Fall 2009

I'm not quite sure why everything I type is being underlined, but I'm going to post this anyway.
It's been a while since I have lived in a place where there are leaves that change into such beautiful colors, so I thought I would share some of the pictures I've taken around St. Louis.
These leaves are from the tree across the street. They didn't naturally fall like that, I posed them. :)

Ooh, here we go, no underlining!
The tree from which aforementioned leaves fell.
This tree is by the temple (and Missouri Baptist University).

Inside the temple grounds.

A bush inside the STL temple grounds.

A tree outside of one of the buildings where I work.

And another one.

I admit that I've been somewhat distracted by the beautiful leaves while driving home from work.

"Show Me State"

Just What Have I Been Up To?
Here is just a snippet of what I've been doing since moving to Missouri:
I finished my quilt.

I have been to the temple a couple of times.

I went camping and fishing with my family at Truman Lake.
This is how we catch 'em here in Missouri. We're SO good we can even catch them by their sides!

Me and a black bass.

My dad with a drum. Gross.

Me and another black bass. It was about 1/2 an inch shy of being keepable.

Me and a white bass. Not too shabby.

The next pictures are sunrises and sunsets over the lake. I don't remember which ones are which.

Just a rainy day fishing on the lake. Life is rough!

These next pictures were taken (while I was driving) by my grandparent's house. Gotta love the green!!

I've also been cheering on my niece during her soccer games.

Here she is being the goalie. She didn't have too much to do.

My Last Week in Fallon

WARNING: THIS POST CONTAINS A LOT OF PICTURES!

I decided to stay in Nevada just one more week before I made the big move to Missouri. I'm really glad that I did because I did some pretty fun things that I've never done before and I also went to some pretty fun places that I've never been to before.

Virginia City, NV
Virginia City was a booming mining town in its day thanks to a silver strike that occurred there in 1859. We (the Johnson family and I) took a tractor ride tour of the city and one of the really important things that I remember about Virginia City is that they get 4 inches of rain and 9 feet of snow a year. I don't know why that was all that I remember, but it is.

You're supposed to be able to see for a lot of miles in this next picture. The tour guide on our tractor ride told us how many miles, but of course, I don't remember how many miles that is.

Logan and Caden looking ever-so-lovely in their bonnets. Caden and I looking ever-so-lovely in our bonnets.

The boys and I with that however many miles view.

Carol and I with the same however many miles background.

The boys and I in a mining cart.

Uh, oh. We got busted. That's Megan and Gary on the right.

A busted Carol and Karen.

And, I guess I just haven't learned my lesson. Busted again.

The Old Washoe Club. It's supposed to be haunted. I didn't go in to find out.

This lady's fancy pants dress is made of gen-u-ine silver dollars. Total worth of over $2000.00.
Sand Moutain
Some other crazy, I mean fun, people and I decided to climb Sand Mountain. Now, don't be fooled by the name. It's a mountain of sand. Crazy, I know.

This thing is 2 miles long and 600 feet tall! It's so weird looking! It's literally nestled up against the mountains and it's super-soft sand! Bizar-o!

Don't be fooled! Those aren't ants! Those are Wadsworths! They sure were tough. I really don't know how they scaled all 600 feet in no time flat! Amazing! I wanted to enjoy the stroll, that's why I took my time. :)

This is me----trying to catch my breath and keep my heart from pounding right out of my chest.

Megan and Carol posing for a photo-op.
Coming down! You might notice that there wasn't a picture from the top. Well, you go climb and take your own picture!

Megan coming down.Ada and Megan coming down.Carol and the kiddos. All present and accounted for.The effects of climbing a 600 foot mountain of sand--the Sandman comes to visit!

Sewing
Believe it or not (well, if you look closely at this quilt you would believe it) I haven't used a sewing machine since 7th grade Home Ec. I have admired Annalee's amazing quilts for quite some time. She and I thought it would be fun to sew one. Part of the way through the experience I thought it would be fun to pay Annalee to finish this quilt!
The finished product, well, mostly finished. I still need to clip the edges. So, I should be done by the time I'm 50.
Farmer Karen
Some of the young women from my ward and I spent a few hours on the Perazzo Dairy. Boy, oh boy, I had no idea what I was in for!
For some reason, the girls thought it would be really fun to climb this 90 foot silage tower. Hmmm...yeah, really fun if you don't have a slight fear of falling and you're not wearing boots that are 2 sizes too big!
This is me exhibiting my slight fear of falling. But I climbed it!
Views from the top.

Alicia and I at the top.

Sarah, Alicia and I at the top. Sariah is being the photographer.We then decided to see the baby calves. They were pretty cute! Two too many bulls according to Alicia. But, I guess you want cows on a dairy farm, huh?
These cows had no idea what kinds of adventure were heading their way. PETA supporters beware.
Hold on, Sarah!
Ride 'em, Sariah!
My turn. OK, so their heads were locked down and I really didn't ride it, but I was still brave enough to let cow germs get on me.
Another view of that tower that I so bravely conquered.
Got milk?Yeah, that's me, milking a cow. I sure do have a new appreciation for my delicious skim milk!
Alicia and I with our fingers in the milker (I really don't know what those are called).
The pretty sunset on the farm.
Bat Girl
So, as if climbing a mountain of sand and riding a cow wasn't exciting enough, I decided to let my car get hit by a bat! I didn't hit it, it hit me.
The Johnson boys thought it would be really great to draw lots and lots of pictures of the poor little guy. I'm glad they thought it was cool. Personally, I thought it was yucky!Saying Goodbye
This is a picture of the Young Women and leaders in my ward. What an amazing bunch of girls (leaders included)!

Ally and me.

Sariah and me.

Kennedy and me. I sure wish my eyes were that blue!

Sarah and me.

Alicia and me.
My friends from work. Me, Kerry, Rhonda, Tonya and Bob-a-loo. Carol and I at the Reno Temple.

I Guess You Can't Win 'Em All

So, my super-cute flower cards didn't win first place last month.

:( Oh, well. The theme for June was Father's Day/Masculine. I actually stole shirt with a necktie idea from my sister Jana. It's OK, she said I could. There's a bonus Baby Shower card at the end.

And the Winner is...Me!

So, my Easter cards from last month won the prize for cutest card! April's theme was Mother's Day/Female. I hope you enjoy!

Cards...Part 3 (I think)

So, a few weeks ago I was clenching onto the dentist chair while my hygienist tried to make small talk with me. Somehow she got on the subject of card-making and I nodded that I too like to make cards. Well, little did I know, she and another hygienist were forming a card-making club. I knew where this was going. I had heard of these clubs and had been asked to join other ones before. I knew you had to make like a hundred in 2 days and that if you didn't your house would get egged or something of the sort. She asked if I would like to join. Well, since she had my teeth in her hands and access to some potentially harmful instruments, I relented. I admit, I had visions of the mess that it makes for me to make just 1 card, let alone the hundreds I would have to make, not to mention the countless hours of thinking and having to be creative (something my brain is SO not used to). So, she gave me the details and it's actually been fun. I only have to make 11 cards and I have until the 25th of the month to get them completed. So, each month I will collect 11 different cards (and hopefully some good ideas too). The cards we make are supposed to be identical but as you'll see, mine are not. So, I might be kicked out the club after my first month's membership, but it was fun while it lasted. (Some were identical so maybe that will be good enough to maintain my membership).

This month's theme was Easter/Spring

I also made this super-cute birthday card!

These Are a Few of My Favorite (Fallon) Things

This is a blog that I've wanted to do for a while now. I'm going to take you on a little tour of the town in which I reside. When I first moved to Fallon I have to admit all of the, we'll say, eclectic, things used to stick out, but now, I barely even notice them. I remember when I drove in from Reno (The Biggest Little City) for my job interview, I saw a big yellow shoe. I imagine it would be like unto one that the "woman who had so many children she didn't know what to do" would have lived in. I also remember an eagle made out of metal with its wings so proudly spread. These have since gone to "eclectic item" heaven. I'm oh, so very sad I have no pictures with which to document them. However, I hope you all will not be disappointed with what I do have! Enjoy!!

That's right, it says, "The Oasis of Nevada". Now, I looked up the word "oasis" because I thought I knew what it meant. According to Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, "oasis" means: 1) a fertile or green area in an arid region (as a desert) 2) something that provides refuge, relief, or pleasant contrast. There was no third definition. Not sure which definition we're supposed to be using here.

Case in Point

I'm not quite sure why the trees look like this. I guess it's just the brand and I guess it's the Midwestern brat in me, but this is what most of the trees look like.

NAS-FALLON

Here is a little bit of trivia. Fallon has a Naval Base. Nope, we're not near the ocean. It's actually a Naval Air Station. Another tid bit of info, in the movie, Top Gun, the flight scenes-they were filmed in Fallon.

Western Charm

Don't be fooled, this pony ain't real!

The wagon in the above picture used to have a scary old man mannequin, doll thing in it. He had a pipe and was holding the reigns. I don't know what happened to him.

Uh, just a nice old car.
Make it POP!

I have a theory on why SO many people paint their houses these, uh, lovely shades of every color of Easter egg. I think they do this because the desert is SO brown and they want to liven the place up a bit.

Goin' Green

This place even recycles the liquor bottles and makes it "art"! Way to go Fallon!Unsure what to do with that pesky unused toilet? Here's an idea!

T.V. on the Blink Again?Just bring that broken set to Hariom Television Repair. I swear I have not seen a single television move from the front of this place since I moved here.

Looking for a New One-of-a-Kind Ornament for Your Car?
This One Takes the Cake!!!!
OK, when my friend told me that she heard that a man lives on an island in the middle of the pond, I sadly didn't question it. When she added that he takes a row boat to his trailer had that he painted palm trees on the side of said trailer, still, no questioning. My reaction? Can we drive out there and go see it?

Beauty There is beauty in Nevada. This is the Reno Temple. It is truly beautiful and has some pretty beautiful scenery around it too. I do have to give credit to the people of Fallon. They are some of the most genuine, hard-working, kind-hearted people I have ever met. Fallon has been good to me.