Prepare yourself.

This is the day I met the best slide ever. I was having a Charlie Brown dress up day (hence the blue beanie).




At a teacher training in Clarkdale (the cutest small town ever), Heather, Em, and I found the best slide. IN. THE. WORLD.




I seriously rode on it 100 times.



Even face first!









I think Em liked the slide too.




But not as much as me. All I can think about is going down this slide. Next weekend!!!

Tree love in Arizona.

I love fall.

A few posts in your near future:

>Trip to California for Fall Break.

>Fall Ball Jr. High Dance

>Gagnon family photo shoot.

Here is a small preview. Bailey girl.

Happy Thursday!


ALL LOVE,

Ellen C.

Waldrop Family Love

Recently, I went to Texas to be with my family when my sweet Aunt Sheryl went home to Jesus.

Here are some of the pictures I promised.

Hi Dana! Hi Kim!

I have three awesome uncles and two beautiful aunts. And well, there's my mom. I think she looks most like my grandma Waldo. Waddathink, family?

Oh dear. I love gigantic family shots.

"And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul"

all this beauty; you might have to close your eyes.

I think I forgot to mention it, but I moved. To a small town.

Camp Verde, AZ to be exact. Andiloveit.

Let me tell you why.

1. Wide open spaces.

Only 3,000 people live in Camp Verde.




This is the view from the backyard. I live with my aunt and uncle on 1 1/2 acres.



2. I see more animals than people.




This is Horse. I have no idea what his name is, but he is sweet. I scratch his head every evening on my walk. There are three other horses and some goats I visit on my walk, but I will tell you about them another day.




3. The storms. We have monsoons, or torrential summer rains with thunder and lightning. The tell tale sign of an impending storm is this creeking wind mill. It is so beautiful outside after it rains.

4. Abundant fresh produce everywhere.



Everyone thinks Arizona is 100% nasty desert. It's not true, people. I live in a green beautiful farming community with fresh produce everywhere. I pick grapes and apples on my daily walk. I go by the farms to pick my own tomatoes, onions, and garlic.

In case anyone was wondering, I'm never moving back.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to drop by Hauser and Hauser Farms to pick some corn for Sunday dinner.


Much love,

Ellen

five five five

What were you doing 5 years ago?
Visiting my brother in San Antonio

Five things on your to-do list today (or things you did today):
1. Attended class for 7 hours
2. Put away my winter clothes
3. Conducted a lottery
4. Bought three barbie dolls
5. Watched Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Five snacks you love:
1. Dark chocolate
2. Apples and peanut butter
3. Popcorn from Iowa
4. Skinny cow ice cream sandwiches
5. Cherry limeades

Five things you would do if you were a billionaire:
1. Tithe
2. Pay off student loans
3. Buy a truck
4. Buy a house
5. Adopt 50 thousand orphans

Five bad habits you have:
1. I bite my nails when I am very nervous.
2. I am loud.
3. Spending money foolishly.
4. Chewing too loudly.
5. Not backing up my music

Five places you have lived:
1. Denver, Co
2. Sun Valley, Ca
3. La Mirada, Ca
4. The
5. End

Five jobs you've had:
1. Teacher
2. Resident Coordinator
3. Media Technician
4. Day Camp Counselor/Director
5. Traffic/burrito lady

Five people you tag:
1. I
2. Tag
3. You
4. Reading
5. This

Small post on the side

1.Where is your mobile phone? Coffee table
2.Your significant other? josh turner
3.Your hair? blondish brown
4.Your mother? interesting
5.Your father? snoozy
6.Your favorite thing? fishing
7.Your dream last night? I don't remember!
8.Your favorite drink? coooofffffffffffeeeeeeeeeee
9.Your dream/goal? teaching
10.The room you're in? living room
11.Your ex? oh you know...
12.Your fear? rats and other assorted rodents
13.Where do you want to be in 6 years? anywhere but.... but nothing
14.Where were you last night? Holly's
15.What you're not? ridiculous.
16.Muffins? plurality of David Archuleta
17.One of your wish list items? Dodge Ram 1500 4x4 quad cab
18.Where you grew up? Los Angeles
19.The last thing you did? yelled
20.What are you wearing? sweats
21.Your TV?old
22.Your pets? chip, dakota, and shy ann
23.Your computer? Dell
24.Your life? transitional
25.Your mood? sleeeeepy
26.Missing someone? yep
27.Your car? the spaceship!
28.Something you're not wearing? underwear
29.Favorite Store? Bass Pro
30.Your summer? teaching, corralling Kindergarteners.
31.Like someone? oh sure
32.Your favorite color? 1st place: red 2nd place: orange 3rd place: yellow
33.When is the last time you laughed? 5 seconds ago
34.Last time you cried? 1 hour ago

i tag YOU.

Aunt Deborah Ann and fam

Deborah Ann is the one in the tie die americana shirt.
She is real fun and an instigator of all sorts of mischief.

She has three kids. Todd, the eldest cousin, Jodella Lisa (Jodi) and Jessica Leann.


This is Todds family.

Jennifer, Brandon, Colton, Hallie, and baby Corbin. [Faranne was with her other fam]




Brandon told me he is a pre-teen and all the ladies love him. I believe it.




Colton, the mischievous
.



He tried for so long to get up the gumption to swing out of the tree. Finally, he did it.




Hallie.



And finally, Corbin, the future Harley rider.

This is Jodi's fam.

Craig, Jodi, and Matthew. Matthew is a kick in the pants.



Craig is a firefighter, Jodi is a paramedic [and pregnant] and Matthew is a future fire fighter.



Matthew ate about 5 thousand ice cream sandwiches while we were there.
Every night before bed, he would come share with me.
This is him in my rain/snow boots.

Jessica's sweet little fam.

Jason, Jessica, and baby Kanyn.

Jessica is my closest aged cousin. It was fun getting to hang out with her and her sweet baby.

Jason has won over everyone's heart. I swear, my mother and aunt would take him home with them if they could.



Well, give yourself a pat on the back if you made it this far!
Whew!

Waldrop fam: Take two: Uncle Mike

Michael Lynn is the second eldest.

Reasons to love Uncle Mike:

1. He wears overalls all the time. I swear he sleeps in them.

2. He is a welder. I love welders.

3. He has two dogs, Callie May and Rascal.

4. He doesn't take any s%#*.

5. He makes the best ribs I HAVE EVER TASTED.

6. He is feisty mcfeisterson.

I wouldn't want to meet him in a dark alley.

This is Uncle Mike with his grandson, Hoyt. Hoyt calls him Papa Drop.

Cute cute cute cute.

This is Collin, Mike's son. He is one of my favorite cousins. He watched cartoons with me until he was well into his teens.

Collin's beautiful family. Danielle, his wife, and Hoyt, his sweet little boy.

Hoyt's name is Collin's mother's maiden name. He is hilarious.





He loves toy guns.

He loves to pee pee outside in the grass. I am serious. Rather than in the toilet. Even when it was dark. He wanted to go outside. Wow, wow, wow.

cherry limes, fried jalapenos, and easter eggs.

I went to Amarillo, Texas and Sterling Kansas for Easter vacation. We visited family and watched my cousin Matthew play baseball.

It was like a family reunion! All but one of my mom's siblings made it to TX.

Elizabeth Ellen, Rusty, Michael Lynn, Deborah Ann, Lisa Jan, and Sheryl Nan.





Here are the sisters. Sheryl, on the right, was healed of stomach cancer this January and we are PRAISING THE LORD!!!!

Uncle Rusty, the eldest brother, and my coolest uncle. He just became a truck driver and is a free spirit.

Hoyt is sharing his Easter candy with Rusty.



Sweet thing.

More to come on the Waldrop fam.

Cinnamon Flavored Vomit

Ellen: "Madison, watch out for that room spray. It smells like vomit."

Madison: "Oh, oh. What flavor is it?"

Ellen: "Something something cinnamon flavored. Like cinnamon flavored vomit."

Madison: "Like someone ate a whole container of cinnamon and then threw it up?"

Ellen: : "Yep. Exactly."

Madison: "I think I will try it outside."

Ellen: "If you think it's best."

(Madison exits the apartment and spritzes some of the vomit stench into the air.)


Madison: "YOU ARE RIGHT! THAT IS TERRIBLE!!!!!!! ! "


(A few minutes later, Ellen forgetfully walks out the door into the cinnamon vomit stench. )


Ellen: "Sweet mother of Abraham Lincoln! That stinks!"

Do you ever hate your life???

Sometimes I do.

Not because I want to die, or anything morbid, but sometimes things just stink-a-rink.

Some things that have stunk lately:

-My lovely new red computer HADAMELTDOWN>>>

-I lost my copy of photoshop 5.0 so when the MELTDOWN happened, I had no photoshop.

-I have been having severe panic attacks. I am not ashamed of them, but I do wish they would go away.
(Small side note, the word panic attack reminds me of the word pancake, which sounds SSSSOOOOOGGGGOOOOOOOOODDDDD right now)

-There are other stinky things lately, but I will spare you.

In conclusion, I'll be back someday to normal blogging, with pictures. I SWEAR.