Life with the Keiths

Happy Mother's Day and Heritage Makers

2010-05-08T21:43:00.002-05:00

So first of all Happy Mother's Day! Especially to my Mom, who doesn't read this, which is why I can post this . . . . http://www.heritagemakers.com/projectBrowserStandAlone.cfm?projectId=1301448&productId=5&projectSponsor=438878

That's the book that Emily and I made for Mom for Mother's Day - with help from all the kids. It was so easy and so fun! I'm excited about giving it to Mom. I think she'll really like it. I went to a conference a few weeks ago called Time Out for Women, and while I was there, I found this company called Heritage Makers. It is a company that encourages you to preserve your stories and pictures together in ways that are useful and fun. They make photo storybooks like this one we made for Mom, digital scrapbook pages, calendars, recipe books, greeting cards, announcements, invitations and all kinds of other super cool things! Everything is completely customizable down to the specific pieces of digital art you use to embellish your pages. But they also have pre-made templates that you can just use to drag and drop your pictures and text in. It is really neat. Heritage Makers works a lot like Pampered Chef or Mary Kay in the way that we have parties, or as we call them, workshops to show people the products and a little bit about how to make them. I am having my Grand Opening workshop this week - one on Tuesday night at 6:30 and one Wednesday morning at 10:00. So if you live anywhere close, come on! I am super excited! If you aren't able to make it, but want to learn more, I can come show you more about it or do a workshop at your house so you can earn free products! My website is www.yourstorybookconsultant.com so you can check that out to see more about Heritage Makers. Let me know what you think!

While I'm in the Updating Mood . . .

2010-01-04T12:50:00.007-06:00

These pictures were taken on Christmas Eve . . .

We got up and opened our presents to each other and then decided to go to the mall to do a little more shopping . . . why we decided to go to the mall on Christmas Eve I will never know . . . I'm crazy. I knew the mall would be pretty crazy, but what I didn't know was that all the rain we had been getting was causing extreme flooding. I called my mom to ask her something when we were almost there, and she told me that the roads were supposed to be bad, so we started listening to the radio. They said there was water over the freeway and it was slow going, but we decided to keep going because we assumed the road would be closed if it was really bad . . . Not true . . .

This is the first picture I took as we started to see all the flooding on the service road

This was my view out my window . . . I felt like I was in a boat . . .

I don't know why we didn't get in the other lane . . . almost no one was driving in the right lane, but I don't know that the left one was much better . . . You can barely even see the lines on the road

The service road was closed and completely flooded. Some how people were still driving on 67/167, but I don't know why. Once we saw how bad it was, there was no where to turn around. I was really scared while we were driving through it, but somehow we made it. These are the best pictures I have, but they weren't even in the worst parts.

I love a good Snow Day!

2010-01-04T11:25:00.011-06:00

It started snowing yesterday morning and snowed most of the day and night. It was still snowing a little when we woke up, but has stopped now. Our yard is covered with a thin layer of snow, and I guess the roads around here got pretty bad. The bridge between our house and my parents' was closed due to some accidents there last night.

We enjoyed staying up late playing Battleship and Scrabble, drinking hot chocolate, and eating cookies. We received our phone calls confirming that we wouldn't have school around 9 and 9:30 last night which was nice. This morning we were planning to get things done around the house first and play in the snow later, but the sun came out and we were afraid it might melt, so . . . .

we got out and built a snowman with Trent, Tristan, and Trinity, my cousins who live on our street. So, I know he's pretty wimpy, but we got cold and tired, and there isn't THAT much snow. We're old . . . This snow is so powdery and light and sparkly. You can really see each flake! I've never seen snow like it in Arkansas!

It's so nice to have an extra day to get settled in and get a few things done before we get back to work. The past week has been pretty busy. Days like today remind us how glad we are to work for schools and close to home.

Memories . . .

2009-12-10T21:48:00.004-06:00

I have been trying to organize all my pictures and documents on my computers and hard drive . . . a huge task, and I am not anywhere near finished. But, I have started downloading some of the best/most important pictures on to my new computer and have enjoyed seeing all my favorite pictures again. They bring back so many good memories of vacations and time spent with family. I thought I would share a few of the ones I have come across so far . . .

This is Emily and I saying our good byes before she left for school in Idaho. All I can say is, I'm happy she came back :)

Spring Break of this year. I got to feed dolphins at Sea World - it was awesome!

(Don't know why this text is weird, but I can't figure out how to fix it, so it is . . . )

After running the St. Jude Marathon - wow, I can't believe I'm still alive.

David and I in San Francisco this summer. We had such a fun trip.

What a slacker . . .

2009-12-08T22:18:00.002-06:00

Wow. I'm updating my blog . . . although not really. Especially since there will be no pictures :) I was just sitting here reading some of my old posts and wishing that I had posted more, since I'm a huge slacker at keeping a journal as well. I'm telling myself that now that I have a new, fast! computer (also a Mac :) ) that I will definitely update more . . . . probably just wishful thinking though. I have had the computer for over a week now and still don't really have any pictures on it . . . I'm working on it though. There just always seems to be so many other more important things to do. I have actually put up my Christmas tree and decorations, and even wrapped all my presents. Maybe I'll put some of those pictures on here soon . . .

Road Trip!

2009-07-22T11:44:00.002-05:00

We are about a third of the way through our 3+ week road trip out west. It has been super fun, but so busy! So far we have been to Moab and Provo, UT to see family, Salt Lake to see the American Idols concert :), Lake Tahoe for our 4th anniversary, Yosemite National Park, the Oakland Temple and Visitor's Center, and San Francisco. We are currently in Monterey because I want to see the Monterey Bay Aquarium. We will be driving down the coast today and eventually make it to LA and then San Diego before heading to Arizona to see family and go to my family's reunion. We have taken so many pictures I haven't even been able to pick through them to find some to post . . . . hopefully I'll do that sometime soon. The highlights have been parasailing over Lake Tahoe, hiking to the beautiful waterfalls and other mountain scenery in Yosemite, including star gazing on a big rock dome with just the 2 of us, seeing deer and other animals in Yosemite, and walking around San Francisco, especially the Golden Gate Bridge - it's all been awesome. We can't believe we have the opportunity to see all of these places all at once - it's incredible.

American Idol Finale! Go Kris!!

2009-05-19T22:01:00.002-05:00

Just wanted to share some pictures of us in our t-shirts and all our excitement getting ready for work and then the final performances of this year's American Idol! We are voting for Kris!!

An Awesome Saturday!

2009-05-19T21:27:00.004-05:00

Last Saturday we decided to go watch a matinee showing of X-Men Origins - Wolverine. Stuart and Whitney came with us. We all really like the movie, but decided we weren't finished hanging out . . . we went back to Stuart & Whitney's to decide what to do. We settled on using the 4 free games of bowling David has been carrying around in his wallet for the last year. We ended up bowling 2 games and it was a ton of fun! It has been forever since we've been bowling! As if we hadn't had enough, we went out for ice cream and then met Stuart, Whitney, Grace, Paul, Mary K, and Spencer back here in Rose Bud to watch "Taken" at Grace & Paul's house. We had a fun filled Saturday! Thanks guys!

Stuart & Whitney getting ready to bowl!

This is the look I make when somehow I knock over 4 pins and it turns into a strike . . . apparently . . .

This is Dave trying to make sure his foot does that "thing"

Thanks Stuart & Whitney!!!

Women Can Run 5K

2009-05-12T17:42:00.005-05:00

There is an organization or group or whatever you want to call it called Women Can Run/Walk that sets up small "clinics" in any town that wants to participate. Rose Bud has participated for the past two years, and this year me, Mom, and Natalie did it with them. You meet two nights a week to run/walk together (there are schedules set up for walkers and beginning, intermediate, and advanced runners to help you train for a 5K). We have been meeting since the end of February, and this Saturday was the 5K we have been training for. We had a good time training and running, but I am still terribly slow. I'm planning to keep running and hopefully get faster!

Me & April - she runs with me and tries to get me to go faster :)
I'm happy to have her with me!

Nat, Mom & Me after the race

Natalie with her medal and certificate - Go Nat!

After waiting for the final pair of shoes to be given away, we all headed to Chili's for lunch! It was a lot of fun. And it's a good thing we stayed for the door prizes - out of the 19 or so of us there, we won 2 pairs of running shoes, a t-shirt, a fancy back pack, and two Road ID gift certificates.

Kris Allen comes Home!

2009-05-12T16:48:00.008-05:00

If you do not know who Kris Allen is, you are no longer my friend. Just kidding, but seriously if you don't know, you should find out :) Kris Allen is from Conway, Arkansas and is in the Top 3 on this season of American Idol. He came home to Little Rock and Conway this past weekend. I was able to go see him at the Rivermarket in Little Rock with Mom, Cindy, Emily, and Kendra which was really awesome. I also went to see him that evening in Conway with David. We really had a lot of fun, except that it was extremely hot and sticky in Conway. I think I liked him even more live than I do on the show!

This is us when we got there around 11 am.

The crowd during the concert - there were a lot of people there!

Kevin from Channel 16 talking to Kris.

This is my favorite picture I took - I think he was singing "She Works Hard for the Money"

Some nice person took a picture for us on our way back to the car, so we could all be in the picture. :)

We were standing in Front Street in front of Mike's Place for the Conway concert - I liked their sign.

Fun with Friends

2009-03-12T20:35:00.003-05:00

Last Friday night, we met up with some friends in Conway to go out to eat and play a game. We went to eat pizza, then went to Colby and Katie's where we had brownies and played Yahtzee. It was fun to see them again and be back in Conway for a while.

Me, Katie & Celeste

Colby, Joe, & Dave

Valentine's Weekend

2009-02-16T15:50:00.008-06:00

We are lucky to have some good connections :) Mom & Dad bought into a time share a few years ago, and they have different resorts all over the place that they can use points and stay. They happened to have quite a few points left over that would expire next month, so they let us use some! The closest place to us is in Fairfield Bay, Arkansas. It was the very first resort the company built, so it is older than some of the rest, but it is really neat, and there is surprisingly a lot to do! We and Emily & Jake went up Friday night and stayed through Sunday morning. We went out to eat for dinner both nights, went hiking to a "waterfall", went swimming, and just tried to relax the rest of the time. It was a lot of fun!

Jake, the detective. "It's moss . . . "

Emily, sitting on the tree she climbed.

Behind the waterfall

Just David . . . .

Emily & Jake at the restaurant on Valentine's Day

Family Temple Trip

2009-02-16T15:44:00.003-06:00

At the end of January, all of David's family met up in Jonesboro at Kaylynne & Micah's house to stay the night and go to the temple the next day. We had a good time visiting with each other Friday night and going out for lunch Saturday. It was really neat to have everyone together at the temple. Shandi and Sarell were nice enough to watch Scott & Tantely's kids so we could all go to a session together.

Ice

2009-02-16T15:16:00.004-06:00

The ice storm didn't hit us too hard here. We only lost power for ~10 hours, and it was pretty much all at night. We were out of school/work for 2 days which was nice. It gave us time to get some things done around the house, and we had Parker and Melanie over one night to play and hang out. Here are some pictures I took on my way to work when I finally went back.

My Birthday!

2009-02-16T14:49:00.003-06:00

Well, My birthday was February 3rd. I turned 23, which in itself is not bad, but it makes me think about turning 25 and 30, which I do not like. I just want to stay as close to 21ish as possible :) So much for that! Well, on Monday we went to my parents for pizza and cake and ice cream. It was a lot of fun. Then Tuesday, Dave sent me flowers at work, and we decided to go out to eat in Conway at Colton's with Katie & Colby, Celeste & Joe, and Stuart & Whitney. It was really fun, and I was glad everyone came on such short notice!

Me blowing out the candles - look at the girls next to me - I think they're trying to help me. lol

"Flower cake" that I got at work from Dave.

Random Updates

2009-02-16T14:46:00.002-06:00

Okay, I'm a big loser and never update my blog - not that I don't have anything to update - I just am weird and want everything to be in order. So when I miss something I just don't ever post anymore, because I want to "catch up" first. Well, I decided that's silly. :) Yay for me! So, prepare for tons of random updates filled with anything that has happened over the last few months. :)

Write to Stephen, Please!

2008-11-17T22:36:00.000-06:00

When I emailed Stephen this week, I asked about what he wants/needs so I could send him a package for Christmas. This is the response I got:

I would really like letters, even if they are from the most random people that i didn´t even hang out with, but of course i have to know who they are. That would be hard to do, i know, but that would be amazing. if you could find a way to get that, that´d be the coolest thing. if i had the choice between getting candy and other stuff at christmas between that and letters by even feb. i would take the letter one anyday.

So, I'm planning on sending a package, probably this Monday, so hopefully he can get it by Christmas. Send me emails or bring me letters, so I can send him a bunch!!! My email is vsherwood@yahoo.com or you can send me a Facebook or blog message. Just do it BY SUNDAY!!! :) Thanks!

Veteran's Day

2008-11-11T17:54:00.004-06:00

In the past I haven't ever thought about Veteran's Day much, but this year I have been thinking about it a little more. Both of my Grandpas served in the military. Grandpa Burton was in the Air Force for a long time. He went to Vietnam twice and was sent a lot of other places as well. Grandpa Sherwood was on his way to fight in World War II when the war ended. I am so grateful to them for serving their country and for all those who are serving today to keep our country safe and free.

A Day Off Together

2008-11-10T21:49:00.000-06:00

Today Rose Bud was out of school, so Dave was off work. I decided to take the day off as well so we could spend some time together. We slept in and did some things around the house this morning then got ready and went to North Little Rock. We had lunch at Olive Garden together then went to the mall to look at some glasses for me and Best Buy to look at cameras and some other stuff there. We had planned to do some other shopping, but let the day get away from us so we didn't have much time. Natalie had her first game for 7th grade basketball today, and I wanted to be there for that. It started at 5:00 out of town, so we had to come home early. She started the game, so she was happy about that. She did well, and it was fun to watch her. I miss playing sports, even though I wasn't ever good at it. It was just fun. We came home and watched Kung Fu Panda. It was cute, but not as funny as I thought it would be. I guess tomorrow it's back to the real world for both of us. Wouldn't it be so much fun if we could just be home together all the time? Too bad. Work is good for us I guess. :)

Saturday

2008-11-08T13:00:00.002-06:00

I love weekends. It is so nice to be able to be a little lazy and do fun things. Plus, I am finally starting to feel better. I still have a little lingering cold, and my straw sores aren't completely healed, but I'm not miserable anymore. Last night most of my family went camping, but Mom had a meeting early this morning to go to, so she came back home after being out at Big Creek for a while. Emily and Jake ended up coming back to Mom's to sleep too, so we decided to go over and have a little party. We all watched Get Smart, and it was really nice because we never get to do anything with just Mom. She actually stays awake for movies, unlike Dad, so we had a nice fun time all snuggling up and watching a movie. I do feel a little bad, though, because Mom never has any time completely alone, and she would have if we hadn't all come over. Oops. We slept in this morning and have just been hanging out. We are getting ready to go to the UCA game this afternoon, which I get really excited about. I love football. And autumn.

I am getting super excited about the Holidays. I have been coming home everyday thinking about Thanksgiving and Christmas and all the fun stuff coming up. I picked up all my decorations from Mom's attic yesterday and brought them home . . . I'm thinking about starting to put them up this week maybe? I've always been opposed to decorating for Christmas before Thanksgiving, but I am just so excited this year, I don't know if I can wait.

Opera

2008-11-06T22:49:00.002-06:00

Tonight we went to the "World Premiere" (wow, right) of the Scarlet Letter opera. It was at UCA. I'm sure it wasn't the best as far as opera goes, but I've never been to one before, and I knew the story, so I wanted to go. We got together with Stuart & Whitney and went to it. It was definitely enjoyable and interesting, although I don't think opera is going to be my new favorite form of entertainment. I don't know if I'll ever even go to another one, but it was a good experience, and I enjoyed it. It was fun to get to hang out with Stuart and Whitney a little more as well.

Are you kidding me?

2008-11-03T16:55:00.002-06:00

I am never sick, never really have any kind of health problems. I am miserable today. My throat/mouth is extremely sore from the straw incident, and now I have some kind of allergy/sinus/cold thing that is keeping me up all night. I know a lot of people have a lot worse problems than me, but I am just not used to being sick at all, and now I have a broken foot, a straw injury, and some other kind of sickness. I don't like it. I ended up leaving church early Sunday and staying home from work today. This is getting ridiculous.

I should say, though, that I am starting to feel better, or at least I am trying to make myself feel better. We drove to Cabot tonight and took a few fall pictures with Em & Jake, although we didn't have much daylight left to work with by the time we got there. Then we went out to eat Mexican food together, which was a lot of fun except that it hurts to chew and swallow. We went back to their apartment and watched Surf's Up - a cartoon penguin movie that was pretty cute. I am glad Emily is married now. It is fun to have her and Jake around to hang out with.

Hayride with the kids

2008-11-01T17:47:00.004-05:00

Today Grandma Sherwood had a little hayride for the young grand/great-grandkids at her house. Mom didn't know about it and was busy, so I took Parker, Melanie, and Landon up there for her. I think they had a lot of fun on the hayride and just playing with their cousins for a few hours. I had fun talking with everyone who was there and watching the kids play. The weather was so nice outside! I love the autumn. I have been noticing all the beautiful colors while driving to work, and I am so happy to live in such a beautiful place.

Halloween Fun

2008-10-31T23:49:00.000-05:00

Tonight we got to go to Conway and celebrate Halloween with Colby & Katie and Celeste & Joe. We got together and ate chili and dirt cake at Katie & Colby's, which Katie had decorated all cute for Halloween. We just hung out and talked for a while. Katie had snuck some gummy eyeballs into the dirt cake, which the boys really enjoyed playing with. After eating, we went over to Katie's parents to watch them hand out candy - although that may not sound that exciting, it really was. They had set up a scary little scene and were all dressed up wearing some really freaky masks. It was hilarious to watch the kids muster up their courage to go get some candy. They all had different reactions, and some were really funny. One kid walked away saying, "Wow, that was AWESOME!" It was hilarious. We played a little Rock Band on the Wii inside, which was a new experience for me. It was pretty fun. By this time it was around 10:00 and I was already exhausted, so we just went home. It is nice to have friends close to hang out with, even though we live a little farther away from each other now.

Straw?

2008-10-30T18:40:00.000-05:00

Sometimes I don't know how I can be as dumb as I am. Today I was not having the best day, so I decided to go get a shake from Sonic on my way home from work. It was just a normal trip to Sonic. They brought me my shake and straw. I removed the paper wrapper from the straw and then somehow (while holding it in my right hand and doing something else with my left hand) hit my left hand into my right hand and ended up with a straw shoved into the back of my throat - not pleasant. It is very painful and red, and I feel like a complete moron.

I'm sick of bed

2008-10-27T21:26:00.002-05:00

Well, I can't say this weekend has been miserable, because I was able to read a really good book and do a few other things, but I've been trying to stay off of my foot and I just didn't realize what it is like to be lying down all the time (not really, but it feels like it) in order to keep my foot elevated as much as possible. The worst part is that, after making the effort to stay off of my foot all of Friday and Saturday, I had the worst night yet on Saturday night. I was absolutely going crazy. Sunday wasn't much better, but by Sunday night somehow things had lightened up a lot. I hope that's the end of it, because I am planning to go back to work tomorrow. It's my last week of work in Searcy, and I think I should probably be there.

Feet are silly

2008-10-23T21:19:00.001-05:00

Well, I feel pretty dumb about now. My left leg has been hurting pretty badly for about a week now, making it difficult for me to get to sleep. I finally decided (after talking to a friend of mine who is a physical therapist) to go have it x-rayed today. All in all, the doctor's visit was not a very pleasant experience. I found out I have a stress fracture in my foot, which is what I had begun to suspect. They gave me this tiny boot and two prescriptions, but no real information or suggestions. I finished work today, assuming that the boot would take the pressure off of my fracture and it wouldn't hurt as bad as it has been. Wrong! It hurt as bad today or worse than it has been! I guess I'll be staying home tomorrow and the rest of the weekend to try to let it have a break. (Oh gosh, that really wasn't supposed to be funny.) If anyone really read this, I would probably change it, but, for now at least, this is more for my benefit than anyone elses. I'm pretty sure this dumb thing was caused from David and my inspiration to start running again - and hoping to train for a half marathon. I stopped running a few weeks ago because my leg was starting to hurt a little. I am just wondering why it waited until last week to start hurting . . . . ?

Autumn Weekends

2008-10-18T22:09:00.002-05:00

I love the weekends (and anytime really) in autumn. Lately the weather has been so nice! I love being outside, although I still don't go out enough. Yesterday we went to the high school football game - our team lost, but it was fun anyway. David watched his students play and cheerlead and such, and we also watched my brothers in the band. We got to sleep in this morning and just hang out around the house. Then we went and helped with the youth Super Saturday hayride at Mom & Dad's. We had chili and roasted marshmallows and drank hot chocolate - all of the wonderful things about the fall and cool weather. We also had roasted pumpkins seeds leftover from everyone making Jack-O-Lanterns. I don't know if I've had them before, but I actually like them. It also reminded me that we should carve a pumpkin soon. I had a lot of fun talking to people and trying to scare the kids on the hayride (I think I scared myself more than them). I caught a few pieces of the Razorback game whenever I could - It was going so well, then they lost right at the end :( But UCA won, so that's good at least. I guess everything can't be perfect - just nearly.

Yay!

2008-10-15T22:34:00.003-05:00

Well, I was able to get the results for my OT exam today, and I passed! Everyone I tell this to does not seem to be impressed and says they knew I would pass it. Which, I guess makes me feel good? I don't know. But I was honestly pretty worried. I mean, I feel like I know what I'm doing and that I learned what I was supposed to in school, but I just felt like the test wasn't testing the things I knew, so I wasn't sure how it would turn out. Anyway, it doesn't matter now, I passed! I'm finally a real OT with nothing left to worry about! Yay!

Football

2008-10-11T23:17:00.002-05:00

Tonight we went to UCA's Homecoming game with Dave's family. It was awesome. It just makes me remember how very much I love football and fall in general. I love the cool weather and the atmosphere of a packed stadium and a good game. It is so much fun. I haven't been getting to watch near enough football this season, so hopefully I can watch several more games before it's all over again.

Fun with Friends

2008-10-11T10:46:00.004-05:00

Last night we finally got to go see Celeste & Joe's new apartment. It is so cute! Celeste is so good at organizing and decorating. Katie & Colby met us down there and we all went out to eat pizza downtown, then came back to Celeste & Joe's to just hang out together (till 1 in the morning). It was so much fun to see everyone again. It's been way too long. (I wish I could post pictures, but I didn't bring my camera! What a loser!) I can't believe we all live in different towns now, and Katie & Colby are going to have a baby. Life is starting to change so much for everyone. It's exciting and scary. I'm glad we're all close enough to hang out still. We'll enjoy it while it lasts.

Blogging

2008-10-08T17:44:00.004-05:00

Well, I don't know if I really want to keep a blog as much as I'm sick of using other people's blog lists to stalk everyone. I really just needed one place to go that would link to all my friends' blogs so I could read them more easily. I know, that's a pretty ridiculous reason for starting your own blog, but it's the best one I've got. Maybe I'll end up posting some stuff on here while I'm at it . . .