Attempt to Recreate

I had a great time with the Smith family this weekend on our cruise to Catalina & Ensenada. Brittany and I tried to recreate the picture we took 16 yrs ago (see last post). How'd we do?

Catalina Cruise!

I was invited to join one of my very favorite member families from my mission on a cruise this weekend to Catalina. In my greenie area of Newbury Park, California, I lived with Karrie Smith and her husband and 2 boys. She was 7 months pregnant with Brittany, who I talked to often in the womb. Since then, we've always shared a special bond and no matter how many years go by without seeing me, she always remembered who I was and adored me. So now, fast forward...she's 16 years old, her parents have divorced, and she's dealing with the pressures that teenagers face in Southern California. The past few years we talk much more often and are very close.
Anyway, so Karrie planned this cruise with Brittany & her son, Carson (12), and told Brittany she could bring a friend. Her best friend couldn't make it, so Karrie asked her who else she'd like to invite. "SHERRIE!!!" she said! Wow, what an honor! So Brittany called me on Thursday morning, told me the details, and begged me to join them. Within an hour, I had booked a flight to Long Beach for this Friday. I'm so looking forward to spending time with them all.
Here's a picture of me & Brittany in 1993. Cuteness!!

Weekend in D.C.

Last weekend was my sister and her husband's birthdays (Saturday + Monday, respectively), so we went to D.C. to celebrate!! Plus, one of our favorite musicals (The Civil War) was being done at the famous Ford's Theatre, and we wanted to witness that. It was seriously excellent!! What amazing talent. Other activities/highlights include:

• Mt Vernon (by myself)
• Spy City Tour
• sushi at SEI
• to-die-for dinner at Bonefish Grill
• relaxing pedicure
• Antietam Battlefield
• Jefferson Memorial at night
• personal tour of the Hirshorn by cousin Lindsey

It was a fabulous weekend with great weather. For details, click on the slideshow to open Picasa and read my captions.

Mike & Angie's Vegas Wedding

The last weekend in March we went to Las Vegas for Jeremy's sister Angie's wedding to Michael MacDonald. They'd been planning this wedding at the Wynn Hotel for about a year, so we were excited to see how it all turned out. It was beautiful. Friday night, we attended a wonderful dinner for about 80 of their closest friends and family, held at The Palms on the 51st floor at the Nove Restaurant. D-Lish!! Then we went and rode the roller coaster at the New York, New York Hotel. Lots of walking was involved...
Saturday night was the wedding and it was truly beautiful. These pictures don't really do it justice. Congrats to Ang & Mike!!

Visit to Kristin's in St. George

Last weekend we went down to St George for a couple days before continuing on to Las Vegas for Jeremy's sister Angie's wedding. We got to stay w/ my bff Kristin & Michael and hang out w/ them and their cute son, Carter. Elle was holding out on us and was born on Friday of this week, so we'll have to meet her next time... We had a lovely time!

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!!!