HEAT

It has been pretty chilly here in Washington. Usually when it is cold, people turn on the heater... Not in this house! It is driving me crazy. One roommate IS ALWAYS hot and whines and complains if the heat is one. She tells us she won't pay the bill for it because she doesn't want it. She also told us other three to go buy a space heater. So, instead of heating our house (definitely not a HOME) to seventy degrees, she wants us to plug in three space heaters? Won't that cost more? I am so cold in this house that the inside of my bones hurt!!! It doesn't make sense to me that three people should suffer and be miserable just so one person would just be quiet!

Girls + drama= very unhappy headachey Laura

A Message for my Immediate Family

P.S. This is not meant to be rude!

Ashlee may have said ur name more clear or said it without prompting, but I still remain her favorite!!!!!

HAHAHA

Puddles

Hi this is tiffany... I'm blogging for laura. A funny thing happened on the way to the movies, its been raining really hard the last couple days. Laura really loves safely speeding through puddles. And watching the waves it makes. We were at the bottom of smith hill, and there was a puddle coming up. There just happened to be a man where the puddle was. And laura swerved for the puddle, and the man went flying through the air to avoid being splashed.no matter how bad she wanted to , she wouldn't have actually splashed the man but it was sure funny to see the man go flying. We can only image the thoughts that were running through his head.

We then went SAFELY splashing though other puddles. They were meant to be splashed through.

Laura's Personal Secretary,
Tiffany

Shambo

YES! I do know someone famous :)

She doesn't tell us anything though!!!

The man is "Grandpa". I work with him. He told me she was at work and I didn't want to me the only stupid one to ask her for a picture so he took one too.

She is really nice. She even pulled up her sleeve so everybody who thinks this picture is fake or she is a look alike, can compare her tattoo when you see it on the show... HAHAHA.

Released...

My little Jail Bird :)


Well, it is official! My phone wad released from police custody! It happened allot faster than I thought it would also! I sanitized it.

I also talked to Ashlee on the phone today (she is the cutest thing alive!). I asked her if she wanted Aunt Lala's phone and she said, "yes!" In her cute little happy voice... I am going to deep down clean it before she inherits it though!

AND, all my numbers are officially transferred! WOOHOO!

AND, its Survivor tonight. Tomorrow I will try to post the picture of me and Shambo... HAHAHA!

The Kent Jailhouse...

Jen said now that I have internet on my phone I can blog more often... I decided to start with why I am typing on this blackberry tour...

Friday I had taken a load of resident from all three buildings to a vienna strauss luncheon at the Kent Senior Center. We had to have them drive us home because our bus was being used for shopping trips. As we were loading the bus my phone rang... I answered it and put it back in my purse, which was full with everybody else's stuff... A couple hours later I was going shopping for work when I realized I didn't have my phone. No problem! I left it at work! I went back and searched everywhere. It was gone! So I called Verizon and reported it lost/stolen. Because my upgrade date was in November through miraculous means they moved it up... Hence, the Blackberry and internet.

Monday we got a call from the senior center saying they may have my phone but its not in their hands so they can't tell me for sure. I took this as someone else in the building has it and since I was across the street ordering something for Laurie I stopped in. They said it would not be brought to them until tuesday. What? Where is it coming from? They said, "the Kent Jail House".

Now Thursday, I still don't have my phone. Because the girl who got arrested also tried to steal a purse, my phone is being used as evidence in her court case. I don't even know how she got it. The reason the senior center was called by the probation officer was because she told them she took the phone from there. Why do things like this happen to me? Weird things happen to me!

Anyways, I JUST WANT MY PHONENUMBERS BACK! And, after extensive sanitizing, Ashlee wants my phone!

Hot Dogs

We have all ready started fundraising!! My boss agreed if we could raise $1500 by January 1, 2010 he would dress like a hot dog and let us condimentize him! We are having so much fun all ready preparing for the day when we get it. All ready we have raised $350 and we have only been at it for 6 hours :) If you want to donate, even if it is loose change or dollar bills, we will take all the help we can get!!!

Here is the super cute sign Jess and I made:

Memory Walk

This past Saturday I did the 5K downtown Seattle for the Alzheimer's Association. We had a blast. I have never done anything like this so it was an experience. We have plans all ready brewing for next year. This year (we started fundraising REALLY late) we made $850. Next year our goal is $5,000. We have a lot of work to do, but it is well worth it.I love this cause for many reasons: Number one: My Grandma had Alzheimer's Disease Number Two: I have a chance of getting it and Number Three: My job. I work with elderly people and I love them. I know hundreds of people with some form of dementia and they bless my life tremendously, why not try and help them?

Anyways, here is to a year of raising $5,000.


This is Jessica, Mama Laurie,and I Friday on our wear purple day... This is my work family, minus Grandpa.


Stephanie and Anna (Two of my roommates) and Tiffany King (my little sister) before the walk.

At the finish line.

Court Day Two:

... It went great! It is amazing how dishonesty is like a war path... IT REALLY IS. I left court today feeling confident. The lawyers felt that way too... But I do not want to be too confident in case something turns... I do not foresee that occurring though!!

Court...

... I am going today... PLEASE PRAY FOR ME!!!!

Lots to blog...

... not enough patience to do it right now so I will start with what I am about to do... I am going to change the air filter in my car... wish me luck!!!

How Well Do you Know Me?

http://apps.facebook.com/quizdoyouknowme/take_quiz.jsp?q=15422817&key=B63H

Copy and Paste :)

First of the Season...

Many more have popped up. We have Red, Pink, White, Yellow, Orange, and Purple Carrots.... They really should grow faster!!!!

Also, I think many people know I have a passion for elderly people... take a look at these amazing men!!!

http://seniorsaloud.blogspot.com/2009/07/real-super-men.html

And then one more...



This is my work grandpa... Awesome that I get to work with someone as AMAZING as he ;)

P.S.

...I am blonde!

Prayers Needed...

... My stress level has officially sky rocketed through the roof. Not many people know this so I am hesitant sharing it but I am being sued from my car accident four years ago. The suers terms are skewed and a little hoakie and even the psychiatrist say she is insane.

The mediation session failed and now I have to go to court the end of July for five days (my lawyer told me I wouldn't have to!!!). I am extremely nervous and sick to my stomach. I really need lots of prayers because I honestly do not know how I am going to get through this next month. I think I have watched too many court dramas and I have seen how lawyers can twist things around.

What makes it even more hard is that my parents aren't around. I feel so alone in this matter.

This next month is really going to be a trial of my faith.

Library

I am sitting at the library and I am realizing how much I love it. I love reading... free movie rentals... what more could I want?

On the other hand. I am having a hard time with the Singles Ward. Lately I have only been going to Sacrament Meeting and I am pretty sure I made my mother cry on Sunday because she is worried about me. I guess I am feeling slightly reminiscent and I really miss the University Ward. Single's Ward is just weird and slightly miserable...

Well, I should get home... we have water aerobics for work at 5:45am... I NEED SOME SLEEP!!!

Pleasant Surprise

I was pleasantly surprised when I watered our work garden today and found this little one inch bundle of joy. I shouldn't have picked him but there are so many and he was so cute.

I'm a big girl now...

At work when I make adult purchases we joke that I am being a big girl... so I made an adult buy yesterday. It was 80% off and since my mom moved I don't have her Cuisinart. Now I can do anything her Cuisinart did PLUS more. I am pretty excited about it.



My back windshield wiper and washer have not been working since the beginning of December when we had a BIG storm. I thought it had something to do with the snow and just never had the time to take it in. When I had my oil changed a couple months ago (another big girl purchase) I mentioned it and they said I needed to make an appointment and their would be a service charge of up to $150 to check it out. Yesterday someone mentioned I should check the fuse. This morning Grandpa helped me check and sure enough it was the fuse. On my break I ran and got one and put it in. IT WORKS!



Two big girl purchase in less than 24 hours!!!

Patience...

...has been really hard when coming to our little garden. Today Veronica and I went to check on it and give it some TLC. We were thinning out the carrots and FINALLY they are taking shape. In the little roots there was an one inch little carrot starting to grow. We are both anxiously awaiting the snap peas to bear fruit being our favorite fresh vegetable off the vine. A new resident comes up with me almost every day to water our “little babies”.


This is the whole garden. I believe we have snap peas, carrots, tomatoes, and green onions (and a couple flowers rose accidently planted in the wrong place).


Our tomatoes are also doing pretty well, thanks to the sun these past couple days!


Carrots, Green Onions, and Flowers



These are bouquet sunflowers “Grandpa” Rob donated. They were planted about 3 or 4 weeks ago.


Some of the Snap Peas. We actually have snap peas with our sweet pea flowers and sweet pea flowers with the vegetables!

I am pretty sure I have the best job ever that allows me to play and garden with the seniors. THIS IS THE LIFE! I am starting my golden years early!

Irrevelant Information

This isn't quite important but lately I have heard the term "Peace Officer" used. I thought people were just being dumb and lazy and not using Police Officer in their newspapers. I WAS WRONG. Here is what Wikipedia has to say(I learned something new!!!):

A law enforcement officer (also called peace officer), in North America, is any public-sector or authorized, government-contracted private-police officer, charged with upholding the peace, mainly police officers, customs officers, correctional officers, probation officers, parole officers, auxiliary officers, and sheriffs or marshals and their deputies. A security guard, however, is generally not referred to as a law enforcement officer.

Modern legal codes use the term peace officer (or in some jurisdictions, law enforcement officer) to include every person vested by the legislating state with law-enforcement authority—traditionally, anyone "sworn, badged, and armable" but, basically, who can arrest, or refer such arrest for a criminal prosecution. Hence, city police officers, county sheriffs' deputies, and state troopers are usually vested with the same authority within a given jurisdiction.

Jurisdictions may restrict the powers granted to those who have "peace-officer status" instead of "police-officer status". For example, in New York, all New York State Court Officers,[1] as well as Court clerks,[2] assigned to the 1st and 2nd Judicial Departments are classified as peace officers who can carry a firearm both on and off duty.

Proof that...

... the ghost of Mrs. Johnson moved to Illinois with my family!!!




We think she is right handed because she moved the pot EVERY TIME from the handle being on the right side to the left side.

She must really like my family to move from a house she has been in for over 100 years.

Pictures from Illinois- The many sides of Ashlee

This is how we woke up to Ashlee sleeping one night.. SO CUTE!



Getting in my bag... See how one arm is in and one arm isn't??



One of her new things is to steal your chair or bed when you get up... in this case my book also.



Her again in my bed with my book!



Undoing the seatbelts on the plane.

Today is Monday which means tommorow is Tuesday (I know I am stating the obvious). Tuesday means going to the gym at 5:30am, work, and taking the residents on their shopping trip, or yes, it also means taking the resident to the senior center to go dancing at night... I really just want to sleep!!!

On another note, Friday we drove up to Wisconsin to the Jelly Belly Factory. I have to borrow a second wheeling carry on to hold all the Jelly Belly I got for people and Jelly Bellys my mother got for people. DON'T TELL NAOMI I HAVE THEM!!!! THEY AREN'T APART OF THE DIET PLAN!!!!

Saturday we went downtown Chicago, went to the American Girl store (Ashlee loved it, so did Grandma and Granpa... oh and I did) and Ashlee got her first American Girl doll, a bitty baby. Mom and Dad bought me one too. Someday my collection will be complete. We then went to the cheesecake factory for lunch and then the robbery happened on Louis Vuitton and then we split up for the day. Mom and everybody else went to the zoo, dad and I went to the Art Institute. I hold such a reverance for the works of Art that are there. I was speechless almost the whole time. Not to mention my favorite painting in the whole world is there:




We then high tailed it across town to meet up with everybody else. The bus we needed was slow so we walked. We also stopped at Garrett's Popcorn on the way back (best caramel popcorn ever!) and a CVS Pharmacy because they had CHicago Shirts for $3.33. I also got Chicago Hats for $3.33. Can't beat those prices! Especially because at the gift shops they were $15-$30. Then we finally made it to everybody else, got Cheesecake to go, headed out of downtown and went to one of the biggest IKEAS i think I have ever seen. It was three floors and massive. Then we went home and went to sleep!!!

Well, Ashlee has come into my parents office and wants to play.. More to come later!!!

I knew my trip to Chicago would be exciting, but who knew if would be THIS exciting?

http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/05/possible-police-involved-shooting-near-drake-hotel.html

This happened just a couple blocks away from us and we could hear and the the cops racing through the busy streets to the location.

CRAZY!!! They could have bought my Louis Vuitton off of me... well not with a stolen credit card though!

Earthquake in Italy

My parents go an email early this morning that all the male missionaries were okay and accounted for. We don't know about the other mission in Italy. Scary! Chris is there. We should hear this Wednesday if he felt it and all.

Keep Italy in your prayers, especially those mid to down south!!!!

MOVING = STRESS

SICKY!

If I didn't treat the sinus infection, would I have gotten the cold? I think I would have rather stuck with the migraine, no sleep, head feeling like a rock infection, than the snot faced, stuffy nose, all day every day sneezing cold!

In Loving Memory...

As I sit here typing this I am crying. We lost a dear resident this week. I think one of the hardest to date. She has lived at Arbor Village for nine years. She has always been there and is kind of a staple to the building. It is really hard to let go... even if I know she can see, hear, and dance again. It is still hard to not have her. So, I'll share some memories.

She is the most understanding and accepting person ever. She would always say, "That's okay!" If we did something that disappointing her (Kind of like disappointing a mom). There was one time she didn't tell me that. Because she had macular degeneration we typed to her on a laptop and it blew up big on a screen. Someone typed to her that I was getting married (I AM NOT!) and she was so upset. She worried for days! I think it was on a weekend so she didn't see me until Monday and she made it known to everyone that she wanted to see me. I went to type to her and she was so upset. We had a lengthy LENGTHY conversation about how I am too young to be married. She dais, "You have things to do, places to see!" She told me to wait until I was 29. So when everybody asks me when are you getting married... you now know where my answer comes from!!!

A lot of memories happened in front of the laptop. We talked about religion, politics, prejudices of the world. We usually agreed on everything. Our opinions were much the same (Well, except for religion!) We both agreed that as long as we loved our Lord, Jesus Christ, followed his teachings, prayed daily, loved our neighbors, and followed His teachings, we would be okay. She is definatley a Daughter of our Father in Heaven. My guardian angel. Which she gave me a couple years ago. A little cold and crystal angel that I see daily and think of her.

I helped her fill out her life story in front of the laptop. She told me she always anted to be a rockette. Something I never knew!!! So I imProxy-Connection: keep-alive Cache-Control: max-age=0 ine her up in heaven doing those kicks!

Giving me advice about my parents moving to Chicago. She told me she would always be here to talk to whenever I missed them or felt lonely. I know she is still listening and my guardian angel now!!!

She always told me, "You have such a hard job!" She would always whisper JOB. To everyone even when she whispered it to Laurie (My work Mom!) Sunday in the hospital. She always worried about me at work. Always wanted to know if I was okay. If she could help me in anyway. She would bring me ziploc bags in hopes I could use them. I used the last this week.

When we bagged bean soup for the food bank she wanted to help so bad. I had to make up a job she could do. A job that wouldn't need hearing or sight. When the other residents would finish bagging the little bags, we would put them on a tray and take them to her who would then put them in a larger bag to transport. Sometimes we re-emptied the larger bags to keep her busy. She would count each bag she put in to make sure and give me a detailed account of how many we did.

One of the most positive experiences I had with her was this Sunday when myself, Laurie, Jessica and Malerie went to the hospital to visit her. We typed on her computer that Laura and Laurie were here and in a worn out little breather she said , "My Arbor Friends!" I started to cry. She gave us instructions. To fix the lights in the dining room... It was important to her that we do that for all the people with Macular Degeneration... so they could see better. She also instructed us when we have a Memorial Service for her at the village, she wanted us to serve Root Beer Floats. WE ARE TODAY! She also asked what we thought Heaven would be like.

This is a hard death, but very positive from all the experiences I have had with her.

She will truly be missed... but Heaven is gaining an angel. One of the best they could ever have!

I'll miss you Frannie!

My Daddy...

... Left for Chicago today! It is really sad! I cried a lot.... It is sad, one more month and they will all be gone.... WHAT AM I GOING TO DO????

Job Market

I guess I never really had to think about the job market because I have always been stable at this company but lately it has been on my mind. We will be opening our Memory Care building in the next couple months and put an add on Craiglist about hiring. We have maybe a little bit more than 300 applications. They will be putting up a banner soon and also having a job fair. It is really sad most of these people will not get hired.... some of them look like they would be great employees also.... IT IS SAD!!!!

Highschoolers

The high schoolers have to teach do community service for school and of course they all save it for the last minute. These four dumb girls are here right now and absolutely driving me insane!!! They are fake and annoying and loud and I actually had to tell them to be quiet and respectful. SO DUMB!!!!

On the other hand, some Ballroom Dancers came Saturday to perform for my residents. It is amazing the difference between the two groups. Here is a supper cute picture of Hannah (She is in my ward) and one of my residents.

I am sooooo lucky!

I am pretty much the luckiest person around. Well, I exaggerated a little bit. Christmas Day I had to work and I was leaving around 2:30pm and noticed the fire alarms at our second building was going off. I debated in my head for ten seconds whether I should go help and of course I did. There was only one employee over there because of the holiday. I guess the alarm was going off for ten minutes before I got there. I had her go check the building and she said there was nothing wrong as I was calling 911. They came and couldn't silence the alarm which usually means there is a problem so they went to the sprinkler panel outside and it was almost drained.... We searched again, I went Down one hall and there was a shower of water coming from the sealing. I ran up the stairs to get the fireman (yes, he was cute!!!) and when we were coming down the stairs an exposed screw on the back of the stair rail sliced my right middle finger and was a bloody mess. I wasn't going to go get stitches on Christmas so I steri-stripped it and let it be. Also, I don't know if any of you have ever smelled fire sprinkler water but it is gross. The water sits in a pipe until it needs to be used. In this case for three years. Three year old stale water is disgusting and I vacuumed almost all of it up and my boss said leave the rest for Friday. By the way, the pipe exploded (and not because of the freak snow). So, that is injury number one... Monday I was shopping with my mom and dad, we were leaving Costco and i am sure I am being punished because I pushed the cart in a pile of snow instead of returning it (IT WAS REALLY REALLY COLD!!) As I was coming back to the van my mom shut her door and it got my hand... well, my finger... the same finger that I cut on Christmas. It hurt, I cried... I bawled actually and it bled for quite a while. The next day it felt worse and the pressure was building up underneath my nail so I went into the doctor. They xrayed it and I have a fracture on the tip of my right middle finger. It hurts like the dickens and they burned a hole in my nail to release the blood and it still hasn't stopped bleeding. My poor finger... I can't injure anything else but that stupid middle finger. My work won't let me touch knives or scissors because they are sure I will harm myself again. It is amazing how much finger injuries hurt... it's all those stinking nerves.