The Time in my Life for BIG Hair, Pegged Pants, Suntans at-any-Cost, and Blue Eye Make Up

The 1980's.

I gave Matt this 80's puzzle for Christmas, and we've just finally completed it.

Both my husband and I are "Children of the 80's" AND very nostalgic.
But, that decade...man, it was pretty great!
Looking at all the different parts of puzzle was a trip down Memory Lane.
We were like,  Oh, ya....remember....

• ...that one scene in Top Gun that is FOREVER ingrained in your mind whenever you hear the song, "Take My Breath Away"......and was totally uncomfortable for Matt to watch with his parents when he saw the movie for the first time!
• ...how we could NEVER solve the Rubik's cube, so I just disassembled all the pieces and put it back together with all 6 colors/sides done up right!
• ...The Facts of Life was the best show on television, and I wanted to be "Jo" when all the other girls my age dreamed more about being "Blair."
• ...that Different Strokes, The Dukes of Hazard, The Love Boat, and The Cosby Show were pretty darn good shows, too! :)
• ...how you could record movies that came on T.V. onto a video tape, and then watch it again and again later - which I DID with the movie, Grease, whenever a new friend came over to my house.  (Note: only later in my adult years did I get a "real" copy of the movie, and.....it was quite different [read: shocking and not-so-innocent] than my recorded edited-for-T.V. version that I watched all those years!)
• ...I was sitting in my High School cafeteria having lunch my Sophomore year when a boy came in and told me that the Challenger Space Shuttle had exploded!  He tried to tell a joke, "Do you know what NASA means?"  Me: "National Aeronautics and Space Administration."  (jk, I didn't answer that - I wasn't that bright in Science!)  Him: "Need Another Seven Astronauts."  Is that weird that I remember the punch line after all these years?  I think I was so appalled by the tasteless joke, that it stuck in my brain.  Oh, high school aged boys -- they're just so sensitive, aren't they?  ;)
• ...I just wanted a stereo for Christmas, nothing else - and I got one; and it practically took up one whole wall of my bedroom!
• ...it was SOOO fun to play Pacman/Ms. Pacman at Pinocchio's Pizza [or insert any other place that had arcade games] when we went for mutual.
• ...Ronald Reagan was all the rage: my family was soooo EXTREMELY pro-Reagan.  We were THAT family who had the "Reagan/Bush '84" bumper stickers on all our cars....AND our toy wagons, Big Wheels, and dog house!!!
  

{In fact, my older brother did an internship in The White House, and he pulled some strings.....

and I received this graduation card in the mail from the President, himself!}

• ...Bruce Springstein, Michael J. Fox, Michael Jackson, Patrick Swayzee (and Dirty Dancing!), Jane Fonda, Tom Cruise, Cindi Lauper (her part in We Are the World, "Whoa-whoa-waah-let-us-realize."), Molly Ringwald (Sixteen Candles/The Breakfast Club/Pretty in Pink), Mr. T, and more!

And for your further flashback enjoyment, here are some of MY "best shots" (Get it?...as in Pat Benatar's, "Hit me with your best shot") :) from that Excellent Era. (Get it?....as in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure?) 

 (1st day of 9th grade for me, on the left) 

 (a cordless phone for Christmas for my own room - on a humongous clock radio base!)  ;)

 (how's that for an I'm-so-annoyed-you're-taking-my-picture-again,-dad look?)  ;)

 {Hi [li'l bro] Mikey!}

 (Lip Synching to Tears for Fears', "Shout" for my sister's school class, I'm on the left.)

AND look what I'm wearing on my feet; Chuck Taylor Converse high tops! 

What are my children talking about when they say my era was so OUT of it?!!?

 (getting ready for Senior Ball, my Sophomore year)

 (I think my "crush" was probably in that crowd of kids somewhere, and my mom was trying to

catch a photo of me talking with him after our choir concert.)  ;)

 (The "Nerd" Dance - ya it was BIG thing we did.) 

Also, notice the big phone (with a coil cord) that sat (and had to stay) on the kitchen desk  -

and the awesome wall paper in the background!)  ;)

 (my [19 yr. old!] sister's wedding breakfast, I'm in the red/white dress)

 (my 17th birthday)

 (a group of my friends waiting in my room - and freakin' out - to go on a group dance date, I'm the one standing)

 (Yes! It was a REAL thing; tied bows around our collar!)

 (graduation from BHS, 3rd over)

 (my brother's wedding)

(gotta show a car from the era, too!)

OK, so maybe these were more like MY not-so-best shots.....but Welcome to the 80's!!!

This Weekend:

* The "Ladies" spontaneously put together a breakfast on the spot Friday morning; 

 we went to Sill's Cafe. 

(home of the scones as big as your face)

By the time we left there, they were serving lunch to all the tables around us!  :)

* I was planning on going to the temple afterwards - I'd gone to breakfast dressed for it...

But, first I went to a store,

then to get gas,

then to a grocery store,

then to drop off two garbage bags full of stuff at the D.I. from our closet clean-out.

And by that time, the kids who'd gotten home from school were calling me.....

So, I returned home.

* I sent Kyle off on a group date he had planned with his friends.

The went to the Ice Castles up in Midway, UT.

(sidenote: this girl's mom was one of Kyle's preschool teachers!)

* Matt & I had date night at Sizzler.

We were seated in THE SMALLEST booth ever!

There was NOT enough room for me, my coat, AND my purse.

* On Saturday morning, I took Kyle and Katelyn to go audition for 

the Farmington Youth Theatre upcoming production of... 

There was quite a long wait to get in to audition,

and some good silly, young teenager watching in the meantime, too!  ;)

The fact that Kyle is a 16 yr. old MALE auditioning, made him very noticeable to the directors!

Not a bad position to be in at auditions!  :) 

* My official [write-on] calendar was finally delivered,

so I spent the afternoon filling it in with all the things we have going on this month/year.

It felt so good - I've been a bit unsettled without my "brain."

* Matt & I went on a group date of our own - I think you'd call it a quintuple date.

Our friends had reserved a court at the Rec Center and we played wallyball.

We first did girls vs. guys - I was told that it was so the girls

would actually get a chance to touch the ball!  ;)  haha.

After that, we mixed it up - and I quickly learned it was very 

advantageous to be on Matt's team!

We were reaching/lunging/jumping/hustling in ways we

are not accustomed to.....and boy, have we felt it in our bodies ever since!!!

#gettingoldstinks

Two of the couples had to return home to their young babies/toddlers,

but the rest of us went to Dairy Queen for "cool treats" 

and visited for another hour - or two....

* Church-y Church on Sunday.

This year we changed to the 9:00 a.m. time block - my favorite [at this season in my life]!

* We watched our 2015 Year-in-Review 

slideshow that Matt makes for us every year.

Always fun to reminisce!

(BUT do I REALLY look like that lady in some of the photos???)

* Brookelle got on a crazy-hair kick,

and did her own hair first....

...and then she moved on to Kyle!

* We got a surprise visit from Grandma/pa.

* I ended the day by writing my weekly email to our missionary.

Christmas -- Round 2

Apparently, when some of the companies [that my husband ordered Christmas gifts for me from] said that the items would be delivered by December 18th....

 ....what they REALLY meant was on January 7th!

 Just THREE WEEKS later - no biggie, right?!?  (Not)

Geez Louise, I'd say that was pretty darn unsatisfactory, bordering on unacceptable, as far as customer service goes....We definitely have become too accustomed to Amazon Prime's [free] 2-day delivery being SO NICE!

But, really.....I'm a grown woman, so it's not like I couldn't handle a few less presents on Christmas morning.  In fact, I still received plenty of stuff, so it didn't even cross my mind that I was lacking - Matt just told me later that some things hadn't come.  Better me than the kids, right?!?


So, this all meant that I got to be surprised and open up ANOTHER Christmas package of stuff last night  - Woo Hoo!

Merry Christmas to me - AGAIN!

(since I was semi-conscious on the real day, anyway, this was real swell!)

It's Like I was 17 Again!

Unfortunately, we've been having sub-freezing temps around here lately, which has caused our garage door keypad to not open our door.

Fortunately, I tried it Saturday afternoon when I went our for a walk, and IT WORKED!

Unfortunately, when I returned an hour later, the keypad was NOT working again.

Fortunately, we have three other doors that I can get in our home with.

Unfortunately, when I tried all of them, they were ALL locked at the moment.

Fortunately, I have a LOUD knock/pound to alert those inside to open the door for me.

Unfortunately, no one answered the door.

Fortunately, I had my cell phone with me and I called the home phone.

Unfortunately, no one answered.

Fortunately, I knew this didn't necessarily mean anything negative (no one answers the phone when it rings!)

Unfortunately, when I called Kyle's cell phone, he said he wasn't inside our home - he was at a friend's house.  It didn't look like I was getting inside any time soon.

Fortunately, I had my coat and gloves.

Unfortunately, I did not have a face mask, hat, thermals or boots on, and the CHILL got through.

Fortunately, I had one chance left - I called Matt.

Unfortunately, he was in Salt Lake City shopping for a table.

Fortunately, he was almost done.

Unfortunately, he did not have our car with him, nor our keys, because he had borrowed his parent's truck to pick up above mentioned table, so he'd have to make an extra stop on his way home to get them.

Fortunately, we did have some neighbors who looked like they were home, if I froze or got desperate, or was desperately frozen, that I could go to and beg for shelter and warmth to wait it out in.

Unfortunately, I did not want to trouble them with my pathetic situation.

Fortunately, I HAD just returned from my walk to the library, and I had a bag full of six new books!  And we have a rocking chair on our porch!  So, I took a seat, opened up a book, and started reading!

And eventually Matt came home and let me into our [warm] home! 

The End.

Total time spent locked outside = approximately 30 minutes.
(But, with temperatures hovering around the high teens, it felt like MUCH longer!)  ;)


*This being locked out hasn't happened to me FOR YEARS - in my teens and college years, it was a regular occurrence, though, so this was quite the trip down Memory Lane!  haha.