My Journal

I was printing out the pages of my "journal" tonight and I thought I would share what I have done to make journaling easier for me!! I write an email to my husband every night - no matter what; even if I only write a couple of sentences, I always write. He loves getting them and it keeps him up to date on what is happening with us. Sometimes I include pictures, but they are mostly just a run down of what we did that day, what I was able to accomplish or cute things the kids have done or said. Well, before I send the email off, I copy it to a word document and occasionally (like tonight) I print off all of my entries and take them upstairs to my three ring binder/ journal and there I go!!! Killing two birds with one stone has never felt so good!!
It is really fun to read back through all the entries. Who doesn't like looking back at stuff you've written!? I started a journal when I was 8 years old and it has been a sporadic life goal of mine to be consistent with my journaling. I have never been consistent. I do a little here and there, but it is sooooo much fun to read what I wrote at age 8 or at age 14. I wish that I would have written MORE!! Since I became a mother (ten years ago!!! WOW!) I have been a little better at writing in my journal; at least yearly! This is, by far, my most steady progression to journaling greatness. I have written every day since the 29th of December, 2006. Wow. I would encourage you all to write, or at least collect your writings, and print them out and keep them for your future enjoyment! It's great entertainment for cold February nights!

Look what I found!!

So, I was lazily cruising through my favorite blogs this afternoon.... Jilli put herself down for a nap and I'm between laundry loads... and I found THE most adorable blog. You must take a peek! I don't know that I'll ever actually make any of her delicious delights, (NOT figure friendly!!) but WOW!! Can you just say YUMMY!?! Check it out here: http://bakerella.blogspot.com/ I was definitely drooling!! Good thing pictures are fat free!! Hee hee!!

Saturday

I like Saturday. It is a great day. I always seem to get a lot accomplished on Saturday. Today was no exception. I was able to get the entire house cleaned and organize Jess' room! Hooray! I love sitting in a quiet, clean house. It makes me feel so peaceful.
I'm burning a sweet little candle right now that is filling my kitchen with the greatest aroma - Lavender and Lemons! It smells clean and fresh. Very nice. I love Yankee candles. They have some of the sweetest scents. (Plus we can get them cheaper at the PX! Love that!)
I have been reading some blogs and emails while I've been sitting here in my peaceful kitchen. I must say that my friends have the most beautiful babies!!! Gorgeous! Babies are such fun! I'd have another, if I didn't have to go through the pregnancy and delivery!!! Ugh! I read a blog today from the funniest woman! She shared some great stories and then down a little further, she was talking about inner beauty. I loved what she had to say! She quoted some prophets and made a really good point - “You must do everything you can to make your appearance pleasing, but the minute you walk out the door, forget yourself and start concentrating on others.” She said that her mother had taught her that. I just loved that saying!!! You've really got to read the whole post on her blog... http://accordingtolei.blogspot.com/ It is down a ways, under "On Inner Beauty". Seriously, check it out. Good stuff.
So, one of my long time friends and customers has dropped out of my stamp club! She has a lot going on in her life right at the moment and she felt she needed to let some things go. I really admire her for being able to do that! Sometimes it is so hard for us to let things go! She was so worried that I would be upset with her... uh NO!... for wanting to drop out, but I told her not to worry! I love selling Stampin' Up! but it is really just a way to support my own personal stamping habit... I just feel so honored that there are people that like it as much as I do and actually want to come out and participate with me once a month! It is such a bonus to have women come out and play with me!!! I am just really not a salesperson... I show them the stuff and if they want it GREAT and if they don't GREAT! No worries! It works for me and keeps me happy. Isn't that what life is all about?? Finding happiness!?!
My children made me quite happy tonight. We went out bowling together with some of our friends. They were so well behaved! We waited for our food from the snack bar for over an hour!! Then we had to wait for our lanes... They were just so good! My friend told me several times how impressed she was by them. It made me all warm and fuzzy inside. I love my kids. They also bowl amazingly. Very fun to watch!
I am sorry that this post seems to be somewhat of a ramble through my current thoughts.... I shall try harder next time to keep them more organized! Hee hee.

Visual

I guess I am a very visual person. I have always been like this. In school, if I had seen something, I could picture it in my mind with near perfect recall. I guess you could call it a bit of photographic memory... although it has not stuck with me much. I think it requires some regular usage to stay active... but I am going to attempt to leave a post in my blog that does not have any pictures!!!
I was reading a couple of blogs today that didn't have any pictures and they had such wonderful thoughts that came flowing out into their cyber journals. I wanted this to happen on mine. Now that I want it to happen. It won't.
Back to the photographic memory thing. The more I think about it, I think that I do use that little talent of mine quite a bit as a mother. For instance, when the kids say, "Mom, have you seen the little gray truck with the big black tires that I got from Burger King?" or " Mom, I can't find the shirt to my Polly Pocket doll." I can always say, "It is in your room, under the purple purse in the bottom of your toy drawer." or "Under the third pillow on the couch." This has got to mean that at some point I saw the object in question in precisely that location and can recall it from my memory when asked. What a great talent. See! I do have some talents that don't involve any sort of creativity! Yay!
I was telling the kids the other day that I was a Nerd. Yep. Full-blown, glasses and braces, straight A's, preppy clothes, Nerd. They didn't believe me. Guess it's time to pull out the old photo albums and give them a lovely picture of me to keep in their not so photographic memories! I guess that it's not a trait that one can pass on to their posterity. Darn it. OR maybe it's something that they get when they become parents. Guess I'll wait and see!

My Hair!!

Today has been the best day!! I finally went and got my hair done! It was long overdue. (As you can see from the before photo!!) The last time I had anything done was in July on my visit to Utah with my personal stylist... Miss Emily - LOVE HER!!
I have been asking around and trying to find a great hair place for a month or so. I got the name of a great little salon on Raeford from one of my good friends. She takes all her teenage daughters there and they just love her. The friend who gave me the referral watched my children so I could go and be pampered. She is such an angel! My children are so happy in her home and I know they are well taken care of! I had the stylist go really dark... because I don't want it to fade out as much as it did before. I like my hair more brown than red. It was so nice to go in and talk with an adult, get my head massaged and my self esteem boosted! Who doesn't come out of a salon feeling like a million bucks!!?? I also had my eyebrows waxed... wooo! Isn't it great being a woman? I am just on cloud 9 today... So if you need a hair boost and live by me... call Cynthia at Kim's Hair and Nails on Raeford. AWESOME!

Before

After

We had the best time tonight at our Ward party!! Our Activities committee is awesome!! They had planned a little "drive-in" movie night for us and it was a blast! The kids were all encouraged to make cars from cardboard boxes and my kids really enjoyed making their cars! I let them decide colors and themes... I just helped with the logos (love Google!!). Miah's is a Mustang - with racing stripes (very important!). Jessica's is a VW bug (minus the curvy aspects...) and Jillian's was Dora themed (her favorite!) They served grilled hot dogs and popcorn and handed out tickets to kids who were caught behaving during the show! Afterwards, they got to turn in their tickets for a full sized candy bar!!! My kids are great anyways... but they were extra motivated to be their best. The show was "Snow Buddies" and was a very cute doggie movie that I believe just came out this week, so none of us had seen it! It was perfect. The best part was that each family was encouraged to bring canned food in as their admission price!! The local food bank will love that! I think we have the best Activities committee in the church!! Way to go guys!!

Playing at the playground!

We had so much fun this afternoon playing at the playground! It was very warm and felt like spring - perfect weather! We were waiting for Jessi to come out of her tutoring and what better way to pass the time with a two year old than to hit a nearby playground!?! Jilli is a monkey! Literally!! She climbed everything with NO FEAR!! My friend tells me it is because she is the third child... but it scared me to death!! I was getting all sweaty and anxious just watching her go! It was a nice break for all of us. Jeremiah loved the attention and got to show me all the neat tricks he's been working on at recesses for weeks. I love watching my kids enjoying themselves. I need to let them be kids more often... play away!!

Check out my lovely home!

Here are some pictures of my lovely home. I wrote a whole bunch about them below, in the actual post, but I couldn't get it to put in more than 5 pictures, so here are the rest! Enjoy!

My Decorating Prowess

I would not call my self a "decorator" per say... but I REALLY enjoy making my house feel homey! If that makes me a decorator... than I am! I love stars and I love sunflowers. They are both really happy things. I am a persistent pessimist and I MUST surround myself with happy things to keep my balance. I was talking to my inspiration today (no, dear, not you! Although you do inspire me!). My dear sister, Rebecca, inspires me! She sent me a package today for my birthday full of the most adorable things! You wouldn't believe it! (Or maybe you would if you know her!) Her home is the most picture perfect place. She knows just where to put things and keeps her decor simple and sweet. Her color scheme is perfect... I could go on and on! I'd like to just move right in! It would be nice to have an actual "home" to live in and decorate... but I do love absolutely everything about my home! I think it all meshes well together and I wouldn't give up a single piece of our old, worn, handed down furniture!! It's all full of memories, history and stories! I personally care a great deal for the couch that my parents gave us! I have pictures of me on that couch when I was a tiny infant. It has been with me my whole life. I know Chris would like to chuck it out the door - mostly because he is really good at stubbing his toes on it - but I won't let him! It is just AWESOME! Now, don't get me wrong... I would love some new furniture... (and I absolutely LOVE the new bed Chris gave me for Christmas!!) but I think that couch will have to stay with us for as long as it will. Hopefully forever. Ok. I guess I should have called this post "Ode to a Couch". It is getting late... I can only get this dumb thing to post 5 pictures... I'm so not good at this. The first one is of my lovely couch! Then I took some pictures of my favorite walls. I took some of my sunflower stuff, but I will have to post them later... maybe below or above this post - however it works. Then I took some pictures of what Rebecca sent me... the CUTEST little "LOVE" board and the most adorable clip board/ memo station... She ROCKS!!! She also sent me some chocolate which I was indeed "dying" for this afternoon! Perfect timing Beck! I was busy all day organizing stuff. I got a little bee in my bonnet and had to get rid of some stuff and make everything fit in totes... I still have a lot to go through tomorrow. It is so fun for me though! I just wish it wasn't so time consuming! It seems that my whole day (meaning the time that my older two are at school) is gone before I even finish the game closet and the linen closet!!! ARGH! No worries. I did take a break at 1:00 today to catch the LDS church news conference where they announced that Thomas S. Monson is our new prophet! He will have Elders Eyring and Uchtdorf for his counselors and they are going to be a fantastic first presidency! Change is exciting. As much as we will miss our dear President Hinckley, we look forward to the things that are ahead. The gospel is a glorious thing! Well, I must go prep for bed... my prince will be calling soon! Ta for now!

New Year - New Me!

Well, I guess it's about time for me to sit and post again! I have a little more motivation now that I gave my address out to a woman who blogs quite seriously... I can't be such a slacker now! She's going to check up on me (I just know it!) Well, it is 2008. I don't know where the years go! It seems like only yesterday, I was going to college at UVSC and enjoying my Institute activities, driving my little blue truck around and wishing I could find that perfect guy! Fly forward 12 years and here I am: married to the perfect guy, living in the East, chasing 3 kids around each day, worried about the Visiting Teaching numbers in our ward, and driving a VAN! Yeah. Never thought I'd do that! I am looking more and more like my old College self though! I've dropped a good 40 lbs and it feels fantastic to look in the mirror and finally recognize the woman that stares back at me! It's like the line from Hook - "OH! There you are...!!!" So. Here I am! My goals for this new year are... 1. Read the Book of Mormon cover to cover (shouldn't be too hard since that is our course of study for Gospel Doctrine this year!)
2. Exercise regularly! (I always said that I HATED exercise, but since I've seen some great results... it's changed my opinion on exercise! I LOVE IT!! I love to exercise! I love to sweat!!! Yeah, call me crazy. You wouldn't be the first!)
3. Continue my efforts at going through everything we own and purging or organizing it all! (This is my idea of fun! I know. You can call me crazy again.)
4. Grow my hair out! (I had to add an obscenely easy one in here... It will definitely happen and I can feel good about my goals at the end of the year!)
5. Get our little family out on a Family Vacation!! (We'd like to hit Disney World when Chris gets home! I would also LOVE to take the kiddo's to DC this summer too! - before we leave the East coast and go WHO KNOWS WHERE!!)
Ok. Five goals will have to do for now. I must go and pick up Jess from her tutoring session! At least I posted for today!! Yay!

Christmas Day!

Me! Christmas Eve - 2007
Sweet Kids! Christmas Eve - 2007
Cute project we made at Stamp Club in December!

Well, I know it's been ages... but I feel like posting! I have been so busy throughout December and it has made the time fly. We have had an amazing Christmas, even though Chris was not home with us! He was definitely missed. We were able to use the webcam with him this morning while we opened presents. It almost felt like he was here! We were all spoiled rotten and got so many things that we now need a bigger house... hee hee! I feel like we are SOOOO blessed! We were able to spend our day with dear friends and enjoy great food. I'm truly thankful this night that we were able to enjoy their company. They are our family away from our family and I'm so glad we have such great friends here. They are one in a million! I am so sleepy but I wanted to post and make it a HABIT to stay up to date here... I will try to be more vigilant!

Latest Cards I Made

I made these cards for my last Stampin' Up! party! I thought they turned out really cute! I used the new Purely Pomegranate ink for the flower above and I LOVE that color! Sooooo pretty! I used the Pick A Petal stamp set from the new catalog and the new Designer series paper! So much fun! The card below, I used the Vases In Vogue hostess set and I colored the flowers with the Pastels - very easy to use! I had been nervous to open them thinking they would be hard to use... hee hee! I'm getting excited to start up my Stamp Club! I have a fabulous group of women and I am really excited to be able to get out of the house and STAMP!! What more could I want!!?? Well, the kids are tearing up the house... gotta run!

Blanket Talk

Yeah, she's a blankie baby! She loves this blanket that my husband's sister made her when she was born. It's a beautiful quilt top on a fleece bottom and she just loves it. She sleeps with it and chews on it and it brings her such comfort! I was trying to think of the things that bring me comfort - which I am in sore need of today... It's been one of those days! I got to talk to my sweetie in Afghanistan today over our webcams!!! It was so fabulous to see him again - he looked great! All the kids just went nuts seeing him even though it was the slowest, most choppy connection... it was a connection! We have been waiting so long - nearly a month - to be able to see him on our computer and it was today! It makes me miss him so much! He's such a great daddie and it's so nice to have him home to take care of all of us! He does so much for us! Being able to see him really brought me a feeling of comfort. I think I can make it through for a little longer... or 9 months longer... I also take comfort in my friendships! I've made so many friends through our experiences with the Army. Friends that I hope to keep in touch with forever! I went to lunch today with a great friend and it was so nice to be able to talk with her amidst all the chaos that our children distributed... I love being able to talk about life with women who know what I'm going through. That brings me comfort. Well, I'm thinking I could go on a lot longer about this topic... but dinner is smelling done in the oven!! I'll have to continue later... Enjoy the lovely pictures of my little blankie baby!

Home at last!

So, I'm home at last! Heat, humidity and happiness. It is soooooooo hot. Hotter than it's been in years and years, says the weatherman. My air conditioner is groaning in the backyard. I pray it doesn't give out just yet!
I've been such a busy bee! I've organized all my kids drawers and their closet, gone through toys, clothes and shoes. It is that time of year. Getting ready for school always brings out the trash bags and grown out of/grow into bins. I shopped like a maniac in Utah and now the kids will be wearing new shirts, pants and shoes (for a week or so!) to school. I still haven't tackled the school supplies - saving the best for last! There is just something about freshly sharpened pencils and unopened boxes of crayons. I love the smell of paper, ahhhhhhh, new and fresh and ready for the math problems and spelling words! Yeah, I know I'm a little crazy! If they could only make a men's cologne... eau de papere! Hee hee! Glue sticks, erasers and shiny, sharp scissors.... Love this time of year!
I was just roughly called from my musings here at my desk to answer the front door. A new neighbor! Yippee. She has 4 children and they moved from Missouri, (originally from Tennessee). Quite a friendly lady. Member of the church. Nice. I felt a little awkward answering in my jeans and t-shirt with no make-up and fly away hair... but hey. What is the gospel about if it's not about loving people no matter what they look like??? She had been waiting to meet me... don't know what people have been telling her but I hope it was all good! We'll talk more, I'm sure. Her hubby is in the Q course and they'll be headed to Washington... Oh the West! How I miss it!
Well, my delicious dinner is calling. Yeah, I made a zucchini casserole (thanks Beck!). Sooooo good. I'll eat some for you!

Enjoying!

Me and my cousin at a family reunion.

She didn't want to get off!!! Ever!

and Places...

Jumpin out!
Her fave seat!

Motley bunch... camping above Marysvale

So excited to be outside!

Faces...

My new hairdo!

Cousins!

Cookie face!
Pretty Pretty Girl!