Where's the Beef?

Back in 1984 there was a hamburger commercial that was pretty popular.  The premise was a little old lady who goes to a fast food hamburger place and when she gets her order, she looks at the hamburger and says, "Where's the beef"?

It became so popular that people started to say that slogan when it came to many things, anything that you felt might be "lacking" you would say, "where's the beef"!

Well, this weekend, that commercial came to my thoughts.  Scott and I went to Folsom Lake, and it was severely lacking WATER!  This is the lake that we grew up at, we dated at this lake, we've kayaked on this lake and swam in this lake and fished in this lake, we learned to water ski on this lake and then in later years taught our children to water ski on this lake. We had been hearing rumor of the lake being extremely low, in fact the lowest that it has been in 90 years.  I was unprepared for what I saw.

The boat ramps all the way around the lake are on the ground.  All boats have been pulled out of the area and there is no longer boating allowed on the lake, because there simply isn't enough of it left.

In the Summer of 2012 I swam in this spot and Scott kayaked as I was preparing for my triathlon.  As you can see, there is no worry about there being no lifeguard, there is no water!!  It's gone!

This is the Folsom dam.  The water is so far below the spill gates.  You could almost walk right out to the dam.

All sorts of sports enthusiast could be seen with their mountain bikes, biking across the dry lake bed.

Scott was taking a picture of how far the land went out to, and I was taking a picture at the same time of how far I was away from where the water used to crest.  See the tree line, that is where the water used to reach.

The only cool thing about this horrible drought is that a town called Mormon Island was unearthed.  When the Folsom dam was built, the people who lived on Mormon Island had to move to a new area, because their homes became a part of the lake.  Now that the lake is so low, we can see old time treasures, that once again have found the sun!  Curious people and history seekers have been coming to this spot in droves over the past few weeks.  No one is allowed to take anything that is found home, but people are taking the items and putting them out for display.  

Pots and relics, from a time gone by.

Scott really loved these old nails, they had square heads.

This was a well that was used back in the day.

Scott is standing in someone's cellar.  We kind of imagine this might have been someone's cold storage.  It was so fascinating to know that people lived here.

As interesting as this all was, I am praying that it will soon be covered up by the water, and my beloved Folsom Lake will be back.  Prayer is what is needed at this time!

Happy New Day!

A New Year has begun, and with it, a feeling of hope for what this year can bring.  I was actually excited to make some goals, and to try and reach a little higher in my attempt at keeping the goals.  I haven't been great at always making it to the end of a goal.  I've had some successes, and I've had my share of failures.

I was reading our church magazine for the month of January, (The Ensign) and one of our church leaders President Uchtdorf had this to say, "At times in my life I have spent sleepless nights grappling with issues, worries, or personal sorrows. But no matter how dark the night, I am always encouraged by this thought: in the morning the sun will rise.

With every new day, a new dawn comes—not only for the earth but also for us. And with a new day comes a new start—a chance to begin again. " (The best time to plant a tree)

I liked that thought.  I started thinking about my goals every year in January.  Did I finish them?  Or did I think that if I messed up one week or one day, that I somehow failed the mark and had to wait until next January to push the reset button!

How exciting to think that each new day is a reset!

So...with that in mind and with the goals that I have set this year, I am determined to do the best that I can to accomplish them.  But if I stumble along the way, I will not quit, I will wait for the sun to rise and the Happy New Day will begin!

One of my goals is to take 365 photos this year that represent my life.  I won't always share them, but I will be taking them.  This goal will be a bit challenging because my life is somewhat ordinary and is not always filled with the most exciting of events.  But I have found out already that you can find beauty and fun in the smallest of things.  Here is a sampling of the first few days of January.

Jan 1, 2014.  Scott and I stayed in our PJ's all day long!  It was so incredibly awesome!  We cleaned house, put away the Christmas decorations and just enjoyed our day.  Today I felt so grateful for my husband and my home.  What a blessing!

Jan 2, 2014.  One year ago to this day I started working at the dental office.  The past year has brought it's share of challenges as I have learned so much about myself and also about a new profession.  As I look back at 2013, I am so grateful for my growth while working with these great people.

Jan 3, 2014.  It had been a while since I had been to the temple.  Scott had surgery in September and it seemed as though the time flew by as we were working on his recovery.  It felt great to be back in this beautiful house of the Lord.

Jan 4, 2014.  Scott and I worked together in the kitchen and made homemade soft pretzels for the first time ever!  Wow, they were so good!  The process was so interesting, did you know that you place the raw pretzel dough in a baking soda water mixture for a couple of minutes before you bake them?  I sure didn't.  

Jan 5, 2014.  I taught today in our Young Women's program at church.  These young ladies are simply the best.  I feel so grateful to be a part of their lives.  

Jan 6, 2014.  Before I left for work this morning Scott pointed out the beautiful sunrise that was coming across our neighbors roof line.  I loved the colors, and was so happy that I was there at the perfect time to get to witness it.

Jan 7, 2014.  Every Tuesday morning you will find me on my computer right before work typing out a letter to my missionary, Elder Chase McKee.  We are so proud of him.  (P.S. Look at that cute sweater!  It was a Christmas gift from Jordan and Madelyne)

Jan 8, 2014.  Gold sparkly shoes!  What more can I say.  These little beauties were a gift from Heather for Christmas, and I got so many compliments on them!

Jan 9, 2014.  I stopped by a baby shower for Miranda Clements in our ward (she is seen at the end of the table right by me).  She has been a wonderful example in our ward, someone I would call a "doer" meaning that whenever their is some service to give, or something to be done, you will always see Miranda.  These are some of the lovely ladies from my ward, I love Fair Oaks 3rd ward!

Jan 10, 2014.  This picture is not to illustrate how lame I am at not being able to figure out how to turn this dang picture and make it stay!! ;)  This was a Kings game!  We were given AMAZING tickets to this game and we had so much fun!  Kings won the game and Scott and I got to watch Jimmer play some awesome basketball!

There you have it, the first 10 days of January - things that represent me and my life.