Buttons and Mottos

I bought a cute pair of jeans in Hong Kong for about $5. The first time I wore them one of the buttons on the back pocket fell off and was lost...sad. Well, Saturday I was at the parents house doing laundry and waiting to go see my brother play in his first ever BYU soccer game. (Cec and I had fun, Bryan got to play about 25 minutes and they won of course!)

I asked my mom if she wanted to run some errands with me, one of them being a trip to the fabric store to find some new buttons for my pants. My mom reminded me of her button "collection" and suggested I have a look. Now...I knew my mom had a few buttons but really, do we call 3 boxes worth a collection or is it a PROBLEM!?! Apparently my mom is not the only mom with a button "collection." I spoke with a friend whose mom shares my mothers affinity for buttons, possibly exceeding the quantity in my parents basement. Anyways, I found a couple of cute buttons that worked wonderfully and I found one in particular that I loved. I took it knowing my mom wont even know its gone and I think it is my new motto, replacing, or perhaps adding to, "bringing sexy back." If there had been 2 I would have put these on my pants! LOVE IT!

Yep...GOOD ALL OVER!

On a mini van????????

Sorry I have been such a delinquent blogger. I experienced the worst jet lag after returning from Hong Kong and I was at a URTA conference this week to remember why it is I do what I do. On my way home from Park City last night Mieken and I came across a sight that threw us into one of our laugh until you cry fits...WOW! We didn't get a great picture but this HOT mini van...it has spinners. They're probably just spinner hub caps which makes it even more ridiculous. Seriously, a mini van with spinners?

Living will...

My mom and I talked a little bit about this on our trip and I thought this would be a good place to make those who need or want to be aware...aware.

#1 Pull the plug, I'm gonna wanna move on!

#2 Donate any organ, tissue, etc. worth donating.

#3 Bury me with my passport, I'm gonna want a stamp from wherever I go (haha)!

#4 Remember, I'm not afraid of death so no worries.

#5 Don't fight over my jewelry, none of it is worth much!

(This was meant to be lighthearted but I am "dead" serious about #1&2)

Dreams for sale?

I discovered this week that I am guilty of selling dreams. I have never thought about it this way but I guess it is important for me to recognize an individuals limitations before I attempt to convince them or encourage them to try something that they will not be able to accomplish. I generally am aware of the potential (or lack thereof) our patients have but sometimes they grab hold of an idea, like going to college, and I always support any of their ambition...I'm just happy they have some!

A few weeks ago, one of our boys who is not the brightest bulb, decided he would like to go to college just like one of his brighter peers. Our principal of course indicated to him that it would be a lot of work and pointed him in the direction of the steps he should take. He quickly discovered that he was not capable, sad but true. He loudly accused Michelle in the hallway, "yo Michelle, you sold me a dream!" So for now...I am a realist not an optimist!

On a funnier note, my coworker recently changed one of our passwords from snowgirls to playtime and every time I have used it I have mistakenly put in playgirls...heehee!

One LONG Sunday

Sunday at 12:30pm our plane left Hong Kong. About 12 hours later we landed at SFO...it was 8:30 in the morning on Sunday. Interesting trip (pun intended). We went through customs with no problems, kind of a surprise considering all the goods we were bringing back into the country! We landed at LAX at 12:30pm Sunday afternoon and Joanna picked us up and we lamented not having enough time for a proper visit as she took us to get my car. By 1:30 we were on the road for our long drive from L.A. to Orem. Our Sunday totaled approximately 40 hours!

Needless to say it has been a long and tired week and you should not be surprised that it is Thursday after 11pm when I am finally posting our pictures on my picasa page. No laughing, I have not done any editing, with the exception of the pictures I took of the really cool bathroom. I didn't want everyone thinking that I always take pictures of toilets, this particular one was just really incredible!

Enjoy...I did!

Hong Kong Part 2

We have done so much I don't even know where to begin. Monday we decided it would be a good idea to drive out to Lantau Island and see the big Buddha. I guess usually a tourist would take several modes of public transportation followed by an hour long ride on a possibly not so safe sky tram at $12 a person. Well, there is a reason you let someone else take care of transportation haha. We finally got on the right road only to realize that you need a special permit for that particular road. Oh well. We did get to the top after lots of winding and luckily there was parking up at the top. Big Buddha was really big and quite impressive and the monastery was beautiful.

It was worth the crazy drive but maybe next time Mark will reconsider before he offers to drive his guests out to see Buddha.

We were so tired after our trek that we came back for a quick nap before heading out to Victoria Peak for dinner. Elaine's flight from Malaysia got in just in time for her to meet us a Cafe Deco. It was very tasty and the view from the top was amazing!


Tuesday we were all set with map in hand (Elaine circled some of the best shopping for us) and money securely tucked away for a day of spending. We started at the jade market and to be honest, we didn't even know what to do. Our senses were overwhelmed by all the pearls, jade, silver and general sparkliness of everything. WOW! I can't believe I didn't get a single picture but how could one think of a camera in a time like this. Don't worry, we are going back now that we are more experienced in the art of choosing, bargaining and making the final purchases. The shopping didn't stop there, we were pretty hungry and stopped for something quick, white, mushy and greasy before heading to the ladies market. It was full of clothes, shoes, purses and various other items ladies cannot live without for a killer price. We went a little crazy but still didn't really make a dent in our budget or even begin to fill the two extra suitcases we brought.

Fear not, the shopping has continued and we are getting better at all the haggling (probably because our ability to divide by 8 very quickly and more accurately is improving as well). We have seen most of the interesting and diverse districts in Hong Kong at this point and have eaten as many different kinds of foods. We saw the Man Mo Temple with its enormous incense coils...

...and we even went to the famous Happy Valley horse races.

This morning we went to a session at the beautiful Hong Kong temple and of course...did some more shopping. We still have a hundred things to see and several hundred HK dollars to spend! We will probably end up filling all the suitcases and I may even have to borrow from Mark and Elaine's "extra carry-on closet."


Heehee! I'm having fun...I'm a lucky girl!

Hong Kong!

I crossed the international date line for the first time in my life yesterday. That means, I am sitting in Hong Kong on Sunday night and most of the people I know in the world have not even woken up to Sunday yet. Seems odd!?! Our travel was about as uneventful as you would expect a non-stop 14 hour flight over the pacific to be. Actually it started many hours before we boarded a plane as we had to drive to L.A. My mom and I left Orem around 3pm on Thursday and made fabulous time to St. George where we stopped for a quick dinner at Megan's. Though we had less than an hour we were both fed and entertained. Wyatt played the guitar for us and Lexi showed us her skills in ballet.

We arrived in LA about midnight and finally went to bed after a nice long chat with Joanna. Ken and Joanna insisted on taking us to the airport and everything went smoothly. I don't think it had hit me yet that I was going to Hong Kong, I was just dreading the nearly 15 hour flight. My mom took a sleeping pill and was out most of the flight, I was in and out of sleep, mostly out. Upon arrival Mark picked us up and took us on the Mr. Toads wild ride from Kowloon to Stanley where they live. I had no idea at the time how tame that ride would feel after experiencing the same road from the upper deck of a double decker bus!!! After some serious efforts to stay conscious until at least midnight we went to bed at 11. Both of us were able to get plenty of sleep which prepared us for our first big day in Hong Kong.

We decided it would be best to let Mark take us around the city so we could learn our way around. We walked through Stanley Market, took the above mentioned double decker bus ride (woah!) and walked through downtown and Hong Kong Park. This city is like a giant 3D puzzle. I am sure a map will do us no good as knowing your up and down is as important as knowing your north, south, east and west. We're smart girls, we'll figure it out!

We wanted some authentic local fare for lunch but Mark indicated that local HK food is in three main food groups: white, mushy and greasy...hmmm. We settled on some regular Chinese food and then headed to the harbour for a ride on the Star Ferry.

On the Kowloon side we went into the Peninsula Hotel and experienced some of the crazy street markets before heading back to HK island. After a quick dinner of burgers we got back on a double decker and began our ride home. We have been walking all day and have more energy than we expected. To tell you the truth, I think we wore Mark out! I don't know what we have planned for tomorrow but I know horse races at the happy valley race track, sailing, the peak and shopping, shopping, shopping are on the itinerary! Sounds like fun eh?