4 letters

Yes, we sold our house! After multiple offers and 1 failed contract, we were lucky (blessed) to sell our house in the "wrong" time of year and in a "bad" market. We are very appreciative of all our family members letting us use their furniture, duvet covers and artwork to stage the house. We are grateful for the MLS and the family that bought the house. 

Our first house has now come and gone. We learned alot about eachother and being "grown-ups" in that house, as well as house projects. Bart touched every single wall, floor, ceiling and inch of dirt in the yard, not to mention the roof and driveway.  I'll never forget the image of Bart pulling rock boulders across the grass on a "sled" with Shaun. Poor Shaun, he got drug into many house projects because he's young, single, and can't say no, it's suprising he is still our friend :)

We are currently living at Bart's parents, my parents and getting our apartment in Provo ready. We hope to be in Provo for the next 2 semesters while I finish my FNP program and then we will see where life takes us. Hooray!

AMAZING RACE

For those of you that don't know me, I LOVE, love, LOVE, Love, LOOOOVE the Amazing Race.  I think it is the greatest show ever to be seen on television. The show is captivating-it makes me happy, sad, angry, nervous (nervous enough to bite my nails) and excited.  Thus far I have never cried over the Amazing Race though.  The Amazing Race is a reality show, where you watch 11 teams of 2, race around the world, doing different challenges. Each week the last team is eliminated until only 3 teams are left to race against each other at the finale for the grand prize of 1,000,000 dollars.

Last night, after 17 "seasons" an all girl team won the million dollars-Nat & Kat, both anesthesiologists.  I personally wanted the second place team Brooke and Claire to win because they had more spunk and personality but I am glad the doctors won anyways.

There is a new Amazing Race starting February 20, 2011 titled "Unfinished Business" meaning they are having previous contestants (who didn't win) come back and race again.  My favorites to win are the cowboys.  They are funny and kind, plus they say stuff like a "deetur" instead of detour and "oh my gravy".

I started watching Amazing Race in 2004, when season 5 was airing and since then I have been obsessed. Every Sunday night I watch Amazing Race with my family...or sometimes without them, either way I am eagerly sitting on the couch waiting for the next episode.  I would love to be a contestant/team on Amazing Race because I think that Bart can do anything and I like to travel. BUT the jet lag would definitely catch up with me and I might turn into one of the mean contestants that no one likes...lack of sleep and food does that to me. Wouldn't it be terrible to be the first team to be eliminated? After you've made it through the application process just to get eliminated the next day...

My all time Amazing Race favorites are the Beauty Queens. Miss California and Miss New York, who met at Miss America. They Came in 4th place for Season 10 and then 2nd place the All Star season 11. I love them because they are strong team, all girl, talented and worked well together.

Am I crazy to like a TV show so much.?. Does anyone else love the Amazing Race and if not what shows do you like?

Terrible idea

I wanted to be festive and cute but it backfired and now I am grumpy.  Most people have a cute holiday background for their blog, so I tried to do the same thing. I found a background (not the one that is on the blog now) and I copied and pasted and read the directions.  Everything was fine until I wanted to change my font color to match...(shouldn't be hard I've done it before). My layout tab that is supposed to be somewhere on this blog is GONE. It's not by the design tab or the setting tab. I even clicked on the "help" button and read all the instructions. So now I can't change my font colors from red, black and blue which means that I have to find a background with those colors. BLAH.  I want new colors, what's the point of changing the background if you can't change colors?  If anyone knows how to fix my problem, please, please, please let me know. How bothersome.

GANDOLFO'S

This is my new favorite place to eat! I hope that each of you have a Gandolfo's near by because the sandwiches are delicious, huge-which means you can share and save money, and much better than ordinary sandwiches. They even have potato salad (which Bart loves ) and a broccoli salad, if you want something different than chips.

Bart and I usually go to the Gandolfo's on 2100 S. 700 E. for a few reasons. 1st-I have found coupons that come in the mailers for this specific Gandolfo's, which are a buy one sandwich get one free. 2nd-It's close to the dollar theater in Sugarhouse and lastly, Nick works there. Who is Nick, you ask?  He makes the best, biggest sandwiches and even creates his own that aren't on the menu. He now recognizes Bart and I and will just tell us what he is making for us. Plus he usually give us something for free-like cookies or a drink.

If you are interested in going to Gandolfo's make sure you go to citydeals.com. Citydeals is like a groupon or ksl deals. They have a 50% off at most Gandolfo's in Utah.  It is a 25 dollar certificate that you buy for only 12.50!  I love getting a deal.  On this particular deal you have a year to use it and they will give you credit for unused portions.  Make sure you read the fine print so you know what the details are. My certificate came in about 3 days in the mail and I had no problem using it.

We would love to go with you to Gandolfo's-just let us know!

October is a great month...

          Because of this

                                                            

   and this

                                                                       

   and this

I'm so happy that I married my sweetheart. Thanks to all our family and friends who have supported us.

Have you read this?

The prize doesn't always go to the most deserving....

                                                                   Irena Sendler

There recently was a death of a 98 year-old lady named Irena. During WWII, Irena, got permission to work in the Warsaw Ghetto, as a Plumbing/Sewer specialist. She had an 'ulterior motive' ... She KNEW what the Nazi's plans were for the Jews, (being German.) Irena smuggled infants out in the bottom of the tool box she carried and she carried in the back of her truck a burlap sack, (for larger kids..) She also had a dog in the back that she trained to bark when the Nazi soldiers let her in and out of the ghetto. The soldiers of course wanted nothing to do with the dog and the barking covered the kids/infants noises.. During her time of doing this, she managed to smuggle out and save 2500 kids/infants. She was caught, and the Nazi's broke both her legs, arms and beat her severely. Irena kept a record of the names of all the kids she smuggled out and kept them in a glass jar, buried under a tree in her back yard. After the war, she tried to locate any parents that may have survived it and reunited the family. Most though had been gassed. Those kids she helped got placed into foster family homes or adopted.

Recently, Irena was up for the Nobel Peace Prize ... She was not selected. However, Al Gore won, for a slide show on Global Warming and Barack Obama won for a speech on peace.



My grandma sent me an email with that story attached.  I am touched by all of the unknown bravery and unselfishness that the world has to offer, as well as,  good people.  I think Irena is one of my new hero's and I appreciate her example.

Medical Advice

 Three years ago I worked for a plastic surgeon. During my time there I learned that if you have any size or shape of pigmented lesion (aka a mole) around  the periphery of your hands or feet, or on your soles or palms they needed to be removed. The reason you ask? Because they have a greater likelihood of being preCANCEROUS and no one likes cancer.

10 days ago I finally made an appointment to go and have my moles removed from Dr. Fairbanks. Bart had been bugging me to get the mole taken off my left big toe.  The mole didn't bother me and I figured not many people even noticed it but Bart kept telling me to get it taken off. Well, 3 hours later, 4 moles removed, 4 shots to my big toe and lots of sutures later I hobbled out of the office. Dr. Fairbanks had to do a skin flap in order to close the incision which is why I have so many sutures. Yes, the shots to my toe hurt and I wanted to jump off the table.

Seven days later my pathology report came back from the lab and guess what?  Both of the moles on my hand and foot showed ATYPICAL cells which means that those mole were precancerous and could have eventually caused melanoma. But since I had them taken off I am fine and don't have to worry.

Moral of the story, each of you need to look at your own hands and feet and then tell/look at all your family and friends hands and feet. Even if the mole is small and looks like a freckle it is better to be safe than sorry.



The worse part of the entire experience is NOT hobbling around or needing to wear socks and athletic shoes, or cleaning my sutures twice a day rather it's the fact that I can't get a pedicure for 6 WEEKS. AHHHHH

Some favorites

"Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens;

Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens;

Brown paper packages tied up with strings;

These are a few of my favorite things."

As I sit here thinking about life, love and the pursuit of happiness, I am grateful for some of the little things in life that just make me happy.  I would consider these as some of my favorite things in day to day life-nothing serious mind you.

In no particular order:

 Smart Ones Santa Fe Rice & Beans-yummy and quick.

Papermate Profile 1.4b pens-go and buy these from Wal-Mart they will revolutionize how you feel about writing.

Lash Blast mascara-amazing, amazing, amazing.  If you need a second opinion go to the blog courtney kate, found on my family blog list.

Mentholatum- My mom uses it, my grandma uses it, it's old fashioned but works for those cracked lips!

Sarah Richardson/Sarah's House-On HGTV Saturday night 8:30/7:30 central.

 

Body Pump at Studio Cove- I obviously don't workout every day but I really like this gym class. If anyone is interested I would be happy to have you come to a class with me.

Camelbak water bottle- I love the straw because I don't dump water on myself and I love the color-I got pink. This is a family favorite from REI.

Do any of you have  favorites that I should be aware of?

Auntie Ness

This cute little thing made us an aunt and uncle.  Bart has lots of nieces and nephews but Brecken is the first baby on the Craigo side. Of course, I think he is the cutest baby ever and I love, love, love him.

Brecken Wade Myrick

August 7, 2010

7 lbs 13 oz. 20 inches

Cute mom Cambria

Happy dad Kaile

Congrats you two!  I promise sometime I'll have kids so Brecken can have a cousin. xoxoxo

For Sale

We are selling our house! I am hoping that if you know anyone, who knows anyone, who knows anyone (got that?) who is looking to buy a house in our neighborhood that you might send them our way.  We love our house and we love our house projects but it is time to move on.  I attached some pictures because I don't think I have ever posted about the house.  Hope you enjoy.

California, Oregon and Washington

We went on a trip of a lifetime! Granted it was a road trip and we spent way too much time in the car but it was fun and definitely worth it. Bart and I have been saving for this adventure for 2 years and Bart did 90% of the planning-which is the hard part. We invited Adam and Julia along for the ride and surprisingly they said "yes", so the 4 of us started our adventure by driving through western Utah, Nevada and finally into California where we camped.

 Other than getting terribly lost finding the campsite and the 108 degree temperature in Redding California, the first day was uneventful.

 The next day we drove up through the Redwood forest.  Utah really is a dry desert compared to the trees, forests and moss in the Northwest.  Redwood trees are really quite pretty and I think they are my new favorite tree. 

We then drove up through Portland and back over to the coast, where we staid in Long Beach, WA for 3 days. 

While there, we saw some of the many lighthouses, walked on the beaches, visited Fort Clatsop where Lewis and Clark wintered, shopped in Seaside and watched kites fly at Cannon Beach.

 Just before the vacation, Bart finished reading Undaunted Courage by Stephen Ambrose which is a terrific book that follows Lewis and Clark on their journey.  Bart thought it was great to be able to see so many places that he had just read about-it made Lewis and Clark much more real.

  The remainder of our trip was up at Discovery Bay in Northern WA on the sound.  We took a ferry across the sound to Victoria BC to sight see and eat fish and chips. 

This is the Parliament building.

Bart's favorite part of the trip was the ferry ride back to Port Angeles.  The water was really rough with white caps, so Bart decided to embrace the cold and wet by purposely standing where waves could get him... I huddled with the other passengers up top. 

 A scuba diver named Bruce did a sea life exhibit on the dock at Discovery Bay.  He had all sort of creatures-starfish and sunflower starfish and an octopus and crabs and clams.  At the end of his presentation he asked if anyone wanted lunch...I raised my hand so he gave me 2.5 crabs and he even pulled off some blue mussels for our appetizer...they were right off the dock.

Yum, yum, yummy but the crab legs were still twitching when we cleaned them!

 We were also able to meet up with Matt and Joanna (Bart's sister) and their 2 kids.  They took us up into the Olympic National Park and we did a little hike up on Hurricane Ridge. Beautiful scenery and we even saw a black bear.

I'm a shrimp in the Leeflang family. Everyone towers over my 5'6"- I'm on my tippy toes for this picture.

 Along with the sightseeing, eating, driving and sleeping, I also read 3 books. I would call this a successful vacation.