Terror Attack Signs

I was just reminded of, quite possibly, my all-time favorite email forward when my good friend Meg re-forwarded this to me the other day and I realized that this may bring the same joy to others as they perouse my blog. Have a great day!


The US government has a new website, http://www.ready.gov/.The thing is that the pictures from the site are so ambiguous they could mean anything! Here are a few interpretations.


If your right arm is on fire, do not run

If you spot terrorism, blow your anti-terrorism whistle. If you are Vin Diesel, yell really loud.

If you spot a terrorist arrow, pin it against the wall with your shoulder

Michael Jackson is a terrorist. If you spot this smooth criminal with dead, dead eyes, run like hell.

Use your flashlight to lift any fallen walls right off of you!

If you are sprayed with an unknown substance, stand and think about it instead of seeing a doctor.

Austin is radioactive, move to Houston

If you hear the Backstreet Boys, Michael Bolton or Yanni on the radio, cower in the corner or run away fast.

If you are trapped under falling debris, conserve oxygen by not breaking wind.

If you lose a contact lens after a terrorist attack, be sure to look for it. If you cannot find it, it is probably best to roll on the floor and have a good cry.

Do not drive a station wagon if a power pole is protruding from the hood.

A one-inch thick piece of plywood should be sufficient protection against radiation.

Be on the lookout for terrorists with pinkeye and leprosy. Also, they tend to rub their hands together manically.

If a door is closed, karate chop the hinges.

Try to absorb as much of the radiation as possible with your groin region. After 5 minutes and 12 seconds, however, change the focus point to your head.

After exposure to radiation it is important to consider that you may have mutated to gigantic dimensions: watch your head.

If you've become a radiation mutant with a deformed hand, remember to close the window. No one wants to see that crap.

I thought I was going to be an artist

I was visiting my parents' when they pulled out all of the many creations of mine that they have been saving all these years. When I saw this picture that I drew of my family when I was 3 and in the recent wake of my nephews discovering their artistic abilities, I thought I'd take this opportunity to brag about my own abilities. Tell Evan and Taylor to keep reaching for the stars. One day, they'll be as good as I was!

Dogs 'n bed

Eric always likes to take pictures of me sleeping but I loved this one because Roscoe was snuggling with me. I always fall asleep at night with Roscoe or Frankie in my arms but usually in the morning they have moved. However, this morning when I woke up Roscoe was laying on me in my arms! I love my dogs! Roscoe is funny because when he is really tired he is completely lifeless. You'd think he was dead because you can move him around like a sack of potatoes. This is when we were having a good time with him one morning because he was trying to sleep and we were trying to get him to sit up but he just ended up all hunched over and squished up like an old man. The picture really doesn't do it justice.
This was Frankie's first injury. He somehow cut himself in our car on the way to Grandpa and Grandma's house on Super Bowl Sunday. He wore the bandage for 2 days and then when we tried to take it off, he totally flipped out. I think he was mad because he looked so tough with it on!
And finally something not about our dogs... we got a new bedspread set! Our bedroom looks a little less like a college dorm room now!

Dedicated to Eric (and Brittany)

Just last week we celebrated Eric's birthday with a crab boil! I took a lot of good pictures of Payton and Parker though so that is why this post is also for Brittany. A crab boil, for those of you who've never been fortunate enough to participate in one, is a very festive way to eat and entertain. First of all, you have to have the proper cajun spices, which have been named "CAJIN INVASION" by Danny Sorensen, who introduced us to the crab boil originally. Once you have the spices, the rest is easy. You need a huge pot, like the one pictured. You just throw all of the food into the boiling pot (in a certain order) and let it cook in the cajun spices. When everything is cooked, you drain the pot and throw all the food out onto the table (lined with newspaper or a disposable plastic table cloth). You will also need melted butter to dip everything in and a drink but otherwise, omit all other table settings. Then, you just dig in! I think everyone, with the exception of Payton, really enjoyed it. Payton was completely disgusted. As soon as Eric dumped the food out onto the table, Payton covered his eyes and asked Brittany if he could leave the table. It was pretty funny, but he still came back for dessert. I was very surprised at how much Parker enjoyed himself. He loved the crab, I think he ate a whole leg himself! Thanks to Eric for turning 25 and deciding on such a fun way to celebrate his birthday!

A Few of My Favorite Things

My cousin Morgan sent me this email so I thought I'd kill two birds with one stone and reply to her email while updating my blog!

1. Color: Purple
2. Food: Watermelon & popcorn
3. Drink: Cherry Coke/Pepsi
4. Song: "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now"
5. Band: To name a few: The Format, Ben Lee, Bright Eyes, Belle & Sebastian, Elliott Smith, Ryan Adams
6. Movie: Dirty Dancing, Only You
7. T.V. Show: The Office, 30 Rock, Scrubs & House
8. Theme Park: Universal Studios Islands of Adventure in Orlando, FL
9. Dessert: Homemade oreos
10. Restaurant: Tepanyaki
11. Ice cream: Haagen Daz Coffee
12. Person: My husband
13. Actor/Actresse: John Cusack, Audrey Hepburn
14. Scent: Fabric softener & Eric when he smells nice
15. Animal: my dogs
16. Place: home in bed snuggling with Eric & Frankie & Roscoe
17. Website: jenbugsworld.blogspot.com
18. Store: Target/Anthropologie
19. Sport: Basketball/Dance
20. Candybar: Butterfinger

"Thank you"

Reflecting on my past week, I have been very humbled by several tender moments that I have experienced. I am so thankful for all that I have. I experienced one tender moment when viewing an email clip of Glen Beck giving a tribute to Pres. Gordon B. Hinckley. His tribute really touched me as I thought about what an honor it will be to one day meet Pres. Hinckley in the hereafter (this is something I have never had the opportunity of doing in this life) and just to simply say, "Thank you." He is a very real example of enduring to the end. He never stopped serving us. He never stopped working. He never even seemed to slow down. I just can't imagine my life being anything close to what his was but I can do my best in following his example and I am truly thankful for it.

Another moment for me was last night, Eric and I were invited to go hear a church historian, Brother Turley, speak on the making of the "Teaching of Joseph Smith" manual for church. One thing I learned is that I will be reading it and studying it on my own because I now have a greater appreciation for it. The reason it wasn't the first book in the series is due to the fact that it was the most difficult to develop. It was painstakingly researched and poured over until every single thing that was printed could most aunthentically be traced back to an actual teaching from Joseph Smith. The real problem is that there was a real lack of record keeping in his time. By Brigham Young's time he has scribes that would write everything he taught in shorthand and historians have very accurate records of Brigham Young and every other prophet moving forward. Even Joseph Smith's own personal journal was often kept through a scribe. One of which was a doctor (who stereotypically had very poor script). And the scribes would interchangeably use the word "I" for themselves and Joseph! This is just the beginning of endless confusing, incomplete or difficult to decipher texts that these scholars poured over to produce "the most accurate compilation of teachings of the prophet Joseph Smith written today." (This was a direct quote from Brother Turley.)

In addition to my appreciation for the manual itself, Brother Turley bore testimony of the miraculous work of the coming forth of the Book of Mormon. There is absolutely no other explanation that makes sense other than the one that Joseph Smith and the witnesses said. That he translated the gold plates through the gift and power of God. He did this in a matter of less than 90 days! He did this with a grammar-school education. He did extremely little revision or correction and a lot of that was a matter of grammatics and spelling. He did this without any modern technology that writers today would use. He did this using many different scribes and he would pick up right where he left off without having anything read back to him. My own dad, bless his heart, is an apologist (of many things, one of them being the church) and has studied the translation and history of Joseph Smith in extreme detail and has shared with me many of the "little" things that happened during the translation. He has also studied the original printers' manuscripts which can show every single correction that occurred between that and the current book we have today and I have to say, it is remarkable how little they have changed. It is a book that due to its modern translation and development, we know the detailed history of, which cannot be said for any other book of scripture. I know that it could not have and truly did not come to pass by any other means than through Joseph Smith by the power of God. I am so thankful for the Book of Mormon. I am thankful for the blood, sweat, tears and sacrifice that so many people put into it and I know that I take it for granted the majority of the time but I am always thankful to be reminded of this amazing miracle that lays by my bed each night.

Deep Thoughts

One of Eric and my favorite things to do is read "Deep Thoughts" by Jack Handy. They are full of words of wisdom such as, "Maybe in order to understand mankind, we have to look at the word itself. Basically, it's made up of two separate words — "mank" and "ind." What do these words mean? It's a mystery, and that's why so is mankind." There are several others that are equally as thought provoking and hilarious but Eric brought up a good point the other day when he said, "What would it be like to be Jack Handy's kid and say, "Dad, I need some advice..." and he would reply with something totally ridiculous like the above comment. I am sure glad that I am not Jack Handy's child. But he sure is funny!

New Blog

Thanks to Andi I spent about 3 hours today updating the look of my blog. I created one entire template then found new cute winter themed stuff so I went and created a 2nd look. It does take some time I can tell you that! Thanks Andi I love it!

Happy New Year 2008!

Our front yard on Christmas morning!

Well, sorry my blog got so boring for the last month. I guess the blog was boring because my life was busy and I didn't have time to update it much. Time or energy. For about 2 weeks before Christmas I had a cold/cough that would not go away. I am still a little coughy but its not anywhere near as bad as it was. I blame the ozone. Speaking of ozone, our Questar bill was ridiculous this month. We only paid about $12 less that Eric's parents and their home is 3 x the size of ours. If anyone can help us figure this out, we'd appreciate it. But back to the holidays... Christmas was so exciting with visits from Rob, Mandy, Evan and my newest niece Lily and a surprise visit from Jdub, Andy, Ashton and Brice. We battled the snowstorm on Christmas Eve coming home from Logan but we still made it to grandma Barb's for dinner and fun. Although, I do have to say that at times during that 3.5 hour drive from Logan going an average of 30 mph, I didn't think Eric and I would make it to our one-year anniversary. We were both so tired and ornery that we couldn't speak or remain silent without getting on each other's nerves.
I am proud to report that we did make it and are still happily married... so long as we never get caught in a horrible snow storm again! :) Our anniversary was a really great day! We just got to lay around all day, which we probably haven't done since our honeymoon, and then we went to dinner at the Mandarin in Bountiful and went to the temple. We did have a miniature miracle while driving up to the Bountiful temple. We were going up that really steep hill and suddenly, our car just stopped going forward. The tires were spinning on the snow and I was really scared. Eric managed to get enough traction to turn around and he said, "I am not going back up there, we are just going to have to go to Salt Lake." Then as we were driving down the hill, two snow plows crossed our path and we were able to turn around and follow the plows, which worked out perfectly!
New Years was also fun! We played Rock Band at Kent and Ann's with the family and ate and talked. Rock band is really fun! I enjoy singing because my deepest inner self really would love to be a great singer. I would even settle for a good singer... but Rock band doesn't require that much skill and so I can sing my little heart out.
All in all, life was pretty good the last month so here's to 2008! Here are some of my favorite pictures from the holidays.

Roscoe with his Christmas rope! He's smiling!

Grandma Ann trying to figure out how to assemble the game for Parker. Brenda burnt the bacon, again! The oven was literally an inferno. Hilarious!

This was my favorite picture of Lily with her hand on her forhead. She is so precious.
Eric is so excited about his scientific calculator on Christmas morning!

I look happy about the Kite Runner but all I have done since then is cry. Oh that book is so unbelievably sad! I also cry when watching Gremlins and Teen Witch.

This was our Chick rock band.
Andy might not like this picture but c'mon, Ashton with his shirt off on the drums is priceless!

Tagged by Aimee

5 things I was doing 10 years ago:
1. I was in geometry class with my future husband (way unbeknownst to me)
2. I was on a competitive dance team and took about 6 hours of classes a week
3. I would regularly enjoy “Friends’” parties on Thursday nights. Must See TV!
4. I was voted “Queen” of our 8th grade Valentine’s dance. (Super lame!)
5. I was in concert choir

5 things on my to-do list today:
1. Go to church
2. Go to Eric’s parent’s house for dinner
3. Shower
4. Give Frankie (my doggie) his amoxicillin
5. Practice my guitar

5 foods I enjoy:
1. Popcorn
2. Ice cream
3. Chips and salsa/guacamole/dip
4. Barbecue Chicken Pizza
5. Salads

5 bad habits:
1. Casual swears
2. Cutting Eric off when he’s talking
3. Watching too much TV
4. Sleeping in too much when I’m not working
5. Saying mean things, jokingly (mostly to Eric and sometimes I hurt his feelings)

5 of my favorite toys: (this is a weird one)
1. My computer
2. My guitar
3. Books
4. Movies
5. My car

Santa Clause is Coming to Town

Last week as I sat in Primary one of the young ladies next to me asked, “Do you believe in Santa Clause?” After I said, “Yes,” she gave me a doubtful response of, “You do?” Then I quickly back tracked saying, “Well I believe in the symbol of Santa Clause… what he stands for, you know giving and love.” She quickly accepted that response and proceeded to say, “Well, one time, I think I saw Santa Clause. He was tall, and was standing by our Christmas tree. And I knew it wasn’t my parents because I could see them in their bed and there were 4 elves. They were the same 4 elves I saw last year. Then he turned around and I stole his hat. I still have his hat but I never got to see his face. But then I started to think about it and I realized that Santa Clause is Jesus, so I saw Jesus!” I chuckled in my head and said, “Well I don’t think that Santa Clause is Jesus, but that is a cool story. Well, apparently she did not like my answer so she turned to the girl sitting next to her and said, “Riley, do you think Santa is Jesus or just Santa?” Riley said very matter-of-factly, “just Santa.” To which the girl did not respond but turned forward and sat in silence. Now to many this story is a story of deep faith, to others just pure imagination and to some just pure and simple insanity. Merry Christmas!

Unusual situation at work

So today I had a very interesting patient and I definitely have not seen a patient like this in a while. He was a new patient, young, Japanese male that had very healthy looking gums. They were soft pink, firm and tight to the teeth. So I got started probing and thought everything looked normal. I then checked the xrays for decay but totally ignored the bone level because everything I'd examined so far was normal. Then I proceeded with the cleaning but quickly began to feel overwhelmed by the tenacity of the calculus on the lower anteriors. I then noticed a large black spot of calculus under the gums on #4. As I took it out, I thought, "that has to be deeper than 3 mm now that its clean." But I was so stressed because I was already behind schedule that I just carried on. Finally, Dr. Smith came in and said, "So, what do you think, 4 quads of scaling and root planing?" I saw the bone level on the xrays and my face probably went red. I was so embarrased that I had totally missed that. He did have gen slight perio with loc mod bone loss in his molars. There was also radiographic calculus on his root surfaces... which explains why I thought he had 3 mm pockets... I was just hitting the calculus as I probed. Then as I cleaned, I didn't get down far enough because I thought the pockets were only 2-3 mm. The odd thing was, there were no spurs under the contact like you usually see and other than the lower anteriors, he had no other clinically-evident calculus. Clinically, he really did look healthy. It really was a very unusual patient! I have learned from this two things that I need to improve on: 1) When I get busy, don't allow myself to stress out and rush. Try to treat that patient as if they are the only patient for the day. 2) ALWAYS LOOK AT THE RADIOGRAPHS!!

The newest additions to our family

Eric and I are pleased to announce that we have adopted Roscoe & Frankie, two very cute Cairn Terriers. Actually, Frankie is a Westie because it is a seperate breed of all-white Cairn terriers. Roscoe is 2 and Frankie is 10 months old. Frankie's owner died (we think he killed her) and Roscoe's owner was moving to a condo where she says she couldn't have a dog. They are both males but play together very well and are pretty good at sharing except when it comes to squeaky toys. When we were playing with them at the adoption center, they only had one squeaky ball and they spent almost the entire time trying to get the ball from one another. It was so funny. Now they are both sleeping on the couch with Eric while he is watching Clue. He says, "their favorite movie!"

October Festivities

Well, October is once again coming to a joyous close with my birthday tomorrow and then the chameleon of all holidays, Halloween the next day. I really enjoy Halloween because it is something quite different to everyone. Some hate Halloween, viewing it as dark or macabre. Some love it just seeing it as a day to see cute little kids in funny costumes. And others love it as an excuse to wear something so ridiculous/inappropriate that it couldn't be worn on any other day of the year, at least not in public. I love it because it reminds me of my birthday! And it really is fun to dress up. In fact, I am so disappointed that my work doesn't dress up for Halloween. Well, as you can see, my dad sure got into the spirit this year. He carved a pumpkin with the scouts and for the last two weeks he has just been bragging up a storm so I gave him a "1st prize" ribbon that he is wearing on his shirt.


Dad also got ordained as a high priest on Sunday so we took a nice family portrait... Rob and Mandy, I think Teresa can photo shop you guys in! We miss you!
But the real fun happened after the girls left the picture and Taylor got caught with his hands down his pants!

And then we ended the evening, as every evening should end, singing "happy birthday" to me and eating chocolate eclair pie! Yum! Thanks again to the Billingsleys, lets just say, I wore flip flops to bed last night. Wink!

LARS AND THE REAL GIRL

Over the weekend Eric, Meg and I went to see this movie and we all agreed that this is the best movie we have seen in awhile. For me, it could be the best movie of the year... we'll see if Martian Kid can beat it out (opening this weekend)! Ryan Gosling is perfect in this role and Emily Mortimer graciously shares the spotlight with her co-star "Bianca" who is a, uh, hmmm... So, take the trip out to Trolley Square and see Lars and the Real Girl. I also received a hot tip that Dan in Real Life is a good movie. Oh and P.S. The pictures of our new house, if you haven't already seen them are on Eric's blog oprahismymom.blogspot.com

I have some exciting news!

No, I'm not pregnant unlike everyone around me including: my sister, Stephanie and 3 of my sister-in-laws: Mandy, Brittany and Mahina! Britt and Mahina being the newest additions to that club so... congratulations! When Brittany announced it last night at dinner I was a little out of it so I wasn't very congratulatory but I am so excited to get 4 new nieces and/or nephews within the next 8-9 months. Now my news is that Eric and I just closed on our first home! It is a cute little rambler in Murray and we are so excited! I can't wait to finally have a place of our own. It is a great central location and the best part of all is, it is like a one minute drive to my work! I could jog to work quite easily but then I'd have to deal with being sweaty when I got there so I guess that is out. The house is right across the street from an elementary school and while Eric and I were hanging out during the inspection a couple of weeks ago we really enjoyed watching the kids at recess as they chased each other around the playground and chanted, "Girls hate boys!" I will be posting pictures as soon as we get moved in! I also have pictures to post from our trip to Chicago among other things. More to come!

Happy Pioneer Day!

Well, its been another successful day in Utah since that fateful day of July 24, 1847. My family and I went and saw Hairspray this afternoon and then had a KFC barbecue at grandma Barb & grandpa Karl's. Then we played Chicken Feet with domino's to our hearts content. I thought Hairspray was just fantastic. I watched the episode of "So You Think You Can Dance" last week where the Director/Choreographer was a guest judge on it. They were talking about the movie and one of the judges said, "it was just one of those movies where I found myself sitting there smiling". Boy did he hit the nail on the head. I seriously was just sitting there with a grin on my face through almost the whole thing. It give it 5 out of 5 stars. I have a teenage girl crush on Zac Efron too! I think its the Elvis hairdo. Anyway, I have some pictures of what Eric and I spent last weekend doing, hard manual labor! We went up to Bear Lake West where Eric's grandpa has some property and he was getting concrete poured in the mid-noon sun. So we spent the rest of the afternoon smoothing and finishing the concrete. I am very glad to have a career as a hygienist after that experience!

Friday the 13th Camping

Eric, Danny, Katie and I spent our Friday the 13th camping in Butterfield canyon. We had a great time, with Danny making homemade ice cream and his famous cobbler, life around a campfire can't get much better. A couple of weird things did happen though. Like when this deer befriended us and was just hanging around within 10 - 20 feet of us for about 20 minutes before Danny finally tried to sneak up to it but scared it and then threw something at it to get it to go away. :( But I did walk up pretty close to get a picture before he scared it away. It was just a yearling but it was still so wierd that it wasn't scared of us at all. Then a little while later we heard this animal sound that I thought was the deer crying from Danny throwing something at it, but when I shone the flashlight where the sound was coming from there was a domestic black cat standing there. That was very freakily appropriate for Friday the 13th! Eric thought we were camping on an old pet cemetary and that was my old cat, Hazel.

Danny says this ice cream maker was the best $15 he ever spent.


Danny broke one of the camping chairs that night so the next morning they threw it in the fire. Unbeknownst to me, I decided to try and roast a Pop Tart over the fire. Well, let me tell you, that was not a good idea and that Pop Tart tasted like a mixture of a burnt marshmellow and burnt canvas. Good thing we bought the 12-pack of Pop Tarts after all!

Pressed flower cards with grandma Barb

So I took a picture of my three favorite cards that I made and you will get the gist of it. I figured with all the time that I spent even though the cards are almost free to make, they are probably worth about $40 a piece. It was a two-day project because on day 1 you have to create your arrangment from dried flowers and leaves on wax paper then you cover the wax paper with Kleenex and cover it with watery Elmer's glue. Then the glue has to dry overnight. On day 2, you have to iron them, cut them out, add the paper inserts and then tie or glue them together. I am sure some enrichment committee somewhere concocted these cute little creations as a great idea but the thing is, they take so long to make when I can just walk into Target, spend 10-15 minutes and $5 and walk out with the same amount of notecards. So there you go, you decide what serves humanity better. If it means spending quality time with grandma Barb though, who can resist?

She works hard for the money!

Well, I didn't work too hard today, I couldn't find a temp job for the day so I just went over to grandma's house with my sister and made some cute flower cards. I'll have to take some pictures and post them tomorrow when we return to finish them. But... I did spend 3 days at Dr. Smith's office this week so it was enough to need a couple extra days' rest. Yesterday just before lunch the worst two hours of my life were from 10:30 -12:30 where Trish & I, along with the help of Melissa (the so cute & way too hard-working hygiene assistant) saw 10 patients. Yes, that number is real. 7 were kids and 3 adults. I don't know how it got done but it really did. It was RIDICULOUS! The good thing is, Dr. Smith hired another assistant so in 2 weeks I'll have my own assistant everyday! Oh, and the other good news is Trish has accepted a job teaching at Dixie so... I get to go full-time, Mon-thu, 8-5, benefits and I really do love everyone I work with so I am very excited and feeling so blessed. Eric is also excited, he keeps saying, "So now I can quit my job." Not a chance babe!

My Husband = Sexy Cool

Who brought Sexy back? How can you bring it back when it never left because my husband had it going on from day one that he was born!

Independence weekend

So I've been having a pretty good July so far. We started out by spending last weekend at Eric's aunt's cabin in Island Park, ID. We spent ALL DAY Friday "rafting" the river (2 inches deep in places!) and Eric came back looking like a lobster. I wish I didn't forget my camera or I'd have some really good pictures of his belly. I also didn't use sunscreen and my shoulders look like a leper now!

On Saturday we went to Yellowstone and saw the many wonders of nature. Its really cool, don't get me wrong when I say that its only something that needs to done once every, oh 20 years or so! Again, no pictures because I forgot my camera. :(

On the fourth of July we started the day off at Meadowbrook Golf Course where Eric, me and my parents shared a lively game. It was so lively that I hit a 9 on a par 3. Let's just say, I think I got the most out of the game! Then we had a barbecue at my parents house where we enjoyed horseshoes, American Flag cake, hula hoops, a swinging contest and fireworks, of course. Isn't life in America awesome?

Tay loved the fireworks but thought they were a little loud! "Happy Birthday America!"

Working woman!

So I've been working as a hygienist since June 15th. My very first day was as a temp in Old Farm Dental. It was pretty dang crazy and I didn't stay on time. I was about 10 - 15 minutes behind all day! It was a really small office but everyone seemed friendly and it was a nice office. Then the following Monday I started my part-time job at Dr. Smith's office in Murray. Now I was dreading my first day because somehow the schedule got out of control and I had like 13 patients that day (3 kids, at least). But normally I have an assistant and so I had that thought to comfort me. So I get there Monday morning and Dr. Smith says to me, "Melissa isn't going to be here because she has conjunctivitis." I almost started laughing because I thought it was a really good prank. Well, this was no prank and I was alone in hygiene with 13 patients. I believe I went into a state of shock because otherwise I would have been sobbing under the table or maybe even catatonic. But I just went at it. And the day did end (35 minutes later than scheduled) and the dental assistants were nice enough to check in on me, run some xrays and handled one particular devil child. And the best news of all is that everyone was really nice to me and Dr. Smith let me keep my job!