2011 Our Bella"tine"

2011 finds Bella happy health and beautiful. She is very clingy to Scott and I and has almost no use for anyone else. I have read that her breed is like that. She is very talkative. A very good friend. I find myself holding her and thanking her for her companionship especially since losing Aunt Sue. She is so soft and loves the sun. She is naughty. She hides things runs off and chews papers to shreds, knocks thing off shelf's. Sleeps in boxes or on top of Scott or in the nook of my arm. It has been a hard adjustment for her since the death as she was never alone while Aunt Sue was alive. She cried most days in her room a howl allmost. But it seems to have passed she is now mostly spooked by the room now. Her tail will get huge if she sees onyone in there.

2011 No burn blaze

I was on stage rehearsing when my phone rang. It generally never rings at either theater because there are dead zones. I don't bother to turn off the ringer since it never gets a signal but in Farmington we had moved up stairs. It was Scott he said "Don't worry about the fire I am headed home". Well- that is a little unnerving. Where is the fire? I had not heard of any fire. I thought of Anthonys wild fires last year. First I thought at least Aunt Sue is dead so she can't burn. Next I thought good thing our out of town guests left today and the next set arrives tomorrow who will need hotels. Then I thought Oh no! Bella is home. All my photos and crafts and books. Next my mom called to say my cousins had received a evacuation call to be ready to move out. I wanted to be home and make sure all was well and Bella was safe along with a few dozen albums. But we are very lucky to have good weather conditions, great firefighters and experts who had the blaze 100 % contained within 24 hours of out break. The view once I hit the freeway home was impressive. There was a huge oval burning on all sides miles long. It got with in 100s of yards of homes but not one was damaged. No life was lost nor any photos or kitties:) I am really grateful to public servants who are true heroes like firemen and teachers- very unsung underpaid adn much appreciated by me:)

Naughty

I had been fearing Bella would scale the hood since the day we moved in. I had no idea how safe it was-- open to a big fan or some sharp object. For the past months she would look longingly up at the far height and I am sure dream her little kitty dreams. She scales the rest of the house which is high but this one required a much higher base jump. So was I surprised to see her teetering on the edge? Nope but I was surprised that she got trapped and it required a ladder to remove the said naughty beast. This cat requires mucho attention. Some days too mucho for me. But I do think she is soft and beautiful just rather attention starved.

Baby sitters

Lucky for me I have the best ever baby sitters. That's right I have to have a baby sitter for myself every time Scott has a business trip. The latest was over the Valentines week holiday and I got three of the cutest ever girls ever to come watch me. We had a wonderful time looking at treasure from my childhood, playing house, making Valentines, watching movies and talking. I love love love to hold little Sarah on my lap and then she falls asleep. We went to bed fairly early as Erin and Jami had school. Bella was a show off climbing anything she could but she loved sleeping with the girls all piled in my bed. It was neat to help Jami with spelling and see how different the girls are. Erin told me all about her life and goals and dreams and Jami kept us on schedule with brushing teeth and bed times. Anthony and Salina came up 2 nights later on and we all had a blast. The girls want to know when I Scott leaving next?

Naughty is not Nice

One of the many events of 2009 was Aunts Sue's fall down 25 steps. She shattered her arm:( The funny part was she blamed the whole thing on these slippers. She gets into all kinds of mischief. She was not supposed to go down the stairs by herself but she would always sneak on the look out of sugary delights. Not a good combo with her blood sugar which was why I hid them in the first place. When I heard her fall I just went into shock I could not process it. I screamed for Scott who is my rock. It was sad the fist thing she said was I'm sorry. How sad she thought I would be mad, I was terrified not mad. We had a ceremony and destroyed the booty's.
Aunt Sue then had a series of major ups downs hospital stays and attempts to end her life. It was very troubling and we are still working to find solutions. Between her and my climber/ jumper Bella I have had my hands full. Bella climbs up on the very highest things she can find and then jumps off. She plummets off the landing at the new house and the ledges. You can see both girls in one of the shots my little blessings my little darling dangers.

Strike A Pose

These photos were some of the last taken before we moved form our home of almost 10 years. As we were watching a Monk episode we saw the ad featuring our little Bella about pet adopting. She really is beautiful. Her modeling days are over as she got an infection at the new house from diving off a high ledge and after scraping at it she lost all the hair around her eyes. The vet had her wear a little dish on her head which was a disaster. But she recovered and when her fur grew back in it came in speckled. No more solid chocolate face to kiss. She is still a beauty but would require air brushing. What a good little kitty to have had a liter at a young age and nurse orphan kittens. I'm glad Leah told us it was time and we added a new poser to the bunch.

If you are Happy and you know it, play some games!

What would I do without my birthday boy? Cry and be sad. He is harassing his mom right now on the phone as she tries to wish him a Happy Birthday Day. But he is teasing her with a "What is there to be happy about". She laughs only because she knows her son in not capable of being negative. I married Pollyanna. Yup he is the eternal happy go lucky all is right with life man. It is a good thing he is so cute because sometimes I feel like he does not understand what is going on. But he says if we are going to live in a delusion it will be his as mine which I call reality he says is negative Nelly. Scott reminds me to not steal dreams... reality does a fine job all by itself. Instead of being at Disneyland and then off to our cruise-- our original plan for my handsome hubby's birthday... we are headed to the hospital-- again. Last year it was Doctors and hospitals for Scott and Aunt Sue this year I guess it is my turn. Not a fun place to hang out at unless you have an optimistic spouse who likes to laugh and play games. Scott and I are playing the game "What is there to be happy about?" Some of our answers are not blog appropriate but here are a few. 1. If you are going to have tumors have lots and really do well with stumping the doctors. 2. If you are both out of work think of all the free time you have to count blessings together. If you have jobs you can't sit around and count blessings. 3. When you are ill and there may not be a cure you at least get to be together and play fun games. 4. Look at all the love from friends and family. 5. Becasue of said friends we are happy-- becasue who can be down when we are cheering them up. That is a huge gift. 6. If we were not cheering them we would really be down. 7. If you are about to be homeless at least it is summer time and we have lots of camping gear. 8. Bella and Aunt Sue because if we didn't have our two girls we would disappear to a remote island and not return. Which would upset the family and life sure would have less meaning without our girls to love and smother. 9. There is a basement waiting for us in Iowa-after our homeless camping Iowa will look great. 10. I have a second interview:) See all the happy things- I wish I coudl share some of our others as they are very inventive:) Happy Birthday Polly love ya Nelly!

Fundraising, house hunting, and sparkly Bella

I have a vampire cat. I know this because she sparkles in the sun:) Here is what turned her, no Edward did not drop in. The house is a disaster right now with packing boxes everywhere. Bella and Sue are out of sorts and need constant reassurance that all is well. I could add that Missy requires that as well. Humor goes a long way. Todays laughter comes thanks to my very own vampire sparkly Bella. Yup- my Bella has been glittered. I had plastic shoe box which I use to glitter things in on the bed and I came home to Bella the kitty trying to curl up in it. Her face and body glimmered in the sun light:) She makes me so happy. What a sweet little girl she is. Naughty to the core but friendly and very people oriented. If you are wondering the answer is yes... she is named after Bella Swan Cullen-- but I did not name her. Her aunt Leah named her. I however did not object. Aunt Sue is very excited to be moving so she can get outside and wants to take Bella on a leash for walks. I have tried to tell her kitty cats are not much for walking-- I have not sold her on that one quite yet.

It is time again for our annual Fundraiser for the Utah Down Syndrome Foundation. I am sorry to say we are all full for this year but as soon as we have a date set for 2010 I will let you all know. You can see More about it at charitycrop.blogspot.com. It is a crazy fun 2 days with amazing women raising money for kids effected by Downs right here in our own state:) Companies have been awesome and generous as well as private business owners. Here are a few of the top donors who rock to work with on the food portion which is my forte: Hires Big H, Olive Garden, Johnny Carinos, Fridays, Pei Wei, Einstein Bagels, Paradise Bakery, Papa Johns, Starbucks and that is to name a few:) We have over 100 exciting raffle items and for the silent auction-- homemade aprons, bags, and a brand new cricut:) I love working with Marlene and this is a great cause. More humor in my life comes from my adorable hubby who I have spent hours with laughing. We drive all over looking at houses talking to builders and laughing. It has been like a second honeymoon as just the two of us search out the next House of Riffle. Hilary said to me the other day Scott is like a whole new person. He is laughing again talking up a storm and he even did stand up comedy at a party with me. He had everyone rolling on the floor in tears with his routine- which he ad libbed! I am heading into to busy season with my YW calling but I am enjoying my last weeks of service. I have 6 hours of church tomorrow and 2 meetings but for dinner our cute friends are feeding us so that will be nice to look forward to. I sure will miss our whole Stake but we are ready for new adventures and trust that our path will not be far from the ones we love.

Moving and Christmas 1st's

What a way to start 2009. A week before Christmas we got some exciting news that has turned our holidays upside down. We have to move:) Scott got a new boss at work who wants him traveling 3 weeks a month, Aunt Sue's doctor wants her on the main level and interest rates are low which all add up to a move. We ended up home for the holidays for the first time in 14 years. I had a nasty cold, bad weather, starting to pack for the move and Scott had a big work load so we did not travel like usual. We canceled our plans last minute and stayed home. We enjoyed a white Christmas and loved being with Aunt Sue and Bella. We stayed warm and enjoyed the soft falling snow outside while we had a fire and the tree lights glowing. I made prime rib for the first time ever and it was a huge hit. I did not even taste it as I do not eat any kind of red meat. The holiday was peaceful. Then we drove around the next few days looking for homes and neighborhoods that we like. We have to have a main floor bedroom for Aunt Sue, close access to the airport for Scott, and a big kitchen for me:) I will really miss our fantastic views, my huge tub, tall ceilings, and the seclusion I feel we have now. We have things narrowed down and met on Monday to finalize things. I really have a hard time with things up in the air. I know we are moving but where to, how soon and when are a mystery. Marlene keeps reminding me to breathe. We met with our awesome Stake Presidency and I cried after. I just love these men and I have loved my calling with the YW. The women I have served with are my dear friends. Scott will be harder to replace as it is not issued at a Stake level. We have been here for over 8 years! That is lots of memories. Change is good and being uncomfortable is not the end of the world. But I sure do like to have things planned out better so I am going learning to be patient. I am trusting Scott. He reminds me so much of my dad in the whole sales process. He tells me to keep quite and let him play hard ball. It is a buyers market right now- there are 100's of choices. So here's to a new adventure in 2009.

So Happy to be Me.

Today we got to be around people we just love. I just felt to happy to have the neat people in our lives that we do who are so willing to lighten our load and share a laugh. I even enjoyed shopping with Scott. Kay and Jim were kind to have us over and give us a pep talk and some totally awesome advice. No wonder I love Teri so much her mom and dad are out of this world cool. We got to see Rob and Amy. It was there first time to a Cheesecake Factory and we enjoyed a lively debate on politics. Aunt Sue and Bella were super good today and even let me take a nice afternoon nap:) Bella has this new favorite spot behind our behinds at the computer! She is so funny. Aunt Sue is all manic with joy and loving Obama which I totally disagree with her on-- but how cool to live in a country where we are free to debate:) We both love to discuss the world and have polar opposite views which make it really neat to see the far side of your thoughts. As I walk around the mall I had several total stranger ask me why I was so happy. I told them "I love to be me. I love Jesus and being a daughter of God rocks!" It was just an ordinary extraordinary day. The sun was shining we took out the solar panels and let the sun light flood the house. The cool air is a welcome feeling. I just had to keep hugging myself and thanking God for the life I have in America with all the challenges which end up being blessings. I wish everyone could love to be them- it is nice because you always have your best buddy with you:) hee hee. I even loved my cute earrings I made they are like little pink chandeliers:) It feels good to love myself and that helps me to love others. I think there is lots of hope in the world. How can I not smile with handsome Scott by my side? I guess I am in my Rah Rah mode- it feels great. I love these photos from today I love cameras. The one of the 3 ladies makes it look like we are pink ladies- too cute. And I can't get over hottie Scott with that blonde hair brown eye perfect ear hunky man.

Naughty Bella and the yarn

I make dish clothes for my friend Marlene. I was behind on getting her some and was hurrying to catch up. Bella thought hey I can help you with that no problem. SO I found her other toys to help with instead. When I got up to help Aunt Sue for a brief minute I came back to Bella pulling apart the cloth. She was tangled up in the yarn. Then I remembered that in Indian art they always leave a mistake for the bad to get out. So Marlene really it was all on purpose-- no evil in your dish rags:)

Say Mouse- and my scattered thoughts

Between Aunt Sue and Miss Bella taking photos is about enough to put me under. Neither one of my girls will pose for me or let me shot candids. I guess they do not take after mom. I LOVE to have my photo taken-- but not these two. Bella mainly wants to attack the camera strap and Aunt Sue just pouts and threatens. I know it could be worse. I could have no one to love and take photos of. It can be challenging sometimes. I have been debating with Aunt Sue about letting place all her meds in the daily container I do for her. She fights me and wants to keep one out. I fill 1 and then she won't let me put in the 12th pill. I explain that sometimes the doctor asks me if she has taken such and such and the only way we can know for sure is if we see what is missing form the daily pill box. Then I chase Bella down who has ram sacked the entire house in a few brief minutes. I think I am getting pay backs for laughing at Marlene. She is always getting one of her 4 out of some type of trouble. I can kind of predict now when certain background voices are going to cry out. I guess animals and Aunt Sue are my way of learning to be patient and also something to talk to God about. Life can be very daily, between routines, maintenance, work, family and all the rest the years slip by. I finally look old to myself when I look at photos. I am an adult. It is strange to be an adult. When did it happen? Some would argue it hasn't yet happened. I know it is still a bit alarming when I realize that I am in charge or my friends are the parents. I know that the number of people who are dead that I love has increased as I guess is natural with age. Scott is right I think way to much but isn't that what separates us from the beasts? Aunt Sue always chimes in that the unexamined life if not worth living. It just seems that often in our busy lives we miss the contemplating and actually live. I figure why wait until I am sitting in a rocking chair somewhere, reflect now. For a current photo of Aunt Sue I may need to sneak in while she sleeps:)

Naughty Bella

See how she looks in the opposite direction when I talk to her. Really she is a cat. I guess I was spoiled loving Mungo who thought he was a person dog. Not that I don't love my Bella... I am just thinking Aunt Leah should have chosen a name like, like, I am trying to think of a name, of a obedient loving person. Can't think of any off the top of my head. Bella her name sake is accident prone and thus Bella carries on the tradition of scaring me with circus tricks. She chews stuff up like a puppy and is whiny (she gets that from me). She is also soft and beautiful. Bella just plummeted off the second story of the condo and landed on her paws and is just fine. She is always falling, leaping, sliding, jumping off of everything. She is a big huge bunch of naughty. I wonder if we should have had another boy...

It's a Girl!

We got back from the funeral and decided this was the perfect time to add a new member to our family. Leah was in town so we had a tie breaker with us to help us decide. It is really hard to adopt a kitty because there are 100's of worthy darling cats that need homes. I did not realize how many are euthanized:( I guess it is better than being abused or ill or starving on the streets... if only people would spay and neuter! That was one thing Bob from the Price is Right was great at-- reminding everyone to spay and neuter. Of course you would have had to watch the show to receive the message from him. I only saw it a few times... OK I am wandering. Back to our new little girl. She is adorable and tiny compared to our sweet Mungo. She is 1/2 the length and 1/4 the weight. She is a chocolate point Siamese. She was taken into the shelter ready to give birth. 3 of her 4 kittens survived and have been adopted. She then nursed 2 orphan kittens. SO she was excited to have a well deserved retirement and start relaxing and being loved. Leah named her for us- Leah is good at naming. Her name is Izabella. We have been calling her Bella or Izzy. Plus I can keep my title of never having named a pet and I have had over 20. Yip- I have never named one of my cats. I did name a hamster and a fish once in elementary school. She looks like a yummy Starbucks creation of mocha, Carmel, creme latte. Bella has exquisite blue almond eyes and all her extremities look like they have been dipped into warm rich chocolate. We were able to take her right into our vet which she hated- she must take after me. She is about 2 years old and has a life expectancy of up to 20 years!!! I would not think of that had we not just lost Mungo her BIG brother. The fun part is how much she loves Aunt Sue. She runs into her room jumps up on her lap ad purrs away. Aunt Sue lets her sit on her lap for 45 minute naps. I think she felt sad to have been a little stand offish to Mungo and is making up for it with Bella. Bella loves to play on the stairs and has this deep voice. Scott got her a kitty condo and she likes to gather all her toys and carry them in her mouth and hide them in the condo. What a little lover. She likes Scott's lap too. We are very happy yo have her join our family. I like to tell Bella about her big brother Mungo in heaven because I hope one day we can all be together again. I miss Mungos pink nose and kisses. Bella is not s replacement but she sure is a sweetheart and will gets lots of love for years to come.