Comment on why I believe......

So I've been feeling that I should write this post for a couple of weeks now. I don't really mention religion on my blog, I don't know why-I consider myself to be a religiously spiritual person. But I'm mentioning it now so that's all that matters.

I've been a member of the Churc of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints since I was baptized at the age of 8. I was raised in the church because my family belonged and their family belonged and so forth. I have chosen to remain in the church because I know this is the only true church on this earth that contains the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the proper authority to perform all of the ordinances necessary to become like my older brother Jesus Christ and return to live with my Heavenly Father after I die. I also know that the Book of Mormon/Bible/Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price combined with the continuing revelation received by our Prophet and his counselors and apostles helps me be prepared to receive those ordinances. I also know that it's through the ordinances I've made that I have the gift of the Holy Ghost or the Spirit which is God's way of communicating to me things I need to be taught or what I need to do in this life.

It sounds easy when I write it down in a few simple sentences, but living the gospel is hard. If it was easy everyone would be doing it and we'd all be perfect and we wouldn't learn anything. I have a hard time trying to align myself with the teachings of Christ. I'm not perfect by any means. I forget to read scriptures, I gossip, I swear, I complain, I don't do nearly as much service to others as I should, and there are tons of other things I struggle with, but I know that Jesus Christ provided an atonement for me so that I can repent of these things and strive daily to be better. I hold myself up to a high standard, that of becoming like Christ, but I can't imagine a better person to want to emmulate. I realize that it's a lifelong process but I'm in this for the long haul so I've got to work on it.

Because this is a lifelong process I haven't just prayed one time to know if the church is true, or to know if Thomas S. Monson is the true Prophet of God, or if the Book of Mormon is true. Every time I read the scriptures or listen to the words of the Prophet, I say a silent prayer that I will know that what I'm learning is true. I have consistently felt the Spirit let me know that it's true. It's all true. If I didn't believe it was true than I would be out partying and sleeping around and doing whatever the 'world' says I should be doing. But time and time again my beliefs, my testimony if you will, are/is renewed by the Spirit that what I'm doing is right.  

So when those times come (and they frequently do) when I feel completely alone in what I believe, I pray, and the Lord lets me know that He is aware of my struggles and He lets me know that what I'm doing is right for me, and that I'm not truely alone because He is with me.

And that's why I believe. 

Why Wednesday.....

Why.......

ksl.com - Wis. man accused of shooting TV over Palin dance

Are the results of DWTS such a big deal?

Comment on my day because I know you're dying to hear about it......

I've been up for almost 24 hours. I know it's weird. But my schedule lately has been insane as I've tried to work as many extras and hours as possible in a 2-week pay period. I'll probably shave 5 years off my life this week. In the words of someone I overheard talking at work-maybe it will be the 5 years I'd spend in diapers with a feeding tube.  No big deal.  Because of that I'm off on my sleep schedule. I thought I'd spend today wasting away in a dead stupor-but that was not the case. I had a rather pleasant day. Oddly enough I found myself bathed in sunlight (well, clouded sunlight) rather than the harsh fluorescent lights of the hospital. Anyway I thought I'd share some of my day with you.

 I went to the gym for the first time in over a week (yea!) and watched the most recent episode of Glee while on the treadmill. The episode was "Never Been Kissed". The music was better than we've been experiencing, but seriously can we get off the Kurt-centric parade? I'm growing weary of his struggles being the only gay teen in his high school. It's getting old Ryan Murphy. Move on. Before we do.

While on Itunes downloading the aforementioned episode of Glee, I took the time to purchase a few songs such as:

Brandon Flowers: Crossfire

Muse: Undisclosed Desires

30 Seconds to Mars: Kings and Queens, This is War and Closer to the Edge 

 I went to a class at my place of business to learn how to run a High Flow Jet Ventillator so I can take care of my patient population who have lungs that look like crap. 

Take home message from the class: don't do anything without a Respiratory Therapist at your bedside.

I'm concerned.

These are lungs that look like crap.

I'm very concerned. 

I've spent a lot of the day drinking water from this very styrofoam cup. It's important to stay hydrated when you're living on caffeine. It's a vain attempt to save my kidneys.  





I also went to Sephora where I spent a lot more money than you would think I did when you saw the size of the tiny black bag I carried out. I'm trying out Philosophy's "when hope is not enough" replenishing cream because my skin is so dry. I'm also trying Clinique's 'all about eyes' because it has caffeine in it to help with dark circles (right up my alley-I'm the poster child for dark circles, also, puffiness). I also bought another pair of Tweezerman tweezers. I had to get them because my last pair are finally dull after 6 years. And while they do have a lifelong warranty and I can send them back to the company to get sharpened-how am I supposed to tweeze in the meantime? Obviously 2 pairs are in order.

 

I'm winding up my day catching up on The Event and well, blogging. Can't wait to go to bed! And start another run of shifts tomorrow night.   

Why Wednesday......

Why........*

Was this my view at the Lady A concert last Tuesday?

Note that he is wearing a suit

Note that he's probably my dad's age.

You can't tell that he has his arms folded.

I get that he appeared to be with his family of grown children-but seriously?

He apparently didn't like the loudness of the crowd-yeah, he's plugging his ears

He (and family) finally left-my new view!

*I know that I said initially I'd keep my "Why Wednesdays" to just a pic with maybe an explanation-but this required more than that.

*I didn't post this last week because I've been working a ton

*The concert was really, really good

Comment on the first gathering at the townhouse......

 And isn't Halloween the perfect time for the townhouse debut?

My roommates and I had a some friends over for a pot-luck and movie night. The girls brought some good food and we watched Deceived with Goldie Hawn circa 1991 (it still brings the suspense). Of course I was too busy talking to actually take pics with people here, but I did get pictures of the decorations as well as Jill's FABULOUS drink. Holy crap that thing was good. You'll want to die as soon as you see it! Thanks to all who came and had fun with us!

We had a skeleton like the one on the door growing up-I loved it! So glad I found one for my own.

That's Emilee in the background, and Lisa's fun Halloween decorations

I carved this pumpkin myself (with a kit of course)!

Jill's Delectable Drink Concoction

Why Wednesday

(By Popular Demand)

Let the comments begin now.....

Comment to my blog....

Dear Blog,

I don't know what to do with you. I'd like to get a new template or background that fits my personality but I'm having a hard time figuring out what exactly my personality is.

I'm not 'cutesy' or 'shabby' or 'scrappy'. I'm just myself. Trying to figure this out may put me in the throws of an existential crisis.

Until then you'll have to deal with frequent changes. It'll be annoying to you, but it's even more annoying to me.

Also I need new pictures to post. But I've lost my external hard drive which holds the aforementioned pictures.

Oh external hard drive--please come out from wherever you're hiding. I think you're in the couch somewhere but I'm not sure. I should figure that out.

Sorry Blog, I got sidetracked.

The point is, I'm working on you. It will just take some time. I hope you'll be patient.

Love,
Me

Why Wednesday.....

Why.....

Kody from Sister Wives

Won't he cut his hair???

Comment on my trip to Hogwarts.....

Last month I took a little trip to Orlando with my little bro and SIL (aka Jenny aka the one who has my name) to visit our parents and to go visit some parks. As my facebook friends know, I was sick most of the trip, so I missed out on a few things. But I did manage to rally for Universal Studios Islands of Adventure so that I could experience Harry Potter The Forbidden Journey aka Harry Potter World (as I like to call it).
All I can say is it was awesome. The Butterbeer was the nectar of the gods (the frozen is way better than the regular) and totally worth the $10 to get the official Butterbeer mug. The actual Forbidden Journey ride was more than I could have hoped for. You get to walk through Hogwarts and experience the inside of the school. They actually have the pictures on the wall that move and jump from frame to frame! I tried to get pictures but they turned out too dark. I guess muggle cameras don't work for magical pictures. The Dueling Dragons roller coaster made me so sick, but Jenny and DJ loved it and rode both dragons. Eating lunch at the Three Broomsticks was an experience of a lifetime. Best fish and chips since, well, visiting England at Epcot Center. It was also fun to buy postcards and get them postmarked for Hogsmeade and to get Harry Potter stamps. All in all it was completely worth it, especially if you're a Harry Potter fan.

The rest of the Islands of Adventure was a blast as well. We got absolutely SOAKED from all of the log-type rides. It was so fabulous. I would definitely go again, just for those rides. And since it was September it wasn't that busy. And my mom got us the express passes (the equivalent of fast passes for Disney only they are so much better-but they cost $20) so we didn't wait in any lines at all! (thanks Mom!).

So here are the pics from Harry Potter, placed in a slide show for your viewing convenience:


Why Wednesday

I've decided to start "Why Wednesdays". I'll post a picture(s)* of something absolutely ridiculous that requires no comment, as the pictures speaks for itself, and causes us to ask ourselves, why?

*Images taken from Google Images

Comment on my returning tv faves.....

So

So I'm not going to give this post a grand introduction-there's too much to talk about anyway. At the request of my friend Tiffany I'm going to give a review of my returning favorite tv shows. I was a little reluctant to write this post because it shows just how MUCH tv I watch-but if you've known me for awhile this should be no shock to you. Also, I like tv more than movies so there it is. So in no order of importance whatsoever-here goes:

Desparate Housewives, ABC-I've gone back and forth on this show. I started watching it when it first started and loved it, then I thought it got boring. For some reason last season I got back into it and I'm loving every minute of it! I like the addition of Vanessa Willians as the new "Edie", and what's the deal with Paul coming back and bringing that weird chick he married from prison? Also love that Bree will be having a fling with Brian Austin Green. Hot! 

 Amazing Race, CBS-My parents got me into this show when I got back from my mission. I love that it's reality tv but it's more focused on navigating through foregin lands on a time crunch and making it through the challenges as well as dealing with taxi drivers who don't speak your language. There's still the element of competition but it's not as down and diry as Survivor because let's face it, they just don't have time for all that!

 

Biggest Loser, NBC-It makes you laugh, it makes you cry, it makes you wish Jillian and Bob could come to your gym and beat the crap out of you! So maybe I don't do too much laughing while watching the show-there's not a lot of joking going on. And maybe the editing COMPLETELY SUCKS. I mean seriously-why do they have to replay the last 30 seconds before the commercial break all over again after the commercial break? It makes no sense and it's definitely not going to win them any Emmys. But if you can watch this via your DVR and if you enjoy working out and watching people change their lives in amazing ways-this is the show for you. And really, I do want Jillian to kick my butt.

Glee, FOX-Oh Glee, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways. First of all, the music. You sucked me in with Don't Stop Believin' and I've never turned back. Itunes thanks you for the money they've sucked out of me ever since. Secondly, Sue Sylvester your sarcastic stabs kill me. Third, the members of the Glee Club, Rachel, Finn, Brittany, Arnie, etc...you're all so weird yet loveable in your own way. Fourth-Grilled Cheesus? I laugh a-loud every time I think about the preview for this week's episode. Let's be honest-Glee is hot right now. Everyone should be watching. And then downloading. And then blasting in your car and singing embarassingly loud. It's fine.  

Life Unexpected, The CW-The little show that almost didn't. I don't know if I can pinpoint exactly why I like this show except I just think it's good. You've got the love triangle between Baze, Kate and Ryan, and then Lux (Kate and Baze's daughter) is there trying to fit in with having the parents she'd never thought she'd have, but in a very unconventional way. It's a CW show, the characters are interesting, it's set in Portland, I can't say much more than that.

Gossip Girl, The CW-So it took me a little bit to get into this show, it wasn't until the summer after the first season that I was like hey, I need to get into this. Maybe it was all the huge OMFG billboards in Time Square when I went to NYC that summer that got me in but here I am. I LOVE this show. It's a total guilty pleasure. It's set in the Upper East side, the clothes are there, the guys are hot, there's lots of scheming and subterfuge and the music rocks. I think last season got a little weird/ho-hum, but this season there's more focus on the friendship of Serena and Blair and they're taking on Columbia by storm, and I love it (not that you ever see them in class or anything).

 Bones, FOX-This show is my X-Files substitute/or the X-Files of the next generation. Basically you've got two people with amazing chemistry solving crimes. Booth is hilarious and hot and Brennan is painfully intelligent to a fault, but it makes for great tv. Love the rest of the cast as well. And this season Booth has a girlfriend which if eonline is correct, will make Brennan realize her feelings for Booth which makes me happy. Also if you can watch the opening scenes for this show while eating that says a lot-they like to make things disgustingly goopy and you can practically smell the stank through the screen. It's fun though.

Grey's Anatomy, ABC-Ok, so when Grey's first started I was in LOVE. I was in nursing school doing clinicals and I related to their fear of being first time doctors. The second season ender with Denny dying was AMAZING. I thought the show would go nowhere but up. Unfortunately I think it's been struggling, at least for me. I can't quite put my finger on it but it's not the same. I blame Shonda Rhimes for veering off with Private Practice too soon. Anyway I felt like it was coming back with the shooter at the end of last season. That was disturbing, yet riveting. I was at work at the time so I couldn't watch it but I was amazed at the amount of facebook status updates about it. As the show has come back for this season I'm not as intrigued as I thought I would be, but I've only seen the first episode. Maybe it gets better. But no matter what, I'll keep watching just because it's a Thursday night tradition.

 

Modern Family, ABC-There's a reason this show won Best Comedy at the Emmy's this year. It is HILARIOUS. I love Phil. I love Gloria. I LOVE Manny. Actually, there's no one I don't love. I especially enjoy the "documentary" style it's filmed in-it makes you feel like you're watching reality tv (which I love) which makes you feel like these characters could be real people. Maybe even people in your own family. So great. For laughs check out the episode last season when Claire and Mitchell recreate their brother/sister pairs figure skating routine-on dry land. Talk about side-splitting comedy! 

 The Office, NBC-I love The Office. I have all of the season on my ipod and I even listen to them every night to fall asleep (not all of them, just one at a time, and I usually only make it through the first couple of minutes. Some people use a glass of wine, I use this show. That doesn't mean it's so boring it puts me to sleep though, it's just, well, never mind). Anyway I thought it was kind of losing the funny factor in the last couple of seasons. But this season being Steve Carell's finale and all, it feels like they're pulling all the stops. It's almost as if it's the show it was back in seasons 2 and 3. I mean seriously-Michael having therapy sessions with Toby his nemesis? Doesn't get better than that. Until Jan comes back. I can't wait.

Survivor, CBS-I've tried to stop. Really, I have. I've even missed a few episodes here and there. But then I found the episodes were available On Demand, and my parents watch it and like to talk about it, and it is kind of fun to watch, and really I've only missed one season out of 21 so...........yeah, that's where that stands.....



Vampire Diaries, The CW-Yes, this may be my favorite show this season, second only to Glee. But that's not the reason this pic is centered, that would be the fault of Blogger. This show is a fantastic guilty pleasure. Ian Sommerhalder is freaking hot. Talk about eye candy. Doesn't get any better than him. You may also find Stefan hot as well. I found the book to be the poor man's Twilight but this show is better than the Twilight movies. No lie. And this season they've brought in werewolves. And Caroline's a vampire. And let's not overlook the fact that Katherine is back in town. KATHERINE! Let the games begin.

My DVR is 80% full. Not surprising, right?

Happy Watching!

Comment on the newest fall tv shows......

So I'm currently in Florida visiting my parents. You'd think that being on vacation during the fall season premiere week I would miss out on catching the latest shows. Well, you would be right on the money if I hadn't gotten sick my 2nd day here. While my bro, SIL and mother were gallivanting around Orlando enjoying all the attractions this area has to offer, I was home on the couch up to my ears in kleenexes and cough drops knee deep in a Rachel Zoe marathon on Bravo. Once that got over I turned to On Demand where I was able to catch new shows that I hadn't originally planned on viewing. Unfortuantely this has resulted in finding new shows to add to my repertoire. I thought I'd review these shows here just in case you were on the fence:

Monday Nights:



Hawaii Five-0, CBS 9pm



Hawaii Five-0 with Alex O'Loughlin, Scott Caan and Daniel Dae Kim. I was looking forward to this one early on and it did not disappoint. If you miss gazing at hot dudes in Hawaii on Lost, you'll enjoy this show.






The Event, NBC 8pm



The Event with Jason Ritter (son of John Ritter) and Blair Underwood along with Dr. Weaver from ER. I hadn't planned on watching this but I'm kind of sucked in. It's got that whole Lost flash-forwards/backwards things. Plus, it's got a small role played by Luke from Gilmore Girls-what a surprise! I'll definitely keep this one on tap.



Chase NBC 9pm

Chase starring people I've never heard of before except for Jesse Metcalfe (hot lawn boy from Desperate Housewives) who plays a newly hired Texas Ranger. Hence, this show is about Texas Rangers, but is much better than it's TR predecessor, Walker, Texas Ranger. Also, it's produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, so you know it's gotta be good. I'm looking forward to enjoying this one.



Tuesday Nights:


Running Wilde, Fox 8:30pm

 

Running Wilde with Will Arnett and Keri Russell. That right there should clinche it for you. Also it's brought to us by some of the same people behind Arrested Development. We found it to be a little slow in the beginning but it started gaining momentum. I want it to work but I'm nervous for it. No matter what, I'll be tuning in.

Wednesday Nights:


Undercover, NBC 7pm



Undercovers starring more people I don't recognize. I wanted to like this show, but I kept comparing it to Mr. and Mrs. Smith. I loved that movie, the chemistry between Brad and Angie jumped off the screen (as much as I hate to admit that-I'm Team Aniston all the way) . Unfortunately, despite my love for JJ Abrams, I didn't feel chemistry between these characters and actually fell asleep towards the end of the show. Sad.



Hellcats, CW 8pm


Hellcats with Ashley Tisdale started a week before everything else (or maybe 2?) so I watched it and actually didn't mind it-it could be a guilty pleasure. Bring It On is one of my all-time fave movies. But now that I have so many other shows that I plan on watching this one could easily fall into the category of "if nothing else is on".






The Defenders, CBS 9pm



The Defenders with Jerry O'Connell and Jim Belushi. Another show I didn't plan on watching but ended up seeing it whilst on the couch. It actually wasn't too bad and is one I would throw into the "if I'm around and nothing else is on" group.  



So that's about it for what I've seen. Two shows that I have yet to preview are Nikita and My Generation. They're waiting for me on my dvr. As for my regular shows-I don't even want to get into that. Holy cow. It's a great tv season!

Happy watching!



Comment on the culmination* of a summer's work....

AKA putting my family to work/payback for me taking off so much time for all the weddings....

(my last night at Adagio apts in my bed-sleeping with puppy)


So as mentioned in my previous posts from forever ago-I bought a townhouse. It was a quick process that seemed to consume my entire life for a couple of months, which was a total departure from what I thought I'd be doing this summer. But when I get this idea in my head-"hey buy a residence" I have to run with those thoughts. And when things fall into place easily then it makes even more sense.

Not that it was easy. There was a lot of prayer and phone calls and research and stress and loss of sleep that went into this decision. First of all-the decision to buy the townhouse verses the condo with the unattractive door. It was a pro/con list that was pretty even. What tipped me over the edge was my mom saying "your dad wouldn't want me to tell you this-but he thinks you should get the townhouse, it's a smarter decision". That pretty much sealed the deal. Plus I love the carpet! And the master bathroom! And the stairs!

Then the negotiation. Little did I know that the former owner, we'll call her Crazy, was, in fact, crazy. She didn't like my offer (I low-balled of course! I haven't watched hours of HGTV House Hunters and My First Place for nothing!), she didn't even want to counter-offer, then she was ridiculous on the moving in date which caused me to have heated conversations with my realtor (a saint-Keith Callister Equity Realty) whilst getting my hair colored-my voice was raised, I may have been worked up-I know, hard to believe. Right now as I'm typing this I'm thinking this wasn't too bad, but at the time it was serious. The fact that I work nights and would do all of this negotiating and document finding and sending and such during the day compounded the problem I'm sure.

My moratorium on diet coke ended during this time. So did my moratorium on swearing.

When we actually decided on a move-in date that worked for Crazy and her realtor which was, of course, the day we needed to be out of our apartment, things kicked into high gear. I had the carpets cleaned the day before, due to negotiation times (I won't bore you here), Crazy was still finishing up "cleaning" whilst I was waiting for the carpet guys. She was nice but so weird! She had to walk through the place a few times before she left for the last time. She told me I could pay her to come back and clean regularly because she does that sometimes (no freaking way!). I had the locks changed the day I moved in.

You'd think I'd be done with Crazy, but I'm not. She's still plaguing my Saintly Realtor with phone calls about her mail. Apparently she's very concerned about her mail still coming to this address. Keith in all of his wisdom told her she couldn't have my phone number, so she keeps calling him, then he calls me. The best thing is that no mail has ever come here for her since she's moved. Keith says she's told him she'll only call one more time. Keith says he longs for that day.

Anyway enough about Crazy. The good thing about her is that she kept a very clean, spotless house with one of the best inspections every seen by my house inspector. Fabulous.

I expected signing the closing papers to be stressful, but it wasn't at all. The most stressful part was that I worked the four nights before and had to sign at 10am after a shift. Also a member of the carpool was on a lifeflight trip to montana and was therefore running late. Don't worry-I drank an entire rockstar at 6am (entertaining for my co-workers I've been told) and was able to get home in time (thanks to some sacrifice on the part of our driver). Signing the papers took all of 15 minutes. The most annoying part is that I couldn't get ahold of anyone in my family afterwards to say hey guys I'm done!

Move-in day was fantastic. If it wasn't for my fantastic family it would have been horrific. The siblings and in-laws drove down from Pocatello Friday night with plans to move in on Saturday with Lisa's dad bringing up a trailer for the big furniture pieces. Well, with DJ (little bro) and Kory (BIL) being who they are, they decided a good idea would be to move as much as possible in the night on Friday. It was a great plan-it was dark, not so hot and not as much traffic. With my parent's Tahoe and the CR-V we got the majority of it done. They worked so hard and it was actually pretty fun! I love my family so much! And they've almost made up for the fact that I took 3 weeks of vacation time for all of their weddings-haha!

So here's a few pics (Jenny (SIL) and Jenna (sister) have more but I still need to educate Jenny on downloading pictures on a computer. Seriously.

Saturday morning: DJ fully snoozing-note that Jenny has already rolled up her sleeping bag and is getting ready for the day:


This is Kory 10 minutes before RJ was arriving with the trailer. Everyone wondered if Kory was going to emerge from his self-made bear cave


And he's up! Oh and so is DJ! Success!


Roxy was not handling the bustling of moving well. So she was relegated* to my closet in the apartment with the door of her cage facing the wall so she would know she was in time-out. She was TICKED!


Jenny hard at work


Kory hard at work: (don't you love this-welcome to the family in-laws-Let's move J's into her new place-talk about initiation!)


And at the townhouse:

Jenna works with Roxy to go through the doggy door. This is hard for Roxy. She'll go through it now but you have to actually lift the "door" for her. She's too much of a princess to push it with her head.


A final picture of the help hard at work:

All in all it's been a whirlwind but it's been a good decision. Thanks to all of you who had to listen to me complain and stress out about everything and to my family and the Pope's for helping us move-you guys are amazing!

*I know these are big words but I am using them correctly-I had to check google just to be sure I hadn't made them up in my mind or something

Comment on my 2 boxes.....

So my parents are pretty big on us not becoming pack rats. It's like my mom's goal in life or something. I think I succeeded because my childhood momentos are all found in these 2 boxes (the third box is journals from my mission/pre-mission years):

Since I'm moving and I don't want to move more than I have to (also learned from my parents and years of moving) I thought I'd go through these boxes to see if there was anything I could toss.

I enjoyed going through these boxes-kind of. I forgot that I started a class newspaper in 4th grade and that as the editor I referred to myself as "Jenny The Great".

I obviously had a healthy self-esteem that year.

I read my autobiography I wrote in 6th grade. I read about my birth and how I was taken away from my mom right after I was born because I was too small and needed oxygen (cute!) and that I had a sister named Jenna who "most people think is cute and she is the only blonde in the family" and that I had a brother named "David who is known as DJ and is only 2 weeks old and likes to hiccup and is already spoiled". I cringed as I looked through my yearbooks from Timpview-Ugh. I would never go back to those years of my life, and smiled as I read notes passed between my friends at Cibola.

Some things I'd forgotten:

Barkins the mechanical dog and the reason why I would love to have a chocolate brown dachsund-

A craft my mom got me for my room and something I can pass on to my brother's wife aka Jenny Mills the 2nd


My collection of Baby-Sitters Club books that I must have packed away so Jenna couldn't get her grubby little hands on them (and they are in an unmarked box so you won't find them so don't get any ideas!!)


And proof that in elementary school I wanted to be a doctor or nurse. If I had stayed on that plan maybe I could have gone into nursing a lot sooner!

And in case you're wondering-yes, I did throw a few things out-aren't you proud Mom?