Finding Krissi

The stupidity of some people never ceases to amaze me. Yesterday, my 13 year-old-daughter had a scoliosis check at school. According to her, nurses came to the school and gave the test. As she was walking me through the process, I had flashbacks of my own. How I hated those test. Half way through her story, she stops and tells me that the Nurse said, “You have very broad shoulders for a girl. I don’t think I have ever seen a girl with as broad of shoulders as you.” My 13-year-old daughter stopped looked at me and said, “What does that mean, Mom?” In my mind I answered, “It means that you had an idiot for a nurse. Who obviously has no clue how deadly words like those are for a young girl.” Then we had the talk. Okay, you’re asking what does, “the talk” have to do with stupid nurses. Well there is, “the talk” when you are talking about, “it.” Then there is the talk that my mom had to have with me, and now in return I get to have with my daughter. The talk starts out with reality check. W...

The sun is shining! The glorious, wonderful, bright, beautiful sun is shining. Sometimes, I am amazed at how long we Utahn’s survive without sun. My life in general is full of lots of bright shinny news. First, Brent was recalled to the railroad. He is not back full time yet but the outlook is good. AND we have benefits again. That in itself is worthy of happy dancing. Second, I am nearing completion of my fourth class and by the end of my next class; I will have less than two years before graduation. Again, I am doing the happy booty dance. Third, it is sunny. Just in case, you missed how excited I was about that. Fourth, we bought a second car. It is not going to win any points for world’s greatest cars but it is a second car that drives. We have been a one-car family since August. Really, it has not been horrible but it has not been awesome either. Fifth, Louise from Adori graphics just sent a sneak peak of my new blog template. It is so freaking cute I can hardly wait to start usin...

If your lucky you have a person in your life that makes you laugh. I don't mean ha ha kind of laughing. I mean milk squirting out your nose kind of laughing. The kind of laughing that just makes your day better. Willow has always been one of those people in my life. She makes me laugh she has always made me laugh. She has guts and courage and the kind of smile that just makes you want her as your friend. Over the past couple of years she has left comment after comment that had me giggling. Yes giggling. Finally at long last I have coaxed her out of the comment page and onto an actual post. One day she will start her own blog and become an over night success. Until that day I plan on stealing her talent. Hey, what are friends for? So without further ado here is the Beautifully Wicked Willow's "My Memory Monday," post. Go ahead I dare you not to laugh. Leave comments it took a bit of coaxing people. Now then, about my bike. Well, about my first bike, I am fairly certa...

This week, “My Memory Monday,” is all about your very first bike. My first bike was candy apple red with a white banana seat. Do you remember those banana seats? I seem to recall that the bike had been carefully refurnished and at one point in time had belonged to my mom. I really have no idea how old I was when I learned how to ride a bike. I know that I was living in the house my parents had built and I know that I was wearing shorts and a tank top. In Utah that can only mean it was summer. No shorts, tank tops and flip-flops in the winter. I have a memory of my dad running behind me holding on to the seat. I can recall the feeling of fear and giddiness as we rode down the street. Being as I am a mom who has lived through four kids learning to ride their bikes I am pretty sure that I must have crashed and burned a time or two and I am sure that I had some fear. I was not what you would consider a brave child. While the memory of that first bike and learning to ride is not precise, I ...

This blog is going under a little bit of construction. All behind the scenes so as of yet you have not noticed any changes. Soon.. there will be changes and I am way excited. A very talented graphic designer is in the process of building me, theSwimMom, Krissi, her very on template. One of the reasons that the snow has stayed on my blog a bit longer than I like. Because you know that in real life, snow in February is EVIL. I am very excited for the changes and I am looking forward to other changes that will be taking place over the next few weeks. Including a guest poster, or the greatest maiden of honor you choose which title you like. She is beautiful and wicked. Two crucial requirements in my book. More on that to come. In addition, I need to do some blessing post. I am not behind. Nope, that was my rule I did not get behind there were just going to be weeks that I was going to have to post a few or more. Hope your enjoying your weekend. Hugs and Prayers,

Things I must do today. • I must do laundry. Tomorrow will not be happy day if I do not get some specific clothes washed. The boxers are washed maybe I should feel motivated to do more. I don’t! Have I mentioned how laundry is the bane of my existence. • I must vacuum. 200 lb Indoor dogs require that you vacuum frequently. She is crashed on the front room rug. Vacuuming would wake her up and that is just rude. • I must do homework. So sick of math, very very sick of geometry, who cares about Pythagorean Theorems ? Discussion questions posted, paper started, zero motivation to do more. • Must pay bills. Have to love billpay but it kind makes me a big procrastinator. I hate late fees just because I don't hit send on time. I think I have a couple more days to hit send. I think. . . • I must clean my bathroom because it is gross . Woo Hoo, not gross anymore. • I must go to work . Done for the week please join me in a happy, happy, dance. This list is starting to depress me. I have...

Things I must do today. I must do laundry. Tomorrow will not be happy day if I do not get some specific clothes washed. I must vacuum. 200 lb Indoor dogs require that you vacuum frequently. I must do homework. So sick of math, very very sick of geometry, who cares about Pythagorean Theorems? Must pay bills. Have to love billpay but it kind makes me a big procrastinator. I hate late fees just because I don't hit send on time. I must clean my bathroom because it is gross. I must go to work. This list is starting to depress me. I haven't felt great this week and all that has happened is life has piled up around me. I need a maid, a personal homework doer, a....well a clone might work. Hope you are all enjoying your Thursday. Prayers and Hugs

So I have had this idea for a little while running around in my head. It is called Memory Monday. Intrigued? It really is simple. I will share with you one memory or other and then if you want you can create a post on your blog and we can all travel down memory lane together. I am even going to try to figure out that Mr. Linky Thingy. No matter how old you are life has had to change a tad. I mean when I think back there use to be a time where there was no Internet, no Cell Phones, and Apple was a dying company. Gas was less than a dollar and Johnny Dep was on "21 Jump Street." There is just something about tripping down memory lane that brings a smile to your lips. For my first post, I was thinking where should I start and it occurred to me I should start where my memory begins. My very earliest memory has to be before I started school and I am standing in the house my parents are building. What I know is we moved into that house before I started kindergarten. So I must be fo...

This life is short. Time passes by in a blink of an eye and before we know it we have lived the life we are going to live. I guess that is one of the reasons I have been thinking about the idea of a Bucket List. Off and on I will get an idea of something I want to do and I will get all excited about the idea and before I know it I have forgotten my great idea. Frustrates me to no end. So I have decided to create a post in which I can create my Bucket List. I know that most of you are probably familiar with the concept of a Bucket list but just incase your not I will tell you that a Bucket List is a list of things you want to do before you die. I can't decide if this post is depressing or not? In true Krissi fashion my Bucket List will have rules. Your not surprised are you? My first rule, this is my Bucket List and while I have hopes and dreams for my family these are things that only I can accomplish. My second rule, no being a wuss if I think it, if I get excited about it, put i...

Once upon a time I had a hair dresser who said he didn't give PMS haircuts. Mainly, his point was you weren't allowed to go a long time without getting your hair cut and then come in ask him to hack your hair off. He thought those decisions were based on poor hair maintenance. Most of the time he was right and I was glad he didn't let me hack my hair off. Today I went and got a hair cut and I am not even going to tell you how long it has been. I will tell you that I was going through a bottle of hair conditioner a week just to keep the snarls at bay. Yes it was that bad. Meanwhile, I have been thinking.. and thinking.. and thinking.. What a pain my hair is and how I am ready for a change. How in my 30 something years of life I have basically stuck to the same hairstyle. Same style different lengths. So when I finally went in and cut it today I said, "Chop it." I gave her a couple more instructions but I didn't hover over the top of her giving her exact directi...

There is nothing like a good work out to clear the cobwebs. Each day I workout my commitment to live healthier grows stronger. Why do I forget how wonderful it feels to move? There are a lot of things I forget that make me feel wonderful. Mostly, because before the wonderful there is a lot of hard work. For example, exercise before I can feel the wonderful after glow of a good work out, I have to actually endure the workout. Eating right, so much easier to sit down to a bag full of jellybeans, enjoying the sugar rush, then to prepare a good and balance meal. Ironically, the jellybeans will eventually make me sick but the healthy meal makes me feel stronger. The list goes on our goals, our relationships all give us the feeling of strength when we commit and take care of them. A little while ago an author name Chris Tomlinson, contacted me and asked how I would feel about reviewing his book. “Crave, Wanting so much more of God.” I followed a couple of links he provided and read through s...

"Crave, Wanting So Much More of God," by Chris Tomlinson was provided to me compliments of Harvest House. In addition to providing me a copy they provided a second copy to give away. I believe in keeping things simple so all I ask is that you read the first three chapters of the book and leave a comment. Okay, I'm not really going to know if you read the first three chapters but I highly suggest your read the first three chapters. Next Saturday, February 20th I will let random.org provide a winner. If you want to check out what other people said about "Crave," you can check out Mr. Tomlinson's blog Link HERE. Or maybe your more a twitter person than you can check out Mr. Tomlinson Here . If you don't do twitter and you are all about facebook you can check out this link . Prayers and Hugs,

In April of 1999, my little brother was a senior in high school. One afternoon as I ran around town doing errands the news broke in and reported a high school shooting. My heart froze as I listened to the details of the story unfold. My brain shouted, “What school, what school, what school?” The news reporter finally said, “Columbine High.” Is it wrong that my heart started to beat again? Is it wrong that I took a deep breath and thought, “Thank Goodness?” The massacre of Columbine High continued to be the top news story for weeks. Unbelievable stories of faith, courage, and sadness followed. The country mourned the loss of lives and we questioned repeatedly. “How could this happen?” “Why did this happen?” Some of us breathed deep sighs of relief that at least it did not happen to us. Today, I was working with a sixth grade group and we were discussing authors. Each of the students is doing a report on an author of their choice. All of them decided that a good question to research was ...

Little Red is haunting me. First, they sent me an email reminding me it was time to register. Yah, yah, yah I know. Second, I went to S.'s tri event on Saturday and the Exercise Diva reminded me it was time to register. Easy for her to say she is pregnant and due a month after the Little Red so in all reality is NOT going to do the Little Red. (Maybe I need to get pregnant?) The little voice in the back of my head says, "Get real, you are totally out of shape you are NOT doing the Little Red this year." Third, I get an email from Super Will, who provided some major motivation for last years Little Red ride. He was actually sending an email out about the MS ride that he is doing. He is looking for ride sponsors. I am going to provide the link because every little bit counts so if your able please send a couple of dollars his way. ( Super Will's MS ride Link ) After reading Super Will's email the little voice reminded me again about the condition I am in. Just when ...

I don't know why I always forget how much I love working out. Spending an hour moving, sweating and of course listening to some tunes. I was on the bike this morning smiling my way through the pain. All of the tension draining away and an actual optimism about Monday was covering over me. Then one of my favorite songs came on and I started smiling even more. Hope you have a wonderful week. Here is the tune that came on hope you enjoy and hope it brings a smile your Monday. People always comin' up to me and askin' "Dolly, what's your secret? With all you do, your attitude Just seems to be so good How do you keep it?" Well, I'm not the Dalai Lama, but I'll try To offer up a few words of advice. Chorus: You better get to livin', givin' Don't forget to throw in a little forgivin' And lovin' on the way You better get to knowin', showin' A little bit more concerned about where you're goin' Just a word unto the wise You bet...

Today I was at Wal-Mart in the section that has the hair elastic, barrettes, combs and all that good stuff. I was searching through the selections and suddenly my eyes fell on one particular item that had me laughing out loud. Then the mother with the small children ran away because there was a crazy lady in the isle. I digress... As I was laughing I was instantly transported back to the 1980's. This post may age me just a tad. For the most part, I grew up in the 80's and there are a few trends that stand out in my mind. For example... Neon! Neon Pink, Neon Green, Neon Yellow. There was no such thing as to much neon and Jelly Bangles the more you had the cooler you were. Just so you know I never really had that many... However, I did have a SWATCH, yes I had a very sweet swatch that came complete with. . . a swatch guard. I may have never had the bangles stacked to my elbow but I had a swatch with a sweet swatch guard. A trip down the 80's memory lane would not be complete...

TGIF! This is one of those weeks where you welcome Friday with a great big grin. I am so excited for this weekend and except for a fun night out with my friends, I have no big plans. This is okay because my math book and I have a date with Chapter 9 Geometry. Just so, you know, geometry is no more fun now then, it was in 9th grade. Oh brother! Who really cares about all those, Lines, Rays, Planes!!! What does it all mean? Yes, kids you will use it in your future lives and you will not like it anymore then you did back in the day. Like the completely new positive me? Anyway, this is going down as one of those weeks that you sweep under the rug and pretend did not happen. Lucky me I am pretty good at imagining. Meanwhile, I have taken a little break from face book and I have to tell you that I didn’t realize how much time I spent on face book. What does one do with themselves when face book is not an option? Well I have caught up on all kinds of celebrity gossip. Did you know Kate Gossel...

I am staring at the keys of the keyboard trying to figure out how to start this post. However, this is not a post that I know how to write without it going all wrong. My self inflected rules for this blog have for me been a challenge. However, I gave myself those rules and I feel for the most part have followed them. The rules are: 1. Never get mired down in the not so great moments of life. This is not the place for me to moan and groan and complain about my life and all my woes. 2. My life is not always awesome, all the time, don't pretend it is. My goal has always been to try to be real and try to improve. Most of my post reflect lessons I have learned because frankly, I was doing it wrong to begin with. My post in no way are suppose to reflect methods that I have perfected or claim to do with perfection. I use to think that hypocrisy was one of the seven deadly sins. I looked it up and discovered it isn't. The seven deadly sins are envy, lust, anger, sloth, gluttony, greed...