Thoughts From a Frazzled Mind

December 2013 was filled to the brim with good times and great memories!  Kim and I decided to suspend the remodeling until January so that we could have time to just relax and enjoy the holiday season.  What a GREAT decision!  Kim and I spend some much needed time enjoying sappy Christmas movies, playing with our grandson, and just enjoying the lights and music of the season.  Shandra and I enjoyed the local community theater's production of "Five Carols of Christmas/Jingle Jacks" so much that we went twice!  I even knitted a couple of scarves! (I put my schoolwork on hold throughout the holidays also - hopefully it won't prove to be problem and make it difficult to finish all of my classes by the end of the term.) The first Saturday of December is always the Olsen Family Christmas Party.  This year it was hosted by the Woodlands, and it was a tremendous event.  Great food, fun trivia games for the adults, crafts and snowball fights for the kids. ...

We just had the most fun Relief Society dinner!  The cultural hall was all decked out in Who decorations - including a mechanical Grinch that started singing and dancing whenever anyone got too close.  We were instructed to dress as our favorite Who.  Many ladies dressed up!  It was so fun to see the different characters. Does kissing the Grinch bring good luck?  Jodi and I sure hope so! What a bunch of fun, crazy ladies! Jodi, Heather, Jen, the Grinch, and me We have such a FUN ward!  Every time any of us get together it is a big party!

Wow!  November has flown by!  We have been crazy - busy with the remodel. We got the bedroom (mostly) finished and moved downstairs.  (We still need to finish and paint the baseboards)  I was just a little nervous about moving my bedroom downstairs, but I am finding that I really like it. Add caption Kim built a half wall in the entry way and will add a bookshelf on the other side to hold all of my scrapbooks.  The wall is up, but we still need to add the bookshelves and then do all of the finish work. Before After  We started working on the upstairs . . .  Before:  the bedroom wall Before:  the kitchen wall   AND the  VERY BEST PART!   We knocked out the wall between the kitchen and the bedroom to make a big, open space!   Shanne joined us for the demolition - she was a great supervisor!  Kim couldn't resist doing a little artwork prior to removal of the last piec...

Add caption I absolutely love going to lunch with friends!  This month I had the great opportunity to go to lunch with several times.  I treasure the time with each of these great friends and I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to have them in my life. Jodi, Shanne, and Ashley Brynanne and Kale Karen and Jonell Teresa and Jalyn (Just for the record - I also regularly go to lunch with Tammy as well as Shandra but for some reason I can't find any pictures of them right now) There are no words to express my gratitude for the many friends in my life (I include my sisters and daughters as friends!).  My life is so rich.  They are there to laugh with me, cry with me, they allow me to vent, they don't judge me - but love me enough to chastise me when I make foolish choices.  They support me, they cheer me up when I am feeling down and cheer me on if I do something well. Add caption Add caption Add caption Add caption I ...