Anyone interested?

Just so you know I'll be meeting with her Saturday morning in St. George. Call me if you would like to come and I'll give you more info.


I've recently started reading Shauntell's blog and have become very interested in how she's doing what she does. She'll be here this weekend teaching classes so that I can do what she does (which is feed her family well, and cheaply and build food storage each month). I can host my own class if others are interested or I'll just attend someone else's class if not. Here's the invite. Let me know if you want to come too! Check out her blog as well.


Come Learn How To Feed a Family of 4 for $200 a month!
Shop at only 1 store – no running around town!
• Buy all of your family’s groceries, household, and personal care items (including diapers) all for about $200 a month for a family of four – while building a massive food storage at the same time!
• NO clipping and filing individual coupons! Very quick and easy! A HUGE way to save money!
• Eat a healthy, well-balanced diet and have ease in meal planning!
• FREE WEBSITE and FREE CLASS – there is no cost to attend and no cost to use the website!

What could your family do with hundreds extra every month? Bring friends! For more information please call Shauntell Ottley at Grocery Smarts at 435-881-7387 or visit my blog at www.thecrazyshopper.blogspot.com. Thanks!

The Drive Home

Well, we're finally back home for good for the remainder of the summer, unless something unforseen happens, which I'm praying it doesn't. While we're glad to be home, I brought some bacterial infection with me... I thought it was strep, although the test was negative, but they gave me a z-pack anyway so I'm hopeful I'll be feeling better soon. Now for the adventure that was our drive home.

We left Cascade on Tuesday as planned but were only planning on going to Twin Falls. We had planned the entire time to stop along the way through the canyon to take pictures. John stopped along the way at a few places he had scoped out and I of course for the sake of family tradition had to stop at the swinging bridge. Needless to say, that was the only day it rained the entire time we were there! And it rained, hard, pretty consistenly. It had stopped for a while and was just starting up again when we pulled up to the swinging bridge... Which for the record did have a no trespassing sign but the gate was open so we figured it didn't apply. John went out on it, I didn't feel so daring with my wonderful camera. By the time we got back to the car it was the rain was picking up. The remainder of the drive down the canyon was kinda scary. There was a good stretch that I couldn't see the road in front of us (another reason why John does most/all of the driving). When we were about out of the canyon and the rain had finally let up and we could see the road again, we came to a big black river of mud across the road. John stopped and judged it, and then drove across... so much for our nicely washed car! Lots of people were stopped in front of us on the other side of the mud slide... they had just gotten out to look at it, while it was cool we had things to do, so no pictures for us. After stops in Emmett to say good by to family and return borrowed items we were back on the road.

We drove the short 2 and a half hours to Twin Falls and checked into our hotel room. We made trips to Costco and Dairy Queen. I am an ice cream girl, and I LOVE Thin Mint Girl Scout Cookies, so I had to have their newest blizzard. John always gets a chocolate dipped vanilla cone. I always thought that DQ people always made the perfect cone... this one proved me wrong, and you can see on John's face how please he is with it! I think his exact words were "I hope I'm not going to find a knife in here.... Isn't that what they found in that Subway Sandwhich?" Needless to say by the time we made it out of DQ and while I was trying to take pictures, I was laughing histerically.



The next morning it was off to see the new Twin Falls Temple. It is complete and they are currently holding the open house. So we decided to get tickets and go. It's not very often you can see all of a temple in one sitting. It is gorgeous both inside and out. We had a lot of non members in our tour group and it was neat to see their reaction to it. We didn't really have time to take pictures so we took these driving very slowly away from the temple. I think they turned out really nice, considering the circumstances!



The next portion of the drive home was fairly uneventful. I slept a lot of the way since I really wasn't feeling well. We made the usual stops in Springville and the Beaver Cheese outlet. We talked about trying to get me to a clinc since the next day was statehood day for Utah and everything is closed.

We made it almost to St. George when we got a flat tire. John spent a lot of time emptying the trunk and getting everything ready to change the tire. He was so patient, I was very proud of him. After 30 minutes or so the jack still wasn't working right so John called Jenny and James. Luckily they were home and James was willing to drop everything he was doing to come rescue us. So 30 minutes later Tuffy and I were sitting in their van with Megan (my niece) singing along to the Peanut Butter and Jelly song. Megan and I had fun singing together but before long, we were all back on our way home. We finally made it home about 8:30 Wednesday evening. YAY we're so happy to be home!

Tuffy, Thunder and Balancing Acts

Tuffy met some new friends on our latest trip to Cascade. My cousin Angela and her family came up right before we left to spend their vacation in Cascade. They also brought their 6 month old great dane "puppy" Thunder. as you can see from the pictures... he's already 3 times bigger than Tuffy! Needless to say, they had a ton of fun playing together. Tuffy also loved getting attention from the boys, they seemed to like him too! Then on the way home, we stayed in Twin Falls at a hotel. Tuffy loved being able to run around the room as he pleased. He also found a clever spot to sit... although he couldn't figure out a way down... It was quite funny!

Our 2nd and Last Cascade Trip this Year

Our Hotel Room

In Honor of Dad's Birthday: Lunch and pictures by Cascade lake and golf course.

Being a Tourist...
While the flooring was being installed we were kinda in the way, so we took the opportunity to play tourists in the area. We drove up to McCall and Donelly. We found some beautiful places, a great bakery, and some interesting people...

Interesting...

You Are Ariel!

Headstrong and fiesty. You have a mind of your own that's full of romantic dreams about the world around you. Exploring exotic places is your ultimate dream, and although you can be a little naive you'll realize that there is something to be gained from your family's wisdom.

Which Disney Princess Are You?

I think the first sentence sums up how most people feel about me ;) The rest is surprisingly true as well... interesting.

Thanks Lindsay...

#1- THREES TAG!
3 Joys-
*snuggling John and Tuffy
*watching first graders eyes get wide and bright when they finally grasp something I've attempted to teach them
*being with people I consider to be my family, blood related or not ;)

3 Fears-
*not being able to have our "own" kids
*drowning (I won't go swimming in the ocean again)
*failing at anything, especially when it comes to family or my first graders

3 Goals-
*get out of debt
*get healthy, really healthy
*get my first graders reading, all of them! (this is always the goal, it hasn't happened yet, but it is always the goal)

3 Obsessions-
*blogging, reading other blogs
*reading
*all things Disney

3 Surprising Facts About Me-
*I love the smell of pine trees
*I'm more likely to cry when I'm mad than when I'm sad.
*there's not a lot surprising about me, what you need to know (and more) I'm most likely to tell you straight up.

#2- LUCKY FOURS!

4 places I go over and over.
*school
*church
*Lane Bryant
*Wal mart

4 places I like to eat.
*Tucanos (provo)
*TGIFridays
*My HOUSE (John is the best cook I know)
*Paneara Bread (thanks Janet, Dana, Mom)

4 places I would like to be right now.
*at my own house
*in my own bed
*with my mom and sister
*at Lake Cascade building a sand castle

4 t.v. shows.
*Jon and Kate plus 8
*Big Brother
*Las Vegas
*Bones

4 Books I've enjoyed recently
*The Host
*Fablehaven #3
*Diamond Back Caves
*Rip Squeak (thanks again Frei family!)

4 people I am tagging (okay, not many people read my blog (or if they do they don't have a blog) and most that do have done this, so I'm tagging people that probably won't know they've been tagged... sorry!)
*Nivette
*Sarah
*Jenny
*Tiffany

When it rains... it pours!

We had quite the rainstorm this evening, it was really nice because we needed the moisture, but Tuffy sure doesn't like being stuck inside. It also is quite unfortunate that our backyard turns into a huge mudpuddle when it rains! Here are some pictures.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Tuffy and Jaiva

This is Jaiva, the next door neighbor's dog. She is a boxer and is about 9 months old. She and Tuffy have been playing together since we moved into the new house. They have a lot of fun. Even all my first graders last year knew that she was Tuffy's "girlfriend" since she always was in the car when their mom picked up our two neighbor girls every day after school. Needless to say, they get along great and have a blast whenever we get them together. Here are some pictures and video of Tuffy and Jaiva's latest play date... as you can see, by the time they were done they were worn out! We had lots of fun having her over! It is the least we could do, since Jaiva's family has watched Tuffy for a few weeks here and there when we've been out of town! Thanks Chriswell's!

Something I thought would be fun...

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.

Pictures from Cascade before we came home...

Ok, I know it may not look like we've done a whole lot, because I didn't do a very good job of taking "before" pictures of the walls, but by the time we left all of the painting was done!!! YAY!!! John had also ripped out all of the carpet, and had hauled most of it out to the dumpster... what would fit anyway. Hopefully by the time we get back the dumpster will have been emptied so we can fill it back up again. The night before we left I let the tub soak in vinegar water to remove the stains, since that had worked so well in the kitchen sink... when we let it drain, the kitchen ceiling started dripping like crazy... thank goodness for our plumber... one more thing added to his poor list for when we get back. Enjoy the pictures!

Tuffy's adventures in Idaho and his LOVE for home!

Well throughout our travels Tuffy has had a lot of fun, met many new friends and fans, and most of all is as happy as we are to be back home! Here are some pictures from our trip. And pictures since we've been home. The big yellow dog's name is Cash, he would come by grandma's house daily and romp around with Tuffy.


The scottie is my Grandpa's dog named Angus... they only got to play for a bit and the pictures aren't that great but they had a lot of fun!

Here are some of the kids that are now loving Tuffy since our trip!

Here's how Tuffy feels about being home...

Our 4th of July Celebration

Well , we went back to my childhood for the 4th of Juy this year. We were of course still in Cascade. When we decided to work on my grandma's house, I told John we had to be there for the 4th of July. They start the day with a Buckaroo Breakfast... needless to say we didn't make that. It is followed by a parade on the main road through town (which is a state highway). They shut down the highway and thousands of people come from all over and line the streets for the parade. It is amazing to see this quite town bursting with energy all of a sudden! The population of Cascade grows 10 times bigger for the 4th of July celebrations. We sat near the end of the parade route, in the shade of a nice pine tree. We also had the company of a little dachsaund puppy named Kay Dee. She could smell Tuffy and was so cute! At the end of every parade, the Fire trucks drive by and shoot water at the crowd. It sure cools things down a lot! Then it was back to the house for more painting, tearing our carpet, and cleaning since we were going home the next day. At 9:00 we headed out to find a place to watch fireworks. Cascade is known for their fireworks that they shoot over the lake. It is truly an amazing sight! It was one memory that I've had since I was little, and was so excited to share it with John. We went and sat on the golf course, and had a perfect spot.... after driving around for 20 minutes trying to decide where to go. We were still quite earl so we sat there and watched the sun disappear behind the mountains making the sky all sorts of beautiful colors. It was so relaxing to just sit there in the beauty of it, and I finally got cold (I had been terribly hot all day long!) Luckily I had my big coat in the car. It has two pieces and John ended up getting cold too and taking one of them from me. Of course, since we were getting up early to head home John wanted to not sit in traffic, so about 10 minutes into the fireworks we left, we beat all of the traffic and could see the fireworks from Grandma's house anyway. We were super glad we left early when 45 minutes later there was a traffic jam in front of the house of people trying to get out of town and we were already in bed! Here are some pictures of our celebration... and yes I know we don't look festive, but most of our clothes were covered in paint!

What to Post on...

There are so many things I have in my head that I want to post on, and since I don't have my camera to get the latest pictures of our Cascade project posted I'm going to post about everything else in my head... (good luck to all of you out there!)

1. This week I celebrated my 25th birthday, yay! What? I don't sound excited? Well, I'm not, really, and I don't know why. I feel extremely old. We spent the day nagging people about carpet and visiting with my cousin Tyann and her family. Honestly, we got showers, and that was a treat for both of us (don't ask, you really don't want to know!) After our shopping excursion we found a Barbque restaurant for lunch. John is always on the hunt for authentic barbque, so we tried it out, I must say it was quite yummy (although expensive). Then we headed back to Tyann's. We spent the afternoon chatting while one of the older girls made me brownies for my birthday. Finally, when I thought my birthday had been all but forgotten by my immediate family, the phone rang. To my surprise, I heard little girl voices singing me Happy Birthday! Thanks to the Frei girls for making my day! After that it seemed like my phone rang all day, my family called, John's mom called, and even Jenny and Megan left me a message singing Happy Birthday. Thanks to all of you, it definately made me feel much better about life!

Tyann just had #6. I've always had a special bond with her and now her kids. The 2 year old was fascinated with Tuffy. By the time we left the house, he was John's shadow and was always asking about Tuffy. The 4 yr old and I really hit it off. She loved me tickling her and pulling her on my lap so John could then tickle her. She was not very happy with us when we left. These two also had great fun trying to take pictures with my phone, I'll have to get them off and post them. Such cute kids! I also got my share of holding the newborn, gosh, I love holding other peoples kids and handing them over when they get fussy! Thanks to Tyann's family for letting us invade and play!

2. Seeing my dad's grave. It is beautiful, and exactly what we were shown it would be. I'm so impressed with what they can do. I miss my dad terribly, I hate not being able to call him and hear one of his random, not so funny, yet hilarious, jokes or one of the words he would make up to call me. Most of all I miss seeing and hearing the light in his eyes and pure joy he always seemed to have. But back to the headstone. All of the kids names are on the back of it with a family picture, and that's the side you see when you drive up. One of the first things John said to me was something like this "Now that's scary" I said, "I think it looks really nice!" and he said "Yes it does, but seeing your name on there is scary!" And I have to agree, it is odd to see your name on a headstone!

3. The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass Last October and November I got 30 or so forwarded e-mails about this series of books saying how not to let your kids see the movie, the books were horrible, the author is atheist, they kill of the "God" figure in the end etc. Well, I'm never one to jump on a negative bandwagon without finding out for myself, so that is what John and I have been doing. I must say, we both really enjoyed the book The Golden Compass. Then we saw the movie, I wasn't very impressed, the book is much better, but then again, they usually are. Through all of our travels this past month we've been listening to the last two books in the series, and all of a sudden here are all of the reasons in the e-mails about why you shouldn't let your kids get involved in these books exposed. While it is a fictional book, there's a little too much "truth" involved for kids, and some adults to get past it. So if you can just enjoy the first book, it's great!

Well, I think I've gotten things out that I wanted too, at least that's all I can remember now. I'll post more from Cascade sometime soon!