Meet our friend

I thought spider webs like this existed only in haunted houses. This was a spider that really liked our water heater. We found the gigantic web when we were cleaning our home before we moved in. It was absolutely disgusting. I think it had been living there since our house was built. After discovering this I immediately went to Lowe's and bought a six pack of bug bombs. The package said that one can would cover up to 500 sq feet. Our house is only 1500 sq feet so three would have been plenty according to the company. I wasn't taking any chances. I chose to use all six, one in each room. I had my dad use the vacuum to suck up the web because he is tall and could reach up there. He faked that a spider came out and it totally freaked Shay out, I didn't know she was such a screamer. Since then I have seen a few spiders but nothing too bad. The joys of owning a home.

Our fun winter weekend

It's official: I am a TERRIBLE photographer! Perhaps a better way to put it would be that I am a nonexistent photographer. This past month we took an incredibly fun trip up to Island Park with the fam for my birthday. For once, we actually remembered our camera. The trouble is that we never took it out of our bag. Pathetic I know.
I wish we had really cool pictures to post up of our fun in the snow, but alas, we are empty handed, so instead I'll give a brief run down.
Island Park was an absolute blast!! Tyler surprised everyone with his superior snowmobiles. We've always known he was athletic and adventurous, but holy cow! He was incredible out there! Normally I get bored riding on the back with people, but those days are over. Tyler has converted me to passenger riding for the first time in my life. Not only did he show me up... he completely smoked me. It's so unfair.
In my defense, I was sick and had to stay indoors after the first day so I never really got a chance to defend my driving skills out there, but either way, he was fabulous!
I'm happy to say that I can still leave him in the dust on the dirt bikes, but I guess we'll just have to see how that stands this spring :)
Other than that, we've been super busy with school. Big surprise, huh? Tyler is taking several gross sounding math classes, which he is totally rocking at, and I am continuing with my communication studies. The light is finally at the end of the tunnel though, because I will graduate next fall, and then Tyler the following spring.
We are loving our house and have yet to post pictures of the final product up here, but it will come... all in time, right?

It's Catch Up Time

Since the computer labs have been closed this past month for the break, our internet access was completely obliterated. You know what that means right? It's catch up time!

This month has been a busy one! One of the coolest things we were able to do was to escort my favorite new Elder to the glorious missionary training center. I have never been so proud of my not-so-little baby brother!

Being part of his preparation and watching him grow has been such an awesome experience! For the longest time, a mission was the farthest thing from my brother's mind and we all knew it. One day last spring he confronted me about his desire to serve. I nearly fell out of my chair! I was completely overjoyed because I've always felt that his potential was completely through the roof!

The coolest part about Jake's call is that he refused to let other people know about it ahead of time. His way of announcing it to the family was in the form of a surprise party at a friend's house. It took at least 10 minutes to convince our parents that the envelope Jake was holding was in fact a mission call. Once that realization hit, everyone in the room was in tears.

What an amazing amazing experience and what an inspired missionary!

Okay so... this isn't exactly the most dignified picture, but I love it! That's my Jakie!

Finals

I'd like to start out by apologizing for slacking on my picture posting duties. Tyler informed me that I need to get pictures of the new and improved house up ASAP. I'll get to those at some point. For now, we've got one major thing on our mind: Finals. Ug. In light of that special occasion, here is a poem. It was sent to me by a friend from highschool (thanks Simon!). I'm not sure if he actually wrote it or not, but I got a kick out of it:

'Twas the night before finals,
And all through the college,
The students were praying,
For last minute knowledge.

Most were quite sleepy,
But none touched their beds,
While visions of essays,
Danced in their heads.

Out in the tavern,
A few were still dirnking,
And hoping that liquer,
Would losen their thinking.

In my own room,
I had been pacing,
And dreading exams,
I soon would be facing.

My roomate was speechless,
Her nose in her books,
And my comments to her,
Drew unfriendly looks.

I drained all the coffee,
I brewed a new pot,
No longer caring,
That my nerves were shot.

I stared at my notes,
My thoughts were all muddy,
My eyes went a blur,
I just could not study.

"Some pizza might help!"
I said with a shiver,
But each place I called,
Refused to deliver.

I'd nearly concluded,
That life was to cruel,
With futures depending,
On grades earned in school.

When all of the sudden,
Our door opened wide,
And Patron Saint Put-It-Off,
Ambled inside.

His spirit was careless,
His manner was mellow,
And all of the sudden,
He started to bellow.

"On Cliff Notes, on Crip Notes,
On Last-Year-Exams,
On Wingits, and Slingits
And Last-Minute-Crams.

"His message delivered,
He vanished from sight,
But we heard him laughing,
Outside in the night.

Your teachers have pegged you,
So just do your best,
Happy Finals to All,
AND TO ALL A GOOD TEST!

Upcoming Elections

My history of blogging proves it; I'm not a regular blogging machine. Now however, I found myself posting two blogs right in a row! While this might give off the impression that I've suddenly caught the blogging fever, that is not the case. The fact is, this message below came from an email I sent out to people and I want to do everything in my power to get it out there before elections time. So here we go, my final attempt to gain exposure:



As a young college student, I often feel powerless in today's politics and current events, but this is one thing that is so important to me that I simply cannot sit back without exercising what little power I have. I am adding my own personal note to this and hoping others will recognize that this is not just another email forward half-heartedly passed along. I am asking you to please read and recognize that while individually we may not be able to do much, as a collective whole we can change our community, and potentially, even the world.
Below is a message giving information about a high profile crime in Utah (primarily Davis and Weber Counties). I know that many people are busy like me and either neglect reading lengthy messages (like the one below), or never find time to vote. I wish mainly to appeal to those people.
For those of you busy readers, let me give you the low down:
You may remember a while back when a primary teacher was arrested for "inappropriately touching" children in his primary class. This man has unfortunately done much more than headlines lead on to. He has committed crimes against at least a dozen innocent children that are too heinous to even write about on here. I have personally followed this case and have been appauled at the actions of some of those who hold publicly appointed positions. Judge Thomas L. Kay is the official to whom I am referring to. I watched as young sun beam aged children were denied the comforts of having a parent, or even a victim's advocate sit next to them on the court stands as they testified to a public courtroom and to the convicted pedofile himself about the horrible things that had been done to them. These kids did not fully understand their experiences and were terrified because of the threats that had beens told would come if they uttered a word to anyone. Each child underwent extremely horrific experiences that broke my heart to hear about. At the conclusion of the hearings, Judge Thomas L. Kay allowed the pedofile to serve all four of his sentences of 5 years to life at once, essentially committing him to the bare miniumum of a 5 year sentence instead of 25. After a quick word to the criminal, he lectured the parents of the victims, accusing them of worsening the situation by manipulating their children to exagerate their stories in effort to add fuel to the court case. I'm not sure what this judge was thinking, but NO sane parent would do anything to worsen the condition of their fragile children after undergoing such a tradgedy! In fact, the sooner they could help their children to forget about it, the better.


It terrifies me to think about what other sentences this man must be handing down to other criminals that haunt our neighborhoods. We need someone who will not tolerate such sick behavior and who will take these freaks off the streets... and keep them off! I am asking anyone reading this message to consider these actions and if they agree with me, to take the opportunity to vote "no" for this judge. If you can find the time, please also read the below message for a more detailed account, but know that I am sending this out in a sincere and honest attempt to let people know that we are allowed have a say in our political system. Now lets just put that right into practice for the betterment of our society.
Sincerely,
Shaela

P.S. Feel free to email if you have any questions about this case.


"Judgeships"

The November elections are quickly coming upon us. In today's information age it is relatively easy to learn about the issues and each of the candidatesʼ stands on those issues. Generally, the candidates have websites you can access in order to get this information. However, there is an area of the elections that I have not personally found a way to gather enough information on to make a responsible decision. In the past I have simply looked at the long list of judges and thought, "No news is good news." I figured that if I hadn't heard anything bad about them they must be OK. The problem is that unless you have had personal experience with these judges you're really not going to know much about them. For that reason I feel obligated to inform the public of my personal knowledge and experience regarding JUDGE THOMAS L. KAY.

You may or may not recall a highly publicized case back in 2005 regarding Aaron Marcos Montoya. Mr. Montoya was married to my 1st cousin. Mr. Montoya, a police officer sworn to uphold and enforce the law, molested several children at church DURING primary class. One of the cases involved a young girl who had just moved into the neighborhood and was attending primary for her very first time. Mr. Montoya had allowed this evil to encompass him so completely that he no longer even took the time to groom his victims, as is typical of pedifiles. Anyone and everyone was a potential victim for his selfishness. No place was sacred to him. No one was safe from him. His desires and intentions were immediate.

As usual, because of the fact that anything involving the church always find its way into the media, this case quickly made top headlines. The part that was not publicized so completely were the six other cases that did not take place at the church. These cases were MUCH more extreme and deplorable. I will spare you the nightmares associated with the gross details. Some of these crimes were so heinous that several victims and witnesses refused to re-live them by testifying. JUDGE THOMAS L. KAY presided over these hearings.

Let me recap who Mr. Montoya was. He was a police officer who swore an oath to uphold and enforce the law. He was a married family man with three children of his own who, in many cases, were forced to watch as he carried out his deplorable crimes. He was also an active, card carrying, return missionary. Because of Mr. Montoya's cowardly refusal to admit guilt or take responsibility for his actions, he forced these young girls, ranging from 5 to 7 years old, as well as his own 7 year old son, to experience the trauma of testifying in court and, once again, coming face to face with their perpetrator. As if this were not bad enough JUDGE THOMAS L. KAY refused to allow the parents of these young children to even stand by them for support as they testified. He wouldn't even allow a Victim's Advocate to stand by them as they, once again, came face to face with their perpetrator. Nor would he allow them to testify out of chambers (away from their perpetrator in a separate room). This is especially upsetting considering the age of these little victims. Each of the children were all around the age of five to seven years old. At such a young age, it is a struggle to even understand these horrific happenings, let alone describe them to a public audience comprised of a perverted man who had threatened to kill them and their families if they ever uttered a word about their experiences.

After a quick deliberation Mr. Montoya was found guilty on all five counts (twice for one victim). Each count had a minimum manditory sentance of 5 years to life. Mr. Montoya never showed the slightest bit of remorse. He never shed a tear. He never apologized, even after JUDGE THOMAS L. KAY gave him the opportunity to do so prior to sentencing. Mr. Montoya never took the slightest bit of responsibility for his actions. JUDGE THOMAS L. KAY had the authority and responsibility to decide if these sentences would be served consecutively or concurrently (the equivalent of one charge instead of five). With no apologies or admission of guilt from Mr. Montoya, JUDGE THOMAS L. KAY handed down the lightest possible sentence. Mr. Montoya was to serve each of the sentences concurrently (as if they were only one). There was no reprimand whatsoever from this judge to Mr. Montoya. In fact, to add insult to injury, Judge KAY's, harshest words were aimed at the parents of the victims. He accused them of agitating their children in order to keep them excited about and focused on the case and their experiences. No one will ever have a clue where he got this from as JUDGE KAY had obviously never been in any of the homes of these victims to witness in anyway the struggles these families were going through to maintain any degree of normalcy to their innocent children who are now permanently scarred.

Again, this is the type of information that you don't typically run across. With the court system the way it is we will never know how soon Mr. Montoya will be back among our children. Thanks to the actions of JUDGE THOMAS L. KAY, that time was potentially cut by 80%. Hopefully the parole board will exercise better judgment than this judge who will be up for re-appointment this November. What I am doing and asking each of you to do, is to forward this information to as many people as possible, in the Davis and Weber County area, in order for them to look into this case and draw their own conclusions as to the wisdom of re-appointing JUDGE THOMAS L. KAY this November. PLEASE protect our children!

Emotional Hippies

Today I added a video clip to our side bar entitled, "Emotional Hippies." Some people are undoubtedly going to think I'm crazy for doing this, but I love it for two main reasons.

1. It provides a rare glimpse into the undeniable fact that there are still nut jobs in this world.
2. The rest of us normal people can hopefully enjoy it for its humor. I cried the first time I watched it. Not out of sadness, but out of pure amusement in bizarre behavior.

For proof of my twisted sense of humor, check it out and let me know what you think. I'm seriously wondering if other people will find this as comical as I do.

P.S. Just click on the top picture.

Quirks Tag

Lisa tagged me last week, and I feel bad because I haven't done it yet...so here it goes!Here are the rules to the Quirks TagLink the Person who Tagged you. Mention rules on your blog. Tell about 6 quirks of yours.Tag 6 fellow bloggers to do the same. Leave a comment on their blog to let them know.



6 reasons why I love Lisa:

1. Lisa is beautiful. This statement needs no real explanation. She looks gorgeous 24/7!
2. Lisa is easy-going and can have fun with anything. For example, we have a lot of game nights together and one thing I’ve learned is that she will have fun playing anything with us. I love this about her!
3. She is an awesome cook. I wish very much that I were more like her in this aspect. The Grange family tells many tales about her expert cooking capabilities, which I instantly understood after sampling her pumpkin cheesecake. Mmm…
4. Lisa is totally a family girl. She loves her family and they all know it because she treats them so well.
5. Lisa is always happy. She is always smiling and has cute dimples that make her smiles contagious.
6. She is friendly. I love having Lisa at family dinners because she makes sure everyone is included. She is always fun to talk to!



My Quirks...

1. I hate getting ready for bed. Half the time Tyler ends up carrying me to the bathroom so I’ll actually start the routine. It seems like such a difficult task when I’m sleepy at night.
2. I usually can’t eat an entire hot dog/hamburger bun; it tastes like too much bread to me. Unless we’re in front of people or I’m trying to use good manners, I end up ripping chunks off my bun and giving them to Tyler.
3. I am a hair product snob. Growing up with a talented hair dresser for an aunt has taught me to despise over the counter brands. Herbal Essence, Pantene Pro-V, you name it, I only use them in desperate circumstances. My favorite brand is Sleek-Look by Matrix.
4. I still haven’t outgrown my Disney habit. I love all the movies and especially the music. “Poor Unfortunate Souls” from Little Mermaid is one of the best Disney songs ever. My husband is a saint for allowing me to sing it on a regular basis.
5. I am “a picker”. Once at work, Lori called me a picker because I kept cutting small pieces off donuts and bringing them back to my desk throughout the day instead of just taking one and eating the entire thing. I couldn’t help myself! There were so many different kinds to choose from. That name stuck with me and is now a regular term used at our house (not to be confused with hot dog bun picking). I rarely eat an entire cookie. Instead, I eat it pieces at a time and by the time I’m done, I’ve eaten the equivalent of 2-3 cookies.
6. Here’s one for both me and Tyler: We are list makers. We constantly have numerically ordered lists of items we want to own someday. This list motivates us to make adjustments to our budget so we can eventually buy the wanted items. On more than one occasion, I have eaten 48 cent yogurt lunches every day for months to save up for our next item on the list.





THE END---- I will follow suite with Lisa's tag numbers because I doubt very much that I know of 6 people who will respond to this. Correct me if I'm wrong. For my turn I'll tag Lori, Kylee, Amanda, and Andrea.