Monday, April 27, 2009

Cell Phone Pic Monday

Well, it's finally that time...

It was going to be cell phone pic Sunday, but since it is now 2:28 a.m. it is officially Monday. I'm late for my own post. LOL (Shhhh.. don't tell anyone.)

At any rate, I have been taking a lot of pics with my cell phone lately, either becaue I see something really cool, and it's handy, OR I'm killing time somewhere for some reason and it seems something to do to pass the time.

On the way to work last week it was definitely something I thought was cool. The mountains are especially pretty to me in the spring before the snow totally melts off and the sky is blue. So, I've been using my cell to capture it. Last week was especially cool as some of the mountains had the fluffiest white clouds sitting on top of them. Check this out (from April 25):






This is what it looked like on April 15, when skies were not so blue:

You can tell the windshield needs washing. LOL
These lovely shots are from Sunday afternoon on the way to "Babies R Us":




And, of course, I had to get something cute for my grandchild that is due on Dec. 5. The little one is still to small to ascertain the gender, so these were pretty neutral. :)



And this was the view of my counter top for a couple of days... someone is waaaaaaaay to into the seriousnous that is known as paintball. LOL Camo paint ball canisters. He converted his weapon to automatic. Think Tim the Tool Man Taylor and paint ball, and you'll get the idea:

And who can resist sleeping chocolate labs:


And like my birthday rose (shown here on the 27th), all good things must come to an end:


Peace Out,
Melanie

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Grandma Times Two


My daughter Deidre is due on December 5.




My daughter Bethany is due at the end of August. She's having a girl. (Avalyn Grace)




Hi Grandma!! :) My niece happened to mention that it looks like ASL for "I Love You" and it really does. How cool is that?! :)

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Superchick = Superfun






April 14 was Superchick Day. Those that made the trek out to see Superchick in Salt Lake City Tuesday have no idea how close it came to being cancelled. The band had bus issues and ended up leaving a day late. With 2 bus drivers they managed to make the 24+ hour drive arriving just 3 hours before show time, and pretty famished from not having had "real food" for a couple of days. I personally want to thank the bus drivers. I'm not sure I was able to meet them, but they were awesome for getting the band to us.

We knew ahead that the band would probably not arrive until about 2-3 p.m. I was secretly predicting 4 and hoping it would be earlier. We decided to meet early anyway and I arrived at the venue at 10:22 in the morning and began unloading.
Just about the time I arrived I spotted Liz and she helped me unload. Then I set about trying to find the coffee. I never did find it. It did finally show up later, but we used some of Calvary's coffee for the first pot at least. Calvary Chapel Salt Lake City has some of the best, most giving staff I have ever met. They truly see everything they have as God's and always share freely. For that I am eternally grateful. I know this is how it is supposed to be, and how it isn't far too often.

Anyway, we set about fixing lunch, and had plans to fix a lunch/dinner combo. In the end, with the band to arrive at 3, we just fed some of the volunteers some of the salad, tomato soup, grilled cheese sandwiches and chicken noodle soup. We saved out the rest of the salad, a fruit tray, and vegetable tray, and lemon/pepper chicken for dinner. While we waited for people to arrive, we started preparing dinner, finishing touches on the roast, seasoned baked chicken, mashed potatoes, carrots, corn, peas. There was lots of food. Everything turned out very well!

David was first to arrive as he flew in (someone even made the obligatory joke later in the evening about his arms being tired. LOL). A while later we finally heard that the band had arrived and we took care of feeding them as they made their way in.
Some had plates taken to them as they worked like mad to get everything ready in time for the doors to open at 6. Since it was raining it was decided that everyone would be wristbanded and let into the merch area later, which took a small bit of rearranging. I had come out to the merch area to find out if I could get a seat and get approval for my camera and was drafted to put on wristbands for a bit. It soon became apparent that the ticket takers were only going fast enough for two of us to stay busy, so I bowed out and went back to the kitchen.

Before long the show was starting so I finished helping a little, by putting some things away, and then went to see the show and take photos. First was Tal & Acacia sang for us. There were a lot of comments throughout the night about how fun it was having 2 sets of sisters on the tour. They are beautiful girls and I thoroughly enjoyed their set.



Then Rachel Hockett spoke. She talked about her struggles with being a people pleaser as a result of things she experienced, and eventually an eating disorder and about letting go of the things that hold you in bondage, the things you think you can control, that control you (my paraphrase and take on it, anyway.) She is an engaging speaker, and a sweetheart of a person.


Afterwards, there was a video about Melissa's trip to Uganda to visit her 2 children sponsored through Compassion International. You could tell how much the trip meant to her and how much she thought of Compassion. Then I went back into the kitchen and tried to help out a bit and went back out as Tal and Acacia were singing one song before Superchick took the stage. First off Trisha had everyone in the Gold Circle seating come forward, and stand next to the stage. Then they fun began. There were some children up by the stage to the right and they were having a blast. This one little boy was jumping up and down, dancing and just having a great time. He was a crack up.. and cute. LOL I stood next to him for a bit and took some pics and finally went to the other side of the stage and took photos there and enjoyed the show. IT really was a lot of fun. Some of the highlights were Matt's challenge with the audience to a dance off (and I'm sure a certain little boy spurred that one on by his exuberance), Trisha talking about Matt's sweat, etc., and joking about the things that come up on stage when one is in front of an audience, and hearing Stand In the Rain performed live. It's such an amazing song.

Anyway, the concert ended and there was an autograph signing. They tried to do paw prints of Trisha's dog, but it didn't work. It was a cute idea, though. I went over to the merch tables and bought a few things, took a few photos, had a photo taken with Tal & Acacia and Rachel, etc. Then I went over to have a pic taken with Superchick. They were so nice about everything and took the time to talk to people, including me... being my usual chatty self.

Then clean up began in earnest. A lot had already been done, so mostly it was just sorting through everything, loading, chatting, etc. There was a mix up with my coolers being accidentally loaded into other vehicles, which was semi-amusing, and finally I went to put the last cooler away and my car floor on the driver's side was full of water. Good thing I didn't put my camera down there (I almost did) so I drove home with a big puddle on the back floor, which leaked up to the front. What a mess!

I finally arrived home shortly after midnight, and was one tired individual.

God's blessings,
Melanie

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Birthday Rose


A few days ago another birthday came and went. It seems that they come and go just a little faster every year. Individual moments can drag on an eternity, but the years seem to soar past me faster than I can comprehend.

Anyway, I've been taking snapshots with my cell phone of daily things that I want to remember, mostly because the cell phone is the handiest thing about. For my birthday, my husband came home with a rose in hand. This was well appreciated as gift giving and romantic gestures are not my husband's strong suit, so for him to do that was extra special. :) So, here are some of my cell phone snaps of my beautiful rose.




I see some metaphors to my rose and life... probably not terribly original, but I'll see where it leads.

It is probably almost time for a cell pic blog day soon. Leave 'em wanting more.. (uh, yeah, right. LOL)

Sunday, April 05, 2009

Another Wasatch Front Sunday (sung to the tune of Pleasant Valley Sunday?)


I went to bed rather late (or is that rather early) Saturday night/Sunday morning. My husband was already awake so I decided I didn't want to worry about setting and resetting the alarm clock, so I asked him to be my alarm clock. He's fired as an alarm clock, as he was 10 minutes late. LOL So I threw on my clothes and headed for church. I was a little late, but still arrived in the middle of the worship part of the service so it still worked out well. My "usual" seat was taken, so I sat in the back and waited until the worship was over. Since there was a special guest and visual aids were involved, I thought I would get a seat closer, so I moved up. I really think it's a good thing I did as my 5'0" short body wouldn't have seen much over the other heads had I stayed where I was.

The special guest was with Jews for Jesus and he went over the passover. I had done a passover meal with Jews for Jesus with a homeschooling group a very long time ago, so I was really looking forward to this. We weren't doing the whole meal and it was more of a presentation. The speaker presented everything, and although I know the passover itself is a solemn occasion, there was much humor involved and the speaker was really pretty funny at times. I took a couple of cell phone shots of during the service, and a few of the table after the fact. It isn't all set up as a real seder, but you can see some of the items on the table. At one point he had kids 10 and under come up and look for the matza. Afterwards I went to leave a gift and pick up a few books and realized I had no checks left. I asked our pastor if there would be books in the bookstore, so the books I wanted he pulled aside for me. How cool is that? So now I have some reading to do during my breaks at work. :)



After some conversation, I headed for home and was just dazzled by the view leaving the church parking lot. Although there was still a little "bite" to the air, it was absoultely beautiful out. The moutains still had snow, and the clouds just accented them well. The sky was beautiful, clear and blue. I stopped right there and took a couple of snapshots with my phone through the windshield. Then I pulled out, and pulled over and took a few looking out of the door of my car.



On the way home I stopped at the post office and had a fun April Fool's Relient K poster that Kara sent me waiting as well as another copy of This Providence's new cd. I know I double ordered, but I'm fairly certain that I didn't triple order. LOL One would think I liked This Providence or something. LOL Then I stopped at Smith's to pick up my Nexium, and get something for dinner. I decided I didn't want to drive to Wal Mart as I am a tad sleep deprived. As I was leaving I noticed that my husband had called, so I called back. He was planning to go to Wal Mart when I arrived home. So I ended up going to Wal Mart after all!

While I was at Wal Mart I picked up two really adorable baby girl outfits.


I've been dying to do that, and I finally did. I chatted a bit with a mom with her sweet little 6 month old baby girl. I also picked up a few more groceries, a document frame from my April Fool's poster, a real bargain at $2.50. In the process I ran into my lead at work (not literally, of course) and we teased each other a bit, as we often do. When I finished shopping, my husband was waiting for me in the cd section and had found a movie dvd, a Meatloaf cd (which is now playing) and a Shirelle's cd. Finally we checked out at the register, spent too much money and came home.

I know there are a few hours left, but so far, that's my Sunday. Hope your day is/was blessed.

Peace out,
Melanie