Halloween Recap

Rachel Ray may be the queen of 30 minute meals, but I am the queen of 30 second costumes. Don't be jealous. We all get to be the queen of something. I think my Chiefs Football Player costume was even quicker than the year I pinned my red bandanna to the back of my shirt and went as Super Girl. Looking at myself in this picture, I kind of resemble the run away bride girl in the news... anyone remember her??? She smiles too big too. Well, maybe next year. So Halloween was not my favorite day this year, but since blogs are mostly for happiness and butterflies, I won't go into that and instead I'll tell you what I liked about it.

#1 I got to hear the Ghostbusters theme song on the radio.

#2 I got to see people from church dressed in jeans... that's always fun. (Except for my Bishop, who still wore a suit... maybe he was Clark Kent or something??)

#3 While dressed as a Chiefs Football Player, I came across a baby dressed as a Broncos Cheerleader and I got to brag, "We beat you, we beat you!" Who cares that she probably thought I was saying, "Oh look at you... googly goo." The rivalry lives on!

Happy Halloween

a HALLOWEEN message from my mom that I loved too much not to share
hope everyone gets more good candy than lame raisins this year

Hair Drama

More like hair trauma, because that's what it caused me. I'm not lying. This is literally what a licensed hair professional did to me the other day. You can tell I'm really thrilled about it too. Thankfully it's close to Halloween, so not too many people pointed and laughed as I held my head down in shame and made a run for my car.

Who doesn't love Bon Jovi, but nobody wants to be his identical hair twin. Maybe in 1985, but not now and definitely not two weeks before they film a movie.
If only I could explain the horrors I had to go through to end up with this lovely do. The story includes holding the hair dryer above my head for 20 minutes, as it was broken and she didn't want it to burn me and also having my face smothered by an overly large woman's breasts while she rinsed my hair.

Yes, I paid for these bleach spots. I even said thank you and tipped... then I cried on the way home. I was in shock. I mean, was I getting punked? The moral of this hair story is, if they are charging $40 less than the going rate there is a reason why. Run the other way fast!

No Day But Today

There have been two days in my life where upon waking I've received news that immediately

brought me to tears.

The first was September 11, 2001. I'm sure I'm not alone there.

The second was October 25, 2006 when my husband gently shook me awake and said, "Lil you need to call your family. Your dad had a stroke."

I never want to feel like I felt on either of those days ever again.

On September 11th, I was hurting for the nation,

grieving for all those who lost loved ones, but mostly

I was worried about my sister.

I knew she lived on the same block as the towers and for hours

we were unable to get ahold of her. I was so frustrated I couldn't be there with her.

If she was going to have to experience this first hand, then she

should at least get to have her big sister with her.

On October 25th, I was completely in denial.

My Dad couldn't have a stroke.

He was only 56, in good shape, no high blood pressure. He's pretty easy going and he'd just run a marathon three weeks before. He doesn't smoke, he doesn't drink. He fell into NONE of the"at risk" categories and this was NOT FAIR!

Both experiences really taught me mortal life is short. Sometimes we don't even know how short. Each day we get to live on this beautiful planet is a giftand the most important thing we can do with that gift is make sure we are doing what we need to do

to be with our FAMILIES FOREVER.

To my Dad and Sister: Sorry for bringing up some unhappy anniversaries.

On both of these days, I'm grateful for my prayers that were answered.

I'm grateful you both take care of your bodies, Jessica, so you could walk out

of the dust and debri barefoot and in your pajammas and get to safety and

Dad, so you could heal so quickly and completely.

I'm also grateful you are both so funny and made these experiences

easier for US to get through. Yes Jessica,

surviving a terrorist attack should mean you get free cookies everywhere you go

and No Dad, we probably won't stop referring to you as Strokey the Bear.

I'm glad you're both still here.

Love Lil

Go Jen

This August my roommate Jen got married. Which roomate Jen you ask, afterall I had three of them. The tall one? They were all tall. The blonde one? Two of them had blonde hair. The one in the picture? Ding, ding, ding... that is correct. She was married to this guy (look down) whose name is Abraham, as in Father or Lincoln, take your pick. They got married in the DC Temple, but luckily for me had an open house in Salt Lake City.

So we quickly caught up in the small amount of time you actually have to talk to people at these things. Besides getting married, she's a civilian journalist that works for the army, she just got back from her honeymoon in Hawaii the day they had this party and she is a first time homeowner. She also eats fruit with Hershey's Chocolate Syrup. Which I think is a grand idea. Who has time for messy fondue machines anyway.

Catch Up

I'm still playing catch up from when my computer was on the fritz. I already did one post about my brother Luke's visit, but I thought I'd share a couple more pictures and stories with you. First up is Luke randomly deciding to climb the mountain behind my apartment. When I say behind, I mean WAY behind. I live on 300 East and the mountain starts at about 4500 East. That didn't stop Luke. He just walked straight up 3300 South, bought some water at a gas station he passed along the way and then climbed right up the mountain. I asked him why, because I could think of many other things I'd like to do on a hot August day and he said, "I live in Missouri, so mountains are cool." That's true. Mountains are cool and sometimes I forget. By the way, it took about six hours, the way up was easier than the way down and he only came across one rattlesnake. Just one!



It was so hot, we decided to head up to Bear Lake and cool off. We packed our swimming suits and everything. On our drive up, a huge storm began swirling around. The winds picked up before the rain, so at one point we were blinded by a huge dust storm, but then the rains poured and settled down the dirt. If I learned one thing at Utah State it's if it is raining in Logan, it's snowing up at Bear Lake. Good thing we packed sweatshirts along with our swimsuits.










The cold didn't keep us from enjoying some World Famous Bear Lake Raspberry shakes. That's right. I said World Famous! If you don't know about them, you need to get off your computer and get out more. I promise they are worth the trip.








I included this picture of the menu at the Bear Lake Pizza place, because of the last item on the menu. The Little Bear for $6.49. Not only did I do a double take, because it looks like my name Lillith Bear, but whoever wrote it stole my handwriting. I mean honestly, that could be my signature.













We spent the night at our friends the Mills, whom we have kept in touch with since we lived in Laketown 27 years ago. Back then they were a family of 14, 12 kids and 2 parents. Now they are their own army, with too many grandkids to count. Luckily for us, they were having a reunion at the KOA, but since the weather turned bad, they were all cramming into their parents house for the night. Luke and I just sat back and watched the chaos that ensues when big families get together. It was a highlight of the trip, but the spectacle was too much and I forgot to take pictures.








The weather was a bit better the next day, so on the way down the canyon we stopped at Rick Springs for some pictures. If you're familiar with Logan Canyon at all, I'm sure you have some old pictures there yourself. I love Logan Canyon. It is truly one of my favorite places in the whole world. This trip was even better, because Luke was with me. Yay for the canyon, yay for family... oh and super yay for yummy raspberry shakes! The End.

Fall Colors

This isn't what I meant when I said I love the colors of the leaves in the fall. Don't get me wrong, their is always something magical about the first time you wake up in the morning and everything is covered in a blanket of snow, but I love the Autumn and I hope it stays with us a little longer.

Noodle commiserating with me Sunday morning before church.




Sunshine on my belly makes me happy. Not to fear, the sun came out and while it is still cold, warmer temps are on our way.

Jubilation!

Happy is what I am when I hear the Chiefs beat the Broncos. Jubilant is what I am when I hear they are building a temple in Kansas City. I know the whispers of excitement during conference were most likely for the announcement of the temple in Rome, but the loud exclamations in my home were ALL for the temple in K.C. I never had to travel three days by land and sea to get to a temple, but I have had to ride for 11 hours in an uncomfortable bus all the way to Dallas (the nearest temple when I was in Young Womens), so in a small way I felt the sheer joy that is felt when a temple is announced in your home. Even as recently as a few days ago, I was pondering moving back to Kansas City. I was going through the pros and cons and the thought crossed my mind it would be sad to live in a city with no temple. Problem solved. Could this be a gift just for me? Even if I never live there again, it will be so nice to have a temple to visit when I see my family. It will be such a great thing for Kansas City. Everyone will be blessed. Because it is in K.C. I feel as though I should have some say in the design. My number one vote is an old fashioned look, like the Logan Temple, which just happens to be my favorite temple. My number two vote is big and white and magical, like the San Diego or D.C. Temples. No matter what it looks like, I know it will be beautiful and sacred and a little extra special, because it's in my home.