"The Rev" found dead

I woke up this morning to find on the news that James Owen Sullivan was found dead in his home last night. For any of you who don't know who that is, he is the drummer for the rock band Avenged Sevenfold. The man had AMAZING talent and will surely be missed by millions of people around the world. I just wanted to give my respects to his family and band members.

Its Christmas again!

Its coming... a day we all know to well. December 25th is Christmas... and yet every year I hear the same ol thing... Wow! Christmas has really snuck up on me this year. I just really wanted to give my two bits for the people who Christmas continually sneaks up on... Its the same time every year, and has been since before you were born. You would think you would get the hint. You have a whole year to plan for it so get your act together. As for me, I just choose not to give any gifts. One reason, I usually don't have to money to give everyone I come in contact with a gift so that their precious feelings don't get hurt. Besides, Christmas shouldn't be about the gifts anyway. I would much rather have my family together and not exchange any gifts than get a whole ton of presents an be alone. Call me crazy, which Im sure some of you will... but come on. Its life. For all you who are really into Christmas and the spirit of it, sorry if I sound like Scrooge. I do believe I am not alone however which is what gives me the strength to voice my opinion. Ha Ha just kidding. If you know me at all you know I would voice my opinion about it anyway. Hope you all have a good one.

Exclamation!

I just wanted to say, even though I am sure work is going to be extremely slow for the next couple days... I am so very glad to be going back!

Dazed and Confused!

I have suddenly been introduced to a very different way of life for Celeste. In the last week I have been thrown into a world where I am not at work 70 hours a week, in fact I am only scheduled for 24 and its all this weekend.
So what have I been doing with all this extra time you might ask? Well, going crazy pretty much will sum it all up, but for the sake of argument I will expand on my statement. I have rediscovered the art of sleeping in, which in turn throws off my entire day. I have for the last two months been participating in an eating program which requires me to eat every 2 1/2 to 3 hours to keep my metabolism boosted. Well, this whole waking up at almost lunch time really throws off your day.
My younger brother moved back home last week and I was really hoping to spend some quality bonding time with him and get both of us moving since he wants to lose weight because he has plans of getting married in the not so far off future and would like to look like a stud for that, and well, its always something I am trying to work on... but alas, he has spent pretty much every waking minute on his cell phone if not talking to his fiance but texting her... I understand the whole, new love mumbo jumbo... but come on. I try and talk to him even if it is for two seconds and he goes through withdrawls because its my voice and not hers. I won't lie, its quite irritating. So much for bonding with his big sister.
So then I find myself extremely depressed cause my little brother doesn't like me anymore and feeling confused cause I slept for half the day... so then I tend to sit on my butt and eat which doesn't help with my quest to be the skinny beautiful person I am inside my head.
I am actually quite excited to get back to work on Friday, but until then I guess I just need to get re focused on what I am doing.
I watched the finale of The Biggest Loser (a long time favorite show of mine)... Rebecca and Abby... and Shay... oh yeah and Danny (the kid, not the man) were my most favorite people on the whole show this season and just seeing them at the finale was a really good motivator to get my butt back in gear. Thanks guys, I defiantly needed it. Specially since I have hopes of being to my goal weight by April... Eeek! I can do it!... I hope!

Bah Hum Bug!

Life goes by so fast... I have spent most of my time the last while at work. Imagine that! My boss had a baby a couple days before Thanksgiving so I got the pleasure of working the last 2 weeks straight, open to close... Oh Joy!
Actually as tired as I get I am grateful for it cause I need the money. I am however sick of dealing with some of the people. In the last week I have ended up babysitting more kids than helping customers. In fact, I had at least 3 families return to the store the day after Thanksgiving so that their kids could return items that they stole... I have also dealt with my share or deaf men and women from hell.
You know how people say that the holidays are the time for joy and giving and that they bring the best out in everyone... I think whoever said that was on crack or an agoraphobic person cause all of my experiences have told me otherwise. All you have to do is watch the news and listen to people fighting over Christmas gift and or deals on Black Friday... You would think that maybe with the economy in such dire straights that people would go back to the simple things of the holiday season, but I guess not. Oh well. All I know is, I am glad that this season only comes around once a year.

Altered books... here I come!

Well, so far this week I have had 3 days off. It has been very strange, I won't lie, not to be at work all the time. Since I have had the time off I think my body is finally catchin up with itself and I have been kinda sick the last day or so. With the extra time, when I wasn't looking for more work I have been gettin down with my artsy self. I am making what is called an altered book. Its when you take a book that is pretty old and you either add, or subtract to the insides of the book. Generally this is done with ripping pages out, adding pictures, stamps, wire, random stuff and pretty much whatever else you can think of to put on the pages. I am doing one right now that is kind of a collage documentary of the last few years of my life. Haha. So far it is going well and I am enjoying having some time to create. I used to do it all the time but haven't for quite a while. I will have to add some photos of what I have so far, but it wont be today. Hope all is well for everyone out there in the world. Just keep on truckin.

Let Us All Eat Lettuce!

I think this might just be a record for the last while, two days in a row. Ha Ha. Mostly I just wanted to say that my hours have been cut a bit sooner than I anticipated... like 3 weeks sooner... Crazy! Im kind of in panic mode suddenly on trying to pay bills and what not. In fact that kind of leads me to my story for the night. I went to Wal Mart to get some vegetables and other food stuff that I use on a regular basis with this diet that I am doing (which is awesome!). Anyway, I was in line at the check out and was mentally calculating what my purchases SHOULD total because I am on quite a budget and, I won't lie, Im a little obsessed with budgeting things. Anyway, so my total came up and it was about 14 dollars more than I had planned. So I was going back and trying to think what I missed. The kid who was my cashier was trying to rush us all through so he could go on break so I just paid for the stuff and started to leave. I was lookin over my receipt just in case I really did miss something and found that the kid had charged me for not 1, or 2 heads of lettuce... but 11... Ha ha... what am I, a rabbit? I do eat a lot of lettuce, I always have... but not 11 heads of lettuce. Maybe 4 or 5 a week but not 11. Ha Ha. So then I had to go through the whole customer service thing and tell the lady that I got charged for 11 heads of lettuce. She had pretty much the same reaction and actually asked me... what are you? A Rabbit? ha ha. Anyway, so I got that all figured out and it was nice to know that I really hadn't under calculated things. My bubble that was burst has been reconstructed and the world is right, now... well, sorta. ;)

Winds of Change

As sands through the hourglass... these are the days of our lives... Or at least my life. The winds of change are coming... or am I just mistaking that for the winds that seem to blow so frequently in this area at this particular time of the year. Haha. Either way, things are changing. Some for the better and some not so much. Some of the things that are changing for the better are: I am losing weight. Yay. It seems to be a constant battle for me. I have gone up and down so much the last few years I think I have been mistaken for a yo yo. Well, I am back on the decline, thank goodness. I feel like I have found something that finally is working for me and is something I can live with cause anyone who has been there with weight loss knows it is a lifestyle change.
On the other side of the equation however is the not so great things that are coming up. I currently work like a mad woman, but since I do technically work at a seasonal job my hours are going to be cut for the winter. By cut I mean reduced, but by reduced I mean... significantly reduced. I generally pull about 60 hours a week and for the end of December, January and the beginning of February I will be reduced to about 16 hours a week. I am trying to find work for those few months but I also have to be prepared just in case I don't find anything. That is what I am trying to do right now. Get as many of my bills paid and debts paid off or at least ahead that I can right now while I still am makin some money. There always seems to be something but all in all I am content with where I am right now and foresee good things to come... or at least I hope they are good. Haha. Anyway, just givin ya'll an update. Catch ya on the flip side! ;)

Verbal Vomit

I think that I have been given a sign that I just need to keep working. It seems that every time I take a day off something not great happens. A couple weeks ago I took a day off and watched my niece Brooklyn. I ended up with the flu. This last week I took Friday off... my dad ended up going to the ER and I was runnin him around. I swear, something is wrong with this picture. All things considered though things are going fairly well. I can't complain to much. Mostly I just wanted to do a little verbal vomit and let you all know Im still alive and kickin. Hopefully I will have an exciting story for you soon to write about.

September Re Cap!

I know it really has been a while... If I woulda waited much longer it woulda been a whole month since I wrote last. What can I say, um, sorry. Haha. I work a lot, that is my excuse. Actually it isn't really an excuse. Its the truth. I have decided it would be cheaper for me if I just pitched a tent at work and that way I wouldn't have to make the 20 mile drive. Haha, save on gas money anyway. All in all though things are going fairly well even if I do work a lot. I am making headway on all my goals... well, except the losing weight one but I really am try hard on that one and its just not working to my advantage. At least the other ones are going well.

New things in my life: my brother came home from his mission. It has been good to get to see him occasionally. He moved in with my brother and sister in law right after he came home cause he has work up there... so I have only seen him a couple times for a couple hours since he came home. But he seems to be fairly happy and we are all happy he is with us.

Work has stayed busy but with the seasons changing it will slow down. I should still be getting at least part time work from December through February but I don't think it will be quite enough so I am looking for some seasonal part time work. I am glad I have been able to secure myself a pretty decent seat with this company in such a short time. I guess it finally pays to be a complete work-a-holic. In the past 4 months since I started there I went from being the new girl to practically being the manager of the place. I am there more than the owners and I think they like it that way. I don't mind either as long as I get paid. Im seriously hoping though for a raise next season. Not that minimum wage isn't great an all (haha, sense the sarcasm). At least I have a job.

I was lucky enough to get to play Auntie Celeste for my beautiful niece Brooklyn Grace last week... lucky enough that she was sick and in turn got me sick as well. Ha ha. There is that sarcasm again. I do love the little kid though. She is a sweetie and I think she actually kinda likes me. Glad to be feeling better though. I hate being sick, specially being as busy as I am. No Bueno.

Anyway, I know its not really all that exciting but hey, at least its an update. In a nutshell, I am happier now than I have been for quite a while (which is saying something if you actually know me). I am quite proud of myself cause I have come a long way in the last year and I think I have the right to be proud of myself for it. Haha. Anyway, hopefully I will be able to lay down another track of my life here shortly. Have a great day and Y'all come back now Ya'hear!

Quickie!

Howdy Ya'll! Just wanted to post a little update... I know Im neglecting my blogging duties yet again. I must apologize, I have been working about 60 hours a week lately and haven't had much time to think let alone sit at the computer. New things in my life: work, well... the more hours of work anyway. My little brother Derek came home from serving an LDS mission... We are very excited to have him back. Also, got to practice my flat tire changin skills the other night. Always a party! Other than that... nothin new... Same crap- different pile.

I Just Want To Be Healthy

I have noticed that lately my days seem to totally run together. I used to always have something exciting or at least entertaining to talk about... but when you do pretty much the same thing every single day it all kinda blends together. The only thing really of note I even can think of to tell ya'll about is this: The other day I was writing a little journal entry/note to myself. I have had health problems in the past dealing with my insulin. I was diagnosed with insulin resistance which is pretty much the step before insulin dependent diabetes. I was able to lose some weight and get mine into regression so I didn't have to be on medication for it any more. Well, the last year or so has just been one crazy thing after another and needless to say I have gained back all the weight that I lost plus a few pounds (of course). I have just been feeling really crappy lately, having problems with my body hurting all the time, feeling so tired yet not being able to sleep... pretty much the same things that were huge signs the first time around. That with the weight gain that has happened much to rapidly for it to be just inactivity. Anyway, I decided to go have some tests run and see what, if anything was going on. I got my results back the other day and it would seem that I am back in that red zone for insulin resistance. I have to go back on medication and try and get things under control once more. Anyway, this little note to myself basically consisted of me yelling at myself for being so careless with my health and letting myself go, once more... even though honestly some of it was nothing that I could control... its still easier to blame myself. Anyway, I decided that I am going to completely change my outlook and my habits where my health is concerned. I AM going to lose weight... and this time it will be for good. So if over the course of the next few months I mention my success or challenges where my weight is concerned, at least consider this my warning to you all... Wish me Luck!

New Adventures for All!

I know I said I would be better about writing but... life happens. On the plus side, me not writing implies that I have been way to busy to bother with such mundane things.... which in fact is the truth. My job is going well. I have been working a crazy amount of hours... which honestly I don't mind. I am feeling pretty good about where I am at in life. I am no where near where I want to be but at least I'm in a better place than I was. I know for the most part anyone who reads this has no idea what I'm talking about but oh well.
Exciting news! My little brother will be finishing up his LDS Mission in about 3 weeks. I"m super excited to see him. Haven't seen him for two years and was actually out of the country when he left... so my goodbye was over the phone.... (which by the way cost me like 40 US bucks for a 10 min phone call... I'm not bitter though ;)...) It will be good to have him back home... even though his home now is different than when he left since we lived in Richmond UT at the time and are now in St. George UT. New adventures for all. It will be fabulous! Anyway, just needed to drop a line... fulfill my blogging duties. Peace Out Holmes!

Its Evolution Baby!

I have been doing a bit of reflecting on my life the last little while... seems that I tend to do this every 6 months or so, not that its a bad thing. I do it in hopes to better myself and my situation. Generally I look at the usual factors, I need to lose weight and make more money and although those things are constantly on my list of thing to do, I actually do have others. In looking at my life I see all the things that are chaotic, but then again I am a perfectionist and like to have things planned out. I have come to realize a few things over the last few years.... Life just happens. You may have the best plan in the whole world but something is always gonna happen to throw you off track, its inevitable. I have come to accept the crappy things in life and try to embrace them as best as I can. I still have a tendency to complain but I think for the most part my outlook is fairly good. My whole point in all of this is that everything happens for a reason and it makes us who we are and who we are supposed to be. I know that things are tough for a lot of people right now, myself and my family included... yet I know that it is gonna make us all stronger and better people having gone through it all. Its part of what has made out society evolve in the past. I just hope that anyone who reads this, if there is anyone who reads this, can feel hope from the words I have to say... Good luck to all of you and keep smiling cause it really does help, trust me!

Bummbleberry Inn

Hey Ya'll! Just wanted to let you know I got a job. I am working up at Zion National Park. The place I work for is called the Bummbleberry Inn. They have and inn, a gift shop and bakery. They used to have a restaurant but they sold it. I work in the gift shop and bakery part. I like it, its nothing to difficult. I mostly serve bakery goods and ring up random trinkets that people from all around the world pay way to much for... but hey, its all in the spirit of travel and tourism right? Its not much of a job but at least it is one. I am very grateful that I was able to find one and it happened just in time too. Just wanted to keep all my fans posted on my goings on. I haven't died...

Its a Duesy!

Today is one of the day's people wait around all year for... The 4th of July! Yahoo! Usually my 4th of July's consist of participating in the Cache Valley Cruise in, which totally rocks. The cruise in is a time honored tradition. I have been participating in it for about 13 years of my life. This is the only year so far that I haven't been in Cache Valley, Logan to be more precise, to participate. With that in mind, all you people who are able to go... please take pictures for me! Make sure you also enjoy every min of it... even the part of the parade that happens before the sun sets... you know when your trying to look at the cars as they drive by and all you can see is blinding bright sunlight... Sorry, I am having sentimental moments about beautiful cars... its just how I roll. I think that last year was prob one of my favorite Cruise In years... I got to see a car that is VERY rare, it is one of my all time favorites. I took so many pictures of it, you woulda thought we were long lost lovers. So what is this car you may be wondering? It is a Duesenberg! It was awesome. Anyway, I need to wipe up the puddle of drool that I just made, so I will go. I just wanted to wish you all a happy 4th of July. Enjoy your time with your families and going to the parades and eating salt water taffy and doing whatever else you do on this particular day.

Search for the Holy Grail... or at least... a Job!

Man! I have been horrible with this blogging thing lately. I made it through our family reunion. It only took about 3 days to catch up on the sleep I missed, imagine that. My family is crazy and I love them. My grandmother found out at the reunion that her prescious grand daughter (that is me!) had a tattoo and is a devil child. Haha, she will prob get over it. To be honest, there wasn't anything major that went on at the reunion that is worth informing the world about. I just chilled with my peeps...
Since the reunion, my quest for employment has continued. I went to a job interview, it was for a chiropractors office. Turned out to be a group interview, me and about 40 other people. Yahoo. We ended up kind of doing this speed date type interview process. I thought it was completely retarded. How are you really gonna find out if you wanna hire someone if you talk to them for 1 min.... Well, apparently one min was long enough for them to realize they didn't wanna hire me... Even though I am freakin Awesome! I have applied for so many jobs its insane. I don't even remember all of them to be honest. Something will break sooner or later Im sure. Or at least we can hope.
I finally broke down and created a facebook page. My brother Clarke was making one cause his wife wanted him to and he told me I should make one as well. I finally did it. Since then, I have realized that I am one of the ONLY people out of most of the ones I know that is not married and or having kids. Its just insane. Even people that I didn't think were the marrying type are now hitched. So either Im a really big loser, or else Im the only smart one in the bunch. Hahaha. You can decide. Anywho, I am gonna jet! Live long and prosper!

Change of Plans

I know it has been a while since I wrote anything. I figured I should prob update y'all on the goings on of my life. I was suddenly let go from my nanny job in Louisiana. So in the 15 min that it took them to explain the situation to me my life was completely turned upside down, yet again. I am back in Utah, occupying the world of the unemployed. I am looking for a job and not finding anything to terribly promising.
Right after I came home I decided to visit my brother and sister in law up in Logan, Utah. That is where my roots are even though I am currently in St. George, Utah. Anyway, while I was there I was able to go to an air show that was hosted at Hill Air force Base. It was pretty cool actually to get to see all the different kinds of planes and watch them fly and oh yeah... get completely sunburned. Ya know, I really don't mind so much the sunburn part but when it peels... its nasty. I feel like something you would see in a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon... Anyway, my trip to Logan ended up being shorter than I had anticipated. I was going to be visiting a guy up there whom I had been seeing (well, as much seeing as you can do when you live a few states away). Things didn't end up working out so much in that area. You don't wanna know what happened, trust me.
Needless to say, not only am I jobless, directionless, broke... I'm also man-less... which may or may not be a bad thing depending on who you talk to. Anyway, This week is my family reunion so we are going to be having tons of people at our pad for the weekend. Should be good times. My family is crazy and I love them, the only thing missin is my little brother... I miss you Derek! Anyway, I will try and be better about writing in this here blog even though I only got it to document my nanny days... I guess this will just be a new chapter since my nanny days were cut short.

A Day in the Life, Well... Two Actually!

Hey ya'll. Sorry it has been a little while, yet again, since I wrote. I have had a few things happen the last week that I figured might be worth sharing. I should have wrote about them separately but oh well, sometimes it just doesn't happen that way. This last Sunday we had a visitor, Gail and Michael's grandson came to visit. Conveniently enough, his name is also Michael. Little Michael is what they call him, even though he isn't really all that little, he actually just graduated from high school. Anyway, he got to enjoy a day in Celeste's world. We played with Eryn outside all day. We did everything from try to fly kites (which there really wasn't enough wind for that, but try telling that to an excited 5 year old) to catching lizards. That is one thing that there is plenty of here in Louisiana. It isn't uncommon for me to sit out on the deck and be visited by 3 or 4 lizards. They come out and sit by me, they stare for a bit trying to decide whether Im a friend or foe...then they run off. Anyway, I took some pictures of our day together. You are prob thinking, finally, some different pictures. Haha.
Anyway, so the other thing that I wanted to mention to the masses is this... let me set the stage. Last night, Gail and Mike decided that they were going to go to a movie. They needed to get out of the house for a bit and I wasn't gonna complain cause to tell you the truth, I needed some time without them as well. Anyway, part of Eryn and I's routine when we are alone together at night is that I put her in the tub and she plays and then she gets ready for bed. Sounds easy enough right? Well, last night I put her in the tub. She was happily playing with her growing assortment of bath toys ( she adds new ones almost every night, I think she is up to like 30 toys). I happened to get a phone call and so I stepped away for a moment to tell the caller that I would call them back in a few minutes. After hanging up the phone I turned back to Eryn just in time to catch her in the process of going poop in the tub and then proceeding to pick it up... play with it... and then put it in the toilet which is right next to the tub.... Ok, now in my mind Im thinking.... uh, what the heck?!? You are 5 years old, you should know better. There is something wrong with this picture.... but what actually came out of my mouth was more to the tune of.... Eryn, you get out of the bath tub right now.... why did you go poop in the tub instead of getting out and using the toilet. She really didn't want to get out of the tub because she wasn't done playing... but since she prob thinks Im a mean nanny anyway, I made her get out. I wasn't about to let her continue playing in water in which she just shat.... Anyway, needless to say the bath tub and all the tub toys have now been soaked in bleach and hopefully she learned that it is soooo not cool to use the tub as a latrine. Anyway, has been the goings on of the week in my world... I hope to be better at keeping you guys all updated. Sorry there is not picture of the floating log.

A'hoy Matey

As you all know, life is full of ups and downs... sometimes your even being thrown sideways and diagonally, but through it all, there are two options: 1. to give up, and never make anything better. Or 2. do what ever you can to make things better and just keep pressing on. If any of you know me really well then you know the last few years in my life have been full of changes and challenges and I would like to think that I am becoming a master at the 2nd option. I really don't believe its even any competition when it all comes down to it. I have drive, and I wanna make things the best I can. In the end, if they still suck, at least I know I did everything in my power to change things and I can be happy with what I have accomplished. Some of you may be wondering why in the world I am being so sentimental and reflective (even though its been known to happen from time to time). Well, I'm not going to go into specifics, but lets just say that things in my life have yet again taken and interesting turn (for better or worse has yet to be determined). Through it all, I'm hoping that all parties involved will be able to come to an understanding and be happy with the outcome. I really didn't want to make my blog a outlet for venting so I will shut up now. I just wanted to let y'all know I'm still alive... On a happier note, it is beautiful here. Gail's older son Tim has been staying here for the last week because he is trying to get moved into a place not far from here. It has been nice having another person around who isn't exactly in the thick of everything that goes on here in the house. I was feeling really stir crazy yesterday cause lets face it, I don't get out much unless I'm taking Eryn to or from school. I asked Tim to take me somewhere to get a drink (dad, I have cut down on the soda a lot! Thank you very much! haha jk). He took me around a town called Mandeville that is just a couple miles away from where I am in Covington. You know, I feel bad that I haven't been able to go exploring more because it really it beautiful here. I love pretty much everything about it, so far... even the humidity sometimes. Tim took me down to Lake Pontchartrain and was telling me how back in the day, a really long time ago that pirates actually would come here to Lake Pontchartrain to hide out. I thought that was great. I got to see a bunch of Yatch clubs and hear some good stories. I really enjoyed my time (Eryn free) with him. If any of you ever get a chance to come here and visit, please do. I really don't think you will regret it.

Secret Stashing Place

Nothing to exciting has happened this week. I had my first day alone, completely alone, in a month. I didn't even get to spend it doing anything fun, I just did a bunch of paper work. I was completely bummed out about it, I won't lie. Haha. Anyway, So, Eryn has come up with this new thing she likes to do. She likes to hide her shoes. She isn't allowed to wear sandals at her Pre- school because of the gravel so she has to wear sneakers. She has been in this I don't wanna go to school mode lately so she has been hiding her shoes. Finally after 3 days of looking high and low for them, we finally found her hiding place. She found the key to one of her parents filing cabinets and has been locking away her shoes in there... sneaky child. Anyway, at least we didn't have to take her shoes shopping and now we know her dirty little secret. Haha. Its quite clever actually, once you get past the whole being annoyed with her for it part. Well, hopefully this next week brings with it some exciting adventures. Wouldn't want life to slow down any would we.

Me, do accounting???

Today has been a long day. I have been helping Mike do a lot of data entry work. His accountant died and left a lot of things unfinished, as a result he has to re-do his 2007 and 2008 taxes... or more like, I have to do his taxes. I didn't realize I was going to need a degree in accounting to be a nanny. Oh well... I better at least get brownie points for this. On a more exciting note, I am working with Gail to set up a business. She used to teach interior design and a few colleges and has wanted to set up her own institute. She has been having me help her and wants me to continue helping her as a part of her company. Which is pretty awesome, I won't lie. She is going to launch her courses by doing it online first and then she is going to actually open an institute and hold classes. Its pretty exciting. We finished her website last night, its up and running. If any of you wanna check it out its at http://www.masterdesignersinc.com . I am going to be working on getting some ads posted for it so people can sign up and get started with their courses. Its pretty cool. I'm excited. Life is constantly changing!

Mothers Day!

Today the family that I am working with decided that we were all going to go out to dinner to celebrate Mothers Day. Dining out is something that I don't do very often so I always feel awkward when going to fancy places to eat. This particular place is an old plantation home that has been converted to a bed and breakfast/restaurant. It was a very pretty building. It was a very interesting and long dinner. We were accompanied by a friend of the family who happens to be a very smart and well known scientist. You know how things go when you talk to people who naturally think on a higher brain wave than most human kind? Well, usually the jabber is accompanied by a glazing of the eyes cause the subject matter is only understood by very few people that somehow manage to keep the conversation going while the rest of us sit there hoping that food will come so that their mouths will be occupied long enough for your brain to stop hurting. Well, imagine having dinner with a couple people like that. Lets just say that it was a very long 2 hour lunch. Although the building was extremely beautiful, you would think that for 60 bucks a person that the food would have been better. The redeeming quality of my day however occurred after dinner. We all came back home from the restaurant and I received a phone call from my younger brother who is serving a LDS mission in Nebraska. I know to some that talking to their family isn't exactly a highlight... but for me it is. My younger brother Derek just happens to be my favorite person on the planet! I was so excited to be able to chat with him for a while and am super excited that he will be done with his mission in just a few months. I love you Derek! Also, since it is Mothers Day, I will give a shout out to my mom.... YO MOMMY! I love you!

Quack! Quack!

Have you ever been scared of something silly? Something like water, or flowers or for the sake of my story... ducks? Well.... I believe that after yesterday I have completely traumatized Eryn into being utterly afraid of ducks. Why you may ask?! After I picked Eryn up from Pre-school yesterday I decided that it would be fun to go down to the pond and feed the ducks. This is something that both Eryn and I have done before with no problems and she really likes doing it. Down at this pond there are ducks and fish and lots of turtles. (that is my favorite part, the turtles). Anyway, So I grabbed some pieces of bread and we went to the pond to feed the ducks. When we got there, there were a lot of ducks. I haven't seen that many ducks down there before so it surprised me greatly. Eryn was so excited cause there were a lot of them and she had bread for them all to eat. So we proceeded to start feeding the ducks. These must have been some pretty hungry ducks though. They were really big too. They actually were about as tall as Eryn is. We were trying to throw the bread into the water for them cause they were walking around on the grass and we thought if we threw the bread in the water they would go in the water.... the small ones took the hint but the big giant ducks wanted their food and they wanted it NOW. They proceeded to chase us all over the place because we had bread and they knew it was for them. Eryn started to cry and I had to pick her up and run with her because she was to scared. Needless to say, it will prob be a little bit before we decide to feed the ducks again. This experience however did not deter Eryn from playing with her rubber duckies in the bath tub last night so maybe her prejudice won't be against all ducks.... just the living kind. :)

You know your lazy when!

I just did something that I am slightly ashamed of yet... I'm definately not going to lose sleep over it. Haha. I was getting ready to brush my teeth, and rather than getting out my toothpaste I used Eryn's Dora the Explorer toothpaste.... so I guess you know your lazy when.... Haha.

Reaching out to the Masses! - That means YOU!

Have any of you ever been in a situation with anyone, whether its children or grown people, where there is one person who seems to play everyone against each other? Well, that is what I am going through right now with Eryn. Her mother returned from Poland on Sunday and ever since then it has been crazy. Everything that I worked with her on during the two weeks her mom was gone has pretty much gone right out the window. She won't let me help her with anything and she keeps throwing tantrums which in my opinion are completely unacceptable. I know that she is just really excited to have her mom home and she wants to spend time with her, which I understand. But there has definitely been more to her clingy-ness. I need to have a little sit down with the parents and we need to come up with some rules that we can all live with that will best help Eryn in the long run. If there actually is anyone who reads my blog, and you happen to have some advice on this matter... Please let me know. Comment, or email me or something. I would be interested to know what your take on it is.

Congrats Clarke!

So, one of the draw backs about being a nanny is that you end up missing your own family. I am one of those independent chicks who when Im home can't wait to get aways. However, when I am away I really actually do miss my home. This weekend was kinda rough. Week two in Louisiana. Thank goodness Im still alive. Haven't been washed out by rain or drowned by the humidity, not even eaten by the strange bugs here. (strange compared to Utah) Anyway, My older brother Clarke who just so happens to be one of my favorite people on the planet, graduated from Utah State University this last weekend. I was so happy for him. It hasn't been easy for him to go to school, work full time, and support him, his wife and their new baby. As proud as I am for him I have to admit, I was feeling a bit selfish this weekend and got really homesick because my family was all up in Logan with my brother and I was stuck here in Louisiana. However I guess that is one of the sacrifices that I decided were going to be worth it when I took this job. I am so excited for my brother though, he is going to be starting his masters program in just a week or so and I know that he has been blessed with the opportunities that he is being able to take part in. I wish him the best of luck and want him to know that I love him and miss him.

Tub Time

Alright, I figured I should give all y'all a little background info on the family that I am working for as a nanny, since most of my posts will likely be about crazy things that go on with them and myself. Like I said before I am in Louisiana. I am working with one little girl who just turned 5, her name is Eryn. She is a cute little kid, very smart, and always on the go like most kids her age are. Her parents names are Michael and Gail . I am also helping take care of Gail's mother Ruby. Gail and Michael are in their mid 60's and 5 years ago decided to adopt this little girl. In my honest opinion I'm not quite sure what they were thinking and I kinda wonder if they feel the same way. Haha. They are great people though and love her dearly. The biggest problem they have come up against is that they both have very demanding careers. Gail developed a program on promoting teen abstinence for the state of Louisiana and as a result is often out of the country. She is currently in Poland teaching a seminar. Michael is Vice President of a large company and travels as well. So basically they either have to take Eryn with them or leave her with someone. She usually travels with them, or at least with Gail however sometimes it just isn't an option. Because of this life style Eryn has been treated like an adult in many ways and hasn't really learned how to be a kid. She doesn't know a lot of things that 5 years old children know so we are working on kinda reprogramming her way of thinking. I am hoping I can do some good and already have some wacky stories about my time with her, which at this point is only 8 days. HAHA. I wanted to share our latest experience with you all. It occurred last night, which was April 27. I was trying to get Eryn washed up and ready for bed ( bedtime is very new for her. She has been allowed to stay up till 2 am or later). We were having bath time in her parents bath tub which just so happens to be very nice is complete with jets. After washing her hair and what not I usually let her play for a few min and then we get out. While she was playing I went to put her shampoo away and when I came back she immediately turned on the jets. Now, this doesn't seem like it would be to bad of an idea, however the level of water in the tub was low enough that the jets were not completely submerged...the result.... water spraying EVERYWHERE. I was completely soaked from head to foot. I was scrambling trying to find which button she used to turn the jets on with. I was a bit confused by this since I have never had the luxury of a jetted tub. After finally getting the jets turned off I looked like I had pretty much just jumped in the tub with the kid. There was water and bubbles dripping off pretty much every surface possible. Needless to say, Eryn and I both learned valuable lessons last night. Eryn learned not to turn on the jets and I learned that we are going to be having bath time in just a regular ol tub from now on. I laugh about it now however I didn't find it quite as amusing last night. Well, I gotta go get Eryn from Pre -School now. Stay tuned y'all for some more crazy stories.

So, I finally broke down and decided to create a blog. If you know me at all, you all know I have been against the whole blog/myspace/facebook craze... so what made me break down and finally create a blog of my own you may ask??? Well, I recently accepted a job as a traveling nanny for a family who lives in Covington, Louisiana. Covington is a small town about 20 minutes outside of New Orleans. Even though I am currently staying in Louisiana I will most likely be traveling all over the world and decided a blog may be a good way for my friends and family to keep track of me while I galavant all over the place. Haha. I will most likely share some crazy stories and keep you informed of my thoughts ( just in case you wanna hear them). I hope you all enjoy it... oh and.... Hold on to your Butts!