Rubber...... Cement!

The first time I used rubber cement was shortly after I confiscated some from one of my students. Since then I really like it. Besides the horrendous smell, it makes things glue down so smoothly without those obnoxious Elmer's wrinkles. Over the past 2 days, I have used it to glue cards (birthday, Christmas, Thank you, wedding invitations, etc.) onto Card stock to put in my card book. Yesterday I opened a brand new bottle to finish my batch. I finished with the batch I had and put the stick back inside the bottle but didn't screw the lid on tight. I slipped the Card stock papers into sheet protectors (plastic covers for papers not really for bed sheets) and silly me accidentally knocked over the opened bottle of rubber cement. Being even more dimwitted, I didn't even notice until the entire bottle managed to leak out onto my bedroom carpet. Drat! An entire bottle of Rubber Cement. Even worse though is the big sticky spot on my carpet. I have scrubbed and scrubbed with water and carpet cleaner with very little luck. It is a lot less sticky now, but there is still that spot...that haunting spot - not to mention the ounces and ounces of air freshener I have sprayed to get that atrocious smell out of my room.

Radio Flyer

As a little girl, I always wanted a red Radio Flyer to ride in or pull around. I don't think I ever told my parents I wanted one, probably so I wouldn't be disappointed if they didn't get me one. I've always thought they were cool. Recently I wanted a wagon to haul supplies and vegetables back and forth to my garden. I have a little walk to get to my plot and sometimes I can't carry everything I need. I don't go to garage sales very often if at all, but I have a lot of friends who garage sale. I asked them to keep their eyes open for a wagon - even a plastic one will do. The other day a friend Rachel emailed me about a wagon that costs $30.00 at a garage sale. Others have told me that they never pay the price listed - they always try to bargain. I thought I would try it out. I purposely put only $20.00 in my pocket thinking I could definitely buy a nice wagon for only 20 rather than 30. I went to the garage sale, and sure enough the $30.00 wagon was still there. I looked at some other things, got up my courage and approached the lady.
Brittney: "Will you let the wagon go for $20.00?"
Garage Sale Lady: "I don't know if I will let it go for that low. How about $25.00?"

Brittney: "I only brought $20.00"
Garage Sale Lady: "Oh! Alright! Do you need some help getting it to your car?"
Brittney: "No, I didn't park too far away. Thank you very much. Have a nice day." I handed her my $20 bill and pulled my wagon over to my car with a big grin on my face.
I put it in my back yard and jumped up and down yelling "Rejoice!" I am very excited! All I need now is a shed to keep it in so it doesn't get scuffed up. I hope to have it around for a long time! :)

Economic Stimulus!!!!

When Bruce and I first heard about the government's effort to stimulate our economy our first thoughts were how desperate can we really get? We kind of thought the whole idea was silly giving back to the citizens, so they can spend it, and help other people get rich. After second thought we realized it is kind of nice to get back some of what we paid for taxes in the first place. We did find it silly to spend $1200.00 for the sake of spending $1200.00 and we debated back and forth what to do with ours. Why spend money even if it is $1200.00 if you don't have to? On second thought that is why the government gave it back to us in the first place - to spend it. At the beginning of the year, we decided that we wanted to get a new computer. The one I currently have is 6 years old - I got it when I graduated from high school. It has become rather lethargic, unreliable, and fallen to the blue screen of death far too many times. We started putting a little money to the side each month to purchase a new computer. So....why not use the economic stimulus check to purchase a nice laptop computer, then use what we saved for a computer to buy much needed new shoes? So... we did! There were a couple of other things on our list of eventual wants and they happened to be on sale at Menards. Since our laptop was only $876, we had some left over to buy the rest. Our excuse - Bruce's birthday on the 26th of June. We got an air ma tress, small grill, and a croquet set.
On second thought, why doesn't the government give us an economic stimulus check every summer! I think I could live with that!

48 and counting

Rain...Rain...Rain... and lots of it. In Champaign, we've had 3 major thunder and lightening storms over the past 3 days dumping inches at a time. Is it any wonder why so many places out here in the central mid-west are flooding. The Mississippi River is so high, it can't go anywhere besides in the cities. With all water comes Mosquitoes - Pesky ones too. In fact, there are so many that you almost need to spray on bug spray in order to just go outside. I spend 3 evenings a week at my garden either weeding, watering, or checking on it. Each night I go home with more and more mosquito bites. I need to bathe in anti-itch cream in order to not go crazy. The other night as I was getting ready for bed, Bruce noticed that I had a row of bites (2 or 3 bites wide) that spanned from shoulder blade to shoulder blade. No wonder my back was so itchy and of course in a place I can't quite reach. We proceeded to count how many I have and I finally stopped at 48 since it was so depressing after that. I have gotten used to them, trying to ignore that pesky itch every time it raves. The only thing I am worried about now is West Nile Disease. Supposedly the mosquitoes we have out here don't carry it, but you can never be too cautious. I need to remember to spray down so I can become "invisible" to bugs. It doesn't always work, but I guess having sticky arms and legs and smelling like bug spray is better than having an entire body full of pesky bites.

4th Of July

Bruce and I hosted our Second Annual Richards' 4th of July bash on Friday. We had a fun time meeting with friends and neighbors to celebrate our Nation's independence day. We went to the 4th of July parade earlier in the day, and I must admit that it was kind of depressing. You would think a 4th of July parade would honor, represent, and take pride in the citizens of our country. Instead, the Champaign Urbana parade is one of the most political and unpatriotic parade I have ever been too. Not only do they not throw candy, but the biggest floats contain anti-war campaigns where war Veterans are speaking out against the war in Iraq. They also have floats bashing the president of our country, and large floats promoting Gay marriage. Almost every local candidate uses this time to campaign rather than really getting at the heart of Independence Day, and recognizing those who made the ideals of our country. On a positive note, the parade did represent every branch of the military in that we stood up multiple times as the flag went by.

Back to the 4th of July Bash. Bruce and I moved to Champaign in the late afternoon on July 2, 2006. We were exhausted when we arrived and only unloaded our truck but didn't unpack anything. In the early hours of the 4th of July that same year, I suffered from severe stomach pains and nausea. Later that same afternoon I found myself in the hospital recovering from surgery in which I had my appendix removed. It was a memorable fourth, one in which I will never forget. The following year, I wanted to make up for the lost holiday. We invited a large number of neighbors and friends over for a BBQ on the 4th. It was so successful and so much fun, we decided to make it a tradition. It is now something we look forward to all year. As a new twist this year, I made patriotic cinnamon rolls for breakfast.
Bruce suggested I make cinnamon rolls fit for every holiday and celebration. He even went as far as saying we should make black and white cinnamon rolls for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. I think that might be taking the cinnamon roll thing a little too far, but I appreciate how much he likes my cinnamon rolls. I must admit that they are pretty tasty!
We invited some new people to our BBQ this year, and had a blast with those who came. We played some Mexican Horseshoes and visited. As you can see from this picture, I did make some improvements on my "flag" desserts.

Last year, I used only Jello and pudding. This year I did a layer of white cake, some Jello with fruit in it, then a cream cheese and whipped cream frosting. I then used fruit to make it look like a flag. I kind of liked the Jello Cheese cake dessert better!

We ended the night by getting front and center seats at the fireworks show. The grand finale was neat in that they played the Mormon Tabernacle Choir's rendition of The Battle Hymn of the Republic as a myriad of colors filled the sky. It was a great finale. We spent hours in the parking lot afterwards waiting to get home, but the firework show was certainly memorable. Happy 4th of July to everyone!

I love Nauvoo!

I had never been to Nauvoo until I moved to Illinois. Since our move out to Champaign, I have been to Nauvoo twice a year. Each time is usually only a day or maybe a day and a half. There are still many things in Nauvoo that I still haven't seen. I figure by doing something new every time, eventually I will have seen it all. Growing up I always had big hopes and dreams of going to Nauvoo and feeling the special spirit that is there. When I first went, I wasn't disappointed. Since then, I have come to enjoy Nauvoo even more and feel grateful that I have the opportunity to visit so often even if it is a day trip. Last Friday (the 27th) Bruce and I drove to Nauvoo, saw some of the sites and camped over night at the Nauvoo State Park. If you've never been there, I do recommend their campground. It is right across the street from historic Nauvoo and is extremely clean and quiet at night. They also have showers there for those "modernized" campers. It is nice to have a clean fresh shower before entering the temple!

While we were there, we met an elder missionary by the name of Elder Ward from Malad. My G-ma grew up in Malad and some of her sisters still live there. We recently had a new Elder transferred to our ward who was also from Malad. When we had Elder Price over for dinner, he looked awfully familiar to me. It didn't connect in my brain that he was from Malad and had the last name of Price until after he left. My G-ma has a sister in Malad with the last name of Price (my great aunt). I had the suspicion that he was Phillis' grandson, but didn't actually make the connection until our stay in Nauvoo. We asked Elder Ward if he knew Elder Price. He went on to inform us that he was Shayne's wrestling coach in high school. We asked him if he knew Phillis, and he made the connection clear that Phillis was indeed Elder Price's grandmother. Elder Ward felt proud of my heritage in good old Samaria (Malad) Idaho, and mentioned that I came from a good family. Imagine Elder Price's surprise when Bruce relayed the familial tie we shared. To make matters even more funny my G-ma mentioned that she knew Elder Ward when she was in high school. This is one of the reasons why I love Nauvoo. Not only is there a spirit of reverence and deep respect there from the sacrifices made by the pioneers, but you can almost always meet someone you've met before from previous wards, or meet someone who knows the same people you do. A place like Nauvoo goes to show you how small the world really is especially inside the church. It proves that the Church is really true, you can feel that spirit in Nauvoo, and all of us are Children of God and members of the body of Christ.

I really look up to and admire those pioneers who gave their life for the truth. It makes me truly grateful for my modern conveniences as you learn about how they lived as poor members of the church in the middle 1800's. It makes me appreciate the sacrifices they made starting and raising families from wagon trains with little or no provisions. Yet, these physical sacrifices are a manifestation of their spiritual desire to follow the teachings of the Gospel.
We had the neat opportunity to visit Carthage Jail on the same day as the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith 144 years before. They both died for the cause of truth, and their legacy still lives on through this day. Christ stands at the head of this church so it doesn't fail with the death of a man, yet Christ allows us, his members, to lead, guide, and direct this church by proclaiming it to the world and trusting young men with his sacred priesthood power. What an honor it is to belong to his body of Christ, to be numbered among the few who know without a shadow of a doubt the truthfulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Whether you have pioneer ancestors or not, you can take great pride in knowing the humble sacrifices made by those who want to carry on their righteous traditions. A person can learn a lot from those early Saints, and there lies in the Spirit of Nauvoo. I love Nauvoo for the spirit present and what I feel. I know that any sacrifice I make is completely worth it and the Lord will bless me in time.

I stand corrected!

Shortly after I posted the picture of Bruce sitting on what I thought was the World's Largest Rocking Chair, his cousin sent us this picture of a previous mission companion. Notice that this chair actually has the label of The World's Largest Rocking Chair. My only question is WHY?