marriage lessons with steve

often, annie and I receive marriage lessons from our dear dad. today's went like this:

annie - I'll just have my husband be in charge of that
dad - what fantasy life do you live in? don't you know that your mom married the last perfect husband out there? they're all idiots.
annie - oh

so no more dreaming for us, apparently all the good ones are gone

merry Christmas to all and to all a goodnight!

in the future. . .

. . . I have some great stories for you. they just need some time to be written and to settle a bit. but, you will laugh, maybe cry or drop your jaw because I did. they are a-maz-ing

conversation of the day at work:

hurried gentleman: is mr. so & so in?
me: no, I haven't seen him today
hurried gentleman: I'm supposed to pick something up from him
me: he's not here and I don't believe any of his people are either -quick check down the hall to appease-
me: none of his people are here and they didn't leave anything with me for pick up
hurried gentleman: well I'm supposed to pick something up, and they're not going to be happy about this
me: do you know who told you it was available for pickup?
hurried gentleman: -huff, head shake, look at cell phone-there isn't anything for XYZ company or mr. this & that?
me: no they didn't leave anything with me
hurried gentleman: well do you know when mr. so & so will be in?
me: no I'm not his assistant
hurried gentleman: well is his assistant in?
me: no (thinking - that's what I meant by his people aren't in)
hurried gentleman: huff & walk away

maybe it's not as funny if you weren't there, but he just really didn't get it

Give and Get is Here!

gotta love gap give and get!

Give and Get is Here!: "Enjoy 30% off from November 11-14 at Gap, Banana Republic and Old Navy plus we'll make a 5% donation to a non-profit."

scary movie syndrome

you know you've been watching too many scary movies when you wake up to strange music playing repeatedly and your first thought is that it's the murder's theme playing before he comes to kill you.




I'm making this week Disney movie week.

I Can Camp!

this weekend i went camping. i don't camp, but i went. we spent the weekend in and around calf creek falls (southern utah) and it was one not to be forgotten.

after missing our first exit (thank heavens for google maps & gps) and shortly into the trip (but well past civilization) we realized we forgot a lot of things, however, we used some creativity and made it work:
cereal bowls - we cut the tops off water bottles and made bowls
spoons - we drank our cereal
knives - we spread our pp&j with a pair of scissors (which also served as a stirring spoon)
plates - ate our food in one holding
cups - no hot chocolate for us
a couple toothbrushes - wisps came in handy for some
propane - luckily we found an open general store and bought some (didn't think to buy serving ware while we were there)
matches - found a nice man who loaned a few
a second tent - just squished 5 in a two-man tent until the boys decided to sleep in the open
flashlights - luckily we had one headlamp and my trusty wind-up light
3 sets of church clothes - alex and kristen looked nice (well at least our clothes, not much could be said for the hair), angie, trevor and nate wore their sweats with pride and we got a lot of funny stares
sleeping pads -their loss
directions to the actual campground - thanks for the nice lady working late at the one hotel
firewood - no campfires for us, however, we still left with the smell
a camera - i have no pictures, angie got a few though

night one: we camped in the middle of nowhere, literally. we took a dirt road in about 45 minutes and there was not a soul to be found. turns out it was on a pretty cool overlook which we found in the morning.
saturday: we ate our cereal out of water bottles then hiked two slot canyons (spooky and peek-a-boo) which were very cool. i've never done anything like it before. in the afternoon we hiked up to calf creek falls, again very cool, very beautiful. hiking down the trail we entertained ourselves by making animal noises and impersonating friends who chose not to come.
night two: the campground had one spot open up which we gladly took (i was most happy to have some facilities) and went to bed fairly early after a warm meal and a very entertaining game of cards
sunday: we realized how beautiful the canyons down through the capitol reef area really are, stopped in the bustling metropolis of Salina for church, and made it home before the rain (a definite plus since we only had one windshield wiper on the passenger side)

moral of the story: i can camp and i can camp without all the gear i would have liked to have (not saying i'd want to do it again anytime soon). southern utah is more beautiful than i thought (some seriously amazing scenery). you can get a headache from laughing too hard :)

the things we don't say

found this in a list of posts i never actually posted. kind of funny.

once while shopping with a boy (who wanted to be much more than friends) he asked if he could buy my sweater for me. i said no, no again, and no. when asked why, i said he didn't need to be buying things for me. really, i wanted to say, "because then i'll never be able to wear it after i end things with you next week." definitely a premeditated break up