Jackson Hole

Merry Christmas – this year we are doing something a little different for Christmas. Instead of spending time in the rat race of shopping and hanging out with family, we are spending our Christmas in Jackson Hole. This will be Spencer’s first time at the resort. We are all very excited and look forward to posting pics of our trip for all to view. Those of you that ski or snowboard this is the place for snow. What an incredible resort! With 2,500 acres of terrain, a 4,139' vertical rise, 459" of average snowfall each winter, how can one go wrong?

Where are my MAVS?

I am a huge Dallas Mavericks fan. Huge. I've passed the love of basketball down to my son. So last night we watched the Mavs lose to the Denver Nuggets. Dallas has not made a good showing thus far in the season. They've lost some easy games: Atlanta, New Orleans, Washington, Indiana. They are currently tied for 4th place in the Western conf division standings. This was the team that had the best record in the NBA last year. They played terrible defense and it seemed like there was a lid on the hoop last night. This is not the same team that was playing last year. Where are my MAVS??

Temple Square

Last night my wife informed me that she had never been to temple square during the Christmas holiday. I as SHOCKED! I grew up going to Temple Square after Thanksgiving with my friends from school. We would put together a big group and head down for dinner and a night on the square. We are planning on going the 15th of December. I am really looking forward to it. Cheers.

Things you may or may not know about me.

I suck at spelling! Now most of you reading this might think, “well I am not very good either”, let me tell you I am worse than that. Without spell check in word I would probably be living in poverty somewhere in a field. Jiraffe or Giraffe? Yes that is how I spelled it while playing Scattergories. If you have ever played with me I take GREAT care to cover up my answers as to not give away the misspellings.

Assault and Battery – I was 15 years of age and went to a Roy High School football game. Logan High lost and well I really lost too. After the game I was headed out to the car, where I was confronted by a really angry high school bully. After trying to talk my way out of it, he ended up punching me in the left eye. Which resulted in an orbital blowout fracture, which means the eye socket was crushed. I had a torn retina and my nose was broken in 4 places. Needless to say I spent one month out of school and the guy was arrested and charged with Assault and Battery. From this I learned that assault is the threat of physical violence and battery is the act of physical violence. I always thought it was the other way around. After several surgeries I still have some pain and when the weather changes the metal plate in my eye, expands and contracts.

Hot Dog Water – yeah, not just a song by Limp Biscuit. My family dared me to drink the left over hot dog water. And well I DO NOT recommend this to anyone. At the time we were really into Fear Factor so I thought, “ yeah I can turn off the taste buds and down this”, not the case. I got two swallows down and it came violently back up. Spencer cried.

Swimming – In 1991 I took state in the 200 freestyle relay and set a state record. Everyone used to know this about me but since I have gotten older and fatter I guess people just don’t see it. Our team took 2nd place in state overall. We would have taken first but … bla bla bla … Also, I graduated as the highest ranked “Quest”, male swimmer, rank of, “Man”, that comes after 5 Star General. So yeah it was a big deal. Ask me about it sometime.

Paper Route – I was nine years old and my local idol, Mike Growl, was our family paperboy. Mike was so cool. I would follow him around and help him deliver newspapers. He would let me bug him and ask questions and just puppy dog around him. He was very nice to me. I wanted to be a paperboy so bad. Well Mike, I think turned 16, so he found another job. To my surprise he gave the route to some random stranger. This person did not like me or and did not like me hanging around. Well long story short, after a few short months the stranger was sick of it and gave the route up to me. I was exactly one month shy of my 10th birthday. I remember the announcement to my family at dinner. I told my parents I was the new paperboy starting Nov. 28th, see I had not really asked them if that was ok. And well my dad FREAKED out. I think he was really worried that I would fail and he would end up with the paper route. Well, 6 years and one hernia later I gave the route to my sister.

My Middle Name – is Fredrick, I am named after my father who is *** Fredrick ****, who is named after his father, so on and so forth I think for 4 or 5 generations.

White Winter Wonderland

Over the river and through the woods ... we received 2 inches of snow yesterday with more on the way. Spencer told me he made snow balls and a snowman at recess. He really loves the snow. This was our first storm in the new house. I was wondering how much more intense storms would be at the mouth of Sardine canyon. I am happy to report that the storms are not significantly more intense. I have been holding out on new snow equipment I might have to go get something. Currently, I have a plastic snow shovel that I use as a dust pan for the garage. Luckily, out neighbor, Mic, plowed our driveway with his 4 wheeler so that buys me a little more time.

Six things you might not know about me.

Ok, it's been almost 2 months since I posted last. I thought and was hoping to be better at the blog thing.

But I'm catching up on Jenette's tag. I'm kind of excited about this. I like doing the dumb survey's and quizzes that come through on myspace or via email. I think they are fun (but this does not mean to junk up my inboxes).

Six things you may not know or might have forgotten about me, Dana Marie.

1. I LOVE MUSICALS! I didn't think this was such big news until it came out and one of my coworkers was almost flabergasted about it. Any kind of musical really. I enjoy a great stage production, but movies can be fun and entertaining, too. This leads me into my second unknown...

2. I am a music genius. I use the word genius in the sense that I can name almost any song, any artist at any given time. Although I'm not musically talented, that doesn't stop me from singing at the top of my lungs.

3. I played the clarinet in 6th and 7th grades. AND HATED IT!! That was my chosen elective. I was terrible.


4. I've never broken any bones. I have multiple sprains, most occurring in the past 2 years.

5. I love forensic anthropology. I enjoy CSI, but it's a load of crap. I like the nitty gritty stuff. I read nonfiction crime books. I've read the Encyclopedia of Serial Killers. If I was ever to go back to school, this is what I would study.

6. Last and finally, I was adopted. This isn't a big secret by any means, just not something that comes up in casual conversation. I don't know my birth parents, sometimes have the desire to meet them, but not really. I look like my birth father, dark, curly hair and olive skin come from him. My birth mother was 5'9" and wore glasses. That's where I get those features from. Both played sports.

What can I say, I'm an open book. There isn't very much people don't know about me or that I won't share.

... and you thought my laugh was bad!

Now this is a laugh, be sure to turn up the sound.

Self Defense

In an effort to promote self defense I have discovered a general fighting move that should cover all situations. Please pay special attention to the execution of this move ... it could save your life someday.

Election Day

Yeah! Today we get to exercise our right to vote. I use the term, "we", in an effort to persuade those who do not exercise their right to vote into voting. On a day with such heated topics I find myself wondering many things. Which candidate in our area will best represent my interests? Which candidate will actually represent the advertised issues after election day? Sometimes, candidates are like first dates; they will say anything to impress. I find it difficult to find the right person for the posted jobs. Many individuals come with great ideas however, fall short in other areas. If you have read my previous post, you will find that generally speaking I am opposed to more taxes. Unfortunately, I foresee in this specific election, more taxes. Utah is undergoing changes that require resources to keep up to public demand. The knee-jerk, 3rd grade response to change is to, "throw more money at it". Well boys and girls as I approach the poles today I hope to vote for a person that will keep our taxes in check. I hope you will vote today and if not remember the ol saying, "if you didn't vote you can't complain (edited)".

TNT

Trunk o Treat - I would like some feed back on this one. Trick o Treating has gone on for who knows how long. I am sure someone will look it up and let me know in comments. Here we go kids hang on. So this year’s trunk o treat left me with some mixed feelings. Usually, I am all for the lazy way to trick o treat. Go to a parking lot and BAM! 30 min later the kid is loaded up and good to go. Last night as I sat pondering what I was doing on the tailgate of our lovely Durango I realized that this had become a tradition that may be sending a mixed message. First of all trunk o treating is usually for the Mormon families. Although, everyone is invited, and if nonmembers show up they will not be asked to leave. However, I didn't invite a nonmember. I wasn't assigned to pass out flyers. Thus, this could portray exclusion to the community. Second, there are those that do not have the ability to attend a trunk o treat event. I am speaking of the elderly, sick and disabled; those who may really enjoy, and look forward to the kids coming around each year. Now our trunk o treating was the day before Halloween, and I'm sure the intent was to provide kids the opportunity to trick o treat traditionally. However, why not just eliminate the trunk o treat and go back to the traditional way? Why do we need to have a separate night for trunk o treating? Was it for safety? I do recall a few years ago a scare that people were poisoning candy. I am sure we have all heard of the razorblade in the apple. After careful review of my son's candy I noticed it was all in a sealed package and store bought. So do we really need to substitute trick o treating?

And that is why I vote against taxes.

WASHINGTON — What if the government tried to give American taxpayers some of their money back, but the taxpayers didn't seem to want it?
That's what happened this year, as taxpayers collected only about half the $8 billion the IRS expected to pay them in its phone tax refund, the most far-reaching refund in the agency's history. The telephone excise tax was created in 1898 to fund the Spanish-American War. After losing several lawsuits disputing the legitimacy of the tax, the IRS created a program to refund the 3 percent tax paid on long distance or bundled service from March 2003 to July 2006.
The tax agency estimated the one-time refund would affect 145 million to 165 million taxpayers.
But, as of August, the IRS had repaid just over half of the over collected tax, according to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.
The inspector general report cited two main reasons for the lower-than-expected refunds:
_Many taxpayers, following the advice of the IRS, didn't want to bother searching for old phone bills to calculate exactly how much they were owed, and took the standard $30 to $60 refund instead, refunds that were based on the number of exemptions claimed.
_Despite what the report said were generally good efforts by the IRS to communicate the program to taxpayers, many remained uninformed. As of June 9, about 87.6 million, or 71.5 percent, of the 122.6 million individual income tax returns filed had made a phone tax refund claim.
The report recommended that the IRS identify demographics that had relatively low rates of claims and provide additional information to these taxpayers on how they might still claim the refund.
Separately, the Government Accountability Office issued a report concluding the IRS loses money because of problems in managing its paper case files.
The GAO, the investigative wing of Congress, cited several District Court cases where the IRS lost more than $40,000 in revenue because it could not locate the case file.
It said the IRS could not find 10 percent to 14 percent of case files requested in two prior GAO audits, and that the IRS could not come up with 19 percent of the case files when the Treasury Inspector General, in an audit, asked for a random sample of tax records.
"This is not a new problem," said Senate Finance Committee ranking Republican Charles Grassley of Iowa, who requested the study with committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont. "The GAO's findings should be an embarrassment to the agency."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071012/ap_on_go_ot/irs_phone_tax


Generally speaking taxes are a necessary evil. The government does need an operating budget of some kind or nothing would be accomplished. I highlighted this article to demonstrate the long-term destructive power that taxes can have on our society. While voting for the telephone excise tax in 1898 to fund the Spanish-American War was probably very patriotic at the time; it should be a strong lesson to those with voting power that just because it feels good doesn't mean it is good. This tax, although very small in comparison to may other taxes, has over stepped the bounds by which it was created. Why then is it so hard to remove such a tax? Once the overall purpose is served a reasonable person would conclude the "government" would repeal the tax and pay back the money not used. In our country it is my opinion that we do NOT have a tax collection problem we have a tax spending problem. I sure wonder what other taxes I am currently paying that are not going toward their originally designed purposes. Is it really responsible to vote for tax increases? Now let's stretch this discussion a little further and see where we end up. The modern day application of this tax should worry many of you. Originally only the rich had phones and thus a tax on the rich equals a tax on only a few. However, now everyone has a phone, and if you are poor, on government assistance, desperately seeking a job you MUST have a phone. Therefore, a poor person paid this tax for many years. Where were the Democrats on that one?

Praying for Pets

Well boys and girls, my wife keeps bugging me to post something on our new blog. So I dedicate this special article to my loving wife. God bless you!

Two chickens arrived at St. John’s Episcopal Church Saturday — and calmly watched the service from a front pew. Several dogs sat in the aisles, thumping their tails against the wood floor. The smell of their wet fur hung in the air. A few cats peered out from carriers. All had come for the St. Francis of Assisi Festival, which remembers the friar known for his love of animals. The annual event invites parishioners to bring their pets for blessing. It is a tradition at Anglican churches worldwide.

“It’s a lot of fun for people,” said the Rev. Ruth Eller, who directed the service. “It’s a joy to do this service.”

Eller began the event by leading the congregation in reciting several prayers for St. Francis.

“Make us, ourselves, to be true friends to animals,” one hymn said.

Next, Eller prayed over a bowl of holy water and recruited a few children from the audience to help her carry it. The small group then went from animal to animal, blessing each. Eller would ask the owner for the pet’s name, then dip a silver wand into the holy water and touch it to the animal’s head. A few critters, like the chickens, were a little squirmy, so Eller just waved the wand in their direction. The pets didn’t seem to know quite what to make of it all. One large golden retriever named Gus backed up and panted as Eller splashed drops of holy water on him. The dog almost seemed to be expecting a game of catch. Gus’ owners, Nancy and Dyke Stiles, said they were pleased that he made it through the hour-long event without barking once. They’ve taken him to the service for eight years, and this is the first time he’s been so quiet. On Saturday, he was joined by a friend, a smaller golden retriever mix, Kajun, who was rescued from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Kajun seemed to be enjoying herself.

“We all need blessings,” Nancy Stiles said.

“It’s good to remember St. Francis,” she continued. “He was a man who understood ecology. He understood that no part of the Earth can be seen as separate.”

Taking that approach, the service accepts “all creatures great and small.”

In past years, goats, rats, lizards, snakes, and a horse have joined in, although the chickens are a first. Melinda Hillegass and James Israelsen brought the laying hens — Katie and Spicy — because their children wanted them to attend.

“The chickens are a favorite right now,” Israelsen said.

The couple, both vets, also brought two dogs. The pair both have health problems. Their Australian shepherd, Bowser, is missing a front leg. Dhali, a Doberman, can’t walk on a rear leg, which he keeps raised. Though Hillegass and Israelsen were attending for the first time (they generally go to an LDS church), Israelsen said they will be back for the animal blessings next year.

“It’s a neat tradition,” he said.

http://hjnews.townnews.com/articles/2007/10/10/news/news01.txt

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Honestly, I do not know what to say to this article. I have access to a buffalo I am thinking of taking to church with me this Sunday. It is important to renew all animal covenants made to God. Once upon a time people did parade animals into church, "as part of the deal", and guess what, they were certainly not prayed for but sacrificed on an alter. I am sure this rev., that has the holy priesthood - tongue in check, has left this little bit of information out as she offers up a prayer on behalf of Lassie.

I guess congregations are hard to come by these days, especially the family patrons, "alternative life style couples", haven’t worked; so what the heck bring on the animals! I would love to be a fly on the wall during the tithing lesson. Good thing this is a one year event.

Please feel free to post your comments.

So the other day I came home late from playing bball. My hubby said he wanted to show me something he had recorded. So he started playing a recorded news clip. It was about Mormon missionaries that were fundraising for charities. It was a calendar of them in their clean white shirts, ties and name tags. THEN there were pictures of them shown shirtless, posing. Granted it wasn't women, so there's nothing 'dirty' about it I guess. As I'm watching this, I'm thinking, 'why in the heck did he record this for me?' The next thing I'm watching is the news anchor interviewing my old fellow employee. "OH MY GOSH," was all I could say. This is totally my friend James. Good guy, kinda weird as you can see. Heart is always in the right place, but sometimes I question his mind, lol. The calendar is meant to be non-sexual, but sex is what is selling the calendar, right?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HavwkKdWa-c

Now it's my turn to man the front desk at the corn maze. Luckily, this is not a regular thing for me. It's the night of our Fall Festival, which was kind of a tank due to bad weather. It's pretty slow here, which is nice because it was such a bad day. Right now I'm hanging out with our new Marketing Coordinator (naked James's replacement). I just learned he was a contestant for Mr. USU.

After a day like today, I'm stressed, tired and just want to go home. Overall on most days I really like my job. I think I'm fairly good at it, my boss might disagree some days :). I am very upfront and honest with what I feel, which is always hard in a job. I hate stepping on people's toes and offending people, but I'm not one to sugar coat things. Most who know me know that. I like my job and am grateful for the opportunities I have to be better at it.

Who is to judge?

For anyone who knows me, my car has a handicap license plate. My son is in a powerwheel chair. That being said, we park in the handicap spaces when available. Now I did say WE, when my son is with my husband or myself, we always park in the disabled spaces.

First of all, there are times when these spaces are not available. Most of the time can be understood, but when there are no spaces, at Walmart is where this most frequently happens, there is always 2 cars with people sitting in the drivers seat. Doing nothing, just occupying my legally, rightful space. And they never have the disabled license tags.

Other times, as I'm driving down the strips looking for an open space, an obese person gets out of the car. Obesity, to me, is not a handicap. I feel like they put themselves in that situation and to take away a parking space from my child, is a load of crap. They are nothing but lazy people to me and I have no sympathy for them. Doctors that give disabled license tags need to think twice about who they are writing these to.

And, when there are available spaces and I do get them, I almost always get a dirty look, until they see me unloading the wheelchair. Then for some reason, it's okay. But if I didn't get the wheelchair and walked into the store, who are they to judge? I very well could have a heart condition or a prosthesis for a leg. No one knows.

I find myself being judgemental more frequently that I would like to admit. I think as humans, we are prone to judgement. We are raised in a society that judges people by the clothes they wear, by the cars they drive. And I'll admit, I judge a mother by what the cleanliness of their child.

It's the facts, as ugly as they are.

Ok, so I'm not the greatest at this blog thing. I have great ideas to write about, but I'm not as elablorate as I would like to be. (Does that make me shallow?) Anyway, so my next topic to vent about is about tortillas. Yes, I know VERY miniscule, but frustrating to me. Cafe Sabor is one of my FAVORITE local restaurants. Actually, I think it's a Cache Valley favorite. The last few times I have been there, which has probably been 3-4 times in the last month, they have given me crappy tortillas. Like the kind I could buy at Walmart. Previous to the last few visits, they give homemade tortillas, right off the machine. They were so good, warm and soft..... These new ones they are giving out with the meals are crap! I don't know if this is a permanent downgrade or if the machine is temporarily broken. But for now, it seems I will have to pass on the Pollo Durango.

Daisy the Poodle

Oh my gosh. Daisy the Poodle, Cache Valley's most stylish dog. This title was listed on the front page of our local paper, with the picture of Cache Valley's most stylish dog, a poodle that was pretty much tie-dyed, with painted claws, nails whatever, wearing Mardi Gras beads. Give me a flippin' break. This is typical of our local newspaper, this kind of localized crap and right next to it was 'MTV poll: Family is No.1 reason youth are happy.' So stupid, as if there is nothing better going on in our valley. Fires, deaths, blurgaries, some how all seem to miss the front page news. I don't know if it's an editor issue or maybe the city officials wanting to down play what things are really going on here. But no worries, I get to read about some stupid pet and it's owner and going on living my life as if there are no real concerns around here.