Glad it’s Sunday. I don’t mean to be morbid but it’ll be over too soon.

I taught Valiant 11/12 Sunday School. A class of four girls. There was an even split between “golden” and “rebel.” It was alright. One of the girls cried at the end of the class because another one had said she was weird. The funniest part is that the most golden girl made the most rebellious girl cry. Oh brother! I will shamefully admit that I was glad when it was over.

Thank goodness I could come home and bake up some chocolate cookies with mint-chocolate pieces in them. Mmm Mmm good! Thank goodness for that “empire red” KitchenAid. It keeps me sane and it also keeps a couple pounds on me. Whew! It’s okay if ya’ll are jealous about the cookies. As you can see I included photos of the dough.

One more thing. I don’t know what the deal is but it sure seems like the USA has a way huger selection of chocolate chips than Canada. I don’t know if that’s becuase I just blindly grab the jumbo bag of semi-sweet chipits at Superstore or what! I am having a lot of fun with the whole cookie thing over here. The next time I bake cookies I’ll be making plain old choco chip cookies except half of the choco chips will actually be peanut butter chips making them just like peanut butter cups! It’s the best! I know what you all are thinking… “when the heck is Katie coming home?” and “for my birthday/Christmas I want the same gift as Jim.” It’s cool. You’ll each get a turn.

It sure bites the dust that it snowed in my dear, old hometown, Calgary. That’s pretty wild. It’s stinking hot out here. I’m going to be as brown as an indian when I come home. Well I’ll have a brown as an indian farmer’s tan anyways. The back of Conor’s neck is so dark. It’s pretty hilarious. From the kneees down we’re all pretty tanned but it’s a blinding sight any higher. Lucky for the men they wear swim shorts but as for me, I get to flaunt my crazy tan! Ha!

I can’t believe how quickly time flies down here. It’s INSANE that it’s already Friday. It feels like yesterday was last Saturday. I’m thinking this summer is going to pass by speedy fast. We’re already nearly a quarter done. It’s mind boggling. It’s funny how sometimes (usually) we want time to go by quick so we can get to the next best thing but no one wants to grow old. I was thinking about that earlier this week. I would like for this summer to speed by but do I really want to get older? It’s inevitable obviously but the bottom line is do we take time to fully enjoy life? I know I don’t always do a good job at that! I guess I should probably improve on that before I have kids…

Well we were going to go to the temple today and were on our way until I realized I had forgotten my recommend so we turned around. Unfortunately there was no time to make a second trip and so we just stayed home. Fortunately we were able to play some Volleyball with some of the guys from the office. That was super fun. And then we went for a swim. It got so cold by the end of that third game. I swear I’ll never be warm again. And what were we thinking getting into the pool? Don’t get me wrong the water was warm enough but the wind on the head really chilled to the brain! It was a good time all the same. We raced and did relays.

Last night Conor and I decided to treat ourselves for knocking in the rain. So we got ice cream from McDonalds and picked up “Music and Lyrics” from the Redbox. This Redbox invention is brilliant. It’s full of new releases that only cost one buck for a night. It’s sweet. We’re really loving that. We thought that movie was stinking hilarious. I’ve been singing the theme song all day.

I said I’d never lose my head but then POP goes my heart (pop goes my heart)….

Yesterday Conor and I were so incredibly exhausted that we had to have a 30 minute power nap before we could hit the doors. I can’t believe how tired I am out here! I never knew I could be so tired. Fortunately we chose to go to bed early last night and we slept in a little too. Yesterday we were in a city called Superior. It’s a pretty wealthy place to be honest. When we were driving back to the doors after lunch we saw that the elementry school was doing a free car wash. We checked it out for sure! They were raising money for a mural in their cafeteria. The car washes were free (but donations were gladly accepted) and they had a little bake sale going on. It was really cute. We couldn’t help but get some rice krispie squares and our car washed! They washed the cars in stations. First they soaped up the car. Second, they rinsed it and third, they dried it off with white rags. There was a clothesline with a bunch of white rags hung up to dry. It was a really great scene. We were sorry to not have the camera with us! The kids LOVED our car. They had a lot of fun babying it. I thought that a car wash was such a neat idea! I’m sure they made a buttload of money since the area is so posh.

Last night Conor and I were going to go to a Mexican place but we couldn’t find it so instead we went to a steakhouse called Saltgrass. It was pretty good. Our office gave us some moola because we made our goal. The appetizer was my favourite I think. It was potato chunks with cheese, bacon, sour cream and a really delicious dipping sauce. By the time we got to the actual meal I was so full! Ha! They had a mural on the wall of a father pulling a son’s finger. That was pretty weird and bold. I love Saturday nights. It’s our one time to be normal. On Friday evening I was wondering why I wasn’t catching anyone at home and then I realised, “it’s Friday night. In the real world people are usually having fun.” Sundays are mostly normal but we really miss Sunday dinner with our families. Sometimes I wonder what it will be like to be normal again! I’m looking forward to September when I don’t have to do anything for a couple weeks and neither does Conor. We can just hang out with my brother and the new baby. And everyone else. Ha just kidding. Like I said, Sundays aren’t the same without the Muirheads and the McNeills. Oh that’s another thing. The phrases that we use when we sell have seeped into our day to day speech. For example, “like I said.” That one is used a lot to reiterate a point we previously made. I’ll never be the same after my summer here in Colorado. I will forever be a changed person.

Today was P day (Preparation day). We didn’t have to work until 4 pm. That was so nice! I slept in, made buns and cookies, did laundry, cleaned, etc. In the afternoon, Conor and I checked out some car websites and decided that we wanted to test drive a car. We headed up O’meara Ford and test drove a Mustang GT. It was a pretty sweet ride. It had a wicked growl to it and it was just fun! Conor absolutely LOVED it and wants one now of course. I really wish I could have been on a road with no other cars around me and no speed limit so that I could enjoy shifting and driving fast. I would get a lot of speeding tickets in a car like that. Conor and I decided we’d have to have a savings account with money set aside specifically for tickets. The interior was beautiful and the seats were incredibly comfortable. Unfortunately the sales guys were classic. The one dude helping us was great especially since he knew we were in sales. But the sales manager was a numb skull. I didn’t care for him at all. He tried eating up our time even though he knew that we had to be at work real soon. He continued to be skeptical of our job and of our financial status. We told him that we wouldn’t finance a car, but that we would want to purchase it in cash. I think that’s what made him really skeptical. He asked us to buy him one while we were at it. It was an interesting experience for sure! Obviously we aren’t going to buy a mustang (at least not for a while), but it sure was fun to drive a new one! We want to test drive a jetta, a nissan of some sort and a couple others this summer.