I'm getting a fair amount of flak about the blog versus the paper newsletter. If you have any desire to vote (more than you write!) you may do so. I don't know that we will be making a change but we may discuss it. I am going to Blanding this weekend and I'm sure the topic will come up!!
The long hot summer is moving on. I have lots to do in August and the summer has been very busy for me because of my involvement with a number of foreclosures and short sales. Unfortunately, both are a rapidly growing segment of the real estate world. Most of the news we hear is down right UGLY, but it is what it is and life will go on.
We didn't go with the Lone Peak 4-Wheelers in July. They went up American Fork Canyon but we just had too much going on and my Jeep was having some issues as well.
Hope all is well with all of you and I hope a lot of you will BLOG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thursday, July 31, 2008
What's Going on in Blansville
Well, mostly a lot of nothing. But here goes...
1. Duane has moved to Vernal and is working for an oilfield outfit called Cutters. He is a shop hand and build wiring harnesses (whatever that means). He is living with Megan and Russel in their basement right now but has put a new house under contract and could move into it as early as October or November. It appears he wanted to move back to Vernal, so he did.
2. I have to teach one more year and then I should have enough money to buy my last 2 years. So this weekend I will be moving to mom and dad's basement and live with them for the school year. Hopefully, we will be able to tend each other. Dad has given me an ultimatum...I have one week after school is over to be moved to Vernal. So, although I can honestly say I NEVER wanted to move back to Vernal, it appears I will be doing it anyway.
3. There is lots to do here. Someone, who will remain nameless, planted a rather large garden before abandoning me and it. So I have been doing lots of watering and weeding and watering and weeding (oh, and don't forget swearing!). I'll never understand why the weeds can do so well and the plants wilt at the first sign of sun. But anyway, it's a lot of work.
4. Maggie came and stayed with me after the reunion for about a week and then we went to Vernal with Marisa and Casey for the 4th of July. We had lots of fun while she was here. We scrapbooked, made cute little journals for her to write in, checked on the bunnies (I have 3 big ones and 5 babies), checked on the chickens and duck and gathered the eggs (a lady came and got the chickens and duck the day we left to go to Vernal), went to visit Granny and Grampa, went to get an ice cream cone, spent time with Marisa and Casey, went to see their NEW GORGEOUS house a few times, watched some "dreaded" TV, and just generally had a good time. Although, in defense of myself, I have to say that Maggie already knew how throw, pitch, or have an amazing fit when she got to my house. I really don't think I taught her anything new about that subject. Anyway, while we were in Vernal, we ate, played in the water, ate, watched movies, ate, played with Lukie, Gavin, and Savannah, ate, watched and participated in amazing fireworks, ate, went to the parade, and ate. It was lots of fun. Maggie went home with Molly and I went home with Marisa.
5. School starts next week on the 7th of August (Happy Birthday Stephen) for teachers, but I will be in Provo at a scrapbooking workshop called Creating Keepsakes University and the Provo Marriott with Megan on the 7th, 8th, and 9th. We are excited, panicked, awed, and nervous at the same time. I'll give you an update next month. Anyway, back to school. I keep saying that it might as well start because I won't be anymore ready in another month. This year (my last, I hope) I will be teaching 7th grade CTE for 4 quarters. It is just an introductory class to show what they can do in Family Consumer Science classes (Home Ec) in high school. I'm making some changes to the curriculum but it shouldn't be too bad. I will also be teachin FACS Explorations to 8th graders for 2 semesters. It is another introductory class. First semester I will also teach General Financial Literacy, Child Development, Foods I, and Clothing I. Second semester I will also teach General Financial Literacy, Interior Design I, Foods II, and Clothing II. It seems like once classes start it really zooms right along, so it shouldn't be too bad, except for not having a chaufeur (I have no clue how to spell that word).
6. Mom and dad are good. It's great to be able to spend so much time with them and try and be of some help to them. Dad is experiencing quite a bit of pain in his back. He has been going to physical therapy but isn't convinced it's doing any good. He will be getting one of those chairs that helps him to stand up, soon we hope. He gets outside a little to change water and give intructions to people helping him, but has a hard time standing up for very long. He doesn't eat much and is thin and frail, but watches lots of different sports on TV and helps with turning mom's quilts. We are about to get hooked up with the internet at his house, so that will be a whole new experience for him. He'll be burning up the search engines. Mom is doing quite well. She doesn't eat much either and is also thin and frail. She works deligently on her quilts and enjoys coming up with new patterns and ideas. I think they are relatively happy and content.
Of course, who knows how they'll be once I get moved in and start bossing them around!!!
7. Much l0ve to all of you. I hope the rest of your summer and the rest of you year is productive and rewarding, or at least fun. Pen
1. Duane has moved to Vernal and is working for an oilfield outfit called Cutters. He is a shop hand and build wiring harnesses (whatever that means). He is living with Megan and Russel in their basement right now but has put a new house under contract and could move into it as early as October or November. It appears he wanted to move back to Vernal, so he did.
2. I have to teach one more year and then I should have enough money to buy my last 2 years. So this weekend I will be moving to mom and dad's basement and live with them for the school year. Hopefully, we will be able to tend each other. Dad has given me an ultimatum...I have one week after school is over to be moved to Vernal. So, although I can honestly say I NEVER wanted to move back to Vernal, it appears I will be doing it anyway.
3. There is lots to do here. Someone, who will remain nameless, planted a rather large garden before abandoning me and it. So I have been doing lots of watering and weeding and watering and weeding (oh, and don't forget swearing!). I'll never understand why the weeds can do so well and the plants wilt at the first sign of sun. But anyway, it's a lot of work.
4. Maggie came and stayed with me after the reunion for about a week and then we went to Vernal with Marisa and Casey for the 4th of July. We had lots of fun while she was here. We scrapbooked, made cute little journals for her to write in, checked on the bunnies (I have 3 big ones and 5 babies), checked on the chickens and duck and gathered the eggs (a lady came and got the chickens and duck the day we left to go to Vernal), went to visit Granny and Grampa, went to get an ice cream cone, spent time with Marisa and Casey, went to see their NEW GORGEOUS house a few times, watched some "dreaded" TV, and just generally had a good time. Although, in defense of myself, I have to say that Maggie already knew how throw, pitch, or have an amazing fit when she got to my house. I really don't think I taught her anything new about that subject. Anyway, while we were in Vernal, we ate, played in the water, ate, watched movies, ate, played with Lukie, Gavin, and Savannah, ate, watched and participated in amazing fireworks, ate, went to the parade, and ate. It was lots of fun. Maggie went home with Molly and I went home with Marisa.
5. School starts next week on the 7th of August (Happy Birthday Stephen) for teachers, but I will be in Provo at a scrapbooking workshop called Creating Keepsakes University and the Provo Marriott with Megan on the 7th, 8th, and 9th. We are excited, panicked, awed, and nervous at the same time. I'll give you an update next month. Anyway, back to school. I keep saying that it might as well start because I won't be anymore ready in another month. This year (my last, I hope) I will be teaching 7th grade CTE for 4 quarters. It is just an introductory class to show what they can do in Family Consumer Science classes (Home Ec) in high school. I'm making some changes to the curriculum but it shouldn't be too bad. I will also be teachin FACS Explorations to 8th graders for 2 semesters. It is another introductory class. First semester I will also teach General Financial Literacy, Child Development, Foods I, and Clothing I. Second semester I will also teach General Financial Literacy, Interior Design I, Foods II, and Clothing II. It seems like once classes start it really zooms right along, so it shouldn't be too bad, except for not having a chaufeur (I have no clue how to spell that word).
6. Mom and dad are good. It's great to be able to spend so much time with them and try and be of some help to them. Dad is experiencing quite a bit of pain in his back. He has been going to physical therapy but isn't convinced it's doing any good. He will be getting one of those chairs that helps him to stand up, soon we hope. He gets outside a little to change water and give intructions to people helping him, but has a hard time standing up for very long. He doesn't eat much and is thin and frail, but watches lots of different sports on TV and helps with turning mom's quilts. We are about to get hooked up with the internet at his house, so that will be a whole new experience for him. He'll be burning up the search engines. Mom is doing quite well. She doesn't eat much either and is also thin and frail. She works deligently on her quilts and enjoys coming up with new patterns and ideas. I think they are relatively happy and content.
Of course, who knows how they'll be once I get moved in and start bossing them around!!!
7. Much l0ve to all of you. I hope the rest of your summer and the rest of you year is productive and rewarding, or at least fun. Pen
Saturday, July 26, 2008
The Bar, BSU, etc.
Nate takes the Bar exam this coming Tuesday and Wednesday. Things are getting tense and he is studying like mad. Once he passes he will finally be a real live lawyer! It has been a long road and we will both be glad to be done with this last major part.
I recently went, somewhat against my will, to Boise State orientation. It was good to see the campus and I was excited to get signed up for my classes. After I went through the whole "don't steal, don't walk around campus alone at night, make sure you study" spiel I tried to register for classes. They informed me that I had been discontinued and that I was not actually a student at Boise State. I yelled and waved my brand new student ID in their faces and said "I beg to differ!" enough times that they finally called the deans office and had someone with special clearance re-enroll me. Of course I had to wait until the next day to register for my classes so everything I need is long gone and I am showing late enrollment so I am not eligible for financial aid. Needless to say the day was not fun and I still have an endless list of people to yell at before everything is fixed. For example, even though I took AP English Lit in HS, Honors English Composition and Advanced Persuasive writing at BYU, I apparently have not filled the English 101 requirement at BSU. BS-U is right so far. I am trying to stay positive and take my mom's advice that yelling gets you nowhere, but it makes me feel better to yell. Finally, after all this, I did get some fun classes--not ones I really need, but fun all the same. I am excited to get back in the swing of things, and I'm sure things will look up any time now.
This month has been slow but good. The weather is so perfect here that we try to spend at least part of the day walking or at the park. We are trying to get used to walking several times a day so that when we finally get a puppy we will have good habits. Nate starts his job August 4th and I will start school at the end of August. I have started watching Design on a Dime on HGTV and I have all sorts of fun ideas for our apartment except that we can't really paint or install anything so I am pretty limited. If anyone has ideas on decorating a space you can't paint, let me know. I also made friends with a gal in my ward who is a dynamite sewer so I will see if I can't learn a thing or two. Much love to all!!
I recently went, somewhat against my will, to Boise State orientation. It was good to see the campus and I was excited to get signed up for my classes. After I went through the whole "don't steal, don't walk around campus alone at night, make sure you study" spiel I tried to register for classes. They informed me that I had been discontinued and that I was not actually a student at Boise State. I yelled and waved my brand new student ID in their faces and said "I beg to differ!" enough times that they finally called the deans office and had someone with special clearance re-enroll me. Of course I had to wait until the next day to register for my classes so everything I need is long gone and I am showing late enrollment so I am not eligible for financial aid. Needless to say the day was not fun and I still have an endless list of people to yell at before everything is fixed. For example, even though I took AP English Lit in HS, Honors English Composition and Advanced Persuasive writing at BYU, I apparently have not filled the English 101 requirement at BSU. BS-U is right so far. I am trying to stay positive and take my mom's advice that yelling gets you nowhere, but it makes me feel better to yell. Finally, after all this, I did get some fun classes--not ones I really need, but fun all the same. I am excited to get back in the swing of things, and I'm sure things will look up any time now.
This month has been slow but good. The weather is so perfect here that we try to spend at least part of the day walking or at the park. We are trying to get used to walking several times a day so that when we finally get a puppy we will have good habits. Nate starts his job August 4th and I will start school at the end of August. I have started watching Design on a Dime on HGTV and I have all sorts of fun ideas for our apartment except that we can't really paint or install anything so I am pretty limited. If anyone has ideas on decorating a space you can't paint, let me know. I also made friends with a gal in my ward who is a dynamite sewer so I will see if I can't learn a thing or two. Much love to all!!
Friday, July 25, 2008
Hot Summer
The long hot summer marches on - the 24th of July has come and gone but we still get fireworks on Saturday night. Our ward has the Cul-De-Sac of Fire!! Home made ice cream, cookies, a parade, karaoke and lots of fireworks in the street!! I can hardly wait!! It is great to see some of you taking advantage of the blog, especially with pictures. Hope all is well with all of you.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
I've Heard the Flannery Kids Called Lame (I'm not saying where)
I started a friendly newsy post listing what each member of the family has been doing lately but even I was bored reading it so I decided to repost this from my own blog.
We have literally thousands (OK maybe thousand, look we're not made of money here) of dollars of toys in the "playroom" at our house. Why do I put the word playroom in quotes? No, it's not just that I don't know how to properly use quotes as you'll find here (No, seriously, go. You won't be sorry. I'll wait. ------ Back? OK, let's continue,) It's because no one plays in it. EVER.
The playroom has become the repository for mountains of toys. And the mountain is so big and so high and so tall (1,000), that on one even tries to dig through it to find a toy. Do they look for games? Not a chance. How about dress-ups? Surely the princess wants to dress up. Negatory good buddy (2,000).
The playroom is too much of a mess to do anything with (and some day soon, I'm going to go in there with an empty garbage bag and come out with a soul so very much lighter) so my children, resourceful small people that they are, have found alternate methods of entertainment. Something that they can and do spend hours at a time doing, something that brings joy to their little hearts, something that keeps them relatively quiet and non-fighting for nearly the whole day. What is this magical instrument of fun? you ask.
It's the TELEVISION! And if I have to hear the "i-Carly" theme song one more time I'm going to put a bullet through my head.
Seriously, it's summer. No school, sunshine, the last few days it haven't even been too hot, and all my kids can do is sit on their posteriors watching other kids, inane, bad acting kids, doing things. My kids don't even play the Wii!
I should make it clear here that I'm really just referring to Maggie and Aidan here, Ike will happily ride his big wheel around the yard for hours and Ian is only 7 months old, just give him something disgusting and dirty to chew on, preferably a shoe, and he's set. If he loses his thing to chew on, however, it won't be any of his older siblings who help him out, at least not while "Chowder"'s on. I came in from outside Monday, drill in hand, to find the baby screaming on the floor and both Maggie and Aidan sitting on the couch not 3 feet away eyes glued on Spongebob. Nice.
This morning I made them come outside and help clean up some of the cement from the recent demo of some steps. They fought over the shovel, the work gloves, they even fought over the chunks of concrete (as if there weren't enough of those around) and then started the whining. Finally I said, "hey I know what you can do, you can go sit on your lazy butts in front of the television." And they were gone. Sarcasm (and therefore the majority of what I say) is so lost on my children.
After spending the last two days working on the kitchen and seeing through the window my precious children turning into precious lumps on the couch I finally lost it. I unplugged the TV.
I know, drastic measures. But I couldn't, could not take it for one more minute. Maggie threw a royal fit, something she's been doing a lot since she got home from grandma's (thanks Pen). And Aidan proceeded to follow me around literally hanging on my arm and asking when dinner was. It was 12:30.
Seriously, these kids have bikes. They have scooters (OK scooteR, but still), they have a swing-set and a sandbox and a yard, all at their disposal. Too safe? Well, we are doing construction. There are also hammers and all manner of nails and wood which they are allowed to play with and destroy 'til their little hearts are content. (I do have three boys after all) There are rocks a plenty, and dirt in abundance. I know if they put one ounce of effort into it they could get something really fun going.
But they don't, they sit and whine and look for things to eat and whine and ask if they can play on the computer and whine. This TV unplugged thing is working so well I think the TV may just stay that way for the rest of the summer.
We have literally thousands (OK maybe thousand, look we're not made of money here) of dollars of toys in the "playroom" at our house. Why do I put the word playroom in quotes? No, it's not just that I don't know how to properly use quotes as you'll find here (No, seriously, go. You won't be sorry. I'll wait. ------ Back? OK, let's continue,) It's because no one plays in it. EVER.
The playroom has become the repository for mountains of toys. And the mountain is so big and so high and so tall (1,000), that on one even tries to dig through it to find a toy. Do they look for games? Not a chance. How about dress-ups? Surely the princess wants to dress up. Negatory good buddy (2,000).
The playroom is too much of a mess to do anything with (and some day soon, I'm going to go in there with an empty garbage bag and come out with a soul so very much lighter) so my children, resourceful small people that they are, have found alternate methods of entertainment. Something that they can and do spend hours at a time doing, something that brings joy to their little hearts, something that keeps them relatively quiet and non-fighting for nearly the whole day. What is this magical instrument of fun? you ask.
It's the TELEVISION! And if I have to hear the "i-Carly" theme song one more time I'm going to put a bullet through my head.
Seriously, it's summer. No school, sunshine, the last few days it haven't even been too hot, and all my kids can do is sit on their posteriors watching other kids, inane, bad acting kids, doing things. My kids don't even play the Wii!
I should make it clear here that I'm really just referring to Maggie and Aidan here, Ike will happily ride his big wheel around the yard for hours and Ian is only 7 months old, just give him something disgusting and dirty to chew on, preferably a shoe, and he's set. If he loses his thing to chew on, however, it won't be any of his older siblings who help him out, at least not while "Chowder"'s on. I came in from outside Monday, drill in hand, to find the baby screaming on the floor and both Maggie and Aidan sitting on the couch not 3 feet away eyes glued on Spongebob. Nice.
This morning I made them come outside and help clean up some of the cement from the recent demo of some steps. They fought over the shovel, the work gloves, they even fought over the chunks of concrete (as if there weren't enough of those around) and then started the whining. Finally I said, "hey I know what you can do, you can go sit on your lazy butts in front of the television." And they were gone. Sarcasm (and therefore the majority of what I say) is so lost on my children.
After spending the last two days working on the kitchen and seeing through the window my precious children turning into precious lumps on the couch I finally lost it. I unplugged the TV.
I know, drastic measures. But I couldn't, could not take it for one more minute. Maggie threw a royal fit, something she's been doing a lot since she got home from grandma's (thanks Pen). And Aidan proceeded to follow me around literally hanging on my arm and asking when dinner was. It was 12:30.
Seriously, these kids have bikes. They have scooters (OK scooteR, but still), they have a swing-set and a sandbox and a yard, all at their disposal. Too safe? Well, we are doing construction. There are also hammers and all manner of nails and wood which they are allowed to play with and destroy 'til their little hearts are content. (I do have three boys after all) There are rocks a plenty, and dirt in abundance. I know if they put one ounce of effort into it they could get something really fun going.
But they don't, they sit and whine and look for things to eat and whine and ask if they can play on the computer and whine. This TV unplugged thing is working so well I think the TV may just stay that way for the rest of the summer.
Monday, July 7, 2008
SUMMER!
We are loving summer! We are enjoying gardening, swimming, swinging, lots of sidewalk chalk, riding bikes, mud stew, water balloons and eating outside. Gavin and Savannah couldn't be happier outside. It is amazing how dirty they get each day, so we are having lots of bath time too! Gavin is taking swimming lessons and learning to love the water. He was timid at first, but now he is very brave and puts his whole head under the water. Savannah is starting to talk. She is mastering lots of new words. They are both such happy, wonderful kids. We are so lucky to have them! We celebrated Paxton's 29th birthday on the 2nd. We had a great 4th of July, in Vernal, to celebrate Megan's and Pen's birthdays. The fire works were a big hit, all the kids loved them. I am off to Las Vegas on the 22nd for a dance convention. We have a great group of girls going, and it will be so much fun. It was so nice to see everyone at the reunion. Thanks to all who made it such a great time! We hope you are all having a great summer!
Friday, July 4, 2008
Happy and Hot 4th of July!!
Feels like the weekend even though it is only Friday - I loved seeing that
Alayna's fingers got better!! Julie is in Las Vegas this weekend (Mike's B-Day is tomorrow, so she went down to celebrate. I got up this morning and went to a flag raising down the street and then a sidewalk pancake breakfast. We got to talking about salsa @ breakfast because of the scrambled eggs, so I said I was going to make some and I would bring it over later for sampling to Capps' - they did the breakfast, but I helped cooking pancakes!! So in a few minutes I am off to their house with 2 different batches of salsa made from canned tomatoes - I can't wait until mine are ready. I have tomatoes about the size of a baseball and VERY small jalapenos!!
Alayna's fingers got better!! Julie is in Las Vegas this weekend (Mike's B-Day is tomorrow, so she went down to celebrate. I got up this morning and went to a flag raising down the street and then a sidewalk pancake breakfast. We got to talking about salsa @ breakfast because of the scrambled eggs, so I said I was going to make some and I would bring it over later for sampling to Capps' - they did the breakfast, but I helped cooking pancakes!! So in a few minutes I am off to their house with 2 different batches of salsa made from canned tomatoes - I can't wait until mine are ready. I have tomatoes about the size of a baseball and VERY small jalapenos!!
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Sechrest Update
It took like six months but I have finally figured out how to contribute to the blog. In case anyone is interested Nate and I have a blog of our own: nateandalayna.blogspot.com. But since we don't update that very often either, here is a little update.
Nate graduated Law school at Notre Dame in May and we moved to an apartment in Boise, ID where he will be clerking for a judge this year. We didn't like our apartment so after a weeks vacation in Hawaii, we moved to a better one across town. We are now settled in and we make a trip to Salt Lake every two weeks or so for one reason or another. We love being back west and being closer to family. It was wonderful to see everyone at the family reunion this last weekend. It had been a long time since we had seen a lot of the cousins and the cousins kids. It was good to catch up. We are happy and healthy up here in Boise. Feel free to stop by if you are ever in town.
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