Goodbye, 2008!

Well, tomorrow is the last day of 2008. Is any one else ready to kick it out the door? I am! 2008 hasn't been bad, but it wasn't great either.

My friend Ashely had her second child, a baby girl, named Abigail Faith. Nick & I got to meet her when we drove up to Seattle to visit. It was good to see everyone! George (Ashley's husband) was able to get out of going back to the Middle East due to some medical issues he has. I haven't talked to them in awhile, but I hear they're doing well.

I joined Positive Changes Hypnosis in June. It wasn't the radical change I was hoping it would be, but to their credit - that's all on me. I'm not as good about it as I was when I first started. I'm letting things slide in my life that I need to get back in control of.

Nick completed his first year of school and is doing so great. Only a year and a half left! YAY!

I joined the Scentsy team back in September, too. I'm experiencing quite a bit of disappointment with it as well. I wish it was going better for me, but I should have expected it to be slow as I don't really know any one here and the people I do know already know about Scentsy. My friend Susan also joined Scentsy in September and is doing so awesome with it in Ohio. I should take her up on her not so subtle suggestions to move to Ohio. I don't believe I've ever been to Ohio. I hear it's humid there. :-)

Nick's family took a trip to Europe in the spring to visit all the English/Irish relatives. We had to pass on the trip, but loved the photos and can't wait til we can go, too!

And, speaking of Nick's family - we got to see his parents for Thanksgiving. It was really nice to see them and show them a little bit of Idaho. Perhaps for their next visit, they'll come at a more hospitable time of year and we can show them more of Idaho.

My cousin, Erica, also had a baby girl (her 2nd baby, too!) named Liliana. She's so cute! I proud the things my cousins have done with their lives. Just recently, my cousins Julia & Megan took a trip to Egypt and did some wonderful work while they were there. I'm glad they had the opportunity to follow their hearts and get to see a bit of the world while they were at it.

I think I'm leaving stuff out but I'm tired and ready for bed.

Here's to a much better 2009! Perhaps the economy, housing market, etc will all rebound and be better than ever!

Christmas Come....Christmas Go....

Today probably isn't the best of days to blog as I'm in a grumpy frame of mind (that happens when I think about my life, what I'm doing with my life and where my life is going....and with the coming new year, those items have been on my mind pretty much nonstop), but I have these thoughts swirling in my mind and I feel I need to get them out.

I don't know about anyone else but I was so disappointed this Christmas. Not because the gift-exchange was much smaller than normal, but because of the general attitude. Everyone seemed depressed or upset or annoyed or put-off by the whole holiday. This is two holiday's in a row (Thanksgiving being the first) that I'm glad is over and so glad that we have almost a full year before we have to go through again.

I don't care if you're Christian, Buddhist, Agnostic, Atheist, LDS, Catholic, Baptist, Jewish or Muslim. This time of year is special. It's December, the close of one year and the open of the next. It's time for reflection of the prior year, for dreams of the coming year and for being with FAMILY. Rich and poor, old and young alike - it's a time to just come together and celebrate being a family. Whether or not you choose to believe in Christ, whether or not you choose to belive in the celebration of his birth, it's a magical time of year. The family traditions that carry on from year to year and the new ones that are created are important and should be given respect and JOY.

It's not about gift giving. It's not about who got what from whom. It's not about who got the best gift or who got the worst gift (although, I think mom wins that one w/ the list of things to do from her mom). It's just about being together as a family and enjoying the time together. I don't know about you, but I don't want to have another Christmas where I feel stressed out and upset and the general feeling that I just can't wait for it to be OVER. If that's how it's going to be in the future, then I guess I'll choose not to participate any more.

I'm not trying to write this blog and be a Negative Nancy. But you know, as far as WE know we only get the one life. Why should we spend it doing things that are unpleasant and make us feel bad? Why can't we have fun and enjoy our lives while still being good people?? It doesn't seem like that radical of an idea and I admire those of you that choose to do the things that make you happy.

What it comes down to, I suppose, is making a choice. Choosing to be happy and healthy and accepting the cards that are dealt to you - choosing then to play your hand or ask for new cards to see what else you might get. It's your attitude on how you face the challenges of your day that really shape who you are. I, for one, am tired of resenting...well...pretty much everything. I can choose to be annoyed and hateful towards Idaho, or I can accept that this is my landing spot for a few years and move on with enjoying my time here the best I can while I'm here.

Childlike Christmas

Remember when you were a kid in class, and some one would notice that it was snowing? They'd always shout it out, so excitedly. Then the class would all run to the windows and enjoy the magic of snow falling. Reality would soon set in as the teacher made every one go sit back down, but I remember I would always keep sneaking glances outside.

Remember when you were a kid, Christmas was the thing of the year (aside from your birthday). It seemed like ages before it finally came and when it did, you just couldn't contain yourself. It didn't really matter too much if you got what you asked Santa for or not, it was the thrill of the packages under the tree, wrapped festivly and just begging to be opened. I used to harass my mom non-stop for just ONE present to open early. Some times she'd give in, some times she wouldn't.

In our family, we always opened presents from the family Christmas Eve and then the presents Santa left under the tree and in our stockings Christmas morning. Every year I'd get up super early to peek under the tree and take my stocking back with me to my room. One year I got a Baby Sitters Club movie in my stocking. I watched it in my room at 3 in the morning and then went back to bed.

Then there was the food. The Christmas Feast. My mom always makes a ham dinner for Christmas dinner. Ham and potatoes and biscuits and pie. My mom makes THE best pies in the world.

Christmas day was all about playing with the new toys you got and being with the family.

It seems the older we get, the less fun Christmas is. There's decorations to put up. That in itself is a lot of work for just a month (if you're us - we put our stuff up typically the weekend of Thanksgiving). Then comes the agonizing task of Christmas shopping. I always put a lot of pressure on myself to find "that" gift that the recipient will just LOVE. I love giving presents that are unique and totally awesome. My favorite part of Christmas presents is the wrapping. I spend a lot of time and effort (usually) wrapping my presents up so they look just right. Like little pieces of art. I know that not everyone appreciates the hard work, but I do and that's what matters.

I know Christmas to many is the celebration of Christ. I'm not overly religious but I have my beliefs and they're mine. I think, though, that Christmas can also just be about family. Just because you're not Christian, doesn't mean that you can't get caught up in the season. There are so many things to be excited about. The tradition of things. I think it's so awesome that these Christmas traditions carry on. There's the season itself - it's winter, so there's snow and hot cocoa and good books by the fire. There's skiing or snowboarding or sledding.

In the Christmas spirit, here are a few things I'm thankful for:

My family. I may not be as in love with Idaho as my mother would like me to be (I MISS Washington), but I love being close to my family. I just wish we got to see more of them and do more things together. My brother lives 11 miles from my house and I don't see him often enough.

Our troops. It's not a glamorous job; they don't get to pick where they go or when they go. But they go, when ever they're called and often under less than perfect conditions.

My situation. I have a job, I have a car (although it needs some help, it still runs), I have a house. These days, less and less people can claim all of those things. I'm thankful that although I don't love my job, at least I have one and it allows me to continue paying for my house and my car.

And speaking of that job, it's time I brought this post to an end and get back to it.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Wishes

I dont' know if every one is done shopping for us or not, but I thought I'd take a few moments and be selfish. For anyone that might be looking for Christmas gift ideas for me or Nick, here are some things we would love to have:

Sarah Wishes For:
Gift certificate to Two Rivers
Gift certificate to Salon Safari
Many, many beautiful items from Heritage Reflections
Renewed subscription to Country Sampler Magazine
Subscription to People magazine

Nick Wishes For:
Camping gear; specifically: pick up truck (to haul said camping gear in), fishing poles and/or accessories, many items on our Coleman wish list
Packers Gear (visit the Pro Shop for ideas!)
Renewed subscription to Men's Health magazine

December News

Well, it's been awhile since I blogged about anything update wise. I have so much to say, but I'll bet this blog is short because I'll probably forget half of it by the time I get to it!

Thanksgiving came and went. Nick's parents came up from Florida for a few days over Thanksgiving. It was a short and sweet trip. We didn't get to do too much, we did take them on a drive up to Crouch for the day & had lunch and did a bit of shopping. We mostly just hung around with the family, chatting and playing games. It was nice to see them!

See, I've already forgot what I was going to say (you don't know this, but it's been over an hour since I started this blog...I am actually working). Speaking of work, here's something. Brenda is coming back! I'm so excited! She won't be back til after the new year, but hopefully not too much longer. We could use her. And she's the perfect option - she's knows our customers, she's familiar with the way we do things and I could go on and on. I just wish she'd never left in the first place, but I'm SO happy she's coming back! This will make life SO MUCH EASIER!

Another thing slightly work related. As I was leaving work yesterday, I pulled up to the stop light at our business park behind a car that had an advertising decal for interior home staging. I went to her website and sent her an email, asking if she needed an assistant or apprentice. I don't think she'll respond, but at least I took the step! I hope I hear back! It'd be fun to do something like that on the side.

And on the subject of things "on the side", my Scentsy business has slowed way way way down to like nothing. I didn't meet my sales goal for November, which means I have to meet it either this month or in January or I'm out. :-( I'm way bummed. I had really hoped that Elaine's party would generate some other parties being booked, but nothing so far. I've been sending out my business cards with the bills that I can't pay online. I left my catalog with the tip when we went out to dinner. I thought I had an order lined up from one of my friend's moms, but she hasn't ordered yet. I'm open to any suggestions that anyone can think of on how to promote my little business. I don't want to get the boot in January, but I can't afford to order that much product to keep myself active, either! HA!

And that's a nice segue into my next topic of other things I can't afford. My car. The check engine light came on, so I took it down to Rooster's to have it looked at. I was hoping so badly that it was something easy cheesy to fix. Nope. It needed fan belts (which we had replaced to the tune of $219). The motor that runs the fan that gives me heat and cool is dying and will cost $240 to repair. I said to hold off on that for now. I'll just wear a heavy coat if the fan dies. but here's the kicker. The catalytic converter is shot. :-( And because it's on the manifold, Rooster's can't fix it - I have to take it to a Mitsubishi dealer. The guy estimated $1200 for repair, but I'll betcha Mitsubishi jacks the price. All said and done, that's almost $2k of work. My car is only worth $2300. So here's my dilemma. Do I try to buy a new car, with my crappy credit and get bummed when they laugh in my face? Do I drive my granny's car (well - Nick would drive it and I'd drive his car) until tax time? Or do I try to shell out the dough and just get it fixed, hoping it lasts me a few more years til Nick is out of school and we can afford something better? Sigh. I haven't decided what to do yet. This couldn't come at a worse time.

Well, I guess that's really it. I hope you guys are having a great holiday season!

p.s. - to the Florida Beesley's (if you read this): your Christmas gifts were mailed via UPS and should be delivered on Monday, the 15th. Rob & Tara - we forgot to include one of the gifts for Shea. We'll get it shipped out, but it might not make it in time for Christmas. :-(

8 Things

Okay, I'm stealing this from Heidi's blog.

8 Favorite TV Shows:
Grey's Anatomy
Deadliest Catch
Ghost Hunters
Mythbusters
Divine Design with Candace Olson
Color Splash with David Bromstad
Designed to Sell
The Cosby Show

8 Favorite Restaurants:
Olive Garden
Oshio Teriyaki in Enumclaw
Red Robin
Chipotle (sad that there are none in Idaho)


8 Things that happened yesterday:
- I ordered some Christmas gifts on line
- I worked
- I ate dinner
- I watched the Cosby Show
- I updated my Scentsy website
- I checked the status of my UPS shipment from Scentsy like a maniac until it showed that it was picked up
- I found my coat that I thought was lost
- I found a gift for Emma

8 Things I'm looking forward to:
- Christmas
- Seeing what my Christmas bonus will be
- Greg meeting with a certain some one on Friday to see if she'd like to come back to work
- Baking for the holiday
- Shopping
- Getting more sucessful with my Scentsy business
- reading books
- Getting caught up at work (which is what I should be doing instead of this)

8 Things I love about fall:
- The leaves!
- The colors!
- My House!
- Cooler temps!
- Thanksgiving!
- Seeing friends & family @ Thanksgiving!
- Decorating!
- Football...I suppose...

8 Things on my wish list:
- Many, many, MANY things from Heritage Reflections
- To win the lottery
- For Nick to hurry up & finish school
- For a raise. or a new job.
- happiness & health
- confidence
- to get back on track w/ my hpynosis thingie
- too many more to list

8 people I tag:
Susan
Cindy - if she reads this still
anyone else that wants to. I'm not sure 8 people even read this blog.

Scentsy: December Newsletter

It’s that time of year again; the bustling holiday season. This time can be busy and overwhelming, family and friends gathering for dinners and parties, decorations are waiting to be set out and presents are yet to be bought.

Scentsy offers a variety of scents and warmers; you're sure to find a gift for anyone on your list this year! Don't forget, Scentsy also offers Car Candles and Room Sprays that are wonderful stocking stuffers!

SCENT OF THE MONTH: HEARTH AND HOME

Welcome holiday memories with Hearth & Home, a fragrance combining the aromatic spices of the season with sweet Bayberry. A perfect scent for those cold nights spent indoors. Hearth & Home can be purchased this month at a Scentsational value, debuting at a 10% discount.

Cyprus and Malta Warmers invoke the timeless elegance of Old World style. Inspired by the beautiful Mediterranean cities for which they are named, they are perfect additions to your holiday decorating. The rich, nearly iridescent green of Cyprus is accented with gold highlights by using a reactive glaze. Malta, in earthy neutrals with warm, gold undertones will bring the classic look of earthenware to your décor.

Since Scentsy is flameless, wickless and sootless, these systems are a much healthier and safer alternative to flame candles. They're great for dorm rooms, offices, really anywhere!

My favorite Scent: Skinny Dippin’ (smells like candied apples!)

Let's plan a party and let me help you find your favorite scent! There are fantastic hostess rewards and I'm offering a free Room Spray to anyone that books and hosts a party!

www.scentsy.com/beesley

Rainbows

This evening a little storm rolled through the valley. The winds kicked up, the skies darkened and then it rained a little. By the time I left work, the sun was setting beautifully in the west, casting all kinds of gorgeous shadows over the hills and best of all - making rainbows.

I love rainbows. I've always loved rainbows. As a kid, I was so fascinated and delighted when I'd see one. I used to keep track of how many rainbows I'd seen. As I got older, I lost track of the number, but I've never lost the awe. Of course, now that I'm older, I realize that I have to share my love of rainbows with the gay community, which makes me wary of posting rainbows all over everything. I wouldn't want to give off the wrong impression.

In any case, seeing the rainbows (TWO!!) this afternoon reminded me of a conversation with my friend Susan. She asked me what I thought simple pleasures were. To me, simple pleasures are little, every day things that just brighten your day. Seeing a rainbow, reading a good book, wearing a favorite shirt, etc. It's the little, every day things that brighten your day that we need to remember when life seems overwhelming, stressful or out of control. Remember your simple pleasures and put whatever the problem is into perspective.

Well, that's my bit for day. Bye!

Life

Well, I just realized it's been a week since I blogged. Not a lot has been going on, but a few things. First, we went to Trans-Siberian Orchestra on the 10th. That was both awesome and awful. The first like hour and a half was kind of slow. They do a really amazing light show along with their concert. The first half was some really great music with really cool lights mixed in with some really slow and annoying narrator dude and some really slow music. The second hour and a half really picked up. More fast paced music, more intense lights, etc. If we go again, I'd really consider skipping the first half!!!

on Wednesday we found out that my grandma (my mom's mom) had a stroke and fell at her apartment. She broke her foot and a finger when she fell from her stroke. She attempted to call my mom once - but mom wasn't home - and she didn't call anyone else. She waited quite a while before finally calling her landlady to come unlock the door so granny could call the paramedics. Apparently her stroke was not as minor as we all believed - she was hospitalized until Saturday and now she's at a rehabilition factilty, working to regain control of her body from the stroke. She's apparently giving my mom quite a bit of trouble and is just being a general pest. I'm afraid she won't be allowed to live independently after this. She's not making sound judgement calls.

Our weekend was pretty tame. Saturday we cleaned out the office/guest room. Threw away 3 bags of crap, have another bag of donations/garage sale items and I found a ton of things for Christmas gifts. Saturday evening Nick had a few classmates over for a study session - finals are this week!

Sunday after the Packer game (we won!), we headed out grocery shopping and then I laid on the couch the rest of the day. I haven't been feeling well recently - I probably picked up a bug when I was at the emergancy room w/ mom. Yay.

Well, that's about it for my update. Nick's parents will be here next week (on Tuesday). I can't believe we're nearing the end of November already. HOLY CRAP!

Kids Incorporated

We had a Chochrek Children weekend and had such fun! Friday night we had dinner over at David & Letty's (she made home made - authentic Mexican - taquitos YUM), then we came home and met Carin at our house for a Scentsy/child exchange. I sold her some Scentsy bars and she left us Hannah & Emma. To get in the spirit of Disney on Ice the following day, we watched Beauty & The Beast.

Saturday morning we got up, had breakfast, colored a little, got dressed and headed out to Taco Bell Arena for Disney On Ice! We got there late - traffic SUCKED. There was a BSU game that kicked off at noon, so all the tailgaters were competing with those of us trying to go to Disney on Ice. it was great. I love stop and go traffic. Anyway, that is a great show. I realized that I know a LOT about Disney - I know all the character names and was busy passing them along to Hannah and Emma. I was so pleased, they LOVED the show and paid attention the whole way through. I really didn't think we'd make it to the end, figured the girls would get bored and we'd sneak out early. they were great! They didn't ask for anything other than a snack and something to drink. Emma got cotton candy and Hannah got popcorn. Emma's cotton candy came with a crown and we all took turns trying it on.



We got to see the princesses and princes from Beauty & The Beast, The Little Mermaid, Pocahontas, Aladdin, Cinderella & Snow White. They did little mini shows of Beauty & The Beast (which we missed most of since we were late), Toy Story, It's a Small World, Pinocchio, The Incredibles, Mulan, and the Lion King. In between all that were little vignettes with Mickey & Mini Mouse and Donald Duck.

After the show, we headed out to Jamie & Carin's favorite Vietnamese restaurant for the child exchange. Little did we know (and to his parents surprise as well) Connor hit us up for an overnight on Saturday. We agreed and took him home. I got all my Scentsy orders prepared for delivery to Elaine's and was SO ANNOYED to find out Scentsy didn't ship one of the plug in's for my order. I was going to just give the customer my plug in (she ordered the same one I have), but I didn't realize mine was stained from when I spilled Sunkissed Citrus on it. So, dang it, I had to deliever the orders partially filled and will have to deliver the plug in when it gets here. I sent email to Scentsy because my order history shows that it ships, but I clearly didn't have it when I assembled my orders. That's SO ANNOYING. I sure hope they make good on it, send me another and send it QUICK.

Well, that's it, so far. Nick is doing home work while Connor is playing xBox and I'm updating this blog. In a bit, we'll head over to mom's for Packer football and get Connor home at some point. but for now, house work is calling! I'll have another fun blog to update tomorrow - we're going to see the Trans-Siberian Orchestra with my work. I'm so excited!

Scentsy: November Newsletter

"When the trees their summer splendor
Change to raiment red and gold,
When the summer moon turns mellow,
And the nights are getting cold;
When the squirrels hide their acorns,
And the woodchucks disappear;
Then we know that it is autumn,
Loveliest season of the year."
- Carol L. Riser, Autumn

It’s that time of year again; the bustling holiday season. This time can be busy and overwhelming, family and friends gathering for dinners and parties, decorations are waiting to be set out and presents are yet to be bought.

Scentsy offers a variety of scents and warmers; you're sure to find a gift for anyone on your list this year! Don't forget, Scentsy also offers Car Candles and Room Sprays that are wonderful stocking stuffers or Secret Santa gifts!

SCENT OF THE MONTH: CINNAMON CIDER

Cinnamon Cider invokes sweet memories of the rich, dark amber liquid that is so often a part of the autumn season. Balanced with the crisp, woody fragrance of cinnamon, Cinnamon Cider is destined to become a Scentsy favorite. Cinnamon Cider can be purchased this month at a Scentsational value, debuting at a 10% discount.

Start the holiday celebrations early this year with a beautiful Snowflake, the November Warmer of the Month. Warm your hearth and home with this festive warmer.

Since Scentsy is flameless, wickless and sootless, these systems are a much healthier and safer alternative to flame candles. They're great for dorm rooms, offices, really anywhere!

My favorite Scent: Autumn Sunset

Let's plan a party and let me help you find your favorite scent! There are fantastic hostess rewards and I'm offering a free Room Spray to anyone that books and hosts a party!

Visit my website to order, book a party or shop! www.scentsy.com/beesley

Today is the day

Well, it's election day. The big day. What will happen? Will McCain/Palin win? Will Obama/Biden win? I'm so nervous - I'm making myself physically ill being so nervous about what will happen.

I voted last week. I really, truly have no idea what's going to happen. I have a sneaking suspision that McCain will win - solely because he's running against a black man. We say we've evolved and grown and changed, but we haven't. Nick & I agree that there are a lot of people that simply won't vote for him because of the color of his skin. I find that so close minded and just really irresponsible.

Well, without being too political - I'm just a wreck. :-) Today can't be over soon enough for me. If you haven't voted yet - make sure you get out and use your right to vote! Vote Democrat, Independent, Republican - just VOTE.

*Updated*

So, I logged into meebo.com (it's a free IM service - I use it to annoy Nick while he's at work) and periodically Meebo staff will post a little blurb that shows up when you sign in. I usually read them because they're funny - this one was posted for yesterday's date and it cracked me. Since it goes in theme with this post, I wanted to copy & paste it here:

"If you are one of the millions of Americans who have either already placed their vote, like myself, or plan to do so in the coming days you likely will be anxiously awaiting the results. As someone who has been following months of media coverage, news, and water cooler conversation, I am dying to know who will be the next president of the United States. While I know these things take time, and I inevitably will have to wait until late into the night on November 4th, I did a bit of digging to try to go beyond the opinion polls and the pundits to see what other people are using as predictors for who will win this presidential election. So, if you really want to know who is going to win and simply cannot wait until the ballots are tabulated, take a look at these far more sophisticated and reliable indicators, and then share them with your friends.

Since 1980, sales of Halloween masks have predicted the winner of each and every election, according to costume sellers. Amazon.com currently shows a 53 to 47 percent split of masks in Obama's favor, coincidentally the same current poll average that is being reported over at Real Clear Politics. Furthermore, Sarah Palin masks have sold out, clearing a margin of 3 to 1 over Joe Biden. Combine the two and it makes the race overall pretty close, if you believe in this prediction.

Another fun and reportedly accurate predictor includes polling the kids vote. Scholastic (R) classroom magazines hold a quadrennial poll of students in grades 1 through 12, and they’ve only been wrong once since 1956. The only one they missed was Kennedy/Nixon in 1960. Guess they weren’t allowed to stay up late enough to watch Nixon sweat the election away in their televised debate. So for this one, if you know of someone between 6 and 18 years of age, go ahead and ask them. Odds are, they are likely to be right.

For all of the sports fans out there, here’s another one for you: If the Washington Redskins win their final home game just prior to the election, the incumbent party wins. This has proven true 18 out of 19 times, and this year, the Redskins play the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday night. Should the Redskins win, that would predict a win for McCain, while Obama fans should be pulling for the Steelers. I predict TV ratings will skyrocket during the game.

Various other predictors include T-shirt sales, book sales, and electoral schwag. One last possible predictor: In the 2000 election, the absentee ballot of a man in Bellevue Washington was delivered to a family in Copenhagen, Denmark, who found two absentee ballots mixed in with their junk mail. He voted for George W. Bush. Do absentee ballots found after being lost in the mail go on to predict the winner? I don’t know about that, but it does predict that everyone--even a family in Denmark--gets junk mail.

To me, the most enjoyable part of this political process (aside from playing the guessing game) has been the incredible conversations that have come from people on both sides of the fence. As director of business development at meebo, I get to help facilitate those conversations by allowing people from all over the world to come together and discuss their thoughts in any of our thousands of partner chat rooms across the web.

One humorous and lively conversation that I will be definitely be joining will begin November 4th and last for two days at Comedy Central's Indecision 2008 site. There you will find some of the most exciting election banter on the web. That’s not a prediction, it’s a guarantee.

In closing, I offer a message to those who are eligible: Predictions like these mean nothing, unless you vote!"

Weekend Update

Well, good Daylight Savings Time morning to you! I hope everyone had a great weekend - our was nothing too spectacular, but I'll update you anyway.

Friday night was Halloween! Happy belated Halloween! We ended up just staying at home and handing out candy. We didn't get nearly as many trick-or-treaters as I would have thought - we still have about half of our candy left. During the trick-or-treaters, we tried to watch the Ghost Hunters live Halloween special, but it was AWFUL. They had special guests (one from the SciFi network and then some idiot wrestler) and it felt like the entire show was spent standing around, plugging these other peoples shows instead of actually GHOST HUNTING. Anyway, we attempted to find a cheesy horror movie for our nightly entertainment, but there wasn't really anything on.

Saturday we went to Connor's first basketball game. While Connor was playing, I took the girls outside to play at the playground. Connor's team won (YAY!!!!) and Jamie, Carin & Connor headed off to go hunting while Nick & I gathered up the girls and took them to my mom's by way of McDonalds. 2 Happy Meals and a half our of playing at PlayLand we headed off to my mom's. After we dropped the girls off, we headed out to grocery shop. That was pretty much the highlight of our day on Saturday.

Sunday we got up and had breakfast and then headed to my parents for Packer football. They lost. Stinkers. And uh...that's it.

Well, I guess that's not it. On the 10th we're going to see the Trans Siberan Orchestra with my work. So, that'll be exciting. I have most of my order from Scentsy on Elaine's party - I should be getting the back ordered items some time this week, so I can deliver those to her. Nick's parents will be here in about 2 1/2 weeks! Nick only has about 2 weeks of school left for this quarter, so that's cool, too!

Okay, that's really it. More later if anything interesting happens!

I <3 Leonardo DiCaprio

They're ba-ack!

5 More Friends

Happy Hump Day!

Well, it's Wednesday, middle of the week - but that means it just that much closer to FRIDAY!

Nick had himself a little stress out session yesterday. He went to bed with a headache, woke up with a headache and went in to work. He called me about 8:30 saying that he was headed home from work. Poor guy is just totally stressed. He switched to that new work schedule and can't seem to adjust back - he feels all rushed in the evenings he has school and is falling behind on his school work. So, I reasoned it out with him and we came up with a new schedule that will help him carve out chunks of time to do homework and he should stay on track and not feel like he's using ever minute of free time on homework.

Other than that, not too much new in our neck of the woods. Just plugging along in life. we might do the costume thing on Friday, but I have a feeling that won't happen. I mean, it's Wednesday and we haven't even talked about it since Monday when I decided I wanted to do it. Oh well. We have a ton of candy and can't wait to pass it out to all the little kiddies.

That's it. That's my news. Exciting stuff, I know, I know. Enjoy the rest of your week!

Busy Beesley's!!!!!

This weekend was NUTS! I'm all sore from yesterday! So, here's a recap.

Sunday was my very first Scentsy party at Elaine's house. Saturday we spent most of the day getting ready for it - I finalized my speech, rehearsed it like 12 times for Nick and made up cards just in case I lost my place. We went out in the afternoon to make some copies of the fliers for my folder inserts, headed to lunch and then went clothes shopping. I needed a new pair of khaki pants because mine are too big. 3 stores later, we finally found some in my size, and I snapped up a cute jean jacket. We attempted to go to Taco Bell arena and trade in my vouchers for actual tickets to Disney on Ice - next week - but there was some sort of event going on. We will go this week and get it taken care of.

Anyway, Sunday I got up at 8:00 and basically went non-stop til about 10:30. I finished up the details for my display, got it all packed up and ready to go, then I got ready to go. Mom came and got me about 12:00 and we headed over to Elaine's. Then was the party which was great. I didn't use my notes at all and I know I kind of jumped around. I think I did okay, but DEFINITELY room for improvement. No bookings off of her party, but I did have awesome sales!!!

After the party, mom & I went and picked up granny and then mom dropped me at home. I changed out of my party clothes in into regular clothes and then Nick & I headed over to my parents for pumpkin carving. As soon as we got there, I realized that Nick & I didn't have pumpkins, so we headed back out to get those and then came back to the house. Nick carved the best pumpkin, in my opinion. Simple, yet highly awesome. Then we ate dinner, and took granny home, met Carin at our house so she could get her newly repaired computer....THEN we went grocery shopping, came home, put away the groceries and did laundry. I crawled in bed sore and stiff and feeling like an old lady.


(Nick's is the winking face, mine is beside it and you can't tell what it is - it's supposed to be two ghosts and then in the middle it says "Trick or Treat" and my dad's is the moon w/ the bat)

Nick and I have made a pact on several things. The first of which is to control our unnecessary spending. We've agreed that the first one to make a unnecessary purchase will be punished. If Nick spends before me - he has to watch Titanic with me. If I spend before Nick - I have to watch Braveheart with him. :-) We'll see if this really works! We're also on a goal to lose weight - obviously I'm already working towards that with my hypnosis stuff, but I really need to step it up and get my rear in gear by working out. If we reach our goal, we're going to reward ourselves with a trip to someplace like Mexico or Hawaii. Which goes hand in hand with the goal of cutting out the unnessary spending - if we save enough, we can take our trip to reward ourselves!

OH! I think we're gonna do a costume party on Friday! I'm so excited! I found that several places are having them - Channel 2 news is doing one at Qwest Arena - it's $10/person to get in. I think we might go to that, so I'm planning costumes in my mind.

That's all for now!

Updating

So I'm trying to change the look of our page, but I don't want one of those mass layouts that just anyone can grab from Pyzam or where ever. SO right now, it's kinda hideous. So bear with us as we're in transition....it might be ugly for awhile...:-)

Quick Update

I was kindly reminded the other day that I haven't blogged in awhile. I don't have too much to share, but what I have - well, here it is.

My cousin Erica had her baby on Monday. They named her Liliana and she's gorgeous. I was sad I couldn't go to Erica's baby shower, but I found out about it too late. Which reminds me, I need to win the lottery so I can mail her a baby gift. :-)

Yesterday was kind of a crappy day at work. I made a pretty big mistake and I was so certain Greg was going to fire me or put me on notice that I started packing up my desk. Turns out that I'm the only one that freaked out and it ended up being okay. As a result of my UH OH I got the nicest compliments from one of the companies that we do business with (the do the premium financing for our policies). The gal emailed Greg this note:

I just wanted you both to know what a pleasure it is to work with Sarah in your office. She is always so thorough and pleasant to deal with. She is anxious to learn, and I appreciate that.
Just thought I would pass that on.
We appreciate all that you and your agency do to help us run smoothly.


That made me feel so good! It's so nice to get appreciated for your efforts.

Anyway, I have my very first Scentsy party on Sunday. Elaine sent out 30 invitations and so far has been getting a good response! I'm excited and NERVOUS about doing it - but I think it'll be a little easy for my first time, because my mom will be there. It'll help to have a familiar, friendly face. Tonight I'm getting my display all figured out and practicing my schpeel. OMG I have to talk. In front of people. In front of people that I DON'T KNOW. I must be crazy.

I guess that's it, really. I'm sure I've left something out, but I don't know what.

Hope this Wednesday finds you all happy and healthy!

Vertigo!

So I went to the doctor today. I have vertigo. Doesn't that sound like fun?? not really.

Since Monday I've been feeling pretty awful - dizzy, sick to my stomach and this rushing noise in my ears (and no, it's not the wind running through my empty head). It would kind of come and go. Last night I thought I'd beaten it back - I took some Excedrin, my headache cleared and so did the noise in my head. Well, I woke up this morning and it was back. I felt awful. I went into work and between Susan, my mom & Amy, I was nagged into calling the doctor. I went in, fully expecting to be told it was an ear infection and give a few drops and sent on my way.

Well, my ears are fine. No redness, no swelling, no infection. She thinks the vertigo might have been brought on by a viral infection (gee....where would I have gotten that from - NICK) and should clear itself up with in 7 to 10 days. If I'm still having symptoms, I'm to go back (if I haven't thrown myself off a building before then). She gave me options for a over the counter drug used to treat sea-sickness or a prescription that does the same thing. We'll see.

Right now, I feel okay. I had a headache earlier, so I took more Excedrin and the wooshing in my ears went away. Amy had told me earlier to work til my appointment then go home. So I'm sitting at home, feeling super guilty because I feel kinda okay and really should go back to work. I have a boat load of stuff to do.

Well, I'm off to go eat lunch. We'll see how it goes after food.

Tuesday News

blog. blog blog, ba-blog blog. Bloggity blog.

With Great Joy Comes Great Dismay

Well, I got myself all hyped up about getting a Scentsy sale today. I got my Consultant Binder ready to go with my plug in, a bar, a room spray and a card candle. I assembled more catalog's with the Ocobter specials. Armed with my basket of testers, I headed out to work.

I could hardly contain myself all day - I was so hoping that when I showed Leslie all my goodies that others would flock and I would walk out with a killer sale. 11:00 rolls around and I can't stand myself any more so I left. I get to the place and I don't see Leslie up front. I thought well maybe she's in the bathroom or with a client or stepped away, so I sat down in the lobby for about 5 minutes. Finally I went up to the desk and asked about her.

Oh. She's sick. Won't be in today.

I. Was. CRUSHED.

I know she didn't do it on purpose, but I got my feelings all hurt and felt down in the dumps. I kept thinking how she said that she took my catalog home. Well, my catalog has my contact info plastered all over. It has my cell - she could have called. It has my email - she could have sent me a quick note to say she's not feeling well.

Oh well. I got over being discouraged pretty quick. I have an appointment there tomorrow at 10:00 anyway, so I'll just haul all my gear with me on the chance that she's working tomorrow.

On another note - I sold a policy today! It's the first policy I've actually sold as a licensed agent and I've been an agent for like 5 years. I'm pretty stoked. Amy told me if I tell Greg that I sold it all by myself that he'll give me the commission on it. YAY!

Anyway, today kinda blows, work wise. Every one's left (that's what happens when it's family owned - the son has a soccer game so every one but me left early to go watch it) and I'm holding down the fort. It's actually quiet at the moment. I feel like all the crazies have come out of the woodwork - especially today. It doesn't help any that I'm completely overwhelmed and Greg's been out of the office a lot. I have stuff just like...piling up and I'm giving serious consideration to setting fire to it all. :-)

Well, this has mostly been a bitchfest and a pity party. If you made it to the end - I'm sorry. :-) On a completely random tanget - I'm considering cutting my hair. Of course, I'll hate it as soon as I do and get mad at myself for growing it out for 2 years and then chopping it off, but I'm tired of this 'do and am looking for something else. Maybe I'll just weart it in a pony tomorrow for a change of pace. Ha.

WOOT!

I'm doing a mental boogie dance. I'd do it for real, but I'm also trying to watch the debates...love the town hall forum, by the way.

ANYWAY last week I finally got up my nerve as asked the ladies at my hypno place if I could leave some catalog's for their breakroom. They said sure. I went in for my appointment this evening and Leslie (one of the really nice ladies there) tells me she wants to put in an order!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She asked if I had any books with me, and of course, I didn't (IDIOT). She had taken one of the catalog's home and all the others I left there were gone (BOOGIE DANCE!) so I said I could come by tomorrow during my lunch with my basket of smellers and she could smell and order. YIPPIE!

Maybe I'll get a party booked! That would be so AWESOME!!!!!

k bye. gotta pay attention to the debates now.

Football & Lightning! Pinochle & Family! Axes & Urgent Care!

The title pretty much sums up the Beesley weekend. A bit confused? Lemme 'splain. Saturday started out pretty normal - we headed out to Connor's football game to see him play and so I could drop off Scentsy deliveries to my mom & Carin. The weather was looking ominous & sure enough, about 20 minutes into Connor's game came the rain, the lightning & the thunder. They stopped the game for about a half hour - we went and sat in our car, and Connor's football team went into Carin's school (wasn't that a convenient location - to be playing in the fields right next to her school?). Well, half hour came by, the weather mostly passed and the game continued. Connor's team won! It was awesome! I love being able to see him play and watch him transform from playing on rag-tag teams where looking at ladybugs in the grass in the outfield is WAY cooler than paying attention to the actual game vs learning the intricacies of the game.

After the game we all headed out to Bardenay for lunch/dinner. Later that evening, Nick and I are sitting on the couch watching TV when we get a call from my brother inviting us over to play Pinochle. So, off we went. Got to see Sparky - it's like nothing ever happened to her, she was playful and her normal self. She does have some pretty wicked ouchies, but they seem to be healing really well.

Sunday we got up and headed over to my parents to watch the Packers lose & then a late lunch. After that, we were standing at Wal Mart, trying to find a pair of jeans for Nick when my phone rang. It was mom saying that the paramedics were at the house for dad. My heart sank all the way to my knees and I'm sure my face went white. The first thing I thought of was his heart. Well, turns out it wasn't nearly as awful as we all had imagined. Dad was out chopping wood to make a fire and the ax flew, landing on his foot. Of course, he was chopping wood in SANDALS. Smartie pants. The paramedics came and left, I drove mom & dad to the Urgent Care and Nick followed behind in our car. Like an hour and a half later (and the stupid receptionist lady was watching friggin Animal Precinct and I, of course, bawled through it), dad came out with a few stitches and instructions for care.

So that's my weekend. :-) Oh well, I guess that's not all of it. Friday night Nick and I went on date night. We went out to dinner at Red Lobster and i discovered that I do like shrimp. I had quite a few. :-) Then we headed out to the movie theatre and watched Appaloosa and it was really good! I'm glad we went. Next weekend we're gonna go see Body of Lies. we saw a lot of previews for some pretty good movies coming soon, so we might find ourselves at the theatre more often!

DON'T VOTE!!!

Ha ha, I'm breaking my own rules and talking about politics. Actually, not really talking about it, but I saw this video on Perez Hilton and wanted to share. Apparently this is a pro-Obama video, but I honestly didn't take it as such (I didn't even realize it was "pro-Obama" until I went searching for the code to embed it on my myspace and was told by some one's blog that it's pro-Obama) - just celebs using their celebrity to tell you to VOTE and don't forget that you have to REGISTER to vote, first (duh).
Anyway, for those of you that are Democrats and if this is in fact, pro-Obama, then you will certainly enjoy this. For those of you that are Republican, perhaps you'll just find the obvious message of getting out to vote and letting your friends know that our voices do count - if we all say "my vote doesn't count" and then DON'T VOTE....well then, your vote really DOESN'T count.
I will warn - some celebs in the video use foul language. It's brief, but it's there. FYI.
Whether you're for abortion, against abortion, for the war, against the war, for insert-hot-button-topic-here or against insert-hot-button-topic-here, WE HAVE TO VOTE! If you don't vote, you don't get a say one way or the other. Stand up for what you believe in and cast your vote on Nov. 4th.
JUST VOTE! I don't care who you vote for - just do it!

Good Morning from Boise, here is your news:

It's time for an update! It's been a few days since I blogged, but I don't really have that much to talk about.

My Scentsy open house came and went. I got some great orders and am just waiting for a few more payments so I can put them all in. I got my debit card from the bank yesterday, so I'm good to go for everyone that gave me a check. I learned some new things about Scentsy that left me feeling really disappointed. Before I signed up, I asked all sorts of questions about my commitment to Scentsy and what would happen if I couldn't make that commitment. I understood that I only had to sell $150 in product in a three month period. If I couldn't, then I simply went inactive but I got to keep my kit. Sounded easy enough. Turns out that's not quite it. It's no $150 in three months. In three months, I have to have one month with a minmum of $150 in sales. I can't spread the $150 out among the 3 months. Also, if I got inactive, it's not as simple as just going inactive if I want to sign up again. Should I go inactive and then mabye get some interest from customers, well too bad. I have to wait 6 months before signing up again AND I have to buy my kit again.

Sigh. If I can just get some parties booked, I think I'll be okay. At the very least, I'm good to go on sales until December, when my 3 months starts over again. Bottom line is that I sort of feel lied to and I really hate that feeling. I thought I asked all the right questions to get the answers I needed, but I guess I didn't. Buyer beware, as they say.

In other news that's not about me - Connor's (my nephew) dog got attacked by another dog on Sunday and got pretty badly injured. Thankfully they caught it in the act and were able to get Sparky to the vet quickly and she's going to be okay. I guess the owners of the other dog weren't that concerned about it which makes me very angry. You need to be a responsible pet owner. If you have a dog that has viscious tendancies, you need to make sure it's contained. What if that had been Emma instead of Sparky? I'm just glad that everyone is okay.

Nick's work schedule is changing on Monday. He'll go back to M-F 8:00 - 4:30. He'll be more rushed on school nights to get home, get dinner and get back to class, but I think overall it's better. he'll get more quality sleep.

Well, that's all for now. I hope you guys are having a fantastic day!

Open House: Total Drag

Well, the weekend is almost over. All that's left on the agenda is to head over to my parents later this evening to dinner and Packer football watching. I had the Open House for my launch party this weekend it was a total bust. Not one single neighbor showed up.

Saturday I had it from 12:00 to 2:00. My mom came over and stayed for the whole thing - she ordered and she called her friend Elaine who came over and ordered some things. My sponsor and her family came over as week to lend moral support and fill in the missing gaps from my inventory. Later that evening my sister in law come over with the girls and ordered some stuff.

Sunday was just me & Nick on our own. We set out my open house sign again (I got a generic black and white one from Fred's and wrote "Scentsy" on it and tied some purple and green balloons to it) and for about an hour we locked the pets up and left the front door open, hoping it would draw more people in. Well, it didn't. And kitty was being a pest - he was unhappy at being locked up. So, we closed the door and let the pets out. Nothing. Not one single person. I had snacks. I had drinks. I was going to give out a door prize and was offering incentives to anyone that booked & hosted a party.

I have to say that I really didn't expect anyone to come and my expectations were fully met. I can't say that I'm not disappointed by it - I really had hoped that curiosity would bring some people by, if not to order to spy on my house. Oh well.

It wasn't a total bust as my family pulled through and I did get some really great orders. If I don't find some new customers soon, I'm going to suck my family dry. The problem is that I just don't know that many people here. Besides family, the people I know are mostly work (and there aren't that many of them) and they're all busy during the weekends. I may try another open house during the week - I won't send out any advance notice, if Nick & I are at home, not doing anything anyway, I might just get out my stuff and put out my sign.

So, send your good thoughts my way and hopefully I'll build up some confidence and start approaching strangers. I know I'll get told no, which I'm totally not looking forward to, but if I don't even try I'll never get told "yes"

Like a duck in puddle

IT'S RAINING! SWEET REFRESHING CLEANSING RAIN! It hasn't rained here in 50 days. 50 DAYS. That makes me sad.

I am a bit bummed that it decided to rain on the day of my Scentsy open house. I hope this doesn't stop people from coming! I've so convinced myself that no one is coming I'm not even the slightest bit worried or nervous about today. How can I be nervous when no one will be here? :-) We'll see!

Wow I was all prepared and sit down and write a blog. Turns out I really have nothing to blog about! It's raining! That's it! That's my great gigantic news!

Home Sweet Home

Well, we've been at my parents house since last week. They've on some fabulous vacation back east and we stayed over at their house to watch the dogs. While I don't necessarily mind their house - it's comfortable, they have TV, food, internet, etc - it's not MY house. It's not my comfort, my TV, my food, my internet, my etc. I'm glad to be home. They get in tonight fairly late but will be walking into a beautifully clean house.

My mom's been feeling under the weather lately - having some health issues that she's working on fixing, but are leaving her without much energy. She asked that if I clean her house while she was gone, she'd give me $50. Mom. If you're reading this (which i highly doubt) I cleaned WAY more than $50 worth. I scrubbed that house top to bottom. Vacuumed every room. Dusted every room - even the tops of the door/window frames and the lights - scrubbed every room. Did laundry. Put fresh linens on their bed. Mopped the floors. Cleaned inside the microwave. Their house looks migh-t-fine. Now if only some one would come over here and do the same for me! Actually, it's not that bad. No one's been in it for a week, so it stayed pretty good. The office needs some work - since I've started this little business venture (OH it's been a few posts since I mentioned SCENTSY!!!! ha ha) I need the office organized and stuff so I can find what I'm looking for.

I really hope that I have a good turn out for my open house. I'm going to rapidly suck my family dry if I don't find any new customers. I just wish I were a better salesperson. I had a perfect opportunity to get a new customer on the hook when I went in to Banner Bank to open my Scentsy checking account. The gal said she'd heard of it and smelled it, thought it smelled nice but didn't have it. That was my opening. I should have offered her a catalog and told her about my open house. All I said (like a dang idiot) was "oh, I love it. It's so easy to use" uh...der. Of course it's easy to use, you simpleton. It's a freaking candle warmer. Sigh.

I keep having this stupid vision of all my neighbors, banding together and throwing my flyers back at me - yelling at me for putting litter on their door. Or of my HOA to come to me and say that it's against our bylaws to solicit in the neighborhood. I made sure not to leave a flyer on any door that had a "no solicitation" sign.

Anyway, I seem to have gotten WAY off topic. So, I'm back and home and blissful to be here. I had my 2nd appointment with the eye doctor today. He says my whatever it is seems to be healing well and prescribed me an eye drop steroid to take on top of my other stuff I'm doing and he'll see me again on Friday. If everything looks good on Friday, then he'll maybe push out the next appointment. He wants to make sure it all heals properly and doesn't scar. I DON'T WANT IT TO SCAR, EITHER! That sounds frightening!!!!

Well, that's the news Beesley for now. Edit that - that's the news Sarah for now. I only got to see Nick for about 5 minutes yesterday. For those of you that might read this blog more for updates on him than me, he's doing well. He's tired from the schedule - he's at class until 10:30 and then has to get home and settled for bed and then be up getting ready for work by 5:00. It's hard and I do what I can to make it easy for him, but honestly there isn't a lot I can do. The stuff he's doing at school is WAY beyond me. I do help him with his lit stuff. :-)

Okay, really I'm done now. Off to veg on MY couch! YAY!

Feeling Discontent

Okay so I don't remember if I posted the changes that happened at work, so I apologize in advance if any of this is repeat news.

As you may remember from previous posts, things were kinda sucky at work. There was another gal at work that unfortunately wasn't pulling her weight and therefore the majority of the work landed on my desk. Finally, it got to the point where it was glaringly obvious that she wasn't working out (well, to everyone BUT her and for that I do feel bad) and she was let go. So now it's just me doing all the work. There used to be a gal that worked here when I first started and she left to go back to underwriting. She hinted at me a few months ago that she was unhappy in her new job - I think she was putting out feelers to see if my boss was interested in hiring her back. I guess the answer was NO and we just went on.

I would be freaking ECSTATIC if she came back. I liked her. She knows what she's doing. I could LEARN from her. She knows our system and our customers. I want nothing more than to walk in my bosses office and saying, "look, I don't really know what I'm doing. I feel like I haven't learned ANYTHING since Brenda left, and in fact, taken several steps backwards. I'm unhappy with the way things are going because I feel STUPID every day and I'm NOT stupid. If you don't hire her, I'm leaving, okay?"

But I won't. I know me. I talk a good talk. I speak good game. I'm a chicken on the inside with a fabulous imagination and will conjure up these great, dramatic scenes in which I pour out my heart - end up getting a raise, a bonus AND a car and my old coworker back and there will be blue birds and songs of happiness throughout the land.

Sigh.

Well, I did it.

This morning Nick and I got up a little early and headed over to our house (I can't remember if I posted this already but we're staying @ mom & dad's this week while they're out of town). I made these cute little flyers announcing my open house to pass out to my neighbors. I went to Google maps and counted the houses in our neighborhood (our sub-division is on either side of Chateau) and printed out my flyers yesterday. Nick & I decided to hand them out this morning, with the hope that most people would be at church. I was PETRIFIED that some one would "catch" me leaving a flyer on their door....why did I sign up for this again? I'm NOT a salesperson and I'm NOT outgoing. Sigh.

Anyway, we walked around and I taped all my flyers to the doors. Apparently I WAY miscounted, as I only had enough for the houses on my side of Chateau (over 50), so I didn't bother printing more for the other side. I gave Nick reports at each house - they had their door open! I could hear them inside! There was a little boy at the window and I heard him say "mommy, there's a girl at the door!"

As we walked back around, I was surprised by house many flyers were already taken down from the doors. I think a majority were still up, but I really didn't expect that many to already be gone. I hope I get a good turn out at my open house. Thankfully it's just for two hours each day, so I won't be waiting for too long.

I've found a clone recipe for the Starbucks Pumpkin Loaf so I'm going to make that (the recipe I found makes 3 loaves) and I'll have some cookies. I also thought I'd buy a couple flavors of the mini-soda's and some mini-waters. I'm planning on doing a door prize and I'm offering a gift to anyone that books (and hosts) a party. I HOPE I get enough interest to make my sales goal for the first three months. Keeping my fingers crossed!

In other news - my eye is looking and feeling a lot better already. Hopefully the healing process won't end up being as long as the doctor originally anticipated.

well, that's my update for today! Off to watch the Packers game! GO PACK GO!

Eye Got Troubles....whoa-oh

So, I have an ouchie on my eye. Wedesday, I got up like normal, put in my contacts with my morning routine jazz and headed off to work. All day, it kept feeling like something was in my eye - I took my contact out, rinsed my eye, rinsed my contact and put it back in. Nothing felt better. I was at work and didn't really have a way to deal with it, so I ignored it best I could. That night when I got home, I threw my contacts away. It still felt like something was in my eye the rest of the evening.

Thursday I wore my glasses as my eye was still red and burning. I assumed it was because I had irritated it so much the day before. Now, I don't know how many of you know this, but my glasses are actually broken. The screw came out of the hinge on one side and the hole is apparently stripped as we can't get a new screw back in. I can wear them if I jam the two ends together, but it doesn't hold for long and eventually the stem falls off. I wrapped some tape around it yesterday and it isn't toooo noticeable and seems to be working fairly well.

So, Friday comes along and my eye is still red, watery and burning. I wore the glasses again and headed out to work. Susan yelled at me and told me to go to the doctor. I told her I would go into WalMart (where I normally have my exams and order contacts/glasses) after work and see if the doctor was on duty and could see me. If not, I would make an appointment. Amy came in to work and asked me about my eye. I told her it was no better and she MADE me call the eye doctor, while she was there and could make sure I did it. *roll eyes* She's such a mom. She gave me the number for the Eye Associates. I called them, but they didn't have any doctors on duty and he receptionist said I should probably have this looked at today and gave me the number for their on call doctor. I called that number and they tried to fit me in, but he was just booked. They set up an appointment for me with one of his associates out in Nampa.

I drove out to Nampa (my second trip there!) and am very grateful that Amy insisted I go right then. I have either a corneal infection or a corneal ulcer. Apparently it's difficult to diagnose, so we're treating it like it's a corneal ulcer. I'm to throw away the contacts (which I already did) and my case. i was given some drops, on Friday I had to use them once every 15 minutes for the first hour and then once an hour for the next two days. On Sunday I change to once every 2 hours and this will continue until I see the doctor again on Tuesday. I was also given Bacitracin (which has the consistency of Neosporin) that I put into my eye at bedtime. That's kinda yucky. I don't care for that at ALL.

So, I guess I'm going to see the doctor a total of 4 or 5 times before this is all clear. I'm forbidden to wear my contacts until he says otherwise, so I guess I'll be investing in some super glue to hold the stem on more firmly. It's super geeky with the tape.

Well, that's my update for now. :-)

SCENTSY

Okay, last blog about Scentsy...I hope. So, it's official. I'm a Scentsy Consultant. Check out my site: www.scentsy.com/beesley.

Here's a little bit about it:
Scentsy is a leadless, wickless, flameless and smokeless fragrance system. It uses a 25-watt bulb to melt the different waxes slowly, to maximize the fragrance. Since there's no flame, soot or wick, it's very safe and easy to use.

I'm taking advantage that you're my family and that if you're already a Scentsy lover, you'll start ordering from ME
now. :-) No pressure, though. None all (ORDER FROM ME OR I'LL NEVER TALK TO YOU AGAIN). For those of you that live by me, I'm having an open house on 09/20 from 12:00 to 2:00 and 09/21 from 2:00 to 4:00. You should come. I'll give you free stuff if you book and host a party.

**For all my friends out of state - I know you can't attend my party but check out my website anyway! Scentsy will ship to you!!**

**GUYS - this product makes AWESOME gifts for wives, moms, daughters...you name it!!**

Anyway, that's my news. I hope you guys will start ordering from me & stop by the open house if you can.

Friends & Scentsy

Well, the last few days my friend Susan was visiting me from Ohio. It was great to see her and hang out. I wish we had a little more to offer as far as things to do in Idaho...the whole time she was here, I kept thinking of all the really great things I could have shown her in Seattle...the harbor tour, the aquarium, a Mariners game, Pike Place Market, Mt Rainier, Ocean Shores, the casinos, the Underground Tour, etc....

She arrived on Thursday and we went out to lunch at the Ram. Then we hung out on my deck for a few hours and chatted until Nick got home. That night we had dinner at Joe's Crab Shack. After dinner we headed over to Kyme's house to get the run down on Scentsy - we're both pretty excited to get it going (more on that below)!

Friday we had lunch at Rembrandt's and then a pedicure at Two Rivers Salon & Spa, followed by shopping at the mall - a true girls day. We met Nick for dinner at Famous Daves. After that, we got all girlied up and went dancing. We headed over to Hannah's but that was LAME, so we ditched that and went to Cowgirls in Kuna where we danced (and drank) the night away.

Saturday we both woke up with lovely headaches. For some unknown reason we thought it would be a great idea to drive up to Bogus Basin. Yeah...twisty, windy roads on a hangover? NOT SMART. We did get some nice pictures. Ha ha. Saturday evening we headed up to Crouch for the Starlight Mountain Theatre. I don't know what I was expecting, but it certainly wasn't plastic lawn chairs. :-) The play was okay, we saw Let's Murder Marsha. They apparently only had 2 weeks to rehearse and I have to say that it showed. I might go back, but I won't "upgrade" to the "expensive" seats and I hope to see something that they've prepared a little better for.

Sunday was a total day of driving. We headed down to Shoshone Falls - that is so amazing. I'd never been before and well worth the drive. On the way back, we stopped off at Hagerman to view some "fossils." I use that term LOOSELY. We saw a sign that showed where fossils were found...so we went off on an adventure to get up close to a windmill - Susan had never seen them before and was quite taken with them. haha. Another side trip on the way back was in Bruneau to see the sand dunes. THAT was cool. Nick & Susan climbed to the top of one, but I wussed out.

Monday we went to the zoo. Again, I use that term loosly. It's a nice zoo, but very, very small. after the zoo, we kind of played it loose - just hanging out at home, playing games, grilling out and watching movies. It was nice to just relax.

On Tuesday Susan left, so we spent most of Tuesday getting her ready to go. I had such a great time! I wish she didn't live in Ohio. That's too far away. Oh, and for those of you that weren't sure, Ohio is NOT in Pennsylvania, like the Taco Bell girl thought.

Anyway - I'm starting up my Scentsy business soon! I'm going to host an open house the weekend of the 20th. I'm considering hosting it both the 20th and 21st, for a few hours each day. Once I have firm times and dates, I'll post again. I hope you guys can all stop by at some point and I'll be having a fun little incentive if you book a party. :-)

Well, I hope this blog update finds you all fit & happy. I can't believe it's already September! I'm starting to decorate my house for fall - is it too soon?

Oh, ps, check back in a day or two. I'm going to update my blog w/ pics, but I can't while I'm at work. :-)

Luv ya,
Sarah

Dreaming of Fall

I am SO ready for fall. The crisp, cool air. Spiced ciders and hot chai tea lattes. Crunchy leaves in bold, autumn colors. The oranges, the browns, the deep reds. Pot pies, homemade chili and stew. Hot rolls, fresh from mom's oven. I'm ready for Halloween. Jackolanterns, corn stalks, bales of hay. Chilly autumn nights where the stars shine bright and the moon hangs low and golden. The anticipation of the other holidays to soon follow, Thanksgiving with family crowded around a festive table, talking over mashed potatoes and candied yams. Christmas with old fashioned ornaments hanging from a brightly lit tree. Cheery presents wrapped merrily, awaiting to be opened by eager hands. Apple pies and kaluah, fruit cake and lebkuchen.

And now for something completely different:

Panic: Undue

I've begun to realize that I'm becoming increasingly more panicked at the thought of getting older. Birthdays never mattered over much to me - I like them, I like the attention and the celebration and of course, the presents - but the number itself wasn't a big deal. I often forget how old I am and have to stop and think about it when asked. 27 isn't old by any standard. However. I keep thinking of that impending big number. 30. That's not old, either. I know plenty of people in their 30's and I certainly don't consider them to be old. But the prospect of MYSELF joining that group....Yikes.

Nick just said "2042" which absolutely FREAKED me out. I'll be 61. On the one hand, I'm way excited to be there. What will the world be like in another 34 years? How far will technology, medicine, laws, values, etc progress? Will there BE any progression? I read a book series by JD Robb (it's Nora Robert's alter ego). The series is focused around a New York City police lieutenant in the homicide department and each book is all about her current case. I enjoy the book, murder, suspense and just enough romance to keep it light and fun. It's certainly not educational or earth shattering, but I enjoy it and reading should be fun. In any case, this series is set in the future. About that time frame I mentioned above, 2042 or thereabouts. She writes about such things as cars that can go on autopilot. They can fly. They have this deal called an autochef. You choose your food item from a menu (based on food available on hand) and it prepares it for you, etc. None of these things seem unreasonable or too far fetched for me to grasp, so it doesn't distract me from the book. I often find myself wondering how far we'll progress in those 30-some-odd years. Will I have an autochef or it's equivalent? Will prostitution be legalized, licensed and regulated?

Anyway, I've gotten off track from my original point. I keep finding myself increasingly concerned with getting old and, oddly enough, saving money. I have this internal panic with myself that I need to save as much money as I can. Which is great, because we're building a really nice savings account that will come in handy should anything happen.

Well, I sort of lost track of where I was going with all of this, but there you go. My thoughts are often scattered and a bit jumbled.

Scentsy!

So, I'm doing something I've never done before and never really considered before. I'm going to join the Scentsy team and become a consultant. A gal I met through a guy Nick works with (Nick works with Cobi and Kyme is Cobi's wife) is a Scentsy consultant, so I had her help me throw a party. It wasn't a very big event, just a few people ended up being able to come, but I had such a great time. It've very relaxed and just a good time. There's no sales pitch, Kyme just set out her product and kind of hung out - she was there to answer any questions we had (how does it work, how long do the scents last, etc). The product really sells itself.

I'm just simply in love with it. It's so easy to use and well, I just love it. It doesn't cost much to get started and it's really low pressure. You have a sales quote that they'd like to you reach to remain active but if you don't, oh well. No fee, no penality, no loss of future commissions. You simply go inactive and you get to keep your kit.

My friend Susan is coming up from Ohio at the end of the month and she & I are going to meet with Kyme and sign up! Scentsy is fairly new and while it's taken off here in the west, it hasn't quite caught up in the east yet. Susan will have a huge market all to herself. Hopefully it's a hit!

Boise Anniversary

Well, Friday marked our one year anniversary of arriving in Boise. So much has changed since that time - shall we recap?

we got here and moved in with my parents until we could find a house. Nick & I really expected to only be with my parents for about a month, hopefully less. Unfortunately, our credit was worse than we expected and it took some time to clean up. Thankfully we made a killing on our Enumclaw house and had enough money to pay off all our debt and be credit card free. I started my job at Cunnington Leavitt towards the end of July (and since then have gone through numerous changes at work, including a name change - we're now Cunnington & Associates). Nick started his job at EDS in August I believe and then started school just after that.

We finally started looking at houses and ended up putting bids on 3. The first one the sellers came back with a ridiculous counter offer and we walked away. In hindsight, I'm glad we did. It was a cute house, but where we ended up is so much better. The second house we bid on we loved and the seller accepted our offer. We got some terrible news at inspection - water in the crawlspace. And not just a little water - a lot of water. We finally ended up walking away from that house (but we had to go to court to get our earnest money back, as the seller felt she was entitled to it and we disagreed). FINALLY we bid on the house we're in now and we couldn't be happier. We love our house, it's perfect for us.

Yesterday we spent doing some HGTV type fixs to our house. Lots of brass fixtures - the fireplace surround, the light in the front hall, all the doorknobs. Brass doesn't fit with our style or our decor. So, off to Lowe's we went and bought some Oil Rubbed Bronze spray paint and started covering it up. We did the fireplace surround, two sets of doorknobs and the light in the front hall. It is SUCH an improvement and so much cheaper than replacing all the knobs.

Well, continuing on with our events since last July - Nick's family came up from Florida in November to do our annual Christmas at Thanksgiving. It was great to see every one. We've been attending lots of sports games of my nieces and nephew - I love watching them play and decide what they want to do. We were hoping to go with the Beesley's to Europe to visit family in May but we decided that a trip of that expense ought to wait until after school. We're just juggling too many financial balls right now. It was hard to pass (especially when I saw all the fun we missed out on) but it was the adult thing to do.

Nick's doing incredibly well in school - he's often one of the first (if not the only) in his class to pick up and understand the more complex ideas, several of his classmates email him for assistance with the home work, and last quarter he pulled in straight A's. I know it's hard for him - he works from 6:00 am to 2:30 pm M-F and then attends school from 6:00 pm to 10:30 pm 3 nights a week, plus he has to make time for homework, housework, oh and ME.

I guess that's about it. We'll see what this next year brings us!

Happy Anniversary

Well, today marks the 3rd year of our marriage. So far, so good. No major drama, not gigantic hurdles that we've jumped over. Some would says - oh, 3 years. That's still practically newlyweds. Remember, though, that we've been together since for just about 11 years now.

What's changed since we took that trip down the aisle 3 years ago? Well, the biggest change of course is that we moved states. We left our home in Enumclaw last July and set course for Boise. We landed a little west of Boise, in Meridian. Nick's also enrolled in school. He's in his 4th quarter of school and has 2 more years to go.

Not much else has changed! We're so boring! I know many of you are anxious for babies....not yet! Maybe soon - who knows? We have no set plan on that, so when it happens, it happens but rest assured that I'll be singing it from the hilltops when it does happen! :-)

So, that's my anniversary blog. Not so exciting - in fact, we're not even doing anything today for our anniversary. Nick has school tonight and I'll probably go to the gym. HA!

Summer Foods

So, everyone has a favorite summer dish. I want them. :-) I'm getting tired of my old summer favorites and I had hoped that you would be willing to share some of your favorites with me.

So, what do you eat? What is your favorite summer time dish that you just can't wait to make once the weather gets hot?

Camping!!!!

Well, we stole away this weekend and went camping. We headed out towards Idaho City and then a fun 24 mile ride through Forest Service roads to our spot. We camped right on the North Fork of the Boise river from Friday evening until Sunday afternoon. Mom and dad came up Saturday afternoon to join us.



We landed a KILLER spot. It was perfect - flat & level, right on the river, with plenty of space for our embarrassingly large tent and mom & dad's tent trailer. The first night we were there, some other people camped basically on top of us but left the next morning. There weren't a lot of spots to choose from, so I imagine they decided to just pull in some where for the night (it was getting fairly dark by the time they pulled in) and then headed out in the morning to find some place better.



We had gorgeous weather - deep blue skies, bright white clouds. It didn't get too cold at night and not too hot during the day. Saturday evening we had quite the little wind storm in the middle of our pinochle game. Mom's cards went flying - nearly into the river - as she went to help disburse the fire that we flinging hot sparks all over the place. We secured the rainfly to our tent more firmly to the ground and continued our game. As soon as we got the fire going again (once the wind died down), the wind picked up again. So, we started hauling rocks over to build up the fire pit as a buffer against the rain. That same storm must have rocked through the Treasure Valley because the tree in our front yard broke in half and was laying in the middle of the cul-de-sac when we got home.

Poor Nick hurt his back somehow along the way. There was lots of chopping with the ax, hauling big rocks for the fire pit, moving stumps around the site. Late last night and into this morning his back is giving him quite a bit of pain. We're waiting for the Urgent Care @ St. Al's to open at 8:00 and we're off to go visit them. Hopefully they'll find that it's nothing too serious and recommend some lovely pain killer and we'll be good to go.

Other than that, we had a great trip. I'm glad we went and I can't wait to go again!

Busy Beesley's

Well, I thought I'd post a little update on what's new in our life. Not a whole lot, but a few things I could comment on.

Nick started his new quarter of school on the 10th. His class days this quarter are Tuesdays, Wednesdays & Thursdays. Of the different schedules he's had, I think I like this one the best. I HATED when he had Friday class - it felt like part of the weekend was ruined. This quarter he's got a Linux class, a comp (English) class and an C++ class.

I'm going through some changes at my work - we've restructured the flow of the office workload and for now all the work comes to my desk first and then I divvy it up between myself and the other girl here. I have to admit that she makes my job challenging. I know it must be hard to take direction from some one 19 years younger than you, but she kinda did it to herself.

Let's see - Nick & I are both starting to shed some poundage. Nick's been riding his bike to work a couple times a week and I've got a little program of my own going. It's nice to start to see some results!

We might go camping this weekend - the first time since last summer. Originally just Nick & I had planned on going and then we found out my parents were planning to go this weekend, too, so now we're going to go with them...apparently there are some other plans that are kind of up in the air, so I don't really know what's going on. If we end up going, I'll absolutely write a blog about that.

Well, that's it for now, I suppose. I know it's not riviting stuff, but really...my life just isn't THAT exciting! :-)

Time In A Bottle

Wouldn't that be nice? I feel like I'm a hampster, spinning on a wheel. The more I spin, the less I get done and the faster time seems to be rushing past me at full speed.

Where is all my time going? I work, yes, but I have the evenings and weekends to do other things. There are SO many things I'd like to do - begin scrapbooking, finally get around to making our wedding albums (you know, 3 years later), learn how to sew (again) so I can make curtains, pillows, other decorative accessories for my house, plant flowers in my yard, start a vegetable garden, go hiking, explore Idaho and find some redeeming quailites (outside of family) for being here, go camping, write more letters, invite the girls over for a tea party.

I want to learn and do new, fun and exciting things. I just feel like I don't have any time. I can't believe it's already June. Nearing the end of the 2nd week of June. It's almost time for my yearly review at my job.

That's another thing that's just bogging my time. My job. We've done some restructering at my work and basically now all the work is on my desk and the other girl here is...well, I don't know what she's doing. She appears to be working, but I'm not quite sure on WHAT. So I feel stressed out every time I get to work and all day long, looking at the piles of paper on my desk that I just don't seem to have time to get to.

This has been a very negative post. :-( I just wish I could find some of the time in a bottle. I could use a little extra, here.

I just don't understand

I watched the news this morning as I was getting ready for work. I can't watch the local news here - it feels like I'm watching a high school production and at any moment the newscaster is going to read the lunch menu for the day and annouce that Prom is just around the corner...so I watched MSNBC today (I've tried watching Fox News but the lady they have on in the morning annoys me).

I heard the most disturbing story and it really made me angry. Then it made me sad, because I just don't understand our society. Last Friday an elderly man (he's 78) was attemping to cross the street when he was struck by a car. The awful thing is that the car kept going. The really awful thing is that the car right behind the first one, hit him as well. The terrible thing is that car also kept going. The awful, terrible, disgusting thing is that SEVERAL more cars swerved to go around him and people on the street - witnesses to the hit and run - did NOTHING. Absolutely NOTHING.

The only evidence the police have is a survellience video that captured the whole event. For over 40 seconds this man lay injured and bleeding in the middle of the road before some one on the sidewalk stepped off the street for a closer look. No one checked to see if he was still alive. No one attempted to divert traffic around him. None of the cars passing him by stopped to see if they could help.

What is WRONG with this country? An old man can be struck by a vehicle, his body thrown up into the air and be hit by another vehicle and NO ONE STOPS TO DO A THING. That's an atrocity. It's disgusting and obsene.

That's all. That's my rant for today. I saw that story first thing this morning and watched the horrifying video and it's been with me all day. I simply don't understand.

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=5013503

HIP, HIP, HOORAY!

I'm so proud and happy and excited I could just BURST!

Nick FINALLY got his grades for this last quarter - STRAIGHT A'S BABY! Busy, busy Beesley gets the job done.

HOORAY FOR NICK AND ALL HIS HARD WORK!

I'm insiting he go out to a celebratory dinner tonight. Pictures to follow...

p.s.
Update: Hannah (our neice) says she's glad Uncle Nick got "straight" A's and not "curvy" ones. :-)

Seattle Bound: Day 3

On day three, we ventured downtown. We walked around Pike Place Market, there was some sort of festival going on. Sarah finally went into the first Starbucks (although she didn't want to wait in line to get a coffee). After Pike Place, we walked down to Ivar's, the main restaurant was only serving Brunch until 3:00 pm, so we decided to eat at Ivar's Fish Bar instead.



I enjoyed it!



The seagulls enjoyed it!



Sarah, not so much. She was terrified that the seagulls would eat her hair...



After lunch we took the Argosy Harbor Tour. A young Captain Stubing pictured here, guided the vessel round Elliott Bay, it really was a nice tour. I learned many things on tour thanks to the narrator. Like the piers are at 45 degree angles because when they loaded the trains, its a lot easier for a train to turn 45 degrees, rather than 90 degrees. I also learned that Mississippi was a city, it's also rains more there than in Seattle. All this time I thought Mississippi was a state... silly me.



Ferries Abound!



We enjoyed the tour!



Downtown Seattle... on a beautiful overcast day.



Sarah being silly.



This was an artsy fartsy picture I took of Sarah and Sodo. You can see Safeco and Qwest in the background.