A Joyous Year!

Hello Friends,
It has been far to long since our blog was updated and since this is the last day of 2007 and I'm feeling very sad I thought I would wax nostalgic. It has been quite a year, hopefully not just for me but for all of you as well. A few dreams have been fulfilled, new friends made, and some friends have parted ways. Today my very dear friend and co-founder of the foundation for spreading joy and happiness left the "smurf" (this is what we lovingly call where we work since the initials SMGF are very similar, plus it is just fun). It is a good move on her part, and change is good for all of us. It pushes us and empowers us to become who we need to become. I don't usually cry in front of people, normally I can't, so if I do it is a big deal. Today I cried like a baby, and my eyes just water up whenever I think about her not being there. I know this doesn't sound like much joy and happiness, but you have to experience the sad to truly experience the joy. I'm going to miss my friend. It is hard to explain or put into words our friendship. We are like an extension of ourselves(sick candy aside), it's like we are one person but we aren't. I don't know if this is to morbid of an example of how I feel but here goes: I feel like someone I care about died and I'm left behind to exist, to walk by all the places that will remind me of her and what we did. Now don't get me wrong we will still see each other. We have a few trips in us yet, and I know her phone number!!! It just won't be the same at work without her. It just made me think of some of the good times over the past 3 years. The log sheet, fun police, stalin, hitler, my name is Iyas can I save you 10%, the pumpkin, happy hour, saran wrapping star wars figurines, Tolley, Hansen, Woodward, Edmerica, The intern, body parts, "I just can't take another Monday" and the list could go on. We had some great times at the "smurf" and for me it will not be the same without her. So Trish A. Tolley thank you for 3 of the funnest years, and for letting me learn from one of the kindest and most gracious persons I have ever known!(I know I know I can still learn). I know you have had your fill of hearing about our trip but it was a dream come true for me to be able to go to Europe 1 time let a lone twice, and I'm glad I got to go with Trish, we had a really good time. I believe we are tossing around the idea of heading for the border next? I have heard Quebec is very lovely, cute boys or not! Thanks for indulging me a trip down memory lane everyone. Hope next year is as exciting and wonderful as this year has been and I hope travelling is a big part of 2008! Trish good luck with your new career I wish you the very best in all that you do.

Old Country Songs.....

I had to share this with someone so why not blog it. I was on my way to Gunnison on Friday to watch my little brother Spencer's football game. I was flipping through the radio stations and landed on the old country tunes station. I like to listen once in awhile, because it brings back memories of my childhood. My dad loves old counry music and sang old country songs to us when we would go to bed at night. There was a pretty good tune on the station so I left it there, and when the song ended......let's just say the point of this blog started. I'm not lying the very first line of the song was, "Aaa luv baby ducks". I started laughing so hard I didn't hear the rest of the song. It did start me thinking of another old country tune(that makes me smile) about a Bird of Paradise. It goes something like this.......May the bird of paradise fly up your nose, may an elephant carress you with his toes.....I don't ever remember the rest of the song, but you can bet your bottom dollar it is a man done wrong by his woman song. My goal is to find this song and post it on the blog so stay tuned!! Hope this finds you full of happiness....

Oh My *%&$

Another story from the co-founder's famous trip to Belgium. We hope you won't be terribly bored by the stories, we feel like so many funny things happened, they should be shared. It goes something like this: Trish's parents had planned to take the Brussel's young adults to Paris for General Conference, so they could mingle with more people their age. Since Trish and I were visiting during this time we got to go too. The day before the trip to Paris, Trish and I spent the day in The Netherlands. What a day it was......tulips, canals, bikes, quaint old cities, cows, and wooden shoes....it doesn't get any better then that folks. We went to bed around 1:00 a.m., and had to be up by 7:30. Since we were taking the Eurostar(it goes to England), we had to go through customs, and that meant we had to be at the station by 8:20. Trish's parents took an earlier train with the young adults and left around 6:30. I heard them come in (I'm not sure Trish did), and ask if we were going to be able to get up in time? There was some mumbling that could have resembled a "yes we would", and went back to sleep. After that I remember feeling the sun and wondering what time it was, I grabbed my phone and (remember I am coming out of a dead sleep) yelled, "oh my hell Trish we are going to miss our train". Now I don't curse normally but it was 8:00 and we had to be there by 8:20. The main train station is only 1 stop away on the metro so it only takes 15 minutes to get there, but we had to change, lock up, run to the station, and hope a train showed up when we got there. Trish and I jumped out of bed, pulled our pants down on the spot, grabbed our levi's, changed our shirts, grabbed the bags we were taking, and ran out the door. Oh and did I mention, Trish's parents live on the top floor of the apartment building. I believe they are on floor 9, we didn't even wait for the elevator. We took off down the spiral stairs, the dog on floor 7 barked as we ran by, and I'm pretty sure he barked until we ran out the front door. Neither of us were fully awake but we were running like crazy people to the train station. We got to the station right at 8:20 and tried to find the entrance for the eurostar, spent 1 minute looking, and asked the guy at information, who told us we needed to hurry because we had to be there by 8:30. WHAT A RELIEF!!! We made it through customs got on the train and stared off into space for the entire ride to Lille(deer in the headlights might describe it best). We made it to Lille and almost got lost finding the train station to catch our next train, and Trish got held up showing someone her passport or rail pass. We were still dazed from the rush to the station and they probably thought we were using substances we shouldn't have been using. Needless to say we made it to Paris, we both agreed we didn't fully wake up until we were climbing the stairs in Montmarte to the Sacre Couer. You try sleeping through those stairs, all that sweating and huffing. We were finally able to stop and laugh about the morning, me cursing, both of us stripping, and running like we have never run before. Sorry for the curse word but I wasn't sure I could use quotes if the exact words weren't used. Hope this finds you happy and full of joy! Until next time..........Au Revoir!

Squeaky or not - they make me happy!

You know what makes me happy? Wearing funny shirts (if you've ever seen me, you probably already knew that...)

In fact, one day I was explaining how we lost our luggage once on a family vacation - it was strapped to the luggage rack on top of the minivan and all fell off or something. I had a fuzzy velour magenta sweatshirt that had some sort of appliqued image in the center of it, and if you pushed the image, it squeaked. It was literally a squeaky shirt. Anyway, I was explaining this whole thing to some coworkers and dear Jennifer said "You've been Trish all your life, haven't you?" Yes, yes I have. It totally made me laugh inside. And miss my cool squeaky shirt. Funny shirts might even define me somewhat.

Anyway, today I wore my new shirt that I made at diabetes camp. We got some free shirts from a drug company, and the shirts - all Youth-Larges - have the drug company's name on the front (small and in the corner), and on the back, there's a monkey hanging from a tree branch. And then I tie-dyed it yellow and red, and it's the best tie-dye end product I've ever created. Spectacular.

I was walking into Chili's tonight to eat dinner, and realized I was somewhat underdressed for the typical Chili's crowd. And I am wearing a drug shirt with "a monkey on my back." I think that's funny - and only people who wear Youth-Large on a regular basis would not be old enough to see irony in that.

At least it's a tie-dyed monkey.

What's your shoe size?

What could be happier and more joyful than wooden shoes? We bring you photos from the Founder's Inaugural Trip to Europe, where we stopped at a tulip park called Keukenhof (and because it was the beginning of April, there were many beautiful tulip sights to be seen.) And because it seems that the Dutch like a bigger fit on their shoes, we had trouble fitting snugly into the shoes available. Fortunately though, the place was one of the only sidewalks in Europe we took that wasn't uneven (and georgeous) cobblestones...

I wonder if this will be a new trend in our fashion-forward workplace...



Also, go to this website and turn on this music while you try on your well-fitting Dutch shoes... I guarantee you'll like it a lot :).

That'll bring you at least a little smile :). Happiness - it's worth it :).

Welcome from the other co-principal investigator

As a cofounder with Trish A. Tolley for the foundation of spreading joy and happiness. I welcome all searching for a little "j and h" in your lives.
Here is a funny tidbit: today Mindy (Lunt) Urie and I played a practical joke on our very own "CPI" Trish A. Tolley. Ever since we returned from our incredibly fun, whirlwind vacation to Brussels I have been trying to convince her to go back before her parents come home from their mission.
Yesterday she informed Mindy that if her and Mr Urie agreed to go she would as well. At this point I feel I need to give a little bit of back story. Trish and I tryed to talk Miss Belinda into going with us on the first trip, but her sensible self held her back, and Miss B correct me if I'm wrong (regrets it a little bit). Now that Mindy B is married and her husband Scott is in school it makes it a little more difficult for her (them) to go. This being said Trish felt very confident in saying I will go if you and Scott go. Alas Mindy forgot to ask Scott (just as Trish suspected she would) so I convinced Mindy to tell her she did ask him and he said yes.
Needless to say this caused some extreme stress for our dear friend and fellow "CPI". We all know Mindy and Scott are way to sensible for taking off on a whirlwind trip to Brussels, but there were cries from the genealogy department for brown paper sacks and someone who could do "the CPR". Luckily Rachael helped Trish pull herself together with a few deep breaths.
This joke was not pulled off without some casualties along the way, Jennifer and Rachael believed Mindy and got quite excited about going, unfortunately I couldn't find the good deal anymore (so no trip to Brussels). I am slightly relieved since I don't have the money to go either. Although I didn't go to the lenghts of having my stomach cut open like Trish did (geez Trish next time just tell us you don't want to go)!
While there are many reasons to be sad for not going (ham and cheese baguettes, Belgian waffles, Belgian chocolate, cobblestone streets, the very handsome French Canadian Missionary, etc......) there are several good reasons for not going. Paying for unexpected surgeries, school, New York, and paying for your sister to go to New York (you know who you are). I guess I will have to picture the handsome French Canadian in my dreams. Unless...........Sister Tolley (Trish's mom) can bring home a picture. Let's push for the picture girls!
I realize this this isn't nearly as interesting as Pear deoderant from Smith's, but I had to hurry since I really shouldn't be blogging at work.

Welcome from one of your co-principal investigators!

Dear readers,

We welcome you most earnestly to the source of Spreading Joy and Happiness, a foundation devoted to just that. So, if you're in need of "flipping that frown right upside down," you've come to the right place.

One of the happiest things to happen to me in the last 24 hours - I purchased two sticks of my favorite deoderant. Secret Platinum Asian Pear invisible solid. Truly, I believe that everyone should have armpits that smell like fresh fruit. No man-soap armpits. Nobody wants that, unless it's on a man, of course. So, today, I am fresher than a summer's breeze on the pear orchards of SLC, and loving it. Smith's Marketplace facilitated this happiness for me, and it has the best deoderant selection of the entire Salt Lake metro area. So, if you're in need of a new flavor of happiness, you might want to try it. Seriously, a whole aisle. It's worth the trip.

Anyway, have a happy day!!!