surprise!!!

John and I have been talking forever with our friends, Dallas and Amber, about getting together for a dinner date. Amber and I have developed a wonderful friendship over the past several months, and often laugh at the fact that we still haven't done anything with the husbands. Well, finally, last Saturday we planned on going out... just the four of us. We had agreed on Vito's for the place, and were supposed to meet them there at 6 PM. Upon arrival, we were greeted by the friendly staff, who told us that the other couple had already been seated. The hostess then escorted us through the restaurant, and to the table, where the Turley's were sitting there waiting for us. Well, at least that's what I thought was going to happen. Instead she lead us to an enclosed room within the restaurant which contained a couple of large tables, and seated at one of the long tables, were a bunch of my girl friends...waiting for me to arrive! Amber and Brandy had lined up the whole thing; and it was all in honor of my 30th Birthday! Not only was it exciting for me to look around and see many of my ward friends there, but if was such a surprise to see that Amber had also invited my two sisters-in-law, Lori and Julie! John (who of course, knew about the entire thing), stayed for only a minute or two, and then he and Ruby left me there to enjoy a night out with the girls. We had a wonderful time at dinner, talking and laughing, and enjoying each other's company. The girls gave me a darling gift basket full of all kinds of lotions, bath gels, and various spa items, which, of course, I loved...and can't wait to use! They then took me to an improv comedy club out in Scottsdale, and that is where the fun began! Amber had planned, (and had lined everything up beforehand), for the actors to do a spoof...of my life. That's right, of my life! The director asked John to fill out a questionnaire which contained the following questions (I also included John's answers):


FULL NAME: Nicole....

WHERE WAS SHE BORN: Utah...

WHEN WAS SHE BORN: May...

WHAT ARE HER PARENTS NAMES: Brian and Christine

NAME OF SIBLINGS (oldest to youngest include yourself): Nicole, Aaron, Matt, Kim, Rachel, Angie, Erica

FONDEST MEMORY AS A KID (UNDER 16YRS): When she was 8 yrs old, her parents remodeled her bedroom. This was a complete surprise to Nicole. She was told she could not enter the room for a few weeks because of some work her father was doing. They painted the room, added wallpaper, got her a new bed, refinished furniture. It was one of the greatest days of her life and a complete surprise!

WHAT HIGH SCHOOL DID SHE ATTEND: West Jordan High School (Utah)

WHAT SPORTS / ACTIVITIES DID SHE DO: P.R.I.D.E. was a traveling song and dance group geared towards discouraging middle school and elementary age kids from using drugs. She was also a Student Body Officer, and held the office of Civic Vice President. This role discussed school issues with city leaders and also helped plan dances and activities for the student body.

WHAT WAS THE NAME OF HER PROM DATE: She went to a few dances, but the most memorable were with a blind boy named George and another date was with a mentally challenged boy named Scott.

WHAT COLLEGE DID SHE ATTEND: Weber State University in Utah (She attended for one quarter))

WHERE DOES SHE WORK NOW (please describe what you do also): She is a stay at home mom (she did work for Nordstrom for 10 years. She was a manager in Women’s shoes, kids shoes and BP)

WHAT IS HER FAVORITE HOBBY: Blogging. She also loves crafts, scrapbooking, swimmming, and most importantly-Shopping! She is a master at shopping for clothes, shoes and accessories.

HOW DID SHE MEET HER HUSBAND: John applied for a job at Nordstrom and became an employee of her same department (women’s shoes). Funny story about how we met:

She was working at Nordstrom in the Women's shoes department. I applied for a job there to be on the sales floor but they did not have any openings. The only opening they had was a stock position in the back room three days a week. I took that job trying to work my way onto the sales floor. The rest of this story was told to me from Nicole. Apparently the single girls who worked at the cash register (I think there were four of them) used a code acronym to refer to me as HSB. This stood for Hot Stock Boy. Well, these girls would write notes back and forth to each other (opening shift leaving notes to the closing shift and vice versa) writing things like, "I got to work with HSB today", "HSB said hi to me today" etc. Nicole saw these notes over and over not knowing who HSB was (she was not part of the cashier girls group- oh, at this point she was now a manager and we just started to hang out secretly because no manager could date one of their employees). One day, when she saw another one of these notes and was asking the girls who HSB was, it hit her that HSB stood for Hot Stock Boy. When she blurted that out in front of the cashier girls, they all started screaming/laughing. She then broke the news to them, that HSB was hers.

HOW MANY CHILDREN: Two

WHAT ARE THEIR NAMES (oldest to youngest): Isaac (he passed away at birth) and Ruby (she will be one on June 4th)

WHAT IS A LIFE LESSON SHE’D LIKE TO PASS ON TO HER CHILDREN: Express your feelings often, to those you love. You never know when they may leave this earth.

MOST DARING THING SHE'S EVER DONE: She served an LDS mission in Argentina. While there, she had to visit a man who had a large gated property and on that property, he had 63 stray dogs (this is a true count, and not an exaggeration) that he had taken in. She had to walk through the yard (which was very big) with all of these dogs loose, to visit this man.

MOST EMBARRASSING MOMENT: When Nicole brought a boy home that she really really liked, her mother called her “fruit bum”. She had never called her that before. She had to convince the guy that it was just something totally random that her mom had come up with, and that there was definitely not a story behind it.


So, the host had me stand up while he wished me a Happy Birthday, and then went on to divulge (to the entire audience) most of the information contained on the form. I was embarrassed (to say the least)...but also thought it was hilarious, and couldn't stop laughing. After asking me to sit down, he then turned the time over to the actors, who improvisationally and wittily, enacted the scenes from my life. It was beyond funny...we were all laughing so hard!

I just have to say, that I am so grateful to have such wonderful friends. Because I am so shy, I always feel like I have the hardest time making new friends, and was actually really nervous to make the move to Arizona, for that very reason. Surprisingly, it's been a smooth transition, as Heavenly Father has indeed blessed me with the choicest of friendships...

(Now, I dare any of you to try and top that 30th b-day, which was literally a two week celebration! I truly feel like the luckiest of girls... )



I realize that this is a horrible picture, as most of our faces are cut in 1/2...but it's all I have, so it'll have to do. Clockwise from front left: Tara, Lori, Brooke, me, Brandy, Amber, Emily, Syd, Mayte, and Casslyn. (Julie left before the picture was taken.)


Check out that massive salad! We were all dying laughing!
(notice our goofy waitress in the background)