Memories...

Here is fun game... leave a comment on my blog of a memory that you and I have had together. It doesn't matter if we haven't known each other for long, just anything you remember! Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. Its actually pretty funny. If you post I'll assume you're playing and come to your blog and leave a memory!! On your mark... get set.... blog your memories!!

My Wordle!

I took some quotes from Pride and Prejudice and put them in at Wordle! It was a lot of fun and you should all go and try it!!

Ahhhh. The Smell of Cardboard in the Morning!!

I woke up this morning to the lovely aroma of cardboard wafting through my home.... YUCK! Chris is lucky his allergies prevent him from smelling it. It was a bit odd getting up and maneuvering around boxes to get to the bathroom. For a moment I forgot where I was! 

The big truck is parked in front of our house, making it difficult for all of our neighbors to get down the street in their cars... Oh well, it won't be long now! I am again sitting here in my little corner of chaos surfing the internet and listening to the bantering music of Tom and Jerry at my feet as Jilli and Mi watch the classic cartoon. It is still so entertaining after all these years!

I am amazed at all the things I have seen and read on the internet. You can find anything and everything on here! I could never be bored again! It is quite uncomfortable sitting here today though. I'm missing my comfy computer chair! Perching on a bar stool does nothing for your back and booty...

We played the Wii Fit last night as a family... even Jilli!! It was so fun! Chris is the best at it... of course and he had a Wii Fit "age" that was actually younger than his true age!! Go Chris! The rest of us had ages well over our real age. Even Jilli! It was hilarious because she came up at age 14!! We had a good laugh over that! I guess she really needs to work on her fitness!

We went out to eat at our favorite restaurant one last time... We LOVE Logan's Roadhouse and the last time we were there Miah colored one of their coloring sheets and left it to be judged in the contest... Well, he WON!! He won a free kids meal! Yay! So, this time, Jess, Jilli and Miah colored like crazy on the contest sheets in hopes that they would win another free meal coupon! Luckily, they have a Logan's near our new home! The biggest reason we love this place is the peanuts - and you can throw the shells on the FLOOR! It's a big deal to my kids cause I'm such a clean freak! The food is great too though! They serve these really yummy rolls and butter... mmmmmmmmm. Ok. It must be getting close to lunch time, I'm getting hungry! Guess I'll go find some munchies!! I may be back later... 

Moving Day!

I'm sitting here watching my movers pack up all our belongings. Man, we have a lot of stuff! It's amazing to me how many things we accumulate as we go through this world. Most of it we could live without too. I have the essentials separated out so we can tow them in a Uhaul and that is pretty much all I really care about. I guess I care about my dear Hubby and the kids too. They're the most important. Moving really opens your eyes to what is REALLY important in your life. Although I don't recommend it!
Chris is chatting with them. He always talks with everyone. Jeremiah is a lot like him - easily making friends with just about anyone. It is so nice having him here to help out! We stayed up till 3 am finishing up stuff and playing our new Wii Fit!!! Yeah! We finally got one! We've been trying since May to find one. Every time we go to Walmart or Target, Chris walks straight to the electronics desk and asks if they have one. Yesterday, we ran to Walmart to grab a few things and he walked back to the electronics desk. I left him to go find the goods... I guess he asked a woman at the counter and she told him that she didn't think so... Then he saw the guy there that he usually asks and he said that they did!! (Dumb girl was probably saving it for herself - which may be contributing to the lack of them in the area...) He texted me a few minutes later saying that he had a Wii Fit! I didn't believe him (if you know my husband, you wouldn't either!!) but he came up behind me a few minutes later with a huge grin and a Wii Fit!!!! Yay!! We didn't get a chance to try it out until about 2 am... but it is awesome and I'm so excited to have my own little personal fitness helper! My man delivers! (He told me to say that...) It is amazing to me how hard it has been to find a stinkin' Wii Fit! Why can't they just fill the stores with them? Instead, they are being sold on Ebay for twice what you can pick them up for in the store. It's not like Nintendo is seeing the profits from those sales... Pretty lame. Oh well. At least we finally got one!! yee hee!!
The movers come in tomorrow to load up the truck and then we'll be here in this empty house for a few days before we head on down to our new home. I am hopeful that we will like our new digs and that we will have good neighbors. I know the kids are excited to make some new friends and start school there. I hate leaving all my dear friends here who have helped me through so much... but I guess it's easier now that we live in a time with emails and cell phones! I may even send some snail mail out to them!! I love getting mail and sending mail is almost as fun - especially when I hand made the card!!
The kids are playing at our friends home today. They have a little kitty named Walt and Jilli calls him Wall-E (his other name). It is so cute to hear her say "Waaaaalllleeeee". She just cracks me up. Jeremiah and Jilli got to go and play at another friend's home yesterday and really enjoyed that. They are just so bored here and I won't let them touch anything.... so THANKS to those sweet friends who are willing to take my bored children in!!
I think I'm going to need a nap today. I don't think I've stayed up till 3am for about 15 years.... and it is not a very smart thing to do the night before a move starts.... wow. Bring on the caffeine!! I'll post as I can...

Link Me!!

I know a lot of  you have a link to this blog on your blogs! Yeah! I hope you know I have  a "Family" blog also and it has a lot more pictures of the fam and snippets from our daily grind... It may be a bit more interesting to most of you who are just looking for updates on our little family! If you'd like to link to that as well... the address is: www.helloluggage.blogspot.com!! Thanks!!

Getting Love in the Mail

I love to get things in the mail. I love emails full of news, wedding and birth announcements, but I especially love cards and packages!!! Today my kids came running to me with two packages from my dear sister-in-law, Angela. She had filled them to the brim with so many fun things! She put tons of travel games and books, little doodads and doomahickies that kids just LOVE, water balloons, pencils, water guns, and lots of candy!! She always sends us the most amazing stuff!! It was awesome to feel the love oozing from the packages.
My dear sister, Rebecca, sends me a card every month, no matter what is going on in her life. I always feel so loved when I go out to the mailbox and see her name in the upper left of a little envelope. She also sends us packages full of lovin' goodness on occasion. She is so crafty and usually includes a bunch of cute paper craft samples and ideas that she has tried out lately. I have used her ideas on more than one occasion and it makes me feel so much closer to her when I get little cute things from her.
I don't know if they know how much it means to get LOVE in the mail... but I'm going to make sure they know it!!

I dare you...

I dare you to go to this website and push the button... Hee heee heeeheheheheh....
I did and I couldn't stop!!!

Moving

We are moving. Moving. Moving. I don't want to move. Move. Move. It seems that there is a never-ending list of things to do to get ready to move and I just don't want to do them. I don't want to leave my friends and my home here. We have been here for three and a half years... We have made so many wonderful friends. My home is just so - with everything where I want it. I am just being a dork today and having a blah blah blah moment. I know there are many positives to our move... but it seems at the moment that there are far more negatives. Ugh. I will enjoy the clean slate that our new place will offer. I like to decorate our walls and arrange furniture and organize things... it's so fun for me. I will make new friends and keep all my old ones... but I will just miss the physical contact with my friends here - my sisters from other mothers! I will miss seeing them at church and at the store. I will miss eating out with them. I guess I could become a whole new woman there and no one would ever guess! I could talk with a british accent - just for fun! I could wear all black and sit in the corner and be mysterious or wear all pink and blow bubbles while chomping a huge wad of pink gum! Wouldn't that be fun!? Hee hee!! I know how to get around here. I will miss being able to drive somewhere without consulting a map! I have a lot of things shooting around in my brain today... I will miss stamping with my Club women and enjoying the food and company we shared. I couldn't have asked for a better group of women to hang out with! I have been soooo very blessed here. I hope that I will be blessed with good friends and fun in our new home.... Ahhhhhhhh. Moving.

Mission: Impossible....

I really enjoyed the article that I posted about below. She touched on some very valid points. I was totally unaware of the whole issue with Sister Beck's talk from last October's General Conference. I personally LOVED her talk. I thought is was great. I think that people were too easily offended by her comments about perfection. Obviously NONE of us will reach perfection in this life!!! It is "mission: IMPOSSIBLE" and we need tech support from our Savior to get through!!! 'Mothers who know', to me, means mothers who have a testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ. If you have a testimony, you want to do all of the things she spoke about to the best of your abilities!! How can you be offended when a sister stands up and gives us a standard to strive for? It made me want to be "mother who knows"! I felt bad that it had upset some women in the church enough that they got together and put their signatures to a "revised" edition of her speech. I just think that is lame... sorry if you put your name on it! But, you totally read too much into her words if you did!! Bottom line... strive to be your BEST and be a good example of a Woman of God!! Best is totally relative too. What is a Best for one is not necessarily a Best for me and I know that our Father in Heaven knows when we are giving our all. I don't do my very best every day... some days I just don't and it's all good. I try again the next day! Trying counts I think.
I am such a big fan of Sheri Dew. I have heard her speak many times and have a lot of her books. She just has an awesome way with words and she just fills them with the Spirit. I was so happy to be linked to her latest talk. I love all the things she had to say. I love that she is so encouraging and so empowering. I felt so motivated to do and be better after reading it. I hope that all of you who read it felt that way too. I think that we should always strive to be better. Who in this world doesn't need to be striving to be better!!? I know I have a long way to go... and I hear that Mission: Impossible music playing as I go.... Hee hee!

An Awesome Post for You to Read!!

I just read the  most awesome post and I just had to link you all to it!! Go here and read it!! It will take you a while, but it's sooooo worth it! Awesome! Tell me what you think!! I'm still reading it and will post later with my thoughts on the topic... hee hee!

Visited!

I was visited by my Visiting Teachers today! They stayed and chatted with me for nearly an hour. They commented on how darling my kids were and shared the monthly message with me. It was a beautiful message about our divine heritage. It is always good to hear the sweet thoughts that are a part of that little message each time. My favorite quote that she shared was from President Gordon B. Hinckley, "Our bodies are sacred. They were created in the image of God. They are marvelous, the crowning creation of Deity. No camera has ever matched the wonder of the human eye. No pump was ever built that could run so long and carry such heavy duty as the human heart. The ear and the brain constitute a miracle. . . . These, with others of our parts and organs, represent the divine, omnipotent genius of God" ("Be Ye Clean," Ensign, May 1996, 48). I love that thought!! Our bodies truly are miraculous in every way! How blessed we are.

It always amazes me how hard it is to get out and do visiting teaching each month. I have been the Visiting Teaching Coordinator for a long while now and the numbers for our ward are just so very sad each month! It reminds me of that little Primary song:

It shouldn't be hard to sit very still And think about Jesus, his cross on the hill, And all that he suffered and did for me; It shouldn't be hard to sit quietly. It shouldn't be hard, even though I am small, To think about Jesus, not hard at all.

I think of the miles He walked in the dust, And children he helped to love and to trust; It shouldn't be hard to sit tall in my seat, To listen politely, to quiet my feet. It shouldn't be hard, even though I am small, To think about Jesus, not hard at all.

Why can't we find the time in our busy lives and schedules to get out and visit with the sisters on our lists? It is not very hard and I know it is one way that we can be Christ's hands here on this earth. We must do it!! I love doing it and I haven't missed much in the 3 and a half years we have lived here. Being in a military ward, we are constantly changing the assignments... it makes it really difficult, but I have somehow found a way. I'm not the perfect Visiting Teacher... but I at least try to get in contact with my sisters each month.

I haven't been regularly visited until recently and it is amazing what regular visits can do for me! I don't have many needs. My home is well kept, my children well behaved, my health is good. I just sincerely look forward to talking! Actually having a captive audience in my home once a month is GREAT! Of course, I'm a much better listener than a talker... but it still fills my cup. I really look forward to those visits. If you haven't done your visiting teaching for July... GET OUT THERE AND DO IT!!

Lil' Miss

Don't you just wish you had this much sass!! Love her!!

10 Years Ago... a tag for you!

Ten years ago...
I was 22, newly married, newly mommied and living in Logan, Utah! I think I spent my days feeding Jess, changing Jess, feeding Jess, watching TV while feeding Jess, making food for Chris, feeding Jess... You know the drill!
Five Things on my TO DO List...
1-Make a hair appointment (still trying to decide if I want color again... or just a trim!)
2-Purchase 3 new blinds at Picerne (to replace some broken ones.)
3-Make potato salad, marinate chicken and bake cookies for tonight (having friends over!)
4-Add some more songs to my Playlist player...
5-Read an article my dad sent me entitled, "A Sense of the Sacred".
If I were a Billionaire...
Chris would leave the military. We would open up a Computer business/ Bookstore and work at it for FUN! I would buy a gorgeous eco-friendly home with CASH in Colorado! I would pay off ALL our debts and buy a Ford Mustang... and a Mini Cooper... and a Treadmill and a Wii Fit... and and and. I think I would pay off my parent's house, Chris' parent's house, my Grandma's house... I would go back to school and save money for the kids' missions and college. We would take that trip to Disney World we wanted... 6 times!! Heck, we might as well buy a condo there! We'd go to Portugal, England, Spain, France, Germany, Japan.... I hope I never become a billionaire - it's too much work thinking about how to spend it all!!!
Three bad habits I have...
I run my fingers through my hair all the time... and by doing this, I catch all the loose hairs and pull them out. I've done it since I was a kid... I try really hard not to do it now because it bothers Chris to find hair all around.
I can't ever relax if my house isn't just so. I think this is bad because of the relaxing part... not the cleaning part.
I start too many books at a time and sometimes never get around to finishing them!
Places I have lived...
Springville, Logan and Brigham City, UT
Richmond, TX (for a month)
Hepzibah, GA
Jobs I've had...
Pizza Hut cook
Copy chick (at a local copy shop)
Bookstore clerk (at a little shop in Springville)
Microchip tester
Clerk at Deseret Book
Stampin' Up! Demonstrator
Things Most People Don't Know about Me...
I am terrified of heights and falling and spiders. My dream job would be to be a Librarian. I know... but I LOVE organizing things and reading and the smell of books and the quiet... Ahhhhh! I have never been outside the United States. Ever. Not even Mexico or Canada. I don't like water unless it's 5 feet deep or less... I never take baths. Who wants to sit there in hot water and look at their own body! Ugh! Showers only for me! I love exclamation points!! And ellipsis... I collect lip-gloss and pens. I love frogs. I owned one once and his name was Denzel. He was so cute! Except for the part where I had to feed him LIVE crickets!

OK... so now I've done it! Let's see all of you do it too!!! Can't wait to read yours!

Keeping It Real!

I was tagged by Nicole ( http://sohfam.wordpress.com/ )to do this great little post! There was no cleaning in the taking of these pictures... No cheating here! I woke up early this morning (6:45!) to the dulcet tunes of the 82nd Choir being blasted over the loudspeakers.... grrrrr. Since I was up, I decided to do this post... Enjoy!

My Fridge

My Sink

A toilet

My bed... It's habit for me to make it right when I get up...

I tag... Monica, Daisy and Sugar!!!

Keeping It Real... continued!

Place I would like to go on Vacation.... Anyplace with Mountains!! (I think this is in Canada...)

What my kids are doing.... ahhhhh! Peaceful!

Self Portrait

Favorite Pair(s) of Shoes

My Closet... I love my big blue stability ball... but I hate that the kids play with it...
Yes.... I have lots of clothes!

Check This Out!!

My sister- in- law sent me a link to check out this great new airline!!!
Tell me what you think!! Hee hee!

Delicious Cleaning!

I don't want to sound like a cleaning commercial... but these cleaners are AMAZING!! Not only do they clean remarkably well, they smell fabulous!! My kitchen and bathrooms don't smell toxic! Yay! I ran out of toilet cleaner last week and my friend had given me some Mrs. Meyer's counter spray in Geranium scent, so I went out looking for some good smelling cleaners. I found some!!! I am a clean freak, as most of you know, and it is so nice to be able to have delicious smelling cleaners to do my daily routine with! They are also environmentally safe so I can help save our planet! Yay! They are a little more expensive, but just the aromas make it all worth it! You can buy all the Mrs. Meyer's cleaners (I like all the scents... but geranium is my fave!!) at her website: www.mrsmeyers.com and the Method cleaners (which smell like mint and eucalyptus!!!) are at Target I believe! Use up all your toxic, ucky cleaners and replace them with these yummy ones!!

My First Polish Pottery!!

My friend T has introduced me to the wonders of Polish Pottery!! It is so beautiful and useful! She has bought lots of it in Europe and her pattern of choice is a pretty daisy. I love the stars! If I were to pick a pattern it would have to involve stars. Well, T brought me this darling little salt and pepper set in a star pattern. I was just in awe!!! I love it!!! Thanks so much T!! LOVE them!!

May I?!

May is such a fun month! Spring still lingers a bit and summer hasn't come yet so the weather is lovely. I was outside today with Jillian and the sun felt sooooo good. I can't say that I like the warmth of the sun very often; I'm always hot, but it felt so nice today. I just finished posting a billion and one pictures over on my family blog... but I wanted to post a few of my favorites here. It has been a long month and especially the past few weeks! With my grandfather's passing, my trip home, Chris getting in a car accident, the move coming up... I feel that I've been twirled around and around and around and then shoved out into traffic and told to make my way safely across the street!!! It's a bit like the commercial that says, "Life comes at you fast...". Too fast sometimes!!
We went to pick up a rental van a few days ago and it has been so very nice to have 2 cars!! I feel free again! The rental is a Chevy Uplander and I really don't like it. For one thing, it stinks. Literally. I hate that smoked-in smell. Secondly, it just isn't my Toyota. I believe I have turned into a Toyota snob. I love my Sienna. Toyota knew what they were doing when they made that van! It has a place for EVERYTHING and it is comfortable and smooth... I just love it. I've been totally spoiled for anything else. It's been the best car we've ever bought.
Back to the pictures I posted... the first one just makes me laugh everytime I look at it! Jeremiah had the hat and scarf in his backpack through all the winter months. He took them out the other night and Jillian grabbed them up and wore them around the house all evening with her little flip flops clicking on the floor as she went. It was adorable. She never fails to make us laugh each and every day!
The second picture is of me and my brothers and sisters. The back row is me, Ben, Emily, Amy, and Rebecca. On the floor is Jake, Sarah and Sam. (James is missing from the photo because he's serving his mission in Mexico and loving every minute of it!) I love this picture because it felt like it had been so long since we took one and because we all look pretty darn good! I have such beautiful sisters and handsome brothers. Both Amy and Rebecca are expecting babies this summer. Boys! We have a lot of boys in our family. I have 2 of the 4 girls and Ben has the other 2. The rest (8?) are boysies. Lots of fun.
The third picture is of my grandfather's casket draped with an American flag. This photo is so meaningful to me. I love that I am a member of a church that teaches such beautiful things about life after death. I know that I will see my grandfather again. I know that he is in a beautiful and happy place with those ancestors who have gone before him. I know that he will be there to greet me when I eventually leave this earth. His funeral wasn't a sad occasion for me. I was initially upset at the news that he had gone, but then I was filled with so much peace knowing the truths of the gospel and the plan that Christ has given us. We will sure miss his sweet smiling face at all our family reunions. We'll miss having him pull up in a new car anxious for a bathroom break and some of Mom's fresh baked cookies! We'll miss his intelligent conversation and his great advice. His physical presence in our lives will be missed but his spiritual presence will never leave us. It was a sweet and special weekend for me to be able to share memories and remembrances of him with all my family. I will treasure those memories for always.
The last picture is of me and my brother, Ben. Ben always makes me laugh. He always has. I thought I was going to pee my pants at least twice as I would break into fits of laughter over something he said or did. We sat and played a dice game on Saturday night and he had us all laughing so hard. I don't even remember what got us going, but I know my stomach muscles were sooooo sore the next day! It seems that every time we get together as a family, laughter just pores out of all of us! All my brothers make me laugh. They just have a way about them. I love them all. It was definitely Joy and Rejoicing all around as we spent some time together. My grandfather always used to say that. Joy and rejoicing. As he would look around at his posterity, he would say it. He had a great posterity. He and my grandmother had 12 children who, in turn, had large families and it has just grown and grown. One of my cousin's brought her new little baby to the funeral and I think he made the 40th great grandchild. Pretty amazing.
Sorry if this post has dragged on or been a bit random... I think my thoughts are always a little crazy in the early evening. The genius doesn't come out till well past midnight... hee hee. Till then...

Monson's Wiggle!

Ok. I spent hours this morning trying to figure out how to get the little YouTube player thingy to come to my blog... but I failed. I even had my super savvy computer tech hubby try... but still no luck! So here is a LINK to the YouTube video I wanted to post...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTmft6wkNa4
It is the most adorable thing!!! You must watch it and tell me what you think!! Chris can do it! His just aren't as big as President Monson's... Hee hee! Ok, if you're not curious by now, you're crazy!!