A Little Bit About Me

Colett tagged me from her blog so these are my answers to the 32 questions of getting to know me better.


1. Do you like Blue Cheese? Like it in a salad dressing but not by itself

2. Have you ever smoked? When I was about 5 yrs. old, I found a cigarette butt that was still lit. Some guy had dropped it when he was working on the electric meter or something. I tried it and wondered what the big deal was. EEWWW

3. Do you own a gun? No, no desire at all to have one.

4. What do you think of hot dogs? I Love them covered with relish and onions. Costco's are the best but no mustard thank you.

5. Favorite Christmas movie? "Scrooge" starring George C. Scott and It's a Wonderful Life

6. What do you prefer to drink in the morning? Milk or orange juice every morning

7. What's your favorite piece of jewelry? Wedding ring

8. Favorite hobbies: Scrapbooking, reading, floral arranging, interior design, sewing, blogging

9. Do you have A.D.D.? No, I can get restless but can usually concentrate on what I'm doing for hours.

10. What's one trait you hate about yourself? I prefer not to "hate" anything but I don't like the fact that I can gain weight by sniffing food. I used to eat anything and never gain an ounce. Now, I have a pituitary tumor that makes it very hard to lose weight and then hard to keep weight off so it's a constant battle that I seem to be losing.

Personality trait: I am good natured. I feel it is a God given gift and not of my own making. I am easy going, happy and not too critical of anything except I can't stand mean people.

11. Middle Name? Loraine

12. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment: I need to get off the computer, I am happy and Colett spelled her middle name wrong in her list on her blog

13. Name 3 drinks you regularly drink? Water, milk and OJ

14. Current worry? My Dad's health

15. Current hate right now? Again, I don't hate... but I really dislike bugs/flies in my house.

16. Favorite place to be? Home, everything that I love is here!

17. How did you bring in the New Year? Big party at Ralph and Jackie Yarro's house.

18. Where would you like to go? Europe..I would love to tour Switzerland, Austria, Germany and Italy but have a fear of flying over oceans and mean people shooting me down over them.

19. What shirt are you wearing right now? A patriotic flag T shirt... and you can get own too for $2 at Walmart next year after the 4th of July.

20. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets? No, too slippery

21. Can you whistle? Well, I can make a whistle sound but can't whistle a song very well.

Favorite Color? Red all the way in any of it's variations

23. Would you be a pirate? No, I am afraid of the sea as I mentioned before, and they are mean people.

24. What songs do you sing in the shower? I sing all the time EXCEPT when I am in the shower...why is that??? I don't know.

25. Favorite girl's name? Colett... my daughter's name. I always said that I would name a daughter Colett if I ever had one and I did. I love Amy, the name of my other daughter and maybe Michelle or Heather or Rachel.

26. When is the last time you laughed? A few minutes ago at a silly Internet joke

27. Worst injury you've ever had? I fell a few years ago and broke my ankle (it was completely turned backwards) and also broke my knee badly at the same time. This was just a few weeks after I had had foot surgery so I was a mess for a year. OWWWW!!

28. Do you love where you live? Yes, the mountains are beautiful, we live in a great neighborhood and I'm close to my girls and their families.

29. What's your favorite book(s)? The Robe, The Hiding Place, Uncle Tom's Cabin, Scriptures, Secret Life of Bees, and lots more..too hard to choose

30. What is your favorite candy? Bing candy bars, dark chocolate with almonds, dark chocolate without almonds, M @ M's, dark chocolate truffles, snickers, cinnamon bears, red strawberry twizzlers, dots, almond joys, etc, etc. Colett was doomed from the start.

31. Favorite sports team? Don't follow team sports

32. What song do you want played at your funeral? Somewhere Over the Rainbow... cause that's where I plan to go.

39 Years

Time really does fly. Wayne and I have been married for 39 years. We decided to go to Salt Lake to see the University of Utah Fine arts museum and eat lunch for our anniversary. The exhibit was pretty amazing. There were paintings of Van Gogh, Matisse, Pisarro, Renoir, Monet, Picasso and many others. We learned about cubism, and although I'm not a lover of modern art, I now have a new appreciation for some of it. I do like impressionism and there were examples of that art form as well as western art, realism and sculpture. There was one statue that I could have sworn Wayne posed for. From the back, it looked just like his little behind, and that's one of the reasons I keep him around. I almost pinched it.

I was trying to take our picture at arm's length but kept cutting off part of our heads. A passer-by offered to help and clicked this picture

for us.

I thought this fountain was interesting. It's tucked between old, classic buildings but has a very modern feel. Water splashes down from the upper steps into the pool below. It actually looks like something that should be in the cage of the polar bear at the zoo.

Architectural details are my favorite thing to look for on old buildings. This lion is great. It is one of many around the perimeter of the Joseph Smith Memorial building.

The flower gardens are just amazing. I have noticed that zinnias, which seemed to be out of favor for a while are coming back into style. These old fashioned flowers really give a pop of color. I am adding them to my yard next year.

Who doesn't love water falls? The water from this one just falls from the pool and recirculates. It's very hypnotic.

One of the statues and flowers gardens on the grounds of Temple Square.

This painting is amazing and since you are allowed to take pictures if your flash is off, I tried to capture the real colors but...woops...my flash went off. I would think I had it off so I would take a picture and it would flash again. After about the 5th time, security came running up from the security room and pretty much cussed me out. I asked her if she knew how to turn it off. She tried but couldn't get it off and then a lady standing next to me showed me how so I took another picture and it flashed again. The rest of the time we were there, the security officer followed us around.

This is a lovely still life at the art museum. I have a little bit of a perfectionist personality though and it bugs me that the glass and the pitcher are leaning to the left. I couldn't hang it in my house because of this. That and the fact that it's not for sale and even if it was I couldn't afford it.

I can't remember for sure but I think this bust was carved around 2000 B.C.

The deceased is depicted on this sarcophagus, or coffin, at the moment of his entrance into eternal life. He is the highly individualized central figure carved inside a ring shape, as if he were immortalized on a coin. The scroll in the deceased's left hand suggests that he was a scholar, and two theater masks below imply an interest in the arts. The four amorini (cupids), one pair winged and one not, represent the Four Seasons and thus the inevitable passage of time. The peacocks feeding from baskets are symbolic for immortality because ancients believed that the peacocks' flesh never decayed. The symbols of this sarcophagus are similar to those on a coffin in the Villa Doria-Pamphili in Rome made between A.D. 260 and 280

These vessels were formed about 1200 years before Christ. It's hard to wrap my mind around that. I felt like I should whisper out of respect.

I'm a Winner

I was thinking about the times that I have won things in my life. I really have won quite a few things, although never anything of great value. I'm still waiting for that. I just know that any day the Publisher's Clearing House will show up on my doorstop and bring me my millions. Well, maybe not because I guess you have to sign up and I don't, and I also guess I won't win the lottery because I have never bought tickets. I won a silver and stone ring from a Powell, Wyoming fair a few years back, and a Halloween figurine from a boutique in Billings, MT. I won 97 dollars from a radio station in Boise along with wall plaques, a stuffed dog and several other things that I can't remember now. I have won several door prizes and prizes at baby showers and I won a Monty Dollack picture from the hotel where I used to work. I was lucky

the past two weeks also and these are my newest winnings.

This is the scrapbook that I won last week at a paper warehouse. They drew my name from the proverbial hat for this one. Very cute. It was already assembled and ready for my photos.

My second winning item are these oatmeal/craisin/white chocolate oatmeal cookies

and a bag of mocha almonds.

I won these cookies from Sweet Life in the Valley Blog Utah Valley Provo Orem Blog a couple of weeks ago from a random draw. They were some of the best oatmeal cookies I have ever eaten. They were from the website Sweet Tooth Fairy~sweet wishes granted daily

website and Megan, the owner, delivered them to me along with a bag of almonds. They were packaged in a darling bag with pink and brown stripes, polka dotted tissue paper and a brown silk ribbon. Inside was a brown and pink striped box with lid that was even cuter. I am really a sucker for great packaging and it was soooo cute I almost didn't want to open it. Each cookie was enormous and individually wrapped. I did end up sharing with Wayne and my sister Margaret but if I had to do to again.... maybe, just maybe...... I would hide them and sneak and eat them when no one else was around so I could have them all to myself just like I did when my kids were little and wanted everything I had. Yes children, I did do that and still do on occasion if I have an incredible dark chocolate bar. Maybe there was good Karma at my house because when my daughter-in-law Kee was here for a scrapbook convention last week, she had her name called three separate times in one day for 3 really nice prizes. Yea for us ...the winners!

My Man

There is this man I have known for 42 years and have been married to for 39 years today. He is my best friend. I know that term is used a lot and can sometimes sounds trite , but in my case it is true. We like the same music, art, design and activities with one exception ( I don't watch sports on TV). He treats me like a queen 95% of the time.....well he's not perfect.... but I'm working on the other 5%. He never ceases to amaze me with his talents, hard work, and his willingness to give, give, give. Happy Anniversary Wayne. This is supposed to be a lucky day 8-8-08. It already is because I have you.

Sunday Fun

The Utah portion of our family eats dinner together most Sundays. It's a fun time hosting and bonding with the kids and grandkids. We usually play a game or go for a walk after dinner. Today we decided to show the grandkids a park not too far from our home. These are the photos of our afternoon.On the way to the park I noticed our shadows and thought they were so cool. I had everyone stop so I could get a picture. If we had had more time I would have had everyone do lots of poses but since we were on a quest to see the park, that would have to wait for another day.

Do notice that my husband (far left) is a pin head. I've always thought that but now he can see it's true for himself. OK...so I'm the tent in the middle.

I have been looking at ads lately and noticing models doing some crazy poses ..... nobody looks like that in real life. I saw a model on the beach whose back was arched so high that a dog could have walked underneath her. This picture is called a broken model. Look at those arms! And of course you must not smile. The light was right in the park so the girls decided to give me their version of the broken model. Now don't you just want to go out and buy something?

I don't know what this crazy chair is on the playground, but you sit on it and with a little motion you start to spin. It's not a straight spin but wobbly and you get going so fast you can hardly stop. It scared Millie and Nick quit doing it. All the adults but me tried it. I have a little common sense and don't like to throw up.

Oh, I always hate the way I look in pictures but Nick took this one by the stream and if I ever want to be included in the family blog, I have to get in here now and then. I know what you are thinking..."who is that drab chubby Grandma?" I need to visit Mary Kay soon.

Is there anything more intriguing than water where children are concerned? Isabelle finds a culvert but is firmly cautioned by her mother to stay outside of it. Oh it's tempting!!

Emerson decided that the slide was not so bad. Up until recently, he was too afraid to go down.

There is a big old tree in the park that has had the trunk burned out but which still has all it's leaves and now looks like a good place to hide out but Isabelle says "no, there are spiders in there".

Many people think Emerson looks very much like Nick. I don't know how that

works since Emerson looks just like his Daddy Wes, and Nick is a Yarro, but they are

both Italian so maybe that's the connection. They both have black eyes and are cute as

a puppy's knees.

Amelia and Isabelle share the playground equipment

Wayne and Colett discuss politics, religion and kitchen hints....just kidding.

It's fun to be with the family every Sunday.

Now if I could just get them to do "ALL" the cooking and cleaning up afterwards, it would be a pretty perfect day of the week.

Colett did a "tag" blog entry a while back about what was in her purse. I took a picture of the contents of mine and realized just how much I carry around with me most days and how hard it would be to not have the stuff I use all the time right next to me. I feel a little like a scout in the "be prepared" department such as what if my hands get dirty, what if I need to measure something at Home Depot, what if I get something caught in my teeth or snag my nail? If I lost my purse, it would be a HUGE catastrophe. OK, here are the things in my purse. The fashionable big purses make it easier to keep adding things like books, Wayne's sunglasses or wallet, games and food or water bottles. No wonder my shoulder hurts sometimes. You may have to click to enlarge the picture see what everything is.

These are the items:

cute matchstick type emery boards, wet wipes, a bottle of hand sanitizer, lotion, sunglasses, a garden nursery coupon, store coupons, kleenex, my wallet which is heavy...Utah has a 7% sales tax and I get so many pennies as change, store receipts, a pen, reading glasses (yes I am in that age category), a comb, a tag??? from something, tweezers in case I have a hair grow out of my chin, a measuring tape, band-aids, lip balm, 2 lipsticks, dental floss...by the way the Crest Glide is the best floss I have ever used and is really different from all the rest....gum, candy, mints, a sack of Ibuprofin, my cute notebook to write ideas I see when I go places, and a picture of my hair to take to my stylist so she can remember what she did last time. I usually have garbage in there too but my purse just happened to be fairly clean this time. Now as I look at my purse, I am thinking a shopping trip is in order. This one won't do for Fall. I need a darker purse or maybe "RED", my favorite color. Maybe I will blog it and show you what I get. OK, what's in your wallet?? (purse)