Home for the Holidays!

YAY!!!! We get to spend Christmas in Arizona!!!! I am so excited to "go home" for a little while!

I love my life in Utah with family and a great job and the cutest town house ever... but... I MISS MY MOMMY!!!

I live in Taylorsville Utah

This is my cute new townhouse in Taylorsville Utah! I am so excited!

We will warm our cold toes by this cute fireplace... and hang our stockings this Christmas on the cutest mantle! I finally have a place to hang a nice family portrait! Hey, did you notice the wood floors? I wanted those!!! YAY!

And here is my cute little kitchen. I get to cook again!!! Oh my goodness. It is a really hard thing to not have your own kitchen to cook in!

For the deposit I get to spackle and paint. So... the front room is going to be a nice cool light blue and the ... well we haven't decided further than that. :D

Family Dinner

My Aunt Margo and Uncle Verl (Owen) have family dinner every other Sunday. I am apparently an honorary Owen because the kids and I have a standing invitation to dinner. We are "expected' just as their own kids are. My uncle Verl actually told Desirae yesterday that he loves me like his own daughter and Desi and Jonny like his very own grandkids. I can't tell you how much that meant to me.

Anyway ... back to dinner.

My cousins and their significant others and children all come to dinner. I love sitting around the table talking and laughing and enjoying great food. We all play a game afterward also. We have learned to play Pig and Rummikub. It is such a great time.

Last night we had roast, mashed potatoes, rolls and corn. For dessert... Cherry and Apple cobbler with vanilla icecream on top! The men talked about hunting. The women talked about the babies and teething. I sat back and relished the moment. We talked about the birthday party on Friday and the baby shower on Saturday. We joked about the birthday party for Desi coming up this Friday and what we should do for Tyson's birthday this coming Sunday.

Once we all cleared the table and did dishes as a family we sat down to play PIG... What a blast! I can't believe our 7 year old Makayla won! Then Desi in 2nd place. Or as Uncle Buddy refers to 2nd place "1st loser"!

I love to be part of the family.

The Utah Chronicles part 1...

I MISS MY KIDS!

I met my mom in St George on Saturday and surrendered my children and my little cute dog to mom. As soon as I drove off I was all tears for a good hour. I missed my kids before they left!!! Of course that is to be expected. They are in Arizona with my mom until a house presents itself... Jonny is really enjoying school down there in Mesa. Oh but that Desi of mine, she will be back next week!!! YAY!!!! We are so excited to have her start school up here in Utah. I love telling my mom how NOT hot it is up here. I don't think I have turned my a/c in my car past "2". I just don't need to.

I love staying with my aunt and uncle. They are just the kindest, neatest people ever! My cousin Travis still lives at home so we have such a great time all chatting and watching the olympics each night. I love being in Utah! Last night we talked about life... girls (Travis...) and children and all kinds of stuff! We eat a lot of hamburger helper there though, unless I cook. I really enjoy making them dinner even though Uncle Verl is such a picky eater!

I am still really enjoying my job, and learn something new each day. This week I have been learning to do payroll. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. :D The gounds still are gorgeous to me. I can't imagine the beauty of this place ever getting old.

I am excited to go to the Salt Lake City temple this week. On Thursday I am going to a wedding reception for cousin of mine... that I have never even met!!!! I have that much family here!!!!

My New Chapter

What a vacation! I never imagined in a million years that I would find my dream job while on vacation! I can't believe it!

If I were to find a job in Utah I would need $xx.00 per hour to provide for my family. I would need a day time job that provided great oppurtunities and a flexible environment. I have office background but I want to be a pastry chef. I figured it was a stretch of my imagination, that it would not be possible for me to find this dream job. Well...

Interview #1 : I came out of an interview with a staffing agency for a couple different positions that they had available. (My Cookie Lee catalog fell out of my portfolio and she was so excited to see it, she booked a show for later this month.) I had a message on my phone to call a man named Russell who wanted to interview me. I called him right back. He was very happy that I said I could be right up. We had a decent interview on a great patio with a rooster and hen listening in. He then he told me he wanted me to come back the next day and interview with his brother who is one of the owners.

Interview #2 : I met with Steven, one of the owners who seemed to like me. We had a great chat then he said he would like to try me out. He was however surprised that I had never heard of his beautiful restaurant. He offered a free dinner to me and whoever I could round up that evening. I was so excited to have gotten the job. I can't even tell you how excited I was. They were not only offering me the exact $ amount that I needed but said in 6 weeks they will raise me by a dollar or two then in a couple months they will raise me again. I also get to learn and cook with the chefs. I will learn the catering business and I can learn any aspect of the business that I want. I was being offered all of this??? YES! I know the Lord's hand was in this one!

I called my cousin OJ and his wife and invited them to dinner that night as a "happy birthday" to his wife and a "thank you so much for letting me stay with you" and invited both her parents to join in the celebration. I also called my Aunt Margo and Uncle Verl who had been tending my kids each time I went to the temple or had a job interview. I felt they needed a night out on the town also! We had an equisite dinner which totalled $778! I now knew what kind of food I was working with. It was all perfect and delicious.

I am now working here and I love it still after day #3.

I will miss my kids who are going back to Arizona with Grandma and Grandpa until we can find a house. They are excited to move to Utah and have loved playing with all their cousins and getting know them all better.

We are now staying with Margo and Verl since it is closer to my new office. They are also LDS so I can go to church with them, and live where I share the same standards. What a family I have! To take me in and let me stay till I find a house... without notice mind you!

I am one blessed daughter of my Heavenly Father!

This last week

WOW!!! It's been a busy week! We have done so much.

4th of July was very uneventful. Jonny has always been a little afraid of fireworks because of the noise. Mom really doesn't like crouds. So we planned to get some things done around the house. We worked really hard and cleaned out our garage and prepared for a garage sale on Saturday. Well of course around 8 Jonny wanted to go see the fireworks. I think more because he heard them outside than anything. He was sad he didn't get to see them. But he will see lotson Pioneer Day with cousins in Salt Lake!

The garage sale went pretty good. I was pretty surprised at the amount of people out on such a hot day. It was so hot! It was so hot that I go sick! After 2 hours we wrapped up with a decent profit for just 2 hours. I came in the house and tried to settle my stomach... I rested the whole day. We had the elders over for Pizza Saturday night. I can't say I was such great company. Both of our Elders are from Utah though so we talked about the great things we miss in Utah.

I stayed home from church on Sunday and slept. Then I slept a little more. Around dinner time everyone was going over to my Aunt Carola's for dinner. I decided to go. It was great to see some of my cousins and visit wtih my Aunt. I know my mom is thrilled to finally have family back in town.

With part of the profits we took the kids to see Wall-E for family night... Oh my...

I am no movie critic ... and I know that my opinion on the movie is not the majority... but I did clap at the end. I was just so happy it finally ended.

Cookie Lee jewelry and supplies seem to be the big thing at home right now. I had a really nice leather love seat in my bay window in my bedroom... I sold it. I now have a handy-me down desk and bookshelf full of catalogs and wrapping supplies and baskets of cookie lee "stuff"! I am so excited and so motivated! I can't wait for my first home show next Friday night! Granted it is the longest drive I will ever take for a show but I am happy to have my first show in the comfort of my favorite cousin's home in Magna. I have been stuffing bags and getting packets together, sending out invitations... I am on the go! I have my first teleconference tomorrow night! I am so excited to learn MORE!

My cousin Harmony Kellis did my hair... I love it!!! All the red is gone and I have pretty blonde highlights! Harmony is so talented!

Desi has been ... well Desi has been Desi. Bored out of her mind... and running up a phone bill. Luckily I figured out AT&T's smart limits now she can only talk to people that I have assigned. :D

Jonny... he has been doing a whole lot of nothing. He hates to go outside because of the heat. He watches TV and builds forts and anything else inside. Then as the sun starts to go down he goes to the park and plays baseball or soccer with his girls.

Quirky 'ol Sharon...

I have been tagged by my great friend Debbie... So here are my 6 oh so quirky quirks... (not that I only have 6... I am just listing 6)

1. If it's small... like M&M's, grapes, blueberries... I have to eat them in 2's. Smarties come in an odd number so I give an odd number away so I can still eat them 2 at a time. I like even numbers.

2. I am seriously O.C.D. about my bedding. It all has to match... and I have to feel confortable in my bedroom. I have to have all the pillows and bedskirt and the whole shabang... I am not talking I like it that way.... I am talking it is a must for the sanity of myself... and my family. I won't rest till it's just right.

3. Please... if you come to my house for dinner stay out of my kitchen. I don't ever know how anyone can help. I don't follow recipes, I don't measure, I don't have any organization to my methods. Just sit and relax. If you were an artist and painting a mural I wouldn't offer to help. It's all in your eye... same with my food. It's all ... where somewhere.

4. I MUST have a blanket on me to sleep. I don't care if it is 120 degrees. I need a blanket or I will be up all night.

5. Some wonder, some judge, some... well it doesn't matter. I LOVE living with my mom. I know most 30 something year old women with their own family would want to be on there own. It's lonely on my own though.

6. I organize the utensil holder in my dishwasher. All the spoons in 1 little slot, knives in there slot... it is total utensil segregation in my dishwasher.

I am not sure who to tag... let's see... Mom!