Answer This

A question I didn't answer when I had my moment to shine on Five Questions but I wanted to...

I you had one "do over" what would it be and why?

In all honesty there are three things I would "do over" one I'm just not even talking about. The second one has to do with my grandma and although I love to blog about my personal life...that ones just too personal and I'm not going there either. So it leaves me with this:

When I first started dating Zach some people had a lot of "concerns" apparently for my welfare. Whatever that was all about. Work people, friends, random people, etc...

They voiced them. They hurt my feelings. They stole from me moments of that amazing feeling of falling in love for the first time. Some people that knew him best even said things to me that were totally out of line.
Most of this mainly had to do with him being married before...which is just insanely ignorant--not to mention didn't give me credit for my own ability to discern
I will just say this:
Zach is seriously one of the BEST people that I know.
He never gets angry with me.
He puts up with a lot from me.
He was honest with me from the very beginning about anything and everything.
Even stuff you wouldn't think someone would be honest with you about.
He has a testimony.
He is respectable.
He is kind.
He LOVES his family and his friends.
He is one of the happiest people I know.
He laughs ridiculously easily.
He loves like you wouldn't believe.

So what would I do over. I would have kindly put anyone and everyone who thought they had room to say anything about him in their place. I would have stood up for him more. I would have done for him what he would do for me. That's what I would do again. I actually have guilt about it. So if you're one of those people...consider yourself TOLD.


There...I feel a little better.

Now....what would you "do over" if you could?

Another Blog

Misty and I have started a recipe blog.
We encourage you to read and follow this blog.
We also encourage you to comment and perhaps even be a guest blogger....sounds fun, huh?

Check it out here!

Ode to Target Brand Stuff...

I am the consumer that research confirms.
If there is a big sign that says something is on sale, I believe it but I am never for sure.
If it's in pretty packaging I buy it.
I am totally taken by marketing strategies...I really am.

Which is why I love Target brand. It's always pretty.
The picture.
The logo with the arrow.
The font.

All of it makes me feel like it's okay to buy a generic product.
And that's one of a million reasons I love Target.

Happiness is..

Today happiness found me in these ten little ways:

1. Hot chocolate because I had a rough start to my morning this morning (i.e. I kept hitting the snooze alarm and then rewarded myself with a hot chocolate?)
2. One of my students from last year coming into my room after school today asking me if I had school lunch today--today was my FAVORITE school lunch. So cute...but I had resisted.
3. Talking to a parent of one of my current students. I told her he was on his best behavior and he was doing awesome...her response, "I think it's cause he thinks you're cute!" :)
4. Finding my homemade Christmas gift starters (we're poor this year and especially with flying to Georgia...I'm making my gifts...) on SALE today! I've been eying them for months now, really. I got paid today so I went to buy them and they were half the price!
5. Pay day! Last pay day before the big CUT!
6. Buying colored soap for the bathrooms that actually matches the color scheme of the bathrooms. Feels so much better!
7.Zach is taking his VERY LAST class tonight. He is officially done TONIGHT! YAY! He will go back to school in December but I will have my husband for a few months.
8. There is a possibility that: a). We will go on another hiatus for about a month! :) b). We may get ice cream after he gets home tonight. Because that's how you celebrate finishing school, right? Well, that's what I told him. He's new to the finishing school thing, so I will teach him the proper celebrations!
9. Coming home to approx. 18 ears of corn dropped on my doorstep...courtesy of Zach's Grandpa.
I'm excited about the corn but more than anything it made me laugh.
10. Life is good!

Answer This

It's Tuesday. So it's time to Answer This!
That means you have to comment and answer, too!
Pretty please!

If you could invite ANY 3 people to dinner who would you invite and why?
I just asked my students this question this week..it was on a getting to know you survey I found.

My answer???:

My grandma Marty, grandma Peggy, and Zach.
Why? Zach never had a chance to meet Grandma Marty and he only briefly met my Grandma Peggy. I would like for him to get to know them and know who they are and exactly why they are so missed. I would like them to get to know him and to tell me they love him and are proud of me. :) I would just like to visit with both of my grandmas one more time.

So...who would you invite?

Wish Come True

Remember how I said I wanted a new pair of shoes?
My first day of school present from my mom. I get one every year (since grade school).
One pair of cute and sassy sandals.
One pair of super sexy heels!
I love you, Mom!
Thank you for always making every event in our lives a holiday.
Thank you for always telling us how much you love us and how proud you are.
I cried today.
I'm so lucky to have my mom as a mom.
I want to be like her more than anything!

All I've Ever Wanted

Yesterday my brother came over for Sunday dinner. He walked into the kitchen while I was at the sink and said, "There's a very peaceful feeling in your house, Ham."

That's seriously all I've ever wanted out of life. I couldn't ask for anything more...


except for maybe a new pair of shoes since Mal chewed mine up last night...

P.S.

Um...I randomly just started talking to my husband about people from my blogging world that I do not know. I happened to randomly state a fact about Christian (nienie's husband). And Zach goes,

"Christian??? Oh, Nielson. As in Mr. Nielson."

You'd probably only understand the greatness if you read nienie.

I love him.

(My husband, not Mr. Nielson. However, I do have an immense respect for Mr. Nielson and his family...I actually do have a love for them, in fact...)

A Different Shade of...Brown?

My friend Allison recently posted a blog on white hair. A supposedly funny blog...she and her husband just purchased their 2nd home and are having a blast remodeling it...


Well Alli, some of us don't think your post was all that funny.
In fact, some of us may have even been offended.
Because some of us may/may not have found and discarded approx. 6 gray hairs today.
Some of us may have a husband who thinks he's funny when being shown said hairs.
He might have made a remark like: "I don't think those are gray, I think they are blonde!"
That may have been cause for even MORE drama.

Alas, they are gray.
Perhaps maybe I (err, some of us)

can be a distinguished gray-haired woman like this
Yes, yes, Burn Notice again!

Oh How I Love Him

Because this guy makes me smile all day EVERY day
I thought I would post some of the things that have made me smile this week:
*He is OH SO handsome
especially when he comes home from mock interviews at school
in a pin-striped suit and a dress shirt complete with cuff links...*WOW*

*He took me to the store to pick out ice cream for our movie night

*While in line at the store he says, "Wow! The Bachelorette is already on the cover of Us Weekly that is not a good sign."

*When buying Mal a dog bone at the store his response when the cashier asked if we cared if our food was in the same bag as Mal's bone was, "As long as it's wrapped..."
*Then when I call him a girl for caring about that at all he says, "I was joking I EAT STUFF OFF THE FLOOR!" Then says, "I said that loud enough so that everyone would hear so as to embarrass you a little."
*He cuddled with me every morning when my alarm went off..making it impossible for me to get up and exercise
well not exactly impossible but it's too tempting for me to turn down

*He discovered the "wonder" I guess that is disinfectant spray while I was using it. He took it from me and seriously began disinfecting everything in our house...

*He called the temple to make an appointment and seriously smiled the whole time he was talking to the lady on the phone..he is so nice!

*He has listened to me talk and talk and talk about EVERYTHING school lately...faculty meetings, dress codes, new math curriculum that I'm excited about, old reading curriculum that I hate, organizing my classroom, new students, old students, new staff, staff that we lost this year. He seriously listened to me nearly cry over losing our school secretary for an entire day..he just kept saying, "I know. I'm sorry."

How annoying I am sometimes, huh?

But he never ever treats me that way.

I just plain LOVE that guy so freakin' much

and that's the real reason I smile all day every day! :)

Some Numbers for You

Try Mulling These Over:
1-VERY pushy salesman
847-Dollars we end up paying
at only
15-dollars per month
for a total of
4 years

1-package sent and returned unopened
1-very VERY dishonest man
33-number of complaints filed at the Better Business Bureau
1-more complaint filed tonight

1 piece of advice for you:

NEVER EVEN LET THE SALESMAN FROM THE LIVING SCRIPTURES INTO YOUR HOUSE!

Answer This

What do you do on Sundays?

Sundays are my favorite day of the week. Our typical Sunday goes a little something like this:
*Wake up and get ready for 9:00 church
*Arrive at least five minutes late to church...which is EMBARRASSING because we are the only ones who are late who do not have children...:)
*Church ends at noon-we come home and have a smallish lunch
*Take a Sunday nap
*Head to my parents' house for dinner with them, my brother, my grandpa...and maybe once in a while Shane's girlfriend
*Eat and have a spiritual thought. A different person is assigned the thought each week.
*Sometimes we can get my parents and Shane to play a game with us
*We come home and relax. Take Mal for a walk. Watch a movie maybe...sometimes we just play Settlers or something

We should have a little more scripture study in our Sunday ritual and I am aware of that...all in all our Sundays are restful and rejuvenating--which is precisely their role! :)

What do you do on Sundays?

This Morning

I woke up when Zach did
not before, but that's okay
I still have a week to train myself before students are involved :)

I made Zach's lunch, took a shower, and thought I should dry my hair and get going...I have things to do today!

Then I looked at Mal sleeping on the couch (Hunter went back home and I don't have to share Mal anymore)

And I realized how quiet the house was

And I decided "What the heck!"
I got back in bed and decided to soak in the lovely feeling of one more
lazy morning...

Mal came and slept next to my bed
Snoring and all
And I was happy
And I was also my Grandma Marty as I was not actually sleeping but rather just resting my eyes...for real!

I Dedicate this To...

A "special" someone.
Can you guess?
You probably shouldn't try...unless we're REALLY good friends.
Then you can text me.

I dedicate this song to _________.

If you're too lazy to visit the site
(or unable to from work...mom:)
Here are a few of my favorite lines:

You've got opinions man,
We're all entitled to 'em, but I never asked
So let me thank you for your time, and try not to waste
anymore of mine
And get out of here fast

I hate to break it to you babe, but I'm not drowning
There's no one here to save

Who cares if you disagree
You are not me
Who made you king of anything?
So you dare tell me who to be?
Who died and made you king of anything?

You sound so innocent, and full of good intent
Swear you know best
But you expect me to jump up on board with you
And ride off into your delusional sunset

p.s. It is not Zach :)

So Attached It's Not Even Funny

Attached to Mal. That's right.

Here's a picture of puppy Mal curled up and sleeping on my lap when we first got him...
And here's Mal now! Sort of...this picture is a little old
I love him like crazy. He's needy as they come, that is for sure. So I do get annoyed with him from time to time but I love this dog! We are watching a dog for some of our friends right now. He stays out in the yard (I don't trust him in the house and that would be ONE too many pets in the house for starters). So Mal has been outside for two days. I made Mal come in to sleep last night and Hunter stayed in the garage which worked fine. Zach thought they could just sleep outside together but I was dying. I missed Mal..I missed him snoring on the floor next to my bed. I missed hearing him move from my side to Zach's side letting out a giant sigh each time : ) So, I made Zach go get him and put Hunter in the garage. This may not be so healthy but I love our dog!

P.S. I'm lonely in the house without him which is making me feel horribly guilty. He'll be way more lonely when I go back to school next week. It kind of makes me sick actually.

Answer This

I think on Tuesdays (just cause today happens to be Tuesday). I'm going to do a post called "Answer This." I will then Google something like "question of the day" and find random questions. I will post and answer and then you will comment and answer...you will comment, right? Right! Sounds good!

Today's Question come from this site

What can’t you resist?

*Zach asking me to come cuddle with him...

*Idaho Pizza Company Pizza (otherwise I can totally resist)...

*A Jodi book...

*An opportunity to sleep...

*The suggestion of Chinese food for dinner (or lunch, or a snack :)...

*Good Marinara sauce...

*An opportunity to clean my house...

*Zach's Grandma's Cinnamon Rolls...

*A chance to say "I love you!"

So now...What can't YOU resist?

Road Rage

Due to my new location...I don't experience road rage very often. Today I did. I won't go into too much detail. Brief Recap:

Three lanes
I'm in the middle
Someone doing something that should be illegal (but that's a story for another day) in the right lane
Police car in the left lane...going faster than my lane

I become angry for two reasons:

1. Why aren't you doing something about this? I know that you see it...we aren't going that fast.

2. You are a freaking cop and you are driving a Charger. That is a). an unnecessarily
expensive car for you to drive around doing nothing in (I don't have a great love for cops as you can tell, please don't take offense)

and b., most importantly, you are not the caliber of person that drives a Charger.



This man is.

That's right. I had road rage because a cop was driving a Charger and that is Michael Westen's car!

And if you aren't aware: Michael Westen can kick any cop's "A"
(to use a term my brother uses)

Are You Kidding Me?

This just in:


Apparently the City of Boise wants to create a program (ahem...somehow fund a program) that discourages or "tells people not to" give money to the homeless.

In other words:
In a time of financial strain (After all the state of Idaho declared a financial emergency=pay cut for me),
They are going to take my money
and tell me what to do with it.

This can't be for real.
I will admit I don't have all the details but I am UPSET!

I want to know who the genius who thought this up is...and then I think I should replace him. I don't know much, but I know that this is a horrible idea.

Dear Summer,

Dear Summer,
I love you, and you know that. However, this year--our relationship has been a little rough. You've been temperamental (weather wise) and I don't care for that kind of attitude. I have been missing work...desperately and have not really felt that I've been able to thoroughly enjoy you. However, I did get some things accomplished and this weekend, I think you made up for it!

Love,
Sharlee

Okay...so the weekend. Here are the dirty details. Zach was able to take off Friday and Saturday (and Thursday by default :) so we had 4 amazing days together. Our weekend truly started on Thursday morning with the only sleeping in we did all weekend, I know!? CRAZY.

Later that evening Zach and I went out to dinner and headed to Tim McGraw concert (his Valentine's Day gift to me).

We took pictures BEFORE leaving because we don't have air conditioning and it was H.O.T.
I'm so excited!

I did not realize what a good seats we had until we got there...that was a very welcome surprise. We were on the floor in the MIDDLE which proved perfect whenever Tim came down the walkway...

*Note: I have been admiring Tim's behind for years...YEARS! True story. Saw it up close in leather pants and I have got to honestly say, I prefer my husband's rear to Tim's. It's true...Zach looks pretty amazing from behind in a pair of Levi's...

We did get to hear our favorite song. (It was my favorite song first, though). And it was beautiful. Total amazing feeling in the room at the end.

No pictures from Friday. Here's the brief breakdown:
1. Wake up EARLY and head to the temple...we had some friends going through for the first time. We were honored to be present.

2. Lunch with them afterwards

3. My mom picks us up and we head to the Canyon County Fair with Mom, Cara, and the kids. It's hot and we ride rides with the boys. We both get sick in the heat and in the rides. Grayson is more gutsy than Gunnar, by the way?!? I laughed and laughed at Gunnar on the Yo-Yo. I talked him into it and I could just hear him yelling, "Okay! I want this to stop now!" And screaming. I seriously couldn't stop laughing!

4. Home and OUT!

Saturday morning we got up to go to the sealing of our friends. They were being sealed to their children as well. My first to ever (aside from my own)...can I just say:
INCREDIBLE!

That night we packed up to head out for our first ever married camping trip (actually our first camping trip together ever :)

We took Mal with us (I just realized I think this is the first picture of Mal I've ever posted...sad)
I love both of them so this picture makes me HAPPY! :)

Scenery on the way

Owyhee overlook..we ended up there sort of by accident but it was very pretty

This is our camp all set up...do you like? We had a card table, camp chairs, and a TINY tent. So tiny that even us newlyweds couldn't handle it...we slept in the bed of the truck. My camera died after I took this picture :( I just have to say that I had a blast. I had fun just spending time with Zach. We went to a hot springs and you have to cross the river to get there and the first few times Mal was too scared so Zach had to carry him (hilarious by the way, wanted a picture SO bad). After a while Zach and I coaxed Mal into trying out the river and once he got the basics down, he was good to go. I wouldn't say he loved it but he loved camping. It was so much fun to watch Mal in the water and to camp out like that. We will be going a few more times before summer is up...it was great.

And so, Summer
Thank you for this weekend. I had a blast and made some wonderful memories. I will no longer regard the summer of 2010 as the worst ever. You redeemed yourself and for that I am grateful.

With Love,

Sharlee