Loungin' in Leisek Land

Today's Project

2011-11-16T08:44:00.000-08:00

Today I'll be creating and underwater scene out of clay. Then I plan to pour a plaster mold of the scene to create a wax mold. The process continues by dipping the wax mold into slurry and sand until it creates a ceramic shell. The wax is then put in a kiln around 1600degrees, where it will melt out completely. The ceramic shell is now ready for the aluminum pour that I will do with my class. I could do this in bronze, but since the tank is aluminum, I decided for welding sake to keep with the same metals. Unfortunately, I am limited with the patinas available. However, I do have LEDS that I hope will make the scene colorful.

Yesterday, I blasted the hole in my tank with a Plasma Cutter...

Lots of fun with Kids June 28-July1

2011-07-19T13:18:00.000-07:00

The end of June was super busy for Amanda. She needed to be out of her Wymount Terrace apartments before July 1st. Now, helping people move is one thing...we can lift and move boxes, but helping them pack is another. So since she needed to pack the only thing John and I could offer was to watch the kids. Yeah. I love watching the kids!

Tuesday night we watched Anatasia, (picked by Autumn) and ate popcorn!

Wednesday, cousin Diana let us borrow Eric and the kids had lots of fun playing with him. He is a real good playmate. He listens, is pleasant, and plays well with younger children. We love Eric.

Wednesday we went to Library Story time, read, and checked out books.

We went to DI and bought a swimsuit for Autumn. Eric let Luke borrow his. So we took the kids swimming, (Autumn got stung by a bee, after crying she kept swimming but bug boy Luke kept freaking out about the bees so we left)

Eric

ate outside

and took them to our friends house who had very tame chickens:

She held this chicken like a baby doll

Chicken looks uncomfortable but actually isn't moving. (The trick--play with chicks everyday--says owner)


Autumn holding chicken baby doll style while she and Eric chase around dog, Maggie.

Then we watched another movie picked out by Eric: Scooby Doo Scary Camp Stories

We said goodbye to Eric Thursday morning, but not before running through sprinklers.

I had to keep this picture. It has photo quality of the 70s.

Then we went to the library and checked out more books. The local pet store brought animals to the community room in the library. We played with geckos and saw crazy snakes and a large turtle. While Luke took an afternoon nap, Autumn and I painted a tea box for her new tea set and then played tea time.

We had very elaborate outfits

Hot chocolate and gingersnaps

Autumn trying to be very careful. (love the chocolate on the corner of her mouth)

That night I took Autumn and Luke to a Karoake Competition in the Park. (Autumn danced around unabashedly in front of the stage--I was a little scared she was going to go on stage because she walked up the stage stairs, but then she just sat there and watched the singers. Others kids had been doing the same and the setting was casual so I didn't stop her) and then to their favorite place--Panda Express--where to my surprise, they were both well behaved. That night we watched another movie, chosen by Luke, well influenced by me.

I thought I was being fun...We woke up the next morning and watched another movie while I cut out foam for the tea box. Amanda surprised us while we were watching yet another movie about bugs. Then, of course, they were done with me and wanted to leave. I guess I could only be so fun.

Amanda's Second Triathlon

2011-07-19T12:08:00.000-07:00

It was freezing cold camping Friday night (July 15). The altitude is 7300 but I didn't expect 32 degrees and frost all over the ground. Miserable night for all. Amanda had left her wet suit inside out over night and it had ice in it. Brrrrr.

The 67 degree reservoir was warmer than the air.

The boys were moderately happy that morning and awake so I ran off with them to see their mom race. John stayed with Autumn until she woke up. So well, I didn't have my camera again...although I got to see every transition and cheer her on. Finally, John and Autumn showed up and John hiked back to the car for a camera. He was able to get Amanda running and finishing. So I apologize but this is what we have:

Autumn holding wild flowers for mommy


Closer shot. Amanda ran in 5fingers. She said she won't do that again. Calves are shot after the bike ride and a different shoe is necessary. But its a great shoe for training.

Yay Amanda! Good job! Next triathlon...Herriman???

Mermaid Autumn

2011-07-19T11:04:00.000-07:00

John got a sweet underwater camera (by SeaLife) and decided to practice on the family's resident mermaid. Autumn amazes me with her fearlessness of water and that she can be so photogenic underwater! No one told her to smile or keep her eyes open. Mermaid beauty instincts?

Even with a big breathe of air, you can see the smile.

She was excited to Scuba. Took to breathing correctly underwater right away.

Becky and Topher's Baby Diaper Cake

2011-07-19T10:50:00.000-07:00


Fishing Frog

Check out the Alligator eating the Monkey. That is a children's story.

Ultrasound baby picture in frame (and another alligator)

Traveling to Baby Shower

The base is a play mat. Fun book in background called Laugh Out Loud Dinosaur..

The Family Fun Triathlon...

2011-07-13T19:30:00.000-07:00

This is what Becky calls fun...

2 months ago Becky invited me to do a family sprint triathlon with her sometime around July 23. She had access to the Air Base pool, with a place out back to transition to our bikes, a great perimeter road used for base triathlons, and to get the distance, a duck pond loop run with a last lap on the track. We meant to invite lots of family members and friends too.

However, feeling pregnant and less confident about July 23, she called me up beginning of last week and said let's do this thing Friday. Why not??? I then cornered John into joining us. Needless to say, it was a pregnant women, a fat lady, and an out-of-shape man who did the competition. What a sight. Was it really a competition??? At least we now know our abilities and the times for PRs.

Becky schooled us both on swimming, but she started having cramps on the bike so I caught up to her. By the end we both sped walked together. John got lost I think...

So as I see it, I am excited for having completed the distances. I learned how to spell triathlon, I re-learned free-style from Becky (not gonna mislead ya though--I had to breast and back stroke to get enough air) I biked a distance I had never tried before--and I liked it. I learned that the dismount onto noodle legs is a shock, and I have no stamina to run/jog a 5K. Ugh. How do people do it? I am so proud of my friends and family members who can compete in half marathons, marathons, triathlons, and bike across Canada. Kudos!

Becky tells me that the Air Base has a triathlon in October. I hope to beat my time by 20 minutes after I've learned to run.

(And, um, no, I'm not going to post times, thank you...)

You know, Becky might have something going. It really was fun.

Seeing the road better

2011-03-18T18:22:00.000-07:00

One side foggy. One side done.

Have you ever thought the lights on your car were too dim? Perhaps its not the bulbs at all, but the scratches on the plexiglass and the yellow foggy UV damage. Last year John went to Jiffy Lube to have them polish up the glass on the headlights and for $40 they did a crappy job. John knew it could be done much better, and proved so today.

So here's what you can do. For only $25 dollars you can do it yourself and do it better than the sloppy Jiffy Lube of Tooele. (The kit lasts a long time). Before/After

Before/After

First clean off dirt w buffer. Use sanding grit to take out scratches.

Wipe off wax and grit. Buffer off the wax. Viola. Shiny!

Both sides done!

Haniwa

2011-03-18T18:10:00.000-07:00

In ancient Japan, haniwas were clay figures found on graves and represented the culture and the deceased. The clothing and animals represented in the haniwas reveal details of Japan during the Kofun period (3rd to 6th century AD). The assignment was to use the red terracotta clay and make a representation of myself living in Utah. I chose to represent the jewelry store I worked in for a while (neckbands) the stain glass shop I worked in (cut out and lamp), the frustration of living in Utah while single (the flames that come out of both arms--not shown). The blue represents the blue of lapiz which I love and the wrap represents the cortes of Guatemala where I served a mission. The choice to make this piece appear southwestern/mesoamerican also comes from studying mesoamerica while in Utah. I chose to make the figure fat initially because I find the girth charming, but I also shaped her to represent the lovely 30-60 lbs I gained in Utah (at different times). Her head is small for stylization and acts as a stopper for the kerosene lamp. The light bulb in the center also represents the new burning in the belly I have here in Utah after marrying John and starting art school.

2011-03-18T18:01:00.000-07:00

Last Year in my 3D class we were challenged to come up with a unique shape. Design it in Adobe illustrator and then cut it out on a glossy paper in at least three different sizes. (We were allowed to use the shop's laser cutter thingy). Then I assembled my shapes with rubber cement afterwhich I came up with an arrangement and added electrical tape for black contrast. I like the movement in this piece and all the different sides that are interesting so much that next time I'd like to do this shape larger and sculpt it out of a smooth white plastic. I would add at least one other sister to create a series.

Invitation to Fast for Jared Garbett this Sunday.

2011-02-02T18:03:00.000-08:00

This weekend Jared Garbett (our past Bisphop's 15 yr old son) had a freak accident. He was sparring with some friends and got knocked out to the cement. 911 was called and he was stabalized in St. George then life flighted to Las Vegas hospital. He was not expected to live. It is already a miracle that he is alive 36 hours later. We have been praying for him since day 1 and invite all to fast for him this Sunday. I have added his blogspot and its open for all to read.

Autumn says the darndest things

2011-01-12T15:44:00.000-08:00

Last Monday, John watched Autumn and Luke play at the big Tree house in the University Mall while Amanda and I shopped. This is John's story.

Autumn, ever the fantastical fairy tale princess, chronically falls asleep and needs a prince to wake her up. Evidently Luke must be the prince that does the kissing trick, and that just wasn't good enough today. As John told Luke to be that prince and go wake up his sister princess, she looked around and saw a sweet two-year-old boy, pointed, and exclaimed in a commanding tone to uncle John, "No, I want that ONE!" (That's not what uncles are for Autumn...)

Later on we drove over to the ReStore, a second hand parts store operated by Habitat for Humanity. John and I had decided to make that the last stop of the day so that we wouldn't bore the kids. Basically we would part ways before going to the store. However, it turned out Amanda needed to guide us to the hidden store. Since they were there Amanda and Autumn went in and used the bathroom while John looked for pieces of molding. Somehow I must have told Autumn during the day that the last stop would be at a junk store, but I don't remembering saying that. When they came back out to leave, Autumn asked politely if she could go with me into John's Junk Club. Hee hee. Of course, John, you have a junk club! (And she liked it...perhaps she's got the makings of an artist in her...no doubt).

So that didn't end up being the last stop, we then went to Harbor Freight Tools and I waited in the car with the kids while Amanda and John ran once last errand. Amanda had purchased some nail polish that looked just like ice cream cones. Of course Autumn wanted to "see" them. But the kicker is I wanted to "see" them too. We both refrained from opening up the bottles in the car and painting nails.

During this time an old man with a full gray and white beard drove up and parked in the handicapped spot right next to us. I thought he looked like Santa Claus and because kids amuse me I asked Autumn, "do you think that man is Santa Claus? You should ask him". Not sure what she'd do with this suggestion, I watched. First, she started tapping on the interior window with the ice cream cone polish. I stopped it right away, no need for a broken window. But the man did not see her, nor was he getting out of his car. I didn't see how she was going to get his attention short of getting out of the car and tapping on his window, an option I wouldn't allow. I let the idea go.

He finally got out of the car. Quicker than I could think or realize, Autumn had the power window down, and politely asked, "Mister, are you Santa Claus?" It was so sincere and polite and the word MISTER? where did that come from? The man was pleasant and said that would be his secret. So she rolled up the window apparently to think about the answer. Then as soon as it was up, it came down again and with her you-really-gotta-tell-me voice declared, "You sure looked like Santa Claus, are you sure you aren't Santa Claus?..." I didn't hear the rest of the conversation that continued, because at that moment John and Amanda had returned. Thanks a lot guys. I was having fun.

Okay another day. The Espersens came out to our house for the Nativity Night we did on December 21, 2010. They were getting ready to go over to stay at great Grandma Blacks house for the night when she cornered John in the following conversation that I eavesdropped through a doorway and observed.

"Uncle John, can I borrow this (referring to a costume item from that night)"
NO
"I will bring it back, I only want to borrow it"
"NO Autumn its not mine to give."

It was my item and she had done a good job of convincing me, I would have capitulated, but this was John's conversation. Then she started pointing to other items asking the same question with similar intensity. Her plea continually met with a NO. I observed no whining, no crying, nor pouting. This was sheer negotiation. With her body erect and hands in a hip power position, she said, "Well, there's got to be something you don't want". At that moment John's mischievous wheels were turning as he matter-of-fact said there was something he didn't want.

Never to outguess John, I had to follow them to the patio where John was storing the remnants of that weekend's remodel project. He grabbed a long piece of metal electrical conduit and said, "you can have this, Autumn" (He thought he had her now).

Ever the creative girl and in full sincerity and excitement she exclaimed "WE CAN BUILD A TENT!" Luke realized the greatness of the find and hoisted the other end of the pole above his head and without hesitation she and he started toward the car. Never mind that the pole was not going to fit in the car, spatial relationships don't apply when you are given something great. John, had been bested.

Rest of the story. Obviously moms don't like Uncle John gifts, so John quickly took the conduit and told them he would store it at our house for them to play with. Fortunately, that worked.

Darling kids. So creative and optimistic.

Taking the bus

2011-01-12T15:09:00.000-08:00

I cried this morning. No really, like a baby, or more like a two year old. When the watch alarm laughed me out of bed around 4:30am (John had tried to snuggle me out of bed at 4am, with zero success), I wailed. I can't do this! NO NO NO

John, just changed his class schedule to have a 7:30am class, which, when we do the calculations means he had to catch the 5:39am bus and NO later. I had enjoyed Monday and Tuesday catching the later 6:41 and 6:21 buses with John, but this was too much. 5:30 is usually when I get up, not catch a bus. NO NO NO

Aside from that, I still didn't have my class supplies in order. Somewhere in the house, there was paint thinner and gesso, my receipts, and a coupon for 30% off a regular priced art supply. How was I to get that all together...it was now 4:39am, John was in the shower and I was only tittering onto the wood floor. "Why John, do you have to retake Calculus I? Is this necessary, I whined, I don't want to be in school for another 3 years. Our school debt is compounding and I'm getting worried. Maybe if you are going to play this game, you can get a job and go to school too.? I whined and whined. I mean really...would you retake Calculus I if you got an A the first time. I told him the other classes would just build off of it and he would remember the stuff, but he's certain that he's got to have a very strong foundation and understand this stuff inside out. I told him it reminded me of learning Spanish. I don't understand it inside out, talk like a 4th grader, but still got employment as Spanish interpreter because I knew more then 90% of the people at work. I'm still whining (now at 4:24pm) and feel exhausted from that chipper chirping watch. I think John's been feeling the stress too and threathened? to quit school and go back to work...what? as a bus driver?

Let me tell you about buses. So I had to catch the bus all by myself. Not so pathetic, but I've been toting around my carrying on luggage to transport art supplies and the seats and overheads simply don't accommodate. I got to the bus stop and realized I had forgotten my gloves and the base I was going to use for my sculpture this morning. It was 2 minutes to bus time. I dashed back and forth with success! Really overall a good experience. But yesterday was harder. I had my carry on suitcase, two large portfolios and a lunch bag. Fortunately, I had John to drag my luggage. And fortunately, I only had one large portfolio to take back home. But unfortunately, as I got off of TRAX from my return commute from the University of Utah, the 451 Tooele Express bus pulled up to the bus stop right across the street from where I was at! What was I to do? This was downtown Salt Lake lots of traffic after work rush hour and I didn't have the light to cross the street. I screamed, but to no avail. Well, maybe all I said to about 10 construction workers waiting to cross the street to the park-n-ride was, HEY! THATS MY BUS. OH SHOOT. THATS MY BUS. ANOTHER ONE DOESNT COME FOR 40 minutes! So not a horror story exactly... But inconvenient enough to make me cry this morning to have to do it all again. Run, run, run. Wait wait wait. Fortunately, I sat on my luggage and used my large portfolio as my back to the chair. Not so bad, but 40, okay it was only 30, minutes in the cold caused me to get excited at the first bus I saw that I thought went to Tooele. The bus driver just looked at me with my bags and somehow knew I was headed the wrong direction. "Where are you going?" Tooele. "I just came from Tooele. If you want to catch the Tooele bus, its across the street". And I got off. Should I cross the street and just take the bus? Why had I subjected myself to sitting in the cold for the Express Bus? Well, it actually all ended well.

But today I had to catch the bus to buy more art supplies. Oh yeah, I had to print out the routes this morning before John left (yet another thing to do). Had to figure out bus stops when I got to school. So this is the flow. 11:30 get out of class. 11:36 bus comes. Takes me 15 minutes to get to bus stop so I didn't try that one. Next bus comes at 11:51. I think I'm on the right side of the street, but again, watch the bus drive away without me. I waited for another 10 minutes and started to get out my ID to take the bus. What! I didn't have my ID. I had left it in my locker. The 12:06 drives away without me. 11 minutes back to my locker. Get my ID. Try to get back but I know I won't be able to: the 12: 21 leaves without me. I wait another 15 minutes. Yeah, the 12:36 picks me up. I grab a schedule and give myself a scare when I read it wrong. My return bus wasn't going to come back until 1:53 and 3:31, but my next class was at 2! Panic, quick contingency planning, panic, about to make a fool of myself....and I saw it....the other schedule. Ok. Phew! I would be able to take the bus back at 1:20. That means, I calculated in my head, I've got 20 minutes to shop, check out, and catch a bus. Panic. But I'm amazed, kick me hard enough and this mule runs. I am going to be in shape this semester.

So far all is well. I'm in the library waiting for John to get out of class at 5:30 and then we will catch TRAX and the bus together. I imagine it'll be another adventure since its another route and time John nor I have tried before.

...
It was an adventure. I ended up waiting again for 1 hour in the cold before catching the slow bus which took over 80 minutes to get back to Tooele. But the next day was worse. John decided to try yet another route. We sprinted, I mean sprinted hard for one block from the Trax to the bus stop. We were yet again on the other side of a busy street when the 451 got stopped at the light. I started running across the street, but John yelled in a panic to "Stop" the light was almost green and cars were moving. I swear they weren't but he swears I was going to get hit. So we tried flagging the bus from across the busy street. He/She didn't she us. We waited another half hour. I hate hurry up and wait. And besides, it was a pollution red day and the air just made me sick. North DAkota air pleease.

GAME ON

2011-01-10T10:01:00.000-08:00

Here is a copy of an email that I sent out last night. If you want to join us, let me know. I seem to be missing emails.

Dear Family and Friends,

I have a challenge for you! Its a game I played last year with some co-workers, not only did I have fun, but I lost weight and have kept that particular weight off.

Now, this isn't exactly a weight loss game, but it can be used that way. Its called The GAME ON diet. Like...As in when you taunt another person and say YOU'RE ON or Get your game on... It comes from a book of the same name written by Krista Vernoff and Az Ferguson. (I wouldn't recommend buying the book because its language is inappropriate--don't ask why--but if you can borrow it or check it out from the library, there's lots of good food nutrition info worth seeing). Here's a website instead. It gives the general idea...http://www.thegameondiet.com/.

The game typically goes for 4 weeks. You work in teams. And then you can do it again...maybe this time a different challenge against different teams. You get points for activities you do and bonus points for achieving certain fitness goals (ie 1% weight loss or running the mile 15 seconds faster, doing more situps in a minute, increasing flexibility in that week.) If you need to loose weight, 1% weight loss is the standard bonus. If you are training or already in shape, declare the goal to the scorekeeper and your team ahead of time (beginning of score week). You also get 10 points for reporting your score to your team scorekeeper on time.

Here are the categories: (Use attached spreadsheet for tracking)
5 Meals (6 points each): The goal is to eat more frequently and avoid binging. Our bodies need constant fueling. The guideline here is to eat each meal not more than 4 hours apart. The meals are around 400 calories each but that's approximate. Ideally the food should be a healthy balance of carbs, proteins, fruits, grains, dairy etc... If you are using weight watchers, jenny craig, or other weight loss programs, following those programs the way they are set up counts.

Exercise (20 points): 20 minutes a day, preferably in the morning to kick start metabolism, but not necessary. Just find 20 minutes and get the heart rate up. You don't even have to leave the house!

Sleep (15 points): Extremely important to get 7+ hours of sleep a night. If exceptions may need to be considered such as nursing mothers, or shift work, talk to the teams and the scorekeeper before the game begins.

WATER (10 points): Challenge to drink 3 liters of water daily. That's about 13 cups of water. You may find yourself going to the bathroom a lot at first but by week 3 the body gets used to it, you have better skin, and think about all the toxins you are flushing out of your body!

NEW HABIT (10 points): This isn't about just fitness, but lifestyle changes. Give yourself 10 points for each day you follow your new habit goal. This goal is established at the beginning of the game and told to all teams and the scorekeeper.

OLD HABIT (10 points): Give it up now! Find a habit you want to break for life and use this game to jump start the habit. Don't be a dork and quit cold turkey on something if it'll make you miserable and just go back to the habit after the game is over. Be careful, you lose 50 points if you decide to change this goal.

Communication (5 points): Whats more fun than doing this in teams and letting your teammates know how you're doing and drawing on each other for moral support? Tormenting the other by team about it! Five points for every day you contact at least one person on your team face to face, by phone call, by text message, email, etc and ALSO at least one person on another competitor's team. Yeah baby, bring on the Trash Talk.

There are also penalties in this game which you can see on the spreadsheet.

The game isn't so brutal. It levels the playing field for all: fit and fat, male and female, young and old Your team totals the points and takes the average, so pick a good team! I got stuck with a team that screwed up their points the first week and we were always in last place.

PICK A PRIZE: Pick a prize that everyone would want. Or a penalty that could hurt. I ponied up $10 to enter the competition and put $50 on the line for a charity. We lost and I kept my word and made lunches for the Tooele Relief Center. Other people give trophies, go to dinner, do side challenges... This prize is decided by everybody before we start.

DAY OFF: You can have a day off! What does that mean? It mean every category can have one miss during the week and still receive full points. These misses do not have to be all on the same day. This is a wonderful thing about the game. You may screw up the night before and not get 7 hours of sleep, but can still have an awesome day. You would use the free day (one miss) for the sleep requirement and keep going.

Or it means you can have a whole day where you throw everything out and screw up. But if it happens again, no more points.

Side note: For those using the 5 meal idea, I counted my meals as meals 1-5 and allowed one miss for every meal. So say I usually eat Breakfast, Brunch, Lunch, Snack, Dinner, but on Monday I didn't eat my brunch snack. I would count it as my free miss and award the points, but if I also didn't eat brunch on Tuesday, I would get no points etc.

MEAL OFF: This is the special meal that you've been waiting for. Its the big 2 hour social that you can't pass up. Its the mandatory business meeting, the wedding, the birthday party. Save this free meal for a social time. You have up to two hours to eat and enjoy whatever you'd like! But remember, just because you can doesn't mean you'll lose the weight or that its good for you.

So what else am I missing? OH YEAH.... TEAMS. If you are interested, please email me right away. I'd like to start this game next Tuesday, January 18--right after Martin Luther King Day.

Please send the following information:
Name
New Habit
Old Habit

I had lots of fun with this last year, but its super hard to compete against yourself or your spouse so I haven't done it again since last January. I know that I need the motivation of a social network and competition. I sent this email to family first, but feel free to organize into teams of close friends or family member not emailed. If you create your own team, please tell the team name, the names of the people and the goal information. Plus include email addresses and any other contact information. Teams should typically be 4 people and not more than 6.

Love to all and Let's get the Game ON!

Kimberly and John Leisek

Space Shuttle Experience May 2010

2010-12-30T21:07:00.000-08:00

In May I took John to Florida to see the last launch of STS Atlantis. We invited many people to come along, but it was, in the end, Byron and his friend, Dan that joined us. Good thing too. Bryon's resourceful thinking and fabulous luck got us tickets to the Causeway. At 8 miles away, it is the closest the public can view the space shuttle launch. The press gets to be 3 miles away and have better equipment for all the cool pics you've all seen. I attempted to capture blastoff, but gave up when Bryon did. If his super cool telescoping camera with mega whatever lenses couldn't capture what we were seeing, I wasn't going to keep trying. I simply enjoyed the sight and sound. What you don't see is how intensely bright the flame is. In fact, Bryon had to look away from his lens ...it was bright light helium sun flares. Truly intense and I had sunglasses on.

It was a hot day, but that didn't stop the lines of people lined up on the Causeway. We were on the front so I took this shot down the rope line. The lines of people backed up another 50 feet to the road where tour buses were lined up down the road and triple parked.

Bryon, Kimberly, John

No its not the G force. This is the size of the bathroom on the space shuttle. We are in a mock up.

2010-12-30T20:28:00.000-08:00

Pink Totes, pink totes everywhere. John hates them

These are the "cat" couches we bought Becky and Topher at a yard sale for $50.
I sewed slip covers for all of the pillows and John super cleaned them.

Looking toward our living room...

Got an idea to hang my oven mitts on the oven...original...

John's awesome pans. Got the idea from IKEA

Our Apartment

2010-12-30T20:21:00.000-08:00

We are furniture sitting for Amanda. We love the living room.
My mother in law gave us this spinet

I found this fan at Disneyworld. The side pics are from mom's trip to China. I went to the Army Art Center and Framed the pics myself.

Ice fishing

2010-12-30T09:03:00.000-08:00

Ice fishing
December 28 (Tuesday) I went ice fishing for the first time. In order to prepare for the experience we watched Grumpy Old Men on Monday night. I tried to be excited, but I admit...I'm just not a fishing type of person. Topher and John went out to Lake Darling on Monday and caught two Northern but threw them back I guess. They had gone with Kasey, Topher's last boss and friend, and if I understand correctly had nothing to protect them from the elements. Fortunately they rented an ice fishing shelter for Tuesday. Getting there seemed uneventful, just the typical stuck in the snow and getting towed out... Overall fishing is boring and I was the panda and I don't feel like saying more...

2010-12-30T08:43:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year 2011.
So here we are in North Dakota, grandma's house now to many, and Audra let me know that I don't update my blog and Becky exclaimed that nobody follows it anymore. Sorry...

January
work
February
announcement of job dissolution
March
went to North Dakota to get teeth fixed
then on over to Boise for Seth Baptism
April
lost 25 lbs on the HCG diet (then did nothing and gained it back by December)
finished up scuba certification
May
Florida trip. Saw the Space Shuttle Atlantis blast off. Went to Cocoa Beach, scuba diving at Epcot, and went to my First Medieval Jousting Dinner.
June
John had calculus, weight lifting
mountaineering, canyonering
bicycling
We had a Juhasz Family Reunion in Utah
July
John bought a bicycle (Gary Fisher on Craig's List) for Kimberly
I started bicycling up canyon with John. I do love the thrill of riding down canyon rocks fast.
August
Oregon visit Michelle and kids to ranch. Took bikes to Oregon coast, but didn't ride the coast, only camped. Tried scuba diving in the cold Northern Pacific (you know to catch crabs), but I failed. Used our shell license to harvest huge mussels instead. Tasted good boiled in sea water right out of the ocean, but I didn't love them reheated or cooked in garlic. Ick.
September
We both started school. We had crazy, killer hours and a long commute.
October
Missed Halloween with Amanda and Jason because we spent that Saturday working on Kimberly's sheet metal sculpture project
November
hosted gluten free Thanksgiving. Turned out yummy. Stuffed the turkey with wild rice. I'll never do stuffing again.
December
finals
John remodeled one room in basement; looked like Bethlehem.
Christmas caroling and nativity night with neighbors and friends on the 20th and family on the 21st.
Travel to North Dakota December 22 and came back on New Year's Day.

2009-05-04T19:22:00.000-07:00

Oh what fun it was to be on the warm sand.

Oregon is not known for Sunny beaches so I was not sure what to expect except possibly wind and wet. John picked me up at the Portland airport Thursday night and drove out to Camp Rilea, a National Guard Training Camp, where he had rented the officer's cabin for the evening. (Next part beware)..He turned on the fireplace and threw fun big pillows all over the living room floor and I, yep, I fell asleep on them. My poor husband was trying to be romantic and he gets points for that.

The next day he decided I needed to see Astoria, and so I followed him around from random store to museum to smoke house to museum to random store to gallery. Anyway, at some point I really just wanted to go to the beach. It was 74 outside and calm. I just knew this was not the typical Oregon coast weather I expected and wanted to take advantage before it started to rain (which it did on Saturday). Funny thing, first we needed to find a Bank of America, but the bank had burned down six months before and now was just a big RED armored motor home in the middle of a parking lot. The novelty was great, but the manager we talked to said the novelty had definitely worn off for her and her staff. John took a picture with his camera phone. So if I ever teach him about where our blog is and someone else teaches him how to upload pics from his phone, we might get a posting.

Anyhow. John decided I was going to see the Jetty at Fort Stephens (which we never got to) See what really happened was that as we passed the sign that said shipwreck beach, I just had to see it. John was impressed that it was low tide so after we played around in the skeletal remains of an 1902 shipwreck, he let me know that Oregon beach was a state highway and you can drive your cars on it. And I could see bunches of people were doing just that. So we got back into our little Chevy 4 door low profile front wheel drive RENTAL and decided to gun it through some extremenly soft sand at the closest beach access. Have I set up the story enough to figure out what really happened? JOHN MISSES HIS 4 WHEEL DRIVE TRUCK. He confessed that he'd never tried getting onto the beach before with anything else other than his truck-which always worked. What would we do? My stick and I became best friends. It scooped sand right out from under that high centered aluminun can and the whole ordeal is a memory.

What! You don't believe me--you want to know the rest of the story? You don't think I could dig our way out, have John jack the car, and drive out on drift wood? You don't think we actually abandoned our car or called for off road towing?

Michelle and family were waiting for us to get to Seaside, we contemplated calling her and having her pick us up.

Okay, so we weren't the first car to ever get stuck in sand and the good people of Oregon carry tow ropes in their 4 wheel drives (except for Michelle--and she knows now what she's getting from us for her birthday, like it or not). Sadly one big wheeled truck Samaritan managed to get himself stuck trying to help us, before a jeep came along. The two of them tied their TOW ropes together and the jeep pulled us both out (individually of course). I felt vindicated to some degree, but every local knew that was a bad access road. We were advised to use the Sunset Beach access next time. We did and the next day Scott took us all driving on the beach in his 4 wheel drive Toyota Sequoia. Scott was swerving all over and the kids were panic screaming-- I could see it in Michelle's eyes too. "You'd think those guys didn't know what 4 wheel drives can do" John later remarked. "I should have gotten behind the wheel" (Scott the gauntlet has been laid--you and John, beach, 4 wheel drives...next time).

The beach was gorgeous. The warm sand squished between my toesies and the condo was right on the beach. I'm still smiling. The condo was a two bedroom special needs which I, well, was going to feel guilty about, but when I saw how the room catered to pack and plays and extra space for children, I determined we were that special needs family--8 of us in the Condo--and it worked! We had so much fun with the DeVries and the kids were a hoot to play with when they weren't watching tv. (I think tv watching is the true health pandemic that calls for a bailout plan).

Saturday, as I said, was rainy, but John and I managed to take the kids to the Salt Water Taffy shop. John had a brilliant idea that he was sure would take up some time. "Go fill up your bags with 10 candies each" he explained... The kids didn't appreciate the variety. They just grabbed their 10 candies and kept asking for ice cream. It was, by the way, Eden's 4th Birthday and she already had been given a free ice cream from the shop. Fair was fair. Right? John's idea continued to backfire. He figured it took 70 pieces to make a pound and he would have the kids just eat their candy while he filled bags for friends and special requests from friends, etc. When we checked out he let the lady know that the kids had been eating their candy and he would pay for eaten pieces. She informed him that they only charged by weight and darn it all if we didn't just get a bunch of free candy in those kids' bellies. *Actually, John, what a brilliant idea and great way to save money* ha ha.

So the place is called Candy Man. If you want free candy....

Well, tons more activities and no pics at the moment. Carousel, Fort Stevens bunkers, the shipwreck again, soaked kids, an hour in Ross for new clothes, Papa Murphy birthday pizza, homemade box cake (the secret is the butter instead of oil and the Reeses Pieces Puffs on top of the frosting--great crunch!) More tv and more swimming/hot tubbing, and then we actually got to fly some kites once the sun went down. I will not at all mislead you to think that the beach was fun then. It had its moments and the kites were cool, but so was the air by then...brrrr. Eden had about 20 minutes of it and we called it a very long day.

Check out before 10am the next day. The DeVries family made a magic trick. With only 20 minutes to leave by 9:30, and with everyone still eating breakfast, gears changed rapidly: the kids got dressed, Michelle and Scott packed up the bedroom and the kitchen. 9:30 the boys were taking suitcases out to the car, Michelle took a shower and got ready for church. John checked us out of the room and the final sweep performed by Scott around 10am located the forgotten grahm crackers that later would provide us with much sweetened nourishment for lunch. Thanks Scott for the save. But really...50 minutes! I was impressed. The opening song and sacrament song were missed, but the family was there for sacrament. In fact, they were there before the "always on-time John". But, you see, here's our excuse. John and I did not know where the church was and you could say we got lost, but how can you get lost when you never knew where you were going in the first place? The family got out of there so quickly that--well, we thought we were going to follow them. But, oh well. We did ask directions at a Microtel Inn. The front desk did not know what LDS was, but one girl called her mom for directions. Evidentally her mother's job is to drive residents to church so she knows the location of all the churches in town. We made it there by the first testimonies.

We went to church, ate a picnic on the church lawn, said our goodbyes under a smiling sun --no body wanted to leave. Drove into pouring Portland, caught an almost uneventful flight (except its me so I'll always have some drama--like losing a boarding pass between the security gate, the bathroom, and the boarding area--and or, watching all the luggage come out onto the carousel and right when you see your bag pop out, the carousel stops, nobody moves, the bags seemed jammed; no workers come to see what's going on and we all stand around for 5-8 minutes wondering who's going to help. I finally went over to see where my bag ended up in the process--NAUGHTY bag. IT had caused the baggage pile up and the decomissioned freeway. I pushed and pulled at it until something snapped. So note to all travelers: Make sure that your buckles are secure, because you never know when the strap might decide to lodge itself into the conveyor belt and stop the whole show. Some guy came up to me and handed me the buckle-"here's what's left"--nice, thanks.)

So here I am tired, cranky, waiting for John to call which he was supposed to do 1.5 ago and I'm feeling like a big long nap. Getting to work this morning at 6:30 seemed so very early...YAWN. But I had it good. John drove the 2 hours to Portland and another 3-4 back to Bend. He then had to set up his 5th wheel, catch a 1/2 nap before getting on the sweeper truck and going another 40 minutes to Redmond. He said he kept falling asleep while driving and finally stopped and took another nap. Needless to say, the sun came up before he did. Overall, I hope no one really noticed the big Red Loud Dusty Truck going in circles around the Wal*Mart parking lot. So a final thought to help you and remind me to have empathy...

When you think its bad for you...you can always guarantee something worse for John. (I love you John, but you sure have some funny luck).

So now, yes now. I'm done. I will write about my hitchhiker experience later. And also I have yet to do the refinishing of the porcelain tub and sink--I think I'm intimidated.

Good night.

Love Kimberly

2009-04-27T18:00:00.000-07:00

I just got done reading all of Audra's blogs. Audra is amazing. So I thought I was on a role with keeping up with my blog. I spent over 8 hours putting together pictures to post and when it didn't work...well I kind of gave up.

So many topics to write about.

This week we are planning to go to the Oregon coast. John surprised me and invited Michelle and Scott and family, in addition I was told it was Eden's birthday. I'm so excited to have everyone come and play. John wants me to pack all of his kites. I'd better do that tonight.

I am in the process of repainting the porcelain in the bathroom. If I had a camera...

2009-04-27T17:57:00.000-07:00

So I made a powerpoint that is 132 MB. Does anybody know how to make it upload?

Power Point Presentation

2009-03-10T20:36:00.001-07:00

Deviated Septum and Sleepless Nights

2009-03-09T09:04:00.000-07:00

Is it stress?

Two weeks ago I went to the ENT because my ears were hurting. In fact, they are always hurting, but I ignore them. I thought I had an ear infection, but my ears were clear when the local NP checked them. He referred me to Dr. Ventura in Tooele. He looked in my ears and asked if I took a bad forward fall when I was younger. Well, I would suppose--with ice skating, water-skiing, snow tubing, recess, brothers etc, I'm sure I took quite a few falls. In fact, when I cracked my rib last summer that was the side of my body that I landed on too. But I don't remember breaking anything. He said at some point I had cracked my jaw. Then he looked in my nose and said I had a deviated septum. Well, to look that up I found that those crooked noses can even happen at birth and most people don't have straight noses. (I think it was from the #10 can 2-yr old Ben threw up in the air and accidentally dropped on my nose--the worst bloody nose I ever had-and the only one until last year)

My problem is that I don't breathe. I am not sleeping well at night and I don't feel rested in the morning. He gave me some Nasonex to snort. I can't see how its helping. Its just disgusting to me as it drips down the back of my throat. yuk. Said that I had TMJ symptoms and should do facial jaw exercises-which seemed simple enough to me, but the exercises actually feel like they are agitating my ears more. And I can't seem to shake the neck and headaches of late. Any suggestions?

I was told that fixing the Deviated Septum can help with breathing and the surgery seems innocuous enough. My neighbors swear by the procedure that it was the best thing they both ever did for their breathing. I'm sold. Guess it will be a procedure where he remolds the cartilage and packs the nose and it is swollen for several days and..maybe I get stitches? I'll have to check up on all of this.

There Becky-two whole days of updating!

love,
Kimberly

Litter Patrol Update

2009-03-08T21:37:00.000-07:00

John got off the truck on Jan 27 and moved back up to Bend OR where he is being mentored by his son, Byron, about parking lot sweeping. Tomorrow will be one month since we officially started working. I went up to Bend over Valentine's day weekend. Took Amanda's yellow dressers up to Michelle. The kids were so excited to see me and John. They had posters ready and gave us "heartbeats" Tate's word for Valentine day heart cards. They are so cute and we miss them more then we knew. Unfortunately we could not stay for the whole Valentine day because we had to get back and fix the sweeper truck. Two bearing had exploded on the truck so the fan that makes the sucking wasn't working. Gavin, John's son in Portland, purchased the part and drove it over to Wilsonville at the DeVries. So he got to have some breakfast with the family. When we took off early to go back to Bend, little did we know the pitfalls that lay ahead. We were stopped in the middle of the canyon for an hour because of an accident. I'll tell you about an almost accident. I had been sleeping and woke up to tell John that I needed a pit stop then a mile up the road, instead of a pitstop, the whole road was stopped for a mile or two of traffic. Times like this might be a good reason to be a guy... But I endured. We got back to the ranch expecting the repair to take less than an hour.. NO the bearing got stuck. John tried everything, compressor screwdrivers, holediggers, propane torch...prayer. Finally, he improvised the pressure he needed to push the bearing on with a hydraulic jack. 6 hours later!

ARGHHHHHHH

That night went fine except that I'm not a night person who likes to go around in circles while sniffing gas. I had heartburn and puked. The next night I would like to say that I did better, but while John was blowpacking the parking lot, I managed to ram the sweeper head or rather the vacuum up against the curb. Not a good idea. The vacuum is made to be snugged up to the curb, because there just isnt' any give to go over anything that is not a flat surface--ei parking lot. I managed to snap the chains, crack the exhaust pipes, tweek the vacuum, crack the welding, and at the time we thought I damaged the drive shaft too (but now, John thinks that was already having problems). Thank goodness John is a loving understanding, non condemning husband. He didn't guilt trip me or anything! We just went to a liquidator outlet and purchased some steel which he used in a welding project that I never saw. Found some muffler bandage and later went to a specialist to fix the drive shaft.

So this first month was a wash. Yeah, we're rolling in the money...

I don't know how long we can do this. It was actually okay having him home on the weekends and playing hard together. Typically during the week I was so busy with work that I doubt we would have had the quality time together that we got when he came home on Fridays and left on Monday mornings. It was always weekends full of projects and fun. I am missing that immensely right now.

I knew that Becky and Chris were going to get engaged. Congratulations. We are going to do all that we can to come in June! Okay, so, well, I'm projecting its in June. She will make her official announcement for herself.

Love to all and thanks for our webcams so that we can now Skype. So far, I've skyped with Tressa and Becky. Tried to contact Michelle, but the video and sound was funny. John still has to fix his C-drive in order to run the Logitech program. And...he has to find good places for an internet connection.

Kimberly..

Wish mom happy birthday!

2008-12-31T06:23:00.000-08:00

The Christmas Gala was Great... Okay. So it was our long overdue reception and I feel married now. Kind of silly but I do. Guess that's why we have celebrations with people instead of doing everything on our own. Thanks to the many people who helped. The decorations were especially dazzling. I don't think I would have ever been able to do so much on my own. Everyone put a lot of effort into making the day special. Thank you and love you. Kimberly

John & Kimberly

2008-12-23T08:17:00.001-08:00

2008-11-25T17:29:00.000-08:00

I've been thinking about so many friends and family that I haven't seen in years. I didn't realize how easily some people can keep up with people and then the rest of us buzz through a spinning tube not realizing that you don't have to be alone.

I've been trying to reconnect with people from my past. I finally had a chance to announce something significant and yet, I find, I have lost track of so many. Like Mitzi Jo Allred, Varden Fuller, David Radcliffe, Chris Jensen, Julie Bahr, Harold Studebaker...Heidi Price, Ali King, my own Ricks cousins and even Cliff Nelson. I sometimes don't even know what my brother Ben or my sister Becky are doing. What a terrible thing to waste...Connections. But I don't know that I ever felt that I had much to contribute or give to others and let myself drift away. I make no promises because habits are formed and not easily kicked. But I would like to keep in touch better with people--even if its just a blog or a Christmas Card.

The suggested RSVP date for our Wedding Ceremony/Reception/Gala is coming in two days. I am so excited for those who have said they will join us. And I'm still hoping that even if friends and family can't join that they will email us on our website http://firstanniversarychristmasgala.vpweb.com/default.html or email me at kimberly.ricks@hotmail.com or just give a call.

I have been concerned about the interference of weather and other Holiday Parties. I would love to see people again like Gaywin Qwance, Lynette Stephenson, the Cranes, the Roses, the Georges, and Nick Metizigian. Yet, I'm sure that the time that I will get to spend with them will be brief.

I am loving FACEBOOK and the reconnections with so many High School memories. I didn't realize that some of the people even knew who I was and there we are adding each other to our FACEBOOK profiles. What a fabulous 20 year reunion we might have if we all keep connecting. Very amazing.

Well, just some thoughts. Hopefully I will be seeing many of you soon. Love to all. -K

2008-11-06T20:27:00.000-08:00

John found his costume the way all pirates find costumes. Piece by piece. I made the head scarf and sash and started making boots. ONLY got one done. Oh well.

2008-11-06T20:25:00.000-08:00

The Pirate and the Chicken. Autumn and John looked so cute from behind, I had to snap this shot.

2008-11-06T19:59:00.000-08:00

Close up Gun shot wound

Skin peeling off from abrasion and burning.

2008-11-06T19:51:00.000-08:00

Halloween at Work. I dressed up as a Ghoul.

2008-11-06T19:48:00.000-08:00

The Pumkin' and the Pirate. John and I thought we were going to go to a Halloween Party, but when John came into Provo Friday nite, we found out the party was Thursday. We had fun spending the first Trick or Treat with Luke and Autumn. I just love this kid!

You are Invited to a Christmas Gala Wedding Reception

2008-11-06T18:41:00.000-08:00

Click below to see our WeBSite invitation. Its not much, but we love our friends and family and want to finally have a wedding celebration with them. We call it a Christmas Party!

http://firstanniversarychristmasgala.vpweb.com/default.html

2008-10-10T13:53:00.000-07:00

2008-10-10T13:37:00.000-07:00

Part 1 Disneyland Fiddling Around

Girls are Great!

2008-02-12T21:31:00.001-08:00

Here's the fam a few years back.

Melia's Birthday

2008-02-12T21:13:00.000-08:00

hi everyone!
this is the first post and guess what....tressa is posting it. Kimberly made this cupcake cake for Melia's birthday and it turned out very cute. Although Mellie was more interested in the pizza than the chocolate...crazy girl.