Study Assistance

Lately Smokey Joe has decided that every time I am studying he needs to come in and help me. Half the time he climbs onto my lap as I am sitting at the table, forcing me to scoot back further from the table and contort my body in unnatural ways to work around him. (Because of course I can't just kick him off my lap.) The other half of the time he just lays right down on top of my papers so I can't read them at all. If Colby is home I can usually convince Smokey Joe to go bother him but if I am home by myself than it keeps things interesting.

Refinishing Project

Before:
After:
This weekend I restained a piece of furniture that I recently acquired from Dad. I am the third generation to own this buffet and it looked well loved before I fixed it. Old English makes a nick and scratch repair stain for dark woods. Because of the detail work on the front of the the buffet I didn't want to do a full refinish. I am very pleased with how it turned out. I was able to do the entire buffet, inside and out, using less than half of the bottle of stain. The photo below shows the difference between the two legs, one restained and one not.

Giveaway on Novelreaction.com

I am giving a novel and box of Godiva Chocolates away in honor of Valentine's Day. Just go to novelreaction.com and leave a comment to be entered. Good Luck!

Jillian Junior Prom

I was able to go to St. George last weekend to help Jillian get ready for Junior Prom. She had a great time and looked amazing! The dress she was wearing is one that Jordanne got for a dance and this was the first time Jordanne would even let her try it on. (Jordanne said it was because Jillian would look better in the dress than she did.) Jill looked all grown up and beautiful!

































Jocee was able to bring Mily and Cartr down to spend the day with us and help get Jillian ready for the dance. Mily was so cute! Mily loved watching us get Jill ready, she kept wanting to be in the bathroom with us, handing us the bobby pins while we did her hair. Jocee kept trying to get her to go play with the toys in the other room and Mily kept coming back to watch what we were doing. I pointed to the dress hanging in Dad's room and Mily, her eyes as big as saucers, said, "OHHHHH, it's SOOOOO pretty!!" Jocee is in trouble with her girlie-girl.

Botanical Garden

I realize I have shamefully neglected this blog lately, between law school and focusing on my book website (and not having anything interesting to post), I haven't posted anything for awhile. Recently, Colby and I were able to visit the Desert Botanical Garden in Tempe with the Snow family. It was beautiful! I had no idea there were that many different types of cacti (the plural of cactus, as I was corrected by Haydn) nor that the were that beautiful. I found out that the reason most of the trees here have green bark is because they don't have typical leaves, the bark will actually do photosynthesis so the tree can eat at all times.

The photo above is a beautiful glass sculpture located outside the garden that they are trying to purchase from the artist. We really enjoined the walk through and are planning on visiting again when the flowers are blooming in the next couple of months.

Jordanne and Jillian Visit

In November I found out about a killer deal being run by Southwest Airlines, fly anywhere in the US roundtrip for $50.00. So, Jordanne and Jill bought tickets and came to spend the last week of freedom from school with me. It was great! We went shopping, visited the Snows, and went hiking. The girls were excited that it was in the 70's the whole time they were here. One day we went hiking in the McDowell Sonoran Cactus Preserve. It was gorgeous! We all had a great time and before we blinked they were boarding the plane to go home. I'm so glad they were here to hang out with me.

New Years Resolutions

It's that time of year again. New Years Resolutions. Why is it that I start off the year doing so well and then get worse as time goes on? Also, why is it I seem to have reoccurring resolutions. I mean, everyone has the repeat "lose weight" goal but I seem to go in patterns. Two years ago I had a resolution to go to the Temple every other month, that year Colby and I did well and the beginning of this past year we did well but we haven't been since before we moved to Arizona.

This year's resolutions are as follows:
1- Go to the Temple at least every other month.
2-Get down to that size six.
3-Survive my first year of law school.
4-Finish the projects for the blog forwarding I posted last year and get them mailed to the individuals who posted. (I have two mostly finished so I am on my way.)
5-Keep track of the books I read so I know how much I really read.

Recap of 2009:
I decided to do a recap of the highlights of 2009. Getting into law school was the biggest for me. Moving to Phoenix, I'm not sure I would call moving a highlight but it definitely was a big deal. Passing all my classes in the first semester of law school. It is amazing how a person's standards can drop. I started law school with the intention of being in the top 10% of the class, having been to school and taken the finals, my intention is now to just pass the classes, regardless of what standing I have in the class. Colby was laid off two days before Thanksgiving and found a new job this year. Dad got married again and I obtained four great new siblings in addition to a great new step-mother. Life is good.