Aidan on Halloween Morning

Aidan looked soooo cute for Halloween.  No big costume, just halloween jammies and that infamous hair!  Gotta love it!

This is the before...

And this is what happens when you get really scared on Halloween!

Love that kid!!!

The Rooster...

I'm sorry...my kids took some pictures of the chickens and...is it just me or does this chicken look sinister?  I have never really liked birds but this photo has somehow captured the fear in picture form.  

See how the stealthy creature hides in the shadow, keeping his true identity hidden?  Do not be fooled by the soft feathers and the sweet cockadoodledoo...

Hold my hand....I'm scared.

Beachy Waves - lazy version!

So my friend Kar, if you haven't looked at her blog you totally should because she is one of my favorite people of all times!, anyways, she recently blogged about beachy wave hair. Here is part of what she had to say:

So we've been trying to figure out how the heck to do it. I read somewhere that you twist a chunk of hair, then curl it with a curling iron to make it wavy. I wanted to try it, but I am currently without curling iron. Then I ran into this tutorial on YouTube, for "beachy waves" - the girl uses a flat iron! (And I like this tutorial because it has the song "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" in the background, but it's a different version - Hawaiian-style, with a ukelele - very nice.) So I studied the tutorial and then tried it:

and this is how her hair turned out (these have been bloglifted from her site, isn't she a beauty???)

So, she inspired me and I decided to give it a try, but darn me I don't have a flat iron. So I came up with another tactic. After my shower I put product in my hair, and then put it up in 4 strategically placed messy buns. I was assuming it would dry overnight but of course my hair didn't...It's not cuz it is necessarily that thick but just because there is a lot of it. So I got out the blow dryer and then spritzed some hairspray. If I would've thought about it I totally would have taken a picture but I am new at this whole blogging thing so maybe next time. It didn't turn out curly so much as, well, beachy waves...more like this:

It looks mussed and natural and very sea salty. I did read somewhere that you can spritz your hair with sea salt water for the same effect (after much scrunching) but since I have absolutely no wave/curl to my hair I don't think that it would work. Hmmmm, Cali always looks great after a day a the beach. I think I am going to buy a new spritzer bottle and some sea salt and go to town on her naturally curly hair.

If you are coming to Trunk or Treating tonight then you can see the effect of my procedure...of course that is after a looooooooong day at work.

Next time I think I am going to try rag curls. Fun, fun. Thanks for the inspiration Kar! Love and Miss you tons!!!

FLIP!

Ok, now I grew up in Ohio, so I am not a stranger to foul language. I understand that it is commonplace in our society these days but I am seriously over it. I sit in my office all day, with the door proped open because I am a friendly type person, and as the high school kids come to and from the classes it is astonding how many times I hear the f word. Seriously, like, every other word. I am not enjoying it!...
...In fact, I just walked out of here and told the professors that they need to talk to their kids cuz I am feed up! They said just let me know and they will write them up and send them back to the high school. Thank heavens for little favors!

Good Grades - Way to go me!

Ok, so I have decided a little while ago that whenever the kids were in the newspaper (which acutally happens a lot in a small town) I would clip it and put it in my blog...part of our family history. My husband reminded me that I was in the newspaper. Darn that! Oh well. Sheesh, I need to do something different with my hair. Any ideas? Here is the article for the Palo Verde Valley Times:

Palo Verde College students named to the President’s List and Dean’s List for the Spring 2008 semester were honored at a special ceremony Oct. 21. Present to receive their certificates of recognition were (from left): Rachel Barnard, President’s List; Nereida M., President’s List; Cassi S., President’s List; Christina B., Dean’s List; Elizabeth C., Dean’s List; and Daniela M., President’s List.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008

One hundred eighteen Palo Verde College students were honored Oct. 21 for achieving grade point averages (GPA) of 3.5 or higher for the Spring 2008 semester.

Sixty-one students were named to the President's List for maintaining a GPA of 3.8 to 4.0. Of that number, 54 had a perfect 4.0 average.

Fifty-seven students were named to the Dean's List for maintaining a GPA of 3.5 to 3.79 for semester.


Diana Rodriguez, PVC Vice President of Student Services, noted that a number of the honor students were married, some with up to six children, some worked full-time in addition to attending classes, and several were now full-time employees of the college.

She thanked "family members, friends and loved ones" for their support of the students.

Dr. James Hottois, PVC Superintendent/President, in welcoming students and guests said all three of the college's vice presidents were Palo Verde College graduates.

He told the audience that he would "like to return to PVC in 20 years and see that current students had become administrators, vice presidents and even president" of the college.

Dr. Hottois was joined by Willie Smith, Vice President of Instructional Services, in presenting certificates to the honor students.

Testimony Meeting

You know that feeling that you get when you are sitting in Testimony Meeting and you know you need to get up? Your palms start sweating, your heart is racing, you keep having that conversation in your head, "get up", "no, I can't", "but you should", "but I don't want to". Until finally you give in, pour out your heart and then feel much better?

Well, let me just tell you that didn't happen this month! Why? Was I not fasting? Did I come with the wrong spirit? No, I - emphasis on I, was just fine. The problem was the 5 "sweet" spirits that I was wrestling with on the bench. Seriously, it is like WW3. He took my pencil, I need to go potty, He is sitting to close to me, How much time is left, Do we have a pack meeting this week, What are we having for lunch, Do I have to sit next to HER, I don't want to sit next to him if he doesn't want to sit next to me......AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
And what does my dh do? Well, take out the baby of course. LUCKY!

So, in trying to understand why I was the recipient of 5 beautiful wiggly children I thought that I probably needed to change my perspective.

Instead of considering it a hinderance to my spiritual growth because I can't see, hear and internalize anyones testimony..(also hard to have the desire to share mine when I want to strangle 5 little necks)....maybe it is supposed to be a nudge to go up and bear my testimony despite not being able to feel the spirit. Maybe it is the mormon mommas version of the spirit beckoning me to go up and bear testimony...5 nosiy children driving me up to the stand by driving me insane! Next time I think I will have to take heed to the feeling and put myself in TIMEOUT - it just so happens that this time out is bearing testimony! We'll see.

Suprising....I thought I was WAY more geeky than that!

44% Geek

Las dias de mi vida. (The days of my life...Rachel version)

I was trying to be funny and dramatic with my post title today because I feel like this is the continuing saga of my spanish 102 class. I was thinking of those spanish soap operas...have you ever seen one? LOL, they are so funny. I watched an episode when I lived in South America (Adam said it was a good way to learn some spanish). And oh my gosh! They are hilarious! Think high school drama club type acting meets espanol! hahaha so funny...

So let's see...where were we?

Anteriormente en los dias de mi vida (previously - I had to look that word up! - on the days of my life):
So I had studied for a spanish test and was not feeling that confident. Cut to me sitting in the private testing room tearing up because I couldn't remember how to write sentences in present subjunctive, feeling like a failure and hoping that the earth would swallow me up whole so I wouldn't have to face my spanish teacher again (cuz he is my teacher and my co-worker! we have offices down the hall from each other).

The scene:
I had seen my professor a couple of times over the last week, mostly I made the interactions short and sweet...I was so afraid he was going to...
Acutally, I am not really sure what I was afraid of. I know that I can't be perfect all of the time, I guess I was just afraid for HIM to know that??? I don't know.

The episode:
So during our brief conversations he mentioned that he didn't have a chance to grade the test yet. I assured him that he could take as much time as he wanted and admitted that I didn't understand how to do the last page (I did not admit the crying).
Last week I went over to his office, feeling bad about my lack of understanding on the test. He still hadn't looked at it yet, "Thank goodness," I thought. I had decided after taking the test and doing so poorly (at least in my mind) that I needed to increase my study and try speaking outloud, to people other than myself. So I went to his office and slowly, probably incoherently, said, "Profesor, te necisito a hablar solo en espanol a mi." Which means, for you gringas out there, "Professor, I need you to only speak in spanish to me."
"Ah, Rachel, que es una buena idea!," he replied. And then started speaking in a waterfall of spanish words, some of which I even understood, the others seemed to bounce off of me like little droplets of spray from the waterfall and fall away quickly and disappear.
I gazed at him in a silly way that said, I kind of understood some of that.
"It will get easier Rachel, I promise."
"I will have to trust you on that," I replied, content on the fact that we apparently had an unspoken agreement to speak in spanish unless I look clueless and then we'd try it in English. Does this ever get easier???
And so I waited...
Yesterday, he brought me the test and the homework that I had turned in. I had gotten an 'A' on the homework (thank you Evy!) And then I close my eyes and prepare myself to look at the test (my teacher is still standing there waiting for my reaction). I open my eyes and can't believe my eyes! A "B+" is glistening is red ink bigger than life on my test. No, that can't be right...
"Profesor, no es correcto...I think that you are being WAY to kind."
"No, Rachel, you did fine. My corrections are there."
"But, Profesor, the last page, I didn't know what I was doing. I couldn't remember present subjunctive."
"No es problema, Rachel. You wrote all 12 sentences and although there are some errors you did very well." He turns to leave.
"Gracias profesor. I can't believe it. Thank you. Hasta manana." He started walking towards his office, "De nada, Rachel. You are doing well! Just keep trying!" By this time I am blushing and thankful that he is already headed down the hall. I can't have actually done as well as he says. I read through the test and realize that he had only taken off a few points for all of my errors! He was being too kind but I appreciated his understanding and patience with me. I suppose that he could see that I had tried hard. Luckily for me, some teachers still believe that effort should be awarded.

La proxima vez en los dias de mi vida(next time on the days of my life):
Test number three is looming on Nov 4th! That is sooo soon. With halloween and everything else going on I wonder how I will be able to be prepared enough to take it. I have actually been a week and a half behind the proposed schedule (it is a distance ed course so I can make my own schedule)...so I might stretch it out just a bit longer...we will see.

FREE FLU SHOTS!!!

You can't beat free even if it is a student that is going to put a needle in you!

SPIRIT WEEK - Really? Have we come to this?

Do you remember during spirit week (week of homecoming...dig back in those memory files) how you used to have a different theme each day? like, dress like a nerd or school colors, or togas? Well, today was cross dressing day at the high school! WHAT!?!? Nope, you didn't read that wrong...Cross Dressing Day. Yeah, actually on the spirit week calendar! Awesome!

Seriously, did nobody but me find this to be inappropriate. Are the kids in charge? What the heck! Next thing ya know they are going to start having lingerie day. Ahhhrg, I am so over the school system here!

We need a charter school with something that will be very novel - rules of behavior, dress, and accountability. How shocking would that be??? Anyone else on board?

check out the charter school that we left for good old PVUSD www.timpacademy.org :( I miss it!

One of those....weeks?

Have you ever just had one of those days that nothing seemed to go your way? Well, I have been having one of those weeks. Nothing has been horrible, I have just been overwhelmed and I keep asking myself -what can I give up to make things easier. Work? no, Calling? definately, no, School? too late now, 4H? I've already committed, Kids Sports? Between Adam and Cindy I have only had to run him over there twice. So what is making it so hard to find time to breathe?

Yesterday should have been a good day. I was given an award at school for getting on the President's List. Adam came up, everyone was congratulatory. Good day right?
Well, I also had to take a spanish test. I was a week and a half over due and still couldn't wrap my brain around the concepts. My friend Evy had even come over on Saturday and helped me for 2 HOURS! What would I do without good friends? I was cramming right before I it was time to go and take it and my spanish professor walks in the building. There was some question that I wanted to clarify and so I went over to his office to ask. He quickly gave me a response and then asked me something that just floored me. He asked if I would be willing to tutor Spanish 101 students.
"ARE YOU FREAKIN KIDDING ME," I thought.
Luckily I said, "Don't you need to, like, I don't know, SPEAK SPANISH to tutor spanish 101?"
"Oh no," he said, "It is just basic vocabulary and conjugation.
I looked at him blankly trying to figure out how in the world he figured that I would be the one for the job!
"No," I said, "there is no way that I can tutor someone in Spanish....there is just no way."
"Please," he said, "I am drowning here."
So there it was...for a second there I was starting to feel priveledged that my teacher thought that I did well enough in Spanish to help someone else...but then I realized, that wasn't it at all -HE was doing the tutoring himself and was just overwhelmed by the time it was taking.
"I'll see what I can do," I said, as I started off to take my test, knowing full well that I would have to say no later... Maybe I could find someone from church or something that would love to make $8.50 an hour for tutoring. I determined that I would ask around and find someone more suited for the job. Like someone that actually spoke Spanish!
Anyways.... so I went to take this test over in the learning center. I was really nervous. The lady that is always there to give me my test, knows that I usually do really well on my spanish tests.
She handed me the test, smiled and said, "I would wish you luck Rachel, but you always do so well, I don't think that you need it."
"Ha!" I thought, "...man do I have these people fooled! I am in way over my head."
I asked to be in the private testing room cuz it is quiet and I like to be able to think when I take a test...go figure. I start the test and did ok for the first 2 of 3 pages and then got to the third page and my mind went blank.
"Present Subjunctive, present subjunctive," I thought.
I knew that I knew this...but nothing came. So here I am sitting in the new private testing room staring at a paper that is asking me to write 6 sentences in present subjective for one situation and 6 sentences in present subjunctive for another situation and I am completely blank. So what do I do?
I start crying of course. Not out and out bawling but that nervous, I am going to fail, why can't I remember this kind of tear that slowly rolls down your cheek. Thank heavens that I am in a private testing room with no one there, the light had even gone off cuz it is a sensor light and apparently I wasn't moving enough.
I felt like an idiot. Sitting in a testing room, crying over a test.
"Pull it together girl!," I thought.
So I wipe my eyes, do that little flapping hand thing to get the extra water out (cuz that works right?) and write the worst 2 paragraphs ever written in the spanish language.
When I brought the test up to the Learning Center clerk she looked at me puzzled and said, "Wow, Rachel, it doesn't usually take you an hour to take your test."
"Yeah," I replied, "the tests are getting harder. I don't think that I did so well on this one."
So I go back to my office and hide out. If I look way to busy then perhaps my spanish teacher won't stop by to ask how I did. Wouldn't it be horrible to burst out in tears in front of my professor. Luckily, I didn't see him the rest of the day.
So, I go home from my horrible day and get the kids to finish up their homework. I call Adam to see when he might be home and realize that he is not in a good mood either. This should be fun. He gets home grumpy and I am grumpy and things are just not going well. I make dinner, give everyone a kiss and head out for my other class. It is once a week on Tuesdays, a parenting class, taught by Trudy Conley. It is actually a really fun class.
So on the way to class, I call my mom, cuz I needed to talk to someone and right then Adam was not mentally ready to handle my problems. He was having his own problems at work. He needed some time, so I decided that I would talk to him after my class. So, anyways, I call my mom and she asks how I am doing and again...I start crying. If you know about my medical issue then this could be explained by unbalanced hormones...but that doesn't make it any easier to handle. I unload on my mom (that is what she is there for right?) and she is wonderful and tells me what a wonderful person I am and encourages me to decline the tutoring and consider what else I might be able to drop from my life to make it easier. I pull up to the school for my class and tell my mom goodbye. I realize that flapping the hands in front of my eyes is not going to cut it this time. So I go out, find a bathroom, clean myself up, put on a happy face and get to class. My only goal for the rest of the night is not to cry!
When I got home I just melted into Adam's arms and bored him with the tale. He gave me a squeeze and told me everything was going to be ok. He also told me that after his mission he tested out of Spanish 101 and then tried to test out of Spanish 102 and only got a C on the test. That actually made me feel a little bit better! Husbands are good - I think I will keep mine.

So, life goes on, work goes on, even spanish goes on. I got an A- on my first test and even if I don't do so well on this one I think I can scrap by with at least a B-...that is as low as I like to go ;) Darn that perfectionist in me! My husband also likes to remind me that "C's get Degrees!" I suppose they do...but hopefully I won't have to get any!

If you have made it through this post then thanks for listening! Sometimes I feel like chicken little and run around screaming that the "sky is falling" when really its just life. I promise to be smiling next time you see me! Thanks for all that you do for my family! I love you guys!!!

Spiderman-man

Kelsey's post on boys and action figures has inspired me to jot a little note about Aidan. Can I just tell you what a cute kid he is? I definately should be writing all of these cute things down so here it goes....

Aidan loves spiderman. It was so cute because he has a few clothing items that have spiderman on them (we don't buy him clothes, he gets hand me downs from his cousin - but my sister is super cute and has the CUTEST clothes for her little boy...so in reality Aidan gets to dress better than if his cheap mom bought him clothes, Thanks M'liss!)...

Anywho, Aidan loves his spiderman clothes but he had a hard time saying spiderman, so he just called him "man-man". It was soooo adorable. Now that he has figured out how to say spider, you would think that he would now call him spiderman, but instead he calls him "spiderman-man".

Oh my gosh! Can a kid be any cuter??? So, so cute!

I know YOU want one.....

Because she was the first one to identify the movie for which the pic of the time turner came from. Harry Potter of course! Kelsey wins a

Congratulations Kelsey and please feel free to grab the pic and post it on your site to let the world know that you, Kelsey, have won this very important award.
And for those of you who didn't quite make the cut this time...check back for more opportunites to obtain a "BeautifulBarnards Blog Award" for yourself!

Next time it may be a little harder...

My life is a Whirlwind

Do you ever feel like your world is moving way faster than what you can keep up with?

Now that I started working I just can't seem to slow time down.  I am not able to get anything done that I would like or need to do.  

Does anyone have ideas for grounding me and my family while I am working...cuz I just feel overwhelmed here...

I knew I should have ordered a time turner????

This may be too easy...but a blog award to whoever can name the movie reference for the time turner....ready, go!

Seriously? There is a law for that?

I don't actually know if any of this is true because it is random info I found on the internet...but it made me laugh so hard (or maybe that is just because it is so late).  Tell me what you think - fact or fiction?

In the state of California....

no vehicle without a driver may exceed 60 mph.

in Arcadia, CA, peacocks have the right away in crossing streets and driveways.

in Baldwin Park, CA, it's illegal to ride your bike into a swimming pool.

in Belvedere, CA, it's illegal for a dog to be out in public without its master on a leash.

in Blythe, CA, it's illegal to wear cowboy boots unless you own at least 2 cows.

in Burlingame, CA, it's illegal to spit including sinks with the exception of on baseball diamonds.

in Chico, CA, it's illegal to drive a herd of cattle down Main Street and bowling on the sidewalk is illegal.

in Eureka, CA, it's illegal to sleep in the middle of the road and it's illegal for a man with a moustache to kiss a woman in public.

in Fresno, CA, no one may annoy anyone's lizard in the city park. It's also illegal to hold a private bingo game, to sell permanent markers, and for elementary schools to host poker tournaments.

in Hollywood, it's illegal to drive more than 2000 sheep down Hollywood Boulevard at any one time.

in Indian Wells, CA, it's illegal for a trumpet player to play his instrument with the purpose of luring people into a store.

in Lodi, CA, it's illegal to shoot string at parade participants.

in Long Beach, CA, it's illegal to curse on a mini golf course.

in LA, CA, it's illegal to cry on the witness stand, to charge admission to a house party, for dogs to mate within 500 yards of a church, lick toads, hunt moths under streetlights.

in Norco, CA any person wishing to keep a rhino as a pet must obtain a $100 license first.

and growing oleander flowers is illegal.

in Pacific Grove, CA, it's illegal to molest butterflies.

in Palm Springs, CA, it's illegal to walk a camel down Palm Canyon Drive between the hours of 4 and 6pm.

in Portola, CA, it's illegal to fish from an overpass and carry a fish into a bar.

in Prunedale, CA, it's illegal to install 2 bathtubs in the same house.

in Redlands, CA, it's illegal for a golf cart to drive down city streets without a man with a lantern proceeding it.

in Riverside, CA, it's illegal to carry one's lunch down a street between 11AM and 1PM.

in San Diego, CA, it's illegal to shoot jackrabbits from the back of a moving streetcar and homeowners who keep Christmas lights on their home past February can be fined $200.

in San Francisco, CA it's illegal to pile horse manure on a street corner more than 6 feet high, to walk an elephant down Market Street without being on a leash, and to tie your camel to a telephone pole.

in Santa Monica, CA, it's illegal to play percussion instruments on the beach.

in Shasta Lake, CA, it's illegal to raffle off your dog as a gift.

in Thousand Oaks, CA, before a business can put a going-out-of-business sale sign in their window, they must obtain a special city permit.

in Walnut, CA, children can't wear Halloween masks without obtaining permission and a permit from the Sheriff and men can't dress as women unless they obtain a permit from the Sheriff

Vote Yes on Prop 8!

Check out THIS video....

Protect the Family.  Vote YES on Prop 8!  

Get out and vote!

Wild West FHE

Have you ever had one of those family home evenings that have just knocked your socks off? Well we just did. Thanks to Trish and Bryce...although this one wasn't so much family (all the kids went with Trish to play games) and we definately weren't at home (in the desert)...but I guess it qualified as evening! So just 'E' then...

We went "shooting" with some other fun couples. I put shooting in quotes because everyone out here is always talking about going out shooting...and I had yet to understand what that even meant.

So here I was, out "shooting" and I was pretty nervous cuz I had never held a gun. So the guys got things organized, gave us a lesson on gun safety, gave us ear plugs and said..."ok girls, who's first?" Erica and I stepped up and what did Bryce bring out first? I think they said it was a semi-automatic 9mm.

Yikes! I am not sure this is it...but it kinda looked like this:

Really, gonna start me off small then are we? Lol, to say the least, it was intimidating. Not sure I hit anything...pretty sure I didn't (the wind was blowing sand in my eyes...Cookie even asked me if I was closing my eyes...which I guess I was, but not because I was scared, cuz I had sand in them...well maybe sand and fear, whatever). I couldn't tell if I hit the target, at least not with this one...I kinda just wanted to shoot it and get it over with. Sad, right? It felt very Jack Bauer, way to big and powerful for a newbie, in my hands.

See, he can rock that look...not me so much. I probably looked more like a deer in headlights! After that biggie...I got some goggles so that I could actually see (and not tear up from the pile of sand in my eyes). That helped a lot. I also shot 3 revolvers and a semi automatic .22 (which was my favorite, a more delicate, I hesitate to say, even girly gun). I think I even probably hit the target with that one! By the end of the night I had gone from somewhat petrified to comfortable to having fun! Way to go Bryce!

I am not sure that I am going to run right out to buy one, but I am at least feeling a little more comfortable. Maybe someday, but probably this will come first:

Cindy said that she was a little sad that she missed the boat to be the first one to take me out shooting. Ah, but Cindy, there are so many guns and so little time....I promised her she could take me out with rifles...never done that either.

For this sweet little mormon girl there are plenty of 'firsts' to go around (I would like to add that I mean 'wholesome recreational activities' firsts). Also never ice skated, skiied, snow boarded, water skiied, deep sea anything, rock climbed...oh, and the list goes on and on....

So my adventerous friends bring it on...bring it on.

You might have created a monster. Muh-ha-ha-ha-ha!

Ok, probably not, I am still scared of everything ;) but thanks for trying!

I almost got kicked out of a baby shower....

Ok, that's totally not true. The mommy to be was very gracious and put up with us....

Let me back up. So on saturday morning I went to a baby shower for my friend Amanda. She is expecting her second baby, this time a boy. The shower was at her mom's house and of course the food was spectacular, the decorations adorable, and the games - lots of fun!

That being said...I was sitting at the same table as Marianne, Jessica and Eileen. Well, if you include me in that bunch then you have the whole RS presidency. We usually don't all get together unless it is for a meeting and so we were just having sooo much fun laughing and talking (and not even about our callings!). Well, needless to say, as the poor mother to be was opening her presents we kept chatting and laughing. Each time we broke out in laughter the rest of the shower turned to see what you so dang funny. We just couldn't help ourselves! We hardly ever just get to get together and just talk and laugh and have fun.

Afterwards we all felt so bad. Jessica apologized to Amanda for us who replied "I was just wishing I could've sat with you...It sounded like fun! You guys don't get out much do you!"

Lol, It's true...we don't! What fun!

Ok - here is my blog lifting for the day. I took these from my friends page http://www.ecakes.blogspot.com/ so that you could see how cute the baby shower cake was....it was adorable! Super fantastic job Erin!!!!

Oh my gosh!!! Can you believe how cute this is??? Me neither!!!

I-10 Speedway in Blythe

This past saturday we took the family to the I-10 speedway to watch the "races". It was actually not as red-necked as I had orginally suspected and fun to watch. My oldest declared that he "likes the crashes the best". There was a crisp breeze and it was chilly but all in all I think everyone had fun.

Colton, Cannon and Cali even got to take a ride around the track in one of the cars. Fun, fun. I didn't bring my camera...cuz I am THAT mom. Oh well, maybe next time.

Here is the info on the track for those of you that aren't "lifer Blythers".

The Lucas Oil I-10 Speedway is located in Blythe, CA, where the I-10 Freeway and the Colorado River cross one another. Blythe is approximately 225 miles east of Los Angeles, CA, 160 miles west of Phoenix, AZ, 205 miles south of Las Vegas, and 105 miles north of Yuma, AZ. The I-10 Speedway is located on the Colorado River Fairgrounds.

And the winner is....

Because she was the first one to identify, well, herself, in my "I have a dream" blog post...

I hereby award Trish the prestigious

Congratulations Trish and please feel free to grab the pic and post it on your site to let the world know that you, Trish, have won this very important award.

And for those of you who didn't quite make the cut this time...check back for more opportunites to obtain a "BeautifulBarnards Blog Award" for yourself!

FREE Handbag? I'm in!

Enter to win a free handbag!

http://www.handbagplanet.com/

There are a few cute bags. Plus you get to choose which one you want to win! It's worth a try!

Plus if you post this in your blog and email them the link you get 25 extra chances to win ;)

Good Luck!

I have a Dream…

Ok, so I don't know if I 'have' a dream…but I did have a dream. Since it included one of my favorite blogger friends, I thought that I would enlighten you with my amusing and confusing dream:

So the scene starts with my family…

It was the beginning of a holiday weekend and we had decided as a family to go camping. We were excited and hurriedly getting our camping gear together – sleeping bags, tents, etc.; When all of a sudden The "Smith" Family drives up in their RV*. They ask us if we are going camping for the weekend. We tell them that we are and ask them the same. They say that they are and ask if we would like to join them. As we love to hang out with the Smith family we agree to join them.

*The last names have been changed to protect the innocent ;)

We load our stuff into compartments on the side of the RV and get on board (strange I thought…this RV is too little to have undercarriage storage compartments, isn't it?). Now to give you an image on what we saw when we boarded the RV I will give you two cinematic references…think Mary Poppin's bag meets Harry Potter's tent, rolled into an RV. As we get on the ordinary looking RV, we enter something that is unexpected and magnificent. The RV is quite a bit larger inside then it looks on the outside. It also has a very strange setup that is uncharacteristic of usual RVs.

The front half of the RV is more like a bus…one of those high end team buses used for away games. Comfortable chairs with personal screen TV's in the arms. There are about 10 rows of these. The children are delighted. The back of the vehicle looks like the high end, take up half a city block, costs ½ a mill, mobile home on wheels, grandiose RV. So for the purpose of this blog…we will now call the Bus/RV the Rus-V. As we piled into the Rus-V the kids were of course delighted by what they saw. We had them sit down (our 5 and their 2) in the Bus part and secure their seat belts. They were of course delighted to do so because, their seats, along with the personal TV's, came equipped with personal gaming systems that were interactive with other players on the bus. They were in seventh heaven.

The adults moved to the middle of the Rus-V and the Smiths rolled out a large map of the United States. Now, I knew that it was the United States because #1, it said so on the top, and #2, I recognized many state names from the map, but in the back of my mind as I looked at the map…something seemed inherently wrong with it. Why was Blythe located in the middle lower section of the US...and all of the other states seemed jumbled as well? At least jumbled from what I could remember of my elementary geography days. That was odd, but no one else seemed to see a problem with it so I thought I must be mistaken.

Mr. Smith…being the ever prepared, letter of the law, we must have a plan type that he is…detailed where we would be going on our camping trip (apparently they owned land in Colorado??? I didn't know that), how we would get there and flung out a chart of driving responsibilities and times. That again, seemed odd…how did he know that we would agree to the trip and did the route really take us from Blythe straight up through Nebraska up to Colorado?...that doesn't seem right.

Mrs. Smith in her, ever happy, optimistic, fun-loving, adventurous, annoyed that her husband can't just go with the flow tone, said "We don't need a chart for driving! If someone gets tired we will just trade off." She them turned to me and gave me an 'I can't believe that he made a chart' look of disapproval. I laughed.

Then my husband, in his accounting, must keep the cost down and watch the bottom line tone, agreed- that however Mr. Smith would like to organize it would be fine with him. He then whipped out a calculator (an unusually large one, I might add…when did he start carrying that thing around?) and started calculating mileage and asking questions like, "How many miles to a gallon does this thing get," and "if we take this route here (pointing to the map) that will minimize our total miles and lower our overhead". We girls looked at each other in disbelief. Silly boys we collectively thought.

So the plan was set…we decided that the route would take us one day to drive each way and we would stay three nights camping, fishing, hiking and whatever else we thought sounded like fun. (At this point in the dream…I wondered if this 5 day excursion really fit into our 3 day holiday…but I dismissed the notion as I did not want to be the wet blanket. Maybe time was like the Rus-V...small on the outside, but packed full???)

Then Aidan, my little two year old came over to me in the Rus-V and started tugging on my sleeve and whining that he needed to go potty. I told him to go ahead. He kept pulling on my sleeve and whining and that made me wonder how in the world a two year old could reach my sleeve, was he standing on something….

I woke up in bed to my two year old whining and pulling on my sleeve (see, because I was low on a bed, he could reach just fine). I realized that the whole Rus-V thing was a dream and took Aidan to the potty. Strange dream…but now at least all of the strange things made sense to me cuz my dreams are always exaggerated and strange, especially when I am pregnant! OK, I JUST NOTICED THAT MAKES IT SOUNDS LIKE I AM PREGNANT...I AM NOT! SORRY

________________________________________________

Can you name the ever cute, adventurous family from my story? Please, first names only. If you are the first one to name them then you will win a virtual prize. J See, aren't my dreams fun!

________________________________________________

Special Note: All characterizations are dramatized for the purpose of setting the scene of the larger than life dream and are made with a full love for the people that I have characterized. Their quirky natures make them dear to my heart and special people for who they are. We love them for their quirks not despite them.

FUNDRAISING AGAIN???

I am not a huge fan of fundraising, but I guess it is part of life. If you would like to support Andrew and Colton in their efforts for fundraising for grades 3-4-5 at their school then follow these instructions to support them! Thanks!

www.gafundraising.com/Landing.aspx

Then click, the yellow 'click here' button.

If you need the rest of the information like, school, city, state, zip, kids names, etc...email me

Have fun shopping. They actually do have some cute items.

Thanks for your support!

The Princess and the Cricket....a tragic tale.

Once upon a time in a little desert town lived a beautiful and talented princess name Rachel (hey, it's my story...I can exaggerate if I want to). One beautiful sweltering day princess Rachel woke up early and turned on the shower to get ready for work (in our fairy tale the princess works right now - think ultra modern fairy tale). As princess Rachel slipped into the shower for her royal cleansing and starting washing her hair she noticed something move out of the corner of her eye. There clinging to the wall was a wee little cricket.

Princess Rachel immediatly pointed the shower head at the little cricket and tried to send it down the drain. The cricket resisted but under the strain of the water pressure seemed to be crushed. It did not go down the drain but did indeed appear lifeless. The princess felt triumpant in her slaying of the cricket as the cricket clan had recently invaded her castle and the fierce battled raged on day after day.

Princess Rachel finished her shower and forgot all about the little cricket....

...until... the next day as Princess Rachel started her morning ritual, she again noticed a movement out of the corner of her eye. There again, clinging to the wall was the wee little cricket. Princess Rachel felt the strange feeling of pride well up in her chest. And although this little cricket was her sworn enemy she couldn't help but feel that the cricket had a strength not characteristic of it's clan. You see, usually the cricket clan would jump and flee from the slightest danger unless they were formulating a suicide jump attack. And so, Princess Rachel decided to spare the life of this brave little cricket but requested a truse:

"Now cricket, I am not bothering you, and I promise not to hurt you if you promise to stay just where you are and NOT jump on me."

The wee cricket looked at the fair princess and it seemed to her that an agreement had passed between them in their gaze.

Princess Rachel continued her shower without incident and gave the cricket an 'attaboy' as she left.

The next day, as princess Rachel reached in the shower to turn on the water for her shower she eyed the corners for a sign of her wee little shower companion...but to her dismay she saw his fragile little body floating near the drain; now I say dismay but really a sense of relief came as well - it is a creepy little cricket afterall.

And so this fairy tale does not end in "and everyone lived happily ever after", for the cricket died and the remaining cricket clan continues to invade the castle.

So, is there a moral to this story?

If perchance you meet a cricket in the shower...

... get your husband to kill it and dispose of the body before you shower....cuz its just going to die anyway, and that makes one less nasty bug to worry about!

The End

Like, look at my wordle!

There is this cool site that I read about on karlenn's blog called wordle.net, and you put in the URL code of your blog, and it scans it and then makes this cool collage of the words you use the very most in your blog. The words you use the most are the biggest.

















I didn't know that I was 'like' such a valley girl! or that I talk about books that much...but I think my last post is the culprit!

Very cool website. Thanks Kar!

I've got my copy!

So I don't know how long we will be in Blythe, but I find it to be a pretty interesting place. Now that I work at PVC I am finding it to be even more interesting (you can interpret that how ever you want).

Anyways, I got an email announcing a book signing here at the PVC library. A local author wrote a book about the Blythe Airport and I thought that since I had gone on a preschool field trip to the airport with the kids, and also since we don't know how long we would live here in Blythe...that it would make for a great momento of our time here. So I went over, bought a copy and had it signed to the kids. I hope they like it!

Here are the details about the book:

Palo Verde College library hosting book signing for local author Palo Verde College’s Harry A. Faull Library is hosting a book sale and signing next Tuesday from 3 to 7 p.m. for local author Art Wilson. The public is invited to attend, and light refreshments will be served.The library is located on the second floor of the John O. Crain College Services building at the main campus in Blythe.During World War II, Blythe’s airport and the surrounding desert areas on both sides of the Colorado River became an important training area for the airmen who would fly bombing missions in Europe and the ground troops who fought with General George S. Patton, Jr., in Africa and Europe.The history of that period is captured in a new book, “Runways in the Sand: The History of Blythe Army Air Base in World War II,” which took Wilson eight years to complete. It is a well-written, easy-to-read book that includes photographs and personal recollections of the men and women who endured primitive facilities and the harsh climate to work and train at a US army airbase built in a few months on a desert mesa west of Blythe.The book will hold special interest for aviation buffs and anyone interested in learning more of Blythe’s history.Wilson said he first became interested in Blythe Airport while his wife was doing some volunteer work at the Palo Verde Historical Museum. His attention was drawn to a sign-up sheet in the veterans’ section which included names of individuals who served in the 34th Bomb Group, which trained at the airport during a 16-month period in 1943-44.Wilson contacted one signer who had included an address and was rewarded with a membership roster of the 34th Bomb Group organization. Wilson then mailed a questionnaire to individuals on the roster and received “a big response, including letters, pictures and poems” written by members.

Tagged?

Ok, so I read a post from my friend Karlenn and she openly tagged anyone reading the post...so I am going to give this whole tagged thing a try.

The tag was to post SEVEN quirks. So, here I go:

1. I hate it when the kids rooms are a mess and I beg and plead and yell (I'm working on that one) for them to get it clean and they are doing sooo much better......BUT I am a complete hypocrite because my room is ALWAYS a disaster area! Shame on me!

2. I (like Kar) don't really like chocolate. I too would choose 'fruity' candy over chocolate. Here are my exceptions to the 'don't like chocolate' rule: brownies (but they can't be too rich), hot chocolate, rocky road ice cream. I know, random!

3. I have to move emails out of my inbox after I have read them at work. I like to see the new emails as they come in and know that they are new and that there is nothing I need to do with the old emails. If there is some action I need to take I flag the email but still move it out of my inbox to one of the many, many subfolders (33 so far, I am sure there will be more...I just create a new one if the email does not 'fit' into any of the created folders).

4. I am cheap. Really cheap. I will not buy a box of cereal if it costs more than two dollars (my best buy thus far has been 50 cents a box, with 10 for 10 and coupons). My husband and I have a little competition where we try to make sure that our savings (at albertsons, the only grocery store) is greater than the amount that we spent. So far our record is: Spent $40, Saved $120!!!

5. This kind of goes along with the cheap one but kind of not cuz usually I will splurge on technology....but I haven't gotten a blue tooth for my cell phone and now that it is against the law to drive and hold your cell phone - I put my phone on speaker phone and nestle it in my cleavage to hold it close to my face. I can hear it great and they can hear me great too! Sooooo strange!

6. I am currently a student. I am insane. I must do well or I might die. This has not always been the case. I guess I always gave myself an excuse before I got married. Don't get me wrong, I have always had at least a 3.4, but now it is A's or nothing. I have gotten B's since being married and it crushes me. I worry, worry, worry about my classes and study, study, study myself to death and then when I get an A I can breath.

7. I sing all the time. Admittedly, I have decided to live my life as a musical. I sing in the car, the shower, when I am nervous, while I do dishes...I make up songs, I sing silly songs...I even made up a rap once at youth conference. Most people think I sing well, but I am envious of those (like others in my family) that are amazing singers. I wish that I was an amazing singer and in a way I guess all of my solitary singing is really just a way of practicing because I want to be a better vocalist. I would like to note though that Altos don't get their due props...and thank heavens that lds.org lets you transpose the hymns. Once I realized that I also realized that I don't have to be the harmony...I can belt out hymn in melody in MY range. Way to go lds.org, way to go.

Alright....how did I do? This was my first ever "tag" and I actually had fun blogging about it. So, since I do not have very many of you on my blog list, if you are reading this then - YOU ARE TAGGED!

ATTACK!!! - 2

They caught a tarntula at work today. My first thought was something akin to this! The guys asked me if I wanted to come and hold it. I told them that I acutally had ZERO desire to hold a tarantula. They insisted that I at least come and look at it.

I told them I would come and see it. When they opened the box it was just sitting there, larger than life, staring at me with its many eyes.
It looked something like this.

They asked again if I wanted to hold it and assured me that it was safe and wouldn't hurt me. One of the boys was letting it walk from hand to hand like a little spider treadmill. So I trust my hand into the mix and it walked across. It was soft and spooky. It still gives me the heepy-geepies...but at least now when my kids read this, they will know that MOM HELD A TARANTULA!