My Sweet Sister

As some of you may know, my sister passed away on September 17th. This passing is bittersweet. She battled breast cancer since May 2006. She is an example of fighting with all you've got.

Colleen Marie Hahn Newton was born April 1, 1959. She was the oldest of 3 brothers and 1 sister (myself). She is survived by her husband, Dave Newton, and 4 sons; Chris, Skylar, Sean and Casey. They are some amazing men!

She had an incredible affect on people. She always asked questions to find out more about...everything and everyone. She really loved life. She liked to take great pictures of flowers, people, art,, scenery. She was very creative and artistic, she had a unique sense of style.

She won't get a chance to see her boys get married or have children, but she left a wonderful legacy because they are great young men.

While she was 13 years older than me, she loved being a sister and mother-figure. We missed out on sharing clothes and talking about boyfriends, but we shared many stories and struggles as mothers. She was sincere about her interest in me and my family.

She was one of those that when she called to talk it wasn't just for a minute or two, it was more like an hour or two. And we could easily laugh, talk, cry and share together.

I will miss her terribly! She was my only sister.

I am relieved she doesn't have to suffer any longer with her physical body, it was too small to hold her strong spirit, anyway.

Until we meet again, Colleen Marie, I love you.

What's your maiden name?

Ok, I'll try to be succinct with this funny story, but not leaving out important details.

Just this last May we made a trip to Utah for a family wedding. Whenever we are in Utah we try to get together with John's buddies from high school, Chris and Stanton. We've stayed close over the many years.

Chris had been divorced for a few years and said that for our get together he was bringing a friend. MMMMmmmm, interesting. We found Janelle (the friend) to be absolutely delightful!! She was full of ideas, personality and opinions. (It is necessary to stand on your own when these boys are in a room together.)




Here we are at lunch on that very day. We are having a superb time. It was during a bathroom break that Janelle told me that she and Chris had only been dating a mere 2 and a half weeks. Granted they knew each other for 2 years in the same PhD Nursing program.

We continued talking back at Stanton's house on the back porch. Catching up, laughing, getting to know Janelle a bit more. When out of my mouth came the following sentence..."So, what was your maiden name?" At the very moment it slipped out I knew that I my brain and mouth were not working in sync. She had eluded to many points that I knew she had never been married. What was I thinking? Needless to say, everyone got a very good laugh about it, and I think Janelle handled it very well in telling me what her current and maiden name were. And the moment was relived when Stanton's wife got home later.

Now, jumping ahead to the first weekend in September.

Here is Janelle and Chris at our next get-together, they look pretty sweet on each other, right?

Here is Stanton and his wife LaRayne at the same little get-together, which happened to be the night before...

THE WEDDING!!!!

John captured this precious moment between the couple on the temple grounds of the Oquirrh Mountain temple. Sweet, huh?

Here is Chris and Janelle with his 2 children. They make a nice little family.

And what's a wedding without some cake, which was absolutely delicious, by the way.

What I just realized, in hindsight, is my ability to predict the future. I just need to work on my timing. I should have waited until after they were married to ask her maiden name, right?

It all turned out very well in the end.

I have a feeling they won't let me live it down, though.

Senuous Sandwiches

Do you have a favorite restaurant that you'd love to go to, but it's located several hundred miles away? A restaurant that provided comfort food? Or a place that just had great food, but you can't reach?

I have such a place. This place is not in the state I live in; it's in Utah. One of my roommates used to work there. They have great sandwiches. They have really great sandwiches.

This place is unique not just because their sandwiches are good, but because of the names of their sandwiches. The restaurant is called Senous Sandwich. And the names of the sandwiches sound like this: the Stimulator, the Enticer, the Tantalizer, the Bodasious, and of course, the Sensous Sandwich, just to name a few.



I haven't tried all the sandwiches, in fact, I've only tried 3. I stopped trying because I found my favorite. It's called the Spicy Enticer. It has pastrami, pepperoni and Italian sausage with your choice of cheese, and then whatever fixings you choose. It is so good. It's one of those sandwiches that is all juicy from the moment you pick it up, until your very last bite (probably because I like the oil and vinegar).



The picture really doesn't do it justice, it just looks like part of any old sandwich.

It's probably a good thing that Senous Sandwich doesn't have a restaurant closer to home because I would probably go there once a week.

So, if you are ever in Orem or Provo...just stop in...it will be worth it!