I'm in business...almost!

I have the BIGGEST & BEST NEWS! I have been propelled into the 21st century! Thanks to the huge generosity of my family I am now a proud owner of a very snazzy digital camera! I know! I was shocked & overwhelmed too! I've taken a lot of pics of my 3 favorite subjects Mo, Canon, & Daphney of course! They're oh sooo cute!
At this point you may be wondering "well, where are the pics?" Good questions. The reason you see no pics is because as myself & my camera are part of the 21st century my computer is not. I have Windows ME on my computer & come to find out my camera requires Windows XP. Oh, well. As with everything becoming tech savvy is a work in progress & I'm one step closer.
Don't get to discouraged cause I'm going to see if Deb with let me upload my pics onto her computer so ya'll can see them as I know you're all so anxious to.

Life just keeps going...

Sorry I haven't written in a really long time. I guess I haven't had much to say. Actually I feel like not a lot of interesting stuff has been happening. Of course how boring and mundane you think your life is at times it still keeps going. Here are a few highlights from my life as of late.

• I quite my job at Call Assist! Yippee!! Actually that deserves a double YIPPEE! I quit Call Assist on Nov. 24th. Don't worry I have another job at Qwest. I start on Monday. I'm way excited. It's going to be a challenge cause it's very sales oriented & sales is not a strong skill of mine but I'm ready to make it a strong skill. The beauty part is that I only have to deal with one call at a time rather then 3! Brilliant!
• In my week & half vacation I've mostly been chillaxin. I've watched many many Red Box movies & have been reading a lot. I discovered the beauty of ordering books on amazon.com. They have a great Jewish selection, much larger then you can find here in Mormonville. I ordered 4 Jewish fiction books from amazon. ALL 4 books only cost $1.07! Of course you have to pay shipping and handling which brought my grand total to $17.03! Funny huh? Ok, let's review: 4 books = $1.07 S&H = $15.96. Still a very good deal so I'm happy & a bit amused.
  
• I spent Thanksgiving with family. The night before Thanksgiving I stayed at Deb & Jesse's house. It was so fun to play and bond with Mo. He might be the cutest baby ever. I bonded with him by reading to him and he bonded with my by expelling much bodily fluids onto my shirt. For sure I'm his favorite Auntie now, no question!
• I ended up having 2 Thanksgiving dinners this year. I must mention that this year was my first Thanksgiving without actually eating turkey. I've recently converted to vegetarianism. I didn't miss the turkey but I did miss the nostalgia of it. Ok, I'll admit I did miss the turkey with ranch & the week of turkey sandwiches that follows Thanksgiving day.
  
• The first dinner was with Jesse's family. They're fabulous! They're very loud, talkative, & there is many of them. The minute I walked in the door Jesse's grandpa said "make yourself at home." No prob, I was completely in my element with a bunch of almost crazy people laughing and talking all round me. There was a lot of teasing, laughing & a general feeling of welcomeness which is so much like my family. They were even ok with me spilling a large glass of water all over the beautifully decorated table before the dinner even started. Opps!
  
• The second dinner I went to was at my Aunt Marda's house. The house was bulging with people. I would guess that about 30 people were there. Of course it was noted that the crowd was a bit "small" this year! The best part was when my cousin Jana not so nicely kicked me out of my seat at the table cause she wanted to sit across from her daughter! I thought she was joking at first when she told me to move, but oh no, she was serious. It was quite funny. I'm hoping to bring it up in following years to make her feel "guilty" about being rude. :)
• I do have exciting news. Deb & Jesse are moving to Logan in 2 weeks! They have already found a cute house. It is even cheap and close to campus. The best part for me is that it has a stoop & a small porch! Can't you just picture me sitting on the stoop holding a glass of wine, laughing and carrying on in all my glory! I can't wait. I'm so excited to have them close. I can't wait until they actually get here.
  
• I'm finally getting over my cold but my ears hurt like mad! It's mostly my right ear but my left does hurt sometimes too. I've tried to see the doctor a couple of times but they can't fit me in. They keep telling me to go to insti-care but I can't afford that. Grrr! I'm a bit worried that my ear drum will rupture or something horrendous like that will happen. Oh well, I'll just have to wait and see how it plays out.
  
• One last thing. Poor Canon & Daphney have been trapped in the house for about a month. This isn't from the cold weather but from the 2 huge black dogs that my upstairs neighbors have. Poor little shuges. My apartment is just way to small to be stuck here all the time.
  

Finally....

They're finally here! What you've all been waiting for....
PICS OF MOSES CLLOYD LAGRANDE STEVENS!

He was born on October 5th, 2009
7 lbs 11 oz & 19 inches long

On Oct. 24th, 2009 Deb, Jesse, & Mo came to Logan to visit me. We went to breakfast & then we went to Harri's house for a visit. Harri's daughter Sharri let me use her camera to get some pics of Mo to post for all ya'll.

Isn't he CUTE!

The above pic is Mo after taking nearly an hour to drink 3 oz. of milk! Can't you just see the "I'm done" expression on his face?

Above is Deb & Mo. Cassee, Harri's oldest daughter is making a cameo.

This is a cute pic of Mo, Shari, & Riley. Riley is Shari's son. He's just one month older them Mo. I'm so amazed at what just 1 month makes. Mo still looks like a new born but Riley looks almost like a little man...almost. ;)

Mo's foot. If I have anything to do with it Mo will never put socks on dirty feet! SICK!!

Mo with his tongue out.

Not important...

I love this quote! It expresses how I feel at this moment so well...

"Two tears in a bucket, mother fuck it"-The Lady Chablis from the movie "Midnight In The Garden Of Good And Evil"

I thought I would be in SLC bonding with Mo after his birth, but I have been informed that I am not important so I will change the cat litter instead. And yes, I know I'm whining & being immature, but that is about all I can manage to do at this moment.

She didn't call...

Actually Deb did call just now to let me know that Moses was born this afternoon at 3:41 p.m. He weighs 7 lbs 11 oz, 19 inches long, & has dark hair like his mom. I guess a second birth partner wasn't needed after all. As far as I know the whole family is doing fine. Congrats Deb, Jesse, & Mo!

Waiting for Mo.....

Waiting for Moses Clloyd LaGrande Stevens:

He is due October 11th so all that we know is that he certainly WON'T be coming on that day! As the day approaches I've had to do a few things to prepare.

• Deb & I have agreed that she will ring me to let me know that I must start driving south when her contractions have become a bit regular but are still far apart. This is a good plan cause I anticipate it will take me about 3 hours to get to Deb & Jesse's house considering all the variables of packing, traffic & who knows what.
• I've made sure that Deb has multiple #'s to reach me at.
  
• I have a list of things I have to do once I get the call: Pack, get gas, & remember to drive safely!
  
• I put in my time off request from work months ago.
  
• I found someone to feed Canon & Daphney while I'm away. Thanks Sammie.
  
• I've tried to prepare by reading many books about how to be the best birth partner that I can be.
  
• Try to keep up on my wash & house cleaning for the next two weeks so I have enough clean cloths & Sammie can find her way into my apartment without inflicting too much physical or psychological pain on her. Side note on this one: I still have to do my wash & clean my apartment. :) I'm banking on the hope that Mo won't come today.
  
• I still don't have a camera but I don't think I'll be able to get one before Mo comes so I guess I can cross this one off. :( Plus I still don't know if I can upload pic onto my computer. I keep forgetting to ask the Geeks I know (Andy, Matthew, & Tommy). If any of the wifes of these geeks read this tell your husband to ring me please.
  
• And now we wait................
  

Life right now....

First of all thank you Jenny, Melissa, Abbie, & Deb for commenting on my last post. It really means a lot that people care. I think it's important to not just care but find ways to show that you care too. Even a silly little comment on a blog can do that. Thank you!

I haven't been writing lately cause I've been in this weird funk. My job is entirely to stressful & I've grown to desperately hate it. Unfortunately this negativity is seeping into other areas of my life. I've been wavering between complete apathy & being depressed most of the time. Truth is I probably need my meds adjusted. Don't worry I have an appointment with my doctor on the 15th of this month. Let's hope he & I can figure something out. Since I've been having a ruff go of it lately I just haven't had the desire to write. I don't like being negative & hating everything. I certainly don't think I need to share this attitude with the world so I've started writing in my journal a bit. I've also tried to make a conscious effort to focus on the good things in my life which there are many. I've actually made a list of these good things. Here's a bit of what I've come up with and am calling my "positive thinking" list:

• I have survived the half dozen lay offs my job has done this year & I still have a job.
• Any job is better then no job in this economy.
• I have a place to live.
• I have electricity & water in my place to live.
  
• I can pay my bills and still have a bit left over to buy a thing or two that I want.
• My car is the SHIT! Rust and all. Gotta love the Geo! It looks like hell, but I own it out right and it just keeps going and going.
• Canon & Daphney make me happy.
• I found a wine that I like. That's actually not entirely true cause Jesse found it for me. I've always wanted to like wine & now I have a favorite, "Wild Vines" strawberry.
  
• I have one person in my life that I know for certain loves me unconditionally & I never thought that that was possible.
• I'm going to be an Auntie very shortly.
• I finished reading the Torah (only the Five Books of Moses) 2 days ago & I completely understand it.
  
• Everything I've learned about Judaism I love. It speaks to my soul somehow & I yearn to learn more.
• I am still having new experiences and leaning new things daily. For example I had Indian food for the first time recently & am now a devoted fan. I believe new experiences are an essential part of life.
  

As you can read I have an abundance of positive things going on in my life & I am very thankful for each of them. I truly believe that whatever energy you put into the universe will come back to you, so I'm trying to focus on the positive and send that good energy out. Trouble is even with all my effort I've still been a bit depressed and stuck on the negative things lately. I'm trying very hard to fight this, but as everyone knows life is HARD & sometimes it just weighs you down. So far the best I can do is just be apathetic about most things & take one day at a time.

My Auntie Shower...

My Auntie shower is almost here! Ok, really it's Deb & Mo's baby shower but since I'm in charge I fully plan on being the star of the party! I mean really who else would be center of attention if not ME! I've been handwriting the invitations for the last few hours. They're taking a bit longer to complete then I anticipated. It's on August 22nd at 2p.m. in Salt Lake City. We're inviting friends to this shower cause Deb's family is having a separate family shower on the August 15th. Trouble is Deb is a bit of a hermit so she doesn't have a village of friends to invite, so the guest list is mostly MY family. :) It really is an "Auntie Shower!" Of course my family is fabulous so it will for sure be a good time even if it's just Deb, Megan, & me.

My summer vacation 2009!

Here it is! The post you've all been waiting for! Real non-camera phone pics of my fabulous weekend summer vacation. Don't get so excited that you're hyperventilating. Just channel all of that energy into fabulous comments. Enjoy!

I went to SLC Friday night, July 10th, so I could go to the yearly Hartvigsen Family Reunion early Saturday morning.

This is Deb & I before I heading to the reunion. I like to call this pic "bosom buddies" for obvious reasons. If it's not obvious to you then....mmm not sure what to tell ya about that one. :)

HARTVIGSEN FAMILY REUNION 2009

(Lion's pavilion)
My grandma Margaret Mina Hartvigsen Toman was 1 of 15 children. The decedents of those 15 children have a reunion every year in Utah up Springville Canyon at Kelly's Grove. This year it was at the Lion's pavilion. I've gone to this family reunion nearly every year of my life. Growing up we never had funds to go on extravagant family vacations so the reunion was our summer vacation every year. It was a huge deal to me. Something I looked forward to every summer. I recall making my list each year of things I needed to take in June! The reunion is usually held the second weekend of July each year! I still look forward to it just as much now, although I don't make a packing list a month in advance any longer! Over the years I became close to a few cousin in particular & look forward to seeing each of them every year. I tried to get pics of most of the folks on the favorite cousin list. Ok, now that I'm thinking about it I missed a lot of people but the memory card was full.

On Saturday we have a pot-luck lunch. Mmm my favorite!! This year I brought a yummy desert salad! It was a big hit with us Tolman's but not a lot of the other folks were brave enough to try it. Oh, well at least I like it. Delish!

This is my 1st cousin Tommy (Tom-Tom) & his way-to-cute son Carter.

My 1st cousin Emily but I've called you Em as long as I can remember & her darling daughter Maleah. Maleah was a huge fan of the salad I brought! At least I have one fan that appreciated my silly attempt at cooking!

This is my mom's 1st cousin Kristy, my Great Aunt Marda's daughter. I've always thought that Marda's daughters were the epitome of "beautiful." Isn't Kristy just gorgous? Exactly! Plus she has the funnest personality & the most amazing memory! Hmm, I'm just a bit jealous.

My Grandma's sister, my Great Aunt Shirley! This year she ended up finding out that I'm no longer a member of the Mormon church & she was totally fine with it. Gotta love people who love you no matter what! I wish everyone could be more like Aunt Shirly.

I asked Em to take this pic of me and my 2nd cousin Jason. In preparation of this pic Jason told Em to count to 3 and then take the pic. This is the moment that I realized Jason's big plan....

of getting rid of the pie in his hand by depositing it on my FACE! Yeah, I don't think so Jason!

This is after he promised to be nice.

My 2nd cousin Abbie & me. We're the same age and we've always been pretty close. Her and her husband Jeff are some of the funniest people I know! She used to blame me for her kids cause I would tell her that she was going to get pregnant & then she would! After this amazing psychic ability of mine worked with her 1st 2 children she told me I had to keep my pregnancy predictions to myself. Interestingly enough she still ended up with 2 more kids with NO help from me.

My 1st cousin Megan and her nephew Carter. Megan & I are super close so there are just way to many stories to tell you about her. To many to choose from. She is a pharmacist so she is my go-to person for anything medical. Thanks Megan!

Jenny, my 1st cousin Tommy's wife & Carter's mom. I've gotten to know Jenny quite a bit over the last year. I just love her. I'm so glad she is my cousin. She is a genius on holistic & alternative health care. It's so fun to talk to her about Deb's pregnancy since Deb really wants a no drug birth.

Tommy, Jenny, & Carter. Aren't we Tolman's just cute!

Sandi (left), Lindsy (right)

After pot-luck there is usually some sort of craft for the children to make if they're interested. Of course being the crafty person that I am I usually end up at the craft table for a bit. This year everyone was making bead necklaces and bracelets. As I was making mine I was visiting with my 2nd cousin Lindsy & getting to know her new sister-in-law Sandi. At one point Sandi set her beverage down on the table and immediately proceeded to dump the entire contents of her cup on both she and I. Funny! Even funnier was when she said there was a little "sommin sommin" in her drink. Of course I said "where is the bottle of this "sommin sommin", hook me up!" Lindsy, Sandi, & I then went and had our own version of a family reunion in Aunt Shirley's camper. Good times! Course it was amazingly hard for me to try to "act" sober after that as I'm such a light weight when it comes to alcohol. This whole situation created some great laughs and now is one of my fondest family reunion memories: "Remember that time Sandi and I got completely smashed and tried to pretend we weren't! Fun times!!" I guess I did a pretty ok job at acting sober, cause even Megan who knows me the best and has seen me drunk had no idea that I had 3 shots of vodka on board until I told her later. :)
Thanks Deb for letting me borrow your camera!

This post has inspired me to start a charity. I'm calling it:

"HELP HETH GET A REAL CAMERA FUND"

All donations can be sent directly to me. Hey, it's such a worthy cause. :)

Family....

I'm so excited cause today is the first day of my summer vacation. After working for about 5 hours this morning I'm heading south to play with the people I love. Tomorrow is the Hartivigsen family reunion! Of course the rest of the weekend I'll be hanging out with Deb, Jesse, & Moe. Fun times ahead! I can't wait!

Don't worry, I'll post a big exciting post about my adventures on Monday.

Pregnant!

No, not me but it seems everyone I know is pregnant! The "prego club" currently includes:

• Deb (best friend & sister)
• Jaylene (her parent's took me in my last year of high school)
• Shealyn (Jaylene's little sis)
• Candle (1st cousin)
• Shari (Harri's daughter)
• Becky (Harri's sister)
• Jody (co-worker)

Of course there have been many who recently lost their membership to the "prego club" only to be promoted to the "baby club."

eBay opps!

So as you know if you follow my blog I'm going to be an auntie to Deb & Jesse's baby Mo. Because of this I've turned into this crazy baby obsessed person. Don't worry I still don't want children myself....I'm not THAT crazy!
I've been scoping out baby stuff online, & yesterday morning I decided to scope out eBay. I've never really looked on eBay before. I found some way cute stuff so I decided to set up an account and bid on a few things. What's the harm...for sure I'll get out bid right?
WRONG! I bid $76.00 on the 4 in 1 crib in the pic & won! Trouble is I didn't really want to win it! If you know anything about cribs you know that $76.00 is a steal of a deal for a brand new 4 in 1 crib. They normally run from $250.00 to $450.00. Trouble is, & I didn't know this before bidding, the shipping and handling is $99.00! OPPS! BIG OPPS! I get paid on the 5th and would have had the $ then but not now. Hopefully my landlord won't cash my rent check straight away. Opps!! Well, the crib should be in my storage unit within 2 weeks just waiting for Mo to get here...in OCTOBER!

Playing in SLC

After I went to my cousin Megan's wedding the weekend of May 15th-17th I headed to play with Deb & Jesse.This was the first time I had seen Deb since she found out that her and Jesse are having a boy. Of course we went baby boy shopping like mad! My cousin Emily told me of a fabulous store called Kid to Kid. It's my new favorite store! I bought Mo a slightly used car seat for a mere $25.00 & of course I bought him a whole bunch of darling cloths! So much fun!

This is a pic of Deb, Mo, & Jesse after we had a delish breakfast at The Olympian Restaurant, our favorite dinner in SLC.

On our shopping spree I had to introduce Deb to the Old Navy flip flop. I think I converted her! I'm pretty sure she is a life long fan now!

It's a.............

This just in: Deb and Jesse are having a baby......


A boy...it's a boy...it's a boy...it's a boy!

My birthday week!

I was born April, 16 1976. That means that this past week I completed my 33rd year of life. As always I was completely spoiled & felt very much loved and adored. Here are the high lights from the week of celebration.

Please don't be to harsh regarding my picture taking ability.

• 1st I'm not a master or even an amateur photographer.
• 2nd The only camera I have is the one on my phone.
• 3rd and most importantly I was completely drunk while taking most of these pics
  

Thursday was the 16th and my birthday. I went to work but about an hour into my shift Harri had the most brilliant idea ever.....

(Harri at Angie's. When she sees this she is going to be pissed...no makeup!)

Birthday breakfast at Angie's Restaurant! We told our managers that we HAD to go, & off we went! Thanks Manda & Janet for not firing us! :) Angie's is the absolute best diner in all of Cache Valley. If you're ever in Cache Valley and need some grub this is the place to go. Don't forget to order some hot chocolate. Angie's hot chocolate is a must...don't pass it up. It's the best I've ever had!

(Me at Angie's on my BDay.)

I was showered with gifts & warm happy birthday wishes all day on my birthday. Thank you everyone for making me feel so special!

Of course the real partying started on Saturday the 18th. This was the day of my much anticipated BDAY BBQ!

Deb, Jesse, & MoJo drove from SLC. They were a bit delayed due to the SLC marathon mile marker #22 that was stationed right in front of their apartment! Funny stuff! Rather then waiting for all 7000 participants to run past Deb pleaded to the officer of the law that was stationed in front of their apartment. She informed him that they had to get out. His response was "good luck with that!" Followed by a laugh! Seriously!! After Deb stood there long enough to make him realize that she wasn't taking that as an answer he finally conceded to help her and Jesse get on their way.

They made it to Logan in good time....Jesse drove! :) We even had time to make a trip for some breakfast to....you guessed it....Angie's!

Then we made a stop at the liquor store and got some beverages for the BBQ.

The BBQ was at Harri's house. She went all out for it. Of course the decorations had a purple theme & there was more food then even a small village could eat.

Not to mention more "beverage" then I could consume although I gave it my best effort! One of my co-workers gave me a fabulous recipe for tasty beverage that will totally do the job in getting you completely fucked up. I can testify it works!

*Fabulous BDAY BBQ Beverage Recipe*
(The BBB)
2 liters of Squirt soda
1 packet of blue berry Kool Aid, other flavors can be substituted
1 pint of Everclear 100 proof alcohol!!

Poor out about 3 inches of soda into a glass to make room for the Kool Aid and alcohol. Add Kool Aid packet & Everclear to remaining Squirt in 2 liter bottle. Quickly put cap back on bottle. Be careful when you open the bottle cause it will fizz all over the place. I suggest opening it in the sink. Poor BBB over ice and enjoy! Good times ahead! Here's the best part. You can't even taste the Everclear!!

I would like to think that since I ONLY invited my closest and dearest friends that I won't forever hear about my ridiculous drunken behavior, but alas these ARE my closest and dearest friend so I can pretty much GUARANTEE that I will never hear the end of what an ass I made of myself. Fucking love you guys!

Clay was in charge of the actual BBQ! He is an amazing cook so of course everything turned out perfect! He cooked BBQ beef and pork with my favorite "Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ Sauce." The meat was so tender. Yum!!

Harri's youngest daughter Ashlee was there to eat and laugh at me of course! Cute girl! She's my fave & she shares a birthday with my sister Lisa. Cool huh?

My manager and good friend Manda came. She made this fantastic pasta salad. It was delish!

She also showered me with fabulous presents! My favorite was the purple flip flops of course. They even have purple glittery sparkle on them. And as any former fag hag knows glittery sparkles goes with ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING! Well done! Thanks Manda!!

Course my darling Amber Brown was there. Her husband Julius even made an appearance but I didn't get a pic of him. Amber gave me the most fantastic present. A "Grow your own hermit crab." It's a hermit crab that you submerge in H20 and in about 10 days you have a fabulous "Herriette the Hermit Crab" pet for your very own. She was orginaly "Hazet the Hermit Crab" but I took the liberty to change her name to "Harriette." Much better don't ya think? After the 10 day bath Harriette will be 600% larger then she started out as! Wow!! Here's the best bit. If you take Harriette out of the water she will shrink down to her original size & you can grow her over and over again! Fab!! Love it!

Painting done by Deb

As I've said already I was completely spoiled & showered with birthday gifts. All of which I appreciate but they're are a few gift that mean especially a lot to me. I received 3 paintings & a 1 book of original poetry! I have such talented and gifted friends. Now don't forget the the pics of the paintings are pathetically taken with my camera phone and don't even pretend to do justice to the real beauty of the paintings in real life.

Reprint of painting by Janet Hall

Tulips are my favorite flower. My former manager gave me reprints of 2 paintings she had done. They are stunning in real life. The red tulips was turned into a greeting card by my friend Melissa from work. She got all of my co-workers to sign it.

Reprint of painting done by Janet Hall

The purple tulips Janet just gave me. It is so stunningly beautiful in real life. I'm for sure going to frame it and hang it on my wall. Gorgeous!!

Deb also gave me the first copy of her 1st book of poetry. Deb is a gifted and talented writer and poet. I feel so honored that she would give me such a gift. I know that for those who are artistic their art is part of them. Janet said that giving her art away is like ripping her part of her heart out. Wow, that is intense! I don't really understand this emotion as the only poem I've ever written was just the other night and completely inspired by a bottle of wine. I appreciate those who do have talent and who have chosen to share it with me.

THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR MAKING MY BIRTHDAY SO FABULOUS! I LOVE ALL OF YOU DEARLY. I HOPE I CAN RETURN SOME OF THE LOVE & APPRECIATION THAT YOU HAVE SHOWERED UPON ME THIS LAST WEEK!