What a good looking family

My extended family is in the midst of planning a reunion. We do this every 5 years or so, and let me tell you....I have never had a better vacation then when I go to these reunions! Food, Fun, Family...what more can you ask for? My cousin found this old picture of us and posted it. This must have been about 1975. Don't we look great? We are on Grandma's front lawn in Canada. I can smell the thunderstorm and feel the mosquitoes coming to get me. Ah sweet memories of childhood.

A Night of Favorites

I was recently called to be the Enrichment Leader in my ward, and I just had my first activity. I have to give kudos to my friend Jennie who really gave me the idea for the night. Just as they called me they raided my committee and then the Enrichment Counselor moved out of town. It was starting to feel a little un-do-able! But at a book club Jennie mentioned that her friend had given a favorites party - everyone shows up with their favorite thing and tells everyone about it. Kind of like show and tell for adults. It sounded like something I could pull off in a short period of time.

I shopped around and found cute pens and notebooks for everyone. (Thanks Dad for humoring me and driving all over on a very hot Saturday!) The notebooks and cute pens were a hit. No need to make cute handouts - since I am no good at it anyway. Why is it so hard to cut in a straight line?

I did not take a picture of the food - what was I thinking? My friend Martha was chatting with me on gchat one night and all of the sudden she had 'volunteered' to help with the food. She and Megan (my friend on the committee) took over the food and did a great job. They asked a few people to make some favorite recipes and then brought a collection of recipes for everyone. We started by eating, and then we just went around the room and everyone got to tell about their favorite thing. We had about 40 sisters - this ward is great for a good turn out.

Everyone brought something very different. Courtney is showing her favorite cookies.

These are they die-hards who helped finish with the clean up - thanks so much ladies! It was a fun night. Now I have to start thinking of something for the Christmas activity....ideas? Pass them on!!

Graduation!

My niece Megan and her husband John graduated from BYU last week. Megan managed to beat her two older brothers to the punch on this one. Way to go Megan!!

Doesn't baby Thomas looks great in the hat?

So how do you like living in the City?

I get this question all the time, and it is really a simple answer. I love it! And it is amazing to me that I live here. Many of you have been to visit - but as I have said before....it is my blog.

Here is a little photo essay of my place in the city.

The first challenge in the city is parking. Well some would say that the first challenge is driving up and down these crazy hills, but I hardly ever drive so we will talk about hills and walking later. Parking. There is no parking lot or parking spot or drive way at my apartment. I park on the street (and for that privilege I have to pay for a parking sticker! hello!!). There are a few trick to parking on the street. One is that there are hundreds of others in the neighborhood who park on the street too. The other is that you have to keep track of street cleaning so you can move your car and not get a ticket. I usually have a great system...I don't drive. I have a great place staked out where I move my car just in time for street cleaning and then move it back. If you never move the car during the week, then you won't loose the parking space. Of course, if you need to go somewhere then you loose the spot and the entire system is thrown off.

I was out and about on Saturday, so I had to find a parking place when I got back to the neighborhood. It only took 20 min - and I was awfully proud of my parallel parking job.

So speaking of hills......the parking place was on a lovely level street which made the parallel parking great. However, the parking place was not on the same hill that I live on, so here are a few pictures of the hills I walked up and down to get back to my place. I actually really enjoy walking the hills. I walk everyday to work and get a great view of several neighborhoods on my way.

The yards are beautiful and each very unique. I came across these roses in May - I have one little rose that is so close to dying that it seems cruel to keep it alive.

This is my street. Once I climb to the top, I get to walk back down to my apartment. It sounds convoluted, but I promise it was the most direct route home. I love my little street. It is nice and quiet and the steep hill is picturesque.

Here is my house. I live in the very small studio in the back, but isn't the house so cute? Can you see the slope of the street at the bottom of the brick wall? I usually have a great parking place right where that red car is. How did they get my spot?

This is my gate - and features prominently in pictures of those who come to visit me. When I have to park anywhere but right in front of the door, I stop in the street and unload my bags and groceries and put them behind the gate while I find a place to park. It makes you think twice before buying too much junk...since you will have to lug it back to the apartment.

If you did not have enough fun on the hills - after I get in the gate I go back through this little alley. Up these stairs and down another set - my Dad has mentioned that he does not like my steps. I think it is a charming little alley. It is especially fun when the porch light is out and you get to feel your day up and down the stairs.

The very best part about my apartment are the windows. Look at all of that light! I have a traditional studio. One big room. No little alcoves to pretend you have a bedroom - just one big open room. I throw lots of pillows on the bed and shove it in the corner to pretend it looks like a couch, but it is just my bed.
I host book club every month - and the room comfortable fits our group of 8-12 people. The place only feels really small when I have family stay overnight and we have to share the bathroom. How does that make everything so much smaller!

Here is my little kitchen. When my cousin Tricia came to visit she said - oh look how cute your sink is! There is no dishwasher - how cute! I said oh yes that part is adorable..no garbage disposal either..absolutely darling. But it works just fine for me. Mom and Dad and I actually made an entire Thanksgiving Dinner last year in this little kitchen.

And finally, my back yard. Isn't this cute! Mom and Dad gave me this trellis and the plants for my birthday right after I moved in. I have only killed one or two of them. Most plants like to live here.
I have to admit to being very proud of growing these lilies. They grow like weeds here - but aren't they pretty?
This is the little park just up the street from my place. (Cousin JJ and Tricia on their visit in May) I like to take a walk in the park - and of course it offers several hills and a really good view of the bay.

Well that is my neighborhood and my little life here in the city. There are lots of other benefits - like living so close to Mom and Dad, and a fun ward, and a great job. So the answer to how do you like living in the city - is that it is a wonderful experience and you should all come to visit!

Obama-Biden Yippee!!

I know, I know, the majority of you that read this blog are not a bit interested in Obama or Biden. BUT I am and it is my blog! I was so excited when I first heard the rumblings about Joe Biden as VP. I thought, that would be smart. Biden is a good old fashioned liberal and just says what he thinks. I can't wait to see how they do through the campaign. Don't worry about my salvation - you can vote for Obama and still go to the temple. Mark calls me that Obama lover - yes and proud of it. This might be a bit of a surprise to some of you, don't worry I am the same Cyndi that you always loved.

And, for those of you who are leaning slightly further to the right...I am pretty darn sure that McCain is going to pick Romney. He would be foolish not to. My personal informal polling says that adding Romney to the ticket really helps McCain.

Isn't this all so exciting?!

Now what do you do again?

I have a really great job that challenges me and I enjoy the work. Unfortunately I can't seem to explain it to anyone. I frequently get this question - now what do you do again? I begin to explain and even I get confused and a little bit bored listening to myself.

I think the folks at work have the same problem. My official title is Sr. Research Librarian. One member of our team always introduces me as our attorney in the library. Another team member always gives me three titles - Sr. Librarian, Trainer and KM Librarian - she sometimes throws in attorney as well - way too much of an introduction. The rest of the library just call me a librarian unless there is some question that they think an attorney needs to work on, and then they quickly remember my law degree and send the work my way.

So here is my attempt at explaining just exactly what it is that I do at the office all day.

I am an attorney, and like all attorneys I specialize. My specialty is unique - it is the library. I am a legal librarian. (Just so you don't think I made this up - there are lots and lots of legal librarians. Not all of them have a law degree, but many do. The libraries at the law schools are staffed with legal librarians and they all have a JD and a library science degree.)

I have a great position at my firm. I get to work on all the really fun parts of the library. I have three main responsibilities (1) current awareness; (2) 50 State Surveys including legislative tracking and (3) training attorneys on how to research in the firm library. I get other projects here and there, but those are my three main focuses.

(1) Current Awareness. I read a variety of newspapers, news feeds, email alerts etc to find all of the news that might effect the Labor and Employment practice. I have several specific current awareness reports that I create for practice groups like immigration, privacy etc.

(2) 50 State Surveys and Legislative Tracking. I watch the legislatures in all 50 states and find bills that will effect our clients. These can be anything from minimum wage to employment discrimination to no smoking laws. This might be my favorite part of the job. We use this information to update and write 50 state surveys. I just finished one on what type of questions you can ask an employee about their criminal background. (some times they are very boring - data security breach notification laws....snoozer!)

(3) Training. I make sure that all new attorneys and paralegals know about all of the resources in the library and how to use them. I also train everyone on new products that we get in the library and teach everyone how to be cost effective in their research. This keeps me really busy, but I love the presentations and I have learned how to put on a webinar and do remote training. I am developing some guided demos - when someone can click on a video and get an in the moment training on a product. The technology part is fun and I am learning lots of new tricks.

Are you still reading? Or are you so board already? Really it is easy to say it - I am an attorney and I specialize in the library or research. It is just that my position has never been a character on Law and Order so no one gets it. This firm gives me the opportunity to spend all of my time the fun stuff and utilize my best skills and there is very little that I have to do at work that I don't like. (well waking up and going to work everyday...never my favorite!)

When I started to look at jobs in California, is was kind of a whim but it was the best career move I have ever made.

Mulan - yeah - that is the Princess I wanted to be!

I am sure most of you have seen this quiz floating around the Internet. You take a quiz to determine which Disney Princess you are. I did it once and got some lame princess, so I closed the browser and went on with my day. I kept hearing from different people about their results, so I went back in to the quiz ready to take it as many times as possible to get the right princess. Hey if you can't cheat on a Disney Princess quiz then when can you? I carefully made my selections and I got the right one! I am so totally Mulan and not Jasmine (the original response). I would definitely go and kick some booty in a battle when needed, and don't mess with the family...nothing is more important that that crazy bunch. Otherwise I am a very nice kind and caring person. Well, not as nice as my sister Cathy, but I try! Cathy by the way is Snow White - all kindness, trust and everyone loves her. Our friend Dan always said she was the nice one.

Strong and spirited. You're no one's girly girl; actually you are very determined person with a strong sense of self. Never let go of that! The only thing that equals your sense of self is your family, but the traditions of society can always be bent to protect something or someone you love.

If you want to give it a try here is the link. http://www.greatestjournal.com/quiz.bml?Q=16354

Showing Lake Tahoe to David and Mark

If you have not seen the blue clear water of Lake Tahoe, then you are missing out. We spent a lot of time up here when we were growing up, so I love to show it off to visitors. David had wanted to see the Lake for a long time, and my friend Mark flew in for a visit, so off we went. I am not sure that everyone understood that it would take almost 3 hours to get to the top of the trail.

We decided to go around to Emerald Bay and see Vikingsholm - also a family tradition.


We had a quick picnic before we started off.


Instead of taking the regular path down Cathy found a new hike. It was advertised as more level and closer to the lake. I loved the hike, but it was really too hard for Anna. With that said, Anna was an amazing hiker! I can't think of any other 3 1/2 who could have done it - and not a single complaint. This was the half way point in the hike - isn't it pretty?


At one point we asked Anna - how are you? "I'm OK. My legs hurt !?!"

Mark's flight was really lake on Thursday night, so clearly the best thing to do is to get up early for a long drive and a 2 mile hike. So, after such a great hike, relaxing by the lake was a great idea. Especially since it was 2 miles back up to the car.

Yeah! We made it to the lake and the house!

We made it just in time for the last tour of the day. It is a beautiful old house, and I have always loved the story of the woman who had it built and enjoyed her summers at beautiful Emerald Bay.

It was a great vacation. I was not at all ready to get back to work and it already feels like ages since I have had a break. It is possible that we played very hard and slept very little. Oh well, would you remember a vacation where all you did was sleep? Better to have a good time and play with the family.

Bowling, Movies, and Fun at Fawnhill

We took a break from the lake and headed down for some indoor air conditioned entertainment.


The crowd split for two movies - Kung Fu Panda and Get Smart. If I had a video you could tell that William and Anna were showing off their new Kung Fu moves. I think universally the favorite line from Get Smart was "Chief, are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

We took in a game of bowling, and Uncle David was the pro. David had the high score with Cathy and Susan very close behind. Cathy and David used to be in a leauge, so they had some serious moves.

David would push the ball along to help it get to the end of the lane. It is amazing how slow a bowling ball can go.

Anna was never interested in how many pins she knocked down. The machine that brought the big read ball back to her was her favorite part.

Don't you love bowling shoes? So stylish and freshly sprayed with disinfectant.

William was great to Anna all week. He is 3 1/2 years older than she is, but he played with her non stop without a word of complaint. Do you see the way she is looking up to him...oh she loves her William.

These little cones are from Grandpa's railroad set. Anna and William were superheros and these were Anna's powers!

Our little Carly turned 16 this year, so we had a little party before they headed home for the big sweat 16. Happy Birthday Carly, I love you!

And what trip to Fawnhill would be complete with out a trip up to feed the donkeys...

and a walk along the ditch with Rilla.

Lake Clementine...also known as Heaven on Earth

If you have spent any time at all with me during the summer, I have probably bent your ear talking about the lake. We got in a few trips down to the lake during the vacation. Here are some reasons that I love it so much.

1. We are all together. The lake is a family event - a place where we can all be together without distractions. Of course now the cell phones work at the lake, but we just use them to call the family members who are not with us. We got Sam in his hotel room in China while sitting on the island!

2. Reading on the beach. Here David demonstrates this important activity. You bring your book and kick back in the shade. Shade is key - no sitting in the sun and getting burned.

3. Natural beauty. Both the lake and the people. No frills, no one cares what you look like.

4. Skiing. I did not get any pictures this year of anyone actually skiing, but Carly and Camille were excellent this year. Camille got up on one, and Carly is not too far behind.

5. Floating in the water. Suz, Laurie and I used my bed for a floaty. Do you see Mom above us in her natural state - drifting in the warm sun in the water. This year the fish got a little frisky and started biting. I don't ever remember being bit before. Craig called them mole fish - because they seemed to get you right on the mole. I swear one drew blood!

6. Grandpa Heber, the best boat driver ever. No one can ski you like Daddy. At the end of the day Craig wanted one more ski. Laurie said she would take him, but Craig said Dad is my driver!

7. Our Camp. This is the second year of this tradition, but it was another hit. We just stay one night. Bring some In and Out for dinner and have someone bring down doughnuts in the morning. We got a little rain (what!! rain in Auburn in August...yes it happened!) but otherwise a perfect night.8. Cousins playing in the water.

9. Waking up for the early morning ski. Look at the top of that picture - that is pure glass water. That is how one was intended to ski. I say - I ski at 7am and 7pm - and I leave the rest of that garbage water to the wake boarders.

10. It is the best place to be silly and have fun.

Of my top 10 favorite places, Lake Clemente is at least 5 of them. If you have not experienced it, come on over. We will take you for a great day at the lake.