What's worth the Prize is worth the Fight

For the first time in my life, I participated in Black Friday. Yes my friends, I survived the grueling fatigue, wait and fight for the killer deals and avoided the outrageous rampage of customers. My decision in participating in such a life threatening ordeal began the week previous to Thanksgiving. One of my parent’s daughter’s, child’s, father’s wife. . . also known as my sister. . . told me Wal-Mart was selling a 32” flat screen for only $245. Woweee! Whadda deal!

At the time, I currently didn’t own a television. (The loaner my parents gave me died about three months ago. I think it was getting tired of all the Obama coverage, depressing news and shallow sitcoms I would watch. It decided to pull its own cord and die.) I knew eventually I’d get a flat screen tv, but I had more important purchases to add to my materialistic life. A piano, new carpet, a puppy, (obviously before the carpet). However, I could not pass up on this kind of deal and neither could my sister’s husband. (Also known as my little sister’s, grandmother’s daughter’s sister’s brother-in-law’s wife’s son-in-law.) I didn’t think two of us should stand in line for the same item, so I told him I’d pick his up while I’m at it.

I investigated the sale and found out it was from 5:00 am to 11:00 am on Black Friday. How did we get the title Black Friday anyways? For people in retail, I’m sure this day is truly a day of mourning and depression. I was told by a co-worker that during the great depression, local stores and companies worked jointly in advertising huge sales the day after Thanksgiving. The small electric shock to the economy revived the heartless economic body and it was the first time ‘we came out of the red and into the black.’ I don’t know if this is true or not, but I like it because to me, Black Friday is the color of capitalism. Snop it for me.

So. . . back to the 5:00am sale. Now really. . . .do you think if I were to set my alarm at 5:00, leave the house, drive to Wal-Mart, find parking, walk inside and pick up this tv they would still have them in stock? Nope. So I negotiated and thought maybe I would just pick up a good book and head out at 3:00 am. . . (Eeeh! I have a hard enough time getting out of bed for work!)

When preparing for battle, one needs to know the battleground and come up with a game plan. I decided to learn about the Wal-Mart procedure 6:00 at night the day of Thanksgiving. As I entered the mega supercenter, I was overcome by an eerie silence which filled the store. It was the calm before the storm. Not many people were roaming the isles. It was hard to imagine in less than 12 hours this place was going to be a Soccer Mom slaughter house. I consulted with the electronics manager about the Black Friday procedure. He informed me by giving a map of the store with all the major hot items. Evidently, they bring all of their major ticket items out on pallets in less popular sections of the store, (perhaps like the cooking and baking isle or refrigerated section of the store) and hand them out to people standing in line. “Even though we don’t officially forming a line at midnight,” he said, “there’ll probably be one at 10:00 pm.” You’ve got to be kidding me. . . 10:00!?!

So I went home, debating if I really wanted to this. I mean, for 50 bucks more, I could walk into any other store and buy a tv without the crowd, fight or sleep deprivation. But hey, I’m the adventurous type and like to try new things. . . like fighting mobs of people for a Tickle-Me-Elmo.

I went to bed at 8:00 pm and woke up a few hours later to stand in line for a flat screen. . .and that’s where all the adventure began. Before I knew it, I found myself standing in line, in the middle of the refrigerated section at 12:30 in the morning. Luckily, I had a camp chair, a decent book and my Blackberry. And because I was thinking ahead, I borrowed my parent handicap pass to get ultimate parking. Muha, ha, ha! (Some days it really pays to have that perk!)

The funny thing about waiting in line is the people you’re waiting with. Sometimes they’re either cool or chill. (Due to our location, I guess everyone in this line was a little bit of both. . . I got really cold, really fast.) And sometimes they’re really weird. . . and with my luck, I had the opportunity to wait for 5 hours next to the strangest kid. Ever. He really reminded me of this guy. He had a speech impediment and would tell me about “da days he wood wook in Calif’onia duing Black Fuydays and it was just teao-uable. But now, he was a BYU unda-guad and loved his sega game.” I could tell it was going to be a long, long, l-o-n-g morning.”

1:00 came. . . .and I was cold.

2:00 crawled by. . .

3:30. . . . beat my highest score on my blackberry. . .

4:00. . . . “Oh man. . . Calif’onia is da best place in da whole entire Wold! It has Disney Lan an’ big Pauks an’ gweat food an’ oceans and ‘ouda stuff like that.”

4:15. . . still cold, but now I have to go to the bathroom. . . .

4:30. . . .lots of more people starting to show up. Glad I was 3rd in line.

4:45. . . you can feel the anticipation and sweaty palms all around you.

4:50. . . people start to stand up, stretch and start to inch forward in the line

4:55. . . Employees start to man their stations with more protection and zeal as they prepare for the announcement at

5:00. . . “Good morning Wal-Mart Customers. Welcome to Black Friday!”

And all madness broke loose. I had no idea what I got myself into. I knew it was going to be messy, but not maniacal! Only because I was in the beginning of the line did I get two televisions with ease, now it was getting out which I feared.

I could see the lights of the cash registers, but a person stuck in downtown Boston traffic had more movement than I did in this Utah Wal-Mart. I decided to let my aggressive Utah driver into the front seat. (It’s easier to pull a card in crowded places than push it. However, you do run the risk of people stealing stuff out of your basket with your back turned.)

I landed a spot at the ‘Under 20 Items’ cash register swiped plastic and headed out to my car parked in the closest spot to the store! Even when I was loading up my purchases, two people came up to me asking for my cart.

And that was my Black Friday experience. I was out by 5:12 am, with the goods in the back seat of my car and on the verge of wanting to be a narcoleptic. Now as I look at my new tv, I’m reminded of the beautiful color of free enterprise, ‘cwazy Calif’onia sto’ies’ and a long morning in Wal-Mart.
PS If you know of anyone needing an Entertainment Center, I'm selling this one. (TV's not included.)

Go with the Flo

I think I should find a job at Progressive Car Insurance.

Beaver, Beaver, Beaver!

Normally when the Jacobson family goes camping, there’s at least 10 people who attend. This last camping trip was quite different because only the beaners went with mom and dad. (And poor parents, they had some pretty wacky daughters on this trip.) It was a little too quite, so Jackie and I tried to sing to my ipod. I don’t think we’ll be signing up for American Idol any time soon.



So we tried to give mom and dad a break and go fishing. It’s hard to believe, but I’ve never been fishing without dad right next to me. It was quite difficult cutting worms in half and piercing them through the hooks. (Just thinking about it gives me the shivers!) I’ve also never steered our little fish boat before and everyone on the lake knew I was a first timer. Mom and dad just sat on the shore and laughed and laughed at us as we went in circles or did S shapes all over the lake. I think they were too embarrassed to admit to anyone we were their daughters. The fish mocked us all afternoon! You think I’m kidding when I say there were at least 10 fish jumping within a 10 food radius of out boat, but I’m not! Jackie and I tried every type of fishing gear, tackle and food to get those stupid cold blooded creatures. We tried jakes and spinners and worms (eeewwwww!) and power bait and trolling and casting and everything! Guess how many fish we caught?! NADA! Stupid fish!



We played card games for hours and listened to Harry Potter. (I’m desperately trying to catch up! It’s almost a shame how I’m the only sister in the family who hasn’t finished the series!)

Jackie fixed our tent with the luck of duct tape! (Don’t tell Melissa and Todd about the old fiberglass poles which have started to break and splinter with years of use.) The first night, Jack woke me up at least 10 times to her adjusting and readjusting her sleeping bag and blanket. It wasn’t until morning that I noticed her sleeping bag zipper was broken and she couldn’t zip it up. I made sure the second night she had enough warmth to sleep soundly.

It was a fun trip! I love camping! I love the bright star filled sky, the crisp and frosted morning and the crackle of a morning or evening fire. But most of all, I love the people I go with. Perhaps you can join us next time!

The Wet Diaper in my Crib

I decided that I needed to add a few improvements to my little house. (Everything in my life has a name. I decided to call my home the Sham-Wow because not only does it soak up tons of water, it also soaks up lots of money!!) With mom and dad’s help, we painted a room, fixed a dryer, put up a light fixture, replaced a toilet seat and fixed a gasket in the other toilet. I’m learning tons!!
Along with the upgrades, I decided to put in my front entry way and kitchen. Evidently, what also came with the tile was a flood!!! I was told that the tile needed 24 hours to set, so I needed to find a place to spend the night. The next morning, I hurried and went over to my place to check out the tile. They did a beautiful job. . .but they left the carpets in both bedrooms rather wet. I guess one of the workers used my guest bathroom, clogged the toilet and then just left. Two thirds of my house was destroyed in the flood. I guess that means I need more tile down the hallway and new carpet.

Lucky Duck

I have a perfect view of a swimming pool from my work window. A few times this summer, I have noticed a duck, sunbathing on the edge of the swimming pool. What would I give if I could be that duck! You may have to click on the picture to see the duck.

Dirt roads

Mom and Dad invited me on one of their 4 wheeling trips. It was fun, dirty and very memorable! I loved going out with them and having fun!

Fun, Crazy 4th!

My friend from Idaho came down to spend the 4th of July with me. It’s a tradition in my family to watch the Provo Parade and I volunteered to save my family seats. So Lacey and I woke up at 4:00 in the morning to get there. Funny things happen when you wake up really early. You don’t put make up on, and you think the stupidest things are funny. I still don’t know why I woke up that morning thinking “Abu Dhabi! Abu Dhabi!”

Home, Sweet Home

I know it’s been forever since I’ve updated my blog!! So much has happened and I don’t know if I can update everything!

I closed my home on the June 25th! Many adventures has happened in one month of being a homeowner, and up until July 24, I was in the honeymoon stage!! I loved hearing the a/c come on because I knew that was my bill! And I loved knowing the mess I saw was my mess and not my roommate’s! It’s been fun to play nonfictional House! It’s all fun until you have to make your first homeowner’s insurance claim. . . but that blog’s coming up!

Ginger's Goin' Green

Not too long ago I decided to plant a garden. (Yeah, anybody who knows anything about a garden knows not to start it in June! Smart one, Ginger!) So I asked (farmer) Danny Johnson, the EQP in my ward, if his family had any land they don’t use. “As a matter of fact,” Mr. EQP said, “my family does have a long strip of land they let people in their ward use it. . .for free!” Evidently there are a lot of families in their ward who live in apartments and would like to plant a garden—hmm, that sounds just like me! They provide the land and even the water and it’s considered a service from the Johnson family. I offered a monthly or seasonal fee, but the Johnson family refused. I then begged them if I could at least give them some homemade salsa or zucchini bread from the harvest. They agreed to that. (That means if the salsa or bread doesn't turn out, I'm going to ask you if I can have some of yours that you made from your garden!) I talked to mom and Becky about what kind of seeds to get, what kind of starters to purchase and how often do I water what. Becky helped out and have me a few of her watermelon starters and mom gave me great advice about the tomatoes. I go out almost every day and weed and water my little plot of land. (And because it’s right by Utah Lake, I soak up just as much mosquito repellent as sunshine!) Little green sprouts are starting to shoot up out of the dirt. I’m getting so excited! I planted red, green and yellow peppers, big boy, jet star and cherry tomatoes, cantaloupe, watermelon, sunflowers, two different kinds of beets, radishes, spaghetti squash, zucchini and yellow onions. I’ll keep you posted come harvest time!

Holy Ton of Photos Batman!

As most of you know, I've been house hunting for the past 5 months. Mom, Dad and I have walked through at least 35 different condos and townhomes and nothing really seemed to click. Offers we made were either ignored or refused. (Even a seller thought it was best to foreclose instead of take our offer which was above asking price! Crazy people!)

And then a few decisions were made, price ranges were reduced dramatically and the search became a little more difficult. I began to become frustrated and started to loose hope. . .

But then. . . .I found a place! Keep in mind I’ve looked at everything from Springville to American Fork and guess where I found it? Two stories beneath where I’m currently renting. Yup! It’s in the exact building as Becky’s and Brent’s condo!

I placed an offer and accepted the seller’s counteroffer and as of this morning I am officially under contract! (Yahoo!!) I’m trying very hard not to count my chickens before they hatch, but it is a distressed sale and I have good feelings about this place. (And it doesn’t help that mom and I talk for hours about paint, wainscoting, carpet, furniture and all the fun stuff!)

Mom, Dad and I will meet with our lender tomorrow to figure out the loan and hopefully get locked in. (I’ve done a few things on my own, but if I didn’t have such good parents I would not be where I’m at today. Thank you mom and dad!)

It’s a 2 bedroom, 2 bath condo on the first floor. I have all the appliances and even a BBQ grill! (Just in time for summer!)

10 reasons why I like this place:


1)Location, location, location! It’s 30 seconds to the interstate, but it’s very quiet and out of the way. I take Geneva to work and it’s so beautiful with all the trees! My commute’s only 10 minutes.

2)Awesome Singles Ward. If I get married to a guy I met in this ward this condo was one of my best investments. It worked for Becky and Brent, it just might work for me!

3)I love knowing it comes with all the appliances!

4)Half the Elder’s Quorum said they’ll help me because I said I’d have a BBQ for all the guys who’ll help me move.

5)Moving will be so easy! From the third floor to the first floor! Heck, I could just through my stuff off of my balcony and walk down the stairs and move it in!

6)There’s not too much to paint. (Yes, you’ll notice the sage green in the kitchen and bathrooms and that needs to go! Egh! However, the one thing that took me by surprise was the laundry room. It’s a bright cherry yellow with a deep red, knotty alder cabinets above the washer and dryer. The color isn’t me or what I thought I would find attractive, but I really like the cheery laundry room. (It just might have me singing ‘Whistle While You Work’ as I do my laundry.

7)If I move to Hawaii, Becky and Brent can look after it. . .as long as I pay them! Or—if they move, I can look after their apartment!

8)Bay Windows—luuuve it!

9)Patio. . .I’m gonna have the cherry house swing out there!

10)And because it’s on the ground floor—I CAN GET A LITTLE DOGGIE!!!!

Some of you have requested a few photos. They’re out of order . . .sorry. The blue room is the other private bedroom, not the master. Here’s what the place looks like. I’d love feedback! What would you do differently to this place on a very tight budget?


Looking at the Front Door



Standing in the entryway, looking at the living room



Bay Window



Kitchen from Living room



The feez-fezzer



Kitchen from Hallway



Main hallway



Main Bedroom standing in hallway (Yep, that paint's gotta go!)



Main bedroom's closet



Main Bedroom



Standing in Hallway, looking into main bath



Main Bath



Master Bedroom



Standing in Master Bedroom, looking through master bath into master closet (shower and toilet are to your left)



Master Sink


A stupid picture of master shower


A more reasonable picture of the master shower



Master bath



Washer and Dryer



Standing in the main bath, looking past the laundry room to the front entry hall. (Front door is past the laundry room to your left)

Face Off

I've been doing a new form of exercise. You should try it too!!

Farewell Corinna

Now, I’m no grease monkey or car-aholic, but I have a definite appreciation for automobiles. One of my favorite jobs of all time was working in a garage and learning all about the guts of those machines. Okay, okay—I didn’t wear one of those coveralls with my name embroidered under the company logo and have grease under my nails all day long, but I did eat lunch with the guys and they would take me under the car every now and then to show my a few cool things. I’d like to think I was their little sister they never had. Now, every time I walk into a car repair shop and hear those air tools or smell that grease, I get a little nostalgic.

My high school car was a red 1988 Ford Tempo. It was a hand-me-down from my sisters who graduated from college. For most of middle class America, when your 16 the junkier the car, the cooler you were. So I loved my little red car that could go no faster than 55 without shaking. (And can you believe I got my first speeding ticket in it?) It had the automatic seatbelts which would *stick,* I mean slide every time the door opened. (Well, after dad introduced the miraculous, liquid remedy of WD-40 to the college sisters, the seatbelt would glide instead of skip along. It’s amazing what a little grease will do!) I’m pretty sure the speedometer only went to 65. I think it was supposed to be an illusion when traveling on the highway or interstate. Even though everyone was passing you, you felt like you were going somewhat fast because the needle was bouncing past the numbers to the right. The cruise control was broken in a way that every time you pressed it, the car honked at you. But all in all, it was a good car and because it was a junkie, I was somewhat cool in high school.

Most cars have a gender, wouldn’t you agree? I mean, you just can’t hop up into a beasty truck and call it Prissy or Melba. And in the same light, you can’t drive a car with a bra and a rack and call it Ben. (Now that’s just not right!) There are a few exceptions where the car’s a hermaphrodite and this ford was quite the exception. It had no guts, so it wasn’t male and outside the occasional floral air freshener, it had no feminine attributes. Because it was a tempo, I decided to avoid common, transgender names like Charlie or Taylor or Kris or Kerry and go with a more musical name: Poco a poco Ritardando. (And if you need to translate that ‘tempo’ it means, ‘little by little getting slower.’ Trust me, the car lived up to its name.)

Then came the tragic spring of 2002. I was deemed the car during my first year at Snow College. I decided to visit my family for a weekend and on my way back to school, Poco a poco Ritardando, (also known as The Retard,) had a terrible fever on I-15 outside of Springville. It passed out from over exhaustion, just as I pulled up into a Cracker Barrel. (I guess going 55 in a 75 was just too much.) That was the last I saw of it. I still don’t know what exactly happened—my dad just said the cost of the car itself was a fraction of the amount of total repairs.

So I spent my sophomore year carless. It was a very devastating and even embarrassing era having to depend on others for my external mode of transportation. I didn’t even have a bike! As a matter of fact, when I had to be rushed to the ER that year, I humbly asked a friend to take me because I had no car.

I graduated from Snow in the spring of 2003 and headed up to Provo to begin my first summer semester at BYU. I lived close enough to campus to walk, but still needed a car to justify not taking public transportation to work or to the grocery store. My parents sat me down and said they’d be willing to help. They would buy a car and let me use it under a few conditions:

1) The car was less than 75,000 miles
2) The car was less than $5,000
3) The car was within a 10 mile radius from where they lived
4) The car couldn’t be a Ford (Totally agree with them on this!!)
5) The car was theirs and they could take it whenever they wanted

I thought it sounded fair enough, so I began my search. Mom and Dad didn’t care about the year of the car, but being the stuffy materialistic college student I was, I needed the car to be at least 7 years old. I didn’t want to be driving anything my mother could have taken me home in the hospital in.

Have you ever searched for a vehicle that’s under 5 grand and less than 100k miles and at least 7 years old? Everything you find tends to be the leftover stunt cars from movies or demolition derbies or from off the set of ‘My Name is Earl’ or held together with duct tape. I was coming to the conclusion that I would just have to humble myself and drive a 1970 hot pink VW bug with blue ocean waves on the side and a green hood. (And that exact vehicle is what my sisters drove before that got The Retard. It’s hard to believe they rejoiced when they got the Red Tempo. To them it seemed to be a beacon of mild social acceptance.)


This photo was taken years after we had sold his non-fictional car. Yes, it's still alive and kickin'!

I’ll never forget the first time I saw the advertisement in the monthly Auto Trader magazine. This moment would change my life forever. It seemed that the car angels sang that perfect fermata chord of ‘Awww’ and light came from out of the page where I gazed at her. Doves with a olive branches in their beaks somehow entered the room and fluttered about in peace and tranquility. I even thought I saw a rainbow and a little Irish man doing a jig out of joy. My search for my car was over. I found her!

She was a 1996, Toyota Corolla and she sat in a used car lot 5 miles from my parent’s residence. Her price tag was illuminating the $5,999. I brought the information to my parents and begged for them to consider. They ended up trading in their old Winnebago for a $1000, which brought the price down to a steady $4,999. Papers were singed and vehicles were exchanged. I decided to name her Corinna the Corolla and knew we would share many adventures together.

Shortly after my one and only semester at BYU, I moved to Arizona where I worked at that garage. I left for the mission a few months after that and was assured by my family they were taking good care of her. My younger sister got her license and kept that little car kickin.’ (At this time I’m not going to mention the multiple crashes my little sister inflicted upon her or post pictures of any them.)


Oops, how’s that get there?

A few months after graduating from BYUI, I bought her from my parents. Therefore, she was my first car I honestly owned.

But even the best relationships sometimes have to end. She was getting old and too much traveling was wearing her down. I needed to move on and find a love. Last month I purchased CaBella the Camry. I love my new lil’ car, but it’s hard to part with my old friend.


Here's CaBella waiting for me at work.

From the Arizona desert to the freezing Idaho windy winters, Corinna has been with me. She faithfully waited for me when I was on the mission. We did our fair share of being green. I would find hubcaps off of the side of the road and try to make them fit on her. She never really held on to them long. She endured late nights alone in the parking lot when I was finishing up a school project or trips to the unknown ghost town. She didn’t mind the smelly Thai food I would get which stunk her up for days. She didn’t mind stuffing her full of all of my belongings when traveling from state to state. We endured many treacherous storms together, both of weather and of life. She was there when I just needed to get away from everyone and everything, or get to someone I loved. She let me just sit and cry when I needed it. We would do 360s on purpose and not on purpose. She knew my boyfriends better than some of my friends or family. She was my friend and I will miss her terribly.


The constant missing hubcap


My last good-bye

Top 10 reasons why I love spring.

1) I hate being cold and April is the month where things start to warm up.
2) Blue skies are always accompanied by singing birds and budding flowers.
3) Itchy wool sweaters and heavy skirts are tucked away in tote bins and pretty pastels and flirty skirts take up the closet.
4) Fresh fruit that I’m actually tempted to purchase starts to appear in the produce section.
5) I will always ‘awww’ at the baby cows, horses and sheep who wobble next to their mothers as I drive in the country.
6) Tree branches are sheltered with delicate blossoms.
7) The sun rises earlier and sets later.
8) I start to plan exciting summer vacations or camping trips.
9) I love to open the windows in my car and home because it’s perfect weather!
10) MY BIRTHDAY!!! And Mother Nature knows not to give me snow on my birthday.
These were some pictures on April 16, 2009! Don’t ya just love spring?!

Ellie's Sealing

This is a slide show I put together of my newest little niece. And yes, I fixed the grammatical error!

Hop on pop and Green Eggs and Ham

This weekend I invited my niece and nephew for a sleep over at my place. I called their mother earlier and sought permission on the one condition of their good behavior. Aeja informed me once I picked her up, that she almost ran out of ‘chances’ that week, but she did have one remaining.

We first went to Macy’s and talked about what we wanted for dinner. Aeja desperately requested lasagna while Colman first wanted hotdogs, then changed his mind to ‘boy’ cheese sandwiches. (Not grilled cheese, but boy cheese.)

It was at the grocery store I learned an important lesson: Little kids never forget. I guess a few months ago Aeja and Coleman were reading Green Eggs and Ham. I told them the time when I was in the first grade and my teacher brought in some real green eggs and ham. Now, I’m somewhat of a busy young adult and I totally forgot this story. However, Aeja reminded me that I told them next time she and Colman were at my house, I would make them green eggs and ham. I hurry and added ham and eggs to our shopping list. (And just to let you know—food dye is expensive!)

Then we hurried and went to Jump on It in Lindon. I’m sure it’s a little kid’s dream place! It’s the size of a open warehouse with 10,000 square feet of trampolines and other jumping or blowup devices to bounce off of. (My tactic in this was having these kids as tired as they could be by bed time—I’m pretty sure it worked.)

We went home, had dinner, (which Coleman decided he wanted peanut butter and jelly sandwiches instead, and then changed his mind to a complete fruit dinner). We brushed out teeth—(somehow pulling teeth is easier than brushing them!) read scriptures and said prayers. I blew up a queen size air mattress , brought out my body pillow, their pillows, down pillows and six different kinds of blankets for their bed. I popped in Wall-E and we stayed up until 10:00 watching it. (I hate to brag, but I’m a pretty cool aunt!)

The next morning at 7:00, Coleman woke me up by whispering in my ear “It’s time to make green eggs and ham!” I let the two hop in my bed and watch cartoons while I ‘magically’ created this fictional breakfast. Some things are cooler to look at than to eat. . .and this was one of them.
All in all it was a very good experience! They were very good kids and I know I’ll never forget it. I have learned many things from that sleepover.

1) No matter how much fun you’re having, never try to hold it
2) Remind a person about a promise that was made
3) Find complete joy in simple things—like jumping
4) If you really want to eat something for dinner—eat it
5) Sleep with lots of pillows and blankets
6) Fall asleep to your favorite movies
7) Read your scriptures
8) Tell God everything in your prayers
9) Never lose your sense of wonder
10) Laugh!