Stuff I've Done

If you like this you can steal it, all you have to do is copy the list and bold what you have done. Thanks Jamie Willden for letting me steal it from you.


1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept over night on a train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23.Taken a sick day when you're not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo's David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone Deep Sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the changing of the guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone's life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

Flashback

I thought you might enjoy this blast from the past . . .

"Six perfect roses for six near perfect friends.  Here is a rose one for each friend, who lives in a room of 1710.  With these I give my fondest thank you for the love that you share-and all that you do.  You girls have blessed me-with goodness and joy, if you would accept these-I'd be one happy boy!  And now, with regret-I'll offer my plea . . . I'm guilty, I did it- please forgive me . . . for putting green beans-that weren't naturally green on your front step-then running not to be seen. Never have you done anything to hurt me at all, you didn't deserve it and my nice points should fall.  In honesty now-with a little more space . . . I really do appreciate you and that's my case. Thanks for the cookies, the laughs, and the love.  You girls have helped me a lot by emulating our Saviour above.

Merry Christmas!  Love your friend and admirer--Jeremy D. (Detroit) Curtis"

"Dearest Ladies of 1710--

It's afternoon Christmas and all through the house-

Nothins' a stirring . . not even a mouse-

It's snowin' like crazy and its colder than cold-

But that's not why I am writing . . I'm writing of mold-

There is a tradition around my home-

When we get all the fam together in one big ol' room-

We share of our talents, one another we lift-

Then after all else we open one gift-

This all took place on the 19th of December-

I'd just gotten home and could barely remember-

What gift I would take to this family function-

Not all were wrapped, so I had limited selection-

I grabbed a gift I received in the mail-

If I'd known what was inside I would have gone pale-

My turn came up at the family party-

To open my gift and see what I'd see-

Therein was a bag of green, and some red-

Festive colors of mold, it smelled like the dead-

Everyone silenced and there was a lag-

What was the slime inside the green bag?

Mold I explain, through grins of dismay-

I had it coming, from a week ago Sunday-

I told my story and everyone smiled-

'College is fun, but it can get wild!'-

Then Christmas Eve' came, and as tradition allows-

We open all other gifts, except those Santa bestows-

As my turn drew to a close my mother pulled out-

A beautiful box with a tie and a note-

I was touched and moved in no small way-

You girls need to know that you made my day-

Once again I will say it, my life has been blessed-

Thank you so much for being the best-

--1710: Thank you all for your kindness and goodness to me.  God bless you all.

Have a safe, fun Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Love your friend,

Jeremy D(etroit). Curtis - - :)

I think I'll go to Boston

This is my dear friend from high school, Lisa, with her lovely husband, Zariph, and their newly sealed baby, Boston Luke. I love adoptions and it is especially cool to see the sealing in the temple. Boston was a fabuluous baby and practically cooed during the ceremony. Congratulations Lisa and Zariph!!!
P.S. Everytime I think of Boston's name that song pops into my head--I think I'll go to Boston, I think I'll start a new life . . . Feel free to join in.

He's 11 Now!!

Here are a few birthday shots at Spencer's party.

This kid loves his Wii and now he has Mario Kart which makes it even better.

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

The tour continues . . .

This is our master. I created the swag over the bed, Matt being his practical self finds it totally unnecessary as well as the bed skirt, but I think it finishes the room nicely. This is the good room.

Love our dresser and the window. Three cheers for fake wood blinds instead of the crappy vinyl ones.

The entertainment wall. Yes we have a T.V. in the bedroom.

This is the first bedroom. Right now it catches all the furniture we have no idea what to do with. Note the dresser, stair climber, and nighstand below. In my dreams Matt will build bookcases on both sides of the window that rest on the ledge, creating a built in window seat. This is the bad.

Now the ugly. This wall used to have wood panneling which I am whole-heartedly opposed to, so Matt has stripped the panneling. Next up rip down the drywall and install new drywall.

The window wall in the ugly room. This room gets tons of sun and will be nice when it is done, but right now it is HIDEOUS with a capital H.

The sewing machine is also in the ugly room, its folded down right now because as you all know I am currently in a very crafty stage.

Up next the bathrooms.

Kitchen, Dining, and Living Rooms

After the Roomie Reunion '08 I realized there were a lot of things I like about our house that no one has really seen yet. So here are some of our favorite features and some of our additions.

This is our corner cupboard--Part One.
Part Two

Part Three. What a great use of space!

Here is the basic kitchen shot. Our fridge did not come with the house, but we found it using KSL.com. Why pay full price when you don't have to?

Here's another angle of the kitchen. Please note the ledge over the sink. If Tyra lived here her herb garden would be right there.

This is our dinning room. Pretend the yucky vertical blinds aren't there as they will someday be replaced.

We love our dining room table, perfect for gaming and eating. I especially love the leather seat cushions.

This is the living room in all her glory. Oops I deleted the couch, but it was from Christmas.

Finally, look at how we stimulated the economy. If 42" of TV does not spell economic stimulus I don't know what does.

So I thought that I wouldn't enjoy living in a split level home at all and I still wouldn't call it my favorite floorplan, however, there are a lot of great things about this place. I love how the house is up and you can see the whole neighborhood. I love all the natural light and our basement isn't dark and gloomy.

Stay tuned for the others rooms in the house. I promise to even show you the bathrooms--there are three!!

Another 10 Year Reunion

This weekend we had the chance to get together with my girls from college and their families. I can't believe it's already been 10 years since our freshman year. We missed you Tyra and Meghan!

To My Grandma

LaDean Sproul Snow January 21, 1926 to September 6, 2008

As the oldest grandchild and probably the only grandchild for awhile some might say I was spoiled. I might take issue with that, but in one way I was spoiled and that was with memories of Grandma and I have the most for which I am grateful. I have the most before she was sick and the lovely woman that she was.

Time with Grandma meant homemade bread with chunky peanut butter and honey.

Time with Grandma was getting a big bucket of KFC and going to Liberty Park.

Time with Grandma was left-handed journal typing and left-handed grocery list writing. As a child I never noticed, I knew my Grandma’s arm was not right, but I never really noticed until the sixth grade when one of my friends asked me what was wrong with my grandma’s arm. I said, "What do you mean what’s wrong with my grandma’s arm?" It is such a tribute to her that she adapted so well to such a traumatic life experience. She drove me everywhere, she wrote in her journal and she lived her life even though she was missing most of her right arm.

Time with Grandma meant chewable Vitamin C’s were a treat and you can eat them like candy and nobody cares if you get 300% of our daily value.

Time with Grandma meant playing games and it meant competitively. Grandma liked to win just like anybody else. We loved to play the pop-o-matic Trouble with her and land on people and send them back to home. We also loved to play Phase 10 and Grandma would like to say if she wasn’t winning "honest to Pete" I can’t believe I am losing this game and it’s just a favorite memory of mine that she wanted to win and she spent time playing with us.

I think most of all, time with Grandma was the stories that she told.
She told about saving the frosting off her cake and Uncle Kay swiping it at the end.
She told about working as a phone operator for Sears only making 5 cents an hour.
She told about her first date with Grandpa. She made him fish, which he hates.
Most of all she told about her story of Little Black Sambo and he ate 169 pancakes. That story has meaning to our family as it woke Steven up from a coma when he remembered that story.
I think Grandma showed us her love through her time. We honor her and love her for her sacrifices to us.

I just want to close with a scripture (Ecc. 3:1-2, 4-8, 10-11).
"To everything there is a season, and time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and time to pluck up that which is planted; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; A time to cast away stone, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war and a time of peace. I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it. He hath made everything beautiful in his time; also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end."

I just wanted to say we love you Grandma and we thank you for your time.

Family Fun

So a couple of weeks ago my Aunt Paula and Uncle Brad brought the family of eight, minus one out to Utah. We enjoyed the favorite fried chicken picnic and some games in the park. Matt was in heaven because all the cousins are tall and what better thing to do with tall cousins then to play volleyball. I think all the tall people ended up on one team.

Here's Aunt Paula "smiling" for the camera.

Brother and sister disagreement? Who is going to win Samuel or Camille?

Andrew and Michelle chilling out. Michelle had to get all the rest she could as she was heading off to college at BYU. Yeah cousins thanks for inviting us to play.

Layton High Class of 1998 Ten Year Reunion

Hear ye, Hear ye, August, 16, 2008 was my ten year class reunion. Here's the good news I went to the picnic and ran into all these cool people you will see below.
Becca Steggell, now Becca Mark. See her cute son and husband in the next shot.

Matt Mark and his son Brady. Do you think they know that they both have two first names?

Lisa, Zariph, and Boston Price. Lisa and Zariph just adopted Boston and he keeps getting cuter and cuter.

Heather Buelo now Bennett and her hubby. Matt was happy to see Heather because they are volleyball buddies.

Shelee Kunzler and family. Sorry I can't remember Shelee's married name. Seems like I can remember one name or the other, but not both.

Cody and Lisa Sims. I was happy we ran into them and could share the "No Kids Yet" table.

So the bad news is the class officers we elected. For the record I thought we shouldn't elect them because they wouldn't be able to pull together a reunion and unfortunately they proved me right.

My two biggest gripes:

1. We paid $22 a plate for dinner which consisted of taquitos and mini taco salads with no meat. I told Matt that the entire class was vegetarian, but I don't think he believed me.

2. I thought the money might have been used for cool prizes. Nope. There were prices, but they were not cool. Ask Lisa and Cody who received a cheap plastic lunch bag.

Despite the expensivo dinner I was happy to see some of the people again and remember the good times at good old Layton High.

Threes

I stole this from the Wildens blog because I thought it was cool.

*3 Joys*
My husband
My young women
Reading

*3 Fears*
Spiders
Speaking in church
Losing a close family member

*3 Current Goals*
Be more organized in my calling
Get a new job
Take Matt to Disneyland

*3 Current Obsessions*
Watching the Olympics
Cleaning my house
Dr. Pepper

*3 Random Facts About Myself*
I am addicted to HGTV and TLC whenever there is cable/satellite around
I think 80's pop music is the best thing since toast
My toenails are bright red right now!

I am supposed to tag five people now, but I am pretty sure only five people read my blog, so if you read this tag your it!

The Best Two Years

No I did not go on a mission, but I did want to announce that Matt and I celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversay on June 29th. Some may say no big deal, but to them I say I work in a divorce office and it is a big deal. I can't believe the number of people that don't make it that long, enough said.

This year for our celebration we went to Tepanyaki, feel free to check it out http://www.my-tepanyaki.com/. The food was fabulous and we enjoyed the live cooking show. Just in case you are wondering Matt did catch the shrimp in his mouth and I did not attempt it as I don't eat seafood.

Honey, I just wanted to say thanks for the best two years I love you.

Nauvoo--The City Beautiful

We will have to start the Nauvoo post with the conclusion of our trip because it is the best family picture of the whole gang. Here we all are after all the site seeing whirlwind. We decided to venture out for a more rousing activity a la go-carting. Notice how great our hair looks after a few laps around the track.

I swear I can't take them anywhere, nevertheless here is my family in Nauvoo after driving approximately 22 hours. Here is the sign out front of the Nauvoo temple built in this century. The temple looks gorgeous from the outside and even lovelier on the inside.

Here's Spencer expressing his excitement for this trip, notice the money in his hand. You'll never guess how much he paid for a steamboat pencil sharpener, so I'll tell you--$4.00. Ahh, tourism.

Here's what I do best--check off everything on the list, okay so maybe I am the itinerary nazi.

Melissa loves this game, can't you tell?

Stick pull anyone?

Melissa, Spencer, and I making rope in the Family Living Center.

This is our favorite missionary, Sister Jones, we got the tour from her at the John Taylor home and the Wilford Woodruff home. What a cool mission!! We sure appreciated her enthusiasm and willingness to put up with our endless questions.

Mountain Biking Adventure

Matt and his friends went mountain biking to enjoy the Memorial Day Weekend.

Here's Matt coming down the hill.

Reed looks pretty good coming down too. We missed out on the photographer Shon, but I am sure they all had fun on the trip.

Final Soccer Game of the Spring

This year Spencer has had a great time in soccer as number nine on the Aqua Dragons. He has surprised us with how athletic and talented he is. He has done a great job for his team and scored lots of goals. Here's our favorite number nine watching the action.

Go Spencer, Go!

Two, four, six, eight who do we appreciate the Aqua Dragons.

Spencer says, "this trophy is cooler than last year's."

Spencer with his coach. We are glad he had such a good time this year.

Modest is Hottest

For a Laurel/MiaMaid activity we took the girls to a local department store and told them to assemble two outfits that they would wear that were completely modest. They first had to find a casual outfit and then a Sunday or dance dress. Here are the girls in their ensembles.
Option 1 casual clothes without too much skin.

Option 2 dressing up for church or a dance without compromising standards.

Roommate BBQ

All the kids together--Lauren, Molly, Ava, Noah, and Carver and fairly happy after dinner.

Cute little Molly loves her daddy.

Lauren loves the camera.

Noah poses for the camera.

Ava is a superstar!

Noah is stunned by Carver crying. He just doesn't know what to think.

Now Noah directs his stunned stare to us. Hey is someone going to do something about this? Loved seeing you girls and all the kids!