The Killers Concert

Last Saturday we had an great time at the Killers concert. It was awesome! They put on a high energy show, just wish it would have lasted longer. Concerts are a little nerve racking, you are squished into those little seats and you never know what you're gonna get as far as neighbors go. We had one of the worst singers behind us, who just so happened to know every single word of every song that was performed...he was so excited to be there that he screamed the lyrics at the top of his lungs in his heavy Mexican accent. The worse part was that he didn't sing any note in tune, he was always slightly above or slightly below the lead singer...never on key. We were really hoping he would lose his voice after the first few songs...didn't happen. We also sat behind two of the worst dancers, they were so excited to be there, that they danced the whole way through the concert, it was a little distracting, but not as distracting as Bob Marley, he was sitting to the right of the dancers and partially blocked my view of the stage, it was hard to see around his hair. In spite of these minor setbacks...we thoroughly enjoyed the night.

It was a whole family affair, we were even lucky enough to have my niece from MT with us. We really, really missed Jennifer though! She was sick and couldn't come. We were out quite late, and the kids passed out while we were waiting in traffic...it was funny. I am a little obsessed with the Killers now and can't stop listening to their music. I'm sure it will wear off in time...

Birthday

We got to go up to Cedar City on Friday, September 11th and be with Ariel for a fraction of her birthday. We went to dinner at Chili's, and then had cake and ice-cream with some of her roommates (which are all so great!) After dessert, we went to a comedy improv show, which was really good. One of Ariel's roommates had told the guys doing the show that it was Ariel's birthday, so they called her up on stage. Of course, I got blamed for this embarrassing moment, which I could not take any credit for...too bad. It was a fun night. The next morning Ariel took us on a tour of campus, and showed us where her classes were. It is a beautiful campus. We wanted to do some hiking in Bryce Canyon, but, it was several hours away and we had to hurry and get home to Vegas because Zoey was being very bad. We were really glad we got to see Ariel on her birthday.

Ariel Lanae Hendrix

Today is Ariel's 18th birthday! She has waited for this day for...well... 18 long years. She was born at 3:45 in the morning. She has been a night owl from birth. She has always been a strong minded, determined girl. Here are some of my favorite Ariel quotes: "Mom, does your brain get all swirled up sometimes?" (four years) Looking at the caller ID and seeing LDS Church..."Here mom, it's for you...it's the Mormons." (12 years) Speaking about the youth activity water olympics: "It's so stupid, if I wanted to get wet, I'd go swimming or take a shower." (13 years) After looking at Ariel's grades online and seeing she was getting a "D" in Spanish... I said, "Ariel, you're getting a "D" in Spanish!" She shrugged and said, "I don't speak Spanish." (15 years) Ariel inherited a keen sense of humor, and keeps us laughing all the time. She has been blessed with many talents and we love her very much. Happy Birthday, Ariel!! Congratulations, you are now, officially..."an adult."

FHE - A time to learn new skills...

So this week, I asked Todd if he would prepare a little lesson for FHE. His lesson consisted of us all going out front to learn how to change a tire. He said this lesson was to mainly benefit Ariel, but the rest of us could learn from it too. To Ariel's great distress, she ended up doing most of the work. No one single person succeeded in changing the complete tire from start to finish but 4out of 5 of us worked on the process. Unfortunately, I had to sit this one out, on account that I was wearing nice clothes that I did not want to get dirty. Of course when I came out to watch, I had to bring the camera, which took the "stress" level up a notch. Ariel did not want the "event" captured on film...(she knows it is going straight to the blog..) The blog is such a handy little tool. I was very impressed with how long Ariel hung in there. She got the tools off the trunk board, she pulled the tire out of it's little hiding place beneath the trunk board (she had no idea all that stuff was under there.) She jacked up the car and while she was turning that handle round and round, she got a little annoyed. She said to Todd, "Can you do this?" he's all "Why, you need to do it." She said, "This is so boring. I am so bored!" She un-did the lug nuts and pulled them off and finally pulled the tire off. She was not able to hoist up the little tire back on the wheel, so, Aaron gave it a try. After a time, he succeeded in getting the spare on there. He took it back off and then Megan gave it a try. She was also able to get the spare lifted onto the wheel well and she even did it with a splint on her pinky finger. Good job Meggie! You made me proud. They seemed to have a pretty good time with the whole lesson. Ariel never did take her turn again in trying to get the spare tire on. She assured us that if she was ever actually changing a tire by herself, in real life, that her adrenaline would help her be strong enough to get the tire on. It was pretty amusing to watch it all from my seat on the back bumper of the van. I even learned a few things myself. If I had no cell phone coverage, I could probably change a flat tire all by myself now.

I SPY...A HIDEOUS BUY...

Saturday, I had to go show some houses in the northeast part of town. I found myself in the middle of the "hood" and couldn't wait to get out. This one particular house we went into, was so perfectly hideous, that I had to go back to the car and get my phone and snap a few pics. I knew if I ever attempted to describe this house, even with my keen sense of description, I would fail. The pictures cannot begin to do this house justice, but I had to give it a shot. My clients have a four year old boy. A few seconds after we had walked into the house, he exclaimed, "I don't ever want to come in this house again!" Here are a few of the photos. Remember, if you would like to buy this hideous house...or any other house...I am here to help. Feel free to click on the photos..go ahead...take a closer look.

The front door was accented with a beautiful plum color, it was deep and rich, truly beautiful.

The stylish silver, orange and white stripes above the sliding glass door. This was the extent of the stripes, they were not centered over the door. Either, they were going for the "cluster of four stripes" look, or they just got dizzy and quit.

This one got me all choked up. Someone had carefully placed and secured a delicate run of lace around the kitchen cabinets, it stretched across the tops of all the cabinets, which you can get a better sense of when you see the entire kitchen photo. Notice the beautiful shade of "peach"ish orange the walls were painted, which matched the ceiling.

This photo shows the contrast between the orange walls and the metallic silver "robot" color the back splash was painted. Don't get me wrong, I love the color silver...I think I had a pair of moon boots the exact same color. It just startled me because I would never have thought to paint it on a backsplash. Here's a little tip: don't waste time removing outlet covers, the roller just glides right over them.

Here is the view of the entire kitchen, see what did I tell you about that decorative lace?? So adorable! Why can't I think of things like that?? By the way, you will have to pick up a stove, if you want to prepare a meal, your first night in your new home. You might want to get an orange one, to match the hood.

Ahhh, the runway...this was the cat walk that led from the front door to the kitchen/family room area. Please, one at a time, single file. I'm not sure what it was made from, some unknown substance.

Here we get a view of the mirrored wall in the master suite...no matter where you are in the master...you know exactly where you are...thanks to the mirrors.

This is another bedroom with a mirror...don't ask what the chain hanging from the ceiling was for...I guess that little secret went with the former home owners.

Another view of the "chain" room...hey, I like the window seat.

The checker board bathroom...it just needs a little TLC. Now how do you get black paint off the front of a tub again? I guess if you wait long enough...it will just peel off.

Yeah this carpet was orange, but looks pink in the photo...wait...maybe it was black. All I know is it was disgusting...after walking through this house, I am considering throwing away my shoes.

This is a pink, black and white "SUNBURST" pattern that was painted on the walls as you walked up the stairs. The lines were pretty straight...I think they must have used tape.

This is the grand staircase. The same substance used on the "cat walk" was used to accent the stairs. Again, here are more mirrors... so handy, in case you need to crawl under the stairs and pick a "crusty" out of your eye before you run out the door.

Well thanks for taking the tour of the hideous house...You can purchase this house for $104,900. That is a steal at only $53 a square foot. It is a 4 bedroom 1975 square foot nightmare! This house was built in 1983...I was just a 13 year old girl in River Heights, Utah...I never imagined that I would cross paths with this house someday. I usually take notes on my MLS sheets, so that if a client has trouble remembering something about a house, I can try to help them out. After touring this house, I was speechless. All I managed to write down was..."a sick, sick house."