Add Another One to the Mix

Last night Lindsay and Jessica threw a baby shower for our dear friend Katie. Fabulous shower girls! It was good to see everyone and to also see Katie's cute little bump. I have a feeling it might be a while until our next baby or bridal shower for our group of friends. I find it kind of funny that out of 11 high school friends, 5 all got married within a few years of each other. The other 6 still remain single. Out of the 5 that are married, 4 now have children. I love how different all our lives are, but I am happy that we can get together and it seems like things haven't changed.



Question now is: Will the next shower be a bridal shower or a baby shower?

Trade Day Tuesdays

I have just implemented Trade Day Tuesdays. This is where you give me one thing, and I will give you something in return. A trade if you will. TDT came to fruition last night as Rich and Josh were over at our house. I was quietly reading in my room when Josh came in asking for me to wash his hair. To which my immediate response was, 'No". I also told him my shampoo was too expensive to use on such frivolous things.

I joined the boys and Mackenzi in our family room for a little chit-chat and of course, to watch an episode of the office. Since my boating outing on Monday, my back and shoulders have been very sore and all day I wished I had a husband to come home to to give me a massage. And then it hit me.

I told Josh I would wash his hair on one condition - he had to give me a massage. Josh agreed quicker than I expected. Either he really wanted his hair washed or he wants me. I believe it is the former.

Josh gave me quite a nice massage.


I was secretly wishing that The Office would end and I could somehow get away without washing Josh's hair. Yes, selfish of me, I know. But I wasn't so lucky. We first tried to wash his hair in my bathtub. But my bathroom is like the size of a closet so we moved to the kitchen. We tried to make a salon chair out of our kitchen chair, but it just didn't work. Apparently wooden chairs don't recline very easily.





And so, Trade Day Tuesdays was officially born. Start your own TDT, take pictures and enjoy.

First Ski of the Season

This past Memorial day weekend seemed to have all the makings of a great 3-day weekend. Warm, sunny, no work AND a trip to the lake. However, mother nature decided to pull a fast one on us and blew in a cold front just in time for us to go boating. Can't a girl catch a break? Willing to bare the elements, Kim, Penel, Alex and I drove to Willard Bay to get in a few runs. Through wind and snow (ok, not really snow - that was more for dramatic story telling effect) we launched The Naked Mermaid (name of the boat) and headed out to find some decent water.

Alex safely putting my demo ski on our ski rack. I wasn't about to waste a good demo ski just because of crappy water and weather.


I think I almost froze from the very beginning. Don't ask me how I actually was able to get in the water.


I have decided to not upload any pictures that were taken of me while I was skiing. I make the ugliest faces. I am embarrassed to even have pictures of me skiing on my camera. Note to self: smile and look pleasent no matter how cold or uncomfortable you are. I will however upload pictures of Alex. He doesn't make the faces I normally do. I should learn from him.



By the time we left the lake the sun was coming out. Of course. Just our luck. Thanks mom and dad for a memorable and fun trip to the lake. Can't wait for more this summer!

Bear Lake and Back in One Day

It is summer. Finally. The smell of fresh cut grass, fresh flowers and the heat of the sun are enough to put me into joy overload. This weekend the Harris clan drove up to Bear Lake to open our cabin. I love going to Bear Lake. Even if it is just for the day. Because Bear Lake means summer and I love summer. So, as we made our way through the small town of Woodruff, we discovered that it was their annual TESTICLE FESTIVAL. That's right. A Testicle Festival. An opportunity like this doesn't come that often, so we pulled over and snapped a picture. I wish we could have stayed for the event, but time did not allow.


We arrived at our cabin around 10 am and immediately started working. Weeding, mowing the lawn, putting patio furniture together. The whole enchilada. Family togetherness at it's finest. We got away with only having one small argument. According to Alex, girls wear make-up because they are insecure. Don't ask me how we got on that topic, but eventually we sent Alex to go mow the lawn and leave us alone. Poor guy. He was never going to win a make-up argument with his two sisters and his mother.





We wrapped up around 2:45 and headed home. We stopped at the creamery at USU for a little ice cream and then in Kaysville to visit Grandpa L.Dale's and Esther's graves. We made it back in time to watch the Jazz beat the Spurs. Great day indeed.

I am Amazing!

I am amazing. Yes, indeed I am. I have my own power drill and I can read and follow simple picture instructions. Who else can claim that? Well, pretty much everyone can I guess. So maybe I am not all that amazing. But I did assemble yet another piece of furntiure for my house all by myself. Well, my cousin Carly handed me some screws and held a piece in place for me at one point - so I guess I didn't do it all by myself. Crap, the evidence of my amazingness is slowly being chipped away. Whatever. This is me starting my IKEA coffee table assembely:


And this is the finished product:

We Might Be Crazy?!

Sometimes I consider SLC a pretty normal sized city. That is until we finally get a store like Ikea and the whole news coverage is focused on the grand opening. I told myself that I wouldn't go to Ikea for at least a month after the opening. But, really, who was I trying to fool? Myself? Possibly. However, I am an easy sell, so Kenzi, Brooke and I became one of "those people" that actually was crazy enough to brave Ikea on the second day of it's opening.


And in true Natalie fashion, I couldn't walk out of the store without at least dropping $100. I did go there with the intentions of purchasing a coffee table. And so that is what I did. The joy now lies in assembling it. BUT, if you refer to one of my early posts and my amazing ability to assemble a side table from Target, I am sure this coffee table will be a breeze. I'll blog about that adventure later.

How Would you Handle a Racial Slur?

Today at work we had a new business meeting with a potential new client. The meeting seemed to be going well while we talked about our capabilities and ways we could support their business. In the middle of the meeting, our PNC (potentil new client) was talking about their laboratory in China and this came out, "The Orientals over there...." WHAT? Did I just hear that? The reserved professional that I am kept the same facial expression and tried to focus on what he was actually saying, while trying to ignore the inappropriate and naive comment that was just made.

Not two minutes later, he said the same thing. Again, poker face. Wow, i am getting good at this. Another member of their team started talking about their possible distribution in Hawaii and he said, "The Orientals...." SERIOUSLY? Two different people in the same meeting made the same racial slur? Not possible. Again, my best poker face is played and the meeting goes on.

After the meeting was over and we are all casually chatting, the original social blunder speaker topped his original racial slur with a comment about "a colored fella". Poker face was played yet again for the fourth time today.

After the PNC left we all gathered together to talk about the meeting. Funny thing is we didn't talk about the actual meeting, but of how each of us tried to play good on our poker faces. Really though, how on earth are you supposed to act when someone says something like that? Especially in a work environment where you could be potential business clients? The only thing I knew what to do was to not say anything. But then again, that is true to form. I hate confrontation. I can't imagaine it in a new business relationship.

Question is, how would you handle a situation like this?

I Love Carbohydrates!

I do. I love carbohydrates. I couldn't live without them. I could never do the Atkins diet or even The South Beach diet. Life would not be worth living if I couldn't eat my carbs. Therefore, when I saw this new cookbook at the local Barnes and Noble, I had to buy it. My two great loves: Carbohydrates and a book solely dedicated to carbohydrates.


I haven't decided what recipe I will try first, but I am sure they are all delicious! Next time you see me, if I am 20 pounds heavier, you will know what did it to me :)

Hello Lover!

My friend Lori posted this on her blog, and I thought I would copy her and see what type of shoe I am! I find my results somewhat correct. What kind of shoe are you?

You are Slinky Heels!

You're an uptown, well put together woman But you're not too uptight to enjoy a hot club You're always the best dressed chick in the room And you'll only settle for the best in men

What Kind of Shoe Are You?

St. George/Vegas Trip: Final Part - Chicago Concert!

I have saved the best for last. The Chicago concert was the best part of the trip - given, it was the whole basis of the trip to begin with. The concert theater was small and only held around 750 people. The seating was set up like a club lounge of sorts. We had the front two center tables and the bench seat behind them. The sound in the concert hall was phenomenal and I couldn't have thought of a better way to spend a Saturday night.

Again, here are some of my favorite pictures from the concert:





The group:



The girls:





The drunk ladies that danced around the entire concert - sometimes with their eyes closed enjoying the sweet sounds of Chicago:

St. George/Vegas Trip: Part 2: The Rides and One Celeb

Most people go to Vegas to gamble, party, drink, get married and have sex. Us eight mormon kids did the exact opposite. We rode the overpriced rides.

Our first stop once we got to Vegas was The Big Shot at the Stratosphere. Literally, it was the first stop. Mackenzi was super nervous about this and Adam tried to coax her into thinking it wasn't so scary. Um, I think this pictures says it all. I practically peed my pants after seeing this picture. It is now on our fridge for all to see.





On saturday night after the concert, me, Kenzi, Adam, Ben and Johnny hit up the New York, New York rollercoaster. Family pack for four bought you two pictures + the ride. These pictures definitely are not as funny as the Big Shot - but still worth viewing.




After the New York, New York we were hungry. So what? It happened to be one in the morning. Vegas doesn't sleep! We headed over to In-n-Out because it happened to be very close. As we walked in and got in line, Jay Leno just happened to be waiting in line for his food.

Being the two hot girls that we are, Kenzi and I asked for a picture. Jay was very nice and called us "pretty ladies". Highlight of the trip!!

St.George/Vegas Trip: Part 1 - The Lake

This past weekend a group of friends took a much needed vacation to St. George and Vegas. We stayed in St. George Thursday night and all day on Friday - then we headed to Sin City. The main reasoning for going on this trip is that Adam and his "Players Club" status at the MGM (he claims he doesn't gamble - I tend to think he is hinding something from all of us) scored us front row tickets to the Chicago concert on Saturday night. I took around 75 pictures and so I thought i would break out the trip on a few different posts by highlighting some of the best parts of the trip. Actually, the whole trip was so much fun!

We went boating at Sand Hollow on Friday and here are some of my favorite pictures. The weather was PERFECT (95 degrees) and the lake was fabulous! Hooray for summer!!!