Insight Into My World, Just From A Sno Cone

Okay.
Don't think I am a horrible person.

BUT...

I like sno cones.
There is a tasty place that has the best MANGO flavor ever.

MMMM...Mango.

Anyway, it's called Afrikan Ice. When you get a sno cone there they give you a coin to put in a slot to help fund a woman's, who lives in Africa, business. Each coin that gets deposited helps give her money for a loan in which she uses to make her business grow. The woman then pays back the loan. There are cards above the slots that have a picture of the woman and tells her story.

ANYWAY...

I like to keep the coins.

It's not that I don't want to help the Africans...
BUT...when I go to get a sno cone I am not really in the mood to be service oriented.

I have TWO Afrikan Ice coins.
Just jingling around in my coin purse.
Maybe by the end of the summer I will decide to donate.

BUT I DON'T WANT TO BE PRESSURED INTO DOING IT.

so....

Do you think I am a horrible person?

Memory Tag

Okay Friends. I don't usually do these...but I had to give in.

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.

Things That Must Go - Mostly Boy Habits

So two things I noticed today that I just need to get out there...

a. An employee (male employee) came into sign some paperwork. I was walking to security to meet with the employee and noticed I could smell cologne in the hallway...20 feet from the security desk. Yep, you guessed it. The person was wearing so much cologne that the smell carried 20 feet down the hall. My eyes started watering and were burning by the end of the encounter.

This too much cologne wearing business must stop. Seriously, if I can smell the cologne even from 4 feet away you are wearing too much. That is just my opinion. STOP IT.

2. By the way, the sound of someone clipping their nails at work grosses me out. One nail in an emergency...okay, but all of your nails? Seriously. Please clip your nails at home. If you are unable to accomplish this SIMPLE and QUICK grooming habit at home, then maybe you should clip your nails in your car. Or on the way into work, or in the stall in the bathroom, or at least somewhere else so I don't hear it.

The end.

Thank You For Loving Him

Last Wednesday Ardell and I went to Fillmore to attend Kenny's re-up ceremony for his military service. Kenny is my sister-in-law's brother. He chose to have the ceremony held at his brother-in-laws grave, which happens to be my big brother Ben. When my mom called to tell me and see if I wanted to go with her, I could tell she was honored that he would choose this location, in part to honor Ben.

You see, Ben was in the Army when he was killed. Ben loved being a soldier, he loved his job, he loved life. (Below, Ben and Ardell when Ben first joined and was stationed in Germany).

Ben was one of those people who was always smiling. He made the best of the situation and had a good time. He was the epitome of a "big" brother. He would get after me all the time, and I mean ALL the time. I remember once he called me at 6:00 AM and woke me up, and then told me I should already be awake because he had been up for a couple of hours. Ben was also a joke-ster. He was always laughing and teasing. When I was about 10, we were eating dinner at my parents house and he dribbled water on my head. I yelled at him and then my dad yelled at me for making a commotion. Did Ben step in to say he started it? Nope, I think he just laughed. (Below, Kenny and SGT Clonts, and Ben's headstone).

After Kenny repeated the oath, he talked about why he chose this spot for the ceremony. He said that Ben was a great example and of of the main reason's he decided to join the Army (I believe he joined after Ben died). He thought it was only fitting that he have his last ceremony at Ben's grave.


I am proud of the service Ben gave for his country. I am proud to call him my brother. But this day, I was also proud of Kenny. He is a great man and from what I have seen, has a lot of the characteristics of Ben. I am proud and grateful of the service he gives to our country. I am grateful that he loves his brother, my brother, as much as I do.

On Ben's headstone are the words "Freedom isn't Free." This day, I would add "but courageous men choose to serve anyway."

Things That Must Go - Plastic Covered Paper Clips

You think I'm joking but I'm not. I seriously dislike plastic covered paper clips. I am not sure what it is about them that is annoying, but I am betting it is the texture of the plastic.

Every time I get papers held together with a plastic covered paperclip, I MUST throw the paper clip away and replace it with a nice shiny mental one. I MUST.


So, now you are thinking I am wasteful, throwing a perfectly good paper clip away. Well it's not a good paper clip. It is bad and I hate them. So there.

If you give me papers with the wrong paper clip, you have been warned, they will come back to you with a different paper clip.

Laugh Out Loud

Below are two pictures that recently made me laugh out loud. The first was sent to me by JL. He took this at a baseball game. Can you see why he sent it?



Chay forwarded me the below picture. Who wouldn't love to throw a slurpee in some jerks face?

Did You Notice The Eyes?

I was looking at some pictures the other day and I came across this one. I may have lingered a bit...but I am seriously, super HOT in this picture. Then I noticed my eyes.

RANDOM FACT: Up until a week ago, I didn't really know what color my eyes were. Are they HAZEL, Blue, Green, the color of POO? I didn't really know. I always said Hazel...I don't really know why. Lots of people have given different answers when they tell me what color eyes I have.
I now declare to the whole world. I have GREEN eyes, with a streak or two of BROWN.

Another RANDOM FACT: Today, is the first day I could tell you the color of my parents EYES.

Ardells are blue.
Dean's are green/brown.

This got me thinking about what other color of eyes there are in my family. Today, we had our monthly family dinner, what a perfect opportunity to get pictures of their EYES! (Some who were not in attendance had their eyes stolen from other pictures.)
My big Brother Joe. I would say green with some brown.
Liberty, dark blue.
Big Dave the KoREAN, brown.
Hunter Grunter, dark blue.
Fuzzy, dark blue.
Suzan, brown with black pupils.
Elizabeth, blue. In fact the same color as our mom's.
Shannon, blue.
Inez, green.
Andrew, blue.
Megs, blue, green, and brown.
Brayden, brown. Although today he got a black eye...so now there will be a nice black, blue, purple, and yellow bruise around his eye.
Jules, light blue with a dark blue ring.

It is amazing that my family just let's me take random pictures of them. When I asked my mom she just took of her glasses and sat there. I think she has learned it is easier not to argue. Dean was confused and told me "he didn't know what I was up too."

There are lots of sayings about eyes. That someone's eyes are the gateway to their soul, that you can tell if someone is lying by their eyes, or that our emotions are displayed in our eyes. I am undecided if I believe any or all of the above statements. Although, I think it is interesting that when I look at the top picture of whole face I would describe my attitude and feelings completely different then I would of the cropped picture of just my eyes. Just something for me to think about.

Split Personality - Part II

So there is a "situation" in my personal life that is rather comical to me but also causing me stress. I was chatting to my WORK friend Chay about it. (by the way if you are privvy to the "SITUATION" please don't give any specifics when leaving a comment...you never know who reads these things!).

chaY proceeds to tell me the following:

1. If "work D'Nell" were handling this it would be all worked out with a plan by now.
2. I like having power over "outside D'Nell". I can boss her around, but "Work D'Nell" never lets me do that.
3. When "Work D'Nell" leaves work her "Alpha-Female cloak" comes off and she is no longer in charge.

I told him that I don't have a split personality I am the same everywhere. So he sends me this interchange that reminds him of me...

"You have no idea of the magnitude of this thing. If she is allowed to infiltrate this world then George Costanza as you know him ceases to exist. You see, right now I have Relationship George. But there is also Independent George. That's the George you know, the George you grew up with... Movie George, Coffee Shop George, Liar George, Bawdy George."

"I love that George."

"Me too, and he's dying. If Relationship George walks through this door, he will kill Independent George. A George divided against itself cannot stand!"

- SEINFELD: George and Jerry, in "The Pool Guy"

**for some reason CHAY is freaking out about this today***

So, let me pose these questions to you...

a. Do you think I have a "split-personality"?
B. Does everyone have a "SPLIT-personality"?
3. Who wants to throw things at Chay?

PipeLINE.

I wanted to go on a hike. Jamie suggested PiPeline...because it was flat. Which was true. The trail to get to PIPEline...not so much flat as it is STRAIGHT up HILL.

I loved every minute of it. Yes, it was really hard, yes my body was so stiff for 32 hours afterwards, but I loved it. Completing the hike reminded me that I can do HARD things. I CAN do hard things. I just have to have faith and keep moving forward.

This is Jamie and I. She really is a great hiking partner. Great conversation, lots of laughs, and very patient! (Me, not looking super hot.) I look pretty happy because I think the hard part is over. I was wrong, so very wrong.

This was a beautiful part of the trail. It was getting later and the trees covered the trail like a tunnel. Also, this part is pretty darn steep.
Here I am finally on the PIpeLIne trail. It is almost completely flat.
This is from the trail...can you see our cars below? So, I am afraid of heights...and was having flashes of tripping and then falling off the side of the cliff. No worries. I am safe and didn't trip once.

The salt Lake Valley. It was so beautiful! Also, I loved my camel pack! Everyone should get one...seriously.

4th of July

I love the 4th of July.Reason? Fireworks. I love them, I love them, I love them. Oh, and I love all the other festivities.

Nicole, Lisa, and I went to Sugarhouse Park. Watching fireworks there is great! You see funny people/things and the firework show is fun!

This is Nicole and Lisa.
While we waited for the show to start we played a little "Fortune Teller". I think we all got the fortunes we wanted. Well, at least they did. (I know, I know, fortune teller is from junior high, but sometimes it is fun to be silly!)
Then we saw this. A pimped out bike. Yes friends, it is gold and blue and he does have a stereo built into the trailer his is pulling. WOW. I love people, they make me laugh!

Handwriting Follow-Up

The only handwriting I have are in my journals. I read and read, and there isn't a big enough sample that I am willing to share on the blog. Sorry friends.

However, this is my opinion about "Utah Handwriting". Whether it exists or not, I think, in general people don't like to be classified, even in something as insignificant as their handwriting. I want to be an individual and I want to be original. Everyone likes to choose who they are associated with, so if other classify you...it can feel like clothing that is too tight and binding. It feels restrictive.

It seems that if you are a part of our religion you hear of 2 categories: "Utah-something" and then everyone else. So adding handwriting to that list seems like a broken record.

I don't agree or disagree with the Utah handwriting. I haven't ever paid attention.