Practicing Our Way Back

Last night, we had our Relief Society Birthday Celebration.  (a.k.a. Enrichment, a.k.a. Homemaking.) This was the extent of my amazing decor:

I was in charge and had a great committee to help me:

I think it turned out nice.  My motto is "do nothing until the last minute."  No.  Just kidding.  My real motto is "Make sure the food is good and don't worry about decorating."  We had soup, salad, and Fazoli's bread sticks and ladies in the ward shared temple experiences. 

As I came home last night and fell into bed, I remembered back to twenty years ago when I was 16 years old.  The Relief Society in my ward was doing a fashion show of antique dresses and outfits for Enrichment.  The lady in charge (who shall remain nameless but I remember her distinctly to this day!) decided to have the young women in the ward be the models.  We were all asked to come to the church the day before and get fitted in outfits for the show.

At 16, I was the same size I am now.  5'9, decent sized chest, long legs.  Do you see where this is going?  The antique clothes were made for ladies 100 years ago who were five foot nothing and probably flat as a board.  To say the clothes were short and tight on me was an understatement.  They had me try on outfit after outfit and they would sit and snicker and whisper about how inappropriate I looked.  Finally, I burst into tears and told them I wasn't doing their stupid show and ran for my car.

When I got home, my mom asked me what was wrong.  I explained what happened and I couldn't even finish before she was in her car heading to the church.  She marched in and told those ladies off and reminded them that the church is about people not programs and told them she wouldn't be coming to their lousy fashion show.  Boo-yeah!  And for those of you who don't know my mom..everyone loves her.  She was the toast of the ward.  So that was a big deal!

My darling mom:

To this day, I try to think about that experience when I plan things for church.  But I also know that people aren't perfect..in any organization.  We all make mistakes.  We all get caught up in trying to make our event perfect.  We all want to succeed and we offend people along the way. 

Recently, I attended a testimony meeting where a woman spoke of God's grace.  Grace isn't a term we often use in the Mormon church but it basically means we all get to return to His presence because the Atonement.  She reminded us that the Atonement is a gift.  We are not EARNING our way back to Him--we are PRACTICING our way back.  I loved that. 

So as I go forward in the future, my goal is to put people first, events second and forgive others along the way.  Oh, and thank the Lord every night that I am no longer in cub scouts!!!

A Hair Story

This is the story of my hair.  Which is kind of the story of my life.  It has been my life's work to be a good person to have good hair.  Let's be honest.  My mom didn't do me any favors.  (Hi Mom!)  I love the woman dearly but she was the one in charge of my hair when I was a child and she did some criminal things to it.  My mom's best friend was a hairdresser--A hairdresser who fancied herself to be on the cutting edge (no pun intended!) of hairstyles--which is how I ended up with a boy short pixie cut WITH A TAIL! when I was about 10. 

Come with me on my hair journey.

Things were good until I got to be about 5.  My mom believes in bangs...as in, she has a firm testimony of bangs.  I call this the "mullet bowl cut."  Gotta love the ribbon bow tie and vest!

When I got to be about 8, the '80s were in full swing and got the child version of the Farrah Fawcet.  Once again, I am donning a vest and ribbon tie. Mom, you should be held criminally responsible!

Then came the low point.  The boy cut and tail.  I searched and could not find a picture of the tail.  But trust me, I had one.  Ashley will confirm.  Salesclerks thought I was a boy.  I'm still not over it.

This morphed into some sort of awful awful 50 year old lady perm.  I just happen to be dressed as a 50 year old lady in this photo because I was in the Fourth Grade Utah Fair Party room (that was a big deal!)  Too bad I look sooooo bad!!!

In sixth grade, I had the requisite'80s perm with huge bangs and a scrunchie.  I got this mint sweater at Fashion Gal!

By the time I got to high school, my hair was better, but I was still rockin' the bangs:

When I got married, I still had bangs--one of my life's great regrets.

Soon after, I grew my bangs out, parted down the middle, wore my hair super straight and kind of had a '70s vibe going on:

Then I had kids and I did the shoulder length mom bob for the next few years or so:

Then for the next five years I did the side bangs with longer hair (Utah hair):

Back in January, my hairdresser talked me into going back to regular bangs. (This is when they were at their longest a few days ago and driving me crazy.)  Most of the time, I loved the bangs.  I got good feedback from guys for the most part.   But sometimes I felt really hip and othertimes I felt frumpy.  And I missed being able to do beachy waves.  Because I feel like bangs go with straight hair.

So here I am today.  Growing out the bangs again: 

Trying to decide what to do next. What say you on the bangs?  Keep growing them out or go back to regular bangs?  I know we aren't curing cancer here but this is kind of a big deal.  Help me people!

90's Flashback (High School Dance Edition)

Since going to the 80s Prom last weekend, I have been thinking about my high school dances. I went to high school in the 90s, not the 80s. But the 90s did us no favors. Think high rise jeans, huge rugby shirts and don't get me started on the shoes and perms.

I finally dug out my old scrapbook to see what I was wearing to my school dances. Oh my goodness. Someone should have stopped me. Here is just a random sampling of my favorites or "the best of the worst":

Sophomore year theme dance (we were cowboys):


Straight denim, baby, with a freakin' BOLERO tie! My date told me I was "churchy." I will never forget it!

Sophomore year Prom:


I borrowed this dress from my MOM! It doesn't scream "mom dress" at all does it? Notice my black flats with those little clip on shoe accessories!

Junior year Christmas Dance:


I really liked this guy (notice he is wearing uber cool Girbaud jeans!) So what better to wear than an oversize denim shirt with Christmas button covers!! I borrowed the plaid skirt from my friend Jaime. Love the perm!

Junior Year Valentines Dance:


Valentines= pink jeans. I wore those all the time. Don't forget the button covers again! I also wore those ankle cowboy boots everywhere. They were shoes that looked like boots...anyone else wear those?

Senior Year Morp Dance:


We were bikers. What is funny to me is that we actually thought it would be cool to pretend to ride another guy.

Senior Year Women's Association Dance:


The dress ain't bad--classic velvet Jessica McClintock number (I think this was the one I bought in San Diego to wear to Homecoming the year before.) It might have been a bit immodest but this was back in the day before they pushed "For the Strength of Youth"...

The funny thing about this dance is the group picture. I had "photo shopped" it myself. I thought my arms looked fat (I know...if only my high school self could see me now!) so I took a black Sharpie and tried to thin my arms out. I butchered the job but still had to deliver the photos to my date. His wife reads my blog...Jessica, ask him if he noticed!


Christmas dance Senior year:


Same date again. Lovin' on the Christmas sweater. I wore that same Christmas sweater to the Christmas dance my sophomore year too so I must have thought it was a winner. Once again...wearing the awesome low boots.

Skyline Prom:


Going for the bridal look (what the?) My date was really cute..we were both red heads but I should have saved the white lace dress for my wedding.

Brighton Prom:


This is the best dress yet...the sleeves could be worn up on the shoulders at home when my parents were taking the pre-dance photos


and then down off the shoulder at the Prom!!

It is a miracle I was even asked to these dances. Now you can see why I'm excited to go to my 20 year reunion. I have no where to go but up!

Salute to the End of Summer

Today is the last day of summer...not officially, but for all the reasons that really count. My kids are going back to school tomorrow. Hallelujah! We have had a lot of fun but the last two days have put me over the top...Can you say "Friend Overload!"

When I was in high school, the night before school started, my parents actually let me and my friends climb onto our roof, sit on lawn chairs and watch summer die. ( I have a picture I will scan tomorrow) Now that I think about it, chances are good my parents had no idea we were up on the roof. Bygones.

Circa 1994

With today being the last day of summer, what better time than now to learn to use my grill? To hell with waiting for Sam to put things on the BBQ! I am woman, hear me roar. I have always been afraid that the thing would blow up in my face. But I put on my big girl panties and went out and got er' done....all with a baby on my hip!

I also made a peach pie just for kicks...I know...I don't even recognize myself anymore. I plan to eat the whole thing myself, with no plate, just a fork that stays in the dish. Thanks to my sis-in-law Sarah for the delicious recipe.



Here is my favorite recipe for Chicken Teriyaki Kabobs (a Warner family favorite): (sorry Ash, I loved your Asian style ones but they were too spicy for my kids.)

2 Pkgs chicken breasts--cleaned and cubed

Marinate in:

4 TBSP soy sauce
4 TBSP oil
4 TBSP orange or lemon juice
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp ground ginger

Thread chicken on skewers with green peppers, cherry tomatoes and small white mushrooms. I forgoe all of the veggies because my kids don't eat them but they do give the chicken flavor.

In another final salute to summer, we took a picnic of KFC up to Snowbird the other night. Say what you will about KFC, the Colonel knows chicken. I love me a piece of fried chicken now and then. And the mashed potatoes are second to none.



This little boy has a thing for my mother. He won't let the woman out of his sight. If she is around, he wants nothing to do with me. He only has eyes for her:



Who is excited for fall? I'm ready to start unpacking the Halloween decorations...who's with me?

(I Was) the King of Pop

When I was in High School, I dressed up as Michael Jackson and performed Thriller with some of my friends in an assembly. This was back in the day when painting my face black was still okay--or I thought it was. I loved Michael Jackson back then. In fact, since he died, my friends have been wondering why I haven't posted about it.

I know I'm totally late in posting this. The reason is that I have been trying to find the old VHS tape of my performance to put on my blog. My mother spent the better part of her weekend digging through old tapes trying to find it--to no avail.

When I was at BYU, my roomates and I performed the dance again for a talent show. These are some really bad pictures (and I had on brown shoes--which sucks!) but you get the picture. My roomates were dressed up as the Jackson 5 and did a number from his early days and then I came out and we did Thriller. I'm sure this got me a lot of dates.

My cousin Liz made a really good point on her blog last week. She was talking about Michael and she said she can separate his personal life from his art. I can too. Yes, he's a mess. Yes, he did questionable things at his Neverland ranch. Yes, he's deformed himself with waaaaay too much plastic surgery but will there ever be a better dancer? No. He took the world by storm in the 80s. I loved "Beat It." I loved "Billy Jean is not my Lover," I loved the "Smooth Criminal" video. I have the entire Thriller video memorized--who doesn't?

My point is--you gotta give Michael some love. He is a legend.