Breaking (bad) Dawn

I'm not the only one who wanted to LAUGH OUT LOUD when werewolves were running through the forest in Breaking Dawn Part 1, am I?!?

The view from my loft

Sometimes...

...you just need chips and queso.

Right before four

Let the decorating begin

I'm thinking about it...

The second Thanksgiving

1973 Thanksgiving

Disneyland on Thanksgiving: our family tradition. Maybe Robert was on the other side of Goofy or he took the photo.

BFFs

Benjamin and Rachel are brother and sister (I think they are a year apart) and very best friends.

Emma is busy and Emma is 2

The first Thanksgiving

I had my first Thanksgiving dinner tonight with some friends. There will be at least two more because I brought home a plate of leftovers and I'm having dinner with different friends tomorrow. It's everybody's favorite holiday!

Count Your Blessings

Tonight I did some volunteer work with some very nice teenagers. Right before they were leaving, I overheard them singing the first verse of the hymn "Count Your Blessings". Some of them were out of tune and they weren't really singing in the same key, but I loved listening to them sing these words:

When upon life's billows

You are tempest tossed

When you are discouraged,

Thinking all is lost

Count your many blessings,

Name them one by one

And it will surprise you

What the Lord has done.

Count your blessings,

Name them one by one

Count your blessings,

See what God hath done

Count your blessings,
Name them one by one

Count your many blessings,

See what God hath done.

to the P.O.

I went to the Post Office today to mail these 11 packages of photocards, wedding gifts and some hand-me-downs.

Cutest little car

The best part of my day

I was in line at Market Basket behind 3 people with loaded carts and one of the workers said, "follow me" and took me to the express lane even though I had more than 12 items. It totally made my day.

Belle in Boston

My brother is in a singles ward bishopric in LA and Belle is the RSP in that ward. She's in Boston this weekend checking out the business school at BU. I told her to prepare herself for falling in love with Boston.

Today I'm thankful for...

...a good dentist who repaired a tooth instead of suggesting expensive, unnecessary options.

And about a year later...

...she was all smiles at Sears.

One of my first photo shoots

This is my niece Adrienne right around her 2nd birthday. I had gone to Florida 5 days after Robes' brain tumor diagnosis and then six weeks later for his and Adrienne's birthday that they share (May 21st). While I was there I took Adrienne to Sears to have professional photos taken. She seemed a bit skiddish (it was her first time) and when I leaned over to set her down on the table (covered with an ugly blanket) she jumped back into my arms and started crying. No professional pictures for her. When we got home I had her stand in the front yard and I took some photos of her. Not too bad for two beginners.

Midnight Black Chocolate Pudding

When I saw this recipe I knew I wanted to try it even though I have no clue what black onyx cocoa powder is (I used dutch processed cocoa) and I've yet to buy a vanilla bean (some day...). The plastic wrap on it is to avoid "pudding skin" (yuck). It chills for 4 hours (I'm not staying up to eat it!) and then I'll add some whipped cream to the top of the jar.

Note: I snuck a little taste. It's good stuff.

Betty the snowbird

My 86 year old friend Betty goes west every winter to be with her family. I visited her after church today since she's leaving soon. I love hearing her stories about life. She's amazing. I love her hands. She's raised 6 kids, made thousands of meals, done lots of work and given lots of hugs with those beautiful hands. I'll miss her while she's gone but she'll be back when the weather is warmer.

Photocard party weekend

Locked up

Seeing this "bike" (or what's left of it" reminded me of this story.

Rallying the Relief Society

Tonight a gaggle of gals met up to pack our friend's kitchen and we completed the task in one hour. If I didn't know better I'd say three of these ladies were in the Witness Protection Program.

Photocard party prep

It's that time of year.

How I spent my extra hour (Fall back)

I went to see Tower Heist late Saturday night. It was really funny. I even laughed out loud a few times.

Driving home from church

Before I moved to New England I thought you had to go somewhere to see colorful leaves but the leaves on your own street are beautiful!

Open until midnight!

In the summer of 2003 I went to visit friends in Rochester (I crashed the Jensen Family Reunion). While I was there they said, "You HAVE to go to Wegmans!" Wegmans? I asked what it was and they said, "a grocery store." So they showed me Wegmans and it was this very cool big grocery store. Now there is a Wegmans in the Boston area (it opened October 16th in Northboro)! I looked at their website yesterday and called and excitedly said, "Are you really open until midnight?!?" I went late last night with my friend Ally (and ran into another friend that I haven't seen in a few months). The store is really cool. I've never seen so much cheese in one place. They have a great collection of candy (my first time finding Dutch mints in New England!). They have lots of prepared foods. They sell everything! They have 31 registers! And seriously, the best feature--they are open until midnight!

Cousins

I have 4 cousins. There are 3 of them and 2 of us in this Disneyland photo (probably from 1967). That's Darlene in the front on the left and today she is turning 50! So happy birthday to you, Dar-balls!

Do the right thing

A few times in the last few months I've regretted not saying the right thing or not doing the right thing. Just last week I saw someone I recognized being helped by two EMTs after an obvious fall (he had bruises on his face and was obviously injured) and I didn't stop. Even though someone was helping him, I should have stopped. This week I saw the injured person. I walked past him to be sure it was him and then turned back to talk to him. As we walked together, he told me he had been rushing to an event and had fallen on his face. The EMTs transported him to a nearby hospital and did tests and he is OK (though he still had some bruising on his face).

Next time I want to do the right thing.

From the archives

I love this photo!

I've got the power

Blessed electricity!! It was on when I got home from work yesterday. I've done some restocking of my fridge/freezer (can I send my grocery bill to Mother Nature?) and have flashlights strategically placed (car, room, etc.). Unfortunately there are still lots of trees/wires down and people without electricity in Massachusetts.