It Takes All Kinds

Last weekend our friends Garren and Larissa decided to have a yard sale. They have some big adventures coming up that mostly revolve around moving to New Hampshire so Garren can continue his education in Physical Therapy. Because of that, they decided it would be easier to sell a good portion of their stuff rather than move it all with them. Dillon and I were back and forth at the sale actually buying some things and then just hanging out so Larissa and Garren had company. 

The Allreds

Let me tell you....yard sales bring out all kinds. People are crazy. One lady came just to be mean, apparently. She yelled at Garren and Larissa- telling them they were liars and dishonest people because they had promised a certain item to her daughter and then turned around and sold it to someone else (not at all what happened). It was mean and awkward, not to mention so unnecessary. (Seriously, such a nutbag)

Me and my hottie

But then a few minutes later a cute old man stopped by. I'm positive he had no intention to buy anything but saw an opportunity to tell some younger people his life story. He was funny and sweet while telling us about his 3 month long coma that occurred when he was newly married. He miraculously came out of it..speaking German rather than English (he had learned German on his mission for the LDS church) which resulted in weeks of being re-taught the English language.

The wind/sun combo makes for a flattering pic

He eventually wandered back to his truck and we cleaned up what was left of the yard sale shaking our heads at the bizarre events. All in all I think Garren and Larissa had a good turn-out and we had fun seeing them but I'm pretty sure I never, ever want to have my own yard sale.

Some awesome nightstands and an ice cream maker we took off their hands. They re-finished those themselves and I love them! One day I will have enough ambition to re-finish something myself.

General Conference

General Conference. I love it. I will admit that I am guilty of sometimes accidentally-on-purpose falling asleep right around the Sunday afternoon session. But I try to catch up as soon as I can.  There were definitely some talks that were my favorite which I'll get to in a minute but let's get to the big news first shall we?

CEDAR CITY TEMPLE! Dillon was at work when that announcement was made so I heard it all by my lonesome. President Monson made that announcement and I grinned and grinned and grinned the biggest grin I've ever had. I called my parents who were driving to St. George and shouted in the phone, "Did you hear that?! Are you listening?!" They did and they were. When I hung up with them I felt so overwhelmed by how happy I was. I could not stop smiling and then tears started rolling down my cheeks. Now I've cried plenty of times in sadness and plenty of times in frustration but I can tell you with full surety that that is the first time I have cried out of joy. Sitting alone on my couch, smiling, and crying- that was a special spiritual experience for me. 

Cedar is my home town and I love it. Dillon thankfully loves it too. We would both be more than happy to stay here if we can. We're not sure yet if that's going to be a possibility but we are thrilled nonetheless that a temple is coming to this little town.

Now on to some of my favorite talks:

 Elder Holland

L. Whitney Clayton

President Uchtdorf

 Rosemary M. Wixom

I also enjoyed the words of Elder Bednar. He had some profound things to say about chastity and its importance. He also brought up an interesting point that the power of procreation is one of the tools that Satan does not have and yet it is that very tool he most often tempts us with. Something that is growing more and more prevalent in the world I'm afraid.

And of course President Monson's talk partly because he is an incredible story teller (always so entertaining) and partly because of his over all message that "the great test of this life is obedience". 

A Woefully Picture-less Easter

For Easter this year we traveled on over to Delta to spend time with Dillon's family. It was a lot of fun and I had the pictures to prove it...and then I lost my phone. Losing my phone combined with some procrastination on my part to actually write this post means no Easter fun photos. If you still care to read on, however, I will re-cap the events bulleted list style.

• Dillon and his dad had a Just Dance dance off on the wii. I think its safe to say that neither of them will be auditioning for SYTYCD (or for those of you not in the know- So You Think You Can Dance). Steve is incredibly competitive (as in I've seen him tackle children to the ground to get a frisbee at the local derby). Dillon was kickin' trash so Steve started pushing- then Dillon rolled on the ground right in front of him and made Steve fall hardcore (this is all done in good fun for the record). At the end of the longest song ever Dillon had more stars declaring him the winner.
• We went out for ice cream with some good friends Stetson and Nicole who we don't get to see nearly enough. They are expecting their first kiddos (twin boys!) pretty much anytime now. They're going to be the cutest parents.
• When we headed back to Steve's house (or "the farm") we found that the Easter Bunny had left a puppy for us to deliver to Dillon's niece and nephew the next day. Dillon had it all cuddled up in his lap and in his sternest voice informed that puppy that if he peed on Dillon's lap, Dillon was going to be ticked. I shifted the puppy onto my lap and precisely 0.2 seconds later my lap was uncomfortably warm and wet. That's right. The puppy peed on my lap- A LOT. It must have been because I didn't follow suit and warn him of the potential ramifications of him doing so.
• The next day we were 30 seconds late to the town egg-hunt and so missed the little kids and their egg-hunting skills. So we headed on into town for other Easter festivities (Dillon is technically from Hinckley so anytime we drive into Delta, it's "into town").
• Our next activity on the agenda may be my favorite. Delta is a small town and it definitely has small town quirks-which I find adorable. One of those quirks is that over Easter weekend some town locals set up shop on main street and sell 25 cent hotdogs and cotton candy. (It used to be 10 cent hotdogs but the price went up a couple of years ago. There was a borderline town rebellion- seriously.) Nothing says Easter weekend lunch like a big old bag of hotdogs followed up by a big old bag of cotton candy.
• After lunch we killed time doing whatever we wanted whenever we wanted: hit some baseballs, watched Pitch Perfect, played with the niece and nephew, shot skeet, watched Pitch Perfect again (because I will never get tired of that movie), and did some clothes/shoes shopping.
• That night we participated in my favorite Thatcher family tradition- dinner with the family. They do it once a week, every week. Dillon's siblings, parents, cousins, aunt & uncle- whoever is in town- all get together for dinner and then play cards afterwards. Cards is a riot. Steve (who remember is ridiculously competitive) usually ends up winning, which is basically awful because he is the worst winner ever (it's kind of endearing). He sings a happy little tune and rubs it in all while his head inflates a few more sizes. Guess who won over Easter Weekend?? IT.WAS.ME. And I had a picture to prove it that would mark this event for eternity. I didn't just kind of win. I dominated. I took that paper with all of the scores (Steve was second place, which if you ask him is just first loser) and made it the new refrigerator decoration at the farm. I guess history will just have to repeat itself so that I can get another picture of my undeniable card-playing-awesomeness.
• Sunday we headed over to church. The sacrament speakers lined up for Easter Sunday were so great. One of them told us about his conversion back to the church- a difficult road because of the choices he had been making. He was funny. He was candid. He was genuine. And he related it all back to our Savior and the atonement; which is, after all, the whole reason for Easter.

Congratulations for reading all of that with no pictures. I have a new phone now and will try to be more prompt in documenting our life events. Happy Easter (you know, forever ago).

A Little Peace

This world. It sometimes overwhelms me and I start feeling frazzled and panicked by things. There is one place though where I literally forget all that chaos and have the opportunity to feel perfectly quiet and at peace. 

Right Here

Dillon and I headed down to this lovely little temple today. I'm completely confident that I am at the shallow end of the eternal knowledge pool. For now, that's okay. I am content with the way attending the temple brings my focus back to the big picture and allows my brain to relax for a little while. 

I love the temple. I love temple work and the blessings that it offers to so many. I love that I have the best temple going companion who makes these trips that much better.

And now, I should get back to doing the laundry in the wee hours of this morning so that we are ready for our trip tomorrow. **The price you sometimes pay for going to the temple during the day and so procrastinate clean clothes. TOTALLY worth it**

Days Like Today

Days like today, they are what make my job fun. People often ask me about my job and I usually tell them that it's hard (middle schoolers- need I say more?), which is not really what they want to hear (what do you do?).

Sometimes though, amidst the cramming of curriculum, we do really fun activities. Activities that allow the students to do things that they normally would be in trouble for. Roller coaster building is one of those activities.

Climb all over the counters? Why, sure!

Move the ceiling tiles around so you can start your roller coaster? Go for it.

Put tape all over the glass cabinets? Heck yes.

Really though, I think lessons like this are my favorite with these kids. They forget how badly they want to be "grown-up" for a few minutes and just have fun. They laugh and play and get so excited when their marble makes it all the way through their roller coaster. It makes me happy. And the fact that they learn a little about potential energy, kinetic energy, and gravity while they're at it doesn't hurt one bit.

What's Your Flavor?

Have you tried the new Lays chip flavors? There are three finalists- cheesy garlic bread, chicken & waffles, and sriracha (gesundheit, right?). 

Dillon has decided that he is all about the chicken & waffles

I say bring on the cheesy garlic bread.

The only downer of the situation is that one, and one only, can win. Meaning after this competition of flavors, one of us is going to be craving chips that are not going to be obtainable. Rude. 

Go try them. Let me know what you think. Seriously, you should do it. 

Rock That Thong

This past week Dillon's mom had to undergo surgery (all went well). Dillon and I went up to help her out for a couple of days. While we were there we went to the grocery store to pick up a few things and saw this in the parking lot.

In case you are wondering, that is in fact a hot pink thong hanging from the review mirror. Classy. The possible implications of that review-hanging thong are endless and all disturbing. Is that the car driver's used thong? Ew. Is that the car driver's not used but actually brand-new thong? In which case we can only assume that they wanted as all to know that they own some cheek-floss. Is that the car driver's girlfriend's thong? Again, classy.

Now, I'm not knocking thong-wearers. By all means, wear that thong, rock that thong-I just don't want to see that thong. Mmmk?