Garage Tragedy

Monday night, I was going to run some errands and meet up with Jeremy. I clicked the garage door opener on the wall (which is out of the ordinary), then got in the car and (out of habit) clicked the opener. Then I proceeded to back out - with full force. CRASH!!!
I couldn't believe it. Here I was, in a hurry to leave, and I'd bent the lower-left panel of the garage door and popped off a wheel. I raised the door and inspected the damage. It didn't look too bad, so I tried to lower it so I could secure the garage and leave. I couldn't get it to lower. Finally, I walked across to the neighbor's and Terri knew just what to do: deactivate the motor and lower it manually. She and her daughter Madison walked back with me, pulled the cord, and the three of us tried to lower the door. CRASH!!! The upper-right panel came loose and the upper two wheels fell to the ground. Not good. So now it was just hanging there, looking really pathetic. No way to close this baby now.
I called Jeremy, he said he'd come out and we could go together. I'd just have to bring in the valuables, lock the entrance to my house, and hope nobody raided my Christmas decorations, paint, and memorabilia.
I got in my car to move it and suddenly heard the garage door moving again. NO! The remote was in my pocket and the button was pressed when I sat down. CRASH!!!!!! The door folded up onto itself, looking way more pathetic than before.
I called the HOA's garage repair contact and left a message. They called me back first thing Tuesday morning and had a guy out to my house by 11am to give me an estimate. $725 for a brand new door!!! Yikes!! Good thing I have insurance, right Kristin??? Farmer's Insurance had an adjuster out to my house by 3pm. He agreed to the estimate and cut me a check. So easy!! Such great customer service!!! (If anyone's looking for a great insurance agent, I know of one...)

Central Garage had a guy at my place first thing today (Wednesday) to replace the door, only 38 hours after the incident. Great, huh? Well, it was great...but the wrong color.

Poor guy. He wasted an hour, installing a white door. Oops! So he was back to the shop and back with the right-colored door in only 35 minutes! Another two hours later, he was done!! Yippee!!
Here it is - back to the way it was. Phew!!

A Political Post

I don't really get into politics, but the recent ferver has been exciting, to say the least.
Tonight I read a friend's post on her blog that was really well-written. She wrote it the day after Pres. Obama's inaugeration and also includes a link to Pres. George Bush's personal testimony of Jesus Christ. Very interesting.
If you're interested, I recommend reading her post!

Holiday Cards

One of my favorite things during the holidays is getting updates from friends and cute pictures of them and their families. I personally haven't done a Christmas card/letter in a few years....mostly because I don't have a big announcement (which I know is what people expect/want). Plus I try to be good at keeping in touch all year long between emails, Facebook, and blogging. Anyway, the cards this season did not disappoint. I have friends and family who are creative, photogenic, and unique. And to prove it, here are all the picture cards I received this year (not including pictureless letters/cards or emails):

Favorite Movies of 2008

Here are my favorite movies from 2008:

Ghost Town - Hilarious! Surprisingly funny, really.
Forever Strong - Great morals, cute guys, very moving.

If you haven't seen 'em, check them out!

Christmas

For Christmas Eve, we went to Jeremy's mom's place, where she hosts a wonderful party with great food. We exchanged presents with his siblings, plus enjoyed a spiritual Christmas presentation by family members. Here we are chilling at the Workman's - we're so relaxed we're practically horizontal!Jeremy and his cute mom, Debbie.

Then we spent the evening at his dad's sisters' place, where they have a huge party with fun games for the kids (not so fun for us cuz we're duds). Then we spent the night at his dad's place. Here are all my wonderful presents from Jeremy (he had help from Brenda for the beautiful presentation!) to open Christmas morning. He was so generous to me!!!

Jeremy got me a beautiful black wool coat, a really nice digital camera, a really cool flexible tripod, a Glenn Beck book, a few CDs, a Europe calendar, and a few movies - all from my Amazon wish list. I don't deserve all of this!

After spending the morning and afternoon with various relatives, we headed south to Orem to visit my family - the Browns. We spent the entire evening, hanging with some of my favorite cousins and eating more yummy food. Thanks for hosting, Betty!! (Unfortunately, I took NO pictures!!)
We braved the snowstorm as we returned to Centerville by 9pm. The roads were a bit hairy, so we decided to crash at his dad's place again. They have a several empty beds and it's so homey, it's hard to resist!!
All in all, a great Christmas! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas as well!!!

December

Since I'm a bit behind, I'll just list some highlights from the month of December.
* Visiting the Hixons, one of my favorite couples from my mission
* Christmas!
* A wonderful dinner at Shaunna & Keith's for our Christmas gift exchange
* Shopping with Jeremy for a family in need at Christmas time
* Jenny & Hank's wedding on the 30th
* Seeing lots of good, new movies (Benjamin Button, Australia, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Bedtime Stories, Yes Man, Valkyrie) (that’s right, I haven't seen Twilight)
* New Year's Eve with my sweetie!
* Time off work during the holidays

Thanksgiving

[I've needed to update my blog forever...so here goes.] Our Thanksgiving holiday was very nice. Jeremy and I spent six relaxing days in Gilbert, Arizona, with his sister's family. (Thank you, Jarvis family!! We enjoyed our time with you!) Jeremy's family was so nice to me for my birthday, which was on Thanksgiving this time around. We went to a very nice restaurant and Jeremy's dad treated everyone. So sweet!
While we were there, we got to spend a little time with my friends Kristi & Adam, who live in Tucson, where Adam is finishing his residency.
Their son, Colton, was instant buddies with Jeremy, while their 4-yr-old, Hannah, gave him a crusty look and said "I don't like you cuz you don't have hair!" Priceless!!

We also got to see Michelle & Greg, who just moved from Orange County to Gilbert, only two miles from Jeremy's sister. It was great to see my friends!

8 Things

Okay, my BFF Kristin tagged me and I'm finally doing it. Yeah!

8 shows I love to watch:
1-Eli Stone
2-My Own Worst Enemy
3-American Idol
4-Designed to Sell
5-Jon & Kate Plus 8
6-Extreme Makeover
7-Will & Grace
8-Design on a Dime

8 Favorite Restaurants:
1-The Cheesecake Factory
2-Brookside Grill/Wasatch Broiler
3-Rumbi Island Grill
4-Red Robin
5-Bajio Grill (salad)
6-TGIFriday's
7-Jasmine Bistro
8-Winger's

8 things that happened yesterday:
1-I voted! (only took about 15 minutes!)
2-Played matchmaker with my cousin
3-Compiled a Josh Groban mix for Steph’s birthday (by request)
4-Worked from home
5-JT & I cleaned out each other's ears with ear candles – very cool!
6-Watched Obama’s acceptance speech in disbelief
7-It hailed as I left the voting location
8-Read a chapter in the BoM with Jeremy

8 things I look forward to:
1-Snow in the morning
2-Seeing my parents again
3-The benefits of marriage :)
4-Girls Night Out this Friday
5-Cuddling with my Jer-Bear every evening
6-Vacationing in Phoenix for Thanksgiving for 6 days!
7-Getting completely over this annoying cold
8-Not having to work!

8 things I love about fall:
1-My favorite colors appear, courtesy of Mother Nature
2-Annual drive up Big Cottonwood Canyon
3-Finally the end of HOT weather
4-The chill in the air
5-Layering
6-Anticipation of Halloween
7-New wardrobe!
8-Jer-Bear saying "I love autumn in the fall"

8 things on my wish list:
1-A permanent size 8 body
2-Peace in my heart
3-Heath, happiness, & security for all my friends and family
4-Plenty-o-money in my savings account
5-Granite countertops & under-mount sinks in all my bathrooms
6-That my car will last another 100k miles
7-A closer relationship with my nieces and nephews
8-World peace

People tagged:
Jodi, Heather, Amy, Lindsey, Shauna, & Mara

Birthdays!!

Two of my good friends recently celebrated their birthdays, and the rule is: you're a princess the entire week of your birthday. Shauna & Rob came from Sun Valley to celebrate Shauna's birthday and Kristin & Michael from St. George came and stayed for the weekend. The next week, it was Heather's birthday, so Stephanie & I took her out to dinner. It was so fun to catch up w/ these good friends. Happy Birthday, girls!!
UPDATE: Stephanie's birthday was Nov. 5th, so we celebrated hers too! The food at Epic was so beautiful, we had to take pictures!

Brian & Jordan visit Utah

Last week we had a rare and lovely opportunity to see our brother Brian and his son Jordan. Brian had to work at the SLC airport to resolve a "million-dollar problem," and Jordan attended a youth conference with Liahona Academy at Aspen Grove all week. Shaunna & Keith and I got to go out to dinner with Brian Wednesday night, then I had him over and we hung out with Jeremy. Brian even taught us how to install a new light fixture. Yeah - I feel so empowered now!!!
Friday afternoon we met up with Brian & Jordan and played a mean game of miniature golf at the new Liberty Land Fun Center in Lehi. Jordan beat us all. Personally, I blame the cold weather for my poor score...hehehe. It was so cold and windy this weekend! Winter is upon us! Anyway, then we went to dinner at Citris Grill in Draper, where Jeremy met us. We all had a great dinner, enjoying a great variety of appetizers and entrees. Then we hung out and talked until our movie started - City of Ember. It was a kids' adventure movie and pretty entertaining. We all enjoyed it. Jordan turned 15 on Thursday, so it was fun to be together for his birthday celebration.
Saturday morning, Jordan and Brian came to my house and we fixed scrambled eggs and pancakes and hung out awhile before they left for their next adventure before heading to the airport to return home to Seattle.
I'm so mad at myself for not taking more pictures while we were together - especially Friday. But at least we got a few Saturday morning.
It was so great to be with family and catch up. I couldn't believe how much Jordan had changed, but then again, I haven't seen him in probably 4-5 years and hadn't seen any pictures of him in a few years. Crazy how fast kids grow up. Jordan was our first nephew born 15 years ago, just before I got home from my mission. Such craziness... Anyway, great to see you guys!!!