Music City Exploration

Jared has created his own blog about Nashville: www.whatisnashville.blogspot.com. The News Director's wife, Chris, also has a blog about Nashville: www.nashville-dailyphoto.blogspot.com. Check them out if you want to learn more about the great "Music City".

Jared's Make-Over

Check out the current News Channel 5 website while you can: www.newschannel5.com. It's getting a make-over in a couple of weeks. Jared's been re-vamping the whole appearance of the site for a couple of months. In order to fully appreciate the work he's done, you should check out it's current condition now. It is going to be much "prettier" when the new site is born. I'll post when the new one takes flight.

Get Your Girl Scout Cookies!

Bryn sold 88 boxes of cookies in just a week's time! Of course, most of them were from News Channel 5, but still. . .she did an awesome job collecting money and disbursing the cookies! When she was a Brownie I had to do most of the work. Now that she's a Junior she's matured a lot and insists on doing most of it herself. It's a great learning experience. Scotlyn is still a Daisy so she won't be able to sell until next year. She can't wait to be like her big sister!

MIGRAINE

I have been getting severe migraine headaches since I was in Kindergarten. In fact, I remember many of my Kindergarten, first grade, second grade, etc. lunches were spent in a classroom since the cafeteria food smells triggered a migraine for me. They did CAT Scans and other tests on me thinking I may have a brain tumor. What 5-year old gets migraines? I don't know why I still get them. The same things that brought them on when I was younger, don't seem to now. Last night I had a terrible migraine and all that accompanies it. While I was bent over the toilet, Scotlyn had her comments about how gross it was, but then she quietly brought me a plate of food (a banana, grapefruit, apple, and candy along with a glass of milk). Of course, I was too sick to appreciate her effort to help me feel better, but it just showed me that, even though she seems to be a little stand-offish, she is a sensitive, sympathetic child and I'm so lucky to have her. Thank you, Scotlyn.

Valentine

I was tagged, so here it goes:

What is his name? Jared, Jare-Bear, Honey
How long have you been married? 10 years, 8 months, 7 days
How long did you date? we met in September, engaged in January, married in June
How old is he? 32 (I'm a cradle-robber, or as he likes to call me. . .his sugar-momma)
Who eats more sweets? I think it's a tie
Who said "I love you" first? He did in on the bridge in front of the Las Vegas New York, New York Hotel
Who is taller? He is a whole foot taller than me! He's 6'4"
Who can sing better? Definitely him--He was in BYU Men's Chorus and has a FANTASTIC voice. He sings around the house all the time. He even sang to me at our wedding reception, along with his friend, Lee. They sang "The Rose" and played their acoustic guitars. It was very cool!
Who is smarter? He is on most things, but I can hold my own
Who does the laundry? He used to when I worked while I put him through school. Now I do--which has actually worked better for me since we now have our own washer and dryer and don't have to use the coin-operated apartment machines.
Who pays the bills? He does
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? I do
Who mows the lawn? He does every week (in the spring and summer). He loves his outside-the-home housework. He has lots of projects going on in our yard.
Who cooks dinner? I do on the weekdays, but he usually takes care of us on the weekends.
Who drives? He does because he says, "I want to live". What???? I am an excellent driver. . .
Who is more stubborn? That's a tough one. We are both extremely stubborn, but I think I give in more frequently than he does. So, I will say he is.
Who kissed who first? He kissed me!!! I was the first and last person he kissed, too. He promised himself long before he met me that when he knew he found his wife, he would give up his membership in the virgin lips club.
Who asked who out first? Well, his friend, Lee, asked me out in behalf of Jared for a buddy-ball. That's when you set up your roommate with someone and don't tell them who it is. Does that count?

Who proposed? He did--under the big tree on the Manti temple lot. It was an EXTREMELY sweet day!! I remember it very clearly.
Who has more siblings? He does--3 brothers, 1 sister to my 1 brother, 2 sisters
Who wears the pants? Depends on the issue. We have learned to pick our battles and we try to respect each other on the issues that one of is more passionate about.

CAUTION: The next paragraph is pretty cheesy, but true. Read at your own risk.

I love my Jared. He's an excellent father who is involved in every aspect of his daughters' lives. He's a romantic--named a star after me. He gets me medicine when I have a migraine. He still opens ALL doors for me, including the car door even if we are just in the garage coming home from the store. He makes sure my side of the bed is to my liking and temperature. He listens and understands who I am. He still smacks my behind when I'm cooking (I know, lucky girl, I am) Grrrr! He starts doing a silly dance with me when I'm mad at him to get me to lighten up. He loves the Savior, Jesus Christ. He dreams big and has an infectious enthusiasm about life. He's got a giant smile! I can't wait to grow old with him and see him spoil his grandbabies like grandfathers do. In the words of Martina McBride (come on, y'all, I live in the country music capital) he's "all I need, my love, my valentine". (awwwwww!)

Snow Day--No School!

I know, I know. . .those of you in Utah are laughing. The fact remains, today many middle Tennessee school were closed due to the snow and ice. The reason they do this when it barely dusts the ground is because they are not prepared for such weather here in the south. They do not have snowplows and salt to put on the roads. So, they do the most obvious thing and shut down life. Growing up in Alaska not only did we go to school in blizzards, but a normal summer include your occasional dusting of snow. It's actually quite humorous. The snow is mostly gone now (about 2:45 p.m. Central). Snow figure. . .

Book Worm

I've just finished the above books in the last few weeks. I loved all of them. They are all extremely different, but wonderful. I am going to choose "A Bride Most Begrudging" for my turn at Book Club. It is CLEAN, funny, and romantic. It's really a wonderful book and I highly recommend it. "A Memory Keeper's Daughter" is also a great book. It is about a family that gets torn apart over a family secret. It was intriguing. And, finally, the "Twilight" series, for those of you who have read them, I am on Team Jacob. I am now reading "A Northern Light" and am enjoying it so far. Have you read anything good lately? Let me know. . .

Twister

Thanks for all of your phone calls and emails regarding our safety. We are doing just fine. We are safe and our home and neighborhood were not affected by the tornadoes. As the tornado sirens sounded, the girls bunkered down in my bed because our bedroom is on the bottom floor near the closet were we would take shelter. Jared worked 24 hours straight and never came home last night because of the tornado situation and the election coverage--a very busy news day. He was driving home from work this morning and was so tired he had to pull over a few miles from home to take a nap. He will be going back today to help cover the story. All is well.

Walkin' In Memphis

We went to the Jazz vs. Grizzlies game at the FedEx Forum in Memphis on Saturday. It was so much fun! We went with the Allred's from our ward. They have four daughters that watched our three daughters and we were kidless! It was a blast! The Allred's are an awesome family that anyone should emulate! We walked on famous Beale Street and saw the statue of W.C. Handy (it's mentioned in the song, "Walkin' In Memphis" by Marc Cohn). We didn't have time to see Graceland but Jared and I saw that last year when we visited. We went to Hard Rock Cafe Memphis for dinner and at the game Gina and I kept annoying the guys with our noise makers! Everyone around us was a Grizzlies fan and since the Jazz kicked hiney well, you can imagine their response to us! Tee-hee!

Party

I forgot to take pictures of Scotlyn's party where 14 of her friends showed up. So, here are pictures from her actual birthday at home with the family. She loves her Tinkerbell necklace and her art supplies!

Smurfy

So, the girls got into the "kid makes-up" and woke Jared and I up to these blue faces. YIKES!!!

But I'm an Ar-teest!

Scotlyn got this dress from her friend, Caleb on her birthday. When she took it out of the bag, she asked if she could "color it". She's an ar-teest after all.

Excellent!

Bryn just got a high honor at her school. She is a Wright Knight for character and excellence. Only a few people in the school get that honor each quarter. She got a certificate and a coupon to go to a restaurant. She is so proud of herself and we are proud of her too!

Happy Birthday, Scotlyn!

Scotlyn turns 6 today! This picture was taken a couple of years ago. It's one of my favorites!

Sweet Heart

 

The other night, after dinner, Jared took a spoonful of sour cream and was trying to wipe it on my nose. I was pushing him away and telling him "no." I was laughing, but I think Scotty thought I was crying because she came over and stood in front of me with tears in her eyes and said, "Wipe it on me instead, Daddy." She did a hard thing with courage and love for me, her mother. Sweet Scotlyn.

Over 30?

My friend sent this to me in an email:

When I was a kid, adults used to bore me to tears with their tedious diatribes about how hard things were when they were growing up; what with walking twenty-five miles to school every morning ... Uphill BOTH ways .. Yadda, yadda, yadda And I remember promising myself that when I grew up, there was no way in heck I was going to lay a bunch of crap like that on kids about how hard I had it and how easy they've got it! But now that...I'm over the ripe old age of thirty, I can't help but look around and notice the youth of today. You've got it so easy! I mean, compared to my childhood, you live in a dang Utopia! And I hate to say it but you kids today you don't know how good you've got it!

1. When I was a kid, we didn't have the Internet. If we wanted to know something, we had to go to the dang library and look it up ourselves... In the card catalog!! (Do you even know what a card catalog is? Didn't think so!)
2. There was no email!! We had to actually write somebody a letter... With a pen! Then you had to walk all the way across the street and put it in the mailbox and it would take like a week to get there!
3. There were no MP3's or Napsters! If you wanted to steal music, you had to hitchhike to the dang record store and shoplift it yourself! Or you had to wait around all day to tape it off the radio and the DJ would usually talk over the beginning and mess it all up!
4. We didn't have fancy crap like Call Waiting! If you were on the phone and somebody else called they got a busy signal, that's it!
5. And we didn't have fancy Caller ID Boxes either! When the phone rang, you had no idea who it was! It could be your school, your mom, your boss, a collections agent, you just didn't know!!! You had to pick it up and take your chances, mister!
6. We didn't have any fancy Sony Playstation video games with high-resolution 3-D graphics! We had the Atari 2600! With games like 'Space Invaders' and 'asteroids' and the graphics were horrible! Your guy was a little square! You actually had to use your imagination! And there were no multiple levels or screens, it was just one screen forever! And you could never win. The game just kept getting harder and harder and faster and faster until you died! Just like LIFE!
7. When you went to the movie theater there no such thing as stadium seating! All the seats were the same height! If a tall guy or some old broad with a hat sat in front of you and you couldn't see, too bad!
8. Sure, we had cable television, but back then that was only like 15 channels and there was no onscreen menu! You had to use a little book called a TV Guide to find out what was on! And there was no Cartoon Network either! You could only get cartoons on Saturday Morning. Do you hear what I'm saying!?! We had to wait ALL WEEK for cartoons!
9. And we didn't have microwaves, if we wanted to heat something up, we had to use the stove or go build a fire ... Imagine that! If we wanted popcorn, we had to use that JiffyPop thing or a pan with HOT oil and Real popcorn kernels and shake it all over the stove forever like an idiot.
10. When we were on the phone with our friends and our parents walked-in, we were stuck to the wall with a cord, a 7 foot cord that ran to the phone - not the phone base, the actual phone. We barely had enough length to sit on the floor and still be able to twirl the phone cord in our fingers. If you suddenly had to go to the bathroom - guess what we had to do..... Hang up and talk to them later.
That's exactly what I'm talking about! You kids today have got it too easy. You're spoiled!!You guys wouldn't have lasted five minutes back in 1980! Regards,The over 30 Crowd

Coco-Rella Tooner

Cinderella is the princess-of-all-princesses in Coco's eyes. She has now renamed herself to "Coco Rella Tooner". Jared was talking to her the other day and he called her Coco and she answered "Rella". See any resemblance?

I'm Lovin' M-itt!

I like this guy! Even if you don't, please make sure your registered to vote for somebody! It's a privilege!

Duh!

Scotlyn has been breaking out in bumps the last few days. We can't figure out what it is. Jared and I were discussing it over dinner and contemplating whether or not they could be hives. Scotlyn heard that and said, "It can't be hives people! Hives are what bees live in!" Duh!

Frosty the Supe-man

Coco hasn't realized yet that it's Frosty the Snowman not Frosty the Supe-man. Every man is a supe-man (superman) to her, I guess. She even sings, "Frosty the supe-man, happy soul." That's it. That's the extent of her song and she repeats, and repeats again. It sure is cute, but a little annoying after a while. Bless her cotton socks!

Harley

We saw this truck downtown Nashville. How cool is that--a Harley Davidson truck! It was SWEET!!! Love it!

JAMMIES!!!

So, as tradition holds, the girls get to open one present Christmas Eve which is always pajamas. This year, Aunt Kristi provided the pajamas. She chose High School Musical for Bryn (suprise!) and Hannah Montana for Scotty and some skiiing bunnies for Coco. They loved them and screamed when they opened them! Check these little posers out!

Dessert Tray

Aunt Desiree came and went. We love her and miss her! It was so great spending time with her during Christmas! We laughed so hard over nothing which was great for the abs! Come visit again soon, Dessert Tray (Jared's nickname for her)!

More of the Girls

My friend, Jill (Frost Fotography), took pictures of the girls last week. Here's a slideshow of some of my favorites. Thanks SO MUCH, Jill!

A Night At the Symphony

The News Director at Jared's work bought extra tickets to the symphony and invited us to join them! It was the night after Thanksgiving and was at their new facility, the Schermerhorn Symphony Center. Not only is the building beautiful, but the music was wonderful and they brought in local soloists and a gospel choir to enhance the music. It was REALLY good! We had a blast (especially without kids)! Thank you Cutlers!