Random Love

Funny Story...

I went to the Cookie Farm, which is also known as the Lofthouse Cookie Outlet Store, the other day and had a life altering experience. We are always assigned cookies for Whipple Family functions (can't complain, other than emotional trauma its quite easy) and each time I go there the cashier is always the same woman...5'2 ish slender gray curly hair...typical cute little grandma look. Well I am terrified of her. Terrified to the point that I have severe anxiety and have to work up the gumption to go to the store! I always get flustered when I am there and end up getting 8-10 more boxes of cookies than I need!! I just start grabbing cookies and throwing them in the boxes and then I always take cash to avoid extra time paying and I get the *H* out of there!! I know I sound like a three year old but she just scares me and isn't ever very nice to me!

Well I went to get cookies for a nephews baptism and was ready with my usual mad dash approach but I promised myself I could only get as many cookies as I set in to get. No getting terrified into consumerism on this trip. Well I did it! I got only 6 boxes of cookies and...she was nice to me!! I didn't know if I should cry or kiss her but I left there on top of the world! My life was altered and I may never fear the cookie farm again!! Wow, I sound pathetic but it was really quite funny!

Since you already can tell from the story above that I am special, I will share one of my random loves with you! I really like Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and if you give me one to eat I will enjoy it so very much...but if you give me a holiday Reese's, the heavens will open and I will saver each and every bite!! It might just be me but I think they taste so much better when shaped as a tree, pumpkin or egg! Thank goodness Easter is round the corner and I can indulge myself! Hope every one is enjoying the new found February Sunshine!!

Happy V Day!

I love flowers. Thanks, dear. Hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day!

Our Celebration!!

Our celebration for passing my boards was a day long event of fun!! We had been wanting to go out to Antelope Island for a few months now but hadn't found the time so we decided to go for it. Luckily for us we were only one of maybe five cars on the island but un-lucky for us it was extremely cold foggy and snowy/rainy. But we still had fun and it was beautiful!!


Some of the beautiful sights--




We were obviously so excited to be here--
Raymond smooshing a buffalo--

After leaving the island we did what we do best...we bummed around which led us to a furniture store! We always end up at furniture stores trying to find "the perfect piece" which is yet to be found but we can hope right! Then we headed to Red Lobster for my kind of lunch :D
Raymond isn't a huge fan of seafood and was terrified when he ordered Peppercorn Grilled Salmon but this was the most amazing Salmon (it is actually a competitor with Garlands Annual Salmon Fry, which I haven't missed in like ten years!)! He was shocked that he loved it and I was thrilled that he did (that means we can have seafood more, maybe!!). I had delicious Grilled Maine Lobster Tail with Scallops and Shrimp!! It was a great lunch!!


The celebration continued as we went shopping for nothing in particular then we headed to Brigham and went to the new Chinese Restaurant with Spencer & Tiffany, Craig & Mindy, and Jim & Celeste. I don't recommend the sushi (it was dry and plain) but overall quite good. Then we headed to the Whipple's where the rest of the family joined us for some banana splits to keep the celebration going!! It was a fantastic day planned by my dear hubby!! Thank you so much for all you do!!

Guess What?!?

I passed! I am now an Registered Nurse!! I am so stinking excited!! With how the Division of Professional Licensing posts new licenses it shouldn't have posted until Friday morning at 5 am but on a whim I decided to check tonight and it was already there!! Yay!! Let the celebration begin!

Wednesday

Today started as any ordinary day, well not exactly. Today I would take one of the single most important exams in my entire nursing career, my RN national boards!! I did it, believe I did horrible and am over it. Whats the worse that can happen---fail miserably, pay another $300, wait 45 days and then have to re-test---well I suppose it could be bad but oh well. After taking my test I went to Seagull Book and bought some more Children's Books for super cheap, which always makes me happy. Then I went to lunch with my dear husband who wanted to celebrate my test being over...he believes I am the smartest woman alive and has complete faith that I passed...ain't he nice.

Then I went to Salt Lake and saw this amazing woman...( whom I am certain loves the picture)
who is all grown up and recently had this beautiful baby...
and then went to dinner and hung out with this favorite person...

Thanks to all of you who made my blah--brain cell killing--stressful--nerve racking day go better! Thanks for all the good luck messages and supportive pep talks afterwards :D A and Baby K, you are amazing! Thanks for letting me spend the afternoon with you and being a part of your happily ever after!! I know we haven't spent any hard core time together in years but today seemed like we hadn't even skipped a beat!! You are one of the best friends I could ever ask for!! Love you!!

Oh the irony!!

So once upon a time there was a porch in the middle of our sunroom, and in order to make the room what we want the porch had to go. So Raymond started chiseling away at the porch with a sledgehammer...in a room full of glass doors and windows :D
It lead to this...just our luck! It happened maybe 2 hours after posting about our last broken window!! 2 windows in 2 day! Woops! Once it happened Raymond started cussing and I bust up laughing! I perhaps should have been more concerned about the window but I truly thought it was hilarious!! It took a minute or two for Raymond to catch on but he soon joined in with the laughter!! Unfortunately this time it was a new window and will cost about $200 to replace but at least it wasn't a door!!

The above damage led to a better idea, so we created a tent room with a large tarp to contain the mess!
The sledgehammer soon stopped being completely helpful...the cement was very thick...so we then resorted to a jackhammer...see how much Raymond loves it!
All this leads to a giant mess, although the dining room doors were shut to separate the rest of the house we still had a thin layer of dust throughout the entire house! And I mean everywhere! I had to dust and sweep 2x and polish the floors to get it all cleaned up!
Now we have a hole in the foundation leading to the basement, which comes in very handy when you accidentally lock yourself out of the house! (We both sound very smart don't we!)
The hole wasn't very big and you couldn't step on the board because it would have snapped but Raymond was able to shimmy in and unlock the house!

Nothing much going on at our house but we are keeping busy and having fun! We are definitely learning to roll with the punches, the more life throws at us the more we laugh!

Lethal Weapon

Sunday afternoon Raymond had just gotten home from church (I was at work) and heard a loud crash and breaking glass in the basement. And since the man is lethal (he actually is so sweet that he could not be a threat to anyone or anything) he went running for his gun in the bedroom so that he could "protect our home"!! As he got to the safe he looked out the bedroom window and saw that the neighbors son in law was trying to break up ice with a snowblower and sent chunks of ice sailing through our basement window!! Raymond ended up not having to shoot anyone but just so you all know he may be a threat!! He went and told Kelly he was okay to break the basement windows but to leave the upstairs windows alone because they are new! The poor guy didn't even know he had broken it!! Lucky for him it was already broken (the small hole on the right) thanks to my Dad!! 2 minutes into tearing out our basement last fall he broke the window!! We have really bad luck with breaking windows at our house so this was nothing new!!

Six Dollar Virgin

So I know the title portrays more than the actual topic but that is what Raymond called me!! We decided to have Carl's Jr for dinner and as we were sitting in the drive up waiting to order we were discussing what we were getting and Raymond always gets a $6 Western Bacon Cheeseburger and was shocked when I told him I had never tried one and in his shock he called me a $6 virgin!! It was so funny!! We both were laughing so hard! And now I am happy to say that I am no longer a $6 Virgin, yay!!

Merry Christmas

Christmas Day for us started on Christmas Eve, I had to work Christmas Day and so for the sake of sleeping in until five we opened presents from each other on the Eve. The kids in us felt like complete rebels and were scared we were gonna get caught the whole time!
We got spoiled by one another, the great part was everything was a complete surprise...we are always very secretive about our Christmas finds!!
My beautiful new buffet table for my dining room...yes it got moved into place that night!!
Since I was working Raymond decided (with a lot of pleading on my part) that he would come play Santa for the patients at my facility. He had a great time (I think) and learned that old people really aren't THAT scary!! Thanks dear, you did great!!

We spent the afternoon hanging with the Whipple's and enjoying a nap on their couch then we headed to Cody & Lisa's for the Winn family Christmas dinner. We had plenty of great food, company and as you can see a whole mess of presents! Madi, Halli & Lexi were going crazy with excitement and just wanted to tear into them!






Not only were we spoiled by each other, but also by our families.
**Yes this is my new snuggie, I may look like a blob but just know I am amazingly warm & comfortable! I wear it all the time now!
We had a wonderful Christmas & are truly blessed to have such wonderful families! We are grateful for all the love & support that they give to us! We are grateful for our testimonies, our faith & our loving Heavenly Father. We have been truly blessed in all aspects of our lives!! Merry Christmas!!

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was spent with the Whipple's, we always have a blast with the mass-multitude of people and all the chaos! We spent our night eating great food, enjoying each others company, watching the kids nativity play, and exchanging gifts. The kids love to put on productions so they had been rehearsing all day and each had memorized their lines!! It was perfect! Raymond and I spent the week before Christmas finishing up ( or starting) the present from all the siblings to Mom & Dad Whipple. All the kids fondly remember playing with wooden blocks when visiting Grandma & Pa Dastrup in Sigurd so we made a replicate of the 500 wooden blocks for Rodger & Camille. They loved it & all the grandkids loved them also!! Below is all the grandkids with their new pajamas from Rodger & Camille...there are so many but we got an OK shot of all them!! Also it's not often I am able to get all the siblings family pics but Christmas Eve was a success!
*Jerry Lindsey Ben & Baby Whipple*
*Craig Mindy Alex Sarah Mariah & Rebekah*
*Kyle Cammie Abby Zac Emma Eliza*
*Bear Sheralee Kaylee Johnathan Austin*
*Jeff Brenda Logan Ashley*
*Jim Celeste Nikki Jenni Brooke & Baby Whipple*
*Spencer & Tiffany*
*Raymond & Nicole*
*Blake Kristi Rachel & Baby Whipple*
*Mom Dad & Melissa*
***Wow what a list, we love having such a large fun family!!***

Here Comes...Santa Clause?

Look closely...does Santa look vaguely familiar? He just so happens to be the best Santa around! Raymond agreed to come play Santa at Alpine (the rehab center where I work) on Christmas day since I would be working and so he reluctantly got a chance to practice his best "Santa" at our annual "Day Before Night Before Christmas Party" in Salt Lake with my mom's whole family!! He did great! All the adults were confused as to why Raymond decided not to play Santa at the last minute when in reality it was him and they just didn't know! Even Madison didn't even think twice about him, she was first in line to sit on his lap! Lexi obviously was not a fan, the picture is just after she ran away from Santa! We had a great night hanging out with the family and eating some great food!! The lower pictures are my favorite Christmas decor...excluding all of my nativities!! I love to have my railing decorated, makes it so fabulous and I love my tree, especially our traditional pickle that we have hid every year since I can remember!! I was so happy to get our own pickle when we got married!! Christmas was great and there is many more pictures to come...all in time!! Hope all is well!!