Summertime fun

Summer is finally here and along with Summer comes busy summer fun! Lately we have been keeping busy with just that, lots of summertime fun.

It all started with a little family time in Star Valley. My sister Nicole is taking my adorable little nephews and leavin us for her husband and Alaska fishing for the rest of the summer, so we decided a little "Brough Family Reunion" was in order before she left. We decided on last weekend...fathers day and my mom's birthday. The original plan had been to go camping at Bear Lake and spend our time playing in the water. Well, of course, the weather did not cooperate so instead we moved the party to SV. It was so fun to have everyone together (minus Cody and Bill, my sister's Alaskan hubby) and kick off the summer together.

We came back to Blackfoot Sunday and Tuesday we met my sister Lyndi and her husband in Pocatello to steal 2 of their hooligans while they went on to SLC for the 3rd hooligan to have surgery. My niece Abbi was born with one leg longer than the other. The difference in length has grown to about 4 1/2 inches. She had surgery this week to staple the growth plate in her long leg and to twist the knee in her short leg so it won't keep grown knock-knee-ed. So...little brother and sister got to come play at Aunt Heidi and Uncle Dillon's while poor big sis had to have surgery. But I have to say, WE. HAD. A. BLAST! They were not here near long enough but we filled every minute we could with fun, fun, fun! I really hope they had as much fun as I did...cuz seriously, I had a blast. They left early yesterday morning and although I'm still exhausted and recovering from a nasty sunburn, I'm bored and wish they were still here! :) Thanks for coming Gabe and Payzli, we LOVED having you here!!!




We also made homemade ice cream, ate pizza, colored LOTS of pictures and watched movies and cartoons (which I didn't get pictures of)! Thanks again Gabe and Payzli for the fun time! :)

JoAnn's Fabric....never again

You know when something upsets you and you just can't let it go? Something like getting SCREWED on a recent purchase? Well...that would be me as of late.

I am really not the kind of person to complain when something goes wrong at a restaurant, store or whatever. I'm just not that kind of person. On the rare occasion that I do complain about a miss price or bad food (and it has to be really bad) I always feel terrible and try to make the person I am complaining to realize that I know it's not their fault...cuz I know that they have no control over it, and cuz I'm nice like that :) Well in this case, for some reason, I am WAY more worked up then usual.

So let me tell you what happened.

Last Friday I went into JoAnn's Fabric in Idaho Falls. I needed to get some ribbon for a craft I was making for my girls at girls camp. I am really not craft-savy and didn't really know what I was doing. So, I did the best I could and came out with a little over 16 yards of ribbon (split amongst 3 different kinds) and having spent just under $20. Oh and did I mention I had a 40% off coupon that I used on the ribbon I got the most of/was most expensive? Well I did, that's why I went to JoAnn's in the first place. Well...I knew I did not have enough ribbon for what I needed but I was being rushed, I didn't know what I was doin, I couldn't do the math fast enough in my head and they didn't have much to choose from. I was all around flustered so I got what I could and just left. I thought it sounded like a lot of money for not a lot of ribbon but being the craft-illiterate that I am, I didn't think much of it. I got home to Star Valley Wyoming where I was having my amazingly crafty mother help me make said craft. As I knew we would, we ran out of ribbon just over half way through our project and had to go into the teeny tiny craft store in Afton WY (population 1,818). I was a little worried because our small little town tends to be quite a bit more expensive on things and I still needed about 9 yards of ribbon.

To make a long story short, I purchased 7/8 inch groisgrain ribbon at JoAnn's Fabric for $1.29/yard then turned around and paid $0.35/yard for the EXACT same ribbon at above mentioned teeny tiny craft store.

Giving JoAnn's the benefit of the doubt, I checked out the same ribbon at Walmart when I got back to Blackfoot. Sure enough, $0.31/yard.

I just got off the phone with JoAnn's fabric in Idaho Falls to which the only response I got was, "Hmmmm, that's interesting. Well, that looks like what we charge normally. If you can bring an ad in saying the price at the other stores we can give you that price." To which my response was, "Well I don't think I will be able to find an ad since that is their normal price also. But I will do some checking I guess and see if I can find one. Otherwise, I guess I'm just stuck with what you charged me."

She did tell me "sorry" before hanging up and I did let her know that it was ok, I knew it wasn't her fault I got screwed :)

The only plus side to all of this, I get to turn the receipt into our ward and make them pay for the ridiculously priced ribbon.

*Thanks for listening. I feel better :) *

Day 30!!!!!!!!!

Day 30 - A photograph of yourself today and three good things that have happened in the past (and the present) Most days of this challenge I have just been doing what it said to just get done. I was so close to finishing that I didn't wanna give up but just wanted to be done! But today, I actually like this one. I get to focus on the good in my life. I have to be honest, lately I have been feelin a little bit down about life. I know there are good things happening, I really do, it just seems like more often than not things are going in the opposite direction of where I want them to be going. I see all the good things that are happening in the lives of others and want more than anything for those good things to be happening to me. But they aren't...so things seem bad.
So today, I am going to focus on the good that has happened and is currently happening in my life :)

1. I had the privilege of going to and graduating from college with a degree in something I love to do. And while there I got to enjoy my "care free" college days, be crazy and make memories and friendships that I will never forget!!!

2. I met and married the love of my life who is my best listener, my best comforter, my best supporter and my best friend.

3. I get to enjoy the beautiful sunshine, the songs of the birds, the serenading of the toads, the smell of the lilac trees and see all the beautiful blooming trees and flowers. All just right out my front door!

Day 29

Day 29 - Something you could never get tired of doingseriously, i LOVE to sleep! i truly think i could sleep 20 out of 24 hours of the day if i was allowed. that probably makes me lazy...oh well

Day 28

*(So. Close. Almost. Done!!!)*

Day 28 - Your favorite movie
I dunno if I have one favorite movie but this one is definitely near the top of the the list

Day 27

Day 27 - A picture of you last year and now and how you've changed since then

June 2010: fishing in the rain
June 2011: after a day fishing in the sunshine :)Well...not much has changed. Just much longer braids and slightly chubbier! :)

*It was just too perfect to not take a picture today to compare to last year. I didn't even mean to have my hair the same and wear the same hat, just got lucky :)

May

May is almost over. Which is very exciting since it means I am DONE with school! YAY for summer time! Now if only the weather would realize it is now summer. But anyways, May was a pretty busy month for us with quite a few things going on.

On May 6th we were able to go to Pocatello for a graduation/awards ceremony and dinner for the 2011 graduating OT and PT classes at ISU. Well, sadly, Dillon did not graduate, BUT he did get awarded the "Arthur P Lloyd Endowment Scholarship." YAY honey!

Us
This is the "award" he got handed...the speech notes of the professor presenting him the award. lol. So, as you can see handwritten at the bottom, he didn't actually get anything that night; just recognition. The scholarship money will just come with our student loans when he starts school this Fall. It's not a bunch of money, but every little bit helps! CONGRATS LOVE!We have also spent most of this month trying to get our silly dog all healed up. The cut he got at my parent's house Easter weekend was taking FOREVER to heal and was finally starting to look a little better, until it rained for literally almost 48 hours straight and it got infected. Well...as you can see...we tried EVERYTHING to keep it covered. The ONLY thing he couldn't get off was this wonderful PVC cast Dillon made him. It worked for a day or 2 then his foot was just gettin too hot and sweaty so the cut was staying too moist and not healing. So the cast came off, we kept lots of antibacterial medication on it, we let him sleep in the back laundry room for 3 nights...and the infection was gone! :) Although the infection was gone the cut was still pretty bad so we have been playin it safe and have still been keeping the poor guy cooped up. Without Dillon's help I can't really see his foot all that well but from what I can see it looks like he is pretty well all healed up! So as soon as Dillon gets home, we can look at it to make sure its better, he will be a free dog again! YAY for everyone!!! :)

The Friday before Dillon left we were able to take an evening to go fishing...shooting...and roasting hot dogs and marshmallows! :)

The next day we were able to go down to Logan for a day and see my cousin that lives in Arizona and meet her 'special friend' (lol) and see most of the rest of my mom's family. It was fun to see everyone and even got to witness my Marine cousin (that has been deployed for almost 2 years) surprise his family and come walking into the party! It was an unforgettable moment! :)

Well, the day after we went to Logan was the day Dillon left :( That was a VERY sad day! I knew it was gonna be hard but honestly, I didn't think it was gonna be that hard. I am such a stinkin baby! But now 2 weeks has gone by and he is comin home TOMORROW! For those that don't know he has been in Pasco Washington doing an internship at a hospital up there. It has been nice cuz his grandparents live up there and he has been able to stay at their house and spend time with them. He has really enjoyed the things he has learned while there but is ready to come home. And I'M ready for him to come home! :)

Last weekend I didn't wanna stay home alone so I took a little road trip. I first hit up Rexburg and got to hang out with my friend Marlaina, spend the night with her, and go to the last day of Preschool on Friday! It was SO much fun to be back in preschool (even though it was just for the day) and to see all the kids I taught last year and to spend time with the AWESOME ladies I worked with up there. I miss them ALL so much! From Rexburg I went up to SV to hang out with my fam. My sister Nicole was there too with her 2 adorable little boys. I had so much fun that I called and got work off for Monday and didn't come home until Monday night! :) While there we even got to feed the Nield's goats. Dawson thought that was pretty cool.Sat morning my dad put me in charge of making breakfast. I enlisted the help of Dawson and this what grandpa got for breakfast......red (well pink) pancakes, green eggs and sausage links. Dawson was THRILLED... my dad? A little less than thrilled! I told him that's what he gets for putting a preschool teacher and a 4 year old in charge of breakfast! :)

By staying in SV until Monday night I was able to go and watch my niece Abbi in her Wyoming History play they preformed at the SV Care Center.
And I got to spend LOTS of time cuddling and loving this happy little man!!! :)