Author: heidi

Cristian joined the ward’s soccer team for intramurals this semester, and they were amazing! Though the team was thrown together and most had not played with each other before, they made it into the final 4 tournament. The first game was pretty intense. 2-0 us in the beginning, and then 5-3 them with only a few minutes to go. Then 2 last minute goals, sudden death overtime, and a win in penalty kicks. It was really fun to watch. The second game was close, but a loss for us. Since it was double-elimintation, the third game was back with the old guys. This time they beat us, but we gracefully took 3rd place and everyone is excited to play again.

Merayla also made a good friend named Kay, who she ran around the field with at 2 games. They were so cute, that I couldn’t resist pictures even though the battery was dying on the camera. Here they are:

In searching through pictures of this summer in Geneva, there are some fun ones of Danielle and Merayla. Rudee was home for about 6 weeks, and Merayla loved her! She taught her some interesting things–like how to kink her neck like a gopher at the table and how to dance with her shoulders, and they became great friends. Check out these two cuties! And Happy Birthday, Rudee!

Still here, still here. After trying to get an apartment in Wymount for 4 months, we have finally thrown in the towel. We found out that not only do we have a relatively slower connection at the Bear Lake County Library and have to drive 30 minutes to get there each day that there might be an apartment we would want, but that about 150 other people are trying for the same apartment. Utterly hopeless. Good-bye Wymount.

On the other hand, we could actually find an apartment with a dishwasher (unheard of!) off campus…and maybe A/C, or parking, or a washer and dryer! Hm, not so bad after all, though the price will be a little steeper.

So this is what happened: as if anyone really wants to know? Well, since I don’t have anything better to do, here is the synopsis: We found several places, we were in Provo on July 25th, we looked at one and Cristian about died, we tried to find a few more that we couldn’t find, we looked at one we liked and decided to settle with that. We came home, we sent the holding fee, we found out the family that lived there didn’t get their house loan approved and decided to stay, we finally got the manager’s number from the owner, we called all owners desperately, one was new and he hadn’t yet advertised it. We got it! I think. I mean, we haven’t moved in yet, but I think he’s going to let us when we finally get there. Yeah! I hope we like it. I hope you all come to visit us there. That’s all. Thanks for listening.

Well folks, you may have wondered what happened to us. We are at the mercy of dial-up internet so we have been out of touch for a while…But, we are having fun on the farm.

Cristian has learned how to rake, haul hay, and repair pivot bridges. He is also making a box to channel the grain as it comes out of the silo. He has a cute farmer’s tan.

I, on the other hand, got sick when I tried to swath hay, got sick when I tried to haul hay, and have finally settled on conquering my mom’s stack of pictures that have been piling up since 1976. It is also very beautiful here, so that is nice.

Merayla LOVES the outside. She climbs up on the rocks and picks Grandma’s flowers. She throws rocks around in the driveway. She has great fun moving piles of cut grass from one location on the lawn to another under the back porch. She has also discovered how to blow dandelions and how to play in the dirt. She is especially cute on the trampoline because she loves to try to jump. One day, in fact, I was watering the flowers (with my back turned for not more than five minutes) and turned around to see her up on the trampoline all on her own! She had actually managed to climb the ladder and avoid the springs and was just sitting there looking proud of herself! She is definitely our constant source of joy.

Merayla loves balloons and bubbles. One Sunday I went to pick her up from Nursery and found her mesmerized in front of a bubble blowing machine. Here are some recent pictures of us trying it at home.

Merayla also loves putting things on her head. She found a pink flower basket in the bow bag the last time I wrapped a gift, and it made a perfect hat.

Ok, just one more. (She is just so cute most of the time that it’s hard to pick the ones to include.)

This last item is fun because when I was young my mom had some huge fuzzy white snow boots. In one picture, I am wearing those boots and trying to lift a heavy log. I’m about Merayla’s age. It’s one of my favorite pictures from when I was a baby.

Anyway, a few Christmas’s ago I found the perfect boots as a gift for Char. When she went on her mission, the boots happened to get re-located in my closet. Here is Merayla trying them on and then taking them off.

Ah, she is great! Oh, here is the balloon video that yall missed out on. It’s from Cristian’s birthday in March.

I hesitate to write a post about a movie because it absolutely drives me CRAZY when people talk about movies and TV constantly. But, I talk about other things so this is forgivable, right??

Anyway, here it is, I’m going to write about a movie: Bella.

Cris and I are kind of picky movie watchers and have not really found a reliable system for movie recommendations. Thus, we find ourselves watching something really lame with “high” reviews or something interesting but unknown. Lately most have been thumbs-down for us, even though our movie qualifications aren’t very stiff: We don’t watch R. We aren’t set on a certain genre. We like SciFi if it’s good science fiction. Mostly we’ve decided that the plot makes the movie for us. All that aside, the main point of this post is: THIS WAS A GOOD MOVIE!

It’s called Bella. It’s about a chef at a restaurant, a waitress that gets fired, and a Latino family. Basically it’s about normal people and one guy’s soul. It was touching and interesting. It’s filmed in New York, but we thought Argentina at first. The perspective of flash-forwards instead of flashbacks throughout the movie was a good way to portray the ideas. We both liked the conclusion though it was unexpected; we can discuss it later if you watch it. Don’t watch much of the trailer because it will give away too much of the story (like all trailers seem to do lately), but it is definitely worth your dollar at the Redbox. It’s interesting, moral, not cliche, and worth your time.

Also, if you made it through reading all of that info, comment and let us know what one of your movie recommendations are. Maybe there’s a few more good ones out there.

Most of you know that I want to be a real writer someday. Occasionally, I work on stuff but then sometimes I need motivational re-enforcement. Anyhow, I have actually written and submitted something lately. Don’t laugh…I’m starting small. My goal is Friend, New Era, Ensign, in that order. Then, move on to something in the magazine article area. We’ll see. So here it is: my article for the Friend. Let me know what you think.

Continue reading i think i can, i think i can

This is my second annual spoof article for DHI’s company newsletter. I have worked for DHI since November 2005 when I was swayed to a full-time job from my two part-times at Novelland Neovest. I am a technical writer and also web guru (until moving out of state) for the current project of converting all manuals to a Website. DHI is an interesting place to work, and I’ve enjoyed that I can now work from home while Merayla naps.

There are a few things you should know about the company in order to understand the following article.

1. DHI gives us (tech writers) the opportunity to write spoof articles each April Fool’s Day. I posted my first one here, and the next April I was on maternity leave. Here’s celebrating the 3rd year…

2. I really quite enjoy spoof time because I enjoy writing something creative. It also gives me a chance to joke about those annoying quirks that office jobs always have. Though my article was heavily edited before publication so as not to step on toes, I feel I can publish it in its entirety here.

3. The format of the article is based on Cristian’s well-visited Game Trailers site. Though he doesn’t buy games and can be persuaded to spend a limited amount of time playing them, he really enjoys watching the reviews. And, as much as I don’t get into games, I have to give it to these guys for smart, entertaining, and well-written reviews. I’ve tried to stay with their voice in my article.

4. DHI Computing Inc. was started in 1954. It has several subsidiaries, all of which are software companies–banking software, medical software, and dairy management software. The tech writing team kind of works for most of them, depending on the priority of projects. It is a family owned company and a good 50%-75% of its employees really are related. The rest is took lengthy to explain unless you work there, but I hope you enjoy the article.

Continue reading Spoof II

Sadly, we will be leaving Fort Worth in June, but there are some fun things y’all should know about if you are ever traveling in the great state of Texas. This is our ranking of the top seventeen fun things to do while you’re here:

17. South Fork Ranch (from the 1980s Dallas show. Be sure to hum the theme song while you’re there, and don’t miss JR’s luxury bedroom. Ok, maybe this one is really not worth the drive unless you saw more of the episodes than me.)

16. Downtown Dallas (Go on a warm day. And not on a holiday because it will be deserted.)

15. Southwest High School (home of the Raiders, my husband–Mr. Icleanu, a great teacher named Karen, some interesting kids, and some stylin’ fads)

14. The Historic Stockyards (There is a twice-daily cattle drive, shops for authentic and expensive cowboy stuff, and a Candy Store that even has Neccos.)

 

13. The Modern Art Museum and Cafe (The cafe is a unique experience because it seems to float on the water and features very tasty foods that we had never heard of before.)

12. The Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo ("Smells like prosperity, " my Dad would say.)

11. Watch BYU beat TCU (See if you can spot the Mormon missionaries that were allowed to attend in the first picture.)

10. Party at the Gardners

9. Slide at the Trail Dust Steakhouse

8. Visit Polly and Santino in Temple, TX

7. The Botanical Gardens

6. Play at the Park off of Merrick Street

5. The Fort Worth Zoo

4. Performing Arts at Bass Hall

3. The Kimball Art Museum (No pictures inside, but this place is amazing.)

2. La Madeleine, Mi Cocina, the Swiss Pastry Shop, and Central Market (depending on whether you feel like French, Mexican, dessert, or specialty groceries)

1. Or just hang out with us!