Oprah's life has been touched by Heritage Makers

I just got back yesterday from a Heritage Makers convention. It was one of the most awesomest experiences ever. Make sure to visit my website today! Look through the many templates available for free in our template gallery,

Other news: One of our consultants created a small book for Oprah Winfrey in memory of her dog Gracie who died over a year ago. She sent it to Oprah's studios and Oprah loved it so much, she phoned her and left a message on that consultant's voicemail.
Click here to listen!
We are thrilled that Oprah has realized what our company has already known--that our books have the ability to touch lives, and we are preserving stories that would otherwise be forgotten. What stories do you have to tell? Does your child need to know how special they are? Do you know the stories of your parents? Start today telling your stories today!! Visit the template gallery, choose a template and easily create your own storybooks within hours!!
Christy
Your Personal Publishing Consultant
ChristyStephensen@BeAStoryTeller.com

Family Photo's

A few weeks ago, we had some photo's taken by Alicia Corbridge. They turned out fabulous, thought I'd share a few with you. Here are a couple of my favorites!
AMC Photography.

Tagged

What I was doing 10 years ago...
1. I was finishing up Basic Training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina.
2. Worring if I would be able to make it through the 12 mile road march.
3. Looking forward to getting my weekly letter from my Mimi.
4. Worring that my E-2 pay may not be recognized.
5. Wishing that my Army training was over.

5 things on today's "to do" list.
1. Clean the Kitchen.
2. Have 5 Heritage Conversations.
3. Send out Heritage Makers Promotional Email.
4. Pay Bills.
5. Fold Laundry.

5 things I would do If I were a millionaire.
1. Invest, Invest, Invest.
2. Remodel certain things in my home.
3. Buy property and build my dream home.
4. Travel the world.
5. Travel the world some more.

5 places that I have lived.
1. Newnan, Georgia
2. Indianpolis, Indiana
3. Mooresville, Indiana
4. Columbus, Georgia
5. Reno, Nevada

5 snacks I enjoy.
1. Sweetened Condensed Milk.
2. Whole Cream.
3. Chocolate Malk Milk Shake.
4. Cookie Dough.
5. IBC Root Beer.

5 jobs I have had.
1. Cutting the public grass in the Trailer Park.
2. Sample Lady at Cub Foods.
3. Delievery Window Cashier at Pizza Hut.
4. Video Store.
5. Admin Clerk in the Army.

5 people I tag.
1. Katie P.
2. Heather.
3. Laura.
4. Julie G.
5. Julie M.

Hiking Trip #2: Sierra Buttes

The Sierra Buttes is a Mountain Peak in the Sierra Nevada's in the Tahoe National Forest. It stands at 8591 Ft. High. You can see this glorious crag of a rock when you are driving down California Highway 49, right before you reach Basset's Station. It's really quite ominous when you first glance at it, and you wonder if any human being has ever been brave enough to scale this crazy mountain that looks like instant death.

When we had gotten home from out trip the Friday before, we had discovered by looking at our trusty map, that the mountain was called the Sierra Buttes. When we got home that night, I looked it up on the internet and found out that there are roads and trails that lead up to the top, where a Ranger Station has been built. We decided that our next day hike would be up that trail to the top of that mountain. One of the website's I visited talked about the crazy set of stairs which lead the last 60 feet to the top of the peak and the Ranger Station. Just reading about it made me have second thoughts. But we went.

Our drive was nice. We decided to go up 395 to Hallelujah Junction and Drive to Graeagle, then take the Gold Lake Highway to the road that lead to the eventual trail. Four wheel drive vehicles can get pretty close, but you really need a truck, and not a Subaru Forester to get all the way up to the parking area for the Buttes. So we had to park our trusty little Forester because after a while, it would not have cleared the crazy bumps and holes in the dirt road.

The road up, till you get right before the parking lot, was really steep. We were stopping for breaks about every 100 yards and chugging down water, or at least I was chugging down water. We passed over the PCT, and saw some really gorgeous views even before getting to the top. It was neat to see, as you went up, how the vegetation would change so slightly and there would be more and more rock. It took us a little over an hour, I think, to get to the top where the bottom of the stairs were.

I never hyperventilated before in my entire life, but there have been a few times where I could feel that I almost could. Starting to go up these crazy stairs was one of those times!! There were 3 sets of stairs, all mounted into poured concrete. Climbing up the stairs, I had both hands gripping the rails and I was not looking to the right, left, or down. Just straight at the rock wall I was facing. The third set of stairs is a bit more scary, since there is about 20 feet of nothing between the stairs and the rock, and nothing but air on the sides. I had to stop for a few minutes to build up the courage to keep going. Steve was behind me saying, "go already", and here I am picturing my foot slipping and me falling through the crack to the rocks below. What was I THINKING????!!

Once we got up, it took me a little while to get a hold of myself and feel comfortable even on the solid ground. It's weird to have that feeling that you may fall off. I remember praying out loud, "Father, please don't choose to let there be an earthquake here right now!"

It was great, I'm really glad we got to go up. We were pretty lucky because we didn't see anyone on the trail or at the tower until right before we got down to the bottom of the stairs again. The trip down the mountain was pretty fast, though a bit hard on the knee's. I got all my pictures going down, since we weren't worried about simply breathing like when we were going up.

Afterwards, we stopped at Basset's Station, a place Steve's grandparents had taken us to for dinner and lunch a few times. We both had Blue Cheese Hamburgers, Steve had a milkshake, and I had some Blackberry Pie. Man were we hungry!!!!

Hiking Trip #1: Plumas National Forest

A week ago last Friday, we took a drive out to area over by Graeagle, CA. We planned that day to do a day hike, but didn't really "plan" where we were going to do that hike. We got up that morning and discussed a couple of different places we could go. I really wanted to go back to the Plumas National Forest area, which we had visited about 4 years ago.

We headed over to the other side of town first and had breakfast at my favorite breakfast place, Peg's Glorified Ham and Eggs. After getting our fill of yummy breakfast, we headed down I-80 and got started on our drive. We got off the interstate at the Truckee exit and headed North towards Sierraville. Then you get onto hwy 49 and head west. We stopped at Bassett's Station and bought a nice National Geographic map, and then headed up Golden Lake Highway.

We chose to hike around Round Lake. If you haven't been anywhere near that area, it's really worth it. It's such a gorgeous place on the planet. We hiked about 2 1/2 hours, going about 3 miles or so. We saw Round Lake, Silver Lake, Big & Little Bear Lakes, and Long Lake. The area used to be a mining place, and Round Lake has a historical spot with a Marker that tells about a gold press station. You can see remnants of the building, mostly a bunch of scrap metal. We got some pretty good pictures and had a great time.

Uh Oh

This morning around 1005, Steve and I left the house to go to the Temple. We were at the light on Patriot and Virginia where the In-n-Out Burger is waiting for it to turn green. Once it did, the oncoming traffic started to cross the street... at least until another car hit the lead car. It was sort of strange to see the accident happen. I looked up right as this red car smashed into the front of the oncoming car (who had the right of way). I wasn't sure which direction the red car had come from. Steve said we should stop and help, so we crossed the street and parked at the In-n-Out and Steve walked over to the lady in the silver car to check on her. I called 911. The lady in the red car came out and talked to the lady in the silver car, then everyone walked over to the sidewalk. We waited until the Ambulance, then Fire Truck, then 3 different Police cars came.

The man who was behind the lady in the silver car when she was hit also parked and come over to help and hung out for the policen to show up. He said that the red car had run the red light. The EMT's checked out both of the lady's and waited around for the cops. The first cop on the scene was another lady... she questioned who everyone was, made sure the two car lady's were ok, then headed straight for us witnesses. It was funny when she told the two drivers, I will get to you guys in a minute, it's not often that I get independent witnesses. Thought that was interesting.

No serious harm to the Lady's, but the Silver car had a crashed up axel and the Red car,'s left side front bumper and hood was bent up.

Needless to say, we were late to the Temple. We ended up eating lunch first and then went to a later appointment.

I was thinking afterwards that I wish I had my camera with me so I could post some pics on the blog.

Ballon Races

Last Friday, Steve & I got up early to check out the Great Reno Balloon Race. We left the house around 530am and headed out towards San Rafael Park. When we got there, we had a hard time trying to find where people who are NOT working at the races park. We finally figured it out and walked in.




























I was a little dissapointed to see that there were no balloons up whatsoever when we got there. And the only one that was being filled was the Bald Eagle Balloon. The one that carries the American Flag for the National Anthem. We got some great pictures of it getting blown up and taking off. After the national anthem was sung, the other balloons started getting filled. We were already pretty bored, so we started to leave. When we got to the parking lot, we hung out for a little bit and watched over half of the balloons rise up and take off. It was pretty cool.

Reno Rib Cookoff

mmmmmmmmm...mmm...
I love ribs. I've been wanting to go to the rib fest for the past few years, but had never had the opportunity to go. Katie R. & I headen out to have some ribs for lunch today. We had a great time, trying out some of the samplers. We tasted 4 different kinds. The third one we had was the best, though I can't remember which one it was. While we were pigging out on their ribs and watching them cook up some more, one of the team members came in hollering that they one the trophy for best sauce!! He had the trophy held high! It sure was some great sauce.

We also enjoyed some fire roasted corn on the cob, fresh squeezed lemonade, baked beans that tasted like they had cinnimon in them, and some frozen chocolate covered strawberries. I think that we are of the consesus that it should be a tradition for the two of us to eat ribs together at the cook off every year!