Banda Raye's B-Day

Apparently, everyone I know has a birthday in December.

So here is birthday post #2:

Introducing Banda Raye

(names have been changed to protect the innocent):

-Eastcoaster

-Hill Cumorah Pageant veteran

-Awesome Mommy

-"Martha" clone

-Travels the world

-Long and Lean

-Makes Stuffed Shells like you wouldn't believe

-Is a practicing Psychologist/Therapist

-Did I mention SMART!

-Well read

-Speaks with proper english

(what would you expect growing up in Conn-ect-ti-cut)

-Married the "hottie" in our ward that EVERYONE wanted

-Hard worker

-Great money handler

-Super friend

These are tender times in my life, my years at Ricks College. And as I was looking through photo albums for this post, it reminded me of the innocence and excitment of those seasons. So, I vow to post some more memories and relive those moments again thru future blogging.

Here's some to honor one of my best friend. I hope things are well with you and that you have a Wonderful birthday.

I love you Manda.

Rats a Rood One Ratalie...

So its that time of year again, when Nat turns another year older.

For those of you who don't know her,

I'll let you in on some little "Nat secrets":

-She's a fashion diva

-She's AWESOME at her calling

-She's such a great mom. She volunteers at her kids school every week.

-She loves her family.

-She has a newer cool paid off car.

-She has a cute decorated house.

-Her dog loves her.

-She is a total BLOG STALKER.

-She is a super listener.

-She is stinkin' hilarious, always got a joke.

Nat, from all of us who know you past, present and future:

Happy Birthday you're a SUPER GAL!

TIS THE SEASON

Merry Christmas everyone.

Our family has been busy decorating, working, wrapping, and shopping. Work has slowed down for me since my employee can ride the hound all by herself now, but we have more on the agenda. Our next project is the WARD PARTY this Friday-Mitch and I will be smoking us some pork loin!

Stop on by.

My Golden Birthday.

Birthday "Week" was FANTASTIC!

I am so lucky to have such good friends, family, and a husband who pampered me all week long. Thank you to all.

I'll explain my fun filled week using the wonderful world of digital imagery.

Mitch took me to Seattle for 2 days, We ate at the Icon Grill. It was a nice restaurant, and had really fancy food. This is us in front of the fountain inside the eatery.

Mitch had the Famous Molasses Covered Meatloaf, I had the red potato encrusted hallibut. Pretty yummy!

Gotta have a cherry coke too.

Mitch also got me tickets to the Sonics game that night. We walked from our hotel room to dinner, then to the Key Arena, then back. Everything was close and in downtown so we wouldn't have to pay for parking. He is so SMART. But too bad it rained all day and night.

This was a fun date- if you ever are looking for things to do in Seattle hook yourself up with Sonics tickets, even the nosebleed seats were awesome.

Mitch begged me to take a picture of him and the Sonics dancers, he was throwing such a fit, I caved. They felt sorry for him and agreed. Lucky Mitchie.

The next day I got to go shopping at IKEA, and the North Bend Outlet stores. I spent way too much time and money in both of those places.


When I got home, I found this on my front door. Girls who will remain nameless are going to pay for this later, I think one of their birthday's is coming up soon. You know what they say "Paybacks are a..."
Lucky me.

The next day those same silly girls who "decorated" my front door, took me out for a ladies night the following evening. We had a blast shopping at a christmas bazaar, and eating everything in Olive Garden. LOVED IT.

Thanks everyone, I appreciate all your friendship and love. I haven't been the bestest friend lately and I'm humbled by all the kindness shown to me of late.
Thank You.

I think 28 is going to be great.

MARRIAGE is what brings us together today...

Last Saturday was Barg and I wedding anniversary. Our seventh.

Crazy how time flies. It seems like yesterday he was living in my grandma Gay's fifth wheel in the parking lot of the Pet Rescue, while he worked at Wilcox saving money for a month before we got married. Mitch you are my one and only. I love you.

I'm Dog the Bounty Hunter

Greetings from Greyhound. Crazy things have been happening here.

Today, I recognized a man from a wanted poster and turned him in to the PO PO. He was arrested and drug away (wanted for brutally stabbing his ex and her new boyfriend). Don't ya just want to climb on a greyhound bus!

Installed 3 new telephones at my ticket counter. Which meant I crawled under the nasty cobweb infested computer desk.

Ate a bag of Cheetos in record time: 3 min 30 sec. between ticketing passengers and training new employee. I know classy huh?

Drove down Sylvester at least 8 times in my route to work, then home, then work, then home. Greyhound should change the ticket counter hours to NOT coincide with the school zone yellow blinking lights. SOOOOO slow.

Held the flashlight for Mitch, while he lovingly put my light bar up in my new bathroom. The power was out because he tried to do it with the power on first. Silly Meeyatch.

Thanks to all who have watched my kids, and helped Mitch and I during this trying time for our business. It doesn't go unnoticed. Especially my sister Katie, Mom, Daddy, and Grammy Tami. Thank you so much. We owe you!

I'M BACK...Kinda

So, Volleyball got over last Tuesday. Yes we went out with a bang, the girls pulled it through and won their last one. Good ending for the not-so-winning-season. So my neglected blog will now have some posts, maybe.

Two weeks ago, we found some evidence that my employees have been lets just say..."skimmin' a little off the top". A little meaning: A LOT. So needless to say their ride on the Greyhound has come to a slamming stop. But that also means, I'm a working mom again. That sucks. I was looking forward to eating bon-bons, reading books all day long, and watching some morning soaps, but that dream is squashed.

I'll be downtown Pasco if anyone needs me.

Dramatic Pause

Sorry, that my loyal readers (all three of you-including Mitch) have to endure my volleyball season also, but alas it soon will be over. Volleyball will be done in two weeks. Yee Haw. Then I will be back to posting normal again (every week or so j/k). It is there I will summarize my season and busy working schedule. Stay tuned!

Book Review

I'm always a little behind the times (look where i grew up), but I just got done reading the twilight series by Stephanie Meyer. These three books were a nice easy read for me. I got so involved that I would even read while i was driving to Hermiston everyday for volleyball. I must confess, that it was a little teeney-bopperish, and even me, a literary genius, thought the author used a few too many adjectives, and described things over and over. But that's just me. I don't usually read fantasy genre, but the love story was ohhhh sooo romantic (be quiet Bekie). Anyway, go get these books, they're great.

PS- Faith Hill's new album comes out today. I would love to purchase it, but I guess i can listen to it all day on my computer for free. She is such a talented artist, oh yeah, and drop dead gorgeous!

PPS- We have a home game tonight against my high school rivals, the Pendleton BUCKAROOS, I mean what the heck kind of mascot is a buckaroo? Beat the bucks!

stressed?...nah

Tonight is the awaited ward activity,

we (committee) have been planning.

Come be "Elementary" for an evening.

Be there or Be square!

Yay for fall

I'm looking forward to chillier days and nights, weiner wraps, friday night football games, sweaters and jeans, no yard work, and camp fire smell in the air.

Do you love fall?

A shout out to KIM:

Kim is:

a super bookkeeper

super mom

super FAST walker

super antique shopper

super yard sale barginer

super daughter

super YW secretary

super gardener

super canner

super hard worker

super advice giver

super friend.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

HOPE IT WAS SUPER GRRRRRREAT!

Update...

Well, the game didn't go as we planned. Hermiston was beat by Southridge on Tuesday night. However, Hermiston played well. We were defeted in four games and passing poorly was our downfall. We are a very young team with only 2 seniors, which means a lot of learning will be done this year.

Shout out to Ally Hannah who is a Jr. for Southridge and in my old ward. It was good to see her, and what a hitter!

Also gave a hug to my old coach, who now is the head coach for Southridge. He pretty much kicked my behind all during school, but got me to where I am. By the way, he holds the record for the longest last name for a High School coach nationwide: John Lengphounpraseut (pronounced "Le-fon-poo-shey" He is from Laos).

We head to Walla Walla Saturday to play in one of the oldest and biggest tourneys in this area. They have free food for coaches. That rocks.

TOMORROW

HERMISTON's first home game tomorrow (TUES 9/4) 5:15pm (JV, JV2) 7:00pm (Varsity)

VS

Tricities own SOUTHRIDGE SUNS

Showdown at the dawg-house!

(directions to match at www.highschoolsports.net)

Perfection

Wednesday afternoon, we (Tami, Marilyn, Danyelle, & Kristen) set off to Seattle. We scored super great tickets-thanks to Marilyn and her stealth-like Internet reflexes-to the Michael Buble concert at McCaw Hall. Perfect.

We set out on our journey, arriving in Seattle during rush-hour traffic. -Not so perfect.

We checked into our hotel which was only like 5 min from the venue. The bellman let us in on a little secret, that MB's crowd might be staying at this same hotel. Maybe we can score some backstage stuff? -Perfect.

We ate at a little lounge under the hotel and had some great salmon and pasta. Perfect.

We arrived at the hall and found our seats 6th row a little right of the stage. MB's family was there and sat 10 chairs down on our left. -Perfect.

MB sang and lulled us into a state of teeny-bopper love. If you ever have a chance of seeing this man in concert, it is so worth it. He really puts on a great show. -Super Perfect.

Toward the end of the concert, we ran down to the stage and danced to his rocking music. Unfortunately we happened to be behind two girls who were completely drunk and disgusting. -SO NOT Perfect.

These two girls were...uhem...doing things X rated at a G rated show. At one point one of the young women (seriously she looked 15 years old!) hoisted herself up on the stage and sat there with her back turned to MB and facing us. She was "grooving" in her own little world and MB just happened to sing right behind her. She reached up behind her and grabbed the very bottom of the front of his suit coat (because he is a classy guy, he sings in a suit and tie) in a dangerously naughty place. Panic set in. -NOT Perfect.

I looked over to the side of the stage, and I see MB's body guard staring at her, then me, her, then me. He starts mouthing "Get her off the stage!" Because I grew up in a family where reading lips is 2nd nature, I looked behind me to see if this guy is really talking to me. I look back and he says it again with a little more gusto. I push my "chicken" aside and point to the side of the stage and yell to the girls, "hey! look over there!" They look, and he mouths a sentence that is a little too explicit to write. The girl, slides off the stage, and gives her best drunk-dirty look to me. She says, in her snooty voice, with her horrid breath..."It's not like you see Michael Buble everyday!" I stuck my face out and said "we do!" Good one Nan -Perfect.

Needless to say, me and this body guard are best friends forever. -also Perfect.

We slept in a cool hotel, and headed for home the next morning. We soon hit "Yaka-Vegas" and were glad to see the last stretch home. When I got pulled over by a stater! Is it just me, or do I always get pulled over immediately after concerts I attend? Anyway he pulled me over to test the tint on my windows. CAN YOU BELIEVE IT? He said my windows were barely under the limit, but they WERE under the limit (we bought the Tahoe like that). He comes to my window and has the gall to say, "I'm giving you a warning..." COMO? how do you give me a warning when I'm NOT breaking the law? Oh well, just one more cop for Mitch to hate. -Not Perfect.

All in all we had such a great time and lots of laughs! Thanks to Marilyn and Danyelle for hooking me up with tickets. I enjoyed making some awesome memories!

the best pastime...

Check this out. This is a far cry from where we are, but it gets you in the mood doesn't it?

http://youtube.com/watch?v=uEPCkCf9BN8

(I haven't figured out how to post the whole video on here, so bear with me.)

Reunion

Here are some pictures from the reunion I promised. It was a great weekend jam-packed with fun activities and never a dull moment. Now we need a vacation to recover from it.

Cousin Michelle, Nick, and Heather (team Pink) posing before the Amazing Race.

This is the desk I refinished for the auction. I had to decoupage some material onto the top and inside the drawers because of the rough shape it was in. Marilyn is now the proud owner.

These are some of the Mathews Brothers cooking some grubbin breakfast; Dwayne, Loren, Leon, and Richard. Great Job you guys!

Jack survived the weekend, he especially enjoyed the 5k fun run/walk. He loves having his Grami-tami around to constantly hold him.

Alicia liked the breakfast but not me taking her picture. You're welcome Leesh.

Many thanks to those who put on craft classes, activities, and meals. It was enjoyed by all!

Joker

This is my little joker, CAM. Isn't he so funny?

I'm in the process of downloading family reunion picts and in the rough stages of a post for tomorrow. So stay tuned...

Wake up laughing

I had a Super Day yesterday. First Marilyn invited me to "Hairspray". If you have not seen this, you are seriously going to miss the newest musical to rock the nation. I loved it. After the movie I was ready to write a roadshow, so look out first ward.

So I scored some tickets to Martina Mcbride (country singer) concert at the Toyota center last night. Mitch didn't want to go (he thinks she screams), Sarah did. We had such a good time.

We were sporting our YMCA Soccer tee-shirts (we had to wear them, because of the free tickets), and set off. Got to the doors and they turned us away because of my camera. Apparently you can't take any camera with "zoom". And since Mitch bought this huge camera with fantastic zoom, I had to walk all the way back to the truck and put it away (secretly I saw a billion people with ZOOM cameras). So Sarah and I snapped some pics with our cell phones. Uh, not so great. The concert was rockin. Martina sang almost all her hits and kept us chuckling between songs. I loved when she sang some old Loretta Lynn songs. I noticed some themes: she definitely uses the word "concrete" in 75 percent of her songs, and she's all about girl power. What a show. With a country concert comes interesting people, we saw plenty of "county fair goers", fist pumpers, and business in the front party in the back. We applauded at the end and got her to come out and sing 2 more songs. She sang Don't stop believing (Journey), and Hit me with your best shot (Pat Benetar). It was great.

After the show, we headed home smiling and chatting. I was on the 240 when a stater pulled us over.

"Ma'am, do you know why I pulled you over?"

"actually no, I wasn't speeding (I was going 5 under because me and Sarah were talking so much I wasn't paying attention).

"have you been drinking?"

"nope"

"You have a tail-light out"

"Oh. This is my husbands pick-up."

Long silence as he is checking my license and registration-which i handed him the registration for our utility trailer. Mitch says I can never stand the silence and have to talk.

"...uh, we just got back from a concert tonight, Martina Mcbride at the Toyota Center, you'll probably see a lot of traffic from there since it just got out...."

"Oh yeah, well just tell your husband to get that fixed"

"Thanks officer, have a good night"

I'm a retard. But I got Sarah home safely-with no alcohol consumption.

Thanks Marilyn for suggesting the movie.

Thanks YMCA and Rena for the tickets.

Thanks Sarah for the going with me.

and Thanks to Mitch for letting me have a huge day off!

PS- stay tuned for the button explanation check Marilyns blog, she's going to write it. Since every time i have to tell the story, I wanna puke.

Tagged

Yourself: Productive
Your partner: fun
Your hair: unpredictable
Your mother: reliable
Your father: resiliant
Your favorite item: volleyball
Your dream last night: roadtrip
Your favorite drink: coke
Your dream car: mkx
Dream home: progressing
The room you are in: messy
Your fear: buttons
Where you want to be in 10 years: debt-free
Who you hung out with last night: umatilla county
You're not: lazy
One of your wish list items: hutch
The last thing you did: nappapotamous
You are wearing: polo
Your favorite weather: autumn
Your favorite book: children of the promise
Last thing you ate: lasagne
Your life: controlled
Your mood: spacy
Your best friend: Bekie
What are you thinking about right now: callings
Your car: Mitch's truck
What are you doing at the moment: disciplining
Relationship status: happily married
What is on your t.v: smudges
When is the last time you laughed: at Mitch's "smudges" joke

Consider yourself tagged: Natalie (oh wait...), Katie, and Libbie.
Congrats to Manda & Bens baby boy!

Shank-You!

You're looking at her...er, reading her: the Hermiston High School Varsity Assistant Coach. Yup, back to one of my loves. Passion #3: The game of Volleyball.

Love it! Love to play it, watch it, and coach it.

But since I got the job, I must get into shape for real. Tomorrow I'll go buy my favorite nike running shoes and shorts, dig out my old nostalgic tee-shirts, and hit the road.

So fellow bloggers for those of you who follow, and those of you who don't, I'll post our progress on my blog and let you in on my rants and raves as my

alter ego"coach nan" takes over.

Sworn in today, and rearing to go. Watch out, this bulldog is coming through.

Passing Time...

As we were driving in the car to Hermiston, I asked Mitch...

"Mitch, if there was one person you could find out what happened to them and where they are right now, who would you pick?"

"Huh?"

"Mitch, if there....(nan repeating question)

"uh, lemmie think. Who would you pick?"

"I would pick Mark Mintzer"

"who is that?"

Remember those days in elementary school when you had one boy who chased you on the play ground? That's my Mark. He was really a sweet boy, and when he wasn't chasing me, he was teaching me how to blitz in a game of touch football, or holding my spot in line for the swing sets. He wasn't the most popular, and not a nerd. Just Mark. I wonder if he finished school, got a good job, and has a good family. Wouldn't it be nice if all of our friendships and relationships were that easy.

I wonder if anyone wonders about me. What would I tell them? Wait, I know...I'm a happy mom, who loves her family and life.

I know this is kinda weird question, but a good one for the drive to Hermiston, passin' time:

Who do you wonder about?

INDEPENDENCE DAY

Our family had such a fun time at our bbq's and parties, I thought I would post a few pictures for family and friends. Happy summer!

a) Jacks little wet bum

b) Cam in the ward 4th of July parade at the church

c) Cam and Kendle playing in a mud puddle they made from the sprinkler a couple days before

d) Mitch in line for his GRUBBIN' BBQ

e) Cute cousins floatin' in the pool

f) Marilyn and Brandon taking a break from the heat

Thong, th-, thong, thong, thong...

In the interest of summer, my footwear becomes a very important topic. In the area I live in, my main concern is to stay cool, and the only way I can do that is to wear my favorite shoes: Thongs.

Yeah, I said "thongs". When did it become a foux pas to say the word thong? Was it when people's sexuality became so public? Was it when Sisqo sang a song about thongs-and meant the article of clothing that you wear around your bum, or not so much? When I was a kid, we said the word and never had a second thought.

The dictionary states:

thong –noun
1.a strip of material, esp. of leather or hide, used to fasten or secure something.
2.a strip of leather or hide used for whipping; whiplash.
3.a shoe or slipper fastened to the foot chiefly by a strip of leather or other material passing between the first and second toes and often attaching to another strip of material, as a strap across the instep or around the ankle.
4.a brief garment for the lower body that exposes the buttocks, consisting of a strip of fabric passing between the thighs and attached to a band around the waist.

Ha! see my thongs are still one up on the yuk thong, so that should beat it right? No. I hate how I must be careful when I'm talking and say "flip flops" so other people know I'm not just being crude and talking about nasty underwear (which teen-age girls are flaunting all the time) . Of course I'M just referring to my shoes.

So public, I am now protesting the pop-culture language we all take to be truth, and saying: I will no longer be "politically correct". I am going home to my roots, and proudly wearing my THONGS!

Mom-isms

I got this in an email.

Just thought it was funny.

ENJOY!

"Hair" today, gone tomorrow

I got a haircut today.

Isn't it amazing how good you feel after one. Its kinda like when mom comes home from grocery shopping and she bought a box of Lucky Charms. SUGAR HIGH. I wanna run errands all day with all my kids because my hair feels and looks AWESOME. However, the next day, never looks that way again because you suck at fixing it just the perfect way the hairstylist does it. Anywho, Camden informed me "mom I don't like your hair, it looks wierd." Kids say the darnest things. "But hey kid, I still got like 6 more hours of FAB hair- so cool it."

PS- yardsale-ing today & tomorrow. Stop on by.

I passed through the seven levels of the Candy Cane forest, through the sea of swirly twirly gum drops, and then I walked through the Lincoln Tunnel.

I'm a dreamer.

Not in the future sense, but in the sleep sense. I sleep way too lightly and I can usually remember close to all my dream each night that I do. Mitch hates it when I wake up and tell him what happened in my dreams.

"Mitch, wanna hear about my dream last night?"
"Nope."
"K, so we were in 7th grade art class, and you were there, and you were making out with this girl. And she was like laughing at me and pointing."
"Nan, it wasn't real."
"But I was sooo mad at you."
"Nan, it wasn't real."
"And you were laughing too."
"Nan, it wasn't real."
"And I stormed out of the room, but you didn't follow."

My mom used to tell us that our dreams probably are affirmations of our feelings. For example, if you were being drowned and your friend was doing it, that probably means that you have some pent up frustration with them. Or if my dad left me on purpose at a truck stop, it means that I'm not getting enough dad time and need to hear I love you from him. But not all my dreams are jealous rages. I have some plain out CRAZY ones. Like when I gave birth to a red bouncy ball, or when I fall down a well (who has open wells any more anyway).

Sometimes you might be the one who dreams and acts. My sister gets up in the night and lives her dreams physically. She will literally get up and clean her room (push everything in the closet) because her friends are there and she doesn't want them to see her underwear on the floor-but it's the middle of the night and NO one is really there.

"Mitch wanna hear my dream last night?"
"Nope."
"It was so mean of you. We were on the golf course, and you were running away from me and hiding behind all the trees"
"(sigh) Nan, it isn't real"
"...and you were riding my favorite horse and even he was whooping and hollering 'ha ha, mitch is riding me'"
"Nan, you need help."
"(Almost crying) Mitch just say you love me."
in his grizzly barg voice, "Nan, I love you and I'll pay more attention to you."

Thats exactly what I needed to hear.


How do you dream?

PASSION #2:

My Barg,

What a guy. He has many talents and I love his guts out.

• Argue Man is a great writer and SOOO smart. He can express his feelings through his extensive vocabulary and great debating skills.


• Meeyatch loves his family. He will always make sure he has one wrestling match with Cam a day and Boone usually joins in too.

• Mipitich is a hard worker. He will drive to Seattle twice in one day if we need it, just to bring the bacon home.


• Bargy Barg has tons of self confidence. He can strut his stuff around the pool, and not a worry.


• Mitchell is thoughtful, when he worked as a furniture delivery man, he would send me cards in the mail from little towns, and I would get them days later professing his love.

• Ba garg makes me laugh. He is so stinkin funny, he can recite movie lines and even do voices.

This man is the only one for me. I'm so glad he is mine. I love him. Mitchell Layne.

Happy Fathers Day!