A Time To Mourn

I needed to put my sorrow out into the universe. It might help me move on. First, let me say I take every precaution to protect my laptop short of sleeping with it. Ask Tom. I am paranoid about where I leave it. So, when we rushed out of the office last Friday for a friend's Christmas party and I discovered I left the laptop at the shop, you can imagine my desire to turn right around and retrieve it. We decided the laptop was perfectly safe locked away at work, under a desk out of sight no less. So, one thing lead to another and I did not go back all weekend. Upon arrival to work Monday morning we discovered that ours and several other units had been broken into. They were looking for blank checks. They found them at several other offices. Luckily, United suffered no loss. Yes, here's where your stomach turns...

They found my laptop bag.

Here are some of the contents of my laptop bag:
1. Various important papers including some credit card statements so I had to change all my credit cards
2. BRAND NEW macbook
3. ipod video
4. wireless internet card I bought LAST WEEK!
4. Every song I've ever downloaded- I have over 50 gigs of music; (that's a lot) And all that music was purchased legally, so I'm out that money, not just time
5. Every picture I've ever taken from the beginning of my marriage in 2003; and no, they weren't backed up anywhere because I just put them all onto the computer planning to back them up on an external hard drive when I had a spare moment.

Let me just say: I know I'm extremely blessed. It's just stuff. I know that. I'm still very grateful for all the Lord's done for me. I lead a very blessed and cushioned life. It was a lot of eggs in one basket. In the end everything works out for the best. I'll probably regret this blog. Maybe if I had come Saturday night to retrieve the laptop I would have walked in on the scum and they would have shot me or something. I have all these optomistic thoughts and I'm often fine, but it still sucks!

So, that's why I've been down this week. We've made an insurance claim and you know how easy and painless they make it. Oh wait, they treat everyone like you must making a fraudulent claim. I have to provide receipts for everything that was taken. The laptop's easy, I just got that. But Tom gave me the ipod 2 years ago. The music will be a bear to find receipts for and I'm sure they won't count pictures as valueable, even though that's what eats me up the most! So, because people in the world are thieves I'm having to deal with insurance people who treat you like a thief because the same scummy types are defrauding insurance agencies as well. I haven't talked about it much because I get pretty upset every time I think about it too long.

So, I'm hoping this will be theraputic. I'm really grateful for everyone's blogs and pictures. Tomorrow is a new day and I'll post all that I'm grateful for. I know people are going hungry and homeless and presentless. I just needed to be a little down so I can appreciate the up I guess.

Is It Kosher?

Well, I'm almost ready to celebrate. I have two more final tests, but I am officially done with homework!!! I wanted to share one assignment I am particularly proud of. I had to present information on religious customs that affect foodservice. The large focus was on kosher foods. The laws are extremely complex so I wanted to come up with a way servers could remember some guidelines to ensure they served only the best. I racked my brain for weeks. I paced the floors, stayed up hours of the night and then... genius. I feel I was truly inspired. I wanted to share it with the world. So, sing the following song to the timeless tune of "Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel."

"Kosher, Kosher, Kosher"

You can eat me if I'm cloven and chew all of my cud,
except if I'm a porker and live down in the mud.

Fish that have their fins and scales: that you can prepare.
Chicken, turkey, duck and goose are all considered fair.

Kosher, kosher, kosher; dairy I can eat.
Kosher, kosher, kosher; except when mixed with meat.

Make sure there's no blood.


It's very important as you sing the last line you shake your very best jazz hands and add a carny inflection to your voice. You may want to "ah cha cha cha" to get the full effect.

Festival of Trees

Today was great. We woke up to a winter wonderland, 7 inches of snow! We went to the Festival of Trees. Hundreds of decorated trees are donated, then auctioned off to raise money for Primary Children's Hospital. There were so many to admire, but here are a few that stood out. Maybe they will give you some ideas for your Christmas.


Michelle Thompson's favorite- ode to Audrey Hephern



Sophia Slade's favorite- All Olivia the Pig



Tom's favorite- Arch made by two trees



My favorite- upside down tree

Christmas Greetings

Merry Christmas from the Quinns!

As you know, Grandma McGuire has opened her home to us. We were lucky enough to find these fabric jewels in her basement. I hope you study the picture closely to fully appreciate the quality photo setting.

You Get to Decide!

Okay, I need your help. It's time for this year's CHRISTMAS GINGERBREAD HOUSE/COTTAGE/DWELLING EXTRAVAGANZA QUEST-LIKE ENDEAVOR 2007! I can't believe I can't find pictures of last year's finished product. It was a masterpiece, complete with flower vines and christmas decorations. Below are a few pictures, but they don't adequately capture the grandeur that is my gingerbread house. (And no, I'm not biased at all.)


Just so you know, I inserted lights so those butterscotch windows put off a soft glow when the lights are out, just like a real home.


Around the corner is the chocolate rock chimney.

So, here are the candidates for this year's CHRISTMAS GINGERBREAD HOUSE/COTTAGE/DWELLING EXTRAVAGANZA QUEST-LIKE ENDEAVOR 2007!


Log Cabin


Carriage


Cookies & Cream

The polls are now open. Let me know what you think. Voting will close 12:00a.m. PST December 1st. I need to get going so it doesn't become a VALENTINE'S gingerbread house/cottage/dwelling extravaganza quest-like endeaver!

Why Captain and Chef?

Did I get two new career barbies? No! Those are just the titles we have decided to pursue...this week. Tom has flown his first solo! His instructors said he did really well. I wondered what doing well is when it's your first flight? Good job, you only scraped one building. Good job, those cows were going to be slaughtered anyway. Good job, now we can buy that new plane we've had our eye on!

Can't you see it? Here are a few pictures from our days in school.


I got some 'splaining to do! My speciality will be candied yams. I'll have the smoothest marshmellow cover in all the land!


"Love lifts us up where we belong".... Actually, Tom informs me that "Lift lifts us up where we belong." Sing that; see how it grabs ya.

Here are a few more...


The flavor is hidden in the sloppy. (P.S. It's supposed to look like that.)


This image brought to you courtesy of Tom's solo flight. That was a comforting picture to receive. Don't mind my texting... I'm just FLYING!

My Family

I've seen enough Twilight Zone episodes to know the danger technology poses. Mac has just released a camera that takes pictures. You may say to yourself, "so? That's nothing new." This is no ordinary camera. It takes pictures of the soul! That's right! You can now view the inner you. Don't be afraid. Let the world see the real you. I'm sure my sisters will thank me for showing the world their inner beauty. Good thing I live out of arm's reach!


We're no respector of persons.










You can see where we get our good looks.




It's good to be home.

We're alive!

It's hard to write a blog when you don't have any cute baby pictures to share. I'm determined to try though. I do have one interesting thing to share....

ITALY



That's just a little teaser. I'll post an actual summary when I don't have hours of homework to finish.

But hey, at least I have a post in the year 2007!!

Football!!

Tom and I have never been sport-team-followers. However, we were so lucky to go to a USU game to see the Aggies win their homecoming game! We went with our friends Jeff and Joni Hansen and their family and it was a blast! Here are some pictorial highlights:

Tom caught a free appetizer football. It came straight to him. It just hit him in the chest and fell into his hands! The USU fans couldn't be stopped from rushing the field when they won the homecoming game. We were in the season ticket holder seats. I'll never go back to bleachers ain! Individual seats with bum gooves, back rests and cup holders?! Can life get any better? I submit that it cannot!

Travels

It's been a while since my last post. Unfortunately, it's not because we were off traveling the globe, but we certainly had our fair share of traveling. We went down to Utah for a while to help at the frame shop. I got to see my mom and sister for a few days. It's been a lot of back and forth and I'm excited to just stay put for a while.
We're in between seasons at the club. Everyone's back to school, but there's no snow yet to bring that crowd, so everything is pretty much shut down. On the plus side, I get to attend to my calling in the Young Women and actually go to the activities now!

Summer Adventures: Vol. 2

Family Time! Michelle and Nicole came out and it was so great to have them! They helped out at the club and really made this summer unforgetable for me. I don't know what I would have done without them.

A race to the finish at the Alpine slides! Nicole was a great photographer.

Fun at the county fair.

Not so much fun at the county fair.

Tom and Nicole were truly fearless. They are about to go on a ride that flys you up and down.

Michelle and I took the safer route and went on the Dragon ride, with about 15 other 5-year-olds.

Michelle's Birthday. Nicole made great brownies!!

Our great concession girls. They got more tips in the one month they were there than anyone the entire summer! Sweets serving sweets!

Summer Adventures: Vol. 1

This summer has been chuck full of memory-making experiences. It'll take a few editions to catch you all up on our fun times, but I'll just start at the beginning and when I get to the end, I'll stop.


We enjoyed rafting with our very good friends, old and new. Catherine Allred and Joe came to visit and we were so lucky to get to see them! Tom's not our guide because he was working that day on another trip. We somehow managed.

Michelle's Birthday dinner. Very tasty! There are several great places to eat here in Jackson, or so I hear. This has actually been the most frugal summer by far. We've enjoyed nature a lot more then we intended, so when we eat out we really enjoy it.

Tom's favorite, and I must say a great deal, free golf all summer long! Here we are with our friends Kenny and the Rusts, namely Nick and Julie. It really is a lot more relaxing to play golf when you know you didn't pay for it. I highly recommend it some time.

The Alpine slides and Alpine miniature golf were another couple great highlights. Everyone is connected in town, so our recreation was for the most part, free. Our friends the Hansens came into town and we made the most of it!

And of course, the hikes! There is so much around and so many easy hikes that there was really no excuse not to get out into nature. Nicole and Michelle were great hiking buddies. A few of my favorite hikes, (which yes, happen to be the two easiest), are the hidden falls and the hike along String Lake, both in Grand Teton National Forest. The forest service does a great job of keeping the natural beauty preserved and not letting the park become too commercialized.

Stay tuned for Vol. 2 of... Summer Adventures!!!

COMEDY FACE-OFF's Kickoff Season

Here is some of the original cast at our very own Comedy Face-off! It's a competitive improv show and it's our baby. It's just like a real baby too. It's hard work. We're losing sleep. We're totally broke. It consumes all our time and energy, but we wouldn't have it any other way! We are so happy to be out here. Our first season was successful in that there will be a second season! In the above picture you are seeing mostly Quinns. From left to right: Pat Q.(Tom's bro), Marty Q.(Tom's dad), Laurel Q.(Tom's mom), Kenny McNett(player and friend), me(Tom's wife), Tom(Tom's self and Tanya's husband), and Ben(Tom's bro). Marty and Laurel have been a huge help with the door and promoting the club. We couldn't have done it without them. Behind us is one the many great signs Tom's oldest brother Jason designed and made for us. Everyone's pitched in and made this dream come true. I should define "player." It's our term for performer but we say we "played" in the show, so we're players, like in sports. Tom and his 3 brothers, Kenny, and I all played in the shows. It's been a fun group effort and it's been such a huge blessing to get to play every night. It really is "play" too. We have a lot of fun. Check us out at www.comedyfaceoff.com. Here are a few highlights from the past season.

We have audience volunteers during some games. Here is us with one.
This is the front and back of our brochures, with which we shamelessly blanketed the city!

Enjoying Nature

We live in a truly beautiful area. We've really enjoyed taking in the splendor of God's creations. Too cheesy for you? Well too bad, because it really is amazing out here. I'll post some pictures of our summer adventures.