New Name?

So now that I've joined the land of the marrieds I'm thinkin that I need a new blog name. I mean, Jake is totally cool with being referred to as a crazy chick and all, but I feel that the title should be something a little more inclusive. Any suggestions?

I can has cookie?

Hello everybody. My name is Lisa and I have officially ignored my blog for over 8 months. I believe that such an accomplishment deserves a plaque, or a cookie or something. While I have no good explanation for never updating, I will just claim laziness and move along.

I'm kinda tired at the moment, and my eyes are burning like they're on fire, but I'm going to try and cram 8 months worth of updates into one concise post. Wish me luck.

~ Last summer was pretty fantastic as it was filled with concerts, girls camp, bike rides and hanging around with Jake.

~ Work has been good. Crazy, but good. Despite the fact that I'm a foodservice slave, I really do enjoy my job. I work with fun people and I love the daily interactions that I have with my eccentric regulars. Perhaps I'll continue being a sandwich slave for many years to come.

~ The holiday season was great! This was the first time that I've ever had to do two different family Thanksgiving dinners, but I really enjoyed both of them. I had a great time getting to know Jakes family even more as I hung around with them at their Thanksgiving and Christmas parties. I also really loved that he came to my family Thanksgiving and that he spent Christmas day with me and my family. Another special treat was that my Grandma and Grandpa Lewis came down and spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with us. I'll always have the awesome memory of sitting around the dining room table teaching Grandma how to play Apples to Apples. :D While they were down Ryan recorded Grandpa telling stories and recalling memories from WWII. These recordings are so incredibly precious to my family now.

~ As most of you know my family experienced a loss like we've never felt before this January. January 6 my younger brother Ryan passed away. He had turned 24 just three days before, and it came as a complete surprise. I miss him so much that even as I type this I find myself tearing up. My family is doing ok though, because we have the plan of salvation and we know that as an eternal family we WILL be together again. While we wish that we could still have him with us, we know that he's doing important work on the other side and we rejoice in the fact that he is finally free from the debilitating and chronic pain that he had to suffer with for so long. LOVE YOU RY!!!!!!!!

~ On to a happier subject. It's been one year since I was put in as a worker in the Special Needs Mutual and I cannot imagine a calling that would bring me greater joy. I love each and every one of my kids and I am so grateful to be able to hang out with them each week. We're working on our play for this year, which is going to be FANTASTIC! It's called The Magic Bus and it's a 60's musical revue :D So far it looks like it'll be on April 30th, but if I remember I'll post the final date when it's decided on.

~ Well, that's about taken it out of me for now so I'm gonna sign off for tonight. Hopefully I'll get over the blog-apathy and post again soon, but I wouldn't hold my breath. ;)

Girls Camp! (random pics for now, captions later)

summer being amazed at the watermelon that mady is eating

catelyn putting some gobstoppers to good use

mady says "it's win!"

beehive pile in the cabin

the bishops wife actually brought linens to use. LINENS!

a deer peeking out from by campsite 4

the view when you opened both the doors to our cabin

by thursday my brain was completely fried.....

i felt totally spoiled when the bishop brought this up for my birthday on wednesday

emo-manda totally carved this from some trail wood. kitteh is win!

emo-manda whittling under the tree during a rain storm :D

a cute stream we saw on our hike

more hike photos

my super fun girls goofing around

the whole fam damily!

the paper says it all...

my firestarting team at the camp certification olympics

my bandaging team at the camp certification olympics

my first place knot tying team at the camp certification olympics

the lake :D

emo girl doing crafts

the amphitheater
the pavilion where we hung out and ate our meals

the trails to the bathrooms :D

our ward flag hanging at the pavilion

the bus ride up

more bus ride up :D

BASh!!!!

Ok, so I totally wasn't planning on going to the Big Ass Show this year, but then the day of the show I get a phone call at work and my friend Jake had scored some VIP passes to go!! How does a girl turn that down?!?! So I took half the day off and we totally went wild at the show. We were a little late getting there, but we made it in time to catch Airborne Toxic Event (THEY'RE AMAZING!!!!), Alkaline Trio, Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Unwritten Law and.... THE OFFSPRING!!!! The whole thing was amazing, because we had these VIP badges on lanyards that got us pretty much everywhere. You never quite know how respect feels until a cranky old parking lot attendant looks at your VIP badge and says "very good sir, pull into that lot closest to the stage". Since we had the VIP badges we got to go down into the mosh pit, which is totally the best place to be at a show like that. I, being a somewhat ditzy girl sometimes, wore my flip flops so now there are some VERY gnarly and awesome looking bruises on my feet from being stepped on numerous times. We were deep in the front of the pit for The Offspring and were so close that if Dexter had spit, we totally would've been able to be spit on by DEXTER FROM THE OFFSPRING!! I was lucky enough to be in the pit with my friend Jake who's like 6 feet tall and solidly built so he did the decent thing and made sure to toss the crowd surfers away who kept falling on my head (the people around us had no concept of how to keep somebody up and surfing, so I had about 5 people fall smack on my head and neck). Another awesome thing that happened was that somehow Jake became the go-to guy to throw the emo kids up on the crowd to surf. Once on 90 lb emo girl sees that you can do it, then they all want you to toss them up there. He was a good sport about it though and just kept tossing them up there. All in all, it was a totally amazing experience and definately worth the bruises and shin splints :D

random ramblings from the crazy chick

So, I've totally been shirking my blogging duties lately, but I have a really good excuse....uhm, well a passable excuse at least :D

I've been juggling work and three different church callings for awhile now, and it's sorta been taking it out of me, but the good news is that I've got a decent summer break coming up. :) So for now I'll just take a second and throw out some random sound bites about my life.

~I've been working with the Special Needs Mutual as the young womens instructor since February or so, and it's been one of the coolest and most fulfilling jobs I've ever had. The kids that I work with are incredibly awesome, and I've come to appreciate them as my true celestial friends. We just put on our yearly play on May 15th, and I've never been so proud as when I was watching my kids strut their stuff onstage. The 40's never did look so fantastic! :D Our mutual takes a break between June and August and while I'm looking forward to a little free time, I'm gonna miss my kids like crazy.

~Girls camp is still coming up waaaaayyyy too fast. It seems like just yesterday they called me and all of a sudden we're leaving for camp in two weeks!! It's been fun getting stuff ready and getting the girls excited to go, but it's also been some tiring work. It's awesome though, how when I feel like I'm never gonna get everything done that I have to get done, all of a sudden something will come up and everything will fall into place. The power of prayer is truly wonderful.

~The kitties are still good, they're just doing the same old same old. Life is always exciting for a cat you know.

~Work is good. We've been crazy busy quite often lately, which is a really great thing in this economy. We're losing one of our best workers at the beginning of june, but she's being replaced by a pretty awesome chick, so it looks like things are gonna work out.

~I totally scored some decent seats to the Def Leppard/Poison/Cheap Trick show coming up in August, so I've got something to look forward too :D :D :D

And with that high note, I believe I'll wrap up these random ramblings and go take a nap.
Later!

She Drives Me Crazy

My Life in Itunes

RULES:

1. Put your iTunes, Windows Media Player, etc. on shuffle.

2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.

3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS.

So I did it and…oh my. That’s all I can say. Oh. My.

IF SOMEONE SAYS 'ARE YOU OKAY' YOU SAY?

~You're Crashing But You're No Wave: Fall Out Boy

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOURSELF

~Best Laid Plans: We The Living (hmmm, i suppose i do have some plans..)

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?

~Another Night: Real McCoy (LOL!!!! PLEASE STAY!!!!!!!!!)

HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?

~Hollowman: Trapt (um, i was more angry chick, but evs)

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE?

~Not The Doctor: Alanis Morrisette. (GET IT WORLD! I'M NOT THE DOCTOR!!!)

WHAT'S YOUR MOTTO?

~6 Gun Quota: Seether (YAY!!! NRA 4EVA!!)

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?

~The Promise: When In Rome (woot!! i'm a synthesized 80's ballad!)

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?

~Love Bites: Def Leppard (erm...ok? I'M GONNA SEE THESE GUYS IN AUGUST!!)

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?

~Devils Dance: Metallica (WHOOO!!!!!!)

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?

~Stay Young: Strata ;)

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?

~Who Will Save Your Soul: Jewel (well, yeah, what with all the guns and devil worship....)

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?

~Don't Dream It's Over: Crowded House (clinically depressed apparantly. that's what i wanna be when i grow up.....)

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?

~Step Up: Drowning Pool (ALL YOU IN THE CHEAP SEATS!! I WANNA SEE YOU ROCK!!!!!!)

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?

~Panini Puakea: IZ (hawaiian men...how can they not be a hobby?)

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST FEAR?

~Dust In The Wind: Kansas (shut up!! i have VERY sensitive eyes!!!!)

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?

~Sweet Dreams: Marilyn Manson (woot!!!)

WHAT DO YOU WANT RIGHT NOW?

~Wheel In the Sky: Journey (you know you want one too ;) )

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?

~Place For My Head: Linkin Park (they get me.....)

WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?

~She Drives Me Crazy: Fine Young Cannibals

You know you want to do this.

how.......

I can think of younger days when living for my life
Was everything a girl could want to do.
I could never see tomorrow, but I was never told about the sorrow.

And how can you mend a broken heart?
How can you stop the rain from falling down?
How can you stop the sun from shining?
What makes the world go round?
How can you mend a this broken girl?
How can a loser ever win?
Please help me mend my broken heart and let me live again.

I can still feel the breeze that rustles through the trees
And misty memories of days gone by
We could never see tomorrow, noone said a word about the sorrow.

And how can you mend a broken heart?
How can you stop the rain from falling down?
How can you stop the sun from shining?
What makes the world go round?
How can you mend this broken girl?
How can a loser ever win?
Please help me mend my broken heart and let me live again.

Family Picture Day :D

Yours truly :D
Ryan
Dave
All three of us together
I totally wore my fierce 4-inch patent leather mary janes :D
My cute mom and dad
I love this picture of my parents
The whole family :)

So the infamous family picture finally happened :D as you can see the photographer airbrushed the purple out of my hair for the family photo, but left it for my individual and for the photos with the brothers. Anyhoo, big thanks to Derek Jones Photography for the most awesome job that he did. Hit me up for his number if you're interested. He does beautiful work and does all different types of photography and all different occasions.

A most productive saturday...

So here are the pictures from my Saturday. I started out by heading over to the parents house to finish up the lights on the doghouse, and with my mom helping me the star and the angels were erected yesterday. Then I came home and baked for about 7 hours straight. :D I made candy bar cookies, peanut butter cookies, double chocolate chip cookies, muddy buddies, fudge and caramel brownies. Whew! Anyhoo, hope everybody is getting into the spirit of the holidays and enjoying themselves. Stay safe!

Baking Day!

So today is the day that I begin the christmas baking....yeah. I'm being pretty ambitious I think, with 3 type of cookies, caramel brownies, muddy buddies and fudge. We'll see how it all turns out, lol. Pictures to be posted later. Also I'm putting up the Christmas star over my dear departed Skippy's house, so pictures of that will be forthcoming as well.

The long winded and rambling road......

So I have been reading a "mommyblog" that I quite enjoy for some time now, and at the beginning of each month the blog author writes a "newsletter" to her daughter. In these newsletters she details her childs growth over the course of the last month, and tells her daughter all the cute things that she's done. This got me thinking, am I really to be considered the crazy cat lady of the neighborhood if I don't do something similar for my child? Now, I refuse to be so crazy as to write a monthly newsletter to my four legged child, but I've been pondering about what I could write for her. If one day she was able to magically be able to read "people" what would I want to say to her. The following rambling letter is what I came up with.
I know that everybody will probably be like, um, okay she thinks her cat is a person.....but this is just a hypothetical. Every person out there who's single and has a pet knows exactly how they become your children, so yeah, anyways....that's the story.

Dear Yetters,

So you're almost 3 years old now, huh, it's hard being a young adult sometimes isn't it. Just when you think you've gotten a handle on what's going on, the world will maniacally laugh at you and spit in your eye...it's a little something called LIFE, and it sucks for everybody at some point. Not that it really matters to you, as your life consists of sleeping, eating, chasing random bugs that foolishly appear in your line of vision, waiting for me to clean up the litter box and then hopping in to be first to use it, having daily smackdowns with sambi and carrying the unexplained grudge that you have against amigo.
I still can't understand what you have against amigo, but for some reason you seem to think that he's the very incarnation of satan on this earth and you will for no good reason walk up to him and begin pummeling him.....I'm beginning to wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that the one time you did actually manage to go into heat he didn't make any lewd advances towards you, which you automatically considered an insult to your newfound womanhood; as your mother the only thing I can tell you is that every chick is rejected by a guy at some point, but we all can't go around smacking men upside the head....life just doesn't work that way.

Now we really should have a talk about those demons of yours. Ok, so mommy is really, really, really tired of having to go through the massive ordeal that clipping your claws has turned into. Every two weeks you instinctually know what's going to happen when mom gets home from church so you hide yourself.....thus begins the hellish ritual. First I have to drag you out from whatever piece of furniture you've hidden under and then attempt to drive to your grandma and grandpas while you climb me and insist on sitting between my neck and the headrest of the car. After I finish Sunday lunch the ritual begins again with me having to dig you out from underneath whatever piece of furniture you've made your personal fortress in our old bedroom....I bear many battle scars from this act. After that you get mummy wrapped in a towel and mommy attempts to hold you down while grandma cuts your toenails....this cruel act on our part ellicits blood curdling screams and much struggling from your camp. Mommy and Grandma both bear many scars from this portion of the ritual as well. Now while I do find most of your screams amusing, there does get to be a certain point when my heart actually begins to break for you. I don't understand why this is so hard for you, and I wish that we didn't have to do it, but it really is for your own good. I'm sorry that it is so traumatizing to you, but I really don't know where to procure the feline valium that your grandpa suggested I put down your gullet before I bring you over. The twice monthly nail clipping is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to your demons.

Everybody who knows you knows you're one unpredictable ball of fur. You act so sweet and loving and lure people into petting you, AND THEN YOU STRIKE!! No fingers, hands, arms, faces, etc are off limits when you decide to attack. The demons are simply part of you, and as your mommy I've come to accept them as well....I just learn to get my loving in with you when they take their five minute smoke breaks.

Life with you isn't all demons and bleeding though, you can truly be one of the most intuitive cats I've ever had. I truly believe that you were sent down here to be my little girl, and therefore you have a bond with me that nobody else can understand. Grandma found you on my 24th birthday when you were small, diseased, gross, homely and in danger of falling in the ditch and drowning. She brought you in my room and sat you on my chest while I was still sleeping. The minute I set eyes on your homely little face I fell in love and knew that you were my child. You've grown to be such a beautiful girl as you've gotten older and I've grown to love you more and more. There is nothing sweeter to me than when I wake up at 3 AM and you're snuggled up in the crook between my head and my shoulder, clinging to my neck and purring. You know when I'm happy and in the mood to give you lots of loves, and you know when I'm sad and in need of loves. I will never ever forget that one time when I was crying and sobbing from the depths of my soul, you hopped up to be eye level with me and I looked at your eyes searching my face. You looked so distressed to see me crying as if my very heart would break, and then you did the only thing you knew to do...you loved me. You hopped down from the countertop onto my lap and began rubbing your face on me. You stood up on my lap and tried to lick the tears off my cheeks, while you were meowing as if to say "please don't cry mommy". I held you, and cried and cried until I felt better. You never moved, you never fidgeted or tried to get away, you just let me hold you. I learned that day that you would always have my back....I also learned that if you cry into a cat you will end up with a face full of fur.

I know that you love me as much as I love you, because every night when I pull into the garage I hear you sitting by the kitchen door crying out to me and running up to greet me when I walk in. You know that I love you, even when you're being naughty and mommy has to put you in the guestroom (that's why mommy has you instead of human children...cause you don't have the thumbs to pick up a phone and call DCFS when I do that...), or when you think that it's your personal job to sniff every single clean dish that mommy gets out of the cupboard to eat off of, or when you think that you deserve to use ALL of the pillows on the bed more than I do, mommy still loves you to pieces. You're my little girl and I will always love you. Mommy does realize that the fact that she refers to you as her child and herself as "your mommy" is probably reason number 247 on the list of why mommy isn't married, but that's a list for another day.

Thank you for being my little girl. You're the sweet little being who sits on my lap while I work on the computer, the demon possessed fireball who brings amusement into my life and quite possibly the only grandchild my parents will ever have :P

You're MY little girl and I will always love you and take care of you.

Love,

mom.

Saturday in Salt Lake

Jazz Hands!!!!

Being a geek and taking my own picture in the window

Being a geek again and taking Candices picture in the train window


Riding the train down to SLC

Don't both our smiles just say "LOVE ME!!!!!! PLEASE LOVE ME!!!!!"

The delicious Jerk Chicken Salad at ZTejas

Candice thoroughly enjoying her 5 cheese macaroni at ZTejas


Hey ya'll!! so yeah, i don't have anything to say really, just thought i'd post some funny and obnoxious pictures from my day trip to Salt Lake with Candice.

We rode the Frontrunner down there, which i would totally recommend to anybody that goes to Salt Lake, and visited the Body Worlds exhibit at the Leonardo. If you haven't seen that yet, totally go, it was amazing!!

After that we went to the Gateway and had some late lunch/ old people dinner at ZTejas :D

The one of the coolest things happened on the way home!! we saw a couple get busted for trying to skip the fare on the Frontrunner home! lol!! they totally got citations and were really upset. at one point they both looked like they were gonna cry. moral of the story peeps, don't do the crime if you can't do the time...lol, sorry for the cliche.