ok...here is my first official blog picture. my new favorite toy. i got it for christmas and spent several weeks (aka many, many hours) uploading songs for our cruise. by the time we left, i was blissfully enjoying 2652 songs, with only a fraction of my memory actually used. i came home and started compiling a few new playlists and was getting ready to start searching out 100s more songs...then one night i went to sync my dear little ipod with the new enrique cd i had just burned onto itunes. somewhere in the process i was asked by mr. computer if i wanted to change the settings or something and i naively responded "yes". in the blink of an eye, i lost 2000 songs! gone! just like that! hours and hours of my life lost, never to be retrieved again. i seriously didn't know whether to laugh or throw up! i have been told by a few computer geeks that my songs are still there...somewhere...i just have to re-sync. not sure i trust them. i would hate to lose the only 600 songs i have left! one day i will try. what have i got to lose, but another week or so of my life.

ok, ok...i really am still alive. but now you know why my blog is named what it is! i was recently told by a friend that if i didn't update my blog, she would no longer be able to be my friend!

well, i don't want to lose any friends over this, as i have so few to start with, (j/k)...so...

i had oral surgery on friday the 13th (july) and am now considered an organ transplant recipient and can not donate blood for one entire year! go figure...who knew? i have actual cadaver bone powder transplanted in my gums. yum!

my father-in-law passed away on my birthday (july 15) and we made a quick trip to utah for the funeral. thanks to all who knew about this and sent their love and prayers to our family.

dad packard was 90 years old, square with god, and ready to go back home!

he has been saying for 25 years that he was ready to go whenever the good lord saw fit to take him ...said he had seen everything and done everything he had wanted to do. he was a great man and

will be missed by all who knew him, but

it is all good.

our little grandbaby, kaiti, had surgery a few weeks ago to correct her crossed eyes. we can finally see who she looks like and what a beautiful girl she truly is. it is so great to have her look right into your eyes and smile at you! melts my heart everytime!! she looks so much like her daddy, jake. you can take a peak at a few recent pictures (post-surgery, of course) at photobucket.com...for user id enter "jpsmiles2" and the password is "boop00" (that's the word "boop" followed by two zeros!).

we are so very busy at work right now, receiving tons of new product from the last industry show and gearing up for our huge september event "creative escape". this a three day event for 600+ women. guest speakers, classes, dinners, and all the fun and excitement that comes with it!

i have been on a reading binge as well...reading one book after another until i had to put myself on a reading restricted diet. no more books until i catch up on all my chores and responsibilities, i.e. my blog! so i have to get this entry done before i can start book #3 in the twilight series...eclipse. of course, my first challenge will be finding a copy! can you belive borders only received 100 copies in their first shipment, and now they can't get anymore until more are printed! what a rip! i even had a special order, but i will have to keep looking. maybe costco still has a few left. if you know where i can get a copy, let me know!

also, one book i read but did not like was the memory keeper's daughter. so unbelievable and depressing. no redemption until the final pages, and even then, not for the main character! read at your own risk.

enough rambling for now. i am going to go play around with my e-drive and see if i can figure out the whole putting photos on here thang.

have a good one...take care of you!

okay...i just deleted an entire entry

trying to figure out how to change the font. ARRRGH!!

so i will attempt to re-create it, although, as we all know, perfection is hard to imitate.

it is starting to look like i will be a once-a-weeker for the next little while...at least until i get my bazzill assignments finished. i just turned in one assignment today, and now find myself staring into the cold, red eyes of another HUGE assignment! (isn't that right ang?)

so anyway, we are going to our friend's cabin in strawberry for the weekend. it's a great trade off...richard helps omar do work around his house and business, and in return,we get to use the cabin a couple times a year. one of our new favorite times to go is thanksgiving.

our friend, elder jenkins, who is now lovingly referred to as simply "jenkins", will fly in from wyoming friday morning. he can do that now, you see, because he went home from his mission some time ago. then we will load up a couple of cars and head for the mountains. oh, and by the way,

have i told you lately that i freakin love my car!

on saturday, the kids want to hike into fossill springs. supposed to be a great swimming hole at the end of the trail! meanwhile, i will be scrappin' my little heart out back at the ranch...i mean cabin!

still haven't had time to learn how to put pictures on here, but i promise i will. i have an entire file of "all about me" pics that i know y'all are just dying to see, not to mention the 2000 we took in europe. and yes, angie, we went to florence...the real one...in italy. it was freakin beautiful! i want to move to tuscany! i do, however, have two nieces who live in the other florence...the fake one...in arizona.

well kids, i'd better go e-mail some pics to good ol' wal-mart one hour photo...wouldn't want to be stuck in the mountains without any pics for my projects! so until next time...see ya next week. take care of you...goodnight!

today i went to the airport to pick up richard. he has been in utah the past week visiting his parents and attending a class reunion. i drove there all by myself! and i didn't even get lost...i felt so grown up! as soon as we got home i ordered pizza to feed the missionaries. i always love to have the missionaries over...i truly believe that if i feed the servants of the lord, my own family will never go hungry! not to mention that they set a good example for my children and bring a spirit of peace into my home...go elders!

and who knows, maybe i will find another husband for another one of my daughters! j/k

i hope to figure out how to put pictures on this silly thing, but you know how it is...baby steps and patience. i am truly a computer dork. i work on a computer all day, but really have no idea what i am doing here.

jessica and austin have been in queen creek all week, and cody is rarely home (he's 18...need i say more), so this past week has been very quiet. i have even been home all alone a few times...now with richard home, i guess the party's over. i really don't mind a little quiet time, ya know...it's all good.

sarah moved out a week or so ago, so i took over half of the girls' bedroom for my scrapbook nook...don't you just love how that rhymes? anyway, it is great to actually be able to leave a project out while you are still working on it...and still be able to eat at the dinner table!

gotta go. maybe we can chat about my trip to europe next time. take care of you...goodnight!

hi there...i think i am writing a blog entry...not sure what i am doing yet. just testing the waters. if it works, i should be open for business soon!

right now i am just trying to comment on some of my friends' pages...so let's see what happens...