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Red Devil and other Random thoughts

It's quiet...All the kids are at school...I have a two hour window before the youngest is home from preschool...I'm in a new comfy sweater, sitting on my chaise in my bedroom...just breathing (and typing!)

I've been asked to speak in church on Sunday about Thanksgiving...

I had a wonderful night at book club...We read "A Wrinkle in Time." I remember it from my youth, but never read it. What a wonderful surprise it turned out to be! It spoke of agency, evil, weak things becoming strong, and love.

My mom had her second chemo treatment on Tuesday. It is nicknamed, "Red Devil," in lieu of its color...

I have been running in the evenings...What solitude I have found! The cold, crisp air...the still of the area...the beat of my feet hitting the ground...It is medicine for my soul...A time to gather thoughts and feelings...or pray...

I cut 9 inches off my hair!! We had taken new family pictures, with my long hair all precisely done...I now have a refreshing, chin length bob/stack a la Jenny McCarthy meets a longer Victoria Beckham...I really LOVE it!!

I cannot believe it is holiday time already...It seems like we were just getting costumes ready!! I need to get a TALL tree for my family room...I'm talking a 15-18 foot tree...pre-lighted (I HATE hanging lights)

I'm ready to be over my cold!! (Yeah--just in time for my talk on Sunday--LOL)

Ahhhh...still quiet!

Where Have I Been?!

1) Trapped in the carwash...

Yes...I was TRAPPED in the carwash...I should have known when the entire machine LURCHED on...It was like the spirit of Cujo, Damien, X-files, or the Haunting suddenly took over the system...My thoughts? "My son gets out of preschool in 10 minutes...I am going to be stuck in here...Who do I call?...What could anyone I would call do?...SH**!!"...While the foam and water kept turning on and off sporatically, with the huge machine arms jerking noisily around me, I had to take control...I had to get out... WHILE THE CARWASH WAS RUNNING...and push the emergency exit/open button!!!!!

I'm still waiting for my refund.

2) Went wig shopping with my mother...for when she starts chemo...

She is BEAUTIFUL!!!

3) I just found out I have Poly-Cystic Ovarian Syndrome...

I KNEW I wasn't really eating that much...How could I be gaining THIS much weight and breaking out like a teenage boy?

4) I start the Glycemic Index Diet this week...It's suppose to be very good for people with PCOS, and it "will have me 10 pounds lighter by Nov 15th!!"

5) I've been reading Sheri Dew's book, "No Doubt About It.."

"Is it possible to be happy when life is hard? Can we feel peace amid uncertainty, or hope in the midst of cynicism? Is it possible to change, to shake off old habits and become new again? Is it possible to live with integrity and purity in a world that no longer values virtues that distinguish the followers of Christ? YES...(Sheri Dew)

"...whatever Jesus lays his hands upon lives. If Jesus lays his hands upon a marriage, it lives. If he is allowed to lay his hands on the family, it lives..." (Howard W. Hunter)

"I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up" (D&C 84:88)


Where ever I've been, it's never been alone.

Love, Angel, Music, Baby...The Biggest Compliment...My Wanna-Be Alter Ego

What Beautiful Celebrity are You? (pictures) created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Gwen Stefani You are most like Gwen Stefani. A bit wild and crazy, but gorgeous from head to toe, you love to be different and express yourself through your eclectic style. You're cute and edgy at the same time and many girls look up to you for inspiration. Gwen Stefani 78% Eva Longoria 67% Nicole Kidman 61% Angelina Jolie 56% Beyonce 56% Carmen Electra 50% Kate Bosworth 39% Paris Hilton 33% I KNEW why I felt such a connection with my fashion icon...It all makes sense now...(LOL) On a side note: To see some AWESOME dress fashions, read my article in Wasatch Woman about a company called Shabby Apple...Not only is it incredible fashion...But fashion with a conscience...( and BTW...women of ALL shapes and sizes can wear these dresses...I own way too many...But I guess that's what I have to go through to be Gwen's new-best-friend...) "Dressing Yolanda" Sept/Oct issue... (It's so nice to have "proof" of my "fashionista" flare!!)

So Fitting...

You Are a Brownie

Decadent and intense, you aren't for the weakhearted. Those who can deal with your strong flavor find out how sweet you really are.

What Dessert Are You Most Like?

Etiquette, Yolanda Style

We are having the YW/YM Etiquette dinner tomorrow...and guess who is going to teach these youngsters proper table manners...Yes...That would be me...

I've compiled a bunch of funny, yet very proper and honest-to-goodness true rules of etiquette into a book that I have titled," Gracious Dining: For Gregarious Eaters and other Guilty Gluttons." Each youth will receive their own copy, and be lead in its instruction and application by it's renowned author...Yes...That would be me...

My plan is to combine three staunch, pious, and pivotal personna morphed into one being...Yes...That would be me with the help of DI and Savers...

Take the fashion sense of Dolores Umbridge:


With the renowned and antiquity of:
And the omniscient and narcissism of:
Boy...are those kids in for a ride...

Bon Appetit!!

The Name Game

Go on...EVERYBODY'S doing it...

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet & current car),
Sunny Tahoe

2.YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (fave ice cream flavor, favorite cookie),
Mocha Chip

3. YOUR “FLY Guy/Girl” NAME: (first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name)
L-Bar

4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal),
Pink Bitch (HA HA--I love my chihuahua!!)

5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born),
"Beth" Chula Vista

6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first),
Bar-La

7. SUPERHERO NAME: (”The” + 2nd favorite color, favorite drink),
The Lime Green Sonic

8. NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers),
Owen Boyd

9. STRIPPER NAME: ( the name of your favorite perfume/cologne/scent, favorite candy),
Lovely Twix

10.WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother’s & father’s middle names ),
Monroe Cannon

11. TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME: (Your 5th grade teacher’s last name, a major city that starts with the same letter),
Seastone Seattle

12. SPY NAME: (your favorite season/holiday, flower).
Summer Daisy

13. CARTOON NAME: (favorite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now + “ie” or “y”)
Cantaloupe Capri

14. HIPPY NAME: (What you ate for breakfast, your favorite tree),
Blueberry Aspen

15. YOUR ROCKSTAR TOUR NAME: (”The” + Your fave hobby/craft, fave weather element + “Tour”),
The Refinishing Rain Tour

Go on...You know you want to...

Nausea

Every time I saw it on the news...Every time I saw filming of the devastation...Every time I saw people jumping to their death...Every time I think of what happen...

This event will forever be engraved into my being...

I'm my Favorite...

Which Twilight novel character are you?

You're Edward Cullen - You have great taste for the finer things in life, a classic style, and you understand the way people work so you can manipulate easily. You have many talents and a bit of a temper, but you are mostly level-headed and rational. Take this quiz! Quizilla | Join | Make A Quiz | More Quizzes | Grab Code

It's all about me...Do you agree?!

Took this from Lisa's site...Thought it was pretty accurate, with the slight difference of my "agreeableness..." But since it's all about me and "my self interest..."

Your Five Factor Personality Profile

Extroversion: You have medium extroversion. You're not the life of the party, but you do show up for the party. Sometimes you are full of energy and open to new social experiences. But you also need to hibernate and enjoy your "down time." Conscientiousness: You have high conscientiousness. Intelligent and reliable, you tend to succeed in life. Most things in your life are organized and planned well. But you borderline on being a total perfectionist. Agreeableness: You have low agreeableness. Your self interest comes first, and others come later, if at all. In general, you feel that people are not to be trusted. And you're skeptical that anyone else really feels differently. Neuroticism: You have low neuroticism. You are very emotionally stable and mentally together. Only the greatest setbacks upset you, and you bounce back quickly. Overall, you are typically calm and relaxed - making others feel secure. Openness to experience: Your openness to new experiences is high. In life, you tend to be an early adopter of all new things and ideas. You'll try almost anything interesting, and you're constantly pushing your own limits. A great connoisseir of art and beauty, you can find the positive side of almost anything.

The Five Factor Personality Test

Middle-name Meme

My dad did not give ANY of the GIRLS in our family, middle names...Which always "irked" me. He always said that when we would marry, our maiden name would become our middle name, which did not make me feel any better growing up. (I think it was because his first three kids were girls, and this was a way for his name to live on, if he didn't have a son...which he ended up getting at the end!)

When I was in fourth grade, we were assigned to decorate a name tag, and tell about our name and its origins...Well, being the creative child who makes her own destiny, I proudly labeled and decorated my card, and tacked it to the bulletin board for parent's night.

Imagine their surprise when they found my card, and proudly inserted as my middle name was "Beth," (after my grandmother's name "Elizabeth") between my first and last names!

So..in that tradition...My "faux" middle name is:

B: Bodacious--audacious; bold or brazen--unmistakable.
E: Eccentric--Departing from a recognized, conventional, or
established norm or pattern.
T: Task master--I love being in charge of projects--
I do not care for lazy people...especially when they are my children!
H: Honest--If I think it, believe it, see it, I SAY it!!

This is the Place...(on Sept. 5th...)

Sorry I have not been writing...Along with school starting this past week, it has just been CRAZY! So, here is a sneak peak at my new home...We close on Sept. 5th, and when we finally move in, I will know that it is REALLY happening, and want to post more pics...So for the time being...

Notes

1) Survived Girls Camp--It was AMAZING!!
2) Put an offer on a home--Spiritual manifestation--Guidance divine
3) Leaving for San Diego--FIRST family trip outside of Utah, and not hinged on hubby's work! Beach, San Diego Zoo & Sea World!
4) Feeling mighty blessed...

See ya in a week!

the Fray are my "Wonderwall..."

We went and saw "The Fray" last night at the Usana Amphitheater...It was MAGNIFICIENT!!

These guys are SO TALENTED!! And the lyrics to their songs are beautiful, and real. They shared new songs they have written, as well as one tribute to Shakira's "Hips Don't Lie" which was GENIUS!

I've seen a lot of concerts, and the encores these musicians did was SPECTACULAR!! They had the a whole chunk of the front row go up on stage with them and sing the song, "Over My Head," and the lighting effects they used for the closing song, "Look After You" was magical, and illuminating. They incorporated Oasis' chorus from "Wonderwall":

" Because maybe,
You're gonna be the one who saves me?
And after all,
You're my wonderwall..."

It then melts into:

"It's always have and never hold
You've begun to feel like home
What's mine is yours to leave or take
What's mine is yours to make your own

Oh, oh,
oh Oh, oh,
oh Be my baby
Oh, oh, oh "

It was BEAUTIFUL!!

(You know for a fact there's a mom out there who is saying, "I'm SO GLAD I made him take piano lessons!!")

New day...New Shoes...New Attitude

When life gives you lemons...Lemonade?! NO!! You go SHOE SHOPPING!!

Feeling very overwhelmed with mom's cancer (looks like it will be masectomy, and possibly radiation and chemo--depends on what they find during surgery...), my cancer scare (WHEW!) magazine article (but it will be an AWESOME article!) girl's camp (feeling like they just wanted a "warm body" for leader's count going up...since no one else would go...) my kids wondering where their mom has gone (between mom's appointments, my appointments, article interviews, camp meetings, tv appearances, etc. my daughter called in tears one day, "I just don't feel like I see you anymore...") isolation from a new move, and husband's increasing work travel, I felt the need to get grounded...in a new pair of shoes!!

These shoes make me smile!

SUPER-STAR!!!

Look out Molly Shannon...there's a new girl in town (hee hee)...

I was on KSL's "Studio 5" Wednesday, at 11 am, talking about "Summer Shoes" from my article that I wrote for "Wasatch Woman" as their Fashion Contributor...

Autographs upon demand... ; )

Pancakes and Microcalcifications

Went to my check-up...Went something like this:

1) Silent car ride up
2) Prayer in car
3) Bouncy "nervous" legs in waiting room
4) Called back
5) Put on lovely gown that opens in the front
6) Proceed to get a diagnostic mammogram

STOP!

Let me just tell you this...BIG DIFFERENCE between a film (regular) mammogram, and a diagnostic mammogram (digital)!! The first is truly, no big deal. No overt pressure or pain. But...tis not so with a diagnostic mammo! My breasts (all full C to D of them) were compressed to the width of a PANCAKE! Each time the tech turned the lever and asked, "Are you okay?" I cringed as another crank was applied. I will never look at this breakfast food again in the same light...

Continue...

7) Showed me films. Clusters of microcalcifications that will be re-evaluated in 6 months. No need to worry quite yet.
8) Relief
9) Clothes on
10) Saw my sister in the waiting room.
11) Two thumbs up...
12) BIG SIGH OF RELIEF!!

So...I'm shelving this issue until January, where you will find me anxious, and worried before the next test. I have so much other stuff to focus on, and I truly wasn't able to do so before I had these tests over.

Next on my agenda:
1) Interview Salt Lake company for my next magazine article (Wasatch Woman)
2) Enjoy the 24th with my friends and a PIG (they roast a pig in their backyard each year, and invite everyone...well...everyone that matters...SO MUCH FUN!! (Kacy's blog)
3) Something with Wednesday, KSL,"Studio 5", SHOES and me..., then go to my mom's 3 hour strategy meeting for her cancer
4) Camp meetings Wednesday night
5) Thursday is the photo shoot for the Salt Lake company I'm interviewing
6) Friday...See if I'm still breathing!!

I'm grateful for Pancakes and Microcalcifications...and LIFE!

The Beat Goes On...

When I was little, I use to LOVE listening to this song by Sonny and Cher...

"The beat goes on...yes the beat goes on...
Drums keep pounding a rhythm, to the brain...
La-de-dah-de-de, La-de-dah-de-dow........"

I've thought of this song often the past week, with all the events that have unfolded. I find myself realizing how true to life this song is. LIFE GOES ON! Whether you are going along with the flow, fighting the current, or trying to keep your boat a-float, it never stops.

I sit here, with my mouth numb from getting some cavities filled...I cannot even enjoy my ice-cold Diet Mountain Dew w/ cherry, for it simply drools out the sides of my mouth, since I cannot make a tight "O" around the straw!!

On Thursday, I will go to a diagnostic specialist, along with my sister, as we deal with the fact that BOTH our mammograms came back abnormal...My new favorite phrase is officially, "WHAT THE CRAP?!" Couple this along with my mom, who had her MRI today, and will meet with all the doctors next week, as they lay out a game plan to proceed with her own, breast cancer.

I have been called as a YW Camp assistant, and while I'm excited to be interacting with the young women, my mind has been totally, and completely distracted...Will I end up going? What is going to happen on Thursday? I don't know how to cook "dutch-oven!!"

So as I sit here, numb, and slightly overwhelmed, I hear the drums beating in the background to this song...Beating for strength, courage, peace, and sunshine.

Announcement

Since no one is commenting, I take it I have scared everyone away with my mom's condition, and no one knows what to say...Which is okay, and understandable. Or... I'm just not an interesting read...

Instead of bad news, how about some FUN news?!

(Drum roll, please...)

I am the new Fashion Contributor to "Wasatch Woman" magazine, and the July/August edition contains my first article!! (You should all recognize the title...It contains a very "infamous" name...) So go out and buy a copy, or better yet, subscribe at "Wasatch Woman."

My first topic? Why SHOES, of course!!

Numb

My mother has breast cancer.