Last year my daughter had an embarrassing moment at school. She was standing at the front of her class, holding a poster, and giving a presentation when from the back of the class a boy yelled, “Your pants are on backwards!” (more…)

For about a month or two my friend and I have been training to run a 1/2 marathon. Don’t worry it’s only a HALF marathon. I’m not crazy enough to attempt a full marathon yet and I honestly don’t know if I’ve got a full marathon in this old body of mine. (more…)

I hated gardening when I was a kid. Back in the late 70’s and early 80’s it was really pushed by the church to have a garden so my parents took their gardening duties pretty seriously. They built this HUGE garden box in our backyard and made the family work in it every summer. We spent hours every Saturday morning plucking the bizillions of weeds that seemed to grow there every week. Oh how I cursed that garden! (more…)

I grew up thinking that I was a pretty charitable person. I frequently saw the Relief Society’s “Charity Never Faileth” slogan and I felt warm and fuzzy inside because I knew deep in my heart that I was a kind and loving person. (more…)

As the “Ward Literacy Specialist” I’ve been assigned to do sharing time this week. I was going to do a short presentation on computer safety but then I was made aware that Pioneer Day is coming up. Now I’m thinking that I should do something on the pioneers. I’m completely at a loss to figure anything out.

Does anyone have any fabulous Primary Sharing Time activities that may have to do with the pioneers?

Frankly I’d appreciate any sharing time ideas because my computer safety idea was lame too.
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Last Saturday Geoff and I took our family to the ocean to do some swimming and surfing. It was a beautiful day, a little on the hot side, and very crowded on the sand and in the water.

As soon as we set our towels on the ground the uncles, dads, and older children head off to the surfing area of the beach while the younger kids run to the water in front of us to jump and tumble over the waves. (more…)

I don’t know if you’re aware of this but it gets really hot here in Arizona during the summer time. I mean really, really hot, 115 degrees hot. It doesn’t really bug that much though. After living here for a few years I’ve gotten used to it. No, really, I have. (more…)

This has been one of the most difficult years of my life. Dealing with my Dad’s terminal cancer was much more stressful than I anticipated and his final days and funeral were extremely sad and exhausting to me and everyone in my family. Throw in immediate and extended family dynamics and you’ve got a humdinger of a time. (more…)

I have always enjoyed my personal space. You know what I mean, that little foot or so of space that surrounds your body. For the most part I don’t like people to enter this space unless they have been invited by me either through word or gesture. (more…)

I’m a perpetual day dreamer. I don’t consider it a bad thing since it has gotten me through some pretty rough times in my life. For instance, the horrible job I had held during the summers during college. While I packed box after box of school supplies I dreamt of the fabulous places I would visit or lucrative businesses I would start. We were not allowed to listen to music or really talk to each other while we worked so day dreaming was as good as it got for me. (more…)

Hi my name is Kristen and I’m a sugar/chocoholic. I love the stuff. If I were to have my dream day of eating it would consist of high quality hot chocolate and a chocolate filled croissant for breakfast and a little (well, not too little) box full of chocolate truffles for a mid-morning snack. Lunch would be a large, warm pazooki with chocolate ice cream and a large Dr Pepper. For an afternoon snack I would then have a bag of rollos and another large Dr Pepper. (more…)