Adventures with Edlings

Trick or Treat

2011-10-31T15:57:00.000-07:00

How I Spent My Summer Vacation...

2011-10-24T15:54:00.000-07:00

... An apt phrase, since I spent August & September unemployed. Yeah, that's right. The job that was great in July, well... let's just say the other shoe dropped really, really fast. And hard. Really, its a long & frustrating story, so don't ask. However, October brings new joy on my employment front: I got out of insurance altogether! It feels ridiculously liberating. While there were/are many aspect of insurance that I actually enjoyed, the stress was getting to me. Especially at Farmers. *shudder*twitch* That environment was just not good for my health. Now, I'm working for a medical licensing company in Draper and I love it. LOVE LOVE LOVE. I am so happy - even Mondays are good days. You know how I feel about Mondays! So all in all, life is looking up.

Brent is still working in California & looking for a job here in Utah. Trust me, the irony of our job situations is not lost on either of us. He is in California 3 weeks out of each months. Its hard to only have him home for one week at a time (not to mention, I have gotten far too used to being alone and it is a bit unsettling). We are doing the best we can with the situation though. We still feel as though God is testing us, and we think that maybe me finally landing a good job is a turning point in the road. Hopefully. *fingers crossed* Lots of praying around here! ;)

Our computer is having difficulties lately. For some reason, it won't find our D:/ drive. That's our internal storage drive. All our programs are run on the C:/ drive & our music, docs & pictures are stored on the D:/ drive. That way, if Windows crashes we don't lose everything on our computer. Well, har-dee-har-har, the computer is refusing to find the D:/ drive. So I don't have access to any of our pictures or documents from the last 4 years, not to mention our extensive music collection. I think the drive itself is ok, but somehow it isn't linking to the rest of the computer. I am going to have a friend who is good with computers take a look at it this week to see if he can figure out what is wrong with it.

As for pictures, the only ones I have access to are what I have on my camera, which basically sums up the last 3 months. Here is what life has been like lately:

Bowling Adventures...

...and Bees. SLC Bees Baseball, that is!
(We went w/ the Kaufmans & the boys were so excited to see The Bee!)

Helping my Dad & Marlene move into their new home in South Jordan.

Enjoying the crazy weather & gorgeous view from our balcony...

...Or the view of the Salt Lake Valley.

We watched old friends get married (congrats Desi & Kyle!)

Then I ran around like crazy because I was in charge of the food for their reception.
No, I'm not bartending - just mixing the crazy, but very yummy, party punch Desi & I cooked up. (The joke of the day was that I was part witch, part chemist with that giant pot.)

We also participated in the blessing of our newest family member Aubrey.
(Well, almost-family, but I'm not sure that either the Edling clan nor
the Kaufmans even notice the difference anymore!)

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2

2011-07-16T09:52:00.000-07:00

Thursday I got to go to an early showing of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2. Now, anyone who knows me knows that I am a GIANT Potterfan. To ridiculous, epic proportions. Its probably my favorite series of books ever, and I read a lot. I haven't enjoyed the movies as much as the books - it is impossible to properly translate the books to the big screen - but the Prisoner of Azkaban & Deathly Hallows, Part 1 movies came the closest for me. So I was excited for ...Part 2!

My brothers Brian & Josef went with me. Josef is almost as big a Potterfan as I am, so we were happily geeking out together & Brian was having fun mocking us. My only regret from the day is that since I had to run straight from work to make the 6:30 showing, I didn't get to dress up. (Yes, I dress up for Harry Potter just like I did for Lord of the Rings. Don't judge me.)

The movie was amazing, and everything I could have asked for. I think it has even replaced Prison of Azkaban as my favorite Potter film. The boys & I had a terrific time. On our way out the door though, we ran into...

VOLDEMORT! I had to take his picture. We got to talking & turns out his real name is Tyler and he is a theater student at the University of Utah studying theatrical makeup. We had an awesome conversation about how he had done his makeup & other fun stuff.

All in all, a great day and the high point of my week!

Highs, Lows and the Evolution of a Good Picture

2011-07-13T21:49:00.001-07:00

Lows

I miss my Brent. The apartment is too big without him.

There is a large crack in the windshield of my pretty car. Its almost 3 ft long, but luckily its mostly on the passenger side so it doesn't block my vision. Its still annoying though & I just don't have the money to get it fixed right now.

I had a wicked Crohn's flare up that started early Tuesday morning. Had to go to InstaCare instead of work. This flare up was a bit more serious than the ones I have had recently. It turns out that I have a small tear in my intestine. They are hoping it'll heal with medicine, but I have to go back in a few days to get more Xrays. In addition, because of all the vomiting I "bruised" my esophagus, which means that I scratched it but without it bleeding. So its very swollen & tender right now. It sounds like I have laryngitis. Makes talking on the phone at work fun.

Highs

HARRY POTTER TOMORROW! Through work I got special tickets for a VIP showing at 6:30pm, so I get to get my Harry Potter on super early! I am so ridiculously excited! [/geek attack]

Work is going really well. I feel like I am starting to fit in & getting the routing of how things work there. I get along with everyone & I'm actually enjoying a lot of the elements of my job. Its pretty groovy. Plus my boss called me tonight specially from his business trip in LA to tell me how pleased he was with my progress & how quickly I'm getting the hang of things. That was awesome. :)

Despite my health completely sucking the last 48 hours, I'm still in a great mood from my epiphany. I just feel like such a tremendous weight has been lifted off of my shoulder. Last night was the first night I slept through the whole night without tossing & turning in months. I'm still exhausted all the time, but I feel like that is progress!

Brent & I both got callings in our ward! FINALLY! Brent is the assistant Scout master for the 11 year old boys & I got called to be the Beehive advisor. Back in Young Women's, baby! I am so stoked to finally have a calling. We have really struggled to find our place in this ward & I think this is a big step forward for us. I'm just bummed that Brent can't start his calling until he gets back, but the bishopric is really understanding of our position. (Even though we have struggled with the ward itself, our bishop is totally awesome & has really been great to talk to as we have struggled these past weeks.)

I cleaned the bathroom. I hate cleaning the bathrooms - that is usually Brent's job - but he is out of town, so I had to buckle down & git 'er done. It sounds silly, but I feel rather accomplished.

---

A couple of weeks ago, mi amiga Sheryl Holmes did a funny blog post about the evolution of the perfect picture (aka trying to get all of her grandkids to sit still, face the camera & smile at the same time). When I took a look at my 4th of July pictures, I realized I had inadvertently captured the same thing. Sheryl, consider this an homage to your awesomeness. ;) So, here is my version of the Evolution of the Perfect Picture. Enjoy!

California Dreamin'

2011-07-11T19:56:00.000-07:00

Snapfish is having a photo contest & the theme is "red".
This was the picture I submitted - the flowers are along one of the walkways in our apartment complex. If I win, I get 24 free prints of any pictures I want printed!

I'm California Dreamin' these days. Especially today. Not because I miss my family, or friends, the ocean, palm trees, sunshine or Togo's sandwiches (although I do). Today I'm California Dreamin' because Brent is there.

See, we're essentially broke, even though I'm working. But poor Brent - everything he has tried up here just hasn't turned out. So once again, Brent loaded up his tools and drove his battered old Explorer down to California to go do some work for his old boss Allen. Hopefully he will be able to come home for a short weekend in a couple of weeks, but for the most part he will be gone the rest of the summer, unless by some miracle he finally gets a job up here. Its been a day only and already I miss him fiercely. I thought I would be better prepared for missing him as much as I do, but our little apartment just feels so empty. But financially, this is the best thing for us right now. I have to say, I have never fully appreciated what my sister-in-law Meshell went through while Ben was at boot camp. I empathized & sympathized but now I get it, and this isn't even a fraction of what she must have felt during those long months.

I had a strange moment today. I was on my way home from work and just getting off the freeway. The stoplight at my exit is long, so if I hit it right when it turns red I know I'm going to be sitting there for a good 5 minutes. Today, standing on the side of the freeway exit was a homeless man asking for money. Now, this may not be very Christian of me, but I am not the sort of person who hands out money to homeless people. I just don't. Not because I'm being mean, but I just... never really think about it. However, today I did. I have no idea what compelled me to roll down the window & hand the guy a couple of dollars (the only cash I had on me), but he was so genuine in his thanks that I had to ask him why he was panhandling for money. He told me that he had moved to Utah from Texas for a job in construction, but when he realized that the company he was working for was ripping people off - using sub-standard materials, not finishing things up to code, etc - he went to his boss & they fired him. Now he is standing on the side of a freeway asking for money & sleeping in a homeless shelter while he tried to find new work.

Now, I have heard a lot of lines in my day but this guy... I believed him. Every word. He jokingly asked me if I had a job for him & I, unthinking, jokingly replied back that if he found one for my husband they could work together. We laughed for a second, then really looked at each other. I don't know what was showing in my face, but his whole expression changed when he looked at me & I can't explain it. I told this man that I would pray for him. He smiled at me and said "Ma'am, I don't think God knows who I am, but if he does then I'll say a prayer for you as a thank you for the kindness you've shown me today." For the life of me, I couldn't think of a response. I just stared at him, and he just smiled at me like he knew exactly what I was thinking. Then the light turned green & he waved me off.

The rest of my drive home was a blur. I just remember I got home and I cried and cried and cried. I have been such a foolish girl. Yes, things are hard here, harder than they were in California. I don't know why, but today meeting a homeless man on the side of the freeway reminded me of something that I told Heavenly Father right before we moved. I said to Him "OK. You're driving. Have at it." I put my faith in Him. Somewhere in the last 5 months, I lost my faith. I think a lot of it was that Brent & I really felt like Utah is where we belonged, and every since we arrived it has been one giant battle after the next, and the hill seems ever steeper. Lately, I have started to believe that moving to Utah was a giant mistake, that we were completely wrong, I even started figuring out how to best move back to California, where we would live & what kind of job, if any, I could find there. But today I remembered that the only thing that kept us going during the 10 days of our move was faith. We knew, we knew, that we were being led here for a reason and that everything was going to be all right. It hasn't been all right, not at all, but somewhere I forgot that burning in my heart that told me I was doing the right thing.

We are being tested, Brent & I. I don't know why, but today I realized I don't have to know why. Because my Heavenly Father is still driving. And we're going to be ok.

4th of July Weekend

2011-07-10T20:51:00.000-07:00

Saturday morning last weekend, our friends Dee & Denise Kaufman baptized their oldest son Parker. I didn't get a lot of pictures (I let family handle that) but I took the group shot.

Sunday we didn't do much. I wasn't feeling very well so Brent & I just enjoyed some time together by ourselves.

Monday, however, was the 4th of July and to us that meant two very important things: BBQ & FIREWORKS! Brent's sister Jennifer & her family were in town for the weekend, so they came over for BBQ. We had meant to eat & go swimming but it ended up pouring rain most of the day (which to this California girl is sacrilegious!) so we watched a few movies. During breaks in the rain we ran outside for popsicle stick races, playing with the ducks & in general being goofy. After our day of fun, we headed up to our brother-in-law Gene's brother's house in Syracuse to get our pyro on. We had the best fireworks show in town - 3 hours worth - and only stopped because it was after midnight & some of us had to work in a few hours! LOL!

Getting ready for popsicle stick races!

Brent with some of the firecrackers. He found a shoebox full of firecrackers during our move - goodness knows how old they are! Notice how bright it is outside? Yeah, it was 9:30pm when I took this picture! The sun goes down much later here.

Brent had these things... Disco something... their entire purpose is to induce an epileptic fit! Not really, but it sure feels like it! This picture cracked me up because with the way Brent & Gene are standing it looks like they are watching a wormhole open from another world!

(And there is your hint that I have been watching too much Syfy channel lately!)

It was so great spending time with family. It has been hard here in Utah being so far away from everyone, and those who weren't there this year were sorely missed. (Mike & Deb, I'm looking at you!) Nevertheless, we had a terrific time & are already making plans for next year! Hope your 4th of July was as enjoyable as ours was!

Happy Independece Day

2011-07-04T09:54:00.000-07:00

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

Family Time

2011-07-03T08:10:00.000-07:00

Brent's sister Jennifer & her family are in town for the holiday weekend. They actually got in early, early Friday morning (after driving all Thursday night with 4 small children - brave things!). We got to see them Friday night at my sister-in-law Karinne's home in Eagle Mountain, along with friends Dee & Denise & their kids. Its was a big hootenanny, Edling style, complete with kids throwing up, kid falling & getting bloody noses, the whole 9 yards. Hey, when we party, WE PARTY!

Enjoy some pictures from Friday night.

Baby Brynn in all her sweetness

I'm not sure WHY the kids decided to pose for this picture like they were zombies, but Aunt Jess is proud all the same. :)

Brent with Landon having bonding time.

I'll have loads more pictures later on. Its a family-filled weekend and I am LOVING it!

Sunday, Sunday

2011-06-26T15:57:00.000-07:00

What a weekend. Friday morning we found out that my identity had been stolen. Whoever stole my identity had access to the bank accounts, my phone number, my email, etc. The thief had also applied for several loans under my name, so now I'm working with the credit monitoring companies to get my credit cleaned up. The majority of our weekend was spent doing damage control - changed passwords, notifying banks, filling out lots and lots of forms, changing our phone numbers, etc. Needless to say, I'm tired and ready for my real weekend to start. Oh, wait...

Despite the madness, we still had some good moments this weekend. Saturday morning we went up to my grandparent's house. Elk Ridge does their 4th of July celebration the week before, so we enjoy an awesome pancake breakfast at the fire station, then headed over to the Elk Ridge Carnival. There is something highly appealing about certain aspects of small town life, and events like that are one of them. My Aunt Jennifer creates amazing jewelry that she sells online & at local events, so I volunteered to go and be her assistant at the booth she set up for the carnival. Grandma was her cashier, and the three of us had a great time working & hanging out. I did take a break to go dunk my cousin Rachel when it was her turn in the dunk tank. Mwahaha.

For the record, here is Jennifer's jewelry collection on etsy: Secret Key. Its amazing, vintage-style jewelry.

Brent & I decided it was time to update the pictures on our walls. Despite my copious picture taking, I haven't printed off any new pictures since early 2008. So we spent several hours laughing and sorting through the hundred of pictures and decided on the ones we wanted on our walls. It was actually a very calming and fun activity for us for a Saturday afternoon after all the craziness from the ID theft. Here are some of the ones we picked out:

So our walls are filled with all the adventures we have had over 3 1/2 years with the people we love. I hate blank walls. I'm always wanting to fill them up with things. It's how I roll. ;)

An Ode To Our Dads

2011-06-19T10:02:00.000-07:00

God took the strength of a mountain,

The majesty of a tree,
The warmth of a summer sun,
The calm of a quiet sea,

The generous soul of nature,
The comforting arm of night,
The wisdom of the ages,
The power of the eagle's flight,

The joy of a morning in spring,
The faith of a mustard seed,
The patience of eternity,
The depth of a family need,

Then God combined these qualities,
When there was nothing more to add,
He knew His masterpiece was complete,
And so, He called it ... Dad

Highs & Lows of the Last Month

2011-06-15T18:33:00.000-07:00

Since its been a month since my last post, I figured this was the easiest way to get everyone caught up...

LOWS

Brent still hasn't found a job. He is working through it like a total trooper though, but things are starting to get really tight around here. We have cut the budget as much as we can to save money. If you know anyone who is looking for a good electrician in Utah, PLEASE refer them to Brent.

We are both having serious family/friend withdrawals. We miss Team Tiger & our psychotic yet adorable nieces & nephews!

The job at Allstate we moved to Utah for completely blew up, and frankly I wasn't expecting it. Totally blindsided by how bad it went and how quickly it happened. I won't go into details but it was just a mess. So I left - June 3 was my last day.

Between work & finance issues, my health is a mess these days. No Crohn's flare ups (thank goodness) but holding them back is becoming more & more of an issue. Plus, I haven't slept well in so long that I think sleep is becoming an urban legend. Its giving me crazy mood swings.

We still don't have callings, home teachers or visiting teachers in our ward. We also haven't made any new friends. Sunday church is very, very lonely.

HIGHS

I do have a new job - got one fairly quickly, actually. We are both still surprised at how quickly it came about. I now work for a Farmers Insurance agency in Draper. My primary jobs there are customer retention & marketing - perfect for me, right? Its a VERY high pressure job - the agency is huge - but so far I'm holding up pretty well. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that this job turns out better than the last one! If you are in Utah or Idaho, call me & let me do your insurance! I am a terrific insurance agent. [/shameless self promotion]

Springtime in Utah is fantastic! It is gorgeous up here right now and we are taking full advantage of that! The baby ducks & geese we have running around the apartment complex are super cute, too.

We got to see my Dad & Marlene this last weekend. It was so great seeing them! Brent & I spent every free minute we had running around with them.

After a gigantic fight with the State of Utah, which involved petitions, groveling and testifying before the HIPUtah Board of Directors and members of the Utah State Legislature, I won the right to my health insurance. Its going to cost me an arm and a leg, but at least I have it. Yay! The taste of victory is so very, very sweet.

Brent & I have each other. That is really what is getting us through every day - knowing that, at the end of the day, as long as we stick together and keep our faith in our Heavenly Father we can make it through anything. Faith is harder to keep up some days than others, but we are doing the best we can. Brent is better at it than me. He is so inspiring!

That's all for now. I promise to be more regular with my blog updating.

To Our Mothers...

2011-05-08T08:02:00.000-07:00

Mom, I loved you yesterday, I love you tomorrow and everyday.
You were there for me my first day of school, to hold my hand and give me courage to go.
You listened to me when I needed to talk, you talked to me when I needed to listen.
You let me grow and learn from my own mistakes.
You never left my side when I was feeling down, I knew you would be there to pick me up.
I wish there was a way I could repay all the things you have done for me, but there's nothing great enough to repay the greatest mother of all.

The love of a mother is beyond compare
One who dearly loves and is always there
From scraped knees
To falls from trees
A mother cares for all
From “I told you so”
To “That’s a no-no! ”
A mother answers the call
Mothers cook, mothers clean, some even work a job
Even with all their strength, a mother still knows how to sob
Mothers should be honored for all they have done
Every day of the year, not just one
There is nothing better than a mother’s love
For her time on this earth thank God above
A mother’s love endures forever
Its unbreakable bonds no one can sever
No matter how much I have grown
My mother’s love is always shown
She has become a mentor and a guide
Within her always I am able to confide
No better payment for her I can find
Then to love her with heart, and with mind
To the one who bore me; I share my emotion
To the one who raised me; Absolute devotion
To this woman I express my joy
You will always be my “mommy” and I your “baby boy”

How do I tell you, from this daughter
Oh mother of mine, who couldn't have worked harder
To make my life, as best as could be
How much your loved, for loving me
Things you wanted, so many times
You put aside, to help me and mine
Even when I was growing up
A back you never turned, a door you never shut
How do I tell you, how much this means
Oh mother of mine, who always beams
With a loving heart with open arms
Caring for all, with all your charms
You made life, so very good
For me you did, all you could
You cared for me, through all bad times
Your loved so much, oh mother of mine

Happy Mother’s Day!

A Quick Note from the Back of Jessica's Mind...

2011-05-06T21:10:00.001-07:00

I spent my Friday night playing around and changing the look of my blog. Does that make me kind of sad and pathetic that this is the best way I could think of spending my Friday evening?

...That's all. We now return you to your regularly scheduled Friday night.

The Time Warner Conundrum

2011-05-05T18:49:00.000-07:00

When Brent and I first got married, we signed up for Internet service with Time Warner. Brent already owned a Time Warner approved router & modem, so we opted out of their equipment. The service tech guy said that wasn't going to be a problem. Since we never saw any equipment charges, we never thought about it again.

(I'm betting you can see where this is headed, but stay with me cause it actually gets funny!)

When we moved to Utah, we switched Internet providers from Time Warner to Comcast. Not that that is much of an improvement - I am hating Comcast with a burning passion due to their horrible service, but that's a story for another post - but it was necessary since Time Warner does not operate up here. Everything is handled quickly & efficiently, a first for Time Warner, and we close our account with no fuss.

5 weeks later, we got a collections notice from North Shore Agency. According to the notice, we owed Time Warner almost $100 - $25.50 for an unpaid balance owed before we cancelled service, the rest of the amount due was for the "equipment we did not return".

As previously stated, I have not handled the transition to Utah as well as I hoped I would. This did not bode well for Time Warner. Suddenly, my wrath had an outlet! I was prepared for battle. So I called Time Warner. I spoke with 5 customer service representatives before I finally got a manager on the phone. The manager and I went over the bill, and I explained (again) that we had never used Time Warner's equipment because we had our own equipment that, per Time Warner's website and the service technician who did the install, was approved for use with Time Warner products. I conceded that I did, indeed, owe $25.50 for the service charge and I was willing to pay what I rightfully owed. (Hey, we moved in 10 DAYS. I was bound to forget something in the midst of all the craziness, right? I admit when I'm wrong!) However, I wasn't going to be penalized for equipment I never had in my possession AND I had never gotten a regular bill for the remaining balance - just the collections notice. Not cool. So the manager - lets call him Carl. His name was not actually Carl, but I don't want to totally out him in case this blog falls into the wrong hands - Carl tells me to read him the serial number on our equipment to see if it matches what he has on file. After expressing my shock that he has anything on file, I read to Carl the serial number of our router. There is a long moment of silence, after which I ask him if the serial number matches his records. He admits it does not.

He then accuses me to reading a false serial number. Yes, really. So I ask Carl for his email so I can text him a picture of our router, and the serial number. Done and done. He admits defeat but tells me there is nothing he can do and that I will have to file a complaint with corporate. We converse a while longer... ok, we fight. At this point I'm a raging beast out for blood. I admit it. So we fight and it finally ends when I hang up on him.

I pace for a while. I then file my complaint to the corporate office. I receive the standard "thank you for contacting Time Warner cable..." automatic reply nonsense. A couple of weeks pass, and then we get another notice from North Shore Agency. I realize that in the midst of my fighting I had forgotten to pay what I actually owed - $25.50. Bad Jess. I decide that with my next paycheck I will pay the bill in full just so it doesn't affect my credit. In short, admit defeat temporarily, but hope to keep fighting to get refunded for the stupid equipment charges I shouldn't have to pay.

Today was pay day. After paying the rest of the bills currently due (and watching my paycheck float away like water swirling down a drain) I call Time Warner.

This is where it gets funny.

After the basic "Thank you for calling..." nonsense, we get down to business and the following occurs:

Me: *gives account number*

Customer Service Rep: "It'll be just a moment while I review your information really quick to make sure we have everything covered."

Me: "OK, no problem."

*pause*

CSR: *starts laughing*

Me: "What's funny?"

CSR: "Oh, nothing. I'm so sorry."

Me (genuinely curious): "No really, what was so funny?"

CSR: "I'm so sorry, I shouldn't say anything. I don't want to offend you."

Me (as my friend Amanda would say, 'O RLY?'): "OK now you HAVE to tell me!"

CSR: "I shouldn't! I'll get in trouble!"

Me: "Spill it! There is no holding back now!"

CSR: "PLEASE don't report me."

Me: "It's a deal. I know you're just the messenger. Now tell me!"

CSR: "Well, the good news is that your bill has been lowered. Your total amount due is only $25.50."

Me: "...Say what?"

CSR: "The notes on your account say, and I quote, 'Remove the equipment charge or the crazy lady will kill us all.' So that'll be $25.50 Mrs. Edling. How did you want to pay for that today?"

Me: *dies laughing*

Yes, that happened. She offered to send me a screen shot of my TW account profile where it said 'remove the equipment charge or the crazy lady will kill us all" but I didn't want to push her luck. She'd been awesome. So I paid my bill, thanked her profusely for her help and called it a day.

I won!

AND

I'm the Time Warner Crazy Lady! Ladies & gents, I call that a nice day's work! A batch of cookies to the person who thinks up the best nickname for me using "Time Warner Crazy Lady" as the root of said nickname.

Jess: 1, Time Warner: 0

Easter and other Nonsense

2011-05-01T13:05:00.000-07:00

We have cute baby ducks & geese at our apartment complex!

First of all, thank you for everyone who commented and/or emailed me from my last post. I have been going through a lot since we moved and I have to say that mentally, emotionally and spiritually I am not in the best place these days. There is a lot going on right now that I just don't talk about anywhere or with anyone, but this one time I had to open up. It is nice to know I have some support out there. So thank you! I need that!

Moving on to more pleasant topics, Brent is back! Actually, I may need to back up a bit: Brent went back to California for a few weeks. He still hasn't found work up here in Utah and his old boss in California had a few weeks worth of work available, so Brent packed up his tools and headed back down the 15 freeway to home. He spent about 2 weeks in California working, and came back just before Easter. It was very lonely without him, so I am glad he is home! Please keep Brent in your prayers - we really need him to find a job here in Utah!

Easter weekend was pretty mellow. Saturday our apartment complex threw a massive Easter egg hunt/Easter party for the kids. Since we have no kids, we invited the Kaufman's over so the boys could benefit from the madness. They hunted for Easter eggs, ate candy, played games, got some balloons and made Easter bunny magnets. After the party, it was back to our place for lunch. Then we fed the ducks, had popsicle stick races in the stream, played with the RC tank & helicopter and watched movies. Sunday for Easter we had my brother Josef over for Easter dinner. (my brother Brian got called into work at the last minute. :( He was missed! )

Now, enjoy the very picture heavy post of our Saturday Easter adventures.

Brent is feeding Hops, the one legged duck.

The monkey is a story for another time! ;-)

That is the RC helicopter stuck in a tree...

Popsicle stick races

Second Thoughts

2011-04-11T18:43:00.000-07:00

Have you ever had second thoughts about where your life is going?

I have. I am. My answer has always been to have faith. Do what the Lord asks and have faith that I am being guided to where I am supposed to be. That all heartache, hard times, stress and tears would be worth it. It doesn't matter how much I cry, how heavy my heart has gotten, how alone I feel, how hopeless everything seems. Just do what is right, pray, focus on the good things and keep having faith.

I've run on nothing but faith for so long that I think I'm starting to run out.

Dances with Ducks & Happy Birthday Brent!

2011-03-05T17:19:00.000-08:00

Today is my sweet Brent's 35th birthday! We spent the day relaxing. Slept in, took a walk around the apartment & fed the army of ducks (which prompted the video posted at the bottom). Now we are off to the Cheesecake Factory with friends for Brent's birthday dinner.

Happy Birthday to my amazing, talented, sweet, awesome Brent! I am so lucky to be married to such a wonderful man.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes (or 'How We Moved to Salt Lake in 10 Days And Didn't Go Insane)

2011-03-03T20:44:00.000-08:00

We did it! We moved to Utah. And, in true Edling fashion, we did it in the most insane, fast paced, ridiculous way possible.

February 12 I blogged about how I had a job offer in Utah with an Allstate agency and that we were going to move in 10 days. Well, those 10 days ended up being one of the most intense periods of my life. I was a wreck. I thought I was turning bi-polar. One minute I was happy and excited about our future; the next minute I was sobbing (SOBBING. In public. Which I never do.) because I didn't want to go; the minute after that I was hyperventilating and having a panic attack because this is, by far, the gutsiest thing I have ever done. I spent every waking moment cleaning, packing, running errands, on my phone getting things worked out for our new home/my new job in Utah and trying to say goodbye to as many of our friends/family as I could. Brent was frantically working every second of every day, trying to make as much money as humanely possible before we left California - which ended up being a good thing because his job at the SLC branch of PPC did not turn out. So 2 days before we moved we found out that Brent wasn't going to have a job in Utah after all. By that point it was too late to stop or put things off, so we just... kept going.

That really is the best way to describe those 10 days: we just kept going. ("Just keep swimming, just keep swimming, swimming, swimming... Yes, I'm a natural blue...") We had no control. None. Everyone who saw me was all "Jess you look so calm". HA! Total wreck. The only thing that kept us moving was our faith that where we were going had a purpose, that we were being led in this direction for a reason and everything was going to be ok. So I gave up control, something I am not particularly good at. I literally told God, "Ok dude. You're driving this showboat. My hands are on the gas pedal but you're steering. Have at it."

So 10 days pass. Its a total blur of madness. Marlene came over a few times to help me pack up the enormous book collection & the Saturday before we left Mom & Kyle came over and helped me pack & clean, which was great. We got so much done! (Brent did no packing because he was working so much. He would leave the house around 5am and get home around midnight every day during those 10 days. ) Finally, last Tuesday came. Tuesday morning we go to pick up the moving van from Budget... which didn't come with our car dolly we had ordered to tow Brent's car. Budget also needed to see the actual credit card we wanted to pay with... which happened to be with my father, in Washington on business. (Thank goodness for Marlene - she ran right over with another card for them to use. I seriously have the best parents.) Budget also got the size of our truck wrong. This actually turned out to be a blessing: we had reserved a 17' truck but they delivered to us a 24' instead. We were cracking up at how monstrous the darn thing was but we ended up using the space. We have so much junk - AFTER I spent 10 days throwing stuff away! So we pick up our truck (and have to go back in the afternoon with a 1/2 full truck to get our car dolly). and start the process of moving out. Because it was a Tuesday, no one was really available to help us until after work, so during the day we didn't make much progress with getting the truck loaded.

Tuesday was also New Beginnings. I had been released on Sunday from my calling as the Personal Progress coordinator for the Young Women... something I did not handle well, I must admit. I'm still not handling it well. I love those girls like they are my own and I miss them all fiercely. Thank goodness for Facebook! ;-) Anyway, in the midst of all of this moving nonsense I went to New Beginnings to give my last presentation for Personal Progress. I was presented with a jar of Gummi Bears and a card of lovely notes from my girls & fellow leaders. It was a terrific night and much credit should be given to Heather Saunders, Kellie Rich, Rachel Hutchings, Ximena Berlanga, Susanna Avalos, Nancy Nielsen & Lacy McKee. My sisters. The girls of the Corona ward are so blessed to have these amazing women working for their benefit!

...I'm rambling. As I usually do. ANYWAY, I go back after NB to finish cleaning/packing. We had some helpers in the form of the Edling men + my mother-in-law. A little after midnight, we were done. We headed over to Casa Edling to spend the night there.

Wednesday. We woke up FAR too early, ran back to our old apartment to turn our keys in, then ran the last few errands we had to do before hitting the road. Finally, finally Brent's old ~~Exploder~~Explorer was hooked up to the back of the moving fan, gas tanks were full, road trip snacks were stashed & cell phones were charged. We were ready to roll. We hit the road just before lunch, knowing it would be a long drive to my frandparent's house in Elk Ridge, UT but ready for it. I was finally relaxed, thinking that the drive would serve as a welcome break from all the physical intensity of the last several days.

I am so dumb.

An hour into our drive, we are in the middle of the Cajon pass when the freaking moving truck breaks down. Yeah, that's right. It's dead. It is cold & windy and we are tired & frustrated. The repair man from Budget comes & tells us that the truck can be fixed - there was a frightening hour when Budget was threatening to REPLACE our truck... which would have meant moving all of our belongings from one truck to the other on the side of the 15 freeway on top of a mountain. Luckily, that didn't happen. You all would have known - you would have heard my meltdown all the way back in Corona! - but that he has to go get parts to fix it. Getting the parts takes him about 5 hours. Actually fixing the truck took another hour and a half. THANK GOODNESS we were able to hop in my car & drive over to the McDonald's that is randomly placed in the middle of the mountains. We were able to get food & take a nap. Yes, we both took a nap. In a booth at McDonald's. I also spent a while showing a curious highway patrolman (I think he thought we were homeless folks hiding out at first) the joys of my iPhone. Once the truck is fixed we reevaluate our plans & decide to see if we can make it as far as Mesquite.

We did! We hit Mesquite about 11pm & crashed at the Virgin River Hotel & Casino for the night. ($25 at the last minute for a fairly nice room - not a bad deal!) Brent was so sore from working so hard the past 2 weeks plus the physicality of moving that he could barely move at all at this point. We crashed quick because we knew Thursday was going to suck.

Thursday morning. We were on the road again so early that we watched the sun rise as we drove through the Virgin River Gorge. It was a gorgeous sunrise. We were hustling as fast as we could - we had to be in Salt Lake by noon! In our original plan we had told friends in Utah who were going to help us unload the truck to be there around 12:30, and we still had paperwork to fill out before we could get our keys. We made it to Beaver, and I pulled off to get a drink & use the bathroom while Brent, slower than me since he was in the moving truck, went ahead. I went to use the bathroom... and realized 20 minutes later that I had fallen asleep on the toilet and I was still so tired I could barely keep my eyes open. It was time for desperate measures!!

Back when I worked at LBPH, we had a drink that we concocted occasionally when we had to work long hours. I won't tell you what's in it exactly. I will tell you that it combines several highly caffinated drinks, plus a tablet of No-Doze. 5 minutes later I was flying along the 15, headbanging to some AC/DC with the stereo as loud as it can go and shaking like a frigging leaf from the caffeine overdose. (I think I'm still recovering, actually! Don't tell Brent!)

By 1pm we made it to Salt Lake. Our friends, bless them, were waiting for us, ready to rock & roll. Paperwork signed & truck opened, we were greeted to a most lovely sight: HOME.

After all the craziness, it was so good to be at our new home. The crazy wasn't over - unloading the truck, starting to unpack, having to go buy food, going to our new ward (and ending up at the wrong one!) and getting ready to start my new job all took place over the next several days. But the thing I remember most is getting up the stairs (we're on the 3rd floor) and seeing the front door of our new home with that shiny blue ribbon on it. It felt SO GOOD, and that feeling has stayed with me all week. It is the feeling you get when you know that you have done everything you were supposed to do, everything that needed to be done, everything that God wanted you to do. We are home.

Now, our new life starts...

Cliffnotes from life and a BIG annoucement

2011-02-12T08:48:00.000-08:00

At the end of January, I took a road trip with my step-mom Marlene as a way of helping my brother Ben & his family move to Florida. Ben is stationed at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, AL for EOD training. He knows he is going to be stationed in Florida so Meshell took the girls to their new home early to get house set up. The Army moved their stuff and the girls flew to their new home. The last bit remaining was their car, which they couldn't afford to have shipped. SO Mar & I drove their car to Ben in Huntsville. It was an adventure the likes of which have never been seen, and is fully deserving of its own picture-ific blog entry. I just haven't gotten to it yet because life is, in a word, insane.

I have a new niece! Vesper Athena Orton was born on January 10 to Tiff & Brett. She is a little doll and I love her to pieces already. Her blessing was on Feb 6. It was great to have the Edling & Orton extended families together again.

My brother Kyle is serving a service mission for the Church at the Bishop's storehouse in Fountain Valley. Last weekend, he was finally able to go to the temple to receive his endowments! It was a great day for the family to see Kyle progress spiritually. We are so proud of you Kyle!

I went back to Utah again this last week (just got home yesterday). My 3rd road trip in 6 weeks! It was a highly stressful, exhausting yet exciting week. The only picture I took was during a drive up the mountains with my grandparents; we stumbled across some wild turkeys & at Grandma's insistence I took a picture.

THE BIG ANNOUNCEMENT

WE ARE MOVING TO SALT LAKE CITY! That is the reason I was in Utah again this last week. I had been job hunting in California since I left CalSelect Insurance in November and hadn't gotten anywhere. "Overqualified" was a word I heard a lot from the insurance companies I interviewed with, which really meant that I had more experience than the office managers interviewing me & they were afraid I'd take their job. We were getting desperate, so Brent & I decided to start looking out of state for work. I started turning in applications in the Salt Lake City area, and within 2 days I had 2 job offers and several interviews lined up. So I drove out Monday, had my interviews & looks at places to live on Tuesday & Wednesday.

Tuesday was... frustrating. Nothing really worked out the way I had hoped. I had one interviewer never show up for our interview - his office was closed, no one there, didn't answer the phone, etc. The other two were ok but not what I had hoped for. I looked at almost a dozen homes and almost none met our criteria. The one that did was a nice enough apartment but was located in the SLC equivalent of Corona's 6th Street. Yuck. I went to bed on Tuesday tired & frustrated & prayed that Wednesday would go better.

It did! Wednesday morning I was offered a job - the job I had really, REALLY wanted. Wednesday afternoon I found the perfect place for us to live. Everything just fell into place and I could tell the hand of God was guiding us to where we are supposed to be.

So we are moving to Salt Lake City in 10 days. Yes, 10 days! I start my new job on the 28th. Brent is still looking for work but will work at the SLC branch of PPC until we can get him something more permanent. So we have 10 days until we will be in Utah! Crazy, right?

Snow Days

2011-01-14T10:18:00.000-08:00

Last week, I went up to Elk Ridge, Utah with my mom to visit my grandparents. Elk Ridge is in the mountains above Provo (nearest big town is Payson, for you Utah-familiar people). Its about a 10 hour drive (including stopping for lunch) so its not too bad, all things considered. It was, however, my first time driving in snow. I didn't do too bad with my mom coaching me. She grew up in Running Springs, so she knows how to drive in the snow.

That's the view I got to wake up to every morning. There isn't much behind my grandparent's house except the top of the mountain. Not bad, eh? Mom & I drove out on Sunday, Brent flew out after work on Tuesday night, then we all drove home together on Friday. Here are some of my favorite pictures from that week:

My poor frozen car (I had to buy an ice scraper!)

The view of the valley from my grandparent's front porch.

Desi, one of my best friends & my evil Utah twin. Haven't actually seen her since my wedding! (This was us waiting to pick up Brent at the SLC Airport.)

I love Temple Square! I have to go every time I'm in Utah.

Brothers Joseph & Hyrum Smith. Two tremendously amazing men.

The Assembly Hall with the Seagull Monument in front

Inside the Assembly Hall

The Tabernacle (we made it in time for the daily organ recital. AMAZING!)

After the organ recital, we met up for lunch at the Lion House with my brother Josef, who joined us for the rest of the day.

Me & Joe

The inside of the Conference Center was still set up for MoTab's Christmas concert.

My brother Brian drove up to Elk Ridge to hang out & helped us shovel the long driveway. (The day after I crashed due to ice - don't ask!)

Me with Mr. B. :-)

Brent, Mom & I drove up to Sundance, which was AMAZING. However, my camera decided not to work so this was the only picture up there that I got. :/

After Sundance, we went up to South Fork Park & took pictures & played in the snow. The snow was so deep that we were hip-deep in snow in some places!

Family game night with my cousins.

Merry Christmas

2010-12-25T03:08:00.000-08:00

The Epic Halloween Party: Part 2

2010-12-05T11:45:00.000-08:00

Our cake was made by family friend Donell Bendixen.

Photography by Sarah Robinson Photography.

San Diego Temple Photo Shoot

2010-11-17T09:58:00.000-08:00

Last weekend, the Corona Ward YW took a trip down to San Diego. We spent the morning taking pictures at the lovely San Diego Temple, then had a nice picnic lunch before heading off to visit the newly-renovated Mormon Battalion Museum. It was a pretty great day with some pretty awesome girls. I may be biased, but I think we have the best young women in the stake!

EDIT: OK, Blogger does not want to upload pictures right now, so I will try to edit this post and add them in later!

EDIT #2: WAHOO! Its working now!

Lovely Laurels

Magnificent Mia Maids

Beautiful Beehives

The Epic Halloween Party, Part 1

2010-11-16T10:19:00.000-08:00

A little backstory: my Dad & my stepmom Marlene were married on April 8, 1994. They got married in Marlene's mom's backyard because they wanted their families to be present (both Dad & Marlene are converts to the Church). This year they finally got what they needed to be sealed in the temple, something they have wanted since the day they got married.

At the beginning of August, when they had set the date and we all knew it was officially going to happen, Dad & I were out at our weekly Friday lunch. Marlene was along for the ride this time. They asked me to throw a Halloween-themed reception/party in their honor. Dad & Marlene gave me a budget to work with and told me I had complete creative control over the shindig. They had 3 rules: 1) Stay in budget 2) no excessive blood & gore 3) make it HUGE. Trick the house out as much as I can, then invite all of my friends, plus family, their friends and pretty much everyone we've ever met.

People, I LOVE HALLOWEEN. Like, lovelovelove Halloween. You know how some people will go bananas for Christmas, with lights & 3 Christmas trees and real reindeer in the front yard? Yeah, I'm like that with Halloween. So to be told that I could throw the party of my dreams and not have to pay for it myself? AWESOME. By the time that lunch ended I had the party half planned in my head.

The Invitations

I drove my poor husband completely up the wall during the next 2 months. Brent was so patient with me as I went completely insane. Doubly insane, because during all of the Halloween madness I was asked to stage manage the stake youth musical, which ended up being the week before the sealing/giant party. I survived all the madness, got everything prepped, invitations sent out through both eVites & actual invitations (for family) and finally the day of the sealing came.

This year, Dad & Marlene were sealed in the temple. They were sealed at the Redlands, CA temple on October 29,2010. It was super small - no big group, just family & a few close friends. They were sealed, we took a few pictures and then we had a big lunch at Macaroni Grill (yum yum!). After that, me and "my crew" (we call ourselves The Usual Suspects) headed over to the house to start the setup for the party the next day. We worked from about 3pm until around 11pm, then started at 7am again the next day.

I don't have the pictures of the party itself yet - the amazing Sarah Robinson was the official party photographer and I haven't gotten my CD of pictures from her yet to share. Those will be a separate post. These are just our set up pictures. We blasted loud music, set up for our insane party and in general had a terrific time.

Given that it was a party for Halloween/Dad & Mar's sealing, I thought having a corpse bridge & groom theme would be hilariously appropriate.

My hearse taking shape!

Yeah, that's right. We built a hearse. In ONE DAY! My Brent is amazing. So how did everything turn out for the party? Stay tuned...

Minnesota: Part 2

2010-11-14T13:51:00.000-08:00

Wooooow. My life has gotten a little too busy these days! My new goal: one new blog post a day for this week. Can I do it? Lets find out... Here, finally, is the 2nd half of my Minnesota trip.

THURSDAY

Thursday, Jennifer hunkered down in the hospital with Barbara & Daylon so Brian and I took the kids to Lake Calhoun to go swimming. While Brian got ready to go, the kids & I had an EPIC dance party. So when we were officially on our way, everyone was super excited!

After about 5 minutes Violet decided she HATED the water. Brian and I decided to take turns on "Violet patrol" so the other one could go swimming with the other kids. That ended up... badly. Violet decided that I was not her person, so she SCREAMED bloody murder the entire time Brian was in the water with the other kids. The only thing that temporarily stopped the waterworks was the boats.

We watched a sailboat race go past our swimming area. The kids thought it was pretty cool. As soon as the boats left though, Violet started screaming for Daddy again, so Brian and I switched off and I took my turn in the lake.

Sadie had a great time in the water but soon enough the cold got to her and she wanted out. She then built several sand castles for Violet's entertainment.

Once Caleb got out of the water he decided he was a treasure hunter and spent the rest of our time there looking for buried treasure.

Keira was another little fish and was the last one to leave the water. She didn't want to get out! She and I spent over an hour after everyone else was done just swimming and playing games. It was pretty cool.

We passed by this place on our way back. The kids thought the guy's face was hysterical, so I took a picture.

Every night of my stay was pretty cool. There was always some kind of activity happening around the RMH. However, Thursday nights at RMH mean just one thing to the people who stay there... BINGO! Every week, they have BINGO night, with some pretty cool prizes. Jenn came back from the hospital with Barbara for dinner & BINGO, so for a while we had everyone except Daylon hanging out. Team Edling outnumbered the rest of the house 2-1, so we made quite the haul with our BINGO prizes! LOL!

Team Edling ready to rock and roll!

Grandma Barbara & Keira. Barbara takes her BINGO very, VERY SERIOUSLY! I call dibs on Barbara for every BINGO game from here to eternity

The prize table

Even Violet won stuff! Here she is with her new 'baby'.

Caleb chillin' with Snoopy

Keira & Violet show off their loot

Once BINGO ended, Barbara said she'd put the kids to bed so I could go over & spend some time with Daylon. My flight was the following morning, so this was my last chance to go see the little snickerdoodle. (Please remember, these pictures are of Daylon 3 months ago - wow I suck at blog updating - so the Daylon here and the Daylon now is very different!)

Daylon getting some Daddy time in.

I see you, little dude!

Family play time

Sleepy Daylon

FRIDAY

Ah, Friday. Barbara's plane left a few hours before mine, so Jenn slept in and I hung with the kids (and had another EPIC dance party) while Brian took Barbara to the airport. Jenn & I said our goodbyes, then Brian, the kids & I went to the Mall Of America! Yes folks, I, the self-proclaimed Hater of Malls, went to the Mall of America.... and actually enjoyed myself! (Shut up, Desi.) We had lunch and the Rainforest Cafe - the kids loooooved all the animals while Brian & I had fun stealing bits of food off of their plates and blaming it on the monkeys.

After lunch, we took the kids to Build-a-Bear. They really wanted to make presents for Daylon & Uncle Brent. Having never been to Build-A-Bear, I had a blast right along with them.

Uncle Brent's bear getting his cleaning after being loved & stuffed.

Seriously, if you've never been to Build-A-Bear, you've gotta go! Its awesome. I loved how seriously the kids took every step of the process & how creative they got with everything.

After Build-A-Bear, we realized how behind schedule we were and ran to get me to the airport on time. I kissed everyone goodbye about 6 times & cried my way through the security checkpoint. The whole night, every time I heard a kids voice it sounded like Keira, Caleb, Sadie or Violet's. I went to Minnesota to help out as much as I could for Brian & Jenn. I don't know how much good I did by being there, but I went and walked a week with them. It was a long, hard, crazy, sleep deprived, fun, silly week and I would do it all over again in a heartbeat if I could. I don't know if it is in the cards for me to be a mom. I hope so & I pray for it every day, but I just don't know if its going to happen. Its complicated. However, I am a full time aunt and I LOVE IT. I love those kids like they are my own. I have felt my heart fill full to bursting with love for every one of the little people now in my life: Daylon, Sadie, Violet, Caleb, Keira, Landon, Ashton, Aleyna, Gavin, Zeke, Cozette, Shyanne, Parker, Bryce, Noah, Nick & Nate (the last 3 aren't so little, but still) and the 2 babies due to arrive from Tiffany & Karinne in January/February.

Minnesota: Visiting Daylon & Company!! (Part 1)

2010-08-26T16:46:00.000-07:00

I can hear you. Hear you yelling that I've "been back from Minnesota for almost 7 days and I'm just now updating my blog with pictures?!" I know, I know. Work took over my life pretty much as soon as I got back. I grovel for your forgiveness. *grovel*grovel* ;-)

So Minnesota! Brent and I had been wanting to fly out to Minnesota to lend a hand with the family while Daylon remains in the hospital for the BMT clinical trial. We had wanted to go out together, but our finances weren't going to let that happen. #1 - we couldn't afford plane tickets for both of us and #2 - if we both went (and didn't get paid for the time were we gone since Brent doesn't get paid vacations and I had used up the last of my paid vacation days at Girls Camp) then we wouldn't be able to pay rent. Wow that was a long sentence! Sorry Grammar Nazi! Brent and I talked about it for a long time and decided I would be the one to go out to Minnesota for a week. So I left last Monday to help out with Brian, Jenn & the rest of the crew while Daylon spent what turned out to be his last few days in the ICU. Ready for my story and a photorific fantasmagoria of Edling kids? Great! Lets get to it...

MONDAY
I have to be at Ontario airport at 4:45am to make sure I can get through security in time for my 6am flight. I make it ok, but my flight ends up not leaving until almost 7am... which means that when I land in Phoenix for my layover, I have not the hour I though, but 15 minutes before my plane leaves. And my gate is all the way on the far side of the terminal. I swear, I have never moved so fast in my LIFE. But I made my plane (barely - they were shutting the door as I ran screaming down the terminal to wait for me. Thank goodness I will never see any of those people again or I'd be ten times more embarrassed than I was!) and I made it to Minneapolis in one piece! Brian came to pick me up and we took the "scenic route" (aka, Brian missed the exit so we took the very, very long way), first to get food at my new favorite sandwich shop Erbert & Gerberts (sorry Togos!) then over to the hospital to see Daylon.

Daylon was not having the best day that day. Turns out he'd been so wiggly they decided to tie his arms down so he would stop trying to pull out his G-tube again. :-( I spent a couple of hours there with Jennifer getting caught up on life in general while Brian ran to pick up Barbara & the kids from that day's RMH activity (at the movies to see 'Despicable Me'). Brian came to get me and we finally went "home" - The Ronald McDonald House. Brian wanted to give me the full tour before he told the kids I was there.

You guys, that place is off the hook! Seriously. I'd almost pay to live there full time. I'm not kidding. I could go on forever about the layout of that place (its huuuuuuuge) or how cool it is and all the fun stuff they do. That could be a blog entry in and of itself and it'd be freaking War and Peace-length. What I will say instead is this: I hate McDonald's food. Haven't eaten there in years. However, I have never, in my life, been more tempted to go buy a Happy Meal than I have been since I got home. (I've actually had one this week.) Since $2 on every Happy Meal goes towards RMH Charities, I think its a worthy cause. You want to be supportive of Brian & Jenn? Go buy a Happy Meal! Right now. I'm not kidding. Stop reading this, go get one, come back and finish reading while you eat. Its totally worth it. Also, if you want to see exactly where Brian & Jenn are staying, check out this short video of the RMH Twin Cities: http://www.rmhtwincities.org/house_tour.html.

Back to my story: about halfway through our tour, we stumbled onto the biggest outdoor playground (aka the Caterpillar playground) and ran right into the munchkins! I hadn't even realized it, but then I hear this scream of "AUNT JESS!" and am mobbed by 4 tiny people. It was awesome. :-) So we finished the tour with the kids (Keira offering her own commentary about RMH the whole time and Caleb so excited he kept running into things in his hurry to show me everything) and then hung out outside until it was time for dinner.

Before dinner though, there was one more activity for the day: motor carts!

Sadie is being held by Katie, one of the RMH full-time workers. She RULES!

The kids just loop around and around the front driveway. The cars are nothing fancy, other than the fact that its Lightening McQueen. (Caleb was overcome with joy!) The car has 3 settings: stop, slow & fast. Now, normally they just leave it on slow and let the kids run around. However, Keira somehow bumped the stick and had her car set on fast, which was apparently a new experience for her. The following video should speak for itself:

Priceless. That is my favorite video of the entire week! SO after Keira drove around (and ran over my foot), we all went out to dinner. That was Monday in a nutshell.

TUESDAY
Jennifer wanted to spend the day together at the hospital, so Barbara, Brian and I were on kid patrol. We needed to go to Wal-Mart, since I had volunteered to cook dinner that night. Brian took Keira & Caleb on that day's RMH activity - canoeing down the Mississippi! So Barbara & I took the twins to lunch at Applebee's, then Wal-Mart. We got back about the same time as Brian, Keira & Caleb. Brian took off for the hospital to see Daylon, Barbabara watched the kids while I cooked. As dinner was in the oven, I went outside to hang with my kids.

Violet being goofy at lunch.

Hauling groceries & kids in a wagon made things SO much easier!

The big kitchen I got to cook in. There are actually several kitchens at RMH. This is the one we were assigned to. Each room is assigned a cabinet for their own food, and the fridges are shared by groups of rooms - just label your stuff or its a free for all! There are public utensils, plates, cups, serving dishes, cookware, etc. Everyone shares, and helps out keeping the kitchens clean.

Caleb trying to tickle me.

Sadie-bug

Keira telling me about canoeing.

Violet paying peek-a-boo with me from inside the playhouse.

This pictures shows the Caterpillar playground from the back end.

WEDNESDAY
This was an early day and the craziest one of my week. First off, a dentist came to RMH to give all the kids a (free!) teeth cleaning. So we had our appointment at 8am, so Brian gets all the kids downstairs, where they get checked out and come back up with new toothbrushes, etc. Barbara and I took the opportunity while they were downstairs to get our showers in and get dressed for the day with no kids underfoot. Then, after our daily ritual of eating breakfast and watching Curious George, Sid the Science Kid & Super-Readers on PBS kids, Keira decided she wanted to visit Daylon. Brian was down with that, but the second that Violet realized that Daddy was leaving without her she threw a fit. So Violet went to visit Daylon too. (Pictures of their visit can be found on this post on Daylon's blog.) It meant they missed John Rauch of the Minnesota Twins coming to play baseball with the kids today! He was extremely cool, especially with Caleb who was determined to never leave John's side all morning! Poor John. ;-)

In some ways, Caleb reminds me of 'Casey at the Bat' - he swings at everything!

Sadie made it to 1st base! She looks very unsure of what to do next. (The answer: go play in the dollhouse! LOL!)

Caleb going for 2nd base! GO CALEB GO!

Right about this time, Caleb decided he would be better put to use by being John's ball catcher. So every time someone hit a ball, Caleb was the one who chased it down and brought it back to John. Even if that someone hitting the ball was Caleb himself.

Caleb getting some one-on-one instructions on how to properly hold the bat.

How cute is this?! :-)

Sadie in "her" house while the baseball game rages on outside.

John with Sadie & Caleb after signing autographs (including ones for Keira, Violet & Daylon. I'm telling you, he was the nicest guy!)

After our baseball game & a delicious BBQ, it was off to Wal-Mart with all 4 kids. While there, Caleb & Violet decided they both needed to go potty. Now, Violet is potty-trained. Sadie is not. Still, I bring them into the bathroom (which, mercifully is empty except for us), put Caleb in a stall and I take Violet. Now, there is one very important thing to remember during all of this in particular (and the week in general):

You guys, I am not a mom! I'm an aunt. There is a monster difference (besides the fact that I've never pushed a creature the size of a bowling ball out of my body... yet): I have never had to hold a child over a public toilet while she pees so she won't fall in. I think I'm handling it well enough, so I finish with Violet and go to the next stall to grab Caleb... who has stripped off all his clothes so he is completely naked and has peed everywhere EXCEPT in the toilet. Upon being presented with this insane mess, he turns to me and says with a big grin on his face "Look Aunt Jess! I made pictures with me pee!" I think I manage about 2 seconds of total silence before I burst out laughing. I get Caleb dressed, clean up the pee pictures (he was SO mad at me for ruining his art!) and we go back outside, where I waste no time in telling Barbara everything. She tells me "welcome to motherhood!" I guess she's right, at least temporarily.

We get the kids back in the car and head over to McDonald's for ice cream. (They got coupons for a free ice cream from the dentist that morning.) We order our ice cream in the drive through and rush back to RMH as fast as we can so the sundaes don't melt. I get the kids settled at a table to eat their ice cream while Barbara runs upstairs for a bit. At this point, realizing that I am outnumbered, Sadie decides to practice what she learned at the baseball game that morning and hurls her ice cream sundae across the room. She does it so well that it spins bottom over top and ice cream goes everywhere. This being less than an hour after the Pee Art incident, I am not nearly as amused with having to clean up another mess.While I'm cleaning up Sadie's ice cream, I heard a weird noise. Like bubbles being blown in melty ice cream. I stop, turn and sure enough, Violet has put the cup of ice cream to her lips and blown big bubbles in her mushy sundae... bubble that sprayed melted ice cream all over her head. She then looks at me, grins and drops her entire sundae on the floor I had just finished cleaning up. I declare it to be bath time for everyone and make a mental note to never buy my kids ice cream.

You know, in hindsight this is actually really funny! I'm cracking up as I write this. By the way, I have no pictures of these events since I was too busy cleaning.

I decided to hang with Keira and Caleb by making a pazooki for our dessert that night. After the ice cream debacle of earlier, I had debated making a pazooki (a giant cookie with ice cream on top) but I had promised so... yeah. The kids were in awe of what turned out to be (according to them) the world's biggest cookie.

Second best quote of the day: "Aunt Jess, I can't smile! Baking is a serious business!"

While our pazooki baked, Caleb hung out with Spiderman in one of the playrooms.

Keira consented to one picture with Sully for me.

Pazooki goodness was had by all. While Brian & Jenn finished up at the hospital, Barbara & I put the kids to bed and spent a couple of hours watching "Ghost Hunters" and in general cracking up about our day and life in general.

Remember what I said about this post being a Tolstoy novel? Yeah, I'm only at Wednesday! I have 2 more days to go... which I will finish in another post tomorrow. Gotta break it up so I don't overwhelm you. (Mom, I'm looking at you! :p)

G'night all!

Weekend Moments

2010-08-02T17:45:00.000-07:00

A few high points from my weekend:

Gavin the fly swatting ninja!

Ashton at his finest

Aleyna and her ball hanging out

My mother-in-law's backyard. I swear the rolling green hills at the bottom look like a Hobbit village! Frodo, where art thou?

Shhhhh. Do not poke the sleeping bear!

When waffles go rogue...

Hope you all had a great weekend!

Girls Camp 2010: Its a Jungle Out There

2010-07-31T14:58:00.000-07:00

So last week was girls camp and I am just now getting my pictures posted! I'm such a slacker! Girls camp this year was an intense experience for me. Last year, my first year going, I was on a total high the entire week. Nothing could have brought me down (with the minor exception of missing Brent since it was our first time apart from each other) and I wasn't not ready for the experience to end when it did. This year, I had a lot more ups and downs. There were times when I felt like I had to fight for every moment and other times I was able to kick it and enjoy the rush. I had moments where I thought my heart was going to burst, and other moments where I wanted to tear my hair out. There was a lot of laughter (especially during our cabin's midnight Uno games) I cried. A lot. Especially Friday. (Sorry Kerri!) That's not typical of me.

Friday night Dee got the call at camp about Daylon (the night we found out about the seizures and the brain hemorrhage). When we got her calmed down and I was asked what I wanted to do, I prayed in my heart and knew I needed to go home. I needed my Brent. At the same time I knew my girls needed me. Leaving camp early was one of the hardest things I have ever done. My girls, who I had gone through so much with during the week and whom I love so much, were heartbroken but understood why I was going. All the way out of camp I just felt so much love. I was a sleep deprived, emotional, physical & spiritual mess, but I knew instantly that even though my sophomore year as a cabin mom was tough, I will definitely go back next year. (If Kerri lets me. I swear not to cry next year Kerri!) I got home from camp a little after 1am (thank you Heather for driving me home). Brent and I stayed up the rest of the night praying for Daylon. I finally went to bed sometime around 7am Saturday morning.

(You can read more about what is going with Daylon here.)

Despite all of that, it was an amazing, beautiful week. I have so much love for these girls and I am so blessed to be a part of the YW program. Working with them is the most fulfilling thing I have done in a very, very long time. I love each of those girls so much - the girls from my ward, the girls in my cabin and the friends of "my girls". That's a lot of love! So below are pictures of my favorite moments from camp. These pictures have brought a lot of smiles to my face over the last week.

My cabin. I had a crazy mix of 1st & 2nd years in my cabin. Our cabin theme was 'Tiger". Yes, we were Team Tiger! 'Eye of the Tiger' got sung A LOT in our cabin!

The gorgeous view of Big Bear Lake.

Swimming in the lake. That water felt awesome!

OK, so this monster disgusting bug Nike (Diane Kirk) and I found on the 3 mile hike we did. I have NO idea what it is. I only know that it is freaky and tried to eat my foot. GROSS!

Volleyball tournament.

Laurel posing by one of the "road signs" at camp.

There was canoeing...

...and inevitably, canoes getting tipped.

The rock climbing wall.

Some of the victorious rock climbers!

On a slushie-fueled high with my YCL Fable Rocks.

Cousin cabin madness...

...and some more cousin cabin madness.

That is me. Blowing up a 4ft beach ball and about to explode. It was a prop in our skit. The things I do for these girls!

Skit night. Our skit was 'The Lost Adventure of Indiana Jones' and we won the best script award! Yay Corona ward! I was so proud of my girls that night.

Hanging out on the rocks.

Service project time. Our project this year was to make scrapbooks for the Make a Wish foundation. It was a big hit with the girls!

Lazy girls getting some sun

Zumba class!

Serenity (my mother in law!): Queen of the Crafts

Lip sync night. Yes, you read that right! LOL!

My cabin after getting awarded their certifications. You go girls!

Bishop's Night. I love our Bishop! He's such a ham. :-)

President Birch was finally awarded the camp name Papa Bear this year. We are going to miss him! I still can't believe they are moving to Arizona!

Corona ward after watching the Zimmerman's win the game at Bishop's Night! Way to go Z! Represent!

The Mystery of the Exploding Household Appliances

2010-07-13T11:11:00.001-07:00

Q: What do a bathtub, a bread maker and a TV have in common?

A: They all DIED on us last week!

The Bread Maker
So for our 4th of July dinner at Mama Edling's, I had wanted to make some tomato basil bread. I had been craving it for a few days anyway, so it seemed like a good excuse to make a few loaves. So I haul out my Cuisinart bread maker that I got for my birthday this past November, and start to throw together my bread. I was hoping to make about 3 loaves. I go back to check on it when the timer goes off and my bread didn't rise and was a ball of burnt dough, basically! I try it again, and 3 hours later same result. Random. So I think "bummer, my yeast has gone bad", run to the store to get more yeast, and resolve to try again in the morning.

Sunday morning comes and I get another loaf of bread going before we head out to church. If done correctly with my new yeast, the loaf should be ready for me right when we get home from church. Church passes, we come home... to a house full of smoke, the undeniable smell of something burning BAD and smoke alarms going off! Turns out the yeast was fine, but my bread maker bit the bullet. The coils inside the machine were black and had burned holes in the bread pan. HOLES. IN THE BREAD PAN. We were really happy the house didn't burn down while we were at church! Now I have no bread maker, which is a serious bummer since I usually bake all of our bread.

The Bathtub
I know, its not really a household appliance, but for this story it gets lumped in with everything else. We've had this crack in our bathtub for a while now. We always call maintenance, they come in and patch it up and within a week the crack is back. They'd been out about 5 times now. Last Monday (the day after the bread maker incident), the bathtub decided it had had enough. Brent's in the shower when he hears this big *CRACKCRUNCHCRACK* noise, so he instinctively jumps out of the tub and *POOF*! The crack grows about 4 inches! So we call maintenance, who can't come until the next day. Maintenance guy comes over, does his thing and is there when I come home Tuesday for lunch. He tells me "Lucky your man jumped out or he would have gone through the tub into the downstairs apartment!" Turns out the supports that sit beneath the tub in our floor had broken in half - half was poking up through our tub and the other half had gone straight through our downstairs neighbor's roof! It also turns out that since there was basically a hole leading from our floor into our neighbor's roof, whenever we took a shower we were apparently flooding water onto the roof of our poor neighbors.

Can you say "drama"? HOLY MAJOLY!! So maintenance had to rip out our bathtub, fix the hole in the neighbor's roof, put in new supports and then install a new bathtub in our bathroom. And he did - in one day! That guy rocks!

The TV
Remember that big, shiny, giant new flat screen we got in early December? The one that WAS Christmas here at the Edling house? Yeah, so we're playing Toy Soldiers on our Xbox last Wednesday (the day after the bathtub got fixed) when we hear this loud *CLICK* and the screen goes black. Not to worry - Brent is Mr. Fix-It! Except that after an hour, Brent can't fix it.

Actually, let me rephrase that - he CAN fix it, but to do so he'd have to break the warranty. Which on a TV like that, neither of us is willing to do. So we call Panasonic and tell them whats going on & they say they will send out a technician to look at our TV but the first available opening is Monday afternoon. *sigh* So we decided in the meantime we would just use our computer monitor as our TV. Its a 19 inch monitor, so its pretty big as far as computer screens go. However, putting it in front of our flat screen... well, the picture really speaks for itself:

We laughed for 10 minutes after putting that up. So the technician comes out yesterday and says the motherboard in the TV has shorted out and the parts to fix it are back ordered. So we get to live with our little monitor for a while! I'm not really complaining - as long as it gets fixed and is covered by the warranty I'm good. I'm just HIGHLY amused at how funny our living room is right now!

So that's life at Casa Edling. Appliances beware! Our house is a death zone! Save yourselves!

Happy Birthday America!

2010-07-09T21:53:00.001-07:00

So, let me explain - no, there is too much! Let me sum up! Buttercup will marry Humperdink in little less than half an hour so all we have to do is... Sorry. I should not post blog updates while watching The Princess Bride on my computer! So, let me tell you a little bit about how we celebrate the day of our nations independence: we blow stuff up. I married a pyro! Luckily, he only gets bad once a year. I'm almost as bad of a pyro as he is, but I'm not willing to spend money on the necessary supplies so it doesn't come out as much in me. Brent, however, decided we needed fireworks this year! No real complaint from me. We have a tradition of going to Fontana and shooting off some nifty little fireworks. Usually Brent's mom makes a trek to Utah around this time of years and brings back one or two cool things for us to shoot off. This year, however, Brent decided this was MAN'S WORK. Meaning he needed to get the fireworks himself. Which meant Vegas. Road trip!

HA! I wish. Our schedules ended up so conflicted that the only day Brent could go was on a Thursday while I was at work. :( No road trip for me! We decided he was going to buy a couple really cool (aka slightly not OK in California) fireworks and them some of the basic stuff for the Edling clan to go shoot on the 4th. So Thursday July 1 he did a little work in the morning and then around noon decided it was time to hit the 15 and cross the desert to Vegas. For fireworks. Alone. UNSUPERVISED. So I came home from work to this:

No, your eyes are not deceiving you. Those are 3 - 3!! - rolling suitcases stuffed full of fireworks in the back. Behold, the joy on the face of my sweet, completely insane husband:

You guys, my house smelled like gunpowder for a week AFTER the 4th! THats how many fireworks we had stashed in our home! I was convinced we were going to end up arrested and on the news. "Inland Empire nuked by fireworks celebration - film at 11!" How was I going to explain that to the Bishop?! Still, I was excited. Whatever happened, it promised to be a good show! And it was. We ate lots of food, played lots of games, made the trek to Fontana and and shot off our fireworks with only a couple of minor run-ins with the fuzz. ;-)

My favorite shot of the night ended up being my first one!

I swear, he's just a madman we found on the street! He followed us here!!

Sammy liked the lights but not the noise. Poor baby.

My mom. :-)

I don't know why but watching them play with sparklers made me want to sing "We Are the Champions"... not very patriotic, but everyone loves Queen!

Gavin: Kung Fu Master of the Licorice Style

Senor Pyro himself. I do love that man! :-D

Yeah, we had Roman Candles. I didn't get any pictures of Mike & Brett using them in their Harry Potter duel though. Darn it. I will never be able to hear the word "Expelliarmus!" or watch any duel in any of the HP movies without laughing my head off from now on!

Ashton + fireworks = LOVE! All night long he kept saying "Up?! Up?! On! On!" whenever the show stopped for even a second. He wanted those fireworks to keep going! Brent's so proud of his little pyro nephew.

Hope everyone had a great 4th of July!

Peek-a-Boo Moment

2010-05-17T09:50:00.000-07:00

Uncle Brent hanging with Ashton. Ashton is a total camera hog - he's cute and he knows it! So he likes to pose for pictures. This moment was particularly funny though. I'm glad I got 2 pictures so you get the idea...

Thought it was worth sharing. Brent is such a great uncle! :-)

Daylon's Day

2010-05-15T12:20:00.000-07:00

There are dozens of pictures I could post from this day. Pictures from my own camera (which was loaned out to several people throughout the day since I couldn't really leave my post), from family, friends and total strangers who kindly obliged my Facebook request by emailing me their own photos. It was a day of love, a day of hope. It did everything we had hoped for and more, and its a day I will never, ever forget.

Today Daylon is on a plane, along with Brian, Jennifer & the rest of the Edling clan. They're making their way to Minnesota for the clinical trial. Daylon starts the testing on Monday; his brother Caleb, Daylon's bone marrow donor, starts his on Tuesday. I miss them all fiercely already. I'm making a scrapbook, since I have so many pictures. I'm hoping that I can show it to Daylon when he's older so he can understand just how much we love him and how many people's lives he changed.

The Big Apple

2010-05-08T09:52:00.001-07:00

Our first official NYC picture! Wednesday morning, early early early. Brent is about to embark on his first subway ride!

Its lunchtime and Brent has realized he needs to have some caffeine in him if he's going to keep up with me! He NEVER drinks caffeine!

Yes, that is one giant Hershey's Kiss!

Want a 5 pound chocolate bar? Only costs $40! (If it had been dark chocolate Brent would have gotten it but he's not a milk chocolate fan.)

Waiting in line for Letterman! That day he had Eddie Murphy and Penny from "The Big Bang Theory" on the show. It was so fun! I hereby worship Paul Shaffer and the CBS Orchestra - they were incredible!

Me in my city! I was SO HAPPY that whole week!

This is after we saw the Manhattan temple (of which I have NO good pictures, darn it) and saw South Pacific at the Lincoln Center. We randomly found the CBS studios on our way back to our hotel!

On Liberty Island - my handsome Brent with the New York skyline as his backdrop!

US taking a break before heading over to Ellis Island.

Ellis Island! Guess who we saw there? ...

... BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN! This was the best shot of him I got. We got much closer later on but there were too many people around for a good picture.

Battery Park

Ground Zero.

Paul McCartney's guitar! This was at the Hard Rock Cafe.

In Central Park. That tall building you can see behind Brent is our hotel. We were right across the street from the park. :-)

Me at Strawberry Fields, the John Lennon memorial.

In the subway.

Entering the Tim Burton exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art.

Exiting the Tim Burton exhibit! It was AMAZING!

Having frozen hot chocolates at Serendipity. Thanks to Jennifer Goodman for the tip!

Downtown New York City as seen from the top of the Empire State Building!

The Chrysler Building, on the west side of the Empire State Building.

The top of the Empire State Building!

The world's bravest pigeon! It was so windy and that bird would not move! Plus, that's about 20 stories higher than most birds go.

Me with Tony! Tony lives on the East Coast so I only see him once every few years.

Brent was freezing but I made him take a picture with me before we went back inside.

Times Square

The New Year's Ball!

Entering the King Tut exhibit at the Discovery Center on Times Square.

The Theodore Roosevelt statue at the entrance to the Museum of Natural History. We did this one on our last day since it was literally around the corner from our hotel.

Brent enjoying a last hot dog from a street vendor.

The backside of NYC as seen from our taxi on the way to the airport. We're just starting to cross the Brooklyn Bridge going back to JFK. We had great weather all week, and the day we leave the pouring rain starts. I say it was NYC weeping because I had to go home.

So that was our trip! Now, here I just showed my favorite pictures instead of all of them. I took almost 500 pictures! We saw several Broadway shows (and I saw Neil Patrick Harris! Didn't get a picture though, darn it. He moves like the wind!), hit several museums, did a lot of wandering through Central Park, went to the temple, had crazy food at some crazy restaurants... it was bliss. I cried the whole way back to the airport. I did not want to come home! Bren, it being his first trip to NYC, said it was the perfect vacation. He's already planning our next trip back! :-)

Next up... Daylon's Run/Walk carnival pictures!

Previews

2010-05-05T21:25:00.001-07:00

Coming up this weekend: NYC pics & Run/Walk Carnival pics! Updates are coming, I swear...

Daylon

2010-04-30T07:03:00.000-07:00

For the past month, I have been overwhelmed with events happening concerning my nephew Daylon. If you are involved in what is going on, then I've probably become the most annoying person on earth, especially in the last week. I apologize. It'll be over after tomorrow.

However, to not have something on my blog to represent Daylon is a tragedy. With my lack of time, however, I'm simply going to copy a portion of the announcements from Daylon's website (www.helpmakeamiracle.org) and from a post on my friend Rachael's blog, since technically I should be getting ready for work right now.

Meet Daylon.

Daylon was born on July 8, 2009 with Junctional Epidermolysis Bullosa (JEB) Herlitz type and was given less than a year to live. He’s now 9 months old. Daylon is my nephew, the son of my in-laws Brian (Brent's brother) & Jennifer. Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB) is a connective tissue disease where the skin layers lack the protein anchors that hold them together and prevent the layers from moving independently from one another. Any action that causes friction between the layers (like rubbing or pressure) creates blisters and sores. EB children are often referred to as “Butterfly Children” because their skin is said to be as fragile as a butterfly’s wings. The form of EB that Daylon has, is the most lethal type. What you see happening on his skin is also happening to the lining of his internal organs. Most patients do not survive infancy because they suffer from debilitating sores and blisters on their skin and lining of their internal organs, which leads to infection, malnutrition, respiratory problems, and a whole host of other problems.

The reality of this little guy’s daily life is harsh. He has to wear cloth diapers and his clothes have to be inside out so that the seams don’t rub against his skin. Under his clothing he has to wear layers of special bandages (gauze bandages peel his skin off). Bath time requires the presence of 4 adults.

His skin is so fragile, the layers of skin are so thin, and he has so many open sores all the time that they have to hold onto his legs and arms so that he doesn’t flail around and hurt himself more. Once he has been washed, his mom has to pat him dry, put medicine all over his body, and then wrap him in new bandages. Singing helps to calm and soothe him during this process. Daylon wants to crawl badly, but they can’t even let him try because it would do so much damage to his little body. The friction of using his muscles just to push himself up would be too much pressure for his skin, causing it to blister and pop up. Despite everything, he’s a very happy baby and is quick to smile through his pain. He’s very sparing with the use of his vocal chords because they are so torn up. On a good day you’ll hear some of the normal babble that you would expect to hear from a baby. He loves to lie on his back and play with his feet and examine his toes, even though he can’t bend very much because his hip area is very raw.

Just this last November, a clinical trial at the University of Minnesota for treatment of EB received it’s FDA approval. Daylon was accepted into the trial. Through a combination of chemotherapy (to try and kill the genetic mutation that carries the disease in his bone marrow, which requires a chemotherapy dosage that is about double what a cancer patient receives) and a bone marrow transplant, doctors hope they can save Daylon’s life. Daylon’s 3-year old brother Caleb has already been identified as an identical match and will be Daylon’s bone marrow donor.

Caleb is very proud to be his brother’s “special helper”. Daylon will be the first patient in the world with JEB to receive this treatment. Not only will he make medical history, and hopefully help progress in the treatment of this disease, but hopefully he will also be given the chance to return home with his family and finally receive a real hug from his mom—something she has never been able to give him. This treatment is Daylon’s only hope for survival. Daylon’s medical treatments will be extremely expensive. His family is in dire financial straits and cannot afford the treatment to save Daylon on their own.

So Barbara De La Cerda (Jennifer's mom) formed a group of us together to host a fundraiser for Daylon and his family. That is what I've been working on for the past month. The word has spread, and Daylon was featured in the Press-Enterprise this week: Daylon Edling. Now, tomorrow, the event will take place.

Help Make a Miracle: Run/Walk & Carnival

La Fuji Mama Help Make a Miracle Giveaway

Hopefully I'll see most of you there. For my family & friends who aren't local, just please keep Daylon in your prayers. Thank you!

In the Army Now

2010-04-05T08:20:00.000-07:00

My brother Ben joined the Army! He left for basic on March 15 and is stationed at Fort Benning, hoping to get into Special Forces after basic is done. Here are some pictures from the goodbye open house we threw for him on March 5.

Me with my niece Shyanne (Ben's youngest daughter). That was my first time holding her!

OK, Ben is trying to do push ups... with Brent sitting on him and me standing behind them. It was all going ok up until Marble came up and decided to lick Ben's face. Then we all lost it and cracked up. :-)

Me, my stepsisters Natalie & Beth with our nieces Shyanne & Cozette.

I don't see near enough of Cozette! She's too cute.

Why yes, it IS in fact utterly impossible for the Teter/McPherson clan to take a normal family picture. Why do you ask?

Ran into the Hettinger clan coming in on our way out! We ended up staying a lot longer to talk to them. Actually, Brent talked and I took pictures of this adorable cutie...

Noah is awesome!

4 months in 4 pictures...

2010-03-31T09:12:00.000-07:00

December

January

February

March

Yikes...

2010-03-30T18:02:00.000-07:00

...Hello blog. How on earth did I forget you for so long? Time to put up some new pictures!

My Birthday at Famous Dave's

2009-11-21T10:25:00.000-08:00

Its official: I am 28! I keep creeping up on 30 but I'm trying not to let it get to me. For my birthday, Brent woke me up at midnight to sing "Happy Birthday" in Portuguese to me. So sweet! Went to work, had lunch with my dad, Brian & Kyle, then after work we gathered a bunch of my friends together and went to one of my favorite restaurants for dinner... Famous Dave's! I love good barbeque.

If you order the Feast, it comes out on a giant silver trash can lid and all the servers in the house chant "Feast! Feast!" until it arrives at your table.

Where it then lands on my plate!! Our feast came with chicken, ribs and (for Brent & Kyle) a briskett, corn, cornbread muffins, mashed potatoes & coleslaw. One feast feeds 4 people. Darn it, now I'm hungry again!

Christine & Darold Murrish

The Collins Crew: Mama Collins (in town from Alabama!), Mike & Deb. Only 5 more days until Deb is supposed to pop out little Sammy! SO EXCITED!!

Brent was a total goofball last night!

HI Wendy!

That's my husband strangling my brother. Good times.

Beth introduced Mike to Famous Dave's last Christmas in Alabama, and Mike introduced it to us in January after our Queen Mary adventure.

GUITAR HERO 5!!!

Brent whispering sweet nothings in my ear (in Portuguese again - I love it when he does that!)

Thumbs up!!

Connor Swart: the world's cuddliest baby! I adore that kid so much!! He got passed around the whole table and everyone just loved on him all night long.

Jannene Swart with Connor. Sadly, the only picture I got of Jannene was on my phone. Sorry babe!

My birthday sundae! Holy Hannah... the whipped cream was covering these HUGE pockets of hot fudge... sooo good. I gained 5 lbs last night just from dinner!!

All in all: a great birthday! Thanks everyone!

Lost in Wonderland (or: Team Tiger vs. Mother Nature)

2009-11-07T08:11:00.001-08:00

I love Halloween. Its awesome. You get to dress up in hilarious costumes & run around to strangers houses asking for free candy. As a kid, that concept delighted me. The delight has not decreased in my adulthood, although the urge for trick or treating certainly has! For the past year, we have been working on a spook alley to go along with our ward's trunk or treat. I do mean a year - planning sessions & research started back in January 2009. "we" consisted of the small army that is Mike & Deborah Collins, myself and Brent and Mike "Verne" Wilson. Part of our research was to read both Alice in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass. We then starting looking at building theater flats for walls, testing makeup techniques, sewing our costumes together or purchasing the pieces we wanted.

After a year of efforts, on October 27-28, it was time for the magic to happen. However, things did not go according to plan...

Our Original Intent for the spook alley was to go like this: have the rabbit hole (yes, we built a rabbit hole) outside at the entrance to the church's courtyard, have a maze built from curtains and the theater flats we'd built where you would see The Cheshire Cat, Tweedledee & Tweedledum with the Jabberwocky, and the Mad Hatter's Tea Party IN the courtyard itself, then loop into the scout room for the black light maze )which started off light and got darker and darker as you went further into the room (the "darkening of wonderland", if you will - it got darker the closer you got to the Queen's Room). Then you'd go out of the scout room and loop into the primary room, which was the Queen's Room. There you'd find the Red & White Queens playing a twisted, giant game of chess and then finally, you'd run into the Queen of Hearts herself who would try to chop your head off before you escaped. Then the long hallway from the primary room to the foyer was your way out of Wonderland. Wandering through all of these rooms would be Alice, lost and alone in Wonderland for years, trying to find her way out.

Got all that? Can you see it in your head? Awesome, because it SO did not come out that way. Here is what actually happened...

Tuesday, October 27: 7PM
We arrived at the Lincoln building to set up the scout room - the black light maze. We blacked out the walls themselves using 50 gallon black trash bags cut lengthwise. We build walls out of wood & cardboard painted black and we replaced the fluorescent lights in the room with black lights, using the original fixtures. (Meant we didn't have to wire anything - yay!) We also rigged up the clothesline in the courtyard for the outer maze. We had help in the form of several of the YM from our ward who were involved in the spook alley, and Brion Armstrong, who had flown in from Utah specially just to be part of our spook alley.

Mmm... food...

Using tables to brace the walls.

A birds eye view of the almost finished product.

The stamp of approval!

The lights are up and the fog machines have been tested. Its a little after midnight and the room is done. Tomorrow (Wednesday), the real work begins...

Wednesday, October 28: 6AM

The trucks arrive at Casa Collins for load up.

A shot of the clotheslines we'd rigged the night before for our curtain maze in the courtyard. Its COLD outside!!

Brent and Mike putting up the braces for the curtains.

And again.

Some of our supplies.

Putting up the theater flats. You can see that Brent had already put red gels over the courtyard lights. We tried to use the existing lights wherever possible.

Assembling the Jabberwocky wall.

The backdrops for the Mad Hatter's tea party. That's Verne, aka the Mad Hatter himself.

Brion Armstrong, who was one of the biggest lifesavers of the day.

10AM

We realized we had a real problem that nobody had counted on: Mother Nature. The wind was insane, blowing everything over faster than we could get it assembled.

To counteract the problem, I suggested tarps. So Brent, Mike & Verne went out and bought several heavy duty tarps. The idea was that we'd tie tarps together and lay them flat over the courtyard maze. Since there would be walls blocking the wind in all 4 directions once we'd assembled them, we thought that would solve the problem.

During the tarp run, the incredible Wendy Delgado showed up with sodas, donuts and Lulu, who is so adorable she instantly cheers up the most depressing situations. With a few donuts and caffeine in me and Lulu on my lap, I thought we could conquer the wind.

Now children, this is where Mother Nature decided to show up who was boss. Sadly, I didn't get any pictures of this. The boys came back with tarps in hand, and proceeded to string them together. We put the first set over the clothesline rigging and felt we were making good time. So I went inside to being the transformation of the primary room to the Queen's Room.
Awesomely, the seminary class had put away all the tables and chairs before they left, so I was off to a good start. However, this was when Mother Nature struck...

BY RIPPING A TARP IN HALF. Yeah folks, the tarps we had already fun came flying down, one of them completely ripped in half by the wind. THE WIND. Deciding we'd hit critical mass, Mike called an emergency meeting of Team Tiger. We had two choices: a) move the spook alley indoors and redo everything on the fly or b) scrap it entirely, apologize to the ward and go home. Nobody was ready to throw in the towel, so we decided to go with plan a: Move the spook alley indoors and redo everything on the fly. By now it was noon, and in order to get our costumes and makeup done on time, the sets had to be finished by 4pm. We were starting over from the beginning, and had only 4 hours to go...

12PM: TAKE 2
After some hemming & haaing, we decided to arrange the maze in reverse: the rabbit hole be places in the foyer at the entrance to the hallway. People would go down the dark hallway until they reached the T that branched off into the primary room, nursery and sunbeam/scout room #2. Tweedledee and Tweedledum would be there, directing traffic and creeping people out. They'd first direct people to go to the room at the end of the hall, where the Jabberwocky would be. Then they'd go into the nursery, where the Mad hatter's Tea Part would be held. The primary room was still the queen's room, then people would go outside and loop into the scout room for the black light maze. It actually worked out, where now the maze got lighter and lighter as you found your way out of wonderland, since people would now be going in reverse.

Mike, being the director of our show, looked at me, the stage manager and said "help!" So I sent out a mass text for reinforcements. Within moments, I was getting confirmations of people able to come help. Wendy found a babysitter for Lulu and was able to stay all afternoon to pitch in. Within an hour, Greg Schneider and his little brother & sister, Lisa Patel, my brother Brian and my step-mom Marlene were all there. Brian & Mar became our expert errand runners, running to Home Depot & Wal-Mart for more trash bags, duct tape, clamp lights, and food for us. We put Greg's siblings to shredding more trash bags, since we now had several more rooms to black out we hadn't counted on before. The rest of us got to work, redesigning rooms, moving walls inside and adjusting them for our new space, etc.

Mike hanging lights up in the space between the tea party & queens rooms.

Transforming the nursery into the Mad Hatter's Tea Party.

The almost complete hallway. This is around 3pm. You can see the Jabberwocky room at the end of the hall. We removed the door off its hinges and put the Jabberwocky wall in its place. There is a small window where people could peer in and then be scared by the Jabberwocky. The room would have a fog machine and the fog later on got so think I'm surprised Brent (as the Jabberwocky) didn't choke in there.

The Tea Room again. You can see Deb, Mike and Brian in this picture.

Marlene made sure I stopped to eat something. This is us at the Red & White Queen's chess set, taking 5. Its about 3:30 now. We're doing good.

Lisa helped get the heads on pikes and the trees set up. This is in the Queens Rooms leading to the section with the Queen of Hearts.

Chaos.

4:30PM: Makeup
We got most of the set done by 4. It was now just little things here and there to be done. Lisa left, Wendy left to go home and get the girls dressed for the trunk or treat. The rest of us decided to leave in shifts to go home, shower & throw on costumes. The Mother's room & girls bathroom became our dressing areas. Mike & Brent, as the Cheshire Cat & Jabberwocky, respecitvely, were going to be wearing prosthetics. The church has firm rules of no masks, but we figured: prosthetics don't hide your face, they just change the shape of it! You can still see our eyes and the lower half of our faces!! Yes, it was towing the line, but that was half the fun of it. Mwahaha... The prosthetics were painted the Sunday prior to the spook alley by Arthur Wilson, Verne's brother, who has more experience with that than I did. I was in charge of makeup for the rest of the cast.

Deb applying Mike's Cheshire Cat prosthetic.

Verne applying Brent's Jabberwocky face.

What are YOU staring at?

My closeup, before I went to the trouble of putting my 4 layer costume on! I was the Queen of Hearts.

6:30PM: SHOWTIME!
We were dressed and pressed, the lights were on, the music was playing, the fog machines were rolling and the kids were clamoring at the rabbit hole, ready to have the crap scared out of them. We said a short prayer, and took 5 minutes for some pictures of our finished products.

Sadly, the only picture we got of the rabbit hole was with a couch shoved in front of it to keep people from going in. :-(

The Crossroads of Tweedledee and Tweedledum.

The Mad Hatter's Tea Party. The fog machines (there were 11 total in the spook alley) were going pretty good, so the pictures started to become a bit fuzzy at this point. None of us realized this, however, until Thursday when we uploaded our pictures. Oh well!

The Red & White Queens' Chess Game.

The bend in the road that took you to the throne of the Queen of Hearts.

Brion Armstrong as Tweedledee. You can see Susan Bergreen as Alice in the background.

Cameron (one of the YM in our ward) as Tweedledum. His friends were hiding in the walls of the blacklight maze, ready to scare people.

Verne as the Mad Hatter.

Julie Hettinger as the Red Queen.

Deborah Collins as the White Queen.

Mike Collins as the Cheshire Cat. You can see me, Verne and Brent in the background.

The Mad Hatter & Alice at the Tea Party.

Brent as the Jabberwocky.

3 twisted Queens!!

The Hatter & Alice again. The blurry pictures gives you an idea of just how much fog there was. We flooded the entire building!

The Queen of Hearts with the Mad Hatter. I LOVE this picture! My favorite one out of the whole thing.

The Mad Hatter with Evan Jones as his "March Hare".

A cast shot in the Tea Party room.

So it went. We scared a lot of kids, made a few laugh, kicked a few out for being obnoxious and breaking the "no touching the sets" rule that had been explained before the spook alley, and wowed the adults. Overall we had a blast! Our hard work and struggles paid off for a great evening. We heard the trunk or treat itself went well too. :P (Missed it COMPLETELY.) After a few hours, it was all over. The sets would be moved to Verne's house for a repeat (sort of) on Halloween itself, the Elder's Quorum stayed to help us clean up. I really, REALLY wish I'd gotten a picture of Nate Hutchings in his Afro wig - priceless!

A great night. What we learned most of all: location, location, location. And don't mess with Mother Nature. She will kick your trash every time. So I leave you with this one post-shot: Brent, in full Jabberwocky face, after the spook alley stuffing his face with a cheeseburger. Cracks me up every time. Happy November, everyone!

*Photographs provided by Deborah Collins, Julie Hettinger, Brian Armstrong & myself

Happy Anniversary to my Beloved Brent!!

2009-11-03T07:41:00.000-08:00

2 years of crazy, wonderful adventures together! Here is to many more years of the same! I love you, my darling!

This is Halloween!!

2009-10-31T16:39:00.000-07:00

Coming next week... pictures of our spook alley "Lost in Wonderland"!!

Camping Fun

2009-10-16T12:14:00.000-07:00

Oh man, how is October half over already? Time just keeps going faster and faster these days. I can't keep up anymore. Well, I'm home with a nasty bout of bronchitis (and am going to miss TOFW as a result!! Not happy about that.) so I figured I could finally put up pictures of our camping trip in the Los Padres Forest above Santa Barbara. We went during conference weekend (and I have since watched all of conference online - thanks lds.org!) with Dee, Brent's sister Chris & her family. It was awesome!

Saturday morning we woke up to a bunch of animals roaming the campsite. I was able to have fun with the zoom on my camera to get a couple good shots of the family of deer. I did not, however, get a shot of the 2 dozen wild turkeys that we woke up to. Bummer.

This little dude had no fear. He came right up to me!

That's Noah. He was cold, so I let him borrow my hat & gloves.

The orange tent is ours - Brent bought it just for our camping trip, along with a double wide sleeping bag, a new lantern, and some other fun camping things.

Going on a nature hike. "Following the leader, the leader, the leader..."

Nate & Nick had two goals for that day. #1: find as many weird rocks as possible in the dried riverbed and #2. collect firewood!

Nick was proud of his rock finding skills. :-)

One example of a "weird" rock.

Noah & Chris get in on the rock hunting action while Mike looks on.

OK, so this house. We stumbled upon it while on our nature hike. Its an empty little house by the side of the road in the middle of NOWHERE. I'm pretty sure we could film a horror movie here. Calling Team Tiger!! (Mwahaha)

Later that day we did another hike (I was so sore the next day) to Red Rocks to go siwmming. This is the aforementioned Red Rock.

Dee, making her way across the river to get find a good place to sit.

Cold water! Cold water!

Hanging out.

Us. We spent the weekend wearing various hats/scarves/bandanas, since there were no showers at our campsite. My hair was a frizzball by the time we got home on Sunday.

Brent taught the boys (and myself) how to skip rocks.

Michael found crab legs in the riverbed. Weird.

Brent being all manly & chopping up firewood.

Nick, Nate & I played badminton a lot that weekend. We all got pretty good by the end!

The moon rising over our little campsite. This was mostly me playing around to see what my camera is capable of.

I don't know what kind of car this is, but its cute and red and little so I needed a picture of it. We passed it on the 101 coming home.

Goodbye Jazzy

2009-09-30T17:50:00.000-07:00

That's Jazmine, the family dog. She's a purebred white German shepherd that we found after we moved out to Corona. The last of our rescue dogs. She likes to play with tennis balls and toy rings, she adores dog treats and she loves to help babysit kids. Jazzy is HUGE - almost as tall as me when she gets up on her hind legs (not often) - but she thinks she's a lap dog. All of us suffered some minor leg pains every time she tried to sit in our laps, but she's so loveable we never really minded. She's very high strung - anxious, even - but she loves to run and jump and play and in general is just a happy dog. A giant, happy Jazzy bear dog. Its funny how attached we, as a society in general, become to our pets. They really are members of our family. We have fond memories with them, we laugh at them when they do something silly, we feel bad when they're hurt or sick and we miss them when they are gone.

Today we had to put our Jazzy down. She's had really bad arthritis for a long time. It was always said that when she couldn't make the stairs or play with her rings, it was time. Time arrived quickly - she was having trouble standing, let alone walking. The original plan was to have her put down at home this weekend, giving us a chance to say goodbye. When she couldn't get up at all this morning, it was decided to just end it today. She went peacefully - the vet sedated her first so she'd feel as little as possible and she fell right asleep. She was even snoring! It was so Jazzy. I'm happy she's not hurting anymore, but I miss my snuggly "little" dog already.

Meshell & Shyanne's Baby Shower

2009-09-26T13:36:00.000-07:00