Holding People's Hand

hahhahahah please watch this!

The Incredible Weston

Poor Wes has been working SO hard firefighting in Arizona!

I'm so excited for that awesome man to come home!

He said he's become a cactus hugger through this experience.

Looks like terrain that should be protected, huh? Okay, I'll stop being a greenery snob now.

 "Yeah, some firefighters save babies, I save cacti."

Uh...don't stand so close to those flames!

Does he look like he's enjoying himself?

He has loved the intense fires they have been on, but has been dying from the heat down there. Sunday they got called to a fire that was on a mountain face.  It was a timber fire 4 miles off a trail. So, at 3 in the afternoon they went out there wearing their boots, yellows, & greens plus their 50-70 pound packs & 2 gallons of water.  He said they were at a pace just below a jog & they kept that pace the whole way to the fire. It was 108 degrees outside.  The evening barely cooled off for them, too.  They had already been working since 6a.m. that morning. They then worked on that fire through the night & all the way through Monday afternoon. They worked 32 hours straight. I asked him how he was doing afterwards.  "My feet are a little tired." Uh, yeah. bhahah

I asked him if he's doing okay with his water intake vs. the heat, etc. 

Wes: "Yeah, this fire was better because there was more shade from the trees."

Me:  "Uh yeah, the trees that are on fire...'Ah, the flames, they create so much shade from the sun, how kind!'"

Sometimes I think I married the Hulk or maybe the Energizer bunny.

No...not so much...

Yep, that's just right.

xoxoineedmymaaaaan

RoadKill

That was a nickname I had in high school.

I can't remember why.
Maybe just because my name started with R?

However, every time I see roadkill I feel a certain level of kinship towards it.

In Tennessee there is a job for someone to specifically collect roadkill.

Utah apparently doesn't have this job. & there is not nearly the amount of roadkill here as there is in TN, either. Job security, right there.

I know this because all 5 animals that have been killed along I-15 in the past month are still there.

I contemplate their deaths as I drive to work. The other day I saw a piece of RK that had a particularly traumatizing death.

It was a raccoon...I believe. It looked something like this.

via

Except it was much more tragic. His tail was sticking straight up in the air.

For days.

The tail was not so straight up in the air this morning.

Last week I was going up the ramp to enter the interstate & right around the corner behind some desert brush was BAMBI. on it's back. Legs STRAIGHT up in the air. It beat out the raccoon's death. & it was staring straight into my car.  Creepy. I think he got hit again though, bc the next day his head was facing the other way.

This morning there is another dead skunk.  I could tell that the wind direction changed yesterday from today. Yesterday I smelled the skunk before I saw it & today I couldn't smell it until after I passed.

Ah, the resourcefulness of roadkill to my survival.  I would have never known the direction of airflow down that highway without that skunk lying there dead.

xoxoRK

Elder Stolworthy!

 My best fraaaaan

 The new "MTC sign"

xoxoseeyain2yrs!

His last 24 hrs.

Spencie went into the Provo Missionary Training Center today.  He flew in last night while I was at cubscouts. Dani went to pick him up & I met them in Provizzle.  We were going to go to Yogurtland for celebration.  He was really sick, so he didn't feel up for the crowds, so we got his favorite food: ice cream at Smith's & headed back to Salem.  We had a little party.  Aka I gave Spencie back scratches & we doped him up on Sudafed.  It was fun. Then today we went to Zupas & had a fun last supper together. It was so fun. I've been dreading today for a long time. I've been biting my nails over it for a few weeks. It was as bad as I thought it'd be.

We had a lot of fun together. & Spencie bought lots of meds.  I hope he doesn't get more sick! He was a sad little sicky!

You can just call me Quazimodo.

Poor little sicky. He was a good sport & only half-way hated me for taking a million pictures.

& when I say half-way I mean, probably closer to all the way.

I love Spence so much. He's one of my favorite people on the planet. Growing up we were 2 peas in a pod.  We liked to play the same games. We liked to watch the same shows. We played basketball together with the other seester.  We are best friends. I'll miss him so much already. I know he'll be a fantastic missionary & I am so proud of him. Today really was so hard, though.  Gosh, I just wanted to stand at the curb & tell the other missionary that was taking him away & say, "Okay, you make sure he's alright!"

Gosh, I worry about him being in Mexico. However, I know that while he's on the Lord's errand he will be protected. I just hope that His will is the same as mine!

I'll miss Spence at all the family get togethers & I'll hate having him gone for big events!
He's so fun. & I am ALWAYS laughing when he's around.
Not because he's always cracking jokes,
just because he's hilarious & extremely witty.

xoxohasitbeen2yrsyet?

WL FF

First of all, I have to give a shout-out to Aunt Kathy. I love her! 

Dang, yesterday I was totally off on life. Physical therapy went way over my lunch break time. So, I stayed late at work to make up time. Then I went to LB to get my oil changed. 2nd time going. 2nd time it was closed when I went. Frustrating. Especially since it's up in Lindon. The $$ I saved with the CityDeals ad is slowly dissipating in gas costs.

I went to target to window shop away my woes & to make it feel worth the trip all the way up there. I love that place! Except then I just hopped on the interstate & came home. I forget to go to Dani's to watch the Bachelorette. dangit!

Awesome news though!  For the first time in days I got to talk to Wes last night. Poor boy gave me 40 minutes of talk time, every few minutes he'd some how work into what he was saying "I'm so tired," so maybe I'd have a heart and say "Aw, poor thing, I should let you go so you can sleep!"  I didn't. I'm terrible, I know.  BUT I cherished our entire conversation. I miss him like crazy. I am having a lot of fun & keeping super busy, but I really REALLY miss him.

He makes everything great. worth it. & just plain better!

He loves his job, but he's ready to come home. Poor guy said they're just so hot down there.

He's now been on 5 different fires down in Arizona.

He started the fire season May 1, they went available nationally for fire calls May 9 & by May 11 they were in Nevada. They spent a week there, then spent almost 2 weeks in Colorado. & then was home for about 2 days before leaving for Arizona.

Currently his fire is called the 257 fire. HA! They never have number names, I'm laughing about that! It has active fire behavior. It is 3,157 acres.  It is a brush fire. Structures & power lines are threatened.

 He's been sleeping on top of his sleeping bag & has woken up drenched in sweat each night. They don't have A/C in their truck, except for up in the cab where the Squadees and Squad Leads are driving.  He is basically hating the heat right now. He said that the temperature got up to 104 yesterday & the black, where they were working (black=the ground that has already been burned & they're clearing through it to make sure there are no embers left) is at least 5 or 6 degrees hotter. They have their boots, pants, shirts & yellows on, along with their hard hats. & their 50 pound pack, plus 2 gallons of water that they have on their back. AT ALL TIMES.  I really worry about him with heat stroke, etc. He said they were all moving really slow yesterday, just completely wrecked from the heat. He's askin for prayers that they get released from that one soon.

Have I ever told you that on our first date I made it clear to Wes that I am afraid of spiders and I DO NOT kill them. However, I always make sure they die. Pre college, thanks dad! During college, thanks Syd. Since marriage, thanks Wes! However, on that first date, Wes responded with, "Well, I'm really scared of spiders, too!" I was like, "Uhh....I don't think we're going to work out..." bahah we did, however he's had to buck up & be the spider killer.

He told me last night that one of these days he's been on the fire he was cleaning up in the black & that there are these HUGE spiders EVERYWHERE. He said that he was cleaning up in a black and saw this huge spider (huge=size of 2 silver dollars) running at him, so he said he turned the other way & started running and that it "actually changed directions & kept chasing me! It was hunting me!" hahahhahhahah I love him!

He told me about these spiders that are called hobo spiders. They have flesh eating venom. I asked him if he's seen any of them.  "Well, I was chased down by a spider...." haahhaha We'll just assume it has flesh eating venom inside its face.

In the end, Wes informed me his tour got extended. I'm so sad. He's been gone for 2.5 weeks already.  At this rate I'll see him 1 a month this summer!  I miss him!

My heart is somewhere 11.5+ hours away in the middle of Arizona.

Also, Spencie leaves tomorrow. My heart aches every time I think about it. Him & I are bestfriends. I love him so much!

xoxoallthesingleladies

A sumo appetite.

 I am so very proud of Weston. Want to know why?

He successfully completed this burrito challenge.

'It's the size of his whole body, how big was that thing?' you ask?

It was 6 lbs. & yes, he ate the whole thing.

Maybe instantly he felt "a little full", but when we talked last night he said "I actually feel really good, I feel full. Not hungry & not extremely full. Just right."

Hahahahahh 6 lb burritos fill him up JUST RIGHT, folks. 

Translation: He could have eaten my whole newborn self PLUS half a pound more & be content.

Last night he left that restaurant with a new sense of accomplishment.

He won a t-shirt.

& a couple guys said they'd pay him $20 for eating it.
Uh, since when did he have to be paid TO eat?

Ah, the things that inspire in life.

This is the type of eater I have to feed every night! Except when he is fighting fires.  During the summers our food budget goes down 80%. During the season his meals are provided by whoever is funding his crew to fight a fire. Currently he is in Flagstaff Arizona doing IAs (initial attacks) they have fought 3 fires down there so far.  Before that he was in Colorado & before that 2 different fires in Nevada. SOOOOO, pretty much he's loving life.

Let me just explain to you how the food dynamics go in our house. I make dinner, we eat it. I make what I think should be plenty of leftovers for lunches the next day. Weston scrapes every last grain of rice, piece of corn & whatever else is left from dinner. & eats it. Then after we clean up dinner he is in the cupboards grabbing his go-to bag of tortillas.

Hungry, hungry hippo.

Now, if we are ever going to eat dinner out again we will have to find a place with 6 lb burritos. Nothing is grumpier than Weston leaving a restaurant after scarfing his meal, the other half of mine & 5 bowls of chips/biscuits & saying "I'm still not full."

Reminds me of a certain caterpillar...

VIA

anyone else grow up on Eric Carle's awesome books?

xoxopleasepassthepeas

My blogging priorities died.

They were murdered.

Seeing as how I've been watching NCIS like it's going out of style, this only makes sense.

But seriously.

Now that we've moved to "The City of Peace" we have found it fitting to not add internet to our monthly billz.

Aka. No blogging.

Here's my excuse.

I sit on my bum 40 hours a week. That's not fun bum time.

There is no way I'm bringin my laptop to work with me to go to campus afterwards to use their wifi to blog.

a blog isn't a blog without pictures.
SO. I just don't blog.
I know, throw the tomatoes, I know all of you love reading novels about my life. However, my 1-line a day-er is serving it's purpose & documenting my life until further blog revivement days.

Oh & here's a few pictures since all ya'll love 2.0 megapixel terrible Samsung phone photos!

Spent Memorial Day with this cute little toot. & Miss Jenna, too, but didn't photograph that fun get together!

 Salem is no Tennessee, but it's the best I've seen in Utah. I love living here.

Cute Wes at din din in Arizona with his crew. Love that man!

 I'm glad texts don't come with smells.

Look how round his face is with those beard hairs! So furry!

I'll be greeting him with a razor when he gets back from this tour!

 Wes & I went Canoeing. We loaded the canoe back onto the Geo.  We realized after we loaded it that we strapped it through the window on the driver's side. Wes bet me he could make it through the window. This is a man who can barely stretch past his knees.  He won the bet.

xoxoBlogDeath