Olympus High School Class of 2000 Alumni Website

For Scott’s birthday we went out to Roger’s beach house with our friends David and Kaitlyn and their 8 week old baby Rosalie. It was a lot of fun. We had nice weather and the kids were great! We ate out at some new places that David and Kaitlyn showed us and just hung out. David and Scott played golf two different days at different golf courses. Logan enjoyed the beach and I think he will really love it once it is warm enough to put his whole body in the ocean. It was just warm enough to stick your feet in!

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Scott's Birthday Weekend

I know that I have been a really terrible blogger lately so here is the update!

Jared: Is still working as the GM of Red Robin. He really enjoys the restaurant but wishes he had more free time. He was able to go to the annual Red Robin Convention in Orlando a couple of weeks ago and had the best time. They were able to go to Universal Studios twice where they closed off part of the park for them. He ate like a king and stayed at the JW Marriott.(yes I was very jealous) He also learned a lot of great new things and it was really nice to have him come home so excited to be apart of Red Robin. Jared has also started working out and has lost 15 pounds. I am so proud of him!

Brooklyn: Is still loving pre-school and dance. She loves to play with her friends and is always trying to plan our next activity. Brooklyn getting excited for our new baby and loves to throw out names for him some of our favorites are Rudolf, snowman, and every boy name in her pre-school class. She is very opinionated about everything and loves to tell us no.

Brady: He is our crazy boy. He is potty trained which went better the expected I only wanted to give up on week 2.5. He is doing really well other then flushing his “undies wares” down the toilet at my parents house. Brady loves to drive his sister crazy. He has also learned some “great” new tricks like leaving McDonald’s when Daddy is distracted, falling off the kitchen counter on his head and blacking out, and biting. We are hoping that these things all lose their appeal really fast.

As for me I am 35 weeks pregnant and ready to be done. This pregnancy has been the hardest of the three so more then likely it is the last. We are excited for baby boy the 2nd to come to our family. I have been really busy just trying to keep up with life and all of the fun that comes with it. I have been working at Carino’s as a hostess on Monday nights and have enjoyed it. We are now in preparation mode and it is really strange to think that the next post could be to announce our new arrival.

p.s. I am having a hard time getting the back ground to change on my blog. If you have any suggestions let me know.

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Family Update

I am finally doing a Christmas update! We had a great Christmas this year. The kids really got into the spirit and excitement of Christmas. They loved figuring out what to get people and LOVED getting presents. One of their favorite things was going to the store with Mama to get a Santa and elf hat to wear to Lizzy’s school class. Brady wore that silly hat with flashing Santa lights for a few weeks after Christmas. Brooklyn and Mama planned their annual Christmas party. It was a huge hit and everyone had a ball.(Thanks!! Mama) We had so much fun playing with all of our friends and especially loved decorating cookies with the Steenbliks.
As for presents Brooklyn got an baby doll, art stuff, and roller skates. Brady got a train table, lots of tools, and roller blades. We are so blessed to have great friends and family to share this wonderful season with.
(Sorry there are not more pics I realized I need to take more and get all of the ones my Dad took)

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Finally a Christmas Update!

I’m not what you would call a “yes” person. I really like being at home and doing my thing, so I lean towards saying “no” to going out and getting involved in extra stuff and doing things that I probably ought to be doing. I’m kind of adventurous, but really I just like to stick to the stuff I know. And, unlike many of my friends, I have no problem using the phrases “Sorry, but I’m swamped and can’t help” or “Not this time, but try me again later.”

But I’m definitely having a “yes” kind of month.

It all started with my new year’s resolutions and wanting to change up my life a bit. Although I’m a pretty happy camper in my little situation, I felt like I was starting to mentally (and physically) atrophy a bit from just sitting around the house doing my thing. So, I decided 2010 was a good year to take on some new challenges. I decided to run a half-marathon, get more involved in the community, and pick up some extra freelance work instead of spending so much time searching for a 9-5 job. It was time to break out of my rut and push myself into new situtations

Fast forward five weeks:

My quest for new situations has been successful…maybe even a little too successful. I went to that blogging conference and joined the ranks of people who treat blogging like a job and, as a result, the Disney Wedding Blog has exploded. I have seven times the traffic that I did a month ago and therefore I have seven times the emails to answer, spotlights to run, and posts to plan out. I’m also getting contacted right and left by vendors who want to talk to me about giveaways and additional programs, which is great for the site but a little overwhelming for the Carly. I even have a couple of different multimedia projects going on that will make the blog even bigger. It’s great, but it’s all happened really fast and I haven’t quite caught my balance yet…

I also opened the door to some freelance work and got hit with so much stuff all at once that it looks like I’ll be making more in the next six months than I made last year working my 9-5. This is completely amazing, but I haven’t quite gotten used to the idea of being my own boss and setting schedules and doing all the things I’m going to have to do to make this work. I think I’ve got it under control, but my desk just looks like a giant haystack of post-it notes right now…

Finally, a big “yes” went from “yes, I’ll fly out to help you with some costumes” to “yes, now that I’m here I can do these as well” to “yes, I can act as a consultant for the whole show” to “yes, I’ll fly back out, handle the costumes for a cast of 94, and stay until opening night.” So, even though I got back to Utah yesterday, I’m headed back to California in the next couple of days and I’ll be elbows deep in Beauty and the Beast until the end of the month. It completely sucks that I’ll be away from Kyle for so long, but I think I’ll have a pretty good time while I’m out there and I’ll be able to see my family more than I usually do.

All of these “yes” moments have led to good things, but now I’m in a place where I wake up and spend my day trying to wrap my brain around a million radically different projects. I’m out of my comfort zone (to say the least!) and I haven’t been bored in a really, really long time. I just hope I’m not taking on too many things at once…

Oh, and check back tomorrow for a “yes” that you don’t want to miss!

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Just Say Yes

I recently (as in the last half hour) had the following conversation with my husband:

Me: Hon, could you come here for a minute?
Kyle: What’s up?
Me: Will you take my picture?
Kyle: Doing what?
Me: Not doing anything. Just sitting here in my chair.
Kyle: Why?
Me: Because it’s my birthday.
Kyle: You hate your birthday. And you hate having your picture taken.
Me: Can you take it, please?
Kyle: You don’t even like to let me hold your fancy camera.
Me: Take my picture.
Kyle: If I take it, you’ll just upload it and go “Yuck!” and delete it immediately.
Me: TAKE MY PICTURE.

He’s right, you know. I do hate having my picture taken. And I really don’t like my birthday. I wouldn’t say that I hate my birthday, because birthdays usually come with playing board games and eating out with my family and friends and I like all of that stuff. I just don’t like the actual birthday part. Never have. Think it sucks.

The funny thing is, this isn’t just vanity about not wanting to get older. In fact, the opposite is probably true. I used to hate to celebrate my birthday in school because I was a year younger than all of my friends and my birthday was the day that everyone teased me about being such a little kid, even in high school. In an attempt to soothe my birthday angst, my mother ineffectively tried to make the day better by buying outlandish birthday treats for my home room and making a big deal. This was pretty unbearable. It’s hard to sink into the background and pretend your birthday is no big deal when you’re giving out gift bags that resemble the ones they give out at the Oscars.

Le sigh. I don’t know when it flipped and went the other direction. Now I don’t want to get any older. This means, of course, that at some point I had the perfect birthday where I turned just the right age. I have no idea when this was. There’s a pretty big chance that I slept through it.

I’m trying to change my attitude, though. I was bummed out on the way to church this morning, thinking about all the things that I haven’t done and how 27 just isn’t looking the way I thought it would. I caught myself and made myself start listing things that I have done…going from the “to-do” list to the “ta da!” list, if you will. I won’t list them all here, because it’s the same old stuff, but the trick did manage to up my mood a little bit.

So, I’m celebrating. Ok, maybe “celebrating” is overstating it, but I’m non-pouting and making every attempt to lean in the celebratory direction. Hence the picture. Yes, it might not be my favorite picture in the world right now, but when I’m turning 37, it’s going to be the picture I look at wistfully while I attempt to not sulk about it being January 31st.

To guard against a birthday relapse, I’ve written a note to myself for next year and tucked it into a journal that I write in every birthday. It says:

Dear Carly #28,

You’re turning 28 and this is not a terrible thing. Instead of thinking about everything you wanted to do at 28, you should spend the day celebrating the things that have happened because you’ve been on the planet for the last 28 years. It’s a pretty long list and the stuff on it isn’t too bad.

And cheer up! It’s a whole other year until your next birthday!

Love, Carly #27

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It’s My Birthday and I’ll Blog if I Want To

I know I owe you guys a mammoth post about Altitude Design Summit and I promise it’s coming tomorrow, but in the meantime I just had to share this Save the Date that I received for my cousin Debbie’s wedding.

Isn’t the squashed penny cute? It ties in with their engagement story:

On the afternoon of June 14, we headed to the Golden Gate Bridge. It was an absolutely amazing day. No fog and no clouds, just glorious sun and clear skies from the Farallones Islands to Mt. Diablo. You know, just like every evening . . . in San Francisco . . . in June.

As we got out of the PT Cruiser, Adam pretended to listen to a non-existent voicemail and continued to weave his tangled web, claiming his parents were stuck in traffic and would have to skip the walk. And with that little white lie, we took our first steps towards the Bridge and our lives together.

We made it about one-third of the way down the Bridge. Adam looked both ways, found a nice gap in the tourists coming from either direction, and pulled Deborah into a little nook. Of course, Deborah suspected nothing because Adam usually gets winded one-third of the way down and needs a break.

Adam began: “As you know my parents got married on June 15, and you may not know that my grandparents got married on the same day and my other grandparents, just a few days earlier. Unfortunately, we probably will not get married on that day, as it’s a Monday this year.”

Deborah, always one to introduce logic and completely unaware of where Adam was going with this, interrupted to point out that June 15 won’t always be on a Monday. Adam digressed from his romantic soliloquy to confirm his understanding of how the solar calendar works and that, yes, next year it will be on a Tuesday, then a Wednesday, and so on. . . . It was clearly shaping up to be one of the more romantic proposals in history.

Still unaware of the import of Adam’s story, Deborah suggested, “Who knows? It might be a few years before we get married.” With that, Adam reached into his coat pocket, pulled out a little wood box, and said “I don’t want to wait that long, will you marry me?” After the fastest utterings of “oh my god, oh my god, oh my god” on record, Deborah caught her breath and said “yes!”

(Adam note: No, I didn’t get down on one knee. First, I’m old and there was no guarantee I’d be getting back up any time soon. Second, I was a little nervous about carrying this expensive ring on the Golden Gate Bridge. There was no way I was going to increase the degree of difficulty and the risk of dropping the ring over the side. Luckily, Deborah doesn’t expect that kind of traditional showmanship.)

Adam had one more surprise. As you may know, Deborah had never owned a diamond but her smashed penny collection is world class. Adam reached into his other pocket and pulled out a specially-made elongated coin with a picture of the Bridge and the announcement that “Deborah Said Yes – June 14, 2009.” Deborah was maybe even more excited about the penny that Adam had thoughtfully made than the ring he had artfully picked out. . . . And that, our friends, is just one of the many reasons we are getting married.

I’m so happy for you guys! We’ll be there with bells on! (Not really. It would be obnoxious if we wore bells to your wedding. But we really will be there.)

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Adam and Deborah

Riley is one of thousands of babies born each year with a life threatening disease called Spinal Muscle Atrophy.  Every day is a fight for his life.  He is dependent on machines to feed him and even cough for him.  He can not sit, stand, walk or even give a hug.  He endures all these everyday life challenges with a smile on his face and belly full of laughs.  Currently there is no cure or treatment for this disease but there is a glimmer of light down the tunnel.  There are new potential treatments arising into effect with in this year.  Unfortunately like everything else good in this world it comes with a hefty price tag.  It takes millions of dollars to create new treatments and that's where we need everyone's help.  The Gwendolyn Strong foundation has teamed up with Chase Community  Giving Campaign to fight for a cure.  Currently the foundation is number 7 in the running.  There are only three days left to vote so log on to your facebook page and tell your friends, your family and anyone else you meet to vote!  follow this link and click to enter the voting page.  scroll down to The Gwendolyn Strong Foundation and vote!  Here's to number one! http://www.facebook.com/ChaseCommunityGiving#/ChaseCommunityGiving?v=app_162065369655

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vote for riley

It’s inevitable in any LDS singles church setting there is going to be a guy that creeps all the girls out. Sad, but true. These guys are probably good guys, but there is just something about them that is creepy. It’s usually the staring. That creeps girls out more than anything. Just a few weeks ago there was a guy that came to my singles ward that I remember from when I was 18. When I was 18 he had to be in his mid to late 20s. So what, that makes him mid to late 30s now? He should NOT be attending a singles ward for girls ranging from age 18 – 30. It’s just wrong.

Anyway, this guy is definitely classified at a creeper. He came to my ward a few weeks ago and to make a really long story stort – he ended up stared at my friends the ENTIRE sacrament meeting. And it wasn’t like he was sitting behind them. He was on their same row. And had to LEAN FORWARD to see them. Classic creeper.

He appeared the next week. But this time I noticed he was standing in the back of the chapel. He wasn’t sitting down but just scoping the scene looking for a place to sit. He did this for 20 minutes. Sacrament had already started. Yet he stood there staring at people.

Definite creeper mentality. And sadly, it doesn’t end with him.

Last night I attended an institute class. Don’t know what institute is? Well, it’s pretty much more church but in the middle of the week. As I walk in class, there is a man standing in the back of the room. He’s wearing a long, black leather trench coat and a black hat. And not a baseball hat. A hat that men wore in the 60s. Like this:

Oh, and he wasn’t sexy like Don from Mad Men.

Such a shame.

Anyway, so leather trench coat creeper is just standing in the back of the class as the classroom starts to fill up. At one point a guy turns around and asks leather trench coat creeper, “are you waiting for someone?” and LTCC (leather trench coat creeper) says, “No. I am just seeing where I want to sit.”

Seriously, dude?! Seriously? This is why you get labeled a creeper. We all know you are waiting for the super hot girl to walk in and you are going to go sit by her. We all know your M.O. And you know what, it’s not appreciated. Plus, you’re wearing a trench coat. No good can come of wearing a trench coat.

Case in point, I may or may not be surrounded by creepers. I’ll do my best to be nice. I can’t promise anything. I mean, I do have a taser now. Don’t make me use it.

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My taser might ruin your black leather trench coat. I'm just saying.

When I was in Ohio, I had a conversation with a lawyer friend of mine that got my wheels turning. It started out as a typical catch-up (“How’s Utah?” “It’s nice.” “Cold there?” “Yep.”) and then it turned to the inevitable “So exactly what is it that you’re doing?” Since I don’t have a job, I’m under more pressure to come up with a list of fascinating and necessary things that I get done every day. Sometimes I tell people that I’m doing some freelance writing. This is true, actually, but it makes me sound like I’m sitting in a coffee shop working on the great American novel, when in fact I’m just writing the occasional story for those newspapers and magazines that you’ve never heard of.

I also like to tell people that I’m a housewife and spend my days cooking, cleaning, and mending Kyle’s pants. This is also true, but I’ve learned that this should only be said when I’m sure that the person I’m talking to will be amused by it. I once said this lightly to someone I graduated from law school with and the look of pity that it inspired was a total conversation killer. I just had to wander away, mumbling “but I should be getting a call about that six figure job any day now.”

During the particular conversation in question, however, I gave the most honest answer I could, which is that I spend part of the day looking for jobs, part of the day picking up around the house, and the rest of my time is spent reading, writing, or blogging. This perked the interest of my lawyer friend and he asked what I was blogging about. I explained that I had a couple of different blogs, but mostly I just blogged about stuff. To which he responded, “Oh…so you just…talk about your life?”

The disappointment and disinterest in his voice was palpable. In truth, this isn’t the first time I’ve had this conversation. In fact, I’ve been on both sides of it. When someone tells you that he or she has a blog, it’s natural to immediately ask what the blog is about. When they tell you it’s about their life, don’t you always have a moment where you just think, “Oh…it’s that kind of blog…it’s not a blog about politics or cars or movies or celebrities or food. It’s just a blog about this person?” And this, my friends, makes you immediately think, “I bet that blog is a suckfest of boring.”

It also makes that person seem just a bit more self-important. After all, blogging is widely viewed as a narcissistic pastime. It’s a hobby in which you, yourself, are the thing that you’re really interested in and want to spend time thinking about. What kind of an egomaniac would sit down at a computer every single day and talk about themselves? What makes these people think that they are so much more special than everyone else…that they’re so special everyone else will be interested in reading about their daily existence? Who do these people think they are?

I caught the look of disappointment in the face of my friend and quickly changed the subject, but it stayed on my mind for days afterward. I started to wonder if I had let this blogging thing get out of hand. What started out as rants and lists and notes to self has turned into a conversation in which I naturally assume that people will tune in to participate. But who am I and what am I doing and why do I blog almost every day? At nearly 27, with two degrees under my belt, shouldn’t I find a better way to spend my time?

And then I realized something. No, I couldn’t find a better way to spend my time. Because I need this. And I don’t need it because I can’t stop talking about myself. I need it because I can’t stop talking. I think it’s a chick thing. When women get together, they don’t talk about cars and movies and politics and technology. (Well, they do, but it usually isn’t the main focus.) The women in my life get together and immediately we start talking about relationships and how we feel about things and who we feel we are as people.

I have cherished those moments with my girlfriends and coworkers and classmates. I can’t remember the names and faces of some people, but I can remember sitting down on the couch with them while they expressed secret fears about break ups or little hopes that seemed too silly to say out loud. You know that moment when you and someone else have just traded immensely personal stories and you’re just sitting together, knowing that you’re understood and not judged and not alone? I love that.

That’s what led me to blogging. By reading other people’s blogs, I started to tap into mini-conversations with strangers all over the world. Sure, I didn’t really know these people, but when I read about the stupid relationship mistakes they made or when they cracked jokes to mask their insecurities, I totally connected to them. I felt like I was more normal for making mistakes and feeling insecure. The fact that they shared these thoughts actually began to buoy me up and enrich my life. The international chatter on the Internet was as familiar and friendly as any lunch circle in my life had ever been.

That’s why I blog. I want to add to that conversation. I want to toss this stuff out there so that someone else can read it and get something out of it, even if the something is that they think I’m an idiot and they’re glad they’re not me. (Hello, law-practicing Class of ‘08!) For every person that misses the points I’m making or doesn’t agree with something I’ve thrown out there, I’ve found someone who really gets it. And even if they don’t leave me a comment or send me an email, I’ve become part of that person’s experience and hopefully I’ve made them feel just a bit more confident/happy/understood/secure/normal. I know that when I need that and I can’t get a hold of a friend, I can usually find a blog to lift up my day.

I don’t think that bloggers are self-obsessed. I think that they’re socially open. I think that they’re recreating something that is getting lost as people become more disconnected from each other. And I think that what all bloggers are doing…all of that verbal chaos and overflow of opinion…is really, really important.

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In Defense of Bloggers Everywhere

As 2009 comes to a close, I have started wondering what 2010 holds for me. I’m certainly not looking forward to my high school 10 year reunion. Crap, I’m already depressed and 2010 hasn’t even started.

And so, in an attempt to control 2010 I have given it a motto. This motto will be repeated in my mind each and every day of 2010. Well, at least like the first few days of January. We all know consistency is not one of my strengths. Unless that consistency is laziness, then I have that good and covered.

Anyway. Back to the motto. After much consideration 2010’s motto will be:

Lots of Men in 2010

Catchy right? And well, “men” is the best thing that rhymed with “ten” so I think it really works.

I haven’t quite figured out how 2010 will be filled with lots of men. That minor detail is the flaw in my plan. I’ve actually considered not being so bitchy picky awkward closed off and actually be open to people setting me up. It’s definitely a possibility.

And so my friends, I say farewell to 2009. May 2010 bring you happiness and peace. And well, may it brings me lots of men.

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My 2010 Motto

Dear Santa,
It was great to see you a couple of weeks ago and get my picture taken with you – that was fun. You didn’t even try to grab my ass or say inappropriate things to me. Bonus! My gift to you in our picture together. I know you will frame it and put it next to your bed. Mrs. Claus might not be very happy about that though. So maybe just look at it and throw it away.

I know I didn’t really ask you for much this year. In fact, I didn’t really ask you for anything. I asked my parents for a bigger tv and I am 100% sure I got that. You know, because I went with my dad to buy it. But alas, I haven’t asked you for anything. And well I think it might be time. I thought about asking you to send me a personal assistant to run all my errands. But then I realized that the excuse of “I have to run some errands” is a great excuse when I want to get out of something. You know, something like going to the gym. I really like the excuse of being so busy I can’t go to the gym, so please don’t send me a personal assistant.

You know, all my friends are talking about this Elf on a Shelf. Seems like a great idea. But I was thinking we could use something like that in normal, human life. So instead of an Elf that sits in my house, you send me a man that could do all my dirty work. Yes, I know the logistics of that could be a little difficult given the Elf thing isn’t really real. But think about it. Really though, think about it.

Here is a list of all the things I need my Man on the Shelf to do for me:

1) Hook up my new tv that I get for Christmas
2) Kill all the spiders I find in my room
3) Shovel the snow on my sidewalk and driveway
4) Scrape my car in the morning if it is iced over
5) Give me massages when I am tired

I am really thinking this is a great idea. I know I am asking for this a little late so I hope you can pull something out of your hat.

Love,
Natalie

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Dear Santa, make this happen.

Thoughts on the true meaning of Christmas:

I picked my husband up from the train tonight and took him to the mall so that we could join the last minute Christmas shoppers. I’ll admit that we were there purely for the scenery…thanks to the Internet and our tight budget, our holiday shopping has been done for weeks now. Still, the little consumer whore in me just couldn’t let the Christmas season pass by without taking in all of the displays shimmering in the windows of the GAP.

On the way home, Kyle asked if I had blogged today and I admitted that I hadn’t gotten around to it because I wasn’t feeling very inspired to talk about anything in particular. He responded, “You should blog about the true meaning of Christmas.”

When my friends in law school used to tell particularly boring or pointless stories, they used to follow them up with either “and then I found five dollars”, “and then I kicked him in the balls”, or “and that’s when I learned the true meaning of Christmas.” We found that any of those phrases instantly livened up a story and saved your time from having been wasted. However, in all of the times that we had to use those phrases (and we did have to use them often *cough* Nate *cough*), I suppose I never had truly pondered the meaning of Christmas. Or, for that matter, found five dollars and kicked someone in the balls.

As we pulled into the drive-thru of the Riverton Taco Bell, I told Kyle that I didn’t know what the true meaning of Christmas and asked if he did. To my surprise, he answered without hesitation, “Of course. It’s to think of others before you think of yourself.” I was so caught off guard by the complete certainty in his voice that I started to stammer, “Oh…right…well, obviously…” until I realized that I didn’t think that was true. If anything, that seems to be the opposite of true. After all, Christmas has definitely turned into an indulgent holiday, where people eat cookies, make gift lists, drink way too much at office parties, and put up those hideous inflatable lawn ornaments without any thought at all for their neighbors.

Our Christmas morality argument was nipped in the bud by the ordering of some truly American Mexican goodness and the really bad song that happened to come on the radio as we pulled out of the parking lot. Kyle’s asleep now and I’m up with the computer, Googling “true meaning of Christmas”. You can do this if you want, but I’ll save you time and tell you that the top thirty hits are basically different versions of bible passages that give thanks to God for the birth of his son. So, there’s that whole thing, obviously.

A lot of them also mention doing good to the poor and less fortunate. This is a lot more tangible of a direction that the vague “give thanks”. After all, you could argue that giving thanks means denying yourself the commercial trimmings of the holiday to focus on the religious significance or you could argue that giving thanks means embracing all of the joy that life has to offer, much of which is on sale this week at Target. For this reason, it’s sort of easier to skip the whole “give thanks” thing and move on to the doing of the good for the poor people.

When I was a senior in high school, I was in the presidency of the Future Business Leaders of America. Not being interested in being a business leader (shocker!), I only joined the club because Kate was in it and I wanted to be a joiner. I took the position of community interests V.P., which is the least coveted of all FBLA positions as it has nothing to do with power or reward and everything to do with work and crappiness. I was excited to take it, however, because my big job was to put on a holiday party for foster children and parties are totally my thing.

In the weeks that led up to the Christmas party, I was totally filled with the spirit of giving and goodness. By this, I mean that I was totally wrapped up in how much fun it would be to decorate with my friends and how this was going to be an awesome addition to my college application. I made stockings and paper chains and got free pizzas and collected toy donations and pretty much had a blast. Oh, and it was nice that it was all going to the children, but I admit that in my 16 year old brain the children were sort of taking a backseat to the social gathering and the thrill of event coordination.

On the day of the party, I lugged boxes of popcorn balls and plastic trees to the seminary building across from the school and spent all morning barking orders at my helpful friends. The children arrived in a big chattering crowd, but I barely noticed after my high school crush showed up unexpectedly, dragged into volunteering by one of his friends. The rest of the morning was spent in something of a daze as I tried to look busy and important while checking and rechecking my hair in the reflection of a thousand Christmas ornaments. Before I knew it, Santa had arrived and the games were over and all that was left was the reading of The Night Before Christmas and the handing out of the toys.

At this moment, a friend of mine, who was hell-bent on getting me to do more than just dictate and organize, handed me a very small boy. I’d say he was two…definitely not more than three. She literally dumped him into my arms and said, “Here. It’s your turn to help out.” I tried to give him back, but she was already using both of her hands to corral two other small children and so was everyone else I had roped into this mess. As the volunteers tried to calm the kids down enough to listen to the story, I toted the toddler into the kitchen so I could check my cell phone and get the purchase order ready for our Santa Clause. (You’d think someone would have been willing to volunteer their time. Just scandalous.)

There was nobody else in the kitchen to hand the kid off to, so I put him on the counter and then got busy with my little tasks. Once I was finished, I looked up to see that he was still sitting there in silence, watching me. I wasn’t around kids a whole lot at the time, but I was around them enough to know that they’re usually squirmier than that at two. I pulled a candy cane out of one of our leftover stockings and unwrapped it, but I couldn’t get the kid to give me a smile or even take a little lick. I tried a cup of water, a jingling of a sleigh bell, and a poorly sung rendition of deck the halls, but the kid wouldn’t give me any reaction whatsoever.

More than a little creeped out and nervous that I had somehow damaged the kid irreparably in the last five minutes, I dug into our box of donated toys and found a white bear with a red bow. I produced the bear, wiggling its paws and saying (in my best bear voice), “I was lonely in that box. Can I come home with you for Christmas?” Luckily, this last attempt worked and the kid smiled at the bear. I made the bear dance around and sing and I actually evoked laughter. When I made the bear act like it was attacking me, I thought the kid was going to laugh himself off of the counter.

And then I went to say, “I can’t wait to come home for Christmas and meet your mommy and daddy” but I only got as far as “I can’t wait to come home…” before I realized that I didn’t know if this kid had a mommy and daddy. In fact, I didn’t know much about any of the kids, except for the fact that I got their contact info from the Utah Foster Care Association. The boy didn’t notice me trailing off and was content to take the bear from me and wrap him up in a hug, at which point I picked them both up squeezed a bit too much.

We went in and listened to the story. Not surprisingly, the kid didn’t squirm or make a noise. He just hung onto that bear and smiled while poking him in his glass eye. I caught myself kissing the top of the kid’s head and then feeling acutely embarrassed that I had done so in front of everyone. After the story, all of the children were collected, including the little boy I was holding who went home with two very nice looking people and a group of kids that looked a lot like him. The volunteers were just buzzing with the thrill of having finished the party and helped out, but I just felt really, really heavy. And I don’t know why.

What was that…ten years ago this year? I still don’t really understand why it bummed me out so much. It could have been that I wanted to do more, but it’s not like I turned around and started mentoring children the next day. It could have been exhaustion from the event, but I’ve planned bigger things than that and felt nothing but elation at the end.

If anything, I think that those two hours were a shrunken version of my whole Christmas experience. Christmas for me is a time for slow excitement and anticipation which melts into a rush of big ideas and fun surprises and a huge list of things that have to get done. Then the day comes and there’s people and food and wrapping paper everywhere and for just a couple of moments, usually in the middle of the Christmas Eve service at church and then again when everyone stumbles down into the living room on Christmas morning, everything in the world is good and light and hopeful. The smallest things are suddenly all that matters and it becomes more important to make a bear dance and sing than anything has ever been in your whole life.

I think that the feeling I felt at the end of that party is the same feeling I feel on December 26th or 27th or whatever day sees an end to the festivities. It’s not a sadness, but rather a shock as the overload of joy and peace and love fades away and you realize that life is still going to go after Christmas and if you want all of that goodness to keep going, you’re going to have to drag it along with you. And it seems like such a big job at that moment, doesn’t it? It seems like the next Christmas is forever away and all that’s left is the crap task of cleaning up the wrapping paper and taking down the tree.

But it can’t really be that hard to keep it going, can it? I’ve seen other people who can do it and in our own way, I guess we all try to make an effort. So maybe that’s the thing we’re supposed to get from Christmas…that energy boost to keep the charity and cheer from wiping us out before the next December. I don’t know…I’ll have to check with my husband when he wakes up…he was so damn sure of the whole thing and here I am at the end of an essay and I’ve just come around to saying exactly what he already said four hours ago.

This is why I married this man. I say five words to every word that he says, but in the end he usually manages to beat me to punch anyway.

Read more here:
Thoughts on the true meaning of Christmas:I picked my husband

our lovely hosts. We love Dave and Ali!

Their 15 foot tree

Brain and lover

Couples only this year, so that didnt help the numbers….

us Doyles

Terha and Andrew

Dre and Tyler

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Annual Christmas Bash

Now that football is over and the dance concert is finished and getting nominated for Homecoming is long past, here’s what Randy has been up to:

Bowling on the school team
(250+ average and tons of scholarship money already won)

Performing at the holiday concert in the school choir
(This is the first year he’s done choir instead of orchestra.)

Checking out the lights at Temple Square with his friends
(Yes, I actually followed them around with a camera.)

The only thing more depressing than not really having anything to blog about, is providing constant updates on the exciting life and times of your baby brother. I’m going to have to change the name of this blog from “Being Carly” to “Being Randy’s Sister”.

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Now that football is over and the dance concert is finished and

I am happy to announce that Eric has found an internship which will hopefully turn into a full time job. He will be working as a Forensic Accountant and CBIZ in Bakersfield, CA. If you don’t know what that is you will have to ask him. It has something to do with investigating fraud and working with the legal system, or something like that. You will have to ask him.
We will be moving right during Christmas time. I have a feeling that we won’t have much of a Christmas this year. Eric has been applying for internships all semester and when CBIZ came to campus a couple of months ago Eric wanted an interview. He couldn’t sign up for an interview though because he did not meet the GPA requirement so he just showed up and asked the guy for an interview. The interviewer gave up his lunch to see Eric and he had a great interview. He was so excited about his interview that when he came home I was out in the dorm doing clean checks and he found me so he could tell me about it. After waiting for almost 2 months he was sure he wasn’t going to get the internship because he knew that hundreds had also interviewed for four positions. We even considered staying in Rexburg when Eric was offered an internship here with a local accounting firm. A few weeks ago Eric received a phone call letting him know they were considering him for the position. Then later that week Eric got a letter offering him the position.
I am so excited for Eric that he was able to get the internship that he wanted. If he does well with this internship then he will most likely get a job offer. In today’s job market that is so nice.
Over our thanksgiving break Eric and I took a trip to Bakersfield, CA to look for a house to rent. We looked at 5 different houses and the very last house we looked at we knew we wanted it. We are so excited that we were able to sign the lease on the house before we left. It was a quick trip but we got a small taste of what the next chapter of our life will look like and we are so excited. We will arrive in Bakersfield on December 20th. Here are some pictures for our friends and family to see although I don’t think the pictures give the house justice. I think it is beautiful and the perfect set up for our situation right now. It is at the end of a cul-de-sac so it is very private. It has a big backyard for the kids and Sugar (we get her back!!). It has 3 bedrooms so I don’t have to worry about the kids waking each other up until the next kid comes. It has 2 bathrooms and a big kitchen that over sees the living room and the sink looks out to the backyard. It also has a lot of counter space. I am also excited to have my own laundry room again. I am also happy that the dinning area has tile and not carpet so my kids can be messy and not mess up the carpet. The living area is carpeted so I can get on the floor with my kids and play comfortably. Okay, I will stop and just say that we are sooooooooooooooooo excited to be in a house again and out of the dorm.

Read more here:
We are outta here

Last weekend I flew to Salt Lake so I could attend a baby shower for Andrea, my all time favorite friend. The whole party was organized by my other favorite friend, Hailey, who is the best party planner ever. Seriously, she is amazing. You should visit her blog (click here) for a glimpse of her awesomeness. It was so fun to have all the girls together again since I don’t get to see my friends often. I miss them like crazy!

I’ve known Andrea since high school which means I’ve been lucky to attend all of her fun showers. First there was her bridal shower at Katie’s house FOREVER ago. I think it has been 7 years but I’m not really sure.

Then we had another shower at Mikado a few years later

Then we had the baby shower last weekend at La Caille (thanks Hailey…you rock!)

And I’m really sorry about this last part but I was DYING to know what Alex and Andrea’s baby will look like. It appears the online baby generator needs some work because Andrea’s baby is going to be hella cuter. First, here are a couple pictures of the gorgeous couple.

And here is the result from the baby generator

It kind of looks like a little-old-man-monster but we all know Alexandrea’s baby is going to be way cute. I can’t wait to meet him!!

Read more here:
Andrea's lavish baby shower

We had a super fun Halloween this year. Brooklyn was a fairy, Brady a dinosaur/scary monster, and Jared and I were the priest and pregnant nun. We love Halloween so much that each year it is a big deal to figure out the costumes. Brady was not into the whole thing as the rest of us so he was either in his basketball shorts or his spyder hat. He is a such funny kid that has a mind of his own. Brooklyn’s costume was so cute and she loved ever second of it especially the glitter on her face and hair.
Thursday: Brooklyn had a preschool party where she got to dress up. She loved it!
Friday: Brooklyn and Brady went to a birthday party for their friend Venice. It was really fun to paint pumpkins and play Halloween games. Brady really struggled and I couldn’t figure out if it was because it was nap time or if he was overwhelmed with the whole thing. When I got him in the car he told me “I go Red Robin and get cany” in the most pathetic voice. So we went to see Daddy and get cany.
Friday night Jared and I went to our friend Dan’s 40th birthday party. We dressed up in our crazy costumes and had a ball. The best part was Jared carrying around his Book or Mormon.
Saturday: We got up and went to a party at Red Robin. Jared is awesome about doing fun things for his employees and their families. We had a great time but again Brady was having none of it. He spent most of his time on top of a table or laying face down on the floor. (Who are his parents seriously) After that we packed up our stuff and headed down to SLC to spend the night with my parents. When we got there we had a yummy dinner and got ready to go. The kids at this point were done so we only went to a few houses. I loved the reactions that we got from our costumes one couple just didn’t say anything. One of our friends asked a group of 12 year old girls why it was funny and another asked if we had got kicked out of the church. Brady and Brooklyn loved getting candy and got so excited when kids would come to the door to get some.
All is all it was such a fun holiday.

Read more here:
Halloween Fun!

Pete with his Battle Buddy “Mills”

Pete showing his skills “koala-ifying”

Read more here:
The Much Anticipated BCT Graduation

We had a fabulous Halloween and shared the spook-full night with our friends the Birds and Barells. Calahan was a hoot! He’d run up to the door just a few steps behind Jack and Wyatt screaming, “door, wait!” Then he’d give the door greeters a sweet little, “halloween! trick-treat! thank you!” then run off to catch up with the big boys and do it all over again. If you asked him what his costume was he’d look at you with a mysterious grin and say, “saur -a-saur, ROAR!” and throw his hands up in the air by his face. Oh I love this holiday and can’t wait for next Halloween!

Read more here:
Saur-a-Saur and Darth Vader

Updates on the 101 in 1001 project:

• Water-drinking and food-blogging are still doing strong. My phone freaked out a couple of days ago, so I had to just post pictures of what I ate with approximate times, but it worked out. I really need to stick with that…I can tell how much more aware it’s already made me. I’m just waiting for that change in diet behaviors to kick in.

• My wedding blog has (rather amazingly) reached 95 followers, so I’m a lot closer to my goal of hitting 100 followers on one of my blogs. It’s sort of funny that the wedding blog is continuing to grow almost ten months after we got married, but I love it!

• I’ve joined a book club, so that’s one off my list. We met last Monday and I had a really good time. This one is smaller than my last (giant) book club and it has a different approach to selecting books. We’ll be reading two books from six different genres over the year and we’re voting on them now. I’m really excited about it! I also got invites to two other book clubs that I haven’t responded to yet and emails from about a dozen people who weren’t in book clubs but wanted to be. I’m kind of thinking about joining both of the other book clubs AND starting up another, since it’s not like I’m too busy to read books these days, but I don’t want to over-commit myself while I’m still working on projects and looking for work.

• I managed to swap ten books on paperbackswap.com almost immediately. I’m getting a little obsessed with this site, I have to admit. It fulfills my three awesomeness requirements of cheap, convenient, and social. I have a ton of books that I didn’t want to just donate or sell really cheaply because they were either expensive or slightly beloved, but at the same time I knew I was never going to sit down and read them again. Now all of those books are out on their way to people who will love them and I have all sorts of books that I’ve been dying to read showing up in my mailbox. LOVE!

• And finally, in book related news, I’m already up to two memoirs out of the ten I need to read for the list. The first, My Horizontal Life: A Collection of One-Night Stands by Chelsea Handler, was wildly not worth my time. It’s a best-seller so I had high hopes for it, but both this book and Are You There, Vodka? It’s Me, Chelsea (her other memoir) were just plain stupid. I read her first memoir before I started the 101 project so I’m not counting it on the list and I only read the other memoir because I bought it and didn’t want to waste my money. Memo to self: try not wasting your time…I did read a really good memoir, though, and I thought I’d review it here since I bet a lot of people I know would want to read it. It’s a new book, called The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance: A Memoir by Elna Baker.

The book is the true story of a woman in her twenties navigating her new life in New York City as a member of the Mormon church. Thoughts about her faith and how important it is to her are intermingled with disasters in dating, including a multitude of first kisses and one unfortunately memorable trip to “second base”.

This book was just too funny. I knew I wanted to read it ever since I read an excerpt in Glamour and laughed out loud (which is huge because I hate that magazine!). Here’s part of the excerpt that sold it for me:

Everything I needed to know about sex, I learned in church. Only the lessons were never direct. Mormons love object lessons – I mean it, I grew up on them, the more obscure the better. Instead of just telling it like it is, the teacher will explain a basic concept like “forgiveness” with windshield wipers, wet naps, and an Etch a Sketch Pad.
The lesson on chastity involved food. Our young women’s teacher, Sister Nelson, walked into the classroom holding a tray of cookies that she proceeded to slam onto the table with a loud metal clank.
“Does anyone want a cookie?” She asked in an aggressive tone.
We perked up in our seats; young women’s was easier to endure when they brought food, but something was amiss. Upon further inspection I realized what it was: The cookies were half-eaten, broken, and sprinkled with dirt.
“Anyone?” she repeated, her eyes panning across the room. When no one answered, she nodded her head emphatically. “That’s right,” she said, as though we’d just proven her point for her. “No one wants a dirty half-eaten cookie.”
And that, my friends, was how I learned not to have sex.

One of the things that I love about this book is that it gives a tangible account of Mormon, mid-twenties life if you’re single and you aren’t in Utah. One of the conversations I had often with my friends in Ohio revolved around an outside belief that all Mormons our age are piously-incapable of having fun, exciting lives that don’t revolve around getting pregnant. The general idea seems to be that Mormons are as impossible to relate to as people living in colonial America and although the addition of Big Love (the HBO series) definitely has helped the Mormons seem less weird to those who know nothing about the religion beyond South Park, I feel like this real-life story is a major bridge across cultures.

That and it was super fun to read. To sum up: important cultural bridge and laughed my butt off. You should read it.

Read more here:
Updates on the 101 in 1001 project: – Water-drinking and