Beef jerky, pez, and a little Red Hot Chili Peppers

The road from St George to (what I have heard is FREEZING today) Lehi seems to last forever. The 4 or so hours it takes can only be survived with good music, good snacks and of course good company. The end of a wonderful weekend is coming and I am just not ready to return to sweaters and pants. Oh well here we come......



This is the only time I can ever get a picture of Matt. What do you think of the stache?









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salmonella blamanella

Craving cookies tonight. I usually want the cookies but once I start making them realize I just want a taste of the batter. So it usually results in lots of cookies sitting around the house and then get thrown away 3 weeks later. Tonight on the menu dark chocolate butterscotch chip cookies. So if you want to stop by anytime tonight there will be hot cookies waiting for you! Or if you teach my primary class like Julye did last week, you will probably get some delivered.



What's your thought on salmonella anyway? Does it scare you away from the dough?

Chicken

Does anyone else chicken out when it comes to changing their hair? For some odd reason, my long hair is somehow connected to my identity, and I am terrified at cutting it. If you haven't noticed over the past few years, it has gotten shorter and shorter (right after I had Milo, it was almost to my behind-really!?!?) But thanks to some mighty fine help from Michael (my sister's amazing hairstylist) who first got me to chop it, and my lovely sister in law Shana- who actually will come to my house and do my hair, and has done a great job of getting me to change and update my style--I have been able to let myself cut it a little at a time. I thought I was finally ready for change!!

My sweet sister Candace, asked me to help her out and take her appointment with Michael. She made it months earlier but as it got closer she realized she wasnt ready (she wants to let her hair get a bit longer for a perm!! Cannot wait to see it Candi!!). So with a few days to decide what I wanted to do I decided to go in and let him do whatever he wants. Well I chickened out and kept it pretty much the same! Its shorter and lighter in color, I have some blonde in it and it is a great change, but I was gearing up for a BIG change.

Okay- so here is the plan. I am going to make it public so I cannot go back on my plan. I mean all 5 of you reading this will hold me too it, and I cannot let you down:

Please tell me I am not the only one who has loved America's Next Top Model, since like day one of the show? You can find it on anytime of the day, between Bravo, VH1, any of those stations that love to play reruns, yep I watch it (okay not everytime it is on, but you get my point), so I fell in love with Brittani's hair here and think this might be the cut. But instead of the jet black, or even red hair that I have now, I am thinking of going blonde. It's really the one color that Matt hasn't see my hair (that was high school days, and sometimes those days arent worth repeating haha), but I think with the help of a good colorist- not my friend Ashleah in her bathroom, we can make it look great.

Something like this. Little golden honey. We will see. But now it is out on the table, and I cannot go back. haha.

What are your thoughts? Terrible idea? My hair grows like a weed, so it will be great for Summer, and if it is a terrible idea, then it will quickly grow back!

Why does my mind do this?

It seems at the oddest times of the day and at the most awkward timing but my mind is constantly running on new fun things to do. My other life other than being a mom and wife, is completely wrapped up in all things Orson Gygi.

I love it. I do. They give me complete freedom and really allow me to express my taste through buying for the store. I have a lot of fun. Some things are a complete gamble and somethings are a perfect fit. For example, measuring cups. Perfect item to sell in a kitchen store right? We have a huge selection. From cast aluminum that have fancy designs to square plastic ones for the colorful modern home. And they all seem to sell, so I thought I would bring in a couple of these babies:

yes they measure and yes they might sell but they were fun and like I said a gamble. Well not even a year later, it's only been since November 2010, we have sold over 200 of these bad boys. No that's night a typo, over 12 dozen little lady stacking measuring cups, and I cannot get them in fast enough {it doesn't help that the manufacturer is out too}. But people love them and they want more!! Our sales rep called me the other day and asked what in the world we were doing with them? He was shocked at how many were flying out the door.
So like anyone cares about how many measuring cups Gygi's sales, well there is a point here, I am feeling like the world is missing out on all the wonderful things Gygi's has and I am trying to find the best way to get the word out. So this is where my mind comes in......we all know the power of the Internet, it brought you here today didn't it? I mean I haven't written like I promised I would, and your being so sweet or just bored, noticed that I finally updated!!! Well Gygi's has a site, it's soon to be changing to be a much more user friendly informational site, {which I might add the man behind it is one hot cookie!!!!}, but what it's main focus is on is our best sellers. What is that you ask? It's chocolate!!!!! Gygi's sells over 200,000 POUNDS of chocolate in the months of November and December. Yep. Thats not another typo. And its projected to increase this year. Our cookie sheets, spices and cake decorating supplies, all round out the top 10 spots but nothing compares to chocolate. So why would someone looking for 10 pounds of Callebaut Chocolate buy one of my cute measuring cup sets? It does happen and once in the store I catch them every time!!!! But online they for one thing aren't all up yet and two I think they get overloooked and people really miss out.

So here is my thought, and where I need your opinion.... I'm thinking out starting a sub-site. Something linked off the gygi site, something that will help people who haven't been raised at Orson Gygi know what they can really find and do at Gygi's. This is the large comparison, but I frequent the GAP Inc sites. My kids and I love the Gap, but it's nice knowing that I can shop at Old Navy, and drool over Banana Republic and Piperlime. Every once in a while their items just happen to jump in to my shopping cart and when they arrive all together I act like a child on Christmas Day surprised as ever. But they have a samd comfort level as I jump from site to site and I know that I will not be taken advantage of. So that's my question- do we leave it all in one site just like then store? Or do we sub-site it and create more of a boutiquey feel and see what happens? What are your thoughts? And if you are still reading this and haven't been to Gygi's please call me. I will personal give you the grand tour and might even throw a brownie spatula in at the end?

Sicky boy time....

I have a sicky little boy today! That just wants to be held, so why not catch up on some REALLY old posts that have some amazing pictures that need to be shared. So I am apologizing first for the really late posts, hopefully it will get everyone as excited as we are for warm weather and being able to play outside.

Hello, is anyone still here?

I have totally and completely neglected the whole blogging world. I do still check up on the faithful that continue to write and share their secrets with the world. But I have neglected my own personal blog, and to be honest, I really quite miss it. I am not a journaler, is that word?. Bonnie, my sister, has always was been so good to keep up on that but I tend to forget. And let's be honest, my life consists of one husband, two kids, 10 kids in our CTR class, fifty million cooking classes to plan, 100 million kitchen utensils and decor things to buy for the store,one trillion floors to clean and I have lost track of how many loads of laundry. Not that exciting is it? But it keeps me VERY busy! But after reading so many of the blogs around me, specifically the amazing friends and neighbors I have, I quickly realized that everyone is busy and we are all trying to get to the next day! So being busy is no longer my excuse for not blogging. I am counting on you 2 that read this still to keep me going and remind me to keep track of what we are doing an a daily basis, cause my memory is the worst and i will forget all the wonderful things my kids say and do. And the fun and messy times we have!

We will start this year with Matt. He is still working at Orson Gygi, many times people will ask do you guys like working together. I love it. I currently work with my Grandma, my Dad, usually one of my sisters, and my handsome husband. It is fun working with family. Matt has had to remind me that it is okay that we talk about things other than work. But we don't work too closely together on every day to day thing so it makes is wonderful. I love having a lunch partner and being able to just give him a kiss (shh dont tell) at work.

When he isnt putting in 80+ hours at Gygi's, Matt is finishing up his schooling at The Art Institute. He is loving it there and is really learning some wonderful things. He loves designing websites and ads for Gygi's and is really really good at it. He has gotten Saige to love it too. She gets frustrated when people distract her while she is trying to do some designs..... He hasn't done much fishing or hunting this past year, but things are looking up this year. He has been invited to do some great hunts this year with his Dad and he couldn't be more excited. We all love him very much and are so proud of what he does at work, school, and still makes time for the kids and I.

There were probably a million better pictures of our beautiful Saige, but this one portrayed her and her daily life perfectly. Here she is in one of my dresses, you can't see the 3 baby dolls she is holding, and behind her is her naked brother driving her crazy. She puts up with a lot at our house, and still has managed to be one of the smartest kids I know, every mom says that right?, but so true to herself. She LOVES to draw and write and color. She loves to be told that she is smart, and that her artwork is amazing. She steals my tape so she can hang her artwork and school work around her room. She is loving school and learning her letters really well. She just started dance class and loves it. Begs for Wednesdays to come, but they just cannot come quick enough. Her favorite thing to eat is probably potstickers, and edamame. Favorite color is still pink and is in love with anything princess. We love having her remind us to say our prayers and she says the sweetest things about our Heavenly Father. She really is intune to the spirit and has such a good reminder of why we are really here. I love calling her our daughter. One last thing, she is 4 going on 20. No joke I sometimes worry about the teen age years but tell myself that we are going through that now and when she is 13+ she will be a breeze.

For some reason Milo HATES to have his picture taken, so most of the pictures I have of him are with his head to the back of the picture, or with a cup to his mouth (that kid always has to have a drink with him!). MILO MILO MILO. He is such a funny kid. He just turned 3 a few weeks ago and it is hard for me to think that my little guy is 3. I dont have a baby anymore and its hard for me to accept that. He wants to be such a big kid and has really grown up the past 6 months. He finally is potty trained, all but the nights-we are working on it, he loves being a big guy and he told me last night, (matt is going out of town for a few days) that he will be the man, not the brother but the Man while Dad is gone. Out of no where he told us that. He loves to protect Saige and take care of her. They play a lot of princess and prince and he does such a good job at protecting the kingdom. Milo has the biggest heart, he will do anything for anyone, loves to share his favorite things, and at first can be a little shy but loves to be around people. His current obssession right now is super heroes and it is fun to see this BOY side of kids. I only had sisters so jumping, flying, shooting and saving the day is a little new for me. But we love it. Milo loves to eat salad, green beans, pizza and potstickers. His favorite colors and blue and green, and loves his blue blanket, white pillow, and sippy cup WAY too much.

Then there is me. Here I am waiting with Milo, and Josie (Candace's sweet sweet baby that we get to play with on Wednesdays!!) for Preston, Hank and Saige to get out of school. Matt sweetly traded in his beloved Tacoma and bought me a newer 4runner, one that had a 3rd row. We can now transport 7 people, and on Wednesdays we fill up nearly every seat. Between dance, school and errands every Wednesday seems to be spent in the car. Good thing for apple slices, juice and a movie!

I am still working 3 days at the store, and who knows what from home. I love it. I really do. It takes a lot from me but I love it. I love to hear everyone's good ideas, and trying to help people solve the problems they have with their chocolate, or cookies or cakes or WHATEVER! I never thought I would love working as much as I do, but it is just fun for me (well most days!). I couldn't do it without my sweet sister who comes over two days a week and plays with my kids. THEY LOVE THEIR AUNT STACI!!! Sometimes too much, they would choose her over me anyday! I will be indebt to her for her willingness to be with my kids forever!!!! And of course my sweet mom, if i have a class and matt has school she will take my kids till 10:00 at night and plan fun activities and yummy dinners for them. ( I came to get them the other night, and they had made dragons and lanterns to celebrate chinese new year!).

This year my goal is to figure out myself. I love to bake, i love to craft, and i love being a mom. I am going to use this blog to help keep me taking pictures, doing fun things together and just remembering that my kids will grow up way to fast and if I dont do these fun things with them now i will regret it for the rest of my life.

Keep reminding me of this, if you see me and i have not posted anything tell me i suck. (well in a nice way okay?)

Day 1...

DAY ONE: Traveling Puppet Show.

I was actually surprised that we began on day one. Candace is a great motivation for me, and we did really well for our first day and three tired kiddos. But this is all about them and having them help and have a good time, so I have to remember that.

Here is a small glipse into my project colors, i will post some pictures of the actually project soon, but we are not quite down yet, i hate when reality gets in the way of crafty projects! STAY TUNED!!!!