absentee

I've been absent of late. I returned home last Tuesday after spending 11 days playing mom to these three babes in Pennsylvania. I miss them like crazy. They call me "Sissie" although, technically, I'm their aunt. I started tearing up at work last week when someone asked how my trip was. We had so many fun adventures and it's just plain hard to not be near them all the time to watch them grow. Stop growing up so fast my littles!

Photos and stories to come...

shuffle

Shuffleboard, anyone?

We went to California* for a few days in February with the Willis crew and Grandpa Willis taught us to play shuffleboard. IT'S HARDER THAN YOU WOULD THINK. (Read: I wasn't very good at it :) It was fun though and as Grandpa would say, there's nothing funnier than a bunch of 80 year old men swearing up a storm while they play. These people are serious about their shuffleboard. I wish we could have seen one of their tournaments. Matching team outfits and all. Hilarious.


*Sadly, the reason we went was for Grandma Willis' funeral. It's times like these when we lean on our beliefs for comfort. We know Grandma is in a good place and we will see her again.

"art"

Since we do birthdays right in my department (Man I talk about work a lot.), I thought I'd share the latest birthday adventure.

Yesterday was co-worker's birthday. The same co-worker who has now eaten a waffle and had his office emptied by my hand. I may have put something of his in Jell-O once as well. We had the waffle breakfast in his honor, but it didn't stop there. You may remember the amount of art in co-workers office.

Exhibit A
(It should be noted that all of his walls are covered like this)

We thought it only appropriate to add to his art collection for his birthday present this year (enter Photoshop). Here are a few of the masterpieces he found in his office yesterday:

The Blue Boy 1770
by Thomas Gainsborough

American Gothic
by Grant Wood

Seven Dogs Playing Poker
by Cassius Marcellus Collidge

And my personal favorite:

Self Portrait with Grey Felt Hat
By Vincent Van Gogh

gem

During another organization craze at work I found an old booklet titled "Progress Report." It was stashed with annual reports from my work so I assumed that's what it was. Boy was I ever wrong. Or so I hope...

A sampling of the pages:

And my personal favorite...

The best part is that I have no idea where it came from. There are no identifying logos or words anywhere in the entire booklet.

ugly

This is what happens when you ask someone to take your picture...

...You get a very fuzzy result (click to see the reality of the fuzz).

L - R: Elsa (the boss), Andy ("never eaten a waffle"), Wendy (the me), Rory (the photog)

This is what happens when someone takes your picture without you knowing...


...You get caught laughing your head off.

Not the greatest, but at least you get a glimpse of my ugly sweater and awesome red skinny jeans from Halloween.

*Sorry for the shrinky-dink photos. Photobucket was given me trouble. Grr.

karma

Today was the "Ugly Sweater Contest" I planned at work. (For those who don't know, I do marketing at a college.) A trip to the D.I. took place a few weeks ago to find suitable attire for the event. I was pleased with my purchase when Greg's reaction was simply, "Yikes." Jackpot. Greg was officially appalled when he realized I was going to wear said ugly sweater all day at work today, rather than changing into it right before the contest.

Greg: At least I know you won't get hit on today.

Me: What? I could totally get hit on in this outfit. Have you seen the students at the college? (Admittedly not tasteful on my part.)

Greg: Most days I worry you'll get hit on at work; but not today.

Me: (Thinking: Most days?) Gee thanks. Maybe I'll bring home the grand prize.

Fast forward to after the contest...

E-mails:

Me: Well, we didn't have a huge turnout for the sweater contest but it was still really fun. We had a bunch of people say they would participate if we did it again though. I saved two of the votes that were turned in for the people's choice award. I attached them. I wish I knew who "the cute girl" was. Too funny.

The Votes
(I hope you're not offended by the first one...)

Greg: Wow. You totally got hit on. I didn't think that was going to happen with that outfit.

Karma:1 Greg :0

I can't say that "the cute girl" is me (for sure-ha) but I'll pretend it is just to teach Greg a lesson.

approaching fisticuffs

Last Friday was the first CHURCH BALL game of the season. I think that explains the title of this post.

In my experience, church ball is an anxiety-ridden drama inducing ulcer factory. Maybe there's something wrong with me, but I really enjoy it. Do you think growing up with five brothers, two of which played high school hockey, has anything to do with it?

Last week's game was particularly "exciting." Spoiler alert: no punches were thrown, but the wife of the elders quorum president sitting next to me was worried her husband would be the one to start it.

The start of the game was very promising when my good friend Meg announced she had a veggie tray in her purse and her intention was for us to eat it. Um, yes please. I, being impressed with what I thought was brilliant foresight on her part, complimented her on bringing an excellent snack.

Meg: "Oh, I just happened to have it so I thought I'd bring it."

Wendy: "I can't wait for the day when I just happen to have a veggie tray. I can honestly say that has never happened to me."

Things turned south quick when I realized which team "we" were playing. The jerk team. The jerk team, as I apparently call them, was the one we butted heads with last year. The one with the scrawny know-it-all with the 80's haircut and the seven foot 35 year old stuck in the glory days who seems to think this will be the game he finally gets drafted. I admit a bias. They really did cause problems when they tried to steamroll the Tuesday night pick-up games at our church house last year. Sure their gym was under construction and they've had the Tuesday night ritual for years, but this is our turf! Choose another night. Geez.

On with the game. We were getting a lot of fouls called on us but from what I could see both teams were playing rough. It's usually a good thing when one of the refs is from your ward (he plays on the geezer team), but not this time.

Munch, carrots.

We have a Polynesian WSU football player on our team who can appear quite intimidating but is the biggest tease. I look up from the sugar snap peas to see him getting escorted into the hall by a player on the other team. I hear something about him being the stake athletic director so he can make calls on the court if he wants to.* Our team member eventually gets a technical and the job of score-keeping on the sideline.

Munch, munch celery.

At one point the refs stopped the game and both teams huddle to regroup. Two members of our bishopric were there and went on the court to tell our team to cool it.

Munch, munch, munch cherry tomatoes.

The next thing I know, Greg is saying "That's the best call you made all night!" After which he stormed off the court in my direction, grabbed his coat from my lap, and headed for the door. In my confusion I asked, "What's going on?" "We're leaving." That was my cue to get up and get out.

Apparently Greg got kicked out of the game. It looked like he just decided to leave from my seat.

Saturday morning came and Greg started to worry a bit.

Greg: "In my parents' stake you have to talk to the stake president to get permission to play again if you get kicked out of a game."

Wendy: "For real?"

Greg: "I just hope I don't get called into the bishop's office tomorrow."

9:00 a.m. Sunday came with great apprehension.

Much to Greg's relief, he got slaps on the back from all. The first counselor in the bishopric complimented Greg on "the best comment of the game" and a member of the stake presidency had a good laugh about it with us.

I guess we'll be at the game tonight after all.


*This is where I took [biased] paraphrasing license

finally

This was originally going to be a multi-part post explaining why it's taken so long to show a picture of my Halloween costume. But I'm too tired (Lazy?) for that so here's the short version:

I was the designated photographer for the Halloween costume contest event and it didn't occur to me until almost too late that I didn't have any pictures taken of me. I realized this when I went to visit Greg's work in all their Halloween glory. Trust me when I say these people go all out with their yearly themes...

2009: Zombies
2008: The Wizard of Oz
2007: The Addams Family
2006: Pirates

So I had Greg snap a picture of me with his phone.

Then there was the need to transfer the photo from phone to computer and upload said photo to blog. This gets tricky when you don't have access to the internet at home.

Then I got the lovely flu. You would think with all that time at home I could have managed to accomplish this task. Wait, Greg's phone was with him at work so that doesn't work. Not to mention heating myself a bowl of chicken noodle soup was almost asking too much let alone photo transferring.

Then what I thought was a toothache was actually a sinus infection.

Now I have some other kind of cold/cough/walking pneumonia/cancer.

Ok, that last one was a bit of a stretch but you get my point. I'm tired and lazy and will probably spend my day off Friday sleeping - which is all I seem to be doing these days.

This is the short version?!?

Without further ado, I give you my white trash version of the Fly Guy:

Sadly the photo doesn't capture the awesomeness that was my hair
(It was all red and twisty).

balloon(s)

This is why I had birthdays on the brain:

She couldn't open the door when she got to work because of the balloons.

Don't worry, we had a portable air compressor that did most of the work.

That boy in the background? That's another story.
(It's actually Luke Skywalker wearing a different t-shirt...and face.)

vacation

After at least a week long struggle with Photobucket (pictures showing up different sizes than they claimed to be-ugh), here are a few pictures of our trip to Cozumel...

View of the back of the resort. The large hut-like structure was where we ate breakfast and lunch. They strung rows of string along the open back to deter birds from flying in. They flew in from the other ends anyways and every few minutes you would hear the waiters clapping their hands to get the birds to fly out. The small orange building to the right is the "activities center" (pick up towels, rent water sports equipment, workout room, pool tables, etc.).



Another view of the back of the resort with Greg standing on the pier. Apparently a woman fell into the water here the day we left when she leaned over too far to look at the fish. I wish we would have seen it... The white house you see a glimpse of on the left was the governor's, come to find out. We caught a peek inside the gates and I think I may have dared Greg to go in.



The water to the left is the calm, clear water behind our resort. It was really interesting to see a distinct line of the change underwater when we snorkeled.



Fish you could see while standing on the pier. I wish we had an underwater camera to capture the really pretty ones we saw.



View from the beach chairs in the shade. A great place to relax with a good book. I loved the look/texture of these "umbrellas."



Beach chairs. Love the color and repetition of shape when they're all lined up.



View from the hammock.



LOVELY gear for our bike tour. Check out that bike! Greg's didn't have handlebar plugs and another lady that went with us had her chain fall off twice (sweet Greg fixed it for her).



Can you spot the iguana?



Squinty eyes from too many margaritas? I did mention our resort was all-inclusive, right?



We got a kick out of the lunch menu. Macarron and cheese? Delicious.



Greg teeing up for a round of mini-golf. Watch out for hole 12-it's a doozy!



How cute is he? Dinner at the resort restaurant.

odds

If your husband's wedding ring gets lost while swimming in the ocean, what are the chances you will find it while snorkeling
two days later?

Yes, we got home late Saturday night from our vacation in Cozumel, Mexico.

Yes, I really did find Greg's ring sitting on a rock 18" under the ocean surface two days after it was lost.

Yes, I will post pictures.

Yes, I realize I haven't posted in over a month.

Have we been busy? Yes.

kimball

Our 1969* Kimball piano made it safely home last night. No pictures yet; our camera batteries were dead. The previous owner had started to strip the finish for an update so we have a big project ahead of us. It needs to be tuned but is still playable and has one key that sticks. Overall, not too shabby.

I thoroughly enjoyed playing it last night although I need to snag more of my old piano books from Mom's stash :)

Thanks Greg, Dad, Bob, and Mom for your help getting my baby home.



*This is my best estimate with the research I've done so far.

Photos

A few lovelies not to be forgotten but gone unposted up to now.

None other than Greg feeding bread to ducks at WSU.

Yes, he is holding the bread in his lips.

Yes, the ducks took it.

Yes, one duck got a little lip action. (ouch.)

Getting ready for a night on the town with friends.

(Still loving the red coat courtesy of Christmas presents from Greg. Thanks!)

A long time coming...

I've been meaning to post a picture of this AWESOME mural Greg helped paint for a looooong time now (they finished it in October). It's on the side of a pre-school in South Ogden (40th and Washington for those in the neighborhood). It was really fun to see it come together and people driving by would stop and ask about it when Greg and his friends were working on it. Enjoy!

One Year

One year ago today Greg and I went on our first date. It's been on my mind today so I thought I would recount the night. It went a lot like this (for me at least):

I already knew I had a huge crush on him and was therefore quite nervous. So nervous, in fact, that I don't even remember what I wore (this is unusual for me--being nervous as well as not remembering what I wore to an "event"). He was very punctual. And sooooo good looking. The theme of the night was uncontrollable amounts of talking/laughing. We went to dinner at the Macaroni Grill in SLC and quickly realized that we have a lot more in common than we previously knew. I had serious butterflies. Not just thoughts of "oh, he's cute," but actual flutterings in my stomach that made me wonder just exactly what I had eaten for lunch that day. My food was literally cold by the time I got around to eating it. I kept thinking to myself, "I can't wait to tell Caleb how right I was about this one." You see, I had been telling my brother Caleb for months that Greg totally wanted me, he just hadn't realized it yet. BUT, someday he would wise up, ask me out once, and it would be GAME OVER for both of us. Caleb had summed it up to total self-absorption, but that soon changed...

After dinner, we went to a Jon Schmidt concert that was sponsored by our shared employer. Greg's boss (aka my previous boss) was there with his wife and I could tell they were wondering about us. We accidentally sat in the wrong seats and an usher had to show us our real seats which were situated in the middle of all our fellow co-workers that were also attending the event. This, of course, lead to more questioning glances. Or so it felt. I had a really hard time keeping quiet during the performance. How could I not point out the atrocious holiday sweater being worn by the man two rows in front of us or the hilarious dance moves of the guest performing break dancers? I knew Greg would appreciate such things. Needless to say, I'm sure the people around us were annoyed by our whisperings.

As the concert neared its end, I began to dread the thought of going home. The night was going far too well to ever end. Greg seemed to be enjoying my company and was at least pretending to laugh at all my jokes. Then I began to worry I was seeing the situation through rose colored glasses and in came such self-destructive thoughts as, "I wonder how many other girls he tried to ask out before me? I'm sure I was at the bottom of his list. Do I have something in my teeth? I knew I should have looked in the mirror after dinner...."

We slid around on the icy sidewalks of the U of U as we made our way back to Greg's car which led to the idea of going sledding. A rather clever thought considering neither of us were wearing sledding appropriate clothes or in possession of a sled. So, we ventured back to Ogden. After many failed attempts to "sled" on the wake skate Greg happened to have in his trunk, we found an abandoned sled and continued the fun until we were completely frozen. Then, instead of getting in the car where it was warm, we slid around on the ice in a parking lot until 2 a.m. I was really feeling the inklings of "GAME OVER-ness" at this point. We talked about everything. I confessed to getting thrown out of the Grand America Hotel (a story for another day) and he talked about his mission, etc., etc,. etc. It was pretty much all on the table by the time we got back in the car.

Then for everyone's favorite, "the doorstep scene." I'll admit, it was a little awkward. We had worked together for almost a year at this point and I really had no idea what he was thinking. The doorstep for the apartment where I lived at the time didn't help the situation either. I just remember thinking (like I always had) that it was the guy's job to lead the doorstep finale. All I really remember is that we didn't even hug. I felt really stupid after for not initiating something but I didn't want things to be weird if he wasn't that into me (although I REALLLLLY hoped he was). It turned out just fine considering he kissed me only 4 days later, not to mention the fact that we have now been married almost 8 months :)

I still get butterflies when I think about that night. Thanks for taking a chance on me my Greg :) I love you.

Memoirs of Thanksgivings Past

I have Thanksgiving on the brain.


Is it possible to not completely LOVE this holiday? Granted there was the Thanksgiving when I was 4 and was relegated to Grandma Billie's to spend the holiday by myself (with no shirt on as I recall) while everyone else partied next door at Grandma & Grandpa Hancey's. Oh no, I wasn't bitter; granted this banishment was due to no wrongdoing on my part but rather a consequence of contracting Chicken Pox. In my parents' defense (so as not to paint my childhood as one of neglect and them as the guilty offenders), two babies under the ripe 'ol age of 4 months were present.


Other Thanksgiving memories:

• Hoping one of my cousins drew my name for the family Christmas gift exchange so I knew I would get something cute. Don't get me wrong, I love my brothers BUT I found out quickly that other girls knew what you would want better than boys.
• Wondering what they talked about at the "adult table" in the other room.
• Laughing at my Dad for spending more than one feast at the kid's table.
• Winning the family challenge by gaining 7.5 lbs. (All weigh-ins are monitored by another participant to ensure adherence to the rules.)
• Dominating the "Rootbeer Float Pie Contest" of '07. Ok, so "dominating" is up for debate but those pies certainly were tasty.
• Writing what I'm thankful for each year in the gratitude notebooks.
• Loving being with family.

What will tomorrow (my first Thanksgiving as a married woman) bring?

Everybody was kung fu fighting...

If you haven't seen Kung Fu Panda, you must go to Redbox today. (And get it, of course.)

WHY?

#1: Jack Black is.....well, Jack Black. How DO you describe Jack Black? He's some kind of mix between a child playing with LEGOs for the first time and a drunk.

#2: There are such amazing quotes as:

Monkey: We should hang out.
Po: Agreed.
Narrator: But hanging out would have to wait...

AND:

Po: There is no charge for awesomeness.....or attractiveness.

#3: It's just plain funny.

A Taste of Halloween

Here's my Work Crew on Halloween

L-R: Elsa (Yoda), Wendy (Princess Leia), Rory (Jedi), Andy (Darth Vader)

We threw a pretty kickin' Halloween Costume Contest.

Between intergalactic travel and the occasional battle

with a Sith Lord or two, of course.

Happy Halloween!

And Happy Birthday Kate!

We hope PA "treats" you right today :)

Love you!

We Recommend...

Shanghai Cafe
145 E. 1300 S. SLC
Really awesome Vietnamese food. They specialize in vegetarian dishes (although they do serve meat as well) and tofu never tasted so good. Try the vegetarian fried egg rolls and vegetarian chicken lemon grass. YUM!

The Organ Loft
3331 S. Edison St. SLC
Old silent films with live organ accompaniment = something everyone should see at least once. It's only $5 and popcorn and drinks are cheap too. Go early to get a good seat.

Note: This was the agenda for our date night last Friday and it was a blast! We saw the classic Phantom of the Opera with Lon Chaney and it was a packed house.