Weekend in Rexburg

I just spent the most wonderful weekend in Rexburg, Idaho! A couple months ago, my college roommate Sunny sent out an email inviting friends and family to visit her for the Rexburg temple open house and the baby blessing of her new son Jack. My sister Beki and I jumped at the chance to visit. Despite the fact that there was loads of snow (including snow on the freeway all the way from Boise to Rexburg), we had a great time. We walked around the BYU-I campus, looked for good apartments close to campus for Beki, went sledding at Smith Park, and visited with Sunny and her family. Since we didn't get tickets for the Rexburg temple open house, we decided to try to get in standby. We bundled up, anticipating hours of waiting in a line outside in the cold to get into the temple, especially since we were going on the first day of the open house. We got to the temple at 7am, as that's when the tours started, and we were able to walk right in! The temple was absolutely beautiful, both inside and out! I don't think I could have asked for a better weekend. Thank you Barrus family!

Pay It Forward

In case you didn't know, I love blogging. One of my favorite parts is how I've been able to get back in touch with old friends. On Saturday, I had lunch with Val... we lost touch after high school, but have had fun catching back up with our blogs. Anyway, she gave me this beautiful tile plaque:

So here's how Pay It Forward works... Be one of the first three people to comment on this post, and you will receive a hand made gift from me :-) The only catch is that you have to pay it forward! Ready, set, go!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! I love Christmas time... I start planning and preparing months in advance, as I try to buy or make meaningful gifts for my family and friends. This year, I made books for my family members. I completed the books a couple of months ago, and have been so excited to present them - they turned out great! Thanks Lisa for telling me about Blurb :-) Also, as you can see in the picture, my parents gave me the rest of the Willow Tree nativity set. When I got home from opening gifts this morning, I immediately set up my wise men, shepherd, and animals. Isn't that one of the prettiest nativities you've ever seen?

Christmas Run

Beki and I ran in the annual YMCA Christmas Run on Saturday. Now I'm not much of a runner, but I really enjoy the Christmas Run. Basically, people just go to have fun. They dress up as presents, reindeer, Santa, etc. We didn't dress up this year, but did coordinate by wearing black and red :-) I've been a little under the weather lately (at least that's my excuse), so didn't run the entire 2.5 miles straight, but I did run most of it. My sweet sister jogged slowly next to me when I needed a "walking break".

I Had to Smile...

I have had several people drop goodies by my house this Christmas season... neighbors, the Young Women, ward members, etc. I have loved and appreciated everything. But tonight's visit really made me smile. The Young Men in my ward dropped by with a note and a basket of fruit, bread, candy, and nuts. They also gave me this gingerbread house:
When they dropped it off, I could tell that they were so proud of their house. It is made with real gingerbread (it smells great). They were very creative in their decorating - I think this is actually the back of the house. Anyway, I smile every time I look at it. Thanks for making my night :-)

Ward Christmas Party

A few weeks ago, I was called as Activities Director for my ward. I asked if Christmas was already taken care of - I was assured it was, and I accepted. As it turns out, the date/time had been decided, and they knew they wanted a breakfast, but that was about it. I have totally been stressing the last few weeks, trying to coordinate food, tables, decorations, Santa, service project, program, etc. for over 200 people. What a project! I'm lucky to have had some great help, but it was definitely still a lot of work. I was up bright & early this morning, as we started setting up around 7am (another ward had their party last night, so we couldn't set up until today). Anyway, the morning was a whirlwind, but I survived! And I think people even enjoyed themselves :-) The food was yummy, and Santa was great - he even brought toys to hand out to all the kids! I had to get my picture taken for my blog :-)

I also got to meet my niece Hailey in the midst of all the chaos this morning! I bought her this cute Christmas dress to wear in her Santa picture - she looked like such a doll! I can't wait to actually get to hold her and dote on her like an aunt should :-)

Christmas Countdown

I had to share a picture of this cute Christmas Countdown advent calendar I made during a class at a local scrapbooking store. There is a small, magnetic, metal tin for each day with a plastic insert on the lid. I decorated the tins with paper, brads, stickers, and ribbon. I actually gave this one away as a gift for my friend Kris and her two girls, but I think I'm going to have to make one for myself :-)

Thanks Cowan Family!

I had the best visitors tonight - my college roommate Jennie and her family came all the way from Switzerland to Boise just to visit me! Okay, maybe not just to visit me, but I was sure happy they decided to spend the evening with me! We had fun eating, catching up, reminiscing... it was great to see Jennie & Brent again and to meet Drew and Avery - they're adorable. They were busy watching Toy Story 2 when we took this picture:-) Anyway, thanks for the great night guys! I'm looking forward to coming to visit you in Switzerland next year some time!

Johnny the Bagger

My mom shared this video with me today. It touched me, so thought I'd post the link here to share with anyone who might visit. This video has inspired me to want to find small ways to brighten others' days. Enjoy!

Gingerbread Houses

My family has a fun tradition at Christmas time. Ever since I can remember, we've made Christmas gingerbread houses. When I was younger, we used to make one large gingerbread house as a family. At some point, each of us kids started making our own smaller houses. It has been tradition that on New Years, we would destroy them and eat whatever was edible. Anyway, I have the best mom. My mom no longer makes the gingerbread pieces just for her kids, but also for any friends we want to invite over. Tonight I invited my friend Kris and her two girls to make gingerbread houses with us. My brother also had a friend over. Next weekend, my sister has invited her entire lunch bunch (like 12 people) to make gingerbread houses. This is definitely a tradition I want to carry on with my own family one day. Anyway, here's a picture of my completed house!

I have a kink in my neck...

I have a trip planned with my little sister Beki to go to Rexburg. We have made all sorts of plans, including touring the BYU-I campus (where she hopes to go to school next year), doing some kind of fun snow activity (i.e. riding snow mobiles), seeing my friend Sunny's baby get blessed, and going to the Rexburg temple open house. I decided this evening that I wanted to see the hours for the temple open house so we could arrange our schedule. When I googled the open house, I noticed that you have to have tickets to attend (although it's free and open to the public). I tried to reserve tickets online, but it looks as if they are gone. So I decided to call the reservation line to tell them my sob story (trip planned, hotel booked) and see if they have any extras. I was immediately placed in a queue telling me to please hold - that all operators were busy. So I held, and continued to hold, and continued to hold. There was pretty music playing the entire time, and the message came on periodically telling me to continue holding - so that's what I did... hold. Since I was trying to be semi-productive during this time, I held the phone between my ear and shoulder. I totally wish I had called on my cell phone - it has speaker phone! Oh well, so after 2 hours I gave up. My neck is sore, and I decided I didn't know if there really were operators that were going to answer my call :-) Anyway, I'm totally bummed. I'm really hoping it works out that we'll get tickets. Does anyone have any extras???

Little Miss Hailey

Just another pic of little miss Hailey. So funny - I got an email from TJ yesterday with pictures of Hailey and "Grandma and Grandpa Nye". My first reaction was, "What? I didn't know Grandma and Grandpa Nye went up to visit Mandi & TJ!" It took me a little while to realize he was talking about my parents and not my grandparents! :-)

I Hate This Strike!

The Writer's Guild of America is on strike, and I have nothing to watch tonight! Ugh. I look forward to The Office every Thursday night, and all I have to watch is a rerun! "That's okay", I thought to myself, "I'll just watch Grey's Anatomy." It's a rerun too! Why couldn't the writers go on strike in the summer???

Fan at Four

It's not the greatest quality, but had to post this. I love how excited my nephew gets when he sees something that reminds him of Boise State! We start them young :-)

I'm an Aunt!

Welcome Hailey Nicole Harris! My newest little niece was born yesterday - look at that dark hair! Isn't she a cutie?! Just wanted to say congrats to Mandi and TJ. I can't wait to meet Hailey this Christmas!

Computers for Sale!

I bought a new toy tonight - a Macbook Pro :-) I'm pretty excited about my purchase. I got a great deal on this slightly used, 6 month old machine, and it is exactly what I wanted. I have fallen in love with macs, and with boot camp I get the best of the mac and windows worlds.

So needless to say, I have some computers for sale! I have decided to simplify and just keep the Macbook. I think I already have a buyer for my HP desktop, but if anyone is in the market for an older Dell laptop or a 20" iMac G5, let me know!

Invitation Blog

Okay, fellow bloggers. Check out how cool this is - the Christmas party committee in my office set up this blog to invite us to the party. What a great idea! I love it!

Empty Bowls

I decided yesterday that I'm starting a new tradition! There is this awesome program in Boise called Empty Bowls... People from around the community make bowls (ceramic, glass, metal) during the month of November and donate them to the Empty Bowls project. Then, the day after Thanksgiving, chefs from all over Boise donate soup, and community members can come purchase a bowl of soup starting at $10. One hundred percent of the proceeds benefit the Idaho Food Bank. Yesterday was the Empty Bowls 10th Anniversary - where have I been that I've never heard of this?

Anyway, after a fun game of racquetball yesterday morning, Emily and I stood in line, found the bowls we wanted, and then enjoyed some delicious soup. Next year I'd love to get a group of people together to make and donate bowls prior to the event... Just one more reason that I love Boise :-)

Here's a picture of the bowl I picked out - I love it! It's glazed red (or course) and natural stone.

Have you ever seen one of these???

Okay, I'm old enough to remember floppy disks for the computer... and I mean the 5 1/4 inch floppy ones before the small square hard ones. Today at work someone found this floppy with some old test scores on it - it's gotta be 8" square. Crazy! I just thought it was funny - if it had important information on it, I have no idea how we'd get it off!

7 Random Things About Me

I was tagged a week or so ago & am finally getting to posting. Here are seven random things about me :-)

1. I love listening to music, but I am absolutely horrible at identifying the artist of a song. I can pick out a few of my favorites (like Rascal Flatts), but beyond that, I can't for the life of me remember who sings what songs. I have had several people try to help me out on this one to no avail.

2. I can't help but to count panels on garage doors. I know, that's weird... But it bugs me when they aren't symmetrical. For example, garage doors with 4 or 6 panels don't bother me, or even with 3 panels as long as there are two doors. But there is this one house on McMillan near Maple Grove that has five panels. I hate that garage door!

3. I love everything red. My favorite piece of furniture in my house is my red sectional. I have a red leather jacket. I drool over those red upright washer and dryers. I just love red.

4. I hate when people don't wash their hands after using the restroom. I will literally be standing in a public restroom washing my hands and watch people walk straight from the stall out the door of the bathroom. Eeewwww! Come on people! Humor me and spend a few seconds to wash up! This is one of my biggest pet peeves.

5. I will never own a pet that sheds. Period.

6. I like my closet organized. The top rod holds all my t-shirts. They are in color order, except for my Boise State t-shirts, which are all together on the right side. The bottom rod holds my tank tops and nicer shirts that I can wear to work. All my tank tops are together on the left, with the rest of the shirts to the right in color order - purple, pink, red, orange, green, blue, gray, black, brown, white... in that order.

7. Videography is my secret passion. I love video taping and editing video on my mac. I have even considered starting a business one day. I don't spend nearly as much time as I would like doing this, so I'd better start practicing. Guess we'll see!

Rake up Boise

Did you know that I love Boise? :-) One activity that I enjoy participating in is Rake up Boise. This annual event benefits elderly citizens throughout the town as groups of volunteers spend the day raking their yards. I decided this year that I wanted to organize a team from Boise State Enrollment Services (Registrar, Admissions, Financial Aid, and Campus Community). Even though we ended up with a small team (it was game day so that made difficult to recruit), we had a great time and were able to spend a couple hours raking 2 yards. Thanks to my team - Jenny, Ryan, Madison, Kris, Chase, Sandy, and Mark!

How Does a Vandal Count to 10?

0 and 1
0 and 2
0 and 3
0 and 4
0 and 5
0 and 6
0 and 7
0 and 8
0 and 9
0 and 10

Just having a little fun before the big rivalry game with the U of I this weekend :-)

Free Rice

Want to improve your vocabulary while helping to end world hunger? Check out this site and get started! Can anyone else get their rice bowl to look at all full? I got to level 30 and there were still only a few grains in the bottom of the bowl! I found a site that says there are approximately 1000 grains in one cup of rice. So my 510 grains is just about 1/2 cup :-) Thanks Sally for sharing this site!

Oxygen Bar

I had one of the most interesting days! I am participating in a Shared Leadership program at Boise State. Part of the program is working with a mentor. I was excited to shadow my awesome mentor, Leah Barrett, for the day today. She is one busy lady! We went to a department head meeting from 10-11, a webinar on liability from 11-12, an informational meeting on the professional staff compensation project from 12:30-2, a one-on-one with a staff member from 2-2:30, a meeting with the ASBSU vice president from 3-3:30, and an ASBSU meeting from 4-5. Somewhere in between all that, we met with a student who needs a letter of recommendation, reviewed budgetary issues for one of her departments, discussed recent issues with several staff members, and even stopped by the oxygen bar sponsored by the student programs board. Have you ever heard of an oxygen bar? Well I hadn't, not until today anyway. It's kinda weird - they gave us each these hoses - we stuck one end up our nostrils, and plugged the other end into one of several flavored vials of oxygen. I tried the almond, lemongrass, and cherry. Supposedly different flavors should result in different effects (i.e. appetite suppressant, invigoration, etc.) From what I understand, there aren't any firm facts indicating that these actually work, but I still thought it was interesting! I didn't have my camera with me, so no picture of the hose up my nose :-)

All Jazzed Up

When I was in middle school, I attended my first jazz band concert. I don't think I had ever really been exposed to jazz music before that. I fell in love with the beat and rhythm of the music and was completely disappointed that the jazz band didn't have a flute - I wanted to be part of that! I still love to listen to jazz music, and jumped at the opportunity when I was offered free tickets to tonight's Gene Harris Jazz Festival Endowment Night. The night started out with some jazz numbers by local middle & high school students, followed by a couple of songs by the Boise State jazz band. For the main event, I had the privilege of listening to jazz singing legend Barbara Morrison, accompanied by Bill Anschell on the piano, Scott Reuser on the drums, Bill Ramsay on the saxaphone, and Jeff Rew on the bass. They blew me away. The music was incredible, and absolutely made my night. I even dressed up for the occasion :-)

PACRAO in Salt Lake City

I spent the first part of the week in Salt Lake attending the annual PACRAO conference for work. PACRAO stands for the Pacific Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers. At the conference I learned about all sorts of cool programs/best practices that other universities have implemented. I am excited to gather my notes and see what will work at Boise State. I even attended a session on blogging! While I was in Salt Lake, I took the opportunity to walk around downtown, including temple square. The temple is so pretty, and I loved all the trees changing colors... thought I'd share this picture with you!

I Love Pho!

I love pho (pronounced "fuh" for those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about). Pho is a Vietnamese soup with a beef broth, rice noodles, and really thinly sliced beef that is cooked by the broth. Of course there's more to it than that, but that's the main idea. With cooler weather setting in, I think I could eat pho every day, or at least weekly. If you've never tried it, I recommend trying something new the next time you go out for Asian food... and if you don't like it, try it at a different restaurant (I didn't like it at the first restaurant I tried). Oh, and I'm looking for a good, easy pho recipe - if anyone has one, please share!

Who rules the West? Boise State

I was forwarded this article from a coworker - it highlights the successes of Boise State's football program. Just thought I'd share for all you fans who just can't get enough of Bronco football!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween everyone! I am writing this post at 7:00 at night - and I haven't had a single trick-or-treater yet. Crazy! I remember when I was a kid... as soon as I finished dinner we got to go trick-or-treating. I'm sure it was no later than 6:30 when I started! Not sure when they'll start coming, but I'm turning off my porch light at 9:00! Anyway, I thought I'd share this picture with you. At work, our group (the systems group) decided to dress up as "The Grading Scale". I know that might be a little corny, but it's fitting for a Registrar's Office! Anyway, here we are, dressed as A, B, C, D, and F. Diana was super excited to be the F because she got to wear sweats and slippers to work - lucky her! She even brought her "homework" which had a bite out of if from her dog and was stuck together with chewing gum :-)

100-Post Club!

Today I join the ranks of my fellow bloggers who have reached the 100-post mark! Can you tell that I really enjoy blogging? I have averaged about 10 posts per month, and I actively read my friends' blogs. I've never really been a phone talker, and am not that great at sending personal emails, so I love this method of communication. It has been so much fun to reconnect with old friends via blogging. So, along the lines of blogging, thought I'd share these quotes that I found - enjoy!

• A blog is in many ways a continuing conversation. ~Andrew Sullivan
• Blogging is the new poetry. ~Unknown
• A blog is merely a tool that lets you do anything from change the world to share your shopping list. ~Unknown
• A blog is a personal diary. A daily pulpit. A collaborative space. A political soapbox. A breaking-news outlet. A collection of links. Your own private thoughts. Memos to the world. ~Blogger
• Your blog is what you say when there is nobody standing over your shoulder telling you what to do. ~Lorelle

Have You Seen Chuck?

While The Office still tops my list of weekly must-see tv, the new comedy Chuck is a close second. This hour-long show on Monday nights keeps me laughing and wondering what will happen next. Chuck is a computer nerd who plays spy in his spare time. He basically accidentally downloaded a bunch of government secrets into his brain, and when triggered by a person or image, the related government secrets flash through his mind. He is then able to help his fellow spies solve mysteries and capture the "bad guys". If you haven't seen it, you can catch up by watching previous episodes on nbc.com (although their video player sucks). I give Chuck two thumbs up, and look forward to the show every week!

Yardwork!

I love my mature landscaping, but it sure is a lot of work to maintain! For those of you who haven't visited my house, I have wisteria growing up and over the roof of my deck. Once spring hits, my deck is almost completely covered - keeping the sun, rain, etc. out. I love walking out back when the purple flowers are in bloom because it smells so sweet. But wisteria is messy! Once those purple flowers drop, I will sweep the deck for weeks. And then in the fall, when the leaves of the wisteria drop, there are several more weeks of sweeping - of course they don't all drop at once! I spent about 4 hours yesterday afternoon doing yardwork... pruning, raking, digging up the plants in my garden, etc (the picture isn't even a fraction of what was done - I have about 20 bags of trash this week). I was dreading getting on the roof to prune back the wisteria growing over the house and to clean out the gutters that were filled to the brim with wisteria leaves. Luckily, I was able to recruit my sister Beki and her friend Spencer to do the roof job... it took them quite a while to prune, clean the gutters, and unclog my drain spout - thanks guys!

Unleash Your Inner Chef

Each semester, Boise State has an "Unleash Your Inner Chef" night, featuring one kind of cooking or another. I loved the class I attended in the spring (featuring local and organic cooking), so I jumped at the opportunity to attend this semester's Mediterranean cooking class. I was not let down! We learned how to make and got to sample hummus, risotto, bruschetta, polenta, and more. I especially loved all the cheeses we got to sample. And when I say sample, I mean heaping plates with seconds :-) I am excited to try some of the new recipes I got, and when I do, I'll let you know how they turn out on our recipe blog!

Schrute Buck

To all of you Office fans out there - I just thought this was fun so had to share!

Iron Chef Boise

I went on a date with my dad tonight to Iron Chef Boise IV. It was so much fun watching two local chefs battle it out for the title of "champion". The secret ingredient tonight was lamb, and let me tell you... everything smelled SOOO good! For those of you familiar with the Egyptian Theater in Boise, I sat up in the balcony, and the smell of the food made me hungry all night. I was hoping to win the raffle or one of the auctions to taste the food, but the bidding on the plates went pretty high because it was for charity. Thanks dad for the great evening!

I Splurged!

Have you ever been in the middle of vacuuming and needed a new vacuum bag, only to realize that you don't have one on hand? Well, that was my situation a couple weeks ago. I had been pondering getting a new vacuum cleaner for a while, and so instead of going to the store to buy vacuum bags, I splurged and bought a new bagless Dyson vacuum. It works beautifully, and I'm so happy not to ever need to change a vacuum cleaner bag again!

One Less Napkin

Tonight's energy efficiency class was entertaining and enlightening. The program focused on the four R's - rethink, reduce, reuse, and recycle. I think most of us have heard of the reduce, reuse, recycle part, but it was the rethink part that I really liked. Here are some of my key takeaways from tonight:

• The average American throws away 1460 pounds of garbage every year - we are so wasteful!
  
• Look at packaging! If you have the option of a styrofoam egg carton or a paper one, pick the paper - it can be recycled when you're finished.
  
• I learned a cool new term - precycle! Instead of purchasing several small containers of yogurt, purchase one large one - this creates less waste. Consider purchasing a small box of jello and making it up at home rather than purchasing the individually packaged jellos. It may be more convenient, but a small recyclable box creates a lot less waste than the cardboard packaging, 6 small plastic jello cups, and the foil lids. If possible, buy items with no packaging at all.
  
• The average distance food on an American's dinner plate has traveled is 1700 miles! Consider buying local or only fruit that is in season.
• Ride your bicycle when the weather is nice instead of driving your car.
• Donate items when possible instead of throwing them away. Local organizations such as Computers for Kids are more than happy to take used computers and monitors off your hands for a good cause, when otherwise you would need to take them to the local hazardous waste pickup. The average CRT monitor contains 8 pounds of lead!!!
  
• Glass is not picked up as part of the curbside recycling in Boise, but there are drop off sites. The glass is recycled locally - every couple years, the ACHD grinds down all the glass that has been collected, and the glass is then used in the makeup of the sub-surface of our roadways. In fact, 90% is rock and 10% recycled glass, which is reported to help with drainage, etc.
  
• If you register with Greendimes, you can actually reduce the amount of junk mail that is sent to you, thus reducing your waste. There is a small charge to register, but in return, they'll plant 10 trees on your behalf. How cool is that!!!?!
  

Toilet Talk

Today I took a picture in an airport bathroom stall... I know what you're thinking... that I visited the Minnesota airport bathroom made famous by our senator. Nope, nice try, though. I actually was in Portland today for a workshop. As I walked into the bathroom stall in PDX, I noticed right away the green flush handle on the toilet. I quickly realized that it was a dual-flush toilet. I had heard of dual-flush toilets before but had never actually seen or used one. They're pretty cool - you are supposed to lift the handle up for #1 and push the handle down for #2. Lifting the handle up triggers a "half flush", using less water than a typical flush. Just one more way to be environmentally friendly and save money on your water bill!

Oh, and sorry it's not the best picture... I was kind of embarrassed to be pulling out my camera in the middle of the bathroom :-)

Weekend Jaunt

My mom, dad, and sister Beki picked me up at 6am Saturday morning as we headed up to Moscow for my sister Mandi's surprise baby shower. Mandi is due the beginning of December, and is expecting a girl. A few months ago, I got this great idea to make Mandi's baby a quilt. Not quite sure how I got that idea, because I'm not much of a sewer, and I've never attempted a quilt. A friend's mom suggested I make a rag quilt, and after finding a picture in a magazine, I decided to go for it. I made up a pattern, bought some fabric, and started cutting and sewing. I was so excited to give Mandi my present - it turned out SO cute (the pictures don't do it justice). Anyway, it was fun to surprise Mandi and see how big her belly is.

Un-4-Gettable

Un-4-Gettable - This was the headline of the Idaho Statesman this morning. Now, I really didn't plan on blogging this much about Boise State football, but it really is incredible to watch. Last night was a nail biter. I have no clue what happened to our defense, but I think they were definitely somewhere else besides Bronco stadium. In all reality, Nevada's offense played great, but how the heck did they keep running right through our defense? One of my co-workers described it like the parting of the red sea :-) Anyway, that's beside the point. Last night's game was super intense, tied at the end of the game 44-44. We were tied after the first over time, 51-51. We were tied after the second overtime, 58-58. We were tied after the third overtime, 61-61. Finally, we pulled ahead to win the game in the 4th overtime, winning 69-67. I'm sure glad we won, but here are some interesting facts from the game:

• Highest scoring game in NCAA football history (since 1937, when they started keeping track) – 136
• Most overtimes in WAC history
• BSU had given up 61 points all season - the scoring average rose from 12.2 per game to 21.3 points per game
• BSU is 23-4 on ESPN

Get Your Ducts in a Row

Did you know that today is Blog Action Day? Lucky me, I still needed to blog about last week's energy efficiency class :-) Get Your Ducts in a Row was all about making sure the ducts in your house are sealed properly. Here are a couple of the key things I took away from the class:

• Energy audits are more than just seeing if you need to seal your ducts or replace your windows - they look at your entire building plus your lifestyles and habits (i.e. do you take 30 minutes showers).
• Air sealing - where is air getting into or escaping from your house. A couple of places that I want to check it behind my plug-ins and my floor vents. Is there a way that I can caulk or foam to prevent leakage?
• Metal tape or mastic can help seal up small leaks in your ducts - some of the pictures that we saw had ducts completely separated from each other, allowing huge amounts of air to escape.
  

The Office Sticky Notes

My boss is pretty cool. I stepped away from my desk for a couple minutes earlier today, and when I came back, there were these fun "Office" sticky notes on my desk :-) She knows me well! Thanks Kris!!!

CFLs Light the Way to Savings

CFL light bulbs are pretty cool. I have replaced almost every light bulb in my house with these energy-saving, long-lasting compact fluorescent light bulbs. It's true that these bulbs often cost a little more at the store than regular bulbs, but they last up to 13 times longer, so they really are a better value for your money. Not only that, but they will save you money on your power bill as well. CFLs use up to 75% less energy than incandescent light bulbs. Did you know that if every home in America replaced just one incandescent light bulb with an Energy Star-qualified CFL, the EPA says that we would save enough energy to light more than 3 million homes and would eliminate some 800,000 cars' worth of greenhouse-gas emissions annually? So I challenge you to change a light bulb today!

PS - If you want to read more, I borrowed most of my info for this post from an article I read in this month's Costco Connection

Domination!

Wahoo! I love Boise State football! I think I decided that next year I'm going to buy season tickets. I just love watching those boys dominate the competition :-) I lucked out tonight and got to attend the Boise State game with my friend Diana (her husband was out of town fishing, so I got his ticket - thanks Ben!) It was a beautiful night for a game. It was televised on ESPN, and to make things a little more exciting, the fans in the upper bowl wore orange while the lower bowl wore blue. The game was not disappointing - Boise State creamed New Mexico State 58-0. We only punted once the entire game, and held New Mexico State to less than 90 yards total offense (while we had over 600 yards!) We even had our third-string offense in at the end of the game! All I can I say is that Boise State football rules! An added bonus - I get 58% off a Chicago Connection pizza tomorrow, as they promised a discount equal to the point differential :-)

Cleaning up Mother Earth

Boise State's Division of Student Affairs recently adopted a stretch of highway just outside Boise. For those of you familiar with the area, it's the last mile up the summit before Horseshoe Bend, and then the first mile down the hill. Yesterday was our first time of cleaning the highway, so there was lots of trash to be picked up. We spent 1 1/2 hours picking up garbage, collecting total of 12 bags of garbage and 3 bags of recycling. I had a good time, and I got to know some of my colleagues a little better. It's always nice to feel like I can make a difference - I'll definitely be joining in next time around!

Beyond the Green

Last night I attended the second energy efficiency workshop. This one was focused on building or remodeling with sustainable products. I learned about some cool green building products - I am excited to implement some of these as I update my house!

• Typical carpet backing, paint, and cabinetry have loads of toxins, which affect indoor air quality. In fact, indoor concentrations of volatile organic compounds are often 2-5x greater than outdoors!
  
• Bamboo is a great flooring product. It it not only beautiful and super hard, but bamboo is fast growing - so when it is cut down to create flooring materials, it replenishes quickly.
• There is this cool insulation on the market that is made of recycled denim - it won't irritate your skin like fiberglass does! It's also very sound absorbent, unlike regular insulation.
  
• There are certain brands of paints that are low in odor and toxins.
  
• There are some great sustainable countertop options. My favorite is paperstone - made of 50-100% recycled paper!!!
• A lot of people think that they need to upgrade their windows to cut back on air leakage. The truth is that leaky ducts can cause 30-60% of air loss in a house (compared to about 15% from your windows). So we should get our leaks fixed/sealed first, then get new windows if there is money left over!
  

Be an ENERGY STAR!

Okay, I know you've all been waiting for this one :-) A couple weeks ago I posted about an energy efficiency workshop series that my sister-in-law organized. Well, I attended the first workshop last week and learned some interesting tidbits. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring note paper to the workshop, so I don't have all the cool facts & figures, but here are a few of the tips I learned:

• Did you know you're supposed to clean the coils on the back of your refrigerator? Wow - that one had never crossed my mind. They suggest you clean them annually...
• Check the placement of your air conditioning unit - is it on the west side of your house getting direct hot afternoon sunlight? If so, consider trying to shade (without suffocating) your unit. This will make it more efficient.
• Considering replacing your windows? I'd never thought about this one, but it makes sense... you may need different windows on the different sides of your house. For example, you may want one type of windows on the north and south sides of your house and a different type for the east and west sides that see direct sunlight. There are websites that can help you determine this, and I'm sure window companies may have suggestions as well.
• Insulating your attic is important! You should also make sure that it is ventilated so that air can circulate up there. If there is no circulation and poor insulation, all that heat can seep into your house.
• Idaho Power offers several incentive programs, including rebates for purchasing energy efficient air conditioners, monthly discounts during the summer if you sign up for the A/C Cool program, etc.

New Toy

T-Mobile recently introduced a cell phone plan that allows you to switch seamlessly from traditional cell airwaves to WiFi when it gets within range of your wireless router. The cool part is that when the phone is using your WiFi connection, it doesn't deduct minutes from your plan. What an awesome idea! So, for $10 more a month on my cell plan, looks like I should be able to drop my home phone line. I'm going to make sure that I have good connection throughout my house before I do that, but am excited to save that money. Unfortunately, to use this special WiFi plan, you have to have a phone that has WiFi capabilities. Needless to say, I got a new toy today :-)

What a Great Start!!!

Yippee! Season 4 of The Office has started! I hope everyone got a chance to watch the season premier (if not, you can watch it for free on NBC's website). It was well worth the wait, don't you think? I thought it was stinkin' funny... I loved Michalel's "I'm not superstitious, I'm just a little-stitious." :-) Ahhhh, back to happy Thursday nights!

D-Nye-D!

My little sister Beki is on her high school's varsity soccer team for the third year in a row. She's now a senior, and tonight was her last home game of the season. I was so excited to be able to attend her game tonight... and even more excited when she scored the first goal of the game (and her first goal of the season)! Way to go Beki! I almost started to cry when she ran across the field after the game, ran directly to me & threw her arms around me, giving me the biggest hug. I am so proud of my sister, not only for her athleticism on the soccer field, but for the caring, genuine, happy-go-lucky girl that she is. I love you Beki!

Hooray for the Women's Fitness Celebration!

Yesterday I participated in the largest women only race in the nation... the annual St. Lukes Women's Fitness Celebration. I joined the Cutler Crew (my team) and more than 12,000 other women for the 5k event that went from the Boise capitol building, up the hill to the train depot, across the bench, and then back down the hill to Ann Morrison Park. It was cloudy, cool, and there were even a couple sprinkles, but that didn't dampen the excitement. Performers lined the streets to cheer us on... from singing groups to rhythm groups to cheerleaders. My favorite, however, was Tuxedo Row - right after the 3 mile marker, men in tuxedos and shorts line both sides of the streets clapping & offering high-5's. They put a smile on your face just before the finish line. Oh, and don't forget the free food at the end - fruit with yogurt & granola, bagels, ice cream, apples, Subway cookies (and a photo opp with Jared from Subway!), etc... It was a fabulous way to spend my morning - can't wait until next year :-)

Happy 30th Anniversary!

Happy anniversary mom & dad! My parents were married September 20th, 1977 in the Salt Lake Temple - today they celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary. Just wanted to say congratulations and that I love you both!

Homage to the Pedestrian

I love Boise! I could go on and on listing the reasons why... While attending college at BYU, I always touted Boise as the best place to live. One person, in response to my excitement, suggested that I should work for the Boise Chamber of Commerce! Anyway, today I add another reason that I love Boise to my list. I love the abundance of public art throughout this beautiful city. This morning, I came across a piece that I hadn't seen (or at least hadn't noticed) before. As I was walking to my conference, "music" started coming from several lamp posts. I looked up, trying to determine what could possibly be making that sound. I then realized that the lamp posts had motion sensors on them, and that each lamp post produced a different rhythmic sound. I loved it - it put a smile on my face. A big thank you to the artist for adding a little excitement to my walk!

Time Out for Women

Today I have been strengthened and uplifted. I attended an annual event sponsored by Deseret Book called Time Out for Women. The program was packed with magnificent speakers and touching musical numbers that reminded me of the importance of my role as a woman and of the significance of Christ in my life. I laughed and even cried a little as the messages were shared. And if the messages and music weren't enough, I ran into several high school friends - what a treat! It was a beautiful day!

I had a different picture on here, but the flash made my nose look orange! Thanks Val for the updated pic! This picture is of Natalie, Val, me and Meckenzie during one of our breaks :-)

Our Fast-Paced Lives

Note: I debated about whether or not to post this, because some people will see this impatience as a character flaw I have. Oh well. I decided to post it anyway... maybe it will convince some people to change their ways :-)

We live in a fast-paced society. It seems like we are always running from one thing to the next. I love some of the conveniences that speed things up... like debit/credit cards! I almost never carry cash, and rarely write a check - what's the point when I can just swipe my card? I think it's interesting how my outlook has changed when it comes to exchanging money. I was in the grocery store today and the two people in front of me wrote out checks! I found myself a little annoyed, as this slowed down my grocery shopping experience. I was in a hurry to get to my next commitment. Why not use a debit card? The money comes from the same place! Hmmm... maybe I need to learn a little patience. Reminded me of those Visa commercials - I love those because that's really how I feel!

Seriously, What Do you Do...

... with this many tomatoes? This is just my harvest from tonight. It consists of 64 roma tomatoes and 53 grape tomatoes. And that's after I threw out all the ones that were split or looked like they might have been snacked on by the roly polys in my garden (who knew that roly polys like tomatoes?). Did I mention that I only planted 4 tomato plants this year - 2 grape and 2 roma? Anyway, I made fresh salsa with the tomatoes I picked last week and have been snacking on that... I'm not sure that I have the ambition to can salsa. Any other suggestions on what to do with this many tomatoes???