Church

Yesterday James and I got ready for church, left our house on time and arrived at church at 9:05. We walked quickly through the halls of the church and walk into the chapel. All of the seats are quite full and we take a spot in the second row from the front.

Things are good. It is our ward conference and all of the stake presidency is on the stand. In fact the Stake President is speaking. A couple of minutes go by and the President is still speaking. I check the clock, it is 9:10. I whisper to James something like did we miss Sacrament? I didn't think we were that late. James looks as confused as I am. That is until he leans over and says that we forgot about Daylight Savings Time and were in fact an hour late. Realizing our error, and the fact that we had walked in, in front of the entire ward, and in front of the entire Stake Presidency caused me to start laughing, quiet laughing but I admit it was not exactly reverent.

Once Sacrament ended, I was prepared for the worst. We only received a couple comments like "glad to see you made it" and a wave with a smile masking laughter from the First Counselor of the Bishopric. Okay maybe not everyone noticed. I can survive this embarrassing moment. That was until a counselor in the Stake Presidency, the man who had interviewed me for my Temple Recommend, stopped me in the hall and asked "Sleep in this morning Sister Mathews?" Wanted to die right there.

I have never forgotten to change my clocks for Daylight Savings time. Ever. Neither has James. Believe me, we learned our lesson.

Taxes...

Last Saturday we got our taxes done. We were very interested in how they would come out since there have been so many changes since last year. Our income went up since we both have full-time "big-people" jobs. We were not students so we lost that deduction. We bought a house this year. We lived in CA this year instead of UT where the taxes are lower. Overall it was a good experience. We got a nice return and learned a lot about the way deductions work.

The good news:

Thanks to the house deductions, we were able to buy this awesome rug with our return.


The bad news:

I worked up until December 23 2006 at BYU. Apparently the paycheck for a couple of these hours was not sent until beginning of 2007. Because it was only $60, no taxes were taken out. All of this was forgotten until BYU sent me a W-2. The problem? Because I made income in Utah in 2007, and did not pay taxes on income in 2007, I have to pay a $20.00 fee to the state of Utah and a $2 fee to Federal. Plus postage to send it to them. That is over 37% of the measly $60 check paid in fees. Lame? You bet. Good thing I love that rug so much.



PS-Buying a house is a great investment, it reduced our taxable income by a ton. I would highly recommend it.

Happy Birthday to YOU!!!!

Today is my little sisters 21st Birthday! Happy Birthday!!!

Nicole is such an amazing sister, friend and is such a joy to be around. She is upbeat, funny and does not take herself too seriously which is such a great quality. Perhaps being born on the day we celebrate love has something to do with it? I have always been blessed to have had a great relationship and can call her not only my sister but one of my best friends. Nicole is such a great person and I know that she will accomplish much because she is a hard worker and true to her word, oh and her wardrobe doesn't hurt either. :) Love you sissy, hope all your dreams come true.

P.S. Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!

Random Thought for the day.

I have a cold. It bites. But it got me thinking...

• I would much rather have a cold than the flu. With a cold you can wander around your house. With the flu you have to stick to the bathroom.
• With a cold you can stay in your pajamas all day on the couch without feeling guilty.
• Where does the cold start? We all know that it is very contagious and that it can be passed from person to person but where does it start? Is there one person who kicks it off and then walks around a mall sharing the love? I vote we find said person and lock them in their house for a week.
• My immune system is faulty. I get the cold at least twice a year. Last year I got the flu for a week, and then the cold.
• James has been sick maybe twice since we have been married. He takes vitamins and I don’t. Maybe I should work on that...
• I read an article that your body needs extra calories to fight off being sick. Me and the ice cream carton are willing to oblige.
• After I learned about white blood cells, whenever I am sick I always envision a Book of Mormon type battle, white blood cells against the virus. Body armor is included in this daydream.
• A doctor in my ward told me that the reason your nose gets red when you have a cold is actually from the mucus irritating the skin, not because of the tissue use. If you dab your nose, it won’t turn red. Tried it and it works.
• Smelling like menthol is almost as bad as coughing.

At least the cold doesn't last that long and it makes you appreciate breathing through your nose and what a blessing it is to have a healthy body, until next cold season.

Happy First Birthday!

Today is Cocoa's first birthday. She survived her first year which is quiet an accomplishment! She has been so much fun to watch grow and test our parenting skills on. She is semi-spoiled but we are proud of the fact that she does not beg and has never been fed from the table. Let us not forget that she did graduate at the top of her class in puppy training! But yes she sleeps with us on the bed.... We will be sad that she is no longer a 'puppy' but I have a feeling that she will always act like one. Happy first birthday Cocoa-bean!

How is it....

How is it that I always get hurt doing the most usual things and then do something that should have really hurt but I am totally fine?

I have had my fare shares of injuries. But they all were the result of something so simple and so stupid that it is hard to believe that it is true. When I was eight I was STANDING on my driveway in my rollerblades. Now I just have to say that I was quiet the rollerblading queen in my day and steep hills with speed bumps and cars coming was no problem. Okay so back to my driveway, the dog was outside with me and was hooked up to one of those long skinny tie down rope things for dogs that is 40 feet long. Apparently I was standing near the rope when my dog noticed a cat walking down the street and when she starting running, the rope grew taught and basically clothes lined me while I was STANDING STILL. I flip and sprain my wrist. The worst part is having to explain that I have a soft cast on my hand due to standing near a dog. I thought this was the last time I would have to deal with this embarrassment. Oh no.

Two Decembers ago I was WALKING up a steep hill on my way to work when I slipped on some snow/ice. I put my hands out and BROKE my thumb. Yes that is right I broke a bone while walking. Even James did not believe it when I called to tell him that I needed a ride to the hospital. Was I done there? I think not.

Last Saturday morning I was BLOW DRYING MY HAIR, when I felt immense pain in my lower back. A trip to the chiropractor and a lot of granny walking and I find out that I put my back out by trying not to get a cold.

Am I alone here or does everyone else get hurt doing everyday tasks?? Oh and as a side note I totally brainstorm stories to tell when someone asks me how I got hurt.

Ketchup

We have been away for a while from the blogging world but are happy to be back! This past month has been jammed packed with tons of family, fun and Holiday parties. We started the month with our companies' Christmas parties where James won a 10 pound block of Belgian chocolate! It is huge and we still have all of it. Anyone in desperate need to chocolate? My party was a little toned downed compared but fun too.

We spent a lot of time with family and received so many gifts. We were very blessed. On Christmas morning we woke up at 3:00 am to a new roster behind us. To those who have not yet visited our house, we have a roster behind us named Charlie that is a little senile and crows at 5:00pm instead of in the mornings. Well apparently the owners felt the need to get a new roster for Christmas but he started WAY WAY to early in the morning. We finally got up and I was about to let Cocoa out when I noticed that the new roster was IN the backyard. That is why he was so loud! I took some pics and then sent Cocoa out to scare him so he would never come back. It has worked so far!



The day continued with me attempting to make cinnamon rolls for the first time and the butter melting and starting a small smoke storm which caused the smoke detector to go off. Ah Christmas morning. The rest of the day was great but man we were tired! Cocoa had fun with the rapping paper and survived us putting ribbon and bowes on her. Poor thing.



Then we headed out to Merced to go to Brandon's little girl's first birthday party. It was fun and she is such a cutie. She did great with the cake! Then it was New Years where we played a lot of pool over at the Mathews and watched movies. I will win one game eventually right?!



Alas Christmas came and went and taking down the decorations this year was sad. The house looks slightly empty but we did get a new hutch which looks great! Oh and James had a lot of fun climbing on the roof taking down the Christmas lights. Almost gave me a heart attack but it made for some great pictures of what the town looks like from that vantage point.



We had a great Holiday season, and look forward to a great 2008!