Bloggy Love

It is like the doors of heaven are open and sprinkling down more and more love for my little blog. (Okay, so it's not a lot more, but it is more . . . . .even double!) I have received yet another award for this little spot on the internet and I received it from my friend Wendi at Because Wendi Said So. Thank you!

Isn't that just adorable!

This award came with rules: (We all know how well I stick to rules . . . let's give this a try)

1. The recipient must link back the the awards creator (http://www.thebabblingsofmere.blogspot.com/)
2. You must post these rules if you receive the award.
3. You must chose 5 people to receive the award after receiving it yourself
4. You must fit the characteristics of the recipient of the award, as posted by Mere.
5. You must post the characteristics of a recipient.
6. You must create a post sharing your win with others.
7. You must thank your giver.


Characteristics for the Smile Award:
1. Must display a cheerful attitude. (not necessarily at all times--we are all human)
2. Must love one another
3. Must make mistakes
4. Must learn from others
5. Must be a positive contributor to blog world
6. Must love life
7. Must love kids


(Did I even qualify to receive the Smile Award?) Regardless, I think I can come up with 5 great bloggers who do qualify for this award! These fabulous bloggers definitely deserve a SMILE Award!


1. Marivic @ Grumpy Angel.
2. Jill @ the Greenwood Runners
3. The Normal Mormon Husband @ Normal Mormon Husbands
4. Erin @ The Summerill Surf
5. Stacey @ The Davis Family


And finally, as a true symbol of appreciation I want to give this "very-limited, no-rules, just-because-I-can" award back to Wendi. Enjoy!!



Can you feel the Love flowing out from this blog? I practically have goosebumps - goose pimples - goose feathers~

Seas The Moment

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet."

Here at the house we are in discovery and debate mode as we try to name our boat. Jeff & I are not necessarily at odds about a name, but we definitely haven't come to a joint conclusion. It kind of gives me flashbacks to naming our children. Poor Josh didn't have a name for a week. Jeff even created a spreadsheet with all possible name combinations for us to consider. In an effort to avoid the long spreadsheet method of naming something I thought I'd throw out some ideas and have you all vote. Keep in mind that our vote can single-handedly over rule the majority vote. This is NOT a democracy . . .

Our previous boat was named by Jeff's Dad it was called: The Ambiance

Our current boat is named: The Peggy Sue (see why we're changing that?)

Other boat name options have included:

The Wendy Lynn

The Halcyon

Island Girl

Chirrosis of the River

The Vesper

Sea Esta

Miss My Money

Tippy Kanu

Kids Kollege

His Sea Fit

So . . Have you got an opinion on the name of our boat? Vote on the side - or if you have another suggestion, leave me a comment.

Vanilla Life

Something's been nagging me for over a week and today I think I may have reconciled myself to it.

Last week while I sat in my last LO class, all alone, with just the instructor, forced to sit on the front row (imagine my supreme JOY!) I was referenced as having a Vanilla Life.

The instructor placed heavy emphasis on the necessity of me disclosing ANY previous issues I've had with the law. Have I murdered anyone? Have I been drug trafficking? Am I a notorious embezzler? Have I ever had a speeding ticket? I kept reassuring him that there was nothing in my past that would hold up me getting this license. Finally, he gave up the interrogation and said that I must have a "Vanilla Life".

I pouted. All of a sudden I wanted to run out and commit a crime -- maybe even go 10 miles over the speed limit on the way home!! I was kinda hurt by his comment about my life. I have stewed and stewed over it for a week -- surely I am more interesting than Vanilla!

And then today, I finished reading a fairly good book called "A Lantern In Her Hand". And in the following lines from the book -- I finally found my peace:

"Is childbirth narrow, Grace? Or marriage? Or death? When you've experienced all those things, Grace, the spirit has traveled although the body has been confined. I think travel is a rare privilege and I'm glad you can have it. But not everyone who stays at home is narrow and not everyone who travels is broad. I think if you can understand humanity . . can sympathize with every creature . . can put yourself into the personality of every one . . you're not narrow . you're broad"

I agree, I'm not very exciting. I'm not well travelled. I haven't even given birth as the quote references. But I have had my share of dealing with humanity, of choosing to show compassion when it's been the hardest. I find great personal joy and satisfaction in getting to know others and see things from their point of view. I have found myself in more "unusual" and difficult circumstances than I care to recount.

I may never be Tutti-Frutti or Rainbow Sherbet ~ but I am more than Just Vanilla!!

I Survived!

Yes! I made it through the inaugural trip in our new (new-to-us) boat. The new boat sounded all wrong compared to our old one, I was convinced we would sink, I nearly side-swiped another trailer when parking our new one, I had white-hot knuckles clenched around Emma's life jacket -- but we came away SAFE!

I took a couple photos to prove it was OK:

Okay, so they're all photos of our swim suits, but I was busy trying to focus on concrete, solid items that were dear to me! Anyone want to take a stab at whose swimsuit is whose?

I Have PMS

No, no . . .not PMS like you think. Here at our house PMS is short for "Paranoid Mommy Syndrome". It's common knowledge that I freak out about . . . everything. I'm constantly worried about the safety of my family. And lately it's gotten worse.

Maybe it's all the t.v and news that I've been watching. Where are all the decent stories where people are good and kind and things go great? Instead I feel deluged by stories like:

• Woman ran through with tree branch while riding on an ATV
• Child drowns in Sugarhouse park pond
• Child left in hot car while dad goes to see new Batman movie
• Sad, sad acccident at Bear Lake (don't ask about the details - it's heartbreaking!)

And that's barely the tip of the iceberg it seems! I can't see the forest for the trees this morning - and to top it all off Jeff wants to take the boat out tomorrow . . . . to Jordanelle . . . where someone drowned last weekend!

Pass me a valium.

Foto Flashback

Here's a flashback to my morning, which we spent at "This Is The Place Heritage Park." It seemed an appropriate place to go considering today is Pioneer Day. (Here in Utah we celebrate the day that the first pioneers came into the valley).

The kids are punching leather in the photo above. They are doing it on some incredible granite slabs.

Ethan getting a shave at the 'local' barber

They all participated in a watermelon eating contest -- but here's a photo of Josh going at it.

All in all -- it was hot, crowded, and fun. We didn't stay for the parade where you dress up in hot pioneer clothes and pull handcarts down mainstreet. I'll leave that kind of thing to the youth in our stake who are currently pulling carts for 5 days over the same path the original pioneers did.

It's My First . . . . . AWARD!

Well, I have a new bloggy friend . . . . and she even gave me an award! It's my first, so I'm particularly proud of it:

My thanks to Jeanette at Strong & Immovable for giving me this award. Jeanette and I "hooked up" on my favorite site: Goodreads.com where I love to share the books I've read. (I've been on a book reading moratorium, however, while I've studied for my test and now I'm FREE to read again --Yay!)

Anyway, Jeanette is adorable for stalking my blog and for hosting her own great blog where she celebrates LDS values. Thank You!

As for the passing on of this award -- I have selected a few local friends whose blogs I love to visit.

1. Kim @ The Shaw's RollerCoaster Life. Kim and I met in a very unusual way, but may as well be sisters at this point.

2. Melanie @ Miss Mel's. Melanie is about to become a teacher and has an adorable blogpage that needs to be updated . . .so maybe this will help

3. Peggy @ Peg-A-Leg. Peggy is amazing and I really appreciate her latest post about Tiger's Blood slushies -- YUM!

4. Kellie @ The Mellot Page. You just have to check out Kellie's garden pictures -- they are amazing, plus she is going to machine quilt my hideous quilt top sometime soon. I'm so excited to get this project done.

5. Tammy @ Merryweathermama. This is more of a test to make sure she's still talking to me after the whole temple trip thing and the Disneyland gift -- This could be awkward . . . . Just kidding, Tammy is awesome and has some amazing photos on her website too.

All of these ladies are neighbors and great friends who deserve much more than this award . . .but it's all I've got at the moment.

Ladies - Here are the rules for receiving this award:

1. Post the logo on your blog.
2. Add a link to the person who nominated you.
3. Nominate 7 other people for this award and add links to their blog. (Clearly I didn't follow the instructions explicitly)
4. Leave a message for the people that you nominated!

Congrats and Thanks again to Jeanette!

Officer Wendy

It's official! Today I passed my last big test and I'm an official LO (that's a Loan Officer, people).


I have proven myself worthy to use phrases like, "In Lieu of". I have proven that I can incorporate fairly lame acronyms into my vocabulary. I have proven that you can pass a test even if most of the questions have spelling errors on them (HUGE pet peeve!).


So. . . The Welcome Sign is out -- who would like to sign up for a mortgage loan?


"Anyone? Anyone?"


"What?"


"There's a problem in the mortgage loan industry? No one qualifies for a loan? The housing market is in trouble?"


"Then why the @%(&! did I spend my time and money becoming a Loan Officer?"


Oh, that's right . . . . cuz I want you all to start calling me Officer Wendy!

Bio

I'm agonizing over the necessary writing of a bio for myself. I have thought of a lot of torturous events that would be better than actually writing a few qualifying paragraphs about myself. I could never be in marketing, and definitely not in marketing myself.


The things I think they want to hear about me (I'm responsible, I won't ruin your program, I'm not a druggie) are not nearly as cool as the things I WANT to tell them. Stuff like:

• I am dedicated to success: I have 5 GOLD stars (meaning 100%) on 4 songs from Guitar Hero III -- on the medium setting! Woohoo! I can play a fairly decent "Hit Me With Your Best Shot", "My Name is Jonas", " Miss Murder" and "Story of My Life".


• I am money conscious: I find complete joy in purchasing a box of Kraft Pasta Salad; normally priced $1.99 for $.29. I love the challenge of finding a good deal!


• I am realistic: I can tell you politely and with a (huge) smile on my face when your idea to have all the kids in the city hand whittle & carve a wooden shoe is a BAD idea!


• I am knowledgeable: I can tell you about every episode of Little House on the Prairie after only seeing the first few minutes of it. (What is it about Michael Landon getting teary-eyed that makes me cry like a freakin' baby?)

In the end, I'm going to end up with a bio that will bore some poor soul to death. Wonder if they'd like me to reference my blog on the bio just so they can see the "real" me?

Foto Flashback

And thus the California log was ended . . . . .

And they lived Happily Ever After!