there was nothing good like “we understand you need a large closet to hold the shoes of all 7 daughters” from a home builder, or “datelance.com” set up by co-workers of lance. i looked for a good one to take a picture of each time in the car and failed. except once, when i didnt have my camera, we saw “escape polygamy now”. and just to be clear: i am not making fun of utah, well, not in a mean way at least….just joking with it a little bit, like i do with everything i love.

but i wasnt disappointed in anything else, well, except for the fact that the yellow metal locker i found at DI for $20 didnt fit in my luggage. or the lime green velvet couch at Savers for $30. TOTAL and UTTER frustration and sadness. next time we are rolling into utah valley in a U-Haul.

kelly chauffeured us around to the best places and em and i had to stick to knick knacks and clothes. after awhile i just wouldnt go into the furniture section at all. i couldnt stand the heartbreak.

we were also totally lucky to end up there at the same time that the beehive bazaar was going on. a small but amazing and inspiring boutique sale. taken from their site: The Beehive Bazaar is a art and craft fair in Provo Utah that showcases the independent designs, arts, crafts and edibles of 40 trendsetting local artists. The Bazaar touts a hand selected inventory of unique, quality and most importantly, to-die-for handmade goods including jewelry, paintings, bags, vinyl, paper, clothing, accessories and one-of-a-kind gifts as well as cupcakes, jams, cookies, caramels and treats. This is in no way your mothers craft boutique, but creativity with an edge.

even margie joined in on the thrifting fun. dominatrix prom dress anyone? i had to beg her not to take it home. she played it off but i know she really wanted it.

it also turned out that cathy was in town for meeting at simple scrapbooks magazine. one night we picked her up from her hotel and had dinner, along with rhonna.

saturday morning we got up bright and early and headed out to garage sales. i havent done it in soooo long and i have revived my garage saler personality now. i am all over it. you would not BELIEVE what i found-i will share as soon as i have taken photos-it is that good.

then i said goodbye and flew home-cate (kellys daughter) took this shot just before we left. why didnt i remember that when sitting down i look like a buddha statue? why didnt i remember to have cate climb up onto a ladder and shoot us from above?

i have more photos to share from the trip, but it has to wait until tomorrow. gotta keep you coming back for this RIVETING commentary.

xo

i am so behind on blog posts, so i’m just jumping in where i am right now. last week sucked, plain and simple. two migraines and a constant feeling of nausea (and no, not pregnant). to add insult to serious injury, we (jeff and i, with his dad) had plans to drive to rocky point, mexico on friday to see roger clyne and the peacemakers. we had babysitting all set up for the kids and were looking forward to a few days together. jeff has wanted to do this for years. its on his “things to do before i die” list.

and, well, i ended up being too sick to go. it was the hardest decision to make. but in the end i made the best decision with the information i had on hand. and that information was i felt like death on a stick. so they left friday morning without me, and i cried into my pillow as they drove away.

silver lining: everyone that was taking the kids still wanted to take the kids – they (the kids) were all too excited to change their plans. so the boys got to keep their sleepover with shea and finn, and anna had her sleepover with ivy, and mckenna had her sleepover with my mom and dad.

that was the only good thing about this weekend. and actually, it was a pretty big good thing. it was actually a VERY big good thing. i cant remember the last time my house stayed this quiet and this clean for three consecutive days. and even though i wanted to curl up and cry once or twice, it was a treasure. this weekend was a tiny little treasure. to be able to walk downstairs and have it look EXACTLY THE SAME WAY IT DID WHEN I WALKED UPSTAIRS. to lay in bed knowing that nothing was getting destroyed, eaten, punched, yelled at, written on, scared, feelings hurt, etc. or at least if they were, i didnt have to deal with it. to just sit and listen to the air conditioner, and the birds, and nothing else.

i spent the weekend basically in bed. i read, i drank up the silence, i had dinner brought to me by shane and rachel. and i got all caught up on ER, brothers & sisters, and what not to wear. i was at least four episodes behind on all of them. i think i watched about 47 thousand hours of tv.

so while i cant say that i am happy i wasnt able to go with jeff and his dad, i am happy i have people who love me and tried to make it better. and i am happy my husband and my little ones are home again, and that they just couldnt stop talking about what a wonderful weekend they all had. i am happy to feel the medium amount better that i do right now, and i am just going to think positive that i will be right as rain tomorrow.