Category Archives: family

dear you…

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Dear Justin’s neighbor,

Who taught you that it’s okay to stop by and ask for my brother to help you hang your wine rack on a Sunday afternoon? Without calling? And who didn’t teach you that when you see that your neighbor has company (aka me), you should retract your request? And who taught you that once my brother was at your house and had finished what you originally asked him to do, that it would be okay to ask him to do a few more things? Just curious…because I’d like to teach that person a few things.

A seriously concerned and irritated sister of your way too nice neighbor

Dear Justin,

Who taught you to be so nice and to always be willing to do things for others? Okay, so it was Mom. But seriously, you were sick and I was in town. You really can say ‘no’. I promise, it’s okay. Having said that, I really do love that you are like that and hope that I will be so lucky to someday marry someone who possesses that quality.

Love,

Your favorite sister (I won’t tell if you won’t)

Dear Chocolate Tuxedo Cream Cheesecake,

Thank you for being worth the majority of my FLEX points for this week. I debated for a while when we were at The Cheesecake Factory, but finally gave in because you have never once let me down. Saturday was not different. All of that chocolatey, creamy goodness did not disappoint. If I had to marry a cheesecake, it would be you! My taste buds thank you and I thank you!

Sincerely,

A serious chocoholic who needed a little fix

Dear loud, drunk people at the back of the plane coming back from Vegas last night,

SHUT UP!!!

Thank you,

Someone who has to work for a living

Dear Southwest Airlines,

Thank you for almost always being late. Especially when I’m already on the late flight and I’m not scheduled to get to SLC until 12:15 am. Those lost thirty minutes of sleep last night made for a great nap today during my lunch hour and I always have the best dreams when I’m napping (best, as in funky, weird, scary and altogether unnerving). Without those lost minutes of sleep, I might not have napped, or dreamt that I was dating a Japanese Scott Baio. Yeah, don’t ask me. Seriously. Thank you.

Sincerely,

A newly situational insomniac

And last, but not least…

Dear Spike (the fish who sits on my desk while his owner is away defending his dissertation…a fish who will be mine when said owner finishes his internship…a fish who will then be called “Stanley” because I have always wanted a pet named “Stanley”),

Thank you for being a beta fish who will fight with his own reflection so that when I put my Diet Coke can up to your bowl, you get ready for battle. This provides me with minutes of entertainment and “show and tell” for any visitors I might have at work. You have no idea how helpful you are, or how happy I am to fish-sit for you.

Sincerely,

A happily employed office manager who occasionally needs a little distraction

weekend update – in photos

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I spent the weekend with my brother, sister-in-law, nephew and their two dogs. I took way too many pictures, so when you look at these, realize that I’m sparing you the whole slide show. He’s just so stinking cute and both my brother and I were having a lot of fun with my camera.

These two boys certainly love each other. I think this is one of my most favorite pictures of the two of them.

“That was good whipped cream. What’s next?”Boogers?



I would love to tell you that this face was a reaction to my nephew realizing that I was leaving, but really, he was just sick of me taking his picture…and he had just been sucking on a lemon.

Happy Father’s Day!

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This is a picture of my dad having his hair done by my nieces yesterday. He really is such a good grandpa! It fun to see him enjoy his grandkids so much. Spending Father’s Day with him this year reminded me of a Father’s Day in 1999, when I wasn’t able to be with him…or talk to him.

I was on a mission for my church. I was living in France at the time and Father’s Day was fast approaching. As a missionary, you are on a relatively tight budget, so there wasn’t really money with which I could purchase a Father’s Day gift, and truth be told, my dad is just about the hardest person on the planet to shop for.

Although I did have a credit card with me for emergencies (it was my card, but my dad was paying the bill while I was gone), I didn’t feel right about buying something he didn’t really want, that he would eventually be paying for. So instead of buying something for him, my companion (as a missionary, you always have a companion with you) and I went to lunch and I treated and then I sent my dad a letter that went something like this:

“Dear Dad,

I thought long and hard about what to get you for Father’s Day. After several hours of contemplation, I realized that the best gift I could give you is a happy daughter. So, today, Sister Higginson and I went to lunch and I charged it to the credit card. It was a little expensive, but I figured you would be happy to spend the money, since the most important thing in the world to you is to have happy children and, since we all know that money (especially when purchasing a good meal) truly can buy happiness, I figured that you paying for a good meal for me at a nice restaurant in France was a gift that you would truly appreciate. It was a tough sacrifice to make, but I was happy to do it.

I hope you have a happy Father’s Day!

Love,

Chloe”

He loved it! Not necessarily the part involving him paying for the meal, but the letter itself. He actually took it to work and read it to some of his coworkers. I think it is the only Father’s Day “gift” I can remember giving him. Sad, but true. Not that I haven’t given him other gifts, I just don’t remember them.

Happy Father’s Day, Dad! Thanks for being such a good sport.

tuesday tidbits

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1. I woke up this morning from a horrific nightmare; kissing someone who a) I never want to kiss and b) is married. It was a horrible way to start the day. How come the only kissing dreams I ever have are nightmares? It’s so not fair! Not to mention the fact that I got very little sleep due to this horrendous cough that I have that will not go away.

2. Both my receptionist and I were in bad moods…and somehow we played off each other to the point of feeling better. Don’t ask me, but something about the emails we sent back and forth…emails that are totally unnecessary since we sit across from each other, made the day much, much better.

3. I had J-Dawg’s for lunch…for the second day in a row. Of course, I didn’t tell any of the people I met there that I had eaten there yesterday. Where’s the fun in that? And for those of you who have yet to eat there, you should really try it. The dawgs are delicious and a great value, I think. I like mine with special sauce, a little bit of mayo (which normally I find kind of repulsive) and kraut. I know, it’s weird, but sooo good.

4. I “met” two very cool bloggers (Cropstar and Annie) today. They are both training for different races, so we got to exchange some running tips. You should check out their sites. I love the way the blogging world works. I get to “meet” and interact with people I might otherwise never meet. I love it!

5. I hired someone today for an open, part-time position, which is nice since I will be down two employees come Tuesday. But then I had to call the other five people I interviewed and tell them they didn’t get the job. That part sucked. There two of the “rejects” that I wish I could have hired. The other three? Well, they were all good. I just wish I could have said to them, “remember when you told me that you have a problem with this or that? Yeah, that’s why you didn’t get hired.” Or, “You know how you didn’t make eye contact with me through the entire interview? That’s why you didn’t get hired.” Not only that, but most of their resumes were turned in on plain white paper and the formatting was pretty bad. Why don’t they teach interviewing and resume writing in high school as a required class? I think that would be a lot more useful than several of the classes I took, like calculus, for instance.

6. I couldn’t wait until work was over so that I could head up the canyon and take some pictures before going on my run. Taking pictures was the motivation to get me up the canyon so that I would go running…and even then, I almost didn’t.

7. While I have almost no control when it comes to spending money, I really enjoy my “toys”, so I guess I’m okay being out of money all the time (even if it does keep me up at night on occasion). Today I was all about my camera and my iPod, although, technically I didn’t spend any money on the latter since I used points from my credit card to get it (I guess I did spend a lot of money to get the points)…but the Nike+ I did purchase, which is 90% of the reason I love my nano.

8. My dad emailed me to give me the confirmation on my motel room in St. George for Friday night (I have an extended family reunion). My dad is hilarious. He listed the info, and the price and then he put in the discount, the “Good Ol’ Dad” discount. Basically, I pay nothing. I then emailed him back and whined about being broke and asked if G.O.D. (yes, that’s the acronym) might want to give his daughter some money for gas. And, surprisingly, he said ‘yes’. I don’t know what his deal is lately, but I’m definitely appreciating his generosity. And, while you all may be thinking about pathetic is for a 29-year-old to ask for gas money from her dad, I have no problem with it.
9. Today, I was loving that fact that I live in Utah. I know, weird. While I wasn’t necessarily loving the “happy valley” aspect, I was loving the fact that I can drive 10 minutes and be in a beautiful canyon with a river and waterfalls and a great biking/running trail . It’s amazing!

10. I attended a forum today on campus. The lecture was entitled “Coaxing the Muse: Thoughts on the Creative Process.” It was fantastic. I love working for a University that offers devotionals and forums and I love that I get paid to go to them. The lecturer gave several pieces of advice for writing, but the two that stuck with me are that you need to read voraciously and write regularly. I wish I had the lecture recorded. It was just that good. He also shared a quote from Picasso that I absolutely love, “I don’t know what inspiration is, but when it comes, I hope it finds me working.” Part of why I love blogging is that it gives me an opportunity to write almost daily.

11. Veronica Mars is now over and I now have no reason to ever watch the CW again. And, while I did enjoy the episode last night, because the CW just decided to cancel it, there was absolutely no closure, zero, zilch, nada. Seriously disappointing. And I loved that they were just calling it the “season finale” and not the “series finale”. Who are they kidding? I loathe the CW. The CW is dead to me.

Happy Mother’s Day!

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Mother’s Day is a bit of a rough holiday chez the Andersen’s. But, as the years have gone by since my mom died, I’ve realized how blessed I am to have had such a wonderful mom while she was with us, and to know that she will always be my mom. I’ve also realized that I have amazing women in my life who do a great job at filling in the gap of not having my own mother here. I’m not sure that they know how much they really do for me, and much of it is just knowing that they are there, should I ever need something. It really is amazing how, as my mother taught me so many years ago, “It always works out.” Not necessarily without tears and heartache, but God really does make sure that we are taken care of.