Fourth of July Balloon Festival

So I know I am a bit late on posting about the 4th of July but you will just have to deal with it. As per usual the girls and I went to the Provo Balloon festival. This year I remembered earplugs for Ava (super sensitive hearing) and she and Stella really enjoyed themselves. I was a bit disappointed because of inclement weather(some kind of secret wind that i could not feel) they were not going to lift off. So they just filled the balloons with air and then took them down. But the girls and I had fun so it was a success. After we had a great Denny's breakfast instead of the Kiwanis one..... but i think I will stick to the Kiwanis Breakfast. It is just part of the Balloon fun for me. It is just easier to do all this with another person. If you haven't been I highly recommend it!

Update on Jury Duty

So I just received a check in the mail for doing jury duty for one day.... A whoppin $18.50! Oh yeah that's pretty cool!

Jury Duty!

A couple weeks ago I recieved a letter in the mail telling me to return information about myself for jury duty. The next week i was invited to the courthouse for a jury selection and opportunity to serve as a juror. Everyone I talk to that goes to a jury selection usually does not make the jury. So I was thinking that I would not get the chance to sit as a juror. I guess I am a bit funny because I was super excited to go and I really wanted to be on the jury. So after all the many questions they gave us the opportunity to express any reason we could not serve. Being a single mother makes several days on a jury difficult so I expressed my concern and let the judge know that I would not be able to get sitters for more than that day. This apparently was the correct answer because there was 3 people who brought up the same concern and all of us made the jury.

After the selection they led us back into a room and proceeded to take our phones. They let us go out for lunch and instructed us to be back in an hour and a half. We were all very punctual people which made everything run smoother. So the trial began.... it only lasted a couple hours and was an interesting case. A young man in his early twenties was suspected of robbing a Dollar tree. His accomplices has plead guilty already and this young man was sticking to the story he was innocent. I really seem to root for the underdog and wanted to go into the case with the possibility that this young man truly was innocent! But all signs lead to the fact that he was not. So after the lawyers were finished they excused us into a room to deliberate.

We were in that room for 6 hours! To tell you the truth I loved every minute up to the last hour... there was this cute 80 year old lady who refused to make a decision. It;s not that she thought he was innocent... just refused to make a decision. So after I got a little frustrated I asked her "is the reason you cannot make a decision is because you think he is guilty and you do not want to put that label on him?" and she said yes. I proceeded to tell her that she would have to make a decision or else we were not going to go home... so after another 30 min she made the decision that he was guilty.

That's when it was really hard. To walk into that courtroom and hand over the GUILTY verdict that would send this man to jail. His face was pleading but it was too late. After the verdict was read they excused us and let us talk to the judge candidly. I think he was surprised it took us that long to decide. Even without the old lady we would have been in there at least 4 hours. It was fun to do and I would recommend it to anyone... but an everyday thing would drive me crazy! I would like to thank Grandma Baird for watching the girls for 12 hours that day so I could go! I do not have a bucket list as of yet but that would have been one of them! Check!

Sharp Family Reunion

So every year my family has a camp out for the family reunion. I usually try to camp but this year seemed a bit daunting with just me and two little wild ones. So i chose to go up for just the day. It was great to see everyone and how beautiful Payson canyon is. Ava enjoyed canoeing so much. She was trying to row almost the whole time and kept asking by the boat rocked (to her it was a woo woo noise). She also tried to fish unfortunately coming home empty handed. Stella had fun as well with attention from all the family! She is walking now so she cruised around and showed off her new skills. The bad parent I am forgot shoes for her... so luckily Aunt Jenny had an extra pair for her to wear! Thanks Jenny! On the way home Ava fell asleep and was out cold for a good 40 min! I hope everyone else had as much fun as I did. I love my family and couldn't ask for anything more! You all are so special and unique in your own ways!

Question?

What do you think when people return presents? And I am not saying to exchange it for something else... I mean just mails it back to you? Has this happened to anyone else?

Getting back out there!

So a few of you know that I have been dating again.... wow did I not miss it. I was talking to my good friend Emma and she made a good observation.... Dating is fun when you are dating a person you like and they like you. Otherwise it just sucks. So I have recently had both experiences and boy has it been a roller-coaster.
I have to admit that I was in a point of my life where I was content... I was going to buy a home build a salon there and become self-reliant. Now I am not sure if I will be in Utah county for long... my overly planned life is in shambles. Oh well.... just as life gets comfortable it changes! At least in my experience it does.
So I need to meet people.... this is where you all come to play. Being a single mother of two makes meeting men pretty much impossible. I have signed up for the online dating thing and that has been promising as well as not. Why is it so awkward? I do not think I will ever get the "hang"of it! So if you have anyone for me pass them my way.
So what am I looking for? Good question... I am looking for someone with a strong testimony of the church... someone who enjoys serving others. I like men who can make decisions and have direction. Funny is always a plus. But for the most part just a nice guy who can keep up with me and the kids!
I just want to take this time to thank my parents for watching the girls so I could go out! Thank you Dad and Mom for being supportive and understanding. I have the best family ever! Love you guys.

What I hate most!

Some of you out there may think I enjoy cleaning... this is not so! I do enjoy a clean house and this is were the cleaning comes to play. But I have the philosophy that if you do not make a mess in the first place that cleaning becomes less time consuming. The only problem with this theory is children! I try not to make too big of a deal about messes and try to keep food in the kitchen and soap in the bathroom... that sort of stuff. But what really gets me is when Ava decides to take toothpaste into her room when she is suppose to be in bed and proceed to cover her babies (animals and dolls) in it! This is the cleaning I truly hate and have a hard time keeping my composure. She also decided to paint her nails in the dark! Luckly that was in the bathroom and she did not spill the nail polish. But is seems that it is 50/50 whether she goes to bed with no problems or problems. And it is hard to know when she is being bad because she is quiet... kinda like when she is sleeping! So what ends up happening is I go up and down the stairs all night checking to see if she is up to no good or in bed sleeping. A couple nights ago she decided to paint my deoderant on the bathroom sink with Stella's toothbrush! I hope it will stop because I think I have hit my breaking point with this girls and her late night science experiments!