The Princess has been occupying herself this morning by reading The Dragon's baby scrapbook. One of the items included in this scrapbook is a rough estimate of what she was blessed with during her baby blessing, which is a tradition in the LDS Faith.
Amongst other things, The Dragon was blessed so that she might be able to "walk without being weary, and run, without being faint."
The Princess slowly read these words out loud.
"Well," she said turning to look at me, "at least that part is true!"
All you have to do is match the word to the definition of the word (you always get four choices). For each word you get correct, the site will donate 10 grains of rice to the United Nations World Food Program.
You get to learn new words AND help counter world hunger. Everyone wins!
A little over 3 months ago, my family received an invitation to participate as models for a "Natural Light Photography Class." In return for us volunteering as models, our family was promised a CD of all the pictures taken of us, with no copyright restrictions. We were told that it would take approximately 2 weeks for us to receive our CD.
This was a big deal for our family -- free professional prints -- and all we had to do was have fun and smile for the camera. So we signed up, and showed up at the designated location at the bright and early hour of 8 AM.
Unfortunately, the photographer teacher didn't have as good of a turn out as expected and we spent a large amount of time waiting around for the photographer as there were only 2 or 3 photographers instead of the 8-10 (best guess) that were supposed to be there. Still, we were excited for the opportunity, and we did as we were requested.
Now, the photographer is the owner of Weddings By Woodbury. I believe, based on several conversations and voice mail messages that this is a joint effort with his wife. And that is why I am saying NOT to give these people your business.
On the bright side, in person this couple is friendly and nice. Lots of fun! The samples of the photos they have taken are gorgeous. They definitely have the talent and skills to take gorgeous photos of your special day.
However, their customer service is terrible. At three weeks after the photo shoot, I called and inquired about our CD. No one returned my call. At four weeks, I tried again. Again, no one returned my call. I finally got a call at six weeks where I was informed that they were working on "weddings" and didn't have time to do our pictures as we weren't paying customers. At about 11 to 12 weeks, I was informed that the CD would be mailed within the week and that I could view our pictures online. Indeed, our pictures were online - but I couldn't do anything with them other than view them unless I wanted to order the pictures from them. The CD did indeed show up within the week, however all of our pictures weren't on them. I might not have cared about that, except the pictures that turned out the best were the ones that were not on the CD. I called -- this was about two weeks ago -- and requested another CD. No one has returned my call, nor has another CD appeared in the mail. I called again this morning (it will be 14 weeks tomorrow since our original photo shoot), and we will see if anyone will return my call this time.
I am not impressed AT ALL with the customer service that this company offers. Some people might argue that Weddings By Woodbury is correct - that I am not a paying customer - but I argue that my family and I were actually employees as they required a service, we provided it, yet we have not received our compensation. Either way, this company is NO GOOD.
I've resisted posting about this, hoping to give them the benefit of the doubt. But here's to the POWER OF THE BLOG. Will I run them out of business? Doubtful - nor do I really want too. But if it makes someone think twice about using them, serves as an "I told you so" to someone who reads this but chooses to use them anyway, or encourages Weddings By Woodbury to pull their head out of the sand and start treating their customers with respect -- then I think I've accomplished something.
*** Weddings By Woodbury is located in Salt Lake City, Utah. ***
I got a long distance call from my friend Dubby. She asked me if I was having a "happy" birthday. Sounds like a simple question, but I over-analyzed it and said something more along the lines of "I guess..." I think my response was more or less based on the fact that my day had been pretty much normal - nothing really "birthday-ish" had happened yet.
The King got me a card. He also brought home Chinese food for dinner.
Our friend John stopped by with a birthday card and present from his wife, Julie.
My friend Angie brought me a cute little gourd that was decorated as a witch.
My Mom, Dad, Grandpa, Brother, Sister-in-law, and Nephew came over for cake and ice cream.
My Grandpa gave me money.
My Brother, Sister-in-law, Other Brother and Other Brother's Girlfriend gave me a gift certificate to The Melting Pot with a coupon for free babysitting! What fun!
My Mom & Dad gave me a pretty sunflower tile, three matching pots (for plants), and a promise of money that can be used to getting new eye glasses.
The Princess and The Dragon worked very hard on a special present for me. They made a game where you had to match the descriptions with the person. Let's see how you do:
The "People" are: 1. Daddy (The King) 2. Mommy (The Queen) 3. The Princess 4. The Dragon 5. Gorge (George the Cat)
The statements are:
A. Likes every color in the rainbow B. Likes sunflowers C. Doesn't like the bathroom D. Likes black panthers E. Likes dragons
The answers are at the bottom of this post.
The best part, however, was the card. These little girls decided to add a post script. It said:
P.S. You are 34. Not 29.
Happy Birthday to ME! I guess it was pretty happy after all. :)
The answers to the guessing game are below: 1(D) 2(B) 3(A) 4(E) 5(C)
When I was a child, there was only one thing that was better than getting a letter in the mail. Getting a package in the mail!
Yesterday it was my turn. After a few days of not getting the mail for no good reason other than there is rarely anything exciting in our mail, I decided that I should check the mail. Lo and behold, there was a package in our mailbox. And it had MY name on it. MY NAME!
Dubby, Old Man With A Radio Transmitter In His Car, and Dianna had sent me a package! CHOCOLATE! And a birthday card! And four eye mask thingy's - you know those things you put over your eyes when you are sleeping. And two toothbrushes with little tubes of toothpaste. The card told me not to share, but I assumed that those instructions applied ONLY to the chocolate (like I have to be told NOT to share), and so I happily distributed toothbrushes to The Princess and The Dragon who were fascinated by these special "airline" toothbrushes. They have decided that they will only use them for a very special occasion - a sleepover.
I should mention that this is not just any chocolate. It's BELGIAN chocolate. Yummy.
... you really want to title your blog post a certain word, and you can visualize the meaning of the word, but you can't remember what the word is actually called?
Don't you?
You don't? You have better things to do then worry about what that word is that has completely slipped your mind? You just move on and let it go? I could learn so much from you.
Life has been, well, busy. The past month has been filled with changes and I have been trying to learn how to adjust to living my life when I am NEVER home. And I am failing miserably. Throw in a kitten who loves to pee and poop all over the house unless he is locked in the bathroom and you've got chaos. Add in a new home-based business, and you've got chaos squared.
Deep down, I am fairly certain that I am loving all of these changes. It's fun! Exciting! Challenging! And yet, I am drowning in the chaos of it all... and I feel that I must come up for air. (Seriously... what is the word I am thinking of? Emerging? Emergance? Something along those lines, I swear.)
The clock is ticking, and I must get moving so that my wheel of chaos doesn't spin any more erratically than it already does.
I fell asleep "early" last night. The King stayed up later. He kept hearing strange noises. He would check on the girls and they would be quiet. He would check the basement and couldn't hear anything. He thought it was the TV. He finally checked the backyard. Nothing.
It was very curious.
The King kept hearing sounds and kept checking. A little after 1 am, he finally opened the front door. There, on our porch, was a small kitten. The kitten was making QUITE the racket and apparently had been for the past TWO hours. The kitten was also shivering. We brought the kitten inside.
The kitten is very curious. He padded around our house checking things out and meowing quite loudly. He was quite curious about everything. I dubbed him "George."
We gave him a small saucer of milk. Then we gave him a small saucer of water. Then we decided the only way we were going to get some sleep was to lock him in the bathroom. And for the next 20 minutes we weren't sure that was going to work either.
But we all, finally, got some sleep.
So, there is a kitten at our house. We are attempting to find out who he belongs to, if anyone. If we can't find an owner, we are unsure as to what we are going to do.
Well, I thought this was pretty darn funny. I've said most, but not all (YET) of these things. What about you?
Here's the lyrics:
"The Mom Song"
Get up now Get up now Get up out of bed Wash your face Brush your teeth Comb your sleepyhead Here's your clothes and your shoes Hear the words I said Get up now! Get up and make your bed Are you hot? Are you cold? Are you wearing that? Where's your books and your lunch and your homework at? Grab your coat and gloves and your scarf and hat Don't forget! You gotta feed the cat Eat your breakfast, the experts tell us it's the most important meal of all Take your vitamins so you will grow up one day to be big and tall Please remember the orthodontist will be seeing you at 3 today Don't forget your piano lesson is this afternoon so you must play Don't shovel Chew slowly But hurry The bus is here Be careful Come back here Did you wash behind your ears? Play outside, don't play rough, will you just play fair? Be polite, make a friend, don't forget to share Work it out, wait your turn, never take a dare Get along! Don't make me come down there Clean your room, fold your clothes, put your stuff away Make your bed, do it now, do we have all day? Were you born in a barn? Would you like some hay? Can you even hear a word I say? Answer the phone! Get off the phone! Don't sit so close, turn it down, no texting at the table No more computer time tonight! Your iPod's my iPod if you don't listen up Where are you going and with whom and what time do you think you're coming home? Saying thank you, please, excuse me makes you welcome everywhere you roam You'll appreciate my wisdom someday when you're older and you're grown Can't wait till you have a couple little children of your own You'll thank me for the counsel I gave you so willingly But right now I thank you not to roll your eyes at me Close your mouth when you chew, would appreciate Take a bite maybe two of the stuff you hate Use your fork, do not burp or I'll set you straight Eat the food I put upon your plate Get an A, get the door, don't get smart with me Get a grip, get in here, I'll count to three Get a job, get a life, get a PHD Get a dose of, "I don't care who started it! You're grounded until you're 36" Get your story straight and tell the truth for once, for heaven's sake And if all your friends jumped off a cliff would you jump, too? If I've said it once, I've said at least a thousand times before That you're too old to act this way It must be your father's DNA Look at me when I am talking Stand up straighter when you walk A place for everything and everything must be in place Stop crying or I'll give you something real to cry about Oh! Brush your teeth, wash your face, put your PJs on Get in bed, get up here, say a prayer with mom Don't forget, I love you And tomorrow we will do this all again because a mom's work never ends You don't need the reason why Because, because, because, because I said so, I said so, I said so, I said so I'm the mom, the mom, the mom, the mom, the mom!! Ta da!!!
When I decided to become a Creative Memories Consultant again, it was because I was really excited about the possibilities of digital scrapbooking. I wasn't sold on it, but I was fascinated by it. I also knew that it was a fairly hot market, and I thought it might be a good ground-floor opportunity. I also knew, that the discount I would get as a consultant, would help feed my traditional scrapbooking addiction.
Well, I am getting more and more addicted to digital scrapbooking by the day. It is so much fun! I love computers! I love scrapbooking! I am telling you, it is a PERFECT fit for me. The program created by Creative Memories is phenomenal. You can do SO much with it, but it's really quite easy to use. The hardest part is simply that BECAUSE you can do so much with it, there is A LOT to learn. I'm getting fairly proficient with the thing, but I am guessing that there are hundreds of tricks that I haven't come anywhere near to discovering yet. I know I'm repeating myself, but IT IS SO MUCH FUN!
So, I thought I would upload three of the digital scrapbooking pages I have designed. They are 12" x 12" in real life, and I was able to get them printed at Costco.
Enjoy!
Like what you see? Feel free to contact me for more information. I'm happy to share. I also have a personal website where you can learn more and even purchase products if you so desire.
I am LDS (a Mormon), and this weekend is General Conference. Members of the church, world-wide, gather together this weekend to hear the words of our Prophet and other leaders of the church.
The exciting news today, was that we have a new second counselor of the church -- Henry B. Eyring!
I love Elder Eyring, well, President Eyring now. He has always been one of my favorites so this is very exciting to me.
It is also a blessing to live in Salt Lake City where I have the ability to watch conference from the comfort of my own home.
It's been a month people (give or take one or two days). I have been sick for an entire freakin' month.
It's not asthma anymore. While I don't know exactly what it is, I'm inclined to say that it's EVERYTHING. Seriously.
These are all of my symptoms that have taken place at least once during the past month:
Headache Fever Tummy Ache Diarrhea Stuffy Nose Runny Nose Cough Wheezing Body Aches Chills Hot Flashes Excessive Sweating Sore Throat Ear Aches
And... I've had to deal with Aunt Flo TWICE. Which is an ordeal in and of itself.
The King has walking pneumonia. I'm pretty sure that I have it too, but now that I've been diagnosed with asthma, I think I have another problem. No one thinks I have anything BUT asthma. I'm sorry, but you don't get a fever because you have asthma!
So, I suppose that if I don't experience miraculous healing over the weekend, I will make yet another trip to the doctor. Could someone come and fumigate my house with Lysol in the meantime?
I received a catalog in the mail the other day. It was addressed to our previous home owners, but being that we have lived here for over a year and do not have a forwarding address for him, I chose to peruse the catalog myself.
It was from a company called Uline. They tout themselves as "Shipping Supply Specialists."
As I was nearing the end of the catalog, I found a letter to Uline customers entitled "7th Grade, Mr. Nelson and Uline."
I've provided a link to the letter here. I encourage you to read it.
UPDATE: I can't seem to get it to load the exact page, so you can tell the website to go to page 374 and then you should be able to read it.
I can't figure out why they thought that this was an appropriate letter for their catalog. So, I decided to send an email to them. Since I couldn't find a e-mail address for Ms. Ulhein on their website, I used one of their feedback links, and sent the following e-mail:
To: Liz Ulhlein Subject: 7th Grade, Mr. Nelson and Uline
Hi Liz,
I recently received a copy of your catalog because the previous home owner of our house was a customer of yours. Being that I have no forwarding address for him, I browsed the catalog, curious if your company would meet any of my needs.
Unfortunately, I came to your article on page 374. I found this article to be poorly written and unorganized - the very thing you claim to be speaking out against!
We can argue technicalities, but the bottom line is that I find it alarming that you would insult your employees in a publication that is, in part, designed to show the best of your company. What is your purpose in that?
I find it ironic that page 375 (the opposite of your article) shows the "Uline People Working For You" who are also the same people who are wasting your time.
I also find it ironic that your "Company Culture" claims that you "Treat employees as long-term partners" and "offer the resources and support employees need to maximize their potential."
Obviously, that's not quite the truth, since you are so inclined to drag them through the mud in your company catalog.
It's been interesting learning about your company. I think I'll stick with someone who keeps the focus on their products - not on their employees faults.
Sincerely,
~insert real name here~
It's been almost 24 hours since I first read the letter, and I still can't figure out why her letter is appropriate for her company catalog. And, I also find it slightly amusing. So it's made it to my blog. What do you think?
I love October. It's my birthday this month. It's Halloween this month. It's autumn! I love it all.
The girls have decided on their Halloween costumes. The Princess is going to be a witch, and The Dragon is going to be a black cat. I have most of their costumes put together and they are busy running around the house in their costumes, happy as can be.
I got another cold this weekend. A bad one. But I think I am on the mend, and am hoping that I will soon be healthy so I can actually ENJOY this beautiful fall weather.
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