Lydowsk

New Blog

2009-07-30T08:48:00.002-06:00

I've decided to create a new blog. This blog name reminds me too much of people I no longer associate with and don't care to, so I wanted a new name. I haven't posted anything on the new blog and I'm not finished with the layout and that jazz. I'll be deleting this blog in about a month or so, so make sure to change your link. The new blog is: lydzspot.blogspot.com

Snoozin'

2009-07-23T08:55:00.003-06:00

I woke up this morning to find Jasper sprawled out on my bed. He was cuddled up next to my back with his head on a pillow and sleeping pretty soundly (he was also partially on me). I thought it was kind of funny. I could barely move because of where he was! Silly little boy.

Opportunities

2009-07-10T15:21:00.002-06:00

From time to time we will get word from our HR dept that we have job openings. Well, today I decided to apply for one of these openings. I've been in one of those stressful moods lately due to financial reasons, so I felt I should either look for a second job or apply for a higher paying position in my company. Obviously, the later is the most appealing! Wish me luck!!

Painting

2009-07-08T10:51:00.007-06:00

I've been painting a lot lately and I have to say, I really hate it! I'm trying to create a faux tile backsplash which is coming along slowly. I have to find better tape to use because the blue painter's tape keeps peeling off the paint! Here's what I've started so everyone can see (sorry, the pictures were taken on my cell phone, so they're not great).

Then I decided I was going to paint one wall in my kitchen/dining room a dark red. I finally finished that last night (horray!). My kitchen's coming along pretty good, I'm liking it more and more. Of course, I'll be happier once the tile part gets done, it's very time consuming! :)

Help! What should I do?

2009-05-18T14:15:00.002-06:00

Ok, I think I need to do something to my kitchen. I love my new countertops, but something seems "off." Should I paint my cabinets? Maybe an Ivory White? Should I do a tile backsplash? What color would look good?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!! :)

Been awhile.....

2009-05-14T21:09:00.007-06:00

I know, I know. I have been a huge slacker when it comes to blogging these days. I've been pretty busy now that I have a new job. I've been working since the end of February. It was about time that I found a job. There wasn't much out there, but I was lucky. In fact I was the only one they interviewed for this position. I originally interviewed for another position, but it was filled internally. They called me back to interview for the newly opened position and I was offered it the next day.

I really like what I'm doing now, I work with retirement plans for teachers in Southern California. Basically I do a lot of processing and I also answer calls from participants. It's great, I love the people I'm working with. It's like night and day from my last job. I almost forgot what it felt like to be appreciated and to work as a team.

Here's a picture of my team! This was Bailey's farewell luncheon (Bailey is sitting next to me). She's in the MTC now and will be headed to Rome, Italy in a few weeks. So sad.....we all miss her! (I hate this pic of me by the way, yech!)

Jasper has gotten pretty big, well big for him anyway! He's a whole 9 pounds! He thinks he's so tough. He has started barking a lot, which is not so good for my neighbors. It's also not very good for me when he starts up at 11:30 or midnight, so he got a bark collar last week. He hates it, but he needs to learn that it's not ok to bark at every single thing. We live right next to the back door of our building and when ever someone goes in or out, he freaks! He's getting better though. He's only had to be shocked 6 times. Oh course, I feel terrible about it Here's some recent pics of him....my cute little baby dog!

There's more going on, but I'm getting kind of tired. I'll try to be better at posting, but no promises!

Nite all....

The Little Thief

2008-12-15T23:17:00.003-07:00

Jasper has become a thief lately! He thinks it's really funny to pick up Mom's things and drag them away. Yesterday I was wrapping a Christmas present and he decided to "help" by stealing my scissors and tape. Obviously if something is on the floor, it must be a new toy for Jasper! Then later that day, I was in my bedroom and I could hear him dragging something in the living room. When I went out to investigate, I found that he had pulled my jacket from a kitchen chair, dragged it into the middle of the living room and made a bed out of it. Silly little boy! At least he keeps me entertained, I'd probably be bored out of my mind without him! :)

Jordan's Commercial

2008-12-11T19:24:00.000-07:00

My brother-in-law works for Rexburg Motor Sports and got to be in their commercial. Check it out!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICu-NKwdSc0

Festival of Trees

2008-12-06T23:21:00.008-07:00

Saturday night my friend Misty and I went to the Festival of Trees. It was fun to see all the different decorations, there are some really talented people out there! A lot of the trees were dedicated to people who have died or are dying, which was sad. Some of them had stories about the people who had died. The trees were for sale, but only if you had a couple thousand dollars to spend on one. But it was fun to see. One of my favorites was the Cullen Christmas tree. As you can probably guess, it was a Twilight theme

Jasper

2008-12-01T11:41:00.002-07:00

Here are some pictures of my new little puppy, Jasper. I've had him for about two weeks now. He can be quite the little handful, he really likes to nibble on me. But he's a puppy, so I guess that's expected and he's only 8 weeks old. We bonded pretty fast, he hates it when I leave him even to take a shower. He tries to climb into the tub with me, good thing he's too small to make it! One day he decided, for whatever reason, to hide in the couch cushions. Weird! I think the garbage truck may have scared him.

He's been really good company these last couple of weeks that I've been out of a job. For those of you who don't know yet, I got laid off two weeks ago. I think it's probably for the best, although right now it may not seem like it. I wasn't in a good situation and I was actually thinking about quitting. Of course now comes the hard part of finding a job in this economy!

Parent's Weekend

2008-10-19T18:57:00.000-06:00

Last weekend my parents were in town. I was finally able to take a couple of days of, something I haven't done since Christmas, to spend some time with them. We spent most of it working on my condo. My mom and I got my kitchen all squared away, now if I can just get the rest of my place in order I'd be great! It's so sad that I still have boxes after almost 3 months, but oh well.

I also went shooting with my dad at a gun range near my condo. We had a lot of fun. The 40 caliber gun was a challange to shoot. It had quite a kick! My poor hands were all torn up after we were done, I guess I'll have to get some gloves or something. I already know what I'm getting for Christmas, a 380 and a 22 handgun. I may have to get a membership at that gun range, but I think it will be worth it (a little stress relief after work!).

My mom and I went with Candy and Tom to the Desert Star Theater. We saw Scary Poppins and it was hilarious! If you want to have a good night out, go see this!! So all and all it was a great weekend.

Enrichment Nite

2008-10-16T18:51:00.000-06:00

I'm thinking about starting up a new hobby.....flower arranging! We learned how to arrange flowers at Enrichment last night and it was really fun. Sister Radman showed us the basics and then we were given flowers and let go! It was interesting to see everyone's end result, no two were alike. Mine didn't turn out too bad and it was a lot of fun to do.

2008-08-28T21:17:00.000-06:00

Wait until you hear about my crazy weekend! My grandmother and her friend Reddy came for a visit on their way up to Bear Lake. I went to pick them up at the airport and the fun began! My grandmother and Reddy had wheelchair service through the airport and as Reddy got up from her wheelchair, she tripped over the leg of the chair and fell. I was halfway to the car with the luggage when I heard my grandmother yelling for help. I turned just to see Reddy hit the cement and from where I was standing it looked she hit her head on the bench. Talk about a heartache moment! It turned out that she was ok, bruised and a little scraped, but ok. The airport employees insisted the parametics look her over (probably to save themselves a lawsuit) and all she need was three bandaids.

Once that was over with, we had some more excitement! We went to Sam's Club to get a membership card and Reddy wanted to stay in the car. She has a bad knee and was exhausted, so we understood. Well while we were in Sam's Club, my car's license plate and description was paged over the loudspeaker. We went back up front and the supervisor told us story I couldn't believe. It seems someone got worried about this poor little old lady sitting out in the car by herself and went to ask her if she was ok. Well apparently she was "disoriented" when the lady was talking to her. So the supervisor called us up because she thought someone was going to call the police on us for neglecting Reddy! Well I went out to the car and Reddy was taking a little nap. I woke her up and asked if she was ok. Turns out she was fine! She said she was very comfortable and was taking a little snooze. She didn't even know why that lady came over to talk to her. Of course I would have been a little disoriented after just waking up. I went back inside to tell my grandmother and the women working at the customer service desk were giving me looks like I was the biggest criminal on the planet! The supervisor had told my grandmother that several of the employees were very upset and wanted to call the police. So all weekend I was waiting for the cops to show up at my door.

By the time the both left the next day, I was absolutely exhausted. Those two traveling together are dangerous! It is like the blind leading the blind.

The Beverly Hillbillies - Well Almost!

2008-08-27T16:49:00.000-06:00

After having to postpone moving over and over again, I was finally able to move on July 30th....the day before I had to move out of course. Moving was really funny, thanks to all the people from my branch that came to help. My hometeacher decided he could get ton of stuff in his truck. It kind of looked like the Beverly Hillbillies, all we were missing was grandma on top in her rocker! They fit my bed, box spring, mattress, couch, chair, ottoman and the kitchen table all in the bed of his truck. I'm surprised he made it like that, luckily we weren't going too far! I'm glad he didn't get pulled over with all that stuff in there!

But I'm all moved, except for some boxes, and it is really nice having my own place. The best part about it is that it is REALLY quiet! No more loud neighbors, especially like my old upstairs neighboor who always stomped when she walked! I've even met a few of my neighboors and everyone seems pretty nice. And I'm glad I met my goal of becoming a homeowner before my next birthday (which is this coming Saturday in case anyone is even thinking about forgetting!!)

Closing Date!

2008-07-24T09:19:00.000-06:00

Hey all!

Well, the date is set for the closing on my condo. We will be closing tomorrow, Friday July 25th. I was beginning to think that it might never happen! We had the super anal underwriter on the lender's side who just about killed the deal earlier this week. I was starting to get really stressed! I have to be out of my apartment by the 31st and I was starting to think I might need to find a new apartment or be homeless! But it all worked out in the end. All this happened pretty fast though, less than a month, so I guess I should be grateful. We are trying to see if I can move in this weekend even though I won't technically own the place until the funds are sent on Monday. So, I guess this is really going to happen and by next week I will be living in my new place! Horray!

More Pics!

2008-07-14T19:13:00.000-06:00

More detailed pictures of my condo!

2008-07-05T21:21:00.000-06:00

Ok, I have found a condo that I really like! After a couple of let downs and outbids, I have finally found my condo! I just accepted their counter offer, so hopefully (fingers crossed) nothing goes wrong this time! It is a two bedroom, 1 1/2 bath condo approximately 920 sq feet with a HUGE walk-in closet. It is in Murray and an end unit on the top floor, which I hope equals less noise! Wish me luck that this all goes as planned and nothing gets screwed up in the end!

Mormon Miracle Pageant

2008-06-22T15:10:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I went with some of the branch members to Manti to watch the Mormon Miracle Pageant. First, we went up to Maple Canyon (near Fountain Green, UT) to have a dutch oven dinner. We went hiking a little bit and hung around til it was time to go watch the pageant. There were sooooo many people there to watch the pageant, it was crazy! And of course there were the ever present protestors outside the gates. They like to show up everywhere and try to ruin the spirit of things. The pageant was ok, it was kind of funny to watch the actor's hand gestures because they didn't match the recording of what they were supposed to be saying. I thought the actors would be speaking the dialogue, but it was just a recording blasted from the speakers. In one scene, they actually had a guy dressed up like the Angel Moroni standing on top of the temple! Talk about scary! He sure was up pretty high! The pageant lasted two hours, and boy were those seats hard! I had a hard time paying attention because I was so uncomfortable! Plus, we didn't get home until about 2 a.m. since Manti is two hours away! I was pretty tired by the time we got home, but it was a lot of fun and I'm glad I went.

Bee's Game Pictures

2008-06-22T14:58:00.000-06:00

They are a little late, but here are the pictures!

(From Far Right) Christian, Camille, Me, Megan

Jeff, Jenny & Tara

Jenny & Jeff

Me, Megan, Tara & Jenny

After the game, Tara had us be her "models."

Take Me Out To The Ballgame!

2008-05-23T23:47:00.000-06:00

Tonight I went with some friends to watch the Salt Lake Bees. We had a lot of fun, except the Bees lost 17-4...yikes! It wasn't a very entertaining game to watch, especially when they let the other team score 9 runs in one inning. Sheesh! We were also sitting next to a really obnoxious fan, I really wished they could've thrown him out of the game. But we still had fun and the fireworks after the game were awesome. There was a little kid sitting in front of us and his dad told him if he finished his HUGE bag of popcorn he would get $10. So what did the kid do? He kept feeding us his popcorn, of course! We took tons of pictures, so when they are emailed to me I will post them.

And the search is on....

2008-02-12T20:29:00.000-07:00

So I have decided to buy myself a condo! I figure it is finally time to buy my own place instead of throwing away money every month on rent. It is such an exciting and scary thing to go through. I have been looking at condos all over the place during the past week and let me tell you that there are some ugly ones out there!! It's a good thing I have plently of time to search for my perfect place. I'll keep you all updated on my hunt and you guys are all invited over once I find a place!

Temple Square

2008-01-25T23:49:00.000-07:00

Before Christmas I went down to Temple Square to see the lights with some new friends. Kristina, who served a mission in my hometown and knew my parents, introduced me to some people who served in the Oakland, CA mission. We had a lot of fun taking pictures everywhere. Here are a few from that night. Enjoy!

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-27T14:25:00.000-07:00

I hope you all had a Merry Christmas. My whole family went to my parent's house in California for Christmas. It was nice to have everyone together, it doesn't happen very often. Shelby had a lot of fun playing with the presents and the tree. My parents got her a rocking horse that makes horse sounds and moves its head and tail. I don't think she quite knows what to do with it yet! She was crawling all over the place and getting into everything. Once we found her going through my mom's pantry and rearranging things. She especially thought that the uncooked pasta should go on the door instead of in their box! We had a nice party at our house for my mom's family. It was a lot of fun and we had a lot of people over. It was nice to see some of my cousins that I haven't seen in a long time.

Alabama Trip Photos

2007-12-15T22:07:00.001-07:00

Alabama

2007-12-11T18:55:00.000-07:00

Let's see, what's new?

Well I just got back from Alabama a few weeks ago. We all had a good time. I was there for my Great-Grandmother's 100th birthday party. I can't believe she is 100! We got to meet lots of our family from the south although I still don't really know who they are! We had a nice party where my Great-Grandma received her honorary High School diploma. She and her friend dropped out in 1925 because they apparently knew more than the teachers and were too interested in boys! It amazes me much grease people in the south consume! We had fried chicken and fried okra at dinner. My niece really liked the fried okra, they were Shelby size! She kept reaching over to my mom's plate when she wasn't looking and eating the okra! I didn't even know what okra was until I went to Alabama (if you don't know what it is, it's a vegetable). It's interesting, not sure I would want to eat it again but it was an experience. We went to the Huntsville Space and Rocket Museum and to Amish country in Tennessee. It was really facinating to see the Amish riding around in buggies. We drove by some of their farms which are amazing. One Amish lady was outside doing laundry on a clothesline and boy did she have a lot!! Don't sign me up to be Amish, I like my technology too much!

The worst thing about a vacation is having to come home and it's even worse to go back to work. After being gone over a week I had a lot of catching up to do. Thankfully work is slowing down now that it's getting closer to Christmas so I can afford to go home to California. I'll be glad to get away from the snow for a week, I like it but not when I have to drive in it!

Click here for a video about my great-grandmother:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqJo6d5mLVQ