New Camera

Right in the heart of downtown Vernal is this T-Rex. Some entity decorates him according to the season. Christmas was a little frightening with Christmas lights on his teeth, but I like the fishing getup. 

Scott kindly and sweetly bought me a new camera.  It is a Panasonic-(click here for link) I love it. It is what I wanted. The only thing I have noticed is when I was posting this it took forever to load the pictures. I guess 16.1 MP makes a big file and it takes time to load. And if that is my only complaint I can live with it. I love the camera!

I was blanching some zucchini prior to freezing. One piece fell onto the floor. Suzie snagged it up quickly and ran for the safety of the living room couch. Once she knew she was save she proceeded to eat it. I hurried and took the picture as proof that this silly dog eats her veggies!

Suzie is such a good puppy. She does have selective hearing. She pretends she does not hear me telling her to get down off the bed but she listens quite well in the car when I tell her to get into the back. She loves to play fetch. Scott and I will go down the street to our Stake Center and throw a ball while we take laps around the baseball field. She loves it, more for the run than the guaranteed scraps of food at the pavilion left over from some activity.  When we get home after running her as hard as we can she usually crashes on the floor. I know you can imagine her puppy dreams and trust me those front legs get moving when she is dreaming! 

I have been working one day a week for a dentist in Duchesne. He built a brand new office. He did not buy any patient files or equipment. Everything is brand new. It is really fun working in a new office. One downer is that every patient is a new patient so lots of xrays, charting, and general paperwork need to be done. It can be tough sometimes. I am truly grateful that I have the chance to work for him. I am scheduled to work for 2 more weeks. He only has 2 opertories complete, the other 2 will be done soon. Once they are complete they will negotiate hiring me for real. I am glad for this trial time since it is such a long commute. I am glad to finally have some work I enjoy.  I am also thankful for my camera!

Let Summer Begin

Memorial Day is my favorite holiday. This year I went to the Jensen cemetery to visit Scott's father's grave. He has been gone for 30 years. My mother-in-law  (MIL) remarked that their children are older than their father when he passed. 

Scott was working on Memorial Day. Suzie and I played. I have given up keeping my slippers out of her mouth and she loves to play with them. Her other favorite toy is an $0.88 squeaky pink pig from the dreaded Wal Mart. I love her ears in this shot! She can barely reach the windows in the car and sticks her head out and those ears get going. I call her bat dog. 

Scott called and asked me to come ride with him for his last water pull. I cruised out to the desert and met up with him. I rode with him on the last pull. I was all sorts of anxious because last time I rode with him we got caught and Scott got into trouble. I did not want to repeat that. Since it was a holiday and at the end of the day, no one saw us. It is pretty fun riding shotgun with this man at the wheel!

After work we left to go camping. Due to a misunderstanding we had not planned on camping Monday night. So we tossed things together and got ready to leave. We needed a table. My MIL had one. We stopped by and to our surprise she had 2 steaks marinating and in zip bags, chicken fajita ingredients, elk sausage, hot dogs, and even a stick of butter, and a case of bottled water. We left her house with more food than we originally had and way more than we needed. She is such a sweet woman!

We got up the mountain and tent pitched by 11:30 pm. We immediately crashed since we had been up since 3 am. Tuesday was quiet since most campers were empty and everyone had gone home. We decided to go to the Flaming Gorge Dam. It was wonderful. I loved the colors of the desert landscape!

There is a dam tour and I want to go on it. Alas we got there just as 2 bus loads of kids arrived. We didnt want to wait for the next available tour so we left. I cannot wait to go back-with a camera!

I took this pic of the 3 of us seconds before the camera slipped and I dropped it-breaking my beloved camera of 6 years. It is so sad! It was the final straw of the most expensive month of my life! I am not sure when I can replace it. 

While camping Suzie had the time of her life. We did not have to leash her very much due to the lack of people. We went on a path/hike on the rim of the Gorge. It was beautiful-sad no pics. While on the path we leashed Suzie but for the most part she walked her self. She would take the loop into her mouth and walk. It was the cutest thing ever. Her little ears were flopping and she pranced like a big girl walking herself. 

Our camping trip was freezing at night (Suzie's water bowl did freeze) and hot during the day. I could not get warm at nights. It was pretty tough. Thankfully Scott was hot and radiating warmth. He was so wonderful to keep me as warm as possible. He even got the stuff out for hot chocolate so I would not have to get out of my cocoon of warmth. 

My Memorial Day was wonderful! I am excited that camping sites are so close to home and I have someone who will actually go with me! 

Let summer begin! 

Awww Otter Pops!

This month has been one of the most expensive periods in my life. It started off with unexpected lawyer and court costs from an ex wife. Then I was driving down the road Monday planning on hitting the car wash to scrub the bug guts from our trip to St George when I heard a ping and crack and shatter. I didnt know what happened at first since I was driving next to road construction. A few seconds later I realized my sun roof had shattered. I did not get to wash my dirty car, instead I went to body shops looking for replacement glass. This glass while not big is made of diamonds because it is pretty expensive! Even the body shop guy was shocked. I ordered the glass and as of today it had not arrived in Vernal-so the rain is causing me to have a garbage bag over the top of my car-poor WT car! 

We took the old Ford Explorer in for inspection and it needed new ball joints on the front axle. As expected this was more than a few hundred dollar job! Our poor bank account. . . sigh. Add to that Scott is still only working a few hours. He is at 18 for this pay period. Sheesh. I temp on Thursday for the same dentist I have been temped previous. He is so bad about paying that his employees will be 1 week late with their pay; I dont expect to be paid from him for a few weeks. 

I responded to an ad in the newspaper asking for house cleaners for a property management company. I have called two times in 3 days and both times I had to leave a message. I guess I am not even good enough to clean apartments-what a self esteem killer. I am grateful for the blessings Scott and I have had. We have somehow had ways to take care of our responsibilities this month. We have to postpone carpet for several more months now and while that is sad it is doable!

I was sitting here crocheting and Suzie wanted to be up in my business. She kept biting my ball of yarn so I put it up and went and got an Otter Pop-or Flavor Ice-I cannot remember what I have. As I was enjoying the refreshing treat Suzie was giving me the look. I caved and let her try it. She loved it!

Look at the tongue! 

What a way to end the day! A nice cool Otter Pop!

Daniel and Hilaree Jones

This is my brother Daniel and his fiance Hilaree. This was their announcement picture.

This is their exit at the St George temple on May 11

My mom and Daniel

Daniel looks happy in this picture. He has waited so long to find the right woman. He is such a good man. I am proud of him. The sealing was wonderful and the luncheon was delish and the reception was fun and perfect! I love that Hilaree had donuts and milk. It was such a wonderful day. It was killer hot in St G and I am not used to it. I love Daniel and Hilaree so much. Oh how I love my brothers. 

Scott and I went to Cedar City and stayed in a hotel with Suzie. She did great. She did not bark or destroy the furniture. We left her with some friends while we spent the day in hot St G. Suzie played with kids, dug weeds, was fed treat after treat, helped with dishes, ate food the kids dropped, ran and chased and had so much fun being a family dog. She was so wore out that she slept all the next day. Suzie is becoming a really good dog. Minus one poop at my mothers house she did really good. My dad introduced the laser light to Suzie. Scott wanted to go buy a laser right then. I said we had one-mom had given one to us in our Christmas stocking and it was in the 'junk' drawer. Scott grabbed the light as soon as we got home and has been having fun with Suzie ever since. 

I am thrilled for my brother and I am happy for myself (I am selfish). I finally went to a family event with my husband!!!! It was the first time. I loved having Scott there to support me and to meet my extended family-even though it was so intimidating to him and awkward feeling.  Scott was supposed to work. But due to Tribe disputes and greedy men work has been slow for Scott and at the last minute he was given the weekend off-Thank you Greg Mckenzie! Scott came home and said-hey how fast can we be ready to go? I was so excited! I booked a hotel, Scott gathered Suzies stuff (we now have a doggy bag the size of a diaper bag-sheesh) and off we went! I had been planning on going alone and was so thrilled to have Scott with me! I am thankful for this man in my life! He is good to me and spoils me daily. 

'Yes, I am brave' **

Since moving to Vernal I have tried to keep busy. I dont have a steady job yet. As a result I have been attending the Vernal Temple once a week. My Mother-in-Law has given me many names to do a variety of work for. It has been such a blessing to me. I am so blessed and honored to get to attend this tiny temple. 

The stripped tulip variety flower was the only one in the vast tulip/daffodil garden on the temple grounds. Her uniqueness struck home since sometimes I feel like such an outsider in many parts of my life. 

Today I got home from the temple and went on a walk with Suzie. I could hear thunder rolling in. We made it back before the rain started. I wondered if it would really rain or not. So I kept playing with Suzie outside. We were playing fetch with her root (explained later). All of the sudden the clouds released all the moisture they were holding. I love Utah for the sudden hard short bursts of rain. In the above picture I love that there is a spot of blue sky-the clouds were heading that way.  I enjoyed spending my afternoon with the door open and the smell of wet dirt.

I took the above picture the morning after we brought Suzie home. She was so tiny and sweet.

This picture was taken today. She has grown so much.

This is how tall she is. I measured her from floor to top of back-11 inches. See the root. Our front yard does not have grass only weeds. Scott and Suzie love digging up the roots of the weeds. This one is particularly large. Suzie has toted and gnawed and played with it for days. She loves to play fetch with the root. 

Scott installed a doggy door yesterday. Ever since then Suzie has not had an accident inside the house! She does keep bringing the root into the house. It is cracking me up. 

The doggy door has given her more independence. I love it. I cant wait to trust her.

Suzie is so intrigued with doing dishes. Today she decided to quit watching and climbed all in. The little stinker. 

Scott has been working graveyard shifts lately. I am ashamed to admit that I am more jumpy and spooked sleeping alone here on the outskirts of Vernal that I was in Portland with dope heads as neighbors. I need a large dose of  'Cowgirl Up'! 

**Quote from Sara the three horn in Land Before Time.

400 Posts and 8 Years Later

Happy Birthday to me! I have been saving this 400th post for my birthday. I am now 38 years old and loving it. 20 years ago I turned 18. I thought I would have children and have been married for years. That is about it. Maybe I did not have a big imagination. I am the dental hygienist I wanted to be. I am married. I am happy. I am surprised by how the years have just gone-disappeared. I cannot get them back. All the moments I have enjoyed are over. I am thrilled to enjoy the future moments. 

It has been hard for the past couple of years for me realizing that my choice to live chaste resulted in the choice to not have children. I thought I would have time to make that choice. Time is almost out. I feel too tired and worn out to have a newborn and consequent toddler. I would not give birth til I was 40 yrs old since I am not pregnant now and doubt I can at a drop of a hat-my egg yolks might be dried up. And while 40 yrs old is young I can tell the difference when I miss sleep and how my energy level is not as high as it was 10-20 years ago. It is something I am still thinking about and feeling less inclined to. I am not in as good of shape as I was years ago. That is my fault for not keeping fit and ready to bring a child to this world. I fear I will be punished for my selfish  unrighteous decision.  

Here I am on my birthday enjoying the spoils of the day!

Scott bought be so many wonderful gifts! He bought be some Reef flip-flops. I love my previous pair of Reefs I bought with Sara Melling in Cedar City 5 years ago. I had never spend that much on flip-flops and have not had a moment of regret. So when Scott asked what I wanted for my birthday I said Reef flip-flops. He ordered me 2 pairs (since Reefs are not sold in Vernal). I told him the wrong size. I tried them on this morning and they were too small. Luckily Zappos has way easy and free shipping so bam-they are already on their way back to their homeland and I can get the size I need!

Scott got me some intimates. There is nothing brag worthy about lingerie except the fabric--MODAL. I love it! It is the softest fabric and just lovely. I am thrilled and excited!  

My wonderful husband got me the book and ramekins I wanted! He surprised me with an iPod. I feel like such a fall behind because I did not have one. I had a Zune discarded from my life in Portland and it gives me grief. I get irritated almost every time I try to use it or buy music. I am thrilled to pass this on to Scott until I get him something better and I can destroy the Zune-with a bullet hopefully! Now that is worthy of a 400th blog post!

My dear Andrea had her 6th grade class sing to me over the phone! How sweet!

My Mother-in-Law and her mother took me to lunch today. They are 2 really truly sweet women who have had hard times in their lives and I am grateful they have accepted me into theirs.  I did not remind them it was my birthday. They remembered on their own. That was so touching!

I am thankful for Scott. He is a blessing to me and I cannot believe how lucky I was to have met him.

I am so thankful that I have posted 400 wonderful and sad and memorable events in my life. 

9-Mile Canyon

Scott took Suzie and me to 9-Mile Canyon yesterday! The day started out with rising early and taking it slow. After a leisurely breakfast of strawberries and cream french toast we packed up and left Vernal. We got to Roosevelt and noticed it was almost time for Round Robin to open up. Round Robin is a local fast food place. It is only open when the owners feel like it. We got there at 11:31 am a mere one minute after it opened. We were 18th in line. Amazing huh?  My theory is that since the joint is only open a few weeks a year the crowds take advantage of it when it is open-much like Girl Scout Cookies. Well the lunch was quite unique and worth the stop. 

It is early afternoon and we are officially on our way. Quickly we ran into rain, hail, sleet and wind. Luckily it didn't last long causing the long dirt road to become mucky. The first stop provided a lot of petroglyphs. 

I was surprised and happy to discover the trail took you right up to the rock. I am glad people respect these artifacts. The next picture is one of my favorites, to me it looks like Santa being pulled by reindeer. In actualality the pictures are of small sheep and adult big horned sheep and a man next to several marks-could be kill count.

The canyon is large and high and impressive. The layers and layers are cool. There is a Freemont Indian Village spot in the canyon-it is just one room repilca. The Indians also made granaries to hold their food. The canyon has at least one. We could not find it. It is camouflaged really well.  

Even with all the road construction and our forgetting binoculars it was still a great day. I am so glad Scott took me and spoiled me and let me see the cool things that near to us.  I really loved the hundreds and hundreds of dear we saw! There was one meadow with about 6 deer and 2 antelope. The antelope were having a stand off with the deer. The antelope won. They ended up chasing the deer out of the meadow. I had no idea antelope were aggressive and deer who had more in number are sisssies!