Top 10 (How things went down)

This top 10 list is in no special order (that requires to much calculating). There are some pictures attached but not 10 pictures. The pictures will somewhat determine the order because I don't have the patience to reorder them. So enjoy!

10. Driving all night. I have not done that since college and I am always so hesitant to do so. We planned on stopping but we felt good and drove the whole way. I think we were really excited to see Anthony and I will be honest I had a huge adrenalin rush from coaching that day because my team played AWESOME!

9. The Peppermint Patties: Friday morning these three ladies were all putting on some oils at my parents and the entire house smelt like peppermint. Peppermint helps with headaches. How do you not have a headache after driving all night? And so Dan coined the term the peppermint patties. I love this nickname. They tried to tell us that they nicknamed themselves the sister uglies a long time ago, but peppermint patties may be a keeper.

8. Scales. You know when you do a survey and they ask you on a scale of 1 to 10 how would you rate this. Dan is the scale man but he does not just use easy scales he makes you think. An example: Someone says I love chocolate Dan then says, "On a scale from 1 to 346.78 how much would you say you love chocolate right now." They were catchy and funny and there were lots of them this trip. Eventually I taught everyone the secret of dealing with Dan when he is being ridiculous you must also be ridiculous so to the above scale an appropriate response would be 378 (Anything off of his scale would be appropriate).

7. Excitement and pure joy. There is nothing better then having a missionary return home and this was no exception. Caleb was so excited. I mean we were all excited but according to Caleb it is so hard to be the only child at home and he thinks Anthony will stick around for a little while to alleviate his pain.

6. Playing games and hanging out. Like most people I love my family and I love hanging out with everyone. It can be crazy and sometimes a little out of control but overall a very enjoyable time.

5. Ben and Katie allowing us to stay in their show apartment. It was so nice that everyone was able to have a bed.

Dear Ben and Katie, we are sorry that some things got broken (we won't mention what) but we are grateful we had a place to lay are weary heads. Please forgive us and let us stay again.
Brown Siblings

It was way fun to have all the kids staying in Chico together. late nights and laughs.

4. Seeing Alicia's ring in real life. Aaron is engaged and we (the Utah people) had not seen the bling yet.

3. Family Pictures. This experience was so fun. Who knew you could laugh so hard and have so much fun taking family pictures. I will post some when we get them back. Hopefully they turn out well.

2. Eating good food. You have to eat good when the family is together. Now I need to fast for a week but it tasted great. Hula's, Woodhouse Pizza, and Dan's chicken tacos. YUM, YUM, and YUM!

1. Attending Anthony's report to the high council. It was so great to actually hear about his mission and to hear him bear testimony. I am so glad we stayed in town a little longer for this.

ShORt BuT sWeEt

Anthony is home! The trip was way too short but seriously so fun. The trip started off right because my team played an awesome game on Thursday. I was seriously so pumped I don't think I slept the whole way home. That is good and bad. Good because I kept the driver awake, bad because we drove all night and I was way tired the rest of the weekend.

On our way to the airport we saw Anthony's plane fly in and we knew we were going to miss him because, let's be honest, not many planes fly in to the Chico airport. That was LAME. We were 12 minutes early but that ended up being 10 minutes late. But here is Anthony looking good.

Caleb wins the award for most excited that Anthony is home. That guy has been counting down for a while now. Here he is wearing Anthony's sunglasses. The funny thing about Caleb is that every time a missionary has come home in our family there is a picture of him wearing something they brought home at the airport. With Aaron it was a cowboy hat with me it was a hat as well.

Do you notice anything different about the two family pictures? I only got two photos and Olivia is not looking in one but some other people were having a little too much fun in the one she is actually looking in.


The peppermint patties. More on that later, but these three ladies are always a hoot when they are together. And I must apologize openly for saying two of them were worthless, it was a joke!

Me and my cute niece. I love that Olivia will just chill with anyone. It is so nice that she will hang out with those of us who live far away and don't see her very often.

And some more cute pictures.

I got to give her a bath, I must be funny because that is a good little smile.

All ready for family pictures.

I will post more pictures later and possibly a top 10 list (in honor of Michelle) from the trip. Although it will be hard to narrow the list to ten things. I am so grateful we were able to be together as a family, hang out, and have fun.

Finally Feeling Better

Wow I feel like my life is boring but the truth is I have not done anything too exciting the past three weeks because I have been sick. It has been crazy. I would sleep 12 hours a night on the weekends and start to feel better but then Monday would come and I would just wear myself out and by Friday I felt awful. We are talking terrible. Last Friday I was almost convinced I had a real sickness I felt so terrible. When Monday rolled around I felt better but only getting 8 hours of sleep just started the day bad and I was feeling sick again. I finally broke down, took the day off work and went to the doctor. That was a waste of $25, I suspected it would be, turns out it is just a virus and I need sleep and rest. So I slept most the day Monday and I do feel much better.

I finally feel like I am getting over it. So much that I actually jogged on my treadmill last night and it felt good. Well until I was done and I learned the hard way that qeuso and chips are not the best pre-workout meal. Who knew? I mean it has tons of calories.

Oh wait there is one new thing an addiction to this:

Made the mistake of downloading it while I was at the doctor's. If they had any good magazines that would not have happened. So stupid!! I just play it every night and I tell myself when you beat this level you can go to bed and then I don't. So hopefully I can get it out of my system while traveling this weekend and be done with it.

I am headed home tonight. Can you believe this guy is coming home tomorrow?

I can't but I am totally excited. I have only been home when one brother got off the plane (Aaron) and seriously it was one of the most fun days of my life. Way more fun then when I got off my mission, that was weird. But it was like one big party. And everyone will be there. I can't wait.

NASTY!

That describes how I have felt the last week. Seriously why do I always get sick when there is no possible way I can miss work. LAME!! I was really sick in fact finally Friday night I slept 13 hours and then took a 3 hour nap and then went to bed by 10 and by Sunday I felt like I had officially turned the corner. Last week was just really long. It is hard to be patient and nice normally, but it is extra hard when I feel terrible. The semester ended Friday, I believe mercy was administered in all cases, and tomorrow I get 300 new students.

But the title of this post comes from the one activity I did on Saturday that made me leave the couch. Unclog the drain in my bathroom. Let's be honest it has been draining ever so slowly for quite some time but I just strategically used as little water as possible so as to not back it up. Finally Saturday I realized it was barely draining and that I needed to tackle the project. Mental note: don't tackle nasty projects while feeling ill.

It was much easier then anticipated. It probably took a total of 5 minutes but what I found blocking my pipes was seriously NASTY!

The black and white thing pictured above are the parts I removed. The glob of nastiness is what was in the pipe. Yea hair and lots of other things all stuck together. I was seriously trying not to gag. Luckily I was wearing gloves and my nose was stuffed up but wow that was gross. Moral of the story cleaning the pipe in the bathroom was easy that is a job I don't need to put off next time. Here is to a week with less nastiness.

Life As A Dream

As the new year has begun I have reflected on 2010 and I feel as Jacob did in The Book of Mormon:

"Our lives passed away like as it were unto us a dream." Jacob 7:26

I continually wonder where the last year has gone. It came and went so fast. I am grateful for time spent with family and friends. I am especially grateful for good health and that my family members enjoyed good health in 2010. I am so grateful everyone in my family was able to have a job in 2010. I was blessed with the opportunity to do lots of new things and had a great year. I just can't believe we are a week into 2011.

I have not even finalized my new years resolutions. I know that is bad but I feel like 2011 snuck up on me and before I knew it I was back at work. Well I know two for sure that I will post here in hopes of being held accountable 1) get my car paid off by June, I am hoping for April but June is more realistic. 2) Actually keep track of my money in the back of my checkbook. This will be hard for me but I believe it will benefit me (don't worry I have not started yet, but I am going to do it this year)! Oh and a goal for my married siblings, make me an aunt again! (Dan says you can't set goals for others but seriously when have I let him tell me what to do. Never!)

I have felt impressed to find ways to serve this year but I have not finalized what I should do. I know service will make me happy and be a blessing to me I just need to figure out what I want to undertake (not that I am not happy because I am but it could possibly make me more happy). I will be honest I am afraid of more commitments, yet from past experience I know that I personally use my time more wisely when I am engaged it lots of good activities.

This month has been filled with lots and lots of basketball. The team I coach is playing so great right now. I have to tell myself to calm down because I get frustrated and then I am like wait we are winning by 20. Calm down!! The girls are great and they really are talented. They are 13 and 2 so hopefully they can keep the win streak alive.

I have also been playing on a city league basketball and soccer team. I love still being able to play the sports I love. As I am now a year into my thirties I have noticed a decline in my level of play but I still love it. I also open my gym two evenings a week for others to come and play. I figure if you have to exercise, which I do (still have not mastered much self-control when it comes to food), you might as well do the things you love. I love that I still get to play with Jana and that we both hate to lose. It has been a lot of years running but we can still compete with most people, in lower divisions:)

I can't believe Anthony is going to be home from his mission next month. Two years, that has passed as a dream for me. Probably not for him but seriously has it been 2 years? Can't wait to see that kid. Not sure when I will see him but I am excited. I love how missions change individuals. I love that you come back better. It is so fun to witness that as a family member.

Well that was quite possibly my longest post ever. 2011 is here. There are some changes in store for me (more on that later). But seriously I am excited for the new year. I hope that I can draw closer to Christ and become a better person in 2011.

Christmas

Christmas was great as always. It is always so nice to be with family and just relax. Well relax and eat. I told my basketball team at practice on Wednesday "I just went three hours without eating, I have not done that in a week." So, yes I ate way too much. The only bummer was that I was not in Oroville very long at all and so I didn't get to see very many friends.

Christmas dinner was amazing. My poor Mom and Aunt Nancy cooked two days straight but it was seriously delicious.

Presents. Aunt Nancy had my name so I got a present that was beautifully wrapped (well two that were beautifully wrapped but I only took a picture of this one).

Poor Olivia was teething and had a fever. She was a trooper and my Dad was happy he had someone to appreciate his train.

I am in love with this hat I got Olivia. She probably won't have the patience to wear the thing but it was so cute I couldn't pass it up. You can see how done she is in this picture. Poor little girl.

Caleb got lots of Jazz gear so of course he was pumped.

We went to Willits for a night. That was great because we got to see extended family and play games. I did a terrible job of taking pictures but I did get a few just not one of each person.

And last but not least Simba (or a scary version of Cosmo) showed up at my house to play games on Christmas Eve.

I can't believe 2010 is over. The years just seem to go so fast!

I heart Les Scwab

I got home yesterday and I had a flat tire on my car. LAME! Not totally flat but definitely low. I pumped it up but it was low again today. Anyways long story short went to Les Scwab and they fixed it for free. Seriously how nice is that. It feels like a belated Christmas present.

If I quit my job . . . .

It is official I would become a detective for a school. I am pretty good at tracking down missing things. At the start of basketball season our boys team realized they were missing two pair of shorts from their closet. They were there at the end of last year so we knew they had been stolen. Well junior high kids aren't always the brightest and I told the coach if they were actually stolen they will show up. Sure enough two months later I see this big Samoan kid at school wearing them. Don't worry I hunted him down and we got the shorts back. It turns out I am really good at intimidating people to. I think I scared him a little. News flash if you are going to steal something don't wear it to school.

Second case yesterday I see this chick wearing one of my teams bball sweatshirts. Now I designed the sweatshirt and happen to know that there were only 14 of them made. I didn't approach her at first because I wanted to talk to my players and make sure they had not loaned their sweatshirts to anyone. Well they had not. Two class periods late I tracked her down and got it back. She was a 7th grade student I have not had in class and so it was a little more challenging and I had to do a little detective work to figure out who it was. However we got it back. One of my players had left it in their math class and it was taken from there. So lesson to all junior high students IF YOU TAKE SOMETHING THAT IS NOT YOURS DON'T WEAR IT TO SCHOOL! There are other things I have tracked down as well over the years stolen jeans, the girl that flushed underwear down the toilet and clogged all the drains, ipods, cell phones . . . . if it is stolen I will try to get it back.

My back-up profession after being a detective is a doctor or athletic trainer. I dislocated my shoulder again last night and this time I layed down and put it back in place on my own. Not painful at the time but it is really sore today. I probably should take 4 weeks off but lets be honest I probably won't.

2nd Annual Taco Soup Cook Off

My siblings that live in Utah and I have started to have a taco soup cook off each year. We all cook a little different recipe and then come together to eat it. YUM!!! This year we had a steak taco soup, chicken ranch taco soup, and a pulled pork taco soup. (Sam's pulled pork soup is pictured above.) All were delicious! However none of the soups were quite as delicious as the homemade chocolate candy cane ice cream. That is to die for.

After dinner we went to Amanda's Christmas Orchestra Concert. It was really fun to listen to the Christmas music. It is always great to get together and eat yummy food and enjoy each others company.

2nd Place . . . . . Is Lame!

My team took 2nd place at our tournament this weekend. Which I am very happy about and 2nd place is really great . . . but it is also lame. If you win the tournament you get all these things . . . 2nd place gets nothing. That is lame and frustrating. I mean it is always like that and you think 2nd place is awesome but it is not 1st place so no trophy, no t-shirt, no cutting down the net (who does that in 9th grade), no bragging rights . . . nothing. My team looks really good and the are great kids. I just felt bad that after working so hard we went home completely empty handed.

And that picture is my serious coaching face. Yikes!! We won that game by 30 points but don't worry I am all business. My assistant coach was making fun of me because we were watching another team play and I had my coaching face on and she was like relax. We are not playing we don't have to coach these girls. I watch basketball and I go straight into coaching mode. Thankfully I was not the coach over either team we were watching because they were not good and there was lots of coaching to be done.

The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year!

It is the most wonderful time of the year right? Why does it seem so crazy? Life has just been so busy. I have not even thought of getting my camera out. My house is decorated and my Christmas shopping is done but that is the only signs of the season thus far. I mean we don't even have any real snow yet.

I want time to slow down so I can enjoy the holiday season. I must be really crazy because I scheduled my team to play 11 games in 3 weeks. Bad planning on my part. That is a lot of games. I am exhausted. It is Wednesday and I feel like it should be Friday. I am already looking forward to the break. That is bad because it means the next week and a half will go very slow.

Some highlights the past week or so have been:

• I bought a poinsettia and I love it. It is so pretty and it was only $3.50 at Wal-mart.
• I bought the wise men to my nativity set.
• The bball team I coach is 4 and 1.
• The Christmas Devotional, listen here if you missed it
• Christmas dinners and parties
• I have had a student teacher (this is her last week)

Lots is going on. It is a crazy time of year but I do love it. I love that I get to spend time with family and friends. I love that people are more generous and thoughtful. I love that we have time to reflect on the Savior and His life, I love Christmas music, I love that we will get to talk to Anthony on Christmas Day. I love this time of year and it is wonderful just crazy as well.