I Want To Go To Argentina

Look what Jordan got to do on one of her first P-days in Argentina:

(Not sure why the video below won't center. It's bugging me. Stupid video).

I'm so jealous...but happy that she still has all her fingers.

Man, I love that she can send videos. I miss that kid like crazy.

So awful.

This will keep me away from chocolate for a while.

Mom Of The Year

My amazing mother won woman of the year for the Wood River Valley! Hooray!

The local paper did an awesome article on her. She's the best!

(If you click on the article below, you can make it bigger to read it).

I'm so proud of her!

Lovely Lady

I just have to post these two pictures of my foxy Grandma Fern.

Isn't she a gorgeous lady?

Got Mold?

Last weekend, I went to Idaho with Cade and Krystal to attend my Grandma Fern's surprise 90th Birthday party. We had so much fun. It was so great to be with most of my immediate family and see aunts, uncles and cousins I haven't seen in years. My parents, siblings and I rented a house in Lava Hot Springs and had a great weekend.

On Friday night, I got an email from my {awesome} roommate Carie informing me that they just found mold in my apartment. Gross. It's behind our washer. Thank goodness we're renting, huh? This does, however, explain why I have has respiratory issues since mid-December. I went to the doctor a couple of weeks ago and got an antibiotic. Maybe I can submit my medical bills to my management company?

Probably not.

It's so great to realize we've been breathing that grossness for who knows how long.

This is what I found when I got home from Idaho. At least they tried to contain the situation.

I actually had to go to a laundromat for the first time in forever this week. That's a whole other story.

So, Grandma's birthday party went off without a hitch. It was so much fun and she looked like she had such a great time. She never stopped smiling. She's so awesome.

 But, that night, we got some very bad news. Grandma has been living with my Aunt Launa in Utah for the past couple of years because of health problems. She still has her house in Lava that they check on every couple of months. Launa left Grandma at our rental house while she went to Grandma's house to turn up the heat so Grandma wouldn't be cold when she got there.

At some point in time (weeks? months?), some pipes had frozen or failed, but Launa found the basement flooded and MOLD all over the house. Seriously, everywhere. It was the craziest, most heart-breaking thing I think I've ever seen.

{What's with me and mold? I seem to be the common denominator.}

My Grandma is so awesome. I'm sure she was upset, but I couldn't tell. She'd lived in that home 40 years and I'm pretty sure everything is ruined. She kept saying, "It's just stuff. It's just a house." Thankfullly, Aunt Karen has most of her photos and we were able to get her cedar chest out of there remarkably unscathed.

But, you can't just clean up mold. Plus, I wasn't originally too hopeful that insurance would cover the claim since her home was basically vacant. But, the good news is that it looks like they are going to pull through and pay the damage. I'm super surprised they don't have to tear the whole house down, but I've heard they are just taking it down to the studs and replacing everything else.

I sure hope it all works out.

Facts About Me

I hit my 200th post a couple of posts ago. I've never done one of those "About Me" lists to mark milestone posts because I find them a little annoying. Last night, I had a bout of insomnia {I'm sure it had nothing to do with the Mountain Dew I had in the afternoon - it's called Mountain Dew not Mountain Don't!} and I wrote down a few Cali facts. It was actually kinda fun and I want to share, so here it goes.

(If you find it annoying, please skip this post. I won't be offended).

- I am very sentimental and have a hard time parting with things. I sometimes relate too well with people on the TV show Hoarders.

- I'm afraid of heights.

- I hate peas.

- I also hate mushrooms.

- Oh, and tomatoes, but I like salsa and ketchup and spaghetti sauce.

- I got 2nd place in the 4th grade spelling bee. I thought it was 'chickmunk.' That's the first time I experienced public humiliation.

- My older brother Kyle caused me to get stitches at least 2 times as a kid. However, my Dad tells a great story of how I beat Kyle up once because he stole my trike. So, he got his.

- I've cried during every single episode of Extreme Makeover Home Edition that I've ever seen.

- Deep water scares me.

- I love being part of a big family.

- I have green eyes.

- Every car I've ever owned has been a stick shift.

- I'm left handed and so are 3 of my siblings. Both of my parents are right-handed as are all of their parents and siblings.

- I like other peoples' pets but will probably never have any of my own.

- I speak Spanish fluently.

- I can burp on command.

- I was in a coma for almost 2 weeks when I was 15.

- I love to floss.

- I want to marry Zac Efron.

- I can wiggle my ears.

- I want to learn to sing.

- I have really small nostrils so, consequently, I'm a pinky picker (btw, anyone who says they don't pick their nose is a liar).

- I saw my 1st Rated R movie at Ryan Lindsey's 11-year birthday party - I was 10. Silence of the Lambs. It was super traumatic.

- I'm happiest with 9 hours of sleep which, of course, rarely happens.

- I get motion sick very easily so boats, amusement parks, airplanes and riding in the backseat of cars are not fun for me.

- I'm a sympathy cryer.

- I really want to go to Scotland.

- And Paris.

- And Greece.

- Oh, and back to Spain.

- I hate the word moist.

- I had braces until my sophomore year of college.

- I played the clarinet in 7th grade band.

- I had my first kiss when I was 14 and I felt super old because I was the last one of all my friends. Apparently, I should have had less trashy friends.

- I only have 27 teeth (before you count, most people have 28).

- When I was 7 and my sister was 6, my parents accidently (so they say) left us at a grocery store (long story) and we were there for about an hour. It was the worst day of my life. When my parents discovered we were missing and came back to find us, we were sitting on the stacked dog food bags at the front of the store (remember when they used to do that?) eating ice cream that the nice people gave us to help us stop crying. My parents absolutely hate it when we tell that story, but it really happened.

- I swam in Arnold Schwarzenegger's pool in 1999.

- I can roll my tongue both ways.

- I get annoyed really easy (it’s something I’m working on).

- My favorite vacation was to the Bahamas. We stayed in the Atlantis resort. I plan to retire there. (It’s only like $600 per night for the cheapest room. It shouldn’t be a problem at all).

- I got to swim with dolphins on that trip, which was awesome.

- My favorite video game is MarioKart on the N64. My favorite player is Yoshi.

- I love the Bachelor and all Bachelor-related shows, even though they’re super trashy (maybe it’s because they’re super trashy?)

- My favorite dessert is Asphalt Pie at Wingers.

- I’ve played the piano since I was 8, but I’m not very good. I need to practice more.

- My co-workers can tell whether or not I’ve worked out before work. Apparently, endorphins make me more pleasant to be around.

- My parents found my name in the newspaper when my mom was pregnant with me.

- They didn’t give me a middle name because they thought I would one day get married. We’ll see.

- I’m proud to be an American.

- I have a horrible memory.

- I’ve read Twilight about 8 times and the other books in the series once. I think Stephenie Meyer had a great idea, but crashed and burned well before the 4th book. I can’t stand the actor they chose to play Edward in the movies.

- I’m really close with my parents and all of my siblings. I have the best family on the planet.

Go See It. Seriously. Right now.

I saw the best movie the other night. I know I say that a lot, but I really mean it this time.

The Adjustment Bureau is definitely in my top 3 favorite movies of all time.

They (the movie people) have been advertising it for a long time, so I've been wanting to see it - for a long time - but I was worried that I would be disappointed - you know, because of all the excitement build up...

But I wasn't disappointed - at all. In fact, pretty much through the whole show, I kept tapping Anna's arm and saying, "I love this movie!" I'm sure she was super annoyed, but I just wanted to make sure she knew I was thoroughly enjoying myself.

I may have to find new movie pals because I'm pretty sure I annoyed Anna and Angie out of our standing movie arrangement.

I love Matt Damon and think he was perfect in this movie but I was mostly excited about Emily Blunt because I think she is the most adorable thing in the world. From the Devil Wears Prada to The Young Victoria to The Adjustment Bureau, she is so cute I just want to fold her up and put her in my pocket.

She is such a brilliant actress (it's okay, I can say it like that cuz she's British).

I want to be her in my next life.

Back In The Day

My Grandma Fern (my mom's mom) turns 90 this week - quite an achievement! We are having a surprise birthday party for her on Saturday and I've been put in charge of a photo DVD, which is a new thing for me, so we'll see how it goes.

My awesome Aunt Karen has sent me tons of old photos and I have had such a great time looking through them.

I found this gem last night. I think it was 1980, maybe 1981 and I love it (I'm the blondie on the left).

I just decided it's from Christmas 1981 because Janae's about 2. I would have been 3 and 1/2. I definitely need to keep scouting out old photos because I enjoy them so much.

Maybe this can count as doing family history?

I just can't get over my dad's Magnum PI mustache. I totally remember it. Good times.

Oh, Oh. I just noticed the 3 piece polyester suit! Hee, hee.

New From Argentina

Jordan is doing great and is sending lots of pictures, which is awesome because there was a major picture drought for a while. She originally had an American trainer, and is now with a sister from Paraguay. She says that she's still not super comfortable with Spanish, but I have every confidence that she's doing great and will continue to improve. I know - from experience - that a native companion is awesome because it will force her to speak only Spanish. My second comp was native also. It was a little hard at first, but so good for me.

She's in the campo (country) of Argentina called Las Heras. Their apartment is above a morgue which has been pretty interesting for her.

She says that it's super hot - like 104 degrees and pretty humid (remember that it's summer there while we're still stuck with snow).

For one of her first P-Days, they went to a zoo and, apparently, zoos in Argentina are petting zoos so they got to pet, hold and play with wild animals. I'm so jealous! Although, a little concerned and glad that she still has all her fingers.

This is her cute companion Hermana Duarte. I'm so glad she's doing well and loving her mission.