To Yellowstone and Beyond

September Writing Challenge - Prompt #33:

Family Time 

We used to take a lot of little road trips whenever we had the chance. When COVID hit, we had to cancel two trips - one to Moab and one to Yellowstone and Mount Rushmore (it was going to be epic). When life picked back up again, our road trips didn’t resume with as much frequency. Part of this was financial and part of it was because our kids’ extra-curricular activities (particularly Nicky’s) took up a lot of the calendar. 

This school year, I want to take advantage of more of our long weekends and get out of town a bit. As much as I love big trips to places like Orlando, I’m just as happy with shorter, closer places. I just like “going.” 

When I was putting the school schedule in the calendar a few months ago, I noted that the kids would be out of school on Friday, September 19, so I texted Scotty that we needed to find somewhere to go. We discussed a few options, and when it came down to it, I just really wanted to go to Yellowstone. Scotty researched some lodging options, and he decided to book us a little cabin at the KOA just outside of West Yellowstone. 

We left Friday morning. We stopped at Big Jud’s for lunch on the way - the place I ate before The Graduation Incident of 2017. 

They must have known I was coming because they had this sign hanging by the bathrooms:

Well-played, Big Jud’s. Well-played. 

Fortunately there were no incidents, and my avocado bacon burger was delicious!

After lunch, we drove the rest of the way to Yellowstone.

This was our first trip without Nicky. We definitely missed him. 

On Friday we went to Old Faithful and the Old Faithful Lodge (which is such a cool building). 

We pulled off the road a few times to see various hot pots and animals. Our highlight animal encounter this day was a bald eagle that we found while taking a side road. We watched him dive for a big fish, and we pretty much had him all to ourselves!

In the evening we went into West Yellowstone so our gift shop junkies (Zoe and Eva) could get their fix. 

Daisy found herself some boyfriends.

Sometime after dark we got to the KOA and checked into our little cabin and had dinner. Then we went to sleep in the creakiest beds of all time.

On Saturday morning we headed back to the park and drove around all day. We saw bison (including a mama and a baby), mountain goats, lots of elk, and the highlight of the day… a bear cub! I’ve been to Yellowstone 7-8 times in my life, and I’ve never seen a bear, so to see a bear cub was pretty exciting, and we were RIGHT THERE. It was right on the side of the road as we drove past, and a big crowd hadn’t formed around it, so it was like having VIP access. 

I didn’t get a photo of it, but here’s a screen shot from a video clip I took:

We saw lots of waterfalls, geysers, and hot pots. 

(Pretty much all of the photos look like this but with a slightly different puff of steam or waterfall in the background).

Were the girls amazing? Yes. Were they also whiney, lazy, and horrible? Yes! It was an authentic family trip, for sure. 

Other than stopping at Big Jud’s, we brought all our own food, but our girls were obsessed with the McDonald’s in West Yellowstone due to its mountain lodge aesthetic. They begged and begged to go to McDonald’s, so on our way out of West Yellowstone, we made their dreams come true. 

It was an exciting visit because they had root beer, and the Utah McDonald’s don’t have root beer (which is ludicrous- they got rid of it when Nicky was three). 

On our way home, we stopped and saw my friend Shannon, who lives just outside of Rexburg. And yes! She is a potato farmer, so thank you, Idaho stereotypes, for claiming one of my best friends! 

My girls fell in love with small town Idaho, and Zoe didn’t want to leave. She has big potato farming plans for her future and ways to open a potato buffet. 

We made it home Sunday evening. It was a short trip, but we maximized our time and got to do everything we wanted. The best part? We went over homecoming weekend, and I didn’t have to deal with school dance drama! 

Wherein I Rate The Components of Utz Pub Mix From Least Favorite to Favorite

September Writing Challenge - Prompt #1:

Life Lessons

Scotty and I used to buy Pub Mix regularly for road trips and camping. It’s been a really long time since we bought any, but over the past couple of months, I’ve eyed it at Sam’s Club as a potential summer adventure snack. There’s something that has deterred me from buying any, though:

The newly added fake Cheetos! 

Utz has changed their Pub Mix, and while I enjoy Cheetos from time to time, they do not belong in Pub Mix. I caved, though, and decided to buy some last week.

Let me tell you, I was right about those fake Cheetos. They should not be there. I shouldn’t even be calling them Cheetos, because they’re not Cheetos, but I don’t know what else to call them. They are knock-off Cheetos. They have a terrible texture and a horrible flavor. They taste stale, and I would assume their purpose is to be a cheap filler for Pub Mix. There are also way too many of them. 

They are the worst part of the Pub Mix. I ate around them and expect to throw them all in the garbage, making 30% of my Pub Mix inedible. 

Now let’s talk about pretzels. 

I like pretzels. All kinds. All shapes. 

But the pretzels in Utz Pub Mix are lacking. They have a bit of a staleness to them, like their fake Cheetos friends, and there are just way too many pretzels in the mix. I think Utz tries to hide this by offering two different shades of pretzels. 

Unlike the stale Cheetos, I’ll at least eat the pretzels. They’re not great, though. 

Then there are the rice-y things. You know… stuff like these:

I don’t know what any of these are called, but they’re alright. I think what makes them enticing, though, is their scarcity. Utz has made them so uncommon in their pub mix that it makes you excited to get one! They’re probably  not actually good, but we’ve been fooled by their rarity. 

Fortunately we have bagel chips to make up for some of the more blah ingredients. According to AI, the dark ones are Worcestershire flavored and the light ones are nacho cheese. Luckily, they actually have some crunch and don’t seem stale.

I have to say, I prefer these bagel chips to the ones in Gardetto’s. I don’t really care for the ones in Gardetto’s. But Gardetto’s has other offerings that are superior to Utz. 

The best part of Pub Mix, in my opinion, is the sesame chips.

These are the real treat! But what makes them delicious is having to wade through (and consume) all the other components co the mix. Yummy as they are, it wouldn’t be the same to have a bowl full of them. You have to eat them alongside a stale pretzel and a a nacho bagel chip to really appreciate them, much like I have noted with buttered popcorn Jelly Bellies.

Therein lies the life lesson - to truly enjoy the best parts of living, we have to have the not-so-great parts. 

Now who wants to eat all my stale Cheeto rejects? (Life lessons aside, this nonsense has no place in my snacks).

With My Little Eye

September Writing Project - Prompt #15:

Messy

Let’s play a game of “I Spy” based on this photo of my kitchen this afternoon:

Vase of flowers given to my daughter by a (platonic) boy on her sixteenth birthday

Pot of homemade caramel dip

Box of apples from Julie’s tree

Pair of kitchen shears

Bottle of Windex used to clean the windows of the car that Daisy used to take her drivers test

Puzzle from the thrift store

Pile of ribbon being crafted into a bulletin board border for the high school

Four boxes of cake mix for a bake sale fundraiser

Big bowl of frosting

Fabric scissors, needle, and thread

Bottle of antidepressants

Shoes Zoe grew out of

Newly purchased Ziploc bags from Sam’s Club

Hydro jug

Random cans of tuna 

A Bit My Opposite

September Writing Challenge - Prompt #24:

Opposites Attract

Scotty and I aren’t incredibly dissimilar, but every now and then we discover something about each other that we find quite shocking. I recently had to inform Scotty that I don’t really care for key lime pie, and he was startled by this. Not long after I made that known, I had to inform him that I don’t really care for jalapeño poppers, either. 

Scotty doesn’t dream a lot, and he’s always weirded out when he does dream. I dream all the time and have multiple dreams in a night. 

Scotty wants to sleep with the blinds open every night because he wants to keep his eye on the neighborhood (he thinks he’s the neighborhood gatekeeper). I want the blinds closed.

Scotty loves driving with the windows down, and I can’t stand it.

Scotty loves Mexican food, and I don’t (except for street tacos). 

Christopher McCandless is Scotty’s hero. I think he was an idiot. 

Scotty wants the cheapest food possible no matter how low quality it is, and I’d rather pay more and have better quality food or something I really like. 

We navigate stores in completely different ways and park in different places. 

A few years ago, I learned that Scotty won’t eat cookie dough because he’s worried about raw eggs (yet he’ll eat the most raw steak known to man). Meanwhile, I have no qualms over raw eggs and could eat cookie dough by the handful. 

One thing I was surprised to learn about Scotty a few weeks ago is that, unlike me, he does not envision his death every time he goes on an amusement park ride. I love rides, and it doesn’t keep me from riding them, but I always, always, always imagine every way I can die while I’m on them. I do the same thing anytime I’m in a large crowd, stadium, or movie theater. Or if I’m on a high floor of a building, on a cruise ship, or in an airplane. It’s not necessarily a fear. It’s more of an awareness. I find comfort in knowing that statistically, I am safe, but I acknowledge the many ways I could die. Scotty doesn’t do that. What the heck? But he doesn’t choreograph dances in his head to every piece of music that he hears or narrate his entire day as if he's recording a podcast or writing a book, either. So frankly, he’s just an oddball and a bit my opposite.

16

September Writing Challenge - Prompt #4:

Birthday

As of today, I have my first 16 year old daughter! Happy Birthday, Daisy!

This, of course, brings up the question of when she will get her drivers license. Her driving test is scheduled for the 23rd, but we need to reschedule. Hopefully she passes on the first try, but I've told her that it's okay if she doesn't because I didn't pass my first time (I was going to go through a yellow light, and my instructor slammed on the brake, which is an automatic fail, so I have to be merciful with my own kids while secretly praying, "Please pass the first time so we don't have to do this again!") (when I took driver's ed, we did our tests with our instructors during school, but now they have to schedule their tests at the DLD). 

Historically, in the Mormon culture, one would also inquire about Daisy's first date, but things have changed, and age 16 is no longer the standard "first date" age (it's now just a recommendation). So Daisy won't be turning 16 and going on her first date. I consider her "first date" Homecoming of last year, which just so happened to take place on her 15th birthday! And since kids don't really date anymore, who knows if she'll ever go on another date before the age of 25.

(She won't be going to Homecoming this year because we will be out of town, and when given the choice, she decided to come with us). 

Daisy has had quite the celebration for her birthday. Our district had the day after Labor Day off school (weird, right?), so we used that as an opportunity to do a birthday outing with Daisy and her friends. We toyed around with several ideas and then decided to do a lake day. We took 12 teenage girls to the lake, and they had a lot of fun. 

The following Sunday, we had a family party for Daisy at our house. It was a week before her birthday because Scotty wanted to go backpacking the weekend of her birthday, and I didn't want him to have to try and rush home for Daisy's birthday party. Chances are, he could make it home in time with no problem, but since he would be out of cell phone range and I didn't want him to rush if safety became an issue, I decided we would just have Daisy's party a week early (then Scotty didn’t end up going). 

Finally, after lots of pre-celebrating, today is Daisy’s actual birthday! One of our birthday traditions is that our kids get to pick what they want for their birthday dinner. It’s rare that a birthday dinner takes place on their birthday, though (we usually have to do it on a different day). Our calendar worked out so that we could have Daisy’s dinner on her birthday. She wanted Papa Murphy’s pizza, so we bought some pizzas on Saturday and smoked them on the Traeger after church. 

If you do the math, this girl has essentially had three birthday parties!  Good thing she’s with celebrating!

Love It List

September Writing Challenge - Prompt #7:  

Love It

The "send later" feature on my phone

I always think of things I need/want to text people during hours when it isn't the most polite to send messages. I love that I can now schedule my texts to send at a specific time because I'm able to write them when I think of them, and they get delivered at a respectable hour. At least to people with iPhones. Other phones are just out of luck and have to deal with my texts at whatever hour I think to send them. 

The Ark Nova App

One of our favorite board games, Ark Nova, was released digitally in the summer, and now al I want to do all day is play Ark Nova on my phone.

Kitchen shears

I already proclaimed my love for kitchen shears this week, but they are important enough to me that I'll post about them twice. Today I used them to trim some flower stems, cut breakfast sandwiches in half, and cut sliced cheese into 9ths to put on crackers. 

Fall decorations

I always look forward to decorating for fall. This year is extra fun because I have a TV console in my living room that has shelves I can put decorations on (I bought it from the thrift store, of course). I've never had a lot of "surface area" for decorations, so I haven't been able to have a lot of shelf-type decor, but now I have a bunch of little cubbies to fill! I just hope it doesn't look too cluttered. That's always my concern. Now what my life is lacking is a mantle. I wish I had a mantle!

Super coarse body scrub and face scrub

I like feeling like I've sandpapered off a layer of skin. People make fun of the St. Ives apricot scrub of yesteryear, and I'm like, "No, that's what I want in life." I've never stopped using it (I didn't know society had turned its back on the scrub). 

My leopard print shoes

I have difficult feet. It's really hard for me to find shoes that fit, and it's even harder for me to find shoes that aren't incredibly painful on my feet. So I'm just really happy that I have a fun pair of leopard print shoes that I can wear. 

Tootsie Roll Mini Bites

These are my latest addiction. They are tiny, unwrapped Tootsie Rolls with a thin candy coating (the candy coating reminds me a bit of the chocolate flavored Tootsie Roll suckers). The only place I've found them (for a reasonable price) is at Smith & Edward's. 

Smith & Edward's

I've become a bit of a Smith & Edward's junkie lately. I think I've been there about ten times in the past six weeks. My most recent visit was to find a birthday present for my dad, get some stuff to send to Nicky in his first package from home, and replenish my stash of Tootsie Rolls. Soon I'll be going back to get a gift for Daisy for her "secret sibling" for a theatre trip and stocking stuffers (that time of year is coming).

Sweatshirts

I'm nowhere near being able to wear a sweatshirt right now, but I look at my closet everyday and long for the right temperatures. I run hot, so it has to be really cold before I can wear a sweatshirt, so it's still going to be a while.

Mobile ordering

Having my food ready when I get there? Yes, please! 

Walmart +

I never thought I would want my groceries delivered to my house, but I ended up signing up for Walmart + when they had their Black Friday deal (50% off) last year. It came with a free subscription to Paramount + and discounts on gas as well as a few other perks. We’ve been able to use it to pre-order our groceries when we travel, so we don’t have to go to the store. In Florida earlier this year, we had Walmart deliver to our VRBO about four times! We needed an additional suitcase for our kids Disney World purchases, and I was able to order one and have it delivered. Shortly after I became a Walmart + believer, I learned that my Sam’s Club membership offers free delivery as well, so now I have Sam’s Club visiting my porch regularly as well. 

I do enjoy going to the store from time to time just because I like to look around and pick my own stuff once in a while, but being able to make a grocery order and have it delivered to my house has been such a time saver! 

For informational purposes (and because people always ask about these things), Walmart has a $35 minimum and Sam’s Club has a $50 minimum for free delivery. Tips are optional, but I always give a tip. I figure it’s totally worth $5-10 to have something brought to my house. One thing people always say is, “But I want to pick my own produce.” That was a concern of mine, too, but if you are given produce you don’t like (or if anything in your order is damaged), you just submit for a return through the app, and they give you your money back. I’ve had a couple of produce items that I’ve “returned,” and it’s super easy and quick. You don’t have to actually return the item, they just give you a  refund.

My job

I really love my job! It’s been such a blessing to me. I am able to earn a little money (emphasis on the “little” - I do not make good money) but also have all the freedom I need to support and take care of my family. The “little” money is the trade off for being able to basically manage my own schedule and come and go as I need to. 

What do I do? 

I never know how explain it. We make frames and decorative prints. So I print images on canvas and frame them. I fill orders and ship them out to retailers -pharmacies and boutiques that sell gift items and such. I use power tools and occasionally shoot myself with a pin or take a chunk out of my finger with a staple remover. And once a week… I clean the toilets. 

Back in My Day

September Writing Challenge - Prompt #18:

Back in My Day

I stumbled across a graphic on Pinterest called, "Questions to Ask Old People," and thought it went well with today's prompt. In some ways, I am definitely "old people," but in other ways, I'm not. This prompt suited my pending elderliness. 

1. What was the biggest news story you remember from your youth?

Columbine and 9/11 both happened when I was in high school, and both of those events were huge and devastating. 

2. How did you spend your summers as a child?

I just stayed at home and watched my brothers.

3. How did your family celebrate holidays when you were growing up?

We usually had parties with extended family for Easter and Christmas. I had a step-dad that would pout and pick fights with everyone on holidays, so that has pretty much scarred me for life and given me weird holiday PTSD. 

4. What invention or modern technology has impressed you the most?

I'd have to say phones. In my lifetime, I've seen phones go from being a wall unit with a cord to being a tiny computer in the palm of my hand that controls my entire life. I've seen every size cell phone. And in addition to phones themselves, I was around for advances like answering machines, pagers, car phones (my grandpa had one - it was the weirdest, most frivolous thing), and caller ID. I remember my fourth grade teacher, who was kind of a computer nerd, telling us about caller ID, which was just starting to hit the scene, and I was like, "No way! There is no way a little box can tell you who's calling!" It just sounded so absurd and impossible! Can you believe that we used to just answer a phone without even knowing who's calling?  

5. How did you and your friends have fun when you were growing up?

We made the most embarrassing home videos. We are so lucky that social media didn’t exist and that all of our mortifying videos are safely stowed away on VHS and 8 mm tapes.

6. What advice would you give younger generations today?

None. Because they won’t listen anyway. Just like how I wouldn’t listen to anyone’s advice when I was young (and kind of still won’t). 

7. Did you travel when you were younger?

Not extravagantly. We mostly went camping, but I was able to go to Disneyland and Yellowstone once or twice. 

8. Did you ever break a bone or have an injury as a child?

No (and I almost dare not say it!) I got hit by a car when I was 15, though. I was okay - just a bit or road rash, but my bike (that I bought the day before) was totaled.

9.What was your favorite song or band when you were a teenager?

The 1996 Grammy award nominees compilation CD was everything to me!

I dedicated the song “One Sweet Day” to my dead dog, Kennedy, who was named after Blossom’s step-sister in the TV show Blossom. Is there anything more 90’s than all that?

I’m going to pause this post right now and go listen to it. 

10. What was your favorite holiday and why?

I liked most holidays the same amount. 

11. How did you stay informed about world events when you were younger?

TV news, newspaper, and word of mouth.

12. What sports or activities did you enjoy when you were younger?

I loved basketball and volleyball and wanted to play on teams so bad, but I never knew how to get involved in sports, and I never dared to try out for any school teams. So I just danced. I also really loved singing and would have loved to play an instrument, but again, I just didn’t know how to get involved. I still don’t really know how to be involved in those sorts of things. 

13. What's one thing you would tell your younger self?

Again, nothing. Because that girl won’t listen. This I know. 

If you know...

September Writing Challenge - Prompt #2: 

IYKYK

(If you know, you know)

The love and convenience of kitchen shears. 

I just got a new set a few weeks ago, and my admiration for kitchen shears is renewed. I like to have at least three pair because I use them multiple times a day. 

One might wonder how I could possibly have such a need for kitchen shears, but IYKYK.

Just Right

September Writing Challenge - Prompt #4:

Just Right

I want it to be 50 degrees outside, and I want to wear a Mickey Mouse sweatshirt. And I want to have a good hair day, and I want all of this to happen at Disneyland during a non-crowded week. And I want a hot, fresh churro in one hand and an ice cold Coke Zero in the other, and I want to sit down on a bench and have a parade go by unexpectedly. And I want to run into someone I know and be so excited to see them and go on a ride together and take a selfie. 

Yeah. That would be just right.

The last time I had a Disneyland churro (June 2024)

(socks explained here)

Pin This!

September Writing Challenge - Prompt #22:

Once Upon a Pinterest

I’m not sure where society stands on Pinterest these days. It seems to have fallen by the wayside and become a bit outdated. That’s fine. You know what else is outdated? Blogging, yet, here I am!

So, Pinterest. Whether or not people are still using it, we all know what it's like to be "under the influence." Maybe the pressure doesn't come primarily from Pinterest anymore in 2025, but it's out there, and if it’s not haunting you directly, it’s haunting someone in your life, so you’re never free from the second-hand effects of it! 

I enjoy a cute theme here and there, and I like things to look nice, but I also like things to be easy and practical. So I would consider myself quite “middle ground” when it comes to Pinterest-y things. I’m fussy about my Christmas tree, but I don't care that my furniture is mismatched and mostly thrifted. I love fresh paint, but I don’t want to pay for it or do the work, and I kind of like the freedom of not being upset when my son accidentally rams his head into the wall and leaves a big dent in it (which has happened twice, and then a few weeks before he left on his mission, he rammed his knee into a corner and damaged it). We live in a middle-class, outdated home from the 90’s. I have four kids, and we all hate cleaning. Our aesthetic is “kids live in this house, but you probably won’t get a disease here.” Cozy but practical. Messy but sanitary. Pinterest-worthy? Only if you are a champion of mediocrity and reality. If that’s up your alley, here are some glimpses of our home that might find their way onto your Pinterest board:

We have Legos (yes, “Legos” - I refuse to say “Lego” as plural) all over the house. If I put them away, they reappear. I’ve surrendered. 

Squishmallows have also become home decor. I used to opt for floral pieces and candles on the console, but now it’s just whatever Squishmallows turn up.

Before Nicky left, he put a bunch of photos of himself all over the house. 

 

When the kids clean the family room, a bunch of extra pillows end up on the couch (we keep them in the family room closet for movie watching, and they never end up getting put away). 

Eva’s bedroom door has a posting of rules. 

Our bookshelf always has a row of resin animals. My kids take turns hiding them around the house for each other. They line them up on the bookshelf as they find them. 

Zoe has a huge stash of cardboard in her room for her projects. This is probably one of the hardest compromises for me to make. I hate the cardboard so much! But Zoe thrives on it. 

She got so mad at me for throwing out her cardboard that she added a “security system” to her pile. 

Zoe has also decorated her room for Halloween. She says that the snowman is a Halloween decoration because it’s a “kid in a snowman costume.” 

At least she has a head start on Christmas decorations when it will probably transition to an actual snowman. 

Zoe has been hanging food containers on her wall. 

And she made a glitter light switch cover (which led to three weeks of glitter clean up). 

Last of all, we have the remnants of a snowflake dangling from our closet ceiling. It has been there since 2020 when my kids decorated my bedroom with snowflakes during COVID. 

I think when my kids grow up, they’ll have fun memories of getting to do creative things around our house. They won’t care what color the hand towels were or what condition the couches were in, but they’ll say things like “Remember how we used to hide the little resin animals all over the place?” And “Remember the time Nicky’s head went through the wall?” I like that that memory won’t include anything like, “And mom and dad were so mad!” Of course, we’d prefer that no one’s head go through the wall, but in the end, it’s just a wall. 

As much as their little offerings to the household aesthetic make me crazy sometimes, I know those are the things they cherish most. They like expressing themselves and having things around the house that represent their interests and creativity. 

And as far as Nicky and the walls go, he’s been too big for our house for the past ten years, and now he’s gone for two years, and we have something to remember him by!

My gigantic son in Puerto Rico

IDGARA

September Writing Challenge - Prompt #29:

My Way

Last September, one of my prompts for my writing challenge was “Eras.” That was a fun post to write. At that time, I listed some potential eras I was living… my selfish era, my weird hair era, my raising pre-teens and teens era… to name a few. Since then I’ve added “missionary mom era” to the list, however, I'm now transitioning into a new era, which I realized about three weeks ago, and that's my "I don't give a rat's ass!" era. 

IDGARA, if you will. 

What brought me to this new era is a complicated web of experiences to tell. Basically, I got sick of decisions, information, and expectations, and one day I snapped and yelled, "I don't give a rat's ass anymore!" and that's who I've been ever since. 

My priorities right now are my family, my faith, and my mental health. IDGARA about anything else, and I’m channeling my energy into the things that are directly related to my priorities and not worrying about things that are “priority adjacent.”

Let me tell you what the final straw was that put me in this mode. 

Social media is frustrating, right? We all know it. We constantly have to determine what to believe, and I've become fatigued by wading through the BS. I do behind the scenes research on everything, so one reason social media is frustrating to me is that I feel like I need to fact check every notion that gets put out there. 

You might think, well, just don’t get on social media, then, but whether or not you participate in social media, you are affected by its content. This is discussed in the book The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt. Even if we are not consuming social media ourselves, we are always surrounded by people who are. We can't get away from it! So I don't have to scroll or check social media myself; it will come at me through friends and associates who are consuming the content. I, personally, have never used Tik Tok, Snap Chat, or Twitter/X, but I face their content regularly through my friends that do. When I hear comments like, "I read an article..." or "someone told me..." or "I saw something that said..." it's usually followed by something they saw in social media. I don't have to see it, personally. It shows up in my life because our culture is saturated in it. Avoiding social media would definitely help, but it wouldn't entirely eliminate the problem. 

So, in my efforts to not be deceived, I very often look at social media through a skeptical lens. I spend a lot of time exploring additional information about what I see online. There are so many conflicting messages, and so much of what we see in social media can be traced to someone making money. There is BS everywhere, and while that seems like common sense, I know way too many people who buy into everything they see in social media and who live under the spell of influencers. 

Just a few examples of stuff I've sifted through...

You'll have a "doctor" or "health expert" on Instagram telling you all about protein. Protein this and protein that! Then you'll have another "doctor" or "health expert" saying that high protein diets are actually bad for you, and if you look at the diets of people who live in the "blue zones" where there is the greatest life expectancy and best long-term health, the people are not eating high protein (funnily, there was an episode about this on Down to Earth with Zac Efron where Zac Efron traveled to some of these places and learned about their diets, and he was like "I've been forced to eat high protein for most of my life to maintain a specific body type, but I'm never doing that again!" but I think he lied).  

So what am I supposed to believe about protein? This leads me to do a deep dive on protein where I continue to find conflicting information, and in the end, my best choice is to not give a rat's ass.

Additionally, there are "experts" on perimenopause who are preaching all sorts of stuff - HRT is a good thing, HRT is a bad thing. HRT causes weight gain. No it doesn't. HRT causes cancer. No it doesn't. Again with the protein... And then, whenever I look closely, someone is always trying to sell something. So does that "expert" really actually know anything? Is she to be believed? Because when you pull back the curtain, she's selling a book and a perimenopausal management system, so of course she's going to put content out there that will convince you to abandon your doctor and buy her stuff. There's always someone selling something, and people will preach whatever they need to to make a sale. 

So what am I supposed to believe about perimenopause? Once again, I deep dive, find way too much conflicting information, and my best option is to not give a rat's ass.

I'm sick of trying to figure out what to believe. It's exhausting. And in my battle with that, I started seeing posts in social media telling me that drinking water is bad for me. In a day's time, my algorithm started showing me that drinking water is making my face look fat. Drinking water is making me look ten years older. I should only drink water at certain times of day. I should only drink certain kinds of water. I should only drink water at a certain temperature. 

And that, my friends, was the trigger. The straw that broke the camel's back. As soon as social media started telling me water was bad for me, I was like, "Hell nah. I am not doing this!" and that's when I went rogue.              

Is it strange that there is also a Zac Efron episode about water? Yeah. Zac Efron and his hippie friend tried to make me feel like crap about drinking water, too. But you know what? IDGARA! I am not going to stress about water. I'm going to drink it whenever I want. However cold I want. And from whatever source I want. Today, I had McDonald's water, and you know what? It was fantastic! Do I have a fat face now? Do I??? 

Guess what! I don't give a rat's ass!

So that's how I ended up in my current era. Maybe someday, I'll give a rat's ass again, but for now, IDGARA, and it feels great! Protein is not one of my priorities. Perimenopause is not one of my priorities. And my fat water face is not one of my priorities.*

IDGARA!

(A special thank you to all of my friends who have listened to me rant about this subject as I've ushered in this era. Some of you have gotten a real ear full and have heard me say "rat's ass" an obscene amount of times). 

*These are just some examples to help illustrate the frustration I experience from all of the conflicting voices and information out there. I just picked a couple of common topics for discussion purposes. I'm not out to insult anyone's choices regarding these subjects. I've just realized that right now the best thing for me to do is not waste energy on things I'm unsure about. I don't have to pick a protein camp or a perimenopause camp. It's okay for me to just not worry about it. But don't even try me with water!Also, I would like to note tag social media is not the sole source of all of these conflicting topics - it’s just a very dominant one.

At Least I Tried

September Writing Challenge - Prompt #10: 

Effort

I used to be really good at setting goals and actually achieving them. Sometime in the past 5-10 years, that skill left me. I still try to set goals, though, because even if I only achieve a small percentage of them, that's better than nothing... I think...

While Nicky is gone on his mission, I've decided to work on one personal goal each month. 

My goal for July was to quit soda. I had a hard time deciding the parameters of this goal. Did I want to quit for just July? Or should I try for Nicky's entire mission? I stayed off soda for about a month and a half. During that time, I gained 8 lbs, so I decided I might as well drink soda. For the last couple of weeks, I've been back on the sauce. I'm not sure where I'll go from here. Honestly, I think I’m more likable when I’m drinking soda. I want to have friends, therefore, I must have soda. It makes sense, right?

Just me having friends 

My goal for August was to read the Book of Mormon every day (you can read more about that in this post). I haven't been in a pattern of daily scripture study for a really long time, and at the end of July, I had a very strong prompting that I needed to study the Book of Mormon, so that's why I chose this goal for August. I missed six days, which I'm not very happy about, but there's nothing I can do about it. I just simply forgot on those days. 

My goal for September is to spend as little money as possible on food and use up what we have. I made a list of meals that we can make from our current supply, and I wrote down all the times throughout the month where there are exceptions (such as a birthday and a road trip). Basically, I'm trying to not eat out in September and not grocery shop unless we run out of something serious. I'm hoping I can stash away a bit of my grocery budget while clearing out some space in our freezer and storage room. 

So far, the part where I use up what we have at home is going well, but the part where I refrain from grocery shopping and going out to eat is not going as well. On Tuesday we took Daisy and some friends to the lake, and we took some snacks, and I started to worry we were going to run out (those girls were much hungrier than I expected! Normally when I offer food to teenagers, it's like pulling teeth to get them to eat anything, but on Tuesday, they plowed through half the snacks in the first 20 minutes). I sent Scotty to the store for some snacks, and he spent $100! 

The snackers

That same day I ended up having to go to the store last minute due to a roll mishap. I've also purchased a large amount of cheese this week. The month is still young, though, so I still have time to save money... or go rogue and spent it all. 

Last Week

September Writing Challenge - Prompt #26:

Last Week

Sadly, I had this post written, and all I had left to do was add a few photos, but in moving back and forth between using my phone and using my computer, most of the post got deleted. Having to rewrite it was such a bummer, and the second time around, I missed a lot. Sigh. Oh well. Here's a little run down of what last week looked like:

Monday

I went to work. 

Nicky called! He gets to call home on Mondays, and it’s usually kind of chaotic. He calls through Messenger on the WiFi at the local church. He cuts in and out repeatedly. There’s a tinny echo that makes him hard to hear, and everything is kind of muffled. Scotty is usually at work, and I’m usually driving in the van for school pick up. It’s not ideal, but I’ll take it! I’m just so grateful missionaries are able to call home weekly!

Nicky telling us he got to chase an iguana this week

(last week his trainer wouldn’t let him chase any iguanas)

I drove a group of kids (Daisy included) to their theatre photo shoot then took them to McDonald's after. It was really hot outside, and those poor kids were dressed in their thick theatre sweaters, bless their hearts. 

Daisy and her good friend Sami

Tuesday

I spent a few hours up in Layton (about 45 minutes away) because I took a gift to my friend and decided to stick around and run my errands up there because traffic was really weird. 

Zoe and Eva started piano lessons for the school year (Zoe is a returning student, and Eva is a first-timer).

I pulled out all of the sunflowers in the backyard. I didn't necessarily want to get rid of them yet, but they were 10-15 feet tall, and we had dumpsters in the neighborhood, so I thought it would be smart to pull them out while we had somewhere to dispose of them. Otherwise I'd have to remove 1-2 at a time and put them in our home garbage cans across the span of several weeks (these are the kind of details you're here for, right?)

Wednesday

I worked for a few hours. 

I started putting out my fall decorations. 

It was leftover night, and I knew my kids weren't going to eat my fridge offerings, so I took everything we needed to use up and presented it like a charcuterie board to see if they were more willing to eat. Guess what! It worked like a charm! They even tried a few things they previously claimed to hate. I think this will be a new weekly tradition to get them to eat what we need to get rid of. I just gave everyone an empty plate, and I put the tray in the middle of the table and let them take whatever they wanted from it. 

Thursday

I ran a bunch of errands and finished decorating for fall. 

Scotty had to work in the evening (he does security at a concert venue), and I didn't want to be cooped up at home with the girls all night, so we went to Texas Roadhouse on a whim. Eva didn't want to go, so she stayed home, and I brought her a Happy Meal. 

Friday

I worked a short shift and then picked up my three girls from their three different schools. 

Scotty's mom had a campout in her backyard - an annual tradition. 

Saturday

I worked from 5-8 a.m. and then went to Scotty's mom's house for breakfast (a continuation of her campout). 

We took naps to reset and then went to the temple where my mother-in-law (not the campout one, but the other one - because I have two of them) and sister-in-law performed ordinance work for my sister-in-law, Amber. 

We went to dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory with the extended family. 

We went to my brother-in-law Riley's house for poker night. It came down to Riley and me, but he was the final winner. 

My girls slept over at my mom's house. 

Sunday

We slept in until about 8:00 then went to pick up the girls from my mom's house. 

We went to Scotty's mom's house for a couple of hours.

We went to Scotty's dad's house for dinner, and then Zoe slept over at their house. 

Labor Day

(it wasn't technically "last week," but for the sake of holiday documentation, I'm including it!)

I worked for a few hours in the morning. 

Scotty did a bagel run because Einstein had a back to school deal where you could get a baker's dozen and two smears for $10!

We went to the International Peace Gardens. It was weird only having Daisy and Eva with us (Zoe was still at her grandparents').

Nicky called... a few different times because he kept losing service. 

My friend Lynsie stopped by for a spontaneous visit.