September 30, 2009

The reality of the fact that it is going to be winter soon hit me hard today. I am not looking forward to winter. I really never do, mostly because I hate the snow, but this year just seems so much harder than the years before it. Usually I can find at least a few positive things to focus on in the gloom of the winter months approaching. Winter means holidays, family parties, treats, gifts, good food, happy memories, and fun. This year though, I can't seem to find the spark of excitement that I usually have.

I can't help but dwell on the fact that this year winter means that I will have to experience my first Thanksgiving and Christmas without my mom here, and the hardest part of all; facing the day that marks one year since she's been gone, and reliving all of the awful memories that day brought. New Year’s Eve will never be the same to me.

I really miss her today.

September 28, 2009

Xterra Utah 2009



Brett finished 119th out of 252 racers!
overall: 2:23:50
swim: 18:26
bike: 1:39:21
run: 26:03

Curtis finished 112th out of 252 racers!
overall: 2:22:13
swim: 22:43
bike: 1:34:30
run: 25:00

It was such an awesome race to watch! The swim was my favorite part because right when the gun went off for the race to begin all of the racers just rushed into the water at the same time! It was crazy. It looked like the water was full of sharks in a feeding frenzy. I can't imagine how intense it was to be down in the water at that moment. Brett and Curtis both said that they kept running into the other swimmers, and either kicking other people or being kicked themselves.

Brett came out of the water about 3 minutes and 20 seconds ahead of Curtis, but he ended up making up for the lost time during the bike ride. Since Brett was the first one out of the water I was expecting to see him come around the corner off the bike trail first, but Curtis was ahead at that point, and we almost missed him. I think that having each other out there on the trails definitely had to be a good motivator to keep going, and not give up. That's got to be why they finished the race within 45 seconds of each other!

I would have to say that the worst part of watching the triathlon is the anticipation. Watching as each racer passes you and moves onto the next leg of the race, waiting to see when Brett and Curtis were going to come around the corner. I am so glad that they both did so well!

The race was challenging for both of them in different ways, and now they each know what they need to work on for next time. Yes, I said next time. They are obviously crazy because they are planning on putting themselves through the pain again in Lake Tahoe's Xterra next year!

Congratulations Brett and Curtis!! You both did great!

September 24, 2009

Round two


{Click map to enlarge}

This coming Saturday Brett and his brother-in-law, Curtis, will both be participating in the Utah XTERRA triathlon!!

This race will be quite a bit different than the last one though. Last time he swam in a pool and then rode his bike and ran on pavement. This time it's going to be a lot more difficult because they will be swimming in open water and riding their bikes and running on uphill trails. {see map above}

This race will consist of a 750 meter swim in the Pineview Reservoir followed by almost 12 miles on a mountain bike, and finishing up with a 3 mile trail run at Snow Basin. It's going to be AWESOME!

If you are going to be in the Ogden area Saturday, and you've got some time to kill, I think you should come and cheer them on!

When: Saturday, September 26, 2009 - 9:20AM start
Where: Port Ramp Marina, Pineview Reservoir

If you need more information feel free to call or text me and I'll make sure that you know where you are going, and what time to be there.

Hope to see you there!!

September 22, 2009

Thoughtful gifts {by Jasmine}

{Jasmine & Levi}


The best gift I have ever received was from Levi for my birthday this year. He's an amazing artist, and I have absolutely fallen in love with so many of his paintings. The problem is that every painting I've ever fallen in love with always ends up getting sold. So for my birthday this year, Levi made a painting just for me, never ever to be sold. He designed it so that it would match our living room perfectly and is even making a frame for it by hand! It's so special to me because it's something he made with his own two hands with me in mind. I've never owned a real, original painting or piece of art before, and now, not only do I own one, but it was created just for me. I don't think anyone will ever be able to beat that gift....well,Levi might beat it eventually. He's always one-upping himself. :)

xo
Jasmine


Thanks to Jasmine at An Experiment in Poverty for contributing to our thoughtful gifts segment!! If you'd like to share your story send us an email: scothernsblog@aol.com

September 21, 2009

Thoughtful gifts {by Erica}


When we were dating, my husband, Zach, and I went on a weekend trip with several of our friends to a cabin in the woods. It was one of those trips that you never forget and you can never recapture. We had so much fun. One of the days we went on a little nature walk and Zach picked some wildflowers for me. When we got back to the cabin I was going to throw them away. I know, not very sentimental of me; but I am a practical girl. My friend Malia, who has been known to save a plastic cup (for years, mind you) that a high school crush once used to drink a sip of water out of, was to say the least; appalled that I was about to throw away flowers from Zach. She took them from me and I forgot all about them.

Three years later on my wedding day, I was getting ready in the bridal room surrounded by my family and bridesmaids; ready to walk down the aisle and marry, Zach, the absolute love of my life. One of those bridesmaids was of course Malia, and she told me she had a gift for me. What I opened was a pressed yellow flower mounted in a beautiful black framed shadow box. I was flooded with emotion. I can't think of a more perfect and more thoughtful wedding gift than a forgotten flower from my soon to be husband. To me that flower represents my relationship with Zach and the little things he does that I sometimes forget to appreciate, as well as my friend Malia - She is full of thoughtfulness and sentimentality that I can definitely learn from.




Thanks to Erica over at Tartraz for participating in our thoughtful gifts segment, and being our first official guest blogger! If you'd like to share your story, send us an email: scothernsblog@aol.com

September 19, 2009

A brew and a movie

Last night was our first experience at a theater downtown called Brewvies, and I have to tell you, we were very impressed. You see, there aren't any other theaters in Utah {that I know of, anyway} where you can order a pitcher of beer and a pizza or burger to enjoy while you are watching your movie. I think that the concept is brilliant.

The Schlange's came with us, and we saw The Hangover. It was literally the funniest movie that we have seen in a long time, and I'm really sad that we didn't go see it sooner. There was a constant eruption of laughter throughout the whole theater during almost every scene. It was hilarious.

I may or may not have dropped a full glass of beer on the floor, but that's not important.

We will definitely be going back soon. The food was good, the movie was great, the atmosphere was just awesome, and the prices are very reasonable. I wish that there were more businesses in Utah like this. We had a blast.

September 18, 2009

Friday frustrations

I'm just going to throw it out there: I really hate stupid drivers.

I have a serious road rage problem, and the idiots that inhabit I-15 on a daily basis aren't helping.

I can't stand it when traffic is at a standstill for an hour, and then just out of the blue it picks up for no reason. No accidents, no debris, no construction, no explanation. It's ridiculous.

I also really hate it when you can clearly see that the road is being reduced ahead, and the people in the lane next to you need to merge into your lane, but they choose not to. Instead they decide to wait until the last second to cut you off and slow everyone else behind you down to a crawl. Don't people realize that if they would merge into your lane earlier, when the sign says they should, then everything would continue moving along quickly? Obviously not!

I could seriously go on about it forever because it is one of my biggest pet peeves, but I'll just leave it at that.

What's your biggest traffic annoyance?

September 16, 2009

Thoughtful gifts


You all know that Shay is truly my best friend in the whole world. She is always there for me when I need her, and better yet she is there for me even if I don't ask her to be. A few weeks ago I was having an exceptionally shitty week. I had casually mentioned it to her in a text message one day when she had asked me how things were going. As usual she offered to be there if I needed to talk, and it was left at that.

Shay and I share a common love for a comedian named Nick Swardson. He is hilarious, and we both laugh so hard we cry when we are listening to his stand up. There is this one skit that he does about dying, where he goes into detail about how he is going to plan ahead and make his funeral fun and entertaining for the people that are mourning him. He talks about this great idea he has to send some money to a random celebrity before he dies in exchange for them agreeing to show up at his funeral. They don't have to stay long, just make an appearance. He chooses John Stamos. He thinks it will be funny when his friends are standing around at his funeral talking, and they will all be shocked when they see John Stamos walk in. Then someone will say: "dude...did Nick know John Stamos?". This is my favorite part of the skit, and Shay and I quote it all the time.

A few days after I had told Shay that I was having a horrible week a delivery guy shows up at my office with this giant bouquet of fruit. I assumed that it was for this other girl in my office, because her boyfriend had sent her flowers two weeks in a row, so I was really shocked when I saw my name on the envelope instead of hers. I opened the envelope and just about died laughing when I read the card! It said:

Hey Kaylyn!
Did Nick know John Stamos?
Hope you are having a better week!


It didn't say who they were from, but I knew right away that it was my good buddy Shaymus. She always knows how to make me laugh. I love having her as a friend because she is so thoughtful, and always knows just what I need without needing me to tell her.

I am going to start posting thoughtful gifts from our guest bloggers next week, so if you have received a thoughtful gift, and you want to share the story with everyone send me an email with the story, and a picture of the gift if you have it to: Scothernsblog@aol.com

When the moon hits your eye

Last Friday when I came home from work Brett informed me that he had a date planned. I was instantly excited because Brett always plans the best dates. He is such a thinker, and is always coming up with fun things to do. This particular date was no exception. He had gone to the store and purchased all of the necessary fixins for us to make homemade pizza's!

I love pizza! I could eat it every day of the week, and never get sick of it. We each made two pizza's. I made Brett's, and he made mine. Here is a picture of Brett-the-master-dough-spinner-Scothern working his magic. I swear he should have been a chef!

And here is the finished product, don't they look fantastic? Oh, well that's because they were.

The pizza's all turned out great, and we had so much fun making them that we decided to do the same thing for dinner on Saturday. Cheers to homemade pizza filled weekends!

September 14, 2009

Thoughtful gifts


I’m pretty sure that it is no secret that aside from my husband, books are my favorite thing in the world. I could spend hours and hours just walking around a bookstore, and never even buy anything. Just looking at the books makes me happy. I hope to someday have a collection so monumental that it will fill an entire room full of shelves.

One of the thoughtful gift givers in my life shares my passion. That would be Brett’s sister Kristi. She is also a book lover, and I think that is a big part of why we get along so well.

For a few weeks before Christmas last year she kept on telling me that she had found the perfect gift to give me. She just knew that it was going to knock my socks off. Despite many attempts to get her to spill the beans, and tell me what my gift was early, she held strong and made me wait until Christmas. It was agony. I am not a good secret keeper at all when it comes to gifts, I just hate the anticipation. I usually tell Brett what he is getting for his Birthday or Christmas a week or two prior to the day that I actually give him the gift. It is something that drives him crazy.

However, on Christmas day when Kristi finally let me open my gift it did not disappoint. She was right, once I saw what it was, my socks were no longer on my feet. It was a copy of my favorite book in the whole world, The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. Not just any copy though, a special copy. Why? It was a hard back, first edition, and it was signed by the author. I KNOW! Isn’t she great?

September 11, 2009

Friday frustrations

Some shit hit the fan this week because of a post that I wrote a little while ago. Someone read the post, and didn't like what I had to say. This person is someone that does not know me, but still chose to make some very rude and uncalled for comments about the post, and me personally.

This is my blog. If you don't like it, don't fucking read it.

The whole reason that I started this blog is so that I could tell stories about the things that my husband and I do, and to keep in touch with family and friends. I am not here to make anyone happy but myself. I write because I enjoy it. If you don't like the content that you find when you come to my blog that's fine, don't come back. I could care less. But don't leave me some dickhead comment about why I'm stupid, or why I'm wrong, and then tell me about all of the horrible things that you wish would happen to me. I'm not interested in hearing it. I don't believe that I should have to justify what I write about here. Again, this is my blog, not yours. So you don't have any say in what I do or do not write about.

I don't mind hearing your opinion on something that I write, and I can always handle constructive criticism. Just don't personally attack me, or anything that I write about unless you know the whole story. This is where I am drawing the line. From now on you will no longer see comments like this published here. I won't even read them, so you might as well not waste your time.

The eighth anniversary of tragedy



I still get the chills everytime I see it.

September 10, 2009

Thoughtful gifts {new segment}

I am a fan of thoughtful gifts. I like it when people take their time to try and think of something that the recipient of the gift is going to absolutely love as opposed to just buying them any old thing. I try really hard when I am thinking of what I am going to buy or make for a particular person for their birthday, or any other holiday for that matter. I don’t always succeed, and those failures drive me insane until the next year when I will have another shot at it.

There are a few people in my life who are thoughtful gift givers, and they try to think of something that I would never think to buy for myself. I have received some really awesome thoughtful gifts in my life, and thinking of this gave me an idea for a new blog segment. What is the most thoughtful gift you have ever received? This is going to be a temporary segment here at PFOB, and I am recruiting some of my favorite bloggers to help me out with this. The first few posts in the segment will be highlights of thoughtful gifts that I have received myself, and then I will post the thoughtful gifts of other bloggers that have decided to play along!

One of the thoughtful gift givers in my life happens to be my husband. He is always thinking of ways to outdo himself, even if he doesn’t have a whole lot of money to work with. With him in school, and not working until recently, he was really stressed out last Christmas about what he could do for my gift. He kept on telling me that he wasn’t going to be able to get me anything great, and I could tell it was bothering him. I assured him that I didn’t have the money to buy him anything nice either, and he shouldn’t worry about it. Christmas is not about gifts anyway, it’s about spending time with the people who mean the most to you. Right?

On Christmas morning Brett surprised me with something that I never would’ve expected. It was by far the most thoughtful, and awesome gift he had ever given me. It was beautiful! Just looking at it, I couldn't believe that he had made it specially for me. My very own handmade, custom designed long board! I absolutely love love love it! Isn't it great? This is just one of the reasons that he is my favorite!

If you want to play along and submit your favorite thoughtful gift to be posted, send us an email!scothernsblog@aol.com

September 9, 2009

9 random facts about 9




  1. Tim Burton's new movie 9 was released in theaters today. {I can't wait to see it!!}

  2. Nine ball is the standard professional pocket billiards variant played in the United States.

  3. Nine is considered a good number in Chinese culture because it sounds the same as the word "long lasting".

  4. A human pregnancy normally lasts nine months.

  5. Bart Simpson's hair has nine spikes.

  6. Nine justices sit on the United States Supreme Court.

  7. A full moon is nine times brighter than a half moon.

  8. Important Buddhist rituals usually involve nine monks.

  9. A polygon with nine angles and nine sides is called a nonagon.

September 4, 2009

Friday frustrations

This is going to be my new Friday segment, I'm going to call it Friday frustrations because it is going to be nothing other than me bitching about things that frustrate me or get on my nerves. If you don't like it when people complain about things that bother them, this is one segment you will want to skip over in the future. Sometimes I just need to vent, so I thought that making my rants into stories for you readers {all five of you} would be a good way to get it all out.

On January 31, 2008 I was driving to work when my allergies flared up, and I started sneezing uncontrollably. This is not an uncommon occurrence for me, in fact I probably sneeze an average of 20 times a day, and this is not an exaggeration. You can ask Brett, he'll clarify it for you.

So anyway, I'm driving along, and the traffic had been the standard morning 'stop and go' that I encounter during nearly every commute, for the last 30 minutes. This is where the sneezing starts. I can't make it stop, and as a result my eyes are closed for a good 10 seconds. When the sneezes finally subside, and I can open my eyes again, the traffic in front of me is at a dead stand still. Shit! I didn't have the time to stop my car, and rear ended the woman in front of me. At this point I am hysterical. Crying, I call Brett to let him know that I had just wrecked my car, and ask him to come to my rescue. I get out of my car, and approach the vehicle in front of me to find a morbidly obese woman on the phone with the police. She gives them the location of the accident, and hangs up the phone. I am still crying and ask her if she is okay, and apologize profusely for the accident that has just occurred. She tells me that she is fine, and nothing is wrong with her, so I am a little relieved.

The police officer shows up, and follows the standard procedure for dealing with this situation. We move the cars off of the freeway to a safer location, and fill out our statements. By this time Brett has arrived, and is trying to calm me down. After we fill out our statements, we trade information and the officer leaves. After he gave me a ticket, that is. Brett and I are standing at this woman's vehicle talking to her to make sure she is, in fact, alright. She reassures us that she is fine, and proceeds to tell us that the last time there was damage to her car, it was hail damage if I remember correctly, she didn't even use the insurance money to fix it. Instead she spent the money on something else. She apparently didn't care about the damage that I had caused, which was a very minimal crack to her rear bumper, because she didn't get out of her vehicle once to inspect the damage. Not once.

Our insurance allows one accident every five years or so without raising our premiums, so after a few weeks, once my car was fixed, I had pretty much forgotten about the whole situation.

Fast forward a year and a half to this past May. Brett's dad {who's insurance policy we are on} gets a letter from the insurance company saying that the woman who's car I hit sued our insurance. SHE SUED OUR INSURANCE FOR $78,000!!! Can you believe it? $78,000 for being 'just fine' when the accident occurred. Her car isn't worth $5,000 and she told us that she didn't have any injuries. She was suing for medical expenses, pain and suffering, lost wages, and the value of her vehicle. The worst part of this whole thing is, our insurance settled with her instead of fighting her in court, and wrote the bitch a check for $25,000.

I hate liars! It pisses me off so bad when people do shit like this, and get away with it. There was no reason in the world for her to sue. My car is the one that took all of the damage, and she had no injuries when it happened. She was totally dishonest, and now she has a fat check in her pocket, that she's not even going to use to fix her car. I wish I could send her a letter and tell her how rotten she is.

Karma is a bitch though, and I know that she'll get what's coming to her.

Guess what?

Today is Brett's first day working at Home Depot! He has been trying to find a job for a few months now, but with the economy in the shitter like it has been, no one has been hiring. He had an interview about a week and a half ago, and they hired him on the spot. Today he went in to start his training. Isn't this news wonderful? I am so happy for him!

Congratulations babe!

September 3, 2009

My favorite kind of art


{Photo found HERE}


I have a ridiculous fear of needles. Every time I have to get my blood drawn I cry at the thought of a needle penetrating my flesh. I'm not kidding, before the nurse even gets the needle out. All she has to do is tell me that she is going to draw my blood, and I cry. Every time. To be honest with you, it's really quite embarrassing. I am so terrified of needles that when we are watching a movie or TV show, and someone is getting an IV put in, having their blood drawn, or shooting up I can't watch. I turn my head and cringe. Every time.

There is one exception to this fear: Tattoos.

I am incredibly intrigued by tattoos. I have one, and plan to have many more someday. I love watching people get tattoos, and if I had any artistic ability at all, I probably would've been a tattoo artist.

What do you think about tattoos?