Pam and Sam

I came across this adorable picture of Pam and Sam today and I wanted to share it. It is Dec 2008.

What I did for 2 weeks in a hotel room

First of all, I must say that it is WONDERFUL to be home.
The first week in the room I read the Book of Mormon. It was wonderful to read the whole thing all at once. I am really thankful for that opportunity and it made me not even think about being stuck in a hotel room. My testimony of the Book of Mormon was strengthened and I learned so many new wonderful things.
We visited downtown Chicago on Saturday. That was fun.
Sunday we weren't able to attend church due to a miscommunication. We spent the day in our room and I read the Book of Mormon all day.
By Monday I was finished with the Book of Mormon and the days became a little boring. I NEVER watch daytime TV, but I watched plenty this week. I have decided I need to quit eating sugar-thanks to Oprah and Dr Oz.
Wednesday was the big snow.
Also during the week I read Frances Hodgson Burnett books. I really like her books. Every book I read, the theme seemed to be about making yourself a better person and the world around you a better place. I am surprised she wrote so many books and will be reading them for a while.
We finally got home late Friday night. What a blessing.
The snow in Chicago was amazing-I've never seen anything like it. The picture is of a pile of snow in a parking lot. It will take months to melt.

AND yes, I am finally on Facebook. I may be the last person to sign up, but I did.

Update on the storm

It stopped snowing by noon and the sun came out. There were three cars that just stopped in the middle of the driveway to the parking lot. They were there all night. When they finally got out this afternoon there was about 2-3 feet of snow drifted around them.
As you know there is NEVER anything good on TV so we watched news about the storm. There was a crawl running across the bottom of the screen with the school closings. There are hundreds of Catholic, Lutheran and Baptist schools in Chicago. They have such amazing names. Divine Annunciation Academy, St Mary of the Sea Star School, St Mary of the Shore, St Juliana's, St Christina's, Holy Transfiguration, Divine Baby Jesus, St Paul of our Lady's Immaculate Conception... It seems like everyone must go to a private school.
The names were endless. But my favorite name was not religious...Cradle, Cribs and Crayons School.

blizzard

Video of the storm. The wind is like a hurricane, but blowing snow. The snow is not really accumulating because it is blowing so hard. We can see a freeway from our room. It is barely visible through the storm, but there is almost no traffic. I think the city is pretty much shut down. They showed video of Ohare airport on the news and it was empty at 5pm. All schools and businesses in the city are closed tomorrow.
As a side note. Whenever there is a serious ice storm in San Antonio everyone says "they don't shut down the city for storms in the north." Well I can tell you, they do.

Happy Birthday Tina!

19 Things I Love About Christina (in no particular order)


1. She likes to talk to me.
2. She is a good leader.
3. She always knows exactly the right thing to say to people she has just met, or older people, or visitors...
4. She loves the temple.
5. She is diligent about studying.
6. She is a good cook. (I really like her recipe for Sweet and Sour Chicken.)
7. She is a good driver.
8. She is a good organizer.
9. She is neat and clean.
10. She inspires me to be neater and more organized.
11. She loves and admires her sisters.
12. She reads her scriptures faithfully.
13. She tries to choose to be happy.
14. She likes to watch romantic movies with me.
15. She likes to be with me. (It is fun to be a mom and have your kids like you.)
16. She likes Disneyland. (Who doesn't ?)
17. She is doesn't like to spend my money-she always wants to pay for things herself.
18. She loves her grandparents and she loved her granny and grandpa.
19. She has many qualities that remind me of the best in my mother (see 2,4,8,9,12) and other good qualities that remind me of her grandma Doreen.

20. AND one for good measure. She can sit on an exercise ball with her legs crossed and balance on it.

We Moved

Last night our hotel room smelled strongly of cigarette smoke. We went to the front desk and I complained (to Hassan-the same guy who fixed the other stuff that was wrong.) He told us he would give us a new room. He moved us to the first floor (we were on the second floor-the third floor is the smoking floor.) We are in a much nicer room. It has recently been remodeled and it smells fresh and clean.
I am basically a person who never complains, but I have done my share of complaining this trip and it has paid off. I always complain nicely and I will let the hotel chain know that Hassan was very good to us.

My first day in a hotel room

Yesterday I got to spend my first whole day in the hotel room. So you must be wondering what I did. We are staying in an extended stay hotel, so there is no room service. To start the day the toilet overflowed. So I got to go down to the desk and get a plunger and towels to clean up the mess. Not my favorite thing to do.
The TV wasn't working. Someone came to our room to fix it. He turned on the TV and it was working. He turned to Showtime and then checked the remote. It was not working. While he was doing that the TV was still on Showtime on a movie that had to be R rated. Just the sound of it made me ask him to change the channel. He changed it to Showtime 2. That seemed to be a horror movie, but at least it didn't sound R rated so Julianna and I just ignored it. He finally decided that we just needed a new remote and he went and got one.
Also the heat stayed on almost constantly until I realized that the window was open about 1/2 inch and I could't close it. The TV guy fixed that, too. Everything seems fine now.
The good stuff about yesterday. I read a lot from both the Bible and the Book of Mormon. I also read a good children's book called "The Lost Prince." It is a Francis Hodgeson Burnett Book. I really liked it. It had a lot of the typical elements of her books-an extraordinary child, a cripple, royalty, a child who is poor and wealthy. But it was really interesting.
I did some handwork. I ate soup. I talked to my family. And the day was filled with mostly good stuff.