An Accomplishment

I have wanted to read the Ensign cover to cover for a long time but never have. Well, I finished the July Ensign last night after reading it cover to cover. It was excellent and it felt great!

The Scrapbox, my new love

This can be moved to the top ob my wish list. I love, love, love them. The Scrapbox is amazing. We are selling them through my work now to help genealogists get organized. We had a focus group where the company brought one in and we told them what we like and didn't like about it and all the uses we can think of for it. My favorite part is that it really does fold up easy and looks like a beautiful cabinet for your home. Did I say I love it? I love it. I want at LEAST two in my home. I can use the mini scrapbox for mail, stamps, important papers etc. that need my attention, use it at my bill paying station or whatever. The big ones can be used for craft stuff and scrapbooking and then I would want one for our home office to keep extra supplies in, chargers, cords, cds, office supplies, etc. etc. etc. If you are a writer you can use one to store all of your research and data until it is complete and then move out the stuff and make room for your new project.

I would even settle for a big scrapbox and then a mini workbox. check it out. If you actually want to buy anything off the site, come to me and I can get you a better price!

Did I say I love them? I love them.

Wogging, Thanks Heather!

One of my awesome friends, Heather, coined a phrase for me the other day -- Wogging. Ya know, when you walk and jog. You see I am not a runner. The 5K I "ran" was comical at best. As much as I would like to be I have to face hard facts that when I say I am going to jog a mile, it just doesn't happen, let alone 3.2 miles. I always have high hopes to get out there and run the whole thing and when I don't I get discouraged.

Well, for some reason knowing the phrase of wogging helped me to put things into perspective tonight. I knew I was going wogging and not jogging and it felt good to go out there and do it :-) I jogged the straights and walked the circles of the track and I was so focused. I ran good. And I went over a mile and didn't just go the mile and I could have even went for more. When you take it in little pieces like that, things come into perspective and it seems more manageable.

The power of the mind is amazing isn't it.

*as a side note, Dusty and I were laughing at the numerous fast food places and restaurants that surround the track across the street. As you try to take a deep breath and run you can smell over 12 food places and see them directly across the street! It's the closest track to our house but we may have to scout out a new spot...

New idea for getting the low down from your kiddos

The standard question of “How did your day go?” or “What did you do today?” not surprisingly gets little response from kids and spouses alike so why do we keep asking the same old thing? One thing I have realized in my own life is that if I want different results, I need to try a different approach to whatever it is that I am trying to accomplish.

I read a cute article from the “Dream Team Disney” today that gave a fresh twist on how to really spark conversation with your family.

One family faced with the same old answers of “fine” or “nothing” began a game. The game is called What’s Hot and What’s Not. In essence the kids just related to this more on their level and began to take their responses seriously and gave a lot of thought to what they wanted to share about their lives and feelings. They said a couple of things that happened that day that was “hot” or good or cool or whatever and a couple of things that were “not” so hot or fun or cool. Like how one of the boy’s friends got into a fight at school and he felt stuck in the middle of his two friend's fight. Or how the little girl was really nervous to memorize and recite a poem for class…or whatever. Even the parents chip in and share with the kids the good things and bad things that happened in their day…within reason of course!

Instead of mom trying to pull teeth for conversation the family actually had things to talk about and it gave mom a much more rich view of their kids and their experiences. She says they play all of the time: in the car, home from Church, at dinner, on trips.

So, I am going to play too, even if no one else does :-)

What’s Hot? And What’s Not?

Today’s Hots:

I am in a good mood today even though I didn’t get much sleep

I took a walk and enjoyed the sunshine

I am looking forward for a long weekend (because of Pioneer Day here)

Today’s Not’s:

I forgot my lunch and I am starving

I just ate a candy bar for lunch…maybe on a different day that would be a Hot :-)

I have a few errands to run and don’t want to

What is your Hot and Not for the day? Do you think it sounds like something you will try out at home?

How do you break the news? You don't....

So Dusty and I took a trip to the book store and I wanted to look for a beginners do-it-yourself guide for home repairs or carpentry or something like that but I couldn't find the section in the store. I asked and the girl enthusiastically helped me on the computer look up some books. She asked me,

"So are you looking for like a dummies books like for beginners?"
"Sure. Yeah. Like a beginners book."

Well we kept getting no search results on the computer for books and she was getting SO frustrated. I however saw it....the search box she was typing in....

"Dumbies for carpentry"

How do you tell people they misspelled the word Dummies? You don't. But I sure did have a good laugh when I left.

Global sales

This was cool. Dusty's book is now being sold in Japan.

Niagara Falls

This has been the year of travel for Miss Amy and I have had a lot of fun....and it's been a LOT of work. I have been promising to post pictures of my travels to London and Scotland but there were over 500 pictures to sort through!! I finally did it but I will probably post them in a series because there are so many pictures....Anyway, here are some pictures from my trip to New York and Canada this year. It was AMAZING to be there at the falls. So peaceful, and just intimidating looking at all of that water and those waterfalls. The sound was awesome. I actually enjoyed being there by myself for the short couple of hours that I had. There is something about the atmosphere that makes you just sit back and take it all in and think.At night time some buildings from across the canyon shine lights on the falls and it looks like a H-U-G-E amazing, beautiful and crazy rainbow. The spot I was at in at the Falls was called Rainbow Bridge and this is the view at night...WOW!

You could tell I had never been there before because lots of people brought coats, winter coats, umbrellas, gloves, hates etc. The falls are so massive and it just gets you soaking wet in certain spots. By nightfall I was freezing!Here are a few pics of many. It was so much fun. And I must say that I was proud of myself. I was driving from New York to Canada with directions but I didn't exactly have directions to the Falls. Eventually I found signs and I stopped off at huge canyon but when I got out to look over the edge there was no falls and I serisouly thought maybe they turned them off for maintenance or soemthing because I really drove forever and thought I was there. I found someone and asked them and I had to drive down another 10 miles or so and found them.This was at the very mouth of the falls. I was actually a little nervous to get so close. I saw idiots sitting on the rails to take pictures and they could have EASILY fallen in and died. It was so neat from this view...

The area and city of the falls is beautiful! It is so calming and trendy yet small town feeling.... Downtown area is really neat but I didn't visit anything else except the falls and they was great enough for me. They had the most gorgeous park areas I have ever seen and I was missing Dusty and wishing we had a few days to camp there or something....one day :-)

Cookout Resources

So I was just informed I am planning a cookout in a few weeks for all of our employees and their families. This constitutes 75-100 people. I only have 2 weeks to try to squeeze planning in. Do you know of any tips and or resources online that can help me plan this thing? Or just personal experience or advice?

My Texas Cowboy

This is Dusty in one of his MANY photos dressed p in his cowboy gear. His mom said he went everywhere in it and everyone just was blown away at how cute he was. We still have that shirt and belt of his. The belt is leather and has his name "Dusty" burnt in the back of it. They are treasures to me. I think they are adorable!

Practining his daily roping skills

This is actually Dusty on George Strait night at one of the Houston Rodeo's. He got to take his picture on this bull. I am sure it was one of the highlights in his cowboy career....

And he wonders why I call him my cowboy. :-)

New Dress

This post is mostly for the girls because it's always exciting when you get a new dress and have LOTS of compliments on it. I love it when that happens, it like it justifies buying it somehow :-) Just kidding although I paid $30 and I ususally don't pay that much for one piece of clothing but dresses that cover everything and that are actually cute are hard to come by.

AND this is a first time in a long that I have looked in a picture and liked my hair. Yay for new hairstlyes. So far I don't have really any complaints about my hair. Melissa, are you next?! Charla?

It's Official! I feel like a fitness instructor :-)

Dusty and I have searched long and hard for equipment to get me started on my journey of fitness instructing. As you all know the first type of instructing I will do is Turbo Kick. It's funny how you end up where you started. I remember getting up at 6 am when all the "big kids" and mom and dad got up to go to school and work to watch, and sometimes do, Mousercise :-) and here I am full circle trying to work towards getting up at 5 or 6 am again to take and teach Turbo Kick. I am doing better with my practicing but as you all know I freak out a little....OK OK....I freak out a lot when I start something new like this and put so much pressure on myself. But, as Dusty reminded me today that one of the reasons that it is so much fun to do Turbo is the FUN Factor! I need to lighten up and just have a blast with it and as soon as I do that, I will do awesome!

It's lots to remember and it's lots to do, but this is what I want to do so I gotta just relax and know that this is my time to learn the ropes and before you know it I will be amaza-za-zing :-) Hopefully next time I come home to visit I can go somewhere to do a class with some of you guys. Maybe Makayla, Isaac and Jackson again. They did so good!

We have invested in some professional audio equipment for me and it's also things that we can use in our future band room and family room. We have already hooked up this AWESOME PA to our tv and watched Jurassic Park through it and it was so flippin clear and loud....and I STILL fell asleep during the loudest most exciting part. (I swear I have a sleeping disorder....) The sucker's volume was only on a 2 and you could feel the vibrations of the dinosaur's roar sitting on the couch. It's like having surround sound. The thing takes me like 10 mins 0r less to set up and when we want to we whip it out for a movie. I am also considering another way to make money off of the equipment but more on that later.

My mic is actually wireless so there is no cords or belt pack I have to wear and so far it is serving me well. It feels really good to have it on and get used to the sound of my voice cause I used to not like my voice on a mic. Now I just don't even think about what I am hearing so much because I am trying to teach a class!

...and the back of my hair because you haven't seen it curly yet....

Airlines Join Together.

Obviously the airlines are hurting from rising fuel costs as well but I felt good to see the airlines join together to use their power and influence to try and do something good for all of us. I received this letter from Delta and United Airlines.

Hello Mrs. Rhoads,

Our country is facing a possible sharp economic downturn because of skyrocketing oil and fuel prices, but by pulling together, we can all do something to help now. For airlines, ultra-expensive fuel means thousands of lost jobs and severe reductions in air service to both large and small communities. To the broader economy, oil prices mean slower activity and widespread economic pain. This pain can be alleviated, and that is why we are taking the extraordinary step of writing this joint letter to our customers. Since high oil prices are partly a response to normal market forces, the nation needs to focus on increased energy supplies and conservation. However, there is another side to this story because normal market forces are being dangerously amplified by poorly regulated market speculation. Twenty years ago, 21 percent of oil contracts were purchased by speculators who trade oil on paper with no intention of ever taking delivery. Today, oil speculators purchase 66 percent of all oil futures contracts, and that reflects just the transactions that are known. Speculators buy up large amounts of oil and then sell it to each other again and again. A barrel of oil may trade 20-plus times before it is delivered and used; the price goes up with each trade and consumers pick up the final tab. Some market experts estimate that current prices reflect as much as $30 to $60 per barrel in unnecessary speculative costs. Over seventy years ago, Congress established regulations to control excessive, largely unchecked market speculation and manipulation. However, over the past two decades, these regulatory limits have been weakened or removed. We believe that restoring and enforcing these limits, along with several other modest measures, will provide more disclosure, transparency and sound market oversight. Together, these reforms will help cool the over-heated oil market and permit the economy to prosper. The nation needs to pull together to reform the oil markets and solve this growing problem. We need your help. Get more information and contact Congress by visiting www.StopOilSpeculationNow.com.

	Richard Anderson CEO Delta Air Lines, Inc. Gerard J. Arpey Chairman, President and CEO American Airlines, Inc. Bill Ayer Chairman, President and CEO Alaska Airlines, Inc. Dave Barger CEO JetBlue Airways Corporation Mark B. Dunkerley President and CEO Hawaiian Airlines, Inc. Robert Fornaro Chairman, President and CEO AirTran Airways Timothy E. Hoeksema Chairman, President and CEO Midwest Airlines Lawrence W. Kellner Chairman and CEO Continental Airlines, Inc. Gary Kelly Chairman and CEO Southwest Airlines Co. Douglas Parker Chairman and CEO US Airways Group, Inc. Douglas M. Steenland President and CEO Northwest Airlines, Inc. Glenn F. Tilton Chairman, President and CEO United Airlines, Inc.

Guess what Makayla?

Hanna Montana was right down the street from me today doing a concert for the 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July everybody!

4th of July Food Ideas

Dessert Ideas

Picnic Food Ideas

Here are some Family Fun 4th of July dessert and picnic suggestions in case you are doing a get together tomorrow.

Short curly hair....

This is not a good picture but wanted to show you what it looked like the very first time I tried to curl my hair. I just scrunched it, didn't curl it any special way. I was in CA and I had to take a picture of myself. I am anxious to really have time to sit down and play with it to really see how I can fix it.

Turbo Kick w/ Chalene in the CA!

Well as most of you know I was off to California last week. I had another conference out in Burbank, CA and I was able to go down and take a Turbo Kick class with the Turbo Queen herself, Chalene. It was SO FUN! She is just as every bit of fun and energetic as I thought it would be and I learned so much of what being an awesome instructor is made of. The energy was insane in the room and everybody in class was feeling it. I felt so lucky to be able to go down and take a class from her. She was testing a new "routine" or Round on the class and that was a blast too. *Chalene is the creator of Turbo Kick, the kick boxing program I am certified in....*

After our TK class I got to take a hip hop class, Hip Hop Hustle. She created that program too. Wow. So much fun! It was my first hop hop class in a while and it left me wanting more :-) She is crazy good at hip hop too. Wow! What fun! I can't even describe to you how fun that was for me. It's crazy that the people in her home town just take 5-6 classes from her a week and it's just normal for them. That would be insane if she was just my regular teacher. They are lucky and I am lucky I got to go. After class she took some time to talk with me and take a picture with me. She was so kind and helpful. I asked her a few teaching questions etc. It was just a great experience and I can't believe I just got to go do it.

After those couple hours of working out I went down to Newport Beach to layout and walk up and down the beach. My mind was still going over and over what Chalene and I spoke about and I was thinking about our classes I had taken that morning and I just couldn't believe I was there on Newport Beach in CA after a couple of classes with Chalene. What a perfect day!


Me and Chalene after a couple hours of working out. Great fun!


Newport Beach


Newport Beach