Happy January (for a change)

Happy New Year!  We've had quite the January.  Usually January sucks.  I hate January in Utah.  It's just a depressing month after the holidays, the Christmas weight gain, and the main reason... the weather!  Today is gorgeous and sunny outside, but that's the exception.  I totally get S.A.D. and want to poke my eye out with a pencil.

This month has been better because there has been a lot going on.  We started the New Year by heading to Folsom and Sacramento for my brother Brad's wedding.  The second week, John's paternal grandfather passed away.  The third week, John got called as the Stake Clerk and was sustained and set apart at Stake Conference.  And for the fourth week, we're going on a Western Caribbean cruise with some of my family.  It's kind of weird to say it was a "happy January", because losing Grandpa Hut was bittersweet, of course.  But it was also a wonderful time to be with family and give him a proper send-off.

I took a ton of pictures in Sacramento and posted a slideshow to FB for my family, but I forgot to do it here (thanks Jennie for reminding me).  If you want any of those pictures, just right click on the one you want then save it to your computer.  Or email me and I'll send you a copy.

The Annual Christmas Newsletter 2010 Edition

I haven't blogged in months, but it's time for my annual Christmas newsletter.  I'm being totally lazy and copying some the highlights/lowlights from an early post this fall -- with just a few additions (in RED for your convenience).  Anyway, if you're interested at all in what the Huts have been up to in 2010, please read on...

• January - May was a big blur.  It was really devoted to my dad and writing John's grandma's personal history.  They were both at CareSource Hospice Center together and I would go there almost every day to visit.  My sweet dad passed away on May 20th and Faye followed on May 29th.  It was a highly draining and emotional, but spiritual time for our family.   These are experiences I couldn't possibly even try to describe in a blog.
• In January, my friend April threw some freelance work my way for the Dental Assisting School of Utah where she works as Marketing Director.  John and I converted their website and made updates, set-up a CRM system, and I did some web content and admin stuff.  I still help them out when needed.
• In March, I started freelancing for a New Jersey based company getinterviews.com that my friend Liz referred me to.  I write and edit resumes for them.  I never thought I'd like it, but it's kind of a fun gig.  When it's busy, I can spend 15 hours a week doing that.
• I've started a personal history business: Remember Your Story.  I'm working on my mom's right now to add to my portfolio and John and I are doing the website.
• I'm working on a children's book and a novel -- both are going VERY slowly.
• Still doing a lot of other freelance gigs - and to supplement my income, I've been substituting in the Special Education classes up at Katie's school when things are slow.  It's genuinely fun!
• John is still Sales & Marketing Director at Aquaveo (a water modeling software company).  But, he's been working a lot in Provo.  In August, they merged the South Jordan and Provo offices, so he's been working in Provo since then.  Ugh.  John went to BYU, but never lived in Provo.  He took SL Center classes and commuted when he needed to.  He says he's used to it and it will be fine.  I say that it's been 11 years since he graduated and he was single most of that time.  It's going to be TOTALLY different now that he's married, has a kid, and is busy with church.  But, we're not in a position to move right now, so we're just going to try and make it work.
• We've pretty much stayed put with all that's gone on, but we did get to go to Idaho and Jackson Hole in July, which was a total blast!  We spent a couple of weekends in Heber at John's mom and step-dad's cabin.
• In June, I put on a Stake Carnival (I'm Stake Cultural Arts Director).  It was one of the hardest things I've done for a church calling.  Mainly because of my dad's health and his death, I didn't plan well at all and didn't delegate much.  Most of it ended up on my plate; a lesson I learned the hard way and will NEVER do again.  But... it was a huge hit, so that's good!
• In July, John got to travel to Shanghai, China for work!  I really wanted to go, but we just couldn't pull it off.  Fortunately, I've been to Beijing, so at least he didn't go somewhere that I was dying to visit.  He  was gone 10 days for a conference... and he even ate Chinese food!  That's a big deal for him since he's uber-picky.
• Katie is doing great.   We had a low-key summer.  No camps, no lessons.  It was actually really nice.  We did compete in the South Jordan Chalk Art festival with our neighbors Linda and Maddie.  We won first place in the Family Category!  Katie finally lost some teeth, so that was the great achievement of the summer!  She started 4th grade!!!  She was put in the ELP program this fall and we're very proud of our smart-cookie.  She also won 1st place in the Music Category of Reflections for the 3 - 5th graders.  She even got to go skiing on a field trip and fell in love with it.
• I'm an aunt again to cute baby Scarlett: Jimmy and Libby's daughter.  I'm a great-aunt again x 3.  My nephew Sparky and his wife Holly had their cute baby Austin in February.  Liz and Marshall had cute Drake in August.   And my niece Aisha and her husband Brad had a cute baby last week named Lydia!
• Been helping out my mom a lot.  She's doing well considering everything.  We (her fam) remodeled her bedroom -- something that wasn't done in probably 30 years.  It's really good for her to have a new room after all the years it was like a hospital wing.  Been working on my dad's library which may just be the death of me.  But it has been a fascinating process!  A bunch of us are going on a cruise with her to the Western Caribbean in January: Jimmy, me, John, Katie, Brad, Lisa, and all their kids.  Should be fun!
• Just when I think we've made progress with our house, something else happens.  Our back fence fell down (John's in the process of replacing it now) and we have to do some plumbing work downstairs.  The garage is tilting and the back is rotted.  Arson sounds like a good option right now.
• Katie and I  COMPLETED Harry Potter Lego Wii.  We did get a Wii Fit in April, so we're not complete couch potatoes.  I've actually lost 22 - 25 lbs. (depends on the day; it fluctuates -- and with the holidays, I may have put on more!), which I'm crediting Weight Watchers, the Wii Fit, and walking Bailey, but...
• ... on the bad side, I got sciatica after going on a school field trip up Red Butte in April.  It was snowing really bad and we hiked 2 miles.  On the way down the mountain, I totally strained my left leg.  It's finally getting better, but it has taken MONTHS!
• Then there's Bailey... the dog who lived!  Still love him!
• We are SO grateful for our blessings.  Even with a challenging year, all I can really say is how thankful I am for all I have.  I can't say enough good things about John and Katie; they both put up with a lot and I'm so grateful for them.  We have had so many wonderful, spiritual experiences this year and I know that our Heavenly Father loves us and is watching out for us.  We are so grateful for terrific family and friends.  We hope you ALL have a wonderful holiday season and a terrific 2011!

The Huts

Please comment on this blog!

We had the Hut family pictures taken by the great, Jen Tate, from Smile A Bunch Photography.  Please comment on her blog, because if we get 40 comments, we will get a free 11x14 mounted photo!  Thanks!

Check the pics out here.

My First (and maybe my last) Yard Sale

Wow!  I suck at getting back into this habit.  So much for Pop Culture Thursdays.  I just can't keep it up.  Sooo, I'm having my first Yard Sale this Saturday with a friend.  It's going to be from 8 - 2 p.m.   For those few peeps that read this blog that are in my neck of the woods, I'm cleaning out Katie's stuff and thought you might be interested in some of the stuff that will be on sale:

• Girl's Bike (age 5 - 8) - good condition
• Baby Stroller 
• Baby Highchair
• Plastic Food/Kitchen Toys (55 pieces)
• Baby/Toddler (up to 2T) clothes (her stuff from age 3 up went to that big sale we did at the Church)
• Children's Books (some cute LDS books included)
• Games for age 8 & under - gently used (Pretty Pretty Princess, Chutes & Ladders, Candy Land, Disney Princess Card Games, Zingo, Toy Story Memory, Wheels on the Bus, Cootie).  Plus, NEW UNO Attack-o & FRIEND DVD Scene It (both have been opened, but never played).
• New Snoopy Sno Cone Maker
• American Idol Double Dance Showdown
• Possibly Stuffed Animals???  Katie collects them and we've lost count at 150, but getting her to part with any is like asking her to part with a limb.

Other things that might be of interest:

• John's hobby is electronics.  He's giving away some great computer equipment including an old MAC.  We are also selling a gently used  Toshiba DVD and VCR player, etc.
• I'm selling my Crop N Style XXL scrapbook tote since I now do everything online.  Those babies go for $130.  I'm pricing it at $40 negotiable.  It's got all the pieces and it's in good condition.
• I've got kitchen appliances I never use: a new ice cream maker that's never been used, but doesn't have a box, and a breadmaker that I haven't used in about 9 years.  I'm pretty sure the latter still works.
• We have all of our CDs in ITunes and burned on a back up disc, so we are parting with about 90 CDs.  Saving out absolute favs, but there is a nice RANDOM selection to choose from.
• We're finally getting rid of the last of our rated R movie collection.  With a tween at home, we knew it was time to keep everything PG-13 and up (something we should have probably done anyway).  Used movies include: "Bridget Jones" 1 & 2, "Four Weddings & A Funeral," "Love Actually," "Shakespeare in Love," "Jerry Maguire", etc.

We'd love for you to stop by!  1270 Crandall Avenue (in between Richmond and Highland Dr)

Hope for Maggie

I took this information verbatim from my friend Camille's website.  But she worded it perfectly: 

Some of you may remember Maggie. She is a 2 year old girl that lives in my neighborhood. She has been featured on the news several times about her mysterious illness that continues to elude doctors. Last summer our community pulled together and did a yard sale that raised thousands to help with the medical bills and help the family get back east to doctors that might have some answers.

The update on Maggie isn't what we hoped and things are not looking good. Maggie is continuing to lose weight and her health is suffering greatly. We are once more going to try to help Maggie, but for a different purpose. We hope to raise money for her and her family to do something that will create a great memory for them.

On September 18th we will be having a Boutique/Bake Sale/Games/Etc.... to help raise money.  If you can donate anything, please let me know.  I will be handling the games, so specifically, if you have something that will work, I would be VERY grateful.

Since the last time we spoke...

Well, I'm back!  I's been almost 8 months since I've blogged.   I actually think I have the time to keep it up again.  And... I've been looking for jobs.  Many are asking me to provide my blog as a sample of my work!  How bizarre. I guess that shows I'm good at social media.  What happened to good old fashioned samples of my writing?  I tried a short lived stint doing a pop culture blog, but that I REALLY didn't have time for.  Sooo, you can look forward to the return of my Thursday Pop Culture Dish!

As the title suggest, I should fill you in on what we've been up to since January.  Here's the Reader's Digest version:

• January - May was a big blur.  It was really devoted to my dad and writing John's grandma's personal history.  They were both at CareSource Hospice Center together and I would go there almost every day to visit.  My sweet dad passed away on May 20th and Faye followed on May 29th.  It was a highly draining and emotional, but spiritual time for our family.   These are experiences I couldn't possibly even try to describe in a blog.
• In January, my friend April threw some freelance work my way for the Dental Assisting School of Utah where she works as Marketing Director.  John and I converted their website and made updates, set-up a CRM system, and I did some web content and admin stuff.  I still help them out when needed.
• In March, I started freelancing for a New Jersey based company getinterviews.com that my friend Liz referred me to.  I write and edit resumes for them.  I never thought I'd like it, but it's kind of a fun gig.  When it's busy, I can spend 15 hours a week doing that.
• I've started a personal history business: Remember Your Story.  I'm working on my mom's right now to add to my portfolio and John and I are doing the website.
• I'm working on a children's book and a novel -- both are going VERY slowly.
• I'm interviewing for another part-time editor job that is flexible and/or work-from-home, so I can continue doing my freelance stuff.
• John is still Sales & Marketing Director at Aquaveo (a water modeling software company).  But, he's been working a lot in Provo.  In August, they merged the South Jordan and Provo offices, so starting next week, he will be commuting every day to Provo.  Ugh.  John went to BYU, but never lived in Provo.  He took SL Center classes and commuted when he needed to.  He says he's used to it and it will be fine.  I say that it's been 11 years since he graduated and he was single most of that time.  It's going to be TOTALLY different now that he's married, has a kid, and is busy with church.  But, we're not in a position to move right now, so we're just going to try and make it work.
• We've pretty much stayed put with all that's gone on, but we did get to go to Idaho and Jackson Hole in July, which was a total blast!  We spent a couple of weekends in Heber at John's mom and step-dad's cabin.
• In June, I put on a Stake Carnival (I'm Stake Cultural Arts Director).  It was one of the hardest things I've done for a church calling.  Mainly because of my dad's health and his death, I didn't plan well at all and didn't delegate much.  Most of it ended up on my plate; a lesson I learned the hard way and will NEVER do again.  But... it was a huge hit, so that's good!
• In July, John got to travel to Shanghai, China for work!  I really wanted to go, but we just couldn't pull it off.  Fortunately, I've been to Beijing, so at least he didn't go somewhere that I was dying to visit.  He  was gone 10 days for a conference... and he even ate Chinese food!  That's a big deal for him since he's uber-picky.
• Katie is doing great.  Started 4th grade!!!  We had a low-key summer.  No camps, no lessons.  It was actually really nice.  We did compete in the South Jordan Chalk Art festival with our neighbors Linda and Maddie.  We won first place in the Family Category!  Katie finally lost some teeth, so that was the great achievement of the summer!
• I'm an aunt again to cute baby Scarlett: Jimmy and Libby's daughter.  I'm a great-aunt again x 2.  My nephew Sparky and his wife Holly had their cute baby Austin in February.  Liz and Marshall had cute Drake in August.  
• Been helping out my mom a lot.  She's doing well considering everything.  We (her fam) have been remodeling her bedroom -- something that wasn't done in probably 30 years.  It's really good for her to have a new room after all the years it was like a hospital wing.
• Just when I think we've made progress with our house, something else happens.  Our back fence fell down (John's in the process of replacing it now) and we have to do some plumbing work downstairs.  The garage is tilting and the back is rotted.  Arson sounds like a good option right now.
• I met my birth father's family in August.  He was killed in a car accident at the age of 28 in 1979.  I met my grandparents, two aunts, and an uncle.  It was a really good experience and so great to get some answers.
• Katie and I are 90% complete in Harry Potter Lego Wii.  We did get a Wii Fit in April, so we're not complete couch potatoes.  I've actually lost 22 - 25 lbs. (depends on the day; it fluctuates), which I'm crediting Weight Watchers, the Wii Fit, and walking Bailey, but...
• ... on the bad side, I got sciatica after going on a school field trip up Red Butte in April.  It was snowing really bad and we hiked 2 miles.  On the way down the mountain, I totally strained my left leg.  I've been trying to "fix it" myself for 4 months, but it is KILLING me.  I started physical therapy last week.
• Then there's Bailey... the dog who lived!  Still love him!

Who needs to blog everyday?  Take 20 minutes and just recap the last few months of your life and you're set.  Those are the highlight/lowlights I can think of.  Anyway, please come back, so I'm not totally lonely on here!

Please visit my new blog!

Hi to the 20 peeps that visit my blog.  So, as you can see by my link on the left, I have a new blog full of my pop culture ramblings.  I was really gung-ho at first, then kind of slowed down.  Right now, there's a lot about the "Bachelor" but I'm going to be posting more.  So please add this to your list and send me some love! :)

www.momknowspopculture.com

Holiday Pictures

Here's some pics from our holidays.

Dutch Christmas Party - on the first Saturday of December, John's siblings, spouses and the kids celebrate their Dutch heritage by celebrating Dutch Christmas.  We go to the Dutch Store by our house and meet Sinter Klaus and Zwarte Pete.  Then, we go over to Jen and Brandon's for a Dutch dinner, treats, games and then the kids leave their Dutch shoes out (filled with hay and carrots for the reindeer) and Sinter Klaus fills them with goodies.

G.G. and Kent (John's mom and step dad) took all of us up to the Hogle Zoo to see the Zoo Lights and have hot chocolate.  It was REALLY cold that night -- lots of wind -- but we had a lot of fun.

Christmas Party at GG and Kent's where we continued our tradition of gingerbread decorating (this year we did trains), had dinner and did our present exchange.  Chad (my BIL) loves this picture because it makes his bicep look so huge.  Em, this is for you to take and put on Chad's FB!

Mortimer Christmas Eve party - we have dinner, a really irreverent nativity although Sparky and Holly tried really hard to make it more normal than usual (see Katie as the camel), Santa Claus (my bro Dave) comes and this year, we had a hilarious White Elephant game.  Here's Jennie with the creepy CPR baby that Brad brought and Jimmy wearing some funky stretchy shirt that Dave and Shelley donated.  Jimmy convinced Katie to take it and now its a part of our dress-ups.

Christmas day was a blur.  Katie, for the first time ever, woke up early (we usually have to GET her up).  We had a nice Christmas morning.  Then, it was off for our "Four Christmases" (Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn have nothing on us).  We picked up my dad from CareSource and took him up to the house, spent a little time up there and exchanged presents.  Then, we rushed off to Silverado (an Alzheimer's Care Center) to visit with John's grandpa, step-grandma, dad and step-mom.  Next stop, was CareSource again to see Grandma Rees, John's grandma who is my dad's neighbor.  Finally, we went up to GG and Kent's for dinner and games.  Crazy day!

Hope you all had a GREAT Christmas!!!

New Year, New Me

Wow.  I had no idea how much of my life was really sucked up by my job at Utah Family.  I've emailed friends and family and posted on FB, but in case you're not in the know -- I quit my job on January 2nd.  I don't want to go into details, but let's just say that even though its for the best, it was really hard to let it go.  Fortunately, I'm doing some contract work for a dental assisting school that my friend works at -- working on their website and helping students write their resumes.  And I've got other resumes out and I'm focusing on freelancing.  I'm kind of throwing the spaghetti at the wall and seeing what sticks.

I definitely feel in limbo, a little depressed AND a little bit gleeful.  It's very strange.  But the most important thing is that my job was consuming me and now I'm forced out of my comfort zone.  I'm taking on a new challenge to get my life back and find the NEW ME!

Part of this commission is to do more things I enjoy.  And blogging is one of those things.  I took a failed attempt at quitting blogging back in May, because I thought it was the right thing and I was wasting my time.  But I realize now it's just that I honestly had no free time and being on the Internet for fun really just felt like an extension of work.  Even in the last few days, I've been so liberated not being glued to my laptop.  So when I'm on it now, it's because I want to be.

As you know, I love dishing about Pop Culture.  So, I decided it was high time that I started a new blog devoted only to that.  Hut-234 is going to be focused on my personal and family life.  And my other one will be about all things entertainment.  So, check out: www.momknowspopculture.com.  I wanted to do something about Mom and Pop Culture, but I'm obviously WAY behind on the mom blogging about entertainment trend.  There is a TON of stuff like that out there.  So, I may not be the first -- or the most original -- but really, I'm just doing this for me.  John is making me a great header and I'm hoping to add more to it, but I hope you'll visit and enjoy!

Happy New Year!!!

The Annual Christmas Newsletter 09 Edition

Oh little neglected Blog. How many weeks have I gone without Dish? And so much to talk about (Tiger, hello???). I promise to do a big happy end of the year wrap-up next week, but for now I wanted to post our Christmas, er... New Year's newsletter for all to enjoy! :)

Where to start? The start of 09 was pretty much the usual winter for us. Broken resolutions, Award season, hibernating from the cold, watching "Lost" and indoor house projects. Thank heaven for spring to get us out of our winter funk. This is when our year really starts and of course, we always bite off WAY more than we can chew.

2009 was no exception. We decided it was finally time to upgrade our ghetto bathtub and do more updates on the bathroom. Fortunately, John's mom's old house (she got married and moved into her new husband's home) was empty while they were getting it ready to sell. We moved up there for 2 months, which was a blessing and a pain. I had to drive Katie down to school every day. Her almost perfect record was tainted with 13 tardies in those two months. And with our church responsibilities, the commute just got annoying.

During this time, I was asked by the Stake Cultural Arts director to help direct one of the short plays for their upcoming stake activity "Comedy Tonight." Instead of doing one for a variety of people in the stake, I suggested I write and direct a play just for my ward. We're the lucky ward in the stake to actually have a good number of great young men and women: talented and willing to perform, so of course, I just wanted to do one with them! So, I wrote a 30 minute version of "The Wizard of Oz" and with the help of a LOT of people, we performed the beginning of May. I don't even have to fake humility -- ours was definitely the best!

I was also on the Highland Park Elementary Arts Night Silent Auction committee which is a BIG deal at the school. The Arts night raises about $20,000 each year. I helped get donations for the auction and worked the event that night. It fell on Katie's 8th birthday, but she actually had a blast running around unsupervised like she owned the school

Katie was baptized Easter Weekend. It was a dismal gray day outside, but definitely a wonderful, warm one in the Grant Stake Center. John performed the baptism and confirmation. It was attended by a lot of family -- real, ward and friends a like. We had a breakfast buffet at our ward building afterwards. It really turned out to be a special day.

No one was heartbroken when school let out since that also led to us moving back in our home and not having to do the mad rush back to the Brickyard every day. John really had worked his a-- off and the bathroom looks awesome! June was pretty low-key and it started what is now known as the "Summer of Parent Doctor Appointments", which little did I know would turn into the "6 Month Mom and Dad Health Saga." There was at LEAST one doctor appointment a week I was chauffeuring either parent to. Some weeks two and a few, I swear, three. Maybe I'm exaggerating, but I know there were a lot.

Katie got to do some fun camps over the summer. We had the Mortimer Family Reunion, spent a weekend in Park City, and went to the Uintahs camping. Well here... if you really want to see what we did, check those posts from June - August!

Our Young Women's presidency was released in May (I think?) and I was called over the summer to be the Stake Cultural Arts director and a 4th-Sunday-teach-once-a-quarter Relief Society teacher. Leaders were definitely inspired, because there is NO way I could've handled an every week, demanding calling with all that's been going on. John continued serving as 1st Assistant TO the High Priest Group Leader. :)

In the fall, Katie happily started 3rd grade and got the "best teacher" at Highland Park. She also started piano with my mom, but my own rebellion seems to still be there because I don't even make her practice, much to Mom's chagrin. John got promoted to Sales and Marketing Director at AquaVeo. There was about a 6 week break from any medical drama with either parent, so we went on a much needed, fabulous 10-day vacation to So. Cal. We left the trip with our roof torn off the house and came home to a fantastic new one (that was NOT cheap - hence, all future house projects are on hold). And as most of you know, came home to all the latest stuff going on with my dad. In between his hospital stay, subsequent hospice stay, then back home with hospice care and back to hospice permanently, I was over the Stake's "Culture Night" - a dinner and entertainment night celebrating cultures around the world.

Update on my dad. His health is really declining, but he's still smart as a tack. Since he went to hospice the day before Thanksgiving, the last 6 weeks have been absolutely crazy since he was in the middle of a bunch of Christmas projects and other things. I've been playing secretary for him. As always, his spirits are good and we're just enjoying the time we have with him.

So, what people really want to know? The sum-up...

- We live in the same house -- updated bathroom, new roof = broke & no new projects on the horizon!

- Our jobs are the same, but John got a promotion. Katie is a total tween. Bailey is whining at me to get him a treat as I type, so nothing has obviously changed for him in a year.

- We still feel EXTREMELY blessed, despite (or maybe because of our) challenges. And we love all of you, our friends and family!

Merry Belated Christmas and a Happy New Year!