non-sierra club hike



i can tell that i am getting old.


why, you ask? (at least that's what i'm PRETENDING in my head that you said. i realize that the more correct answer might be, "DUH.")

because i am starting to have late-in-life guilt about living next to something as magnificent as
snow canyon, and the fact that i've been there about 2.5 times in the past 10 years.

and because my children haven't been. but by golly they know the inside of the movie theaters really well!

so this year, on president's day, we decided to celebrate the glorious births of washington and lincoln by hiking en masse to white rocks.


baby dole & his daddy were ready & willing:



the day was absolutely perfect--60 degrees, sunny, with a slight chance of massive amount of offspring:



there was a large sand-dune hill that the kids enjoyed running down. soon, there were all sorts of daring feats of bravery, technique, incredible skill, as well as death-defying acrobatics:



we mothers took a deep breath, turned a blind eye to the sand/dirt/mud, and let the kids get bananas.

our friend amber even violated her first commandment of sand dunes and let her children wear clothing. WITH POCKETS. (living on the edge!)


dannielle brought her fancy big camera with large neck-strap attached as well, so she got a photograph of the photographer:


the day was lovely. we enjoyed ourselves immensely.

but you can always count on somebody, somewhere, who wants you to take a photo of his wood:

hb dad!

{derrill & mindi-- 1974}


hb to my wonderful father--

i love you! (and your volkswagon bug.)

thankful thursday



things i am thankful for this week:



a husband & father who thought to bring roses to all five of his women on valentine's day:




*a birthday girl who celebrated 9 years on valentine's day with a cake made by our aunt megan:




*a cartoon from these guys that made me giggle:




*the documentation of "how women have a planning meeting". (translation: LOTS AND LOTS AND LOTS OF FOOD.):



*these lovely ladies who's company i enjoy on a monthly basis:



(girl's club. established 1998. still going strong.)




i {heart} west palm beach


i couldn't have been happier with the destination of my surprise birthday trip--west palm beach, florida was breathtakingly beautiful. (the photo above was taken from our hotel balcony--it was a little rough waking up to that in the a.m.)

we stayed HERE and absolutely loved it.

we also had a chance to visit the historical breakers hotel & were awed by the beauty & historical detail.

we even thought really, REALLY hard about crashing the really high-falutin' wedding reception that was going on in the courtyard--sadly, we did not have the bzalls to pull that stunt off.




my 40th birthday was one of my favorite days, ever--that night we had a lovely dinner and had the waitress snap the only photo of the two of us. (seriously, we are so lame--we have phobias about having to "put somebody out" to take a picture of us. we have got to get over that. or else resign ourselves to pathetic solo vacation photos for the rest of our existence.)



since i have milked out my big fourOH! for about 3 weeks now, this will be the last mention of it. EVER. so just give me a moment.....




in the "places to go, people to see, things to do" categories:


our favorite restaurant was, by far, rocco's tacos in downtown west palm beach--the food was amazing & the atmosphere was one big party. we luffed it so much that we ate there twice. if you are ever in the area, we would suggest it. HIGHLY:




we loved to wander around cityPlace --it's a big, outdoor shopping, dining, & entertainment district which is reminiscent of an italian town center. it's romantic and quaint and we spent nearly every night at a different spot here:



two different nights we danced until the wee hours at sky 309--

it is the only outdoor, open-air restaurant/bar in west palm beach, and it was amazing. they had great music, a large dance floor, and the best part was that we could sit anywhere, in any booth, and it was F-R-E-E. no cover charge, no 300 dollar bottle service fee, zip.

we were able to sit and people watch, groove to great tunes, and stuff our faces all at the same time. it was the TRIFECTA. and we were all over it:



we have so many great memories of this particular trip. west palm beach will always hold a very special place in our hearts:



of course, a blog called WORD TO YOUR MOTHER could not possibly leave the area without getting a photo-op in right here:


A1A BEACHFRONT AVENUE!!

hb abbey!


hb to my little valentine baby!

9 years old is certainly VERY grown up--we can't seem to keep you a little girl.

dad & i love you very much!


40 songs you can turn your head to the wall and die to


since i so like continuing on in the theme "it's all about me", i think i'll do just that--

one of the best birthday presents i received was this one-of-a-kind, special-edition, limited quantity, highly-coveted cd: 40 songs you can turn your head to the wall and die to.


seriously, how cool is this?



i was so thrilled--both with the song selection (excellent) and the time, effort, and thought put into this little project. it made me so happy!

thank you to my long-time-loves kamaray & stevekemp. you two killed it.


best surprise party in the history of the known universe.




my surprise 40th birthday party was such a..........well, SURPRISE.

and i'm warning you: there are a LOT of photos. (the camera was malfunctioning, so they are a bit fuzzy--sorry.) and a good amount of words.

but, as the song goes, "it's my party." and i can bask in the afterglow of it even now by blogging to extreme excess about it. (who am i kidding? like that's a stretch.)



this is right after i walked in--what the photo below does not show is the diet dr. pepper that i spilled all over the front of my shirt from the shock.

what it DOES show, however, is the fact that i am ALWAYS white trash enough to bring my 32-ounce drink. and me in my "throne", throwing the glamour shot:



everybody was SHINY. and the room was SHINY. it couldn't have been lovelier:


katie's edward cullen who made me scream like a little girl was all decked out as mindi for the evening--each couple got to pose with her. (some might even have taken liberties. but cardboard is very forgiving.):




the attention to detail was what thrilled me so much--they had such a wonderful spread of all of my favorite foods:

(okay, maybe not the "veggies" part. but i thought it made me look like i made really healthy choices. so it made the cut.)


and cakes. did i mention CAKES?

i needed a lot of them. like SIX:

{aren't they glorious?}



then the party really got underway, and that's when things really started getting bananas. nuts. CRAZY.

( as any l.d.s.-sponsored, non-alcoholic drinking, middle-aged gathering of moms and dads tends to get:)


things I loved & wanted to remember about my party:

*jared in gold shirt, rings, bracelets, and all manner of finery. he even had a knuckle ring to match my own.

*mike wearing a d-bag shirt (“it came with a complimentary set of DJ headphones!”) and sara wearing a sequined shirt from maurices that she would never put on again. plus the fact killed me that she couldn’t really see all evening long because she didn’t wear her glasses as they didn’t “go” with her shiny-ness. AND she wore mascara for the first time in 5 years.

*darrin and neal in the glitter shirts. on the back they said “WORD” and “2 ur mom”.

*adam wearing a bejeweled, diamond-encrusted B (“it stands for ‘amber’s biznatch”) and amber with her fantastic gems bought from wal mart.

*the most fabulous cake display in north america~ possibly even south america, too. So yummy, so wonderful, so SO.

*all foods were labeled and displayed properly and in a pleasing manner.

*edward cullen/mindi with large breastesses and gold lame shirt. genius.

*the most breathtaking silver/glitter/sparkly/twinkly décor in all the land.

*coordinating silver cups, plates, napkins--plus the cutest little party favors with my favorite candies AND the “HEART OF THE OCEAN” on top.

*the greatest CD and CD cover of all time. from the pictures chosen for both cover and cd’s, to the song selection, to the description of chosen songs, to the dedication at the back, it couldn't have been more perfect. or more “me”.

*a throne dedicated to me.

*colby’s I HEART LAS VEGAS t shirt.

*best answers to the WHAT WOULD MINDI SAY? Quiz from the group:

two things i am good at: MANIPULATION AND DEFLECTION

If I had to get a job i would: KILL MYSELF.

*diet dr. pepper and sierra mist cranberry splash in fancy glass containers.

*the coolest birthday party invite i’ve ever seen--when i read it, i thought, “i’m good. but i’m not THAT good.” it was absolutely perfect.

*the true element of surprise--i can’t stress that enough. i’m still shocked that i didn’t even catch a mere glimmer of this somewhere. it made it 10 times better.



i was so overwhelmed with love and gratitude all night. and i confess, i might have shed some tears of joy when i arrived home later that night, thinking about how much it meant to me.

i felt so loved and so special. THANK you to my megan, dannielle, jody, kristin, & kamari for planning such an unbelievable night.

turning 40 with these yay-hoos made it ALL better. i love them:

4orty


my friend, dannielle, made me the greatest poster for my bday-- she said it best so i don't have to: