For Cora

My daughter has been waiting for me to blog for a long time. She has been begging me on her blog to post something, and asking my sister-in-law to "high jack" my blog:

"so you all know my mom has not blogged in like 5 months and I am not kidding, so julie do me a favor and high jack her blog again,OKAY?"
"please do it I am really tired of reading JEEZ PEOPLE"
"mom you have got to
blog!!!!!!!!!!! I mean you haven't blogged in 5 months!!!!!

so please blog!!!!!!!!!"

Normally, I would not give into this kind of pressure because there is a reason I don't blog-I DON'T HAVE TIME TO!- but I'm beginning to think Cora thinks I don't think our family is that cool and that's why I don't blog, and I can't have her thinking that because our family is probably the COOLEST FAMILY on EARTH!!! So this post is for you, Cora! I love you! So I guess I'll start with Christmas. This year we made the big trip to FL. It's been 4 years since we've all been there together, and we always use the money excuse, but my Dad does our taxes, and knows how much we get back each year, and this year said, "Why don't you use some of that money and come down here for Christmas?"...We thought it best not to tell him we are using the money to pay off my car, and just bought tickets. And we're so glad we did! My WHOLE family was together for the first time in a LONG LONG time. Here are some pictures:

We went to Busch Gardens for FREE, but the Hippos ate our children so the rest of our Christmas stunk.


AJ had actually been asking all day if a Hippo could eat him, so that's why he's so happy...If he only knew.



My sister, Becca, came with us, and my awesome husband got us discounted "go to the front of the line" passes off Craig's List so the adults were able to get lots of rides in. We were there from open to close, and had a great time.

AJ loves maps so he brought that one home to keep forever!

Santa was at Busch Gardens so we killed two birds with one stone!!! The kids don't have on cute Christmas outfits, but guess who does not care...(pick me! pick me!)

Almost every time AJ came around on a ride when he knew Dad was taking a picture, he would make this face after a few passes. Jorie caught on after a few rides so we have a few of these kind of pictures. For example; on the Merry-Go-Round:

Each year we are in FL, we go to Roger's Christmas Village, and this year was no exception. We usually enjoy our trip, but this year WAS the exception. Roger's took us all of about an hour to walk through, but the trip took us 10 hours. It involved a car accident (my sister's car-everyone was fine), and a crap load of driving because there was a HU-MONGO-JUNGO accident on the way home and we had to use alternate routes. But we did manage to get a picture and that made it all worth it...I think...Maybe not. Garret looks like he had a great time! My nieces are in the picture with my sister and Dad in the back.

It was worth it just being together... I think...Maybe not. Yes it was...I'm still not sure if it was worth it, and everyone there would say the same. It was a LONG LONG day.
On Christmas Eve ALL my family came over. My brother in the black flew in with his family from Philly, and I hadn't seen him in 8 years. It was amazing to have all my siblings in one place!

I was so excited...looks like I forgot how to smile or something..But I was really happy. I miss being able to be together. I had to put this next picture up because WHAT WAS I DOING WITH MY HANDS??? WHAT KIND OF PICTURE POSE IS THIS???

That's my "broken" family!
I think in this next picture there was some kind of short joke going on involving me and my Dad. Notice you can't see me. And notice (in the previous pictures), with the exception of my mom, how I'm the runt of the litter. Real funny every one.

We had a great time together!

This little thing had every one WRAPPED around her little finger by the time we left.

Christmas morning!!!! My kids got SPOILED!!!! But I don't have any pictures of it because my Step-Mom did all the picture taking. We did have to buy 3 more carry-ons to get our stuff home.
My brother who I hadn't seen in 8 years has twins who we had never met. The kids really enjoyed getting to know each other.


And no trip to FL is complete without a "we're smiling, but we really can't stand being around each other right now because we're fighting" picture. And here's ours!!! Thanks to Cora for capturing the "moment"!

I think I looked pretty happy. My sister...not so much. No trip to FL is complete without a trip to the beach, either! It was sooooooo cold. The wind was BLASTING us.




My Nephew and My sister!

Look at me...Utah Sweatshirt, all wrapped up in a towel. What a tourist!!!! I was cold....
And that's about all I have in the way of pictures from Florida. But I know Cora would want me to blog about what the kids got for Christmas, and since this is for her...
Cora got a bike from Santa, a pair of awesome roller blades from Papa and Mimi, a peppermint puppy webkinz from Grandma Jan, and this really cool voice changer thing from mom and dad. It lets you record your voice and then you can slow it down, speed it up, or make it sound like an animal. AJ got a lot of geotrax stuff because he loves trains, and Garret got a couple Wii games from Santa, a bath robe from MiMi, and a pillow pet from Grandma Jan. Jorie just got what Jorie got. I can't remember...They got spoiled, but they deserve that once every 4 years I guess!

I better stop there for now or I'll never actually post this. Thanks Cora for keeping on me about blogging, and for being patient with me. I love you so much and am proud of the amazing young woman you are becoming. I can't imagine my life without you, your brothers and sisters, and your Dad. You all mean everything to me!

Geez People

Well...I was not going to do this because I thought it was pretty funny to let the world think I am really immature, and stuck on myself, but when I see that a lot of people are checking my blog, and no one is commenting,I think to myself, "I sure hope people are reading my comments so they know that I DID NOT POST THAT BIRTHDAY ONE DOWN THERE!! Come on people...Hottie Boombalattie???!!! Why in the world would I say that about myself and tell the world I like to show people my butt, and what's more...be excited about reaching my sexual peak????!!!! I know I'm kinda unpredictable at times and can do some crazy things, but seriously...Hottie Boombalattie should have thrown up the red flags!!! I have to give creadit where credit is due though. My fun loving sister-in-law posted that for me (you will notice under the post it says posted by Julie). So there it is. Goodness. If you did think that was actually from me, it's ok. I still love ya. Just know I haven't quite fallen off the turnip truck yet even though I am 30 now!

It's gonna be my Birthday!!

So I have heard many times, and from multiple people even, that I am a
"HOTTIE BOOMBALATIE". Those are not my words. Others, many others, have uttered those specific words when describing me! But little do they know how HOT I really am! I have this awesome shelf butt...and I love to show it off. You just have to ask and I will show you my Bootey!! Anyway, I didn't mean to get off the subject.... But I thought I would just let everyone know that this WEDNESDAY JULY 15 is my Birthday. I think I am turning 30...in case you were wondering 30 years old is when women reach their sexual peak and I am really looking forward to that. Anyways.....I thought I would remind everyone to wish me a stinkin Happy Birthday!! I expect flowers, suprise lunches and an ugly night out!! Now I hope some of my awesome Nebraska friends are reading this because.....my favorite activity...and this is what I want to do for my birthday...is to dress up as ugly as possible and go out on the town. So make it happen!!

Happy Birthday Julie!

Happy Birthday Julia Gulia.

Remember when:

-I still really did not know you or your husband and you both showed up at the airport to pick me up with Mark (when we were dating), and you guys had me practice Chinese and laughed at me as I said "make out with me" to Mark in Chinese;

-You sang Jackson 5 songs at our wedding reception...You were actually the only adult singing karaoke at our wedding reception;


-I taught you all how to play spades...You're lucky we were not in Florida because you probably would have gotten yourself killed with all that re-nigging!! And just look at you now! Probably one of the best spades players in the world;

-We first went to Friendship park to watch the fire works;


-All our kids fit into one bath tub;


-We went on a cruise to the Bahamas and you and Elise went playing in the waves, and you almost lost your bathing suite;

-We flew to Taiwan with our kids, by ourselves, and then took a bus from Taipei to Kaohsiung, BY OURSELVES, and were dropped off on a corner with all our luggage, and had to wait for someone to come pick us up...BY OURSELVES? It took me a long time to recover from that...oh yeah...I was pregnant too...;

-We tried to go out to eat, by ourselves, and ended up with tongue and ear soup;

-A McDonald's ANYTHING never tasted so good;

-It was so dang cool to throw up a peace sign or our two-finger-guns when we took a picture;


-We could take CHEAP family vacations together and just explore Formosa (and both our families could fit into one van);



-We camped in a parking lot, roasted marshmallows over a portable stove, and our cool husbands hunted giant cockroaches and spiders by flashlight at night so we could shoot them with those pellet guns. (remember when those pellets used to be all over our houses from our husbands trying to shoot the cockroaches in our house)? That parking lot did have a good view though...;


-Our testimonies of the church matured;



-We had an annual feast for the missionaries for Christmas or Thanksgiving...one of those holidays...(remember when we could remember...CRAP!);


-When we found out we were both pregnant, and how much fun both of us being pregnant at the same time was (you were so hormonal!...ha!) (it was fun), but how we spent the whole day and night together until I left for the hospital...then your daughter got jealous of my daughter and decided she was not going to let her win. Jorie would have won if she didn't have to wait! 59 minutes apart...Those girls;



Happy Birthday Julie. I love you and miss you so much. Wish I could be there to help you celebrate! It's just not the same without me...I know. ;)

It's definitely not the same without you either.

High School

Another one I started and actually finished a long time ago, but never posted. ?


I came across this post while I was blog surfing. It's one of those "tag" things, but I'm never cool enough to get tagged, and I'm ok with that because I wouldn't do it anyways. But as I was reading the questions and answers it brought up some memories I wanted to get down for future generations. Usually I do my best to just FORGET high school, but someday my kids might think it's fun to hear something about my high school days. So here goes:

High School: Largo High -Largo, FL is where I grew up. A.K.A Larghetto!

1. Did you date someone from your high school: Not until I was 16. And then we dated in groups. HA

2. What kind of car did you drive? My car was once refered to as the "alien box." Here's a picture: Mine was blue.

3. What is your most embarassing moment in high school? I can't remember. I'm sure I peed my pants once and had to tie a jacket around my waist till I got home or something like that. That actually did happen. I remember now. I was recording a video with my friend and we were just joking around having some fun and it got out of control-my bladder!

5. Were you considered a flirt? No.

6. Were you in band, orchestra, or choir? I played the clarinet in middle school. But this is about high school. I had heard all about band geeks in high school so I quit. I was too busy with soccer anyways.

7. Were you a nerd? Nope. I wish I was, but I wasn't.

8. Were you on any varsity teams? Yes. Soccer, cross country once, track, softball once, swimming once.

9. Did you get suspended/expelled? Yes. I was once a victim of racial discrimination, and got suspended after I got punched because I stood up for myself.

10. Can you still sing the fight song? no. only geeks even sang that song. I was so cool I didn't even know we had a fight song.

11. Who were your favorite teachers? Mike Klapka-history teacher; Dr. Robert Eliason-english teacher. Both very inspiring teachers who always challenged me to stop being a high schooler and actually think.

12. Where did you sit during lunch? At the cool table with the girls.

13. School Mascot? We were the Packers; A large fruit packing plant was located on the present site of the Largo Central Park – hence our students came to be known as “Packers.” Our colors were blue and gold, and the mascot was a yellow, charging razorback. Sweet.

14. Did you go to homecoming and with who? Blah Blah Blah. I'm sure when I turned 16 I went with a big group of friends...never seriously dating until after high school.

15. If you could go back and do it again, would you? If I could go back with some common sence and values I might. But I'd have to say not a chance would I ever think about wishing I could go back in time.

16. What do you remember most about graduation?: Walking across that stage and hugging my friend Karen on the other side. I was so happy to be done!

17. Where did you go senior skip day? The Jose Cuervo beach volleyball tournament on the beach, of course.

18. Were you in any clubs? I don't think so.

19. Have you gained weight since then?: No. I weigh less weight.

20. Who was your prom date?: My friend Kris.

21. Are you planning on going to your 10 year reunion? No. I didn't go. I'm not going until my 40 year reunion

22. Looking back, what advice would you give yourself? Be a geek. Join some clubs. Don't get too serious with anyone, and date in groups. Go somewhere else for Senior Skip Day because you hate the beach and it will be a bad experience. Tell your favorite teachers how much you appreciate them. Stop thinking just eating bread all the time will help you lose weight. Care more about your grades.

I started this a long long long time ago...so I'm going to post it.

It's freezing here. I'm freezing my butt off. Today it was 20 with a wind chill factor of 10. The wind blows so dang hard that today my earring holes were cold. I had people telling me that the winters were bitter, but I guess I couldn't really understand because I've never been this cold before. Last year they canceled school because it was -10 with a windchill factor of -30! That is COLD! I can handle the cold it's the wind that just gets under your skin and chills your bones. Plus there is actually humidity here to make the air a little wet so it's just nasty cold, and I'm not leaving my house on days like today unless it's on fire. I wanted to post today about my fun daughter Cora, and how much we love having her dynamic self around. She loves to have a good time, and laugh, and often times finds it very hard to focus on serious things, like school work, without daydreaming about the game she will be playing at recess. Most of her recess games involve imaginative worlds and characters. I recently read that children who feel controlled are really big into make believe play. I'm not sure how much I believe that because Cora is ALWAYS creating some pretend game to play, and I don't think I'm that controlling...Maybe I should take a closer look at myself, or stop reading all that "professional" junk. Whatever. She is very dramatic, and has been since she was little. She loves to draw, and I wish I knew how to help her develop that talent, but I am horrible. Here is a Thanksgiving picture she drew:

She is so creative. The other day we were in my bathroom as I was putting up her hair. She held up the big hairball I had just cleaned out of the brush and asked very seriously:

"Is this your armpit hair?" I think she got her parent's armpits confused (although some days my pits are pretty scary).

The other day she came home from school with this: "Mom...Do you think this is child abuse? There is a girl at school whose mom and dad are separated and she only gets to see her dad 2 weeks out of the year. That's child abuse right?" I won't comment on that one of hers, but I think she's on to something. I'm so thankful for her and all she does for our family. I love you Cora and we are so proud of you.

Pay it forward

I need to know I still have friends in the universe, and I commented on all these people's blogs before I realized I had to play the game too. So now I have to play the game too. I'll be in Utah in May so you can give me my homemade things then...save on shipping.

But here's the deal...The first 3 people to leave a comment on this post will receive, at some point during the year, a handmade gift/treat from me. What it will be and when it will arrive is a total surprise! The catch is that you must participate as well. Before you leave your comment, write up a pay it forward post on your blog to keep the fun going (or be lazy and copy and paste like I did). Then come back, let me know you're going to play and sit back and anticipate the arrival of your gift!
Yeah, for homemade things!

There are many different aspects of my personality that are so male. Thankfully, I've never been attracted to women or anything like that, but watching Utah kill Alabama tonight brought out the MAN in me!! I do know why my male side is so strong; I have two brothers, 10 years my elder, who I always looked up to, and lived alone with my dad from the time I was 14. Most of my closest friends in school were always guys because I was naturally more comfortable around them...Less DRAMA...I'm not good with drama even today, but I'm working on my empathetic side. Anyways...Being a married woman I've had to learn to like associating with women because the "guys" all have wives now, and hey...I'm married to the best guy I know, and I have 4 kids, and I am a girl after all! But I still need male athletic competition...both playing, and watching on TV. I love watching UFC, basketball, and football. I just saved up my side-cash and bought my husband a big screen TV so HE can watch HIS stuff, and every time my husband talks about having the cable turned off, I convince him HE will miss all of HIS games. Tonight I must confess...I bought the big screen TV for all the big games, and rock band, because I love them. I don't want him to turn off cable because I will miss all the big games...Like the one tonight when UTAH KILLED ALABAMA!!!! I will also confess I jump off the couch, scream, and give my husband high fives. I didn't invite friends over for the game tonight because I didn't want to have to worry about more kids, and chatting with other women because I just wanted to watch the game...You know...the Sugar Bowl where my husband's team made all the pre-game commentators look like idiots because they worked Alabama so bad!!!!!!!!! So this post is dedicated to my "guy" side, with a big Utah "Heck yeah!" for the Utes!!!!

Go Utes!!!!!

Living History Farm Run

I ran my first cross country race today. 7 miles through forest and creeks. It was in Iowa, and it was freezing. A perfect opportunity to wear my awesome orange hunting/running cap my husband got me last Christmas. My outfit was horrendous, and I was almost embarrassed, but I was too warm to care. But I looked fab. We stayed in a fun hotel overnight with the fam. and my mom. Just wanted to blog real quick about the race...well my thoughts cause' those are the best part I think.

"I'm not even really cold."-This was before the race. It was freezing, but I had dressed so warm it didn't really even bother me.

"You know that guys cold."-He was dressed as an Indian with only a loin cloth on.

"He's going to be wishing he wasn't carrying that shield and javelin at mile 3." then after the race "How did he get up those ravines with that shield and javelin. If I were him I would have thrown it into the forest."-He was dressed as Spartacus and before the race screamed out that line from the movie. It was funny.

"I really wish someone were running this race with me."-It really does suck having to be by yourself at one of these events. I'm not doing it alone again.

"I better go pee." "Great. There's no toilet paper. If I wanted pee in my pants I would have gone in a bush."

"9 creek crossings?? I thought it was only 3?"-Info being given over the loud speaker before the race.

"Here we go." Jammin out to the Twilight soundtrack.

"Ok...mile 1 at 8:47. Maybe I can keep this pace."

"the hat and gloves have to go because I'm over heating."

"That is a lot of rolling hills. I really need to get this jacket off."

"Great. Horse poop."

"First crossing. I think I'll go over to where those rocks are. Crap. The rocks are iced over. Just don't break your ankle. K. Got over that one with only my right foot getting submerged."

"I can't feel my right foot."

"More rolling hills. I'll be lucky if I finish this race in 1hr20min. My lungs feel like they are caving in there so cold." "Crap that wind is cold, but at least I'm cooling off."

"Great. Cow poop."

"People are yelling and cheering. Another creek crossing. There's no way to keep my feet dry this time. Crap that's cold. When I blog about this I'm going to have to edit my thoughts. And my lips are going numb so I'm not responsible for the words they are mouthing. My feet are numb"



"Have I passed mile 5 yet? I hope I'm landing on my feet right because I can't feel them and I don't want to break my ankle"



"Another creek crossing. I was just beginning to feel my feet again. Ok. There's rocks for this one. Got a clear path...don't fall. Great. Use the roots to get up the side. Holy crap I gotta run up that??? I can barely see sky! Keep going. Grab onto the rope and pull yourself up. Come on girl in front of me...use some muscles. Wow that was steep, and now I get to run up some more rolling hills."

"There are no flat parts of this race so stop wishing for some. It's up and down. Up and down. Just run"

"I really didn't want to see those guys butts. Why are they wearing g-strings??"

"These downward slopes of these ravines are insane. Should I sit down and slide for this one? They are just running down, but I still can't feel my feet"

"Another creek crossing. Knee deep. Just jump in and get to the other side and up the side. Now my knees are frozen, and there is another steep climb out of this ravine. No ropes. Use the roots and the trees to pull yourself out."

"I haven't seen the sign for mile 6 yet. I'm defiantly not keeping a 9min mile pace."

"I have to turn up this steep hill without slipping?"

"Another creek crossing (x5 more times)"

"There are a whole lot of people stuck in that ditch of mud. Where am I going to climb out? That was easy...What is their problems?"

"Mile 6 one more mile...Great. More rolling hills. My times not that bad. I can keep this respectable"

"This is like having a baby. You wonder why you decided to do this, but know you're going to do it again because it's so amazing! But boy does it suck in the moment."

"Thank goodness I have been doing hills on the treadmill"

"I see the end. Wow that last mile went fast. That was a 9 minute mile and I can't feel my feet."

"7 cross country miles in 1 hour and 6 min. Not too bad considering I can't feel my legs"

"Now I have to take that stupid timing chip off my shoe. Why did I lace it through my laces. My freakin shoe laces are frozen over with ice (they seriously were)."

"Better put my jacket and gloves and hat back on."

"No I don't want a doughnut! But I'll take some water."

"Crap that was intense, but I'm impressed with my time."

"I just want a warm shower."

Get in the car and on the way back to the hotel my mom tells me everyone has had their showers and baths. What would be the thought that would come into your head? Here's what came into mine, "There's not going to be any hot water." And there wasn't. But I did get to go to a health spa and soak in the hot tub. That felt nice. I still can't believe how intense that run was. It was so awesome and so much fun!! Check out their web-site to get some pictures

http://www.fitnesssports.com/November_races/LivHistFarms/lhf_index.html

Here's a video of a past race so you can get SOME idea of how it was. Anytime we weren't in the woods it was either uphill or downhill to another hill.
http://www.fitnesssports.com/LHF%20MovieMPEG-1.mpg

I'll be there next year so if this sounds fun to you let me know! I haven't had that much dirty, intense fun since basic training. It was great!!

Now it's time to watch Utah beat BYU, and then after go see Twilight! What a fun day!!!