Product Pick of the week

Costco's Daily Multivitamin Pack (by request)

I told Holly about this product and she agreed it would make a good product pick of the week.

This is the best vitamin pack I (in my admitedly limited vitamin experience) have ever seen.

For comprehensive vitamin content and total value for your money I don't believe you can find a better deal.

Each packet contains 5 vitamin tablets and 2 softgels, including ginseng. The back of the box gives a complete rundown of all the vitamins it includes and basically blows any other daily vitamin, including one-a-days and prenatals, out of the water.

Because there are 7 different pills you can leave out anything that you don't want.

But also because there are 7 different pills it almost feels like a meal to take them all. I found they all went down best with milk.

I started taking these because I felt totally drained of energy all the time and could barely make it through the day. Every day that I took them I had all the energy I needed, and after taking them consistently for 6 months or so I found that I kept the energy even when I didn't take them.

I have come to believe my body was pretty much drained of nutrients after giving birth to two children and nursing them each for over a year. Taking these vitamins helped replace those nutrients.

I don't take them daily anymore, but I do keep them around for when I am feeling a vitamin low or need a little extra energy that day.

It would probably be good for me to continue to take them everyday.

There are 2 downsides to these vitamins. The first comes right after you take them if you take them on an empty stomach. That downside is that you might puke.

Solution: eat something before you take them.

The other downside comes about 10-12 hours after you take them. Especially if you have not been taking them long. By that evening you will have an energy crash. Though not as bad as what you get after an energy drink, you'll just realize that after having so much energy, which helped you be so busy and accomplish so much all day long, you are suddenly very tired. This will help you sleep good, but you might not be able to stay up late.

Solution: Take the vitamins about 12 hours before you want to go to bed. ie, If you want to go to bed at 11:00 pm, take the vitamins at 11:00 am. But if you take them too late you might not be able to sleep when you want to.

And don't waste your money in a vitamin shop. One box of these, which includes 100 vitamin packs, costs just under 15 bucks. That's only 15 cents for each pack. That's less than 5 bucks a month. You pay more than that for unlimited texting.

You can't beat the energy these packs will give you for 15 cents a pop. These are a must have for anyone who is looking for a good vitamin or more energy. And that's not saying anything about how your hair and nails will grow while you take these.

If you don't have a Costco membership you might want to consider it just for these. Or find a friend who had a membership and have them pick it up for you.

Definitely a good pick.

God and the Spider

Below is a link to a story that is pretty cool and inspiring.

I have heard the story before. What I actually like best about this one, and why I didn't just copy and paste it in a blog, is the music that accompanies the story.

I believe it is Elvis Presley and a choir singing one of my favorite hymns, "How Great Thou Art".

Enjoy.

>>>>> God and the Spider <<<<<

Why it's better to be the boss...

That's one reason why I'm self employed.

Brainteaser

I had a hard time with this one. This causes my mind to twist in a way that it is not accustomed to twisting. Which is a little surprising since my mind is pretty twisted.

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"We're all keen on yachting in these parts," said my tow-headed friend, Thalia Collingwood.

"Father has a yacht, and so has each of his four friends: Colonel Drake; Mr. Nelson; Sir Barnacle Hood; and Dr. Benbow.

"What's more, each of the five has just the one daughter, and each has named his yacht after the daughter of one of the others. So you see (she concluded proudly) "there's a dear little yacht named after me.

"Sir Barnacle's yacht is the Gabrielle; Mr. Collingwood owns the Lorna; Mr. Nelson, the Rosalind. The Melissa, owned by Colonel Drake, is named after Sir Barnacle's daughter. Gabrielle's father owns the yacht which is named after Dr. Benbow's daughter.

Who is Lorna's father?

Quote

I have to put this because Mark just came up to me and said:

"Did you know stupid people don't waste stuff? If something is rotten they just eat it anyway."

One liners

My brother Mike (who is serving in Iraq) e-mailed me a bunch of jokes from his favorite comedian Mitch Hedberg.

Here are some of my favorites:

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I have a cheese-shredder at home, which is its positive name. They don't call it by its negative name, which is sponge-ruiner. Because I wanted to clean it, and now I have little bits of sponge that would melt easily over tortilla chips...

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If carrots got you drunk, rabbits would be messed-up.

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I think foosball is a combination of soccer and shishkabobs.

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An escalator can never break. It can only become stairs. You would never see an "Escalator Temporarily Out Of Order" sign, just "Escalator Temporarily Stairs. Sorry for the convenience."

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My friend said to me, "You know what I like? Mashed potatoes." I was like, "Dude, you have to give me time to guess. If you're going to quiz me you have to insert a pause."

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I'm against picketing, but I don't know how to show it.

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This product that was on TV was available for four easy payments of $19.95. I would like a product that was available for three easy payments and one complicated payment. We can't tell you which payment it is, but one of these payments is going to be hard.

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I got my hair highlighted, because I felt some strands were more important than others.

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The next time I move I hope I get a real easy phone number, something like 2222222. People will ask, "Mitch, how do I get a hold of you?" I'll say, "Just press two for a while, when I answer, you'll know that you've pressed two enough."

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You know they call corn-on-the-cob, "corn-on-the-cob", but that's how it comes out of the ground. They should just call it corn, and every other type of corn, corn-off-the-cob.

It's not like if someone cut off my arm they would call it "Mitch", and then re-attached it, and call it "Mitch-all-together".

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Puzzles

These 2 are pretty easy. But there are 2 of them to extend your fun! -

1. A farmer combined two compost heaps with three others. How many compost heaps does he have?

2. A large family consists of seven sons and each one of them has one sister. How many people are in that family?

Our missionaries/ New use for duct tape

This picture is of our missionaries. At least they are our missionaries as of this moment. Their transfers are taking place this morning and we don't know yet who is staying and going.

Except we do know that Sister Chesney (far right) is going home. (Hooray for her!)

I will miss her because she has been around for a few months and I have become rather fond of her. But I am pretty sure I will get to keep Sister Bangerter for a few more months.

On the left are our Elders Ord (far left) and Taylor (taller than Ord). We have enjoyed both of them. Hopefully we will get to keep at least one of them for a little while longer.

Sister Bangerter has come up with a new use for duct tape that I have not seen before.

She made a cover for her scriptures. Notice the bright green of her quad. No, they are not being sold in that color now. And no, her scriptures were not falling apart. She made a removeable cover for them out of green duct tape. Very inventive. She has even gotten requests from ward members to make covers for them.

I am pretty sure nothing would keep her scriptures safer than duct tape. At least no earthly intervention anyway.

Sister Chesney, (or Kimberly as we can soon call you): Good luck in the real world. We will miss you here in VA.

-Della

Props to Grandpa

If you wonder where I find all of these fabulous and intriguing stories, pictures, quotes and jokes, I can tell you.

I get them from my Grandpa. (Okay, technically Chris' Grandpa, but that makes him mine too).

In fact, Grandma and Grandpa (or Ralph and Patsy as they are otherwise known) are some of my most dedicated readers.

So hi Grandma and Grandpa. Thanks for all the great e-mails.

We love you.

-Della

Bus pictures

I've never seen a bus like this in America. I wonder why.

My poor dog

My wonderful dog Toby has allergies.

The vet said before that the only reason she can attribute to his symptoms is allergies.

Toby has certain places on his body that get very red and itchy. These spots are under his chin on his neck, and in his arm (leg) pits. His eyes also puff up and get itchy. He will rub his face against the floor to scratch them.

The spot on his neck even gets so bad that he loses hair there and sometimes will bleed.

I have tried bathing him with medicated shampoos, cleaning the spots everyday, putting lotions on them, and cleaning and trimming his nails so he's not scratching himself with dirty nails.

We have even considered giving him benadyl or allergy eye drops to see if that helps.

Sometimes it gets better for a week or so, but then gets bad again. All of these symptoms have gotten worse since we moved here. I can only assume that is because he has a much larger yard to run around in so he spends more time outside. He is also exposed to a bigger variety of flora and allergens than he was before.

The last time we took him to the vet she gave us a spray to put on the itchy spots, which Toby hated.

I think we will be taking him back to the vet soon. We are seeing signs of spring here wich are probably making his allergies even worse. I worry about him.

Okay, this was probably a strange thing to blog about, but it was on my mind. If anyone has any suggestions about how to relieve my poor dog of his itchy rashes I am very open to new ideas.

I also wondered the other day while I was talking to Chris about possible options: What do you do if you have an allergic reaction to benadryl?

Sunday story

I try to do something spiritual or inspirational on the blog most Sundays.

Here is a story that I may have forwarded to some of you, but is a good story and worth seeing again. (or for the first time too).

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Keith Stepan was the managing director for the Temple Construction Department for the church.

When the Nauvoo Temple was being built, for various reasons, they had some challenges and delays in getting the statue of Moroni mounted on top of the temple.

It was September of 2001 and one such delay was due to the 9/11 attacks, but there were other problems as well. They started having some concern over exactly when they could mount the statue. As they looked over the construction plans, they decided that a particular day would be the last chance they would have to mount the statue without too much trouble. Anything beyond that would present big challenges.

That day came and the weather was not cooperating. It was stormy and very windy. The crane operator felt that it was unsafe to attempt to mount the statue with the wind blowing as strong as it was.

Keith Stepan and some of the others on the project went off to a private spot and prayed for the Lord to temper the elements so that they could put Moroni in place that day.

Soon afterwards, the wind died down and the clouds opened up just above the temple. They decided to go ahead.

Just as the crane began lifting up Moroni, a column of light shot straight down from the sky directly onto Moroni.

The statue was successfully installed.

The date was September 22nd, and turned out to be a significant anniversary. It was September 22nd, 1827 that Joseph Smith received the golden plates from the Angel Moroni.

Here is a photograph of the statue of Moroni being mounted on the temple in Nauvoo.

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*Late edit:

I get lots of blog hits from this post.

I love that people are enjoying it.

Please leave a comment and sign in.

You can leave an anonymous comment if you do not have a google account, but I would love to hear from you.

Thanks, Della

Hi California

Lydia,

Is that you? Or is someone else from CA on right now?

Hi South Dakota!

Is that Lillie or Drew?

Pictures that I identify with

Some good quotes

Sometimes, when I look at my children, I say to myself ~~"Lillian, you should have remained a virgin."

-- Lillian Carter (mother of Jimmy Carter)

I had a rose named after me and I was very flattered.. But I was not pleased to read the description in the catalog: "No good in a bed, but fine against a wall."

-- Eleanor Roosevelt

Last week, I stated this woman was the ugliest woman I had ever seen. I have since been visited by her sister, and now wish to withdraw that statement.

-- Mark Twain

The secret of a good sermon is to have a good beginning and a good ending; and to have the two as close together as possible.

-- George Burns

Santa Claus has the right idea. Visit people only once a year.

- - Victor Borge

Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint.

-- Mark Twain

By all means, marry. If you get a good wife, you'll become happy; if you get a bad one, you'll become a philosopher.

-- Socrates

While we're talking about boys...

These are not my boys.

But they could be.

I think this picture is awesome.

(Is that a haiku?)

Parenting (again), and one of my boys

I said something yesterday about not needing to change what you are doing as a parent if what you are doing is working.

Carrie commented that when you learn something new you should look at it, decide what you can use and catalogue the rest for later necessity.

I think she is right and there are things I can learn from Dr. Post, but I should keep doing what is working.

How do I know if what I am doing is working?

Well, for example, after the first term at school J brought home a report card with straight Fs. Yesterday (only 1 term later), he brought home a certificate and a medal for making the Honor Roll. (I know it's legitimate because I picked him up at school and his teacher actually handed me the certificate).

I am so proud of him.

And to be honest, I'm proud of myself too.

-Della

New Parenting

I spent the last 2 days attending a training by Dr. Brian Post from the Post Institute.

It was all about parenting. Specifically parenting really tough kids; adopted children, foster children or kids who have experienced high levels of trauma that are continuing to affect their behaviors.

It was very eye opening and interesting. In the end I disagreed with some of his hands on techniques, but agreed with his general theories.

What I liked about him is his understanding that parents can't help kids be in control of their emotions when the parents aren't in control of their emotions. Kind of a "duh" statement right? But how many times in one day do you as a parent allow your frustration level, maybe even your voice level, to go up because of something your kids are doing? That really only increases the stress in the situation. Some one who is upset can't calm down someone else who is upset. Only a parent who is calm and in control of themselves can be in control of a situation.

But Dr Post believes it is wrong for parents to try to control their children anyway. It is impossible to control another person. All we can really do is influence them. We can set limits and model appropriate behaviors. We can also spend extra time building positive relationships with our kids, so that our kids care more what we as their parents think about their actions.

I was following right along until the second half of that last sentence. Maybe my own training is so much a part of me that I am closed to new ideas, and I really do think realtionships are vital in raising and teaching kids, but I think kids need to learn to do the right thing because it is the right thing, not because their parents make them feel guilty if they don't.

But it does make sense that kids who spend more quality time with their parents are less likely to act out.

Dr. Post also focuses on recognizing, when a child is acting out, what is causing them stress that is triggering the behavior. Because if you can resolve the underlying stress and fear you can resolve the behavior.

Example: If you have a foster son that freaks out and goes crazy every time you go to the grocery store, maybe that is simply too much stimulus for him and he can't handle that much going on in such a big place for that long. So maybe you need to start my taking him with you to smaller stores for smaller time increments and work your way up, so he can learn to deal with it a little at a time.

Or maybe that child was abused by his mother for whining every time they went shopping, so being in a store is a trigger for his deeper issues. So you have to show him that he can trust you be caring and loving at the store. Which you would probably want to do by smaller trips to smaller stores and work your way up.

So that's great for kids with big problems, but what about your kids that have normal behavior issues? Your kids go crazy at the store just because they want Doritos and toungue tattoo fruit roll ups and Cocoa Puffs cereal straws. Dr. Post would probably say that if you spend 10 minutes every morning, 20 minutes in the afternoon, and 10 minutes at bedtime of quality time with each of your kids, those behaviors will resolve themselves.

And I'm sure that would help. But the part of me that has sat through over 200 hours of trainings, worked with over 50 kids over the last 6 years and is nationally certified still says kids need a consequence for acting out and a reward for behaving.

Dr. Post quoted several times:

"If you keep doing what you've already done, you'll keep being where you've already been."

My response was, well, what if what I've been doing is working?

Still I learned a lot and will use some of his ideas with the kids I work with. Alltogether it was very thought provoking and I think I will be a better parent for attending.

If you are interested in what he was talking about you can go to postinstitute.com and download a free e-book about his parenting techniques.

I am interested in your comments about this or parenting in general, or whatever random thing you feel like posting about.

-Della

Great Quiz

Update:

I got some good answers to these qustions. Some were different than the original answers and I don't know if they are actually right. You all may have found some additional ones to what is listed here.

Here are the answers that are given with the quiz:

1. The one sport in which neither the spectators nor the participants know the score or the leader until the contest ends . Boxing

2. North American landmark constantly moving backward. Niagara Falls (The rim is worn down about two and a half feet each year because of the millions of gallons of water that rush over it every minute.)

3. Only two vegetables that can live to produce on their own for several growing seasons . . Asparagus and Rhubarb.

4. The fruit with its seeds on the outside . Strawberry.

5. How did the pear get inside the brandy bottle? It grew inside the bottle. (The bottles are placed over pear buds when they are small, and are wired in placeon the tree. The bottle is left in place for the entire growing season. When the pears are ripe, they are snipped off at the stems.)

6. Three English words beginning with dw Dwarf, dwell and dwindle.

7. Fourteen punctuation marks in English grammar. . Period, comma, colon, semicolon, dash, hyphen, apostrophe, question mark, exclamation point, quotation marks, brackets, parenthesis, braces, and ellipses.

8. The only vegetable or fruit never sold frozen, canned, processed, cooked, or in any other form but fresh Lettuce.

9. Six or more things you can wear on your feet beginning with 'S'. Shoes, socks, sandals, sneakers, slippers, skis, skates, snowshoes, stockings, stilts.

- Good job, Guys.

Utah Jazz

The Jazz had about a week off for the Allstar break, but played again last night.

They played the Warriors at home and beat them 119-109.

If Mona Lisa came to America

Interview With God

Here is a link to a really cool screensaver presentation.

Take a minute to watch it. It will give you a little bit of peace in your crazy day, I promise.

Click right here-----> Interview With God <-----This is the link.

Some Simple Truths

1. The nicest thing about the future is that it always starts tomorrow.

2. Money will buy a fine dog, but only kindness will make him wag his tail.

3. If you don't have a sense of humor, you probably don't have any sense at all.

4. Seat belts are not as confining as wheelchairs.

5. A good time to keep your mouth shut is when you're in deep water.

6. How come it takes so little time for a child who is afraid of the dark to become a teenager who wants to stay out all night?

7. Business conventions are important because they demonstrate how many people a company can operate without.

8. Why is it that at class reunions you feel younger than everyone else looks?

9. Scratch a dog and you'll find a permanent job.

10. No one has more driving ambition than the boy who wants to buy a car.

Redneck mailbox

Jeff Foxworthy says that the word redneck means "a glorious absence of sofistication".

Do you think this qualifies?

The extra funny thing about this is that I did not get this picture in an e-mail and I did not find it somewhere on the internet. I actually took this picture less than a mile away from my house.

No kidding.

Hey, Jim. Here's another use for duct tape.

So my question is, how are they cooking dinner?

Geocaching

I went on a walk yesterday, (actually I walk -or jog- everyday), and found a geocache.

For those of you who don't know, a geocache is a type of treasure hunt.

What you do to find them is go to geocaching.com and search your area code or city. You have to sign in to get them, but basic membership is free. They usually have lat and long coordinates which you can use a GPS to find.

Or you can do what I did for this one (if you don't have a portable GPS), which was plugged the lat and long coordinates into google earth, or similiar type map and satelite viewer, and zoomed in until I recognized my neighborhood park and figured out where in the park the geocache was.

Then I walked to that area and looked around till I found it.

Most geocaches are some type of small container: tupperware, Rx bottles, film cans, etc. with a log book or paper inside to write your name. You can see in the picture this particular geocache was a keychain fob that unscrewed, (originally probably to keep an extra dose of asprin, valium or viagra). Inside was a rolled up strip of paper that had the names of everyone who has found it. I forgot to take a pen, so I will have to go back to sign it. You can then go on line and log in that you found it.

There are thousands of these all over. My parents found one in Williamsburg when they were visiting here a few months ago. There is at least one more within a mile of my house. It's back in the woods though, so I'll probably need a GPS to find it.

It was pretty cool going on a walk in my own neighborbood, going in to a bunch of trees and finding a hidden treasure that was almost sitting in plain sight, but that I never would have found otherwise. I sense a new hobby for myself....

-Della

Our Sister Missionaries

This is Sister Bangerter and Sister Chesney.

I have one other pic of Sister Chesney posted from a month or so ago when her comp was Sister Taylor.

We love these guys.

Sister Chesney is actually going home to Colorado next week. We will miss her, but I think her family will be glad to have her back.

Bienvedido a mi amigos international

I have recently been getting hits on my blog from all over the world.

My site meter tracks the locations of those who check my blog and has listed: Canada, Sweden, Malaysia, Portugal, Brazil, UK, Egypt, Spain, Netherlands, Colombia, France, and India just in the last 2 days.

I think this is pretty cool, but I do wonder how they find me. Apparently they get to this blog from other blogspot addresses, but I can't figure out which ones.

My international readers: Just out of my own curiosity, can you tell me how you found me?

Challenging Cryptogram

RTVE BCR BWXTMK OIY TYPYKKOIE BR UYYJ RTY'K CXQY WOJJE. RTY XK BR VYB WYI BWXTU KWY XK WOGXTM WYI RCT COE, OTL BWY RBWYI, BR VYB WYI WOGY XB.

-VETLRT F. NRWTKRT

Good luck. This one's a bit tougher.

Sunday Thought

Product Pick of the Week -Scotch Brite scrubbers

Scotch Brite Scrubbers are this week's pick.

One of the great things about these is that the scrubbers are interchangeable.

They are super easy to switch out, but stay in place firmly.

My favorite is the blue pad that scrubs off soap scum really easily.

Just get it wet, sprinkle some Comet and soap scum scrubbs right off.

Some of the brushes even dispense soap.

The downside: It's hard to get into corners. I took the brush attachment off of the handle when I was trying to get into the corner under the cabinet.

I don't remember exactly, but I know I paid less than 5 bucks for this.

Totally worth it.

-Della

Tagged again

Christi tagged me this time.

She actually tagged me about 2 weeks ago and I'm way behind on doing it. (Sorry Christi).

So in case you want to know more random facts about me, here you are:

A- Attached or single: Firmly Attached

B- Best Friend: Do I have to pick one? That I see the most? Chris. That I talk to on the phone the most? Carrie. That has been my BFF the longest? Holly. That I miss and live the farthest from? Liz. Is that enough?

C-Cake or Pie: Neither, brownies.

D- Day of Choice: Monday, when the kids go back to school.

E- Essential Item: In my daily life? My calendar book, (soon to be replaced by a PDA). On a desert Island? A PDA with internet access, survival ebooks and a solar powered battery.

F- Favorite Color: Green.

G- Gummi Bears or Worms: Niether. They both make my second to last molar on my lower right side hurt.

H- Hometown: Provo

I- Indulgence(s): Wendy's Frostys, Lindor Truffles, Peppermint Hershey Kisses and New York Cheesecake Hershey Kisses.

J- January or July: Hmm... January is cold, but the kids are in school. July means the beach. Okay, July.

K-Kids: Currently 5

L-Life is incomplete without: breathing and heart beats

M- Marriage Date: April 22, 1997

N- Number of Siblings: 6

O- Oranges or Apples: both

P- Phobias or Fears: Losing my wedding ring

Q- Quote(s): " I'm not here to cash in, I'm here to make change."

R- Recipe: 1Pkg. sugar free orange jello

1 container lite cool whip

1 cup lowfat cottage cheese.

1 can favorite fruit in small pieces (ie, crushed pineapple, fruit cocktail, -lite is best).

Chopped nuts, optional

We call this (lite) Orange Fluffy Stuff.

S- Season: Spring

T- Tag Six: You, you, you, you, you and you. (Please do this if you want to).

U- Unknown Fact About Me: I'm pregnant.

Ha! Just kidding! But I had you for a second, didn't I?

V- Vegetarian or Oppressor of Animal: God gave me animals to eat. Who am I to argue with God?

W- Worst Habit: Biting my nails

X- X-Rays or Ultrasounds: Is this really a question?

Y- Your Favorite Food: Newest favorite: Red Curry

Z: Zodiac: Leo

There. Everything you didn't know you wanted to know about me.

-Della

Great shopping bag

V-Day puzzle (a day late)

Every student in a second grade class sends a valentine to each of the other students in the class, for a total of 306 valentines. How many students are in the class?

I'll post the answer tomorrow if no one figures it out.

V-day pictures

I've already done my rant for the day so I won't go in to Valentine's Day being a commercial holiday that causes more depression and disappointment than happiness, and how true romance should happen everyday and how acts of affection are better when they are random and unexpected, than when they are required as part of a calendar year.

I won't say all those things.

What I will do instead, in keeping with the holiday after all, is publish 2 pictures that I have in my picture file that seemed to represent the day of love.

I like this one because it engenders friendship as well as romance.

I like this one, well, just because.

Why I love living in the Bible Belt

Yesterday while waiting in a lobby I visited briefly with the security guard.

When I asked him conversationally how he was his immediate answer was "Blessed and highly favored".

We chatted for a few minutes and he made another quotable statement. He said he was:

"Too blessed to be stressed.

Too annointed to be disappointed".

It is very common to see license plates around here that say things like BLESSED, LVDBYGD, PRAISIN, or variations of the like.

It is very common for someone to discuss openly that they have been praying about something.

I am regularly told to "Have a Blessed Day".

I have been in line at Walmart on at least 2 occasions and had conversations with the person next to me about Jesus Christ.

I think these things stand out to me, not only because I have a very strong faith and love seeing the light of Christ in others, but also because I have lived before in areas where although religion and faith were common interests and seen generally as a high priority by the majority of the population, it was rarely if ever discussed outside of church meetings and activities, and almost never brought up with strangers.

I am still working on building my courage to discuss my faith openly, but I am making progress, and I am learning from those around me who might not even share my ideas on specific doctorine.

Here's a thought: We've all heard the phrase "If you've got it, flaunt it".

Does that have to only mean physical attributes? Shouldn't it apply even more to spiritual attributes?

I'm going to try to keep working on enhancing my spiritual attributes and my confidence to flaunt them. I'll also work harder to see those qualities in others.

That's my rant for the day. I hope it was helpful to you too.

-Della

Jazz win

The Jazz beat the Supersonics last night, 112-93.

Somehow Carlos Boozer had never gotten a triple double before. (For my non sporty readers, that means he scored double digits in 3 stat categories).

He got his first triple double last night with 22 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists.

That makes their record 34-19.

Creative advertising

Epitaphs

These are epitaphs supposedly found on real graves. They must be real. I can't imaginge why anyone would make these up.

-

Harry Edsel Smith of Albany, New York :

Born 1903--Died 1942.

Looked up the elevator shaft to see if the

car was on the way down.

It was.

=============================

On the grave of Ezekial Aikle in

East Dalhousie Cemetery , Nova Scotia:

Here lies Ezekial Aikle, Age 102.

Only The Good Die Young.

=============================

In a London , England cemetery:

Here lies Ann Mann,

Who lived an old maid

but died an old Mann. Dec. 8, 1767

=============================

In a Ribbesford, England , cemetery:

Anna Wallace

The children of Israel wanted bread, And

the Lord sent them manna. Clark Wallace

wanted a wife, And the Devil sent him Anna.

===============================

In a Ruidoso, New Mexico , cemetery:

Here lies Johnny Yeast...

Pardon me for not rising.

===============================

In a Uniontown, Pennsylvania , cemetery:

Here lies the body of Jonathan Blake.

Stepped on the gas instead of the brake.

==============================

In a Silver City, Nevada, cemetery:

Here lays The Kid.

We planted him raw.

He was quick on the trigger

But slow on the draw.

================================

A lawyer's epitaph in England :

Sir John Strange.

Here lies an honest lawyer,

and that is Strange.

=================================

John Penny's epitaph in the Wimborne,

England , cemetery:

Reader, if cash thou art in want of any,

Dig 6 feet deep and thou wilt find a Penny.

==================================

In a cemetery in Hartscombe , England :

On the 22nd of June, Jonathan Fiddle went

out of tune.

==================================

Anna Hopewell's grave in Enosburg Falls ,

Vermont :

Here lies the body of our Anna,

Done to death by a banana.

It wasn't the fruit that laid her low,

But the skin of the thing that made her go.

==================================

On a grave from the 1880s in Nantucket ,

Massachusetts :

Under the sod and under the trees,

Lies the body of Jonathan Pease.

He is not here, there's only the pod.

Pease shelled out and went to God.

==================================

In a cemetery in England :

Remember man, as you walk by,

As you are now, so once was I

As I am now, so shall you be.

Remember this and follow me.

-

To which someone replied by writing

on the tombstone:

To follow you I'll not consent

Until I know which way you went.

==================================

And my personal favorite:

-

In a Thurmont, Maryland , cemetery:

Here lies an Atheist, all dressed up and no

place to go.

=============================

The secrets of my success

I posted recently about my recent weight loss. As I said then I have lost just over 20 pounds in the last six months. I thought I would share what I am doing that is making the difference. In whole I made a big life change 6 months ago. I moved to a new city, in a new house, and got a new job, so it broke me out of my habits and it was easier to make some other changes too.

This is what I am doing differently than I was before that I think has made the difference:

1- I eat a bowl of whole grain cereal for breakfast every day.

I got out of this habit a couple of months ago and my weight loss stopped, I started again, and started losing again. And that's one bowl, not more.

2- I am simply more active.

I still walk my dogs every day and try to jog a couple of times a week. But in addition to that I am just on my feet more. I do housework, I run errands, I spend way more time pushing a cart around Walmart than I should. I look for excuses to be moving.

3- I eat smaller portions, and fewer snacks.

I never feel guilty eating fruit and I keep it around always, so when I feel peckish I pick up an apple, or orange, or grapefruit. I only eat 6" of my Subway now and save the other half for lunch tomorrow. I almost never have second helpings at dinner. (Unless Chris makes me Cajun Chicken Penne, then I definitely have seconds -and don't feel guilty about it).

4- I try to stop eating by 7 or 8:00 pm.

I only started this about a month ago, but I think it's making a difference.

5- I have pretty much completely given up fast food.

If you get it in a drive through, I don't get it. 2 Exceptions: I snitch about 6 of Chris' fries when he goes to McDs (the only thing worth eating there at all, even if you aren't trying to lose weight). And once every couple weeks I'll get a small Wendy's frosty. (Ooh, Frosty).

I don't count Subway as fast food. And at Subway I only get subs from the 7 grams of fat or less list, and I don't get mayo anymore.

Hey, if I can do this, anybody can. -Della

This guy had a guardian angel

My Grandpa sends me a lot of really good e-mails. I have used a few of them here and will continue to. This is one of them: Look closely at this picture. See where the people are standing by the broken guardrail?

That's where the truck broke through.

The guy was travelling right to left when he went off the road, busted through the cement guardrail, flipped end over end, including a 180 spin and landed on the left side where you see him.

Still don't think anyone was watching over him?

Scroll down and check out the other picture.

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Utah Jazz

The Jazz beat the Bulls on Saturday, 97-87. Their season standings are 33-19, placing them first in the northwest division. Next game is Wednesday.

Puzzle

The name of a country is hidden in each of the sentences below. Find the countries.

1. The doorbell sign said, "Don't touch. In a real emergency, pull the cord."

2. They got married secretly, but no one is wed entirely alone, so there were witnesses.

3. We needed to visit a health resort, so we went to a spa in another country.

Fire Rainbow

THIS IS A FIRE RAINBOW - THE RAREST OF ALL NATURALLY OCCURRING ATMOSPHERIC PHENOMENA.

THE PICTURE WAS CAPTURED ON JUNE 3, 2006 ON THE IDAHO/WASHINGTON BORDER.

THE EVENT LASTED ABOUT 1 HOUR. CLOUDS HAVE TO BE CIRRUS, AT LEAST 20K FEET IN THE AIR, WITH JUST THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF ICE CRYSTALS AND THE SUN HAS TO HIT THE CLOUDS AT PRECISELY 58 DEGREES.

The scientific name is Circumhorizontal Arc.

I got this in an e-mail and thought it couldn't be real. So I checked and snopes says it's legitimate.

Pretty cool, huh?

My RS Lesson

After giving a talk in Church a couple of weeks ago I got asked to give the lesson in Relief Society this week. I took that as a sign that my talk had been good.

So today I taught the lesson on Jesus Christ, Redeemer of the World.

I won't repeat the whole lesson, but I want to share the main thing that I learned.

I have always known the story of Cain and Able, but have never understood why Able's sacrifice was accepted by God and Cain's wasn't.

This is what I came to understand:

Able sacrificed the first of his flock, being a blood sacrifice.

Cain sacrificed the fruit of the field, not a blood sacrifice.

If they had just been paying tithes either would have been acceptable, but they were commanded to give sacrifice in similitude of the sacrifice Christ would give.

Even at the beginning of the world God taught the people that Christ would come and give his life so they could be saved. They were commanded to give sacrifices to remind them to look forward in faith to the life, death and resurrection of Christ.

So because Cain's sacrifice was not a blood sacrifice it was not was not representative of Christ's sacrifice for us.

Cain knew that, and knew what he was supposed to do, and was actually mocking God by giving a sacrifice that was not a shedding of blood.

But he still got all mad when his sacrifice wasn't accepted so he hauled off and killed his brother.

Boys!

Does that explain anything?

I learned something anyway.

-Della

My cat got stuck

Just kidding. I don't have a cat.

This is the best refrigerator magnet I've seen in a while.

Puzzle

This is a well known children's musical piece, the vowels have been removed and the remaining letters have been grouped together. Can you determine the correct words?

.

hmpt ydmp tyst nthw llhm ptyd mpty hdgr tfll llth kngs hrss ndll thkn gsmn cldn tpth mpty tgth rgn .

Win streak ends

Sadly I must report that the Jazz lost to the Kings last night, ending their 10 game win streak. That's okay, they play the Bulls tonight and will have a chance to start a new win streak.

Product pick of the week

I am introducing a new feature to my blog.

I will regularly post about a product or innovation that is making my life better that I want to share with my readers (I know there's at least 3 of you).

*Disclaimer: Just because it is called product pick of the week does not actually mean a new product will be picked every week. It may be twice a week, or once a month, or whenever I find a new cool product which might not be for months at a time, so you'll just have to keep checking and hope for me to find new stuff that you can try on my recommendation.

This week's pick:

Nike Plus Ipod

For anyone trying to get motivation to run, or walk for that matter, this is the product you need.

Nike Plus Ipod has a few different parts. Some are required, some are additonal accessories.

First, you've gotta have Nike plus shoes. You'll notice the shoes in the picture have the Nike swoop and a + sign in the sole. That means these are not regular Nikes. These Nikes have a little compartment under the insole of the left shoe that holds the sensor.

Which means the second thing you need is the Nike + kit. This includes the shoe sensor and the transmitter.

The transmitter plugs in to the third requirement: your ipod nano. (It might work with full size Ipods, but I haven't tried yet, so I'm not sure).

While you are running, or walking, the sensor sends information to the transmitter and your ipod can tell you, both on the readout and with an audible voice that comes on over your music: how far you've gone, how fast you are going, how much farther you have to reach your goal (you can set a goal at the beginning of each workout), and how many calories you've burned.

You can then upload this information to Nike.com which will track your total miles. You can also set your own goals and join online challenges where you compete with other nike + runners.

One of my favorite features is the powersong. You can pick a song as your powersong. Then when you are on your final stretch or need a pick-me-up during your run, you press and hold the center button and your powersong will play to help motivate you. My powersong: Pump It, by the Black Eyed Peas.

Some of the accessories are the armband which is made to hold your nano with the transmitter, (I finally got this because my regular ipod case didn't fit the transmitter too), and the special running headphones that have earbuds, but the wire is more rigid and the two ear wires connect at the back of your neck and the single cord hangs down behind you so it doesn't get in your way while running.

Cost? Okay. Getting the whole set can be expensive. I recomend buying at a Nike outlet if you have one available. The shoes can go for $60-120. (Usually about $30 less than regular retail if you buy at an outlet). Ipod nanos run from $100-200. I have the original first edition nano which only has 1 gig of memory, but it works just fine. Then the Nike + kit with the sensor and transmitter costs about $30.

Or, you can buy a starter kit at Nike.com which includes the sensor, transmitter, a 4 gig video ipod nano and a $100 Nike gift card to buy your shoes. Starter kit: $278.

So it is an investment that you probably only want to make if you are serious about running. But if you are serious about running I definitely recommend this. I love it.

Product downside: It only works with Ipod, not any other mp3 player. Just one more way apple and ipod are monopolizing.

Best DMV moment ever

Yeah, I know, that's gotta be some kind of oxy moron, but I acually had something great happen at the DMV.

In fairness I have to recognize my last DMV trip as a pretty good moment too, because I had been told I would have to start all over and start with a 30 day driving permit and take the tests all over again because I had lost my license and was in a new state. Then after a short silent prayer in the waiting room they were magically able to pull up my driving record and give me a legitimate license without the wait.

So this time I went in to get a license with my new address (I probably wouldn't have cared about this, but parking at the beach is cheaper if you can prove you're a local) and to register to vote, (we haven't had our primaries yet).

Last time when I filled out the paperwork at the DMV I was in denial of my real weight which was somewhere over 190 at the time, so I put 185 which was the most I was able to admit to without an emotional upheaval, and intense feelings of guilt and inadequacy, which probably would have triggered an eating binge.

Yesterday when I was filling out the form I proudly printed the exact weight the scale had told me when I weighed only 2 hours earlier.

(Please recognize this is a "self recognition" moment for me, which means I am recognizing that I have accomplished something and am giving myself praise, to enhance my own feelings of self worth, and build my self esteem. -But you can call it bragging if you want to).

The weight I entered was 162. That means I have lost 30 pounds since the last time I went to the DMV. About 20 of that has been over the last six months.

I rock!

Olive Garden Salad

Everybody loves Olive Garden salad right?

Chris says it's about the only reason to go to Olive Garden.

Well, we won't need to go anymore because I found the recipe online. It was actually pretty easy to make.

Dressing:

1/2 cup Mayo

1/3 cup White vinegar

2 Tbs. Corn syrup

2 Tbs. Romano cheese

2 Tbs. Parmesan cheese

1/4 tsp. Garlic salt or 1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning

1/2 tsp. Parsley flakes

1 Tbs. Lemon juice

Put everything in the blender and mix it till it's smooth.

Salad:

Dole American Blend salad

red onions

banana peppers

black olives

croutons

small tomato wedges

fresh grated parmesan

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I made this for a RS dinner this week. I made a big bowl and it all got eaten.

Enjoy.

10 win streak

The Jazz won again last night. They beat the Nuggets in overtime.

Deron Williams scored 29 points and Korver got 27.

Thats 10 in a row.

Quote

I went to a bookstore and asked the sales person where the Self Help section was.

She said if she told me it would defeat the purpose.

-Stephen Wright.

A cryptogram

My brother said he likes these puzzles. I used to do them everyday back when I didn't have internet and got a newspaper.

They take a few minutes to do, but really aren't that hard.

Each letter in the cryptogram represents a letter in the english language. By deciphering what crypto letters stand for what regular letters you can figure out the quote or message.

I will give a clue tomorrow if no one gets it.

EC XQXAFJOX EV MIEOBEOH DYEBX,

MIXO VJTXWJRF EVO'M MIEOBEOH.

-HXOXADY HXJAHX KDMMJO

Worst First Date Ever

My friend Zen Master Paul had this story on his blog a little while ago, but it is too good to not post again.

If you didn't see this on the Tonight show, I hope you're sitting down when you read it. This is probably the funniest date story ever, first date or not!!!

We have all had bad dates but this takes the cake.

Jay Leno went into the audience to find the most embarrassing first date that a woman ever had The winner described her worst first date experience. There was absolutely no question as to why her tale took the prize!

She said it was midwinter... Snowing and quite cold...and the guy had taken her skiing in the mountains outside Salt Lake City , Utah .

It was a day trip (no overnight). They were strangers, after all, and truly had never met before.

The outing was fun but relatively uneventful until they were headed home late that afternoon. They were driving back down the mountain, when she gradually began to realize that she should not have had that extra latte.

They were about an hour away from anywhere with a rest room and in the middle of nowhere! Her companion suggested she try to hold it, which she did for a while. Unfortunately, because of the heavy snow and slow going, there came a point where she told him that he had better stop and let her go beside the road, or it would be the front seat of his car.

They stopped and she quickly crawled out beside the car, yanked her pants down and started. In the deep snow she didn't have good footing, so she let her butt rest against the rear fender to steady herself.

Her companion stood on the side of the car watching for traffic and indeed was a real gentleman and refrained from peeking.

All she could think about was the relief she felt despite the rather embarrassing nature of the situation.

Upon finishing however, she soon became aware of another sensation. As she bent to pull up her pants, the young lady discovered her buttocks were firmly glued against the car's fender. Thoughts of tongues frozen to poles immediately came to mind as she attempted to disengage her flesh from the icy metal. It was quickly apparent that she had a brand new problem due to the extreme cold.

Horrified by her plight and yet aware of the humor of the moment, she answered her date's concerns about "what is taking so long" with a reply that indeed, she was "freezing her butt off" and in need of some assistance!

He came around the car as she tried to cover herself with her sweater and then, as she looked im ploringly into his eyes, he burst out laughing. She too, got the giggles and when they finally managed to compose themselves, they assessed her dilemma.

Obviously, as hysterical as the situation was, they also were faced with a real problem. Both agreed it would take something hot to free her chilly cheeks from the grip of the icy metal!

Thinking about what had gotten her into the predicament in the first place, both quickly realized that there was only one way to get her free. So, as she looked the other way, her first-time date proceeded to unzip his pants and pee her butt off the fender.

As the audience screamed in laughter, she took the Tonight Show prize hands down. Or perhaps that should be "pants down."

And you thought your first date was embarrassing. Jay Leno's comment... "This gives a whole new meaning to being pissed off."

Oh, and how did the first date turn out? He became her husband and was sitting next to her on the Leno show.

Jazz Update

I would be remiss if I didn't mention the Utah Jazz' most recent win.

It was last night against the New Orleans Hornets. Final score 110-88.

This was win #9 in a row for the Jazz and their 10th win in a row on their home court at Energy Solutions Arena, (formerly the Delta Center).

The picture above is Kyle Korver shooting one of the 6 3 pointers he drained for the Jazz. (the Jazz had 12 3 point shots go down, a franchise record for one game. Generally the Jazz are not big 3 point shooters, preferring a pick and roll with a drive or pass into the paint. But it was working last night.

Korver was a mid season pick up for the Jazz as part of a trade with the 76ers.

Good move.

Superbowl

So the Giants won the Superbowl. I think it was 14-10.

The poor Patriots didn't end up having a perfect season after all. They shouldn't feel bad though, (well, not too bad). They still have 3 other Superbowl wins from the last 7 years alone.

Eli Manning, the QB for the Giants, now jons his brother Peyton as a Superbowl champion. Their father, Archie, must be incredibly proud. He played in the NFL too, but never won a ring. There is one more Manning brother. No one knows his name. I think he's a janitor. I'm sure they love him anyway.

Puzzle

Archibald Flapdoodle walked outside through a pouring rain for twenty minutes without getting a single hair on his head wet. He didn't wear a hat, carry an umbrella, or hold anything over his head. His clothes got soaked. How could this happen?

Washington Monument

This was a great picture of the Washington Monument taken on the mall.

This picture shows how dreary the day was, but is kind of a cool picture.

On Friday our activities included:

-Walking around downtown getting very wet.

-Visiting the Holocaust Museum, (Very cool but incredibly sad).

-Eating hot dogs at the spy cafe (I had a Havana Dog, Chris had a Langley Dog).

-Visiting the spy museum, (did you know secret operatives often keep syanide capsules in the earpieces of their glasses so if they are being questioned they can chew on their glasses and commit suicide rather than be tortured?)

-Saw a movie (It was so bad I'm ebarrassed to say the name. We were trying to kill time before the game. It was that or Hannah Montana).

-Went to the Jazz game.

-Rode the Metro several times.

Saturday:

-Shopped at Potomac Mills, One of the biggest malls in the country. (Nike Outlet, uh oh!)

-Took a power nap back at the room.

-Went to a Mystery Dinner Theatre, (fun, but still kinda lame. Maybe they're not all that bad).

-Went to D.C. Improv, (laughing is always fun, but the opener was better than the headliner).

-Took cabs into downtown instead of the Metro. (I was wearing 4 inch heels. Escalators were out).

We also stopped in Richmond on the way up and saw some friends.

All together it was a great trip.

The best part: spending time with just Chris.

More pictures from our trip

Me giving Chris a Good Luck Jazz / Happy Birthday kiss right before the game started.

We actually sat next to 2 other Jazz fans. One of whom graduated from Provo High in 1986, (9 years before me). His name was Byron. I actually knew his little sister Luella Laws (I think that's right), who was a year behind me. Small world, huh?

The Jazz won by 9. The final score, if you can see it, was 96-87. That was especially nice since they lost by 1 point last year when we went to the game. Let's hope for a win next year too.

We plan on making a tradition out of this trip.

This is a baptist church downtown. I think it is a homeless shelter or soup kitchen too. It was a beautiful building and really stood out from the modern buildings all around. I couldn't stand far enough back to fit the whole church in the frame.

We're ba-ack!

This is me at the Metro station getting ready to go into downtown DC. We stayed in Old Town Alexandria, which is about 20 minutes away from downtown. The Metro station is about 100 yards from our hotel, so it's super easy to ride it almost anywhere we want to go.

This was taken from the King Street Metro station. This station is elevated. As it gets closer to downtown it goes underground.

Our hotel is just out of sight to the left.

As you can see, it was very wet and rainy all day. We had fun anyway.

This is the big arch in China Town. It is one block away from the Verizon Center where the Wizards suffered an embarrassing defeat to the Utah Jazz this last Friday. It was the Jazz' 8th win in a row.

The Metro comes up right underneath the Verizon Center.