The Essence of Me

Thankful Thursday

2012-02-02T00:56:00.000-08:00

I'm a planner. A list maker. Maybe a little OCD. I love planners. I wasn't super thrilled with the one I had last year, so starting September, I began looking for a new one. I tried one from Clean Mama Printables and it had some good aspects, but I didn't like that it fit in a big binder. It wasn't easy to carry with me. By December, I decided I needed a more portable planner (yes, I know I have and iPhone 4s, but technology and I rarely get along. I'm trying, but I still don't have it mastered!) I was on the hunt. I wanted it to be cute and functional. After many hours of searching, I came across this on pinterest (yay pinterest!)

image from here

I love it. Itfits in my purse and it has all sorts of fabulous stuff with it. One of thefabulous things that came with it is the 30 Day Gratitude Challenge. She hascollected 30 different quotes and then a journaling challenge along with eachquote. I've decided to make it a 30 week rather than 30 day. Really give myselftime to think! I may not blog all of my answers as they're pretty personal. Infact, I may end up not blogging many. But that's not the point. The point is Iwant to be more aware of my blessings. And this will help! So here goes!

Gratitude Challenge #1

Journal Challenge

This one is really challenging for me at this time. I feel like the last 10+years have been so full of drama and trials that its hard to distinguish whereone begins and another ends. (I've said countless times I should write a soapopera based on my life!) I know I've learned some things from them, but I'msure hoping that what I've got so far isn't all I'm getting out of thesedoozies! But I'm trying. I especially love that last paragraph. I often feelguilty for not getting all "what am I supposed to learn from this" inthe midst of some trials. But I don't need to feel guilty. I don't have to be gratefulright now. I just have to determine to work on being grateful someday. And inthe meantime, look for the joy in the other areas of my life. I kind of lovethat thought.

So, there you go. Week #1. Want to join in? Let me know! If you want to, Ican try and figure out how to add one of those things where you can add yourlink. I may have to bribe someone smarter than me with brownies, but I'd do it!Even if you don't want to join in, try and spend more energy looking for thejoy in your life this week!

Weight Loss Wednesday

2012-02-01T01:26:00.000-08:00

I think this is by far the most difficult day for me. It also the most necessary. I have battled with my weight my entire life. The thing is, I don't eat a lot. I don't even eat very unhealthily (generally!) I never have. (Ok not quite never. There was a breif 3 month peiod I'll talk about in a minute!) My mom never cooked with salt, I really don't like the taste of it. I don't drink a lot of soda (maybe a 3 or 4 cans a week) and its always diet (I know, aspartame will kill me!). I used to be quite and active person and, even now, I don't just sit and watch tv. I'm moving. I may not be working out like I used to or running or playing soccer, but I don't sit a whole lot during my day. So, why am I gigantic? There are a few reasons.

#1 I was my smallest while in university and even then, I was a 10/12. However, I felt great about myself then. Not because I was "skinny" (clearly a 12 is not skinny!) but because I felt healthy. I had so much more energy and, while I was still a little self conscious, I learned to truly love myself, inside and out. Then life happend and I had to move back home. I was so depressed, I literally did nothing but eat, sleep and cry for three solid months. It was an awful time. I gained a TON of weight (not literally, but close enough!) I really just didn't care about anything. At all. I gained over 80 pounds in 3 months. Yep, you read that right. Crazy. Stupid.

#2 I have a very serious hormone imbalance. Its why they thought I couldn't have kids and why my 3 little monkeys truly are miracles (I know every baby is a miracle, mine are just more so!). Its why I'm tested for ovarian cancer regularly (I've had a couple of scares and its no fun!) Its why my skin/hair/nails/ect don't do what normal peoples do. Its why I'm super irregular (TMI? Sorry!) What does that have to do with weight loss you ask? Well, estrogen is the hormone that makes girls girls, right? (I know, oversimplifying it!) My body goes through cycles. I either have almost no estrogen or I have crazy excessive amounts. Estrogen holds on to fat. Thats why women naturally have a higher percentage of fat than men. So, while my body is estrogen deprived, the little that is left is working overtime. Like, 90 hour week kind of overtime. One of its overtime duties is to hoard fat. It fights to hold on to it. While my my body is overrun with estrogen, its not fighting to hold onto it, but there are way more estrogen girls running around holding fat's hand than in a normal female body.

SO, getting to the point, it is about 10x more difficult for me to lose weight than the average female. Let me give you an example. Shortly before I got pregnant with Kezia, I had decided the time had come to really get serious about this whole weight loss thing. I joined the lifestyles program, which is run through the local clinic. Basically, its a program to educate you about food and what you should and shouldn't eat, proper portion sizes ect. They have this amazing scale that measures bone density ect and lets you know what weight would be ideal for you as well as fat percentage and water percentage and stuff like that. So, I was going for weekly weigh ins. I signed up for a bootcamp. I got up at 5 am 3 mornings a week and went to this crazy stupid workout. It was intense. Even the skinny girls thought so! The days I didn't have boot camp, I'd still get up at 5 and do a workout video of somekind. After bootcamp/video, I'd do yoga for 45 minutes. Most days (at least 4 days a week) my friend and I would load our kids in the stroller and go for a walk. I'm not talking a walk around the block either. I'm talking minimum 2 hour-usually closer to 3 or 4 hour walks. Then at least 3 evenings a week I'd go for another walk or do another dvd. Once summer came and the pool opened, I added early morning water aerobics after bootcamp, followed by morning lane swim and then occasionally afternoon lane swim. I was watching what I was eating SO closely, keeping a journal, everything I was supposed to do. I did this for just over 6 months. Want to know the most I lost in a week during that 6 month period. 0.2 pounds. Yup, not even one whole pound in a week. And my fat percentage barely moved either. Meanwhile, my friend who was doing the same thing I was doing was averaging 5-7 pounds a week. Talk about frustrating.

So, why am I telling you all of this? Because I know that this is going to be a very discouraging challenge for me and I need your help. If you see me, even if I don't really look like I've lost anything, lie to me ;) Don't let me give up, no matter how much I might yell about only losing .2 pounds. Make me keep going. Just keep sending your love my way. I'll need it!

10 on Tuesday

2012-01-30T20:05:00.000-08:00

1. My to do list in the house feels completely insurmountable, but I'm determined to push on.

2. James is in the final stage of interviews for both fedral and provincial positions and its looking more and more like we're going to be moving. Not going to lie, not looking forward to it.

3. January has flown by. At this rate, it's going to be another year of not being ready for Christmas!

4. I am going to pick up our newest order of shoes this week and am SO excited!! There are some SUPER hot shoes coming!

5. I can't get enough of the Big Bang Theory. Love it!

6. I finally figured out how I want to arrange our bedroom, now I just need to make the time to do it!

7. Tomorrow is my last official day of working with Terry. I'm kind of happy about it though. I'm not sure how we're going to pay for living, but I've been feeling really overwhelmed lately and feeling like I wasn't doing what I should be for my kiddos. Now I have time to really focus on them and raise them the way I want to.

8. James is in charge of organizing the graduation dinner for his class and they are doing a couple of fundraisers to help lower ticket prices. The first one is a bake sale on the 13th. I love baking so I'm very excited, but would love any great recipe ideas!

9. I HATE the wind!!

10. We got a dog and I love her to pieces! I was really nervous, but she is so well trained and great with the kids. The first night we got her, TJ pulled up a box next to her kennel and slept by her!

And because they were missing yesterday, here are a few recent pics of baby girl.

Mommy Monday - Where are they now?

2012-01-29T22:45:00.000-08:00

So, what better way to start off this new blogging foray than with an overview of the little lovlies I get to be mommy to!

- Started preschool in September and loves it. In fact, he woke up puking one day this past week and when I told him that meant he couldn't go to preschool, he cried so hard! We ended up having to call his teacher and have her tell him that it was ok for him to stay home and get better.

- Is so caring. He is very concerned with how people are feeling and wants people to be happy.

-Is very polite.

- Can go from being the happiest, most helpful little man to a screaming monster in about .1 of a nanosecond. (On a side note, I am completely out of ideas as to how to deal with these tantrums!)

-Loves playing with pretty much anybody.

- Loves to have books read and has started to "read" to Myles and Kezia.

- Eats like a bird. But will eat most food. He loves seafood, especially shrimp!

- Wears a 5/6 because he's tall, but can fit his waist into 24 month (even some 18 month) clothes.

-Is ALWAYS writing "notes" He gets post its from the office and scribbles on them then will bring them to me and tells me what they say. Ususally, its something about inviting a friend for a playdate.

Myles

-Is the busiest little thing a going. TJ never did the whole go through the cupboards, pull everything off/out of everywhere thing. Myles has perfected it.

-Eats like crazy. Especially fruit. He'll pack away a 2 lb thing of straberries if you let him.

-Is very stubborn and not very patient.

-Wants to do everything TJ does.

-Gets VERY sad when TJ or Daddy leave for school, but usually has no issues when I leave.

-Is becoming very snuggly.

-Calls every movie "Rio"

-Isn't talking nearly as much as I think he should, but apparently he is ok.

-Is fitting between 18 and 24 month clothes.

-Still has a soother at bedtime.

-Has the most mischevious grin.

-We call him "SMyles". I'm sure you can guess why.

-Will go for one nap a day.

Kezia

(this picture was taken at my cousin's baby blessing. Bradey was born a few days before Kezia)

*I realized as I was putting this post together that there is a sad lack of pictures of Kezia. That will be remedied this week!*

-Is still pretty tiny (don't have an exact weight, but am going to weigh in again this week.

-She just outgrew newborn clothes two weeks ago, but only in length. They still fit best around.

-Army crawls like crazy and has actually crawled for the past week, but it slows her down, so she usually goes back to army crawling.

-Pulls herself up on her knees.

-Has been drooly and chewing on everything for almost two months, but still no teeth.

-Loves solid foods (or as solid as baby food gets!)

-Smiles and giggles and talks like crazy!

-Loves her brothers and lights up when she sees them.

-Doesn't always love her carseat.

-Naps at least twice a day.

-Goes to bed around 8 and wakes up around 9, sometimes waking up once to eat around 5:30 ish.

Here we go!

2012-01-29T22:17:00.000-08:00

Ok folks, here it is! My foray back into blogging! I've decided if I'm going to do this, I'm going to go all the way! I do much better when I have a list or a schedule, so I'm going to have a different topic to blog about each day. Most posts won't be long and some may not include pictures (mostly because my picture taking skills are atrocious!) but I figure if I'm going to do it, I may as well do it right! Want to know what I'm going to write about? Me too! Just kidding! Here it is...

Mommy Monday - Anything pertaining to mommyhood. Funny things my kids say or do, challenges I'm having, new things I want to try or have tried, pretty much whatever I think pertains to me being a mom!

10 on Tuesday - If you read most of the blogs I follow, you'll know this is not my idea! This is either just 10 random things or maybe a top 10 list, that kind of thing.

Weight Loss Wednesday - Umm, obviously I could stand to lose some weight. Not because I want to be skinny, but I want to be healthy for my kids and my future. And you get to follow me on my journey. I'll share the things I learn or find really helpful as well as (hopefully) my progresss.

Thankful Thursday - I'm doing this really awesome gratitude challenge and I'm going to share it with you! Maybe you can play along too!

DIYF - Instead of TGIF, its DIYF. Yep, Do it yourself Friday. I know, its not the best title, but its the best I could think of. I'm open to suggestions! I'm going to write about our renovations or maybe some crafty hack or something of that sort. Hopefully, this will give me motivation to actually finish projects!

Self-Reliant Saturday - This is something that has always been important to me, but recently it's really been on my mind. So, as I get my family prepared, I'll share what I learn and do with you!

Sundays will be my break/day to regroup and plan. Here's hoping it will work.

Coming Soon?

2012-01-25T21:56:00.001-08:00

I want to blog. I miss it. I might just get to it this week. We'll see. Well, maybe I'll see as I doubt anyone even reads this old thing any more!

The Newest Gilbert

2011-07-10T18:36:00.000-07:00

*I wrote this post the day after I had baby, but wanted to add some pictures, so here it is, a week later!*

I'm a bad mom, and someday my boys will probably feel slighted by the fact that I'm about to prove just how bad a mom I am, but they'll get over it! You see, I'm going to record the birth story of our third little bundle of joy, but I didn't do it for either of the boys. Sadly, we didn't have a laptop at the time either of them were born, so I couldn't do it at the hospital, and it was just something I never got around to. Like I said, bad mom. So, here goes.

I was due July 4th, but, in true Thornhill/Gilbert style, baby was late. Which worked out ok, because it meant I could go to Calgary on the 6th and see Wicked (which was phenomenal, by the way!) On the 7th, I had another appointment with the doc. He checked and I was only 2 to 3 ish. So, he stripped my membranes again and booked my induction for the following Monday. The next day was a relatively quiet day, no signs of labour or anything, so I prepared for another weekend of pregnancy, knowing it would be the last before I got to meet our little girl.

Friday night I went to bed quite late (around 1am) because James was working and I always have a hard time sleeping when hes gone. I actually fell into quite a deep sleep, something that hadn't happened for a few weeks! Then, at exactly 4:02 am, I was rudely awoken with one killer contraction. They continued every 8 to 10 minutes for the two hours. Just before 6am, I called my friend Jessica who was going to drive me to the hospital and help out in the delivery room and told her it was time. On our way into town, I called James, who was catching a couple of hours of sleep between working until 3 am and his baseball game which he had to be at the diamond by 8am for. I felt SO bad waking him up, but figure this was definitely it. We got to the hospital, they hooked me up to the monitor, I had 2 contractions and that was it. I was cranky, to say the least!! (Ok, cranky doesn't even begin to express how frustrated I was!) Not only had the contractions stopped after almost 3 hours, but the nurse who checked me told me I was still hard and only 1 cm dialated. When I told her the last 3 times the doc had checked me, he said I was soft and had progressed to 3, she totally bit my head off and told me that wasn't possible. I was not a happy camper.

The doc on call told them to have me come back around 4pm to be checked again and see if I had made any progress. So I went on with my day. We took the boys to the candy parade in Coaldale and spent most of the afternoon at their kids carnival. I had maybe 5 contractions all day, but had an intense pressure in my rear ALL day. I wasn't going to go to the hospital because I figured there was no point. I wasn't having conistent contractions, I was just uncomfortable. James, however, talked me into it. So back we went. They hooked me up to the monitor and baby was less than co-operative. It took almost an hour to get 10 good minutes of tracking. Again, I was less than happy. The nurse checked me again, and I had progressed to 4cm. I was sure they were going to send me home, but after she talked to the doctor, he said they were going to keep me. I had started having more regular contractions again after she had checked me and was really hoping they wouldn't stop again!

They moved me to a delivery suite and I told the nurse that, while I knew it was too early, as soon as I could, I would like an epidural. Let me pause to say that I am not one of those women who can do birth naturally. I think those women are amazing. My body won't relax enough to progress without an epidural. It sounds crazy, but its true. The nurse told me ok, but that out of the 4 women that had asked for an epidural that day, only 1 had actually gotten it because they had been so busy in emerg that the anaesthesiologist hadn't made it in time for any of the others. I almost cried right there. She left to go do some paperwork and James gave me a blessing while we were alone. Shortly after that, she came back and said I was in luck. Both the OB/GYN on call and the anaesthesiologist had just come to the desk and she told them I'd like an epidural. They had to go the OR quickly and then they'd be back for me! Again, I almost cried. So, around quarter to eight, I got an epidural and then the doc broke my water. At 8:21, with 2 1/2 pushes (the cord was wrapped around her neck quite tightly, so I had to stop mid push so they could cut it), baby was born. Then things got dicey.

Apparently, my cord was never properly attatched to the placenta, so very few nutrients were actually getting to the baby while she was in utero. The nurse told us that it was a miracle she was here at all, let alone here at a somewhat normal weight and relatively healthy. NICU was called in to assess her. Her vitals were all really good, but her colouring was horrible. She was white. Pure white. Also, the cord not attaching properly made delivering the placenta impossible. It was stuck inside and I was hemorraging. I was rushed to the ER while NICU took care of baby. At this point, I finally cried. A lot.

While I was in surgery, things got figured out with baby and she and James were moved to the room where I was going to be staying. (I should also pause to mention that James' Dad was rushed to the ER earlier that morning and was still there awaiting some test results, so James spent his time running between both of us! His Dad was released, although whether or not he should have been is still up for debate!) Just before 11, I was brought into the room. I guess the doctor had come and talked to James to tell him things went well with the surgery and that there shouldn't be any further complications. What a day!

I'm happy to report that we are all doing much better today, although I still feel really groggy from the anastetic. And we now have a darling little girl in our family!

Jumping on the bandwagon

2011-06-23T22:14:00.000-07:00

Everyone is doing all these great, random lists. And yes, they usually do them on Tuesday, but I'm in the mood to do one now, and, to be completely honest, I probably won't remember come Tuesday! So here it is!

1. I'm so done being pregnant. This is a new feeling to me. With both boys, I had only started feeling human about a month before they arrived and I didn't have any braxton hicks or anything. I still feel nauseous and have been having major braxton hicks for almost 5 weeks now. I'm done.

2. I really admire people who run, but I really don't understand them.

3. While I'm physically completely ready to have this baby, my house is not even remotely ready.

4. I usually look forward to July 1st, but after everything with Mom happened, that changed. Now this year Grandma's not around and I'm really not looking forward to it. Add to that the fact that everyone from my moms side of the family is supposed to be coming to spend a large part of the day at my completely disasterous, still under renovations, trying to get ready for baby house and I'm actually dreading the first. Boo.

5. I have not wanted to eat actual food for days. Just give me ice cream, freezies and ice cold water!

6. My little 4 year old is driving me mental. He does not listen and absolutely no consequence phases him for more than 5 seconds. He has major screaming/kicking/throwing thing tantrums when a consequence is given and then does the same thing a few minutes/hours later. No amount of positive reinforcement helps either. I really am at a loss. Short of beating him, I've got nothing!

7. I love the sun. Don't want it to stop all summer!

8. I REALLY want a bag for my lawn mower! 3/4 of an acre is way too much to rake and I hate the look of piles of grass everywhere. Sadly, that will have to wait until we're done spending money on renos.

9. Every day I spend in our house now makes me want to build our new house even more. Can't wait til I don't have to try and combine my style, James' style and Dad's style. They're all SO different and its REALLY frustrating!

10. I have an awesome husband. He may not always express himself well and sometimes he says some REALLY stupid things, but he has a huge heart and would do anything to help people. And sometimes he can be really sweet.

Catch Up #6: Everything Else!

2011-05-14T21:37:00.002-07:00

Ok, so this post is a mish mosh of many of the other things I wanted to post about, but didn't get around to it! Sorry if its really hard to follow my ramblings!

First off, yummy food! Quite a while ago, Rhonda posted about a desert she made (sorry, I'm way to lazy to track down her recipe right now!!) I took a few liberties with it and changed some things to make some delicious caramel peach napoleons! Oh, they were divine!

They were really easy too! Bake some puff pastry that has a little bit of melted butter spread on it and some sugar sprinkled on it. After it cools, top with whipped cream and caramelized peaches. (While your pastry is baking, caramelize peaches with some brown sugar and butter in a skillet.) Top with another piece of pastry, sprinkle with icing sugar and drizzle with caramel sauce. Enjoy!

Next topic of discussion: a sewing project. I was in Great Falls quite a while ago looking at one of my favorite stores (Ross) and I found a super cute dress for only $5!! However, because I'm tall, their short dresses are never long enough! I decided, though, that it would make a super cute maternity top with a few alterations.

Before:

Front view (yes, I am aware at how painfully hideous my bathroom is!)

Side ViewAfter

Front Side

What do you think?

Finally, TJ got to play a little bit of soccer this year and he loved it! They didn't have a team for his age, but they did a week long camp. It was quite hilarous to watch him. Sometimes, he was right in there, but often he was off in his own little world! His "coach" Coach Spike, was great and TJ was really sad when it was all done! They held it in the ice arena and now any time we drive by, he talks about his soccer camp!

They played a game at the end of every day. In this one, Coach Spike was "Shrek" and he had all the soccer stuff. They kids had to get it from him while he was sleeping, but when he woke up, they had to freeze, no matter what he did! TJ was pretty awesome at staying frozen! Spike was hanging cones on his fingers and ears and TJ didn't even budge!

Off in la la land.

Catch Up #5: Manda's Grad

2011-05-14T21:37:00.001-07:00

It took a while and a lot of work, but Manda FINALLY finished her schooling! She is now working to get her apprentice hours and I'm super proud of her! The school held a banquet and cermony for the class and their families. It was a great night out. Sadly, Dad was REALLY sick, so he wasn't able to make it, so Jessica Tatlow took his place. Way to go Manda!

Catch Up #4: TJ's Birthday

2011-05-14T21:36:00.002-07:00

My little man turned 4 this year! It has gone SO quickly! He is a little obsessed with Angry Birds, so we decided to have an Angry Birds party!

Really, I wanted to keep things pretty simple, so I got some decoration ideas from here . They turned out super cute and the kids loved them!

I took a bunch of boxes and used them as bricks, ect and the kids tossed balls at them to knock the pig balloons off. They loved it, but I forgot to take pictures! I also forgot to take pictures of the pig pinata we made. It was the toughest pinata EVER!! Not to make, but to break! The kids were hilarious, though. They kept encouraging each other and all started chanting "Kill the pig" over and over! I couldn't find black balloons, so I used the black bird template as treat bags. I also took some foam easter eggs, feathers, googly eyes and other assorted crafty stuff and the kids made their own birds. (Again, no pictures. I kind of suck at remembering to take pictures!)I made cupcakes for desert and, I must tell you, I was SUPER lazy when it came to the cupcakes! I wanted to make birds to go on top, but had no desire to take the time to make them out of fondant. And I knew the kids wouldn't like the taste of them. So, while at the local bulk store gathering ideas, I found individually wrapped rice krispie squares 10 for $1.99. I know its ridiculously easy to make rice krispie squares, but with all the renos and feeling so sick and life, ect. I was looking for ANYTHING to make it easier! So with some rice krispie squares, an egg cookie cutter and some dipping chocolate, I made these...TJ and his friends loved them....And so did Myles the next day, when he found the left overs the next day!!

Catch Up #3: Easter

2011-05-14T21:36:00.001-07:00

Easter was fun, but VERY busy!

On the 16th, we did Easter dinner with my Mom (I forgot my camera, so I don't have any pictures!) On the Friday before Easter, we did Easter dinner with the rest of my family at Amanda's place. We had a little egg hunt for the kids and they loved it!

Saturday was the town's Easter Egg Hunt, which TJ loved. (Myles and Adi were both napping, so TJ gathered treats for everybody) It was a really nice day out, so there were lots of people there! TJ was kind of sad he didn't get a "special" plastic egg, but got over it the more he filled up his basket!

Sunday morning, the bunny brought our baskets while we were at church and they boys were VERY excited. We tried SO many times to get Myles to stand for a picture with TJ and their baskets, and there was no luck at all!

Later on Sunday, we went to Trevor and Cheri's for dinner with the Gilbert's. It was a beautiful day and the kids had fun playing outside!

Catch Up Post #2 : Great Falls

2011-05-14T21:17:00.000-07:00

*Catch up posts in no particular order!*

Over a year ago, James and I were invited by some great friends of ours to go on a week long trip to the Domincan Republic. We've never been on a honeymoon (we spent our wedding night in our apartment and I went to work the day after!) and haven't been on a trip just the two of us since we went to James' mission reunion two months after we were married. Needless to say, we were REALLY looking forward to it! Sadly, life happened, James decided to go back to school and the stars were against us. We ended up having to use the money we'd saved for the trip to live. We managed to take a very little bit and go to Great Falls for the weekend. It was fun, but cold! Still, it was a nice, welcome break!

Here we are, about to head off! (James really NEVER smiles in pictures)

Just testing out the bed! The ceiling was a little low, so I had to crouch!

Catch Up #1: Valentine's Day

2011-05-14T13:25:00.000-07:00

* Catch up posts are in no particular order!*

Yep, you read that right! I'm going WAY back to February to write about Valentine's Day. With James going back to school this year, money was tight. I knew this would be tough for James, as his love language is definitely gifts! I told him I didn't want any gifts, I just wanted a romantic night, just him and I. Imagine my suprise when I found out we were double dating with good friends of ours. The men set up a series of stops, each of which had a clue leading to the next stop, some goodies and a present for each of us. The final stop was dinner and then a movie. It was very fun, but not terribly romantic. Oh well! Definitely gets an A for effort!

Jessica showing off one of the clues.

Some of the loot.

Umm, some of the gifts were a little questionable!! ;)

FINALLY!!

2011-05-04T22:40:00.000-07:00

I FINALLY got James to take his computer and my memory card into the shop and figure out why they didn't like each other! And its fixed! SO, now I've got a HUGE pile of pics to upload, sort through, and maybe try (again) to figure out this photoshop thing so they don't look quite so awful. Or I may just skip that step (I'm getting stressed out just thinking about it!) and go right to catching up on my posting! Hopefully, you'll be inundated with posts from me soon!!

I'm Dumb

2011-04-03T22:27:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I wrote a whole post, then published it without realizing I did it on my Whitehead Family blog (which no one ever reads or writes on!) So, if you want to read it, check it out here. Someday, I hope to get my brain back!

Green & Pink

2011-03-20T22:26:00.000-07:00

This year, we kept things pretty simple for St. Patty's Day. I usually love to have things all decorated, have a bunch of kiddos & moms over for a green lunch and go all out, but not this year! Too much going on already and no house to do it in. However, TJ did get to make his very first leprechan trap. I know a lot of moms hate the things, but it was the first time in a long time that TJ and I got to spend some special time together. (More on that in an upcoming post!) TJ loved it! Sometimes, he's not really in the mood to be crafty, but on Wednesday, he was in a super crafty mood!

Here he is just as we started...

Very intently glitter-gluing his box!

Proudly showing off his finished product. (I asked him to say cheese, and his leprechan "track" was saying cheese!)

The next morning, he saw a trail leading from the window to his trap and he was SO excited! Sadly, no leprechan, but he did score a couple of treats!*SIDENOTE: Does your kid have an article of clothing he/she won't take off? TJ LIVES in those superman jammies. To the point that I've had to cut off the feet b/c they were so worn out! He'll wear them under clothes or over them. We've even had to go into his room while he's sleeping to take them off because they were SO stinky!!*

St. Patty's Day was a lucky day for us in an completely non-green way as well. We had our checkup with the OB/GYN and we actually got to see him! He was called away the last 3 times I had an appointment! Not only did we get to see him, but we got to find out if we were having a boy or girl. No matter how much I said I'd be excited to have a boy, I was REALLY hoping for a girl this time! And, I'm happy to say, my wish was granted! I FINALLY get to think pink and ruffles and frou frou!! Yay!

Blessing or a Curse?

2011-03-16T20:12:00.001-07:00

You may or may not know this about me, but I LOVE to read. I love reading pretty much anything, from autobiographies and how-to's to historical novels, even the occasional slightly trashy romance novel. (Nothing too trashy, just an easy, mushy read!) Although I love to read, I don't buy many books and here's why.

1. I'm cheap/poor and books are expensive!
2. I have nowhere to keep the books and I hate dusting! In order for me to keep a book, it has to be something I LOVE and will read repeatedly or a book I'll use over and over, like a reference book.

So, knowing this, my Dad was super awesome enough to buy me one of these for Christmas...

image from here

Its a Kobo e-reader and I love mine! There's only one problem. When I read a book, I get REALLY into it! Often, I can't put them down, even if its not an amazing book! I just kind of lose track of time. And then I ignore my life and its just no good!

This problem didn't occur nearly as often when I had to drive into the library in Lethbridge (the Raymond one doesn't have great selection!). Now, however, its happening too frequently! In the last week, I've read Pride & Prejudice, a mystery by Agatha Christie & a trashy romance. My house is still relatively clean and my kids are getting fed, but not too much more is happening! Granted, I was really sick this past week, so I wouldn't have done much else anyway, but really!

Mediocrity

2011-02-28T20:20:00.000-08:00

I've been feeling super blah lately. I know a lot of it has been the weather and not feeling good, but usually I can get over those things. Recently, though, I just can't get past it and its driving me crazy! So while I've been sitting home being cranky, I've also been thinking. Scary, I know! I've been feeling like my life is stagnant. Like I'm at a stand still. I'm doing a ton of stuff, but not accomplishing much! This sounds really silly and conceited, but I'm used to being really good at everything I do. I'm more than a little OCD and a major perfectionist, so not giving something my best really bugs me. And lately, between feeling so sick and being so busy, I don't have the time or energy to put into things to make them as good as I want them. So, instead of being satisfied by what I do, it just turns out mediocre. And that is throwing me for a major loop. And making me extra cranky. So, the logical part of me says, somethings got to go. Problem is what. Honestly, I don't know, but I'm working on it! In the meantime, I'm learning to kind of be less cranky about mediocrity!

WA HOO!!!

2011-02-18T10:03:00.001-08:00

If you know me at all, you know I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE (I could go on) theatre, especially musicals. There was a period in my life where I literally eat, drank, breathed, slept, ect theatre and, if I didn't have my kiddos, I'd be that way still!! (That kind of made it sound like my kids are in my way. Let me make it quite clear that I would not trade my kids for the world and I do not regret at all the decision I made to have a family instead of a career!) I have had many opportunities to see/be in shows, but most of the professional shows I've got to see haven't been my absolute favorites.

One of my FAVORTIE shows is Wicked. I can't even begin to explain how much I love it. Everything. The music, the costumes, everything!! So when I heard they were coming to Calgary, I knew no matter what I would be there. And this past week, I officially bought my tickets!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (I don't know that I can put in enough exclamation marks to express my excitment adequately!)

There is a catch, though. My tickets are for July 6. I'm due July 4. I may be a little crazy!

First

2011-02-06T14:29:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I've been trying to figure out photoshop for over a month now and still can't get it, so I'm temporarily giving up and you just get to deal with my crappy pictures! Myles had his first birthday last month and we had some family for a little party. Due to renos, our house was not anywhere near ready to hold that many people, so we used the church. It was lots of fun. He got spoiled, of course! The only bad part was that I made Cafe Rio pork salad for dinner, but found out about 2 hours before the party that the roaster I was cooking everything in wasn't working. Awesome, right? So, we ended up eating quite a bit later than anticpated, but everyone was really great about it (even if I did have a bit of a breakdown in the kitchen!). So here are the pics. Enjoy (at least as much as you can with my poor photography skills and even worse photoshop skills!)

The invitations.

The tables all set up. (I have a pretty big family!)

A close up of the tables.

The banner.

The cups.

The centerpieces.

I made crayons for the kids treat bags. The first batch, I was trying to do shapes with cookie cutters and tinfoil, but it was not a great success! So second batch I went with mini muffin tins!

The cupcakes.

Myles eating his cake! He was actually really funny. He was really dainty and hardly got dirty at all, which is very un-Myles!

Well, there you go. Finally.

As a side note, has anyone had problems with blogger not letting you move photos around. I click on the picture to move and try to drag it down and the screen won't scroll. VERY frustrating and time consuming!!

Oh Baby!

2011-01-06T00:15:00.000-08:00

WARNING**Ok, so, this post is not going to be all positive. Just sayin'. Also, I need to preface this post by saying that I know how ungrateful I will sound. And I know that anyone who has issues with fertility will read this and probably be disgusted by my attitude. I know because I was there once. Just keep reading! I promise, I'm not 100% jerk!**

A few months ago (October to be exact) most of our family got the flu. It cycled through all of us, but mine wouldn't go away! The thought crossed my mind that I was pregnant, but then I said to myself "Not possible! After Myles, the doctor said there was less than 3% chance my body would accept another pregnancy." So I pushed that thought aside and kept puking and sleeping for a few weeks. It didn't matter what I did, I had zero energy and could not stop puking. So, I bought a pregnancy test. It was negative. I knew it would be, so no suprise. A week later, no change. The box had 2 tests, so I took the second. Positive. "Wow, I can't believe that" (this may not be exactly what I said, but I may not be super proud about what I said!) So I told James. His reaction was exactly the same as mine! We sat on our bed and talked about this very unexpected suprise. (I may have cried the entire time we talked.)

To say this baby was a shock would be an understatement. As far as we knew, we were done. I'd gotten rid of my maternity clothes. I was working REALLY hard on losing weight and had finally started seeing some progress. If it was just that, I would not have been so upset. However, I had a baby who was not even 10 months old at the time. I was in school part time and planning on going full time in the near future. James had just decided that he needed to not work while in school so that he could focus on his grades, so we cut our income drastically. And we found out that one of the jobs we have would only be going for another 6 months. All this added, but would still have been manageable.

Our house is what pushed me over the edge. As I've mentioned before, we're living at my Dad's place. To say that its not my dream home would be an understatement. I actually dream of it meeting some sort of terrible misfortune while we're all out. My parents (although both will say it was mostly the other) have always been "keepers". They're not quite hoarders, but keep lots! My Dad has definitely gotten worse in recent years. Everything has a sentiment attatched to it or can be used in the future. So, there more stuff than space. Plus, the house is literally falling apart. Not good. There's mold in the bathroom which we keep from spreading by spraying it with this heavy duty chemical daily. We were in the middle of beginning renovations on a very limited budget when I got sick. James doesn't have much time to help between school and homework and Dad isn't physically able to do very much. So it was me. Then I got weak and pukey, so renos have stopped. We literally don't have room in our house for one more thing, so I have no clue where we are going to put another person. We don't even have room in our bedrooms for dressers, so we can't even put the baby in a drawer to sleep! I already feel like it is beyond unfair to have two kids living in this mess and now we're bringing another baby into the disaster.

Before I found out I was pregnant, I was already feeling more than a little overwhelmed by the house and everything that needs to be done to make it tolerable. Now I barely have the energy to get though the first half of my day, let alone do anything extra like renovations or cleaning. And I know no one else will do it if I don't. So instead, I'm just cranky and hating my living situation all the time. To say it makes me a better mother would make me a huge liar!

All this grumpiness and feeling so sick makes me quite anitsocial! So, I have a lot of time on my hands while I'm home resting. Which is good and bad. Bad because it means I'm always surrounded by my house of things I should be doing but can't do. Good because it gave me a lot of time to really think about how I was feeling versus how I should be feeling. I've also had a lot of time to spend with my boys and remember how much I love them. They can make my heart sing with just one smile. I'd do anything for them and I know that this baby will be no different. I'd lost perspective for a while and wasn't thinking about what a blessing my kids are. I think back to when we first got married and were having such a hard time getting pregnant. When the doctor told us our chances of conceiving were extremely small, I was devastated. I would have done (and did) anything to get pregnant. Then I think of so many of the people I know who can't have children. I know how they feel because I was there. Its never a feeling you get over, you just adjust to it. I know you love adopted children as much as you love the children you bear, but I also know as a woman, it often leaves you feeling like you're broken somehow. How unfair of me to complain about being blessed with a third miracle when some of the best people I know would give anything for just one miracle. I was being completely selfish.

I honestly still can't say I'm as excited as I probably should be. To be honest, I'm still scared as hell. And I'm fed up with feeling so sick. I don't know how things are going to work out, I just know they will. I know the Lord has a plan for me, and while there are days that I still wish his plan was a little closer to what mine was, I know He'll make sure we make it through this just as long as we do our part.

And besides, if this baby turns out anything like these two...

then it will all be ok. (And yes, I realize that Myle is covered in snot, but he's been teething/sick for months on end, so I don't really have any pictures of him not covered in it!)

I'm Baaaaack...

2011-01-03T22:46:00.000-08:00

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that my blogging was sparse over the past few months (ok, I know its sparse at best usually, but the past few months have been sparser, more sparse, whatever!). If I were to be truthful (and since I'm using this blog as a form of journaling, lies really shouldn't be told here!) I have been less than cheerful the past few months. I've been slightly more than a Negative Nelly. I know they say misery loves company, but that's not the way I like things! I didn't want to spread my negativity to others, so I just ignored everyone!! Anywho, I can't guarantee I won't have negative moments, because I'm still pretty grumpy, but I'm getting there!

To briefly (hopefully) summarize the past few months, I found out I was unexpectedly pregnant (that's a whole other post), freaked out for a while (umm, I may still be freaking out!), began puking my brains out on a all too regular basis, kind of didn't care about Christmas until the week before (fortunately I have an amazing husband who had most things together from our black Friday shopping trip!), survived Christmas and New Years (with much help from my family and friends!) and now have the flu/cold/still pregnancy puking my guts out and nausea! I've accomplished only 1/110 of what I hoped to over the Christmas break, was too busy puking/sleeping/trying not to puke to remember to take any pictures (yep, I'm a horrible mother!) and now I'm trying to get ready for the craziness of January.

On a positive note (I told you I couldn't guarantee it would all be positive!), I got spoiled rotten this Christmas. Seriously, I got an ereader, a cricut expressions and an ipod, to name a few of the many things I got! I love watching how excited TJ got for Christmas this year and am really looking forward to next year when I'll be feeling up to participating fully in festivities! I've also had the opportunity to do some serious soul searching while I've been cooped up in my cocoon of misery. I've been able to look at some things that I didn't initially see as positive and get a different perspective on them. I've also been able to pinpoint a few of the things I really want to improve in myself and my family. I am greatful for that opportunity, although it would have been nice if it was shorter and with less puking! Oh well, guess you can't have everything!

A thought

2010-11-05T18:51:00.000-07:00

Its been FOREVER since I've blogged and, honestly, there are several reasons. One is the general craziness around here, but thats really not one of the biggest ones. A medium-sized reason is that I'm pretty sure my life is so boring that no one really wants to read about it. The biggest reason, though, is that I love posts with pictures and I am NO GOOD at taking pictures! Really, I'm awful! I have a decent camera, but no clue how to use it. Its so sad for me to look at everyone else's blog and see these beautiful pictures and then look at mine and see how the moments that looked so awesome in real life look so blah on my screen! So, I procrasinate. And apparently, I'm not about to stop now, because I'm way too tired tonight to do anything more than these few scentences. And beg for any photo tips.

Yummy but Deadly...

2010-10-05T22:49:00.000-07:00

I love brunch. I know, its silly and not something you have too often, but I think brunch get togethers are some of the best! We had a get together with some friends to watch General Conference and at a delicious brunch!! I made this...

Stuffed French Toast. And just because I'm feeling generous, I'm going to tell you how I did it! First I must tell you that it has only been recently that I have begun to like french toast. Growing up, I thought it was disgusting, soggy warm bread. Gross. However, I discovered a secret (which most of you probably already know, but was new to me!) and it made me actually like french toast! The trick is not to put in too much milk. Many people use equal parts milk and eggs. No good! Check out the ratio in my recipe here!

French Toast

about 2 loaves Texas toast
8 eggs
1/4 cup milk
cinnamon to your liking
2 tbs brown sugar
pinch of nutmeg

Mix eggs, milk, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg.

Dunk toast in egg mixture and cook on griddle or in frying pan.

While its cooking, make your toppings!

Sticky Maple Pecans

1 cup pecans (chopped or not)
1 cup maple syrup - this is not exact, its really more of an eyeball it thing!
1-2 Tbs butter

In a frying pan, melt butter. Add pecans and cook for 1-2 minutes. Watch pecans carefully to make sure they don't burn!! Cover with syrup. Bring to a boil and allow to boil down. If it gets too thick, add a tsp or so of water at a time and stir.

Carmelized Apples

Peel and cut 5-6 medium/large size apples
1-2 Tbs butter
1/4 to 1/2 cup brown sugar

Melt butter in a frying pan. Add apples and toss quickly. Add brown sugar and cook down. If needed, add 1-2 tsp water to help make caramel sauce.

Cream Cheese Filling

1 brick cream cheese, softened
1 Tbs icing sugar
1 Tbs whipping/heavy cream

Mix together until smooth and creamy. Add more cream if too thick.

Cinnamon Kiss Whipped Cream

500 ml whipping cream
2 Tbs icing sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Mix together and whip until desired consistency is reached. For this recipe, I like it somewhere between soft peak and stiff peak. Not super runny, but not too thick!

Assembly

Take warm toast, spread cream cheese filling on and top with pecans, apples and whipped cream. Enjoy!

This is one you want to save up for. Eat really well for a few days so you don't feel guilty consuming this much yummy, sugary gooiness!

AHH

2010-09-29T19:15:00.001-07:00

Ok, I haven't posted in FOREVER and mostly its been because James has had the computer, but I've been trying to put a pot up ALL day and blogger isn't co-operating. I can't move my pictures, or edit my drafts or anything. GRRRRR!

Happy Birthday...A little late!

2010-09-24T23:53:00.000-07:00

Back in August ( I told you it was a little late!) James turned 30!

We started out the day going golfing. James loves to golf and I enjoy it, but am no good at all! It was super fun, though! To celebrate, we had a big ol' barbeque with lots of our friends and family. The weather co-operated and it was a BEAUTIFUL day!

We had barbeque steak and everyone brought a salad to share. It was quite a feast. And then, I put out a desert bar. The theme of the evening was James' favorites. Can you guess what is favorite color is? Hard to believe we're getting so old, but I wouldn't want to share it with anyone else!

Walk it 'Til you Drop it

2010-08-30T06:59:00.000-07:00

I am not a runner. I don't understand it. I've never enjoyed it, even when my knees were good. I do love, however, a brisk walk. I could walk for hours. I could also go to the gym for hours, but my kiddos probably wouldn't appreciate it and it really makes no sense to drive into town to get to the gym.

The past several months I've been REALLY trying to lose weight. I have a medical thing that makes it so that my body holds on to fat like crazy. Really, I'm not making it up. The way it was explained to me was that if a normal person has to work out for 10 minutes to burn 50 calories, I'll have to work out for 20 minutes to burn 50 calories. Its awesome. Makes trying to lose weight super frustrating, but I've had enough of being ginormous, so I'm sticking with it.

Back to walking, I love walking outside, but have to work out early, before my kids get up. When James has to work early, leaving the house isn't an option! Luckily, I found an awesome program a while ago. I LOVE it!

There are several different dvds and I don't really know that I have a favorite. She's a little cheesy sometimes, but I haven't really found a workout dvd that isn't!

Once I actually make some signifcant progress, I'll post some numbers, but in the meantime, I'm feeling much more energetic and generally healthier, so that's a great step!

What's In A Name?

2010-08-25T22:17:00.002-07:00

I'm lucky enough to be named after my Grandma. She was an amazing lady who loved the her family and the Gospel fiercely. She had a talent for crafts and loved scrapbooking. We spent hours scrapbooking or crafting together and if I ever had a sewing question, I'd call her. For the most part we got along fabulously. The biggest exception was about a yeat and a half ago when I told her I thought it was pretty rotten that she and my aunts all seemed to accept my Mom's lies and toss us aside so easily. Recently, though, she (and my aunts) began to see just how many lies were told. I had just started to get my Grandma back when she was diagnosed with lung and brain cancer. They sent her for five radiation treatments. Unfortunately, she lost her battle with the cancer on August 18, 2010. I already miss her, but I'm so glad she went quickly and with relatively little pain.

At her funeral, her sisters were reminiscing about her and it constantly amazed me how much we had in common. I always knew we had a lot of similarities, but I didn't realize quite the extent of it.

I also have the great priviledge of being named after my Grandma. I've always loved my name and my Grandma, but now I'm even more aware of the special meaning it has and the responsiblity I have to make her proud that I have her name. I love and miss you Grandma!!

What

2010-08-25T22:17:00.001-07:00

What

2010-08-25T22:17:00.000-07:00

The Steal That Almost Was

2010-08-15T20:39:00.000-07:00

Camille over at Archives of our Lives does this thing called Saturday Steals every week and I'm joining in the fun this weekend!

Last weekend we took a little vacation which included a trip to my favorite outlet mall. As we were walking past the Coach store (one of my all time favorites!) I was handed my own personal golden ticket! A 20% off your ANYTHING in the store coupon. Even sale items! Oh sweet heaven! So, into Mecca I go, picking up and tenderly adoring lovely item after lovely item. Each one is more fantastic than the last until suddenly, there it is. In the 50% off section, among a bunch of colorful things that I'm not quite sure should be part of the delightful Coach product line, there it is. It is SO beautiful. There is no way it could really be in the 50% off section. It must be in the wrong place. I pick it up, I stroke it (sadly, I'm not kidding), its the right size to be used as a diaper bag or a purse, I open it up and it has a perfect amount of pockets, in short, its PERFECT! See, isn't it BEAUTIFUL!!

I look at the price tag (Sadly this is the not so perfect part). It startled me, even though I knew it was coming. A whopping $358 dollars! Way out of this Mommy's budget. But then, in the back of my mind, I remember, the 50% table! I seek out a saleslady (it wasn't hard, they were everywhere) and ask her to confirm if it really was 50% off! Lucky day! It was! After that and then with the additional 20% off, it was just over $100 ($112 to be exact!) Oh sweet heaven!!! I must have it! (Now here is where the story gets sad.) We went on our trip sponateously and with a VERY limited budget. The moral debate began. I could buy the bag and the next day we could just hang out at our hotel and then go home (something I seriously debated), or I could not buy the bag and we could take the kids to the zoo as planned. Eventually, the responsible part of me won out. And that, my friends, is the story of the steal that almost was.

Sweet Is the Peace the Gospel Brings

2010-08-14T19:06:00.000-07:00

This song has been playing in mind all week. My Grandma is dying. She was diagnosed with brain cancer a few weeks ago, went for radiation treatment and seemed to be ok. Tired, but ok. The past week, though, is a whole other story. I saw her last Saturday and she seemed ok, but not as with it as she had been previously. On Tuesday, I was told that they'd moved Grandma to the Raymond hospital and they didn't think she would make it through the end of September. Wednesday night, I was doing an Uppercase Living show for my sister when we got a call saying that Grandma was worse and we needed to get home soon. She's still here, but just barely. I'm sad that she is dying. Just thinking about not seeing her or being able to scrapbook with her makes me miserable. But, I know that this is not the end. And I know that she will be in a better place. She'll be reunited with Grandpa and many others of her family who has gone before her. As sad as I am, I still feel peaceful. For that, I am so very grateful.

Top Ten...

2010-08-04T17:18:00.001-07:00

Things I Could Do If I Had My Own House

1. Pick my own cabinet colors!

2. Walk around in my unders if I'm to hot.

3. Throw all junk food out.

4. Keep it clean.

5. Stop feeling guilty when my kids misbehave.

6. Stop paying for a storage unit.

7. Not whisper yell at James when we're disagreeing.

8. Not whisper yell when we're making up! ;)

9. Teach piano lessons in a room other than my dining room

10. Unplug the TV whenever I want!

Things I Couldn't Do If I Had My Own House

1. Put the kids to be and go for a walk.

2. Morning workouts without kids!

3. Sewing is already at a minimum, it would be even less!

4. Teach piano lessons without taking my kids somewhere first.

5. Have someone to help corral TJ while James is at work.

6. Have a nap while the boys are awake.

Um, I can't think of any more. So I guess the title shouldn't have been Top Ten. Oh well!

Poop Poop and More Poop

2010-08-03T21:57:00.000-07:00

I know its been a long time since I've posted and even longer since I've posted anything interesting. And this post really won't be much better. Maybe. I don't know, you'll have to tell me I guess.

Here's the deal. My life is retarded. I don't think I'm interesting, so why would I expect you to. But, I keep telling myself (on weeks when I feel like, why bother writing this silly blog!) to keep writing so that I can remember the things that happen. So, on with the insanity that is my life.

The sad thing is that I would LOVE to be one of those people who others read her blog and say, "Wow, she has such great ideas" or "She must be pretty awesome to have such a nifty blog" (Ok, I know, no one says nifty anymore!)

I feel like the problem with making my blog something awesome is the same problem I'm having with most everything else. It has to wait. My whole life is on hold. I don't have the space I need to craft, the home I need to entertain, the time I need to blog, the skills I need to take decent pictures, the money I need to get those skills... well, you get the picture. Since this whole stupid mom thing happened, I feel like I have had to put my entire life on hold to clean up the mess that she made.

And then she wonders why I really don't want to be around her. I know I can't/shouldn't say the things I want to and I get so tired of biting my tongue. It really is emotionally draining. I'm pretty sure one day I'm going to snap and say something that I may end up regretting. Only time will tell!

In the meantime, if you see me and I seem preoccupied, its probably because I am. My grandma was diagnosed with terminal brain and lung cancer, so I'm helping take care of her often, my mom continues being stupid and we're still trying to renovate. Yes, I said renovate. I was planning a really awesome elaborated post about our renos on the kitchen and living room, but with everything going on, its going SO slow!! I hate it!! Someday, I will put up pics and you can see the awesome stuff we're doing. Until then, use your imagination. On second thought, don't use your imagination because your imagination is probably better than our skills. So, if you are going to imagine, just don't imagine very far! Or try to imagine within the tiny budget we have!

If you'll all please look down...

2010-06-29T15:14:00.000-07:00

Scroll down, aaaalllllllllllllll the way down. Just do it. Time to get busy!

Irksome

2010-06-24T11:33:00.000-07:00

I don't know if you've seen this fabulous machine floating around on the web anywhere,

but I have and can I just say I WANT ONE!! There are several sites that are holding giveaways for this glorious object, but sadly, living north of the 49th parallel has disqualified me (and, I assume, many of you!) Shipping, they say, is the cause. Can I just say that it drives me bananas how much extra it costs to ship across the border and that so many AMAZING stores and websites won't even try it!! Usually, I love being Canadian. I love not having to pay a gajillion dollars to have a baby, I love our colorful money and I love that people generally think I'm polite just because I'm Canadian. The list goes on, but there are days like today, when I am continually thwarted in my pursuit of awesome stuff purely by my location (a mere hour drive north of said parallel, I might add) that I seriously consider if its worth it. To any of you American producers of awesome products, if you ever decide to hold a Canadian giveaway, I will gladly volunteer myself as a tester and my blog as location for your amazing giveaway. Sadly, you will have to cover the cost of shipping.

FOMS

2010-06-23T09:45:00.000-07:00

Does anyone else out there have FOMS? For those of you who don't know (which must mean you are one of those luck people who doesn't have it) FOMS is the Fear Of Missing Something. I'm pretty sure its a serious illness. At least in my life it is! I'm so busy worrying about whether or not one decision I make will cause me to miss out on something better that I just don't make a decision at all. That and, when I'm invited to do something that I really don't have the time/money/talent/desire to do, I still say yes because what if something super awesome happens during that one activity! Then I'll be the person who is left sitting there mute while everyone else is talking about "the big happening." Really, I'm beginning to think I need some serious professional help! The worst part is, I've passed this tragic disease on to my children. My 5 month old won't sleep for longer than 30 minutes during the day and a few hours at night and I'm fairly certain its because of FOMS. Speaking of, he's awake. Gotta run! (ps next post will have pictures, I promise!)

Less Dreaming...

2010-06-11T20:39:00.000-07:00

I was looking through the favorites folders in my computer and I have about a kajillion projects I want to do and I find at least 2 or three more a day. I've decided the time has come for less dreaming and more doing. That is going to mean some major organization in my life and I'm sure it will take a bit of adjusting, but that just goes along with everything else in my life!

I'm not entirely sure what my first project is going to be, but I'll be sure to let you know!

Saturday Steals

2010-05-22T08:11:00.001-07:00

Camille, over at Archives of our Lives, started this thing called "Saturday Steals" (I tried to copy her very nice image, but my computer is being stupid and won't let me!) over on her blog a while back and I've wanted to write about several amazing steals I've gotten, but have forgotten every weekend until Monday when I read all about the amazing deals others have gotten! Even today, I want desperately to write about my amazing steals, but sadly, my computer won't let me add pictures at all to my post! So I'm left with quite a dilemna! Do I post and let you use your imagintions? Or do I wait until I take this computer back the stupid tech guy who told me there was nothing wrong with it? The other problem is that most of my steals are related to something I haven't blogged about yet, and I don't want to let the secret out just yet. So, I guess I'll wait another week, but in the meantime, you should go check out the steals other people have gotten and maybe even link up your own!

2010-05-16T23:35:00.000-07:00

It is late. I should be sleeping. But I took a nap this afternoon and now I can't sleep, despite the fact that I know that in 4 1/2 short hours, James' alarm will go off, and one mere hour later, Mr. TJ will be up and ready to go and I won't be getting anymore sleep. Boo. Oh well, my misfortune is your good luck, I guess, because it means I'm posting!

This past week was crazy. Ridiculously crazy. Insanely crazy. Too crazy. But, much of it was fun. This week, I had a birthday, my 29th one to be exact. On the day of the auspicious occasion, I didn't do too much! A friend took me for lunch and then I came home and relaxed. James and I watched put the boys to bed early and watched a movie. The next day, we went out with my family to celebrate all of the May birthdays (mine, Terry, bil Tem & niece Adi) and it was fun fun fun! On Saturday, James planned special surprise since we didn't do much on my day. He cooked a delicious dinner of chicken oscar, asparagus (my all time favorite veggie!) twice baked potato and salad. Then we had a divine strawberry shortcake (another fav) for desert! It was SO good and I at WAY too much. After dinner, he had invited several friends for a party. He had borrowed a friends projector and rigged up an outdoor theater, complete with popcorn buckets for each couple and everything! It was super fun (even though every single one of us fell asleep before the movie was over!!)

So, to celebrate 29 years of me (I don't sound at all conceited do I!) here are 29 things you may or may not know about me...

1. I am petrified of bugs. I can handle flies (kind of) and ants as long as their not on me, but other than that, no way!

2. I'm even more petrified of snakes/lizards/reptiles. I've told my friend whose house I'm at every day that if she gets her kid one, I won't be coming over anymore. She thinks I'm kidding. I'm not.

3. I'm allergic to chocolate.

4. I've been married twice.

5. Until recently, I would have moved to Utah in a heartbeat. Now, I'd have to take a day or two to seriously consider it. Amazing what making close friends does for a person.

6. I have gone to 2 post secondary schools for 5 years (although 2 of those were only one class a semester) and have nothing to show but student loan debt.

7. I love mangos.

8. I love going to the gym. I don't look like it, but I do!

9. I was told just before James and I got married that I would never be able to have children. Two miracles later, we're taking things as they come!

10. I am ridiculously self conscious. I know it, but can't stop it.

11. I love dressing up so much that I host fancy dinner parties just so I can get all dolled up.

12. I miss the theater more than I thought possible.

13. I have insanely ticklish ears.

14. I love to swim. If it didn't involve being in a swimsuit, I would live in a pool!

15. I am the semi-oldest of four kids. (My parents adopted a disabled boy when I was 7 and he is technically one year older than me, but has the mental capacity of a 2 year old.)

16. I plan on adopting one day, even though we were blessed with our boys.

17. I can't stand green beans. Gross.

18. I have NO grace at all when it comes to dancing. Its painful to watch. Really.

19. I am hyper OCD. It drives me absolutely bananas if things aren't the way I planned them to be.

20. I'm learning not to be so OCD, but its hard. REALLY hard.

21. My biggest fear in life is failing.

22. I had a bit of a mental breakdown after my first marriage. Just kind of shut down.

23. I love to learn. I would be a student forever if I didn't have to pay for it!

24. I have always wanted to take photography classes. I have no natural ability at all!

25. I don't like most of today's music. I would much rather listen to show tunes or jazz (vocal or instrumental) or classical.

26. I have only kissed two men in my life and I married both of them!

27. Once, when I was in junior high, I was so ashamed of not being kissed/dated/liked by a boy yet that I lied about my friends boyfriend kissing me. How dumb! Fortunately, she was a very understanding friend!

28. I hate watching sports on tv. Almost as much as I hate watching sports news on tv.

29. I have only ever had one calling in church. I've only ever played the piano/organ. I figure either I'm REALLY good at it (which I know is not the case!) or I'm just not good at anything else!

Well, there you go. 29 things you probably didn't know and maybe didn't care to know. And now, I'm off to read and maybe get some sleep!

Like Mike

2010-05-06T22:11:00.000-07:00

Lately, our little 3 year old has decided he doesn't like anything that is not a berry, bread, cucumber, carrot, celery or fish. So, we've had more than a few mealtime meltdowns lately! My little 3 year old also LOVES to read stories and this is one of his "faytit" books.

In fact, we read it almost daily. One day, after a particularly horrific meltdown about eating something (I can't think of what it was) we were reading this great book. And my little man, who has to know everything about everything, asked me what this guys name is...

Now, I am an avid Dr Seuss fan, but I don't mind telling you have I no idea who the guy is! I asked said 3 year old what his name should be and he decided (after several suggestions) that it was Mike. Partway through the story, it dawned on me! "Mike" tried something he thought he wouldn't like and ended up liking it! A ha! So, at dinner that night, I told TJ he neede to be like "Mike" and try his veggies (which consisted of cauliflower, green bean, purple cabbage, green peppers and onions). For every veggie I reminded him and then he ate! The only one he didn't like after trying it was the cabbage. It was fantastic! So, every meal since then, TJ has said, "Mommy, I be like Mike!"

New

2010-04-28T06:29:00.000-07:00

I've found a new love in my life. Actually, I've always loved it, I just have never been able to afford it until now! And, I decided I love it so much, I've started selling it. (I know, like I don't have enough going on in my life!) Its only been in Canada since March of this year, so the markets not overly saturated at all! (I'm talking I'm one of under 20 distributors in the 4 western provinces.) You can order directly from my website or host a party! Check it out and let me know if you love it as much as I do!

My Ah Ha Moment

2010-04-25T20:14:00.000-07:00

Our laptop with all our pics is in the shop (after 4 months of me saying "James, you computer is messed up, PLEASE take it to get fixed", and him ignoring me because he never had the same problem, it finally shut down without warning on him, so it went to the shop the next day! ;) ) so I have no pictures. But I want to keep up with my goal to be better at blogging more regularly. I had an ah ha moment in Relief Society today and thought I'd share it. Lately (like the past year or so!) I've been really missing my life in Utah. I just felt happier and more fulfilled there. I've thought it was becuase I was more involved in things that I loved like theatre and school. But the truth is I love being a Mom more than either of those things, so I should be happier now, right? Honestly my days are no longer or busier than they were when I was in school, they're just filled with different things. Equally busy, just different. So its not that thats making me feel less fulfilled. During RS we were talking about studying the scriptures and how it makes us feel and I thought "Duh, when I was at school I was reading the scriptures ALL the time." I had to for class and that led me to want to in my own time. Since I got back to Alberta, I haven't been good about reading my scriptures at all. Funny how the answer can be so simple, but I'm so thickheaded it takes me oh... about 7 years to figure it out!

Three

2010-04-18T11:57:00.000-07:00

My little man turned three this week and I've gotta say, I pretty much love him to pieces! There are days that I think he might not make it to the next day, let alone his next birthday, but when hes not being a holy terror, I adore him! I mean, really, how could you not! Just look at him.

Birthday's in our house tend to be a bit of an affair! On Monday, we had a family dinner at Manda's (our kitchen has been torn apart for a few weeks, but thats a whole other post!). Tuesday was his actual birthday, but we couldn't do the dinner on that day becasue I teach piano lessons. After I was done teaching on Tuesday, we decided to take him into a movie. We actually were going to take him bowling or mini golfing, but bowling was all booked forleague bowling and as soon as we got to the Movie Mill to go mini golfing, he changed his mind and was determined to see a movie! We had his party with a few friends on Saturday and it was a blast!

Lately, he has been huge into maps and pirates. So, we had a pirate party! The kids all got to decorate a foam pirate hat and then got swords and eyepatches. I know, you're saying "What! She gave a group of kids swords! What a stupid woman!" But the kids were actually really great with them! We didn't have a single problem with anyone hitting anyone else or anything like that.

It took about 14 shots to get this picture, but here we all are giving our best pirate "Arrr"!

After they were all decked out in their pirate gear, we went on a treasure hunt. We went across the "lake" in front of our house, around the park and the baseball diamond, back across the lake and found the treasure under the tree in our backyard. The treasure chest was full of stuff for lunch!

TJ carried our map and led the way!

After lunch, we opened presents and had cake! And, I have to say I have pretty awesome sisters. Due to our kitchen being torn apart, I asked my one sister if she could pick up a cake on the way out. When she showed up, they had both gotten together the night before and made an amaing cake which the kids LOVED!

After cake, we went on another treasure hunt where the kids found their treat boxes (that looked like mini treasure chests. I forgot to take a picutres of those!) Then we watched the Princess and the Frog until their parents came to get them! Overall, it was a huge success!

My three favorite things about TJ right now

1. How sensitive he is. He is always concerned about how everyone is feeling.

2. His crazy imagination. As I type this, he is sitting on Papa's lap singing "Row Row Row Your Boat" looking for animals, monsters, whatever he decides to find!

3. How much he loves Myles. He was so upest that I didn't get Myles any pirate gear for the party. So he shared his.

How lucky am I!

Mi Vida Loca

2010-04-11T20:52:00.000-07:00

Things have been pretty crazy around here! However, its been good crazy for the most part. In an effort to keep this post from taking 132 hours to read, I'm just going to glaze over most everything that has been happening.

A while ago, I'd had enough of TJ's soothers. So, we concocted a plan. For a few weeks, we talked about the Soos Fairy. She comes and takes the soos's from kids who are ready to be big kids and she leaves them a present. Then she gives those soos's to little babies who need them. At first he was resistant, but after a week or so, he got pretty excited. One night, we left a note for the Fairy along with all his soothers. Then we went to a Hurricaines game with my sister and cousin. When we came back, the soothers were gone and his present was in their place.

We also decided a while ago that it was time to start potty training. TJ actually just started going on his own, but then became really disinterested. Combined with trying to get him to get rid of the soothers, we knew were asking a lot, so we bribed him. I'll be the first to admit that I'm all about bribery! Anywho, we decided that we'd give him a big boy party when he was going potty on the toilet and had no more soothers. He picked two of his friends and they got to make pizzas, watch a movie and have "football cakes'. TJ was determined we were having a football cake for his party, but I was not about to make a whole cake for 3 kids. Then I kind of forgot about it until the day before, so here is my last minute idea!

I've mentioned before that I'm really trying to get the business name out there, so we've decided that we're going to do quite a few trade show type things. We had our first one a few weeks ago. We changed up our display and added some new products too. Here are a couple of pictures.

For Easter, we had tons of fun around here. We decided for Easter dinner to have a steak BBQ. Check out these babies James picked out!

The town had an Easter egg hunt on the Saturday after Good Friday. It was COLD and super windy, but still really great. I love the fact that the town is starting to do more of these things. As you can see, TJ was FROZEN!

On Easter Monday, we held our second annual Gilbert Easter Egg Hunt. We invited a bunch of friends and got together to hunt eggs. James and I provided 3 eggs for each of the kids and then the families provided 5 eggs for each kid in their family. We barbequed hot dogs and had cookies for the kids to decorate. One of the three eggs that James and I provided were homemade chocolate covered marshmallow eggs. They were so easy and yummy!

Well, there has been much more craziness, but I've prattled on long enough! Hope you all had a great Easter and that life is going well!

Stay Tuned...

2010-04-08T07:24:00.001-07:00

Ok, so I suck at blogging. Oh well, it is what it is! However, this weekend I fully intend on taking a break from the insanity of my life and blogging about said insanity. It will be fun. Super fun. You should make sure you come back and read about it!

Friend by Default

2010-03-09T23:25:00.000-08:00

You know that person who you hang around with only because they are friends with your friend. I'm that person. Always have been, probably always will be. I call it being a friend by default. Somehow, I manage to become friends with one person (lets call them Friend A) who is involved in a lot of the planning of things, so I get invited by them and get to meet lots of other people who I consider my friends. However, if the someone other than Friend A plans something, chances are I'm not going to be invited. More than likely, Friend A will be invited, but not me. Somedays this makes me sad, but for the most part, I'm just grateful I have such an amazing group of Friend As. Or should that be Friends A. I don't know!

15 Minute Makeover

2010-03-08T00:52:00.000-08:00

My cousins little girl turned 7 (or maybe 8? I'm so not good at this remebering thing anymore!) this past weekend and TJ got to go to her party. I asked James to pick up a gift bag on his way home from work in the morning, but I guess he didn't hear me when I said I was going to give her a few hair bows. He brought home a bag that was big. Like, minimum of 12" long and 9" high big. WAY too bigh for a few hair bows. Unfortunately, I didn't know this until about 20 minutes before the party started and I went to get the bag out! I scrambled trying to think of what else I could give her, but had nothing on hand. Then I remembered that I had emptied a can of formula that morning.

So after a little two sided tape... (you can actually see part of the cute gift bag in the background!)

Some cutting out of flowers, rolling to add dimension

Adding some inked paper flowers and brads..

And hot gluing on some ribbon then the flowers...And voila, one pretty bow holder, done in less than 15 minutes!

Wildly flailing in an attempt to stay standing... maybe..

2010-02-28T21:57:00.000-08:00

Oh, where do I start. I know I haven't blogged about anything real in ages, but quite honestly, most of what has been happening over the past month or two is just too personal to put all the gory details on the internet. Lets just say it has been an extremely difficult few weeks and I've been feeling like I'm going to crack. However, things are (hopefully) going to be sorted out at least somewhat soon, I think. Hows that for ambiguous! Anywho, I've decided that its time to focus more on the things I have control of and forget/push aside and ignore the rest! So, here is my question. How do you other mommies out there do it? How do you find balance between improving yourself, being an involved mom, loving wife and working? See, I'm trying to balance all of the following...

1. a 2 year old thats potty training

2. a 6 week old who will only sleep when he's being held and is only happy for about 5 minutes when hes not being held. Seriously, this is not an exaggeration. I've timed it. Repeatedly.

3. teaching my 2 year old counting, abcs, manners, ect

4. a husband who is working full time, going to school part time and trying my patience much of the time. (Let me insert that I am super in love with James, he just doesn't handle the baby phase very well, so its getting a little tiresome!)

5. being a wife to said husband

6. baseball season. No, I don't play but I'm a baseball widow and its already starting. Ump training every other week, meetings, ect.

7. alterations season. I NEED the extra money, but I've got to figure out where I'm going to put all the dresses (somewhere safe) and how I'm going to get my baby to be happy for longer than five minutes, because if I can only sew when hes sleeping, I'm never going to sleep. I'm just going to sew instead of sleep. Which really won't be good.

8. trying to be more involved/play with my kiddo. This is something I'm not really good at for some reason. I've got TONS of ideas of fun things to do, but TJ doesn't like any of them. Or at least he didn't when I tried stuff before. SO I gave up and now hes seeming like he'll be interested, but I'm not sure how to "fit it in". Holy crap, don't I sound like a bad mom!

9. I've been lacking in spiritual drive lately and I'm positive its because I'm pretty wishy washy on studying my scriptures. So, I'm determined to be more dilligent. Again, the issue is time.

10. Losing weight. I've been doing really good at eating right (most days) but exercise is not happening. I LOVE going to the gym, but I don't have the money for a pass or the time to go. So, I'm trying to do stuff at home. I hate it and I'm not really dedicated because I'm not looking forward to it. Crappy. (As a side note, I would like to point out that I am already below my pre-pregnancy weight! Yep, you read that right! I'm not going to give you numbers right now because thats a whole other post, but whatever!)

11. Figuring out some sort of marketing plan for Yummy Mummy. This sounds simple, but the budget is very limited and I have no background in marketing. Sewing, no problem. Marketin, big problem!

12. All the other crap happening in my life!

This, of course, is an abbreviated list! I'm sure your lists are the same, so please, share your secrets with me! How do you do it? Any tricks?

And just because I've posted too many posts without pics, here are a few Rhonda took for us!

Family

2010-02-15T22:09:00.001-08:00

*Sorry, this is a long, pictureless post! We had to get a new computer and I have none of my pictures put on this one! But, its a funny story, so hang in there and laugh at me!*

Happy Family Day all! Around here, James had to work, so the little boys and I hung out around the house and took it easy. With it being family day, I thought I'd let you in on the story of how our family started. In other words, how James and I met. (I'm totally stealing this idea from Rhonda, but her story was so great I thought why not!)

I had just started going to the student ward after going through my divorce and moving back home. Lets just say, I was in NO mood to deal with any serious relationships, but my bishop counselled me to go to the student ward instead of the family ward. My roommate and I ended up becoming friends with a few guys who were also roommates. When we first started hanging out and they found out that I was working at the Maple Leaf Pork slaughter house on the kill floor, they told me one of their other roommates lived there. I'd never seen him around their house or at church with them, so I had no idea what he looked like, but they told me his name was Gilbert. We all had hard hats with our names on them at work and no one that I saw had the name Gilbert on their hard hat. However, its a big plant, so I figurered we just were in different departments.

Meanwhile, there was a guy at work with the name James on his hard hat. I avoided him like the plague! Ever time I saw him, he was covered in pig blood, swinging his knives around and swearing worse than a sailor! (Let's just say James was less than active at this time in his life!)

A few months passed and I went to a house part with my roommate. I was pretty shocked to see James from work there! He was sitting on the floor, looking like he was either drunk or hung over and had a fresh tattoo on his let. I was even more shocked when he recognized me! I kept our conversation as short as politely possible (he was scary!) and then left!

A week or two later, it was General Conference. My roommate and I were going over to the boys house to watch the Sunday morning session. Over the past couple months, I'd started liking one of the boys in the house and we'd been doing some pretty serious flirting. I have to admit I had slightly less than pure motives to watch conference at his house! While we were in the middle of the session, in walks a very hungover scary James from work! The boy I was snuggling with says, "This is my roommate, Gilbert, who I was telling you works where you do!" Turns out Gilbert and scary James were the same guy!

After that, we started hanging out. Things kind of fizzled with James' roommate, but James still wasn't the kind of guy I wanted to date. Fun to hang around as a friend, but that was it! Slowly, we started doing everything together. At first, there was always a big group of us, but then it started to be just us. After about a year, I was pretty into James, but he didn't think it was a smart idea. He'd come back to the church, but didn't think he was worthy of dating. He was SUPER resistant! So, I didn't push. We still kept doing everything together and everyone thought we were dating. On July 1st, he came with me to my Grandma's birthday lunch, but I was very careful to introduce him as my FRIEND. A week or so later, he told me we needed to talk. He drove out to a field in the middle of nowhere with the music blaring. (James doesn't handle serious discussions well at all!) For the longest time he sat there babbling about nothing and I thought for sure he was going to kill me and leave my lifeless body in the middle of nowhere! (Not seriously, but the thought did cross my mind!) Finally, he just blurts out, "I guess you can tell people we're dating, if you want to." With that, he jammed the car into drive and sped away. He didn't say a word the whole way back to town or when he dropped me off! Talk about romance! ;)

A month or so later, we went to a Bulls baseball game. James is an ump, so ball games had become a big part of my life. When we got there, he said he'd be right back, which was the norm, so I went to get a seat in the bleachers. It wasn't a super busy game, so I was sitting in the middle of a huge open space. Throughout the whole game, he kept walking in front of the seats, but never looked at me. I was wearing a bright shirt and waving, but he totally ignored me! I was SO ticked! Baseball was not my favorite thing, but he had talked me into going to yet another game and then he ignores me the whole time! When we left the diamond, I was cranky and so was he, although I had no idea why! We went to East Side Marios to get some food and he went to talk to a friend of his who was working at the bar, leaving me yet again! I was getting less and less impressed. As we were finishing eating, these two guys from the bar came by and said "We're not leaving till you do it." I had no clue what they were talking about, but they kept saying, "Come on, we've been waiting all night and we've got to go." I just assumed they were seriously drunk, but they weren't leaving. Finally James said fine, got out of the booth, got down on one knee and pulled out a ring! I was shocked, but managed to squeak out a yes! Apparently he had a huge thing planned at the ball diamonds, but he couldn`t see me anywhere! Oh well, it all worked out in the end!

I love him beyond words and love the little boys we share! I've loved (mostly) the past five years and look forward to so many more!

And the winner is....

2010-02-15T07:30:00.000-08:00

All right, I wrote everyone's name on little sheets of paper, (two papers for those who got multiple entries!), put all those little papers into a gift bag (it happened to be close) and drew out a winner. And the winner is....

Rhonda

Congrats! Email me and we can figure out getting the skirt to you! This was so fun, I think I might do it again soon! Now I just have to find some time to sew something!

Giving it Away

2010-02-02T08:15:00.000-08:00

So, WAY back in April I was taking a course at the college. (Truth be told, I'm actually still taking it, I'm just on a baby hiatus. Sadly, I'm only able to fit in one course a semester, but you do what you have to!) I was taking a basic sewing class. Lets just say it was not super challenging. At all. But its a requirement that you can't test out of. The "big project" for the class is to sew a skirt. I know, tough right! Please don't think that I'm making fun of any non sewers, but for me, a skirt is REALLY basic!) It is a little more difficult that just buying a pattern and sewing it. We had to design the skirt, draft (draw) the pattern and sew the skirt. Most people in the class were doing relatively simple skirts. I mean, it was the first time most of them had touched a sewing machine, so that makes sense. I, however, decided I didn't want to do simple. Simple was too, well, simple! This was not my first rodeo! So, I came up with an idea to do some fabric oragami. The execution of the skirt (cutting and sewing) was easy enough. The problem was in pattern drafting! I stumped my profs a few times, but we got it figured out eventually and I love the finished product. What do you think?

Like I said, I LOVE how it turned out, but there is a downside (for me anyway!) Because I had to make this for a class, it had to be a standard size ten. While I am working at becoming a size 10, I've got a LONG way to go. With closet space being at a major premium at our house, I can't justify having this beauty hanging in my closet any longer! So, I'm giving it away! Even if you're like me and not a size 10, think of how much you would be loved if you gave this as a gift! Here's how to enter:

1. Leave a comment saying what you like best about the skirt or photos (By the way, a MAJOR thanks to Camille for modelling!)

2. Put a post with a link on your blog. Leave your blog address in your comment here so I can check it out!

You have until February 15, so why are you still reading! Get busy and comment!

I Wish...

2010-01-26T17:06:00.000-08:00

Wouldn't this be fantastic! Amy from Mod Podge Rocks went and did a bunch of posts about it! I'm SO jealous! Anyone want to help me start something similar around here? Let me know!

This Post Brought To You By The Number 2, 5 & 100

2010-01-19T21:51:00.000-08:00

A few big things have happened around here lately. In order to avoid another ginormously long post like the last one, I'll keep the details as brief as possible!

On January 11, baby #2, now known as Myles Bryan, entered the world. I had to be induced, again, so I was pretty nervous after everything with TJ. (TJ was 2 weeks late, so I was induced and 40 hours later I had pushed for an hour and a half, they had to do a vaccum assisted delivery and I tore like crazy. Not fun...at all.) Things started slowly, just like TJ. Around 4:30 pm, they put me on the drip and I got an epidural. (Side note: I' m all about the epidural. My opinion is, you don't get anything extra for the extra pain, so why not make yourself slightly more comfortable!) Just after 6, I was 5 cm. Myles was born at 6:44 after only 5 pushes. The best news is that I didn't tear at all!! (Ok, the best news is that Myles was happy and healthy, but I'm still pretty happy about the whole not tearing!) Our boy was 8 pounds 9 ounces and 22 inches long with lots of hair.

Our cute little boy.

Showing his attitude already.
Just after being born.

Meeting big brother TJ for the first time the next day.
Our little family.

On the 15th, James and I celebrated our 5th anniversary. We went for dinner and a movie and had a great time together. Its hard to believe its been 5 years. I can't say I've loved every minute of it, but every minute has been worth getting to where we are today!

And some other major news. My Mom decided to leave the other guy and come home. I'm happy/nervous, but I really think she wants to work to make things right. Its going to take a lot of time and work, but we're all ready to do what we need to!

While this last thing is not nearly as exiciting as everything else, its still worth mentioning. This is my 100th post! Woo Hoo me!

So far, 2010 is off to a pretty great start!!

Merry Merry And A Few "Resolutions"

2010-01-04T19:31:00.000-08:00

***WARNING: This post is LONG! That's what happens when you don't post in forever and there are a few major events that happen!***

Its amazing how quickly time flies. Especially when you have so much you are looking forward to/dreading. I can't lie, I was not looking forward to Christmas this year. In fact I was really dreading the whole holiday season. Christmas and New Years have always been a time when we were surrounded by Mom's family and I knew that wasn't going to be the case this year. I wasn't really sure how we were going to handle it, especially me, being ridiculously prego and emotional! I have to say, it wasn't that bad. We actually had a really great time. It was different and we all definitely missed Mom and wished she was making better choices, but we survived. No, more than that, we thrived! We didn't just muddle through, we enjoyed the season completely!

TJ was completely spoiled. Actually, we all were, but TJ was definitely the most spoiled. He was so excited to open "presinents". He had a little bit of a hard time understanding that it wasn't always his turn to open a present or that all the presents weren't for him, but all in all, he did great!

TJ admiring all the "presinents"

One of his many presents from Papa.

Enjoying his new tools.

He got a few games and he LOVES to play them. I think I played Candyland and Cooties about a hundred times on boxing day!
Enjoying Daddy's big present. Let me pause here to say, in a temporary moment of insanity, I got James a puppy for Christmas. Not a dog, a puppy. A black lab/border collie cross puppy. His name is Zeus. He's cute and relatively well behaved, but I'm sure I should be committed. I was adamant we would not get any kind of pet until we were in our own house and that when we did, it would be a small, adult, already trained dog. Apparantly, I lied on all accounts!

New Year's was pretty low key. I'd been having contractions for the week and a half leading up to New Years, so I wasn't in the mood to do much. We went to Manda's house and ate goodies and played games. New Years Day we had our traditional family fondue. It was delicious and tons of fun. That evening James and I headed out to a party hosted by some of our friends. I laughed so hard I was sure I was going to go into labor, but no such luck!

Playing games at Manda'sTJ carrying a tradition of "cheese wax lips"Adi modelling our fantastic hats from our crackers on New Year's Day.TJ enjoying chocolate fondue!

So, onto something a little more serious (I know, its hard to think of me being serious!) This past year was hard. In fact, that's an understatment. It was awful. There were many times when I was sure there was no way through it. I often wondered if and how we were going to make it. Like I said before, I was not looking forward to Christmas at all. And then it happened and we made it though rather easily. I have learned so much about myself and my family through this last year.

1. I have learned that I know what I believe. This may sound a little odd, so let me explain. For quite some time now, I have felt kind of blase about the Gospel. This doesn't mean I didn't believe it was true, I just didn't put any effort into and consequently, didn't really feel the effect of the Gospel in my life. However, I now know without a shadow of a doubt how important the Gospel is. More importantly, I know how vital it is not to get lazy about living the Gospel.

2. James and I have grown closer together through the whole mess with my Mom. I've learned to take him for granted and to voice concerns I have before they blow into huge issues.

3. One of the biggest things I've learned is how true it is the Heavenly Father will never give us more than we can handle. I've prayed for strength and understanding more this past year than I have since my divorce, and I have felt the strength and peace only He can give.

4. I have learned how important an eternal perspective is. Right now, Mom is making some really stupid choices, but I have no control over it. I can only control my choices and how I react to her choices. I can (and do) pray daily for her to see what she is doing and how misguided she is, but I also have to realize that, as much as I may want it to happen tomorrow, it probably won't and I have to have patience. This is true with all the things in life.

5. Maybe most important of all, I have learned that we have to learn to be happy no matter the circumstances we are given. I truly believe the scriptures when they say "Men are that they might have joy." Heavenly Father wants us to be happy, but that doesn't mean He can take away any hardships or challenges in our life. Its up to us to figure out how to be happy, even in the worst of circumstances.

This New Year is full of promise and opportunity. I'm looking forward to the chance I have to improve myself and my situation and to make the most of the time I'm given!

Happy New Year!

My Dirty Little Secret...

2009-11-24T20:23:00.000-08:00

Ok, so you know how some people have a little secret like the don't make their famous "Grandma's Apple Pie" from scratch, its actually from a box and a can.... Well, my secret is not nearly as dreadful as that. But it is a juicy one. Ready...

I rarely have my own creative ideas. Really, its true. Sad, but true. I can take someone else's idea and tweak it, but to come up with something completely my own is not something that happens often! I am actually super jealous of people who are able to create the things their brains come up with. I acknowledge that I have been blessed with many creative talents, but actually coming up with something unique is not one of them.

Well, there it is, now you know. On a side note, I'm going Black Friday shopping this weekend and I'm SO excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Bring on the deals!

Halloween

2009-11-08T15:53:00.000-08:00

I've got so many thoughts rolling around in my head right now, but for this post I'm just going to focus on Halloween. I'll get my thoughts together and write more later!

So to start, Halloween was really fun! On Friday morning, we had a party for the kiddos at Amanda's house. She had her dayhome kids, we invited our cousin and her girls and Amanda invited a few of her friends and their kids. We had mummies (crescent wrapped hotdogs) with blood (ketchup) to dip them in, monster eyeballs (grapes) and pumpkin juice. Sorry, no pictures of our lunch, but the mummies were super cute and the kids ate tons! We also did some halloween crafts and watched The Great Pumpkin. Here are a few random pics of the party...

Then Friday night, James and I went to a murder mystery party at our friends place. It was SO fun, but there were tons of people and it got SO hot and I got pretty sick. I didn't get to do nearly as much as I wanted because I was outside cooling down a lot, but it was still fun! It was called an "Immortal Murder" because it dealt with a bunch of immortal beings from around the King Aurthur story. James was a "watcher" who is a mortal that protects the secrets of the immortals. I was the lake fairy. There were also vampires, werewolves, and wizards.

(You can tell in the picture that I was super toasty cause I'm all red!)

Saturday, we took TJ trick or treating at the mall and to his Grandma & Grandpa Gilbert's house. That evening, our ward did a trunk or treat and we took him there. Amanda brought Adi out and helped "guard" our trunk! Ok, blogger won't accept the rotated version of this, but Manda had Adi propped up in a chip box in the back of the truck!

Soon...

2009-11-05T20:11:00.000-08:00

I will post about halloween and other stuff soon, but for now, just know that this last week has been crap and to top it all off, I've now got a head cold. If I knew how to make a tounge sticking out face/noise in type-ese, I would. Oh well!

Help!

2009-10-15T13:31:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I am almost 100% computer illiterate. I know how to use word processor, the internet and thats about it. Its sad, but true. I would really love to be able to touch up my pictures, but have no idea what program to get. Suggestions? Remember, the more user friendly, the better!

And since I've posted too many times without a picture, here's one that cracked me up the other day. This is what happens when TJ dresses himself....

Thankful

2009-10-13T11:39:00.000-07:00

I wanted to post sooner, but life happened! Oh well. Yesterday was a really big day around our house. After everything with my Mom happened, things got pretty testy between her side of the family and us. A few weeks ago, my Dad suggested that we invite Grandma and the rest of the family for Thanksgiving. I will admit, I was hesitant. Not because I didn't want to see them, but because I was afraid they would say no. Even when Mom was around, getting together at our house didn't happen. I was super happy when they all said yes! I love any excuse to throw a party and Dad and James were nice enough to let me take over and plan it. So, the last week, I made some of these...

Some fun little jars for the kiddos...

Some little turkey finger puppets to entertain the kids (sorry about the picture, I didn't take one of just the puppets!)...

Drawing on the kids table (fear not, it was covered in paper) so they could use the crayon bundles in the picture above...Making a centerpiece (I actually got the idea from U Create)...Yesterday I did some cooking and a little bit of last minute cleaning. Then it was time to set the tables...

For the adults...

And for the kids...I'm afraid I don't have any pictures with everyone here. I put James in charge of the camera (something I should know by now not to do!) All in all, it was a great day! Hope you all had a great day, too!

Movin' Right Along

2009-09-19T20:50:00.000-07:00

Ok, so again, I will have a post with no pictures. Super boring, I know, but my computer is, again giving me attitude. Fortunately, this time I was able to get everything saved onto memory sticks before it started acting up again. Unfortunately, those memory sticks are still over at my house and we are now officially at Dad's house. James got a lot done today. Next week, I've got to pack up the kitchen, but other than that, its pretty much all packed! Then its just a matter of moving things to the storage unit and doing the final clean up. Then I'm done with stupid landlords FOREVER!!! Next time I move, its going to be into my own house!!! Woot Woot!

Thought you'd like to know...

2009-09-16T15:25:00.000-07:00

100 DAYS TILL CHRISTMAS

Crazy

2009-09-14T22:32:00.000-07:00

I have been a horrible blogger latley! I have several excuses, but none that are really good, so I'll just move on. It has been a very LONG and BUSY week!! Craziness ensued and I was swallowed up in it. Almost literally!! Aside from the normal craziness of being prego and having a two year old, here is what was added to my crazy plate recently.

Saturday, September 5

I went to a baby market in Calgary. "But Tisha," you say, "You're already expecting, why go get another baby?" Not that kind of market, folks! This is the kind where retailers go and meet with sales reps and put in orders for new product for their store. I really didn't know how things worked, but I knew I was getting nowhere as far as trying to get ahold of a sales rep, so we drove up for the day. The lady at the reception desk was very friendly when she told me I couldn't talk to a rep because manufacturers weren't allowed at the show. I asked if I could leave a sample of my product and if she would be willing to show it to anyone. She said sure and that was that. I left feeling pretty sure that, even though she was very polite, I had wasted my time. What did I do, you ask? I went to Red Lobster and drowned my sorrows in crab legs and shrimp. If nothing else, this made it so the trip wasn't a complete waste of time! On the way home, just outside of Lethbridge, I called my house to check the messages, since my stupid cell phone has been acting up and not ringing lately. (Wow, that was an incredibly long run on sentence!) The first message was boring, but the second one thrilled me! As I listened to the message, I started freaking out... to the point that James almost drove off the road... oops! There was a rep who'd seen the sample I left and wanted to take on the GoBelts!! SO exciting!!! As fate would have it, her name is Tisha, too, so she's pretty awesome! I tried calling her back that night, but didn't get an answer, so I just buzzed with anticipation all night!

That was the good part of my Saturday. Unfortunately, there was also a bad part. In a previous post, I mentioned that our landlords have decided to sell our house. On Thursday, the 3rd, our landlady called and asked if it would be ok if they came by on Friday to do some tree trimming, ect. I told her sure, but that our back yard was a disaster b/c I couldn't mow and James had been working tons of extra hours over the past few weeks. I also told her the plan was for James to attack the yard after he was done work Monday afternoon. She said no problem. So, Friday comes and James, TJ, Terry and I went to Cardston for the day. That evening, our landlady comes over. I was feeling really sick, so I was in bed, but she and James were talking in the back yard. She was furious that the yard hadn't been mowed and the weeding hadn't been done. She told James that it had to be done by the next day or there would be consequences. Even though they didn't give us the proper amount of time to fix things, James busted his but and worked way into the night on Friday. We both got up at 5:30 Saturday morning and finished stuff up. There was still a little weed whipping that needed to be done, but James had run out of string the night before around 9. We called them, told them it wasn't 100% finished, but we had to head up to Calgary and that we would finish it Monday. When we got home from Calgary, there was a letter they had left for us. They had done an inspection of the house, even though they had given us no notice or anything. The house was not clean. It had been a crazy few days, there was laundry that needed to be folded, breakfast dishes that needed to be done and toys/books everywhere from TJ entertaining himself while we worked in the yard. Essentially, they told us the house was unlivable and we had 7 days to clean it up or we would be evicted. Let me tell you, our house was nowhere near as dirty as they made it out to be. I won't pretend it was immaculate, but it was lived in. Not filthy by any stretch of the imagination! The stupid letter really put a damper on my good day.

Sunday, September 6

Before church, I called Tisha back. (I know, no business on Sunday. But the call really was just to set up an appointment for Monday.) We then went to church, where I played the organ for sacrament meeting, ran home during Sunday School to check on the food that was cooking, and then made it back just in time to play the piano for Relief Society. After church, choir practice started. I'm the pianist, so my presence is required! After that, I literally ran out the door, down the two blocks to my house, threw the meat that had been cooking in my slow cooker all day in the back of the truck, threw TJ in his seat and James in his and drove to the Lethbridge. Manda was blessing Adi at the church by her house and then we were having a family dinner. Although I felt super rushed when we got there, it turned out to be a great time, inspite of TJ's 35 minute tantrum when it was time to clean up the toys.

Monday, September 7

When I talked to Tisha, she told me to come up anytime between 12 and 2, so around 9 ish, we loaded everything and everyone in the truck and headed to Calgary, again. When we got there, she was with someone, so we ended up waiting a while. Once we got to talk with her, she told us she already had one store place and order and one other (actually, the owner of a chain of stores) coming back to see our other samples later that day! So exciting! After the meeting, we headed home. By the time we got home, I was SO exhausted. It had been quite the weekend!

Tuesday, September 8

I'm teaching piano lessons again this year and this was the beginning of my first full week. I've got 18 piano students and 1 voice student, so I'm teaching from 3:30-7 Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursdays. I'm also doing a music class for younger kids in the morning on Tuesdays, so it was my first go with that. It was crazy! Fun, but crazy! After class and before my other lessons started, we went into town to pick up some extra cleaning supplies. I then taught lessons in the evening and cleaned for most of the night.

Wednesday, September 9 and Thursday September 10

Pretty much the same thing as Tuesday. Cleaning and piano lessons. And then more cleaning. And I'm not talking picking up toys, sweep the floor cleaning. I'm talking washing walls, shampooing carpets cleaning. We also took a letter to our landlords giving them our notice for the end of the month on Thursday.

Friday, September 11

We had to make a trip into town to pick up some things we'd run out of, some groceries, birthday presents ect. While in Lethbridge, we decided we needed a break, so we went to a movie. Then came home and stayed up till 1:30 am finishing stuff up.

Saturday, September 12

TJ had been invited to a birthday party today, so around 9am I called our landlord to see if he had an idea as to a time they would be out to do the inspection so I could make sure I was home. He told me they decided after they got our letter that they would just wait until we move out. Nice of them to call and tell us! We'd wasted so much time doing deep cleaning that we now have to do again in a few weeks!! I was livid! We went to the birthday party, where TJ had such a good time. The afternoon was spent getting ready for a baby shower I was co-hosting that night. The shower went super well. It was tons of fun and there was SO much food. Although Saturday was super busy, it was a good way to end my crazy busy week!

Well, believe it or not, that was the condensed version of what happend. This coming week, we're moving back in with Dad and then I'm going to spend the last week or so of the month packing the other stuff at our place and putting it in the storage unit. I don't anticipate having much time to blog in amongst all that, but I will try!!

Fall Already!

2009-08-31T11:38:00.000-07:00

I can't believe this summer is already over! To tell the truth, I'm kind of glad. In many ways, this has been the worst summer ever. Fall may or may not be better, but I'm determined to get through it and figure out a way to enjoy it!! Whether good or bad, this fall promises to bring about many changes!

Change #1
I decided I'd start teaching piano and voice lessons again. I was pretty nervous about how many students would actually sign up, but I actually only have 5 spots left, so I'm pretty happy with that!

Change #2
They're opening up a few dimentia wings where James works and hes signed up to work there. It means a change in hours and the type of work, but sadly, not pay. However, he's super excited about it so I'm excited for him!

Change #3
One of our super good friends are moving in the next month or so. TJ absolutely adores their little boy and asks to play with him all the time! I'm pretty worried about how he'll react, but I'm sure he'll be ok. Fortunately, we have lots of other great friends for him to play with!

Change #4
On Saturday, our landlord told us that they're going to be selling the house (and all their other rental properties) to start a dairy farm. They're just going to do one big open house and not a lot of showings, so we'll see how it goes! We may be moving much sooner than we'd like!

Change #5
We're coming up on the season of holidays in our family. Between Thanksgiving, about a billion birthdays and Christmas, we've got lots of firsts without Mom to get through. Should prove to be interesting if nothing else!

We had some exciting news the other day. We're having another boy!! We don't have a name yet. We're actually having a tough time thinking of one. Good thing we have some time still!!

Are you ready for this?

2009-07-26T10:10:00.001-07:00

Holy crap, its been forever since I actually blogged! Life here has not really been too exciting lately, although it has been busy! Because its been SO very long... I'm just going to post a TON of pictures and say a few words about them. That way, this post won't be quite as ginormours as it could be!

Happening #1 Adi!

I'm pretty sure I mentioned it earlier, but Manda had her little girl the end of May and I officially became an Auntie! I know I didn't post any pictures, so here are a few!

Happening #2 Road Trip

Shortly after finding out I was prego, two of my closest and craziest friends decided the three of us should go on a road trip to get some maternity clothes. (they're both due a few months before me!) So, we all cleaned out our houses, had a garage sale and took the money shopping! It was super fun! We left fairly early and had all been quite sick that morning! As we drove up to Nanton, one of us said she'd never been to the candy store there. So, I pulled in, because it really is a great store and candy seems to be one of the biggest cravings I've been having (along with watermelon, odly enough!) Sadly, the store wasn't open for another 15 minutes, so we waited!! I'm sure the lady who owns the store thought we were crazy, (and probably rightfully so!) but we had fun!

Happening #3 Fathers Day

For Fathers Day, we took my Dad, James and Tem out to Stafford Lake for the day. TJ loved the lake and we all had tons of fun. It was hot and sunny, but pretty windy, so we took our weenie roast back to Amanda's house!

Happening #4 Ari

Early this month, James brother and his wife had a little boy, who is way too cute! TJ loves both his cousins, although its taking him some practice to distinguish between saying Adi and Ari. He's getting it, though!

Happening #5 Carnival

There was a little carnival thing set up in a parking lot in town earlier this month, so we called a few friends and headed in! TJ loved it! That boy has no fear, which puts a lot of fear into me!

Other than that we've been...

Playing at many different parks...

Mowing the lawn (although if you've driven by our house recently you know it desperately needs it again!)...

Watching the July 1st Parade...

playing in the dirt...

and the sprinkler...

Having dinosaurs over for lunch...

And LOTS of backyard golfing (both in clothes and out!)

Whew! There you go!! Hope your summer is going well!

The Big 1-0

2009-06-28T08:26:00.000-07:00

It's officially here. No matter how I tried to pretend/ignore/avoid it, it came!! My ten year high school reunion was last night. Truth be told, I'd been waffling between going and not. For the most part, I keep in touch with those I really want to and through the wonders of facebook and the grapevine, I hear about most of the others. Umm, that sounds way snobbier than I anticipated! Really, I'm not a snob! To be 100% honest, the biggest reason I didn't want to go wasn't because of anyone else. It was because of me. Let me explain.

I was not exactly the popular kid in high school. I was not even remotely gifted in sports, the school choir was kind of a joke (although it was fun!), there was no drama program, and,while I was smart, most of my friends were smarter than I was. Add to that that I was one of the biggest girls in school and my friends were all beautiful, well, lets just say I spent many dances watching them get asked to dance.

For a while after high school, I was bitter. I blamed it on the school and the small town I came from. While I was at BYU, I really found myself. I had ample opportunity to do the things I loved and had some really great success at it. Then circumstances changed and I had to come home really suddenly. Since then, I've done virtually nothing with theater at all.

When I left high school, I had the desire to "prove myself" and had all these huge plans for my 1o year reunion. As I grew up, my desire wasn't as vindictive. I heard and saw all of these great things my class mates had accomplished and I felt like I was falling short. I've accomplished so little!

Over the last few months, as reality set in, so did a huge sense of failure. I left BYU with a year left to get my degree, with the exception of when I was at university, my job history has not been illustrious or exciting, I don't own a house, my financial situation is far less than impressive, I haven't lost all the weight I want to, my business is growing way too slowly... well, you get the idea. With the exception of TJ and James, I felt like I had very little in the way of accomplishments!

As the weeks passed, I started to realize that, even though I haven't accomplished 1/10 of what I wanted to by now, I'm not a failure at all! Life has thrown me some pretty big curve balls over the past 10 years and I've dealt with them and grown from them. I'm still working towards my goals and I haven't given up. That, in and of itself is enough to make me not a failure.

I still didn't go last night, but mostly it was because I was feeling really sick.

GRRR

2009-06-10T17:51:00.000-07:00

My power cord on my computer suddenly stopped working for no reason at all and James' power cord hasn't worked for months so now I can't get any pictures off my computer for the posts I want to do and I can only use the computer when we're over at my Dad's house! Ridiculous! I'll get it fixed asap, but really, that may not be as soon as I'd like!

Mother's Day, A Birthday & Some Pancakes

2009-05-22T07:00:00.000-07:00

May is always a busy month for us. Between Mother's Day, my birthday and 3 family member's birthdays, its one party after another! Just for ease of remembering, I'm going to go in chronological order!

#1 Mother's Day

James was wonderful and let me sleep in, made me breakfast in bed and pretty much took care of things all day! Sadly, he doesn't usually remember to take pictures and I didn't even think about it! After church, my family all got together at Manda and Tem's for a weenie roast. It was pretty awkward but we still had a good time! This I got a few pics of...

James was our resident weenie roaster/s'more maker. What a man!~

#2 My Birthday - The 13th was my birthday and, honestly, I didn't want to do much! A few of my friends took me to lunch and then we got together with my family at Amanda's place for dinner that night. The next night, a bunch of our friends threw a little surprise party for me, which was really fun. Sorry, no pics! I took my camera to all three places and forgot to use it!

#3 Long Weekend = Pancakes. Ok, so actually, pancakes and eggs are the breakfast menu almost every morning b/c its one of the few things I can get TJ to eat. I had a gift card from Williams Sonoma that I got for Christmas over a year ago, but I don't get to the store nearly as often as I'd like. (James doesn't think it's justifiable to drive 3 hours just to shop. I guess he can't be perfect!) But, we were up there for a business thing a few weeks back and I saw these...

They are pancake molds!!! And they make the cutest pancakes ever! So, I used my gift card and ordered a set. We had a bunch of friends over on the Monday of the long weekend and had a huge pancake breakfast where we ate monkey's, elephants and lions. I also had a few heart shaped molds I got when I lived in Utah, so there were hearts too. The kids had a blast! It was so much fun!
Ok, my pancakes didn't turn out quite so nicely, but close! This is actually the pic from Williams Sonoma. And for some reason, I can't get pictures to turn the right way, but just tilt you head! ;)

Where to Start?

2009-05-21T09:04:00.000-07:00

I know it has been forever since I have written. In fact, blogging is not the only thing I'm seriously behind on (sorry to those of you who are STILL waiting patiently for me to finish alts!). I do actually have a few really good reasons. Honest, I'm not just an unreliable slacker. I've been debating for well over a month now to blog about whats going on and, in all honesty, I still have some reservations. For one, I'll probably get in a truckload of trouble. For two, I'm always worried about freaking people out and having them look at me like the goober I truly am. Although, if you know me at all you already know I'm pretty much a mental case. So, here goes...

My mom has had and affair and left my Dad. What makes it worse, if that's possible, is that the guy she is "seeing" is an inmate. Yep, you read that right. A prisoner she me while she worked there. The affair got her fired and she doesn't care. I'll spare you the rest of the details, but lets just say she has become the most selfish, unfeeling person I have ever met. I don't really feel like going into how I feel ect, but lets just say that I've kind of shut down over the past month. I have been avoiding people in general, but especially those who know my family.

So there it is, my big dirty secret! Crappy. There have been several really great things that have happened over the past month, but they've all been tainted by this one huge thing. I'm going to post about all of them over the next day or two, I just have to sort through all the pictures! Stay tuned for some much happier posting!

{two}

2009-04-15T19:46:00.001-07:00

My little man turned two on Monday. How time flies! We are so blessed to have TJ in our lives. I don't feel like getting too emotional, so I'll keep the gushy part short. When I'm having a bad day, he always cheers me up. He is too smart and so thoughtful. Really, he can always tell when I need a hug! I just love him to pieces.

We had a big family dinner on Monday with all the grandparents, aunts, ect. It was super fun and TJ got ridiculously spoiled.

The loot...

Opening the loot...

In our house, the birthday person gets to pick what thywant for dinner, so we had homemade baked mac and cheese, one of TJ's favs. I forgot to take a picture of the cake, but here is what's left...

On Tuesday, we had a party with his friends and I did't take single picture, except the cake. Its my goal to start taking more/better pics, but here's the cake. Guess what the theme of the party was...

*On a side note, anyone know how to fix my blog? It won't let me change my background at all. Very frustrating.*

**On another side note, its really difficult to type when your keyboard looks like this...

Time to take a breath

2009-03-29T23:43:00.000-07:00

If you have been anywhere near my house lately, you know that my life has been absolutley insane. Don't believe me, let me give you a breakdown of my upcoming week. Ready.....

I have 3 grad fittings, 1 bridal fitting (so far, I know of at least 2 brides who are going to call in the next few days to set up appointments), a few orders to fill for Yummy Mummy, a custom guitar cake for Saturday, class Monday and Tuesday, a skirt project (that is driving me absolutely crazy. It will look amazing when its done, but right now, I hate it), 2 custom sewing appointments, 1 birthday cake to make so I can decorate it next week, 2 doctors apts (1 for me, 1 for TJ), a group meeting for my skirt project, working a full day on Saturday, sewing TJ's birthday presents, sewing the dresses for all the fittings/custom sewing appointments I have, getting supplies for TJ's party next week, making & delivering invitations for TJ's party next week, planning our menu for April, making our grocery list for April, as well as all the usual cleaning, cooking, mommy stuff.

And this is my least busy week all month. Seriously. I'm not lying.

As I'm sure you can imagine, I've been feeling a little stretched lately. My poor TJ has developed a great love of movies and I'm feeling more than just a little guilty. This past week especially has been a bad one and it has led me to thinking. There really isn't a lot I can eliminate from my life. We really need the money my alterations bring in and once James has a "real" job, we're hoping the alterations will make it possible for me not to have to work in Lethbridge any more. (I love my job and the girls I work with, but its really crappy that James' only day off is spent with me at work.)

So what is a girl with her plate overloaded to do, you ask? I have an answer and it is short and concise! Simplify and Organize! I've got a list of a few charts I'm going to be making tomorrow and we're getting a really big calendar to write everything on so we can all be on the same page. And, I'm going to be scheduled. I'm making sure I take time to be with my little monster (and my big monster too! Date night, here we come!).

Got any great organizational tips? Any ways to simplify? I'd love to hear them!!

Baaa...

2009-03-19T15:27:00.000-07:00

I feel a little like a sheep following the crowd, but oh well...

Fifty Questions.

1. Do you like blue cheese? Not even a little bit!! Who in their right mind would want to eat MOULD!!!

2. Have you ever smoked a cigarette? Nope. Neve had a desire to. Can't stand the smell!

3. Do you own a gun? Not in a million years. I'm am so not pro-gun. Much to my hubby's dismay.

4. What flavor do you add to your drink at Sonic? Usually strawberry, although I like to mix it up some times and try new things! Hmm, I miss Sonic.

5. Do you get nervous before doctor appointments? Depends on what the appointment is for.

6. What do you think of hot dogs? If they're the right kind, then they are delish! Hmm, I think a weenie roast might be in order soon, now that I'm thinking of hot dogs!

7. Favorite Christmas Song? I love Christmas music in general. I think I actually have more Christmas CDs than regular cds.

8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning? I can't get enough ice cold water. Its pretty much all I drink.

9. Can you do push-ups? Ha Ha Ha. Have you seen me!?!

10. What is your favorite movie? I don't think it would be humanly possible to narrow to a top 10, let alone a favorite.

11. What’s your favorite piece of jewelry? I just love jewelry. Especially fun, unique, funky pieces. Hmm, I should go shopping for more jewlery.

12. Favorite hobby? I don't think I can type that!! ;) j/k Honestly, too many fun things to do to choose one. I like doing anything that makes me feel happy!

13. Do you work with people who idolize you? I surely don't think so, but maybe they closet idolize me. If so, they should come out with it! Really, everyone should idolize me! ;)

14. Do you have ADD? Sorry, I was busy finishing something else.

15. What's one trait that you hate about yourself? Honestly, (and its completely shallow) but I pretty much hate how I look.

16. What’s your middle name? Lynn.

17. Name three thoughts at this moment: I still feel sick. I need to paint my toenails. I have to find my labels to put one on Kelly's bag.

18. Name 3 things you bought yesterday: I stayed home all day yesterday, so no purchases. In fact, I think the last time I bought anything was Monday, so we'll go then. I bought a few more things for our St. Patty's Party (post to come soon), some more containers for organizing, more bobbins for my sewing machine.

19. Current worry right now? How we're going to pay for everything. I think I've just decided its not going to happen.

21. Current hate right now? See question 15.

22. Favorite place to be? Its a tie between on stage/in the theatre and in the sunshine. Get the same warm fuzzy feeling/adrenaline high from both.

23. How did you bring in the New Year? Partied at with some friends until WAY too late! (Much past midnight!)

24. Where would you like to go? 2 places 1. New York (I am SO jealous of you, Lindsay) 2. Paris

25. Name three people who will complete this? Stupid question

26. Whose answer do you want to read the most? Another stupid question.

27. What color shirt are you wearing? Blue/Teal/Green/White/Gold

28. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets? Yes, actually, I really love it!

29. Can you whistle? Yep, pretty well too.

30. Favorite color? Depends on what it is. Just not pastels. Give me rich, saturated colors!

31. Would you be a pirate? That depends... would I get to keep the booty???

32. What songs do you sing in the shower? Mostly show tunes. Drives James crazy!

33. Favorite girl’s name? Hmm, there are lots I love. I really like Kezia.

34. Favorite boy’s name? TJ! Ok, confession time. TJ's name was actually Jame's choice and it took me a VERY long time to warm up to it. (As in, the whole pregnancy and then a while longer.)

35. What’s in your pocket right now? Nothing. I hate having things in my pockets.

36. Last thing that made you laugh? One of the girls in the sewing lab who sewed her sleeve on upside down 4, yes 4, times!! Despite myself, the lab assitant and the girl next to her setting the sleeve in for her. Wow. Really, Wow.

37. Best bed sheets as a child? Don't really remember and special sheets.

38. Worst injury you’ve ever had? When I stabbed myself in the arm while working at Maple Leaf. Stupid Maple Leaf.

39. What is your favorite snack? Fruit!!!

40. Favorite thing to do on Sundays? Watch Disney movies with TJ. And of course, Sunday naps!

41. Who is your loudest friend? Jessica, both friend Jessica and sister Jessica. But I love them for it!

42. How many dogs do you have? None. I love dogs, but am anti pet. I'm a strong believer that you should have the time to dedicate to your pet and I don't, so no pets for us! That and I hate the mess that pets make.

43. Does someone have a crush on you? I think James does, but I'm not sure. ;)

45. What is your favorite book? Enchantress of Crumbledown, but as long as its an intersting read, I'll read it. I love reading! Such a nerd, I know!

46. What is your favorite candy? Mini eggs and white air heads. I should stop at the gas station next time I'm out and get some!

47. What is your favorite sports team? I'm a fan of BYU, but mostly just cause I went there. Other than that, I don't really cheer for anyone in particular.

48. What song do you want played at your funeral? I try not to think about my funeral, actually!

49. What were you doing 12 AM last night? Sewing.

50. What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up this morning? My head hurts. (Still does, actually)

Giveaway

2009-03-17T22:56:00.000-07:00

So, I finally figured out (kind of) the blog button thing. Alright, here's the deal! I'm going to be posting this on the Yummy Mummy Blog (www.iamayummymummy.blogspot.com), so please direct everyone there. I don't want everyone at my personal blog!! ;) Good Luck!

The Goodies

Our lucky winner (as chosen by random.org) will get the bag of their choice, a matching tote bag, a GoBelt and GoBelt Extender. A value of $105!

The Rules

1. The winner will be chosen by random.org
2. The winners name will be posted on the Yummy Mummy Maternity blog (www.iamayummymummy.blogspot.com) on April 13th, 2009. The winner will have one week from then to contact us! In the event the winner doesn't contact us, a new winner will be chosen.
3. You must be at least 18 years of age to enter and must be a resident of Canada or the United States.

How To Enter

1. For one entry, Post the Giveaway Button on your blog. Then, leave a comment on our blog (www.iamayummymummy.blogspot.com) under the post "Giveaway" with your blog address.

2. To get an extra entry, write a post with links to Yummy Mummy Maternity (www.yummymummymaternity.ca) and our blog (www.iamayummymummy.blogspot.com). Spread the word!!

Website!!!

2009-03-14T21:01:00.001-07:00

It's finally finished!!! I'm so stinking excited I can hardly contain myself!! Check it out and let me know what you think!! I'm going to be having a giveaway as soon as I figure out how to make a button thingy. (If you have any knowledge on this, please feel free to share it with me! In as simple of terms as possible!!) Woo Hoo!!

Movin' Right Along

2009-03-14T00:04:00.000-07:00

I should be sleeping, but sleep is not coming very easily tonight, so here I am. I don't really have too much to share really. Life around here has been pretty much consumed with moving. The past two weeks, I have done virtually nothing but unpack and attend the occasional class. Fortunately, I am nearing the end of my unpacking! Which is really good, because for some insane reason, I decided to invite 12 moms and their 25 kiddos over for a St. Patty's Day party. Call me masochistic, but I love to entertain and its been far too long since I've been able to. I'm pretty stoked. However, I may be singing a differnt tune come Monday, if I have enough energy to sing at all, that is. Oh well.

On a similar note (sorry, its late and I get very punny as the night progresses!) I finally finished unpacking my sewing room today and am now just waiting to get the shelves I bought (thank you Facebook) to put my fabric on and I'll be ready to create! I've already been feeling super inspired and have SO many projects in my head that are just waiting to come out! Stay tuned to see how they turned out. (If you care to, that is. I don't want to imply that you sit around waiting to see what crazy things I create next. Really, I'm sure there is much more going on in your life.)

My camera has been packed away (apparently, turned on, because the batteries are now dead, dead, dead!) So I have no new pics to share with you. But, since a post is really no fun without something to look at, here are a few goodies from times past. (Ok, not too far past because I've only had my own camera for a few years, but you get the idea!)

Worst Week

2009-02-26T22:13:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I don't know if any of you have watched the show "Worst Week"

picture from here

But it is pretty much one of the funniest shows I have ever seen. Its all about this extremely accident prone guy who is meeting his future inlaws, prepping for a wedding and baby all at the same time and his misadventures.

Sadly, my "Worst Week" has been nothing even close to humorous. Here is the sad sequence of events.

1. We were preparing for our big move by looking for some good deals on furniture. We were dreaming of getting TJ one of those really great car shaped beds for his birthday in April. As we were looking for couches, ect, we found one for a steal of a deal. I called and we made an appointment to look at it. It is in mint condition, so we went for it. I was so excited! The next day (last Wednesday), James went into town to pick it up. The phone rang and I heard those dreaded words, "Honey, how much do you love me?" (These are NEVER good words, EVER!)

He proceeds to tell me that as he was loading the bed in the truck, the rear window "popped" out. I asked him what he meant and he said it shattered. His story went that he was sure it would fit so he just shut the door and goodbye window!! GRRR! I ask you how did he think this...

Yep, so our great deal ended up costing us and extra $300+ to fix the window. For now, we have some plastic taped over it. My poor truck.

2. The same day as the window incident, I got our renewal notice for our car insurance. I was expecting it, so no biggie, right? Not so. About two years ago, James liscence was temporarily suspended for medical reasons for two weeks while the doc waited for some test results. The results came back fine, so the doc said they would fill out the necessary paperwork and get it sent away to reinstate James' liscence. We called to double check that it had been done a few days later and were told it had been. Well, over a year and a half later we found out the paperwork had never been recieved. This really surprised us because James had been pulled over twice in the interim and nothing had been said about him driving with a suspended liscence. We got the paperwork filled out for real this time and got his liscence re-instated a few months back. Well, our insurance company didn't like this very much. To them, it looks like James has no driving history for almost the past two years. Basically, its like we have a 16 year old boy on our insuarnce. Our rate literally TRIPLED and we haven't been with the company long enough to make monthly payments! Argh!!

3. This one is the biggie! As you may or may not know, my Dad has had an infection in his left leg for the past year. It FINALLY cleared up about two weeks ago. Three days later, his right leg started to hurt. At first, they thought it might be a blood clot. Nope. Same infection, different leg. So, he was up to the hospital once a day for an IV of antibiotics. After a week of that, there was no improvement. Last Thursday, the doc decided to admit him to the hospital so he could get the anitbiotics 3 times a day and didn't have to go through the painful trip to the hospital every 8 hours. That night, he couldn't breathe and his heart rate was not good at all. He made it through the night and they sent him for chest xrays the next day. He has REALLY bad pnemonia. His blood sugar levels hadn't been that great for the week prior to this anyway and they were getting worse on Friday. Saturday, I was at work and got a phone call from Mom saying to get there quick. His blood sugar levels had dropped below 2. Dad's normal is between 8 & 12. Average normal is between 6 & 8. Below six is really low. Below 2 is getting into coma/death territory. His was dropping and fast. It didn't seem to matter what they did, it wasn't going up. So, I drove faster than I'd driven before, crying the whole way (really safe, I know). The rest of the day did not go well, but his sugar levels slowly came up. The rest of the weekend was pretty much the same thing, including another crash on Sunday. Hes been in there since. He is doing somewhat better, but not quite out of the woods yet.

4. Sunday was my last day of teaching the primary kids music. I love those kiddos so much! I always thought people were crazy when they said they loved the people they were serving. I've always been the pianist, so I didn't really have people to love. Now I know they aren't crazy. Either that, or I'm just as crazy as them!! I was already emotional because of Dad, so I was a total mess during Primary. I cried like a little girl. It was quite embarassing. I will sure miss them and the wonderful ladies I got to serve with.

On top of all that, I've had to pack, which I HATE!!! I love unpacking and I'm super excited to have our own house, but I despise, loathe and basically just can't stand packing. Fortunately, I'm almost done and soon it will be worth it! Woo Hoo!

Hope your week was better than mine!

Pork Chops for All!

2009-02-13T20:51:00.000-08:00

As you read in my last post, we have been desperately searching for a place of our own. Good news!! We found one!! We move in March 1st, so we are busy packing and getting ready for the big day. Our new home has five bedrooms, so I have a room for all my sewing stuff and future kiddos when they come! Everything really fell into place and we couldn't be happier.

The funny thing is that we have almost nothing for our house. Don't get me wrong, we have tons of plates and small appliances and the like, but in other area's we are sadly lacking. We have a couch and our bed. Thats it. Even TJ's crib is not really ours. And as far as food goes, we just combined our food supplies with Mom and Dad when we moved in two years ago, so we have NOTHING for food. Not even the basics. So, James and I were out getting a few groceries for Mom's birthday dinner tonight and we found a really great sale on some meat. So we grabbed some pork chops, steak and chicken to keep in the freezer until we move. Because James hasn't gone back to work yet, money is pretty short, so as we were leaving Safeway, I said to James, "Happy Valentines Day! We spent our gift money on meat!"

James still hasn't got called to go back to work, so he has been putting out resumes all over the place. He had a couple of interviews this week and he thinks they went pretty well. We'll find out soon! Keep your fingers crossed for us!

TJ is getting his two year molars, so he is not the happiest of campers. He isn't sleeping very well because of it, which means James and I aren't sleeping that well either! Oh well, thats the price you pay for having little munchkins!!

Other than that, not too much is happening around here, (and I'm ok with that because I've got a lot on my plate already!).

Happy Valentines Day! Hope you get something better than pork chops!

Peeing With the Door Open

2009-02-02T22:42:00.000-08:00

Ok, so don't go thinking I'm a freak who likes to urinate in public. Its not that I want to sit on the toitie with the door open, its that I can. Mom and Dad have gone on a little vacation, so its just James and I and the boys, both of which would never notice if the door was open while someone was using the potty. And I'm loving the feeling of it being just us for a little while. I know its only temporary, but I'm still enjoying it!

And if any of you know of anyone who is looking for a revenue property, I know of several houses for sale around here that would be great and I also happen to know a very motivated renter!! ;)

Ahem...

2009-01-30T20:12:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I feel a little sheepish. Today, while trying to get my mind off being frustrated, I was checking out my regular blogs and what do I find. This. Talk about feeling like a heel. Anywho, I'm very grateful that Tina recoginizes that I'm not always as whiny as I've been the past few days!! And thanks to her! So, here it is, my first blog award. I'd like to thank the little people...

The Lemonade Award

What is this award about....

Bloggers who show great Attitude and Gratitude.

What you have to do....
Upon receiving The Lemonade Award, you also pass it on to other bloggers who you think show great Attitude and Gratitude.

Here are the rules:

1. Put the logo on your blog or post.

2. Nominate at least 10 blogs which show great Attitude and/or Gratitude!

3. Link to your nominees within your post.

4. Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog.

5. Share the love and link to this post and to the person from whom you received your award.

Here are my Blogatudious nominee's: (In no particular order)

1. Kelly

2. Lindsay

3. Whitney

4. Rebecca

5. Rhonda

6. Camille

7. Aunt Cheryl

8. Maureen (who I know never blogs, but is really very wonderful about having a great attitude in real life!!)

9. Stephanie

10. Cheryl (also nominated by Tina)

Ok, so I really good have chosen many more people, but I decided to narrow it down to those whom I call/email/facebook ect when I'm having a bad day and those whose blogs frequently cause me to giggle uncontrollably! To you, thanks! Mmm, now I want some real lemonade and I happen to have lemons in the fridge! How fortunate!

WARNING Serious Whining Ahead

2009-01-28T08:48:00.000-08:00

This is not a happy post. This is a whining/venting post. If you want a happy post, don't read this. If you don't want to listen to me whine, don't read this.

I am not a happy camper for many reasons these days. James is still home (finished his last job early) and we have NO money, talked to a mortgage broker and looks like there is no way out, found out my bank screwed up my payments to my cc so it looked like there were no payments made in a few months and my card was cancelled (so much for rebuilding my credit) TJ hasn't slept in 3 night and we have no idea why and nothing is helping, I have to work today, I want to give my notice at work b/c I know its what TJ really needs, but I'm stressing over losing our only current source of income however miniscule it is, my house is a constant disaster and it seems to be impossible to get the other grown ups who are regularly home to help me and I can't keep up with it myself, there is nowhere in Raymond to rent, the house we were going to be able to rent to own looks like its going to fall through, I've been feeling especially fat lately (and not for any good reason), I've had a wicked headache from all this wind and nothing is working out despite our best efforts. Today, life is not good.

Here We Go Again...

2009-01-20T00:19:00.000-08:00

Cue the visions on the 80s hair metal band Whitesnake. I've been singing this song all freaking day. James left last night to head back up north to work. Hes not doing the same job and his new job pays much more than the last one, so hopefully we'll get ahead a little quicker. We'll see. In the meantime, poor TJ doesn't understand why Daddy wasn't home at all today. Poor kiddo. Oh well, I just have to keep him busy and give him extra loves.

{four}

2009-01-15T06:55:00.000-08:00

Today is our fouth anniversay. To some, this may not seem like much of an accomplishment. I know most of you out there are way past us, but for James and I, its pretty huge.

I often get asked (and occasionally ask myself) why I married James. (Its not usually asked in a rude way, just a questioning way) James and I are TOTAL opposites who have almost nothing in common. Literally, nothing. We are both human, we both eat food, breathe air, ect, and we are both members. Thats pretty much where the similarities stop. And while, normally, the overused "because I love him" answer is all I offer, today's festivities lead me to expound.

Top 4 Reasons I Married James

4. He was there... Ok, I'm totally joking. That was so not it at all. Truly, one of the things I love the most about him is that he can make me laugh, even when I don't want to. He knows how to help me not stress out quite as often as I do, and I love that.

3. He is one of the best Dads I have ever seen. Of course, I didn't know this when we got married, seeing as we didn't have kids yet, but I did know he was going to be great. Hes pretty much a big kid himself, so TJ loves playing with him. And hes so protective, its kind of funny at times!

2. He has such a big heart. He hates it when others are upset or being used. Really, even if its something totally out of our control, he gets so agitated. And even though he complains occasionally, he is so good about helping out with jobs that require the strength I just don't have!! And he likes to vaccuum!! Really, who wouldn't love that!

And the #1 reason I love James is....

He lets me be me and loves me for it. I am crazy. I know it, but it is who I am. Even though we are so completely different, he loves me and lets me be interested in what I want to be interested in. He even "listens" for what I'm sure seems like hours to me drone on about some sewing or scrapbooking or business thing that I know he has absolutely no interest at all in!!

There are, of course, a million more reasons I love him, but I have things to do today and no one wants to sit and read a post that is that long, so four it is!! Here's to many more wonderful years together!!

This is pretty much the only wedding picture you will see. And its not a great one, its just one somebody got on their camera. Our wedding photographer was awful, so our pictures were crap, but what can you do!! (Ok, James says their fine, but I really don't like them, so whatever!!)

And this is the most recent one of us together. I know its a repeat, but neither of us like getting our picture taken, so its actually a very rare thing to have us in there together!!

The Best is Yet to Come! (Cheesy, I know!)

2009-01-01T10:26:00.000-08:00

A new year is here and I'm thinking I should write something profound. However, I'm drawing a blank. So, here it is, raw and uncensored, how I'm really feeling.

As you may or may not know, this year has not been the best for us Gilberts. It has been a year of unacheived goals, "unanswered" prayers, hopes being dashed, bubbles being burst... well, you get the idea. The most frustating part of the year is that most of these things have been out of our control. Being the control freak that I am, I don't like it when things are out of my control and I like it even less when they don't go the way I want and there is nothing I can do about it.

December came and things went from bad to worse. Between being sick for weeks on end, being sure we had finally found a place to live and then having that fall through and James being laid off, finding a job the same day and then getting laid off two weeks later, I had no Christmas spirit. I was downright miserable. *Note: Lest you think I'm an ungrateful wretch, I was still greatful for the blessing of the season, it just wasn't in the forefront of my mind as it should have been!* I tried repeatedly to get out of the funk I was in. Nothing worked. I constantly reminded myself that things could have been much worse. No one I loved had passed on or was deathly ill, my health issues had been more of a constant annoyance than anything major, TJ was healthy and happy, I had a wonderful husband who loved me and a close family who was always there for me. I wasn't completely homeless, I had food on the table, all my basic needs were met. But I still felt like crap. I felt like a failure. My business has not grown the way I hoped so I had to go back to work, James was, yet again, out of work and there is no hope in sight as far as moving into our own place goes. Every major thing we had set out to accomplish through the past year had not worked out, despite our best efforts. Talk about feeling discouraged!

Then, yesterday, James and I went to the temple. It was much needed because it had been a while, but I didn't really expect any answers. *Note: Again, please don't think the worst of me!! Its not because I didn't believe or anything, I've just never recieved any of those smack you in the face answers that everyone talks about.* We left later than we anticipated, so we got to the temple too late for the 10:30 session, but super early for the 11:30 session. As I was sitting in the chapel, waiting for James (who, by the way, takes a ridiculously long time to get dressed!) I grabbed the Book of Mormon in front of me. This was my usual routine while waiting, so I wasn't expecting anything out of the ordinary. I always let the book fall to where it will and then begin reading. So, it opened to Moroni 7:37-48 (its pretty long, so I'm you'll have to read it for yourself, I don't feel like typing it all out!).

Talk about perfect! It was just what I needed to end the year! So, now its 2009 and I am hoping for a better year than last. I am hoping to see success and to accomplish those goals that had to be postponed. However, I'm not going to focus on those things as much as I did last year. I have wonderful friends and family. I'm talking amazing. I have the opportunity to improve myself daily. I am mostly healthy and I can choose to be happy, even if things don't work out the way I planned. I am feeling very opitomistic about life in general, which kind of surprises me!

I wish all of you the best year so far! Happy 2009!!

Holiday Frivolity

2008-12-27T21:32:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I know haven't posted a whole lot this month, but really, you didn't want to read what I would have written. Ok, it wouldn't have been that bad, but I have been ridiculously busy, so it would have been really quick! Here, then, for your reading/viewing pleasure, is some of what I've been up to this holiday season!!

We went to the town's Old Fashioned Christmas where we....

...won stuff at the fishing pond...
...painted our faces
...decorated some cookies
...walked down the street for some hot chocolate and doughnuts...

...and saw Santa (we met up with TJ's best friend from church, Cayden)...

We had lots of fun. The only not so great part was when the balloon lady gave TJ a purple hat with a pink bow. Not so macho. Hmmm....

Later in the month, I had my staff Christmas party. Its always formal, which is super fun. I LOVE getting dressed up. While I was in Great Falls for black Friday, I found this AWESOME fabric at Joannes which I LOVE! It totally inspired me and I got it to make a gown for the party and here it is...

And these are the lovely ladies I get to work with!

We decorated a Gingerbread House. Ok, I did the icing and TJ, with minimal help from James, put on all the candy. TJ really has a mind of his own, wish there was something I could do about that....

and here is the finished product...

We went to our ward Christmas party. I didn't take any pictures while we were there, but here is TJ just as we were about to leave!

We did some baking...

some nuts and bolts (courtesy of James)

...some chocolates (waiting to be dipped)...

...some peanut brittle...

...and an army of gingerbread men (and ladies)...

We spent Christmas Eve with James' family...

We got some pjs Christmas Eve which we wore while opening presents at our place Christmas morning. James was such a sport to wear the pants I made. He really isn't much of a pj kind of guy!

TJ wore his toolbelt forever and was too busy hammering everything in site to really focus on opening presents for a while...

We went to Manda and Tem's in the evening on Christmas Day to open some more presents and play games, where TJ got his big present from Grandma and Grandpa Thornhill...

I'm not sure who was more excited, James or TJ. So fun!! And here is TJ wearing his new robe I made for him and the great slippers Cheryl made for him. So cute! I love them!

Finally...

2008-12-17T20:43:00.000-08:00

Ok, so this past month has not been the best for me. Usually, I'm super into Christmas, but this year, I just haven't really cared that much. I'm still nowhere near as excited as usual, but I am feeling more Christmas-y. We went to our ward party tonight and it helped me remember that, even if I'm not excited about the gifts ecetera I am excited to have the opportunity to reflect on the birth of our Savior. Merry Christmas everyone!

I Just Couldn't Resist...

2008-12-05T13:47:00.001-08:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

I Heart My Label Maker!

2008-12-05T10:11:00.001-08:00

If you have been anywhere near my sewing room lately (and if you have I sincerely apologize) you would have seen something like this. Ok, actually this because these are the pictures I took of it!

All of my stuff was spread throught the dining room and my sewing room and was EVERYWHERE!! I've been so sick I just haven't had the energy to do more than what I absolutely had to do, so cleaning got put on a way back burner. But, Tuesday, I decided enough is enough! With my handy dandy label maker in tow, I got to work! And now, here is my beautiful sewing room!!

All that fabric is stuff I've got projects in mind for. Not Christmas projects, just sewing-in-my-spare-time (lol) projects.

It probably won't last because I've got to get my Christmas sewing done, but oh well! Here is proof that at one time, I actually did have a clean sewing room!!

A Little Christmas Poll

2008-12-05T09:48:00.000-08:00

Kelly emailed this to me, so I thought I'd fill it out and post it here! Enjoy!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper and bags and boxes with pretty ribbons and bows. And it all matches!!

2. Real tree or Artificial? I LOVE real trees, but have an artificial one b/c I'm pretty worried about the fire hazard and I'm don't remember to water it enough!

3. When do you put up the tree? When I'm in my own place, its usually the last week or two of November, but here at Mom and Dad's its the first week or two of December.

4. When do you take the tree down? After New Years

5. Do you like eggnog? Sick and wrong. Raw eggs and milk. Do I really need to say any more?

6. Favorite gift received as a child? Hmmm, good question. I don't really know.

7. Hardest person to buy for? James. Hands down. He always wants things that are way out of our budget and nothing that is in our budget.

8. Easiest person to buy for? TJ. Super easy. A little too easy!

9. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes and I want MORE!

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail. If I remember. I haven't been very good about it the past few years. I get them done and then don't remember to mail them until after Christmas, so I just don't mail them!

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I can't think of one specific one, but I remember many years thinking that certain people really didn't know me because they kept giving me gifts I would never use. Fortunately, they've figured it out since then!

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Its a tie between the Grinch and Muppet Christmas Carol. Christmas is not complete until I watch both!

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? When I have money.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Nope

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? All of the goodies we make as a family. Theres nuts and bolts, shortbread, sugar cookies, chocolates, almond rocha, ect. ect. ect. So yummy!

16. Lights on the tree? Umm, of course. Why wouldn't there be lights on the tree!

17. Favorite Christmas song? I could not pick one. I just love Christmas music in general.

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? We "travel" all the way to my parent's or James' parent's house, whoever's turn it is to spend Christmas Day with that year.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? Of course.

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? I have an angel, but I like both (not together of course, theres only so much room on the top of a tree!)

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Both! Christmas Eve was always jammies and then the rest Christmas morningish. I say -ish because my family was and is NOT a morning family!! We weren't allowed to wake my parents up before 7:30 and then it usually took them until closer to 8 or 9 to actually get out of bed. As we got older, it got later and later that we'd start opening presents! We could open our stocking though, as soon as we got up!

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? Pushy people - we all know it's busy but there are those who forget common curtesy. I'm so with Kelly on this one. I also really hate the pressure to buy huge elaborte gifts. Christmas is not all about the gift, its about Christ!

23. Favorite ornament theme or color? My tree is Silver and Blue Snowmen ( I LOVE Snowmen), but I love all sorts of color themes. Gold and Burgandy, Red and White and Green, ect.

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? As long as there is stuffing and mashed potatoes, I don't care what the meat is.

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? A house. (Talk about out of our budget!! He he!)

Say Hello to Those You Know, and Everyone You Meet...

2008-11-30T21:43:00.000-08:00

A few weeks back, James and I were asked to speak in church this Sunday. We said yes and went on our way. When I went to write it on the calendar, I realized that I was supposed to be in Great Falls this weekend. So, last Sunday I told them I couldn't speak. The entire time during Sacrament meeting, I felt horrible. My stomach was in knots and I was just not happy. I decided I would make sure I was back in time for church so I could speak and immediately, I felt 100% better. This topic is one I feel so stongly about. As you may or may not know, the majority of my immediate family as well as many members of my extended family is not active and every single person stopped going to church because they felt unwanted or unwelcomed. So, I knew it was important to speak on this topic. Here is a copy of the talk I gave. Of course, its not word for word, but pretty close to what I said! Its kind of long, so if you don't read the whole thing, I understand!

Fellowshipping Others

The topic James and I were given to speak on is Fellowshipping. When we think of fellowshipping, we typically think of reaching out to non members and new converts. While this is important, I have chosen to speak on a type of fellowshipping that is often overlooked. I believe that far too often, we are so busy fellowshipping the new converts and non members that we forget to be there for the active members of our ward.

George Elliot, a nineteenth century English novelist, said “What do we live for, if it is not to make life less difficult to each other?”

Elder Erstus Snow, and apostle and early pioneer said: “What man, however good be his desires, can control himself and his family in their habits and manners of life and fashions, without the aid of the surrounding community? What sensible man can hold me or my brethren responsible, in all respects, either for ourselves or our households, unaided by the community, and while the community are all working against us? But when the community learn to work together, and are agreed in a common purpose, what is it that they cannot accomplish? Union is strength.”

In the First Presidency Message in the January 2000 Ensign, President Gordon B Hinckley said “We speak of the fellowship of the Saints. This is and must be a very real thing. We must never permit this spirit of brotherhood and sisterhood to weaken. We must constantly cultivate it.”

Bishop McMullin addresses us as his “ward family”. That is, in fact, what we are: a family. David Brown, a member of the Meridian 13th Ward in Idaho, said in an article for the Dec 2005 Ensign, “ Fellowship permeates from member to member no matter where we are. Why? Because we know we are literally brothers and sisters…”

We have been commanded to strengthen the bonds of our ward family. When a ward family really feels like a family, strong and united, they can offer so much more support to new and less active members. Not only that, but the active members feel more security, helping to prevent falling away.

So, the question then becomes how do we build this strong ward family. The key work is family. What attributes characterize a strong family? What things do happy families do and share? First and foremost, I think that a successful family is more than just relatives who live under the same roof. They are people who are best friends, who love and care for each other. They will be there for each other no matter what, and never judge one another. And, of course, they know how to have fun together.

These things all follow a natural progression. A friendship that is nurtured will turn into a sincere concern and love for a person. From there, trust and a sense of security are formed. And the more comfortable people are with each other, the more they can relax and have fun together.
The first step, then, is to build a friendship. As humans, we are naturally social beings. We crave friendship and interaction. While we don’t go to church solely for the social aspect, attending is much easier when we feel comfortable, accepted, and surrounded by friends.

In the same first presidency message I quoted earlier, President Hinckley said “We belong to what may be regarded as the greatest community of friends on the face of the earth…. We must be friends. We must love, honour and respect and assist one another.”

John Withrop, a puritan pilgrim, said “We must be knit together in this work as one… We must delight in each other, make others’ conditions our own, rejoice together, mourn together, labour and suffer together … as members of the same body.”

This is where things get tricky for some of us, myself included. As James will attest to, meeting new people sends me into a panic. Literally, I have heart palpitations, my hands get sweaty, the room starts to spin, I can’t breathe, well… you get the idea. However, things that are the most challenging usually end up being the most rewarding. We all have a responsibility in befriending each other. We need to not only reach out to others, but we need to be open to those who are reaching out to us.

Once we have begun a friendship, we can then work on developing a deeper, more loving friendship.

The article by David Brown, quoted earlier, also says “Christ commanded us to love one another.

Simply showing up for church at the appointed time doesn’t suffice. Love of others is not a gift bestowed upon us without effort - it is something we learn a little at a time through consecration and sacrifice. No matter what our circumstances might be, we all have an inherent duty to reach out to fellow members and include them in our circle, making each ward and branch a family. That is why we call each other brother and sisters. After all, there is no such thing as an only child in the kingdom of God.” We must learn to love one another with true charity.

1 Cor 13:4-8 "Charity sufferth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her won, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all thing, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth..."

That scripture details the many things that true charity entails. It can take a lifetime to really understand charity, but as long as we’re working on it, we’re on the right path. One of the best ways to learn to love one another is to serve each other. Service drives out selfishness.

In a the May 2003 Liahona, Susan Tanner said “Love is the foundational virtue in building a strong home.” Home can equal family. Just as in our individual families, members of our ward families go through difficult times, times that challenge our testimony. When we are surrounded by those we love, these challenges, while still difficult, somehow seem easier to handle. And, it stands to reason, the more people who care for us that we are surrounded by, the lighter our load. Love endures through all the hardships of life.
Friendship and love are the foundation of a strong family. But, just as with our individual families, our ward family needs more than a foundation.

D&C 109:8 "Organize yourselve; prepare every needful thing, and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a hourse of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a hourse of order, a house of God; That your incomings may be in the name of the Lord, that your outgoing may be in the name of the Lord, that all your salutations may be in the name of the Lord, with uplifted hands unto the Most High" This scripture lists the formula for a strong home.

The Proclamation on the Family says “Successful families are established on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgivness, respect, love, compassion, work and wholesome activities.”

To build a strong family, we need to talk to one another, show affection, encourage active participation and laugh together.

In her talk Ward and Branch Families: Part of heavenly Father’s plan for us, Sister Virginia H Pearce outlined several things a ward family should provide for its members. They are as follows:

1. A sense of belonging
It is such a blessing to be part of a worldwide community. How great to know that almost anywhere you go in the world, you can find people who you have something in common with.

2. The reassurance of listening ears.
“The surest way to increase our love for someone is to listen with patience and respect. … How can we “mourn with those that mourn” and ‘bear one another’s burdens” (Mosiah 18:8-9) if we don’t listen to know what those burdens are?”

3. Provide encouragement.
D &C 121 41-43 "No power or influence can or ought to be maintained by virture of the priesthood, only by persuasion, by long suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned; By kindness, and pure knowledge, which shall greatly enlarge the soul without hypocrisy and without guile Reproving betimes with sharpness when moved upon by the Holy Ghost; and then showing forth afterwards an increase of love toward him whom thou hast reproved lest he esteem thee to be his enemy." The scripture explains to us how to bring someone back. We can't nag or use harsh words. We need be be kind and patient and loving, while still being honest. Being kind doesn't mean we accept the behaviour that is wrong, but it does mean that we still love them.

When friends express confidnece in us, we get and extra boost and the light at the end of the tunnel seems brighter. A steady belief in ward members can often be of far more value than casseroles or loaves of bread.

4. Are a Refuge
A ward needs to be a safe haven for its members, a place where its members and those who visit feel welcome and secure.

David Brown said, “A strong ward family is easy to recognize. The members are warm and friendly, testimonies are borne with conviction, charity abounds, activities are well attended, and dedicated home teachers rarely miss a visit. The chapel is not just a place of worship; it is a safe harbour from worldly cares, a place of belonging, of friendship and compassion. It’s a place where people who are different can come together to be as one.”

A ward provides a sort of “safety net” family for each of us when our families cannot or do not provide all of the teaching and growing experiences we need to return to Heavenly Father.

FHE Resource Book says in intro, “Everyone faces challenges and choices. We … have many voices calling us away from gospel principles and the counsel of the Brethren. But when we make our homes places of safety for us (…) we can more easily grow and develop in righteousness.”

5. Provide ways for us to contribute.
Just like kids have chores at home, so do we at church.
One thing we must do is let those whom we supervise do their job. Too often, someone (like me!) can’t let go of control and must do everything themselves. In the case of a ward family, the saying “if you want something done right do it yourself” doesn’t apply. By not allowing someone to do their calling, we can make them feel useless and not needed.

6. Provide a laboratory to learn and practice the gospel.
Both our individual and ward families provide us a learning ground where we can “experiment upon the word.” We are often given callings or assignments that stretch us beyond what we would normally try. If we are a truly strong ward family, we can try these challenges without fear of failure. We will, instead, support one another as we grow together. Not only do we have the opportunity to accept callings, we also have the opportunity to put gospel principles into practice. We can teach our children to serve by serving those in our ward. We can have a family fast for a sick or inactive member or neighbour. We can step out of our comfort zone and try to say hi to someone new without passing out!!

We can’t expect to get results if we don’t put in the effort. At the end of Sister Pearce’s Article, she said the following:
“Heavenly Father expects us to participate in our wards. It is part of the plan. But, Sister Pearce, you may be saying, you have such an idealistic picture of a ward - that’s not like my ward! You mean, your ward has real people in it - ones who are sometimes selfish or self-righteous, unskilled or undependable? I’m so glad! How could it be a real laboratory for practicing gospel principles like patience, long-suffering, charity, and forgiveness if there were no people or situations that would require the use of these principles? The miracle of it all is that we are real people put into an ingenious structure, designed by God to help us become like him.”

This is a VERY achievable goal. Small things make a happy home. We don’t have to make any huge, drastic changes. Start by saying hello to everyone you see in the hall. Pick one person you don’t know well or usually talk to and make a point of talking to them in the hall. Invite your neighbour over for dinner. If you already know your neighbour, invite me over for dinner!

Reach out to everyone. You never know when your friendship will be what brings someone to church. We all need to rely on others at some point in time. Our job is to be there before we are needed, so we can be trusted when we are needed.

Whether or not our friendship is accepted is not up to us. All we can do is continue to offer love an support for everyone. Don’t be afraid of offering your friendship to someone.

D&C 6:33 “Fear not to do good, my sons, for whatsoever ye sow, that shall ye also reap.”

So Blessed

2008-11-25T21:52:00.000-08:00

Life has been crazy for the past few weeks. I don't have time to go in to all the details tonight, but I will soon, probably tomorrow night. However, here is a very brief overview of some of the highlights of the past few weeks.

1. Just after halloween, I came down with viral pnemonia. It knocked me off my feet for more than a week and after that, I could still barely get through a day. Finally, after two weeks and some serious meds, I was somewhat human again, only to be slammed by down by "one of the nastiest cases of strep throat" Dr. Smith has ever seen. Yee haw. Again, a few weeks of serious meds and accomplishing pretty much nothing, and now here I am. Still feeling not quite human, but almost there!

2. The second Sunday in November, we did a tradeshow in Calgary. Got really positive responses and 7 stores that want to carry the GoBelt! Woo Hoo! Our website will be up and running (sans pictures) by the end of the week (thanks to Keshia!!) and the pictures will be there soon! Speaking of pictures, had a photo shoot on the 14th and I'm so excited to see the product shots Rebecca came up with!

3. The 16th of November was our primary presentation. The kids did AMAZING!! They actually sang! Whoo hoo!! Such an answer to prayers! My kiddos don't usually sing all that loudly. Another prayer was answered that day too!! As you read before, I have been sick sick sick. Well, being sick and singing are two things that don't go very well together! My kids sing SO much better when I sing, so I knew I had to sing for them. I said a prayer that morning that I would be able to sing for them. Sure enough, I was able to make it through the presentation singing as good as ever. Of course, Heavenly Father has a sense of humor. During "We Thank Thee O God For A Prophet" we had the congregation sing the 2nd and 3rd verses. As soon as I turned around to lead them, no voice. Seriously, nothing at all. I just mouthed the words. By the next song, I was just fine.

4. As any of you who have known me well for a while can attest to, James has had a bit of a difficult time deciding what he wants to be when he grows up! Literally, before he went up north, he worked at well over 20 jobs in a year and a half. So, he took some time and went up north while he figured things out. Then he came home and started his plumbing job at DMT. He just handed in his apprenticeship papers last week. Woo Hoo right? Um, no. Friday morning, James goes to work, I get up, get going with my day and just before I'm about to head in to town for work, in walks James. Work was too slow and he got laid off. Talk about crappy. Seriously, flashes of the first year and a half of our marriage and the job hopping came crashing down on me. Not a happy thing. But, I held it together and said, "Well, go print off some resumes and you can drop me off at work then take some around." Not too long after that, I called James to ask him to pick me up some lunch and he told me he got a job at K & B. They're going to transfer his apprenticeship. It was the first place he took a resume. Talk about blessings.

Anywho, my quick overview has ended being not so quick. Oh well, now its done!! Off to work on my homework!!

I Jumped On A Fireman Because I'm Sexy and I Do What I Want!

2008-11-25T21:45:00.000-08:00

Pick the month you were born:

January-------I kicked
February------I loved
March--------I karate chopped
April----------I licked
May----------I jumped on
June----------I smelled
July-----------I did the Macarena With
August--------I had lunch with
September----I danced with
October-------I sang to
November-----I yelled at
December-----I ran over

Pick the day (number) you were born on:
1-------a birdbath
2----- --a monster
3-------a phone
4-------a fork
5-------a snowman
6-------a gangster
7---- ---my mobile phone
8-------my dog
9-------my best friends' boyfriend
10-------my neighbor
11-------my science teacher
12-------a banana
13-------a fireman
14-------a stuffed animal
15-------a goat
16-------a pickle
17-------your mom
18-------a spoon
19------ - a smurf
20-------a baseball bat
21-------a ninja
22-------Chuck Norris
23-------a noodle
24-------a squirrel
25-------a football player
26-------my sister
27-------my brother
28-------an iPod
29-------a surfer
30-------a homeless guy
31-------a llama

Pick the color of shirt you are wearing:

White----because I'm cool like that
Black-----because that's how I roll.
Pink-----because I'm NOT crazy.
Red------because the voices told me to.
Blue-----because I'm sexy and I do what I want.
Green----because I think I need some serious help.
Purple----because I'm AWESOME!
Gray-----because Big Bird said to and he's my leader.
Yellow---because someone offered me 1,000,000 dollars
Orange---because my family thinks I'm stupid anyway.
Brown----because I can.
Other-----because I'm a Ninja!
None------because I can't control myself!

Now make sure to leave your sentence of the day in the comment section!!ENJOY!

Giveaway

2008-11-04T08:14:00.000-08:00

Check out Stephanie's blog for this great quilt she is giving away to help Baby Mia. To read about Mia, click here. I dare you not to be touched by the story and pictures. Makes you grateful for the healthy kids we have! Make a donation! A few dollars won't make any difference in your budget, but it can make a HUGE difference in the life of this sweet little girl and her family!

Yesterday I....

2008-10-30T01:49:00.000-07:00

Took these...

to try and make these...

After 4 batches of this....I ended up with only 4 good-ish ones. So, I gave up and moved on to these...

(Chicken roll ups for make ahead meal group) and then moved on to these...

which actually turned out really yummy. (I didn't wrap mine as nicely, but they were on a nice tray!) Then I moved on to these...

Which actually looked pretty close to this pic, and tasted delish! Then moved on to these...

Which were SO yummy. Then moved on to a birtday cake for Mom's boss...
Then moved on to a cheese ball rolled in poppyseeds with legs to look like a spider and finished off with THESE!!!...

which I then put in super cute pumpkin pails with candy corn and gummy worms acting as my moss. Sorry forgot to take a picture of that, but I'm doing it again Friday, so I'll take one then!! Today, I packed up all my goodies and took them to book club, as it was my night to host! Thanks again to Cheryl for letting me "borrow" her house!! I did more, but its very late and I need to get back to my homework! What have you been up to?

Failure

2008-10-26T22:52:00.000-07:00

So, its been a while since I've posted. And my last few posts weren't really anything of note. Mostly just to say I posted. There has been a reason for that, and its one that I'm not too anxious to share. However, I'm going to bite my lip and do it. Share, I mean.

This last month has not been a good month for me. In fact, it has been one of the worst in a very long time. And it has all been due to one word.... Failure. More specifically, the fact that I am one. Or at least that is how I have felt this past month. There are oh so many reasons I have felt like this, and they all seemed to come cascading upon me at once in an overwhelming flood of nastieness. Things just were not going the way I needed them to go and I was having to change my life plan again, for about the millionth time this year, ... well, you get the idea. Not really the point of the story. So, there I was being a grump and complaining to my sis, when she gave me some smack-you-in-the face advice. She said, "Tisha, you're being dumb. You're only a failure if you give up." (Kind of ironic since I'm pretty sure I said the same thing to her a few months back!) Great advice, but I'm pretty thick. I didn't catch on right away. Actually, it took me a little while. Like, more than a week. Not too proud of that, but what the heck. Its the way it was.

Then today, I was going through my day, feeling bad for sleeping through conference, (In my defense, I have had pnemonia this past week and am just now starting to feel human again.) when my little old brain got to thinking. It was one of those spiritual 2x4 moments. You know the kind; where the Spirit smacks you in the face with a "Umm, you should know this stuff" feeling. So, there it was right in my face, saying get off your but and get busy and be happy. So, that is what I'm going to do. Get off my but, get busy and be happy. I'm not so worried about the first two, the third one might take a little more work, but it will happen!

And since I realized I haven't posted any pictures in way too long, here are some pics of the thing that makes me happiest!!

FREE PURSES!!

2008-10-06T09:04:00.000-07:00

Hey, check out this website!! On the day of their launch (Oct 15), they are giving away a free bag every hour! And their super cute bags!! They only take your first name and email, so there's no credit card or anything like that. Check it out!

100 and Counting...

2008-10-01T22:52:00.001-07:00

Ok, I'm a LONG way from 100 posts, but a few close friends are there. Check out Kelly's great 100 list and the awesome contest on Sarah's site!

When Upon Life's Billows...

2008-09-17T08:05:00.000-07:00

Ever have something you feel like you desperately need to talk about, but you are afraid people will think you're crazy. I'm there. I have been for the last several months. I think I may have to move to Cardston so I can save on gas going to the temple. I won't bore you with the details, but I apologize if I have been less than congenial recently. Please forgive me and be patient. And to those of you who would offer a to lend an ear, thank you, but its just not possible.

The song "Count Your Many Blessings" has been rolling around in my head for the past few weeks now, most specifically the following line:

"When upon life's billows you are tempest tossed, when you are discouraged thinking all is lost....."

So, I'm going to follow the instruction in the song and count my blessings, one by one. I'm not gong to list all of them here, that would take a while. But, I am going to list some. So, here goes:

1. TJ. I love being a mommy. I wish I was better at it, but I love it.
2. My family. They love and support me in all my craziness.
3. The gospel. I know the church is true and that gives me a reason to get through this.
4. My friends. I have some really great friends. Even the ones who I'm not super close with, I know if I asked them for help, they would be there.
5. Health care. This may sound silly, but being able to have TJ would have cost us WAY more somewhere with a different health care system and we would have had to wait even longer.
6. Freedom. Need I say more?

Well, there are some of the major ones. I don't feel much better, so I guess I'd better keep going. I'm off to get some paper.

Later

2008-09-07T22:30:00.000-07:00

I was going to post today because the coming week is a ridiculously busy week for me, but I'm not having a good day, so my post would be a lot of whining and bemoaning my situation (which really is not all that bad) so its going to have to wait till next week. Sorry.

Inspiration....

2008-09-02T20:15:00.001-07:00

Need a little crafty inspiration? Want to spend time getting ideas? Check out The Crafty Crow. The site itself may not be that inspiring to you, but you literally can spend hours checking out all the blog links in "The Rookery" (on the right hand side of the screen a little ways down.) Check it out. Just set an alarm so you don't get too carried away!!!