Sushi

Saturday (7/18/09), I went to the new Draper Temple with my good friend, April, and sister-in-law, Kathryn. Turns out, they didn't rent temple clothing, so I didn't get to do a session, but we still did some temple work, which was NICE!! I'm looking into getting a temple dress sometime soon.

Afterwards though, we went out for SUSHI!!!

Now, I was never one to think I would like sushi, let alone CRAVE it, but... I DO!

I was so excited to get more sushi, I couldn't help be count down the moments as we got closer and closer! We had a delicious CATERPILLAR ROLL with eel, cream cheese, gobo, and avocado inside and more avocado on top; the PHILADELPHIA 2 ROLL with salmon, cream cheese, avocado, and then it's deep fried; and my favorite, the OH ROLL with shrimp tempura inside and then topped with crab meat, salmon, lemon, and tobiko (fish eggs). That OH Roll is so sweet and lemony and delicious! YUM! I just can't wait for our next trip!

When I got home, I was greeted by Keith who gave me a hug saying "I missed you, Mommy!" and tiny Mitchell was very glad to see me too! It was so wonderful to have been missed! I was gone from 7:45am until 4:30pm! That's a LONG TIME for me!

She Cut Me Off!

Okay, so a while back, I had an experience that originally made me want to start this journal.

I was driving up Redwood through all the crazy construction. The lanes eventually became defined by orange cones. There were three lanes and because I had chosen the far right one before and ended up in the construction workers area, I chose the middle lane this time. WRONG! One car quickly sped by me as I saw cars coming over the hill straight at me. GREAT! So, I tried to edge back into the correct (far right) lane, but I ended up cutting off the lady behind me. I was, for one, very embarassed! And second, I was a little defensive because I thought that the lady behind me should have also noticed the cars coming straight at me and should have let me back in a little easier. But, that was all because I was so embarassed. I couldn't get it off my mind.

Finally, the construction brought traffic to a complete stop. The lady got out of her van. OH CRAP!! I locked my doors and probably turned beet red and a little scared that the lady was about to yell and scream at me. Why would she do that? I was about to die because I chose the wrong lane and had cars coming at me. I was nervous. *tap, tap, tap* on my window. CRAP! I rolled down the window, fear on my face I'm sure, and prepared for the tongue lashing. "I just wanted to appologize. I shouldn't have honked at you like that! I've chosen the wrong lane before too, and I just shouldn't have reacted that way. I'm so sorry." WHAT?! She was a beautiful, thin, blonde woman. Her voice was very sincere. "I've been hoping that we'd stop so I could appologize. I really shouldn't have reacted so badly. I'm really, really sorry." I'm sure my face must have gone completely blank with shock and amazement. Remember in A Christmas Story when Ralphie's mom tells his dad that he had been in a fight but then she still covers for him, and his thought was that he realized he was not about to be destroyed afterall? THAT is what I thought! She was so sweet! And now my mind could be cleared of that terrible embarassment and instead, my mind was filled with love and compassion and thanksgiving as I realized that I was not about to be destroyed.

I LOVE where I live! Eagle Mountain must be the best place to live for us! Random acts of kindness like this happen frequently. One guy saw that our trashcan had blown over in the wind, so he took it out of the street (I was feeding Mitchell as I noticed all this) and put it up by our garage. He didn't just set it up again, he didn't put it in the driveway, he took it all the way up to where most garbage cans are kept by people's garages. Another day, someone noticed a bike helmet in our yard. Assuming it was ours (we had actually put it there because some kid hid it from another kid in our backyard... odd), he put it on our porch where we could find it. HOW SWEET!

Anyway, I'm so glad we were able to buy this home and that we have such amazing neighbors!

Independence Day 2009

Well, first of all, I'm not sure that my idea on blogging is working out very well. So, I think it's going to turn into just a journal afterall. SORRY!

So, for the 4th of July, we had family over to our place. I LOVE having people over! It's so easy here because we have room for it! Back in the apartments, I get a bit claustrophobic because so many people are squeezing into tiny apartments. Yes, we go back and forth between two apartments, but that too is a bit of a downer because I like for EVERYONE to be together. Also, there isn't really a nice, safe place for the kids to play outside there. In Tooele, I get weird because I don't want Keith to break any of the stuff in Denise's cute little parlor area. Her kids know their rules and play with their toys appropriately. However, Keith is a little slower on that stuff (not to say that he's "Slow" because the boy is reading a bit already at 3 years old, he's smart, but more "book smart" than anything...) and is likely to find a crayon and let the walls have it! So, I get really uptight and cranky. I've learned to be more calm when visiting St. George, though I get a little nervous when the crayons are brought out. So, for me, having a get toether at OUR place is like HEAVEN! We've got things that the kids aren't allowed to touch put away. We've got a toy room that's safe for playing. We've got a fully fenced backyard that's been sprayed for spiders, so I'm cool with them playing outside. And, we're really good at making sure that everyone understands that food stays ONLY in the UNcarpeted areas. So, my sanity is still in tact at the end of the day!

When everyone left, it was so easy to clean up! I still need to vacuum and do a second load of dishes and mop, but other than that, it took about 30 minutes to get the place cleaned up again. Ben is afraid that if I always invite people out here, they'll start to say "no" and then will be so used to saying "no" that no one will ever come out anymore. That's possible, but I am hoping that if I just show enough friendly hospitality while people are here, then it won't be a big deal and people will actually ENJOY coming out.

At any rate, we thoroughly enjoyed the few hours alone with Matthew and Bree. They are such wonderful people! Just as they left, Alex & Denise's family showed up, and then Kathryn, and then Bruce & Jordan's family. We grilled out for both lunch and then again for dinner. We played games. We just had FUN! As it got dark, we even did some little fireworks in the street! I don't think I could have asked for a better 4th of July!