The Niagara of The West

The falls here are nicknamed the Niagara of the West and you can see why:

Ben called to tell me that there was flooding in Idaho.  I immediately thought he was talking about emergency preparedness. It's ok hun I got 5 boxes of mac and cheese (Kraft of course!) and a candle...you don't need to worry about me I'll be fine. 

But he was actually talking about how the falls would be amazing with the flooding :) 

 I told my parents about the flooding and they decided they had better see for themselves!

 We live in the prettiest part of Idaho.  Who knew?

 This is the canyon that evil canevil jumped...and missed.  Yes he lived.

 The whole parking lot was soaked from the spray coming off of the falls.

 The Mexican engineer and the New Yorker.  He'll have the tortilla with pintos and eggs, and she'll take a salami on rye.  An unlikely duo, but it works!

 Obviously! 

 My mom keeps telling me how photogenic I am. Finally I asked but mom it's not just the camera right???  ....right?

Irma looks pretty.  I guess it could just be the camera :/  Haha kidding! Look at that beautiful 102 year old smile!  Now that's the smile of someone who has really enjoyed life.

Ticks...ewe!!!

I discovered a tick crawling on the wall in my kitchen this morning as I was searching for something to eat for breakfast.  My mental process went a little something like this, hmmm cereal, fruit, yogurt, tick, or spaghetti? 

...hey wait a second

TICK?!?!?

How the heck did a tick get in my house!  My natural instinct is the scream for Ben and run away.  However, Ben is a tad busy this year what with being in a war torn country and all. 

So being the toughie that I am I rolled up my rosie the riveter sleeve and squashed the tick with an empty vase that Ben had sent me flowers in earlier this month.  See he is still taking care of me all the way from Iraq. 

Although the vase did not kill the tick.  So I did what even Rosie the Riveter would do...I screamed for Maren to get a candle so I could burn the little sucker!  Ha!  Take that you blood sucking fiend!!

Once the tick was contained I was off to my Sunday morning tasks.  Which involved a delightful church service at the local nursing home.

One of our youth was supposed to give a spiritual thought, but she must have been a tad nervous or got lost or kidnapped by ninja's.  So I ended up giving a spiritual thought from an email Ben had sent me about his church service in Iraq.  It was nice.  Matthew 6 if you care to read it.

The crowd looked like they were asleep while I shared my thoughts with them, but as I walked around shaking hands afterwards I realized that they were paying attention.  One lady told me how much she enjoyed my humor, and then another old guy asked me about my missionary service. 

The old guy also happened to be a WWII veteran. I always like to meet those guys, so I can thank them for their service.  Of course a thank you just isn't enough.  He told me how he was able to be a missionary after the war and he met his wife who was also a missionary at the time.  It was a sweet story, and I could tell that he really missed her by the way his face lit up as he talked about her.

It's a beautiful life.  It is what we make it.


P.S. I decided to have spaghetti for breakfast...you guys thought I was going to leave you on that cliffhanger of a decision didn't you???  Ha!  I wouldn't do that to you! 

Synchronized Swimming Routine

The youth at our church had a talent show last night and we the leaders decided to do a talent of our own.  We felt it should be something simple, so we went with synchronized swimming.  I mean shoot the hardest part is getting a pool on the church's stage.  No problem.

Maren recorded it in two segments.  The first one was our intro...now for our grand performance:

Yes that is me at the end performing that very daring lift! 

This was a fun idea I wish we could take all the credit, but here's a youtube video of where we got the idea:

We have a ways to go before we will be as good as them.  Practice makes perfect!

"Put blinders on to those things that conspire to hold you back, especially the ones in your own head." ~Meryl Streep

Saturday is a special day

My grandma Irma will be 102 years old next month.  As you can see she is still pretty spry.  She loves to feed the geese.  However, these birds are pretty spoiled and grandma is going to have to step up her game if she wants to impress them.  I'm thinking a souffle or a quiche.

 This morning my niece asked if she could borrow one of my old prom dresses that she had secretly been eyeing.  I was flattered.  I knew my taste was timeless!!  It made me feel young and hip...for a moment.

 Until I was reminding my grandma how she came shopping with me for one of my prom dresses.  My 102 year old grandma went on about how long ago that was and that she couldn't remember....because it had been way too long.  Funny she recollects details from the great depression and WWII.... but not 1999.

Look at these cute babies!  Surprised to see two?  Well what do you expect it's springtime!

 Ellie Rose on the left is only 11 days old and Gabe on the right is 11 weeks old.



This is kind of random, but the hospital I work for put out a message in their weekly newsletter encouraging staff to write thank you cards to the troops and the hospital would send them with a reporter heading overseas.    My co-worker Connie was sweet enough to take it one step further and make these cute cards for everyone on our floor to sign:

 Our hospital is in the midst of a very busy/complex move, but everyone was happy to take a minute and say thank you to our troops.

It meant a lot to me that they would take time to do this.  Have I mentioned that I really like where I work?

On a side note I chatted with John Boehner's cousin today.  If you don't know who that is maybe you should google it.  On another side note--if google can't find it you are out of luck!  My co-worker likes to advertise that I'm really good at google...hey I'm also good at ordering pizza! 

I am a woman of many talents!

Foreclosed on Filing Cabinets

The hospital I work for is on the move.  We are moving down the street into a huge state of the art brand new hospital.  It's exciting. 


...and chaotic!

The regional HR manager handed me a stack of labels this morning to track down furniture in various parts of the hospital that will be moved with us into our department.  In other words they are taking furniture from one department and giving it to a different department when we move.  It's an interesting concept and I'm sure there is a method to the madness.

In the meantime I armed myself with the HR secretary as a navigator to help me track down this rogue furniture.  Ha!  It didn't stand a chance!

That is until I came upon a tiny office with 1 filing cabinet.  It must be a very special cabinet, like Indian in the Cupboard special; because when I tried to tag it with my label the current owner looked like her home was being foreclosed on.  Not wanting to be a bureaucrat or a cold heartless banker I did the right thing...I did not label it! 

Yes that is correct I am a defender of foreclosed on filing cabinets.  The smile on a secretary's face is all the thanks I need.  No no no I'm not a hero.  Just an average ordinary office furniture labeler. 

I should also give credit to my trusty navigator without whom I would have been lost in the wilds of a hospital in transition. 

The Boa Constrictor Upstairs

There is a snake living upstairs.  At least I'm pretty sure there is a snake living upstairs, because Maren spotted a large aquarium with heat lamps through the window.  Why does she have to be so observant? 

I'd rather being an unsuspecting victim than a suspecting one.  Now I'm watching my back, looking under the bed, checking the ceiling vents, the toilet, the shower....ugh!  You get the idea.

I keep expecting to come home and find a snake stuck inside my dog's crate because once it ate Molly it couldn't fit back through the cage.


However, my dad did a pretty good job of convincing me that the snake couldn't get through the plumbing or the ceiling vents.  That is until he told me to see how difficult it was to lift the grill off of the vent...I did it with my pinky finger.  Eek!  Back to panic mode!!!!

Well, I may be forced to move after all...gulp!

Colleen Forestire

I knew her as Grandma Colleen. I grew up thinking that she was somehow my biological grandma, but in actuality she was a close friend to my grandmother Irma. 

I can't remember when exactly she became my pen pal, but I have very early memories of pulling out my mother's old type writer to respond to a letter my grandma Colleen had written me.  Her letters were always typed up on two cards that came from the ASPCA.  She had an abundance of cards from them, because she donated to their organization. 

She would always send pictures of the things she was doing and people who came to visit.  Her letters were always very interesting and filled with details. 

She had a real passion for traveling and sent me a detailed account of a trip she took to the orient.  She sent me a beautiful necklace from Tibet that I treasure, because of the story behind it. I think she may have been an influencing factor in my desire to travel and see the world.

Now that I'm older I realize how spoiled I was by the lavish attention that she paid me.  I'm so grateful for that experience of writing her letters faithfully for years in my childhood.  The letters began to dwindle as I became a teenager, and got too busy with all my extra curricular activities. I'm sure I must have appeared ungrateful at that time, but I hope she knows I recognize the handprints she's left in my life.