Mr. and Mrs. Jasperson

Last Friday (November 14th) was my little sister's wedding. Gretchen married Justin in the Logan temple. It was a beautiful day, a beautiful wedding, and the couple couldn't be happier. I just wanted to tell them congratulations again, and that I am very happy for them!!

It's Official!

Congratulations to my baby sister, Gretchen, on her engagement to Justin. They are getting married November 14th. I couldn't be happier for them!

Good Times in AZ

It's been a couple weeks since I got home from my trip to Arizona, so I thought I better post something about it before too much time has gone by. I had a great time! The girls were so much fun, and it was great to see Heidi and Tate. It was really hot (of course) so we spent most of our time indoors. We had a great time doing pedicures, manicures, watching movies, making cookies, playing with pyssla beads from Ikea, playing at the mall, playing Wii, and just goofing off. I learned some very valuable lessons while there as well. Here are the top five:

1. Pyssla beads will entertain nieces and aunts for hours! (I decided I needed my own set).
2. When shopping in Sephora with two little girls, give them a little lipstick on an individual applicator, put them in front of a mirror, and you will have at least 15 minutes of shopping without distractions.
3. When playing Wii tennis, wiggling your behind really fast may help you win.
4. It's always good to be ready with a favorite lullaby in case your niece asks you to sing it.
5. If Aunt Lizzy sees you and you see Aunt Lizzy, then you are not lost and Aunt Lizzy is not lost.

Here are some pics from the trip:

Arizona cuties

This Saturday I'm heading to Phoenix to visit my sister, Heidi, and her family. I'm going to be watching my two cute nieces during the day while Tate and Heidi work. And I'm so excited! Since they have moved to Phoenix, I only get to see them once--maybe twice--a year. Heidi posted some really cute pictures of the girls that were from Sadie's birthday. Aren't they dolls?

Happy Birthday to Me!!

Last Friday (July 18th) was my birthday. Normally I wouldn't announce that to the world, but I just wanted to thank my friends and family for making it a great day (I just won't mention how many candles were on my cake). I received some beautiful flowers from a friend and a co-worker, received phone calls, emails, and ecards wishing me a happy birthday, went to lunch with my parents, went to dinner at Le Nonne--one of my favorite restaurants--with Daela and Alayna, and then to see Mama Mia that night.

The next day Daela, Alayna, and I headed to Bear Lake for a fun day of swimming and sun. I LOVE Bear Lake! It pretty much has been the tradition for most of my birthdays to spend it there. The water is so beautiful, and it was so refreshing to swim in! It was the perfect day. We even avoided getting completely sunburned--just burned in the spots that we missed with the sunscreen. Nothing like having red stripes and splotches.

Anyway, I had a wonderful birthday. Thanks, everyone, for making it a great day!

My new ride...

After a lot of tears, heartache, and stress over my RAV4, I finally was able to get my new car yesterday--a 2009 Toyota Corolla. This certainly isn't what I had in mind when I thought about selling my RAV4 back in March and cashing in on the equity that was in it. (Instead I ended up spending about $6,000 in repairs and it was still having problems.) Even though it's not how I thought it would turn out, I am glad to finally have a car, and have it be one that I can rely on. Thanks so much to my dad for getting me through these last couple of weeks, and to my uncle Chuck for helping me get the car! The Corolla is a beauty. Now I need to name him (yes, it is a boy). I'm open for suggestions.

I feel like I need to mention that I loved my RAV4. He was a great car and I loved driving him. He didn’t do anything wrong, just a lot of bad luck happened over the last month. The night before I got my new Corolla, I had a dream that my RAV4 was feeling abandoned and hurt, and I woke up feeling extremely sad. I don’t know why I turn cars into animate objects. It must be some disorder I have. (When I had to leave my first car, the Toyota Corona, in Tennessee, I cried for 6 hours because I felt like I was abandoning it as well). Something to talk to the therapist about I guess…

Things happened so quickly yesterday that I was not able to give Mags (the name I gave it) a proper goodbye. So I wrote the following poem.

Ode to my RAV4

RAV4, RAV4, you will always be
A very special vehicle to me.
You hauled my boat proudly,
You were so strong and sturdy,
And I drove you with such joy and glee.

However, our time together is done.
Yet I will never forget all of the fun.
You are such a great car,
And I know you’ll go far.
And I hope your new driver is a good one.

Heather tagged me...

Heather tagged me to play this little Five, Five, Five, Five, Five game......

1 - Five places that I go to over and over: Space Dynamics Lab, Benson marina, my apartment, church, and bed.
2 - Five people who e-mail me (regularly) : Daela, Ginger, Jen, the program manager I work with, and Jill.
3 - Five favorite places to eat: Cafe Rio, Juniper Takeout, Le Nonne, Outback, and Sizzler (for the salad bar).
4 - Five places I would rather be right now: the Caribbean, Grand Canyon, Jackson/Tetons, Bear Lake, pretty much any vacation spot.
5 - Five TV shows I watch all the time: This one is hard to answer since I don't really regularly watch anything. But my favorite show on tv right now is So You Think You Can Dance.

I guess I'm supposed to tag 5 other people, but I don't know that many with blogs that look at my site. So I tag Daela.