It's gotta be a record!

Today is the first Monday in December therefore the Bassett sisters get together and make Christmas plates.
Last year it was only Karla and myself. It was terrible. NOTHING turned out and it took literally FOREVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This year there was Sarah, Janelle, Karla and myself. It zoomed by! And everything was delicious! Of course I volunteered for quality control. Karla started right away with the chocolate, chocolate chip and mint chip cookies (it was just one cookie). Nell started with pretzels.... the dreaded pretzels. Sarah made butter mints-oh my goodness good! And I got stuck stirring caramels.
I made 2 batches of caramels. The first was okay but the second was WAY too soft. Sorry people...
When nearly everything was made when I pulled out a recipe I got from my mother-in-law for Whipped Shortbread.
So so good cookies. So while Sassy and Nell plugged away at their never ending tasks Kar and I whipped up some shortbread cookies.
They were beautiful.
We made 45 plates total. It was a great day.
And I had all my plates delivered by 7pm.
It must be a record!

Howl's Moving Castle - US Trailer

take 2.... hee hee the last link didn't work.

Something exciting in the mail.

So I was looking on Amazon.com for a new nano case for the gen 4 ipod.... I know it's a dinosaur in the techno world but hey it still works like a champ...
Anyway I found a nice deal on them and got 3 case... while I was on the site I looked up one of my favorite movies of all time and it was on sale!!!!
It came in the mail today. Unfortunately I got home too late from work to really enjoy a good movie fest and will save it for tomorrow.
Here is a little tidbit from "Howl's Moving Castle"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57r9jjqzJJk

My garden.

I'm very pleased with my science experiment this year. I'm going to do a few things different next year. I'm going to get heavier wire for the tomato plants. I think I'm going find a better pesticide for the corn. Perhaps I'll even build a mini green house to place over the green peppers to help them grow better.
Now the season is nearly over. I have no idea what to do with my plants that are dead/dying. My corn is kaputz and a big wind storm knocked them over and broke them so I can't use them for Halloween decorations like I was planning. My cucumber got a little frost and is turning brown.
So... do i mulch the plants back into the soil or do I throw them away?
Any ideas????

Sept. 11

9 years is a long time. 9 years ago today I started my job at SkyWest.
It was a terrible sad day. Feelings are very close to the surface today.

The tomato blog...

I have had about 10 cherry tomatoes so far and a lot more are turning orange. I have 2 big boy tomato plants that are covered with green tomaters and one is also turning orange.
If I may have a moment of silence for my green peppers. I have 4 plants leafing like crazy but no flowers or peppers. ...
Thank you. As you may know peppers are just about my favorite food to eat and perhaps the main reason for planting a garden. Nell, what is your secret to the peppers.... did i let them get to cold?

I love having a garden! It's a lot more work that I thought it would be but I'm really enjoying getting dirty. Kyle is holding our first ear of corn! I am so happy about it. I started my corn from seeds in little dixie cups in April then transplanted them along with all my other starts after Mother's day.
I thought I lost my cucumbers but one plant survived and it has given me 5 cucumbers so far and a lot more on the vine. woot.
Here's a close up of our corn. We have a lot of ears developing. But I hate! earwigs. My neighbor is letting her soil rest this year and has some bait for earwigs that she gave us. I'm going to put it on tomorrow. I hope it works.
any other ideas on how to get ride of earwigs and other garden bugs?

Updates...

My birthday was so much fun. I felt totally loved by my family. My sister Nell had a BBQ at her house on the Friday before. I was WONDERFUL! See her blog for pix.
Then I went to see my sister Sandy on Saturday night with my parents and were there for a few days. Again a great time for all! (on the good days).
The tomato letters...
I had my first cherry tomato tonight. It was the size of a $.50 piece. Totally juicy and yummy. One of my corn stalk is about as tall as Jay and I have 6 ears of corn starting to silk out... I don't know the right term.
My cucumber plant as 3 cucumbers and a ton more flowers. I think my science experiment is going to work out.

How does your garden grow?

I thought the cucumber plant died in the last snow storm. It was very very sad for a while but today as I was weeding I noticed it had 5 flowers!

I'm very excited for the tomatoes. I counted 16 cherry tomatoes and it has a lot more flowers. My regular big boy tomatoes have a lot of flowers as well.
I think I'm most excited for my corn. Most of it is almost thigh high! I started the first two rows in dixie cups and transplanted them. I'm so happy that they seem to have taken hold and growing very well.
My little science experiment is going very well.

An open invitation...

To come and sit on our new COUCH!


We got it at DI for $30. I'm very please with it. I've already had 2 wonderful naps on the couch. Our old couch was a hand-me-down from Karla and had seen better days. I've wanted a new couch for a while but couldn't afford the micro-suede deluxe hoitie toitie set that I wanted.
But this is a great comfy couch.
Come by sit a while!

They found me....

Well I knew it wouldn't last forever.
I got called on Sunday to teach Primary. I start next week and I think I'm teaching CTR 7. Should be fun.
I'm excited to bring cupcakes to baptisms and work on my skills... you know my cake decorating skills. I got my nun chuck and bow hunting skills down pat!
So hurray for Primary!

My garden....

I am having lots of fun watching my garden grow. My corn is coming up nicely. I call my garden my science experiment because really I don't know what I'm doing. I started my corn from seeds in little Dixie cups then transplanted them.


I think they are doing alright. I have two rows of corn starts then 1 row of seed in the ground. They are coming up well.
But my cherry tomato plants have 2 little baby tomatoes on them! I'm so excited. I hope you can see them.

Just an update...

This week has been pretty average but for a few exceptions.
Monday I went to save Jay from "giggle time" with Sarah and some of her friends. They came over to see sweet beautiful Dean, I have decided to nickname him "Bandito burrito". He is so cute. Jay and Sarah wrap him up like a little burrito because babies like that but Dean hunkers down so only his eyes show and "case the joint". I love it.
So Jay and I went to REI and I got a new pair of sandals. Very cute. Then we went on a quest to find a snow cone... Snow cone shops don't really open until the afternoon. I think it's rude.
Dean is so precious!
So that's was Monday.
Tuesday Tiff work, Kyle-school. Wed Tiff work. Kyle-school. Thurs Tiff work, Kyle WORK!
That's right! sorry to bury the lead... Kyle is now the teacher's aid in his class at school. So when the teacher is out of the class for more than a hour Kyle takes over and teaches and gets paid for it. Today was Kyles first real day all by himself. Steve, the teacher, took a vacation day today and tomorrow. So Kyle is staff for the next 2 days. He's so good at helping people learn.
So it's been a good week. I'm really looking forward to this weekend to tootle around the garden.

Me and Pirates!

We say ARGH!
Kyle and I got found on Sunday and were asked to speak in church on Sunday.
I asked bishopric member what the topic was he said what are you interested in?
I was thinking about charity because I'm reading the BOM this year with charity in mind. I was about to say charity when dear bishopric member says, "How about genealogy."
ARGH!!!!
So this is a plea, anyone have ideas that we can glean about genealogy. We're in charge of about 30 mins of the meeting.

Tender Mercies.

This weekend mom and I decided that we needed to visit Grandma and Grandpa. So I was able to finally give away some shifts and work and mom rented a car and we made our plans to go to Boise, then visit Aunt Betty and Uncle Don with Carol then head on out to Grandma's.
Tender Mercy number 1:
As Kyle drove me to the airport we were talking about our tires and how bald they were and how much longer do you think they will keep etc. Well they made it one trip to the airport but not back. Kyle got a flat on his way home but at least I was able to make the flight and he was on a safer part of the road to change the tire.
Tender Mercy number 2:
Mom's flight was about 30 min. late and we were going to miss the connecting flight to Boise. When I got to the airport I was looking at the flight loads to Boise it wasn't looking that good. The flight we wanted was full and the flight after that was almost full... bitter. I was a little worried how I was going to get mom to Boise. As I was waiting at her arrival gate thinking about routes there came an overhead announcement about a late flight to Boise will now have a ETD of 1035, the plane they are waiting for is just landing. This flight was suppose to leave at 8am and a lot of passengers from the 8am flt went over to the flight we wanted and the next one. SCORE! I went over to the gate and told them mom's flight was late and could we please get listed on this flight if there is room. Agent said, "No problem!" and we got first class. And made it to Boise just a little bit later than planned but plenty of time to pick up the rental car.
Tender Mercy number 3:
On the plane ride over mom told me that Aunt Betty is thinking about putting Uncle Don in a nursing home and we may need to go check out the facilities with Carol.
We go to the car rental agency and get the car and it is more than tiny! It's a 2 door hatchback that won't fit us and the luggage. Mom is VERY displeased and I get the car agent to point out all the "normal wear and tear damages" on the car. It had extensive rock chip paint damage, a big ding on the side of the car, at least 6 rock chips in the windshield and mom couldn't get the "trunk" open. So the agent rolled her eyes and took the keys from mom and tried. She could not get it open. So she got the man mechanic and he rolled his eyes at all of us took the keys and he still could not open the trunk.
Mom stuck to her guns and said, "We need a working car!" Agent walked us back into counter and told the counter agent that the trunk won't open and mom told the agent that she rented an economy size car Not a compact. She then said I'm so sorry for this. We're going to give you a complementary upgrade to full size Camry.
It's a nice car.
So we get to Aunt Betty's and she tell us that Uncle Don is going into the home TODAY. Aunt Betty just doesn't have the mental or physical strength to take care of Uncle Don anymore. So we went from scouting out the home to This Is IT!
The director of Ashley Manor came over to go over paper work with Carol. Mom was so great. She sat next to Carol to give support and ask questions and clarified everything. Mom was such a blessing for Carol. I sat on the couch and kept Uncle Don company while Aunt Betty tried to nap on the sofa.
Then Uncle Don got a haircut, is now bald, and we loaded him up into our nice, beautiful, comfortable HUGE rental car and we were able to pack everything Aunt Betty packed for him walker and all and Mom, Carol, Uncle Don and me in the car. Only one trip was needed.
Ashley Manor is very VERY nice. It's clean, warm and NO SMELLY! It's a real house not a hint of hospital feel. Uncle Don has his own room and own bathroom. He has a great view out of his window and there are 8 other residents and 2 attendance. And it's only a couple of miles away from Aunt Betty's house.
We are so thankful that the Lord would put everything in place so we could help make a difficult situation a little easier.
We are so blessed.
If you want to send Uncle Don a card:
Don Moyer c/o Ashley Manor
11099 W. Highmont St.
Boise, ID 83709

A new start....

So I really enjoy making things and sorta have a cottage industry going on with my lanyards at work.
Well I started a new blog today:
http://dollicrafts.blogspot.com
I will use is to showcase the things I make. I'm very excited to have a place just to brag and to have some people at work go to and look at different stuffs available.
Please excuse the mess it's a work in progress.
:)

The Shower!

Last Saturday we had a baby shower for Sarah. It was so much fun. Sarah's Grandma Packard was a wonderful hostess and us sisters got to be in charge of the food. We're good at that! I made a lemon cheesecake... it was yummy.

So for the past few months I have been working on a blessing gown for baby Dean. Sarah picked out the pattern and I finally finished it the night before the shower. Here is the finished gown and booties. I think it turned out well.
Mom and Dad got Dean some outfits. Sarah is trying them on... She is just sooooo dang CUTE!
Sarah is looking at the booties.
It was such a wonderful time. Sarah's family is so great! I loved it.

Blasts from the past.

Today at work I met the inbound flight from Cody, WY.
As the passengers were coming off I saw Mr. Reily... My high school English teacher. Wow talk about some flash backs.
Then I saw Senator Simpson. He's always so nice.
So I'm telling my buddy next to me about Mr. Reily and some funny high school stories when the fight attendant comes in with a rather dashing paper boy hat. She says it's Senator Simpson's. Well I know he's going to Washington D.C. so I tell her I'll take care of it.
I head to the crown room and Senator Simpson is just checking in and I say, "Excuse me Senator Simpson. Does this belong to you?"
He looks at the hat and tell me, "You sweet child! Thank you. You're so nice to bring it from the plane." Then he gives me a little hug and a kiss on the cheek. hee hee
Then as I'm coming out of the crown room to go back to work I saw Wynn Manning. She says hi to everyone. She's off to D.C. to visit her son I think.
I didn't get a chance to talk to her due to the fact that I was walking backward on the moving walkway and people were getting mad at us.
So.. fun day.

New Project!

Here are our new shelves! Aren't they snazzy! Mom and Dad came into town today and I thought I would exploit Dad's knowledge and Dave's tools and enlist Karla and Dad to help build shelves for our food storage.
They turned out better than I could have imagined! Dad did such a great job. He worked the hammer drill and I held the bracket and level. Karla distributed the screws. Then after all the brackets were in place we grabbed Philips screw drivers and all pitched in. My favorite shelf was the bottom. We were all laying on are backs giggling... well Dad wasn't, but I think he was on the inside...
I really couldn't have done it without Dad and Kar.
Thank you guys so much!

oh my YUMMERS!

So a friend brought some cookies his wife made to work today. He gave me half and I thought I had gone to heaven!
I asked for the recipe and he said.. so easy....
1 box of chocolate cake mix
2 eggs
1/3 cup oil.
mix. bake 350 degrees 8-10 min.
So I'm making some up right now and boy howdy. They are so tasty.
I think this could be a good substitute for the brownie cookie we make at Christmas. Lots easier to make and taste the same or better.

Pictures.... our home.

So here we have the bed room. What we're going to do with it... I think... paint the bottom half brown, I would like a nice wall paper on the upper half... Kyle wants a light grayish green color but we're agreed on the (I think it's called) chair railing in the middle to cover the transition.
The kitchen is very very nice. I have so much storage. It's going to be hard not to fill up every space. But I may have to do it anyway. My favorite feature of the kitchen... Behold... a dish washer! I'm so excited. There is also a window box over the sink and I want to start grown plants. I have some snap dragon seeds from my grandma, and I want to grow an aloe plant and some fresh herbs. There are so many great possibilities.
This is the front room. We choose the brown color on the walls and I painted it on my days off. I really like it. I'm standing by the fireplace.
I'm standing at the door here to get a different view of the room. On the wall of the stairs I want to put together a frame collage. I saw one on a craft show and loved it. I will definitely show pictures later. My first decorating goal is to get everything OUT OF THE BOXES!
I took this of Kyle on our final inspection day. It was fun. We're a little worried about the big tree. It might be too close to the house and the foundation. So we could be chopping it down. Think how pretty a bed of roses would be there...
That was a few more pictures of our home. More to come as I have the time. But I think we'll be here for a while so I'm not feeling the pressure to make it perfect right now. I do love the house and the neighborhood. One of my friend's father lives down the street and has some blackberry starts that he might be able to give me. So yea. I like blackberries.

We have KEYS!

We got the keys for our home on Friday and we spend the night dreaming about this and that.
Then we went to the Home Depot to start pricing out washer, dryers, paint etc. Well we liked one washer and dryer so much and from my price searching on the Internet I knew they were a good deal. They are GE energy efficient and THD was having a special of 10% off energy efficient appliances. So we got a 10% discount and our power company is giving a $100 mail in rebate.
We bought them on the spot. They will be delivered on Friday.
I'm so excited. Yesterday we went over to the new house with cleaning supplies. Our upstairs bathroom is tile in the shower and it took me over 2 hrs to scrub each individual tile and grout clean. When we change the bathroom... NO TILE! Then the previous owners had a Crick-Cut and all these vinyl saying and a huge vinyl tree in the rooms. So I took those down and washed down the walls to get ready for paint on Monday.
Now you may asked, "Where was Kyle?" He was cleaning behind the fridge... it was really yucky. Then he started to tackle the rest of the kitchen.
Monday is paint day. woot.

Our new home.

We were at our wits end trying to deal with our apt manager and couldn't find another apt to rent. It was very difficult facing another hot Utah summer with no a/c. I would get over 100 degrees in our apt and our a/c wall unit didn't work. But then a miracle happened.

Kyle's parents offered to help us get a house. We have been looking and found one that we both really like. I am so grateful for Kyle's parents kindness, love and generosity.

Our final walk through is tomorrow and if everything has been done to satisfaction we can take possession on Saturday.
Front room coat closet.

Laundry/food storage room.

Living room

Back yard stairs leading to food storage/laundry room and sliding glass door to kitchen.

Front door.

45 min!

So I've been trying to sleep for the past 45 minutes. Really I've been in bed reading for about an hour but I turned off the light by alas my mind will not be turned off as easily.
I think everyone in my family knows what I'm talking about. OVER ACTIVE BRAIN!!!!
I usually fight this issue with self meditation methods. I slow down my breathing. Take my mind to restful places. Sometimes I even count my breathing. But tonight nothing is working. I wouldn't mind as much but I have to get up for work in 6 hrs.
So I would like to poise the question: What are some of your methods for turning off the brain and falling asleep?

oh so BITTER!

Well Kyle went yesterday (Friday) after school to the rental place and someone beat us to the apt by 1 hr. arg.
But there is another apt going to be available in March. We don't know the date but they said that they would be willing to honor our agreement. yeah.
So we will keep browsing the selections and if we find a keeper, great. If not, then we have a back up in March.
We have not seen the other apt. but it is the mirror image of the one we looked at.
March is better moving weather anyway... right?

New digs.

I think we found our new apt. It is about 4 blocks away from where we're now. Very comparable in size. Rent will be about $20 cheaper when you add it all together. And if we get chosen to shovel in the winter and water the lawn in the summer they will knock $50 off a month. :) They wanted $650 a month but Kyle talked them down to $630 with a 2 year lease. Kyle's talking to them today to see if we could move in Feb. 1st.
The apt is in a four-plex basement. With newer carpet and windows that are 2 years old.
Here's a link
http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=475&ad=9185208&cat=&lpid=&type=3&city=kaysville&zipcode=&sale=2&start=&end=&state=0&sort=&keyword=&sqftstart=&sqftend=&acresstart=&acresend=&bedrooms=&bathrooms=
or if the link doesn't work... we found it on ksl.com classifies ... apartments - in Kaysville. it's called Cute Kaysville apartment for rent

know anyone that wants to help us move?

The New Year

I haven't posted in a long time. Sorry about that. I've been lazy.
Christmas Eve was super fun this year. Four of the six of us meet at my sister's house for nachos. (super yummy!) Then my parents Skyyped in and Dad read "T'was the Night Before Christmas". Little Spencer just loved it. Then we sang songs and opened presents. It was a good thing we had Sarah there to keep us on tune. It was a great night with wonderful memories.
Christmas Day Kyle and I flew to Denver to spend Christmas Day with my parents. We were going to go to Canada but the flight loads tanked. It was so great to be with my parents again. We hadn't gone to Denver since... I want to say March. A very long time.
New Year's Eve we went to downtown Kaysville. (it's about 1/2 block away) and listened to local bands play. They had free BBQ and cookies. It was nice.
This New Year that is upon me there are some things I would like to do.
1. find a new apt. Our manager is now charging us for water and sewer. So we are on the look out for a new apartment. We are in need but not desperate so that helps.
We looked at one yesterday that was $625 including all utilities but it made the "Pit of Despair" look like a summer cottage. The lady showing it to us said it was "ready to move in" but that bathroom was horrid! So I don't care how cheap it is, I'm not moving to a mold infested dank and dark apt.
so there.
2. I am training to do a marathon with my sister in June. When the time comes I will make the decision to do a 1/2 or a full marathon. The starting is very slow but I'm excited.
3. I want to read at least 1 scripture with my primary class every week. They are six and just learning to read. But I really want them to learn to read the scriptures.
I'm sure there's more stuff I want to do but I feel like I'm rambling.