Mamma Mia

Yesterday with the planning of my mother-in-law, I got some much needed adult and girl time with her and all of my sisters-in-law. We got a quick lunch and then headed to see Mamma Mia. To be honest I wasn't really expecting anything from the movie and probably wouldn't have picked to see it on my own, but man am I happy we went. I really, really enjoyed the movie and am hoping to find my Best Of Abba CD really soon. I love Abba music and this made it come to life. There are major movie stars in it and they could all sing. I do have to admit I did start cracking up when Pierce Brosnan was singing during a serious moment. I just kept seeing him as 007 and him singing just didn't fit. And if anyone wants to go see Mama Mia let me know. I want to see it again but I doubt I can convince Brandon to go. But if I get a chance to see this on stage, he won't get off the hook.

The Princess in me

I've seen this on a few blogs now so I thought I'd give it a shot.

You Are Pocahantas!

Free-spirited and wise. You have a strong passionate spirit that touches and changes all who know you. The wisdom and common sense that you have is really what guides you through life. Even so, you also have a very playful side that loves adventure and excitement.

Which Disney Princess Are You?

Hawaii was GREAT

(So my disclaimer up front is this is going to be a long post. I was thinking of trying to break the trip up into a few posts, but it's just easier this way. Enjoy!!!)

Our vacation started with a quick detor to drop the kids off at my parent's house. While there I realized that all of our confirmation stuff had been left at home. In the process of Brandon trying to get all of our confirmation numbers he learned our hotel had been cancelled by the travel company we had made the reservation through. The funny thing is Brandon had just talked to them the day before we left and re-confirmed out arrival date and such with them. There was nothing we could do while at my parents house (time difference and all) so we went to bed and got up bright and early to catch our flight. (We had a different hotel for the first night in Hawaii and felt pretty confident we would have everything worked out by the time we needed the hotel that had been cancelled.) After meeting up with our friends Randy and Viv, a really long flight, a couple of movies, reading magazines, and a quick snooze for Brandon we made it to Oahu.

My first fun moment of the trip happened fairly quickly. We were at the car rental place waiting for our car and I noticed a family who rented a Mustang convertable. At first I was jealous because I kind of wanted a convertable for the trip but by watching them quickly realized how unrealistic it would have been for four adults and all our luggage. This family consisted of Mom, Dad, and two daughters one of which required a carseat. For twenty minutes Viv and I watched them try to fit all of their stuff in the convertable. You know it's bad news when the stroller won't even fit in the truck of the car when it's empty. Now I thought the frustration between spouses I saw on the launch ramp at the Marina was bad, but these two were right up there. Needless to say they got everything in the convertable with the trunk stuffed, the stroller in the back seat with the girls and a big suitcase behind the front seat of the car. Because of the suitcase only Mom would fit to drive the car and even then it looked like she was kissing the windshield. That meant Dad got stuck holding another good size suitcase in his lap as they drove off. Having a convertable would be cool in Hawaii but its not worth going through what they did.

After getting to our hotel for the first night, and finding out nothing had been resolved regarding our hotel situation for the rest of the trip, we headed to dinner and then to bed because we were all exhausted.
Thursday was our first full day in Hawaii. We started the morning by finding out our reservation had been fixed and we now had a hotel room for the rest of the trip. (Funny enough Randy and Viv had no issues with their room and we booked at the same time.) For the rest of the day we went to a lookout point, had beach time at Lanikai Beach, went to see an old house of Randy's and went to another lookout point. Brandon got a little to close to the waves for me at the second lookout point and I was a little concerned he might get carried out to sea by one. I'm glad he knew when to run away.

Friday we started kind of early to get to a couple of places before going to the Polynesian Cultural Center. On the way there we stopped at Byodo-In Temple (a replica of a 900 year old Japanese temple), the Laie LDS temple, and spent the rest of the day at the PCC. The entertainment was great and the pineapple drink and delight were amazing!! I'm so glad we went.

Saturday we went to get our snorkel stuff, took a surf lesson at Waikiki, snorkeled at Hanauma Bay, and went to a beach front restaurant for dinner. If you are in Waikiki and want to take a surf lesson, I have the best surf instructor for you. I really thought surfing would be really hard and he made it so easy. Granted all we did was get up and head straight to shore, but it was a lot easier then I thought it would be. If I lived on the coast I would definitely take up surfing.

Sunday was designated our North Shore day. On our way up we stopped at the swap meet. It was great shopping and Viv and I definitely tried our husband's patience. We wanted to shop a little bit more then they did, but they were sports and hung in there with us. We then went to the Dole Plantation. The fresh pineapple and pineapple juice was to die for. I love pineapple and never knew pineapple juice could taste like that. It's amazing what being fresh can do. We then continued up north and first went to Turtle Bay. We left there and planned on spending pretty much the rest of the day at Waimea and/or Sunset Beach. Well both were pretty crowded (by that I mean no parking) so we took the opportunity to go to Motsumoto's. Brandon had been raving about it since we planned this trip and I can say that the shaved ice was pretty amazing. We finished there and tried our luck again at Waimea. We found a parking spot and spent the rest of the day there. After the boys and I jumped off the cliff, Viv and I were hanging out on the beach while the boys snorkeled. Randy came running up and said they saw a sea turtle. I looked for Brandon and he was swimming away from us. The guys kept swimming with it for the next 10 minutes or so. And then it was all they could talk about for the next little while. We stayed there until after sunset and headed back to the hotel. I really enjoyed Waimea.

Monday was unfortunately our head home day. The boys started out the day by doing a little boogie boarding at Waikiki while Viv and I got packed up. We checked out of the hotel and headed to Pearl Harbor. All Brandon had wanted to do the entire trip was go to Pearl Harbor so I was a little disappointed when we got there and all the tickets to get to the Arizona memorial were gone. We walked around a little bit and were getting ready to head over to the Missouri when 4 tickets became available to head over to the Arizona on the next boat. So many emotions were felt being at the visitors center and memorial that there is no way to describe it. I am so so happy that Brandon pushed to go to Pearl Harbor and him and Randy talked to the desk person one last time. After getting back to the visitors center and taking Brandon's picture with our boat captain (you'll have to ask him about that story), we headed over to the Missouri. After seeing the inside of the ship and walking around it, I admire the service men who live on those ships. If their living and sleeping quarters are at all like what I saw, I know I wouldn't be able to survive. My favorite part of the Missouri was seeing where Japan signed the surrender document and World War II was ended. As we were leaving the Missouri was saw our 1st and only rainbow of the trip.

After a little bit of last minute souvenir shopping we headed to the airport and our vacation came to an end. It was so much fun and I can't wait to go back. Brandon and I have a long places to travel list, but this one might get bumped back up closer to the top. Next time we'll spend a lot longer!!

We're Back

We are back from our fabulous Hawaiian Vacation and now need another vacation to catch up on sleep and recoup from this vacation. Don't worry pictures are coming but I need a nap first!!

Fun exercise...Getting to know you!!

So if you read this you have been tagged. Let's see how much we can learn about each other!Then at the end, tell us which of these things that you haven't done but really really want to. If there isn't anything on the list you really want to do that you haven't done tell us what it is.

(X) Gone on a blind date

(X) Skipped school

(X) Watched someone die

(X) Been to Canada

(X) Been to Mexico

(X) Been to Florida

(X) Been on a plane

(X) Been lost

(X) Been on the opposite side of the country

(X) Gone to Washington , DC

(X) Swam in the ocean

(X) Cried yourself to sleep

(X) Played cops and robbers

(X) Recently colored with crayons

( ) Been to Europe

( ) Been to Asia

( ) Saved a life

( ) Saved an animal's life

( ) SCUBA Dived

( ) Pilot an airplane

(X) Walked on a frozen lake

( ) Drank too much

(X) Hitch Hiked

(X) Sang Karaoke

(X) Paid for a meal with coins only?

(X) Done something you told yourself you wouldn't?

(X) Made prank phone calls

(X) Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose

(X) Caught a snowflake on your tongue

(X) Danced in the rain

(X) Written a letter to Santa Claus

(X) Been kissed under the mistletoe

( ) Watched the sunrise with someone you cared about

(X) Blown bubbles

(X) Gone ice-skating

(X) Gone roller skating

(X) Gone to the movies

1. Any nicknames? Stace

2. Mother's name? Margaret

3. Favorite Drink? Strawberry Limeade from Sonic

4. Tattoos? No

5. Body Piercing? Just my ears.

6. How much do you love your job? Since it's staying at home with my kids...LOVE IT!!

7. Birthplace? Kentucky

8. Favorite vacation spot? Caribbean

9. Ever been to Africa ? No

10. Ever eaten cookies for dinner? Yes

11. Ever been on TV? Yes

12. Ever been in a car accident? Yes

13. Drive a 2-door or 4-door vehicle? 4 doors

15. Favorite Salad Dressing? Poppy seed

16. Favorite pie? Fresh Strawberry

17. Favorite number? 8

18. Favorite movie? Honestly don't have just one

19. Favorite holiday? Christmas

20. Favorite dessert? Cheesecake

21. Favorite food? Crab legs

22. Favorite day of the week? Saturday

23. Favorite brand of body wash? Bath and Body Works

24.. Favorite toothpaste? Whatever Brandon gets

25. Favorite smell? Vanilla

26. What do you do to relax? Put the kids to bed and do something that takes no effort

27. How do you see yourself in 10 years? More in shape, less stressed, and maybe back in school just to take classes for the heck of it

I really want to Scuba! I think the next thing I will work on is getting certified, especially before I take another beach vacation. I would also like to go to Africa and Europe.

He's Walking

My baby boy is walking. He's been taking more and more steps by himself and today I was able to capture it. He is starting to try and stay up and take steps more then crawling, but if something needs to be gotten in a hurry he still prefers to crawl. I was prepared for him to start walking while we were in Hawaii but I'm really happy I was able to see it rather then hear about it. Good going Beckam! You're growing up so fast.

Plate Overflowing

We are on the verge of leaving for Hawaii and so much needs to be done and the stress level is rising. Thank goodness for lists because they are all that is keeping my sanity in tact. My plate was a little more overflowing last week before I kicked somethings off until we get back from our vacation. I was trying to get the whole house photographed and a website up, but we're not going to really work on getting our place out there until after we get back, so I figured worrying about these couple of projects could wait until we get back as well. Now I just have to worry about getting the kids packed - they are not going to Hawaii just to be watched, getting me packed, checking what Brandon packed and make sure it works for what we have planned (yes I do this for every trip and there are times I've remembered some things for him), getting the laundry done so we can all get packed, get essential items together for the kids - ie toys, sippies, blankets, and bribe toys for Brylie, wash the dishes (so I don't have anything growing in my sink when I get back), clean out the fridge (so once again I don't have things growing when I get back), and make a last minute trip to the store. The best part is I have less then 20 hours to get it all done. Also, confession time, I'm a little bit thorough (Brandon would call it obsessive) with packing for the kids. I already think that whoever watches them is doing me a gigantic favor so I don't want to place any undo burden on them with the kids. So just know if you watch my kids in the future for an extended period of time they will come with excess clothes, diapers, toys, medicine, and excess insight into their personalities, their likes and dislikes, their schedule, and any other tidbits I think may make it easier to handle them all wrapped up in a binder. (Let's face it on any given day I can barely handle them and I'm around them 24/7.) It's not that I think people can't watch my kids, but I don't want people cursing my name repeatedly while they are watching my kids. The vacation is worth all the effort, but man it's a hassle getting there.

Jog that Memory

So my friend had this on her blog, and thought I would join in fun and do the same. It was fun to think of all the memories we had and all the crazy and fun things we had done toghether. So here it goes.....

1. Add a comment of a memory you have of the two of us together. It doesn't matter if you know me very well or just a little, it can be anything. It can be a recent memory or from way back. Once you leave a comment I will assume you are playing too.

2. Add these instructions to you own post and wait for the memories to start rolling in.

Today I'm Thankful For...

A few months ago someone if Relief Society talked about the Thankful journal they kept. She said no matter what the day was like she wrote down three things she was thankful for that day everyday. I'm not the best about keeping journals but for some reason I thought this would be a good idea to start. It took me a couple of weeks to start, but since then I've actually kept it everyday. Coming up with three things to write a day seemed a lot less daunting to keep up on then trying to sum up a full day, but there are days when three things don't come so easily. I'm still glad I have my thankful things to look back on such as being thankful for a husband who changes diapers, Sonic Happy hour, for a daughter who loves to run errands, and that tonight is not every night. If you want to do a fun experiment and have something fun to look back on, start a Thankful Journal.

Expectations - a little rant

The people that really know me know I try to live up to any expectation I know is put on me. If I know something is expected of me or I'm expected to live by a certain policy or rule, I try my hardest to meet it or live by it. And if I know there is something expected of me and I don't live up to it then I suffer the consequence. What really irks me and causes me to loose it is when I'm expected to live up to or by something that I have no idea exists. My feeling is if you expect something from me then fill me in, tell me what you want, etc. otherwise I can't be held to it and if it's not met, it's your fault. Such an instance occurred this week.

I found some items that I had meant to return to a store I frequent quite regularly. I must admit I had had these items for quite a while and honestly thought I had already returned them. When I saw that I still had the receipt for all the items I decided to try and return them. I scoured the receipt for a return policy, and return by date, or a receipt expiration date. There were none of these to be found so I thought I could return these things anytime, much like the Gap did until about a year ago. With my items and receipt in hand I headed to the store just to be told at the entrance they had a 90 day return policy. I asked where this policy was posted because it wasn't anywhere on the receipt or at their registers. They told me I could go to Customer Service (big fat joke of a name) and see what they would say. So I headed to Customer Service and there on the wall behind the register was the return policy. When they denied my return I asked again where, other then in Customer Service, was their policy posted and they said no where but because they had it posted here they could enforce it. Are you kidding me? After a couple of I understand but there's nothing I can do and because the line was growing quite long behind me, I decided not to pursue it any further with the customer service person.

As I was leaving I passed the little booth thing where other workers are standing and asked how I could talk to the manager (yeah I was miffed about this) and the lady asked how she could help. I went on to explain that I didn't see how I could be held to a policy that I didn't even know existed until I tried to return something. I pointed out that it wasn't at their registers and it wasn't anywhere on their receipt. She told me that it was their store's policy and not everyone needed to know about it because not everyone returned things. Once again...Are you kidding me? So now I have to eat the cost of the items because of a policy that I didn't even know existed and had no way of finding out existed except to visit their Customer service, which I know for everyone else must be a common occurrence. And I am a slave to this store at least for a few more months since it's the only place that provides what Beckam eats. So for the time being or until I know I'm not going to ever have to return anything there again, Brandon will be making the purchases there.

Happy Birthday USA

This year for the 4th of July we decided to join in some of the festivities our local communities put on. I'm very thankful that the main festivities we thought the kids would enjoy didn't start until 6pm so we didn't have to be outside in the blazing heat of the day. After getting some stuff done around the house, running some errands, and Brylie taking a late nap, we headed off for the parade and other activities. After catching the tail end of the parade, we went and staked out our picnic/watching fireworks spot and took Brylie to have some fun on the bounce houses. After that we came back to our great spot, enjoyed our dinner and snacks and waited for the fireworks to start. This was the first year we'd kept Brylie up to watch the fireworks, and she really doesn't like loud noises, so I was kind of worried how she would react when they started. I was thrilled when she loved them and didn't mind the noise at all. She kept commenting on how big and colorful they were. Beckam on the other hand could have cared less. I thought he would be mesmerized by them, but all he wanted to do was crawl around. He didn't give the fireworks a second look. We had a great 4th of July.

(I need to add Brylie calls the things in her hair her cheerleaders. I guess they look like pom poms to her.)

I'm so grateful for this land we live in and all the freedoms I enjoy because of it. I can't wait to teach my children about this country we live in and how lucky they are to be part of it.

For Sale

We're finally biting the bullet and selling our townhouse. We have more then outgrown it and with Brylie more then wanting a dog, we need a house with a real yard. (Brandon has agreed to the dog, I haven't!) Since Brandon is happy at his new job and plans on staying there for awhile, we feel pretty certain we will be staying in the Salt Lake valley for the foreseeable future. With that decision made I can start looking for a house. We were suppose to have our first showing Monday (which sent both Brandon and I into a cleaning/packing frenzy), but it was rescheduled last minute to Saturday. Here's to the fun of selling a house.