I thought I deleted this, but I just found it!

On this day, a mere 48 hours prior to the new year, I have been assessing my life and finding ways I can hope to make ME perfect in the upcoming new year. I have goals and ideas and buckets of things I want to change to make me a better mom, wife, friend and person (in geneneral).

As I reflected on my New Year's Resolutions from last year, I have come to the sad realization that I am pretty much the same person I was 367 days ago. Not that that's an entirely bad thing, just that I guess I need to focus and REMEMBER the resolutions I make throughout the entire year, not just during the first week.

So, here's to one of my Resolutions...becoming a blogger again (at least a bit more consistant that the 2 whole times I posted this last year!), as well as all the rest!

Happy New Year! Enjoy 2012!

Sleep

I should sleep. I'm tired. It's late. The day is over. It's almost tomorrow. My eyes are drooping. I'll be tired in the morning if I don't. Everyone else is sleeping.

Everyone else is sleeping.

This phrase means I do not have any obligation to anyone. It means I can sit and do nothing. I can watch T.V., or read, or eat, or compute, or anything, or nothing.

Because I don't have to get someone a glass of water. I don't have to change a stinky diaper. I don't have to wash some one's hands. I don't have to wipe a face, grab a jacket, tie a shoe, or pull up any pants. I don't need to drive anyone anywhere, or go pick anyone up. I don't have to cook any breakfast, lunch, or dinner, and I don't have to get any snacks out. I don't need to clean up any toys, or make any beds. I don't have to get any cups of water or clean any spills.

I can just sit. Relax. Rest. Type. I could also sleep.

Requested

I am pleased to say I have had a personal request to continue my blog. My class is over, so I am technically not required to write anymore...however, the suggestion to continue, due to the fact that the words transcribed from my brain to the computer, are not only informative and a way to "stay in touch"-given the distance in which we live from anyone with a similar genetic code, I have been told my words tend to be on the humorous side.

This is good. This is a point I try to make when I write, read, and re-read my blog, before I post. If I can make myself crack a smile, then perhaps another, somewhere far away, might have the same effect happening on their facial features as well.

My requester didn't actually physically tell me the words, "Why did you stop writing on your blog?" but the message was relayed to me by an excellent source. That source also suggested to me that my requester wanted me to continue...indefinitely.

Given the fact that I not only think rather favorably of this person who has asked me to persist in my endeavour, I also think maintaining this blog will be a way for my requester to get to know me a little better. After all, it's not like I run into a major fan every day! With a look into the life of me (and the family that accompanies me), one could almost feel a part of our small group.

I think I will use this blog as an outreach program, stretching out beyond the borders of my little (Big) island. Giving anyone (specifically, my admirer) the opportunity to follow our lives. I'm delighted and thankful for the time and effort it took, out of an unquestionably busy day, that my requester not only hinted towards the continuance of this blog, but that this blog will also continue to get the honor of being persistently read by this person.

Thanks Dad.

:-)

P.S. This picture looks funny because I had to cut a certain someone's body out of the space (hmmhmm...Jessie)

Once There Was a Snowman, Snowman, Snowman...

We had a little storm last week, I guess it was big enough to get Brad out of work (if the wind blows enough, they shut everything down here). Appearently, a mini tropical storm-type thing will do the trick. The pleasures that come with a small storm are imense; work shuts down early, we get rain storms (my friend even got her slip and slide out because it works even better in the rain!), a bit of lightening (don"t worry, it was far away from the slip and slide!), and snow!

We decided to make the journey up our mountain after church on Sunday. To get ready for church was quite an accomplishment! We left the house with church bags and books, lunch bags, changes of clothes, about 10 pairs of jammies per child (the only warm clothing they own besides jeans, which were in the bag too), socks and lots of baggies and rubberbands (this was for my mitten invention-socks on hands with baggies on top with a rubberband holding it all together. Baggies shoved in your pants too...worked great!), along with 3 boogie boards. Neadless to say, we had a full carload.

When we got pretty close to the top, we pulled over for a minute and Kaili was so excited, she left her shoes behind, in the toasty car! She is definitely a warm blooded child!

Work at it!

I loved some of the quotes by Elder Oaks in this week’s lesson! He talks about helping a marriage last and avoiding long lasting arguments. His advice is great for any couple at any point in their relationship!

He said: “Don’t treasure up wrongs, reprocessing them again and again. In a marriage relationship, festering is destructive; forgiving is divine. Please for the guidance of the Spirit of the Lord to forgive wrongs, to overcome faults, and to strengthen relationships.”

He also said, “The best way to avoid divorce from an unfaithful, abusive, or unsupportive spouse is to avoid marriage to such a person.”

Most would say, “Uh, duh! But obviously, 50% of the population didn’t take this advice!

This quote was also a great one! ”We should realize that a good marriage does not require a perfect man or a perfect woman. It only requires a man and a woman committed to strive together toward perfection.”

I am so pleased to know that I should not be expected to be perfect. This is good, because there is about 4 loads of laundry in my bedroom that has been there for the last week. I know a perfect person would have had it folded before bringing into the room, but since I don't need to be that perfect person, racing scooters with the kids again this afternoon is A-okay with me!

One pie, Two pies, Three pies, Four...

Ah ha! I found it! Without a link to My Blog page...I still found it! I'm so pleased with myself :-)

I am Internet-less, at the moment. When you move, you are supposed to switch over your Internet, which takes about 5 minutes. But if the cable connection is turned off, you have to start over from the beginning. This process takes about 3 months. Actually, I'm not even sure about that time frame, because when I called to make the appointment for Roadrunner to come back out and hook it up again, they didn't even give me a date, they said, "We'll look at our schedule, and when something opens up, we'll call you." Can you believe that! I might be moved out by the time I get my Internet line hooked up again.

Needless to say, we don't have the Internet. "How," might you ask, "Am I able to do my INTERNET class?" Well, not very easily...right now, I am borrowing Joanna's computer, and between this and my iPad, which is wonderful, but oh so limited, I have gotten through, kind of. I think about half of my assignments over the past few weeks have not been turned in. Can we blame that on the holidays, or kids, or computers, or just life in general...I think those are all really good excuses!

Well, our Thanksgiving was great! I made about 10 pies (the question is NOT, "what did you make?" The question is,"What did I NOT make!") I did not make a peach pie. :-)

I also make rolls. My Grandma's recipe-yum! I ended up making 5 batches, so we still have bread coming out of our ears, but it's so good! As I was kneading, I noticed I got some dough in my ring (the ring was actually Grandma's wedding ring, I asked for it when she passed away). I thought about all the times Grandma must have made bread, nearly every day when she was younger. I thought she must have gotten dough stuck in her ring when she wore it too. It was nice to remember her. She always made the most delicious Thanksgiving dinners!

Kaili also stepped on another bee last week, apparently, she is not allergic, which is nice. Auntie Amy put some baking soda on the sting and it made it all better, literally! Kaili was riding the scooter about 2 minutes after she was stung. It must be like peeing on a jellyfish sting...the chemical reaction does the trick! I will have to put that in the back of my brain for future emergencies.

This week for school, we had to interview 2 people about the stages of life they were currently in. I asked my mom and my Grandma Donna. I asked them what was hard about now, what was great about now and what was their favorite part of life? I wanted to post what my mom said, because it made me a little teary and I think it's worth remembering. She said:

"I loved all the stages. I know you'll think that is trite. But it's true. I loved nursing in the night and holding the little tiny baby fingers and touching their face that was so soft. I loved tickling little girls and having Christmas ready on Christmas morning. I loved seeing the first steps and seeing the first drawings and hearing the first words. I loved singing with you in the kitchen when you were about 4 years old and singing 'The Lord Needs Valiant Servants' and dancing as we sang. I loved going skiing as a family at Lake Tahoe and riding bikes at Sun River and going to Rockaway and doing an Easter egg hunt at the beach. I love all my girls right now. I love sitting in the kitchen and talking our heads off with Dad in the other room going crazy with all that girl noise! I love going shopping like to Black Friday this week. I love talking on the phone and hearing all about your family and you and the things you love, like reading. I love exercising with Janelle and getting hugs. I love picking up my grand kids and getting big sloppy kisses. I love taking German with Janae and getting to try out our latest phrases. I love getting some 'sons' finally as you guys get married. I just love being a mom. I really do.

Love, Mom"

Awww, Mom, Love you too!

P.S. My pants are getting too tight, I need to stop eating pie for breakfast, and lunch, and dinner, and dessert, and midnight snack...Hmmm, but really, there couldn't be a worse time to try to diet, or at least eat resonably... I guess I'll wait for the new years resolutions to take place, just like the rest of the world :-)

Many Exciting Things, well, you know...

Aah-ha! We had our Halloween! It was fun. Brad and I dressed up as Jack and Jill. The picture is not that great, but at least you can see the shirts, black eyes, broken crown and general cute-ness of the ensemble.

The kids costumes turned out awesome! Tyler was a regular old Darth Vedar (which, by the way, he absolutely loved and wouldn't have traded for any other costume in the world, except that his light saber was big, bulky, heavy and slightly in the way, and he couldn't see a thing through his mask in the dark...but he LOVED the idea of being a Star Wars character. He also liked the improved and elongated cape I made him :-)

Although, I am the first to admit my adverse feelings for Disney Character costumes, clothing or other paraphernalia, I truly feel my kids were the cutest little Belle and Cinderella out there. The pictures do not do them justice (I'm actually going to clean up their costumes and take some more pictures later; we were rushed to get the candy and the girls didn't think taking time for a picture was entirely necessary). And yes, that is a slug Kaili found on the ground. It rained (the one night out of the year that we had to be outside) and all the slugs came out. It was her little pet and she carried it all the way to Auntie Toni's house, where is was misplaced, forgotten, and probably squashed!
We also carved pumpkins and Brad was a good sport to dig guts out while sniffling with his head cold...poor guy, but, somebody's gotta do the dirty work, and I was busy :-)
I thought our reading for this week was interesting. I liked learning about the different ways to argue and the most affective things to do and say to make a change (begin softly!). I told Brad this and we worked on the conflict resolution paper together. I explained the steps to him and we both agreed it sounded like a good way to argue :-) We'll see if we can remember the steps the next time one of us begins to turn different shades of red!