Happy Halloween

Well, it has been an eventful day full of halloween festivities. Vieve and I were the only ones that dressed up in our department. But, hey, we laughed a lot and created a lot of halloween excitment. I went as "4" and Vieve was "Miss Murder". I failed to get a picture of my costume , but if you happen to watch "Grey's Anatomy", you will understand what the costume of "4" would be. As for Vieve, I can not believe that she stayed 9 hours in 'the beauty queen outfit.' It is definitely all in the Halloween spirit!

We had plenty of vistors at work today. Amongst them were the most darling witch, ghost and 'little nemo'. When they came into our office, I was exclaiming how darling they were. The witch reminded me that they were the little girls that frequent my desk. It was great--their costumes were so real-like that I did not know who they were! HEE HEE!!! My picture of them did not turn out, so check out the Phathom DDS blog.

Tonight, I visited one of the most incredible haunted house. My fabulous friend and her family have created the most incredible haunted house. It was amazing!! I can't even imagine how many hours this amazing scene has taken to create. I know that I will be attending next year.

The pumpkins on the stairs....such a frightful looking scene!

These were the fresh graves of those who did not make it out alive!

I am glad that I made it out ALIVE!!

Then, it was off to my Mom and Dad's to see what was happening there. A pirate and a bumblebee were entertaining them. Such a fun scene!!

K-Bug's the Pirate

Miss Brylie as the bumblebee!

Would you want a pirate to kiss you?


All in all, it was a fabulous halloween! I hope that yours was equally fun!!

Have you created a back-up?

Well, this morning, I needed to check on something on my computer--okay, the real thing is that I needed to log onto http://www.mapquest.com/ and find directions to a particular address. I am 100% addicted to mapquest. I am not the greatest address finder--so, I am eternally grateful for billionaire who developed mapquest and the "get directions" button on the internet. Bless his soul!!!

Anyway, I turn on my computer and then, all of a sudden-I get an error and a blue screen. At work, the blue screen is aka. "THE BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH!" I start to panic for when you receive the "blue screen of death" on your computer moniter--you know that you had better have some back-up to all the files on your computer or it is hopeless. My heart dropped-that feeling when you know that you have not back-uped any files for--let's just say-NEVER!!! So, I am panicing--years of daily journal entries, pictures, receipts for taxes, and everything that contains importance items that create the "Michelle World".

Side note: 2 years ago, I had to teach a class at our annual meetings on I was asked to teach a class on security with computers. A huge emphasis was the importance of creating a back-up of ALL the information on your computer. Oh, my goodness!!! You would think that if I taught it, I should practice it!!

So, a quick call to my Mom for directions to my destination and a quick run down of what happened on my computer and I was on my way. Anyway, after a very busy day, my cool dad came to my rescue!!! Of course, he had to ask me if when my last back-up was created. "UM!! NEVER!!" But, like I said, he came to my rescue AGAIN!!! He fixed my computer--the blue-screen of death is gone and my files are now all restored and I am a happy camper!! Yep, I have the coolest dad ever!!! Thanks Dad!!

So, I ask you--"When did you create your last back-up?"

"happy voice"

One of my most favorite people in my life is my niece, Kaylie. Since the day that she was born, I have completely-100% adored her. She seems to always be the sunshine on a rainey day. One thing that I just adore about her is that she is dramatic-in action and in speech. On Tuesday, Mom, Kaylie and I went to watch Brandon (her older brother and my nephew) play football. Brandon plays for Spanish Fork High School and they are in the middle of State Play-offs. The game was against Lone Peak and we were playing on neutral ground--Lehi High School. (I know that you were wanting to know all that). It was cold and we were amongst a lot of blankets. Anyway, my mom's cell phone was ringing. Kaylie picks it up and before she answers it--she says, "okay, happy voice, happy voice". Then, she answers all chipper and excited to speak to her mom (who was lost in 5:00 traffic on the freeway--trying to get to the game to watch her son).

Of course, I just giggled. I was thinking to myself "how cute". But, then, as I have pondered that over the past few days. "How do I answer the phone?" "Am I excited to talk to whomever is on the other end of the phone?" "What was their day like?" All these type of questions have been going through my mind. Mostly, I am a cheerful person, but I do have my down days. So, today, as I got up on the wrong side of the bed (for some reason, I am not sure how that would have happen--there is only one side to get up from), I had a grumpy outlook on life. Well, mid-day, I received a phone call from a friend. It was completely out of the blue and I have not spoken to him for quite sometime. I answered the phone-kind of matter-of-factly. Then, I heard, "Hey Sweetie, how are you doing?" It was someone with a "happy voice". How did he know that I was having a no good, rotten, grumpy day? But, somehow, he did and then, I realized--Kaylie was right. We need to start each phone call with a "happy voice". Infact, maybe we need to start each conversation with a "happy voice".

Do you have your HaPpY vOiCe with you today?

Is this proper card etiquette?

When I get stressed and feel like the world is about to crash down, there are many things that I LOVE to do to relieve that stressful feeling. One of them is to make cards. I have a passion for homemade cards. I love creating them and I love to send them out to people. It is not that I want them to acknowledge how awesome the card is (okay, maybe sometimes they are not that awesome), it is that I have created it from my heart. I had a roommate one time that told me that if she ever received a store purchased card from me--she knew that our friendship is over. Oh, I really need to be careful not to send anyone that thinks that a store purchased card from me is an end to our friendship.

So, when Sariah (our enrichment counselor) asked me to create 12 cards that can be taught for Super Saturday, I was in complete heaven. Maybe with the week that I had, I would not have stayed up till 3am cutting little pieces of paper--but I was still in heaven--creating and cutting! It really did not seem like it was 3am when I looked at the clock. Thank goodness for TNT (Cable TV) for the fun movies that were being played at that time of the morning.

Super Saturday was a hit--if I might say so myself. There were 7 of us that made 12 cards that day-5 others to teach another day. But, amongst the 4 hours that it took to create these cards (I forget the speed of the non-cardmakers), we had a blast laughing and giggling. The joke through out the day was "Is this proper card etiquette?" All in all it was a fabulous day!!!

In Loving Memory

Since I heard the news of Kerrie’s passing away, I have had a really dark rain cloud over my head. Well, today I attended her funeral with some dear friends, Maria and Kim. I knew that I would not make it through without shedding quite a few tears. I have had so many questions of why she had to be taken from her sweet husband and her 3 beautiful daughters. I am thankful for the peaceful feeling and the words that were spoken from the pulpit today. It is amazing how the Holy Ghost can comfort those who are in need of comfort. I am grateful for her sweet Bishop, Bishop Alder as he spoke of Kerrie. He, too, questioned why did this have to happen. He then remarked that we do not know why, we just need to proceed and continue with faith. Her sister, uncle and brother-in-law spoke of many cherished memories of Kerrie and the belief that all is in the Lord's hands.

After her husband dedicated the grave, we all witnessed a very sweet and tender moment. Trent took Madison and Ruby over to the casket and let them smell the flowers and then, pick a flower from off of their mother's casket. With tears streaming down our faces, we were able to witness a tender moment between this young father and his 2 sweet daughters. I am grateful for the belief and knowledge of the Plan of Salvation. I am grateful for the knowledge of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

A new arrival for the Gren Family

The Newest Arrival

Hammey Robo Gren

adopted on Friday, October 12th

by K-Bugs

Well, we received a new little (when I say little, I mean little) arrival at the Gren home. Actually, thank goodness it is not at my home, but the home of my sassy animal lover niece. She has been saving her money for this adorable little....rodent--okay, hamster for quite sometime now. She had created her own little spreadsheet where she had the stores and the prices of each of the things that she would need to purchase before the arrival of Hammey. Then, she figured out which store she would purchase the items needed for this new little baby. Here is her explanation:

• The cage was $4.00 and was purchased from one of our cousins (she said this was quite a deal since the cages in the stores were at least $20.00).
• The food was $1.99.
• The exercise ball for the hamster was $2.99.
• The hamster was $10.00.
• The cotton balls that the hamster needed to make his bed was free--she said she found them in the bathroom cupboard. What a deal!!
• A total of $18.98 without taxes!! But PRICELESS for all the memories that K-Bugs and Hammey will share together.

She was explaining to me that she had to wait 3 days to play with him. The reason was that he is a little bit hyper and needs to get use to his surroundings. But, she said that it was way too difficult to not play with him and besides she said that a family at the pet store said that they did not wait and their hamster was alive for 4 1/2 years.

K-Bugs is so excited for her new little friend. She is already teaching Hammey to climb the stairs, go through the tunnel, and give kisses through the window in his new found home. But, he has also gotten into a little bit of trouble. Last night, he jumped out of K-Bugs hands and scurried underneath the television set. She said that when she finally retrieved him, he was grounded for the night. I know that there will be many more adventure with K-Bugs and Hammey--this has only just begun. As for me, I will admire Hammey from a far.

goodbye Lodda

Sometimes we find ourselved doing things that are really difficult to do. On Tuesday, my friend Vieve said goodbye to her loyal friend-Lodda. Lodda has been apart of her life for 15 years. She has been a loyal friend to her. It is so interesting how we can develop a relationship with an animal that patterns the relationships that we have with our family and friends. Then, when we have to decide the fate of this animal, we are completely 100% devastated. I think that is one of my reasons why I admire pets from a far.

For instance, when I was living on campus, one of my roommates was going home for a vacation. But, she had a serious dilema--she had a goldfish that she was taking care of for one of her classes. The grade that she would receive would determine on the life of this goldfish. She asked if I could take care of this interesting orange colored goldfish. Our study habits were pretty close to each other (Crystal and mine-that is), so she knew that I would be equally serious about this goldfish. Well, let me tell you...I have never lived in so much fear--okay, that is definitely a lie, I have experienced worse fear than that. But, this type of fear was near the top of the list.

Each day, I would arrive home, I would sneak--yes, I would sneak into the bedroom and tip toe over to the fish bowl. Okay, I am not sure why I would sneak and tip toe--but it helped with the fear. Then, I would squint at the bowl to make sure that it was still alive. This went on for the first 4 days of her vacation. I was so glad that when day 5 came, the goldfish was still alive. WHEW!!! Okay, not really.

Back to the original story, Vieve and her family had to put Lodda to sleep. Vieve came back to work and told me that Lodda is now running and playing on a farm with all the other friends that passed away before him. I guess, that is probably the best way to look at it.