Ch Ch Ch Changes....

Jordan and Lexi are moving this week to Frisco - to an apartment.  They have lived with us for just over a year and now they're leaving.  This change will be difficult for us.  I have loved having them here - loved watching them grow as a family, watched Emerson be born and grow into this sweet little baby boy - yes, this move will be very difficult.
Alana was released as 2nd counselor in the Relief Society and a new counselor was called three weeks ago.  This change is for Alana - she was needing to be with her children during this very difficult time, but the change has been a little difficult for me to adjust to.  I miss her.
Byleigh quit at work and we hired a new receptionist named Mary.  We are also expanding from only two chairs to four chairs and have hired another assistant named Blanca.  She starts in two weeks.  In the meantime, we have had several different temps in the office and over 20 people coming in for interviews.  The changes are leaving me a little unsettled, like we're starting over in the office.  But I'm confident we will do okay.
We had a garage sale this past weekend - I sold a lot of things that we have had for like 30 years, including some of our knick knacks and our furniture because this week, we have new furniture arriving. I have redone most of the rooms in the house, and after Jordan's move this weekend, I will finish the two rooms they are occupying and the living room.
A final change. - We will then be empty nestor's with all new things and my house finally decorated and finished the way I have been hoping for years to have.
That will be enough changes for awhile.
Then I will hope to have things become a new normal for us...settled.
No more ch ch ch changes.

Eight Months Old

He's beautiful....I just can't express how in love with him I am.
He looks just like Jordan did.
Almost exactly.

Making Himself at Home

Emerson is mobile - he has been for a little over a month - Crawls around like a little spider.  And he's fast!!  He feels such liberties now as he goes from room to room and follows everyone around the house.  The cutest is when he crawls under the kitchen table and through the chairs and underneath the end tables.  He loves to crawl to Papa's office just to see who might be in there.
But his most recent favorite spot is...the kitchen.  I showed him the tupperware cupboard where a whole new world has opened up to him.  He loves being able to pull things out and toss them all over the place.  He especially loves when I put everything back so that he can do it all over again - and again and again.  Love his little face when he checks to see if it's okay that he is emptying out the cupboard.
He's now just short of 9 months old.  He should be walking soon since he's already attempting to stand by himself.  He has three teeth now - and is trying to talk.  He wants to say words so badly - And his giggle?  Kills me - he also has this little husky laugh thing he does. - Kind of a deep Santa Claus chuckle - and he can do it on cue at my request.  LOVE it.  Needless to say, we are going to miss him terribly when he moves next weekend.

Adding Some 'Shabby Chic' to My Life

Jordan and Lexi will be moving out next weekend.  It has been just a few months in the making, but I knew that this day would be coming.  I have been wanting to decorate my home since the moment we got it over two years ago - but we've always had someone living with us to inhibit me from completing things.  But Jordan and Lexi will be the last to go.  So I have been redecorating a room at a time - starting 5 months ago with my little office off my bedroom.
After I got it all finished in how I liked it, I asked someone who I showed it to, what my style was.  I have never known what 'contemporary' or 'modern' or'classic' or all the other names, have ever meant.
I just put together what I like.  So when the words 'shabby chic' came out of her mouth, I asked her to define what that was...She pointed to the room and said 'THIS".
Shabby Chic.  After she told me what it was, I tried to describe it to Del - he didn't get it AT all.  In fact, he cannot comprehend why anyone would want to take a piece of furniture, beautifully made and crafted, and then distress it and make it look old and shabby - it just about sends him over the edge.
My little office was the first thing I finished.  Since then, I have been collecting items and having quilts made for my guest bedroom; or what is currently Emerson's nursery.  But nothing can be done until they are gone - so I started on the laundry room.  It's cute - I finished it last weekend, with Del's help. He cut up our old oak entertainment center and made a shorter table for me - then he made a shelf to hang clothes on from the dryer - pedestals for the washer and dryer and then I have cute things for the wall.  I like the whole affect.
The two pieces of furniture about, both used to be solid dark brown.  Lexi chalk painted them for me - one for the kitchen and one for the guest bedroom.  Del and I have purchased new furniture (couch and a love seat) for the living room, and they should be delivered next week also.  The last thing will be the kitchen table.  I have asked Del to make me a farm table - very country - very fun.  With one side having chairs, and the other side with a bench.  He about rolled his eyes out of their sockets when I first asked him.  He was hoping for a more formal dining set - something would really show off his furniture making skills - but I'm asking for a farm table.  Poor Del.
Without too much more detail...the house should be done by the end of November.  And I couldn't be happier.  And Del and I will be?  Empty Nesters.  Dare I say that outloud???  Could I hope any harder for it to be true??  Let me be the first to say though, we have LOVED having Jordan and Lexi live with us and watching our sweet grandson, Emerson, grow up right before our eyes.  But they are ready - and we are ready for life to move on.  They need their own place - we need our own place.
More pictures will follow as I start to finish the other rooms and everything gets put in it's place -
Can't wait.

Stirred My Soul to Tears

When we moved to Aubrey over two years ago, we met the Bishop, Trey Martino, his wife Patti and we became instant friends.  Over the years, we have had dinners here and there, done activities together, and just continued to enjoy spending some fun time together.  Trey and Del, especially, seem to have a bond or link of friendship/kinship for each other - mostly because Del is the one who replaced Trey as Bishop of our ward.

A few weeks ago, Trey called Del and invited us to join them for dinner and a play/musical.  I was hesitant to accept as it was the night of the BYU/Boise State football game and I really did want to stay home and watch it on tv.  But, we accepted and got all dressed up to go.  Upon arriving at their home, we immediately spent the first half hour just catching up with each others families etc...and then arrived at the restaurant - 'Hannah's' - another new place we had never heard of.  Because they are from Denton, they seem to know all the quaint little hide away places that are not well known to the general public.  This was a place we had never been.

Conversation was easy ..the four of us could talk forever and never bore of our stories and experiences - We ordered dinner, and when it arrived, I was pleasantly surprised to see how it looked - but even more so, how it tasted.  The best steak tenderloin I had ever had.  And rightly so, when Del told me later on that evening, that my plate had been priced at $33.00!!!

Then it was off to the theater...to see Les Miserables.  We had seen the movie over a year ago with some famous actors, but not really musicians.  It was only so/so and there were even a few parts that I remembered to be slightly 'inappropriate' for my liking.  I was a little nervous to see this, but Patti assured me that with local talent from the University and neighboring cities, they would probably not emphasize those parts.  And, my expectations really weren't that high for the whole performance - I mean, how good could local talent, non professional really be???

To say it was a performance I will not soon forget, would be an understatement.  The roles were sung by beautiful, talented artists.  They were good - I mean really good.  And I'm a music snob.  I like good voices, but I really appreciate a beautiful voice.

But it was when the male lead role of Jean Valjean sang his first note, I was spell bound.  I could not take my eyes or ears off the man.  What a voice - beyond beautiful - a tenor - floating. He was Broadway talent hiding in Denton Texas.  Not just in Denton Texas, but for heaven's sake, the man is a High School Teacher - a basic 'no-body unknown tenor goldmine' hiding in a Texas high school!!!

As the evening went on and he continued to perform, I was more and more impressed with the whole play, but near the end, when he sang a certain song, I cried.  I literally could not breathe, could not speak and I could not contain my tears.  My soul had truly been touched.

I won't say more, except when it was his turn to take the final bows, I cried still - and then I was afraid the cast would be in the foyer to greet guests as they left and I would run in to him and not be able to express my profound emotion of his performance.  I was glad to hurry out of the theater.

I haven't felt like that in years.  I was moved enough to even try and find out an address to the school where he teaches so I can send him a thank you note.  I have to.  I will.

Bliss Halloween Carnival

Every Year, my office joins with the neighboring offices, and we throw a Halloween Carnival for all of our family, patients and friends. This year, our office was..'The Bliss Witches', minus Becky, who had been in a car accident and couldn't be there.  But we had a lot of fun dressing up and handing out candy.
Of course, my main fun was seeing my grandchildren come - and not recognize me at first.  In fact, I put poor little Emerson into tears at first, until he heard my voice and realized it was his Nana.  The same with Madi - Preston came in, looked at me strangely, and then said - 'Oh, it's my Nana'.  Madi wouldn't even come in the door until I started talking to her - and even then, she stuck right with Papa and wouldn't let me hold her or touch her for about an hour.  She did NOT like her Nana being a green wicked witch -
Friday Night is Halloween and Mike and Kylie have invited us all to go out and go trick or treating with the kids.  More fun to come...

This Was a First - Jalepenos

Our one lone jalapeno plant produced an outrageous amount of very hot jalapenos.  To the point, that we couldn't give them away anymore, so we decided to pickle them - We had never done them before, but thought to ourselves..'they have them in the stores in bottles'...so...we did it.
It was a lot more involved than we thought it would be and we learned a few lessons on the way -
1-always wear gloves.
2-even when the gloves come off, don't touch your face or eyes.
3-step away every ten minutes - breathing the fumes from the peppers in harsh on your breathing.
4-canning them does NOT lessen the potency of the pepper - they're still very hot!!
5-jalapenos should not be consumed more than once a week - at the most.

A new experience - a new challenge.