Connecting with the Ancestors

Lately we have been going through my grandma's random things. And mom found this really cool map of Scotland of old.

We come from the Crawford Clan and they were located in the south west of Scotland.

And the clan crest is a red stag. With a red shield. Pretty neat.

It was pretty cool find and to see where my ancestors lived and grew up.

Ellipticals, Scorpions and Crafty Fun

So for one of my new year resolutions I wanted to get myself an elliptical to put in my room. Then I would have no excuse not to exercise. I found a nice cheep one on Amazon and it arrived in a short amount of time. It came in a big box that was left on my front porch. My mom was kind enough to move it into my garage until I got home from work.

That night mom and I got started on piece it together....there was a lot of pieces.

And during most of the construction I had to sit on the garage floor. I don't mind getting dirty. But I do mind when I pick up hitch hikers. Because the next day when I went to put on my hoodie again I got stung by a scorpion. We think he must have crawled into the hood while I was on the floor. He must have came in on the packaging from the front porch. Any way we found him in my closet after I had been stung. Here is a picture of one of his kind, didn't get an actually picture of the one:

It stung like nothing I have ever felt before and lasted almost 32 hours. It also caused a numbing and tingling. I don't recommend letting one of these sting you. I had the pest control guys out just two days later to give the house and yards a good spraying. Haven't seen another one....yet.

But on Sunday I was finally feeling better and was able to finish my elliptical. It fits nicely in my room and I've used it several times now.

A little while ago my brother Mike asked if I could make him a plaque to hang his racing numbers and medals on. He's taken up half marathon racing and has been doing pretty well.

Him after the Charleston Half Marathon

The idea of the plaque seemed pretty simple so I went to the craft store and found the materials.

With some paint, varnish and a little drilling and attaching it turned out great. Possibly my easiest project to date.

So its been an eventful past few weeks. Hope the next few stay just as exciting....minus anymore scorpion attacks.

Trying to remember.....Reflections of me by me

I have moments in my life where I find myself just staring at my hands...Like now when they are busy typing on the keyboard. A flood of what I can only describe as emptiness, confusion and loss. I find myself wondering what am I doing here. Not just typing on the keys but here in this world...looking through these eyes, staring at these hands...what am I doing here...who am I really. Its a sense of amnesia. Like I know I've forgotten something very important but for the life of me I can't remember what it is.

I stare into my eyes when I look in the mirror, trying to see what is behind them. I know it's me. I know these are my hands, my eyes....but at moments like this it feels strange. Like I'm an older creature than what I see.

I've been a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, since I was very young. I was raised in the church. Its teachings tell me I lived before this life and I will live after I die. This is both comforting and confusing. Especially in moments like these. I know from these teachings I am an old soul. And a part of me remembers that this life isn't all there is. In moments like these, I feel myself trying so hard to remember that part of me.

I strangely take comfort in these moments...they remind me yes, this life is temporary and I need to make the most of it....because when its over and I move on to the next step and finally remember...I want my former self to be proud of all I've done in this life to improve upon me. I want to be the best self I can be. So when I finally remember, I won't be disappointed in myself.

This life is temporary...but our souls are eternal....make the most of the time in this life to better yourselves.

End of Year Report - Oct-Dec 2014

Well the last few months have been so busy they've just flown by. So here I find myself at the beginning of 2015 and realize that I haven't posted a blog since September. What a whirlwind end of year. I've decided to give a few highlights of the last few months, hopefully it won't get to long:

October:

At the beginning of October my Aunt Dorothy and Uncle Ken came for a short visit. They took in some of the sights and we had a fun visit with them.

 

After their visit we took a road trip up to Utah to go to General Conference. My cousin Kaytie let us crash at her place. Doug and her got to jam on the piano together. That was fun to see.

We went up on Wednesday night, so on Thursday and Friday we took a couple of tours around the area. On Thursday we visited the Asea factory in Lindon, UT. Dad insisted.

And that evening, we met up with Mom in Ogden where she was working, and she showed us where her mother went to nursing school. It's just a park now but it was the same location.

Then dinner at Kneaders

On Friday we spent the day in Provo. We visited BYU's natural history museum and got a tour of BYU Broadcast Studios (Even saw about 4 cast members of Studio C) and a golf cart tour of campus.

 

Creamery Ice Cream....yum

It was a pretty eventful day, we even drove around to see some of Mom and Dad's first homes. And the new Prove Temple going up in downtown.

Provo Temple

Tin Shack by the railroad tracks...mom and dad's first home

Then we went out to eat with Kaytie and her husband Jared after picking up Mom in Ogden.

On Saturday we had tickets to Conference up in Salt Lake. It was quite the adventure getting there and getting a parking spot. We found ourselves running the streets of Salt Lake passing mobs of conference goers, just to get to our seats on time. It was such an amazing experience. I am so happy I got to go.

 

On Sunday we relaxed a bit and watched the morning session of conference at Kaytie's. And then headed back home to Vegas.

 
















The middle of October is a blur but it ended with Halloween. Not my favorite holiday because I think it's only fun if you have a kid but I did get to enjoy some fun photos of the kiddos (my nephews and niece) all dressed up. And I even helped out Dad with his trunk-o-treat activity.

 

Dad made the kids touch the pumpkin before they got candy, when they did he would scare them...so mean.

November:

I honestly don't remember much of the beginning of November. The trees finally started to change color. They were really late this year. We even got some fog one day...a rare thing for Vegas.

 

But our Thanksgiving was pretty huge. Mom was in town, so that took the weight off of me. My cousin Holli came from Oregon with her two sons to surprise my grandma. And my other cousin John and his family, who live in the Los Angeles area, came over as well. It was fun to have such a big crowd. Dad smoked the turkey on his smoker and it turned out great. Here are a few pictures of the day:

 

 

 

December:

I think December was the craziest busiest month of all. At the beginning of November the house next door to my parents came up for rent. It was a one story, three bedroom, two bathroom home. And as my parents looked at it and compared the cost of my Grandmother's assisted living bill, they decided to try and rent it and move grandma in. The one hiccup in the plan was, she couldn't live alone....they turned to me. They said if I moved in with her, she would cover the rent cost and I would pay for all the utilities. I would be finally saving money. I agreed...the hard part was breaking my lease to my apartment. That took some effort but it worked out. And the first week of December, grandma and I moved into the house.

Packing up the old apartment

Found a cheep new couch for my new living room

 

My Uncles brought down a few of my grandma's things, including her Organ

And we decided to use the third bedroom for an art room

When we first moved in the water and gas had been shut off...so after getting everything sorted. This new place is turning out great...although at times I think grandma is getting a little spoiled. :)

Then came Christmas. I had to miss the annual Christmas work dinner this year. I was sad but it was on the day of the big move so couldn't help it. But we did hang stockings at our desks and have a white elephant gift exchange. Here is the stuff I got from work:

Then our big adventure was flying to Seattle for Christmas to be with my older brother's family. We had so much fun. Making candy trains, playing with toys, having a gift exchange with my cousin Ben and his family, clocking Santa's travels around the globe, seeing the kiddos so excited about all the fun things they got. The only downer was we all got the stomach flu at some point during the trip. But we still had fun. I even got to visit with my best bud Jen down in Tacoma one day. Here are some pictures of Christmas:

 

 

Building trains

The Nativity

Last minute wrapping

Breakfast

Stocking stuffers

Mom made these amazing quilts for each of the boys

My goodies

 

The littlest were the cutest, they stayed in their PJs all day. Little Jason loved the truck I gave him, he would just lay on the floor and push it's buttons over and over again.

 

Mom ended the festivities by making a real old fashion cranberry bread pudding. It was yummy.

It was a quick trip and before we knew it. We were flying home again. New Years Eve was quiet. I just spent it at home with grandma....but she went to bed at 9:00pm. So come midnight it was just me and my glass of ginger al.

Here is to a great 2014 year and to an even more awesome 2015!!