realized what was happening, every time this one stewardess came over the intercom he freaked out. I don't blame him, she like blasted her voice so loud it would shock you sometimes. If anyone else came over he was fine just not with her! He is so happy to be home he just misses his Daddy.

Another funny story: So Jack remembered right where our house was and where things were in the house. He expected everything to be the same. He walked over to the Madsen's place to see Rico not realizing that Rico isn't home yet!

Well it is getting late cause I am still on Ct time! I am going to try and do updates more frequently. We will see how that goes!

Recent Projects!

So as many of you know, I have been working on different projects. I know, I know, I need to keep this blog up to date and hopefully I will get better. So this post is of several projects I have recently finished. I have a couple others that are not here but they are on another camera and so they will have to wait.

This is a neck travel pillow I just made. It is super soft and I like the way it fits my neck better than the ones you buy at the store. It was super easy and fast!

This next picture is of some shapes I have made. In a previous post I showed some letters I made out of felt. These are similar but they have quilting batting in them instead of pillow stuffing type stuff (it helps them lay flat). I am hoping to use these for several different activities in my classroom. I am going to make at least one more set in green and maybe add more shapes later. I only show one of each in the picture, but I have three of each shape in each color. I have also made two more sets of letters (red and blue) that are made with the quilting batting because I like that they lay flatter. (I don't currently have a pic of those on here but will soon!) Thanks Asha for your scraps of quilt batting!!

I made my first apron! I love it! It is only a half apron and I got the pattern from the blog Make It and Love It. The first picture shows the cute little pleat I put on the ties. Sorry it is blurry. The next picture is the whole apron. I want to make more! I know the pics aren't the best but they will do. I need a good, cute, easy pattern for a full apron!

The last picture, I know it is side-ways, is of a reversible bag. I got this pattern from Skip to My Lou. The inside is peaking out and as you can see it is striped.

I hope you like them!

Hartford, CT

So I know I keep saying I am going to update, and it will happen! I sat down to do it yesterday but I kept getting error messages so I decided to give a little update today. For those of you who don't know, we were transferred to the Hartford, CT office about a month ago. There are tons of fun things to do around here but it rains all the time! I hope to post pics of some of the places we have been to. Jack is happy with the decision (minus the rain) because we live right next to a golf course where he gets to run and play and his best friend, Patch also came to Hartford with us! As a matter of fact the two of them are wrestling right up against my side as I type this! Well if this works, I might get around to blogging more today!