Macey 4 $treasurer$! oops I mean VP

Macey wanted to run for student council (she wants to do after school choir too-how do I stop this??? she wants to do everything!). I remembered those days when I was the secretary , but that was 6th grade! At Simonton they were letting 4th and 5th graders run since there are no 6th graders at their school this year.

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So, the paper came home and I had Macey discuss it with her dad. He signed the paper and later told me that they discussed her running for $treasurer$ so we built a "campaign" all around being treasurer. Well, when Macey's teacher read the ballot to the class the day before the preliminary election Macey's name was under Vice President so of course I had to contact the teacher in charge of student council and fugure out what was going on. Apparently, it had definitely been marked Vice President (that's what happens when 8 yr olds and dads fill out papers I guess). Basically, we had to choose from running against 17 other kids as treasurer (which is funny because she chose treasurer thinking not many people would run for that and that had the highest number of people!) and having the teachers hand edit the ballots or run against 12 other kids as VP and hope that the name recognition would be enough because all of the posters and stuff said treasurer not VP. Macey chose to take the option that had less competition, but probably a tougher competition once we found out who else was running for VP.

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So, the next morning I was editing posters and printing new stickers for her to hand out. She made it through the preliminary elections which brought it down to 4 kids in each category.

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Then it was speech time. We practiced and practiced and she said she did good so then it was just the waiting game.

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We were heading out of town and had to pull Macey out of school early so we had to rely on other people texting me the results and we were happy to find out that Macey WON!!!!!

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Her first order of business was assisting the fundraiser people with the prizes during the assembly-which she was happy to do! I am glad she won and will get this experience!

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As a side note for journaling purposes: Scott was put in as the Young Men's President about a month ago and is in heaven. He loves the boys. Now all of the boys he had as Deacons are Priests so it is fun for him to be with them again. Now he has to get them all on missions which is a huge responsibility and one he does not take lightly. I know he will be awesome! Scott is totally a kid at heart and the boys respond well to him too. One of them was even "raising the roof" when it came time to raise their hands to sustain him.

Private Blogs

So if you look overe here

I have a private blog list because I follow blogs on Google Reader (best invention ever) and I can't follow private blogs there (well I am trying something but either way I need you address again :) ) so I have to click on them individually on the list to the right.

As you can see there is only one blog listed there. I accidentally erased my lists when I switched blog backgrounds a while back.

Soooo, if you read my blog and have a private blog that I am invited to read will you remind me of your blog address so that I can keep up with you and your happenings:) Email me at

smw4967 {at}yahoo {dot}com.

And if I don't already have an invite I'd love one!

My brain just can't retain this kind of information anymore especially with so many people I know going private lately so a little help woul be great!

THANKS!!!!

It's a....

YES its a bow, but NO it's not a girl! It's an inside joke for those who were at the hospital awaiting this cute guys arrival-the bow just had to be documented hahahahahaha.

This was my baby sister's first baby and during labor she swore she would never do it again and I wouldn't be surprise if she was telling the truth since she already has 7 other step kids.

After the long ordeal of her induction (more like just waiting for the dr to quite getting called to emergencies so that she could break her water) she finally had him Sunday night and he will be sharing my brother Toby's b-day. He was smaller than they thought he would be weighing in at 7lbs 5oz.

Congrats to Shannon and Dustin!

now the real fun begins!

Playing With Photoshop

We got to spend some time this weekend up at the good ole Williamson cabin with some friends. I took a break from picture taking so that I could just relax and enjoy. I lied. I did take one picture of the guys doing the dishes because I was not sure the next time I would see that. We had lots of fun and wished we didn't have to come back!

So today I felt like I still needed some relaxation so I took some time to play around on photoshop and practice some things I have learned lately. I played around with this picture that I have been wanting to edit for a while now.

Here is the original picture. It's this cool tree just in the middle of nothing. I had to take the picture quickly because I was at a stop sign in my van and cars were behind me. I took it through the windshield and everything....

Here is the cleaned up photo-Photoshop is {amazing}....

and here are some of the edited versions trying some fancy things on Photoshop and I totally realize I am not expert and these are not great, but I had fun playing...

Lasik Post-op

So, I am 3 weeks & 2 days post-op and lovin' it! So why do I still have these guys on my shelf?It took a while for me to be {secure} in the fact that I didn't need them anymore!

For the first couple of weeks after surgery I was still grabbing for them off my nightstand as I got up in the morning. And when I feel like my vision is obscured or out of focus I am still grabbing at my face as if I would adjust my glasses. I could have actually survived a day without my glasses before the surgery so my vision was not that bad. Just bad enough to want the glasses. My vision is better than 20/20 , but for some reason I was expecting it to be life altering clear and magnified, but it is at the level or better than my glasses, but without them!!! It's great and well worth it!

So, overall I am good. It takes a while for your eyes to adjust and level out but they should only get better. I just put the saline drops in when I think about it, I wear make-up and now I am cleared to swim! If you want to know more of the details read on....

So, after down to the minute negotiating between 2 different places I narrowed it down to Nationwide Vision ( if you decide to go there tell them I sent you and I get $25=)). This is where my mom had it done so I was totally secure in their abilities.

So, here is my description of the actual surgery. You go in and they put some drops in your eye to open up some veins or something (?) and then you put on a cap and some booties and wait your turn! (Somewhere at the beginning if you are nervous they could give you a valum to calm you down) You go in and you lay down under the machine and then here is what happens....

1-Numbing drops in your eyes-you don't want to feel it do you?

2-Tape down your eyelashes -don't worry it does not rip them all out and after a few weeks they'll grow back.

3-They place a metal ring in your eye to hold it open-imagine those rings dentists use for cavities (hey I've been seeing dentists a lot lately so that is all I could think of) but bigger. This was a little uncomfortable at first, but once it was in place it was fine.

4-Then they put in this thing that I think resembles those little goggles you wear tanning except it's metal and there is a hole in the center-don't feel at all.

5-Then they were right when they said this was the worst part... They suction your eye through the hole in the "tanning goggles". This was generally uncomfortable especially because you cannot see anything for a moment which they assure is what is supposed to happen. I could not see anything so I think this is when they cut the cornea and peel the flap back.

6- Then they warn you that you are going to hear the laser...ddddddd and it's over.

7- They irrigate your eyes with tons of medicated liquids of some sort.

8- Put the cornea flap back in place and you can see them using this squeegee type thing to smooth it back in place.

9- Place a protective contact in that they said would be removed at your check-up the next day.

10-Take it all off and do the other eye. ( I forgot to mention that somehwere in the beginning they put a patch over the eye that they are not working on.

Seriously. painless. and soooooo quick! I would say about 5 minutes for both eyes. Take the cap and booties off and have your ride take you home, but don't forget the sunglasses (they gave me some really attractive one:-))because your eyes are pretty sensitive for the first week.

The first week requires the most attention-Come home and sleep for 3-4 hours. You have to sleep with these goggles on so that you do not rub your eyes when you sleep-Tylenol PM will help you sleep just fine with them but I was glad when I did not have to use them anymore.

Keep the eye activity non-existent for atleast 48 hours and then low for the week-computer, TV etc.-trust me your eyes will be tired if you try. Rest as much as possible.

You have lots of drops to put in your eyes-a non-medicated lubricating drop every half hour and an antibiotic drop 4 times a day as well as an antiflamitory drop 4 times a day. At my 1 week post-op appt. I had some scratches on my left cornea so I had to keep up with the antibiotic drops to avoid an infection but no big deal.

2 weeks with no make-up

3 weeks no swimming

Your eyes, muscles and brain have to adjust to the change so it takes a while, but at the one week mark they felt a lot better and closer to normal.

I don't even think about it now. I loved Nationwide because all follow-ups are included and I have a lifetime warranty in case I ever need a touch-up (which happens occasionally).

My only regret is that I waited so long!!! Atleast I should have a good 10 years before I need the reading glasses! Yay it's over and went great!!!!

2 of {My Favorite People}

Two of the people I can always count on as my friends in the ward (or anywhere) are moving!!!! And I am not happy! I am a mom (as are they) so I don't spend a lot of time being as good of a friend as I want to be or should be so they may be a little shocked/creeped out/embarrassed by this post, but oh well-that's how I roll!

In alphabetical order here they are....

Becky

*She is an awesome scrapbooker and I bet she is close to caught up (she wins pretty much every contest she enters)!

*She is my partner in crime for scrapbooking conventions, classes and sales!

*She has amazing endurance and is an awesome aerobics teacher-kicks my butt!

*She's quiet and humble and everyone knows her and probably all consider her their friend. I remember when I moved in the ward I kept hearing people say Becky Jones did this, Becky Jones did that, and I was seriously like I gotta meat this Becky person because I kept hearing about her.

*Her daughter Madysen and Macey get along great!

* I am amazed at how she handles her husband being gone all of the time wether it is his money making job-pilot or his 2nd job-hunting.

*She has 4 girls and their hair is always done in lots of braids and ponytails-nothing plain about these ponytails-So CUTE!!!!

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She's not moving far, but it's still going to stink. I will have to make sure to stay in touch!

Mariane

(yes one "r" -it took me a while to remember that one)*I can always count on her for late night girl talks-usually in my van in front of her house.

*She keeps an incredibly clean house-all of the time!

*She is going back to school to get a nursing degree and already has a cosmetology license-more brave than I am!

*She is like a work out freak and I make fun of her for it sometimes, but really I wish I had that much discipline and she has like 0% body fat to show for it!

* We play Bunco together every month and both love the break-and she has great luck!

* I can always count on her for her funny, sad and informative email forwards!

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She is most likely moving further, but she's got family in town

so she'll be around and we'll have to meet up when she's here!

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*I feel like in general we agree on most everything! Like I said EASY.

*They are not complicated at all-if I call to go do something and there is any way they can they do!!!

*I have been pregnant at the same time as both of them and we comiserated with each other.

*They both tolerate my stupid judgemental out of line comments that I am always making because I don't think before I speak-well atleast I assume so since they still talk to me=)

*They are both super easy to be friends with!!!! I don't have to plaster a smile on my face or be fake!!! And I never feel like I have to walk on eggshells with them. Like I said EASY!

*I love them both. In my life I love easy. I am going to miss their friendly faces at church and around the neighborhood! All I can say is thank goodness for FB!

Claire's Somersaults

Claire totally started doing somersaults out of nowhere. We have not even been teaching her how to do them so I thought this was hilarious. She was doing them for a while before I even started taping. I think she was loving the attention! Hopefully you can get past the dirty house in the background and her dirty diaper!