Fun?!

(Yes, you can all call me a liar face for saying I was going to be better at blogging. I shant make any more such promises! You'll just have to take what i can get! :))

So we just finished another FANTASITC Young family trip. Did we have fun?! Lets just take a look at these faces and decide shall we?

I'm ready to do it again?! How about you?!

I'm back!

Hello. Do you remember me? I know that there are many of you who say "Jill, it has been a super long time since you have posted anything... and an extra super long time since you've posted something consistently." To this I reply- I know and I beg for your forgiveness with big puppy dog eyes and alligator tears. Did it work? Are we all forgiven? I sure hope so! Personally I blame it on face book. But I shant do that any longer.

Everyday I am still having random things happen that I feel I that the world (or the few of you who read this) should be able to participate in. So thank you for being patient. I am back and ready with many stories to tell.

This past Monday I was so set to finally get settled into my room. It had been 2 weeks (2 weeks!) since I had moved and had nothing on the walls. It felt so empty and I didn't feel at home in my room. So I took matters into my own hands and went out in search for things to help make it a little more me. One of the first things that I needed were some shelves. I had exactly what I wanted in mind. However, this can sometimes be dangerous because the store is most likely to fail you. Not to be a Debbie Downer (which I don't think is even possible since my name is not Debbie) but the stores have certain things similar to what you want, but not the perfect picture that you have in your mind. And that's exactly what happened. I went to a few stores and was sorely disappointed.

However, I opted to not get discouraged, and I continued on in my journey. Then I saw that Marshalls was right in front of me. I had never been in that store, but I thought "hey- why not?" And you would not believe it- but right there in front of me were the EXACT shelves that I was looking for! Also- the best part was that it was ALL discounted. And the even bester part (I know its not a word, but it fits so perfectly!) was that I got the last ones! How lucky can one girl be?! I found a few more things and was super excited to get home and put them up! (I now believe that I should be the PR person for Marshalls. Why I haven't found this store before, I don't know. But I do know that I feel it my duty to tell the world!)

As I headed out to the parking lot, I was stumbling through my purse to find my keys. This is a difficult task on any normal occasion, but add a lot of bags full of shelves to interfere with my vision into the purse and it was basically hopeless. Needless to say I was very focused on finding my keys and not really on the surroundings of where I was walking.

All of a sudden I saw red lights out of the corner of my eye and looked up right as I saw the back of a van right in front of me. At first I thought that I was walking crooked and had actually almost ran into a parked car (which may have happened before and that is why I thought that it had happened again!) However, then I realized that the car was still moving. Yep- it was backing up INTO me! It was so close that I had to just raise my hand a little from my purse to touch it. I put my hand up and hit it to let her know that I was there as I tried to jump out of the way. She quickly slammed on her brakes and rolled her window down.

She was very apologetic ( I think that she thought she had actually hit me when she heard me bang my hand into the back of the car.) I reassured her that I was okay and not paying attention either.

I could have yelled "Hey! Watch it lady! Don't you know that I have awesome shelves here? You could have crushed them! Oh... and my life...I'm not quite ready for it to be over yet either!" However, I was reminded of the time in high school when I was late to school (surprised?) and I ran out to my car, jumped in, starting backing up and THEN looked behind me. As I did I saw something big and dark going down as I realized that I had hit something. I was instantly sick to my stomach as I jumped out, ran to see and then felt the relief when I realized it was the garbage can. I would have kissed it - except that it was the garbage can- because I was so relieved that is wasn't a person! My dad had pulled it off the street and placed it there for me to take in the rest of the way to the house- thinking for sure that I would see it! That was such a wake up call to me and have always tried to remember that when backing up!

So I couldn't really blame the lady for making a mistake.Therefore, I reassured her that I was fine and to not worry.

I was very happy to get in my car and drive home vs being road kill by a white minivan. Just think, had she hit me, I may have never been able to put my cute shelves up! And that right there would have been tragic! :)

Tip of the day- Maybe we should all buy those cars with rear view camera thing. I bet it would save lives...and shelves!

The day of the Ostrich!

The Ostrich is an interesting animal. I had no idea what they were all about and therefore was quite intrigued when I got a Facebook invite for the Ostrich Festival which included this picuure...

Intrigued too? Thought So. (But what I did think when I saw this pictures was that I never ever want to be face to face- with THAT face. Ever.)

As I pulled into the large field with the rest of the cars, I rolled down the window to pay. I asked the man if it was $5 and then he looked at me and asked "What shirt are you wearing?" When I replied "It's a San Fran 49ers shirt" he got a big smile on his face and said "For you Ma'm it's free! I'm a 49ers fan myself!" and then he gave me a high five. "Are you serious?!" I asked and he said Yes as he put his hand up to his mouth as if to make a megaphone and announced to the rest of his parking buddies "We have a 49ers fan here! Let her in!"

That 49ers shirt was the best $7 I ever spent!

Turns out the Ostrich Festival is just a fancy word for a fair. Booths, fried food, and lots of good people watching moments! As I was walking to meet up with my friends, I heard someone say "Hello!" and I turned to see 4 people sitting down and smiling at me. I smiled, said hello back and continued to walk and then one guy asked- "Are you a Nurse?" and he looked so surprised when I said no. Maybe I just have a nurse look? (It was almost as weird as my nephew asking me- out of the blue- last night as we were waiting for a movie to start. "Hey Jill, can you put your big toe in your mouth? Cause I can." Ü)

Anyway- back to the story-

There were the "Amazing Dudes" who rode motorcyles in that black ball thing around 2 girls in shimmery and sequin filled outfits, (I know you can't see very well ... so I invite you to use your imagination here!)

Then some crazy man who called himself the amazing Zulo or something like that, stood up on this thing that roatated around and around. (He's that black spot up there). I really expected things to all go awry and I would watch a man plummet to his death. Thankfully for him (and also for us) he stayed on. He wobbled a few times, but I think it was all for the show.

From there we went to the highlight of the evening...

Can you read it? The Ostrich races!!! I have never seen anything so silly in my life. I took video of it to put on here and I can't get it off my phone! So photos will have to do!

They had ostriches pulling chariots as well. These animals make me laugh OUT LOUD! After the knocked the people off, they would just run around and looked so goofy that it was almost endearing. I laughed all night long about this. This event right here- was so worth the 9 bucks I spent for the whole evening! (I still find myself chuckling about this!)

However- then I saw that they were selling these...

Really? And the worst part was that it was right next to where the Ostriches were kept! Poor guys! A little tacky if you ask me- "Come see the Ostrichs race- now come eat one!" Sad. Incase you're wondering, my friends did eat one and the reports were not good. So now you know- Ostriches taste nasty!

Apart from the Ostrich races- they had camel races as well... (Another video that is stuck on my phone!) We did get this fancy picture with them though... I was ready for him to spit on me- so I was nervous in standing by him --- which I think is very aparent in my stance! :)

After he so kindly did not spit or bite me, I gave him a little pet (after getting permission of course) and he was surprisingly soft and had a lot of furr! I pressed my hand on his stomach expecting about 1/4 in of hair and my hand disappeared underneath it all! Who knew!

All in all, fun was had by all- I learned a lot of about this animal and as our hands said

Be fun day everyone! (Sounds like a Brian Regan joke to me!)

I was able to download the end of the pig races for your enjoyment. Maybe the heavens will smile down upon me and I'll be able to get the other videos on here too!

SURPRISE!

For the past 2 years I have worked every Saturday. So needless to say, I was so excited about a month ago when my work changed my schedule to working every other weekend! oh happy day! That meant two things- I could actually do things on Saturday with the rest of the world- and I would have a 3 day weekend every other week! Could life get any better- I submit that it can not!

As soon as I realized this, I got online to find a flight home for a weekend. And I decided to do it as a surprise to my parents. Why not visit Utah in February? Sounded like a good plan to me!

It took everything in me to not let it slip! Each time I talked to my parents I had to bite my tongue. I also didn't tell a lot of people because I was afraid they would find out.

As the days got closer, I was ready for a vacation. I had a really rough week at work and was ready for a break from life. I had 2 goals for when I got home...

1)Not do anything

2) Stay in my pajamas.

I wanted to spend as much time with my family as I could- When I was home for Christmas I was able to see a few other people- but this time- I was ready for family time!

I debated many different scenarios about how to break the surprise to them. Should I call in the week and tell them that I was coming so that they wouldn't plan anything else? Should I call from the airport and say "Guess what I'm doing tonight? I'm coming to see you!" or should I just ring the doorbell and see what they do? I went back and forth all week and one day as I was driving to work- it hit me! The best idea ever! I was so excited!

Unfortunantly, I did have to work all day that Friday so I didn't leave for the grand state of Utah until about 7:15 at night. However, we were delayed a bit. And the panic set in. Didn't they know that there was a possibility that my parents would be sleeping when I arrived! I wanted to tell the captain that we had to get a move on! We had to arrive to Utah on time! :)

Somehow we left 30 min late but arrived to Utah only 10 minutes behind schedule. (I like to think that he could see the worry on my face and maybe stepped on it and went a little above the speed limit in the air!) I didn't check a bag so I was out the airport door and into the Utah cold as fast as my legs would carry me!

Joanna picked me up and on the way, I called home. My heart was pounding as I heard the phone ringing. "Just don't mess it up!" I could just see myself saying something like --Oh I love this road/building/restaurant or something like that and give it all away! Also- I had to just sound calm- as I would have been if I had been in AZ talking to them.

My parents had been sick and so I didn't talk to them at all that week. Which gave us a lot to talk about. THANKFULLY-- Because we hit every red light on the way!

We pulled up and I just kept talking and walked in. I saw Joanna's dog waiting for us and my parents heard us come in. However, my dad didn't look to see who came in, because they were expecting Joanna. As I walked up the stairs, my mom asked how work was. I could barely speak because I was so excited. My heart was pounding. I kinda felt like a little girl on Christmas morning! I could hear my mom down the hall and on the phone. I was so excited! I headed down the hall and then into the room where my mom was laying down. As I turned the corner...she screamed and jumped out of bed. She kept looking at the phone and then at me- as though I had just came out of the phone! She was mostly shocked because she was expecting Joanna to be there and then it wasn't. Her brain had to do some shifting as she realized who it was that was coming in.

We laughed, talked and I thoroughly enjoyed just being home! I went to bed that night- very content with my decision to be at home! No stress...no worries... just happiness! (However my poor mom was so excited that she didn't sleep at all that night! oops--- I sure didn't think about that!)

Somehow I was able to accomplish my 2 goals. I didn't change out of my PJs (except for church) and just hung out. We did a puzzle, watched the olumpics, and just rested. Amazing!

Yep- thats right. We did an entire puzzle in one day. We are pretty amazing. Janelle and Andre got a babysitter that night and so it was just us adults. We laughed until we cried and our sides hurt! It was the best!

"What work?! I'm just going to read these comics and maybe take a nap!" No cares in the world!

I headed over to Janelle's house the next day after church, so that I could see my cute nephews. (As you can see I was still wearing the same sweatshirt! ) They are too cute!

My eyes are kinda closed in this one- see I was really accomplishing my goal of sleeping! Even while playing!

I did get out a little bit on Monday-- Just a little Nickelcade memory before I flew home. We had a grand ole time having fun! (And yes... I am wearing a jacket and a scarf inside! It was freezing!- I'm a wimp!) Lets thank Amy's cell phone for these fabulous pictures!)

We did ask ourselves why Nickelcade was open on a Monday afternoon- because who would be there? What kind of people go at that time? Well, we quickly found out! As we were playing air hockey this guy came up and started giggling at us. Not only did he start giggling...but he didn't stop. He was just laughing and laughing which made us laugh so hard. I could barley see the puck because I was crying with my laughing! He had one of those laughs that killed me! He proceeded in following us around- which made for quite the adventurous Nickelcade experience! He laughed at my basketball form- played side by side with us at air hockey, watched me shoot at Aliens...It was kind of like having a Shadow. (A really loud shadow with a really fun giggle!)

Later on Amy and I tried to play air hockey left handed.. which our new friend thought was HILLARIOUS! He asked if he could play the winner. To which Amy graciously "let me win" so he could play me. Wasn't that nice of her?! Well- it was kind of nice- so that she could take a picture...

I will now- never forget this moment... nor his giggle (Is that even the proper usage of the word nor?!)

And we played and played and played and no one was getting any goals! So...I decided to stop guarding my goal and let him win! I mean- I had a plane to catch!

It was such a great weekend! I felt so rejuvenated and just enjoyed every minute!!! Now that I am back in AZ- I think that I could really get used to traveling home a lot more often!

Thanks everyone for a great time! :)

PS- why did I not get a picture with mom and dad?! Lame! I guess I better go back home and get one! :)

The giggles

First of all, I do recognize the need that I have to apologize to the few of you who read this blog and wonder where I have been for the last few months! Well- here I am- Back and ready to share more adventures! Are you ready... buckle up!

The giggles.

You know those moments when you KNOW that you aren't supposed to laugh, but something that just happened is so funny, and wouldn't have been that funny, except for the part that you need to by quiet- therefore making it all the more funny?

Dont deny it- because I know you've all been there.

Like the time when the sacrament program had a misspelling of American Fork. It read American Pork and my dad and I couldn't look at each other throughout the rest of the meeting because it was making us laugh too much.

Or the time while at a Ricks devotional. In the middle of the opening musical number- while the rest of the student body seemed to have perfect reverence and were not talking, I was minding my own business when my friend leaned over and looked at my scriptures. They had my middle initial V on them and he asked what my middle name was. I whispered "guess" to which he proceeded to give the typical guesses that I was used to, Veronica? Vivian? Victoria?Recognizing that I should not be talking- I decided to give him the one clue that always gives it away. "Its a state." I said, but soon realized that this wasn't going to end the conversation quickly because a very strange look on his face appeared on his face. Then with that very serious and quite appalled look he replied "You middle name is Vermont?!" At that time, in all my 19 years of life, I had never heard anyone come to that conclusion after having been given that clue!

Then came the giggles... I started and could not stop. The bench was shaking with me and tears rolled down my face as my held my hands over my mouth- I did everything to hold it in. Because he was still stuck on the fact that my parents had named me Vermont, he did not know the reason for my laughter until I was able to calm down just enough and whisper "Virginia!" Which at that moment, he said "Oh thats funny" and joined me in trying to find anyway to keep the laughter from disturbing those around us. It was very unfortunate that that was at the beginning of the program!

Or the time in the MTC when I was teaching a set of Elders. We were paired off in a large group, each set of missionaries teaching the first discussion to another set. (In Spanish- obviously)I was testifying about prophets and asked one of them to read a scripture. Meaning to give them Amos 3:7 but not knowing Spanish well enough at that point, I had actually given them another one to read. As he struggled through reading it, the thought did occur to me- How come I haven't heard the one familiar word "profetas"that I would recognize? And did he just read ""pies"? meaning feet. When he finished, pushing those thoughts out of my head, I just carried on with the script and asked "So what does that tell us about prophets?" and he replied with a very blank and confused look "um... I don't know. Except it did say something about feet!" As I looked closer, I realized that I had given him the wrong scripture- and then it hit me. You would have thought that he had just told me the funniest joke in the world. I started giggling and could not stop. The four of us were laughing together, but after a few minutes, they stopped but I could not get it together. My companion took over and began teaching as I did everything in my power to distract myself and calm down. Each time I thought I had composure and I looked up to begin again, The "funniness" of the situation hit me like a ton of bricks and the laughter all came back full force.

In the end, the teacher actually asked me to leave the classroom (with my comp) to see if I could calm down. Oddly enough it still took about 10 min to be able to walk back in without having to turn around just to laugh again.

I could keep going- because I know that my laugh book in heaven is overflowing with similar situations. And a few days ago- I had yet another one of these experiences. Except I was on the flip side of it.

We are hiring for 2 new positions in our Emergency Room. I am very excited about this new growth on our department! However we have received 22 applications for the position- and had interviewed 3 of them. Each one had interviewed quite well and I was thinking "If they all interview like this- we are not going to be able to decide". As we waited to call for the phone interview for the last one of the day, I said to my coworkers "I kind of hope she bombs, just because it will make it easier for us!" (Rude, I know!)

And I think that I jinxed her.

When we finally called and heard her say "hello" which sounded a lot like Eeyore, we knew this interview may not be so good. During the first 5 questions, I found myself really confused at her answers and wondered if she had even heard of child life before. I looked at my boss and co-worker and could see on their faces that they agreed. Then on questions 6 things got really weird. The question stated that a 3 yr old and a 12 yr old come to the ER for stitches. How do you prepare each one of them? As she began and I started writing her answers down, to say the least I was shocked at what she was saying. Nothing fit the "typical" child life answers. As I looked up at my boss (who is VERY professional and VERY serious during things like this) I saw that she had a different emotion than shock. She had her head down with her hands over her mouth. Something the girl had said had hit her as funny- so funny in fact that she could not stop. I knew that if I looked at her- and especially if we made eye contact- I would be a goner. So I focused on my paper and did everything to hold it together (thank goodness it was a phone interview!) I turned my head to the other side and saw my co worker point to the door and mouth the words "OUT!" because she knew as well as I did that in a matter of moments, the funniness of the situation- added to the fact that we could not laugh, would catch up to us and we would all be dying.

My poor boss did everything to keep it together. She did get up and walk to the door and for the remainder of the interview had her back to us. I took over the interview and continued to ask the questions. I would watch her start to walk back and then have to turn and run back to the door because those giggles would sneak back up to her. Thankfully, the girl kept talking without a hiccup, which made me think that she really had no idea what was happening in the room. When we were done my boss apologized profusely about being so "unprofessional". However, I quite enjoyed it! And was grateful that it was someone else this time!

Thank goodness for the tender mercies of laughter! To be honest, I can't wait for the next time that this happens to me!

Is it bad?

Is it bad that I am posting many weeks after the 31st about Halloween?! I sure hope not! Just go with it! Life has been busy but I really wanted to get these pictures up!

I loved Halloween as a child! Therefore I decided to get back into the child feel and make Halloween fun again! The guests had to order out of a menu full of all sorts of wacky names and were left wondering what they ordered. (It was pretty hard keeping my roommate out of the kitchen so that she wouldn't cheat!)

The pumpkin Pub featured many appetizing entrees on this frightful night

Christy ended up ordering:

Monsters Toes, Monsters teeth and Frankensteins fingers and had lion's blood to drink

Andy Chose

Mummy's Heads

Bat's brains

and Dracula's death

With Witches Brew to drink

The only thing left that I forgot to get a picture of was the Witches intestine(Spaghetti with meat sauce).

Here are some close ups so that you can all see the ghouly delight!

Mummy Heads

Monster Toes

Monsters teeth and Frankensteins fingers

Bat Brains were just cottage cheese. Witches brew was Sherbet and 7-up and Lions blood was Hawaiian Punch.

Good times were had by all! :)

One day more

We actually had one more day in Rome after our cruise...and we needed it. We were much more relaxed (since there wasn't a baggage issue anymore) and felt like we could fully enjoy ourselves!

Just a recap of why we love Rome-

Fountains!

There are fountains like these around every corner. Safe to drink and constantly running- I think that Rome should market that slogan "You'll never go thirsty in our town!"

Apart from the little fountains like these...there are also massive ones everywhere as well. (What can I say- Romans like water! Aqueducts sound familiar?!) The Trevi fountain is one of the most popular in Rome (as apparent from the masses of tourists seen here!)

I was so hot that it looked so appealing to dive into, but I refrained because I'm sure that is frowned upon!

Legend has it that if you throw money over your shoulder, you will again return to Rome!

Here I go! Looks like I'll be heading back in the future!

Tobacco!

We stayed in an apartment in a very Italian neighborhood where English speakers were few and far between. However we are fast learners and found that the one word in English that they knew was "Tobacco"! Any question we would ask "Phone card?" "Bus pass?" etc. would be answered with them saying "Tobacco!" Why? You ask- well because everything you need is found in the Tobacco shop! Pretty soon we learned that, like the fountains, they are found on every corner. We got a kick out of yelling out, in our newly acquired Italian accents, "Tobacco" whenever spotted the T. We are fun- I know.

Little Tiny Itty Bitty Smart Cars!

Everywhere. They speed around every corner and park wherever they like! I gotta get me one of these!

Gelato!

A lot of Gelato was consumed by the 4 of us. We figured that it doesn't count when you're on vacation right! I mean it's only the world BEST ice cream ever! :) Even when the cute old Italian man misunderstood me and thought I said black licorice instead of Nutella (a horrible an awful mix up I know!) couldn't even understand me to know that he had misunderstood me to begin with- so I ate it anyway- and it wasn't half bad!

Spanish Steps!

Seems to be the hang out place for most tourists and Italians alike. The last night we were there, we bought some Gelato and enjoyed feeling like Italians as we sat on the steps getting ready to say our goodbyes to the town. Some nice Italian man sat by us and told us the history of the steps! I'll let you Wikipedia it- if you're interested! :)

Scusa!



We learned this Italian word very quickly. "Excuse me". and we used it often. We laughed when we saw it spray painted on this wall. Simply because, like the "Tobacco" we used it as often as we could!

The Tiber!

It was just fun to see a river that I do actually remember hearing about in History class! (I guess I didn't sleep as much as I had thought!)

Bridges and Castles!

We were just walking around (Probably eating Gelato) and minding our business when we saw some awesome bridges

that led to a castle!

Food!

Restaurants galore in this town! I probably gained 10 pounds alone with the amount of mouth watering pasta that I ate! (And I would again too!)

Apartments!

We did an apartment rent by owner service and I would do it again in a heart beat. Its cheaper than a hotel, they bought us breakfast the first day we were there. They are safe, clean and the owners are super helpful! Not to mention cute! Ours was kind of like a pent house with such a great view!

This picture was taken in the courtyard of our apartment right before our Taxi picked us up to go to the airport! In all honesty we were sad to say goodbye!

We love ya Italy! And like the fountain says- We'll be back!