Snow, Snow, Snow & More Snow

Yeah, we've got snow.  LOTS of it.  And we seem to get more and more of it, about every other day.  The evening news predicted another 6 inches by tomorrow morning, followed by another storm Sunday and then another one next Wednesday.  Yeah, I'm a little jealous of Laurel's flowers on her porch and the balmy 50 degrees.  But...I would miss how amazingly beautiful all this snow is.  Yeah, I know - I'm nuts!  But check out these recent pictures...isn't it beautiful?

I love how it looks when the sun is rising or setting and everything is pure and beautiful in the snow.  I wish I would have had my camera this morning on the way to work.  The mountains looked spectacular!  

So, the snow is messy and hard to drive in on occasion and every morning I pray as I drive up the steep driveway that I will actually make it to the top.  I repeat the same prayer as I drive up 1st South to the University...I would absolutely hate to start sliding back down...that is my fear.   So far, though...as bad as this winter has been, driving has been OK.  So, yeah - as nice as warmer weather would be, I'm going to appreciate what we have....the snow!  

Abby Loves Her Dad

Couldn't wait to post the following picture that Abby drew yesterday....

Isn't that the cutest thing EVER?  Yes, he does have arms, they are just light blue and you can just barely see them.  Blair, you need to know that Abby and I are your biggest fans!  We love you!

Gordon B. Hinckley 1910-2008

I guess I always knew that he was getting older...although until recently you really couldn't tell.  He certainly didn't act like most 97-year-olds, although I really haven't known very many!  He was amazing in about ten million ways.  I think one of the reasons I really admired him was his love for EVERYONE.  It didn't matter who you were, you just knew he loved you.  I was always anxious to hear him speak at General Conference every six months and have absolutely, truly loved hearing him speak.  I've been lucky enough to see him in person a few times at meetings in the Tabernacle and Conference Center and very well remember everyone rising to their feet and the absolute silence that would occur as he walked into the room.  It didn't feel real until this afternoon when I was driving home (early, because of the storm) and listening to the radio.  They were discussing how a public viewing would probably be held and I remembered walking past President Benson's casket in the Church Administration Building and suddenly thought - NO, not President Hinckley!  While I am certain that a joyous reunion has taken place there will be many that will miss him.  I am one.  

My sister sent me the following link:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MC0W0ZVI9ak but be prepared - you might need some Kleenex's.  I'm just grateful for the past 13 years to have been inspired and taught by such a great leader.  We'll miss you, President Hinckley!  

Bono, The Edge & Snow

The past few days have been quite exciting around our neck of the woods!  Monday (Human Rights Day) was spent at home as the entire city was hit with a GIGANTIC snowstorm!  I was SO glad I didn't have to go to work that day!  Here is a shot I took out our back door...

It doesn't really look that deep, but we got about 8 inches (on top of the other snow already there!)  They said on the news Monday night that we will get five more storms in the next fourteen days.  Kinda cool!  (In a January, snowy kinda way!)

Having a whole day in the house (along with the rest of the weekend, which was pretty much spent indoors because of Abby's pinkeye and cough) I managed to put together our little home office.  Check it out...

Blair put up the shelves and then I put everything else together...isn't it cool?  It looks even BETTER than the Elfa shelves that were $1,000 online!  I can now do about everything I do in my office at work from home.  That definitely comes in handy when a small one comes down with pinkeye and other such fun things!

Then, last night Abby and I saw the new U2 3D movie at the IMAX theater at Jordan Commons.  Blair won tickets on the radio (how cool is that?) and I just have one word....WOW!  For all those U2 fans out there...don't miss it!  And, if you like Bono as much as I do, you might possibly quit breathing at certain moments during the movie.  The 3D effects were amazing and he was literally just inches away...so yeah, I quit breathing for a minute or two!  It was AWESOME, although kinda weird because you're watching a concert, yet you feel like you should behave as if you were watching a movie, because you are.  Still, lots of people were singing along - kinda couldn't help it.  Especially during the song "Pride."  It might have been because Monday was Human Rights Day, but it made me cry.  At every U2 concert, that is always my favorite, but this was absolutely amazing.  Even Abby loved it - she said that "the guy with the sunglasses that sings" was her favorite.  YEAH!  And, my favorite part...she grabbed me at the beginning and whispered in my ear, "Mom, that guy playing the guitar (The Edge) is my friend Emily's dad!"  If this is true, we definitely need to have Emily over for a play-date.  With her dad.  :)

Well, gotta go - "Dinner Impossible" on the Food Network is on and it's quickly becoming my favorite!  Good night, all!  

My Small Pink Eyed One

So, Abby and I are home today as a result of some lovely PINK EYE!  We have some antibiotics drops to help, but Abby needs them for 24 hours before she can go back to school....so I am working at home and Abby is busy coloring, playing on the computer and watching movies.  We put our old PC in Abby's room for her to use and she is REALLY enjoying it.  The printer needed some ink, so I went to look at what cartridge number I needed and found this:

Yes, this would be Yogi, curled up in Abby's art bag next to the printer!  I thought it was one of her stuffed animals and it was a rude shock to discover a LIVE animal in there!  Kinda funny, though - thought I would share.  

Blogger is Being Weird

So, after I just tried to post the "Haka" message, it obviously posted it twice.  I'm just lucky that Blogger actually let me upload the video at all, right?  Anyway...just the explanation for the twin posts tonight.  Now I am really done for the night.  Really!  Good night!  

The Promised Haka

OK, as promised, here is the haka from last night.  I am still just amazed at all that happened - all the connections, all the great stories, etc.  So cool!  Today I started looking at flights to New Zealand and what I needed to do to obtain a passport.  We have to go!  And, like I mentioned last night - the haka happens to be one of my all-time favorite things ever!  ENJOY!

And, before I go....a quick "amazement" about my Mac.  As many of you know, I've produced quite a few slideshows for various people over the past couple of years.  Weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, etc.  This usually meant hours of work (after coming HOME from work) even more if there were pictures to scan.  Even a "small" slideshow of 150 pictures already on CD would take 2-3 hours per night for a week.  I had to use TWO software programs and one more to burn the label onto the DVD.  I loved doing it because it was creative, it was just time-consuming and frustrating at times.  So, Sunday night I decided to try out i-Movie.  I had a lesson on it Saturday morning and was itching to see what it was really like.  Needless to say, I created a 91 picture slideshow of cute pictures of Abby from 2007, complete with two songs in half an hour.  Yes, you read that correctly...HALF AN HOUR!  I was flabbergasted!  Then tonight, I figured out how to burn it to DVD and completed that in 7 minutes.  Yep, you read that right again - 7 MINUTES!  I am amazed, grateful and now brimming with ideas for new DVD's!  So, if you stop by and my house looks like a disaster, that's because all I want to do is create cool new things with my Mac.  I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!