Total Sam Story!

When I got in my car accident 2 years ago and totaled poor Johnny I had to buy a replacement car fast. I got a beater that was running well, and didn't plan on keeping it this long. When I brought it to the mechanic over a smaller issue I asked them about some other problems I had been noticing, and half a day later they came back with a report of about $2500 worth of major issues (which I had a feeling were going on). From shot struts to warped drum brakes to some lightbulbs being out, I was not going to dump that much money into a 20 year old, 225,000 mile piece of work. I set to looking for a new car but after a couple of weeks got tired of looking at peoples "looks like new" dump cars that clearly had problems written all over them. I stopped for a few months, and then grew concerned of stranding myself somewhere in my car I started the search again. After a couple of weeks I got frustrated again, but called my dad for assistance. Within hours he e-mailed me a list of cars and the second one on the list I bought a day later. The following day I went out of down for four days, and then came home and worked from 6 AM to 7 PM, only getting home around 10. The next morning I thought I really needed to get my other car put on Craigslist, and even though I hadn't had the time to clean it out or wash or vacuum it I thought I would get those things down over the next weekend. The next night I checked my e-mail and to my surprise I had over 15 e-mails, 3 from the same guy. It was too late to call him back, so I called the next day. Long story short he came over, drove it with me, and offered me cash.

Lets look at a picture:

It was dark, so you couldn't tell the outside of the car was unwashed, but the inside was pretty bad. Between camping, hiking, and watching two little boys who are a mess, it gets pretty trashed. Add this to not having vacuumed it in a good year or so (maybe it was more recent...but not much more recent). Dust and dirt everywhere he wanted to buy it. I walked in the house with two arms full of empty water bottles that were stashed under my seats and my roommate Allison busted up. It took at least another trip like that! I had my emergency stuff in the trunk still. And I hadn't even notarized the title!

First person, 2 days after the post, 20 year old car, 225,000 miles, unnotarized title, dirty outside, messy inside...only Sam can/would sell a car like that! Haha

I love how comical my life is!

San Diego

I have a pretty small family (3 kids in my fam, dad has a brother with 3 kids, mom has two brothers with 2 kids each, and a sister with 9 kids), despite our few numbers somehow we managed sprawl across the whole US...seriously we are coast to coast, top to bottom. This made getting to know my cousins more difficult, but with dedicated parents it was still possible. The cousins we were closest with were my mom's sisters kids because they lived the closest...and, well, sisters stick together more. I have many fond memories of Aunt Beth and Uncle Jeff and their children, but keeping up with them all now is a challenge. My cousin Mary and her Husband, Ehren, live in San Diego. After Mary came to Phoenix a couple of times for business I finally got my act together and took them up on their offer to go visit them.

I have always loved Mary, and it was great fun getting to laugh about times past. I had only met Ehren once before, but was impressed by how fun loving he was. We all had Columbus day off, so I took the opportunity to go over. The whole trip was a delight! I enjoyed great conversations with them, they fed me some wonderful dishes, and we had a lot of laughs together. I love watching people interact, and I was so impressed by Mary and Ehren's relationship. I appreciated the excellent example they were to me of a strong and good marriage. Mary is due in January and I kept thinking about what a lucky baby he will be because he will have wonderful parents.

On Monday we went to Lego land, the first time for all of us. You might think that these places are only fun to bring children to...but they are actually more fun if you go with friends who are still like children...we all fit the bill for this! If only we could have captured the look on Ehren's face when he saw Darth Vader made out of small legos, priceless!

I couldn't help but to kiss this Italian pizza man with a sailors tattoo on his bicep and chest hair curling out of his wife-beater.

They even had chia pets! If you have not been to Lego land this alone might make it worth going.

Lego land also has rides, we could not resist the potato sack ride, and so Ehren, their friend, and I all set out to see who was fastest.

I was determined, despite my being small, to win the race...

...and determination here pays off!

Me, Mary, and Ehren.

Me making a wish with the witch at the wishing well.

I was in a sharks mouth! (Don't worry, no sharks were harmed in this construction of the lego shark.)

Ehren and I the morning I left. I love their hats!

Classy Party

I have some pretty awesome friends, it's true. They always come up with some pretty great ideas, and my old roommate, Amanda Kvavle's, idea was no exception. We had been talking about old movies and discovered we both love Doris Day. This spawned the idea to have a classy party. Plans were made, the date was set, and classiness resulted.

While the boys were off at the Priesthood session of General Conference we got all dolled up in the most hip 40's era dresses, shawls, shoes, hats, and other accessories. Down to Kiwanis Park we went with our croquette set and chilled bottles of IBC cream soda...very classy, I know.

Amanda, Allison, and I posing before the game.

(note the blue sky with a few white clouds)

Allison starting us off.

Amanda was the most classy with her white gloves.

Me being a poser as usual.

Al doing a better job at posing then me.

Al and me making a cheers for a friendly but competitive game...which I won.

Me, Amanda, and Allison looking very classy with our croquette clubs under an awesome, late season monsoon sky.

During the game an awesome storm started forming and by the end of our game the sky looked incredible!

After a very classy dinner party the boys came over to watch Glass Bottom Boat featuring Ms. Doris Day, CLASSIC and classy, making it an essential part of our evening. Amanda brought old school, individual popcorn boxes--they were sweet! Side note: if you have never added Hot Tamales to your freshly popped butter popcorn you are missing out!