Utah or Utah! There will be no bust!

So, If everything has gone as planned, while you are reading this, I am driving the 14 + or - hours to Provo, Utah. While I am there, here is a list of things I may or may not do.

• Eat at the BYU creamery.
• Take a day to visit all the temples in the Wasatch Front + Logan.
• Go to Las Vegas.
• Stalk Donny Osmond.
• Go swimming at various apartment complex swimming pools that we break into.
• Eat at Sammies
• Take hundreds of pictures.
• Write a few blog posts.
• Hike the Y.
• Whatever we feel like we want to do. Gosh!

Awkward and Awesome

Awkward:

• Anna singing 'I'm a loser baby, so why don't you kill me.'
• Trying to come up with this list.
• I'm growing my hair out - for real this time. 
• All those weird haircuts I have to get so that I look like an orphan.

Awesome:

• Nicole being at Girl's Camp. I miss her like crazy but I know she's having a great time!
• Bananas with Nutella.
• I'm almost packed for Utah. FOUR more days!
• I finished my quilt along quilt - machine quilted and binding included. Nicole took it to camp with her so I didn't get a picture, but I'll post one after it's home and washed.
• I'm working on a a couple other blankets that are starting to take form and I love them mucho.
• Musicals. 
• Matthew bought a snorkel the other day and he's been taking long baths. hmm.
• My phone died but a friend of ours is letting me use one of their old ones until I can get a new one on August 13th. {I still don't know what kind of phone I want.}

Awkward and Awesome:

Ken and his brothers. Can you guess which one is awkward? Here's a hint: Trying to be a rockette and wearing socks with his sandals.

Happy Birthday Heather!

Happy Birthday to my sister Heather! Today she is 37.

Here are two fun facts about Heather.

• She is currently in school for her master's in education.
• She knows how to throw a great party.

Happy Birthday Heather! I love you.

Bless Your Heart

I'm seriously enjoying this phrase way too much. These have happened since my last BYH post, but you can't really say it right to their face. Instead I'll put it on the internet for the whole world to read. Bless My Heart. (ps, this will not be a regular post like good idea-bad idea or awkward and awesome. I really try not to be this rude all the time.

I think you're high on your meds, bless your heart.

When Matthew went to scout camp, all his socks were wool knee highs and he only packed shorts. Bless his heart.

Anna is teaching herself how to walk backwards. She is constantly running into things. Bless her heart.

It took you over 3 hours to make that 2 hour drive. You're not so good with a map, bless your heart.

The clerk at Value Village that I went to yesterday was slow enough that her partner checked 7 customers out while she rang up my juicer. Bless her heart, I don't think she could have moved slower if she wanted to.

Bless my heart, I like saying Bless your heart with a southern accent.

Bless my heart, I have a crumby southern accent.

Have a good day! I hope it is blessed.

Memory Monday

Nicole is going to Girl's Camp tomorrow. I'm excited for her and little bit jealous. You see, Girl's Camp is the happiest place on earth. I'd pick it over Disneyland everyday of the week, even in the pouring down rain. In honor of her upcoming week of awesomeness, I will dedicate MM to my girl's camp memories.

First Year:

• I was in Bremerton 3rd ward.
• It was the first time I'd ever been away from home for more than a slumber party.
• I learned how to make scrunchies.
• We sniffed lemonade. {It makes the inside of your nose sticky.}
• I got along better with the 3rd and 4th years than the other 1st years. (I was even more annoying awkward than I am now.
• We were the only cabin with electricity because my friend Anna had to use a nebulizer at night.
• I almost drowned in the lake and a life guard saved me.
• I did the polar dip everyday.
• I learned some of the best songs ever written! (I heart me some camp songs.)

Second Year:

• I was in Silverdale 3rd ward.
• We had some of the best leaders ever and one really mean one.
• I got over 100 mosquito bites.
• I didn't learn how to swim but stayed closer to the beach.
• It was the first time I felt the spirit at a testimony meeting.
• I did the polar dip every morning.
• I memorized all the colors that go along with the YW Values.
• We lip synced to 'So Long, Farewell' from the sound of music and when the girl asked if she could 'stay and taste her first champaine' Bishop Vail said no and Berkley dumped water on him.

Third Year:

• Silverdale 3rd again.
• 3rd years slept in a tent, the rest of the ward slept in the TeePee.
• I hated the tent so much I slept on the ground in the TeePee.
• I did the polar dip every morning.
• In the Silverdale Stake, all the 3rd years got 'named.' Because I braided almost every girls' hair into 1 or 20 braids that week, my camp name was 'Vidal.' I still love that!
• I learned 'The Princess Pat.' (Matthew learned that song at OPI last month and was shocked that I knew it.)

Fourth Year:

• Silverdale 2nd ward.
• 1st and 2nd years were in one cabin, 3rd and 4th years were in another.
• I signed up for a boat race. Elizabeth Graves was my partner and we won first place.
• We drank 3 cases of Diet Pepsi and had many a burping contest.
• I don't think I did the polar dip one time. All the enthusiasm for that activity slept in a different cabin. We just slept in.
• There was a bead you could earn if you memorized all the scriptures that went along with the YW Values. I earned that bead.

Of course these are only a few of the things I took from Girl's Camp. But my love is strong and my testimony of Girl's Camp is that is a powerful tool to help girls figure out who they are and gain their testimony. Experiences happen there that can't take place anywhere else on earth and they are irreplaceable. 

I'm going to miss my girl like crazy but I know she'll be having a great time.

Quilt along, Dedra style.

To some a quilt along means taking your time while you do a little bit of a project, every week for 10 or so weeks. You work along side other people doing the same project.  To me a quilt along means get the idea from a super talented lady then make it my own and make it quickly because I know I don't have the attention span to spread it out over 10 weeks. Plus I'm going on vacation in NINE DAYS!

So here is my finished quilt top.It's a lap quilt measuring 60x72. The 36 patch blocks are 2 1/2 inch squares and the 4 patch at 7 inch squares. Anna told it me it only took 5 minutes. She is smart. 

I'll quilt and bind it soon and post pictures.

Things I want to see but know I probably never will.

This post is dedicated to my Kansas bestie, Linda. I love her and miss her and she gave me this idea - the genius that she is. ps Linda, I can't find that dress. I am lame.

So Linda was watching an episode of Martha Stewart (not on purpose) and the guest made a sandwich that looked absolutely horrible. But what did Martha say? Oh! That looks go delicious blah blah blah. What did we want her to say?! OMGsh! That looks absolutely disgusting! There is no way I'm putting that in my mouth! Bring me a chocolate pie.

You get it? See what I mean? Linda is a genius!

Another bestie from Kansas, the Drapers. Oh how I love and miss them! We had them over to watch General Conference once and we met at the church building to watch it a few times. One time Ken, Ben and I were talking about the talks. Just once during testimony meeting we wanted to hear something along the lines of: 'I loved conference so much! That talk by Elder Holland made me think of Sister_____________.She really needs to study that one and work on  _________________.' But alas, I will probably never hear/see that.

Also in testimony meeting, Linda and I would like to hear someone say they had a crappy week and didn't really learn much of anything. We've all had weeks like that! Luckily for us, we also live in wards where they know it's not really 'open mike Sunday' most of the time. heh.

I'm still thinking about this topic, so this is part one. Feel free to add your 'wish' in the comment section. Be kind though. I reserve the right to delete comments.

Post about absolutely nothing.

I'm in a funk. I didn't have enough fodder for a good idea-bad idea post and I'm lacking in the awkward and awesome subject also. That being said, I'm going to finish my quilt. I made 18 more blocks this morning of a different pattern. I've never been really good at following directions or patterns in a the sewing world anyway.

Here is a picture for your viewing pleasure. The other night we played 'scum.' I told everyone to go into their rooms and bring back a prop that someone would have to wear. yeah-that was a bad idea.

okay, that's all.

15 more blocks done!

and for my next trick, I will go to bed. It's 7 minutes to midnight and I hope to be asleep before it gets here. Good  night!

She's ready to go out on the town!

A Quilt Along

I have joined my first quilt along from this website. You should join also. We are only on week two, so there is plenty of time to catch up. Plus she is taking it really slow.

Here is the fabric I've selected for my quilt - all from my stash. NOTHING new purchased.

 Here are my first 3 quilt blocks. 

33 more to go! Come join to fun.

A new hobby

Nicole and I have taken a break from doing puzzles to create jewelry. Here are some things we've made in the last week. My beads are almost gone and we won't be buying anymore - a girl only needs so many pairs of earrings - but we've been having a lot of fun with this project.

Nicole made these:

 Matthew made these for his Sunday School teacher:

I made these:

Memory Monday

4th Grade

• I turned 10.
• I wore a poodle skirt for Halloween.
• I went to Dundee Elementary in Dundee, OR.
• My Teacher was Mr. Hansen and I had reading in Mrs. Comfort's class.
• You know the one kid in your class that had hygiene problems and had trash protruding from his desk? I had to sit at his desk during reading.
• Dana broke her arm and had write with her left hand. Out of sympathy I decided to write with my left hand too. She was praised, I missed recess.
• My bff was Jenny and my arch nemesis was Esther.
• I ate a lot of Baby Ruth candy bars.
• I learned how to make fortune tellers.
• Our field trip was riding the Sternwheeler.
• Three days before school was out we moved out of our house and into our 16 foot camper for the summer because the house we were renting was sold.
• I experienced girl drama for the first time. I wasn't sure why we couldn't all be friends.
• Garen and Adam went to my school. This is notable because there is a large enough gap between Heather and me as well and Garen and me that I only went to school with siblings for 3 years of my whole school career. 3rd, 4th and 5th grade. Garen and I would have gone to HS together if Olympic was a 4 year school but alas, freshmen went to Ridgetop.
• I loved working in the cafeteria but disliked distributing the milk.
• Micheal Jackson, Thriller.
• Thundercats are GO! (Thank you Kate for the reminder)
• Full House and the Cosby Show
• I learned the word 'determined' when I was asked to give an impromptu talk in primary. My teacher found a shot story in his primary manual that I was to read. I practiced over and over and couldn't remember that word for the life of me. Four or five times I had to ask how to pronounce it. I pronounced it debter-mined. My teacher was kind and patient and kept helping me with it. I needed help with that word when I gave the talk too but I finally got it right when we had it for a spelling word later in the year. I was determined! or debter-mined. Which ever.
• I learned how to make friendship bracelets
• I found my inner poet. {I think I missed recess for that too. Swear words rhyme with a lot of other words.}
• I learned how to cross stitch.
• I learned how to use the curling iron correctly. No more turning the barrel the wrong way resulting in awkward bends in the bangs. Don't laugh - you did it too.
• I learned about the YW Personal Progress program and the Gospel in Action program. I was determined to achieve both.
• I ate cheese whiz for the first time. Bleh.
• It was another good year.

Happy Birthday Anna!

Happy Birthday to my little lady lou, Anna! She is 5 years old today!

Anna has been in our family for exactly 8 months today and I love her so much. Here some fun facts about our Anna Banana with a Cherry on top:

She LOVES playing with her cousin, Kaylee.

 She loves having her picture taken and is a great poser.

 Anna loves water and the sprinkler. This picture was taken at the fountain in Seattle Center.

 She's a dancer!

 Snow is her favorite

 She likes to get dressed up to go to the store with Ken.

Everyday is the Best. Day. Ever.

Happy Birthday Anna! I love you.

For fear that I've offended someone...or a lot of someones...

Okay. We know I don't like cats. Kind of the understatement of the century. BUT, I'd rather have a cat than a snake. or a rat. or cockroaches. I think there are other people who may feel the same way.

Just because I feel that way doesn't mean I don't like you. It doesn't mean I don't want you to have cats. It doesn't mean I won't let my kids like cats. It does mean we won't have one in our home.

Also, my feelings for cats did not show up over night and it is not out of fear-like my hatred for snakes. TERRIFIED!

I loved cats when I was a little girl. In 2nd grade my friend's cat had kittens and I went to her house everyday after school for 2 months instead of going straight home (both my parents worked) so I could pet the kittens-and be scratched. Sometimes our feelings, likes and dislikes change.

My dislike of them comes from all the hair I've picked up on my clothing from hanging out at friends' houses who had them, the horrible smell they left in a house I lived in when I was 10-12 in McMinnville, OR and the fleas I've been bitten by which cats were carrying. This is just the beginning.

I know cats are God's creations and he loves them and they are useful. We had 3 cats when we lived in Kansas and they were AWESOME mousers. Speedbump was my favorite but he got run over by a car. (Self fulfilling prophesy.)

While we had those cats I gave 'liking them' a try.

• I let them in the house and they went straight to scratching my furniture. Shunned.
• I sat outside and petted speedbump. The feel of his fur gave me the same feeling as being claustrophobic. I had a hard time breathing-but not like an allergic reaction.
• When their 'motors' ran, I found the sound kind of annoying.
• They pooped in my flower beds.
• We got rid of the last 2 shortly before we moved back to WA.

The conclusion I came to was that I just don't like cats. I like you! I like that you like cats. {bless your heart.}

If it makes you feel any better, I also hate squirrels and lizards. and SNAKES.

Lets be friends. I'm not going to do anything to your cat. I don't want to hurt any animal. I won't even kick it when you're not looking. I do have a heart.

If you want, I'll even make your cat a sleeping bag like this one... Sewing? I LOVE sewing!!

friends?

Stuff and Things

Quote: Bagpipe players have to wear kilts or they just look weird.

A couple years ago I had a mean cough that was not going away. Ken had some leftover cough syrup with codeine in it so I decided to give it a try. I'd never had codeine, can't take many of the good pain killers (Percocet, Morphine, Vicodin...) and I was a little nervous to try this new to me drug, but I was desperate. So I took a swig of the stuff then went to enrich, influence and shape young minds. Because I've never been drunk or even had a drink of alcohol, I can't say the juice made me that way for sure, but I know it made me tipsy. I couldn't walk straight and I was slurring my speech. Story time that day was a treat for my coworker, Kim. She was laughing like crazy and the book I was reading was not that funny. About 4 hours into the school day the meds wore off and the cough came back. I took another dose. Same results as the first time only I had to teach math. Not a successful day teaching, but I didn't cough much. I took the meds periodically until the bottle was gone - there was about 4 ounces left - in the evenings after I got home from work and my cough went away.

Three diet cokes at a late dinner = not falling asleep until 2 in the morning and heart palpitations in the morning. I did wake up laughing though.

Slobber makes me dry heave. I can't handle it. It's too gross.

{here comes a complaint} I don't like the word 'deal' when it is used in respect to raising children. When I was in cosmetology school, {Yes, I was in cosmetology school. Yes, I'm a beauty school dropout. blah blah blah} we were taught you pluck chickens, you tweeze eyebrows. You wash socks and shampoo hair. I think of the word deal in the same regard. I don't deal with my children. I take care of them, occasionally I have to handle something, and a lot of times redirection is needed. No specific person is coming to my mind as I write this, it's just been on my mind a lot lately and since this is my blogdango, I am writing it here. The End. Anyone else need a soapbox?

Ken sings songs to me in obnoxious voices and messes up the words on purpose. (Bless his heart.) He likes to tick me off...and make me laugh.

I'm scared of cemeteries.

I am fun * (awesome - lame) * awesome again. It's math. Look it up.

The End.

Awkward and Awesome

Awkward:

• Ken and I had to opportunity to go to a reception last week to meet the mission president for the Washington Tacoma Mission. Bishops, Stake Presidencies, High Counselors and Ward Mission Leaders were all invited. We felt very out of place.
• I started a sentence to Nicole just now, paused to do something and went back to talk to her and now I have no idea what I was even going to say to her.
• Yesterday I couldn't keep my hair out of my eyes so I finally put all my bangs in a ponytail. Suffice to say, Anna could have done a better job. I will call that look orphan chic. sans chic.

Awesome:

• This week I get to spend the days with just my girls because Matthew is at scout camp until Saturday.
• The new WA TAC Mission President and his wife.
• We  ate broccoli out of our garden.
• Nicole got her Patriarchal Blessing last night. I'm humbled by how good she it.
• The word sans. I heart it.
• My life. It's going pretty well right now. I hope this doesn't curse it.

Awkward and Awesome:  I can't stop laughing at this!

Happy Birthday Kyle!

Happy Birthday to my little brother Kyle! He is 22 years old today.

Here are two fun facts about Kyle.

• He LOVES film and movie making and has made a few short films.
• He's a good uncle to my kids.

Happy Birthday Kyle! I love you!

Bless Your Heart {Better than 'Here's Your Sign'}

Did you know you can say anything you want to a person if you follow up with Bless Your Heart? No, it's true! I've heard it explained before and thought it was hilarious. I've heard Ken say it time and again to people he met through funerals when they share TMI at Target or Fred Meyer, but my brother Ryan just figured it out and wrote a blog post about it. Since many of my ideas are actually liberated from other people, I too have decided to write a post about it. Here are some real life things that have happened, that I coulda/shoulda/woulda said bless your heart, if I'd thought of it.  NOTE TO SELF...

• Look at that mullet your mama just gave you, bless your heart.
• OR, You got a haircut, bless your heart.
• Looks like you're wearing more food on your shirt than you were able to eat, bless your heart.
• That's the 3rd time you've fallen down that step today, bless your heart.
• Wow, you really can't sing at all, bless your heart.
• I like your blog, bless your heart.
• You ran that mile in just over 20 minutes, bless your heart.
• Thank you for bearing your testimony, bless your heart.
• You can't play with my kids because you're really naughty, bless your heart.
• Comment: I spent 3 hours at the welfare office this afternoon and then they ended up cutting me welfare benefits. Response: Bless your heart for staying the whole 3 hours.
• Comment: No matter what I do, that cat just keeps peeing on my rug. I'd get rid of him if I didn't love him so much. Response: Bless your heart for not drowning him in a trash can!

This one is made up, but my favorite.

• You're Ryan's Sister? Bless your heart.

Okay, you get the point. I need to start saying bless your heart!

Happy Birthday Nicole!

Today is Nicole's birthday. She is 13 years old. I'm not sure how I got old enough to have a 13 year old, but here I am and she is beautiful.

Here are some facts about my Nicole Roylance Cheney:

Nicole loves the beach but not the ocean.

 She likes having her picture taken but doesn't want to smile.

 She LOVES ice cream and will eat the cone first.

 Once again, a picture but not a smile.

 I often find pictures like this that she has taken herself.

 She love camp fires in the back yard with or without smores.

 She finds humor in the simple things of life.

Happy Birthday Nicole! I love you more than you can ever know!