Scale

If I could only see the scale,

I'm sure that it would state

That I've lost ounces...maybe pounds

Or even tons of weight.

"You'd better eat some pancakes-

You're skinny as a rail."

I'm sure that's what the scale would say...

If I could see the scale.

My father and mother in law came over for dinner tonight. We had tacos...we love tacos!! Aside from my suffering from allergies, we had a great time. We ate yummy ice cream and the kids just cracked us up. After our company left, Steve and the kids and I sat around in the living room and took turns reading poems from "Falling Up" by Shel Silverstein. I have loved that series of books since I was in about 4th grade. So we all took turns reading our favorite poems to the rest of the family and I read one of my favorites...coming from me, it makes the kids giggle every time...I mean, if the shoe fits...read it like you wrote it, right?!! And after all that we ate, this is truly how I felt tonight.

WWJD

Recently, like within the past 2 years, my hubby ran across an old friend that he went to High School with in Tucson. It just so happens that this friend lives pretty close to us and so, we have gotten together a few times. Their kids and ours are pretty close in age and I hope the feeling is mutual when I say that we all seem to enjoy each others company. Oh, by the way, the friends name is Art. Well, Art's wife Jana is just the nicest girl you can meet. She is so opposite of me... as far as her whole outlook on life. For example, Jana is very content staying home all day doing thrifty little things like, say, sewing or baking or quilting or any of the other hundreds of things she can do. She is a great photographer, a good cook, she sews, quilts, blogs, and does all of this on top of being the primary president!! I, on the other hand, love to be out in the streets spending money$...lets not confuse my spending with being extravagant. I do spend frugally but none the less, I spend. I mean, I shop the thrift shops, NEVER buy anything if it's not on sale and love yard sales!! I don't believe in being wasteful so yes, my family does eat leftovers and they love it!! I hang clothes out to dry in the summer to save on our electric bill...not always, but I try. Actually, not too much this summer because my hubby tore down my lines so I can only hang things on chairs and the stroller...not fun!! But you get the picture, I am pretty cheap. If, I need something though, I do go out and buy it. Jana, on the other hand, would not spend on a comforter this summer...instead, she spent her summer cutting 1700 2.5 inch squares out of scraps of material and making her own quilt. When posting her quilt on her blog she said she believes in using what you have first before buying. "Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without". This is her saying, and she sticks to it. My saying would be more like "It's on sale!! Where's the keys?!? Babe, hand me the debit card please!!" You like that rhyme? I made it up myself. Anyways, ever since I read this little saying on her blog, I hear it ringing in my head every time I'm about to spend money...I question everything I'm buying. I think to myself, "do I really need this?" Can I live without it? Would Jana buy this?
When something goes on sale I get all excited and then this little voice whispers to me WWJD (What would Jana Do?). When I'm about to throw something away, I hear it...WWJD. Sunday, my much used, much loved griddle broke. I dropped it and all but 1 leg broke off and just as I was going to throw it away, I heard it again...WWJD? It's still usable Julie...c'mon, try it!! I was cooking French Toast and didn't have to worry about anything running off of the sides and spilling everywhere so I decided I would use it. It worked just fine. French Toast tasted just like it always does...scrumptious!! But Sorry Jana, I threw it away afterwards. It was just too broken for me. I am keeping my eye out for a sale on one so if anyone sees them on sale anywhere please let me know. And as I work on my frugality just a little more, those WWJD's will just have to keep helping me along...thanks Jana!!(for being my example) And Steve is thanking you too!!

I don't have a complex

So I have some friends that I have not seen in over 15 years. Not many, but some. Recently, I sent my blog address to them and periodically they leave me some feedback on whatever it is I post about. Well, let me start by saying, never in my adult life have I dyed my hair. Well, my sister in law put some auburn/reddish highlights in it once but I mean, nothing major...and it was gone within a couple of months. So I consider my hair, virgin hair. This is something I have been very proud of as I always get compliments on how healthy my hair is. Well, this morning I got up all happy and cheerful and in a great mood when suddenly, my phone rang. I looked to see who it was and it was my friend Melinda from TX (one of those that I haven't seen in many, many years). I answered it in my usual chipper voice and this is what I hear on the other end..."I hate the hair!! You need to go back to your natural color!!" What?! "This is my natural hair color!! What the he__ are you talking about?" After much laughter and her not believing me she said "Oh, sorry, it just looks so dark!! It looks jet black. I was wondering why you would do that to yourself. Maybe it's just the coloring on my computer". She was referring to my last post "bored" where I decided to be brave and let all of my friends see a recent pic of me. I don't post too many pics of myself on my blog. Well, now you know why!! So after 34 years of virgin hair I am beginning to wonder...should I have been dying it all these years? Is my dear friend right? Is my hair too dark? Thanks Mel!!! Just what I wanted to do all weekend...wonder if I truly look like a freak?!?

Bored

This is me. I was bored the other day so decided to take a picture of myself. Yes, I was in the car!! Yes, my hand is on my face. Why? Because I am covering a zit. No I don't like this picture but since I never take pics of myself and NEVER post pics of myself I thought I would. Look at it long and hard because you probably won't see another one for a while. Unless, I get bored...but I try not to get bored too often because that just isn't safe...I do crazy, random things when bored.
Man I need ProActiv!!

I think something's wrong

So other than the fact that I stay up all night watching the olympics, I think I have a problem. No matter what sport or competition it is that I am watching, if the United States wins, I cry. I mean, you would think that I won the gold myself. Like I was the one who spent hours upon hours training. And then when I see the parents of these medal winners, it just gets worse!! Yet night after night, I am drawn to that TV. As though I haven't already seen thousand of hours of Michael Phelps swimming or Shawn Johnson flipping , I just can't get enough? And yet, every night, because the US is so awesome and always wins, I cry!! Is this normal? Am I a freak? WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME??

Nobody's Perfect

More OFTEN than not, in this wonderful world of blog, we run across the picture perfect families. You know, the ones who have the perfect husbands, the kids who can do no wrong, the home straight out of Better Homes and Garden, the best jobs, $200 hairdo's, the nicest cars, etc. I mean, sometimes I have to check who's blog I'm on in fear that I accidentally stumbled upon a rerun of Leave it to Beaver or The Brady Bunch. C'mon peeps, we all know there's a story behind that cover!! And I'm not saying we all need to air out our dirty laundry but let's keep it real!! I hope that no one is thinking to themselves how negative or pessimistic I am as anyone who has spent any time with me knows that I am not. I just get so sick of everyone trying to impress or outdo everyone else. Life is NOT all about appearance!! I hope that I have not left a "fake" taste in your mouths when reading my blog and that you all know who I really am. So let me start by listing a couple of my "not so perfect" ways.

~I LOVE (am addicted to) the Young and the Restless

~I don't like going to Sunday school...It puts me to sleep

~I like confrontation...I don't look for it but I like it!!

~I don't like singing at church..everyone else seems to sing so much better than me

~I LOVE Relief Society (probably because we eat chocolate in there)...(I know, that's not a flaw, just thought I would throw it in there)!! sorry

~I don't like housework (I despise it)

~I LOVE Coca Cola (Steve calls it getting my fix...says I'm a feen)

~I don't like my calling (I can't believe I just admitted that to the world but I don't)

~I love watching boxing or UFC (violence isn't the answer, I know, but it sure is entertaining, my SIL and I love to watch it)

~I don't like going to my kids band and chorus concerts..I love to watch them perform but I hate sitting thru everyone else's kids!!

~I enjoy blogging way too much (thanks Jana)

~I am not a temple recommend holder, nor have I ever been, but I feel good about saying that knowing that I am at least honest with myself, my bishop and my Heavenly Father as opposed to holding one and not being honest in all my dealings and holding one anyways.

~I curse way too much (especially in the car) but this is a flaw I am trying really hard to work on. And I think I'm improving!!

Wow, that felt good!! And I am sorry if you don't want to associate yourselves with me anymore but hey, at least I'm honest!! And I would do anything for anybody!!(except kill a bug) I hope you all know that with me, what you see is what you get!! All 200+ pounds of me!! (oh, don't act like you didn't think I was that fat!!)
Keepin it real,
Julie

Meet the teacher

Every year, at around this time, we attend this wonderful event called "Meet the Teacher". For those who homeschool or have no kids, this is where you go in and meet the poor unfortunate soul (otherwise known as their teacher) who will have to deal with your child for the next 9 months. Of course, she greets all the parents and students as they walk in the door and introduces herself to everyone, convincing us all how excited she is to have our children in her class and how she just can't wait to get to know them. Of course, all of us parents are happy to meet her as she is the one who will get these little hoodlums off of our backs in the near future. Now keep in mind that by the middle of the year, she can't stand your kids and wonders who could have given birth to such wild animals and by the end of the year, she is back to loving them...only because she is almost rid of them.

Well, tonight was our "meet the teacher". And I sat there in that classroom as I do every year wondering if I should forewarn her of my little hellion and advise her to prepare herself for the worst year of her life. Should I tell her that she will cringe every time she see's him walk thru the door?Should I tell her that the best part of her day will be when she says bye to him? Should I tell her that she and I will know eachother VERY well by the 3rd week of school due to all of the phone calls? I wondered if I should ruin her evening with that news or just let her find out on her own...naaaa, she can figure it out for herself. Thats what she signed up for right? She'll know soon enough. Until then, I'll sit here and wonder why anyone in their right mind would want to do that to themselves year after year.

Weekend with the Turleys

In the 3 years that we have lived in this area, us Wrights have grown quite fond of the Turleys. Steve and Danny play basketball together twice a week, Josh used to work for them in their restaraunt, Steph and Alison are really good friends,and Diane and I get along really well, talking on the phone or hanging out (usually at our cars when we are swapping daughters) whenever time permits. Anyways, this weekend Steve and Danny played a game of 3 on 2 in basketball (their team being the 2 man team) and they won. So we decided to have a team party for them. We went swimming at the Turleys and then had dessert. Everyone played volleyball in the pool. Except for Jarom who would NOT let go of his Daddy's neck. Then we had dessert and just chit chatted. During our little chit chat we learned that Danny had never seen our house in its entirety so we had them over for dinner on Sunday and gave Danny the grand tour. It was fun, we were full and we had a great time just visiting with them. Thanks Turleys!! We need to do it again soon.

From Baby to LIttle Boy

This is Jarom when he woke up this morning....Beautiful, baby faced and...well, a little hippyish!! But look at that face!! Is it cute or what? When you look at the face, it makes up for the long hair doesn't it? But even with that beautiful face, we thought it was time to do something drastic..so we did. Here is the Before shot... During..... And after...
And just as we thought, the hair didn't make a difference...look at that face. Just Adorable!!

QT

When we moved back to this desert in 2003, we couldn't have come at a hotter time. We got here on June 2nd and I have to admit...it was a little warm out. I had been here since March but the rest of the fam was just getting here from San Antonio and they weren't quite used to this "dry heat". They moaned and groaned and swam...and moaned and groaned and swam some more. And in between moans and groans we would hit Sonic (during their happy hour) for some slushes. But every so often, actually, very frequently the slushes were like water when we'd get them and this was due to the heat and amounts they sold I'm sure. And just when we had lost all hope on ever having good frozen drinks at a reasonable price again we found a QT. Never before had we heard of this "Beverage heaven" but we LOVED it!! Their drinks are so colorful, so refreshing and so cheap. And whoa Nelly, is there a variety!! Something there for everyones pallet. And this is what puts the color in my kitchen all summer long. ahhhh, Cheap Thrills!!