Expensive

Yesterday I made a msitake that literally cost the company tens of thousands of dollars. Tens of thousands of dollars. That's a painful mistake to make.

Family Pictures

We haven't had a non-wedding family picture in over ten years. TEN YEARS. Do you know how much a family changes in ten years? I'll tell you - we've more than doubled how many of us there are.

Julie and Rob decided to leave states away, so it's not like we can just have a quick Saturday get together. They are coming in town for the wedding on Tuesday, so I thought we could arrange something while they're here. Well, they fly in at midnight the night before the wedding. Then Sheri and Josh are on their honeymoon until Sunday afternoon. Oh, and Kate's blessing is on Sunday at 11. So I thought maybe we could grab an hour or two that afternoon.

I really just want them to turn out, but now I'm so worried about things I'm sick - which colors? What location? Will everybody come?

I just want a family picture.

Stuck On This One

You borrow $400,000 on a standard 30 year fixed mortgage with a stated interest rate of 4.00% per year. It is 24 months from today, and you have just made your 24th payment. The market interest rate for a loan like yours is 6.5% per year. What is the market value of your mortgage? Why does this differ from the principal balance?

Our Wedding Day - Reminiscing

Sometimes it's fun to just go back through pictures and remember it all.

I love Tanner's smile in this one. :) Parker was being very shy.

This was torture for the kids to stay with us. We have about 4 pictures like this, each equally painful. :)

Grandma has a crush on TJ. It's not a secret.

Oh, my baby boys.

I am still not sure how I got that high...

I'm obsessed with my bouquet. Man, that's gorgeous. And I love the grasses.

My siblings
My "not blue skies" picture.

My mom made my cake - beautiful.

Finally a good picture with my baby boy.

Not sure what the issue is with Lexi. :)

Our First Turkey

I just want to real quick document that in January we made our first ever turkey, INCLUDING homemade gravy. :) It was not too hard to make, though we'll need to work on not drying it out for the next one.


Ta da! It's like we're grown up now! ;)

A Ward Family

Tonight was ward temple night and I seriously thought about not going since TJ's not well and was in bed, but he encouraged me to go and I'm so glad that I did.

I grew up in the same ward from when I was 5-years-old. I know every member of the ward, first name and last. I know their kids, their professions, and their interior decorating styles. All the ward knew, and could even name, all my siblings, and knew what they were up to.

With a background like that, starting fresh in a new ward, with people I don't know, has been a challenge! We've lived here for about nine months and I can honestly say I feel like we've put a lot of effort into getting to know people - we may not spend a lot of time on walks, talking with neighbors in their yards, but we have made a lot of effort to go to temple nights, ward activities, Relief Society parties, etc. It was so fun tonight to know that I could go to dinner with the ward and even if TJ wasn't there, I'd have friends to sit with and talk to. We're doing it! We're making this home!

Stressful Job?

Does anybody else ever feel like this?

I derive a lot of satisfaction from my job, but there are some days that there is so much pressure I don't know that I can get through the day. I go through about 600 e-mails a day, and when a number of them are from very angry/frustrated/upset individuals, I just get a bit frazzled.

Wish me luck out here today - it's going to be a long one.