The Funeral

My companion is being put to rest.

It has taken numerous beatings over the last two and a half years. It has met asphalt, concrete, rock, linoleum, or anything that incidentally has been under my feet.

Yes, my motorola phone of the ancientiest kind is being replaced by a fancy new nokia.

I still can't figure out how it works...

p.s. If anyone wants my new number call me on the old number, I'll still have it for a bit.

White Elephant

Ever since I can remember, my parents have always had animals at our house. We've had bajillions of cats, some dogs, and a few rabbits. ALL of these animals have been outside pets...until Rizzo.

Rizzo in a cat. He was born about four or five months ago with three kitty siblings. Those kitty siblings were literally "loved to death" by the other new pet addition, Emmett. Emmett is a very lovable, very in your face, very much so puppy. He really liked playing with those new little baby kittens, but they just didn't last through his loving.

My little sister, Karli, was devastated by the loss of the kittens and took the last one in as her own. Being the youngest child, she has quite the persuasive skills. My mother caved and allowed Karli to take the baby kitten inside.

This cat has really become a nuisance to almost everyone that enters my parent's house. Rizzo loves to follow people around. He hates to be alone, even when he sleeps. He also has to sleep under the covers. Rizzo also hates to sleep with Karli, ironic.

A month ago while I was talking to my dad on the phone, he periodically would yell at Rizzo. Things like, "Stupid cat," "go bother somone else," or my favorite, "WHY IS THIS CAT IN THE HOUSE?!" Dad then asked me if I wanted a cat. I said, "If you give me $50, I will take that cat off of your hands."

Dad's reply, "...okay!"

That little deal fell through. Karli was not going to let that cat out of the house.

For Christmas this year, Stephen and I went to my parents house. We had decided earlier, that every person was going to bring a white elephant gift to the Christmas party. The rules: you couldn't spend money on the gift and whatever present you opened you took home...regardless.

On Wednesday night everyone gathered downstairs and put our individually wrapped gifts in the corner of the room. Dad was the last one to enter the room with his gift and a characteristic grin that told everyone who knew him that he was up to something.

I looked at Dad and said, "Dad! You have that look. What did you do?"

He ignored me and told me to start the game. Being the youngest, Karli was the first one to pick a present. Before Karli could even get out of her chair, Kory yelled, "THAT PRESENT IS MOVING!"

We all turned to look at the green package that had another gift on top of it. The green package shook and Karli yelled, "DID YOU WRAP MY CAT?!?"

That was too much for Dad, he broke down in a fit of laughter. He had wrapped Rizzo! That man was really desperate. And I'm sure that he wanted to get a laugh.

To watch the unwrapping of Rizzo, see video below: This is Krystal's husband Shane.

K-I-S-S-I-N-G

My kids in primary love to try and scare me. They have never succeeded, but they keep trying. Almost all of them get to the classroom before me. They turn off the lights and find a place to hide in the classroom. Some hide behind the door, some hide under the table, some behind the chairs. They now, however, have found a new hiding place...the garbage can. I don't know what it is with boys and garbage cans, but they really seem to have a fascination with it.

When I walked in the classroom on Sunday, they again tried to scare me. I tried a new tactic to try and get them to calm down. I started to sing church Christmas songs to them while setting the classroom up. It worked for all of them except for my two trouble makers, Billy and Sam.

All of the class with the exception of the two boys sat in their chairs and began to sing with me. My two boys decided to be kind to one another and at least share the garbage can. Let me help you picture these two. Billy and Sam had their heads underneath the garbage can with their heads facing one another. I tried and I tried to get that thing off of their heads, but forcing them to do it, just made them run right back to it. Finally, I turned to the rest of the class and said, "Okay kids, we need to give Billy and Sam some time alone while they are kissing!"

I have never seen Sam so quick in being obedient. He ripped that garbage can off of his head and said, "Gross! We're not kissing, we're boys!"

I had a really hard time suppressing my giggles as I began class. That was fun.

Gingerbread Men

So, I began a project about a week or so ago. This "little" project was supposed to be a half day project. You know, the project that was on the small side. That teeny project turned into about three days.

As most of you know, Stephen and I got up way before the early crack of dawn to get ourselves a Christmas tree. As we are newlyweds and don't have every decoration that you have after being married, for say, twenty-six years. We decided that we would only buy a Christmas tree and make our decorations this year. This is where my little project comes in. I decided that I wanted to make gingerbread men to put on the tree.

I have never made gingerbread men before, so I got online to find a recipe. I have found this website for recipes that I really like, and so that was the first place that I looked. http://www.allrecipes.com/ Good site, check it out. Anyway, back to my gingerbread men. I wanted to get a recipe that was really bad, so that no one would have any temptation to eat them. I found the perfect recipe when I found this comment after the ingredients, "There is something wrong with this recipe! No eggs? I'm not certain, but it tasted so bad, I threw out the entire batter, after only baking 1 tray of the cookies!"

I had found my perfect gingerbread men!

There are a lot more things that you need to make these things than just a recipe. I didn't really think about the other things. You need cookie cutters and frosting and little baggies to put the frosting in to decorate. You also need those little tips for the frosting bags, but I forgot those. I did without and nothing was really straight, but oh well!

As I said, this project took me three days to complete, but it was really a lot of fun. I ended up having 92 gingerbread men on my Christmas tree. Here is the final look.

Kids are so smart

On Sunday my primary lesson was on the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. I was really excited going into the lesson because I had a really fun game prepared that I figured they would enjoy.

When I got to class, I knew teaching that day would be difficult. We had our first big snow the night before and ALL of the kids were so antsy to go out and play. Every time I asked a question that pertained to the lesson all of their little hands shot up. I soon began to realize that all of the hands just wanted to talk about the snow, not church.

I took out a picture of Christ. They picture is an artist's depiction of what it will look like when He comes again. Christ is coming out of the clouds surrounded by trumpeting angels and underneath Him is a desert land. As soon as I took out the picture, my little Jane raised her hand. I said, "Jane, does your question have to do with the lesson?" She said no, and so I told her to wait until after the first bell. When she figured out that I was going to skip over her, she said, "Wait! It has to do with the lesson." I gave in and let her have her say.

Jane went off for about three minutes about how one time she was riding in the car and she was looking at the clouds. She thought that one of the clouds looked like a man...I guess the picture must have triggered it.

Getting back on to the lesson again was a little more difficult. The kids were getting restless. My class clown, who I will call Sam, always seems to help with the restless, anti-pay-attention effort. Sunday was no exception. He had brought a long green ribbon that he tried to tie people up with. He only put the ribbon away after I threatened to tie the ribbon in his hair and make him look like a girl. That one worked. One point, Sister Post!

I continued to tell the kids about the Second Coming when Sam raised his hand. I looked at Sam and asked, "Does it have to do with the lesson?" He hesitated and said, "Well, it kind of has to do with the lesson. I just have a question." I was ready for him to say almost anything. Anything except for what he said. This was his question: "When Jesus comes again will anyone come with Him?"

I must say that I was quite shocked. I don't think that I have ever seen Sam be serious. I had to hide my surprise. I had actually never even thought of that before. I really couldn't answer his question. I told him to ask his Dad and that I didn't know. Wow, I really love teaching these kids. I going to be really sad when I lose them in January. :(

Go Long!

Last night Stephen and I went to Fred Meyer to purchase some Lego's. Long story, anyway Morgan, Stephen's friend, came with us. Let me just tell you...Lego's are expensive!

While we were looking for the perfect Lego's, Stephen and Morgan found random things in the kids isle to play with. The gold, however, was the football.

I really stink at sports. I've made a fool of myself, time and time again, just to prove to others that not all farm girls are athletic. Now don't get me wrong, I love to play sports, but I am horrible. No one ever wants me on their team.

As Stephen pulled the Nerf football from the bin he started to scoot back. "Kami...catch!"

I backed up, hoping that Morgan would catch the ball. No such luck.

Have you ever watched kids play ball? I mean, little kids. You know when they hold their hands out and they blink really fast, just in case they need to close them quickly. If the ball hits them in the head. That is what I looked like. And, of course, I missed the ball.

As the ball soared passed me I at least had my hands out with the idea of catching it. As I missed the ball, I heard someone chuckle to the left of me. I turned to see a man in his mid-thirties, trying to hide the fact that he was laughing at me. Just as I saw the man, Morgan was right behind me and said, "Hike!" As he 'hiked' the ball to me I again missed. The man to my left was going to lose all composure, so he quickly walked out of the isle. Stephen and Morgan didn't even see him as he snuck away.

Good thing I already have high self esteem and don't need others to boost me. Honestly though, it was pretty funny.

Glenn Beck

For those of you who know me very well, you know that I am a HUGE Glenn Beck fan. A while back I got Stephen to listen to him and has now come to the same conclusion that I have...Glenn Beck rocks. For part of my Christmas, Stephen took me to see his Christmas show. I have wanted to go to one of those shows forever. I was not disappointed.

One of the great things about Glenn Beck is that he tells things as he sees them. He doesn't have an agenda and he isn't looking to get people's praise. He just tells the truth. His latest project has been a book called The Christmas Sweater. For those of you who have never heard of this book, you should really get it. It is just simple and pure and true!

The show was just a stage view of the book. Glenn was basically showing the entire population of people that came to see his show that the Atonement of Jesus Christ is real.

I just want to add my two cents in with Glenn. WE CAN BE WHO WE WANT TO BE!! WE CAN BE FORGIVEN AND WE CAN CHANGE. That is the TRUE message of Christmas. Christ was born so that He could die. For us. Remember.

Target

Yesterday, Stephen and I went to Target to get a few miscellaneous items, and somehow got lost. I know this sounds a little weird, but I turned to look at some movies and Stephen went to go get a cart. We didn't see each other again for another thirty minutes. Yeah, we were lost.

As I wandered around Target three times, I came across a little family. I passed a Dad pushing his cart following his little girl of about two to three years old. She was cute! The little girl was giggling profusely.

As I passed them and was well in front of them I heard the Dad say, "Olivia...lets see how fast you can run!"

Immediately I heard little feet begin to race across the floor, all the while she was still giggling. I was kind of giggling under my breath at her infectious laughter when I felt a little person run into the back of the legs. I turned around and saw the little Olivia. Her eyes were wide open in complete astonishment. You could tell there was a little bit of fear in her eyes. She had no idea who I was.

I looked down at her and smiled. "It's okay," I said.

"Sorry," she quietly said, as she ran back to her Dad.

Kids are so funny!

Oh, and don't worry, I found Stephen.

Why God Made Moms

I received this forward from my Mom this morning. To allow more people to experience this wonderful forward, I decided to post it on my blog. Enjoy!

Answers given by 2nd grade school children to the following questions:

Why did God make mothers?
1. She's the only one who knows where the scotch tape is.
2. Mostly to clean the house.
3. To help us out of there when we were getting born.

How did God make mothers?
1. He used dirt, just like for the rest of us.
2. Magic plus super powers and a lot of stirring.
3. God made my Mom just the same like he made me. He just used bigger parts.

What ingredients are mothers made of ?
1. God makes mothers out of clouds and angel hair and everything nice in the world and one dab of mean.
2. They had to get their start from men's bones. Then they mostly use string, I think.

Why did God give you your mother and not some other mom?
1. We're related.
2. God knew she likes me a lot more than other people's moms like me.

What kind of little girl was your mom?
1. My Mom has always been my mom and none of that other stuff.
2. I don't know because I wasn't there, but my guess would be pretty bossy.
3. They say she used to be nice.

What did Mom need to know about dad before she married him?
1. His last name.
2. She had to know his background. Like is he a crook? Does he get drunk on beer?
3. Does he make at least $800 a year? Did he say NO to drugs and YES to chores?

Why did your mom marry your dad?
1. My dad makes the best spaghetti in the world. And my Mom eats a lot.
2. She got too old to do anything else with him.
3. My grandma says that Mom didn't have her thinking cap on.

Who's the boss at your house?
1. Mom doesn't want to be boss, but she has to because dad's such a goof ball.
2. Mom. You can tell by room inspection. She sees the stuff under the bed.
3. I guess Mom is, but only because she has a lot more to do than dad.

What's the difference between moms & dads?
1. Moms work at work and work at home and dads just go to work at work.
2. Moms know how to talk to teachers without scaring them.
3. Dads are taller & stronger, but moms have all the real power 'cause that's who you got to ask if you want to sleep over at your friend's.
4. Moms have magic, they make you feel better without medicine.

What does your mom do in her spare time?
1. Mothers don't do spare time.
2. To hear her tell it, she pays bills all day long.

What would it take to make your mom perfect?
1. On the inside she's already perfect. Outside, I think some kind of plastic surgery.
2. Diet. You know, her hair. I'd diet, maybe blue.

If you could change one thing about your mom, what would it be?
1. She has this weird thing about me keeping my room clean. I'd get rid of that.
2. I'd make my mom smarter. Then she would know it was my sister who did it and not me.
3. I would like for her to get rid of those invisible eyes on the back of her head.

Black Friday

Wow...my husband is a GREAT holiday shopper. To begin our crusade we got home on Thursday night (technically Friday early morning) at 1:30am and set our alarm to go off at 3:30am. We had to make it to Kohl's for when they opened at 4:00am.

Well, our alarm did go off at 3:30, but our bodies didn't really register that it was going off until 4:00. WE WERE LATE FOR KOHL'S!! We threw on our clothes and ran out the door. We were off for our big adventure. This is our first Christmas as a married couple and so we wanted to start it off right. Black Friday.

As soon as we pulled into Kohl's we knew that our poor, tired bodies should have shaken awake at 3:30. That place was packed! We followed a couple of girls to their car so that we could have a parking spot. As soon as we parked we skipped our way into Kohl's to get our first official Christmas decoration...a Christmas tree! We had been shopping all over for the last two weeks to see if we could find a good deal on a tree. We finally found our deal at Kohl's. We purchased a seven foot pre-lit tree for $69.99. Wahoo! The seventy dollar Christmas tree was definitely worth the 30 minute line that we waited in to purchase our new treasure.

After Kohl's we dashed over to Target to get our fill of cartoon movies that were on sale from $3.00 to $13.00. As I have said in a previous post, Stephen and I love cartoons. I won't tell you how many movies that we purchased, or how much money we spent, but I am content. Oh, by the way, for those of you who read this that live in the Boise area, the Target on Eagle and Fairview is very disorganized on Black Friday.

Finishing our second feat, we raced to Fred Meyer for their famous sock and slipper sale. After going to Fred Meyer on Black Friday, I decided that that place is where I will go first. At least I will be there when it first opens. They had the best sales. You really wouldn't think so because normally they are so expensive, but that is not the case on Black Friday. We are now stocked up on socks and have fun slippers for both of us.

All in all I think that Black Friday was a lot of fun. We talked to quiet a few people who also had dark circles under their eyes and were sleep deprived. Yeah for people who have the Christmas spirit on Black Friday!

When we walked in the door after our excursion, Stephen said, "I want to wear my new slippers." I immediately told him, that it was for Christmas and would have to wait until then to wear them. He wasn't too happy with that, but it's for Christmas! Boys...I have decided that it is VERY difficult being married and keeping presents secret. We both kind of ruined a few secrets just because we couldn't really get away from each other. We'll see how it goes for the rest of the presents.

To finish up where I left off, Stephen is a GREAT holiday shopper. Last night we went out to eat at one of Stephen's favorite places, Taco Del Mar. The entire time we were there, I was just gabbing on about this and that. I stopped after a bit and realized that Stephen wasn't participating in the conversation and had a dazed look in his eye. I said, "Stephen, what are you thinking about?"

He said, "Oh I was just thinking about Black Friday and hoping that we hit all of the sales that we wanted."

Again I say, my hubby is a great shopper.

Thanksgiving!

I LOVE the holidays. I love the feeling, the fun, and basically everything that comes with it. In celebration of this holiday I just wanted to list ten things that I am grateful for.

1. My AMAZING husband. He is so patient and kind. Stephen has a huge heart that is always keenly aware of those around him.
2. The gospel. I am so grateful that I have a knowledge and a testimony that I have a Heavenly Father who loves me and has a plan for me.
3. My parents. They have worked very hard to raise me the way that I am. They gave me so much love and just enough discipline that somehow, I turned out alright.
4. My siblings. My brother and sisters are my best friends. They are always there for me whenever I need them.
5. Stephen's family. I think that Stephen's family is finally beginning to understand who I really am and they still seem to like me! They took me in as one of their own and have loved my like a daughter/sister.
6. Our home. We have been blessed with the opportunity to have something that is finally ours to take care of and we are SO grateful. I love having a place to call my own.
7. Our ward. We have such a welcoming ward that has been so much fun. They really are turning out to be a real ward family.
8. My primary class. There really is something special about a group of little kids who know your name and always want to say "hi" when they see you. It gives you those warm fuzzies.
9. Friends. I have really been blessed with people all over that I can call my friends. They are all such good people and are really fun to be around.
10. Grandma Donna. Even though she sometimes drives me crazy, I love her. I am grateful to have been born as her granddaughter.

The Feeding Frenzy

Stephen's brother, Brandon and his wife, Mitzi (who also happens to be my cousin) came up to visit this week. They got here on Saturday and will be here the rest of the week. In order to help out and be a part of everything, Stephen offered to have dinner at our house last Tuesday. "Kami can make her famous chicken cordon bleu!"

My niece, Samantha, when asked if she wanted to come to Uncle Stephen and Aunt Kami's, said: "Absolutely not! They don't have any fun toys." For those of you who know Sam, you can just hear here say it. When previously coming to our house, Sam couldn't find any dolls or frilly dress up clothes. Sorry Sam! Stephen and I don't have any little ones running around to entertain.

In preparing for this event we made sure that we had SSOOOO much food...just in case. What if someone just happened to invite thirty more people? Well we definitely had the food to feed them.

It was so much fun just preparing for the dinner. I worked on the chicken while Stephen made the jello salad, made to rice, AND made the honey mustard sauce for the chicken. MY HUBBY IS AMAZING!!! We worked together in the kitchen and made our masterpiece.

Thanks everyone for visiting our home and eating our food! It was TONS of fun!

Primary Fun-ness-ship

Just to let everyone know. I'm not a huge fan of doing sharing time. It is WAY more difficult to get 40+ kids to listen to you than 6. I will never complain about my class again...maybe.

Jess's Tag

I have actually been really excited to do this tag because I will help you (my reader) understand how weird Stephen and I are. We are supposed to tell you seven random things about us.

Stephen:

1. I like to eat ice cubes
2. I have to have everything straight and organized at my work desk or I get distracted.
3. I break dance at random times.
4. I love to watch Japanese cartoons...or just cartoons.

Kami:

1. When I am taking a shower, the shower head has to be spraying directly in the center of the tub.
2. I love to tear perforated paper.
3. I love to write the letters 'E' and 'R'...I don't know why.
4. I love to squeeze egg yolks and feel it break and ooze between my fingers.
5. I do not like driving in the dark.
6. I also love to watch cartoons.
7. When I am really fidgety I always tap my fingers or my feet. When I do this I always have to do it in some sort of pattern. AND I always have to let my right foot tap just as many times as my left OR I have to let all five fingers tap the same amount of times. I know, it's really weird.

I tag Emily, Brigitte, and Nicole!

YEAH!!

"Happy days are here again
dooo do dooo do dooo do dooo do dooo"

The sun is shining and it is almost Thanksgiving!

Testimonial

I received an email recently from my mother entitled "Vick's vapor rub". According to the author of the named email, you can cure any cough by rubbing vapor rub on the bottoms of your feet rather than your chest. They say that it is that much more potent. Considering that Stephen has had a cough for the last few days, I decided that I had a guinea pig to try this little project on...

Stephen was laying on couch, dying, the other night. I sat next to him with socks and the Vick's in hand. I pulled up his feet and started to massage them. To this, he had no contrary remark. Of course!

After a few minutes of rubbing his feet, I pulled out the Vick's and began rubbing it all over the bottoms of his feet. He looked at me and stated, "What are you doing?!"

To which I replied, "I just want to try something."

Stephen is quite a mellow, easy going character, so he complied. I finished putting on the Vick's and then the completing my work of art with socks tightly squeezed on his feet.

I went to the kitchen to finish making dinner. Five minutes later Stephen said, "Kami! What did you do to me? I can...taste it."

Woohoo! It works! As a side note, it didn't completely take his cough away, but it helped to soothe his cough and helped to get rid of the congestion.

The Secret Service Club

When you are a primary teacher, you have good days, and you have bad days. Today was definitely a good day. I have been working on today's lesson for primary FOREVER! I really wanted to get the kids excited and get them to actually listen. After racking my brain, I came up with some pretty good ideas.

The lesson started out a little rocky. Service isn't something that 6 year old's think is that cool. When we started to talk about Jesus washing the feet of his disciples, they calmed down a bit.

I had all of the kids show me their shoes. I got on the floor and told them the story while pretending to clean their shoes. They were all a little disconcerted that their teacher was kneeling on the floor, in a dress, and pretending to wash their shoes. I then got to my little boy I have named Billy. As soon as I got to him with my pretend shoe scrubbers, he pulled his feet away. Immediately my eyes lit up as I told them about Jesus's apostle, Peter, and his refusal to let Jesus wash his feet.

After the feet washing story I jumped up and asked if anyone wanted to join a secret club. Immediately all of my kids raised their hands. I told them that I was starting a club called The Secret Service Club. In order to be a member they had to have their official "bags". They all lined up behind me and I handed them little Ziploc bags that said, "I am a member of the secret service club". Inside the bags were five pink paper hearts. My little Billy sat back down in his chair as soon as he saw that they were pink. He would have nothing to do with pink. I ignored him.

"Everyone take out their hearts! I need all of you to write down five names of people that you are going to do a secret service for. After you do your secret service, leave the heart with their name on it."

As I was explaining the rules, Billy crawled to my backpack and pulled out another Ziploc bag to begin the secret service work.

The kids were very excited about the club. When the bell rang to leave, the kids hurried to put away their hearts. Most of them had siblings in sharing time and didn't want them to see their secret.

At choir practice, one of my boy's moms came up to me and said, "Kami, right when we got home from church, my son ran into our room and made our bed and put two hearts on the comforter with our names on it."

I love teaching primary.

Everyone...lets pay attention

I feel really retarded.

When Stephen and I purchased our home in July we also bought a washer and dryer. We were really excited about them because they were the new uprights. We decided to get them without the pedestals. (Stephen said that it wasn't necessary anyway because I was the one who did all the laundry. Thanks honey, I love you too!)

Every time I did a load of towels this last month, they would come out smelling like mildew. Not a pleasant smell to put around your freshly showered body. Bleah.

Last night I had had enough! I pulled out all of the information that we were given when we bought the dang things to look for a number to call. I was going to bawl out some unsuspecting worker with my complaints of their product. Luckily, before I did so, I found this precious laminated paper that said: "Maintenance: Clean the pump filter twice a month to prevent lint buildup and odor. Clean around door seal and door glass to prevent odor or mildew."

Good thing I never found that phone number.

Oh, and I fixed the mildew problem.

Trunk-OR-Treating

I know that it is a little belated, but I wanted to show you our clever halloween costumes. I really wanted to go trunk-or-treating at our ward building for Halloween, but didn't have costumes or anything to decorate our trunk.

After much soul searching I finally decided on a costume. The picture says it all. My only regret was that I didn't think of the idea early enough to wear it to work.

The only thing that we had to purchase for both of our costumes was black lipstick. Yep, black lipstick. 1.99 at Fred Meyer. Just to clear up any confusion, Stephen was supposed to be night. Yeah, like the dark. You know, we should have drawn stars on his cheeks. Oh well, there's always next year!

Rather than use our trunk to hand out candy, we carried around our easter buckets and gave candy to the kids. They were a little confused that someone was giving them candy from a person carrying around a bucket. After all, who in their right mind would give up hallowen candy! There were quiet a few times that I was mistaken for a little kid. In my defense, we were trunk or treating in the dark.

Big Mama

My mother is not someone who is very technology fluent, but she does well holding her own.

My sister, Krystal, always texts her. At first my mom didn't know how to respond and she would get "mad" because she didn't have texting on her plan. She was charged 10 cents for every text that came in and 10 cents for every text going out. As her children, we have taken it upon ourselves to help her understand the need for texting.

Being the brilliant mother that she is, she figured out how to respond. Most responses are quips about how we were in big trouble for texting her or that she was going to beat us. We all just laugh. The only one who gets away with texting mom without a rebuke is our saintly brother, Kory.

Now, the reason for this post: I have been trying to convince my mom to start a blog. I texted her my request and she quickly responded with her usual "I'm going to beat you."

I told Krystal about my cause and she volunteered to text Mom the same thing.

Ten minutes later Krystal forwarded me this text from Mom, "You know that your big sister is in huge trouble and that would be in caps if i knew how. Big Mama"

My mother always signs her texts "Big Mama".

Sales Calls

As a receptionist there are many people that I talk to on the phone everyday. Every person that calls is greeted, "Marv's Insulation. This is Kami!" in my most chipper and upbeat voice.

One of the many perks of being a receptionist is something that I like to call 'Caller ID'. Most of the time when a person calls in, I know who is going to greet me on the other line. A regular customer, a new customer, a vendor, or an angry person that personally attacks me because of the stupidity of someone else. So I am up for almost anything.

The one thing that erks me the most is a call that I have yet to mention. When my phone begins to ring and my handy dandy caller id says, "OUT OF AREA" or "CALLER UNKNOWN" or "some long distance number that I don't even know where the prefix comes from" my blood begins to boil. I know that there is only one thing waiting for me. The Sales Call.

The person on the other line almost always will find some sort of way to coerce me into either making my boss get on the other line or handing out his cell phone number. In my early days of being a little, naive receptionist, my boss didn't like me very much. I have, however, now become a very smooth conniver myself. NO ONE gets past Kami without some deep interrogations to assure myself that I will not get harassed for letting a salesman through.

So, for all of you salesman out there, I DON'T need anyone to come and shred my paper, I DON'T need anyone to clean our toilets, and I definitely DON'T need anyone to change our mats!

(For those of you who do not know, I am married to a wonderful man by the name of Stephen Post, who just happens to be a salesman. A VERY good salesman at that. The following has NO reference to him.)

What are white crayons for?

When I taught my primary class a couple of weeks ago, I was a little ahead of schedule so I had to improvise. I decided to have the kids help me with our sharing time for Thanksgiving. I had the kids all draw pictures of things that they were thankful for so that we could hang them up in the primary room while we were presenting our "awesome" sharing time.

One little boy in my class is really, quite smart. He retains a lot of things. Some things you probably don't want him to, but to no avail. He remembers. We'll call him Billy.

All of my little primary kids were kneeling on the floor while diligently coloring their works of art. Billy got up in the middle of coloring and asked me if he could use a white crayon. Figuring that Billy was just trying to be silly I handed him the crayon and gave him a leary look. He eagerly took the crayon and again began to work on his picture.

Thirty seconds later Billy got up from his chair with a wide grin and handed me his picture. I carefully examined it. Looking closely at the picture with a the light shining just right, you could see a stick figure person. I asked him, "[Billy] who is the white person in your picture."

He quickly replied, "It's the Holy Ghost, Sister Post! You can't really see him, but you know that he is there."

Aren't kids so smart?

Thanks Mom & Dad!

A month and a half ago I was asked by Jen in our ward to be the guest speaker at Young Womens in Excellence. I was really surprised that she asked me because we had just moved into the ward, but was actually excited. I love to speak.

Anyway, for the last month I have been talking to my mom about what I was going to speak on and getting any little tidbits that she could help with.

As the appointed day for me to speak grew closer my mom kept asking me to record my talk. I laughed at her...who owns tape recorders? I didn't even have one on the mission. She was determined. "Can't you find something to record it with?"

I wasn't that dilligent in looking.

While sitting at work yesturday, I received a phone call at 2:30 from my Mom.

Mom: What time are you speaking?
Kami: 7:00
Mom: We're in the car and we are coming.
Kami: Really! Are the girls with you? Dad?
Mom: Yep, we'll be there at 6:00.

I WAS SO EXCITED!! I really have the coolest family ever. Thanks Mom and Dad for being such a great support.

Oh and if Kenna ever reads this, thanks for remembering Corbin Bleu. The girls really enjoyed that part of my talk.

My hubby is SO funny!

Stephen called me while I was at work today. This is what proceeded:

(Everything is said in a whisper)
Kami: Hello?
(He immediately begins to whisper with me)
Stephen: Why are we whispering?
Kami: Because I like to see what people do when I do it.
(Still whispering)
Stephen: Is there someone in the office that you don't want them to know where you are because they are going to hurt you?
Kami: Yes.
Stephen: Do you need me to come save you?
Kami: Yes.
Stephen: I am going to go to Walmart and buy a batman costume and then I will come and save you.
Kami: Hurry
Stephen: The lines at Walmart will probably be long.

Enough said.

November 4th

Ever since I was in high school government I have had a craving for understanding politics. I know, I'm weird. I love to listen to talk radio, research issues, and just be informed. Next week is my time to shine. I get to go to the poles and get a little sicker that says, "I VOTED".

I am begging anyone who reads this...please vote.

Well of course we have pumpkins!

I LOVE the holidays. They are SO much fun. According to me the holidays begin with Halloween and go all the way to Easter. Don't you just love having a reason to celebrate? Stephen and I and Morgan and Jess (good friends of ours) did a little pumpkin carving Saturday and ours looks pretty good, if I do say so myself. The truth is in the picture...That is quite a scarey trick-or-treater. Stephen picked that one all by himself. All the ones that I wanted to do were really hard and probably would have taken all night. (That part didn't really matter to me because I was just scrapping out the goo while Stephen had to do the hard part of cutting). Here are some pictures of the nights events. You can judge for yourself as to weather or not we (when I say we, I mean Stephen) are crazy.

Quick note...

Primary is not for the faint of heart.

THE House

I have been so excited to live in an actual house that is mine (and Stephen's). It has been so fun to try and decorate and put new things in new places so I thought that I would post some cool pix of our house.

Here is my WAY cute kitchen. The picture really doesn't give it justice so you'll have to just take my word for it.

After we have the way cute kitchen lets look at the really cute dining room with the beautiful table given to me my mother and grandmother. It actually matches really well...at least that is what I think.

Here is the living room with our really neat table that Stephen's parents got for us for our birthdays. I really like the table and it helps to tie our kitchen and living room together. We also got the Christus from Stephen's Aunt Sharon. Doesn't it look SO great in here...don't forget little Snickle and Stephen's TV...

This is our shadow box that leads into our bedroom. It has a picture that my parents gave me for my birthday two years ago of two sister missionaries. It took a lot of convincing to for Stephen to allow me to put it up. BUT IT LOOKS SO STINKIN' GOOD!!!

Here's our bedroom set that we looked for forever to find. We finally found one that we liked. If you look really closely you will see a little brown bear with a red checkered scarf sitting on the bed. That one ALSO took a lot of convincing on my part. His name is Checkers. Every time that Stephen's pulls down the bed at night he throws the bear on the ground as hard as he can. It makes a really loud noise and I always know what it was. I chase him around the house saying, "BE NICE TO CHECKERS!!!" He laughes at me and runs. He just likes to get a rise out of me. Boys...


Here is our bathroom with two sinks. NOW I DON'T HAVE TO SHARE WITH STEPHEN!!! Okay it might seem kind of gross to have a picture of our toilet, but my candle matches my shower curtian and the rug. I just had to show you...so sorry if anyone gets really grossed out. It is a really cool angle though.

Off of our entry way we have two extra bedrooms and an extra bathroom. One bedroom we have converted into an office. I want EVERYONE to notice the extra bedroom that has an extra double bed. You can come visit if you want! Yes and I'll make you food.

And finally dun dun du du...here is the messy laundry room. It just looks like a laundry room doesn't it? That is the inside tour of my b-e-a-u-tiful house. Don't you just love it? We do.

The Fortieth Great-Grandchild

So my grandmother called me this morning while I was at work. Let me give you the dialogue:

Kami: Hi Grandma!
Grandma: OH! I didn't think that you were going to answer the phone while you were at work. I figured that I would be talking to the answering machine...Are you going to get fired if you talk to me while you are at work?!
Kami: No, you're okay, we can talk for a minute or so.
Grandma: OH! I'm SO sorry, I'll talk to you later Kami D. Luv ya! (Click)

Yeah, she hung up on me. She really needs to get those hearing aids fixed.

I called her back a little bit later while I was on break. She had something very important that she felt needed to be said. For those of you who don't know, my grandmother is 85 years old and I honestly believe that she will live forever. Anyway...back to the important discussion...Grandma has decided that she is ready for her next greatgrandchild.

My brother, sister, and I all got married in a period of nine months (I know, my poor mother). According to my grandma the next greatgrandchild will be number 40 and she has given up hope on anyone else except for my siblings and I. I've talked to my brother and he said no. I guess it will just have to be up to the younger sister than. Sister, you know who you are, get cracking!

Thanks Charisse...I have now been tagged!

For those of you who have never seen this before this is how it works. If you have been tagged, you must then answer the following questions on your blog. Have fun guys!

Stephen's Answers
5 things I was doing 10 years ago:
1. Beginning sophomore year and Eagle High School
2. Playing basketball
3. Being sick of living in a house full of girls
4. getting excited to start dating
5. Taking drivers ed

5 things on my to do list today:
1. Solve world hunger
2. Learn how to fly
3. Once flight is learned come up with cool superhero name
4. Draft my online fantasy basketball team
5. Study for a test I care nothing about.

5 things I would do if I was a millionaire:
1. Start a ghost buster team
2. Buy Kory a 42" plasma tv
3. Pay off house
4. Start drawing again
5. Learn how to surf

5 places I have lived:
1. Boise, ID
2. Spokane, WA
3. Clearfield, UT
4. Riverside County, CA
5. Liverpool, Germany

5 jobs I have had:
1. Carny
2. Lunch Lady
3. Entrepreneur (lawn mower business)
4. Salesman
5. Chinker

Kami's Answers
5 things I was doing 10 years ago:
1. Beginning Sophomore year
2. Being a teenage girl...something no one wants to be
3. Beginning to drive
4. Drama...drama, drama, drama
5. Trying to kill Krystal (see Kory's post)

5 things on my to do list today:
1. Clean bathrooms
2. Grocery Shopping
3. Take potatoes to Marion, future friend that will give us good deal on a piano!
4. Go to primary activity day
5. Finish preparing lesson

5 things I would do if I was a millionaire:
1. Pay off our house
2. Buy a piano
3. Go on an awesome shopping spree
4. Buy a sweet photography studio
5. Get snickle a brother

5 places I have lived:
1. Boise, ID
2. Southeast Texas
3. San Jose, CA
4. Jacob Lake, AZ
5. Provo, UT

5 jobs I have had:
1. Photographer
2. Receptionist
3. Theatre Attendant
4. Truck Driver
5. Tubuliar Lateral Mover Technician

For those of you who understand ALL of the answers to these questions...you are awesome. I TAG JESS!!!

Vaccuum Furballs

As a little aside I would just like to add...when your vaccuum of only 8 months is spitting baseball sized furballs there is only one thing to do. Call your mother and ask her how to fix it.

Black Pens or Blue Pens

As some of you might know I have been called to the wonderful calling of primary teacher of the six and seven year olds in the Desert Ward of the Meridian Stake. (I wanted it to sound really official.) As a primary teacher you quickly learn a lot of things. For example, if you let one of the kids go to the bathroom EVERYONE has to go the the bathroom, or if you let one of the kids play a game EVERYONE has to have a turn, "or it isn't fair". I have learned many such lessons in my last couple of months of teaching. However I would just like to relate one such lesson.


I have a little girl in my class who has the attention span of about ten seconds. That might even be pushing it. For the sake of the story we will call her Jane. On one occasion Jane's parents let her bring a notebook and pen to class to keep her entertained. During class everytime that I stopped teaching for more than a few seconds she would walk up to me and ask me to write down the words to one of the primary songs. I tried to appease Jane while trying to also keep all of the other kids' attention on the lesson. I have atleast six kids every week so sometimes that gets difficult.


I managed to get through teaching the class and when the second bell had rung, my amazing primary kids marched down the hall with their arms folded to go to sharing time. I take turns sitting next to the different noisy kids during sharing time depending on who is "demanding" my attention. I switch seats quite frequently. For some reason on this particular day I knew that I sould probably stay sitting next to Jane.


Jane refused to let me take her notebook and pen during sharing time. She was relatively quiet with them, so I didn't push her. In the middle of sharing time one of my other kids started to hit someone accross the isle and I turned to take care of the problem. I think that I looked away from Jane for less than 10 seconds. When I turned to see what she was doing all I saw was her look of innocence and the open pen in hand...she had written ALL OVER herself. Okay let me clarify. She had written all over her left hand and then up to her elbow and all the way to the sleeve of her cute little short sleeve dress. THESE KIDS ARE FAST!!!

Remind me when I have children to never allow anyone under the age of 15 to hold a pen.

Well hello...

For all of you who would love to follow the wonderful life of Stephen and Kami please feel free to log on. For those of you who have better things to do, just remember all of the fun things that you could be missing out on that will be posted in the future...