This Week's Highlights

1. Almost tripping down the stairs after saying the closing prayer in Sacrament meeting today. I did a simple surfing move and glided on my slick heels with my arms out for balance. Yes, it was terrifying, and yes, I was so, so grateful I did not hit the ground and have my skirt flip up.

2. Going to my first demolition derby! Yes, it was very much a cultural experience. (Do you like how I keep saying "yes"?) Every round of smashing and crashing, each one of us in our group of five girls would pick a different car to cheer for. Just to increase your pride for the female sex (of which many of us are a part . . . sorry Brad), a woman driver made it to the finals! Once she got out of the car, we had a hard time seeing that she was a woman, but they said her name was Shelly or something. I guess that proved she was a female.

3. Seeing my dad's side of the family Saturday night! Every year for the Fourth of July, we get together to eat yummy food and play games and, most importantly, allow the men to be boys. They usually tweak their throwing arms and pull their hamstrings--when they get together, they all think they are 20 years younger. Uncle Dave brought a baseball mit that shows how fast the ball was thrown. They had fun with that, and luckily, everyone left uninjured this year.I just love seeing everyone and talking and playing. Aunt Carrie's stick game was SO fun, honestly! :) But I'm never surprised with Carrie's games--they're always a hit.

4. Tubing down Cardiac Canyon at Cherry Hill. I just laugh the whole time, because I get stuck under every waterfall and the whole ride takes 15 minutes instead of 3. One time with Dee, it took about 30 minutes and boy did we have fun!

5. Getting people wet at the Kaysville Parade. I absolutely love 4th of July in Kaysville!! It doesn't quite beat our traditional Rushforth BBQ and pool party in Downey, but it comes in close second. It's helped me not miss the good old days so much. The parade always ends with fire trucks soaking the crowd, street sweepers completely drenching everyone with their huge spray, and people on local businesses' floats dumping buckets of water on us or squirting us with water guns. All the nearby neighbors hook up their hoses to reach Main Street and fill up baby pools with water for refilling water fight paraphernalia. It's so awesome! I love how the whole community, old and young, plays in the street and runs around like crazies. My favorite moments were dumping my water bottle of water on Nate's head and running up to my friends' float to steal water and being attacked with water guns by at least five people on the float and by my one friend in the street. I couldn't open my eyes, so I was just blindly dunking my water bottle in one of their ice chests for water. Then the parade ended, and I had to wring out my shorts the whole way back to the car.

(PS: Sorry there are no pictures. I know how boring that can be, so thanks for reading anyway!)

The Line-up

As some of you know, ove the past 3 weeks, about 10 different people have approached me to ask if they could set me up. Now I already know that I am going to get some hate mail from some of you I've denied because I said I wasn't doing anymore blind dates. Well, I gave in and then the flood gates broke. Where are all of these guys coming from??? Or I mean, where are all of these match-makers coming from. Four of them set me up with the same 2 guys!

Marty—Karen (co-worker) set me up with Marty and invited us to a BBQ at her home last Saturday. He's late 30s to early 40s. No one really knows his age. He's a doctor. Seems like a good guy. He called today about another date, but I haven't called him back yet. I need to get to know him better before I say anything.

Bryce—Jeremy and Scott, two of my good buddies, set me up with this 28-year-old architectural engineer. We went out last night, and I rode a motorcycle for the first time!!! Don't worry. I held on tight. :) I see another date with him in the future.

Tyler—Emily Slater, Dave Herd, and Carrie Romney all had their hand in this, and none of them knew each other. It's a longer story, so I won't tell it now. We're going out in an hour. Blue Iguana for dinner and then paddle boats! Can't wait to meet him.

Simonson—Teresa Bowman set me up with this guy in his late 30s to early 40s. Why is that age group so mysterious? I can't remember his first name. He's been in CA going to film school. I gave in to this set up because this guy's dad actually tried to set us up when I was interviewing with the Rotary Club to go to Argentina! Hah! Go figure. Teresa works for the dad. Date TK.

Christian—Tori is setting me up with a guy she met while she was studying in Nauvoo. He's in Korea right now, but when he gets back she's working her magic.

Ice Boy—Dr. Treft is my eye doctor, and he asked if he could set me up 2 Mondays ago when I was in for my check up. Strangely enough, he tried to set me up with the guy I went out with last year who rubbed ice on his lips!!! Maybe I should give him a second try. :) I said no thanks, that we'd already gone out and things didn't work out.

Temple Boy—Grandma Lindsay overheard some ladies talking about how one of their sons was 27 years old. Grandma's ears perked up. "I having a darling granddaughter who's 27 and single. I'll bring you a picture of her next Tuesday for you to show your son!" And she did. I don't think this one is going to happen, though.

Blair's friend—Grandma Newbold met one of Blair's friends at Blair's wedding two Thursdays ago. He asked how he could be part of our family. She said that there are only a couple of ways and that is through her remaining single granddaughters! When he heard I was 27, he backed off though. Fine by me. I have enough to deal with right now. I think he was 22 or 23.

If I've left anyone else out, I appologize. And I know Cynthia and Michelle and Sarah have been chomping at the bit, so if you would like to set me up now with the guys you'd been thinking of, you may. Updates on these guys will definitely be coming.

Seeing through Wax Paper

The same day my authors came, I had LASIK eye surgery. I left work right before 1 p.m., hurried home to shower to get all traces of make-up, mousse, lotion, etc., off of my body, and dressed quickly. Mandy picked me up and we headed to the clinic, which is about 45 minutes from my house. I wasn't too nervous at that point—mainly excited to know it was really happening. I'd been planning on it for about a year, once I heard my company offers flexible spending—tax-free money for any medical expenses that you pay directly out of your paycheck over the course of a year.
They soon had me all comfy in my booties and shower cap. I took the valium they offered me, but I'm not too sure it did what it was supposed to. Once they had me lie down, I started to get more tense because they instantly dove right into the surgery. It was a little crazy to think about what was happening, but my eyes were numbed with numbing drops, so I didn't feel anything. My right eye was first, and it went really smoothly. I do admit, it was way hard to stay staring at the flashing light—my focal point. I couldn't tell where my eye was looking until the doctor would tell me to keep looking at the light! It was like being under water and not knowing which way was up and which way was down.

The left eye had minor complications. The blade wouldn't lock into place. (I found this out when I saw the video Mandy took of the surgery. She had my camera and was in a room with a TV showing my big eyeball on the screen.) The blade is made up of two pieces, sort of like a zipper is, and so they had to push a lot on my eye to get the top piece to fit into the bottom piece. I felt that, but I first heard the nurses saying stuff like, "Am I caught or are you?" That was not pleasant. It felt like forever! My lower eye lid also got in the way of the blade, so it got a little knicked but it didn't hurt. They told me I have smaller eye lids than most. They are daintly eye lids. It's always interesting to find out new things about yourself. And then it was over! And then it was like looking through wax paper.
Here I am walking down the hall to leave. The goggles were hard to see through. But who am I kidding. I really wouldn't have been able to see very well if I'd had them off! I had to keep them on the rest of the day and then sleep with them on every night until this past Monday night. Waking up the next morning was amazing! I could see perfectly. Blurriness would come and go, but other than that I could see. It took a while to get used to not looking for my glasses after I'd wash my face at night or when I'd wake up in the morning. I can't get over it that normal people see this way without thinking twice. I LOVE being able to see!!!

Dinner at MY Door

A week and a half ago (June 9th), three of my authors came to visit the Barn and me, and to have a sales meeting to talk about how we're going to promote their book, Dinner at Your Door: Tips and Recipes for Starting a Neighborhood Cooking Co-op. These ladies live in Boise, where they say dinner co-ops are springing up like dandelions. They know of about 50 co-ops in their area, so this is for real.

I was the project editor for this book, which means I was the drill sergeant for the authors, designer, and photographer, making sure everything got done as beautifully as possible and on time. From the contracting stage to getting the manuscript to hiring the photographer and the designer, to debating what the title should be to editing the manuscript to inputting the authors' corrections to seeing the book off to the printer . . . but wait. It's not over. Then editing the printer proofs in two different stages to make sure we catch any over-looked mistakes before the book is bound. It's quite the process, but then you have a beautiful book to show for it!! I imagine it's kind of like agonizing through pregnancy and labor, only to forget all of the woes when you see you're adorable baby. I highly recommend this book, and that means a lot. I am an honest person, especially when it comes to my own work! It is well written, hip, funny, full of yummy recipes and gorgeous photography, and oh-so helpful in learning the ins and outs of a dinner co-op!

May30th . . . I'm a little behind

Little Nate-o graduated from high school . . . which means I am VERY old!!! Okay, I know I'm not that old, but having my little brother who is nine years younger than me now be my age is weird. I'm actually still 17 years old inside, so Nate's older than me! Ahhh! Scary. Now Nate can be his own person. He could go rent an apartment in Salt Lake . . . or he could even leave Utah! He could sell his mini fridge and leather desk chair and Palm Pilot and everything else he's purchased since he got a job and move to, oh I don't know. I can't even picture Nate somewhere alone in the world. Weird. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

So these pictures are of Nate's graduation.

The Back-Brace Duo

This crippled couple is proud to show off their back braces. They were really funny and wanted me to take this picture of them.:) Mom thinks she looks like a skeleton. They're trying to have angry faces.

First of all, thank you, thank you. We've loved your cards and calls, your texts and emails, your gifts of food and DVDs to keep Mom happy while immobile, and your prayers. We love you and feel so grateful for each one of you. Mom and Dad are doing much better.

Dad's been going to a physical therapist. He's not supposed to plant a garden or do any bending—basically a great way to get out of chores. But for Dad it's torture, and I still catch him leaning over to put the silverware in the dishwasher even though it's hurting him! He loves his garden, so we'll see how long the doctors can keep him out of there. His leg isn't swollen or yucky looking anymore, and he seems to be walking on it okay now.

Mom is to wear her brace for 4 more weeks, about half the time they originally told her, so that's great news! The break is in her L2, and it's actually on the anterior of her spine, not the interior, which is a lot less dangerous. This coming week, she is to start going with Dad to physical therapy. She can have her neck and shoulders worked on, but not her spine. She's taking less of her pain pills now, which is great because she's awake and out of bed more, sitting on the couch or standing. Dad and I used to get up every three hours to lift Mom up out of bed to give her her medicine, so it's nice to sleep through the whole night. I don't know how you parents do it with babies! Those first two weeks, I was so tired the next day for work. I could never fall back to sleep right away.

Tagged 2 Months Ago!

So a creepazoid has been commenting on my blog, so I started searching each post to delete his comments and I came upon a comment from Tiffany back in March. She tagged me, and I didn't know!! Ha ha. Sorry Tiff. So here goes.

1. What was I doing ten years ago?
This is going to be good. I have my journal here in front of me with an entry from May 23, 2008 and one from May 30, 1998, so this is literally what I was doing ten years ago. Basically, I was crying over how Mohammed was going back to Monica, his ex-girlfriend who went to Columbus the drop-out school. What was I thinking??? "He says he feels bad about getting back with Monica, but I'm sorry. That isn't gonna make me feel any better. I am like his girl at school for when Monica isn't around. He doesn't realize how much he is hurting me. I feel like such a retard—like an inexperienced little girl. What am I gonna do? I think I'll go cry." That's it for the 23rd. May 30th I went to a bonfire at Huntington with friends. Karina's going to love this . . . "Karina was freaking out the whole time because Jeff Steadman was there. He looked so cute! Mohamed came, too, along with . . . ta-dah . . . Monica. Yipee! Gosh, I truly can't stand her." Then I talked about how Monica and Mo faught the whole time they were at the beach, and how Mo came over to talk to me and then said good-bye when they left. Good times junior year. Ugh. I would never go back. And just for fun, the next entry in my journal says that Nick was now saying all of our names, and when you asked him who built the ark, he would say, "Noah!"

2. Five things on my to-do list today:
a. donate all my Baby-sitter Club books to Nick's school
b. finish getting everything for my 72-hour kit
c. update Relief Society visiting teaching
d. look up costs of flights to Egypt, Kenya, and Ghana
e. do laundry, fold laundry, and clean my room!!

3. Snacks I enjoy:
a. chips and salsa
b. homemade chocolate-chip cookies with milk
c. Oreos with milk
d. Kosher dill pickles
e. kettle corn

4. What would I do if I were suddenly a billionaire?
a. create nonprofits to help people all over the world
b. buy houses and cars for all of my family and friends
c. spend my days learning languages, writing, traveling, spending time with people I love, doing humanitarian work, and visiting my island
d. fund all of my dad's screen plays
e. invest

5. Three bad habits:
a. showering for too long
b. taking on too much and thus not getting enough sleep or katie time
c. jumping on my bed

6. Five places I've lived:
a. PA
b. UT
c. CA
d. Venezuela
e. Mexico

7. Five jobs I have had:
a. age 6: front-lawn seller of sea shells—10 cents for a whole one, 5 cents for a cup of broken ones
b. age 7: front-lawn seller of paper fish—5 cents for small fish, 10 cents for larger catches
c. age 7: door-to-door salesgirl of handmade bookmarks—20 cents each
d. ages 19–24: door-to-door CD saleswoman—$16 for In Him Was Life, $15 Covenants and Crucibles
e. age 22: resource teacher at an elementary school

8. Five things people don't know about me:
a. I love water and I LOVE the ocean, but it's also one of the things that scares me the most.
b. I adore the history and the rules of the English language. I'm a nerd! I could just read my usuage dictionary all day long:)
c. I can't stay in one city or one country for very long . . . but I guess that's something you probably already knew.
d. I LOVE clothes. If I did have lots of money, I definitely worry that I would form a teensy bad habit of buying in excess.
e. The day before I left on my mission, my eye doctor found a hole in my retna. I had to go see a surgeon that same day to laser it shut.

Tagged: Sam, Chelsea, Jacqui, Dee, and Brenda. Copy, paste & answer for yourself. Have fun!

Nothing to Lose

Too often we are scared.
Scared of what we might not be able to do.
Scared of what people might think if we tried.
We let our fears stand in the way of our hopes.
We say no when we want to say yes.
We sit quietly when we want to scream.
And we shout with the others,
when we should keep our moths shut.
Why?
After all,
we do only go around once.
There’s really no time to be afraid.
So stop.
Try something you’ve never tried.
Risk it.
Enter a triathlon.
Write a letter to the editor.
Demand a raise.
Call winners at the toughest court.
Throw away your television.
Bicycle across the United States.
Try bobsledding.
Try anything.
Speak out against the designated hitter.
Travel to a country where you don’t
speak the language.
Call him.
You have nothing to lose
and everything,
everything,
everything to gain.
JUST DO IT.

Carol gave me this poem when I graduated from high school. My sophmore year of college, I put it up by the front door of our apartment. Every time our friend Corb would come over, he would read it to us, emphasizing "Call him" and "Speak out against the designated hitter" (because we thought that was a weird thing to do). I found it as I was cleaning my room, and it brought back lots of funny memories. All of you who were my roommates at the time (Jenn, Cyn, and Em), those of you who visited, and everyone who reads this, I hope you take advantage of every opportunity to fulfill your dreams and become a better person!

From Sponge Bob & Patrick

This card is from our neighbor Michael. He has autism and is 18 years old. He weighs twice as much as my mom and just adores her. Every Sunday he finds her at church, yells out, "Lisa Newbold," and then goes to put his arm around her. When he sees my dad and my brothers, he calls them Lisa Newbold, too.:) The ladies he lists in the card are in our ward. And Michael's an amazing artist—look at how detailed Sponge Bob and Patrick are! He makes me smile—I love reading this card. We got to talk to Dan (in Spain) this morning, and we read the card to him, too, and he laughed. He knows Michael.

I am so glad Michael is watching out for my mom. I just hope he doesn't crush her the next time he sees her! Ha ha!

Celebrate Sweden

Sugarhouse rocked tonight. First because they hosted the Swedish Celebration. Mandy and I dropped in, scanned the crowded firepit, noticed that money was required to eat the hotdogs (we were misinformed), and briefed the table of Swedish delights. Then we decided to go grab some real food and come back for the festivities. People were actually speaking with accents (which we assumed were Swedish), so we knew we were in for a real treat!

We headed to the cute little strip of shops where the King's English is located. It took us about 20 minutes to find it!! Ha ha. We had so much fun looking at the picture-perfect houses and are more determined than ever to buy a house up there. Once we found 15th and 15th, we parked and walked to Mazza's for some Middle-Eastern food. We splurged just a tad and tried a little of everything. The humus was too sweet—we got the kind with bell peppers and pomegranite seeds—so I advice you try a different kind. But the pitas were SO yummy and warm!

A resort shuttle pulled up and dropped off a whole load of out-of-towners. Then a couple walked buy with ears and tails on. We figured they were on their way over to the Swedish Celebration for their part in the skit. Who knows. We didn't see them again, but a lady did walk out of the restaurant next door to check them out! No one knew what to do.

This was the cutest thing out front of the restaurant. I think I'm going to bring Izzy here and tie her up and take her picture. I think she would make friends okay if I left her there. She's a social butterfly.

Mandy and I didn't really want to leave this bookstore, but they were closing so we had no choice. I think bookstores are like airports. See if you can figure that one out. I found an author/illustrator whose work I bought in Argentina. I recognized his book for the watercolors! It made me happy and sad and motivated to pull out my brushes and go buy 140 lb paper. And then I bought the book so I can keep looking at his beautiful work and be inspired by it. Oliver Jeffers. Check him out. I now own Perdido y encontrado and The Way Back Home.