Halloween + A Birthday Hike

I just want to post pictures for Dan to see, of the past few months. I wanted to show you better pictures, but I didn't take any good ones of Ibis and Keith in their Halloween costumes. It was pretty funny because they kept joking about how it was a MIRACLE that Ibis could be a pregnant Nun. They had fun with it. It was pretty cool. I also included pictures of the family hike we went on for my birthday.Including, Joel trying out his new camera. Your always in my heart! I love you Dan!

OUR ANNIVERSARY! 2 YRS

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Dan Playing Army

Dan is doing well. He's currently in Texas working hard at firing off guns and learning the ropes. He tells me stories about the other army boys trying to get along without girls. The latest story includes him watching a bunch of younger army soldiers calling restaurants for food. They can't leave the base, which means that their food is delivered, and if the restaurant isn't aware they send their girls out to deliver. The girls come in short shorts, and tank tops to flirt with army boys trying to get phone numbers and show off their muscles.

I can't imagine Dan doing that, he says no one orders from Pizza Hut because that restaurant knows that if they send out the girls the deliveries will take forever. So they send out a big hairy fat man to deliver pizzas. Dan called me the other night, "Hey I'm waiting for my pizza from Pizza Hut", I laughed. Here's some pictures of Daniel playing army.

Another Creation ( I didn't realise that both my posts are the same color)

This is one I've been working on since last month. I bought a Vogue pattern, I've heard they are difficult but I wanted to try it out. I bought fabric, and wah- la! It was hard work, a lot of cutting, stitching, unstitching, recutting and then adding the finishing touches. What do you think? Dan was

nice enough to take pictures of us and he even critiqued by dress so that I could make it look right, hence the unstitching... I was glad that he was willing to do that, because it made the dress a whole lot better.

Made by Lis

I have a few goals while Dan is gone:

• I want to learn how to sew exceptionally well
  
• I want to find a new job, maybe even upgrade (work at becoming an LPN; still unsure about it)
  
• I want to get to know knew people, and make friends in my new ward
  
• I want to learn to knit sweaters. (I think that hobbie rocks)
  

I don't really know what I'll be doing until I get into the swing of things. I just hope to stay busy enough that the year goes quickly. I've been spending time with Dan's cousin and his wife. Carmen and I want to do sewing projects once a week. Last week we made totes, reversable, and tons of fun. Mine has a spot for my personalized cell phone and for my keys so I don't have to search my bag for them. That was a lot of fun to make.

Dan goes to Kuwait JULY 6

Questions and Answers:

Asked by Becca: How long will Dan be gone?

Dan will be gone for 1 year, and with our fingers crossed we think he will be able to come home half way through for a visit (hopefully that's not just wishful thinking). I keep wanting time to slow down (until he goes) but inevitably it speeds up, and well, I'm sure when he's gone it will slow again. I hope its not the longest year in my life.

Asked by Thomas (Aunt Cathy's son): What branch of the Army is Dan in?

Ok, I am a new army wife, not quite sure what is meant by branch, but I'll send out the information that I do know, maybe that will answer the question... Dan is a sergeant in the reserves. He is a mechanic and works on the big trucks and hummers as his main course of work. He loves cars. He does other army stuff, guns, tracking, driving trucks, etc.

Aunt Cathy: "Thomas thinks it safe in Kuwait.." I hope he is right. Dan convinces me of that as well. Kuwait is the last part of the official U.S. holdings of Desert Storm. It looks like it's a couple of bases where U.S. soldiers are making sure the land is kept safe and free. (They are a very rich country because of the oil production and everyone wants to own Kuwait; the US has tried to help protect them and fight for their right to remain their own country). I hope Dan stays safe there.

Anne and Becca: Still don't know how to use facebook and I'm afraid of those High School stalkers that may be lurking. (Anne knows who I'm talking about). I'll think about it. I've heard stories about face book, not so sure yet, but I'll try to check it out. Sorry I haven't done it yet. You'll have to show me the ropes. Maybe when Dan leaves I'll get us both to sign up so we can also communicate that way. I hope he has access to the internet there?

Trip to New Mexico and Texas

I've been back for a week or more and I'm finally getting back into the hang of thing, jobs, house cleaning, laundry. I finally have a few minutes to share about my trip to New Mexico and Texas.

We started out in Logan and traveled to Spanish Fork to see Anne and Nate. We put together a gift for Kirsten's girls (flower hair clips that Anne has been selling). Then we drove to Price, UT to pick up Dan's brother Joel and his girl friend Barbara. So if you see pics of them, you will know who we are talking about. The trip was alot of driving and alot of fun. After a 12 hour drive we reached Las Cruces to see Kirsten, who was pretty sick when we got there, and the girls were just getting over a pretty back cold. (none of us got sick..) We didn't have much of a chance to stay at her house on the way down, we pretty much slept the night and left the next day. I wanted to stay but we all knew that we would have some time on the way back through... we continued our drive and another 8 hours later and a sleepless night we were in San Antonio Texas. We arrived at 6 in the morning, and found 3 little boys playing in the living room on their wii. We all looked at eachother wondering why the kids were up, then realised that the time was actually 7 am there. We slept on the floor for 2 hours, and I heard the boys saying to eachother, "Man it sucks they can't go to Six Flags with us, wish they would wake up." I prodded the others awake, and our day was already starting with just 2 hours of sleep! It's a good thing we were not a bunch of little whiny kids, cuz they would really have not wanted us to come on that much sleep! I think Dan had the worst of it, he did all the driving. I wanted to drive, but we had just traded in his other car for a new Subaru STI the sports edition and he really wanted to "get to know her". I don't blame him for not wanting me to drive, I'm not really that good at manual and I wouldn't want to ruin something right after we got it.

Six Flags was a blast, we all got in with special passes for the day for just $10 thanks to Dan's uncle Joe. We rode the new ride Galiath and other crazy rides, it was really just like Lagoon, but bigger. 3 little boys running all over the park like it was their own back yard was pretty crazy, I don't know how their parents handled it mentally, emotionally.. but they didn't lose any of them.

The part of the trip that Dan was most excited about was getting to see his dad. His dad owns a club called atomix. We drove to downtown San Antonio after Six Flags and walked inside of his club. The bouncers were not excited about letting us in until we told him that we were Jame's kids. He smiled really big and gave us all passes right away. We sat at the bar and waited to talk to James. He came over after serving a few drinks and we talked, I could tell Dan was very excited to be there. We watched people sing Karoke, (none of us had the guts to sing). That night, worn out we slept pretty soundly until the boys woke us up again, "You guys coming to the beach with us?" It was about 10 in the morning this time, but even with more sleep we all felt more tired than the night before!

We drove to Corpus Christi and went to Mustang Island... there we tride out boogie boards and Joe's Surf board. We played in the sand and burried a couple of the boys. It was about the only really sunny day we got, but it was windy. We had fun anyway. Our San Antonio trip ended with the afternoon spent walking around downtown with Dan's dad and eating at the Hard Rock Cafe there. (pretty expensive, good food though). It was good to see Dan's dad in his own atmosphere. No dress up clothes, just a regular guy in a regular restaurant.

Well, the trip had to come to an end sometime, so we drove again, all day and slept again at Kirsten's. This time we got to stay for another day. The kids went to school, we picked them up early and went to White sands. It was pretty windy (again) but we got some neat pictures. I was worried it was going to be a bust at first because of the wind, but Dan said, "We're here so lets have some fun" and he ran right out into the dunes, everyone followed. I was glad for his initiative. The girls really took to Dan and Joel, Macy even took alot of time playing with Barbara and trying to get her to sit by her and play with her. It was really cute. Dan took some videos of his car in the sand, that was a little scarey for me and fun for Dan. I guess this trip was ready to end a week later, all of us crabby and tired. I'm glad we got to go though.

Dan texted his dad just this last week, "Glad we got to come see you... I won't have the chance in the next year to see you." His dad texted that he enjoyed seeing us and wondered why Dan would be able to see him in the next year. Dan has gotten his orders to go to Kuwait. He gets deployed this coming July. He's leaving on July 6th 2009. It seems so fast coming, and even though we have been trying to plan for this, I never expected it to come so soon. I'm hoping I can get through this time by staying busy. I know Kirsten is doing now what I'll be doing in a couple of months, getting along without the one you love most is going to be hard. We are going to be moving in with Dan's grandparents in Brigham City so that I don't have to pay rent while he is gone. (I will also have emotional support as well). Here comes another big change in our lives, but I can't help feeling a little helpless and lonely at the thought of Dan leaving.

We're going on vacation! One full week of driving and stopping at several different locations on the way to San Antonio Texas. I know it sounds like a strange location, but Dan and I talked about going to visit his dad. Dan called his dad mentioning that he might go. We still were unsure of our trip until talking with his grandparents, we found out that even though his dad didn't sound all that stoked about us coming, he was actually very excited and hoped we chose to drive his way. So we are taking Joel (Dan's Brother) and Barbara, (a good family friend, currently dating Joel) with us. We will drive down through new mexico, stopping at Kirstens, then take our trip to San Antonio, and visit his dad's club (that will be interesting for me) and go to the beach just 2 hours south of san antonio. I'm just excited to get a break from my job. It's been stressful lately, the economic problems in our country is affecting everyone around us. My work has been making budget cuts, laying people off right and left. They just cut a shift from the wing I work on, which gives us another whole list of work to do. I guess I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed, I keep thinking that I'm really glad I still have my job, but I'm having a hard time taking on all the extra responsibilities we get because no one else is there to do it. A week break sounds like heaven to me, and I know it will go way to fast for all of us.

Is the world just going nuts? I worry everyday about the future and what it holds. My fears stand tall in the area of the war, and my hopes are irrational, wishing that Dan will not have to leave, that things will change before he is chosen to go. I want so much for us but it's all put on hold as we wait for the future to take hold of us. I'm glad for those already going through the hard times so that I have examples to help me know that I can do it. But that just helps the tears stop their flow for a time.

I like Old Things

I've decided I like old things. I work at an old folks home. I like old people. I love it when they wear clothes from the 50's. I love when old ladies have to put on lipstick and where fancy pins or necklaces.



I like old cars, old houses, old loves, old memories, and anything that has to do with the past. I guess that's why I put on this old hat we found at an antique store and posed like an old fashioned model.

New and Old Jobs

Hey I haven't written in a while... been really busy. I guess when I had all of that time on my hands, I started to get lazy so as life works I was sent more to do. I started a new job in addition to the one I already have. Dan's mom mentioned my name to someone who needed some help with their parents. They called and offered me a job on the spot. I visited with them the next day, and met Ruth and Harold. They live togeth in a one bedroom apartment in a retirement home for seniors who are independent. Ruth is becoming dependent on others. She has dementia and is on medication to calm her. She has been very sweet to me since we've met, and her husband is just as charming. I feel like they could be my grandparents. A typical day is helping Ruth eat breakfast, making sure she stays awake and remembers that her food is food. Then she naps and I talk or read a book until she decides she can get up. About then it's lunch time and we go down to lunch. My shift starts at 7:45am until 12pm. Then I go home, eat and head to Sunshine Terrace at 4pm - 11pm. It's a hard week to do it everyday, but with some new staff, I will only have to work at the morning job 3 days a week. That should be good, then I will be able to see Dan again. :)

Dan and I went on a date to celebrate our very first date together Jan 31 2006. We went to our favorite restaurant, Calloways in Smithfeild. Then we watched a movie together and played the new lego Indiana Jones xbox game. It was a blast. After we stopped by Best Buy, we've been waiting for... dun dun da dun.. our video camera we ordered. It's the Sony Handycam with full HD 1080p (HDR-SR12). It has the touch screen, a veiw finder and a nob on the front that can be used for multiple things like focus where you want, and lighting (according to what you want it to be used for). We love it, can't wait to use it.

Well, I sure miss my family and pray for you alot. I pray that Kirsten and the girls are doing ok, and I wish I could there to help. I keep hearing about everyone getting laid off and it's worrying me. I guess Dan's cousin got laid off and he just got married and has a baby girl. I don't know what to do to prepare for the future, but I feel a need to do so. I want to keep our family safe and supplied with funds and food. Hope you are all doing good. I love you!

Daniel’s Story

This is Daniel. My family has the tradition of writing and sharing stories every year around Christmas time. Each year we choose a subject, usually concerning relationships, hardships, memories, or life in general. It has come to be a way of describing life, a way to get a grasp on reality, a time to step back and comprehend, a time to share lessons learned, and most of all, a time to get together and have an excuse to eat! My family is very into eating large meals without restraint sometimes one after another. This year's theme was "Sixteen". Enjoy, and I dare you to write your own. If enough respond I might even get hooked into this blogging addiction everyone has.

One last note, they are read out loud so I write them in a way where I must use voice inflection. So read it out loud in the most manly voice you can muster. Love you all.

Life With Realization Yet

to Come

The man in the black suit Ran around the corner of the bleak surrounding void of details. I pursued after him at breakneck speed. My nimble feet and powerful stride were still not able to bring me any closer to the man in black. He turned left around another corner, coat tails waving in nasty, mocking tone. "You can't catch us," they teased, "we are the ginger-black man." I bounded after him now descending two escalators side by side. I was on the left and finally catching up to him on the right. He stopped and turned to confront me and I did not give pause to hesitate. I bounded across sending feet first into his chest, my hands ready to brace for the graceful maneuver with the ungraceful ending. I stood in a gratifyingly powerful pose looking down the escalator at the man in a crumpled heap at the bottom as the stair gently glided down the stark landscape of an unknown city. I heard on the city's intercom system a faintly familiar, "beep…beep…beep…BEEP…BEEP…."

I am caught by a wind of maddeningly strange texture. I accelerate, twisting incomprehensibly in all directions towards the end. My mind stretches and consciousness, a consciousness like a liquid of great cohesive abilities, slimes and sucks through that tiny hole in the film separating the world from that of my own world. My alarm is there to greet me. How lovely. I grope with hands, blind without the response of my eyes. I move with great precision and "snooze mode" is activated. The best nine minutes of my day.

Nine minutes. NINE minutes. Who comes up with these things? Nine, nine, why not ten. Couldn't make it an even ten? And like nine is a snooze. I rather doubt that after these nine minutes that I will spring out of bed, do 20 pushups, run upstairs and hug my mother singing, "Oh, what a wonderful morning." More like 90 minutes. That's my kind of snooze. My hand, liberated from controlled conscious thought, reaches up using that same muscle memory. Unbeknownst to me, I ready myself for a "proper" snooze.

I desperately try to grasp the image of the man in the black suit in a heap on the floor. I wish to finish him. I retrace my steps in the void city. Stark, similar buildings navigate past me as I search out the man. I descend the escalators expecting to hear a cry for mercy.

I find a rather beautiful young lady in a very noticeable red dress walking very elegantly towards me. After a great deal of noticing, I stop to get a bearing on my situation. What should I say? "Hello, miss, have you seen a man in a black suit around here lately?" No, forget about him. What about her? "Hello, miss, all alone on this cold evening?" No, you sound like a murderer. Wait! Did you do your hair? Did you even brush your teeth? Are you even dressed? …well…

Dressed?!! What time is it!?! I rush out that pin prick in the hole in the veil and sit bolt upright in my bed. It's nearly 2^nd hour! I rush into my clothes, careful not to choose what I wore yesterday. That's a disaster. I calculate whether or not mom would be home at this time. Yes, she is probably home. Oh well, can't use the water. That would give my laziness away. I sneak out the downstairs backdoor praying that she isn't eating breakfast at the kitchen table just overhead. The door is impossibly loud as it groans across the floor giving my escape away for sure. I slowly close the door behind me and leap onto the cement ledge onto the ground level underneath the deck in the backyard. I low-crawl across the ground until out of sight from the glass slider door then, back against the wall, I shuffle swiftly around the corner. Taking an obviously natural poise, I walk nonchalantly across the street to the school. Living so close can be a blessing and a curse.

I enter halls of zits, buck teeth, skate shoes, CD players, BO, pretty girls that are clueless who I am and how I drop kicked the black suited man, football uniforms, hair scrunches, backpacks, cheerleaders, no running, late homework, very seldom and fascinating "cat fights", nerds, jocks, fashion, slime, primped and prepped, grungy punk, teacher's pet, class clown, and teachers to attempt at governing it all, to try in vain to direct the multitude. It is society at its peak. Not at its best, nor worst. That's up for debate. Just at its peak.

I walk down the immense wasteland of a corridor, soft, howling wind in the distance flowing over the cold walls. I travel alone, fending for myself, trying to stay afloat as I swim through the mass of crowds. Through the cacophony of voiceless wind, a distant "Hey Garv" catches my ear. I turn to search for the source but I am caught in the flow of that cold society, swept away to never know of the other entity in my realm. Someone to notice, to talk to, to know their name. I trudge onward, walking, drifting. Again, a different voice, this time more distinct against the giant, cold, soulless wind. "Hey Garv." Who are these people? Where did they come from and how do they know me? What is this madness? This is definitely not how the Society has been built or is ran or whatever the Society's function is. Hey Garvs are not included. Never. Just the wind. Just the natural, constant, never changing flow of the Society. "Hey Garv." What? "Hey Garv." "Hey Garvin" "What's up Garv."

I remember the time in my life where the world realized I existed, realized my name. Garv was from the band room, where I had an identity. It leaked out, rising exponentially introducing itself to the Society. I was then known and now had the struggle to know others ahead of me. All of that thanks to beautiful percussive voices. A set of Drums.

This last week I had a party at my house to make those flowers for your hair that Anne has been doing. They turned out awesome! They are much bigger than Anne's creations, because they are for adults, but I had so much fun, and so did the girls! The dumb thing about the whole event was the invitations I gave out to people at work and to a couple others... I wrote the wrong address on them!! So only 3 people from work came because they called me to find out where it was. The others either had plans or couldn't find the place. So I may have to do it again. Here's some pics of what I created. (thanks Anne for the idea! I won't sell them, I like them too much!)

Dan leaves on Friday for two weeks. He'll be in SLC, for training. I went to a ceremony with all his army guys. They all stood in the middle of a large gym and stood attention to the commander of their group. He called Specialist Garvin to the front of the group and told him that he was a good soldier and that he was an example to all the other soldiers. He described Dan's good skills and I was surprised to see Dan smiling proudly. The commander then asked me to come forward and he named Dan a sergeant. He gave me a pin to pin on Dan and some velcro pieces representing a sergeant to replace his specialist pieces. Then Dan's sergeant told us to kiss. That was a little awkward, in front of all of the soldiers... but I guess he had to listen.

So, now he goes for training, and this week he takes all of his finals early so he can leave by the 5th.
I'm really going to miss him. I'm glad I'll be able to call him this time. Last summer he was gone for 2 weeks to Honduras and I couldn't even call him!

I'm taking a week off from work, taking an overhaul on my house searching for warm clothes... and driving down to Moab for the annual Thanksgiving camping trip with Dan's family. I can't wait, but I'm also very bord because Dan is at work and I'm tryng to pack for both of us. I keep thinking about Kirsten and Brian and how hard it is to live apart from the one you love the most..

Dan says he thinks he will have to go to Iraq next year... and wants me to start getting used to the idea. I wonder what I will do when he is gone? Will I stay strong and remain close to him? Will he be ok? I hope that I can soak up all the time I get with him so I will not regret anything. I may have to move closer to family while he is gone, or be closer to his parents, I will go crazy!!!

We'll see what happens..

I woke this morning with sadness then, I was gladdened because it was only a dream. The dreamt that I called Anne and asked her what her plans were for the weekend (I wanted to visit Springville). Anne said she was going to Dad's funeral, as she told me about his death, I could feel the echo in my mind, the confusion and rejection... I just kept saying No.. No. No. How could it be? The dream moved forward, the family gathered in a room, I remember searching for anyone that was there when Dad died. Someone said that Aunt Chris was there.. helping to calm him. I searched for her, but then the family began to talk quietly together, someone mentioned singing his favorite song. (In real life, I don't know what that song is...) but we sang one that sounded sad but the sadness didn't match the words at all. It was about a puppy dog that wouldn't use a newspaper for the same things as a human would. It had many verses, such as peeing on the paper or rolling it around for a home. It was supposed to be funny, but when we sang it together, all of the siblings and extended family, my memories of dad flooded into my mind. I realized I would never be able to see my dad again here on earth. I pictured myself cupping my hands over his warm whiskery cheeks and looking at his soft brown eyes, then I began to miss him oh so much. I began to feel the pain that comes when someone close to you passes away. The tears were hot on my cheeks as I wandered around the room looking for a memento of the day that my dad passed. I just had to remember the date... Then I woke up. I know it's just a dream but it makes me want to call my mom and dad and ask them how they are doing. I makes me want to tell them that I love them one last time. Just once a day, or week, or month one last time.. I LOVE YOU. I guess we never know when those we love won't be there anymore. I think about all the bad feelings that flow between loved ones, then I want to try harder to apologize and soak up the good times, because before we know it, we've taken for granted having them there whenever we need them.

TO BRIAN

Here are some pictures I found of Qatar that I thought were neat.

BRIAN! I know your not going on vacation and your going to miss your family a lot;, but since your getting your man meter up and everything, you should try to remember the feminine side and take pictures while you are on your trip. We all hope you are safe while your in Qatar. We love you so much, and think of you often. I know it sounds crazy but I really feel a deep love for you and all that you've done for me. You have shown me what it is to have a happy home life and what family is all about. I hope you always remember how much we care about you. Please be safe. And have a good time. We love you lots.

Never used a pattern on my own before...

I got a sewing machine for my birthday! It's a PFAFF. I did my first project...I made a scrub top to wear to work. It took two days of hard work, and challenging instructions, but I finally completed it! I wore it to work, and I was surprised at how many people loved it. I got a lot of comments about its style, girls were suggesting that I sell it... That would be cool, but it's not my pattern.. I just had a blast and can't wait to do another project.

Funeral Day

Today was Mandy's funeral. Jerimiah wes dickey was as composed as he could be. The funeral was sad, lots of people were trying hard to except that Mandy did all she wanted to do in life. She was 21 years old, and had a little boy of about 3 years. She let her uncle adopt her child, and got him used to his new family quite a while before she passed away. She was able to graduate highschool, raise a child and get married, accomplishing what life goals she felt important in the time limit that she had. In memory of mandy and in hopes for a good life for her son, and a good future for her husband Jeri.

Ties Too Many

I found the most helpful device on the planet, well it's helpful for one who likes to collect ties. It holds 76 ties and has hooks for belts. It rotates either direction, and lights up. It's so much more useful then trying to use hangers, the ties fall off and it's a continual battle. I got one for Daniel and too bad for him, he filled it completely with ties left over; but he still loves it.

A Day of Memory

Jerimiah, Dan's cousin just has his wedding last saturday, One week to the day, Mandy his new wife passed away... 9 am this morning.