44

Today's my 44th birthday.  No, I'm not wearing that shirt to work today.

I asked my mom last night what she remembered about the day I was born.  As I said last week, I'm adopted (sorry that shocked some of you.  I seriously feel like an open book and think everyone knows all of my secrets.) Anyway, she said she remembers she was outside working in the garden when the phone rang announcing my arrival.  She said they told her to come in and see her new baby girl.  I seem to remember she used to tell us a story about how she ran outside and yelled "it's a girl" or "I'm a mom" or something like that.  Someday I'll get around to scanning old baby pictures.  I was pretty cute back then. ;)

The nurses at the hospital knew I was being adopted and named me "Kay" during the three days I was in the hospital before my parents took me home.  I don't think I look like a Kay so I'm glad my mom and dad named me Jeanelle.  I used to hate how long and different my name was and wished I could find my name on a pencil or license plate for my bike.  Now, I love it.  I love that it's spelled differently and I love that there aren't a lot of Jeanelles out there.

I feel okay being 44, for the most part.  I hate the lines around my eyes and the fact that another year has come and gone and I'm one year closer to spinster-hood (kidding...kind of.)  But for the most part, I'm happy with my 40s. I like this stage better than my 20s and 30s.  I feel more settled in who I am, I'm at a great place spiritually and I'm blessed that I have so many people in my life who love me and help me to be better than I am.

If you're reading this, you're probably one of those people.  Thank you for supporting me and reminding me that even though I still live by myself, I'm never truly alone.

What I know for sure

I know that Gillette Venus razors are the best womens razors out there.

I know that having hope for the future feels so much better than being hopeless and crabby about what I don't yet have.

I know that road trips are, in fact, completely possible without Peanut M&Ms.  Alternatively, I know that road trips are not at all possible without Diet Coke.

I know I will always cry when in "You've Got Mail," Kathleen Kelly closes her store and then pictures herself and her mother twirling.  Seriously.  I bawl every single time. (Wish I could have found a picture but had to settle for this one.  Love the lily of the valley bouquet.)

I know I will always do or say thoughtless things (and I will always be sorry and will always try to do better.)

I know that getting pre-birthday flowers shaped like a cupcake will make anyone smile - especially since this darling cupcake doesn't count against my daily point allowance.

I know prayers are heard and answered by our Father in Heaven.  All. The. Time.

I know I love each one of these girls (five of my fabulous 2nd YCLs from last year) and I love that they like hanging out with me.  I also know that each one is seriously adorable.  Seriously.

How to Tuesday: Meet a blogger you adore!

Today's how-to Tuesday (see Stie's blog for more good advice) will teach you how to go about meeting a blogger you've admired from afar...anyone can do it, really.

Step 1.

Leave your house and go somewhere away from where you actually live.  (I went to the eastern side of my state this weekend for a dear friend's surprise birthday party.)

Step 2.

Think about who you know in the blogosphere who might live near where you're traveling.  (I thought of Jessica, a blogger whom I adore....you know her right?  She's that beautiful girl with the darling and hilarious kids and the super sweet and very tidy husband.  Of course you know who I'm talking about.)

Step 3.

Send said blogger an email asking if she'd happen to be around during the narrow little window of time when you'll be in her town.  (Seriously, I gave her like a 24 hour period of availability.)

Step 4.

Cheer loudly when you read the email she writes back saying she'd love to meet and would I like to come have lunch at her house with the aforementioned kids and husband. (Seriously, have you SEEN the barf training video?  How could you not want to meet the kids and husband after that little cinematic treat?!?)

Step 5.

Leave your house, drive east for a few hours, check into a so-so hotel, go to a fun party, return to the hotel, sleep, wake up, have a fun breakfast and more visiting time with the birthday girl you just celebrated the night before, then drive 30 more minutes to the home of the beloved blogger.

Step 6.

Panic a little when you get about a block away from the blogger's house.  Say to yourself "why did I think she'd ever want to meet me? Is it too late to back out?  I'm a total dork.  What if she hates me and we have nothing to talk about?"

Step 7.

Tell yourself to snap out of it, park the car, knock on the door, loving and smiling at the sound of the five adorable children running around inside.

Step 8.

Hug the blogger.  Go inside.  Start talking and then try not to act so surprised when she mentions things about you that she remembers from reading your blog.  (Seriously.  Actual people read my blog!)

Step 9.

Eat a delicious meal (still waiting for that recipe, missy) enjoy the darling family, talk like you've been friends forever.  Try not to wish out loud that we could be in the same ward.

Step 10.

Take pictures.  Hug.  Say goodbye.

It's seems totally easy now that I've laid out the steps for you, right? 

Dear Jessica, Ryan, Emma, Gabe, Jane, Seth and Faith -- I loved meeting you this weekend.  Thank you for making me feel so welcome in your home.  Can't wait to see you again sometime!

My momma

I have the best mother ever.

I came home from my little trip this weekend to find the pots on my patio filled with flowers. She loves me and still takes such good care of me even though I am eight days away from turning 44 and can pretty much take care of myself.

She's fun, she's sweet, she's smart and the best worker I've ever known. Anytime I need something bought, baked, sewn, cleaned or fixed, she will do it for me.

I feel like everyone who reads my blog knows that I'm adopted but in case you didn't know, well, I'm adopted. Shortly after they married, my mom and dad decided they wanted a little girl so they called an attorney and voila, they got me.

I've never felt an urge to find out who my birth parents are because I know with everything that I am that I am exactly where I'm supposed to be. 

The mom I have is the only mom I've ever wanted and I will be forever grateful that she chose to adopt me.

How to Tuesday: you too can have fabulous eyelashes!

Or an alternate title: how to be vain like me!

I've been racking my brain for weeks now, trying to think of something I could do to join in the how-to Tuesday fun with that darling and fabulous Stie.

It finally hit me - I'll tell everyone how I was able to get fabulous eyelashes in just a few months (oh and for just a little bit of money.)

Okay, last Thanksgiving, I asked my niece if she was wearing fake eyelashes because she had the most amazingly long and beautiful lashes.  She said she wasn't but that she had been using Latisse for the past few months.  I decided to give it a try and started up myself the first week of December.

Here's a terrible and slightly scary self-pic of my eyes just so you can get an idea of how incredibly this stuff works.

I know, right?

My lashes before Latisse were normal - short, straight, etc.  My lashes now are still fairly straight but they are longer and thicker too. I do a quick squeeze of an eyelash curler on the tips, apply a little mascara and they look perfect.

It's kind of amazing.  Okay, let's get into the how-to...

Latisse is a prescription medicine.  When you bring the box home and open it up, you'll find a teensy tiny little bottle (appearing much larger here) and a supply of little brushes for you to use to apply the stuff to your eyelids.

Friends, my advice to you is do NOT use the included brushes.  Seriously, do not.  These are cheap brushes that soak up the liquid before you can really get it on your eyelids.  Because this stuff is like liquid gold, you want it to last a long time and not just be soaked up in a throw-away brush.

Instead, buy this $11 brush from your nearest Sephora store.

It's the professional pointed liner/eyeliner brush #17.  After applying, rinse the brush out and set it aside to dry until the next day and that's it.

So every night, wash your face, remove your makeup, apply eye cream, whatever you have to do.  Once you're ready for bed and done doing stuff to your eyes, grab your tiny brush and drop a tiny drop of Latisse on it.  If it starts to drip off the brush because it's such a tiny little thing and doesn't soak up a lot of liquid (and you don't want to lose even a drop of this stuff) then you just let the excess drop back onto the Latisse bottle top.  This way you can use every last drop without it dropping onto your sink or whatever.

Use your tiny little brush to paint the liquid on your upper eyelid, as close to the lash line as possible (use one drop on the brush for each eye.)  I used my cute little Sephora brush and my first Latisse bottle lasted more than four months. 

So I know you're dying to know how much this stuff really costs, right?  Well, one bottle is roughly $100, depending on your pharmacy.  If you use the tiny Sephora brush, you'll feel better about spending all of that money on something so trivial as your eyelashes.  I mean, it works for me, anyway.

I saw results after about six weeks of treatment and you achieve your full lash potential after sixteen weeks of daily application.  I'm now on maintenance and apply Latisse three times a week.

Side effects?  I haven't noticed any.  The two I heard about the most are darker pigment on your eyelids (which I already had) and darker irises (hello, I have dark brown eyes anyway.)  I had one eyelash grow in white, which was a little weird but other than that, nothing but long and lush lashes that make me feel pretty.

And who doesn't want to feel pretty???

Trek prep

Our stake is doing a Pioneer Trek this summer and I was lucky enough to be put in charge of activities with my good friend Lisa. Normally, the people who get to go on treks are married couples so I see this opportunity for me to get to go as a fantastic blessing.  Yes it will be hard work. Yes it will be awful to not shower for 3 days.  Yes I will hate going without makeup.  Yes I will miss things like chairs and my bed.  Yes I will quickly grow tired of wearing hiking boots instead of flip flops in the 100 degree weather.  But the spiritual blessings are worth so much more to me than those worldly things.

I was out the door at 6:30 AM on a Saturday so that I could ride four hours to our trek site yesterday.  The visit was more for the trail bosses and logistics people than it was for the activities committee but it was still helpful to see where we're going to be doing this thing come June.

I had a very real confirmation as we drove onto the site that this is where we're supposed to have our trek.  It's been a challenge because the distance between where we live and the trek site is great.  We have budget challenges and the distance also makes it difficult to staff things because people who come to help us have to be there the entire time.  But I know the "plains" like terrain will make our trek that much more realistic for our youth. It's gonna be amazing.

Me, Lisa & Alberta fighting the wind of SE Washington

There are service missionaries who work on this property and I cannot communicate to you how hilarious Elder Poe was.  Seriously, I am in love with this (elderly & married) man.  We made a list of some of his funnier comments:

"There's so much dust on my dashboard that I could plant corn in here"
"The only thing I know dumber than a cow is a sheep."
"In the summer, this place looks like hell with the fires put out."

And my personal favorite...

"Let's make like a sewer and get the crap out of here."

You love him too, right?  He put his arm around me as we were leaving.  Swoon.  I should have taken his picture - I'll get one in June for sure. 

Alberta, Lisa and I had to take advantage of some alone time and hiked up a big hill away from the men...can you guess what I'm about to do in the picture below?  Yeah, first time in forever that I had to do that...not my favorite thing.  I'm not an outdoorsy girl but you have to take matters into your own hands once in awhile...especially when you've been riding in a car around a 70,000 acre ranch that only has porta-potties at the end of the trail.

We finally got back on the road to head home around 4:30 PM.  We stopped in Yakima at a place called Miners.  Anyone ever been there?  I splurged and had a hamburger that was so gigantic that I couldn't finish it.  But seriously?  Yum.  Lisa let me share her fries.  Someday I want to go back for a milkshake.

We might have to stop here on our way home from the Trek...they have a drive through so I won't have to go inside in my dirty trek garb.

I'd love to hear from anyone who's gone on a trek before...what do you remember most about it?  Any suggestions for me re: activities?  I struggle with planning too much because I really think activities are not nearly as important as the experience of the trek itself.  But I know we need to have fun things planned too for the down time...so share your trek memories, if you have them.  Thanks!

Thoughts in my head

I'm still reveling in the greatness that was last weekend's General Conference. I took a bunch of notes of things that mattered to me at this point in my life and was surprised at some of the things that I was ready to hear and take in (instead of just thinking "that applies to someone else" as I have done in the past.)  My BFF Kim texted me and quoted Matthew 13:23 and said my heart has fertile soil for planting.  I hope that's true!  My favorite talks were by Elder Bednar (The Spirit of Revelation) and Elder Scott (The Eternal Blessings of Marriage.)

Oh and speaking of that BFF of mine...she's moving far, far away.  Like, far.  Like, I will need to finally get a passport, far.  I can hardly think about it without getting sad and even worse are the countless people who are (kindly) asking me "whatever will you do without Kim?"  Kim came up with the best response so the next person who (kindly) asks me that question will hear me (kindly) say "whatever will Kim do without me?"

This past Sunday was simply wonderful because a whole bunch of kids I love are home from BYU-I.  I couldn't stop smiling because every time I turned around, another cute boy or girl was coming up to say hi and give me a hug.  Love love love the fabulous youth I've met through church service. LOVE!

I'm a terrible visiting teacher (yes, Kellie, this is a public apology.)  I used to be good only because I had a fabulous partner who took the initiative to make the appointments.  Now I have a new partner who is much like me - super busy and not a good appointment maker.  Why oh why is it so hard for me to make the appointments? 

I've got Shirley MacLaine on Oprah going in the background.  Um...I have no idea what to say about that.

We did interviews last week for an opening in our office and seriously, I thought the last one would kill me.  I'd love to get into more detail but if I told you, well, you know what I'd have to do.

Um, oh yeah.  I bought a new car.  I posted it on Facebook (and yes, Lindsey, Facebook makes me a lazy blogger too!) so that made me forget to blog about it.  It's a 2008 Honda CR-V and it has all of the cool features I never knew I needed but am totally loving now.  I can now change my radio station without lifting a finger off of my steering wheel!  I have heated seats!  I can have my heat up to 85 but the person sitting in the passenger seat can have it on 68 (yeah, Krysta, I'm talking to you.)  I love it. It's cute and Kim says I look very cute while driving it so it must be true.

I just finished my taxes.  Every year, I have good intentions to get them done as soon as I get my W2 but no. And the worst thing is, I get a refund every year so it's not even like I'm waiting to send them money. I'm just lazy.

I've got a fun bridal shower coming up at the end of the month for darling Jamie.  Boni helped me make super cute invitations.  We have a great menu planned but I'm struggling with a game or activity.  At previous showers, we've done the ask the fiance questions and then the fiancee has to guess what he said and hilarity ensues.  I've done the match the wedding terms and get a candy bar game.  I'm tired of those.  I need a new game!  Ideas, anyone???  Not a long drawn out game, please...this is a weeknight shower and people need to go to bed.  Please send me your good ideas!