Cars

My husband and I have gone through many a cars. We went through a phase one year when we had 8 different new cars and I guess we couldn't find the right fit. Over the course of the year we bought a new GTO (2005, when they switched from a 5.7 l to a 6.0 l), a new BMW ( I thought I really needed it, I was not impressed and only kept it 2 months), a Subaru outback (uneventful), an Evolution 8 soon traded for an evolution 9 (brought to the track several times and we got it down to an 11 sec. 1/4 mile car). During the course of buying and trading all of these cars we also had our ever faithful, reliable Toyota Tacoma (with a 4 inch lift, it was one of my favorites). When we moved to Utah, my husband was lucky enough to have a career that paid him a monthly allowance for his car. I still had a need to find a fun a car. We tried and Audi wagon, this was a lot of fun until... the air shocks (which had no warranty) went out one by one and they were each $1200 to replace (a piece). Yikes, we traded that in for a ford excursion which fit us all nicely, but the 10 mpg and 44 gallon tank was not making me very happy (seriously $180 to fill up). This year, as my husband was preparing to buy himself a new jeep, he was very surprised when I suggested that we trade in all cars for his new car (yeah for no car payment for us, since his work pays for it!) I would then proceed to find a car we could pay for with cash...dun, dun, dun! At first I looked at Jeep grand Wagoneers (I LOVE them). I could not find one that was not like driving a bomb down the highway, so plan B. Wait...I didn't have a plan B, and my car was gone....So....

We found a Volvo wagon. I think I love this car because it is paid for, and there is definitely something liberating about that! It also has....

the girls favorite part, a rear facing 3rd row seat. They love this, I hear a constant giggle coming from back there, and when I look in my rear view mirror the driver behind us is either waving, dancing, giving the girls thumbs up or laughing hysterically. I know Maddy and Elly put on a show for them and their dance moves put a smile on every one's face! It also doubles nicely as a stage area for....

ski stuff. There is an ample amount of room for ski clothes, snacks, etc. It's a mess, but it's a ski mess and in my book that's okay! Elly also added...

A sticker from Brighton resort, which is her new favorite. We are lucky enough to live within 30 min. from all the major resorts in Utah , but this weekend Brighton became her favorite. I am sure it had something to do with the handful of stickers the lift operator gave her, along with the workers who would cheer for her when she was going down, and the skittles her Papa would give her on the chair lift. She would get one skittle for every turn she did on the previous run. We are lucky enough to have her Papa as a ski teacher for us all.On weekdays he is an engineer, but on every weekend (Nov- May) he is a ski bum. He is so patient with us all and my goal is to have all the kids skiing in the next 4 years (my husband snowboards so that is no help). Normally I say no to stickers on cars, but with this car somehow it is okay.
       So that is the new, old, addition to our family. And while my husband prefers to drive his brand new car, this fits the rest of us just fine.

good quote

“Southern girls are God's gift to the entire male population. There is absolutely no woman finer than one raised below the mason-dixon line and once you go southern may the good Lord help you - you never go back”
― Kenny Chesney

New season of revenge!

Yippeee! The new season of REVENGE starts tonight! I absolutely love this show...enough said!

Every Spring...

   It must be in my blood, after all all I did grow up in a place that was only cold 3 weeks of the year (one year we had a snow day because it got down to 35 and no one had winter coats), my winter coat was a windbreaker or a jean jacket, and I never really understood the big fuss about a "fall wardrobe". But that was life on the space coast of Florida and now my life is the beautiful Rocky mountains of Utah. It seems that I have yet to grasp the fact that it is only above 80 degrees 4 months of the year because every March when all of the lovely spring clothes come out I can be found with wallet in hand ready to stock up! But wait, then there is the realization (after purchasing the clothes) that I can't wear them for another 3 months? Today I have over come this. I sat at the computer, gift card in hand, looking at all of the cute skirts and dresses but instead I bought a wonderful pair of wool plaid pants. I realized even though it is April it is still chilly and it's about time I get that through my thick skull.Just out of curiosity I looked up the avg. temperature in northern Utah. The avg. high is 64 and the avg. low is 42 (that's the average for the year). I then put on a sweater and some wool socks and headed outside with my daughter. She ran around playing Rapunzel (using a blanket for hair) for a while as we watched black storm clouds roll over the western mountains across the valley. While I am grateful for having grown in the land of sunshine I am even more grateful that I live in a place with such beauty. I think growing up in Florida has made me truly appreciate every minute of every season. One day it will be snowing the next day it will be 75, it is crazy and I love it!

Beyond glazed = beyond delicious

                                                                                


  Beyond glazed is the best doughnut store and I am lucky enough that it is in my town. The specialize in unique flavors such as maple bacon (my Elly's favorite), cherry limeade, s'mores, lemon orange cream, the list goes on. The are amazing!

Elly's (the bacon fool) favorite, maple bacon

The school year is winding down

    It is so hard for me to believe that my daughter's first year of school is coming to an end.  Seven short months ago we walked her to school, proudly taking pictures of her in her cute school uniform. Elizabeth (Elly as we call her) absolutely loves school and is well on her way to becoming a very good reader. This year I was lucky enough to be Elly's class mom. We have had so much fun throughout the year and it has been amazing to see all that she has learned. She has two final projects that need to be completed before the year is through. The first is to research her favorite animal at the zoo and present the information to her class. The second is to research an ancestor and give a presentation to the class. She is excited to do this project on her 6th great-grandfather, President Taft (let's just leave out the part about him getting stuck in the tub). Just think, soon we will be sinking into the warmth of summer and long days outside exploring the yard and neighborhood. As fall approaches I will have 2 little girls in school....

On a side note I need to find a thank you gift for her teacher and teacher's aide...any ideas?

My life as a movie....

    If my life were a movie it would definitely be a mash of Chevy chase movies, starting with funny farm. I LOVE this movie and I think the town we live in has as many oddities as this town. For example we may or may not share the same mailman....
                                                                           

Our mailman is not in fact a man, so maybe they are just cousins. I have yet to ever see her in a mail carrier uniform (she does wear her p.j.'s and slipper though), she drives her own vehicle, she will sometimes only deliver mail 3 days a week (she has been better lately) and the only time I have actually spoken to her she came ranting to our front door very angry that my 5 (in the return address) looks too much like an s. I am very confident if we bribe her with money, as they did in the movie, we could get her to act respectable.

   We have a delightful dog. She is a bit more spazzy, like the dog in the beginning of the movie who runs off and doesn't come back (she was a cattle dog). Now in her old age she is more mellow and lays around all day. My husband calls her carpet paws because she spends all day laying around in the family room.

And last but not least, my car (well not yet) is parked in front of their house. My husband traded my car in yesterday for a new car for himself, so I get to drive his new car until he hands his work car back in. But then.....I am on the hunt for a jeep grand wagoneer. When my husband told me to look for a car he thought I was ridiculous for wanting one. But I love them. My brother-in-law and I went and looked at one yesterday...it was beautiful but a little mechanically unsound...okay it stopped several times and one time put itself in neutral when I was driving down the road. I started laughing hysterically and made him drive the rest of the way. So...maybe I won't end up with one but I sure like them!

 We also go on many road trips (seeing as how I have no desire to take a2,3,5 and 6 year old on a plane) and lots of drives in the summer. They very much remind me of national lampoons summer vacation. When we go up to Idaho and we don't have enough seats for everyone my husbands mom has had to sit in the trunk on our way to a restaurant, its an SUV, but still (and she volunteers). I swear the first time she hopped back there I had tears in my eyes from laughing. Sad thing is, in her little town I don't think it was all that unusual? Grandma in the trunk, need I say more?