...Is this thing on?

*Clearing Throat*... Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like to take a moment to borrow the soapbox. As I was driving to work today I slowly felt my frustration for idiot drivers increase. I don't know if it is because of all the other stress and pressure I have going on today at work, but something snapped. Not so much that I became an irrate bumper car driver. No, just enough to make me honk my horn.

I don't usually honk my horn at people because honestly I sometimes forget that it is there. I usually remember my horn when I accidentally lay on it...talk about embarrassing! Today I honked.

I don't know if many of you out there drive the Bangerter Highway going East bound in the morning. If you don't it is a nightmare. As you are driving East all three lanes of traffic are backed up with people who are trying to wait until the last minute to merge over as far as they can to the left turn lane to go North on I-15. I don't normally have a problem with that, but there comes a time every so often that people just wait so long that by the time I need to go straight to get to work I can't. Everyone is trying to merge to the left and it leaves all three lanes of traffic blocked with those vehicles.

If everyone is in such a hurry to get in front of one another (really does one car make a difference?) then why not wake up 5 or 10 minutes earlier? I don't mind waiting in the left lane so I can get on the freeway. It seems to me that everyone is in such a hurry anymore that they aren't taking the time, or consideration, for those who don't want to get in an accident or did wake up a little early so they could wait their turn.

After driving through this for months I finally snapped. I honked today at a huge F350 crew cab, extended bed and of course a lift. He was in the lane to go South on I-15 and as my lane was clear to go straigh he just suddenly cut in front of me (had to slam on my breaks because he didn't use a blinker to let me know he wanted over) and then he cut infront of another person just to cut infront of one more person to get in the left turning lane. If there was an accident that guy's vehicle would have come away with maybe a scratch, but what about my Jasmine? She would have been hurt beyond anything that I would want to put her through and I haven't even had her a year!

So please be careful and considerate of other people on the road. Is there really that much hurry to put yourself in possible harm? I think not.

Thank you for listening, I will step down from the Soapbox and give it to the next person in line (whoever that might be).

Another Year Has Come and Gone...

Can you believe another year has come and gone? I sure can't. I decided I don't like how fast the time flies, I guess I must be having fun! In my last post I said that I would be better at updating and maintaining my blog. As you can see my nose has grown a bit and I haven't done a post in about two and a half months! Well it has been a great year.

I started out the year planning to make it as magical as 2008, but by the time March hit I was ready for 2009 to be over. For some reason 2009 was not as good to me as 2008, must be that it is an odd number. I didn't take an huge trips like I did in 2008 (which I do have a cruise planned this year, again the even years are good for me), but I did end up going to the cabin quite a bit. I didn't hit as many rodeos as I did in 2008 (four to be exact, five or six less than 2008). I turned 27 (which again has been my least favorite age...there we go again with the odd numbers).

There were many highlights to 2009, hope you don't think I am just pointing out the negatives. I did sell my old car which was a worry to me, but turned out okay. I did buy a new car and I love Jasmine. I love that she is reliable and has low miles, something a single girl needs! I got to spend a lot of special time with my nieces. They are one of the many things in life that brings me joy! Jamie came home from her mission and we have spent a lot of family time together. It has been great to have my best friends home. I have continued to enjoy Citrine and being with those ladies. I also got to spend the majority of my year with my family. We even welcomed a new member to the family. Luke Walter Leake was born December 11 and has been a joy to us all. Finally we get a little boy!

Every time a new year starts I tell myself that this is the year, well I am going to say it again. THIS IS THE YEAR! I am going to make this year better than last year (won’t be too hard to beat) and try to find improvement for myself. This year for my New Year’s resolutions I want to find balance and harmony in my life. This year I am going to set out to find balance with my spiritual, mental, physical and emotional aspects of who I am. Each one has a specific thing that I am going to focus on to get me there.

Mental: I am going back to school. It has only taken me 10 years out of high school to come to the point of finally deciding what I want to do with the rest of my life. I want to help people, so how do I do that? I decided I am going to go into nursing. I am going to be taking a CNA class this next month and try to get on with a hospital. I also have a couple of pre-reqs to take before I can apply for the nursing program (pharmacology math, Human Anatomy, Physiology, Chemistry and Biology). I hope that the next three years are going to be fun.

Spiritual: I have set out a couple of spiritual goals for me to achieve this year. I will tell you what the first one is. I want to read the Book of Mormon again start to finish by the time my birthday comes. I have until April 28th to finish. That gives me about 1.5 chapters a day. I can do that.

Physical: I am going to be running a 1/2 Marathon in Moab in March. I have started the training and let me tell you, it is kicking my butt. I have the running shoes and the running clothes and other vitamins and minerals suited for a runner, I just need to get a little more motivation. I know that it I wouldn’t take to running overnight and that I need to progress to that point, but I hope that point comes faster. My goal for the marathon is to do it timed and not get picked up by the sweep bus. I am at a 17.5 minute mile and I am hoping to drop that down to 13 min. I will keep everyone posted on my progress.

Emotional: I am going on another cruise come April. It is my birthday gift to myself (just like my car was last year). It is going to Cabo San Lucas for two days and I get to room with my spectacular sister, Jamie. This cruise will be having about 200 LDS singles from all over, so hopefully it will be fun. It is sad to say that I am more excited to have the opportunity to people watch and just get out of town than for the actual cruise. I will admit that Cabo was not my favorite place I have been, but I am going with 10 close friends and it will be fun! I have other fun things that I need to do to make sure that my emotional aspect is covered. I just need to make sure that I take mini vacations and not to overwhelm myself with work and school.

I hope everyone else has a wonderful 2010. It is going to be a magical year, but only if you make it one! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

Sorry, just had to show off how cute our little man is and how big he is getting! Compare this picture to the one with Gram at Christmas. Already he is getting too big!

Merry Christmas!!

Christmas has come and gone and I am a little sad. It was just barely Thanksgiving and I was setting out thinking of the things that I wanted to do this holiday season to get me in the true spirit of Christmas. Sad to say I barely touched my list. I feel that every year the holidays become more commercialized and I want to put Christ back into Christmas. I did find him this year and I was glad that I was able to do that part of my list. Maybe next year I will get to do everything that I wanted to.

This year we did the traditional dinner for Christmas Eve with my family, gram, Penny, DeLoy, Chantele and Mike at Italian Village where we all get pizza benders. It is a tradition that we have been doing for more years than I can remember. We always get there at 4pm because they seem to get busier and busier every year. Afterwards we head downtown to see the lights on Temple Square. I love the lights. They are my favorite tradition that we have been doing. The only sad part is I don't know if I am getting older and taking more notice or if this is really happening, but there seem to be less lights each year at Temple Square. Also, if you know someone who has a pull in the light color choice please, PLEASE, bring back my Cotton Candy Lane! The orange lights are great, but the pink lights over by the Assembly Hall were my favorite. It made me feel like a child again, so PLEASE BRING THE PINK BACK!!! After Temple Square we head home to open up Christmas Eve Jammies. I love getting new Jammies. There is something great about them.

Christmas Day Jamie and I were up with the parents at 7:30am so we could get our "Santa" gifts opened. We had to be to gram's for brunch at 10:30am so Kelly, Scott, Chantele and Mike could get home so they could talk with Justin (who comes home this month). We went and chatted with him and it was great. After that we went to see the girls Christmas, and it looked like Santa came and they had opened everything and had played with everything everywhere. I remember those days. Chris, Derick and the kids came over to open family gifts and we had dinner as well. I love spending time with my family and I think the best gift this year was Luke being born. He is such a sweet baby.

With Penny and Deloy being in town we did game night on Saturday and then Sunday we had the Wilson Family Christmas Party with White Elephant exchange. It was great. There were some pretty funny prizes out there. There was one that got stolen from me and I was upset. My mom didn't give me a nativity this year (until yesterday) and there was a nativity in one of the gifts. My aunt stole it from me and every gift that I stole from someone was stolen from me as well! I finally stole a Doodle Bear from my aunt so we could have it at our house for the the little girls and my mom got upset with me for taking that. Isn't that the point of the White Elephant? Oh well, I now have a Doodle Bear and I have marked it just like Andy did his toys on Toy Story!

Christmas was wonderful and I look forward to carrying the spirit of Christmas with me all year long!

Getting ready to get Pizza Benders!! Mmmmm...nothing better than Ham with Cheese and NO sauce!

The group by the now orange lights. Again, PLEASE BRING BACK THE PINK!!

We tried to get a couple of jumping pictures a year or two ago, but failed. We thought it would be fun to try again. This was the only one we could get. Jamie wasn't in the picutre because she took the picture. All the pictures of just the three of us looked ridiculous because we were poised to jump but not in the air.

Jamie, Chantele and me. It was so cold that night!

Citrine was scheduled to sing at EVE this year and there is a schedule at Temple Square to show the proof!

Gram got a new reliner and I love this picture of Penny. She sat in it without the back on and she almost toppled backwards out of the chair! Oh how I love my family.

Gram with the kids. Bryn looks like it has been a rough day. Her 'piggies' don't really stay in that long.

Me and my sisters. They are my best friends in the whole wide world. The picture with my mom and the three of us was not very cute! So you won't get to see that. Sorry!

Hope every one had a wonderful holiday season!!

Can it really be that long ago???

WOW...it has been months since I last posted anything about my happenings. I can't believe that!! So what has been happening in my life in these last couple of months?? Plenty! Jamie came home from her mission, we have had tons of fun with her, plenty of cabin trips as well as one very fun 46 hour trip to Disneyland and back! Work and life are pretty much the same, work and play! Something new in my life is I am going through orientation right now to be a volunteer at Primary Children's Medical Center! I am so excited to do that! And on an even more positive note, I have been able to get my Fridays off! I now join the rank of those who have government jobs of only working Monday to Thursday! Isn't that grand? I am loving it so far!

Some other little things, Madison turned 6 back in September. I remember the day she was born. It seems just like yesterday! Boy does time fly when you are having fun. Those girls make me smile and laugh all the time. Bryn has an attitude that is so very Diva-ish! The new baby boy (hooray for boys) will be born in December and I can't wait! Growing up without brothers and only having nieces have been fun, but I am looking forward to Little Baby Boy Leake to come into this world!

Here are some things that I did during the summer/beginning of fall!!

Back in July Citrine had their CD Release...at Sunnyside Ampitheatre. The place was pretty Ghetto, but with some elbow grease and lots of help we were able to get the place cleaned up and looking nice intime for our performance! Which was spectacular! If anyone wants to purchase a copy of their own CD Aglow featuring moi, let me know!













*Thanks to all my family and friends who came to support me with my music! Even though I am just one of the many in the group I had the biggest support/fan base there! I love you all!!

After the crazy and hectic time of trying to get the CD made and put on 'the show' Anne-Marie had time to get married to Jay (the group's guitarist). The wedding was so sweet and cute and the ceremony very nice! I do love these ladies! They are amazing!


*Funny how A-M isn't in the picture! I guess she was too busy being the bride!! ;o)

Other fun things that I did was go to rodeos! Yee-Haw and ride 'em cowboy! Oh how I 'heart' the cowboys! They are so dang cute! The rodeos this year were so much fun. I can't wait for Rodeo season next year. There was also hiking in the summer. I love to be in the mountains so much fun!













And finally the event everyone was looking forward to this Summer '09...SISTER JAMIE WILSON SERVED A VALIANT MISSION TO HALIFAX, CANADA! It was so nice to have Jamie home. Oh how I missed that girl. She has been so busy, but I am glad that she makes time for me and the family! Madi and Em were so excited to see her. As usual unless you are Papa Wilson, dad, mom or Gramma Wilson Bryn doesn't have eyes for you. Lets just say Jamie is still trying to worm her way into Bryn's heart and affections. It took me over a year, I think Jamie will have to do that too! It was even more special because Jamie didn't know that Chris was preggo, but when Madi told her that they were having a boy Jamie broke down. No tears getting off the plane, no tears going around hugging everyone, but finally tears when she found out she was going to be an aunt, and especially to a little boy! Oh the joys of family!



*Em was a little tired, Jamie didn't get in until about 9pm on a Friday night! Thankfully it was Friday! As for the sisters, one of those things is not like the other! Just call me the 'black sheep!'

The best part of the end of summer! My friend, Tina, told me that another one of our friends husband was planning a bus trip to Disneyland. I had Tina find out if there was still room, and thankfully there was! I asked around and found some friends who are just as crazy as me and we all went. We met at Southe Towne Center and boarded a Le Bus with many other crazy individuals who wanted to drive over night just to go and play in Disneyland for the day. The bus wasn't the most comfortable, but it was so much fun. We had a couple of stops along the way, and thanks to Louie and his manic driving he was able to get us to CA in about 9 - 10 hours!! We played hard all day from 8am - midnight and then got back on the bus and slept until we rolled back into the SL valley at 1pm. When I got off the bus I had the most ginormous cankles I have ever seen...and I have never had cankles! It made sitting through the Oquirrh Mountain Temple Dedication horrible, but very worth it! It took three days for the swelling to go down. So much fun...I would do it again tomorrow if I could!

*This is only 3 of the 7 people who went on the trip. During the day some wanted to rest and the others wanted to play. Thanks for the fun trip Lindsay, Michelle, Mecqae, Stacey, Jackie and Chad! Memories to last a lifetime!

And last but not least...who can forget about the state fair! It was great this year. I love the people watching that you get at the State Fair. Nothing beats deep fried food, white trash and funnel cakes!

*Don't I make a great Nanny Goat Gruff??















I have also taken quite a few trips up to the family cabin. I have learned that I am old enough and more importantly, brave enough to take care of the mouse traps in the garage. The first time was just taking the shovel and picking up the mouse and flinging the mouse and trap into the neighbors bushes. Let nature take care of it! The second time I was brave enough to put it in the garbage since I was going straight to the dump. Too bad they close at 6pm and I got there at 6:15pm. I drove home with a garbage sack in my back seat with three dead mice. It was freezing cold outside and I drove home with the windows open so I didn't have to have polluted mouse air! Oh the joys!

I hope that I can keep this up, but who knows! There are no guarantees. Maybe I should do something fun that will make me update this blog. Any fun suggestions???

"I prefer crushed ice..."

This is a long post...sorry! I had the funniest thing happen to me last Friday. I was driving home from the store and was winding my way down through the neighborhoods. As I was driving I saw a black lady who was going door to door with her binder of things to sell. (I never understood why the southerners send their people here to sell to us and our people go there to sell them stuff, wouldn't it be easier to just do it in your own area?). Anyways, she was still aways from my subdivision and I was hoping that she wouldn't make it either. I was home by myself and I don't like answer the door, unless I am expecting you. Sure enough an hour and a half later I am sitting in my house with my shorts and tank top on when the doorbell rang. It wasn't just your typical ring, it was the type of ringing a child would do, pushing the button over and over. I thought at first that it was my friends coming over earlier for my party that night. So I am racing through the house trying to put clothes on so I can answer the door, and stop the idiot who is ringing the doorbell (over and over and over). Our front door was open a bit and when I peered through it I could see this lady walking off our porch. She caught my shadow and turned around. This is how the thing went down.

"Hello, hello in there," yelled the southern lady.

I begrudgingly answered the door by sticking my head out the storm door just a fraction of the way. "Hello?"

"Yessum, are you the missus of the house?" She inquired.

"No, she actually just stepped out for a moment," came my reply. I was hoping she would take the hint and just move along.

As she started to say goodbye, she turned around and got out this pathetic little Styrofoam cup. She held it up to me and said, "you know it is kind of hot out here. Would you mind putting ice in my cup?"

I told her I could and stepped outside to get her cup. As I was going back in the house she called back after me, "I prefer crushed ice, and if you have a granola bar that would be great."

I was startled a little at how forward she was at asking for food. Since it was a hot day I decided to replace her pathetic cup with a larger plastic cup. I changed the ice setting on the refrigerator and started to get her crushed ice. Looking around I started to think what I could give her as I did not have a granola bar in the house. As my eyes wandered over the counter I caught site of the bananas I had just purchased. I tore a banana from the bunch and started to head back outside.

When I stepped outside she grabbed the cup from and then looked disgustingly at my banana. "I can't eat that banana, it will make me faint. Do you have any cookies or chips that I can have? Those would be better for me."

I looked at her in disbelief. First, she didn't even thank me for the bigger cup of ice and now she was asking for something else when I thought I was being pretty nice to give her something. I told her that we do not keep things like that in our house (which is pretty much true). She asked me to return back to the house and check yet again. I continued to tell her that we don't eat chips or cookies and the banana is all I had.

She looked disdainfully at the banana, snatched it out of my hand and said, "I guess this will have to do. Just pray for me that I won't pass out." With that she was gone with not even a thanks for anything that I had given her..

My mind was a whirl during this whole episode. I had wondered why in our schools they never taught us chips and cookies were better than potassium loaded bananas. Obviously they teach things differently down south. I also thought that they taught good manners down south. Every southerner I have met has been nothing but polite and had great manners. I guess not everyone comes from that kind of background. As she walked away I did pray that she wouldn't pass out, but that she wouldn't pass out on my lawn. It was blasted hot and I didn't want to do that much physical labor trying to move her body from my yard to the neighbors.

Lunch with Camie...

Back in May I had lunch with one of Jamie's best friends, Camie. I absolutely love Camie! I just remember all the fun times that Jamie, Camie and I had while we were either driving around and dancing to music, or just sitting at my house laughing about something. Camie and her husband, JD, and their new baby, Lachlyn, moved to PA for the summer while JD does an internship at a school out there. We have talked about getting together during all of Jamie's mission but never really got around to it. We made sure that we did make time this time. We had our lunch and sat around and chatted. It was a great time. I am glad that Camie will be back in time for Jamie to come home (which is 30 days).

Mom was able to join us towards the end of the lunch.

Me & Camie (you can tell by the color of our lips we were eating very bright, but delicious, fruit dip (made from Cool-Whip and Crystal Light)

The Scottish Festival & Sitting Lady Like

On June 13 Citrine (the Celtic women's group I sing with) performed at the Utah Scottish Festival at Thanksgiving Point. For those that have never been to a Scottish Festival it is great fun...there are men in kilts everywhere. Hahaha...not just kilts, but you have women dressed up as wenches, some people in armor (more like chainmail), etc. There are food booths, games (Scottish games), bagpipe competition and other performers. All around these performers are the different clans booth. If you find that you belong to one clan you can go to their booth and they will tell you about that clan and that lineage you belong to. It is quite facinating actually.

Well, next to our booth that we had, which was next to the stage, was Clan Grant. It was your typical clan booth, but there were somethings that I would like to have told the man running the tent. The first was, if you are going to be sitting in a skirt/kilt learn to put your legs together. Even though he had something on underneath I still saw a whole lot more than I ever wanted to! The worst part is that this view was right above the head of Anne-Marie. It was like a train wreck...I could not look away!

Again, it was a cold, wet day (like every day this June) and we got rained out of our last set (really poured out). It was pouring so hard that it was getting the equipment wet and was leaking through our tent. Such a fun day to spend with Citrine!

At least I think he is a religious man! :)