Happy Birthday, My Love.

Two days ago, the love of my life celebrated her 26th birthday. 26. Holy Moly. Don’t worry – she won’t kill me for telling you that she’s 26 – because everyone reading this post already knows. Right? Besides, we all know that light travels faster than a Chinese midget can say “Woot Woot!” So, if you didn’t know, then it’s all good anyway.

Moving along… So…, in honor of this momentous occasion, I thought it would be fitting for me to list my Top 10 Favorite Things About Jodie… in no particular order.
Who else can jog 5 miles, eat breakfast, read books to the kiddies, AND send her husband off to work – all before 8:30?

Her advice is priceless. Like one of them Faberge eggs from that foreign country with all the jewels and shiny stuff. No, wait – we eat eggs like that for BREAKfast!

Have you SEEN her smile?! Nuff said.

The fact that her genes are stronger than mine; that way our kids at least have a chance. (They DO have the Terry nose – so I know the genes are a workin’)

She bakes the best bread. I asked Kalli what she loves about mom, and her first thing was “mom makes the best bread” – number two was “mom makes the best muffins” – and the third thing was “mom makes the best bread. It’s soooo good” There you have it; can’t argue with Kalli (no, really. You CAN’T argue with Kalli. It’s futile)

She can put her hair in a ponytail and be ready for anything.

She’s the perfect mom for Kalli, Megan, and Ryan. No father or husband could ask for better.

When I have my bad days – she’s having a good day. She’s always there to pull me up and help me see how nice the view really is.

She’s the best leader that our Young Women could ask for. It’s like she was born for her calling. She’d say otherwise. So modest.

She isn’t afraid to get her hands dirty. No faux nails here. “Auweee Euweee, I chipped a nail! Waaaa Waaa!” Ya, Right.

She learns from her mistakes. She does an awesome job of analyzing a situation and an outcome and then determining if things went the way they should, and if not – why? Not even the CEO of GM can do THAT. (“Hmmm, maybe we should focus our business on not having any focus at all on any particular market and hope that something just sticks. Hey, I wonder why we’re bleeding $16 billion a quarter… Oh well.” But I digress)

She doesn’t mind if I totally waste her in a game of Mario Kart. In fact, she’ll even play me again, after a few weeks. I think my whole ‘in your FACE!’ dance might have been a little over-the-top that one time.

She said I could buy a motorcycle! Just as soon as we can afford one. And, as long as I don’t drive it down any street upon which cars may be present. I’ll take it!

Did I mention that she’s an amazing cook?

Welp – I think that’s about 10. Plus I need to get back to work – or whatever you call that stuff that I was doing before I started typing.

Happy Birthday, Jodie! We love you!



Can this picture get ANY better?!

Our Little Version...

I love spring. I love it for so many reasons. Seeing the earth come back alive seems to give me hope - plus, I love mowing the lawn. I also love my yard - for so many reasons. One of those reasons is, what I call the Youngberg version of the Tree of Life. It blooms every Spring - for about a week or so. I made sure this time to snap a photo before the flowers fell off. It needs a little trimming - but you get the picture.

Thank You

Dear Friend,

Thank you for the wonderful dish towels you gave us at our wedding. We loved em. They were so great. For the past 7 years we have thought of your generosity each and every time we took them out to dry the dishes or clean the table. They have not only been a welcome addition to our kitchen, but have also been a welcome addition to our lives. They've been with us through the highs of birthday celebrations, graduations, our first home, and the lows of Tina Turner's "Comeback" tour, Carl's Jr. raising the price on the Big Burger to $1.39, and WalMart discontinuing the sale of White Cloud diapers. It's been quite the roller coaster ride.

Before we bade farewell to our long-time friend, we took a snapshot for memory sake. We just thought you might want a copy to help you obtain some closure.

Use it up - Wear it out - Make it do - Or do without.

How To Send An Apology

We're trying out a new program at work so we can make some "instructional videos" - So..... I thought I'd try it out and make one of my own...

Yum!

I stopped by Costco on the way to work this morning - thought I'd get me one of them super-sized cuppie cakes. Delish!

I'm a Genius!

I had a mission companion who, back in high school, thought it would be cool to make up a new word and see how long it took for people to start using it. He claims it took about 3 weeks until it was common-place in the school. He asked people where they had heard it, and their comment was "it's been around forever" :-) Well, I decided to come up with my OWN new slang term;

Will you be my FBF?

(FaceBookFriend)

Aaaaaaah Ya! It's the new thing. Start usin it - tell all your friends! Soon I'll be hearing the fruits of all my mindless past time. Don't thank me now - thank me when all your FBF's start usin it too - then you can say you were one of the first. Like a pioneer - except without all the mud and walking.

Good Morning

Last night as I went to bed I decided that in the morning I’d wake up early, head up to the temple and get a little more direction on what I should do with my life. I’m not one for turning down free direction. That’s right, folks – direction regarding life’s toughest issues for the low low price of only $0.00! We’ll even break it down into three EEeeaasY payments of only $0.00! And if you call within the next 15 minutes, we’ll throw in peace of mind AND a dose of serotonin that comes when serving others!

Anyway, I woke up as planned, ate breakfast, came in my bedroom to give Jo a kiss goodbye and heard a thump downstairs. I’m not sure how to describe it really. I couldn’t decide if someone shut a door too loudly, if something fell off a shelf – I wasn’t sure. A thought crossed my mind that I should go down the stairs and see if everything was OK. I went into the front entry way, put on my coat and was about to leave when I heard Sharon downstairs – yelling for my help. Pretty much everyone reading this knows that my cousin Jesse and his wife Marissa live in our basement. We’ve had a few scares with Jesse and his diabetes – but nothing like this. I came downstairs to Jesse on the floor, next to his bed, with a distorted face and a stiff body – completely unresponsive. I pulled out my phone and called 911. 10 seconds into my conversation, the iPhone strikes again and drops the call. I seriously hate that thing. What a piece. What an honest piece of… Anyway… All I got out was “we’re having an attack, a diabetic attack” I don’t think she heard the “diabetic attack” part before the call dropped – so I was half worried that the house was going to get surrounded by action-hungry cops. (wouldn’t be the first time – I’ll blog about that later) So, I called them back on a REAL phone and got medical personnel on the way. For anyone who has ever called 911, you know what I mean when I say that it felt like an eternity for them to get there. It was probably 3 minutes – but felt like 300. Long story short: The guys came – they helped Jesse. They answered all my questions and helped further my edumacation in the ways of diabetes and what I can do to help if this happens again.

Looking back on the whole experience, I feel that I learned what I needed to learn this morning. It isn’t really anything I can put into words – or anything that would make sense, unless of course you’ve been living in my head for the last few years. One lesson I did learn, however, was that if someone you know has a disease – you may not have to “live” with it, but that disease is now part of your life and you need to learn how to manage it. Now, if this ever happens again, I’m in a better position to handle the situation. I don’t know everything about it – but I know more than I used to; and that’s the way we learn.