Beautiful Women

I belong to a family filled with amazing women. Last night several of us got together for dinner and talkin'. It was actually the first time we've ever done something like this. Usually family get-togethers involve the ENTIRE family; however, as my cousins and I have gotten older we have begun to renew our personal relationships with each other and what I'm finding is that I am related to some truly wonderful women. So last night was "Schaub Girls Night Out". It was just a small gathering this time, but we are hoping to do this kind of thing regularly allowing more cousins and aunts to join in.

Last night we had dinner at Lucille's, a barbeque joint in Mesa. My meal would be considered mediocre at best. Arguably, the hit of the evening was the fried pickles, yum.

This is my beautiful cousin Denise. She didn't want to have her picture taken, but no one is exempt when my camera comes out.Kimber was planning to pack for a cruise to Puerto Rico this weekend, but was waiting to hear whether the lovely swine flu was going to put a kabash on her vacation plans.Jeana and I are not only cousins, but good friends. I am blessed to have her in my life.I was thrilled that my mom could take time away from her school work to enjoy the evening with us.Kimber and Natalie know how to liven up any get together. Our range of conversation was truly broad -- from Darwanism to the Holocaust and teaching children to swim. It is always interesting to spend time with my family.
My very uninspiring chicken salad. If you look closely you will see only 4 measly pieces of cold dry chicken and someone forgot to dry the lettuce -- yum salad soup.
And perhaps my favorite attendee of the evening -- baby Rigdon, Natalie's 4 week old baby -- he was sooooo tiny. His nana, my Aunt Donna, is holding him. Unfortunately this is the only picture I got of Aunt Donna and of course her eyes would be closed. Sorry, Aunt Donna!
Well that's it for our evening. Ladies, we will definitely have to have another one real soon. Love ya'll!

I Love Sundays

There are many reasons why I love Sunday. First, it's the sabbath...time to spiritually recharge. Second, I get to sleep in (shrug)...what can I say, anything later than 4AM is sleeping in and it's a wonderful luxury. Third, I have time to cook and bake on Sunday (see my food blog for today's creation). And fourth and final...I LOVE SUNDAYs because of all the munchkins and family members at my mom and dad's for dinner.

It's really hard to get a good picture of Zack cause he's never, ever still.

Jacob has the very best smile and he's not afraid to use it.
Reed & Jamie got a 2nd puppy, a friend for their black lab Jet. This little chocolate lab is Coda. He's absolutely adorable, and such a little baby. He ran and ran and chewed and ran, and then dropped in a heartbeat for a nap.

Though you'd never know based on most of my Sunday shots, I do occasionally take pictures of adults. Here's Jeff trying to pretend I'm not there. He's been doing that since he was about 10 yrs old.

Reed helped me try out his telephoto lens. He's loaning it to me for a few days, and I'm sure that I'm going to end up wanting one just like it.My really cute, adorable, sister-in-law Ellie. She's the sparkle in our family.

More evidence that Zack does NOT stay still, EVER.

Justin carries around his cute arm accessory, otherwise known as Kara. Miss Kara was not particularly fond of little puppy Coda, just check out the suspicious look in her eyes. She kept Coda within her sight the whole time she was in the back yard.

What a cute family. Can't you see why I love Sundays?!?!?

Happy Birthday, Jeffie!

Today is Jeffrey's birthday. It's a little late in the day, but I still wanted to wish him a Happy Birthday and share with you a bit about my youngest brother, along with some great photos...heheheheh!

1. I'm the one that named Jeffrey.2. He was like our own live doll when he was a baby. My sister and I loved to play with him, dress him up, and drag him everywhere.3. Way before Guitar Hero ever came around, back when we were teenagers, Jeff would play "rock band" with me. He'd play his trap set and I'd play the key board and we'd try to play cheezy rock songs.

4. If Jeff ever says, "Come play video games with me." What he really means is "Come let me beat the pants off you in the game that I am an expert at." He's constantly looking for new victims/opponents. The best solution is to just say "OK", play for the 3 minutes it takes for you to "die" repeatedly, and get it over with.4. Jeffrey is one of the smartest people I know. I try not to tell him that too often, because it will go to his head. :)Happy Birthday, Jeff! I love ya lots!

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince -- more popular than Star Wars

Here are some interesting bits of information I learned from a recent article on Yahoo!

• "Collectively, the five movies so far are the second most successful series worldwide in cinema history, beating "Star Wars" and "Lord of the Rings." Only James Bond has earned more money (just over $5 billion, not adjusted for inflation), and with the upcoming release of "Half-Blood Prince," Harry Potter ($4.5 billion) is sure to jump ahead into the top slot."
• The Harry Potter films have been not only commercial successes but critical successes as well.

Opening Weekend & Final World Wide Gross Earnings:

• HP & the Sorcerer's Stone: OW: $90,294, 621 Final: $974,733,550
• HP & the Chamber of Secrets: OW: $88,357,488 Final: $878,643,482
• HP & the Prisoner of Azkaban: OW: $93,687,367 Final: $795,634,069
• HP & the Goblet of Fire: OW: $102,685,961 Final: $895,921,036
• HP & the Order of the Phoenix (5-day weekend): OW: $139,715,157 Final: $938,212,738

Here's the newest trailer for the 6th installment of the Harry Potter series:

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince


I can't wait to see it! (Though I'm a little confused at the PG rating...seems a little intense for that.)

A Peek Into My Week

Last Saturday I attend the Creating Keepsake Mesa Scrapbook Convention. I took two classes. One of them was called "A Peek Into My Week", where we made a cute little album. The point of the album is to record one week in your life, the everyday things you do. I love the idea, because so many times, the things we record are BIG -- birthdays, vacations, holidays, births, etc. But how many of our many precious memories are made of the everyday things -- breakfast favorites, drives to work, after work/school routines, bedtime rituals. Those are the things I really remember in life, so with the "Peek Into My Week", I'm going to record a few.

So I thought I'd share some of my "peeks"...

• Yesterday and Today I was at the Sheraton Crescent Hotel up at Dunlap and I-17. I was there with my company for a educator's conference. We set up a booth in the exhibit fair. I'm not real fond of doing the sales thing, but it usually is more boring than anything else. It was cool to have the new banner I designed, with the new InnovatED logo (I also designed), on display. It looked pretty darn good, if I do say so myself.
• I watched my new favorite show last night...I SURVIVED. It's on the Biography channel Monday nights. Oh my gosh!!! It is soooo cooool. Extremely intense, but it has the most amazing stories of people who survive life threatening situations.
• Tonight I made my favorite broccoli for dinner. I got a Bountiful Basket on Saturday and am now frantically trying to consume all the fruits and veges before they go bad. Yum!
  

Migraine Morning

This was breakfast this morning...fabulous strawberries, cantaloupe, mango, english muffins with cinnamon sugar, and Maxalt. I had another migraine this morning. I've been suffering from migraines for about 5 years or so. About 3 years ago I finally went in to see a doctor and after much trial and error, found a medication that works for me. Who knoww what causes migraines. In my case, I think it may have to do with my sleep patterns. I tend to get them first thing in the morning. They are miserable, and I am very grateful for the drugs! If you've never had a migraine, thank you lucky stars. I guess it could be worse.

Happy Easter - The Blessings of a Loving Savior

Dear Family & Friends: I just wanted to send my best wishes out to each of you this holiday. I am eternally grateful for a loving Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. And this season I am especially grateful for the selfless sacrifice made by the Savior. I would like to add my testimony to that shared by Elder Holland in this beautiful message of the Atonement.

Another Happy Dance -- Sing Your Cares Away.

Grandma & Grandpa Schaub

Every Thursday night my dad goes out to eat with his parents. Until recently he would meet them at the Peter Piper Pizza restaurant a few miles from their house. As Grandpa's health has been declining, Dad now just picks up dinner and goes over to their house.

Last week I joined him in taking Chick-fil-A over there and had a great time visiting them. I promised G'ma I'd bring my camera back the following Thursday so that I could take pictures of her recent sewing projects.

Last night I met my dad over at Grandma and Grandpa Schaub's house for a little pizza. Grandpa seemed a little better since last week, apparently the new diabetes medication he started has helped a little (though he now says he get a little light headed because of the medication). I snapped some pictures of them while we ate, visited, and of course played cards. I had a difficult time getting Grandma to look at me while I was taking pictures, she just kept saying she hadn't fixed her hair and didn't have any lipstick on. I think my grandmother is beautiful and looked perfect just the way she was last night. Grandpa didn't seem to have any problems smiling for me. He has always been such a happy man, and handsome too.

My grandmother is a wonderful seamstress. She has sewed all of her life. In the past few years she has been sewing for orphans in Africa. It is a passion of hers. Though now limited to an hour or two a day, because of her age, she still sews piles and piles of clothes, dolls, bags, and toys to be taken by an aid agency to the children in Africa. Throughout her whole life, my grandmother's hands have been busy in service. I've always believed that you can tell a lot about a person by their hands. As you can see my Grandma Schaub has beautiful hands.

I had to coax a smile out of her.Here are a few shots of my cute grandpa.
And finally, a few very familiar scenes for my Schaub family members. Whenever I think of my grandparents, I will think of these.And last, but not least, here's me...If you'll notice, I don't have any wilds. It was a lousy hand, only 2 wild cards the whole hand. Poor Grandma was my partner, and Grandpa and Dad skunked us so bad we actually gave up after two hands. :)