My first writing opportunity

I recently started writing a digital scrapbooking column/page on Examiner.com.  This is my first writing opportunity and I am super excited.  Follow my articles and subscribe as a member to get regular updates.  Thanks for your support!

Jake says goodbye to Bulgaria

Last Sunday, my cousin Jake Jarman returned from a 2-year mission to Bulgaria for our church.  It was so nice to see him again and I love when all the family gets together.  It's so fun!

 Aaron "cracking the egg" with his nephews: Angel and Gabriel.  He loves those boys!

 And things got a little crazier.

 Emmy and me.  She loves that we actually look like sisters now.

Angel, Aaron, and Gabriel.

Randomly enough, we didn't end up getting Jake in any of the pictures.  I promise he was there and we were talking to him!!

No More Funeral Potatoes

As most of you may know, Aaron's grandmother, Barbara Walker, passed away a couple of weeks ago.  We attended the viewing, funeral, and post-funeral luncheon in Utah and then the burial, funeral, and post-funeral luncheon in California the following week.  Needless to say, I'm funeraled-out for a while.  We really did enjoy our trip to Salt Lake.  I hadn't been in over 5 years.  Although I didn't have a chance to visit my family while we were there we still did have some good times.

After our long drive, Aaron, me, and Phillip (Aaron's brother) went to Temple Square that night.  We met Phil's brother-in-law, Jay, downtown.  I had forgotten how beautiful Temple Square is!  I fell in love with it all over again. 

Phil was our buddy for the weekend.  Becca and the kids couldn't make it, so we roamed Utah with Phil.  Since they moved to Reno we don't get to see them that often so it was really nice to hang out with Phil.  We sure missed Becca and the kids though.  (Especially since we randomly saw her brother-in-law and parents in Utah since they lived by Temple Square).

 I wanted to take a picture in this spot since this is where all the brides take their pictures.

And of course....

Creepy....

I love the different views of the temple.

The tabernacle.

We totally had to shove this couple out of the way who were standing in "the picture spot" forever.  It's like "Move it or lose it people!!"

Phil, David, Karen, Clint, Melanie, Shane, Emily, Aaron, and me at the viewing.  Okay, not a fan of viewings.  It was the most uncomfortable thing to be socializing with people and there's a dead body in the room.  Totally creepy.  But I guess it gives people closure so we'll just let it be.

Aaron and his siblings at the funeral.

Pallbearers.

Back in California, the family went out to eat the night before the funeral.  We enjoyed re-uniting with long-lost cousins, Steven and Isaac Godderidge. 

The burial in California.  The best thing was to be able to get together with family that hadn't gotten together for about 10 years.  We enjoyed spending some time with Aaron's cousin, Russ and his wife Danette from Vegas.

P.S.  While we were in Utah, Aaron and Phil climbed Mount Olympus which was very strenuous.  Quite an accomplishment.



Why I love Kaylin, Zachary, and Jared

I spent a whole weekend with these sweetie-pies.  I loved it!

Gilden Lodge at Mount Shasta

Over the Labor day weekend, Aaron and I went up to Mount Shasta and "camped" with his family.  We stayed at the beautiful Gilden Lodge.  Complete pictures of this weekend can be found on our website.

The cabin had a very rustic, log-cabin feel to it.  The first night we arrived, Aaron, Phil, and I set out to climb the Black Butte mountain.  The summit is at 6,000 feet.

This was my first real hike and first mountain.  It was quite an accomplishment!  The next day, we all went to the beach at Lake Siskiyou.  Some of us went on the lake with kayaks and canoes.

Zachary wanted to show off his Spiderman sunglasses.

The boys were originally going to swim across the lake but decided not to.  This looks like a paparazzi shot.

Aunt Mel made sandcastles with the kids.  That night we ended up watching movies.  The best thing about the cabin was that we were able to enjoy each other's company without the dirt and grime of camping.  It was so nice!  After the weekend, Phil and Becca and Em and Shane came up to go swimming for Labor Day.

Free Willy?? Free me!!!!

So this morning I had yet another chiropractor appointment for my accident.  About 4 weeks ago I was rear-ended and got a little whiplash.  Since then, I've had to visit the chiropractor about 2-3 times a week.  Ugh.  But let me backtrack.  This morning started out a little rough.  I was running late to my appointment and went out to feed the dogs.  I accidently put their dogfood in their water dish which happened to still have some water in it.  Oh well.  I told them they were getting mushy food today.  LOL.  Then I noticed Mighty came out of the doghouse limping.  What's with this dog?  We're still giving him his drugs from last week when he ate the wasp.  I've concluded that he's faking it to get attention, better food, and he's a druggie now.  (He got special treatment last week for being sick.)  For those of you who don't think it's possible for a dog to be mischievous, you don't know Mighty.....  Sure enough, when I went to visit him later, limp gone!  A miraculous recovery!  Right after that, I received a text from Aaron to charge the camera batteries before our camping trip this weekend.  So I'm scuffling around trying to find the chargers so that I won't forget later.  (I try to do things when I think of them otherwise sometimes they fall through the cracks).  What you have to understand about our house is that we are pretty up on technology which includes a plethora of cords in our office closet.  It's just a matter of finding the right cord....And I'm still looking for the chargers.  Mental note:  clean office closet.  So now back to the chiropractor (and I might add I'm a little grumpy at this point).  The thing with chiropractors is that you can't just go a couple of times and then you're healed.  They will continue to stretch out your follow up visits and you can never get weaned off of going.  Well, I am so sick of going and long story short:  I'm not in pain anymore  (haven't been since the first week).  Last week I made the mistake of marking a "4" on the pain scale and telling him I had sore muscles.  (I was hoping to get another massage from his in-house masseuse)  What I ended up getting was no massage and extra visits.  Boo.  So what did I do?  I cancelled one of my visits last week because I wasn't having any pain.  So at my appointment today, he took me in one of the private rooms for "problem patients".  (I know.  I'm in dentistry.)  And it was basically me and him arguing.  I told him I don't want to come anymore and that I feel fine.  Yadda yadda yadda.  I've got 2 appointments left and a re-eval.  I just wanna be free!!!