Are you kidding me!!!

The last few days have been filled with the excitement of moving. But I forgot to tell you a couple of things.

First up, my mom called last Sunday morning to tell us there was an earthquake in Alaska and that the news was reporting its effects were felt in Anchorage. I was asleep and didn't feel a thing, but JaDee and the boys all felt the rumblings and the mirrored closet doors apparently shook. It was a 5.8 or so and about 60 miles away, so all was well. We did joke, however as we set off for 1 PM church in Eagle River, wouldn't it be funny if we stepped outside to see the BP building flattened next door as we sat in our curtain lined hotel room. Nope, all was well.

And in case you haven't heard, there is a volcano practically on my front yard ready to explode ANY DAY NOW!!!

Wicked cool

When I was in high school, many, many moons ago, the term "wicked" was added in front of any and all adjectives. In fact one of the running jokes between JaDee and Ben is when Ben described himself as looking "Wicked smooth" for the senior prom. JaDee cracked up over that one and never fails to tell Ben when he is looking especially Wicked smooth. The wedding next spring will be a non-stop wicked smooth-fest.

And I have noticed that everyone has the January Blahs. Everyone's blog is a little slower. Cara posted a "You know you grew up in the 80s list." cjane is on hiatus. My new blogger sister has had the same post up for like 5 days. Don't these people know that blogging is the only social outlet I have here in Alaska!!! I need to be entertained! Facebook is even dragging a little. I'm leaving comments for people talking about fighting for the remote control with their husbands.

So while all ya'll got the January blues, I am bouncing off the walls for two things:

1) After 7 weeks of living in what is starting to resemble an actual pig sty we move into our house Friday!! Did you hear that! Children to their own rooms (OK the boys still have to share but they at least get their own beds) animals back to the garage (it is heated, don't worry). A kitchen bigger than the condiment counter at 7-11! Oh the humanity! (but I do have 250 boxes to unpack...gulp)

and 2) I am coming back to Utah for Wicked!!!

Last July 2008 about 10 couples in our neighborhood scored Wicked tickets when it comes to Salt Lake. Thinking that I was surely available April 17, 2009 I got in on that action. Right before we headed off the Great White North I remembered the tickets. I told Sharon to hold that thought because I was going to see what I could do.

And because JaDee feels sorry for me (as he should) and because he has enough miles saved up, I am going to be in Utah for 5 whole days by myself. I will have to carefully plan an itinerary for a full 5 days of fun. I have Courtney's baby to see and Cara will have her baby by then so I can get all my baby squeezing done. I have a fun night out with friends for the show planned, and I need lunch with Jen and good gossip with Naomi, and a bull session with Ranae. I better see my Mom and those 2 brothers of mine, and of course the future sister in law and I had better go shopping. Whew! I can hardly wait. (In case you couldn't tell by my blogging about something that hasn't even happened yet)!

As I said in high school, "Its gonna be Wicked cool!"

Image courtesy of http://www.fanpop.com/spots/wicked/images/257198

The bad news

image courtesy of photobucket

I held off writing about the bad news long enough. I lasted a whole weekend.

I was having a great Friday last week when I got this e-mail about 20 minutes before picking the boys up from school. It was from Professor Umbridge:

Good Afternoon Mr. and Mrs. Moncur,

Carter will be bringing home a detention slip this afternoon which will require a parent signature. He should return the slip on Monday. As

indicated on the slip, another student threw a ball at Carter hitting him in

the face. Carter responded by yelling out and calling the boy an "A_ _Hole."

The behavior by both boys is unacceptable. They both will need to serve a

detention. I have scheduled Carter's for this Monday from 3:30 P.M.To 4:00 P.M.

Thank you for your support with this issue.

Sincerely,

Professor Umbridge*

*The name "Professor Umbridge"is used here to protect the innocent

My good day bubble burst. This was after our not so successful first meeting where she all but told me my son was a simpleton based on the 5 days she had had him in her class and his atrocious handwriting. Yeah, his handwriting is comparable to a 3rd graders, and he can't spell for beans, but yes he was graded on a 6th grade level in Utah, and he was getting A's and B's in everything but spelling (we have valiantly stayed at a steady 25% correct since spelling tests were introduced in 1st grade. We have stopped ruining my relationship with my son by fighting over spelling words and come to accept the fact that he will always use spell check. As does his father who still has to ask me how to spell our daughter's middle name).

And yes she did indeed, ask me if he was being graded on the same 6th grade standards as his peers. That was when I wanted to claw her eyes out, if you read my facebook report.

But I refrained. And set carefully set things straight and went on to talk about how he was adjusting socially in the new class. Remember, Carter was in a middle school in Utah and is now back in elementary school. And the schools are smaller here. There are more of them therefore he is in the only 6th grade class in the school. Carter is a very likable kid and friendly. But even in Utah he was shocked at the language kids his age use in the lunchroom and at break.

At that very meeting I told Professor Umbridge that was one of Carter's concerns. She assured me that type of language was not tolerated at their school and that maybe Carter needed to look at different children for friends.

And then the letter telling me that my child, of all the children in the school, was the one saying that word.

I have been telling Carter for years that he is the one that always gets caught. And he is! In this case he has a voice that carries much like his mother's. Therefore when cuss words are shouted in the gym, the teachers will hear you!

But oh the crow I have to eat. And oh the work Carter has to do to restore his good name. Of all the teachers we have ever had... Oy!

So on Monday we all get detention in a sense. We will pick up Ethan at 3:30 and then hang out at the playground waiting for Carter to serve his sentence and then truck back to our hotel.

I'll dress warm.

Good news!

I am finally getting a sister-in-law! Ben proposed to his girlfriend Katie tonight. I couldn't be more thrilled for my brother to find someone as sweet as Katie.

Congratulations you two!

The coolest family ever!

A couple of days ago I got an e-mail from little sister Courtney stating that she had started her own blog. She is an English teacher and writes really well so check her out because she is funny too. I thought, "Whoo hoo! My sis and I are blogging buddies!" I love my sister and being far away when she has her first baby sucks but we are making it work the cyber way.

Then yesterday I got a pleasant surprise to see brother Ben on facebook! His girlfriend and I are facebook buddies and have been pestering him to get on with us. He gave in! I added the "Smith" to my profile name to show solidarity in our being sibs.

Then today without any planning at all Courtney and middle brother Jared got on facebook! 4 of the 5 Smith kids are on facebook. And 2 of us are over 30 so how cool and with it are we!

In all seriousness I love my 3 brothers and 1 sister. The last few years we have all been in Utah and manage to get together once in a while for 'Siblings Only" parties. We leave out all in-laws, children and our mom. We are so funny! We have the same dry, sarcastic sense of humor. We pick on each other, and play stupid games together. And let me tell you we can all cook! We always pot luck at one of our houses and this last time youngest brother Stephen actually cooked for all of us. He made us the most delicious dinner. He is on his way to becoming a chef and I say he's got it! He just needs to join facebook!

Now I am in Alaska, Stephen is in Tennessee, Courtney moved away from the Wasatch front 3 hours from Ben and Jared. We got together for the last time in a long time at Thanksgiving and of course I forgot my camera, so e-mail me those pictures! Love you guys!

A wabbit!

Ethan has lost his 2 bottom side teeth since we have been in the hotel. And since our tooth fairy is an airhead when we were in our own home I gave Ethan his $1 per tooth in the car and said the tooth fairy would send me a check in the mail for them.

He believed me.

I don't know if I should laugh or cry at how easily my son believes me. On the one hand I am glad he takes what I say seriously and that he values what I have to say as truth. On the other hand when I am feeding him a line of bull and he willingly trusts me I feel a bit guilty. But do I just blurt out the true origins of the tooth fairy and shatter his little childhood imagination or do tell these little white lies to keep up the magic? And he does love magic and all things fantastic!

But inquiring minds want to know.

Or do I look more fed up than inquiring? Because I am fed up too. See when you live in a hotel and your kids go to school and things like your electric pencil sharpener (or any sharpener but the one for my eyeliner) and your stapler are on a truck in a warehouse somewhere in Anchorage until move in date and your kids have homework- it is up to the front desk staff to provide these basic offices supplies and services during homework time. Because we are guests in their establishment and big bucks are being spent (not by us) to keep us here.

Well tonight we got home late after a meeting with Carter's teacher. We were in the door not 2 minutes when I got 2 phone calls on 2 different phones at the same time, housekeeping finally decided to show up, I had Olivia trying to ride the dog while I was trying to lock him up for said housekeeping and Ethan needed to sharpen his pencil for his homework. I sent him out the door to the lobby, locked up the dog, turned around, and Olivia was gone. Because housekeeping keeps the door open. So I hung up with my MOTHER who I haven't talked to in 2 weeks, and was just getting to the door when she shows up with Ethan and 2 sharp pencils and a cookie (because hotels bake cookies now. It's supposed to be homey, but they can't trick me with their tubes of frozen dough!). Closely on their heels was Little Miss Front Desk, who is not very cute and a little annoying.

LMFD: Ummm you really need to accompany your children and not let them run around the halls.

Me: I was just coming to get her. things are a little busy right now. (by this time I have 3 cleaning ladies in my room and a cat in my arms trying to wriggle free and get away from the vacuum cleaner).

LMFD: I know but we can't have them just running up to the front desk all the time.

Me: OK whatever.

Did I mention that all my social graces have vanished in Alaska. I once gave Sherie a card that said she and I were going to grow old together and sit on our porches and make fun of people as they walked by. Well I am there. The current frame of mind is if I am thinking it; I am saying it. So yes I added the "whatever" to what would have normally been a polite "OK."

OK it was wrong to take out my frantic frame of mind combined with my anger at Carter's teacher on Little Miss Front Desk. I should apologize and I probably will. Ethan did admit to "maybe" running a "little bit" with Olivia, who has become incorrigible lately.

But Carter's teacher is little bit like this lady from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.


And that my friends, is a post for another day. I am still collecting my thoughts.

We knew our cat drooled but this is ridiculous!

This picture has nothing to do with the post...I just like it! Yellowstone 2006, Carter, Olivia, Ethan

Since we have moved into the hotel we have had to get used to our animals being in the house with us 24/7. In Utah they almost never spent the whole night inside, especially the cats. It hsa made for some interesting sleeping environments. I mentioned the dog snores (as does JaDee...so you can imagine how much sleep I'm getting) but we also have the 2 cats running across our sleeping bodies all night long. See our cats don't exactly like each other. They are sisters who are 3 years apart in age. They fight and torment each other like a couple of certain brothers I also know to reside in the hotel. But they seem to have come to a truce with Big Kitty sleeping with us and Little kitty sleeping with Ethan. Sometimes, however, they both end up in our bed with Big Kitty at our heads and Little Kitty at our feet.

Another quirk to our animals is that Little Kitty drools when she purrs. She truly will soak your shirt when you scratch her ears. So when one morning JaDee woke up with his shoulder wet we just assumed Little Kitty had claimed the spot on the bed with us and didn't think much of it. Until I noticed my shirt was wet too. Now that is a lot of drool.

We jumped out of bed, not wanting to even think yet what the alternative to drool would be, threw back the covers and there it was. A yellow pool of "drool" at the top of the bed right between us. Oh wait. Drool isn't yellow. A quick close-up whiff confirmed that it was indeed cat pee. Gross!!!!

Who did it was the next quest. Big Kitty has never ever had an accident in the house while Little Kitty had issues with it as a kitten. She liked our closet and in particular a certain dress that she pulled of the hanger for her personal use. So I immediately blamed her. Besides, I don't like her as well.

JaDee grabs Little Kitty to rub her face in it but she is fighting him and squirms away. Next up Big Kitty. Who takes her time to sniff her handiwork right before JaDee rubs her face in it. I felt betrayed by my poor kitty whom I saved from the perils of the crate in the airport. She who is so proper and a little snobby. She would never have done this without good reason.

I go to investigate the litter box in the boys bathroom. Sure enough. Someone of the feline persuasion had unrolled an entire roll of toilet paper on top of their box, covering their "bathroom." She had good reason to tell us her bathroom was unusable.

It had to be Little Kitty. Big Kitty would never be so frivolous.

What's going on up here

Well first of all the temperature is above 0! In fact it got so warm (+45) that all the snow melted! We had freezing rain that closed school for a day. Then all the warm temps turned all the snow packed roads into ice and that gave us 2 more days out of school. Then today was Martin Luther King Day and there was no school. It feels like Christmas break again!

Olivia started her first ballet class today. She calls it "balleray." She loved it! A mom watching the class came up to me after and said that Olivia is her new favorite person. She was apparently most entertaining. I thought she was cute and all but even as her mom it wasn't anything too special. But this lady was just in love with Olivia and her little personality out there.

Carter and JaDee went skiing.

I found a fabulous antique store called Ozark Antiques. For those of you who know the Lavender House it is just like that but with a lot more furniture. A great place to find that shabby chic look. I was most excited!

We made some new friends at church and they had us over for dinner last night. We had so much fun! The kids even said it felt like playing with the cousins. Catherine made us this fantastic meal. It was like a Hawaiian haystack except with Mexican Pot Roast instead of chicken and cornbread instead of rice. SO GOOD! I am getting that recipe and posting it!

I also found a knitting store near my new house. They give lessons. Should I become a knitter? Cross country skiing is on hold until we get some snow!

JaDee went to a meeting about becoming a volunteer for the Iditarod. He is going to try to get on as a dog handler and do a food drop or two with the bush pilots. Dog handlers lead the teams up to the starting line and help the musher with whatever they need before the race. The bush pilots are all like 75 years old and can't lift the food bundles so they need young guys like JaDee to fly along and do the grunt work.

I am just making sure that JaDee gets his Alaskan experience! Then in 3 years there will be no excuse to stay!

I will start remebering my camera! We have no pictures sledding, skating, or the awesome sunset tonight over Cook Inlet!! So here is picture of the Iditarod website.

She's back

I had to join the rest of the blogging world who is today, celebrating NieNie's return. Oh the spirit she brings to women, mothers, and wives. My heart is full for her and her family. We saw a miracle in her and Mr. Nielson's recovery. We saw a miracle in a community forming and coming together in the most unlikely of ways. We saw the miracle of everyday life through her poignant words. Through those words she has shown us beauty in the divinity of women and their roles in a family and in this turbulent world. We have learned so much already from her example. We have united in our quest to do that which is good, pure, and kind through acts of service, love and beauty.
Thank you Nie, thank you for that.

Photo courtesy of NieNiedialogues.blogsport.com

For the Ladies of the Club-

About half of our group: Christmas party 2008

And the Ladies of the Club…

read last of the Mohicans for January. At press time I have 100 pages left and let me tell you what a journey it has been. I promised Sherie I would get this out so that you can all feel my continued presence with you (geez that sounds like I died).

The Last of the Mohicans was not an easy read and I had a harder time knowing what was going on with this book than Moby Dick last year. In fact an early reference to Fort Oswego put me on the banks of Lake Ontario instead of Lake George. And who was the dead Huron killed when Uncas was captured? I have no idea how he got there, and decided to let it go.

The best thing about the book was that it took place where I grew up. I have been to many of the lakes, went to Girls Camp and vacationed in the countryside they traveled. My aunt and uncle have sweet summer place on the banks of Lake George, and we studied the history of the Indians as a history of New York State in fourth grade. So for that Mohicans was a trip down memory lane. I also love pre-colonial America and the frontier life.

I did like the relationship uncas hs with his father and couldn't help but wonder if that was what it might have been for Mormon and Moroni, as the last Nephites in the Book of Mormon. It would be pretty unnerving to be the only left of your kind, to be surrounded by enemies. (click here or here if anything about that doesn't make sense to you).

I have seen the movie. In fact it is one of my favorites. I know I know the movie is rated R and as a rule JaDee and I avoid those. However, Mohicans came out when I was in high school and I wasn’t so picky about things like that. And like the book, the movie is gory. However reading about the horrors of Indian massacre was WAYmore disturbing than watching it.

All in all I have to say that the movie was better. Have a great meeting Ladies!

My ugly cry

OK, I have to link you to Crazy in Gilbert to start this story off. Because now I am jinxed into an Ugly Cry syndrome and I have to take control of it! I am going to try and make this entertaining and not too sad. Actually it is entertaining...

I read Marley and Me over the holidays. It was a lot better than I expected. I am usually very disappointed with books "everybody is reading," cue Oprah's book club...most just don't meet my literary snobbishness or are intellectually stimulating (BLINK at book club was one of those). But I figured I needed something besides The Last of the Mohicans to get me through the plane ride and it was at Costco, my favorite book haunt...I always feel like I am getting such a deal!

As a result of finishing Marley, I have spent quality time with my dog, Champ. He too is a big yellow lab and although he has some great Marley-esque stories, he is a very well behaved dog. In fact one night I couldn't sleep during my Move-Me-Home-Or-I-Will-Divorce-You phase of this move and I spent it on the floor curled up with Champ.

Then we took the kids to the movie. I knew it was a tear jerker and was not disappointed. But the boys are a lot more willing to take him for his walks, and letting him sleep in there room (he snores and farts; not a good roommate).

Champ with Carter and Ethan in the Uintahs June 2006




Then I took him to my friend Kaye's house yesterday while we took our girls to McDonald's. This way he would not have to be kenneled in the room to wait and see if house keeping would show up (I am having issues here with that). We got back to Kaye's and Champ was gone. He had jumped the fence and the new snow covered all the tracks. I was sure he jumped it when he saw we were leaving him and not staying in the house. He chases after us at the farm occasionally but he always stops at the end of the lane and then goes back to find Taz (his nephew) to run with in a hay field and is fine.

But this is a strange city not grandma's farm. There are big busy roads and tall snowbanks, not rolling fields of alfalfa! and to make matters worse his tags had fallen off when Carter hooked his leash to the wrong loop and therefore had no ID on him. And I should have microchipped him in Perry when I thought about it in November...

I called and called out to him. After searching for an hour I went back to the hotel to get the whistle and warmer clothes to continue my search. I called CaMee to tell her kids to start a cousin prayer for Champ and that was when the water works turned on. I cried a great howling ugly cry on the phone. I stopped at the front desk of the hotel to let the staff know to keep an eye out for him in case he found his way there and blubbered uncontrollably through that. I whimpered to JaDee and whined to his mom that the kids and I would be there this weekend if we really lost this dog.

Finally in the safety of my room I threw myself on the bed and cried so ugly there was drool and snot and more howling.

Then after being gone for 5 hours and on my way to Kinkos to run of 500 laminated fliers, Kaye called. Champ came back. And I ugly cried with relief in the car and scared Olivia.

And he was sad. There was no guilt in his greeting like there have been other time when he ran off to frolic in the canal above our old house. He came home and drank his bucket dry, curled up and went to sleep. Safe with his people.

Only now the ugly keeps creeping up on me! I wanted to cry just now but I am fighting it back! I wanted to cry when Olivia gave Champ a squeeze around his neck. I wanted to cry reading the blog in the premature twins I found from Mel's blog who were born the same day as my preemie twin nephews. Ugh!

later I have to post my thoughts on The Mohicans for bookclub...I cry ugly whenever I watch the movie so I'll be on the look out for more ugly crying!


Champ June 2006: faithfully protecting camp from squirrels.

Trying to raise a modest daughter in an immodest world

Ok it’s time to lighten this blog up…I am way too serious for my own good.

We have had lots of those hard talks with our children. You know, the ones about drugs. The ones about alcohol. The ones about how we love the people who do these things just not their actions. Carter knows all about the birds and the bees. Ethan knows how babies get out, just not how they get in. Olivia calls all of her anatomy by its proper name etc.

We even have talks about modesty. My boys know to take girls to the prom wearing a modest dress. They also know that I don’t wear a two piece bathing suit (Ok that is also to keep the flab in place but it can serve 2 purposes don’t you think)? We made the decision when Olivia was born not to put her in strappy sundresses without a t-shirt under because at what age do you start telling your daughter that it is not OK to have a strappy dress on. And we already told the boys about respecting women’s bodies and that goes for their sister too.

So when Olivia and I set out to find a swimming Barbie I knew I would buy her one wearing a one-piece bathing suit. Of course there were scores of them in bikinis and for only $6.99. but then I spotted this one on the bottom shelf. It was something like a “Marine Biologist Barbie” frolicking with dolphins in Scuba gear and a dive watch. She had a one piece bathing suit on and was $22.99.

I stuck to my guns. I bought the way too expensive Barbie because darn it if I have to pay $300 for a modest prom dress I will. I am setting the standard now. Laying the foundation for her core values. Fighting the good fight.

Whatever. We get home and Barbie’s bathing suit was one of those painted on type things that would change colors in warm water. Yeah the purple one piece disappears and reveals a pink string thing that was worse than anything the others were wearing back on the shelf.

Oh and she has a tattoo in warm water too. Good call Nicole.

PS-don’t all Barbie’s end up naked anyway? Maybe I need a new strategy.

A little bit of home

Clipart from Clipartheaven.com.

Our first shipment of the things we wanted with us in temporary housing arrived today. It was supposed to come Dec 30. We actually left Utah a month tomorrow and we only have 3 weeks left in the hotel so seriously, at this point do we need it? Since JaDee also had like 6 boxes of stuff for work and all of our skis and sleds and the cat house/scratch post, I guess so.

This has brought about a number of questions about what makes a home. The things in it? Is it the people who dwell inside the four walls? Is it the community? Friends? Family? Routine? What makes a home a home? What do we mean when we say or cry out,”I want to go home?”

Anyway, Olivia and I were running errands and JaDee was a here for the movers of the short load, so when we got back to the hotel there were all these boxes piled everywhere. She opened the first one full of her and Ethan's "snugglies," as we call our favorite stuffed animals, and exclaimed, "Ohhhhh our things! Look, my lizard! My dress! Your shirt, Mom. Ethan's wolf! Carter's skis!" Her eyes were alight with joy. She was so excited. Giddy actually, as she frantically tried to open all the boxes at once. She proceeded to spend all afternoon playing with the snugglies in the box the empty box they emerged from. This was the first time in 4 weeks she had played independently from me of JaDee.

A little tear came to my eye as I wondered how hard this has been for her. Up until the last couple of days she has been OK. She hasn’t wanted to go home. She hasn’t cried for anything, until the Christmas break came to an end and the boys went back to school and JaDee has started going to work on a regular schedule. Non-vacation type life resumed and yet we were still in a hotel. Still eating in restaurants. Still waiting for the maid to make our bed.
As a result the last couple of days Olivia has asked for Marin and today at lunch she asked where Randy was (yeah, Sherie I am crying as I type this too!). When we say they are in Utah she wants to "Run really, really fast to get there."

I wonder if her transition is still to come. I wonder if this is going to be harder on her htan I thought. I wonder if there is more in her little head than I think. I mean she talks non-stop. Seriously, from the moment she wakes up until her head hits the pillow she is a jabber box (I have no idea where she gets that). I wonder if she will really be OK as we adjust to our new house and if as all of our stuff gets unpacked she will finally realize the permanence (read: 3 years) of this change.

Or is she really resilient and it is me who is broken hearted for her. For all the people in her life who loved her on a daily basis. For her little friends, our neighbors, my friends who also loved her. For her grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. For her backyard that she asked about (Mom, where is my red swing?). For her comfort zone and comfortable routine. For her sweet little girl room that I won't be able to paint in pink plaid unless we buy a place instead of rent. Am I the one who nostalgic for all that we left behind?

So again bears the question: What is home? Will the boxes of our things that unpack slowly make a home for us in Alaska? Could our new neighbor the Government Teacher help make our home? Will it be enough to be just us 5 little Moncurs for Halloween, Easter, birthdays, Christmas? Who else do my kids need besides me? How will I find them? What village will help me raise my child and is that village as good as the one I left behind. Can I do this alone?

I guess all in all there are a lot more questions than answers.

ps-new moose sighting today in the BP parking lot

Bring your sexy back

Now there is a racy title for a not so racy blog. Hope you enjoy the new template. Everyone else had changed for the new year and I was just giving in to peer pressure. To give in to your own peer pressure click here or check out the button in the upper left that says Delightful Dots.

As I was getting ready to go out to dinner tonight with JaDee and Olivia. The boys opted for Ramen and a night of DS playing so we let them stay in. I was changing out of my 2 day worn sweats and decided to try to spice it up a bit. There was in fact a heat wave of sorts here in the Great White North and it actually got above 0. Maybe I could wear something a little sexy.

Hmmmmm what do I have in my suitcase...turtlenecks (4), cardigans to go on top of turtlenecks (several), Jeans (4), navy, olive or khaki pants, Uggs, Keens, or Born shoes and 2 pair of riding style boots i got for 70% off on my birthday, plus an assortment of long sleeved T's in various sexy colors like black and orange. A couple even have stripes. wow. I have a serious lack of an edgy wardrobe.

And really, is 0 degrees really all that warm?

I was thinking I was not so sexy with those frumpy I-live-in-Alaska-now outfits. Oh wait...those outfits came with me from Utah. I wasn't sexy then either!

random post but mostly this is for Cara

To echo Cara in all things I too have to put up a disclaimer that this is a really long post mostly interesting to family. All others feel free to stop after the third paragraph! You do have to read to the end of paragraph 3, if you have gotten this far anyway...

The boys have been in school for 3 days. Olivia and I are wasting the days away in the hotel until we move into our house on Feb 2. Then I will have 250+ boxes to unpack and may not have the time to blog such interesting things. So enjoy it.

First up is a confession. Olivia and I are heated game players. And I shamelessly don't let my 3 year old win at Memory. If she does win it is because her skills are that good. All other times I whoop her to loser land. See, shameless. The other games I am admitting to playing are Webkinz. I love Cash Cow and Cash Cow 2. If you do not have a Webkinz go get one and start playing the games! They are a lot better than solitaire!

Second bit of randomness is that I am in need of being thankful again. Sharon told me to make myself think of one thing a day that I was thankful for up here. I still need to get a little journal for it but yesterday's thankful thought was "I am thankful my Wal-mart looks cool." It means that you live in a place that values aesthetics when you have a Wal-mart that is not the standard blue. Eagle River's Wal-mart looks like this.

Nice huh? Remember we are grasping at straws here...

Third bit of randomness for this post is an answer to Cara's tag. (this is where the disinterested can stop reading) You have to read how she and Mitch met Here. It is one of my favorite stories because they truly met in the most random of situations! So her tag was to tell how we all met our husbands. And since JaDee has been in the dog house lately it is time I start letting a bit of that go and reminisce why I do love him.

I was a sophomore at BYU (aka The Lord's University). Carrie and I were desperate to meet people in our new ward. We were feeling like the youngest people ever in our BYU 57th ward. Everyone we had met so far had been in the ward for YEARS! All of these 20 somethings were ancient to us barely 19 year olds. One of our roommates had even lived in our house for YEARS! So we decided to make the best of it and meet the cute guys we had scoped out in sacrament meeting, and threw a Halloween party. We made up flyers and started passing those out to everyone in our ward and everyone from our freshman ward too. We talked the girls in the basement apartment to join in and we ended up emptying ALL of their furniture into the scary garage behind our house, set up a DJ and made that the dance floor. Our upstairs apartment was host to scary movies, food and mingling.

Anyway JaDee's apartment actually invited us in when we knocked on the door with their flyer. Carrie and I chatted with them for 45 minutes one Sunday night and then went to ward prayer with them. I remember him laughing at something very clever and funny I said at ward prayer that night so of course he must be worth getting to know.

The party was a huge success. Our house was perfect and the dancing downstairs was a hit. At one point we had about 200 people there. Carrie and I dressed as hippies with clothes from DI. We dressed our sweet innocent freshman roommate as a hooker...that was from our own wardrobe. JaDee came as Kramer from Seinfeld. His crazy curly red hair was a perfect Kramer-do! We met tons of people from our new ward and had tons of people from our old ward there as well. Carrie is a perfect co-host and we mingled with all and made some great friendships that night.

Our house ended up hanging out with JaDee's house a lot. We all shared a love for Beavis and Butthead, Taco Bell and The Simpsons. JaDee and I didn't start dating until that December. And that is where the real story begins.

My parents had just moved from NY to Texas and I had a boyfriend in both states. A more serious one in Texas actually. I met him at the record store in the mall where I got the job by wearing a really short skirt to the interview. I remember specifically putting it on for that very reason too. I had never really dated a Mormon Boy. In fact I could hardly get a date in Utah but I had them lining up at the airports every break. I was not looking for love in all the wrong places, just not looking for love. I had goals and plans and none of them included a husband and kids. Therefore my non-Mormon boyfriends were safe because I had no plans on marrying any of them.

Then JaDee and I went to Arches National Park. We were going with a whole group including Carrie. But then the morning of our journey Carrie got a phone call that rocked her world. Luckily her dad was in Salt Lake and came right down to fill the need. I went with JaDee and his roommate and about 14 other people.

It was a cool December day and the roommate had gone to chase some girl so it just ended up being me and JaDee hiking around for the most of the day. At one point we were hiking out of some trail and it was getting dark. We were also on a ledge and I recalled that I am really not the outdoor type and had no way of knowing where I was unless I followed JaDee out. I remember jumping from one rock to another and looking at the back of JaDee's head and the thought sprang to my mind "you love this man." What!!!

Well we rode home by ourselves and JaDee must have sensed a change in my interest because he asked me out for the following weekend. We saw the Forgotten Carols by Michael McLean, and then went and saw Mortal Kombat at the dollar movies. I know, I know but look I was still 19 and he was 23! We were not exactly spiritual giants at this point (or any point now that I think about it).

Carrie said she knew the night we got back from Arches that I was a goner.

Now the rest of the story is even funnier now that I have been on the inside of JaDee's family as 2 more brothers got married after me. See Jeff was our 2nd counselor in BYU 57th ward and he and EmRee lived in the downstairs apartment of JaDee's house as newlyweds. Actually Jeff's dad owns that house to this day. I knew EmRee a little prior to my dating her brother. CaMee was in Salt Lake going to LDS BC and EmRee had set her up with Travis, the Elder's Quorum President of BYU 57th ward. Now as the most righteous eligible bachelor of the BYU 57th ward Travis had girls throwing themselves at him. And Travis being Travis he was oblivious to it all. Oh it was a sad day on 6th North when it became public knowledge that Travis was engaged to EmRee's and JaDee's little sister in Salt Lake. I don't even know if any of those silly girls knew Travis was even dating someone.

As a result of that romance CaMee was a frequent visitor to our ward. So one Sunday after Christmas break where JaDee spent every other day in Wyoming on the phone for hours with me in Texas, EmRee grabs me to sit with her in Relief Society. Keep in mind that BYU wards meet in classrooms and we were in built in desks, in the MARB for those of you familiar with campus. I remember CaMee leaning over EmRee's desk to say hi to me. I remember feeling like quite the spectacle as I now know I had every right to feel.

Those (and I should say us now) Moncur women are quite the gossips and boy do they care about who their boys date! Having witnessed what happened with Alisa and Cara as an insider I can assure you that CaMee ran straight home to call her mother to tell her all bout meeting me that Sunday. I can then assure you that it was analyzed within an inch of its life and yes I bet they know what I was wearing (I hope it wasn’t something I dressed my roommate in for Halloween...).

I also know that Grandma McNiven said, "Well we know nothing about this girl. Who do we know from back East?" Oh and let me tell you how scared I was to meet her. Which I got to do very shortly after meeting CaMee as JaDee's date to CaMee's wedding!

Except JaDee was in the line and sat at the head table for dinner and I tried to slide in next to Cousin Cindy (who had also been in the BYU 57th ward at one time) but got grabbed by my unknown future mother-in-law to sit with the parents at table #1. Oh my. Only it was Travis's dad who made me want to cry as he instructed me on how to cut my meat. True story.

Then we went to Wyoming for the reception and met all of Lovell. By this time we were spending a lot of time together and were indeed having some serious talks of our own. I got to stay in the ceremonial white bedroom that has its own bathroom on the main floor of the Moncur house (although only Cara got the full treatment with all of the Nephews being threatened within an inch of their lives if they used that bathroom when she came to Lovell for the first time). This room has been a host to all the future sons and daughters in-law and all newlyweds too. Blake and Jana were the last married and the eternal newlyweds as they get to always stay there when they are at home!

The funniest of that trip happened on the way up to the Lovell reception. It was 1 AM. I was fascinated by all the stars I could see in the middle of nowhere. In fact I could actually see the band of the Milky Way that I had only read about in science class.

Then it dawned on me. How well do I know this guy? I have absolutely no clue where I am. We got off I-80 6 hours ago. He could kill me and leave me for the coyotes. He laughed when I mentioned this to him (and not that evil-you-discovered-my-plot laugh but the you-are-so-funny laugh).

Little did I know that was a foreshadow of our life together. (The being dragged into the middle of nowhere part...not being left in the wild for coyotes to tear apart part).

Anyway, love you Jade! This post has made me smile again for you!

Print by John W. Golden...see more of his work here

I'm an international puke expert

I installed a counter and a map thing on the bottom of my blog. I am merely curious as to how un-private my blog is and if I see a need to go private I will. Right now all is well and I have no apparent stalkers but I did notice a few international hits. I figured out today how to see where they are coming from and what on-line link they are following to end up on this blog. Today I got a hit from someone in Europe. When I clicked on the google link that they searched from I found myself as one of the top 10 results for the search "how to puke." Yup. My blog is deemed an expert on puking. And even more disturbing is the fact that people were looking for instruction on how to puke. Nice.

do you know what this is?

Does anyone know what a yurt is? As soon as I hop over to Wikipedia I will tell you. You can also go there yourself here. The reason I ask is that I heard a lady at church telling about her hike into the wilderness to stay in a yurt this weekend. They only made it through one night…OK I am still at the part where they hiked into wherever it was to begin with. Even if it wasn’t -15, which it was, who does that in the middle of winter with small children, which she has. A yurt is a portable, felt-covered, wood lattice-framed dwelling structure used by nomads in the steppes of Central Asia. Sounds very warm and cozy when it is -15!!


Then just when I thought I met a nice normal woman from Alaska I find out she did this 26 mile backpacking trip from Girdwood (where the ski resort is) to Eagle River (where we live).

Thank goodness Ryanne was up from Utah visiting family for the holidays! She came swimming with us at the hotel with cute, freshly pedicured toes. She and her mother inlaw and sis in law had gotten pedis that afternoon. Someone tell my Mother in law that is what we will be doing when she comes to visit. As long as the spa isn’t in some yurt!

Happy birthday Alaska

Photo courtesy of Russell Hicks / ADN reader submission
Louise Maddox, Alma Hicks & Dyanna Hicks pose with the newspaper in Celebration of our Statehood

Today is Alaska's 50th anniversary of being admitted to the Union. Congratulations! The fireworks were great downtown and no we did not get out of the car. (We are apparently experiencing the coldest cold snap in a long time. Glad we got here in time for that. Click here for a look at our weather).

We have lived in the first state (Delaware) and now the 49th state. I am pretty sure I am one of only a few people who can say that (there might be 5 of us all together). But here is an interesting thought. Delaware is the 2nd smallest and Alaska is the biggest (sorry Texas) yet Delawareans outnumber Alaskans by over 100,000.

And the choices for Vice president this election were from Delaware or Alaska.

Anyway if you or anyone you know has lived in both Delaware AND Alaska let me now and leave a message. I am thinking of starting a facebook club about this (I'll keep you up on that).

all better

Whew! This has been a roller coaster of a week. And I have finally worked through my animosity towards Alaska and my husband and feel ready to talk this out on a blog. But first let me tell you about a topic I find interesting: Are blogs self-centered? Does having a blog mean you are self-centered?

You probably have guessed that I am an avid reader of c-jane's blog. She was recently accused of being the most self-centered person one particular reader had ever read. Hmmmmm... As I was cruising the comments surrounding her post about this I found another blogger, Crazy in Gilbert, had also been accused of being self-centered by a friend, no less.

Both of these women have pretty thick skin regarding these accusations, which were not stated nearly so nicely as I am presenting them here. In fact Crazy in Gilbert was hilarious in her comment on c jane about her self centeredness and even stated that anyone with a blog has got to be a little self centered to think that what we post actually matters.

So here is my soap box on the profile of a blogger: and I really only get to the "mommy bloggers" because that is the circle I am in and stage of life I am at. So these comments may not apply to political, food, educational, support group or any other blog.

Anywho back to the profile of a blogger: Bloggers are confident rather than self centered, and tend to be more of an extrovert in personality. they are social, outgoing, and for the most part articulate. I would guess that most have at least some education beyond high school and many a have graduated college. They are probably verbal learners and not overly shy. In a nut shell they are confidant, empowered, and comfortable in life, and in who they are, and what they believe.

There, I got that out of my system.

Now back to the story and the reason I have started counting the days (1076) until we can leave Alaska. And I have always been a counter so at this point in time I simply can't stop counting down, now that I have started.

Monday Dec 29 brought about a change in our financial plan regarding the purchase of a house. The housing market in Utah was indeed a factor and the fact that the recession has not hit Alaska is another factor. I said several months before this move came about that I feel sorry for anyone who has to move in this market. Those words turned out to be prophetic, for me.

As a result my plan unraveled. I do not do well when my plan unravels. It would be one thing if it was just me and JaDee, but my 3 babies are involved here and this is my first experience moving with them. Carter was 3 when we bought our house in Perry. And he was only 18 months when we left Delaware. None of my kids have ever known change and I wanted to look out for every possible need they would have.

Not to mention multiply that by the stress of holding it all together, the move, the sadness I had not really let myself feel and work through. It was a formula for a breaking point and break I did.

I demanded to move home. I told The Mighty Hunter that he could have his adventure, I would be waiting in WY with at his mother's house until he was done or until I could get my brother Stephen to come drive my stuff back down to civilization (how does Wyoming feel now that I have elevated it to "civilization" status? The Alaska move has been good for something)!

The four walls of what was becoming the "eternal hotel stay" were closing in. The kids and I had to get out. I had to feel in control and capable of doing something so we hopped in the car and set out to find this indoor jump gym for the kids to burn off some steam. I found its road on my map. I warmed up the car in the sub-zero temperature. I even got a frozen door unstuck.

And then I got lost and kept sliding all over the frozen tundra of Anchorage's city streets.

My cell phone rang.

It was JaDee.

"Where are you?" he asks in a meek and timid voice because I am a ticking time bomb.

"Did you buy me plane tickets to Billings yet?"

"No," comes the barely audible answer.

"Then I don’t want to talk to you." click.

I call back. "Where is Costco? I need snow tires NOW!!" By this time Ethan and Olivia are asleep, it has taken us 90 minutes to get nowhere and I still need to feel productive.

I get directions to Costco. It is an older one (note that thought for later). I pull up to the tire center and march in.

"I need snow tires." I demand.

"Well," drawls the tire tech. "You need to go through the store and pick out the ones you want. Pay for them and ROLL them back here and we will put them on."

"Are you serious? I have 2 sleeping children in the car and I am 5 feet tall. Do I look like I can just roll 4 snow tires back here?!??" Yes I said that. I have since confirmed that normal Costcos provide a full service you-do-not-have-to-touch-the-tires-ever institution. Alaska women are apparently held to a different standard than those of us from the lower 48. They get fly rods for Christmas and hunt their own moose up here for heaven sake. What is a couple of snow tires to a women like that?

I walked out with the little punk calling, "Wait! We'll help you!" yeah. thanks for the afterthought.

Now I was on a mission. I drove aimlessly really and found TIREMOBILE. It looked greasy enough. I pulled up, marched in and pleaded with the man at the counter.

"I have just moved here from Utah. I need snow tires. Please help me!"

He tries to joke, "Well they have snow in Utah don't they?"

I don't laugh but stare him straight in the eye, "Yeah well they plow our roads."

He took the cue and stopped joking and actually looked past my rudeness to call 3 other tire shops before he found a set for me. Had it delivered, gave me a break on the labor fee and didn't charge me for the delivery. His place was full of good ole boys who have been coming to him for years and the man who actually did the work didn't have any teeth. I swear. But he held the door for me. They were all very nice to me and the kids. I felt a little better.

Whew this has gotten long! (as usual I guess...)

After a trip to REI to gear up my poor babies (Ethan was crying he was so cold after the 20 minutes we spent looking at the ice sculptures last week). More fruitless house hunting (3 have sold from us right as we were ready to make an offer...3!) countless of hopeless sounding texts, emails and facebook exchanges to my friends, and countless phone calls to potential rental properties who did not want pets (and in one case children) we found a house.

WE FOUND A HOUSE!

Here is how it went down:

I woke up New Years Day with several positive emails. Vicki, Sharon, Sherie via text, Ranae, Naomi, Amy via blog, Laurie made me laugh right out loud via blog...All shared horrible moving stories, and words of tremendous encouragement to me. I cried for me and I cried for my homesickness for all to them. We had missed Sharon's annual New Year’s bash and I was sad for that. All of you had more faith in me than I did. All of you held me up and I know you prayed when I couldn't. It felt better to know that every transition has its challenges (to say the least) I started finding my faith and got ready to see to 2 rentals New Years Day.

We took one. It will be home. It feels right. It worked! February 1 is the magic day and school gets to start on Monday. Hurray the routine! Hurray the normalcy! Hurray the details can start to fall into place (like my mail that is on hold in Utah...can't wait to get all those Christmas cards)!

Love you all! You mean the world to me!