Josie Thompson

hi, I mean, bye

2011-11-23T00:40:00.000-08:00

I have found that I’m a walking paradox. So much about half of me, contradicts the other half. Yet this collective catch-22 really is the essence of who I really am. Once upon a time I started spouting off to my dad, all of the reasons why I will never get married… and once I finished my tantrum he interjected his sage advice that all of the same reasons I just named, to the right boy, would be the very reasons the boy would marry me.

So the perfect boy would be totally game for the girl who:

Loves to smile yet is most self-conscious about her mouth.
Prefers stick shift but oddly enough gets so sick of shifting and avoids first gear like the plague. Not because I’ll kill it but because first gear’s a drag.
Had perfect skin in Jr. High, but is a walking zit now.
Loves road trips but gets car sick like a mother; her mother.
Loves/Hates running
Likes to stand out, but hates attention
Loves hats, but lacks the confidence to wear them…same with sun glasses and boots
Wants a family, but can’t land a boy
Loves Montana, but hates the cold
Wears 6 sports bras, even to church…tmi?
Loves to go barefoot everywhere, but can’t stand dirty feet
Can’t sing, but loves it anyway
Likes sun burns, but doesn’t want to die of skin cancer
Loves the hustle and bustle of airports but doesn’t like to fly…especially alone.
Hates getting gas, but loves gas stations. I have always loved gas stations.

What are yours?

xoxo

For realzzz

2011-10-25T11:58:00.000-07:00

So it’s starting to bug me that with some things, I have zero credibility. For instance anytime in FHE (in Mesa), I bring something up in regards to house keeping, everyone just tunes me out and tells me I’m out of control with cleaning. Umm…no I just am civilized. OR how I call home from Montana when I KNOW everyone is home because I KNOW everyone's schedules, and yet ring ring ring ring no answer. Unacceptable...People! So in order to further my case, here are some other areas I have absolutely no credence.

When I was in 5th grade, I remember a Friday night in particular where I was home babysitting the girls along with the Franklin twins; meanwhile our parents were out on the town (probably at the bars). So clearly we kids weren’t having the most exciting Friday night because as I remember, we were all on the couch watching the Antique Road Show. I PROMISE that what I’m about to tell you is true. Cross my heart and hope to die… On the show an old man brought in a painting of a very cute baby. No big deal right?…but wait… the painting was an exact replica of my baby picture! I was shocked and began to yell at the TV and then to prove to the others in the room that it was indeed my baby picture that someone had clearly painted, I jumped up and ran to my parents room, where the original portrait of me hung (my parents tend to hang pictures of their favorite children in their room to motivate them to get up every morning). With haste, I quickly retrieved the picture and hoisted it up next to the TV for all to gaze and admire. Since birth, I have had a very distinct look (it’s my weird eyes) anyway the picture in question was taken when I was about 5 months. Now by 5 months normal looking or not, babies differ in looks and have developing distinct features. I swear it was a painting of my 5 month old, baby picture, and not some look alike. I was in the same outfit, the colors were the same and it was my weird little face doing the same exact pose!!! The only difference was A. it was a painting and B. in the painting, my head was tilted to the other side then it was in my picture. Now for all of you nonbelievers (MOM) ...when we get to heaven (let's hope you make it...which is now questionable seeing as how you are a non-believer) and I replay those precious 5 minutes of my life… you are going to feel soooo dumb and will come crawling on your knees asking for my forgiveness…and just maybe I will grant it.
PS as further proof, I have gone to the Antique Roadshow website (yawn), and have tried to watch old episodes in hopes of recovering that episode but unfortunately have failed, but one day I assure you I will acquire proof.
Witnesses: Franklin twins

Next item, our (Mesa) house is haunted, end of story. It’s nothing scary; just weird unexplainable things that occur sporadically.
Witnesses: Jessi

Now the next item is super odd and those that I tell about tend to be quite skeptical, but in high school we did all of the time. Here it is: when you drive by a police car that is pulled off to the side of the road and has its lights on, if you throw your car into neutral and rev your engine…the lights turn off. How? I have absolutely no idea. But just because I can’t explain it doesn’t mean it’s not true!!
Witnesses: many high school boys AND girls, one in particular Kelly Allen.

Hey Mesa.

2011-10-07T16:26:00.000-07:00

Hey Mesa, Montana is amazing, but I sure miss you. Just saying.

So funny story: ONE day before I embarked upon my 24 hour road-trip (done all in one sitting I might add) to Montana, my emergency break broke. Well in Mesa that is no big deal, the only loss there would be having to keep my foot on the break when in the Del Taco drive-thru…but in Montana there happens to be more than just the incline of a driveway. So a few days ago I was at someone’s house picking up something and I really didn’t want to have to turn off my car… I hear it requires excess gas to start up a car so in my efforts to save money, I stuck a water bottle under the hoisted up break and bravely deserted my car to run up to the house. So as I’m talking to my friend at her doorstep, in the corner of my eye I see Loo Loo (my car) rolling gracefully away. Lucky for me and my not yet developed ghetto reputation, my friend did not have a visible angle on the escapee, Loo Loo. So as we continued our conversation I watched Loo Loo pick up speed as she headed for a stationed truck. Still embarrassed about my defective makeshift e-break, I continued to feign a conversation with my friend in hopes it would wrap up soon. Finally the convo ended and once the front door was closed I scrambled towards Loo Loo and made it just in time to stop her from destructively plowing into a parked car…all to save a few cents in gas. Perhaps next time I’ll learn my lesson, or make a better break.

To my Mesa friends…oh how I love and miss all of you. In my efforts to dismiss my homesickness I wrote in a large font on a blank sheet of paper: Good thoughts, and then all around it wrote down people, places, and things that bless my life. As I examined my finished result I concluded that the majority of items written down, were various friends from Mesa…especially my sisters in Greenfield Park Ward. Awh how I love you all. xoxo

new blog...what??

2011-08-03T22:53:00.000-07:00

here are some sweet old pics:

what an unfortunate looking dog...no wonder I don't like dogs. I have absolutely no clue where this dog came from, and where this picture was taken...but it's safe to say the beginnining of my distaste for dogs had some correspondence with this mangy k-9.

found this and thought it was precious...pretty rad ya? 18 years later and sleepovers are still my favorite thing

This picture was taken during an AZ winter...what am I going to do here in Montana?

Anyway...my only agenda for this post is to spread the word that I am now a co-owner of a second blog...because I'm so dependable and responsible with this one...sooo why not start a second one?! You should... like...totally... ya know... like... ummm...check it out. (it's new so nothing really happening YET...but just you wait...oh and ps continue to check this one every 4 months when I post...this sweet blog ain't going anywhere)

http://www.josieandkenzie.blogspot.com

xoxox

-jos

homegirl in L-Town

2011-07-27T14:30:00.000-07:00

Sooooo here's something new to share...I'm visiting/living in Montana. Yes, the same girl who amidst the 110 degree weather in Mesa, has her wool blanket, heating pad on high, and of course daily glass of hot chocolate at night....and the best part is, I love it here. I'm cold usually 70% of the time here but little by little I am acclimating. One might ask why am I here? And I would answer, I don't know...other then I have the most wonderful cousins here in Lewistown MT, and through several channels of inspiration, knew I needed to fly my sweet little self on up. Anyone who knows me knows that getting on a plane to go to Montana would be a rather large task...mainly because I am soooo entrenched in my regiments and routines yet it has been so therapeutic to have to adapt to new situations and new scenery. So of course I have some things to say about these last few weeks; both observations and lessons learned.

Random tidbit, my aunt suggested I write a book (I'm 99% confident she was patronizing me) But as I thought about this more and more, I decided I'm absolutely qualified for such an endeavor; for I am full of wisdom and refinement...perhaps the rest of this post will confirm such an aspiration...soooo kidding ps.

Wisdom from Josie...an MCC prodigy

-while in the check-out line at the wal mart, do not verbalize for all to hear, your detestation towards tramp stamps (a tattoo located towards your lower back)...consider this: your cashier may or may not be, but definitely is, rocking a sweet Betty Boop tat right there in that prime location...in hindsight I should have realized that Wal Mart is after all, the breeding ground for these types of artistic expressions.

-there are far worse things that an occasional cricket in your garage. Did you know mice are real? Yes, I know. Shocking. Apparently people do have them and well, pretty sure I will die if one grazes my leg everrrr again.

-you should really research an acronym before incorporating it into your daily diction. I can't remember if I already shared this in a previous post, but I'm too lazy to check and see so we'll just roll with it. So my mom...who we all know is the bomb.com (super cool) has never quite embraced the cell phone phenomenon. Yes she owns a cell phone. But I do believe it's sole purpose is utilizing the illumination of the screen to navigate in the dark. So...my mom has decided to compensate her lackadaisical disposition for the cell phone rage, with embracing the cell phone lingo and of course subsume it into both her e-mails and even her everyday vernacular...similar to how my dad, having spoke Spanish on his mission, jumps at any opportunity to use and exercise it...this makes for very embarrassing trips through the Filiberto's drive-thru. So anyway the "incident" with my mother goes like this:

Over time she would pick up on us kid's jargon, here and there i.e. sup, word, sick, jk, btw... etc. So eventually she came across the acronym "lol" and became enamored with it's definition. Her understanding was that today's society used that very acronym to express love...thereby translating into, "lots of love". Needless to say, that is not what lol means but rather "laugh out loud". Well one might ask how a discrepancy as insignificant as that could have any kind of consequence? Well here is how: My mom has been the Relief Society President of our ward for over 4 years now...she is also a VERY loyal former member of the old 9th ward...these 2 tidbits are relevant because through both of these channels, my mom encounters quite a few tragedies, varied sorrows, and even deaths. And because my mom is amazing and the most compassionate person alive, she of course engages herself in every affair in need of service...often times resulting in condolence cards, letters, and e-mails. So...apparently one day the truth unveiled itself and it was discovered that at the conclusion of many condolence cards, my mom would sign "-Lol Lisa". We estimate this has been going on for 2 years. Perhaps an accurate re-creation of one of those cards would read "sorry you lost your first born daughter to the abhorrent and devastating misfortune of cancer...-lol Lisa". Needless to say some retractions materialized in hopes of resolving what may have been perceived as "insensitive" or even "asinine" regarded cards.

-pack at least a sweat shirt when going to somewhere like Montana. Your Frisbee and snuggie really should not replace the space in the suitcase reserved for warm clothing.

-My last offered piece of wisdom is more substantial and pertinent to my daily life. The Lord answers prayers. It's taken me a lot of years to truly understand that sentiment...and realize that He lives. He loves. And by grand design, He is there to sustain us in our mortal existence. This thought I share may not be as grabby as mice and tramp stamps, but of course carries far more clout. How miraculous the Gospel is...if we will just take the time to find out for ourselves. I once saw a picture of a church from another denomination, that had a marquee that read something like "don't read the Book of Mormon...that's how they get you". I love it. To me, this translates to, if you do the work, study it out in your mind, you'll know the truth "and we'll get you" haha.

Anyway love you all back home
-lol Josie

bye bye moo moo

2011-05-04T01:09:00.000-07:00

my most recent victory...

good luck Marci...

Jake and Brendy's Wedding

So since it’s been awhile, I’ve decided to update…

So in an attempt to think of something cool to write, one thing that comes to mind falls under the umbrella of weird more than cool. So maybe 1.5 years ago or so, I went to Thatcher to see my cousin. This cousin of mine had quite the crazy neighbor who literally…literally had over 35-40 rabbits running around in his fenced off front yard. Weird right? It’s not like rabbits to reproduce like that. Anyway this nice crazy man gave me as many rabbits as I could catch…so 4 rabbits and a really difficult drive home later, our backyard was re-stocked with rabbits. So about 2 months ago 2 of our female rabbits both gave birth to 6-7 rabbits each... again weird, not typical of rabbits to repopulate like this. Both of the mom’s dug little tunnels on opposite sides of the backyard and since they both had batches around the same time, we watched all of these little bunnies slowly ascend more and more from the holes as the days went on. So here is the legitimate weird part. One day we went outside to go see the bunnies and none of them were out; so we went to check their tunnels, and BOTH batches of rabbits were completely gone… all accept one little bunny. So we (and by we I mean Jordan..I could actually care less) scoured the back yard in search of the bunny’s escape route and absolutely no luck. So anyway we’re missing like a dozen bunnies so if you see them…well ask them how they did it. How did they circumvent Jordan, 2 turtles, and a pig? I’m dying to know. And NO everybody… Marci did not eat them…that would require her to move. And side note, this little incident sure didn’t help our pet statistic--out of 12 bunny’s one is still in existence. Fail.

…And as many of you probably know, Marci is now gone as well. But not because she dug a hole and escaped under the fence because well…a hole big enough to assist her in her escape would be no indent in the dirt…but would have to be the size of a tunnel, much like the one slaves used to escape to the North. Actually what happened is my mom put her on craigslist and let me tell you…she was one hot commodity. My mom’s reasoning for ditching the swine being (besides the fact that Marci was a fat annoying pig that was never approved by her in the first place)…that Marci dug up everything, ruined my dad’s lawn, squealed bloody murder every day at 9 am, 3 pm, and 9 pm (the feeding times), started to bite Jordan and Jordan only (this was actually super funny…Marci had her favorites), and worst of all; Marci ate my mom’s special plant (I can’t think of the name of it…some bush)…it looked like a big weed to me but apparently it was some treasured plant my mom really liked…and to make matters worse this very prized, big weed- looking thing Marci devoured, was transplanted from my grandma’s yard to ours so my mom could continue to take care of it once my grandma passed away…and yup Marci gobbled it like ice cream. Oops. So no more Marci Moo Jemima.

As for things that matter, Mr. Taylor has continued to be my best friend and in fact just today, out of the blue, he brought me a teriyaki turkey burger from Carl’s Jr. (my new fav.) and of course Mesa froyo #sweetestboyever. Anyway shout out to him for being basically the best person ever, and for sticking around this long, xoxo. And as always, shout out to the best parents ever; it’s been an especially crazy couple of months and my mom and dad have continued to be the ministering angels that they have always been.

Oh and I’d like to thank Bin Laden for dying. The end.

what's up bloggerzzz

2011-02-03T02:36:00.000-08:00

miss her lots....

hahaha dance festival baby

I just thought this was the funniest thing ever

lovvvve this man

we're first cousins...

good thing to wake up to

Rainy got married...2 down, 2 to go

...rainy going off to college ('07)

Janda night before she departed for her mission!

senior picture

no words...

i'm really pretty

**as usual pictures are random and have no real relevance

So it’s always bugged me when people just up and abandon their blog for long periods of time and have no consideration for the people with no lives, like myself, who stalk regularly and long for an update…and guess who is a hypocrite? Me.

I’ve just struggled about what to even write. I’ve felt like nothing tremendously funny has happened and I’m just so boring that when my fans (my mom) come to read my latest bore of a post, that she will just go back to dishes for a better time. Nonetheless I do like blogging, and I missed it.

So…thing’s I’d like to share with my fellow bloggers:

-My testimony. The whole reason I even got a blog was because Kenzi and I decided that it’d be a great missionary tool, and while her blog has maintained its integrity to uphold that initial endeavor, I, at times, have fallen to the wayside. So just to reinforce, beyond a shadow of a doubt I have a testimony of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ...and during the course of these past 2 years, I have truly been brought to my knees. He lives. He loves. And as for all of the crazy things happening in the world currently, in my opinion, only bares further witness and truth of the prophecies given concerning the coming of our Savior. I ask myself all of the time, am I ready? And in that rhetorical question comes my witness of the Atonement. So to all of my loved ones struggling with sin, temptation, or any kind of heartache, self-inflicted or just by circumstance, the Atonement is there for you, use it.

-So on a very different note, about 5 minutes ago I was greasing up my face with Neosporin to prevent my gosh dang acne scabs from scarring, and I dropped the tube in the toilet. I’m a tad bugged about this.

-As for my pig, she is alive and well. Surprisingly we’ve had her longer than most pets… and once she surpassed the average one-week lifespan, I knew she was here to stay.

So I know everyone is jealous of me and my pig and naturally puts us on a pedestal and assumes that life is picture perfect as expected when you adopt a fun loving swine, but don’t be naive, Marci and I have had our ups and downs just like any other mother/daughter. In fact, literally (not joking) I am currently not talking to her. I’m quite ticked. 2 days ago things got a little out of hand while trying to feed Donna (black bunny) and well…I’m just not talking to Marci. She’s a brat. But other than that she is good…also super fat. In fact funny story, I was at a get-together of some sort, and someone asked me how Marci was. So I proceeded to disclose that she’s gained tons of weight and apparently I dropped, what to an uninformed listener (unaware I was talking about a pig), what sounded like numerous racial slurs. i.e. stupid black pig…when suddenly this girl who was apparently eavesdropping turned to me outraged that I would talk about another human being that way, no less “my daughter.” HAHA hilarious…I love having a pig.

-In addition to not speaking to Marci, I also had a small dispute with the owner of a particular Chinese restaurant… over what should be…complimentary sweet n’ sour sauce…so I’m currently not speaking to her either. And side note, I don’t think Taylor has ever been so embarrassed.

-it’s dang cold outside

-I watched my senior dvd in it's entirety

-My car LooLoo has been a tad ill lately, but my dad reassures me she will get better soon, so finger’s crossed.

-I really miss my Montana cousins. Shout out to Kenzie and Haeli (ps Haeli I definitely just referred back to fb in order to spell your name correctly xoxo)

-Did I mention Taylor is basically the best boy ever and got me a guitar for Christmas? Well he did, and he is.

-2 Sundays ago, I answered a question in the big kid Sunday School, aka adults. No big deal.

-There is a stumpy flying rat, also known as a pigeon, lurking around our back porch…living on our outside freezer…the same freezer I hide my strawberry and berry-licious go-gurts…that I bought with my own money! And the dumb bird is keeping me from them. Sometimes I wish Marci was a cat.

-I learned what skype was, and got an account for it all in one day.

-Cant’s wait to see the Justin Bieber movie #bieberfever…don’t hate

-Marci has been having difficulty in the bathroom department, and during my appt. with the lady doctor, I may or may not have, but definitely did sneak 2 latex gloves for Taylor to work his magic. TMI

ANYWAY...Most importantly I’m a blessed girl. I am who I am, and learning to like it. Love you all.

Guess Who's Engaged...

2010-11-24T02:16:00.000-08:00

No one is engaged, I just put that to trick people into reading my blog.

Anyway.... this past Saturday morning every bathroom in the Thompson household was occupied as we all primped for the much dreaded family pictures. Because I don’t share well, I had to myself, the upstairs bathroom which happened to be near a window that overlooked the west side of the house. And since my mom does not believe in a utilities bill during the winter, all of the windows were open...therefore settling the house’s climate at a below zero temperature customary to the Antarctic wild life. So over the buzz of my 3 space heaters, the chatter of the Disney channel on volume 29, the commotion of the younger girls fighting over the mirror and only working flat iron in the downstairs bathroom, the blaring noise of 2 blow dryers, and the clamor of my dad puttering around in the garage, secretly looking for refuge from the estrogen typhoon… I heard an incessant squealing that was more comparable to the yelp of a dying whale (see Free Willy 3). The thing is, I have heard my sweet MooMoo (Marci the Pig) squealing many times if we are even a minute over feeding time, but this was no ordinary squeal. I honestly had never heard anything like it, but as I listened more intently there was no denying the sweet murmurs of my adored MooMoo. So immediately I fled downstairs, cut through the family room and barreled out the back door only to find a round black bum perpendicular to the ground mounted high in the air as it twisted side to side with great magnitude and force. It was poor little Marci's rear-end flailing out from underneath the shed, as the remainder of her body was stuck firmly in place fighting for her now threatened freedom. So as I observed the situation more closely I could anticipate by her squeals that I was not going to be capable of simply pulling her out. Though trying to harvest any bravery for dear Marci, I did start to panic, which lead me to run inside and get help…however I had to be careful not to let my mother hear because A. she does not love that sweet princess swine the same way I do, and B. I was supposed to be ready to walk out the door ready for pictures 10 minutes ago but instead was still in my XXL Johnny Cash shirt with wet hair and yesterdays make up. So as I discreetly beckoned for the attention of my sisters, I also thought to retrieve dad because though he hates Marci and sees her as an uncooked Fast Sunday ham, he still has the sensibility and reason to fix any problem I ever encounter. To shorten this already dreadfully long story, my dad lifted up the shed (which I didn’t know was an option) as my sweet little MooMoo sprung from that awful captivity. Once liberated, I coddled in my arms my poor, now traumatized, little swine while simultaneously wiping away the tears of joy now forming behind my eyes as my dad shed some light on why Marci was rooting around the shed in the first place. Apparently my dad had stuck some lettuce under the shed for the all-too-neglected turtle and well…obviously Marci didn’t get the memo that it was lettuce and not chocolate, as she plunged herself under the fortress in hopes of plundering a satisfying treat. It was just then that I could feel the gaze of my mother beating down on my back as I slowly turned around to find her standing tall in the back door way with her arms on her waist as she surveyed the situation in frustration. To make matters worse we were now a half hour behind schedule and Marci was nothing but a muddy mess. Something else to add, a vote took place the previous Monday night, and Marci was elected to be in our family picture…however now she was currently in no condition to get behind a camera…
But within minutes, with the help of all of us, Marci was quickly bathed and dressed in her Holiday outfit, hand picked from Ross, and ready to go by the time we were ready to pull out.
Conclusion...she totally peed all over the van…and we will not be renewing her nomination to return to next year’s Christmas Picture…stupid pig.

The Great Update

2010-11-19T01:00:00.000-08:00

nap time with Marci

kenz I miss you

some of Tay's family

the last time I blogged this is what has gone down:

I turned 22

Marci is still a brat

My parents celebrated their 24th wedding anniversary

Rainy is engaged!!

In other news, I have a new obsession…Frisbee. Taylor bought this amazing Frisbee that flies like a babe, and I am obsessed. That’s all I ever want to do and no one ever wants to play with me except Taylor. Jessi won’t, my dad’s usually at work, my mom will but only can for 5 minutes at time because she’s so busy, Jacque will only if I coerce her, so basically Taylor is the only who will willingly play with me. So we've been playing in the Wal Green's Parking lot; because by the time Taylor comes over all of the park's are closed and Wal Green's is the only well lit parking lot around...if you have a better suggestion do tell, because it can get really creepy down there

As for everything else:

we gave Marci her first bath
I’ve been able to sleep super well
As of tomorrow (Friday) it will have been a whole week since I have_________ (fill in the blank)…hint: Taylor thinks I’m disgusting.
I bought my favorite movie ever...Run Away Bride...and literally plan on watching it every night in place of You’ve Got Mail
I went to Apple Bee’s last weekend after 10 pm and bought 2 appetizers only to find out they don’t do happy hour on Saturday’s anymore…awesome
LooLoo’s check engine light is on AGAIN…stupid car
My mom tried to throw away my roller blades but I stopped her #victory

Taylor broke my favorite scooter doing a “trick” … some trick
I finally filed my cactus feet
I added a new pillow into my sleeping routine, it is pillow #7..welcome aboard
I stopped by my cousin’s house last Sunday, uninvited, a house I maybe visit 4 times a year...for no other reason than to knock on her door and ask if she had any chocolate I could borrow to put on my marshmallow and graham cracker…I was really craving a smore and it was Sunday…so no Wal Mart for me. #selfish #fat
Speaking of which, I got scolded in family home evening for steeling my mom’s strawberry wafers and eating them without permission

Taylor got me the best bday present ever
I bought a new vest from Good Will, and literally wear it every day…even when I’m sleeping. I love it. My mom calls it “white trash” …I think she’s jealous.
I tricked Jacque into going into a stinky bathroom
I brushed my teeth today literally 9x #ocd

While walking through a metal detector at the Conference Center I dared Taylor to put my tampon in with his keys and phone in the bowl...and he did it #hilarious
I cried during Larry King
Our house is back to it’s winter self…freezing at night and in the mornings…therefore my heating pad and I are closer than ever #BFF
I got in a cat fight with the old lady at Yoko’s-she was trying to charge me for sweet and sour sauce…nice try…Taylor was embarrassed
I took taylor on a date to my psychiatrist appointment #bestgirlfriendever
And finally, the Suns beat the Lakers…which is almost as good as the Yankees losing

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

2010-10-25T03:56:00.000-07:00

Marci and Teddethina having one last heart to heart before Teddethina heads off for hibernation

I'll walk with you, I'll talk with you... name that primary song

The good the bad and the ugly:

So I had a whole blog post written about a certain incident that occurred in Jessi’s life, but then that dream was short lived when she revoked my right to share her embarrassing story, and swore me to secrecy. So the best I can do is offer you a riddle:

Question: How does one fail a driver’s license test before the driving instructor even steps foot in the car?

Answer: Ask Jessi

So seeing as though it’s been forever since I’ve done this blog thing I thought I’d eclectically summarize the past few weeks.

The Good: my rabbit Judy who we have basically declared dead, is actually making great strides and looking much more like herself…we are so proud of her in her recent efforts to fight back and finish this challenge we call life…hahah…aka stop letting fat Donna push her out of the way during feeding time, but instead buck up and get some already.
The weather…k seriously amazing- I hope all those on the brink of the start of a dreary cold winter… who continually ridicule us for living in the hot state of AZ, read this and weep :)
I got pulled over by the popo and a little Josie charm later…no ticket. (k actually the truth: cop: “license and registration” me: “ok” cop: “your driver’s side head light is out” me: “oh really? I had no idea” (lies…) cop: “I”ll let you off with a warning” me: “ok”.
Attended Mesa’s homecoming game…love.
Someone chalked our house in cursive with the following statement “Taylor and Joci sitting in a tree...” anyway you know the rest. I laughed. Sad part is, it was my sister…(see spelling).
Back to the driver's test, so if you must know…Jessi hit a curb pulling in to pick up her instructor…the instructor peeked her head in and said “fail” hahahah laughed for hours about this.
I got a new fishing blanket from Goodwill, score.
Finally invested in a new razor…hopefully this will encourage me to actually use it.
I called home from work last week only to ask my mom to put Marci on the phone so I could hear the sweet murmurs of her snorting. It absolutely made my day.

The Bad: my mean mean mean neighbor yelled at me for how I park at my house. Prior to this incident I thought I had a spine… but after he was done with me, all I could do was fight the tears and nod. No spine.
Marci cheated on her diet ***see “The Ugly” portion of this post for details***.
Mailman who comes in to our work each morning has literally eaten all of our fun sized candy bars set out in lieu of Halloween. He literally stuffs his pockets. Literally. This leads me to think mean thoughts and have to repent…literally. #literally
My girl LooLoo contracted a serious illness, something in regards to a belt of some kind?? Anyway she decided to be sick just as I was turning off of Dobson on to the 60. I went to shift her and the stick was as jello…seriously as loose as a marble rolling around in a cardboard box. I couldn’t even find a gear to move…awesome. 500 bones later, she is all better. PS LooLoo is my beloved Saturn.
I have lost at fishing the last 3x we have gone. I hate losing.
I turn 22 in like 2.5 weeks. Yuck.
I don’t fit in any of my clothes.
In the last week alone, I have had at least 5 “words please come back in my mouth” moments where thinking before speaking was clearly asking too much of me.

The Ugly: Tay and I went out to pet Marci the other day, and anticipating her to run up to us and nip at our heels for food like always... she instead crawled right into Taylor’s lap and immediately fell asleep. We were stunned and because of the rarity of this beautiful occasion, we as proud parents, could not stop bragging one to another about our maturing baby girl. However it was not very much longer before we drew focus upon her tummy…there was no getting past the fact that her stomach literally felt like it would pop if it so much as grazed a blade of grass the wrong way. Yet we remained proud parents in denial… so it took Grandma Lisa revealing to us the devastating news of Marci’s latest relapse. Apparently fat Marci found her way into her pellets and literally ate until she could walk no longer. She seriously lost mobility for the first few hours following her binge, and was reduced to rolling to her desired destinations. After hearing of Marci's self-destructive behavior, all I could say to her was "I'm not mad, I'm just disappointed." Though it's been hard, we have worked through this and she is back to fitting in her festive red collar.

ps the above pics have absolutely no relevance as usual...

pps if you're super bored, take a gander at one of the comments left on my post from "Braggin on a Boy" (near the bottom) "I love reading about serial killers??" creeeeeeeeper

It's a Girl!!

2010-09-12T05:03:00.000-07:00

Marci with Uncle James

Marci playing tag with her new friends Kevina and Charms

Marci in her evening robe

my winning catch ... my fishing is always relevant even in the post of Marci's arrival

taken at the Mexican Backyard-best place EVER! ...also somehow relevant to this post

Marci with Aunt Brittany

I promise I'm not jealous

Yup..

This year's Christmas Card Picture #nomakeupandplentyofacne

Grandmother Lisa and Marci ... this photo is in no way altered or photo shopped. This is the real deal

P.S. Taylor's best friend Jake got home from his mission...and he's already engaged! Congrats!

SO...

The past little while has been such a roller coaster… so first on the list of things to neglect was the blog. However ignoring this next post could continue no longer…for a marvelous thing has occurred.
Background: Ever since I was a young beautiful, lovely, polite young child, all I have ever asked for was a pig. I was willing to forgo food, shelter, and clothing all for the sweet, tender companionship of a little piggy. But since my parents didn’t love me, I remained a poor pig-less little orphan girl with no joy or happiness. Then 15 years, a boring Saturday, one Craig’s list search, mom in another room, 2 phone calls to a private pig farm in Phoenix, $10 each, and a solemn pact to all bear Mom’s wrath together…later, our destiny was sealed. Jes grabbed the laundry basket, Taylor started the car, I googled on my phone “what to do with a pig”, and Jacque hugged Mom for what could be the last time Mother would ever make eye contact with one of us ever again.
Fast forward a few silent treatments, 2 fhe lessons on disobedience, numerous death stares from mom, 1 object lesson in Mom’s Relief Society lesson, plenty of signed contracts, and 3 (font size: 48, color: purple) angry e-mails…later , Marci Moo Jemima is now an official member of our family.

Welcome Home my little Princess

We'll Miss You Diz-Z

2010-07-21T15:08:00.000-07:00

R.I.P Diz-Z

Diz-Z's Posterity

Taylor's Grandma!

Jessi and Maxxxy boy

Typical week night

Rainy's Mission call to New York, New York!! SPANISH!

Taylor and me on our death bed-FLU!

My Girl Kenz

Work Friends!

4th of July in Logan Utah

Aunt Ethel Mae's Birthday Party!

My friend Barb

Diz-Z:

So being the good Mesa citizen that I am, I faithfully attended beloved Diz-Z's memorial service. There I mingled with fellow Diz-Z admirers, where we mourned together. Following the service, in memory of Diz-Z, we walked from Pioneer Park down to the corner of Main St. and Stapley, where we circled the intersection as Diz-Z would have liked us to. R.I.P Diz-Z!

The rest of the pictures are just random, long over due.

Dear Whomever,

2010-07-09T15:04:00.000-07:00

Dear Whomever,

Dear Arizona, dropping my flat iron on my foot was like a dip in the pool compared to being branded by my seat belt. Please throw us a bone, and oh I don’t know…monsoon sometime soon?

Dear Taylor, sorry I gave you the flu…dang our high fives.

Dear Season 2 of Lost, Disc 3. If you skip again on me one more time, especially when Jack is on screen, I’m giving up on you.

Dear neighbor’s carpool friend who comes faithfully every day at 5:45 am, please try going up to the door to pick up your friend instead of beeping to the beat of “Staying Alive” –Bee Gees.

Dear one of my sisters (owner of the pink and white tooth brush), please stop taking my toothbrush’s spot in the tooth brush holder.

Dear MVD lady, please don’t take your hatred out on the innocent just trying to get a ticket to stand in line. You hurt my feelings.

Dear Mom, come family prayer each night, please discover (and remember discovering) the mute button on the remote control, instead of taking 5 minutes to hold the “down volume” button.

Dear scorpion still lurking around somewhere on the east side of my room, when I find you (and I will find you) I’ll make sure my dad, brother, or anyone but me who gets you, makes you suffer.

Dear creepy black cat that continually hangs around, stay the heck away from my bunnies: Donna, Judy, Kevin, and no-name (brown and white one).

Dear Jury Duty Lady, thank you so so so much for not yelling at me for being super late, but instead excusing me. I love you.

Dear Basketball shorts, thank you for being you.

Dear Flu, thanks for ruining peanut butter for me. You know what you did.

Dear Ceiling Fan, Please start working again. I promise I didn’t mean to hurt you. I will never pull the chain that hard, ever again. Please. The flashlight thing is getting real old.

Dear staircase in Logan Utah, thank you so much for being empty both times that I tripped walking up you.

Dear Family, thank you for being amazing. Much Love.

bragging on a boy

2010-06-09T03:02:00.000-07:00

deals with this...

I need to brag on this boy:

He has seen me with no make up, soaking wet hair, and major acne,witnessed me haggle the Wal Mart cashier who robbed me of $.14, listens to me for hours on end, sat there for 3 hours and talked to me while I got my hair done, loves my sisters and just as important, Mesa Fro Yo :), puts up with my bizarre eating habits, sits through our 3 hour family home evenings, serves with me, doesn't comment on my lack of a relationship with my razor...journeyed with me on a 16 hour road trip to Oklahoma with me and my best friend from work, for no real reason, etc.

...and yet he still comes around

he's quite the boy

Oh Mom...

2010-05-14T12:52:00.001-07:00

Happy Mother’s Day:

So I’ve mentioned a little about how the Thompson FHE (family home evening) operates. We have an opening song, prayer, bone picking***, schedule (where everyone contributes to the family calendar with their upcoming events), lesson, activity, closing song, prayer, and refreshments.

For years, our fhe has been in conjunction with this very schedule. The section of fhe I would like to best focus on is the bone picking session. This is where we kindly inroduce any situations or problems that need to be addressed one with another. The first and foremost rule being that you have to bring up your “constructive” words with love and the recipient is not allowed to get offended. Another guideline that governs the Thompson bone picking is the first Monday of every month no one is permitted to say anything negative but instead complement one another. And if you’re wondering about what happens in case of an absence know this: if for some reason we are fortunate enough to dodge fhe, then promptly the next day we receive mom’s list in a revised pda format…with our specific mentions highlighted. So come bone picking session, typically my dad is watching the clock eagerly in anticipation for his show 24, Jessi is half asleep, if not all the way asleep, Jacque is on the floor rolling around stretching, and Jordan…well she’s a loose cannon; she can be anywhere from executing an escape plan…knowing that mom has a column on her list just for her… or Jordan will be found laying on Mom brown nosing to soften the blow. As for me I am on “my chair” (we have assigned seating) very much attentive ready to refute any injustice. Now the main event…my sweet mother: she pulls out her typed list of items and searches for her reading glasses so that she can read her size 48 font. Meanwhile I pull out my phone (with permission) where I have since began keeping track of minor misdemeanors that I would like to make mention of. So what was different about this past fhe? To our surprise, Jessi stepped up to the plate fueled with a prepared statement. Caught off guard, we listened intently to her plea. She told us it was in regards to carpool…my mom out of habit immediately regurgitated the following “…we’re not getting a new car just so you won’t be embarrassed…so don’t waste your time.” Jessi responded “no it’s not that…this time, it pertains to Thursday’s carpool pick up last week. “Go on…”

So I will tell Jessi’s tragic story from her perspective…keep in mind she is a high school sophomore, a very malleable stage in life.

Jessi: So Mom was parked outside of the seminary building (for all to see our personalized lovely van) and of course the engine was off because it would overheat within seconds otherwise. So we’re sitting there waiting for the remainder of the kids to show up when suddenly I hear a parade of horns honking. I disregarded it and continued counting down until we pulled out. The honking continued when just then a lady pulls up to the van and tells mom “Ma”am, you’re blocking the seminary parking lot enough with your van so that the other parents can’t get out." Mom replied sweetly “oh okay thank you.” So embarrassed enough I sit there in full anticipation of mom turning the car over and relocating. However mom just sits there as though nothing had just happened. “Umm…Mom you need to move” honking grows more violent. And as though I were delusional mom turns to me and says “yeah right, gas ain’t free, we’ll move once everyone is here.” Oh my gosh I was mortified and the other kids in the van began to sink in hopes of reducing all acquaintance to the Thompson van.

So needless to say Jessi brought this up with great passion, and well I tell this story because we all laughed so hard…my mom as well…but after the laughter subsided, Jessi said “well Mom?” Mom said “what?, I'd do it again!”

Happy Late Mothers Day to the most wonderful, sweet, righteous, service oriented, frugal, mom ever. Love you Momma T.

A few Misconceptions

2010-05-06T01:58:00.000-07:00

So despite my boundless knowledge and community college education, I still have managed to find in myself, incorrect misconceptions and even stereotypical ideals. So with that I’d like to first start by publicly apologizing to my mama: Growing up whenever we would disagree with my mom and then get proven wrong 2 seconds later, our punishment would be having to look her in the eye and mutter “you’re right mom”. She lovvvved these words, even more than I love the words “free food”…“half off Saturday”…oh and “I’ll let you off with a warning Ma’am”

So Here Are Some Possible Misconceptions…now fixed
-teachers are human
-not all cats worship Satan
-Bishops go to the bathroom like everyone else
-Sleep is not a waste of time and really does make a difference
-Just because your dad calls his sandals thongs and claims that’s the norm…not one bit true
-boys have feelings
-I was wrong, Mom was right, fish do poop and don’t hold it just because they’re in the water
-My theory on cars is false: leaving the car on empty does not force it to save gas (–Dad)
-Not all motorcycle cops are mean…minus the one harassing our neighborhood and stalking the school zone with his radar gun
-It’s my fault…fair and square…when I’m late anywhere, especially church (–Mom)
-Comedy Central is neither funny nor ever clean
-Cell phones and driving really are a bad idea…I’ve been in denial
-When you’re older your sisters really do become your best friends

Can't Sleep

2010-04-26T03:27:00.000-07:00

Shout out to awesome cousin Spring...just for the heck of it

Gila Valley Temple Road Trip!

isn't this hilarious?...

I can’t sleep and for some reason people don’t like when I call this late… and it even seems as though they’re almost disappointed when they answer the phone in a panic and I don’t have a death or some kind of tragedy to relay but instead explain that I can’t sleep and assume that they cannot either…weird. So since I am bored and because talking to myself got old and weird real fast, here is the next best thing.
So I really really wish I could blog about my dating experiences and what goes through my mind during the oh-so-exciting outings, however I cannot….too soon and this blog is not private. So I can barely scratch the surface in telling some of my experiences but nonetheless I can attempt. On one, more recent date, I was asked “what do I like to do in my spare time?” Well I can go with the typical hangout, play sports, play the piano etc. answer or I can make it real easy and kick it off with straight up honesty and convey how darn weird I am. So I answered: go everywhere barefoot (winter or summer), I enjoy fishing (…and without fail I always regret saying this because NO I do not fish at a lake, river or any real body of water but instead at an over stocked man made pond where the fish would bite at a tic tac out of desperation for food therefore ensuring a catch, NO I do not fish legally, and NO I do not eat what I catch, I hate fish, I was lied to as a child when told “it tastes like chicken”.), hanging out with family (believe me this is not as normal as it sounds, I think we are awesome but others may think we are crazy), eating my peanut butter concoction at midnight and drinking my chocolate shake while reading, roller blading, and driving to Globe AZ, yes that one place you drive through to get to Thatcher. Basically and then literally, I told him I was weird. So he says “define weird as though I hadn’t already: and I replied “done”.
You See….
-I try to organize my day so that I am in front of my TV at 3:30 to catch PBS’s Arthur.
-I enjoy bubble wrap way too much
-I enjoy watching contraband TV shows with my Dad
-Being that the bread in church is always so tasty I once came home following meetings, and tore bread up and ate it in little pieces…failed, definitely not the same….but yes that really happened
-The simple fact that I am a dater hater…this never goes down well…”how am I going to get married?”…my solemn response… “Million dollar question baby!”
-I love to drive and speed at that, but for the life of me, could not tell you why Carlotta (Carlotta is my precious Accord that gets me to Mesa Fro Yo and church, keeps me cold during the wicked summers, and warm during mom’s hot flashes) needs gas, other than fuel is to her, as peanut butter is to me
-I enjoy clipping my left foot and hand’s nails but find the right to be more cumbersome and tedious (I’m right handed).

-I aspire to eat healthy but when it comes down to really knowing how and why food breaks down, the only reason I even know that bananas have potassium is due to my having watched “Honey We Shrunk Ourselves” as a child (any product of the 80s-90s will know exactly what I am talking about)
-I still believe (until told otherwise) cracking my knuckles will give me arthritis…ps please let me know if this is true or not? I really do not know, but if so, I’m dead.
-The only e-mails I bother to check immediately are the monthly Mesa Fro Yo Calendar e-mails where I then memorize the days featuring cake batter, NY cheesecake, caramel praline (not to be confused with caramel wave) and then of course peanut butter and cookies and cream.

Anyway I’m hungry and tired so I’m either going to go eat or sleep. Gooooood night
Ps shout out to my cousin Spring, this is a little random but Taylor and I were talking about her on our way to Queen Creek to visit Mema, and we decided Spring is the coolest, funnest girl ever. Love you Springy

Make My World Go Round

2010-04-14T03:04:00.000-07:00

...hahah I didn't think any other picture could possibly scream Josie any louder

ps this boy is home...holler

So to put it lightly I am one blessed girl . Seriously I begin to reflect on my blessings and become immensely overwhelmed with gratitude. So aside from all of the obvious "larger" blessings in my life, church, family, friends, etc...here are some things that make my world go round.

-in addition to accomplishing yard work or a laborious run, coming home to find a suitable tan as a result of your time spent in the sun

-a week straight of no acne (just happened and seriously so rad)

-a text from an unknown number that turns out to be from someone quite pleasing

-a wave of relief washing over you for the simple reason Heavenly Father did not answer your, what you thought to be innocuous, plea as a sixth grader to have bad vision so you could be refined and distinguished and obtain prescription glasses...fast forward a few years, spend a week with 4 cousins with contacts and an aunt with frightening "night glasses"...and think to yourself...hallelujah!

-a pleasing number on the scale after a lapse in judgement regarding your executive decision to justify binging late at night (a few nights ago I woke up in the middle of the night crazy hungry for bread...the worst at night right?...well I am ashamed to admit I ate 5 Costco rolls....in the period of time my cream cheese warmed up and my bagel toasted. Josie=absence of will power)

-the gift of passing the shower(?) test...therefore forgoing another shower day...yup I just wrote that

-being the first in the group to not only catch a fish, but your fishy on the line to be decent sized

-seeing pictures of Utah and again thanking heaven that the Lord didn't honor your 6 yr. old earnest plea to make Mesa snow

-having your nephew rip out of the arms of another aunt to bolt into your arms, after spotting you enter into the room...priceless

-a surprising series of days before the dreaded red fuel light come onto display

-my mom excited about something

-having a very sorry lapse in judgement while driving, and quickly checking your surroundings to find no coppers and po po in site :)

-experiencing an embarrassing moment that seems horrifying at the time but knowing instinctively that the past 30 seconds of mass embarrassment and mental disconcertion will one day fade into a glorious legend and awesome late night girl's camp story

-dropping your phone on the asphalt only to find a flawless screen

-spontaneous road trip that falls into place last minute

-my brother's Explorer parked in the drive way when I come home

-a quick work day

-mesa fro yo flavor of the day: caramel praline

-being the first one to get to open a new bar of soap in the shower before someone else's dirtaaay body comes near it

-NOT being the last person to finish the water in the water cooler

-Mom's ricey spicy meatballs

-having a crazy tiring day and then rightfully enough receiving that confirmation that you are all ready for bed and get to enjoy the next 2 blissful moments between the euphoric comfort of your crisp sheets, ceiling fan on medium, and door cracked just right, before falling into a deep slumber

-and most recent...FEELING BETTER!!!!!!!!!!

I could go on forever, I am sooo incredibly blessed. Thank you friends family and my Father in Heaven.

If I Were President of the United States:

2010-04-12T13:15:00.000-07:00

So everyone blogs about politics…so I will take my own spin on things.

If I were President of the United States I would:
-put an end to orange and yellow StarBurst being made all together, and if that were to cause enough pandemonium among the seriously mislead, then I would at least have they’re nasty flavors sold separately, and then of course full endowed packages of the pink and red (but more pink of course) StarBursts sold individually
…the same amendment would pertain to: nixing yellow and orange Tootsie Pops, Skittles, Popsicles, Otter Pops (and its place extra lime green), and finally, those super yummy Fruit Tootsie Rolls?? I don’t know the exact name but what I do know is come every Halloween I raid my sister’s pumpkins for the blue (vanilla) Fruit Tootsie Rolls. So good.

-I would make gas free it would solve so many problems

-Enforce the fast food industries to make healthy fast food…that is REASONABLE. I’d be willing to bet the majority of people that eat “unhealthy” do it because unhealthy food is a. more accessible and b. much cheaper

-Dedicate TV channels to the following continual marathons as opposed to lame dog whisperer shows and “how to make marbles” TV channel wasters….basically nix the stuff my dad watches… and instead implement continual channels playing to:
-full house
-king of queens
-clean reality shows (so my mom does not go into shock without her biggest loser and American Idol)
…I was really going to name all the shows I enjoy…but to avoid judgment I’ll conclude the list now

-Legalize any means of stopping nasty neighborhood hoodlum cats from nesting in your backyard and commandeering your nephew’s sand box for their own selfish pleasures.

-Focus all the “go green” energy on finding a reasonable treatment to making a dog not smell so hideous as well as un-skanky and short haired without the predicament of shedding so that I could find a suitable pet for myself and prove I have a heart and don’t despise all things on 4 legs…

-invent a phone app. that nicely discourages family members from leaving lengthy voice mails that offer no sound information as to the regards of their reason for calling.

example of a voicemail worth modifying “Hi honey I called to tell you (pause) “Jordan wash your hands! Jordan if you touch one more thing you are in time out for another 10 minutes?” umm…what was I saying?? I don’t remember it had something to do with….oh man what was it? “Jordan Leigh! What did I just tell you?! Get your rear upstairs now!” If my girls would just learn to obey their mother I would not have to lose my mind yelling at disobedient children!!! “Jordan hurry get in the car I’m late for carpool!” Oh well Jos just call me back…”click
my response…murmuring under my breath and then yelling at the phone operator for telling me I can’t push 7 to delete until I’ve listened to the entirety of the voice mail.
Disclaimer: I read this aloud to my mom and she implored me to clarify that this particular message came in on a Tuesday which in the Thompson household translates to “Triple Threat Tuesday” because everything happens to fall on Tuesday: piano lessons, Jordan’s MATH homework, substitute carpool, relief society visits, casserole night, and my mom’s biggest complaint (only because she hasn’t discovered dvr) Biggest Loser and American Idol all on the same night!

-create a mandate that states that anyone who complains about the following gets thrown in jail:
-“waahhh I can’t gain weight”
-“”*sigh* having too much money to spend can just be so overwhelming”
…and along the same lines… “I have so much to wear I can’t decide what to put on”
….as well as... “Oh the stress of what color to paint my boat!”

Yes I would rock as a President…haha I’m not completely dense I realize that the real political bouts at hand are most certainly daunting tasks and I really do try to be part of the solution rather than the problem I just think I am funny.

The Things on the Mind of Josie T.

2010-03-15T23:50:00.000-07:00

Proof that I am A.D.D., a series of thoughts (made into a mind map) that entered my mind during the course of 15 minutes:

-My dad came in and gloated with pride when he announced the figure 250,000. I asked earnestly “your salary??” “Nope, miles on my truck”….oh dad
…intermediate thought: People in China are worse off then me, when suddenly I have a contraction in my right ear…leading me to think:
- I have really tried to be quiet and not constantly complain about my little ear/pinched nerve dilemma that originated from the worst thing ever...WISDOM TEETH!! But instead think to myself, just because I’m giving birth out of my ear does not constitute a hardship; there are people with real problems…problems far beyond my childish earache while I sit lavishly in the laz-e boy, enjoying a season four of 24 marathon, snacking on, what’s foreign to me, quality food that my brother Reagan buys and leaves in the fridge (unmarked therefore Thompson rule in play, up for grabs) with my heating pad taped to my head. Perspective.
…intermediate thought: I’m so blessed, blessed to have met a dog that actually smelled good…leading me to think:
-I miss my pup Johnny Cash (I did not blog about him because I feared, like every other pet ever owned by us that required any kind of maintenance, that it would leave soon.) Though I was right, he was awesome and I loved him (even despite my unfeigned dislike for dogs). He was a teacup Chihuahua, and I know what you’re thinking “yuck Chihuahuas are ugly barking rats who think they are rottweilers” however he was sweet, soooo cute and never barked. So what happened? Well…to say the least, potty training was not on his high end of priorities, and then there was the other problem we don’t talk about…his blatant disregard for the law of chastity…many of Jordan’s stuffed animals will now need years of therapy.
…intermediate thought: (while looking out the window to see my car parked in front) getting rid of Johnny blows, crap I think my engine is still falling out…leading me to think:
- My engine is falling out of my car…”for reals”. I’m no mechanic, but I think that could be a problem.
…intermediate thought: I am cheap like my mom (while picking lint off of my shirt that looked like a small fuzz of cotton)…leading me to think:
- So one time my sister in-law Charlie asked if she could use a few cotton balls so my mom asked me to go retrieve them; they were in a computer labeled (of course, Mom=organized) little drawer. As I walked back in, looking at the cotton I asked in all seriousness “Mom, is this cotton straight out of the field?” She said “no, why?” I told her that my conjecture was based on the simple fact that the cotton had junk in it. She said, well that’s because those are the cotton balls I save from pill bottles. Umm…”Mom no one does that” “Josie, everyone does that” anyway we all had a good laugh while mom still did not see why it was so funny.
…intermediate thought: cotton is as white as my precious Lola-Bird…leading me to think:
-I am still mourning the tragic death of my beloved rabbit (Lola-Bird Patricia Thompson, a valued pet for some time) who was brutally attacked by Satan, the neighborhood cat. Along time ago with another rabbit we once owned, Jordan and Jacque came in boasting about how the crazy rabbit that would never let anyone near it, was now being so loving and cuddly. My suspicions were high…because a day earlier I literally spent 45 minutes chasing it around until I finally caught him/her (I don’t know) to put on it’s new pink studded collar that was on sale at Wal Mart (all the living pets got one). So the girls playfully skipped outside to show me the miracle when all I saw was a dead, stiff as can be, statue of a rabbit. “Ummm…girls let’s go inside, the rabbit is probably really tired.” Anyway because of that previous incident, a few weeks ago when Jordan came in crying “I think our rabbit is dead” I was of course leery so I went to confirm. I was convinced that maybe in contrast to the last time, this rabbit was instead playing dead, remembering that when his bunny friend was dead everyone left him alone…after everyone learned the valuable lesson not to play with stiff rabbits. So I walked out there only to see a mangled body with a disconnected face. That’s all I’ll say about that. My dislike towards cats just surpassed my dislike for photo radar.
…intermediate thought: I don’t like photo radar, but I like to say “ummm” leading me to think:
-As I typed the word “ummm” in the previous paragraph, I felt defiant to the rules of grammar as I did so. Because…in fifth grade my eccentric (nice word for crazy) teacher (we will call her Mrs. Mothballs in case she is still alive, aware of the Internet, and maybe even an avid blog stalker) would give us a shelled peanut everrrry single day at the start of class. We could not touch the peanut, poke it with our pencil, give the peanut more attention than the teacher at any time, or even lick the salt off (being a chunky, desperate for lunchtime little fifth grader, learned the hard way that licking the peanut was prohibited). Her reason for the peanuts being that if we could go the whole entire day without using the forbidden words “ummm” or “ya”, then five minutes before the bell rang to dismiss us for the day, we were entitled to eat our hard earned peanut. She instituted this rule because according to her, those 2 words were a menace to society and an outrage to all of the English language. She professed that they were not real words and they were only used by hoodlums. Whatever. Anyway there was even an exciting twist, if we were to catch Mrs. Mothballs ever using the profanity “um” or “ya” herself, then everyone in class received an extra peanut that day. Only on one occasion can I remember this happening; we were at some assembly the un-wild, tamed, in-control kids got to attend. This particular assembly featured professional roller bladers dancing/rolling to choreographed songs. One of the songs was “Workin’ at the Car Wash” and these professional roller blading athletes asked the audience to sing along with them…as you may know the chorus uses “ya” more than once. All 30 fifth graders from Mrs. Mothball’s class, anxious to keep their daily peanut remained silent while giving an anticipatory stare as we waited to see if our teacher would say the forsaken “Y” word… and she totally did!! We received two peanuts and a formal apology from Mrs. Mothballs that day!
There was also the monthly reward of rice crispy treats and kool-aid. I cannot remember the sentiment behind this treat, (but it was probably something like: when visiting our cubby, our route around the desks had to be in a counter clockwise formation…or at any given time we be able to give the correct count of “how many divots are in the square, dry walled, ceiling-tile directly above our desk?”… also we had to use the Spanish word “dulce” when asking for our treat or else we had to return to our seat dulce-less.
...Totally all a true story, cross my heart and hope to die, stick a needle in my eye.
-ps Josie’s life=busy finding the little things to laugh at with the people I love
random picture, but SOMEONE told me no one likes blog posts without pictures...my reaction: psssh! nonetheless I conceded

My Big Mistake...long but totally worth reading

2010-03-04T18:55:00.000-08:00

So I made a big big big mistake the other day, one that most definitely merits a blog post. My mom and I were coming back from a doctor’s appointment when she…what I thought was “innocent enough” asked if we could make a quick stop at my aunts. I thought to myself “sure, no harm in that” -first mistake 1. Agreeing to concede to any type of “errand” my mom wanted to do. Being that I was totally and completely unaware of the trouble that lie ahead, I leisurely conversed with her regarding my back up plan to no marriage...which happens to be: cats (in place of children) with the names of Jerold Dean (after his grandfather), Regina Rose, Fabio…and if finances from my salary as an extra in various independent films, allow…then a caboose kitty named after Kimmy Gibbler, from the popular TV hit series Full House. I will live in a decorative double wide trailer that will have every possible yard knickknack ever made that would beautifully compliment my plastic cactus and extravagant weeds. And of course complete with a welcome mat that reads “welcome to my crib”. Anyway… I could tell my mom was distracted because she continually nodded her head in agreement…even when I mentioned the most exciting part of my single for life plan…an extra bedroom in the double wide for local Main Street legend Dizzy and any of his friends that need a place to stay. She then abruptly interrupted my next sentence that motioned for a bunk bed in the master bedroom where the top bunk would be occupied by me and my babies (cats), and the bottom for my collection of trolls. So with blatant disregard for me dreams and aspirations :) cunningly asked “oh a garage sale, can we stop for just a second? –second mistake 2. Entering a residential neighborhood before noon on either a Friday or a Saturday. I grudgingly agreed to her request as we drove for the next 10 minutes following the signs that I swear sent us in circles and propelled car sickness. So 27 minutes later, after watching my mom parade up and down the aisles of a dirty garage, she pleaded once again, to stop at another yard sale that her fellow yardshoppees were bragging about. –third mistake 3. Believing that it would be “just a second” and not making my mom commit to a promise that would bind her to this being her first and ONLY sale of the trip. She promised it was just around the corner…FIFTEEN minutes later… we found the supposed gold mine of a “moving sale” as professed by others, when it then took yet another 15 minutes of meandering around for my mom to deem it a “crap sale”. She hastily got back into the car and with obvious discontent instructed me to drive to my aunts (our original endeavor) for she was just too upset by the disappointment that ignited from the false advertisement of a “large moving sale”. A last we were in my aunts neighborhood when my mom caught wind of ANOTHER blasted neon orange sign taped to a, what used to be large cardboard box used to hold bulk amounts of baby formula. My mom convinced that it was legitiment…her argument being that the sign was neatly typed instead of sloppily printed like the previous signs…indicating promised success…as well as the box being once used for baby formula confirming that this must have meant they had children… which automatically made them civil people… which then of course promised decent inventory for her grand babies. I was becoming smarter when I told her I would drop her off at the yard sale, drive to my aunts to pick up the “all so important” table cloths and then promptly return back to the yard sale to pick her up at once…the conditions being that she had to agree that if I let her go that she must PROMISE to quickly get in the car once I pulled up. Like a 4 yr. old, my mom nodded with great enthusiasm and star struck eyes. Long story a bit shorter…my mom somewhat obeyed her promise as she took only 5 minutes to get in the car once I pulled up. I could tell that she was again not pleased with the most recent shopping endeavor…this was confirmed when she said verbatim the following “do these people think they are Pottery Barn? That crazy lady wanted $15 dollars for her hideous picture of that ugly deserty painting of a horse. All I was interested in was the frame and she would not go any lower…BUG!” Meanwhile I am just about to get onto the freeway when she slyly made mention that we make a “quick” stop at JC Penny’s Outlet store while we were in the area…but there was no ignoring my obvious look of aggravation as she retracted her subtle proposition by agreeing that getting home was probably best. Now surely convinced that the torture of yard selling with my mom was over, because after all we were already home bound on the freeway, I unknowingly made my next tactical error-fourth mistake 4. Pretending to be interested in her dissertation of yard selling standards:

Yard Selling Standards According to Lisa Thompson: (the irony being that I think the word “standards” has absolutely no business being in the same sentence as yard selling.

Definitions:

Yard Sale- having highest rank of all the sales, the yard sale possessing the largest responsibility to perform. The title of “Yard Sale” automatically implying that you have a well furnished yard and carport occupied by well sanctioned aisles of actual desired items

Community Yard Sale- just because your neighbor asked that you try and sell his termite infested TV stand at your yard sale, does not manifest a full fledged “community yard sale”

Garage Sale- A desperate attempt to clean out your muck of a garage does not constitute a “garage sale”

Moving Sale- a true moving sale means that you automatically forfeit your high prices… for a moving sale naturally implies that you are desperate to get rid of your items for a move would not permit everything to come with you

Estate Sale-When an 80 year old cheap guy wants three times the original value of something that’s falling apart and 50 years old to begin with. “But it’s an antique” is their favorite line and thinks that justifies high way robbery.

Well because I am losing steam writing this I will conclude that I love my family and our frugal ways, I would just prefer to not be present on their escapades :)

A Little Piece of Perspective

2010-02-24T12:18:00.000-08:00

So my brother, sister (in-law, but we agreed we don’t like the sound of “in-law” because she is our amazing sister through and through) and nephew, moved from Indiana to come stay with us for a few weeks until their place is ready to go. On the same weekend they moved in, Reagan received the tragic news that one of his best buddies was killed in a car accident. Fast forward a few days, needless to say the demeanor in the Thompson home was somber at best. The funeral came and went and as expected the grief did not...especially for my brother. BUT THEN…7-yr. old Jordan went up to Reagan one day and with a very pensive expression, pulled Reagan aside as if to deliver more heavy news. Knowing that Reags had been “sad” she took his hand and told him that if he would like to speak to his boy Kale, then that was more than possible. She, in her precious 7-year old depth and wisdom, instructed (all on her own) Reagan to write a letter to Kale, attach it to a balloon, release it in the sky and Heavenly Father would make sure it got delivered to heaven. OH MY STINKING GOODNESS, it is tender moments like these amidst a tumultuous world, when a sweet, loving, innocent child of God, without haze from the arduous world, delivers the pure love of Christ. Though Jordan’s advice doesn’t always apply to other problems commonly experienced like stress of work, school, finances, etc. it does however accent a perspective so frequently forgotten: her “not so hidden” message being that the Lord loves us and ALWAYS prepares a way.

My life is crazy!!!

2010-02-04T01:39:00.000-08:00

So while I wait to go to sleep, I thought I’d blog to pass the time. Nothing too exciting to report on so I’ll list a few of the highlights of this past week:
-accidentally called 911 while at work and a really cute cop came but he was married
-watched a you tube video with the insistent recommender of the SNL skit standing over my shoulder, closely evaluating my level of enjoyment…and instead of feeling the pressure to force out a laugh at something I don’t find one bit funny because I’ve never even heard of the guy they’re making fun of, I actually found the bit to be super funny. Still no idea who they making fun of, but nonetheless there was a funny old lady in it
- Was rather bugged when I went to a particular joint for some ice cream and was supposed to receive $.25 back as my change. BUT then almost condescendingly the girl asked me (with her hand hovering over the tip jar) “want the change?” in a tone so opinionated that if I were to answer yes, I would be thought of as a bum! Umm hello, I just bought my ice cream for like a dollar something, so yes I want my quarter (that’s like a fourth of the cost). But of course I only thought this to myself and was too afraid to reveal my true white trash colors so I let her keep the change. So on the way home, unable to let this go… all I could do was compile a list of what a quarter could get me. For starters, a gallon of water at water n’ ice, half a taco from jack in the box, nearly 30 seconds of soap at the “do it yourself” carwash, a “sanitary napkin” from the Wal Mart bathroom vending machine, ranch from the Italian Restaurant in globe, a sour air head roll from QT, a very satisfying ride from the mechanical horse that used to sit outside of Basha’s, a minute long back scratch from my sister, a small cup of ridiculously over sweetened lemonade from the local neighborhood stand, a quarter of the way to a red box flick, etc. The nerve!!
-Received in an email, a clip of a cat trying to get a computer printer to work, and though I am no cat fan surprisingly I watched the whole thing and found it to be delightful
-went 4 days in a row without wearing my retainer, due to the whole wisdom teeth fiasco…this absence of mouth gear being significant because I can think of MAYBE 3 separate nights in the past 5 years I went without my retainer, much less 4 consecutive nights!
-My life is CHAOTIC! hahah

I Can't Believe I'm not married! :)

2010-01-22T23:17:00.000-08:00

So my friend at work told me a long time ago that she read in the newspaper, that a man had created a personal ad and because he despised the drudgery of dating, he took a unique approach to finding "the one". Instead of embellishing on his "numerous and enchanting" qualities and describing his "athletic build" and his strangely close resemblance to Richard Gear, he instead posted his quirks and anything else about himself that might deter one from an active pursuit. I admired the honesty and strategy...why waste time? it's better to know what you're getting yourself into. I cannot remember the details of his list but I just found the whole idea cute and fun so because I am compiled of quirks I thought I'd name a few and see what comes my way :)

Josie's Ad:

-I heat up my string cheese in the microwave until the cheese bursts out of the plastic

-I take forever to fall asleep and until I find just the right spot, I am constantly twisting and turning

-To this day I'm not allowed to open a cerial box, my mom says I do it wrong

-My ideal date would be a short visit to Mesa Frozen Yogurt and a high five at the door

-I'm the worst present wrapper...like its really bad

- For the most part I always have my cell phone on me, but 99% of the time I keep it on silent so that it is like a little a present whenever I have a text or call…hence I miss almost every phone call

-In the smell department I have a very unjust double standard: I can create smells as I please but if you do...gag…leave the room immediately

-I always cut my nails too short

-I wear flip flops regardless of the weather (see above picture)

-I most likely will love peanut butter and white cheddar cheez its more than I could ever love someone else

-I brush my teeth 12x a day but shave maybe once a month (blond leg hairs, a gift from God)

-If you get a sun burn I will pick your dead skin ( I get this from my mother, as a young child I can remember waking up to my mom hovering over me picking scabs, dead skin and popping zits)…this was her entertainment..some people like bingo, others like picking things

-If I'm home at 9am The Price is Right will be on. It reminds me of the old house and going to swim lessons with Reagan as soon as the show case ended

-I sleep with 6 pillows. It’s a must.

-Everything scares me, to this day when I watch Disney’s Mulan I fast forward past the Huns… too scary….and don’t even get me started on “Little Mermaid” Ursula…

-I laugh at everything and even harder when I shouldn't

-At home I have literally usurped the power of the upstairs bathroom and my sisters know that they will LOSE their bathroom privileges to my bathroom all together if they: do anything but #1 in the toilet, forget to wash their hands, "miss" the toilet in ANY way (mainly applies to the boys),leave behind an unflushed toilet, disorganize the medicine cabinet, or carelessly leave their junk out on the counter.

-If I can’t sleep (at all) I play the piano regardless of the time

-I pop/crack every knuckle, joint etc. that I can…terrible habit

-The only part of David Letterman I find worthwhile is the top 10

-I HATE getting gas...hence always on empty

-my handwriting is so UGLY

-I am late to even my 2:00 church :(

-My feet are always ice cold

-I sweat like a man

-I can change the oil in my car as well as I scrap book…

-Half off Saturday at Good Will takes precedence over any other Saturday activity

-You could not pay me to sit through Lord of the Rings. Fantasy stinks

-I swallow pills like a 5 yr old, I will never get used to it

-I always try to beat the wal mart door greeter to the punch (by saying hello first)

-I refuse to believe q-tips are bad for the ears

-I think berry flavored tums are right up there with m&ms-delicious

-I avoid ever having to write a"Z" in cursive, I never did learn how

-TV show "The Biggest Loser" makes me feel bad about myself

-I sanitize a shopping cart before I even think of touching it, yet I share gum and tooth brushes no problem

-I believe canker sores are from Satan, they are just horrible

-During the winter I have a heating bad that goes with me to bed, the dinner table (extension chord included), the bathroom, playing the piano, the office, etc.

-When eating a meal, I take 1-2 drinks of water from my over used propel bottle, before and after every single bite. Once I have consumed two bottles of water I stop eating no matter what. I take FOREVER to eat

-I believe there is no one funnier than Barbara Jean (from tv show Reba)

-I would choose girls camp or a trip to globe over Europe or Hawaii any day...and I'm not just saying that because I'm poor

-I love the smell of a glue gun, it is so fresh and clean smelling

-I find: swimming in flooded retention basin, or skim boarding in irrigation, to be one of the top reasons to live in Mesa

AND...my most shameful flaw (besides the obvious flaws that go with out saying)

....I am not a huge Mexican food fan

I can't believe Im not married :) :) :)!!

catch up time

2010-01-14T22:03:00.000-08:00

So I haven't gotten on the blog for awhile, really there have not been any real exciting events to report on but I did get my wisdom teeth out earlier today so while I wait for some meds to kick in I thought I'd dabble in writing for a little. I still remain one of the most blessed girls alive. I've been privileged by my loving Father in Heaven, to experience some real-life experiences that will serve me and my family in the future to come. What is super neat about difficult times, is while encompassed by the monopolizing darkness, the smallest ray of light penetrates directly into your soul and gratitude becomes a very special and hallowed feeling. Nothing has changed, and I'm literally doing everything I can..so now all I can do is continue to try and simultaneously embrace the sentiment that hangs on my wall "faith in the Lord includes faith in his timing" so I need to sit back and count my blessings...for I am greatly blessed.

These past few months I have:
-attended the family Nevitt Barn dance with all of the Reber cousins
-been to Safford quite a bit to see my amazing cousin Jenny and her sweet family...including her new baby Josie :)

-journied to Snowflake with a friend

-continued my "no make up" kick... I think my family and anyone who lays eyes on me are counting the days until I get out of my no make up funk haha.

-received a dog for Christmas...and yes I realize this is like my mom running the heater...it just doesn't happen. But in regards to some current circumstances my mom allowed a teacup chihuahua, named Johnny Cash, to join the family. He does not smell, he does not bark and he is super loving. I love him.

-played in the annual Hale Christmas Eve talent show on the ukulele with sweet baby sister Jordan

-took 2nd place in a 3 on 3 basketball contest out in queen creek with my good friends and teammates Savanna and Mel

-strived to be on time to our new church block time...2 pm

-appreciated my amazing sisters Jessi, Jacque and Jordan, even more.

-been taken good care of by my loving parents

Though I'm not on a mission yet, I am on a mission of my own. So for the 3 people that will read this, the church is true, oh so true. The best part is "the best is yet to be" that is not only a statement but a promise. The Lord lives. He sits at the foot of my bed and blesses me with his spirit through disheartening times. The Holy Ghost is very real and if we choose to live and govern our lives righteously, it in turn will serve us as a constant companion. It's a work in progress, but is most definitely something worth aspiring to master. The church is true, oh so true.

All in Favor

2009-12-07T21:54:00.000-08:00

All in favor of turning the heater on say I!

I thought that maybe if I dedicated a whole post to this, it might validate my argument. My cold blooded mother (not because she is mean but because she is ALWAYS hot) refuses to run the heater. We practically take out a second mortgage on our house during the summers, to run the A/C but come time for the winter, my mom says that I should stop complaining and instead put more clothes on, for the temperature is just perfect! But anyone who knows me knows that I like my basketball shorts and I just can't give. Anyway hopefully my mom will remember that:

A. I have a blog, and actually read this

B. My room is a converted attic, therefore it is FREEZING during the winter

C. In my room: I can see my breath but cannot feel my toes

D. That I am her favorite child hahah :)

Also shout out to my dad: Given the past year, I have spent A LOT time at home haha, and therefore infringed quite a bit on everybody's space, but especially my dad's. You see, my father has a man cave upstairs dedicated to optimal entertainment and sound performance for his music. However based on the fun little situation, I have commandeered that room and made it my territory. Despite my selfishness my sweet and loving dad has graciously allowed me to do my thing (day after day) and sit contently in the lazy boy with my white cheddar cheez-its, "cutie" oranges, crunchy peanut butter, 5 water bottles, boggle, floss (for post oranges) and heating pad on high. My parents are champs. No one will ever know the compassion my mom and dad have for selfish little Josie :) They are the best.

finally a new, but nothing real exciting...post:)

2009-11-19T00:17:00.000-08:00

(these are just some of the pictures from my little get-together, sorry a lot of them are blurry :/)

It is most definitely time for a new post. I think it made my year when my sweet brother Reagan told me to update my blog...which means he reads it...while on the other hand every time I tell my mom to read my post she answers with "you have a blog??" haha my poor overloaded mother :)

Anyway I turned 21...I am so old. I had a last minute get-together at my house and my intentions were to have the people closest to me (including my mia maids) join us in our low key celebration. I've always known that the majority of my friends are older but my little get-together confirmed it. How blessed I am to have the friends that I do...seriously no one will ever know the impact they have on my life.

So in my attempt to create something to write about, I'm trying to decide if I should honestly write how life is currently going, or promote optimism, or... recap funny excerpts from the past few weeks...yeah that sounds good.

So I'm going to jot down a few instances that have made my world go round:

-Jordan (7 year old sister) runs with me on the canal about once a week and does the first mile along side me. So this week I was preparing her i-pod for her by putting her primary song/Disney play list on but for some reason the ipod was malfunctioning. So while I puttered around, trying to get it to operate Jordan responded "It's okay Jos, I'll just listen to the birds while I run." Pretty much adorable.

-I was trying to bond with Lola Bird (my fat rabbit) and while she pretended to be my friend, just when I wasn't paying attention, she snagged the carrot out of my hand, hopped just far enough away from me that I could not reach her, and then stuck her bum at me and shook it. No joke, my rabbit is a snob.

-the daddy long leg spider that has been living in the corner of my bathroom finally disappeared hopefully by virtue of bug spray and not by relocation

-It's that time of year I basically stop shaving :)

-there has been a new addition to my green check engine light..there is a new, more dominating red check engine light that compliments my car Christmas decor quite nicely

-I wore make up today, first time in a long time

-in order to stay conscious and mobile in the freezing cold house of Lisa Thompson (who thinks it is a game to see how long we can go into the winter without using the heater), I purchased a new heating pad and that has added much joy to my life :)

-the other day I got reprimanded for not posting the "half off Saturdays" at goodwill, on the family calendar...dead serious

-And last but not least, just when I thought I couldn't be more indebted to my good parents, I am. Hopefully no one will know just what they've gone through this past year, but my goodness they are SAINTS!! I love them and the rest of my family dearly :)

dogs, cats, and rabbits oh my

2009-09-23T23:04:00.000-07:00

So I'm told I'm like a terrible person for finding 99.9% of animals repulsive, but I want those that think I have no heart for not liking beasts that smell terrible...to know that I have had over 7 dogs over the years (note: how long the animals actually lasted at our house, irrelevant), 9 cats (started / with 2 cats, but my mom didn't want to spend money getting them fixed and figured cats had morals and believed in abstinence...2 pregnancies later we had 9 cats), list continued: over a dozen rabbits, 4 turtles (my favorite animal thus far...zero maintenance), 1 frog, countless fish (we lose interest fastest with fish...needless to say they don't have a long life expectancy rate at our house)...and probably more animals...but I can't remember. Anyway please know that I do aspire to find a dog one day that will suit my needs:
Wanted: a big enough dog to keep me safe from creepers on the canal and big enough for me to ride, a dog that will obey with exactness, never barks, doesn't poop, doesn't shed but isn't long haired, smells fresh and can brush it's own teeth, doesn't eat a ton, kills scorpions, attracts cute boys but keeps the neighborhood kids and home teachers away (haha I know Brother Brenchley reads this so that's just for him :) he's wonderful)...a dog that listens to me and only me, does cool tricks so that I can get on the Letterman show, a dog that can deal with my affection inconsistencies (usually pertaining to the weather...if it's hot, don't touch me) a dog that will eat mom's left over "mystery casserole"...(food usually given to us to take home after someone moves or a funeral or food storage that is 10 years past expiration and needs to be used up before weevils completely devour it...uhhh) oh yeah and a dog that does not lick or go completely crazy when someone rings the door bell...that's so annoying. Well if anyone knows of one of these dogs in existence...give me a shout out.

Mingle with the shingles

2009-09-08T20:41:00.001-07:00

Jenessa and me playing

Me, after playing with Jenessa

(and FINALLY...now...16 years later...look I have a map of the US on my back haha...ps shingles don't typically look like this but it's all blochy because.... well I'm too embarrassed to say what I did, but anyway I only perpetuated it.)

I just wanted to publicly thank (amongst the 3 people that actually read my blog) my mother who back in 1992 insisted that I walk 2 houses down to the neighbors and play with my good friend Jenessa. I was more than happy to comply, but was still a little unsure as to why my mother would be so enthused about my attendance to a typical play date. So my mom eagerly walked me over..while aggressively steering me with her hand, as though she was anxious about something unknown to me. Much to my surprise Jenessa greeted me at the door with these strange red dots all over her. I looked up at my mom puzzled and my confusion only grew when my mom said in an attempted sweet but more demanding voice "hug her and kiss her on the cheek"...so almost frightened by my mother's forcefulness, I, being the obedient 4 year old that I was, quickly obeyed and then went inside to engage in a fun game of house or play with pogs or whatever kids did in the 90's. Anyway a few days later I was taking a bath when I noticed some semi-familiar dots on my own body. So when I approached my mother with this inquiry regarding the origin of these dots, my mother almost with an approving smug grin, attempted to display grief when she declared that I had indeed contracted the chicken pox. So fast forward 16 years later... Just recently I began feeling this chronic pain in my back and after a trip to the chiropractor and then to the doctor; concluded that it must be attributed to the running I do-so with a little ice I'd be fine. But then a few days later I developed some kind of rash on my back and then we knew: shingles!

Though it's quite painful (my back blistered just today, so the burning started) its still nothing short of comical and we've all had a good laugh about me being 100 yrs old. The only reason we were able to recognize it as shingles was because my 83 year old grandmother once had the virus. Of course I'm kidding about it being my moms fault that I ever got chicken pox in the first place. Her defense, when asked about why she subjected me to the the chicken pox, was so I could get it over with before I started school....so fair enough. However when I asked her about the vaccination shot I could have have potentially had...she plead the 5th, but anyway I still love her :) she's taken great care of me!

Just to name a few...

2009-08-31T01:16:00.000-07:00

haha...

Ever had one of those days where its pretty tough, but then out of no where you are just overwhelmed with love and gratitude for your blessings? Every time I feel blessing-deficient, all I have to do is begin naming off those people in my life that bring me joy. My mom would attest that I am always beginning my sentences with "Do you know who I love??" (in a platonic way of course, my "love life" is non-existent) or "Guess who I think is the best?" or some kind of rendition of the question that follows with the answer of someone I recently encountered or someone who I've known forever and was just reminded of how amazing they are. So just to name a few: ...ps of course this is not all, in fact this became a long process so I didn't even come close to posting everyone/nor do I even have a picture of everyone, but the point is valid: Josie=blessed

pps: the reality just hit, the majority of my friends/icons are all a lot older than me..one day I'll have friends my own age :)

our crazy, but awesome family

2009-08-17T23:21:00.000-07:00

Growing up I was most certainly guilty of murmuring about family home evening. My parents have always been extremely obedient to the commandment of faithfully holding it, and 10 years ago I might have followed up to this sentence with"...much to my dismay". However as I have slowly matured I have found family home evening to be a pillar of our family's spiritual fort. While our family benefits from this routine assembly, from a spectator's point of view our "family home evening" might be conveyed as quite humorous. For instance following an opening song and prayer our fhe always consists of a family council (aka bone picking session) where we must all raise our right hand in compliance that we will not take offense to any matters of business that might be presented. So in tonight's family council my mom kicked it off with a lovely object lesson. From out of her suitcase-of-a-purse, she pulled out a full loaf of bread and proceeded to demonstrate how to properly seal the bag so that no air would remain inside and threaten to harden the bread. Apparently Jordan did not pay good enough attention to the first demonstration which subjected our family to a second demonstration of how to properly seal the bread bag....yawn. The next matter of business was of course instigated by again my mother who opted to encourage all of us to be more frequent toilet flushers...nudge nudge Jordan. We then listened to a 15 minute dissertation on the importance of Sunday school attendance and a certain teenage member of the family was implored to not only attend but to be punctual to class and avoid confrontation with the adult hall monitors. Following that lovely debate I then took a hit for being too hard on the girls and expecting too much of them when it came to the delegation of upstairs chores. I strongly disagreed and still resent the accusation that I am too strict, and instead think it is the girls work ethic that could use some modification but whatever :) As for the best matter of business, I would venture to say it was a tie. The the first nominee: was when Jordan was reprimanded for wasting "perfectly good women's products"and using them as diapers on her baby doll Lilly. And the second nominee being "one family member" accusing "another" to stop stealing their pillows during the middle of the night and then returning them with unruly drool marks...barf.

So after our stimulating session of family business we then had sharing time and then it was my dad's week for a lesson so we heard part 2 of his Plan of Salvation lesson, which was actually very informative...minus the tangent I started about this one lady who died during a suns game. Anyway we closed with family scriptures, a song, and then of course a family prayer...and I must conclude with the utmost honesty, that I loved every minute of it. How blessed I am to have the family I do and in spite of all of our idiosyncrasies and sometimes conflicting ideals, they're a great bunch.

As for anything new and exciting in my life: my best friend Kenzi got married and for anyone who knows her....she is absolutely perfect and therefore the whole day was perfect!!! :) :) :) (I'll do a separate post for this)

-I also got called to be a Mia Maid advisor in my ward so I'm super excited :) ...good for me, probably bad for the girls haha

I Believe

2009-07-09T00:41:00.000-07:00

I am not a cutsie (possibility cutsie is not an official word) person...though I wish I possessed the creative talent, so with that... my room and anything else I have stewardship over, has taken a hit for ugliness haha... BUT I am proud of the new vinyl that hangs on my wall-I wake and rise to this very sentiment EVERYDAY and EVERY TIME it gives me strength soooo....I hope the adversary can read because I believe in Christ...So Come What May :)

tribute to my pops

2009-06-21T01:08:00.000-07:00

I consider my dad to be one of the biggest tender mercies in my life. This man is absolutely the most selfless, faithful, courageous, devoted man I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. Anyone can throw out a compliment about their dad, so I feel very inadequate attempting to portray his rare caliber of a father and truly convey his unconventional spiritual latitude... but to sum it up, he is one of the Lord's finest servants and definitely my hero. His selfless-ness and devotion to me manifests itself everyday through small and simple deeds. Just last night he was saving his restaurant left-overs but I stumbled upon them so he, with out any hesitation, gave them up. Then today he spent all day helping me re-do my room while I moved on to other things, yet my absence did not deter him and he worked until finish. My dad's best attribute is that he loves the Lord full heartedly and aspires to be Christlike and honest in all that he does. The past 10 months, I'd bet he's given me well over a dozen father's blessings, and not once has he ever had to postpone one or stop and prepare, but instead being the Lord's vessel, he has been able to administer me one right on the spot.

My dad knows and loves his Savior and I know this not only because of his verbal testaments, but because he lives it. He is constantly serving members of the ward, my family, and friends and neighbors. He'll tell you that the best thing that ever happened to him (besides marrying my mom) was laboring in the Puerto Rico mission for 2 years, in full service to the Lord. There on that mission, my dad completed 2 fine years that continue to bless my family each and every day. Whenever I have any kind of predicament, there is always a story or parable learned from mission field that he is able to liken my life to.

My dad has many gifts and talents but the ones that are most special are those that fall under the spiritual categorization. My dad isn't very vocal with some of his more sacred experiences, but I do know that my dad has been a recipient of many wonderful, rare opportunities; these experiences would not have occurred had it not been for his spiritual preparedness and abundant faith in God.

It is no secret that our family has maxed out on adversity this year :) all of my siblings (especially my brothers and I) will tell you that the majority of our rescuing can be attributed to my father. He is single handedly the most unconditionally loving man I know. I have had confirmed more than once, that I was specifically sent to these goodly parents to be taught the statutes and precepts of the Gospel and learn from their peculiar examples...and because of this divine decree, I know I have been given all of the opportunities and experiences one needs to come to know their Savior and live happily obeying and adhering to the gospel principles. My dad has taught me all my life to make good choices and to stay in close proximity to the Gospel teachings, and again, he has instilled this in me through his own example.

One side fact, I have never never never heard my father curse; not once...my mom would be mad if I didn't add that I have never heard her as well...the amount of patience both of my parents have is qualifying enough for Celestial Glory :)

My dad is absolutely one of my best friends and one, if not my biggest, example. But I would have to say I probably love my dad most because of how he treats my precious mom. He absolutely cherishes her for the princess she is, and does his best to appease every need she has. He has been that faithful, loving, charitible husband that I would presume the great men in the scriptures were to their beloved wives. One night my mom and I were discussing qualities I should look for in a future husband blah blah blah haha, and so I tirelessly listed as many traits as I could possibly conjur up, and at the conclusion of my list I realized that I had just sketched the very essence of my dad's catalogued attributes and qualities, so I proceeded to say "I want someone just like dad."

My dad is a saint and even while still on this earth today, he has already imprinted his legacy into every aspect of my life. Because of my dad I know who I am. I have walked in on my dad countless, COUNTLESS times, fervantly on his knees giving thanks to His Father in Heaven or crouched in a small quiet corner of the house studying his scriptures. He is a light to so many and ESPECIALLY...me. Dad you are amazing and I love you, happy father's day!

catch up...ps love my cousins

2009-06-17T20:39:00.000-07:00

So these past few weeks I have done the following:

-girls camp with Kellster!!

-learned that 2 of my best friends, Kenzi and Season are engaged to awesome, AWESOME boys :) :) :)

-fished with cousins: Ole and Rainy

-Got on a plane to Idaho for my cousin Kellie's wedding and while waiting to depart from Phoenix, I witnessed a woman across the aisle, in distress having a panic attack and making quite the ruckus on the plane...though trying to hide the reality of the situation and suppress the inner desire to stare, I couldn't help but notice that the crazy lady was my mom. Apparently the handful of Dramamine did not suffice and her anxiety got the best of her. Oh I felt horrrrible, we laugh about it now but it wasn't funny for about 5 hours. But 73 prayers, 6 Dramamine, 4 mini bags of pretzels, 2 baby cans of Sprite, 8 run-throughs of "Be Still My Soul" with fellow members of the church smiling (the plane was headed to Salt Lake first, and then routed to Boise), 3 visits to the nasty air plane bathroom, and several big scenes...later, she was back in commission

-experienced the joy of day light savings-it's so crazy, doesn't get dark until 10!!

-went to a random singles ward in Idaho by myself

-flew home unexpectedly and missed the wedding... but still had tons of fun for the short time I was there

-had honestly the best 24 hours I've had in at least a year!!...went camping with Rainy and my 2 little sisters, and I cannot even verbalize how much fun we had. I want Rainy Dawn to know that I absolutely love her. She is a tender mercy in my life and without any effort at all she has the ability to lighten any situation and just enjoy life. She is so precious and soooo amazing. I could go on forever about her accomplishments but just to name a few, she is a Hinckley Scholar, graduated number 2 in her class, student body pres., varsity soccer and track and absolutely beautiful inside and out. She is all that and more and yet she still gives her lowly cousin (me :) the time of day!! The girl has made my summer!!!

-set up a tent at 10:30 at night

-having zero understanding of what Twitter even is, made a user name and password and haven't gone back since

-so as previously mentioned, my mom doesn't do super great on planes, so she rarely flies anywhere, and especially without the family. So for the past week I lived in a house with only my dad and the girls and there were so many things worth laughing and blogging about. If only my mom saw what Jordan's hair looked like every day going to school... I also loved my dad's meals: my mom isn't a huge meat person so her meals rarely have a large portion of meat, but with my dad, the first night I got home from Idaho (I came home a week before my mom) my dad had this huge roast prepared...and every night after consisted of a hearty meal. I also observed that when mom was away no bed times existed, but instead designated quite zones...mainly because when my mom's here she doesn't let anyone sleep on the couches as if they're nice haha, so with my dad in charge everyone slept where they dropped and took advantage of this overlooked decree.

The night before my mom got home I asked my dad if he was excited for her to be home...and with great intent he answered "absolutely; there is just no replacing her" it was so tender to watch him miss her as much as he did. I missed her as well, but while she was gone I ransacked her room and traded her pillows. Forever I have been stuck with what feels like cardboard, while my mom had the real-deal, tempurpedic pillows that she has horded (I say horded but really there are only 2 in existence at the Thompson home). So the first night she came home, a couple hours later about 1 am I was just snuggling into bed enjoying the comfort of the amazing pillows when I heard Jessi shouting out warnings...just then my mom stormed in and took my precious pillows back...sooo other than that I am super happy she's home:)

swimming

2009-05-26T01:22:00.000-07:00

Okay today we all became officially the most white trash family in the neighborhood. How? Well as if our family van that is as old as me wasn't enough or the yelling that protrudes from our house if after 2 seconds some one doesn't shut the door behind them...the neighbor's hear: "shut the dang door, and even louder, the air is ON!!" or best yet our porch furniture that seals the deal: a freezer that sits on our outside porch and has the turtle(s) and the rabbit and whatever other random animal we have that week, burrowing under it for cool air. Now this freezer is definitely not an outside freezer so it has some annoying beep that beeps every 9 seconds to warn us that the outside temperature is not accommodating. So what's more white trash than this? Today my 3 sisters and I decided we wanted to swim. Okay actually not true, no one wanted to swim except me, but nonetheless they were sweet and decided to come. So the usual protocol, "Jacque call the neighbors and see if we can come over". Yes pathetic, but it usually works. However, today the neighbors said "yes, but asked us to wait an hour"...haha awkward!!... They're assumpmtion that this very evident hestiation and an hour wait would deter us...nope. But after all none of us wanted to wait so we then said, Jacque call White's. So Jacque protested a little but she lost the 1, 2, 3, not it...game...yes we're definitely 3 years old and that's how we settled it. So Jacque proceeded to call the White family in our ward and they didn't answer. So finally I said "okay I want to swim, Sister White is awesome and would not care, so let's go." Reluctant, all the sisters followed and because we're fat and lazy we got in my car and drove 4 houses down..haha. So we got there and again, "Jacque go knock on the door" "1, 2, 3 "Not it!" So Jacque again lost and went up and apparently no one was home. Well we had come so far and I was not stopping. So we went to the back gate and I put Jacque on my shoulders and helped her to open the unusually tall gate (it was hilarious because once she unlatched it we all walked in but she was still stuck, slouched on the gate and the gate swung closed with her screaming...hahah sorry Jacque) So I helped her down and just as I was doing so, Jessi comes running back yelling "abort abort!! they're in the pool!!" so we start retreating back to the car so embarrassed. So for the next 15 minutes we drove by every house in the neighborhood assessing which house we thought was suitable for our needs. The demands were the following: I needed a pool that was not directly in view of every window in the house-I had no make up and let's face it, look disgusting in a suit. Jessi's terms and conditions were pretty close to mine, Jacque wanted a diving board-unfortunately beggars can't be choosers, and Jordan...though Jordan's vote didn't count much anyway, she was in the market for "pretty pool toys". So we were on the hunt, throwing out pros and cons to every house we passed. Then if we had all agreed, Jacque would call or run up, and today it seemed that no one was "home"...well now looking back on the day I'm 99% sure when whoever saw us crawl up to their house all creepy with 4 sweaty heads sticking out of the windows (I didn't want to run the A/C, my car was going to over heat-so we were all dying) all in swim suits, eyeing their back yard...I'm sure this very display opted whoever to shut the blinds and turn down the tv, as if the Jehovah's witness's were there to preach. Well we were growing desperate and the peak tanning hours were fading, so 5 minutes away from absolute desperation which would have lead to hitting up the nearest Hampton Inn pool, we decided to go back to square 1 and wait the hour out, and go swimming at the original pool. Well we did just this, and finally went swimming. Yup we need a pool.

When I grow up...

2009-05-18T23:07:00.001-07:00

I finally know what I want to do with my life. It's so simple, yet I've been blinded to the obvious solution for so long. Well the fog has lifted, and my life ambition has been revealed: I am going to be a stay-at-home aunt :)

blog stalker am I

2009-05-18T00:33:00.000-07:00

What is this crud about the little tool you can add to your blog, "the blog frog" where essentially you can see who is blog stalking??...umm I am not okay with this, I prefer to blog stalk in private. But maybe it's for the best, after all I'm beginning to decide I have a blog-stalking problem and need a 12 step program. I discovered this when I was at a reception and this girl I was acquaintances with in high school (the extent of our relationship in high school was hi-bye) was there at the reception holding her new born baby and so to make polite conversation I was asking questions like "whats his name?" "what's it like having a baby?" and the sad/creepy part, was I already knew the answer to my inquires thanks to my tactful blog stalking...so I'm apparently going to have to start re-thinking my quiet prying now that I am going to get caught.
PS, a little off topic but I am so so so so so grateful for family, I was playing the piano today, and for about 5 seconds, I felt my grandma and knew she was there...I mean literally she was there, it was unbelievable...I've been promised that angels have taken charge over my life, and today my spiritual eyes saw that promise in action...oh the good the gospel brings

Good day?...I think so

2009-05-13T00:29:00.000-07:00

My day today...nothing cool happened I'm just super bored
-got out of bed pretty quickly after waking up..good
-poured a bowl of Raisin-Bran and after puttering around in the pantry, found a can of raisins. Now normally this would not be a good thing- plain raisins are not my kind of delicacy. But in a bowl of raisin bran they become oddly delicious, so I treated myself to a few extra helpings of raisins-it was like stumbling upon a can of extra Lucky Charm marshmallows.
-ran the canal with very little floor time prior to; just laying there trying to bring myself to just get it over with...good
-ran past this model girl I had never seen before who was perfect height, so skinny and very tan, made me feel horrible-bad
-But to make up for the model who made me look like fat kid trying to run, I saw 3 turtles on the canal, one creepy man, and lady on a bike, who turned out to be my mom bringing me water-God bless her...great
-came home and showered... and shaved...psyche, it was a good day, not a miracle day
-Could feel what my family coined "The Big D" hitting hard, but just kind of shut my mind down and went into robot mode where I just don't think about anything that I'm doing...and went into to work...good?
-Talked to Brenda, my co-work, whom I love with all my heart. She not only cracks me up but when I absolutely am so discouraged about everything, she chimes right in and builds me up having no idea what perils rest in my mind...good
-got into my million degree car and branded my arm with the seat belt...bad
-stopped by a gas station and the cashier was a total jerk...bad
-a Billy Joel classic came on the radio...good
-had to get away, went to sleep-bitter sweet
-had an awesome dream, when I woke up and discovered it was only a dream I was literally mad-good/bad
-got over it fast, and was glad to know I woke up when I did, dinner time-good
-Went running again, but this time Jes accompanied me-good
-went with sisters to wal mart to hit up the red box and get food-good
-ran into Kendra Carroll in the ice cream aisle-good
-made plans with Kendra to lay out tomorrow-good for me, bad for anyone that has to see my sick body haha
-searched high and low in the cereal aisle for my blessed malt-o-meal and couldn't find it-very very bad
-drove home, got yelled at by Jacque for running a yellow light, I told her to show me her police badge and she couldn't so naturally I won the argument :) -good
-Watched Marley and Me, cute movie but that dog drove me nuts, at some parts I would have preferred to be watching Marley and Me without Marley, but then felt guilty after seeing the end of the movie, deep down there was a place in my heart for Marley-good
-ate my weight in pretzels...no good
-watched Jacque get caught in the act of using Jessi's new razor that she is freakishly too proud of. I sat back and had a good ol' time hearing Jes list off all the reasons why Jacque should never ever touch her razor. She argued it was unsanitary. Well I hope not, I use it every time I shave but unlike Jacque I lock the door-tactical error...good
-kissed Jordan girlie good night-good
-hit my shin (my shin that is already in kind of a lot of pain because of shin splints) on the desk, while sitting down to write this pointless post...bad
-sat there surprised that hitting my leg could hurt that much; tried not to cry or say anything crass, succeeded...good
-wrote this mind numbing post-good for me, bad for anyone who reads it

2009-05-12T14:50:00.000-07:00

I gotta get out of this place, any takers?

Elder Taylor :)

2009-05-06T21:04:00.000-07:00

Taylor is the one on the right ps...haha

Though I was an ugly, ugly little girl , I opted to put this up because Taylor was a cute little boy

wow I weigh a million lbs. apparently

absolutely hideous, but again I put it on because it makes the point that we did everything together

bye for 2 years...apparently I didn't get the memo to dress up

haha this is the best, Taylor out with my family, while I chose to stay home

So T-Man has been out a year now...good grief. I could go on forever writing down reasons why I love this kid (as my best friend of course..) but here are a few. So every summer since we were 14, Taylor has accompanied our family on our vacation to either Utah, Nevada, or Idaho to see cousins. So some times we would be together every second of every day for up to 2 weeks, and amidst close quarters for long periods of time, I never ever grew vexated or tired of him. Thanks to Taylor I got through math every year; he would neglect his own studies, and sometimes for even up to 3 hours, he would work with me and tolerate my ridiculous questions and lack of inteligence. Talor and I even read the Book of Mormon together one semester. Even when we weren't at eachother's houses he'd still be faithful to our goal and call over, even if it was late at night, and read (over speaker phone) while I'd get ready for bed or whatever. I also remember one particular time during our junior year, I got really sick with some kind of virus-yuck, and so during that week he would come over and just lay on the floor with me and either talk or watch movies to keep me company. He was even compassionate to the fact that I inherrited the lovely Hale skin, which means my face can manage to have major acne problems but still maintain beautiful dry cactus skin. So complaining about this a lot, Taylor took me shopping and insisted that I stop skimping on good face wash... and so he proceeded to buy me legit moisturizing face wash...haha I still have it, and try to use it as seldom as possible. When we were 11 years old, one summer we both became very enticed with fishing (of couse for me it was a fad, while for him it continues to be a lifestyle) but anyway no joke, every sinnnngle day we would go sit in the good ol' AZ heat and fish at the park/canal. But to beat the heat the best we could, Taylor insisted that we leave at 6 am sharp every single morning. But because I am no morning person, we had a system that he helped conjur up in order to meet a compromise. I gave him a house key, so I would sleep as much as possible while he would come over, pack up the trailor (by trailor I mean bike trailor of course) then he would prepare the bait and even get my dog maggie in and ready to go, make lunches and do whatever else needed to be done..then he would go upstairs and come up to my room and wake me up (before the days boys being in my room was labeled as scandalous). We would then trek to the park, cast our lines, lay on the sheet and play whatever games we could think up with just a deck of cards. I then remember one time in Reno, the last year we went before his mission, we were laying on the tramp looking up at the stars, and we started discussing deep Gospel topics-well his contribution was deep, while mine was pretty rookie. But anyway, for some reason we started talking about women's roles in the church, and I don't remember, but I'm guessing I brought up my struggles I had about women's roles versus mens. But with such pureness of heart he explained the way he felt and understood the principle: he said that based on the girls he knew in his life... "girls are just better than boys and understand more easily the statutes and principles of the gospel. They are equipped with enough Spitiutal insight and are absolutely necessary in the Lord's plan of Happiness to help the boys get it together". I didn't want Taylor to know how sweet I thought that was because it would embarrass him, so I just smiled discreetly and moved on to another topic.

Well I miss the boy, but he is doing what the Lord needs him to do. Much love Elder!

P.S. sorry that some of the pics are repeats-lame :/

Sleep anyone?

2009-04-30T03:34:00.000-07:00

Wow me and my fat self, I am sleeping with chocolate all over my face :)

(PS lets keep this picture away from Child Protective Services...:)

I MISS the days of being able to fall asleep on a minutes notice...

Now one comfortable queen size bed, one Ambien, mandatory silence, perfectly dim room, must-be quiet but better be a dang good working ceiling fan, and one hopeful prayer I'll get to sleep sometime soon... later, leaves me up blogging and looking through old pictures that make start to wonder if I owned a bed growing up.

No offense but..

2009-04-25T00:50:00.000-07:00

So growing up in my house you were just as likely to be reprimanded for being too sensitive as you were for saying something unkind. Not that we condone "being mean" to one another but my mom helped us all to learn a valuable life lesson at a young age that being too sensitive can be destructive and you need to learn to let things roll of your back. So today something was said that definitely made me feel pretty low, but instead of settling for being offended I just tried to laugh about it which got me thinking about how I have handled being offended in the past.

I feel like in some areas I have mastered being "tough skinned": make "Josie is short" jokes all day long-I can sport around a smile and laugh at the roast being had at my expense. Same with not "being married jokes"-I celebrate this, so bring it hahahaha (that's for my mom). I can also hack any attacks against my weirdness, which I realize is very broad, but all inclusive with idiosyncrasies such as -being barefoot rain or shine, December or June, or my complex I have with hating my mouth and relentlessly yet casually covering it when in the presence of others, or my unruly pet peeve with one of Jacque's very few flaws, perpetual dropping of the soap when in the shower. In my defense, this bothers me greatly only because the bathroom is right by my room, so when a new, fresh, barely used, bar of soap drops onto the tub, the sound projects into my room and I happen to hate that particular sound plus it is soooo loud...and not only that, when I go to shower and use the "community soap" a questionable concept as is, and then it has a million dents in it...bug. Anyway back to my point in all this, I can handle anybodies criticism, jokes, or whatever so long as it coincides with my perception of myself. However in contrast, if the criticism or ridicule contradicts my opinion or view, even if it wasn't intended to be malicious, I often fail to be thick skinned; which I realize is MY flaw. So an example of this, is when my dad politely corrects my driving, he is completely right; after all I'm the one responsible for a dented Buick, damaged garage, and totaled Nissan Sentra-all separate incidents...yet I'm stubborn and have this erroneous speculation that I am a good driver. Or in regards to the "complicated, double standard" girl rule that is violated when I can say something unfavorable about myself but if someone were to make the same joke, I'd be so offended. For instance I make fun of my chubby legs/body all of the time but one time I was walking up the stairs and someone yelled earthquake, I was pretty upset. K that never happened but sometimes my mom will "attempt" to comfort me once I've voiced how I hate my tree trunk legs. So in her efforts of consolation she'll tell me my chubby legs can be attributed to "Reber Thighs" (my grandma's side of the family) and not to feel bad because all of the girls in our family have them, yet little does she realize I am looking for her to under-mind my self loathing and instead tell me their beautiful and skinny, instead of confirming what I said and try to soften the blow by giving me a genealogy lesson on our fat family.

Well my favorite (sarcasm of course), is when other's intend no maliciousness, in fact they even intend to compliment, but instead they leave you feeling horrible. Like one time (this happened a long time ago and it was with someone who I don't even know or talk to anymore, so no one needs to rack their brain about maybe being the perpetrator) someone asked me if a certain missionary had written me yet... and the missionary hadn't shocker I know..haha... and so I said "no they haven't" and side note: it was totally okay, I wasn't expecting this missionary to up and write me.. until that person was like, "man really? that's so weird because that missionary writes everybody...and then with even more emphasis I mean everybody!! Well I'm sure he'll get around to writing you sooner or later... don't feel too bad" Yeah, I felt quite small.

That is almost as bad as when growing up the big "dis" was the "no offense" one-liners. Unfortunately some people are still under the false pre-tense that suggests that you can say whatever wretched, horrible think you want, and it will all be okay, so long as you add the disclaimer "no offense"
I'm sad to admit that just the other day I caught myself using this want-to-be get out of jail card aka the "no offense line" when I said to my mom "that moo-moo dress you are wearing makes you look like a 90 yr. old peacock...no offense"

Another instance in my life that often leads to me feeling pretty lame, unfortunately is a little too relevant in my life. The person typically has good intentions, and builds my self esteem up by telling me I would be a perfect match for their son, brother, cousin, friend, neighbor acquaintance etc., who I assume is someone awesome...so I agree to a blind date, and referring to one incident in particular...oh my goodness, afterwards...or actually right away I thought to myself, "please tell me that in no way do I resemble or seem the least bit compatible with this person!!! Awhhhh!"

Well I could go on and on about my goal to override being offended and instead master the art of being thick skinned. I just need to learn to shake it off, accept that I'm a weirdo and give life is a thumbs up

JuDene Brown...perfect? I think so

2009-04-20T22:53:00.000-07:00

So this post is long over due. JuDene Brown is not only one of the most well know and LOVED women in Mesa, but lucky for me, she happens to be a leader in my ward and my boss: win win :) So I've always known how elect this woman is just through her example and her earnest desire to serve, but it wasn't until I started working for her that I saw first hand her righteousness and devotion to the Lord and her family. I have never met a busier woman: she not only has the obligation of holding down the fort in our office, but meanwhile raising a family, at one time serving as our Ward Relief Society President then soon after camp director, and in addition to that hectic life, she still would attend early morning institute with her mom and actively participate in several other community service activities. One being, her annual participation as a pro-life spokes person, who takes time out of her chaotic life to sit at a booth down at the state fair, and actively engage herself in the fight against abortion. Her rigorous schedule acts as a paradigm in my life; no matter how hard life may get, service to others and Lord comes first.

Despite JuDene's caliber and zeal, she still manages to be one of the most humble women I have ever met. She truly truly truly puts others first; in deed and in thought. She is constantly worried about the welfare of others...especially the youth. She is currently serving as a leader in young women's and is loved and revered by those girls. She happens to preside over my sister, and Jacque is continuously praising "Sister Brown" for being so fun and sooo sweet! I remember when my mom was called to secede JuDene as Relief Society President, and besides the pronounced anxiety of a new demanding calling such as RSP, there was the additional worry because my mom was being asked to fill the shoes of JuDene Brown; one of the finest most selfless, valiant women in all the church.

Of course I see JuDene's good works touch the lives of so many, but I am privileged to see even more of her goodness in our office. She always always enters the office with a smile and a greeting for all, despite the opposition in her life. She handles stress better than anyone I know, and has the rare capacity to stay optimistic through all turmoil. One of the most paramount blessings in my life at this time, is having a boss so compassionate on my behalf. I have been the absolute worst employee: undependable and scatterbrained yet despite my shortcomings; JuDene has been most honorable in accommodating my every need. Her desire to help and succor me has been unyielding and not once has she manifested any distaste in my deficiencies as an employee.

JuDene I hope you know I love you!!! You are an example to me in more ways than one!

Need to get out of this place :)

2009-04-15T00:09:00.000-07:00

Well it's official, if I have one more day like today, then I'm raisin' my hand in approval for puttin' on my hat, shades and good bye face...and parka and yellow glasses if necessary, and I'm out...OUT OF HERE! I lay hours today on my floor wondering how I got here, what's next, and how realistic is relief. I was frustrated to tears (understatement) needing to talk to someone, but refusing to do so and knowing that there wasn't anyone I could call, including myself, who would even understand. However faith requires action... yet I lay there waiting and anticipating nothing short of a miracle...expecting an angel to descend and say "you've had enough-let's go"...well needless to say that didn't happen (plus that's pretty dramatic), but instead my -super inspired, it's almost creepy how in-tune, mom- came and left this quote in my room "Having faith in the Lord includes having faith in his timing" -Elder A. Maxwell. Yup, that seals the deal, I'm a terrible person, where's my faith? ...it's there, I just need to work harder, smile more, and wait just a little longer. Change is on the horizon...right?

Also to note, I don't think I could have missed Grandma H, anymore than I did today, definitely could have used her wisdom.

Little Girl, Big Example

2009-04-12T23:45:00.000-07:00

*these are just pictures taken throughout Easter Sunday-it was the year with the Thompson side and it was SO much fun---thanks Aunt Angela!

So... this weekend was a "good" weekend, therefore Friday I hung out with Chris and as for Saturday, that was almost better than Sunday. Jordan and I went shopping and ran errands all day catching up on things that I have more than irresponsibly neglected for 6 months; so one of these many stops constituted Wal Mart-yay. While we were there Jordan developed the giggles and could not stop laughing... so that got me started and even though shopping-wise I had everything I needed we kept walking around anyway. It also just so happened Wal Mart was giving out free samples of the most delicious ham ever tasted!! So after Jordan and I wore out our welcome with the sample lady due to multiple trips for more ham, we began secretly staking out the kiosk in anticipation for the sample-people to change shifts already so we could have more... :) but meanwhile we began a discussion focused on the significance of Easter Sunday (primarily because we were going to the pageant that night and I wanted to reiterate for her the importance of the holiday) then we spoke on the Resurrection, which lead to questions about the Atonement, which then lead to discussing trials, which in turn became Tender Mercies..the Gospel in General.. etc...And even though Jordan is 6 she still managed to allow me the opportunity to attempt to teach her fundamental, yet all encompassing Gospel principles. But in order to deter her from getting bored with the conversation (that I was thoroughly enjoying) I turned it into a game. I would tell her about experiences that had blessed my life, or trials that had transcended into blessings, and then I would make up a case study for her, and allow her to ruminate and answer how she would react to that situation based on her Gospel knowledge. . . Yeah, I know what you're thinking, I am one cool 20 yr. old, and boy do my weekends get crazy. . . anyway the point of this is I cannot believe how in tune Jordan is with the Spirit. Yes she's been brought up in the Gospel, but even more it was a general testament of the buoyant spirits that the Lord preserved for the tumultuous yet glorious Latter Days. Jordan, along with the generation she was born in to, truly is a valiant, righteous descendant. Well shout out to my wonderful friends (if any of you will even read this far into my boring post) because many of the scenarios Jordan and I discussed about being a good friend and striving to be worthy of inspiration, I found predominately becoming my own personal experiences where I acted as the recipient of numerous selfless acts of genuine friendship that was illustrated on my behalf time and time again. ( most on my mind right now, Aprill, Aubs, Season, Amber C. and of course my stinking perfect family-none of these people, amongst many others, will ever know the impact of their service!!)

So following mine and Jordan's long talk, Jordan decided she was going to bare her testimony all by herself on what she referred to as "Testimony Sunday". She also made it clear she wanted her testimony to portray how she felt, and not just be a memorized dissertation. So she proceeded to practice with me all through the store, even until we pulled into our house, almost an hour or two later. Then once we got home she disappeared for a little while, only to find her talking on the phone. She had come home and on her own, found our Bishop's number, and called him to inform him she was "struggling" with her testimony-no joke, her words exactly. So another shout out to Bishop Bartel-a true Disciple of God- as if 1 Thompson girl (Me) hasn't been a big enough burden thus far :) yet he still took the time to utilize this precious phone call as teaching opportunity. So after speaking with Bishop for a little while, Jords hung up only to announce the Bishop had extended to her a challenge to bare her testimony on the next Fast Sunday... AND she accepted... AND she would practice diligently... AND she would be prepared. Jordan an example to me?? I THINK SO!

One last thought, Jacque and I went to Windsor Ward's Sacrament Sunday because our family was going out of town for Easter and we'd miss our block...anyway I made Jacque go with me just to Sacrament, only to discover yet another tender mercy in my life. Not only was the program amazing, but my favorite arrangement of "I Know My Redeemer Lives" was sung, and if that wasn't powerful enough, Bishop Peterson stood up after words and shared one of the most profound insights that was taught to him by President Bradshaw who had acquired it from an excerpt from one of President Packer's teachings. I guess during one of the meetings President Packer was residing over, he stood up and said to the brethren, "Very quickly will I teach you all you need to know about the Spirit" and then sat down while he had a young man sing all 4 verses to the hymn "I Know My Redeemer Lives"....President Packer stood back up and declared "that is all you need to know about the Spirit."

That is the magnitude that particular song is capable of sharing... if we're worthy of receiving.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0NoxhsH8rE

...oh the joy the gospel brings

photo radar??

2009-04-07T15:47:00.000-07:00

So my mom is big on a lot of things, and the leader of the pack being communication. Which is why it was odd, when a few years ago, we woke up one Saturday morning and my mom was nowhere to be found. Her phone was off, the van was gone, and even the family calendar left no indication of where she could be. Marie Calendar's hadn't seen her in at least a few days, and the local Olive Gardens left no trace of her-now we were legitimately concerned :) Well about 7-8 hours later she came home and was very vague about where she had been all day. Well we lost interest (probably because the commercials ended and Full House was back on) and nothing more was said about her disappearance. Well a few days later we stumbled upon a white folded piece of paper that looked as though it had been crumpled more than once..merely out of rage, and on that paper was a black and white picture of my dear sweet mom grinding her teeth with an intense, authoritative look in her eyes. It was a photo radar ticket...and that explained her sudden disappearance; traffic school. She had been caught and all of her years of bragging about "oh I'm the best driver, I've never been in an " blah blah blah! She's never been in an because when a driver sees a bus on the road or a diesel truck, everyone gets as far away as they can. Not only are they slow, but I'm sure I'm not alone in the fact that whenever I'm on the freeway and right next to a big truck, I don't dare drive in their shadow for any longer than I have to. Well the same principle applies, people see the blue ghetto van and assume it's going to be slow, fall apart suddenly because it's old and ghetto, they don't want to be near a potential gang shoot out, or they just flat out don't want to be caught in the van's blind spot...for obvious reasons. Anyway the following Monday night, our fhe lesson was commandeered by my mom, and instead of teaching out of the church manual, she taught with a shady, dubious email as her guide, entitled "how to get out of a photo radar ticket". We weren't taught to drive safe and stop at yellow lights instead of accelerate and avoid photo radar all together, but rather how to manipulate the flashing lights . She even had an object lesson (barbie convertible and a Polly pocket camera) and a center piece, her photo radar ticket. Anyway in that lesson I learned to make sure to pull down the visor with haste, and hide my face if I think I'm in danger of the flash, and simultaneously wave my hand back and forth swiftly, in attempt to blur the picture. So I felt pretty confident about the cameras until this past week...which brings us to Saturday. So after conference I was craving some Mesa Fro Yo, and the craving was becoming more and more intense-nothing would deter me from my pursuit. So Jordan (under the false pre-tense that she too would be getting ice cream, agreed to come with me-hahahah I'm just kidding) so anyway she climbed into the back seat and sat in the center, not only where she's safest, but so I can talk to her more easily. So we get to Gilbert and Southern and I was in the line to turn left, waiting for the arrow. Now the car's license plate in front of me read "Iowa", and I already was bugged, because I pretty much assumed he wouldn't be up on the "everybody knows" rule, which in this case appealed as, whenever there is a green arrow, and a green arrow only, you do not take your sweet time turning...you hustle and try to get as many cars through without of course, running lights, tripping the cameras, or anything else dumb. Well I was right, the man was unaware and sat idling in the same spot, unaware that the arrow was green. So I tried to be patient because honking is so rude and thereby, I sat back as the driver finally stepped on it. Lucky for me the arrow had just turned from green to yellow as I began crossing the threshold, and though I did not expect a flash, as a precaution I still threw down my visor and stuck my head up (because I'm short and the visor doesn't cover my face unless I elevate my body) and much to my dismay, the cameras were triggered and the flashes lit up the sky . Well Jordan unaware that it's not splash mountain, throws her arms up as if our car was going to drop like a wooden log down a water fall. Well my ticket isn't here yet-and maybe it won't come....and if it does, we'll see how effective my techniques are. Along with praying for the missionaries each night, comes my new additive to my prayer-please don't let that ticket come :) haha, with a sense of humor of course.

PS with this post of course has to come a disclaimer...I to admit it but my mom is a good, safe driver, and of course she endorses following the law and driving safe-but writing other wise is more fun. Love you mom

BIG NEWS!!!

2009-04-04T01:39:00.000-07:00

(if you're going to read this post, make sure you read all the way to the bottom so you don't think I am the most misguided, clueless girl ever)

Guess what?!!!!

-I have a life!!

-I have sooo many friends!! I hang out every night!!!! :)

-My family has super nice, not eye-sores at all, real expensive, the kind you don't hurry and lock your doors when we drive by, super appealing.... vehicles!

-I'm normal again!

-I am skinny... and tall!

-My mom doesn't need glasses! her eyesight is just fine!

-I'm not afraid of the Huns on Mulan anymore!

-I love all animals!!

-My mom loves crafts!

-I don't mind that my room is haunted and no one believes me!

-I stopped hating the disgusting massive mosquito-looking bugs that have decided to turn my room into a sleezy motel 6 and repopulate the earth!

-I love the Geiko commercials!

-I love being a privileged girl, worthy of that special time of month!

-I have no problem fasting, I love not eating

-I'm the most beautiful girl ever!!

-I no longer resent my mom for passing down the terrible genes that make me prone to nausea like nobodies business!! I don't mind at all that I get motion sickness when I back out of my driveway, go over a speed bump, or have to hold my lunch in, when I drive on the loop 1o1 on the free way. It didn't bother me at all that in 9th grade, I had to run outside and throw up at the movie theaters all because we sat too close during the all -too-intense "The Lizzie McGuire movie". I don't even mind that when Jacque wasn't around, I tried out her Crest Spin Brush, and shortly after, I had to stop brushing but instead sit down for a few minutes and allow my head to stop spinning and let the nausea pass. When I was little, I enjoyed having to take a Dramamine just to sit on a swing or look at the kids going down the twisty slide during recess!!....I can't wait to have those fun, vomit-marathon, pregnancies my mom and all the Reber's got to experience!!!

-Kendra and I would NEVER have a pot luck in Relief society every Sunday with our gold fish, fruit snacks and beef jerky

-I don't mind that we schedule family home evening around Dad's 24, but my "Real World" has to wait-hahaha love you Pops

-I love my mom's 6 page daily relief society e-mails!! I read them thoroughly

-I never drink water

-I love coming home only to find that Jordan and her little friends, who all just got over pink eyes a few days prior, are playing make-over with my make-up!

-I love my acne!

-I love that the scorpion that was in my room got away and is still in there!! Doesn't scare me one bit!

-I never sweat!

-It doesn't bother me at all that Jordan's friend came over the other day and told me that her mom told her that "Jordan's older sister Josie, should be married by now!"

-I don't still watch Arthur on PBS

-Our family isn't ghetto for not having all of our birthdays written down on the family calendar, but yet, for the next 6 years, the half-off-Saturdays at Goodwill are faithfully recorded up until 2015

-I never screen my calls!!

-Our homemade pool isn't one bit tacky or desperate!
-I love the process of getting ready for bed!

-I hate cheez it's!

-42 isn't too old to have a baby (we love Jordan :)

-I love getting up early in the morning!!

-I am awesome!

Oh wait....APRIL FOOLS to all of this nonsense!!!
k I'm not dumb I know this if soooo late, but I just found out today what month we're in haha...I'm a little slow!!

Going Forward With Faith...Yee haw

2009-03-23T00:54:00.000-07:00

So I get asked every stinking day, "so what are you doing these days Jos?" and I'm ashamed to admit I always lie...but only to avoid a long story...so I give one of two answers "oh ya know same ol' same ol'" or "just the same as everyone else...(and if provoked to lie further)...just the norm, work and school" but then I think of probably the most Christlike woman in the world...right up there with my mom and Grandma Hale of course...I think of my Aunt Joyce, who has carried her fair share of the burden of opposition, and yet whenever asked how she is doing, her response never fell short of positive. For example, a few months ago when she lay in critical condition, flirting with departure from this mortal existence as we know it, she pulled through not only because of her inner strength and desire to adhere to the Lord's will, but because of the power that comes from children of God uniting together to pray and fast on behalf of another. So Mema (Aunt Joyce) did make a miraculous recovery, but I would suspect the road to recovery is nothing short of difficult and far from over. Once she did regain consciousness, she lay weak and I'd venture to guess, strayed far from feeling what she knew to be "normal". I would walk into her hospital room to visit her and before I could ask how she was doing, or ask what I could do for her, she would beat me to it by inquiring how I was doing. I would spit out a quick, "I'm fine...but how are YOU?" and this generic answer would not phase her, but instead motivate her to truly divulge into attempting to surface whatever inner turmoil I was afflicted with, and commence in fixing that, rather than focusing on herself. The irony being, she was the one in the hospital, hooked up to multiple machines...yet I was the one acting as the recipient of God's goodness, as she would proceed to act as the Lord's mouthpiece and annotate for me, the counsel in which she felt prompted to share on my behalf.

So from her example I have constructed a far better answer to that customary Inquisition as to what I am doing with my life... My Aunt Joyce inspired, Mom suggested, Dad confirmed, Heavenly Father approved response that I have formulated is anything but a unique answer, yet a far better response to others' pursuit. "I am going forward with faith."

Last Thursday my worthy father was able to give an impromptu, but more importantly, inspired Priesthood Father's blessing. I came storming through the front door frustrated with life's hand I was dealt and wondering (out loud) why I couldn't be a normal 20 year old who only had to worry about school and who to marry and well, normal problems (haha)... and so with tears in my eye, strain in my voice, and pressure ignited in my fists, my father peacefully administered a much needed blessing. Many beautiful words were voiced, but what I found most comforting at that specific time, was his promise to me that, Heavenly Father was very aware of me and my situation, and guarded me with that of ministering angels to protect me from the despair and reproach of the adversary. Well tomorrow morning I have quite a beckoning quest that I have been dilatory about long enough. But the promise that was given to me Thursday, and in actuality promised to me all my life, and to everyone Else's, still applies. The Lord is aware of us, individually.

Of course there are several scriptures that lend plenty of hope and peace...but something that has been weighing on my mind a lot, in addition to the Lord's constant watch over us, is the scripture "men are that they might have joy". I deserve to be happy, happiness is a righteous desire...but the right kind of happiness. Nothing that is short lived, temporary, or that is employed by instant gratification. I'm on a journey to (or a journey to stay on) that kind of happiness that is upheld by peace...such as that promise given to us by our Savior..."Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Matt. 11:28

This next week I'm going to be sustained by prayers and faith, and most important, the Love of my Father in Heaven, and comfort of my Savior. But also, I'm going to head it off with a smile and an unconventional sense of humor haha.

To my family, I know exactly how many Carmel Worthers and cream savers are in my drawer- so no touchy.

Also dad leave my pillows alone, I don't want them to smell like boy, I work very hard to keep them smelling good...like a girl...thanks to my good friends at febreeze, oh yeah and washing them every Saturday.

Also mom, dad, feel free to drive my car...it has zero gas, so feel free to take it by quick trip or mobil or somewhere with gas

Oh and Jordan tell your friends that if they touch my precious bunny Lola, she'll attack them. If they want to harass an animal, go bug the stupid naughty turtle. He's game. Also please feed Lola, she can only live on love and sprinkler water for so long

And Jess, Jacque, Jordan, be good and have a good attitude...as for me... this is my attitude:

haha ps I know this is lame and ridiculous...it is a joke, I promise the last thing I am is confident