When Bob's Away...

Last week Bob was out of town on a business trip to New Jersey. It seems he has been traveling quite a bit since we moved to Tennessee. We've decided I can't go somewhere every time he leaves town, and I have plenty of things to do around here to keep me busy, so I stayed home by myself. I know there are many of you who would love to have some alone time....but trust me....it does get old. Bob checks on me quite a bit to make sure I'm ok and is a bit like a "mother hen" at times asking me if I've locked the doors and turned on the alarm. I told him it would scare me to death if that thing went off in the middle of the night! Kimberly had a solution for me. She said that if the alarm went off, I could just hurry and lock my bedroom door...run in the bathroom...lock the bathroom door...then run in the closet and lock the door and wait for help. I'm thinking maybe I should just start the night in the closet! It turned out ok...I lived through the week! I kept myself pretty busy. Being in Young Women's always provides lots of opportunities to keep busy. We made laundry bags for all the graduating seniors in the ward. I took a picture them so you could see what they look like. My friend Michelle is the one holding the bags in the pictures. (She refused to show her face.) They turned out cuter (is that a word?) than they look in the picture. Each one had their name embroidered on the front of it with ribbon in blue and green for the boys and pink and green for the girls. We had a combined youth meeting yesterday where the parents of the graduating seniors spotlighted their son or daughter. At the conclusion of the meeting the bishop spoke to the youth and the presidency handed out the laundry bags that were wrapped up in clear plastic with a cute bow tied at the top. Looks like this will be a new tradition!

For mutual last week we had a combined young women's personal progress night. We were afraid we wouldn't have a very good turnout because when you say "personal progress" their eyes seem to glaze over. We didn't have very many girls show up, but it was a fun night. We all dressed in something that begins with a "P". We actually passed off one of the goals in the PP book and then had a relay race of homemaking skills (sorting clothes, sewing on a button, and folding towels). My part of the night was teaching the girls to make Aebleskivers. I don't have any pictures because I was busy trying to avoid any hot oil incidents. The girls actually caught on quite well and had fun making them. We survived without any casualties...thank goodness! We had enough to share with all the scouts and the bishopric. A few Excedrins and I felt like a new woman!

We also had an Open House for our new church building this week. We have been meeting in it for several months now and were beginning to think they were never going to have it dedicated. (You learn not to question anything when you move somewhere new.) You all know the saying...When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Well....When in Tennessee.....(you get the drift). I had signed up to bring two loaves of sweet bread for the Thursday night open house. Since it is quite a drive to get to the church, (about 30 min) I thought I'd be really smart and take my bread there in the morning, since I had to be there anyway to sit in the foyer while our LDS family services counselor met with someone. Several things happened that morning and by the time I needed to leave the house to be at the church on time, my bread was not baked. My friend Sheri had her bread baked and at my house by 9:30. I delivered her bread to the church and then sat with the counselor waiting for her appointment to arrive. After waiting for an hour, we decided he was not going to show up. So I left there and went to help make the laundry bags for the youth. By this time I had decided maybe I'd just forget about the bread. I thought to myself that they'd probably have plenty and wouldn't miss mine. Then when I got home, I had a message from our Relief Society President reminding me to have my bread there by 4:00. So I baked bread! Then I decided I'd see if there were others who needed their bread delivered thinking I might as well save someone else from the drive. As it turns out...a girl who lives nearby was actually going to the open house and offered to take my bread with her. It all turned out! You know, I never realized how lucky we've always been to live so near to the church. When you get to the church and realize you've forgotten something....you just do without it! I remember when we lived in Utah and could walk to church by going across the street and through our neighbors backyard. When we moved to California, we thought a 5 minute drive was far!

A "Shout Out" to Taylor

Today is Taylor's 5th birthday!! It seems like it was just yesterday she was born. We are so blessed to have her in our family. She was our first grandchild, and our only grandaughter (so far). She loves pink and princesses...she's a total girl just like her mommy!! She has been so excited for her birthday! She told me that tomorrow they will sing happy birthday to her at school and she is going to take "tup takes" for her class.
Taylor reminds me of her mommy when she was her age...I hope she grows up to be just like her! It is so fun to watch your daughter with her children. I know Kimberly is so overwhelmed at times with so much to do and so little time to get it done. Just so you know Kimberly...you are doing a great job!! Taylor will start kindergarten in the fall and Kimberly will become a "kindergarten mom". I don't feel old enough to have a grandchild in kindergarten!

Time goes by too fast!! We'll just enjoy this time while we have it and take all the hugs and kisses we can get.

I remember getting the first plane to Utah after Taylor was born. I arrived that night in the hospital so I could see her. What a beautiful baby! Our lives have never been the same since she was born...she has added so much love to our family! We love you Taylor...so we want to "shout out" HAPPY BIRTHDAY to our special gir!!

Cheekwood Gardens

On Thursday April 19th, I visited a place called Cheekwood Gardens with my neighbor Lori. After lunch at the Pineapple Room , we walked around the gardens and then decided to take the woodland sculpture trail. This is a trail where contemporary sculpture by famous artists is dispalyed in the woods... it was strangely interesting.

Below is a picture of my neighbor Lori in front of the sculpture called "Glass Bridge". It is a recreation of the glass bridge built 500 years ago by the great glass blowers of Murano, italy. Their creation collapsed into the Lagoon, not to be recreated until now.

This picture shows what it looked like walking along the trail. It was such a nice day. Middle Tennessee experienced a late freeze on Easter weekend which destroyed a lot of the new growth and blossoms on the trees and bushes. Usually this time of year is much more colorful. A typical spring displays many more flowering trees and new green leaves on trees and bushes. Everyone hopes the trees recover from the freeze. Maybe we'll have another blooming season this year...we'll see.

Above is a picture of a sculpture called "Crawling Lady Hare". This is a creature of fantasy (I hope). It's HUGE and a little scary looking! On the right is the "Tree Poem". It's a motionless sculpture made out of aluminum. The branches seem to move with the wind.

Below is a picture of me sitting in one of the "High-back Windharp Chairs". There are harp strings that you can't see in the photo that capture the music of the winds. When you sit in this chair, you feel like a kid swinging your feet.

We also visited the Faberge' exibit which was very interesting. I wanted to take some pictures of the Faberge' Eggs, but the guard said photographs were not allowed! There was no way I could sneak a picture with my new camera. (I probably looked like a reporter from the Tennessean.) The story behind the Faberge' Eggs is really interesting and made viewing them a lot more meaningful. We had fun, and it was nice to get outside and enjoy nature.

All Happy Cows live in California

Any time I see a cow here in Tennessee I say..."those are SAD cows"! We all know that happy cows live in California! Tell me...do these cows look happy? They were cute though, especially the babies!

Whenever we go shopping for just about anything except groceries, we have to travel down several country roads. It takes at least 20 minutes to get anywhere from here. These roads are really just two lane highways lined with trees and pastures. The scary thing about driving here is not the traffic so much, it's the fact that most of the time there is absolutely no shoulder on the side of the road, and the roads are quite narrow. There are places where the road actually drops off on the side. So, if you were to overcorrect or just take your eyes off the road for a second, you could end up in a ditch. I don't know what you would do if you got a flat tire. One of the most frustrating things here is following behind someone on one of these roads who is actually doing less than the speed limit! Of course, most of the people I've talked to have warned me to drive these roads very slowly because you can easily hit a deer or something running across the road.

I am still recovering from my own "hit and run" incident. It was a dark and rainy night...(does that sound dramatic enough?) I was talking on my cell phone with Michael as I was coming home from a meeting. I had just dropped off my friend Sheri and was heading home down one of these dark country roads. (Many times I will call someone when I am driving at night so I don't get spooked.) As we were talking away...suddenly...a HUGE possum comes right out in front of me. I screamed into the phone and hit it because I couldn't stop fast enough. After a few seconds, I realized that Michael had not asked me if I was ok. I said into the phone..."Michael, are you there?" He said "yeah, I'm here."(like nothing had even happened) I hesitated a few more seconds and then said "Didn't you hear me scream?" (I couldn't believe he had heard this blood curdling scream come from his dear mother and had not even asked if I was ok.) Well...he said "No, I didn't hear you scream...your cell phone was cutting out on me for a minute there." "Oh", I said. (In my mind thinking...sure you didn't hear me...) I then told him in my most desperate voice that I had just hit a possum....and was sure I had killed it!!! He started laughing so hard!! He laughed as I told him what had happened and continued laughing about it until we hung up the phone. When I got home and told Bob about it...he laughed too. He had to be a little more sympathetic though because I was glaring at him! He wanted to go for a ride to see the scene of the crime. As we drove by...he again burst into laughter saying that my HUGE possum was really little. I swear it looked HUGE!! I have not been able to live this one down. Whenever we see a dead possum on the road, Bob will say "Did you do that?". I try to beat him by saying first "I didn't do it". He likes to accuse me of being responsible for wiping out a whole generation of possums. The "scene of the crime" has become a tourist attraction for those who come to visit. I'm sure Bob would love to show it to you!!

I Can't Believe I Got A Red Sofa

It's beginning to look like springtime. This is a picture of the trees behind our house. As you can see, things are greening up here in Tennessee. We did have a freeze last week though and a lot of blossoms on trees were frozen and I don't know if they will recover. It is beautiful here this time of year. After living through the relatively mild winter, however, I can understand why people look forward to springtime.

I've had lots of requests from my family to post pictures of our house and some of the new furniture. We are glad to finally have some furniture...it seems to have cut down on the echo in the house a bit.

When you live in the South, you have a dining room. This is new to us...we've never had a dining room. Actually, we've hardly had a place for a table! The room is still pretty bare, but here's a picture of the dining room furniture. As you can see, I could use any decorating advice you can give me. We are probably going to change the paint color, but haven't decided exactly what color we want.

This is the picture we gave ourselves for our 30th anniversary. It is a Thomas Kinkade painting of the Salt Lake Valley. It is called "Salt Lake: City of Lights". We can't believe we found this in Nashville! It reminds us of home and family. It is also painted from the vantage point where Bob proposed to me on Ensign Peak.

Here is the much requested picture of our new sofa. (We can't seem to get a really good picture of it.) After ordering it in November, it finally arrived in February. I actually like it! Enough time passed from the time we ordered it to the time it arrived that I really started getting cold feet about the "red" sofa. I even had dreams about it. For those of you who know me really well, you know I have a hard time committing myself to a home furnishing item. It's crazy, I even left the tags on all the furniture for a long time. Bob kept asking me if we could please take the tags off. I finally relented and let him take them off. Now everything is permanently ours! (Not that I could have returned anything.)

We are slowly getting the house put together. I will be glad to have it done. I know that you are never really done when you have a home though...it's always a work in progress!

My Birthday

This picture is of the "Nissan girls" at my birthday-Easter dinner. From left to right I'll name the girls in the picture. First there is Sheri, her daughter Kimberly (isn't that a cute name?), Denise, and me. Kimberly is the only one of the kids at dinner that we got a picture of. There were about eight other kids besides her. However, she was the only girl. The rest of the kids were boys so they were not in our "Nissan girls" picture. Denise had been traveling and had just returned home from Mississippi. She arrived in time for dessert. I was glad she came.

Of course, I can't post a blog about my birthday without telling you about my birthday present. Bob knew how bad I felt that I didn't have a camera to post pictures on my blog, so he bought me one for my birthday. He got me a really nice camera. However, for those of you who know me, I'm a little challenged when it comes to technology. I like those cameras that you just point and shoot. Better yet, it would be nice if it pointed and shot pictures itself. This is a point and shoot camera, but it looks like a professional photographers camera. It has all the bells and whistles...just what Bob and Michael would like. It is totally a "gadget guy's" camera. I know I'll learn to use it, but like I told Michael, I'll never be able to stash this one in my purse or take a picture discreetly. It does take great pictures though...so thanks Bob! I'm just happy to have a camera again!

Dinner was great! We had a traditional dinner with ham, funeral potatoes, green salad with strawberries and glazed walnuts, jello salad, asparagas, rolls, and cute sugar cookies shaped and decorated like Easter eggs, and cupcakes decorated like Easter baskets. We all brought something for the dinner. (I brought the funeral potatoes.) I told Sheri that I would come if we just made it an Easter dinner and not a birthday dinner. It was just that until dinner was over and she gave me a gift. It is a really good smelling vanilla candle. I was happy to be able to spend my birthday-Easter with friends.

This picture is of Julie and John. He works for GM and has been here for about 3 years. They have moved a lot during their married life and say that Nashville is their favorite place so far. She has a great attitude and says that she doesn't let any grass grow under her feet when she moves somewhere new because she never knows how long they will be there. She makes every place she lives feel like home as soon as she can.

This is Jana and Brian. They just moved here with their four boys from Kaysville Utah. She is the one who wears the flashy hats and took me to the Republican Women's luncheon. She is really outgoing and fun to be around. She and her husband Brian invited us over to their house for spagetti dinner the week we moved in our house. I was amazed by their wonderful hospitality. They were still in boxes themselves and were having us over for dinner!

This is Sheri and Steve. This Easter-birthday dinner was at their house. They are also one of the Nissan families to move into our ward. They moved from the Anaheim East Stake in Yorba Linda. We lived so close to each other in California, yet never knew each other. Bob's friend, Joe, who serves in the Stake Presidency in the Anaheim East Stake, tried to get us together with Sheri and Steve before we moved. We could never seem to make it happen because of our busy schedules. As chance would have it, we met them while here on a house hunting trip. We met them inside a house that Bishop Watson built. He had asked us if we would mind it if he showed us a house along with another couple who was moving here with Nissan that he had just met that morning at the church. Of course, that was fine with us. When we began talking to them, we soon realized this was the couple that Joe had been trying to get us together with in California. We couldn't believe it! Here we were in Nashville in the same house! We laughed when we realized it was them. They were just sending their son on his mission when they moved here, and we were just getting our son home from his mission. Either way, we both felt like we were terrible parents moving away while our sons were either coming home or leaving on missions. Sheri is our Young Women's President and I serve with her as one of two Laurel Advisors. (I don't teach on Sunday...I help with activities etc.). They have become good friends.

It was a nice birthday. I missed my family, but am so grateful for the Church that gives us immediate friends!

One Hundred Things About ME

This is in response to a request from several of my favorite bloggers that I compose a list of one hundred things about me. Being a relatively private person, this was a bit of a challenge for me. I'm sure if I sat and thought about it, I would just decide not to do it. So here we go...one hundred things about me...

1. I was born in Salt Lake City.
2. I attended Rose Park Elementary School until I was in the second grade.
3. My family moved and I attended Newman Elementary.
4. I went to Northwest Junior High School and then West High School (yes, I know the reputation this high school has, but President Monson and Frances Berkline also attended there so I'm in good company!).
5. I met my best friend, who is now my husband, in my high school biology class.
6. Bob became my best friend in high school and is still my best friend.
7. He loved to take me four wheeling in his Toyota Land Cruiser, snow shoeing, to the movies, out to dinner, water skiing, and lots of other fun things.
8. We were known as "the" high school sweethearts.
9. I dated several other boys, but always dated Bob.
10. I attended L.D.S. Business College where I studied to be an executive secretary (I don't think they even teach that anymore).
11. I loved shorthand
12. I was 20 years old when we got married in the Salt Lake Temple on Feb. 4th.
13. I have three amazing kids
14. I was excited that my first baby was a girl (since I was told Johnson's don't have girls). Her name is Kimberly.
15. I was surprised that my second baby was also a girl (it took nearly three years to have her) I was secretly hoping she would be a girl. Her name is Robyn.
16. We didn't think we could have any more children and then were blessed to have our long awaited boy. His name is Michael. The doctor gave me blue vitamins to assure it would be a boy.
17. I loved living in Utah, it was the perfect place to live. I have lots of good friends there.
18. Our son served his mission in Honduras and we went to pick him up there when he was finished. He loved his mission and the people of Honduras. It was a great adventure for us.
19. We moved to California when Bob took a job with Nissan. Our kids were all young when we made this move.
20. We raised our kids in California, and have lots of fun memories.
21. I love California...it's the perfect place to live. I have lots of good friends there.
22. My two daughters were married in the Los Angeles Temple.
23. I have two amazing son in laws! (Devon and Joe)
24. I have four cute grandkids who call me "nannu" instead of "grandma". Their names are Taylor, Luke, Blake, and Parker.
25. Our daughter, Robyn, served a mission in Finland. We picked her up there when she was finished. She loved Finland and the people she met there. We loved it too.
26. I love being a young grandma.
27. I moved to Nashville 8 months ago.
28. I hope I love Nashville and make lots of good friends here.
29. I love country music, but in high school my favorite song was "Dancin in the Moonlight"
30. My secret dream is to be a famous singer.
31. I love Disneyland.
32. Nordstrom is my favorite store.
33. I have an amazing mom who always encourages me to be better.
34. My sisters are identical twins who I have always looked up to.
35. My big brother's name is Gary who I don't talk to nearly enough.
36. I am the youngest in my family and have always liked being the youngest. Yes I am the spoiled one!
37. I have a hard time making decisions (which frustrates my husband).
38. I love pink roses and bright gerber daisies.
39. My favorite color is pink.
40. My husband spoils me.
41. I love that my grandaughter and my daughter Robyn have my name as their middle name.
42. I love that my husband is such a spiritual leader, but at the same time likes to kick back and have fun.
43. I am a fanatic about teeth...I love to floss.
44. I watch Oprah, Lost, Dancing with the Stars, and American Idol.
45. My favorite candy bar is Payday.
46. I love peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
47. I almost changed my daughter Kimberly's birth certificate to give her a middle name which would have been Susie so we could call her Kimmie Sue. We have actually called her by that name.
48. I love to clean house and feel like I'm a little OCD (I'm a fanatical shower dryer).
49. I hate clutter, and love freshly vacuumed carpet.
50. I HATE bugs!
51. I love puppies (especially golden retriever pups) and horses.
52. I can't talk about blood and blood thinners (it makes me faint)
53. There was a time in my life when I would faint if I had my blood drawn.
54. I like to dance.
55. I love to shop but have a hard time buying anything.
56. I love to shower and wash my hair every day.
57. I enjoy doing yoga.
58. I love getting facials and massages.
59. I love huge rainstorms where there is lightening and thunder (but I'm afraid of tornadoes).
60. I don't like camping, I'm more of a hotel resort girl.
61. I hate scary movies.
62. I loved the book East of Eden.
63. Enjoy Saturday morning bagels with Bob.
64. I enjoy baking.
65. I love a big snow storm and the quietness outside right after the storm.
66. Sunny weather makes me smile.
67. I love the fall when all the leaves change colors.
68. I like Sweet Cream ice cream.
69. I love to travel.
70. I love trying new face cleansers and face creams.
71. I love to put on lotions that smell good.
72. I love good mexican food (they don't have that in Nashville)
73. I eat McDonalds cheeseburgers plain.
74. I love McDonalds Coke and french fries.
75. I sang in special groups in high school (A'Capella and Chorale)
76. My dad called me "Dandy" when I was young.
77. My sisters and husband call me "Dine" (My niece Tina couldn't say Diane, so she shortened it to "Dine" and it caught on.)
78. I played the piano when I was young and wished I had continued.
79. I was in the Pep Club in high school.
80. I like the movies, "You've Got Mail", "Pride and Prejudice", and "The Wizard of Oz".
81. I don't like to drive in unknown territory (that's why Bob made sure to get a car with a navigation system).
82. I love girly things.
83. I love going out to dinner.
84. I love Thomas Kinkade the painter of light.
85. My kids have become my best friends.
86. I love being with my sisters and my mom because we talk and laugh a lot.
87. I worked in a dental office for 14 years.
88. I once worked for Nabisco and did demos in stores wearing an Oreo costume.
89. I also worked a couple of seasons on a mink farm in Utah preparing mink skins for the big mink shows.
90. I love the sound of the ocean.
91. I went on a three day backpacking hike in the Uintas and packed all my own supplies in a backpack. I hate camping, but loved doing this!
92. I love the view from on top of high mountains, especially when you've hiked there.
93. I have served in the Young Women's organization almost my entire married life.
94. I love people who make me laugh.
95. When my kids were young, we would sing along with the Judds and knew every word.
96. I never got my degree, but wish I had.
97. I love "good mail".
98. I love that my kids call me every day.
99. I feel very blessed to have such a great family and good friends.
100. I am a daughter of a Heavenly Father who loves me and I love Him.

Crazy Weather

"If you don't like the weather today...just wait til tomorrow". This is what the people here in Tennessee say about their weather. It's crazy!! Last week we had 80 degree weather and this week it is in the 40's and 50's. Our realtor told me I might get anxious to plant some flowers but to wait until after tax day to do it because inevitably we will get a late freeze. I guess she's right! Tuesday night the warm air met the cold air from the north and we had a huge storm. Luckily we didn't get all the damaging winds and hail that they had in other places, but it was pretty exciting!! We had lots of thunder, lightning, and rain!! My neighbor Debie who lives across the street called me in the middle of the storm making sure we had a storm shelter in our house. We were both standing by the windows looking at the storm and saying we should probably move away from the window when a huge lightning hit with a loud thunder. We both screamed into the phone at the same time. We laughed! This storm was probably nothing to those who have lived here all their lives, but we Californians were ready to head for shelter!

Utah Visits Nashville

Not too many people would make a last minute decision to drive across the country to visit us, but that's exactly what Grandma and Grandpa Roush did. They left Salt Lake on Sunday and arrived here on Thursday the 29th.

On Friday we decided to go to the Nashville Temple. When we arrived, we found out there were not enough people at the temple to do an endowment session, so we were asked to stay and do sealings. It turned out to be a really nice experience. After we finished the sealings, we were given the opportunity to sit in the celestial room together for a while. We felt like we had the whole temple to ourselves. It was sad there were so few people there that morning, but it turned out nice for us. The man who was at the front desk saw us walk to the front of the temple and came outside because he thought we might like to have him take our picture. He said he was breaking the rules a little bit but he thought it was ok since no one else was inside the temple. After the temple we went to McCallisters Deli for lunch. As you can see from the pictures, Nashville is beginning to bloom. Spring is here! The temperatures were in the high 70's and mid 80's all week.

Since we didn't know we were going to have company, we had plans with three other couples in our ward to attend the Nashville Symphony at the new Schermerhorn Symphony Center on Friday night. We felt like we were abandoning our company, but they encouraged us to go. We are new symphony goers, so I called the person who invited us and asked her what I should wear. She said she likes to get really dressed up for the symphony and was planning on wearing a really dressy black lace dress. The whole day I stressed about what I should wear and finally decided to get really dressed up. I realized later that I could have worn just about anything and been ok. The Schermerhorn Center is, as was explained to us, one of the finest symphony centers in the United States. The Symphony was great! We were so close that we could see the sweat on the brow of the Alexander Kobrin (the pianist). He was second on the program and performed with the orchestra doing Tchaikovsky's "Cercerto No. 1 in B-flat minor". This music was actually somewhat familiar. The first performance was the orchestra performing a new composer's piece called "Variations Without a Theme". It sounded like it's name...enough said! After intermission the orchestra performed Stravinsky's "The Firebird". It was done somewhat like you would see in an opera where the words from the story are projected so you can follow along and visualize what is happening with the music. I don't know if we can handle so much culture...but it was a fun evening and we may even do it again sometime.

Between conference sessions on Saturday we went to the "must see when in Nashville" Loveless Cafe. We enjoyed lunch and the famous Loveless biscuits after our scenic drive through the green hills of Tennessee. This is beautiful country!!

Sunday we stayed home and watched both sessions of conference and just relaxed around the house. It's a good thing we rested on Sunday though because on Monday I think I walked their legs off. We went to the Grand Ole Opry, the Opryland Hotel, and the Opry Mills. We walked so much that we just about did my dad in. Of course, it didn't help matters that we lost each other when we stopped for a potty break. We had agreed to meet in the shade outside the building...so when my dad was finished, he went outside the building to meet us. We had stepped around the corner inside the building to look at something real quickly and then returned to stand right outside the restroom door where dad couldn't miss us. We waited and waited and waited. Finally we became a little concerned and decided to call his name inside the mens room. When there was no answer, Carolyn went inside to see if he was in there. We were relieved that he was not in there, but then wondered where he had gone. I finally decided he must have gone to the hotel (which was going to be our next stop) so I had Carolyn wait in the shade where we said we would be and I began walking to the hotel. I didn't get very far when I saw my dad walking toward me. He had come and gone to the hotel twice looking for us! We then walked to the hotel for what now was his third time. The hotel is huge and has so much to look at inside. We walked around for a while until dad finally said he needed to sit down and rest. After that, he was pretty much done for the day. I can't blame him. If the women would just do what they say they are going to do....poor dad!

They left for home on Tuesday morning. I don't know too many 79 year olds who would drive across the country like that. It's a long drive from Salt Lake to Tennessee!!