Tell about your favorite pet. What kind of animal? When did you get him or her? Why do you like your pet?

Ah, I way need to steal the picture albums from my mom....

My favorite pet was Bear! He was amazing! If I could somehow clone him I would. He was half Collie and half German Shepherd/Chow mix. (If I could even find dogs of these breeds I would pay someone to breed them so I could get puppies!!!) He had the coloring of a collie, but was very broad like a chow, and had the intelligence of a German shepherd.

I don't remember how old I was, but I'm guessing around 12ish, because we were in the house. We were begging my mom and dad for a dog. And my mom thinking she would be very tricksy told us we could get one if we could find a collie or sheltie for $10. I spent weeks searching through the classifieds in the paper trying to find one. Of course this was an almost impossible task (like my mom wanted it to be). And then one Sunday I found an ad for mixed collie pups for $25. We begged and promised and begged some more, offering whatever money we had to make up the $15 difference. Finally they caved and said they would go and look at the puppies and see. Mom and Dad went and looked at the pups and their parents. I remember the owners telling Mom and Dad that they used to breed them on purpose because they made such good puppies. I believe Bear was the runt of the litter, he was also the shyest. Mom and Dad picked him and brought him home to 3 very excited kids. He was so scared on the way home that he hid in Mom's coat sleeve the whole way.

I loved him from the start. I loved to teach him tricks. I loved for him to sleep in my bed with me (which got stopped when I developed hives from him being in my bed). But still I let him live in my room (I guess it could be called forced him to live there as I would shut the door so he couldn't leave).

He loved McDonalds french fries and their orange soda. If you happened to leave it where he could get it...well you went without fries and a drink that night. He grew to love going through the drive through at McDonalds. The first time he growled and was about to go through the window and attack the poor McDonalds worker, but then they gave him a piece of bacon....and then the fries came....he learned very quickly that he could mooch and get treats at the drive throughs.

He loved bread. If you left bread within reach (which pretty much meant anywhere since he was so huge) it was gone. There were days we would come home to entire loaves of bread having been consumed. The only evidence was the empty shredded plastic bread sack.

He loved babies. This is what we called all of his stuffed squeaky chew toys. He loved to mutilate them. He got so he could rip all the stuffing out within 30 minutes of receiving a new baby. He also knew the difference between his babies and our stuffed animals.

He loved car rides. In fact he would escape the yard just so he could get a car ride. If we tried to chase him he would just keep running away and we'd never catch him, but if you honked the car horn he would come running. We'd give him a ride around the block and then he was perfectly happy and content to go back into the yard or house.

He loved us. And only us! He was VERY protective. He tried to protect us from the mailman many times, and would viciously attack the mail as it was shoved in through the slot in the house. There were many times Mom had to call the bank and have them send new bank cards, since the ones we'd just received had teeth holes in them. He was not fond of strangers at all, and if we had anyone new over we usually had to lock him in the bathroom because he would not let anyone enter the house if he didn't know them. It was ok once they were in, he'd just sit and stare and occasionally growl at them until he got used to them.

When I was in 10th grade he got let off of his chain in the backyard and was hit by a car. Once they got him out from under the tires he ran back to his yard. Only the Animal Control people tried to catch him and he ran away. We knew that he'd been hit and hurt pretty bad, our neighbor saw it happen. I believe he was gone for almost a week. I stayed home one day from school and left the doors open and he came in and limped down the stairs. I called Mom and she came home from work to take him to the vets. He had a crushed hip and one of his front paws had the skin and muscle tore down to the bone. When the vets did the x-ray they told my mom they would have to do a huge surgery to pin all the bones in his hip back together. Mom told them that there was no way she could afford the surgery so they just needed to put him down. The vets didn't want to have to put him down, so they talked to her and decided if we put him in a room where he could just lie down and not move we could see if it would heal well enough on it's own. It did!!! At least well enough that he was fine until he got really old and got arthritis in his hip.

He hated fireworks. The kids behind us had shot pop bottle rockets at him when he was little and so he was terrified of fireworks. We would have to get tranquilizers for him for the month of July, and even then they really didn't help. If he was locked up anywhere in the house when a firework went off, he would literally eat through the door to get out. He went through 2 doors that I can remember for sure. Also because of this he was scared of thunder....

We had to have him put down when Riley was a baby. He had gotten so old and grouchy and he was in pain from the arthritis. One day I was holding Riley and was petting him but talking to her about how we pet doggies soft when he turned and almost bit me. He thought that Riley had been petting him. He would also growl at her. We had long discussions as a family and decided that it was not if he was going to bite her but when. He was just in too much pain to put up with a toddler "playing" with him. And there was no way we could give him to someone else. He would refuse to eat when we left him and went on vacation. Plus his pain was just getting to be too much. It was a horrible day, and I still cry when I think about it.

Do you recall any outstanding family trips or summer holidays that you enjoyed as a child?

Ok, so aiming for one post a week on Sundays hasn't exactly been working out...so it's just gonna be when I have the time for it!

Of course all the trips to Nan and Pop's come first on my list! That was always the best part of summer, getting to spend a couple of weeks with them.

But the one trip I remember most was my mom took us down to Colorado Springs one time. We went through Cave of the Winds, and through an old Indian cave settlement, and through the Garden of the Gods. It was awesome! Especially the Indian part, since that was really just for me because I was into Indian stuff.

If you could have your favorite dinner for your birthday, what would it be?

Since the last one was super short, I thought I'd do two today!

AHH! I love this question. It actually happens every year! We have had a family tradition to get to pick our birthday dinner for as long as I can remember. Although now it's me making it.....

When it's a homemade dinner - my absolute favorite is Cashew Chicken! YUM!! Although it just tastes better when I'm not the one who makes it.....I'd post the recipe, but it's really not a recipe it's just throwing this and that in a wok.

If I'm picking restaurant, it would be Olive Garden. I love the Parmigiana Chicken and I love their Alfredo sauce. I actually found a recipe to make a sauce that tastes exactly like it!!! If you would like it just click here. This is a great place to find copy cat recipes!

I know I've picked Navajo Tacos (yummy recipe from my Dad) before, but mostly I remember picking Cashew Chicken.

My brother has always picked weird things - like sushi. One year he wanted shrimp and broccoli, that's all - shrimp with a side of broccoli. I remember my sister picking Casa Bonita one year.

I've tried to continue this tradition with the girls too and they love getting to pick dinner. Riley's picks are usually stuff we don't get very often like Pizza Hut or General Tso's Chicken (Sam's Club has a great one in the frozen dinner section). Alexandra is a pretty picky eater, so it's usually something easy like mac & cheese or pizza. And Dean usually picks meatloaf!

Have you met or worked with famous people? Describe the situation.

Nope. Nothing to describe! Although in 9th grade I did get a postcard with a photocopied signature from Luke Perry. That's about as close as I've ever been.....

Write about some of the places you went with your father

Dad has been a truck driver for most of my life, so with that busy schedule there has not been a lot of time that he has been home. But here are things I remember.

I remember going fishing quite a bit. Not sure where the fishing was....but I remember doing it.

Of course we had the many trips to Nan and Pop's and Grandma and Grandpa Jones'.

When I lived with Nan and Pop, Dad sometimes had a route that was Salt Lake to Denver. So if I had days off from school, he would pick me up and bring me home to visit and then drop me off on the way back to Salt Lake. I didn't mind most of his trucking companions....but some were ewwwyyy. (Those usually didn't last more then one run!)

When I was little, Dad chopped firewood. I believe it was in Steamboat Springs. We would load up the camper onto the black truck and we would all go camping with him wherever he was chopping. I remember having to watch Dad's firewood truck (it was following us in the black truck) because if he was having troubles he would flash his lights and we were supposed to pull over. I was the light watcher! I also remember having to be checked for tics every night. Ah, the joys of camping. Plus the camper we had was just one of those little ones you see on the back of pick-up trucks. It did have a stove and fridge, but no bathroom. I remember Mom heating up a huge pot of water for us to have "baths". I also remember getting to climb into the camper from the truck - there was a window on the camper that lined up with the sliding window on the truck. We would go and lay down on the "master bed" that was up above the cab to the truck and just watch the cars as we were driving by. Ah, I loved that camper when I was little!

I'm sure we went regular camping too, but I really only remember the firewood ones.

A couple of years ago Dad was working for a cabinet company and he had to have a helper to help him unload the trucks. It was part of his contract. Well needless to say, most of his "helpers" weren't very helpful and would leave Dad with no one to help. I went with on one of his trips to help. We were down in New Mexico (and did some deliveries on the way there too). It was some of the hardest work I've ever done and it made me gain a huge respect for my Dad and his work ethic. He delivered to some companies, but mostly they were just home deliveries. And can I just say how rude some people are!! Plus they are idiots! If a company asks if a semi can get to your house, and you can't even get a big truck there - DO NOT tell them yes!! We were in a huge semi, and if it weren't for the amazing driver my Dad is I don't know how we would have gotten to most of these places let alone out. Not only were the roads little tiny, we had 90 degree turns into some places (and these were not 2 cars can fit through - these were maybe you can get one car through...), people that wanted us to deliver through their alley (yes the little tiny alley behind houses), one way dirt roads (that we had to somehow turn around on to get out), and teeny tiny mountain roads up to peoples cabins. Also I must say I hated all the mile long driveways that we had to haul these boxes of cabinets up. (They were not light!!! Think of the huge pantry cupboards - yep we had to haul those up too! OK mostly Dad did those, but I felt bad watching him have to haul those around.) We had one jerk that we got all 50 (yes I said 50 - it might have been a little less, but not by much) of his boxes up his FOREVER LONG WINDY driveway to his house, to have him open one box, decide he didn't like what his wife had ordered, and make us haul all 50 boxes back to the truck in the rain! His reason was he had a nice house, and he wasn't going to have furniture he didn't think was up to his standards in his house. (Some rich people are major jerks and maybe he should have gone with his wife to order it.) I learned a lot about people that trip, especially my Dad. He can control his temper so much better then me. I'd have probably lost my job after I told the first person where he could stick his cabinets.

The past several years (since Riley was born) we have been going with Dad every other year to family reunions. Those have taken us to Kansas, and several places here in Colorado. It has been a fun time. Although as a teenager there would have been no way I'd have gone to these. It's been nice as an adult to go and to bring the kids so they can meet relatives they might not otherwise see. Plus with both Riley and Alexandra I've won the prize for youngest person at the reunion and I'm hoping next year I can do the same with Scarlett!!

I have decided that I'm going to ask my mom for the picture albums, so that as I'm telling stories of our family history I can have some pictures that I can scan in!

What is your secret for good health?

I had fun yesterday, and while I'm waiting for the washer to be done so I can go to bed I thought I'd do another one!

I don't know that I really have one. At least not a secret one. I guess for me the secret would be to be happy. When I'm happy - I eat better, I sleep better, I do more activities. And all of those things help you to be healthy. And for me being happy has a lot to do with my meds as I have been learning over the last few years, but even more so this year. It helps to see the change in me as my meds really starting working the last few weeks. It just gives me hope that I can be a happy, normal person. I wake up planning my day in the morning, instead of just hoping I make it through the day. I know that it's not only the meds too, I have to choose to be happy. Even on Prozac I could still be unhappy about my life. But the meds help me to be able to have a choice! This last week has been great for me. I've gotten so much done and I feel so much better. It's amazing how a clean house can put you in a good mood!

Most of the other things I can think of are very generic.

Exercise - I'm looking forward to Christmas (we're having a Wii Christmas this year! YAY Fit!) and I'm hoping that the rec center has the pool done soon so that we can renew our family membership next year. That was probably the best exercising I'd done in quite a while. We'd go as a whole family and Dean would work out while I was swimming with the girls and then I'd go work out and he'd swim with the girls. And then I got pregnant and the pass expired, then the pool was shut down for remodeling.... But I'm looking forward to starting up again.

Eating healthy - mostly it's just staying away from the fast food for me. So as long as I cook at home we're pretty healthy, although the girls could do with eating more veggies. 2 years ago I started substituting ground turkey for ground beef. And I must say I like it better. Except for meatloaf - I still have to use beef for meatloaf. Not only is the turkey less fatty - it's cheaper!!! By almost $1 a pound at my Wal-Mart.

Keeping up with Doctor visits - especially if you have health issues in your family. The easiest way to prevent a problem is to be proactive. Although I have to say with Mom's health history - I'm not looking forward to the battery of tests I should probably have done....okay really it's just one test (colonoscopy)....and I'm probably not going to follow my advice and put it off for as long as possible!!! But I am proud to say that I went in this year and had some moles tested for cancer - and they were benign!

I feel we're a pretty healthy family. Yes we get the occasional cold, but I very rarely (knock on wood) have to take the girls in to the doctor for sick visits. In fact I don't know that Alexandra has ever had to go in because she was sick. And I think the last time Riley was at the doctors it was 1st grade - and it was to have them test her eyesight because she kept getting headaches. Mostly it's just been well-check visits and one broken arm. I'm also not all over the sanitizer craze. Yes, it's nice every once in a while, but seriously using that stuff like 10 times a day is overkill. And when you kill off viruses and germs they just mutate and come back stronger. Plus I've always felt you need to let your immune system work at least a little bit, so it doesn't forget what it's supposed to be doing.

If you could be a flower, which one would you choose and why?

When I thought about this, I first thought of roses. My reasoning was that roses are very pretty, but the thorns can keep people away (Actually my exact thought was more like "the thorns can stab people you don't like"). And then I thought I don't really want to keep people away. There are days....but for the most part, I like people! Then I thought about flowers that I love to see when I go by the flower arrangements in the store. My favorites are when they have taken carnations and dyed them colors that they could never be.

My absolute favorites are probably the green ones, but I couldn't find an awesome picture on the Internet. Well, I stopped looking after 15 minutes, I'm sure there is one out there somewhere, just not on the first 3 pages of links from Google.

I love them because they are unique! They stand out! You notice them over the other flowers!

If I could pick a flower to be, that would be the one! Plus carnations last FOREVER compared to other flowers.

My Journal Jar

A few months ago we had an enrichment (it was still called enrichment then!) about getting to know yourself. One of the activities was to make a Journal Jar. My calling is Enrichment Leader - or now known as - Assistant to the Counselor over Additional Activities. I was in charge of getting the jars and all the questions together. I had a great time pouring over websites and making all the questions. As I was typing, I would get excited to think of how I would answer them. I decided that I was going to make a blog for my Journal Jar. Blogs are easier to me then an actual handwritten journal. I can go back and erase or rephrase so much easier. Plus it has spellcheck! It has taken me several months and an increase in my medication, but I'm finally up to starting this task.

I am hoping to write at least one Journal entry a week. We'll see how it goes, but that is my goal. I will pull out a question and then answer it. I'm gonna try for Sundays, since that would be a great Sabbath activity. I'm even hoping that some of the questions will lead to more then one post!

I'm looking forward to documenting my life and I hope that you will look forward to reading and getting to know more about me.