Don't bother me....I'm Blogging.

Painting Project numero Uno

2012-01-24T23:01:00.003-07:00

This weekend I spent the money my parents sent me for my birthday to buy painting supplies. In my head I was going to finish the entire house - when in reality I've still got a tiny bit left of my master bathroom. Painting the ceiling is the added bonus I get to look forward to in this house. The ENTIRE (seriously - entire) house is tan. It's not a horrible tan - it's just too much tan. I never thought I would long for the days of white walls like in every apartment I've ever lived in. But at least that would mean the ceiling was white/already painted. I still have one coat left of the new colour before I can hang the shower rod. I'm very excited and feeling quite handy. I could get used to this handy work around the casa type thing.

Before / After

The sweetest boy you ever did meet

2011-12-11T00:50:00.002-07:00

Tonight I was telling Trent about the family that our department "adopted" for Christmas. I was telling him about how the family couldn't afford Christmas presents and how in this family they had a little boy that is 5 and he had asked for Star Wars action figures. When I went to the store to buy him some, I picked out General Grevious - which is Trent's absolute favourite! I told him I and wrapped it all up to give to him so he could open it on Christmas. A few minutes later, he comes over to me with this six-year-old-self-wrapped-package. In this package, he tells me, is one of his own Star Wars figures (used of course) that he wanted to give the little boy too.

How does that not just melt your heart?! He's such a sweet boy.

As I was leaving, he said- "if you wait a second, maybe I could give you like 5 nickels you could give to him too". Man I love that little buddy. He's got such a good heart. Really makes you prioritize your life and the example you set for others.

Girls' Weekend!

2011-11-08T18:17:00.002-07:00

This past long weekend (for us anyway) was super fun! Kristi and Melissa came to visit me in my new CASA! It was so much fun to see them both and I'm very grateful to their husbands who watched the kiddos so they could get a much deserved break away!

Friday night I picked up Kristi at the airport. We came back to the house to get things settled and give the tour. Then we went to dinner at Porque No? Kristi wanted something Portland-y and this was in my old neighborhood, so we went there. It was delicious! She had a long day flying from Atlanta, so after some chit chat I let her get some sleep :)

Saturday morning, after Kristi was awakened by the rooster in my neighborhood (UGH - somebody please come on a rooster hunt with me....) we picked up Melissa at the airport. Funny enough one of our old friends from college days Holly was at the airport getting on Melissa's plane as she was getting off. Very very small world. We dropped Melissa's bags off at the house and headed out to the outlet mall in Woodburn, OR (about 30 min South of Portland). Taking advantage of tax free shopping (as if we needed the excuse). It was SUPER busy, but we all found some things we couldn't live without. On the way back, after a very tiring shopping excursion - we decided to catch a movie. We hit up the Bagdad Theatre for a showing of Crazy, Stupid Love. It was a pretty good movie and then for some pizza at APizza Scholls. Then home to bed! We were tired girls!

Sunday morning we kicked it off right with a ritual provided by Melissa (of course). Seriously I could never get sick of those things. Then we headed downtown for some breakfast at Voodoo Doughnut. At about 9:30am there was a line for about 25 minutes out the door. Crazy. But really fun to see all the junk people are willing to put on a doughnut. Of course - the non-adventurous eater I am - opted for the Plain cake one with chocolate frosting. I only went for the non-glaze option because I thought they would make fun of me. Next we had appointments for massage and facial at Spa Sasse. It was pretty nice to just relax and be pampered for a good chunk of the day. I probably wouldn't go there again, but it was fine. Then we walked around Saturday Market for a bit and ate lunch out of a food cart which are all the rage here in Portland. There was definitely no let-down in the people watching category today. Then we had to drop Kristi back to the airport so she could get home to her family. Melissa and I mostly hung out talking that night and just enjoyed catching up. We had already had quite the eventful weekend!

Monday we went to the mall in Clackamas to see Footloose - and while we were there actually got manicures and pedicures! Man it was a fun, pamper-filled weekend! I was sad to drop Melissa off too at the airport Monday afternoon but I'm sure they were both very excited to get home to their families! I know it's a lot to be away from the cute munchkins for too long - and I'm so grateful they were able to come for a visit! We were already planning our yearly Girls Weekend for next year! I can't wait! Love those girls!

Lindsay "Bare-Buns" Gets Married!

2011-10-06T21:13:00.003-07:00

This past weekend, the family traveled up to Seattle for the wedding of my cousin Lindsay and her, now husband Paul. Lindsay Blair, kindly nicknamed Lindsay Bare-Buns by the Harker Family is really close to Blake's age and they were always so fun to watch play together when they were kiddos. At the wedding it was great to get to see Aunts and Uncles and Cousins I haven't seen in a very long time! The wedding was gorgeous! Lindsay was, of course, GORGEOUS! Funny that we didn't take a single picture of the whole group.

Got in a ton of lovely Trent time. He chose to stay in my room with me and we had SO MUCH FUN! Between sneaking off to slip funny notes under his parents' door and telling ghost stories (mine was the one about the girl that always wore the green ribbon around her neck. Her husband, always asked her to remove it - she refused. Finally on his death bed she granted him his wish to see her without the green ribbon...and her head fell off!) we laughed forever at that one! Best time of our sleep over was in the morning when he gets up to go to the bathroom and I hear him, but wasn't ready to be awake. All the sudden there's a tiny whisper voice in my face saying, "Aunt Jamie...there's something wrong with the soap!" Without opening my eyes I say, "I don't get it - what's wrong with the soap!?" Best reply ever, "It's too dry and scratchy!" The greatest smile on my face as I reply - "oh...buddy...you have to wet the soap first." Man does that kid make my day or what!?

We downloaded a lot of games on my phone for the car ride back. Fruit Ninja was our fav! I get to watch him again Saturday night while Jake and Denise go out for her birthday. It's going to be SO MUCH FUN! I'm hoping to get some moving of some boxes to the new house on Saturday morning and then the BIG stuff will be moved with the help from my brothers the next Saturday. Hopefully one of these days I'll have everything in one location. Fingers Crossed.

The new house has plug-ins for good smell (even though it's brand new), a rug, my new mattress and box spring and the wood blinds Jake helped me install last Sunday. It's coming along very slowly but surely.

I just signed my life away!

2011-09-23T13:52:00.000-07:00

Looks like I'm putting down roots in Oregon!
I'm officially a home owner. Crazy.
Get the keys on Tuesday (hopefully)

Family BBQ

2011-09-14T17:57:00.003-07:00

We had a family BBQ this weekend. It was SOOOO HOT! While the little kids were playing in the pool/slide - the boys were doing crazy stunts on the 4 wheelers. It was a fun weekend.

Hell's Belles

2011-09-08T17:44:00.000-07:00

My girlfriends and I here have a "craft night" usually once a month. We all try to attend even if we're not currently working on a project. Who are we kidding - we usually aren't working on a project. It's hosted at a different person's house each time and that person is responsible for keeping us in food & drink for the evening. This last time was our newest addition's turn. Tram's house was SO FUN! I don't think we picked up a single craft all night. But I think we all grew in size by about 15 lbs. The food was INCREDIBLE! Thanks Tram! The funniest parts of the night were when Cheryl, our 8.5 month pregnant friend attempted to try out the stripper pole installed in Tram's house. Or when Monica's daughter Avery kept pretending to be the dog "Puffin" and spilled red wine all over the carpets (much to Monica's dismay). Tram was Johnny on the spot with the Resolve and it came up without issue.
It was a very eventful evening. I can't wait until the next one! I can't wait to host one in my new house! :)

House - take 2

2011-09-06T14:58:00.003-07:00

The family room, where the refrigerator will go in the kitchen, the hallway from the front door, the back door out to the little yard, master bath, the outside of the place, this cute built in thing at the bottom of the stairs, the stairs, the kitchen, the laundry area, the master walk in closet, the tiny bathroom downstairs, and the banister to the stairs.

In typical Jamie fashion - I have finally decided on a house. After 3-possibly 4 months of looking I ended up with (wait for it...) the first house I looked at. Of course I did! Seriously why do I have to make things so much harder than they need to be?!?!?!

Anyway - it's a townhouse (yay for no yard to maintain). 3 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms. 1350 sq ft. It's perfect for my first place. So now I will be figuring out where to put furniture, what colours to paint and what I want to put on the walls! HIP HIP HOORAY! The offer still stands - visitors welcome.

I removed my offer on the other house due to some complications with the inspection and a shady lot next door that they were probably going to build a house right on top of mine (no gracias) so I backed out. I think this new one is PERFECT!!!

SUMMER!

2011-09-04T12:54:00.000-07:00

Summer is FINALLY here in Portland. This week, now that it's Sept, will be the first time we hit 95. It's been kind of nice actually. This picture sent by my brother after T-babes used the Slip N Slide I got him for his birthday is the epitome of Summer. Back to school is tomorrow and he'll be in 1st grade! Crazy. We're going out for a good luck to a new school year dinner tonight. Can't wait! Hope it's been a great summer for you as well!

My love affair with Will Ferrell

2011-08-16T21:47:00.005-07:00

not Thor I promise Josie :)

For the past week I have been talking about this specific SNL skit to this woman at work, and couldn't find it anywhere. It's been making me crave Will Ferrel laughs. These are 3 of my favourite skits (the lesser known ones...cow bell is everyone's fav)

I swear I can watch this again and again and laugh until I cry. OMG Funny!

"oooh Fred's got slacks!" Man I wish people knew this one better. I always singing this and no one knows what I'm talking about.

Just flat out hilarious! Disregard the cheerleaders in the beginning.

My extended weekend with Trent

2011-08-14T19:06:00.003-07:00

In order: on the train, showing me the coolest way to eat french fries with the toothpick from the burger, seeing Humpty Dumpty, winning the slide race in the house of the Old Woman Who lived in a shoe, an Indian Tee Pee, Chippy the Squirrel, on Frog Hopper (Fav ride #2), getting on the kiddy ferris wheel all alone!, bumper boats, driving the remote control boats, one cute boy, the conversations in the car (no we were not driving when this picture was taken)

The boys (my brothers) went to Vegas which meant I got to stay home with Trent and the dogs. I got the best end of that stick - I tell you what! The fun started Wednesday night straight away after work. When I arrived I had a "to-do" list from Trent handed to me that spelled out what to do. It read:
1. Eat Tic-Tacs
2. Play the Wii
3. Play Ninjego (some ninja lego game he's in love with)
Well that sounds easy enough. We checked off the first 2 within about 15 minutes of my arrival.

Thursday I had to drag him on boring errands. We went to the grocery store, we went to the DEQ to get my car emissions tested and then to the DMV to FINALLY get me some Oregon license plates since my Utah ones were set to expire. He was SUCH a good boy! Played games on my phone while we waited in the DMV. The little boy next to us was not having as much fun (neither was his dad). He was crying and running away and his dad was yelling at him. When we finally left, I told Trent thank you for being such a good boy. His response, "that other boy was not doing his rules!" I said I know, he was being naughty and got into trouble huh? Trent says, "Yes, he was crying." I said, "Well you can't feel bad for him if he's not following his rules right?" Trent's cute response, "Well, I felt a little bit bad for him." Awww...my little buddy is such a kind-hearted boy. I hope that never goes away.

That night he made me laugh when I told him I used to live in another state and he asked me "if I could understand what anyone was saying". He's still trying to figure out states, cities and countries. I love watching his little brain work. And I love that he asks questions when I use words that no 6 year old should ever know. Like "theory". I'm definitely not used to talking to kids.

Friday we went to Enchanted Forest. He loved it! It's kind of like a "poor man's Disneyland" as the woman in front of us in line put it, but it was a perfect adventure for us. He loved the rides, and he loved wandering around with his aunt Jamie. The Indian Caves were a big hit and I think he could've spent quite a long while in there just wandering around. We saw a light/water show, a funny, slightly-altered, skit on Little Red Riding Hood, drove some remote control boats, met Chippy the squirrel and in the car to and from had lots of laughs and conversation. He got a Sheriff's badge from the gift shop that was the most prized possession. He would've worn it to bed if I let him. First thing in the morning it was right back on his clothes.

Saturday we drove to my work and parked the car so we could take the Max Train into downtown for "The Bite of Oregon". Or as Trent kept calling it, the festible. He loved taking the train and was SOOO excited. He got to pick a toy at Saturday Market and chose one of those bird calling toys that you put water in and it sounds like a bird is chirping. HILARIOUS. He blew that thing the whole time we were walking around the "festible". People were looking at my like I was a crazy loon for getting him that toy.

Then his parents came home from their trip! I'm sure he missed them, but he was mostly giving me sad faces every night as we went to sleep as we counted down how much time we had left together. Warms this aunties heart. Other things we did: Played LOTS of Wii (new super mario bros - which Trent actually says bros not brothers, because he reads it off the packaging as such), watched Rio twice, watched part of Rango, played in the pool, played with the dogs. Such a fun weekend! I would do it again in a heartbeat!

6 years old!

2011-07-27T06:11:00.002-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MISTER 6 YEAR OLD!!!

I just love this kid more than anything in the whole world. I love that in this picture you can actually see him trying to figure out how things are being done while watching the circus. Even my brother next to him is giddy like a school boy watching it, and then there is thoughtful Trent. I love that you're starting to break out of your shell and will add in the video I took the other weekend of you dancing to Cee Lo's "Forget You". Classic moves my man! You're such a good reader already. I'm so proud of you that you're always trying to spell something and learning new things. I love that you can quote SpongeBob squarepants and iCarly episodes at anytime. I love that you want to draw - ALL THE TIME and let me draw along with you. You're getting so good with your pictures! I'm glad I live close now and am getting to know you more and more. Have a special day! I love you!

Mi Casa es su casa

2011-07-12T13:41:00.006-07:00

I'm posting this - hoping I don't jinx the housing Gods. Made an offer on a house (finally!) and it was accepted yesterday! YAY! Pending an inspection of the joint, I'll be living in North Portland only a couple of exits from the river (and the Washington State border). It's a super cute house built in 1955 and then recently gutted and everything is brand new! I kinda love that it has the flair of Portland on the outside, but nice and new like I wanted on the inside. Perfection. And it's only taken me 3 months and looking at just about every home in Portland.

I was *this close* to crossing the river to the West Side of Portland - I was getting desperate. So glad I didn't! In love love love with this place! Can't wait to close and move on in! There will be a permanent guest room set up here - visitors welcome!

The kitchen - I know, DUH right?

Looking from the kitchen to the family room

The Master Bedroom. Kind of bummed no walk in closet - but check out that amazing window
Totally worth the trade off!

A Star is Born!

2011-06-18T16:10:00.003-07:00

Today was a celebration day at my brother Jake's house. His girlfriend's daughter Maddie had a birthday this past week and today was the PARTY day with all her friends. I get this email from them - they were doing Glee Karaoke and it seems like it was a big hit with Trent getting in on the action. Here is the link to his song "Wishy Washy Whale". Watch for him to be playing Letterman later this month and doing interviews with Ryan Seacrest coming up soon.

Trent Singing Wishy Washy Whale

Bridesmaids

2011-06-11T17:52:00.004-07:00

OH MY GOODNESS is this ever a funny movie. Today my friends Cheryl, Amber, Monica and I went to go see this hilarious hilarious movie and we were not disappointed. It was the 4 of us and one couple in the theatre and we laughed out heads off from the beginning. Even through the previews for that matter. (ps - there are some funny movies coming out soon!) If you haven't seen this movie - I highly recommend seeing it. I'm still giggling as I recall different scenes.

It's funny because the movie is all about BFFs and friends you've had for your whole life and how things change when one of your BFFs gets married and moves along in a different direction in life. I'm happy to say that with the exception of hanging out everyday (living together/near each other) that my "bestie" is still my bestie! Parts of the movie had me laughing harder remembering times we've done similar silly things. There were even a few times I teared up a little remembering things that we've talking about or whatever.

To my fav girlie since we were 15 years old...thanks for bringing me along for the ride! I'm lucky to know that someone will always have my back (possibly even when my judgment is completely skewed!). As Elbert Hubbard says, "A friend is one who knows you and loves you just the same." To someone who knows more of my "story" than anyone ever and is still in my corner...I love you.
It would appear I'm waxing nostalgic with your birthday passing and not being nearby to celebrate! Your gift, while still late, is officially in a box (i'm always great at buying said gift, just never at actually SENDING it) - to be mailed on Monday!!! xoxo

I am a lucky lucky girl to have such amazing friends in my life. I'm am always amazed at how blessed my life is simply by the company I keep close to me - not always in distance. My fav girls in Houston & San Diego (and you know you are)...my life is forever changed because you are in it. Missing you both and hoping to catch up with you both very very soon too!!!

Auntie Work

2011-06-04T12:35:00.005-07:00

Last weekend I had the luxury of hanging out with the coolest nephew ever to walk the earth. We went to go see Kung Fu Panda II (in 3D!). It was seriously SO cute. So was this monkey in his 3D glasses.It was so fun hearing him giggle next to me when he thought parts were funny. After the movie, we went back to his house and played and played and played. It was rainy, so we mostly played inside. Mario Kart on the Wii was a favourite of course. In the small windows of sunshine we found, we went outside to play Bocci Ball. I don't actually know the rules so we took turns setting up challenges for the other person to hit. Then the dogs from next door came over and we had fun running away from them and playing fetch. We had lots of art time! Man that kid can draw all day if you let him. He's getting really good too! I showed him how to make a straw out of his licorice and drink his soda through it. He was amazed at how cool I am. Rightly so! Such a fun day with such a fun kid! Lovin' me some Trent time since living here. He's so fun!

The houses....!

2011-06-02T19:44:00.007-07:00

Today was a SUPER successful day out with my new realtor! She is super nice and sent me some really great options to look at. We were out for 3+ hours and looked at probably 10? houses. These are the finalists:

My #1 Fav:
Built in 2011, 4 bed/2.1 bath LOVE LOVE LOVE!!! There will be a guest room with all that space for any visitors! (HINT HINT!)

Fav House #2:This one was very unique. No garage which I think I would've hated (I didn't) - but how could you not love the yellow house with the blue door?!?! Seriously cute.

House #3:Had a family room AND a living room - which I loved. The yard was cute and not TOO huge where I would feel like my life was wasted doing yard work. Had fun little "charms" to it.

House #4:
This house was "green" approved. Very NorthWest! It was the smallest of the bunch, but very fun and very Jamie. Had lots of things that made it feel unique and different. Brand new and would have a solar photovoltaic something or other installed which just sounds very space aged.

All in all a very fun day of looking at places! So now we're just running the numbers and hoping to pin something down, take another look at my favs that fit the number criteria and then *fingers crossed* make an offer!!! YAY!

Liquid Sunshine...what a crock!

2011-06-01T19:51:00.004-07:00

I'm TOTALLY a gloomy gus from the weather here right now. It's June 1st and today was COLD and rainy and grey. I've officially reached translucent status on the skin tone I'm so pale. My legs might actually glow in the dark. I'm trying to get out of my funk, but I think only a trip to Fiji will do at this point. HA HA. Here in Oregon, they call the rain "liquid sunshine". I've never wanted to drop-kick the inventor of a phrase so much in my life. Honestly this never-ending winter has everyone a bit BLAH. Which makes me feel better because 1) Misery loves company and 2) even long-time locals are feeling the weather. I don't feel like such a rookie getting re-adjusted to Portland winters.

On the home front, I have appointment number 2 with my new realtor who I really like and she seems hell-bent on finding me a great place to live. God Bless America! I'll keep you posted on how that goes.

Side bar: I'm currently totally addicted to turkey sandwiches with cucumbers right now. Reminds me of Freshman year in college where I pretty much lived on those things! YUM! Now if only I had some cantaloupe I would be transported back to 1995 Cannon Center.

Accupuncture

2011-05-13T09:45:00.003-07:00

I had to go to one of our hospitals for National Nurses week on Tuesday. They had the conference room set up with different stations to discuss the different units in the hospital and the lovely nurses that make the hospital run so smoothly. Nursing truely is a calling in life. One I could personally never do. I don't mind blood and guts so much - it's more the smells and non-blood bodily fluids I could NEVER handle. Anyway, we get there and there are all these stations were like massages and informative info about health and wellness, etc. Then there was the booth with accupuncture.

For those of you that REALLY know me - you know I'm addicted to needles. I seriously love them. I always want to watch when I'm getting shots or blood drawn. Trust me, I know how creepy that is to say out loud. It's why I don't have any tattoos - I would be the girl that has a million of them. So there's an accupuncture booth and at the end of the "event" there was seriously NO ONE there. So they're like come on over and get some accupuncture. YES PLEASE! I had seriously been eyeballing them all day. I filled out my form, gave the totally cute woman doing my symptoms (stiff neck, low back pain) She just started popping needles all over me. I had 1 in my forehead, one in my chest, 5 on each arm/hand. She put the first one in my hand for my neck and was instantly like "okay how does your neck feel?" and I was like - whatever...you only JUST put that in. But I twisted my neck and it was instantly better! AMAZING. I'm a total believer. I'm could TOTALLY see myself getting on an herb/accupuncture regiment. Bonus points that my insurance covers alternative medicine. It's lovely living in hippy Portland for reasons such as this!

Promoted!

2011-03-31T17:45:00.004-07:00

It's official - I've been promoted at work. And under 6 months I might add! Love this. I love that I'm working or a company that acknowledges my abilities and is willing to actually PAY me (in title and in dinero) for those abilities. Go figure right?

The move to Portland has been really great for me! I'm loving the "city" life and walking a bunch of places. I'm way more laid back here - even when I'm driving! - which is just crazy to think about. We've officially had our 5th wettest March on record and honestly I barely even noticed. I'm dying for the weather to get better though so I can start biking to work.

I'm looking for a new place to live right now - although trying to figure out how to stay here as well because my house is okay, would just love cleaner roommates, but it's just so CHEAP and CLOSE to my work. SIGH - what to do...what to do...

Viva Portland!
PS - if you've never heard of the show Portlandia, (seriously what is wrong with you?!) you should at least check out this link to get a feel for the fun times I'm living in. I know they're trying to be funny/mocking Portland - but it's actually REALLY accurate.
ENJOY!

Reflection

2011-03-21T22:02:00.003-07:00

Working for a Catholic hospital, we start each meeting with a "reflection" or a prayer. It's actually really different to pray or talk about God at work. But when you're talking to a nursing supervisor at a hospital called Mary Mother of the Angels (and you have to actually call her Mother) I suppose there's really no getting around it.

Tomorrow for my morning staff meeting, I'm in charge of the reflection. I found this Inspirational Quote/thought which seems a fitting reminder to lead by example. Thought I'd share it with you all as well in case you don't get to have reflections where you work haha.

(as shared by http://www.wow4u.com/yourexample/index.html)
Your Example
By Catherine Pulsifer (c) 1998

The personal example you set will do more to convince someone than all the eloquent speeches in the world. When you expect others to demonstrate a certain type of behaviour, ask yourself if your behaviour exemplifies what you expect of others.

As Oliver Goldsmith once said, "You can preach a better sermon with your life than with your lips."

If you take a piece of string and push it, it will not go in the direction you want. But if you take that same piece of string and pull it along, the string will move in the same direction. That principle applies to people. Don't push them along; pull them along by your own actions, your behaviour, your enthusiasm, and your determination. Reflect on the words of Albert Schweitzer, "Example is not the main thing in influencing others. It is the only thing."

What you do, and how you act,
has more influence on people than what you say!

***

I heart Joshua Radin

2011-03-10T22:50:00.000-07:00

Just so we're clear - I'm in LOVE with this man. Seriously.
I've officially now seen him in concert 4 times and every time the show just gets better. His music gets better. This was my first show seeing him in Portland. He was incredible. His opening act was Cary Brothers as well and he was also REALLY really great. Cary did a cover of Peter Gabriel "Don't Give Up" that literally almost made me cry. AMAZING STUFF.

At the end of the concert Joshua Radin's last song, he sang as he walked through the crowd (barricaded off) and off the floor. We were kind of standing in the back for the show because we had gotten there a little late. Where he turned to walk off stage he basically walked RIGHT next to us. ...oh you need proof?

....ya...THAT CLOSE! He's a sexy man. I'm pretty sure he looked at me and was like "hey wait, don't I know you from the shows in Salt Lake City usually - great seeing you in this cool town of Portland now!" I'm pretty sure.

Anyway, fantastic show! Had tons of fun with my friend Amber who came with. *SIGH*
Can't wait until next time!

Salt Lake Weekend!

2011-03-08T12:57:00.002-07:00

This weekend I had some time off work - so I arranged it with Melissa to hang out with her for a few days! I needed some BFF time! It was so much fun!

We dropped Paige at the babysitter on Friday so we could shop without baby. We did some okay damage (I think we could've done better haha). We went to see the Adjustment Bureau (LOVED IT!!!) and ate nachos - which you know always makes me a happy girl! And on Saturday we got Mani-Pedis. *SIGH* It was heaven rolled into 2 days. I got to hang out with Paige - who really took over 24 hours to warm up to me. In my defense she was teething some major molars...at least that's what I'm telling myself and Melissa is being kind enough to go along with the story! Preston was dropped off Saturday afternoon so I got to watch both of the kiddos Saturday night. They're SO FUN! Preston taught me how to play Gran Turismo 5. I won a roll-over trophy right away, not because I know all the tricks, because I seriously can't play video games. Whatever. He thought I was SUPER cool because I rolled the car - apparently never been done before haha.

Seriously it was a great time to hang out with my friend and just be our "normal" selves! It was great. Was giggling to myself on the drive home at things that we talked about or something that happened.

Numero 34!

2011-01-15T13:00:00.002-07:00

I'm officially the world's worst blogger. I mostly, lately feel like I don't really have a ton to say.
I'm 34 today! How crazy is that? You know how when you look back on your life and say...wow - I would've thought my life would look SOOO different at 34?! I can honestly say that is 100% true for me! Not really for the better or the worse, just really different.

I'm loving the change in my life and being in Oregon though. I feel more myself here. More mellow, less "wound". Which, I wasn't really all that wound ever - but just a little more go-with-the-flow about things. I like that.

So for my birthday (I have a 3day weekend this weekend!) I went to lunch with Matt and Blake. Then drove to Jake's house and had cupcakes and opened my presents from them (so nice!) and then went to Eric's house to watch movies and hang out. It was a great day! I felt so much love today - as it should be on a day that was only basically important because you were born (haha). Okay so Martin Luther King Jr put us on the map...but man I'm a close 2nd.

Thank you to everyone who remembered my birthday and made me feel special. And who make me feel special everyday really - not just on my birthday. I'm lucky to have such amazing friends and family in my life.

ps- now that my birthday is behind me - I can get back on the working out bandwagon. I always start diets on the 1st..and they get blown out of the water with junk food on my birthday a mere 15 days later. Yes it's only taken 34 years to figure out I should just start my diet AFTER said birthday...don't judge me. :)

Mid-December Madness

2010-12-15T20:18:00.002-07:00

Where has December gone to! I seriously laughed at this woman the other day at work that said "December is nearly over!" (it was the 7th of the month). Haha...I don't know why that made me laugh SOOO hard. But now that it's the 15th I'm on the same page. Apparently 8 more days was all I needed to be a believer. I've been working a ton lately, nothing new. Lots of hours and lots of weird shifts. Most of the time - I don't even know what day of the week it is.

This weekend, my friend from Seattle Will and I are going to Leavenworth, WA and I'm so excited! It's this German town that gets all crazed out for Christmas! Seriously just what I needed. Mostly I'm excited to relax and not do a whole lot around this small village but drink hot chocolate and walk around. 3 days off in a row will be heaven. Will and I have never traveled together - so fingers crossed he's also a laid back traveler. I'll take lots of pictures.

Then I come back and work for 8 days in a row (BLEH) and then get 6 days off! No vacation days required...just how my schedule worked out! I'm going to California from Dec 30-Jan 4 and I can't wait! I need some sunshine! Although really the weather here has not been too bad (except for that pesky tornado the other day - I don't know..my mom told me about it. haha). And some face time with my pals Josie and Thor who just moved to San Diego. I'm hoping we can hang out at least one day while I'm there.

I can already feel that 2011 is going to be amazing! This is like the warm-up to it.

The 16 hour day

2010-11-24T20:04:00.003-07:00

Today is my 3rd 16 hour shift day at work since I've started. PHEW! It's brutal.
Although at least this time - I knew about it before hand...so I was mentally prepared.

Work is going well - I think I'm getting the hang of it alright, always a good sign.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving!!! YAY! Blake and I are headed to Matt's house to have the festivities. I'm making Matt grill out steaks - so that will be tasty. None of us are really all that big of fans of turkey. For nibble food before the feast we'll have crackers and cheese and meat. The boys love their "wheel" which is what they call the meat & cheese tray. Plus this chips and salsa thing that I will make. It's delicious. For actual dinner we'll be having Steak (duh), twice baked potatoes, salad, rolls, and green bean casserole. YUM!

My Gratitude to all the people in my life I love and consider my friends and "family" - even if we're not blood related. And of course those that are. I'm grateful for the freedom in our country. All the best to you and your families on this special day! xoxo

A Quoteable Life

2010-11-10T16:54:00.002-07:00

There is a TV show on NBC called Brothers and Sisters. It's a great show. The family dynamic is amazing. While yes, it's sometimes a lot over the top, the majority of the time they have issues that normal families might have. I love the chemistry between the actors and I find myself smiling when they have that family banter going on between them. It's just great.

Anyway - a few episodes back there was a scene where Kitty reads a Thoreau quote that her mom had marked for her and it struck a chord that resonated in me. Nora (the mom) had changed all the pronouns to feminine to fit the situation and I like it all the more for it. So to share with you this glorious small verse to celebrate the differences in everyone, here it is. Thank you to Mister Thoreau for always being so insightful.

"If a woman does not keep pace with her companions, perhaps it is because she hears a different drummer. Let her step to the music which she hears, however measured or far away"

The new bike!

2010-11-04T19:51:00.003-07:00

A few years back I bought a mountain bike. I loved it. I love it still, but since now I live in the middle of a city - the mountain bike just seems too beefy for city riding. Tonight I bought a new bike! This bike is SUPER cute. I love the seat. The handlebars are leather and super comfy.

I've been obsessing about bikes lately and was SOOOO excited to actually go get one tonight! Now I can finish up my obsession with a super cute helmet. For now the one I have will have to do. But I will be getting either an Orange or Turquoise one and putting white/off-white decal polka-dots on it. Now I just have to find one that is cute, and actually looks cute on my noggin. So excited to start riding my bike everywhere! SIGH! I already rode my bike down the street to get a new movie at the RedBox near my house. LOVE IT!

Sleepy Time Productivity

2010-10-31T09:47:00.004-07:00

Last night I slept FOREVER! Man was I tired. I seriously just woke up (9:47) and I went to bed around midnight. That felt AMAZING! I just worked a 54 hour week this week so really I think I deserve it. Ya?

Typically I never (REPEAT: NEVER!) dream when I sleep. I usually just wake up and it's been a 6-7 hour black void. I usually don't mind either until I hear about other people's amazing dreams and then I do admit I get a little jealous that my mind doesn't work like that while sleeping. There must be a shortage of some kind I'm sure.

Last night I did dream though. For my first dream I was in a dancing competition with this guy that I knew from maybe high school? I seriously have no ideal who it was - but apparently I had a major crush on him but we never were friends or whatever. (typical). Anyway so dancing competition....why? Who knows. I don't remember us really ever practicing the dance, or attending the competition so I can't tell you how that went, but the important aspect of my dream was that we fell in L-O-V-E. The starry-eyed kind of love that makes you silly and act all ga-ga with each other. Funny. Which - you all know I'm total crap at being like.

In my second dream I invented scented matches. You know how people sometimes light matches in the bathroom after going #2? Well what if the matches had a scent to them, so it didn't just smell like sulfur matches, but smelled like Plumeria or something else? I'm seriously thinking of pitching it to Bath & Body Works (haha) - so be on the watch for them at a local retailer soon.

Good Morning! Have a productive All Hallows Eve!

A Trent-filled Weekend

2010-10-21T21:48:00.006-07:00

Last weekend I got to spend TONS of time with my cute nephew. Man there is something about hanging out with that kid that just makes me laugh. I love that he has REAL conversations with me, and will just chat chat chat my ear off if I just sit and listen to him. But if you ask him lots of questions....SHUT DOWN!

Friday I went to babysit him. I told Jake to tell him I was bringing him a surprise. My mom called later to ask him if he got the cookies she sent him - of course he did. Then my mom asked what the surprise was that I was bringing. Jake said he couldn't say because Trent was standing right there. So he spelled M-O-V-I-E (we watched "How to Train Your Dragon" which was really cute actually). When I got to Jake & Denise's house to watch the little monkey I said, "I have a surprise for you". Trent replies very know-it-all-ish "I already know what it is." Said with my best shocked face "How is that possible? What is it then?" Very matter-of-factly...."LETTERS". Because Jake had spelled letters to my mom, clearly that was the surprise. Yup I'm the worst aunt in the world and brought you educational crap. (although he probably would've loved that).

Then Trent and Jake and Denise came over on Sunday for Blake's family dinner extravaganza. I made Chicken Enchiladas, spanish rice and salad at Blake's request. Trent helped me finish the pumpkin carving I had started. Then we turned the pumpkin around and carved one special that Trent designed himself. I think both turned out equally great.

My pumpkin with some design help on the mouth

His pumpkin design. So cute right?

Missing the Mark

2010-10-15T09:56:00.002-07:00

I found this picture while researching KISS (the band) album covers this morning. It made me laugh. HARD. And it reminded me how much I hate the dating process. It's just really not as fun as people think it is. Or perhaps people have just forgotten how to do it? There's either the people that wanna jump into bed after saying Hi my name is... (majority these days fall into this category). Or there's the inevitable "girl" of the relationship that wants to analyze things more than I do. Look if I'm the girl - which I am, just to clarify - then I get to be the girl in all aspects. Which means I'll be the one over analyzing everything...thank you very much. So far I'm just loving the people that want to be friends. Nothing more, nothing less. They're just more fun! And seriously just what I need right now. When there's too much drama by way of the male portion of the couple, you just know it's headed for the "danger zone". Seriously. Take a deep breath and step away from the girl called Jamie please. :)

The Fuel Crisis

2010-10-12T18:16:00.002-07:00

PSYCH! I so wanted the heading of this post to sound like it was going to be about politics and oil in the Mid-East or whatever. Keep the real readers of my blog weeded out (like 100 level classes in College - man how I still hate you Food Science Nutrition, Physical Science, and PE 100. 3rd time wasn't the charm for either of those classes.)

I'm happy to report that I'm still on the same tank of gas since I moved here. Seriously how fabulous is that? It's been nearly 3 weeks! You know how I'm dying to get the full service fill-up too because I love that about Oregon. I just haven't needed to! I'm thrilled!

My current obsession is new bikes and adorable new bike accessories. I think I've looked at bike helmets everyday this week online. SIGH. Right now I'm eyeballing a black and white polka dotted bike helmet that is gorgeous! And will go lovely with my light blue new cruiser I'm also eyeballing. Seriously...I should just go for it! I might opt for a different color helmet though, since my hair is so dark - I want it to contrast against the hair. Do you think all girls spend this much time thinking about riding bikes?

My First Oregon Date

2010-10-02T16:29:00.003-07:00

That's right...You read that correctly...I actually went on my first date yesterday (Friday). Technically started at 5:30pm which was earlier than when me and my truck rolled into Portland. I think it's safe to say under 1 week. haha.

So when I first got here I joined Match.com. I know...I know. Seriously. But how else do people meet anymore? Plus I wasn't in it for the "dating" (read: make-out-ing)...just to MEET people...take it from there. I've actually emailed a bit with a few people that seem really cool. (it should also be mentioned that I have also emailed a bit with a few people that DO NOT seem really cool.)

Friday night I went out with a guy named Michael. He was REALLY nice! We had TONS of fun. Laughed lots. We had no real plans (loved that) and just kinda wandered where we wanted. And our whole night was spent walking around....NO CARS. So great. Except at the end where we went to the river to check out the sights of downtown from across the river. GORGEOUS. I'd forgotten what a beautiful city Portland is.

So here's the weird bit about Mister Michael. He's a high school teacher...AT MY OLD HIGH SCHOOL. HAHA. He wasn't teaching when I went there - but seriously....How random is that? Anyway, we had fun and I love that that's all it had to be!

I'm a new Employee!

2010-09-28T22:21:00.002-07:00

After 5.5 years at the same company - it's kind of weird to be a new employee somewhere. However, at age 33 I've found out that I'm just there to do a job. Seriously people will either like me or hate me - but I'm just going to be me. So far....THEY LOVE ME! haha.

The last 1.5 days I was in Employee Orientation. Go figure right? It was really fun. They showed us videos and we talked about Diversity (I literally wanted Michael Scott from the Office to present - but no dice). Our guy was good too though. They brought in a Music Thanotologist to play the harp. Seriously amazing talent. And then with 1.5 hours left of the 1.5 days we'd just sat through, we started talking about benefits. So weird. But certainly a great way to be introduced to the company.

Free medical and dental insurance is the main reason I love the new company. Seriously 100% free. I mean I'll have a deductible and a co-pay for any visit...but seriously...FINE! Plus if I get my prescriptions filled at one of the hospital pharmacies...SUPER CHEAP! Win Win!

Then I went to my office and met some of the people I'll be working with. We're having an Earthquake Drill/Fire Drill tomorrow for my first full day of work. I wish I could say it was in honor of me...but alas - they'd had it planned for a bit. The lady in charge of the drill for our department is in LOVE with me because I suggested that she be-dazzle her bright yellow safety vest. She thinks I'm funny! The other lady I trained with thought I was great too! Man - Love that.

So my first full day is tomorrow. Should be fun!

OREGON!

2010-09-24T21:53:00.004-07:00

Well I'm all moved in! I'm currently pilfering my internet service on an unsecure network called "Kitty Korner" - Gotta Love it! I have internet being set up, but apparently our house doesn't have a single phone jack that is actually connected to anything. Handy.

So on my drive here I had a long time to THINK. These were some of the random thoughts going through my head. Some have pictures to back this up.

1. You know how cops and bus drivers all give each other the nod or the semi hand wave? So my thought as I watched my dad driving my budget truck and passing another Budget truck....should he have done the "nod"?

2. I'm ready to submit a patent for the following information. Car-makers of the world...listen up. You should be able to control the temperature of the cabin AND SEPERATELY control the temperature on your feet.

3. I'm seriously a city girl. As I was driving down the freeway through Idaho I saw this farm and thought to myself, "that is awesome! Someone invented Black and White polka-dotted tarps to fancy farms up!" Then I drove closer and realized that it was just a white tarp with tires laid on it to keep it down. So close.

4. During the trip through Jasper, ID we passed 6 windmill blades being transported by truck. I do love the irony behind the transportation of an alternative energy solution by trucks powered by said negative energy solution (aka fuel)...but seriously these things were GIGANTIC! Enclosed is the best picture I could get while attempting to drive. This this was massive! (and yes that is my truck, being driven by my dad in the picture as well!)

5. Last but certainly not least...the ever glorious 45th parallel that you get to pass while driving through Oregon. It's the exact 1/2 way point from the equator to the North pole. Cool eh?

...so now it was goodbye

2010-09-22T21:31:00.006-07:00

(the more I look at this picture, the more I realize we really don't look anything alike. Funny that EVERYWHERE we go together people ask us if we're sisters. Plus - was I always this much shorter than you Melis?)

Tonight I went to dinner at Melissa & Kurtis' house. Kurtis made a delicious dinner. Chicken brats and this yummy corn, avocado, parsley, tomato mix and sweet potato fries. Seriously Delsh! We talked and laughed and mostly cooed over this beautiful girl. Miss Paige is so friendly! I absolutely love her. I mostly love watching my friend since age 15 being a mom of her. She's seriously so great at it.
Then she went to sleep and we watched Robin Hood - which Kurtis is probably wondering why we started watching a movie because I asked questions - or talked through the whole thing anyway. haha. Since my parents had driven in from California and I just left a key for them under the mat so I could go hang out with my friends - I was feeling a little bit guilty. And that's when the tears started. Seriously going to miss my best friend. But, like before when we've been in different places - we'll always be close. One of my favourite things about her really. No matter what, or where it's always a good feeling to know somewhere in the world is a girl who REALLY knows me, and gets me and still loves me. (and back at ya lady!)

Ritual de la habitual

2010-09-18T16:20:00.006-07:00

Today was my big HURRAH with Melissa.

Ever since college - she has been our ritualistic friend. She finds meaning in everything and it's so fun to watch her put effort into traditions. Partly it probably started as just another excuse to never study (her GPA that first semester wasn't too much better than mine), but they've become something to mark key events in life over the years. Today was no different.

Out of the magic bag came the following:

First we had to take the drink - and while making a wish, pour a little pixie stick in it. (Back in the day it was Diet Coke in giant mugs we had to walk off campus to get the caffeinated stuff). She poured hers in first. Then I poured mine in while wishing *i can't tell you what i wished for - it'll ruin the magic* I know you had to be there for the following, but my drink started fizzing over with the addition of the pixie stick. I was like - what the...WOAH! And Melissa gets this look on her face and is like "THAT MEANS IT'S GOING TO COME TRUE!" haha. We laughed forever until we cried. Seriously I'm crying right now as I write this it was so funny. I love that girl! We can just get together and be so silly. Then we asked the magic 8-ball questions.
Q1: Will Jamie get promoted in a year? - A: It is decidedly so
Q2: Will Jamie fall in love with a gorgeous man in Portland A: YES
Q3: Will Jamie love her new home? A: Reply hazy, ask later. Followed by a No. haha.
There were more but those were the highlights.

Then we put on our fake tattoos - something we've always shared. We upgraded this time to the cute girly ones, as opposed to the usual 25 cent ghetto ones with giant snakes wrapped around hearts, etc.

Then we went to Thai food - that is literally 3 seconds from my house that I never knew about. Delicious! and then went to see the movie The Switch. (loved it!)
We're planning to get together one last time because we weren't ready to be TOTALLY goodbye behaviour.

Thanks for the fun day girl! Since we get asked all the time if we're sisters - I'm officially adopting you as the sister I never had. Love you!

The last day!

2010-09-17T16:02:00.003-07:00

Today was my last day of work before I move. It's so weird to think that I've been back in Utah nearly 6 years....and working at the same place. I must be growing up or something (probably or something).

It was inventory today - so luckily all the attention wasn't on it being my last day. Although the lovely ladies in my department made me treats to die for..and got me this totally lovely bracelet. So nice! I did quite (no tears) until I had to go turn some stuff into the credit manager (Debra) who I LOVE! Then I got a little teary. Then had to hug people and got a little more teary. It's weird to be excited to leave, but these people have been in my world for the past 5.5 years. Just seems odd to walk away.

But...ONTO THE NEXT LIFE CHAPTER!

So now I have some serious packing to do until Wednesday night when my parents arrive. Then Thursday is all about loading up the truck and then taking off Thursday night to Ogden to stay overnight at my Uncle Tom's (cabin). J/K it's a house, but gotta use that whenever I can. Then heading to Oregon Friday! Can't wait! I start my new job that Monday so I'm really excited to get settled into my new place.

Am hanging out with Melissa tomorrow for our final Hurrah! Of course she has something amazing (read: Ritual) planned. I'm going to miss that girl for sure! Now off to get some packing done so I can play all day!

I'm trashy

2010-09-11T14:54:00.002-07:00

Today was my very first Garage Sale! I wasn't as successful as others - because I think my items weren't "white trash" enough for this neighborhood - but I still made $175.00 on stuff I was just going to give to GoodWill...so not too shabby. Lots of great people watching and pretending to be interested in what people were saying just to make a sale. It really doesn't take much to entertain me!

The Big 1st Day!

2010-09-10T15:01:00.004-07:00

Today was Trent's official first day of Kindergarten!
Jake said he did really great. I haven't yet spoken to him to get some feedback, but seriously would go back to school if these were my only 5 rules I had to live by too!
Great coloring...and writing his own name. Seriously pass this kid onto the 3rd grade. He can handle it.
I asked Jake how he did when they left - he said "totally ignored us. Head down like the world depended on his frog being drawn". That's my guy!

Congratulations Trent! I love you a million billion!

"Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You're off to Great Places!
You're off and away!

You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself
any direction you choose.
You're on your own. And you know what you know.
And YOU are the guy who'll decide where to go."
-Oh the Places You'll Go by Dr Seuss.

My visit from Sarah

2010-09-06T16:42:00.003-07:00

My friend Sarah came to visit this weekend from Houston, TX. We had so much fun laughing and playing and shopping and eating. Carson, her son - sent her with the sweetest Statue of Liberty Hat he made in school that day. I feel pretty honored that he would want to give away such a magnificent piece of art!
Seriously if that doesn't melt your heart - you have no feelings.

It was so great to catch up with her. It had been a very long time since the last time I saw her - and then only for a quick day while I was in Houston for work. Thanks for her husband Jason for letting her come visit while he kept the kids busy for those 3 days. The texts from him asking about carpet cleaner and the like, kept up quite amused.

Kayaking the Puget - Class 1 rapids

2010-08-22T20:45:00.005-07:00

Just got back from a trip to Oregon to celebrate my cute nephew's 5th birthday! His birthday was on July 27th, but this was the first anyone could get up to celebrate. My mom was up for the event as well. I'll write a bit about the family portion of the trip later.

One of the days I was up in Portland, I ventured up to visit my friend Josie - who currently resides in a summer house of her parents' on the Puget Sound in Washington. It's GORGEOUS!! Seriously such a great view and great time was had just hanging out. The food, the margaritas, the laughs....SO FUN! Man I've missed that girl!...and Thor too (of course!)

That night - we went out on the kayaks. It was seriously the best weather ever. We saw seals and everything pretty up close (and of course I cracked out the "Loose Seal" Arrested Development joke perhaps more than once!) It couldn't have been a better trip to see my friend. Thanks Josie and Thor for your hospitality! Always good to see you guys!

Renzie Roo!

2010-07-27T17:51:00.006-07:00

T-baby! Mister T! Ren! Renzie! Srent!

All names of my favourite little boy in the whole world!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BUDDY!

Can't believe it was 5 years ago today we saw you for the first time:

You're such a sweet little boy! Congratulations on turning 5 AND learning to ride a 2-wheeler all in the same week! Amazing stuff buddy! Here he is now - sporting my 2 lame presents I sent him until I go visit in 2 weeks and we can go shop FOR REAL! Can't wait! The birthday hat and t-shirt with a GIANT 5 on it! (how much do I love that he wore it all day today!) I was feeling very crafty and actually made both. In my note to him with his presents I mailed I said they were silly - but we'd go shopping when I got there so he could pick his present. He said to Jake "it's not silly if it's a birthday hat!". Basically saying it was okay because birthday hats are allowed to be "silly". He's so cute (and soooo logical!) Love you buddy!

Happy Birthday Josie!

2010-07-22T22:24:00.004-07:00

(quite an old picture from one of our many adventures)

I know it's not for a couple of days - but this post is in honour one of my favourite people in the world! Thanks for being so great always! I miss our adventures more than you know. So for you, my list of songs every year since the day I was born. (No - I'm not that narcissistic - she just did the same on her blog for her b-day) I think you'll care to note your "theme song" made my list. Must be a sign we were meant to be friends! :) Happy Birthday! xoxox See you in a few weeks!

1977 - You make me feel like dancing - Leo Sawyer
1978 - Baby come back - Sawyer
1979 - Le Freak - Chic
1980 - Rock with you - Michael Jackson
1981 - (just like) starting over - John Lennon
1982 - Physical - Olivia Newton-John
1983 - Down Under - Men at Work
1984 - Owner of a Lonely Heart - Yes
1985 - Like a Virgin - Madonna
1986 - That's what friends are for - Dionne & Friends
1987 - Shake you down - Gregory Abbott
1988 - Got my mind set on you - George Harrison
1989 - Two Hearts - Phil Collins
1990 - How am I supposed to live without you - Michael Bolton
1991 - Love will never do without you - Janet Jackson
1992 - Black or White - Michael Jackson
1993 - I will always love you - Whitney Houston
1994 - Hero - Mariah Carey
1995 - On Bended Knee - Boys II Men
1996 - One sweet day - Mariah Carey & Boys II Men
1997 - Unbreak my heart - Toni Braxton
1998 - Truly Madly Deeply - Savage Garden
1999 - Have you Ever? - Brandy
2000 - What a girl wants - Christina Aguilera
2001 - Independent Women Part 1 - Destiny's Child
2002 - U Got it bad - Usher
2003 - Lose Yourself - Eminem
2004 - Hey Ya! - OutKast
2005 - Let me Love you - Mario
2006 - Grillz - Nelly featuring Paul Wall, Ali & Gipp
2007 - Irreplaceable - Beyonce
2008 - Low - Flo Rida Featuring T-Pain
2009 - Just Dance - Lady GaGa Featuring Colby O'Donis
2010 - TiK ToK - Ke$ha

Alzheimers has set in!

2010-07-22T08:26:00.002-07:00

This week I have been the biggest scatterbrain. Let's recap:

Monday - went to the gym. Am just about there and realize I don't have a sportsbra in my bag. Seriously that won't work. Had to stop off at a store and buy one before heading into the gym.

Tuesday - had to get my windshield replaced. All finished - go to pay and realize I've left my wallet in my bag from Monday's gym trip. I had to leave my cell phone and iPod as collateral. Which really my cell phone is worth more than the windshield - so one should've been sufficient. But I happily agreed as I ran home to get my wallet.

Wednesday - the gym again. I hadn't really put stuff in my bag the night before like normal. So I was running late (of course) for work and just started throwing stuff in my bag. I forgot my shoes. I had to go back to my house on my lunch break to get them, so I could make it to my 5:30 class.

Thursday - so far...I'm doing pretty okay. KNOCK ON WOOD! But man! I make fun of myself because I usually plan things out to the Nth degree. But clearly it's how I function!

Research & Development

2010-07-18T20:35:00.002-07:00

A few products I've tried recently that I wanted to share:

Toma's Self Tanner
Seriously this stuff makes you look REALLY tan and not oompa loompa orange. I really like it! I have people at work keeping me in a "woah - you're too orange" watch just in case. But so far - only compliments on the tan. I've had 3 people go buy it just because I look so tan and fab! It smells a little weird - and I think when it's on I look super orange, but it fades a bit in the shower the next morning.

Purex 3 in 1 Laundry Detergent
I've never been a believer in combining things. Mike Birbiglia makes a joke about hotels, ''You can always tell by how much they combine toiletries. They'll have shampoo slash conditioner slash toothpaste. And you actually have to call the desk and say, 'Can I get some more 'sham-paste?' " Classic Birbigs haha. Anyway, similar feelings where I don't believe when they did it with shampoo and conditioner it works. I mean, yes it would be fantastic to only have one bottle in the shower. However when your hair comes out knottier than when you went in - you know it's a bust. Then I stumbled across a commercial for this product from Purex. I'm a snob about smells of my detergent and I like to control the ginormous portion of fabric softener going into the machine. But I liked the idea behind it....and found a page giving out samples (and they work for High Energy/front loading machines). I tried them on towels and a blanket this weekend. Not too shabby. I probably won't get them again because it's been a day and the smell has already faded from the blanket....need more cowbell (or fab softener in this case). But I do love the idea still.

Kontos Whole Wheat Pocket-less Pita
This is by far my favourite find. I actually got them at Harmons and mmmmMMMM! They're good. And they're super tasty used as Pizza Bread. Now you can have pizza and your house - it's healthier (whole wheat...duh!) and each person can customize their own toppings. Here's my current fav:
1 - whole wheat pita
2 - gluten free pizza sauce
3 - Chicken cubed
4 - 1/4 small zucchini
5 - 1/4 yellow pepper
6 - 1/4 red pepper
7 - reduced fat mozzarella cheese (small amount)
back at 425 for about 10-12 minutes. Seriously YUM!

Jane's Addiction

2010-07-18T11:55:00.002-07:00

In speaking about all my many "addictions" I wish that my name really was Jane. It would be amazing to get to pull that joke out all the time.

Currently one of my many addictions is the Macho Taco from Del Taco. Seriously I could eat it everyday....don't think it hasn't crossed my mind. Also the Caramel Frappe from McDonalds. Sadly - starting tomorrow I'm giving them both up for good. Do you ever sit and think....if I were on death row, what would I want as my last meal. I literally think I would choose a belly full of random junky fast food. Or maybe my mom's homemade potato salad. YUM.

I've challenged my dad to a 5k race over Thanksgiving. Which officially means I'll be in So Cal for that weekend (Josie...take note - ps - we're thinking of the Balboa Park 5k if you and Thor want to join in the fun). I figure if I have a goal to work toward that will help. Starting tomorrow morning I'll be following the training guide plus attending my classes at my gym 4 times a week. Overall good plan. Now off to the grocery store!

The Luckiest

2010-07-14T18:20:00.004-07:00

Lately I'm obsessed with Ben Folds. Can't get enough. I think that if I ever decide to get married (don't hold your breath people) this would be the song I would have at my wedding.
Plus it reminds me of all the reasons I am lucky.

1. Family - even though I don't seem them a ton. I see them enough and couldn't be more lucky with my amazing brothers and parents. And don't forget the cutest nephew in the whole world (this picture just proves my point. Apparently he wore these goggles swimming for about 20 seconds and then walked around in them for about 20 minutes. And approved the picture - so, as Jake states "he clearly thinks they're bad ass")
2. Friends - this year I've really struggled with my friendships. I know as we get older we grow apart, etc but it seems I've put stock in very selfish people to be my friends. That being said - I am thankful for my friends who love me without rules or expectations. Who I can get together with and just laugh and laugh and laugh. Who I look forward to seeing and doing things with. That getting together isn't a chore. I am lucky to have these people in my life and you know who you are.

3. I'm lucky that I'm so weird. Seriously this used to be a curse. A lot of people never truly "get" me. Most of that is my fault because I don't really open up to that many people. But for those rare few that get to view me in all my weirdness glory....prepare to be amazed. HAHA. JK, but really I do love that I'm not a cookie cutter type person. I think life would be boring for me like that. I'm lucky that I challenge authority and think for myself and don't follow rules in life. Dance to the beat of my own drum (which is usually of beat anyway - did you know I have the worst rhythm?) One of my best best best girlfriends from middle school caught up with me on Facebook and I told her what I'm up to and her reaction was "I'm so glad to hear that you're the same free spirit I knew when we were 14". Seriously made my day.

4. I'm lucky because I'm free. Living in America is great. Lucky to have men and women who fight for our freedom. And while I could never be one of those people - I sincerely appreciate the sacrifice made. As big a fan I am of Pride & Prejudice, Emma and the likes of Jane Austin type books/movies. The real thought in my head is - I would probably be shunned from society or something because of my very vocal opinions. I am lucky to live in day and age where I can be opinionated and a woman. It might not be popular with the gentleman callers - but I still CAN is the point. haha.

All in all - I'm quite lucky. And if you're reading this blog - it means I know you somehow and am lucky to know you too!

SIGH!!!

2010-06-21T17:24:00.002-07:00

Did you here that giant sigh all the way from (insert town that you are reading this blog from)!?!

That was me letting out a HUGE SIGH OF RELIEF that my HUGE work project is coming to an end. Our cut-over weekend was a success and I think we're on a very smooth road toward working on a new system. All in all - a pretty uneventful first day on the new system. Only one person started tearing up on me - which I quickly squashed down and ...problem solved.

I had the lofty goal to pack my work out clothes to work and head to a class tonight after work - but have decided one day off before I get back to the routine of going to the gym is not going to kill anyone. Plus this morning - for the first time in 3 weeks I actually slept until my alarm and even then had a hard time prying my eyeballs open. This girl needs more sleep before I jump and kick around at the gym!

So for those of you that have felt like I'm the invisible friend lately - I should be back in full swing starting...well tomorrow :)

Sharp Tooth!

2010-06-17T05:08:00.007-07:00

I was at Target a few days ago - and I realized I was nearing the end of my toothpaste. I am also nearing the end of my shampoo AND conditioner but I can't remember everything in one trip apparently. I digress. While in the toothpaste aisle I decide that my teeth need a little spruce up as well and I should buy some white strips. Since I haven't determined if I'm a believer in the white strip yet - I just went for the 7 days of generic Target brand which were like 1/2 the price of the normal brand. I'll try them out. If they work like I want them too - perhaps I'll upgrade next time.

So I get them home and yesterday morning - after a really bad night sleep and needing to get up super early because I had a GIANT day ahead of me...I stumble into my bathroom and have enough clarity to remember I wanted to whiten my teeth while in the shower. So I take out these gems.

Here is my problem with said "strips".
a) they don't actually look like strips to me. It's more like a blue piece of cardboard. Let's call an apple and apple.
b) they stick to your teeth like to other. I'm fairly certain if they do whiten your teeth it's only because they're peeling off any layer you may have. After this - my teeth will probably be white, but will rot out of my head due to lack of enamel.
c) Don't shape the back side of the strip to look like TEETH! It makes the putter-on of aforementioned so-called strips think that part should go in the FRONT. And since there are cleverly no instructions in the box....you can see where this is going.

Only after I realized I didn't have teeth like THIS GUY..
(Sloth, not "Chunk". "Chunk" appears to have very lovely teeth)
did I realize the strips were on backward.
Seriously if I would've been on a show like Big Brother where the world could watch my life - this might've been the demise to any credibility I once had in life. I was seriously trying to match up the notches with my teeth. Thinking - so seriously I'm going to have like 3 white teeth in the front? That's gonna be ugly! Yes at 5am we're all a little S-L-O-W. Some more than others.

GOOOOOOOOAL!

2010-06-14T18:40:00.002-07:00

This weekend was full of my Josie & Thor filled time. They are back from their extravaganza in Europe for the past 5 weeks and MAN I MISSED THEM! It was a whirl-wind weekend of time just hanging out with them as they are already gone again. This time for good! BOO HOO!! I will miss my favourite friend that would always indulge my random class addiction and be my workout partner in crime.

We watched World Cup soccer on Saturday (US vs London). I really didn't pay much attention to the game. Saw our ONLY goal on the replay because I was too busy checking out what there was to eat. Wow'ed Josie with my soccer player name drop - who also just happened to be the commentator in the "office". I really know nothing about soccer. I just remember a couple of random names back when they first allowed soccer as a US Olympic sport.

I've pinpointed that I dislike the game of soccer for the following reasons:
a) I'm better with my hands (that's what she said) than running while trying to kick a ball.
b) growing up in central california I always had to play goalie (see "a" regarding horrible at running and kicking said ball) so they stuck me in the post that never really had to move. God Bless my mother who still resolves that "you were a great little goalie". Sure lady - no body is buying it!
c) I had to get a definition of off-sides from Thor on Saturday.

Sometimes I wish I was good. Nothing like running my fat arse around trying to thin it out. Maybe I should join a team? I'm pretty sure I would be laughed off the little kids league - so best to opt out of it. I do think I want to join a summer softball league. Although - what if I ended up on the team that was insanely competitive and wanted to have like 3 practices a week? Where did my competitive nature go to? Although a trophy would look amazing in my casa.

Elvis

2010-06-07T19:56:00.002-07:00

There is this guy that I see on my way to work a lot. He's walking. I'm driving. In different directions. I've seen him for probably more than a year. I think he's SOOOO cute. But how does one roll up to a guy walking in the opposite direction of you driving and say "hello sir - I think you're lovely"? Well...you don't. Especially if your name is Jamie Harker! Stupid shy, gets tongue tied around cute boys Jamie.

I think he looks like Elvis Costello. Only cuter of course. But dark hair. Glasses. Loveliness in one package. He may be short - as I've never actually stood next to him...tough to tell. But he's always listening to his iPod while he walks. Saturday as I was leaving work - strolling by my work on the opposite side of the street was Elvis. He was seriously so cute. And I was totally smiley just taking him all in.

...and then I just drove away. Haha. I'm such a weirdo.

Loading up

2010-05-27T21:53:00.003-07:00

My iPod has been in a sad state of the same old songs. I listen to it at work a lot (earphones, to drown out the loud-mouthed breathers around me) and have been noticing that a) I listen to the same songs over and over and b) man I'm sick of all the songs on my iPod. So tonight I bought myself an iTunes gift card (because I seriously hate getting a million emails stating my receipt purchases) and loaded up. SO FUN!

Here are some of my new favs:

The Swell Season
Lucy Schwartz
Taylor Swift (I know...but this song just makes me happy)
Maria Mena
Rosie Thomas

And of course A TON more new ones. Ahhhh I already feel better about going to work tomorrow with the iPod loaded up with new stuff.
Now I just need find some of this stuff on piano sheet music/guitar music and start my band (haha) or just play for my own self. Probably better!

The short purple bus

2010-05-25T17:43:00.002-07:00

My friend Samantha who is touring around Europe right now (jealous) sent me this picture today!This is a picture of the train that she was on. Seriously - purple, velour-ish looking seats. Super pimp! Mostly she sent it to me because she knows my aversion to the colour purple. I seriously hate it. (although yes, that was me wearing a very dark purple sweater yesterday. It snowed - I was thrown off!) Anywho - I think the purple ick comes from Over-dosing on purple as a child. I have this outfit that I would wear. Purple cordoroy OVERALL knickers. With white tights underneath and purple legwarmers to cover up the white tights (so why did I wear the white tights...you'd have to ask my mom), a purple shirt (probably) under said overalls, and a purple ribbon in my one sided ponytail. Man. Dressed like that you would be surprised to know I grew up in California! haha. Seriously legwarmers and cordoroy knickers w/ tights. That's like Arctic weather. So now - I simply don't like it. And I think I know too many W.T. people who LOVE the colour purple. tee hee.

Sorry if it's your favourite color. Thanks for the laugh Samantha!

Another laugh today -
My brother Jake sent me the following text message this afternoon:
"I just told Trent I can do whatever I want. He said no, you can't take off your pants and ride a motorcycle." Seriously I love that kid - that the first thing he things of is dropping trou and going for a bike ride as the topping off the list of forbidden things.

The massacre of the "pigs"

2010-05-23T14:41:00.004-07:00

Yesterday Melissa and I went to lunch and to get our pigs prettied up for Spring weather. Super fun. And great junk food! The pedi experience, on the other hand, was weird.

The girl doing my toes was all about the sales pitch. Trying to up-sell me on the extra services....which of course I accepted. I'm an easy target. She was constantly asking me if the chair felt good, the water was warm enough, etc. But it wasn't in that tone that was like "I'm actually concerned about you as a patron" but more along the lines of, "Your tip should be amazing because look at all these things that are being performed for you behind the scenes." Melissa's girl on the other hand...not so nice. She barely spoke to her and when Melissa would listen to my girl up-selling me and would want them as well, Melissa's girl would seriously give her this face (WTF...why the face?) like she was super annoyed and she couldn't believe that Melissa would be so bold as to make her do more work. It was HILARIOUS (for me).

And while Melissa's girl did a fine job, my girl was all about digging at my toes with sharp objects. On more than 3 occasions I actually said "OW" audibly. And as of today - my big toes on both feet hurt like the dickens. I think she actually CREATED an in-grown toenail. It's seriously killing me, as displayed by picture below where you can see it's red and swollen where the digging occurred. As for the Merry Very Cherry color that was chosen. Couldn't be more lovely.

Zion

2010-05-22T10:15:00.004-07:00

(kudos to my brother Matt for this fab picture)

Nearly a month ago my family took a trip to Zion National Park in Southern Utah for my mom's 60th birthday. It was so much fun. They rented this house that was amazing and we all just hung out and played pool and talked and watched a movie and then hiked around the park all day. It's funny because I really don't consider myself a lover of hiking - but when I'm there and I'm in it...it's really the most fun ever!

The river was running to high and fast so we couldn't hike the Narrows. Sad. I really wanted to do Angels Landing (where someone died the weekend we were there) but it's a 5hour hike and we got a bit of a late start.

Blake had a friend he knows come over and so Matt and I just hiked around together. It was actually really fun. Sometimes Matt and I are hit and miss in the getting along category. But when he's mellow and whatever - we get along fine. How can you not be mellow in some of the most beautiful scenery in the world?
This is a picture of Blake and I waiting for his friend to show up. I miss that kid! He's seriously my favourite person in the world! I love that he's SUPER laid back. And while it drive people in my family crazy - it just makes me love him even more. He doesn't really pre-think about much. Just show up and it'll work out. And if it doesn't - that's fine too. Man it would be great to be like that some days. Unlike the classic Jamie behaviour that over thinks, well....EVERYTHING! I've actually found myself more mellow in the face of a lot of stress lately at work. So maybe there's still hope for me.

L - A - Z - WHY?

2010-05-20T05:55:00.002-07:00

I'm am the epitome of lazy these days. Well kind of. Work is insane. After an 11 hour day with no lunch break I consider myself well-deserving of doing nothing when I get home. Yesterday I went to the drawer for a fork to eat my dinner I had prepared and....no forks. No spoons for that matter either. I apparently have been so lazy I have forgotten to run the dishwasher. All the dishes are in there - waiting to be cleaned - I just never pushed "go". Grilled out chicken became finger food last night. I should hire a maid. I kind of want to encourage this slothfulness, at least a little while longer. TEE HEE!

My life doesn't do well with limbo. I currently feel like I am in limbo. Should I move? Should I just try and stick it out - finish school (maybe never) and then move? Do I really miss being around my brothers or is it really just my nephew I would rather be around? I'm not sure of answers to those questions. I don't actually care to know the answers either - so, maybe I like limbo more than I think!

On a positive note - I'm totally rocking this project at work right now. So that's great! Also - I think I'm ready to cut my hair again. I'll keep you posted on that one. I do love it long, but perhaps short will kick my limbo funk right out of the water. We'll see. It grows so fast anyway, even if I hate it - it'd be long again in no time. Plus I want to have long hair when I turn 35 because my mom thinks that at a "certain age" you can't have long hair anymore. Is it wrong that at 33 I still do things just to spite my mom? (aka - the blonde hair phase of jan 2010).

Worst Commercial EVER!!!

2010-05-17T18:43:00.001-07:00

So for those of you that know me well - you know I don't have cable. Seriously haven't in....well I can't even remember the last time I had it. Anyway - I watch a lot of hulu.com because I do have the internet. This commercial came on tonight just now and I literally think that the person that signed off on this one should get fired. Straight away! Seriously - hands down the worst thing I've ever seen. There's like a flock of turkeys and the singing is horrible? I could've done a better job producing a cat food commercial. WOW.

Drive By Truckers

2010-05-15T19:44:00.002-07:00

The other night I went to a concert for a band called the Drive By Truckers. I went with my friend Laurel, her husband Aaron, and her friend Kelly who I've met before. The concert was good. Mostly it was fun to just listen to SUPER loud music and watch people dance. Man do I wish I was more like that most days - where I could just let the music move me and not care what people think. But alas...I never will be that person - So I just enjoy the music and smile at other people enjoying the music.

Here's a little sampling of what we saw

First blog in 3.5 months!

2010-05-09T17:50:00.004-07:00

Wow I just looked at my last post and realized I haven't kept up on this blog at all. Not that I needed to look at my blog to realize that tee hee. I haven't even logged into blogger since then I think. I'm a bit behind on everyone's life.

Here's what you missed while I was away:
1. This weekend my FAV taking class friend Samantha moved. *POUT* But she is living in the UK for the next few weeks and then traveling for the summer and then settling in San Diego - so it's not like I'll never see her again - but I will miss her dearly!

3. I've been traveling non-stop for the first quarter of the year. I swear I've been on a ga-zillion trips.
California
California
Portland
Portland
Seattle
Portland
So. Utah
Clearly a theme there as well! haha.

And now you're officially caught up! So it's not like you really missed much. Work has been crazy - and not expected to let up until at least Mid July. I'm currently on the job hunt because I'm pretty much expecting to not have a job after I kill myself off finishing up this conversion. They've decided to make a bunch of changes that our division has no control over. I guess only time will tell. I've already applied for a job in Olympia, WA (kind of hoping for that one) and will probably apply for one in Chicago. I guess we shall see. Those are the ones internally I would apply for I think. There are a couple in Los Angeles - and you all know I love California, but probably don't want to live in LA. Nor commute from where I would want to live :) I hate driving. My 10 minute commute to work daily makes me want to pull my hair out.

Other than that - things are pretty normal here. Hope you are all doing well!
Sorry I've been MIA. No promises on being better though :)

California - Take 2

2010-01-23T14:21:00.002-07:00

I am in California for the 2nd weekend in a row. Last weekend it was to hang out with the parentals for my 33rd birthday! This weekend it's for CHA (Craft & Hobby Association). It's a lovely day here and when I got in my room though, the thermostat was set at like 76. BLEH - too hot! So I went to the thermostat in order to bring down the temperature and I actually sang the following song.

ps if you aren't watching the show Modern Family on ABC - you're seriously missing out! It's HILARIOUS!

Christmas Eve Eve

2009-12-23T11:31:00.012-07:00

Since I haven't posted since before Thanksgiving...and I'm sure you've all been dying for the next post...I'll oblige in updating this blog.

Thanksgiving was SUPER FUN! I went to Portland (drove..lost my voice singing in the car for 12 hours haha. Worth it!) for Thanksgiving and had the most fun ever with the cutest nephew in the world! They cut his hair - which was really really sad...for me. He looks like such a grown up boy now! I do miss his "surf hair" as we lovingly called it. But no denying it - he's still the most adorable boy alive.

This was take one of his "scary" face. He's too sweet to even be scary!

I'm not lying when I swear I have a picture of Jake as a kid somewhere making this EXACT face. This was take 2 of scary faces. He's really not good at them! haha.

We laughed and played games and "I Spy" forever. We roasted marshmallows and read books and one night before bed he said "You're the best aunt in the whole world!" Awww...love him!

Then I came home. Melissa had her baby before I left and I got to see her (Thanks for coming early Paige! I would've been sad if I didn't get to see her newborn). Miss Paige Lund Hinderman was born and she's the most petite little girl I've ever seen! So sweet and cute.

Then I got to babysit! Kurtis and Melissa had tickets to the Christmas concert with the BareNaked Ladies - so I got to watch Preston and Paige! SO FUN! Paige slept the whole time and is just the sweetest thing ever. Preston is a GREAT older brother and he read me a story before he went to bed. He's just learning and did a super fantastic job! My fav part of the night was when he was getting ready for bed, he comes in from brushing his teeth and is wearing his boxers, t-shirt and socks and says to me "does your husband just wear his underwear to bed?" I told him I didn't have a husband. He says "oh, but when you do - he will I promise. He will only wear his underwear to bed." haha. Love that kid. He's quite the character.

And now you're all caught up!

For Christmas I'm staying put. I usually burn out on travel by the end of the year, and will enjoy some peace and quiet around my own place. Wishing all my friends and family the best of holidays and looking forward to a new year and new memories! Praying for snow, and Peace on Earth.
Just Imagine...

Love,

Jamie

xoxox

How much do I love...?

2009-11-09T17:36:00.003-07:00

Just had to re-sign my lease for 6 months.
The cute guy (probably kid is a better word for him) in the office was chat-chat-chatty and semi-hitting on me if I do say so myself.
We talked about school, etc - and then he asked how old I was. HAHA
Why do I love that question? What I love even more is making people guess.

He told me "you have a range". Safe. His range for me was 20-25!!
I'm in love with that kiddo! haha. His face was like...hmmm....when I told him I'll be 33 in Jan.

Note: He may just be horrible with guessing people's ages like I am. haha. But I'll take it where I can get it!

The book the sassed me back

2009-11-08T15:53:00.002-07:00

When I was in Houston for work last month - on the way back in the airport I bought a book. This shop was bigger than most book stores you find in airports and I had plenty of time to browse. Usually I have in mind a book I've been dying to read - but this trip...not so much. So I'm walking around and Chatty McGee - the guy working the shop - kept offering to help me find something. Which always bugs me. It's like asking the waiter "what would you suggest" when you go out to dinner. You don't know me from the homeless guy off the street - so how about you tell me what I would like to eat tonight. haha. That one always makes me laugh.

Anyway - so I'm looking and I see this section titled Mystery. I usually like a good - make you think, scare you a little kind of book. There's an author that I'd read a couple of times called Mary Higgins Clark and it was always an easy read. At the time I couldn't remember her name just knew she wrote a lot of books. So when I picked up the book titled Vision in White by Nora Roberts (there was quite a lot of books written by her as well) I figured..yep this must be it! And being a mystery book about a wedding - it had to be good right? I figured there would be some blood on the dress, some axe murdering ex-boyfriend come to break up the event, steal the bride. Who knows!

I'm of the addage - judge a book by it's cover. Usually if the publishers/writers can't muster up a little effort to market a book so I want to read it. You win! I probably don't want to read it. After I got onto the plane and started reading - I kept wondering where the mystery part came into play. (FYI - my hindsight can be your tiny fortune....Nora Roberts is a romance book writer. What these books were doing in the mystery section - I will never know). HAHAHAA Laughs on me even further when I got totally hooked. I read the book in one day! LOVED IT! In face just bought Book 2 of the 4 book series yesterday when I was out with Melissa at Target (and just finished it too!) SUCKER!

Houston, TX

2009-10-12T16:35:00.006-07:00

Cute Miss Elizabeth

Mister Carson - who is so funny

Noah who was SOOO proud of those things on his face
and the fact that his jersey is REVERSE-ABLE! No
greater magic on Earth could've topped that discovery!

I was in Houston for work 2 weekends ago. And in between my classes that I was teaching I got a chance to visit my friend Sarah who just moved from TN, to TX. It was a very lucky thing! Although I would've loved to stay longer I was only in town and had the afternoon free. We got to go to Noah's football game and run around their house like crazy people! It was a fun day with my fun friend! I just wish the picture of us had turned out better! haha. I guess it goes to show you don't let the 5 year old take the picture! :)

Jamie & Sarah. Great Friends!

Some of my favourite kiddos!

**Sarah, I'll email you a link to the videos of Noah's game so you can show Jason**

A very funny little girl

2009-09-29T19:18:00.002-07:00

My good friend Laurel text me tonight after my Irish Dancing class to see if I could come and watch her daughter Rachel and son Quin. Of course I agreed! Rachel is like the funniest little girl ever. When I got there she was already in her PJ's and running around singing and dancing with Go Diego and Little Einstein. After Laurel and Aaron left for their concert and Quin was already in bed, Rachel told me that she needed to change her baby. She went into Quin's room and got a diaper and wipes and proceeded to change her baby. She looks over and me and says, "Jamie, my baby is a poopin' machine!" She was TOTALLY serious! She also proceeded to wipe up her chair that apparently the poopin' machine had gotten poop on. She's also the girl who breast-feeds here baby and then says "EW!" drops the baby and then says "she spit up all over me. DISGUSTING!" I love hearing Laurel phrases come out of her daughter's mouth. Kids crack me up lately - but especially that one! After I left Laurel text me and said "Rachel just said 'I can't wait to see Jamie again' ". Awwwww! How can you not love this face?

For Kristi

2009-09-20T19:08:00.002-07:00

I'm sorry that it's sideways....

This was the video we made you on the way down - and then didn't take another picture all weekend! haha. SORRY! Hope this makes you feel like you were sorely missed.

Jig-a-Jig-ahhhh

2009-09-09T18:30:00.001-07:00

I hope you all have the Spice Girls song in your head now! HAHA.

I'm all about the Jig lately with my latest continuing education class of Irish Dance! It's soooo totally fun. And my legs/calves are loving me (NOT) for jumping around and constantly having to be on my toes the whole hour class. It's a total fun time! Seriously if they gave out degrees for random continuing education classes that would get you nowhere in life - I would totally have my PHD! Why do I have to only love FUN classes?! It used to be the family joke that my dad's sister majored in Bird Watching and Badminton (I'm not entirely sure that's true) But now at least I see where I get it!

We're to have a recital on the last day of class in October. You can be sure there will be video of that!

Surgery

2009-08-24T19:19:00.003-07:00

I had surgery on Friday and have been recooperating all weekend. I sucked it up today and went into work for 3 hours because I'm just tired of being home. And my doctor told me I could do whatever I wanted...(so there!) Actually he told me I could do whatever I felt like I could do - I just used a little exaggeration, as I so often like to, to get my way! SO THERE!

Surgery was fine. It was weird because my arrival time was noon - but they called at 10:30 to say my doctor was running EARLY so could I just come now? Yes please! Although it took us forever to get there because my mom has no idea where she's going so we had to take the easiest (read: LONGEST) way there. But we made it and they rushed us through like a V.I.P. Hey - even if it's just for surgery, I'll take it. The nurse who started my IV was nice, but creeped me out because she didn't wear a glove on one hand. Of course my blood got everywhere and she just looks at me and goes "oh - you're healthy right?" I wanted to say - no I've got the HIV...good luck with that. But my mom sitting next to me (equally horrified I might add) kept my sarcastic comments to a minimum. Seriously...UTAH!?!?!

My surgeon came in and was like "okay questions"? So I'm like sure whattya got? He's like - no do you have questions for me? HAHA. I'm retarded and not even drugged at this point. The O.R. Nurse Molly was super nice and chatted me about how great my Anesthesiologist was (of course I asked her if she says that about everyone. She says no. And I believe her! haha). The Anethesiologist came out - talked to me for a second, drugged me and that's about all I remember. I woke up in recovery.

Surgery took longer than expected, not sure why and my top "hole" they made in my chest is bigger than they said it was going to be - but whatever. My mom was waiting in the waiting room with all the other families and said that doctors would come in and say "everything went great...blah blah" and then the lady at the desk told her my doctor wanted to see her in a consult room (this is after my surgery was already taking way longer than they said). She was freaking out. Finally the guy decides to join her in the consult room and basically says "she did great". I think my mom wanted to come across the table and kick his face in. haha GO CHERYL!

It's been funny to me how totally small things have become giant steps for man-kind. They wouldn't discharge me from the hospital until I could pee. Who knew that a 32 year old woman going pee in the toilet was cause for celebration!?! But it is! Also, the IV was on my right hand, and it's really hard to "wipe" with your wrong hand. Seriously try it out.

I got home that afternoon and my great friend Samantha had sent flowers to my house! She's so nice. Melissa came over the next day and brought me magazines, a book and some candy (because it's fat free haha). Thanks girls! It definitely made my weekend.

Privacy

2009-08-19T22:58:00.002-07:00

Yes - I've gone "private" with my blog. I'm just trying it out really. I had it linked on my Facebook and then sooo many work people kept adding me that I was like - hmmmm...where to vent everything I want without worrying the wrong people are reading this. Plus there are just some people I don't want reading my blog.

I feel like I've been a grouchy version of myself lately. Partly because I haven't felt well for like a month. Hopefully soon to be resolved by a quick surgery on Friday! YOW! The gall bladder must come out apparently. Crazy intense pain and not sleeping all that well, but I feel like my life is in a rut.

Melissa and I have been walking lately. It's fun to just walk around talking and catching up. That's what I love about my close friends is that we don't have to re-hash the glory days. Although they were great....friendship to me has to move on. I can talk to her about anything, and while we're in very different places in our lives - we're still just great friends. I like that. We go through our phases of more talking and less talking, and that's totally fine. We can pick up, catch up on what we've missed and move on. It used to bug me that sometimes we wouldn't talk for long periods and I felt like I always had to make the effort to keep the contact (sorry Melis if you're reading this..haha) - but I realize that's just who she is. I've gotten over my insecurities with our friendship - know it will always be there - and just enjoy the times together when they happen. And sometimes I'm total crap about keeping in touch with people too! So I probably have no room to talk.

So welcome to my private blog. Hope you're enjoying yourself. Can I get you anything?

Death Cab for Cutie Concert

2009-07-14T22:38:00.000-07:00

Last night Hayley, Garrett, and my friend Matt went to see Death Cab at Red Butte Gardens. I want to take up residence at this place for shows - seriously..(except when it gets SUPER cold after the sun goes down). But I still love it.

The opening acts Ra-Ra-Riot...not loving them.
Andrew Bird....I liked him except all his GD whistling! Seriously every song! (and trust me...we kept track).
And then the "cuties" came on - and it was FANTASTIC.

They opened with a fav which always sets the mood off well.

I told Matt I was kind of hoping they wouldn't play this next song kind of as a "suck it", to all the people who ONLY KNOW THIS SONG!! But...it is a good one :) (also loved that just as I stopped taping...the girl next to me said to her friend "this song is totally about world peace". Ahhh i love the cheesy sap that comes out of people at concerts! Especially when they're wrong.

My fav part of the night was when Ben Gibbard (lead singer also engaged to Zooey Dachanel-there's a little fun fact for ya!) made fun of all the cheap bastards that didn't pay for tickets but sit on top of the hill on the backside of the ampitheatre. He's a funny guy that one.

All in all - another lovely summer night full of good music, good friends, and AMAZING people watching! haha.

Indigo Girls Concert

2009-07-07T22:33:00.007-07:00

We went to see the Girls tonight at Red Butte Gardens. I'm in love with this outdoor venue now. The concert was amazing!!! Great weather, great laughs with friends, couldn't ask for more. So that you feel like you were there with me - I sneaked some videos. :) When I'm in places like this - I realize that I do live in, quite possibly, the most beautiful city in the world.

and Amy sang my fav (oh don't worry, I sang along. I had to keep the video short because I couldn't keep it in anymore! haha)

Thanks Kari and Laurel for going with! Great times!

My Favourite T-Baby

2009-06-24T13:11:00.002-07:00

So as mentioned before that we're taking Balloon Art. When I went up to Portland I brought balloons with me, but could only remember how to make the sword (it's really the easiest thing ever). Which launched us into a HUGE sword fight for at least 45 minutes. And then this conversation with my cute nephew. It's probably not cute to anyone else - but I love to see him talking so much. It wasn't long ago that he barely spoke at all. His munchkin voice is adorable and his logic astounds me. My favourite phrase from the weekend was "I doubt it means more no than yes" (clearly he hears that a lot!). And "Probably means more yes than no". So when we woke up one morning and he was staring at me - I said (from Ethan's bed next to his) "Hey Trent, do you wanna come snuggle me?" His response: "Probably". haha. Even first thing in the morning he's quite clever.

Off the blogging bandwagon.

2009-06-21T21:09:00.002-07:00

Lately I have had nothing clever or inspired to say - so I've chosen to say nothing at all. Thumper's mom would be proud.

Last weekend I went to Portland to just chillax with the brothers and of course Mister T (Trent) which he has officially now told me "ummm..but my name is Srent" (that's what he calls himself) when I say Mister T. We had lots of fun, I'll add pictures someday I'm sure.

Yesterday I taught a scrapbooking class in Layton. I had to be peppy and in Layton at 8am on a Saturday morning. I don't even make it to work on time at 8am - and that's 10 minutes away. BLARG to that 45 minute drive. I was grouchy, I wasn't awake and these 2 ladies in my first of 2 classes were the most annoying things ever. They weren't awake either and kept doing everything wrong and then acting like I had just told them to do it. I might have dropped the F-bomb under my breath at them...haha. The ladies in class #2 were way better.

Yep - that's all I've got for this blog now.
Oh - my class for the month is Balloon Art. I learned how to make a dog and a sword last week - and already can't remember how to do either. Whatever - not like I'm actually going to become a clown in my spare time...but the class is super fun - and of course Ms. Samantha is a RIOT!

Dancin' Feet

2009-05-28T20:44:00.003-07:00

I don't really mean that they're super coordinated - they just got jacked up tonight in tap class.

Some of you that attended college with me - this might be deja vu for you as you've possibly seen band-aids on my feet before. Who am I kidding, I love band-aids and any excuse to use them. But these are current. I went to tap class and only had one sock - so I tapped sockless in my shoes. DUMB.

YES, I'm taking Tap Dancing class. It's actually really fun - and I don't want to brag, but my friend Samantha and I are seriously the best in the class. I'm also not going to tell you that the rest of the class is over 60 probably and we might be the best because we can at least remember the moves from one week to the next. Youth wins again! But it really is a fun way to work out.

This is me doing the "Jazz Square" that I love to throw Jazz hands into just to make Samantha laugh. HAHA.

Can't get enough

2009-05-12T20:07:00.001-07:00

Tonight I've listened to this song no less than 25 times. Something in it is striking a chord in me. I can't put my finger on it - but thought I would share. I'm normally not a HUGE Faith Hill fan...but this song is actually great. Ps - i hate the beginning where she's totally cheesy with the non famous guy. *eyeroll*

Soul

2009-04-28T19:47:00.002-07:00

This song always makes me feel a little sunshine when I'm feeling lost, which seems to be a lot lately. Just love the simplicity of it and wish all things in life were so simple and clean. I always feel like I can do more, be more to help the good of society - but I'm too wrapped up in my own world. Maybe a New May Resolution.

Baby Brother

2009-04-22T20:17:00.006-07:00

One of my best friends in the whole world, Laurel, had a baby boy on early early early Tuesday morning. They got to the hospital around 11 something pm...it all happened super fast, couldn't get any drugs, 4 pushes later and out comes "baby brother". They're still deciding on a name. Here is what I love about my friend Laurel. She has this traumatic birth where everyone is taking their good sweet time getting around to her, she has to suffer through natural birth - not by choice, pops out a kid at just before 1am...and texts me at 1:30am to tell me he's arrived. I love that girl! Tonight I got to go over and hold him and cuddle him. He's SOOOO cute. I pretty much hogged him the whole time - which, another reason I love her - SHE LET ME! Her daughter Rachel was a cute baby, but seemed so much more sturdy than this little guy. He is TINY! He was only a few ounces smaller - but he seems like just this tiny tiny version of a baby. I held Rachel the morning after she was born still in the hospital. He still seems tinier than that. Anyway, for your viewing pleasure - here is "baby brother". I put my vote in for Grant, which is what it was going to be - but Aaron (her husband) called a last minute audible (he coaches football for the U, so had to throw in a football term) and now they're tossing back and forth between Grant and Quinn. We'll see...

Stalling Tactic.

2009-04-20T17:53:00.002-07:00

Hi! Remember me? The writer of this blog? Seriously nothing that different or write-able has happened to me since last month. I took 3 trips in March (2 for work, 1 for fun?) and have been trying to catch up ever since.

Last week I decided to start eating healthier. Note: I lost 5.7 lbs last week! This week, I'm eating healthier WHILE adding in the working out factor. I'm actually supposed to be working out right now, but stalling and any excuse will do.

Here's what I found so intriguing I had to blog about it.

Did you know that I walk around my apt nekkid a good lot of the time? Yup I do. No biggie right? But - I sometimes leave the blinds in my family room on my sliding door, not only open, but pulled all the way back for all to see.

Here's the funny thing - I'm about to go start a workout tape. Fully dressed, no biggie...and I had to close the blinds! Priorities really.

Okay off I go now...no more stalling!

A tap-tap-tappy!

2009-02-24T22:32:00.004-07:00

I haven't blogged in a VERY long while! I've just been so busy!

My dad is turning 60 on the 7th of March, so we're all going to Portland to celebrate. I (the person in the family with the least spare time) took the project on to create a book for my dad for his birthday gift. I'm playing the martyr a little bit because it was actually my idea - and let's face it - wouldn't have turned out at all if one of the boys took it on, or would've been ULTRA cheesy if my mom did. Gotta love being middle-ground. It arrived at Matt's house today and he thinks it looks awesome! I'm excited to see it in real life - because it certainly sucked a lot of time.

Samantha and I went snowboarding (well she went skiing) on Sunday at the Canyons in Park City. It was like the BEST day for outdoor recreation EVER! I'm only slightly sore, and only fell 5 times - which since I haven't gone for maybe 2+ seasons...isn't all that bad. The first fall was a doosey where I actually made the *insert getting punched in the gut sound here* "Oooooph" sound as I went down! Haha...I laughed forever about that one the rest of the way down. I forget, until I'm up there, how much I really do love snowboarding. I also realize how old I'm getting when I was considering taking my medical/insurance cards in my pocket. Funnier that when I was going 3 times a week in college, I didn't even HAVE insurance! Some did get life-flighted off while we were there.

And lastly - Tap Dancing Class! That's right - my latest class is tap dance! OMG it's soooo much fun. If you think I don't wear hot blue leg warmers to class everyweek...you'd be WRONG! Here is video I took of the teacher doing the routine that we're learning - up to what we've learned...not much..(the point was so I could practice...but that really hasn't happened yet). I'll video me doing it when I can get past getting SO excited I can do the turn, I forget to do the rest! haha. Our teacher is completely adorable - I have no idea what her name is - and LOVE that she's a total cheeseball in this video. I even love to hate the kiss ass in our class who practices hours a day at home each week, and made a CD of music for our teacher (GAG!). I mean it's tap dance class! Get over yourself!

Busy Saturday & a wedding!

2009-01-18T14:06:00.004-07:00

I was dreading yesterday before it even started....BUSY!

I had to take my car in for its 30,000 mile checkup. At 8am sharp I was in the Larry H Miller Honda dealership getting set up in their waiting room with all my projects I brought along with to work on because they warned me I'd be there about 2 hours. And my short attention span I need to change projects a lot.

After that I had to run some errands for work - picking things up I should have during the week, but was too busy to leave the office. Got home at 11:15, wrapped the gift I've had sitting in my living room for 2 weeks for Hayley's Wedding reception that night and then headed out to get mani's and pedi's with my friend Jen. I have red fingers and toes now. I'm not usually a fingernail painter - but whatever..I'm 32 now! I can do whatever I want! (so there!)

Then went back to my house to change for the reception and made it to the other end of the Valley by 7pm! Hayley was such a pretty pretty bride! And it was great to see Holly and Heather and Heidi too (all the Jones girls) and the Jones parents. Everything was beautiful. The decorations were so pretty and the potato bar was delish!

Busy day! But fun to spend it AND get to see my "girls" (the H's) all in the same day!

What an AMAZING day!

2009-01-15T13:56:00.003-07:00

I'm officially 32 today! WOO HOO!

I can honestly say I don't think I've ever felt more love on a birthday in my entire life. I mean of course my family always shows me love on my special day, but I just mean from people outside my family - I felt loved. I'm so grateful for my friends and how many people went out of their way to acknowledge my birthday. Very nice.

Then on my birthday day (today!) My friend Kari at work made me the most delicious fruit salad I've ever had! That meant a lot to me as well!

All in all - possibly the best birthday ever! Thanks to all who made it special. I'm lucky!

New Resolutions

2009-01-01T16:55:00.005-07:00

First off, let's talk about New Years Resolutions! I usually LOVE making resolutions! I usually go for the non-traditional ones. Yes I would love to love 25 lbs (who am I kidding 30 would even be better!), but those are so un-spoken that I feel like they shouldn't count. I enjoyed my resolutions of 2008 and actually kept mine because I broke it down to "do something I've never done before each month." (thus all my blogs about classes I took! I was lucky to have great friends that wanted to join me in my quest part way through the year!) So this year - I'm not sure how to one-up last year. Perhaps I'll just carry on.... I still have 7 hours to decide.

Body Worlds

2008-12-21T23:38:00.000-07:00

Today we went to go see BodyWorlds3! It's this incredible exhibit that's currently on display downtown SLC. Basically people donate their bodies to this exhibit and then they make it so that you can see all sorts of detail in muscles, and organs, and blood vessels as they would look if people didn't have skin. It sounds totally greusome, but seriously it wasn't. Completely amazing. If you live in SLC and want something educational to do...I would highly recommend this. Closes Jan 11.

Every Snow Shoer needs a personal chauffeur!

2008-12-15T22:40:00.006-07:00

This blog entry is a shout out to David Martin (my friend Samantha's husband) who was our personal driver up to Park City for our snow shoe class! He picked me up, brought us Baileys on ice for the drive up even included the festive holiday mugs. This guy thinks of everything! We couldn't get him into the class with us - and he still drove us....and waited the 2.5 hours for us to finish and then picked us up again. WHAT A GUY! Thanks David.

The class was SUPER fun. Probably would've helped if I put my shoes on correctly the first time - but whatever. About 30 mintues into the hike I had some help in figuring it out. I kinda wish the terrain was a little less INTENSE because GOOD LORD I need to drag my hine to the gym! When Samantha yelled "We're almost at Base Camp 2" I realized at least I wasn't the only one having a hard time with it. It was a super steep hike. Poor Pete - the giant guy in our group...and my giant I mean he probably weighed 400 lbs. He had a rough go of it.

We practiced "skiing" down the powder hills on our snowshoes. I'm going to admit here that my 11+ years of snowboarding have actually done me a dis-service as I'm completely handicapped when it comes to trying to use poles. We had a great time, laughed a lot (of course) and enjoyed the full moon hike. I'm sad that's our last class for 2008!

Holiday Wreath Making Class

2008-12-04T22:13:00.005-07:00

My wreath I made on display in my house!

Tonight was a TOTALLY fun class with Samantha. I mean they're all fun, because she's hilarious but this time we actually MADE something! WREATHS! The guy that taught the class was not shy in telling me that I was "doing it wrong" and using the wrong sides of the pine branches (ASS!) but after he showed me the correct way to do it - then I was on a roll! Samantha got a similar verbal lashing when she was told that she was creating her wreath the wrong way because she's right handed and you have to go counter-clockwise. The guy had TONS of product to choose from for decorating purposes. Totally well worth the $60.00. I think both of our projects turned out gorgeous. Certainly not in the top 10 of our class (there were 15 of us), but we certainly had the most fun!

A very Harker Thanksgiving

2008-11-28T22:22:00.003-07:00

I went to my parents house for Thanksgiving in California and we had so much fun. Matt and Blake came down from Portland so it was a good ole time! We lazed about a lot of the time. Had fun just joking around like the old days. I love my brothers! They're so funny. One night we busted out the game Taboo (but the handheld digital version). Everyone took a turn, but my parents giving clues were the best. Here are their videos.

Big Ring Girl!!

2008-11-24T22:20:00.003-07:00

In college there was this guy in our math class with Twoy that wore this gargantuan turquoise ring. We called him big ring boy because that was our thing in college. To not get to know people, but call them by the names we made up for them! At least we thought we were funny. Today I officially became "Big Ring Girl". I've been eyeballing this beauty on Nordstrom.com and nearly plopped down the 1/2 off sale price of $160, when I decided to show a little restraint. Then tonight - I was out shopping for pretty girl dresses for my company party and wandered into TJ Maxx. How pretty girl dresses equals jewelry, handbags and shoes - I'll never know. But let's just blame my A.D.D. Anyway - I ended up with THIS BEAUTY (for $34.00!!). I actually think I like it better because it's dark brown as opposed to tan, but still has the damask feel to it. Thank you Big Ring Boy...wherever you are. You inspire me!

Tagging

2008-11-24T21:30:00.000-07:00

I got tagged like 400 years ago, by a couple of people - and I'd completely forgotten about it. Sorry for those of you that I didn't finish the circle of tagging...but here goes to the one I remember now:
This one is from Amanda: (The rules….link your tagger and list these rules on your blog. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.) It said to tag 7 people, but if you see this and want to do it on your blog, then TAG! haha. I'm such a rule-breaker!

1. Actually...not so much a rule-breaker, but I love finding that "loop hole" in rules. And I love to TELL people how to get around the same rule as well. Why not share the wealth right?

2. I do not believe that food should be purple - so I don't eat it. I'm not sure where/how this got started but I don't eat purple food. No to grape jelly, No to purple candy, no to purple cabbage (sick). And for those that went to college with me, they know the salad cannot be started until all those pieces are picked out. I get around the grapes thing by calling them "red" (see above statement about loop-holes)

3. I wear less makeup now than I did in 6-12th grade.

4. I cannot swallow pills. It's like a huge production to have to take medicine/vitamins. They always get lodged in my esohpagus somewhere and I can feel them all day. That's after 3 attempts at swallowing with gagging and watery eyes. I took the chewable penicillin until I was like 16 and my mom finally put an end to it. JERK FACE!

5. I LOVE needles. I'm not like a heroin junkie or anything, but giving blood or getting shots - I always want to watch. I've always wanted to get a tattoo, but think I'd be that addicted girl that would end up with the full sleeve. Best to stay away.

6. I mix up phrases all the time. The other day I told Dennis he was crazy like the Wolf. Which of course he won't stop telling me. I've told my boss "That's like killing 2 birds with a frying pan" Something about 2 birds and one stone, and I think it's blended with the irons in the fire phrase. Clearly we laughed for like 20 minutes. Plus Mark does this laugh where you literally think he's going to stop breathing and it makes you laugh harder because you don't know if you should heimlich him, or just keep laughing and let fate take it's course.

7. I am addicted to drinking out of Mason jars. Glass is environmentally friendlier than plastic, re-useable cups. And I needed a lid to transport my liquids in the car. Now if I could find a car with cup holders to fit a mason jar - I'd be GOLDEN!

Wine & Cheese Class

2008-11-20T22:40:00.005-07:00

Tonight Samantha and I took another class. This one was wine sampling and comparing different cheeses with the wines.

I am not a huge wine lover by nature, but this was actually really really fun. The cheese guy was rugged and somewhat attractive - I must admit. I think I just found it fascinating that someone could know so much about cheese. I mean to be honest, I'm pretty happy with the Kraft single straight out of the plastic. To me, high society cheese is the Baby Bel cheese I buy at the grocery that I get to peel from the wax.

We tested a Riesling, Pinot Noir, and 2 other wines I have absolutely no idea what they were called. We were given a "spreadsheet" to rate the wines and the combinations. The teacher "man hands" Cheryl was totally snooty and kind of annoying. But very knowledgeable. She had all these rules on drinking wine.

1. You're not allowed to touch the goblet part so you don't disturb the art of the wine. Stem only.

2. Smell the wine first without swirling it around.

3. Swirld the wine, then smell again. It sounds weird - but it actually does smell different

4. Taste a little of the wine and let it coat the 4000 taste buds you have in your mouth. She made this weird slurping noise that actually almost made wine come out of my nose on the first sip. Someone should've really warned us about that.

It was TOTALLY GREAT just hanging out with Samantha again! I've missed her since ghost hunting! Next up for us is Holiday Wreath making! Should be a good time for sure! I can't wait to see the train wrecks we create!

Me and Mister "T"

2008-11-17T22:25:00.005-07:00

Wow do I ever love this kid!

While I was in Portland I got some great bonding time with my nephew Trenten. I seriously couldn't get enough of him. He's soooo funny, but so serious all at the same time. We were singing Old MacDonald had a farm, and he stopped me to ask what a farm was. When I told him - we started singing all over again, to which he stopped again to ask "what is MacDonald - where they have fries?" I laughed for 5 minutes and then thought of the easiest way to explain the name of the farmer.

We went to the park, sang a million songs, played I spy, jumped in piles of leaves. On Sunday morning before I left he was SOOOO snuggly. He crawled up on my lap and said "I want to talk to you". In his cute little munchkin voice. Not about anything particular, just have a conversation. Then we made breakfast (cereal & bananas). I put him up in his chair and I was just going to pour him a bowl when all the sudden I see his little face in the doorway and he says "I want to help you". So we figured out all the items required to make cereal. He's very smart! The smallest things about spending time with him were my absolute favourite.

So he melts your heart as well, here is a video of him singing:

Portland Trip

2008-11-17T22:13:00.005-07:00

This past weekend I went to Portland to visit my brothers and my cute nephew Trent. Along the way, thanks to Facebook - that I'm totally addicted to - I got to hook up with some old girlfriends as well! They're not old, I've just known them some of them since I was 16!!!! YIKES, nearly 1/2 my life. Jamie and Lisa and I met up and went to Justa Pasta where I had the best pasta alive! Then we went to some shady dive Huka bar to see Jessica and Derek. There was a toothless wonder sitting at our table trying to make conversation.

For those of you that don't know what a Huka Bar is, it was these little tables that had big water pipes sitting on them that you put some sort of "herb" on top and then smoked. I swear this showed my age that my biggest concern was that everyone put their mouth on the same smokey part. After seeing the guys teeth - you would've been concerned too! It was pimps and hoes night at the bar so there were all these totally skeevy girls in fishnets (not knockin' those...i have some) and the tighest, shortest hoochie shorts ever and barely any clothes. These was one girl in a bustier that literally was going to fall off. And then there was us...me in a jacket and scarf, Lisa in a turtle neck, and Jamie in a semi-turtle neck. Old ladies - YOU'RE NOT KIDDIN! It was so fun to catch up with those girls

Just so you know I'm not lying about the pimps and hoes....

That's Derek - who was lovin' every minute of it!

The next night I got to hang out with Monica and Danae and we sat around talking forever at Acapulco! This Mexican Restaurant that I swear has not that great of food, but for some reason - I always want. So fun to see those girls too!

Crazy Like the Wolf

2008-11-06T00:23:00.002-07:00

So tonight we went to see the Changling. Warning, this is an insanely LONG movie. I wasn't really thrilled the the Angelina acting either. Possibly because I just don't like her, but besides that - it was odd. Interesting TRUE story. Plus, the music is straight out of a bad after school special.

2.5 hours into the movie, the emergency fire alarms go off. I swear everyone in the theatre was like "you've gotta be kidding me". Then the kid working (who tried to convince us that High School Musical 3 was a good movie even though he hadn't seen it) told us he was going to reset the movie. What he meant was restart it from where it shut off - but the HORROR of having to sit through another 2.5 hours to see the last 15 minute ending...YIKES!

Fun night. Oh! And Peppermint Mochas at Starbucks are a year round enjoyment. Plus they now have Peppermint Whip Cream (that's only seasonal mind you!) Bring on winter!

My day of politics

2008-11-04T19:27:00.003-07:00

Today was my first time voting in a BOOTH! Oregon is mail-in stuff, so I've always just only done that. I was very excited. Luckily www.leaveyourprint.com gave me a tutorial on what to expect from the automated voting process so I wasn't nervous! Dennis came with for moral support - even though it wasn't his district and he couldn't vote there. What a nice guy! I thought it was going to take FOREVER, but we were IN - and - OUT!

Then he took me to lunch at Saltimbocca downtown. Pizza...yum! I was getting annoyed at this well dressed man (suit & tie) just sipping water at the bar and staring at me. I told Dennis it was like he was in the Secret Service because he was just loitering. And then out comes the Huntsman party from the back room. He wasn't actually staring at me...they were just right behind me. I do flatter myself though! haha. Governor Huntsman stopped at our table and shook our hands. Probably would've kissed some babies if we had some with us. He kindly asked if we voted, and said "i'm not even going to ask WHO you voted for!". Well congratulations Mister John Huntsman, you were 1 of 2 Republicans on my ballot.

Also, I'm officially a presidential nomination! Don't be surprised if you see some results for Jamie Harker tricking in on CNN tonight! Dennis wrote me in as his candidate. He said his vote didn't count in Utah anyway - so why not?! Why not indeed! Congratulations to me! haha.
All in all, this politiking is pretty tiring work. I'm taking the night off!

My name is Jamie Harker and I approve this message...

A week in the life of concert going Jamie

2008-10-29T21:51:00.004-07:00

This, although sick - has been a very fun week of concerts! Laurel, her sister Rachel and I went to go see Ray LaMontagne at SaltAire. Getting lost was fun, sitting and talking through the concert was fun. Enjoying girl time was really fun!

Tonight Melissa and I enjoyed yet another Joshua Radin concert. Highlights of the evening:

1) getting hit on by the bouncer. Carl offered to put us on his friends list whenever we wanted. I didn't even have to flash any body parts to get that offer. Although he was hinting for digits, and well - even I can't be that skeezy.

2) getting hit on by Eduardo - the 21 year old fresh off his mission! That's right ladies, we've still got it!

3) pay attention, this is the big finale...getting to touch Joshua Radin as he walked by in the crowd. Melissa said "great show" and touched his arm - and he turned around and said "oh thank you". to which i just tried to cop a feel as he walked by. He's totally migit-o, but when you can sing like this....I will still gladly bear your children.

(i apologize that he's sideways)

The sick kid.

2008-10-27T19:38:00.004-07:00

I'm doing a scientific study on myself this year. Last year I didn't get a flu shot and used up all my sick days by Feb. This year I decided to get a flu shot, and have been sick pretty much since I got it. Not as horrible as earlier this year - but still! 2 weeks of the BLAHs is no bueno!

However, this sick girl has a silver lining today. My knight in shining armor brought me Theraflu and a sweatshirt (I was freezing) and these beauties! Awww....what a nice guy. All my favourite colors in one perfect arrangement. Plus then took me to get tomato soup at Paradise. YUM! Now that's what I call worth being sick for.

Children of Winter!

2008-10-23T22:33:00.002-07:00

The proverbial ribbon has officially been cut to welcome winter into my world! Tonight was the yearly pilgrimage to the Warren Miller Film. This year's film was titled Children of Winter. It's 2 hours of completely sick jumps and backcountry skiing & snowboarding. Nothing psychs me up more than seeing these films and planning my winter of trips up the canyon - or back home to visit family with snowboard in tow. This winter's goal is racoon eyes/goggle marks. I find them completely sexy. Here's to hoping for some epic snow days!

PRAY FOR SNOW!

I have hair clips coming out my ears!

2008-10-22T22:21:00.000-07:00

When I was in Nashville visiting my friend Sarah, I went down to Georgia (cuz it's close!) and visited my good pal from high school days (& college days) Kristi Gay. I got to hang out with her and her super cute boys!

That's my favorite picture. All the rest were either like 5 miles away or crash zooms. PS - I'm still craving that ice cream we had. The best Mint Chocolate chip I may have ever had. YUM! Thanks for a fun day Kristi and the 3 K's!

While we were hanging out, Miss Kristi and her infamous "gifting" gave me these hair clips that I fell in love with. I got back home to Salt Lake and paid it forward by giving away 2 of them as well and then wished I hadn't because I loved them! So I emailed Kristi's friend Hannah to get more of my own. Since I'm the worst at making decisions between cute and cutest - I just bought one of each! They arrived today and I couldn't be more happy with the sparkle lovliness! See Hannah's site to get your own!

Some assistance required

2008-10-15T18:44:00.003-07:00

Okay remember when you were little and you wanted to do something and your excuse was "well (insert friends name here) is doing it?"

Chery Harker (my mama for those of you that don't know I call my mom Cheryl a lot) would aptly reply "If your friends jumped off the roof/bridge (she liked to mix it up) would you do it too?"

Smarty pants Jamie reply, "DUH!" This Californians way of saying TOTALLY LADY!

Here's where I need your help...when it came to fighting off peer pressure, or your mom/dad wanting you to be unique in the crowd - what were some sayings that you heard in your day? I'm working on a project and this is a must have.

Thanks!

Travelin' (wo)Man

2008-10-07T21:07:00.000-07:00

This week has been Cuh-razy!
Friday I went to Inspirations Unlimited with Teresa Collins (Teresa Collins Designs) and Layle Koncar (Scenic Route) to teach some Make & Takes in Vegas. It was really fun and I think (hope) the ladies had a fun time. It was a little bit crazy because the only info I had gotten was that we were rotating staions and so I planned my make & take to have the ladies punch stuff themselves to get to play with the paper rather than just glue stuff down. Well I arrived and they told me that they planned for me to do a group make & take. Uhhh bad news because I didn't have everything punched and only brought enough for one table to do it at a time. Never fear!! It all worked out - even though I had to catch a flight back to SLC before my last 2 rotations were done.

Saturday morning I got on a flight to Orlando, FL to go to a trade show with our Sales Rep group there. I taught the same make & take there Saturday night. Sunday was a trade show and afterward we had a workshop where I taught a class. This was really fun - and getting to know the ladies there was SUPER fun. They were all really nice and that made it super fun!

I slept for like 12 hours on Monday catching up on sleep.