SC Chesleys

Step away from the ....

2011-06-29T11:57:00.002-04:00

Hello again dear reader,
I've been thinking about this post for a while and thought since I have some time, might as well do it now. We are living in a digital age where everyone is connected all the time. There are scandals it seems like all the time where someone posts something on a social networking site that embarrasses them, their family and possibly even their pets.

A few simple suggestions from me (take them, leave them, be offended or laugh, it matters not to me). These may sound prudish, but they're my feelings and you can't change them.

1. Think before you post. Self explanatory right? Apparently not. If you wouldn't say it in front of your elderly granny or very young child, you may not want to post it.

2. If you don't want it all over the world, don't post it. This goes for good news, bad news, any kind of news really. It's kind of like a secret, if you don't tell anyone, it won't get around.

3. Make sure your parts are covered up! Yes, you may think you're the best looking thing on the planet but most of us don't want to see you posing in your bathroom mirror partially unclothed.

4. If you have an issue with someone, go to that person and speak to them about it, there's no need for the internet and all your friends/followers to get involved.

5. If you are a high profile person, act like it! We expect people that have high profile jobs, such as Mayor, Governor, Congressman or President to have a little sense and not post something potentially embarrassing or is going to get you in deep trouble. It sounds again like common sense doesn't it?

6. Just because you can type it doesn't mean you need to "say" it. I'm grateful as the day is long to live in a country where I can say, type, sing or yell what I want. However, that does not give me the right to be mean, rude, crude, offensive or down right nasty to someone else, either in person or in writing.

7. If someone tells you "I deleted that message, video, picture, etc. months ago" don't believe them unless you deleted it yourself and wiped it off of their phone, computer, whatever, never to be seen again.

Maybe a good rule of thumb would be, write down what you intend to post on paper, put it somewhere safe for thirty minutes or so (longer if you're angry). After you have watched an episode of your favorite TV show, read a few chapters of a good book, taken a walk, played with your kids for awhile, if it still sounds like something you would be proud to have your name beside, post away.

Did I follow my own advice? Yep. Left it for about an hour, made revisions and am now posting it.

Peace and love y'all!

Time, time, time....

2011-03-02T10:28:00.002-05:00

Dear reader,
How many times do we say, "I don't have the time"? I say it a lot when talking about things that I know I should be doing, but just can't get motivated to do them. This includes cleaning house, exercising, reading my scriptures, etc. Last week after church, the DH came home raving about the lesson that the young men had received about time and how we waste time. So, I decided to do the same experiment that they did and see how much time in the day I had left after doing all the things that I do. So, here goes nothing (yes, I'm checking my math)

24 hours in the day (I'm using 6 a.m. to 6 a.m.)
- 8 hours of sleep
________________
16
- 7.5 hours of work
_______________
8.5
- 1.0 hour of travel to and from the place of employment
_______________
7.5
- .5 shower time ( I'm being generous)
_______________
7.0
-1.5 hours washing dishes prior to cooking and cooking dinner
_______________
5.5
-1.0 hour of helping with homework or schoolwork, helping kids study for tests
_______________
4.5 hours

4.5 hours! That is what is left on a "normal" day for me to do something productive. What do I do during that time you ask? I'm asking myself the same thing and although I know that I'm reading or watching tv a little bit, I don't think it's 4.5 hours worth. This is a wake up call for me, I can be accomplishing so much! This means that I DO have time to take a walk around the neighborhood, I DO have time to read scriptures with my family, I DO have time to do my visiting teaching, I DO have time to clean my house (UGH!).

Readers, I know that I'm not going to be productive that left over 4.5 hours of the day(because I know deep in my soul that I'm not the most productive of people), BUT, I can try to take up some of that time doing what I know I should be doing and not lollygagging.

Off to do something productive....

Peace and love y'all!

Be Still....

2010-12-20T09:18:00.002-05:00

Shopping for presents, wrapping said presents, Christmas parties, work, mommy duties, home caring, more work, church, worrying about things that shouldn't be worried about, more shopping for presents, staying up late, church, getting the children where they need to go, more work, more shopping, sleeping a little is in there some where....

That seems to be the routine in my little home lately and let me tell you, I'm pooped! As most of you know, I'm not the most social of creatures, I'm pretty happy being by myself most of the time. With all of the comings and goings, one phrase has been running through my head of late and that phrase is "Be Still...". This isn't just a physically be still, it's a mental and emotional stillness as well. Do you ever feel that your brain is going too fast and that if someone says something wrong you'll shatter? I do, and usually it's during times of great activity. This weekend everything fell apart, I was cranky, depressed and short with the hubby and the children and generally not the happy go lucky person I usually am. As I was sitting on the couch last night, trying to keep it all together, that phrase---be still, came again into my mind and heart. I sent the children to bed, Mike was outside doing Mike stuff, and I was alone (finally). I took that time to just be still mentally. I could feel my tattered edges being put back together, my mind and spirit calming. I told Mike this morning that I was feeling better, that the time by myself helped and he was glad to have the regular old me back.

This general craziness also led me to think about the post Christmas funk that many people suffer. Is it maybe because the time from Thanksgiving to Christmas is go, go, go, that after Christmas, when the going is done, our minds, bodies and spirits are just given out? I think so. Does that mean the stuff at the beginning isn't going to get done? No. But, I will remember to take time for myself, to just be still. I hope you all will as well.

Peace, love and merry Christmas to you all!

I believe in Santa

2010-12-14T08:29:00.002-05:00

Good morning dear readers!
Regarding the title of this post, I know you're probably thinking, "that poor woman! She doesn't get it!" Oh, I get it just fine. I'm not talking about the jolly fat man in a red suit that Kiersten was terrified of as a child, I'm talking about the spirit of Santa. When we told Kiersten and Jared the "truth" about Santa, we told them about the spirit of Santa and that we as adults still believe in that spirit.

What is the spirit of Santa you ask? The spirit of Santa is something usually felt more around this time of year, but we really need to try to have it all year long. The spirit of Santa is what makes people put thousands of dollars in a Salvation Army bucket, what makes people ding dong dash entire meals and Christmas presents for those in need, what makes people a little more apt to let someone go first in line at the grocery store. It also makes adults want to be just a little more childlike during the Christmas season. No, I'm not talking about childish behavior, I'm saying teachable, humble and awestruck at the precious gift that has been given to each of us through Christ's sacrifice.

So when kids ask me if I still believe in Santa, I say yep, I sure do.

Peace and love y'all!

Is this thing on?

2010-09-08T19:13:00.002-04:00

Hello dear reader and my apologies for leaving you so abruptly in May. As you can imagine, it's been an eventful summer and beginning of the school year. Kiersten is loving high school and seminary. Jared is back into the routine of school and doing well.

It's amazing that there are so many things walking around in my head waiting to be written, but right at this moment, nothing comes to me. Man! I hate not being able to write when I think of something profound.

But anyway, this is just my little shout out and changing it up from J's birthday post.

Peace and love y'all!

10 Things...

2010-05-12T19:12:00.011-04:00

Well dear reader, tomorrow (5/13) is a great day in our little household. Jared turns 10! Mike also turns 28 for the tenth time but he says that he has given his birthday away so no more for him. So, in honor of our favorite 10 year old......

10 Things I Love About Jared (in no particular order and with more pics than Kiersten's since I'm at home)

1. His laugh...He has one of those infectious laughs that once he gets started he can't stop. Sometimes he turns red and almost falls over (which is actually pretty funny). I love to hear him laugh because I know that all is right in his world.

2. His general craziness...He's always doing something crazy and really keeps us on our toes.

3. His love of nature...For those of you who have known me a long time, I am not the best around bugs, frogs, lizards, snakes, etc. God has a sense of humor that I get a little boy that loves to share his finds with me.

Taken at Bearworld in Idaho on vacation. Apparently the poor deer wouldn't cooperate with him. I took it as a sign of things to come and sure enough, he's a hunter.

4. His willingness to help...He's always glad and anxious to help. Whether it's going with Mike to do a service project or helping out here at home, he's always asking what he can do to help out.

5. His love for his sister...Although he fights with her, he really does think she hung the moon.

Washington D.C. outside of the National Zoo.

6. His expressive face...Anita says he has expressive eyebrows, I think his whole face is so expressive. I could watch him tell a story all day long

photo by Christy Peake---no, we didn't send this one out with the Christmas cards

7. His sense of humor...He has the silliest sense of humor and can find something funny in just about everything.

This could go with #2 as well. Photo taken by Christy Peake at a sometimes wild and crazy photo shoot for pictures for Christmas

8. His odd philosophies...Sometimes we'll be talking and he will say something completely out of the blue. They can be funny or serious, but they're always interesting.

9. His figurative language skills...He loves to try out new words and most of the time the context is correct, you just don't expect it to come from him. He tells me that he has mad figurative language skills and I tend to agree with him.

10. This one will be everything else. From his hugs to his temper, everything that he does is full of life and energy. He doesn't do anything halfway. I love my hunting, fishing, reading, laughing, smart alecky little guy.

14 Things...

2010-04-21T11:18:00.006-04:00

Today is the sweet girl's 14th birthday, and in honor of that auspicious occasion, here are 14 things I love about Kiersten in no particular order (some may not have pictures-most of the pics are old which are the only ones that I have here)

1. Her smile---Ever since she was a baby, she's had an infectious grin that lights up where ever she happens to be.

2. Her personality---She's pretty quiet until you get to know her and then she's just so funny and has wonderful things to say.
3. Her common sense---In this day and age when people can be lacking in common sense, she has it most of the time. She's got a good head on her shoulders and I'm glad for that.

4. Her love for her brothers---She has 3 younger brothers and she loves them all so very much. Even when Jared is yelling at her to put her stuff in the bathroom away, she's (mostly) patient with him.

5. Her flair for the dramatic---She gets this from my mother, Scarlett had nothing on Kiersten. Maybe that's just being a teenager but it's definitely there.

6. Her fashion sense---She's not like me when it comes to her clothes (which can be a good and bad thing). She always looks so darn pretty!
7. Her sense of self---She knows who she is (which I didn't at that age) and what she wants. I admire that in her.

8. Her sense of humor---We have sort of the same sense of humor so she gets my jokes and silly comments.

9. Her love of reading---One thing that we have in common, we'll sit and read together for hours. We talk about books, what she's reading and writing.

10. Her stubbornness---This is something to love? you ask. Yes, except when it comes to her stubbornness about doing (or not doing) chores.

11. Her hair---She's got great hair ( this is silly, but I really do love her hair)

12. Her love for her family---She's got LOTS of family and loves us all. She's also becoming something of a hugger (Mike is wearing off on her).

13. Her talents---She is very talented. She sings, paints, draws, writes very well. She's also a great listener and a calming spirit.

14. Everything else---I'm her mom and I think she's just wonderful. This is just a little list, but I can tell you, I am blessed to be her mother. I couldn't ask for a better daughter.

Happy Birthday sweet baby girl!

Peace and love y'all!

What are you reading?

2010-03-17T10:05:00.002-04:00

I love to ask people what they happen to be reading. I'm nosey like that, but if someone gushes about a book or author enough, that makes me want to take a look at it and see what all of the fuss is about. I read EVERYTHING, from scifi to mysteries to chicklit and everything in between. I did discover recently that I'm not into Christian Fiction. Some people love it, me not so much, especially when it really just pounds you over the head. I found a couple of books that I enjoyed but they weren't the pounding you over the head type books.

So, what am I reading right now? Here's my list of books that are on my table to be read

A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson---heard this is extremely funny so can't wait to get started

Wicked by Gregory Maguire---I know I'm late on this wagon, but I just happened to go by it in the library and thought "self, you've been meaning to read that so go ahead and pick it up". I do that a lot, which usually means I have to back a dump truck to the doors of the library to load all of my books into it and then have to sell one of my kids to pay the overdue fines.

The Help--the book club selection to be discussed in April. It's not on the table, it's on my Kindle (have I told you how much I love my Kindle?).

Christy---Book club selection from last month that I didn't get to read, but figured I would go ahead and read it again just because I had forgotten a lot.

Then of course, are my lists of books that I have to buy when they come out, the books that I read over and over and over, the books on my Kindle wish list. The DH doesn't understand my need to read, I don't understand his need to hunt, but if we were both readers nothing would ever get done in our house.

So dear reader, what are you reading?

Peace and love y'all!

A Query...

2010-02-09T11:30:00.002-05:00

Dear readers,
I love the word query, it's such a cool word-so much better than question. Mr. Webster says that a query is a question in the mind, which sounds really deep and thoughtful. But, I digress already. The query for the day is this----what is the big deal about Valentine's Day?

As we all know, that Hallmarkiest of Hallmark Holidays is coming up and you can't go anywhere without being attacked by something pink or red and heartshaped usually containing a year supply of sugar. Last night as Mike and I sat watching TV, we watched pajamagram commercials and Vermont Teddy Bear commercials and jewelry commercials (oh my!) galore and once again, we talked about our little tradition of not celebrating Valentine's Day. It started many, many moons ago when we were dating. He told me that he didn't "do" Valentine's Day, that it was a Hallmark Holiday and he refused to be sucked into the void that was an essentially useless excuse to buy stupid stuff that doesn't last (I'm not going to write what he actually said, but you get the drift).

As I think back on the 12 Valentine's Days that we have not celebrated together, I can't remember getting one card, one flower, one stupid heart shaped box of chocolate, and you know what---I don't care! But, in honor of the "holiday" coming up, I'm going to share with you a few of my favorite "un-Valentine's Days"

-when we were dating, the day that Mike showed up with a wagon for Kiersten "just because" (this is also known as the day I officially fell in love with the boy from Montana)
-the day we got married (obviously a good day for us)
-the day we found out that we were having Jared (he cried-of course)
-the day Jared was born (he cried-of course)
-any day that we're together (jeez I'm sappy)

So, Happy un-Valentine's Day to my first favorite guy! hug hug kiss kiss

peace and love to all of y'all too!

Where have you been all of my life?

2010-01-20T08:27:00.003-05:00

Dear Readers,
I love gadgets. I mean LOVE gadgets! The bad thing about it is that once I have them in my greedy little paws, I don't use them. So, palm pilot, ipod, camera that I only use occasionally, I'm going to apologize now because I have found a gadget that I could not possibly live without. Mike had thought about buying me one for Christmas, but I told him no, I don't want it to end up being one of those gifts that I don't use. Apparently on that day I was out of my mind.

Yes people, I have a Kindle and I'm addicted! For those of you who don't know what a Kindle is, it's an ereader from Amazon that you can download books to and take it with you EVERYWHERE! It's in my purse at the moment and I love it. I can take however many books with me at all times and it's only an itty bitty thing. I thought I would miss the page turning, the feel of a book in my hands. Nope.

This brings us to the problem-self control. As in I have absolutely none when it comes to books. BK (Before Kindle), I would stare longingly at the bookstore but never go in. Why? Because I would find something that I would absolutely have to have and then before I knew it, BAM, I'm walking out with three or four books that I "needed". If Crystal and I went perusing, I would give her my debit card and tell her, "I don't care what I tell you, do not give me that card! I don't need any new books, I'm saving my money for whatever." With my handy dandy Kindle, it's a click of a button and voila! Instant joy! That is until I see the money coming out of our checking account. But, Amazon also has free books which feeds the book addiction while introducing me to new authors that I wouldn't normally pick up and reunites me with the Classics.

Pardon me while I go and make a new list for books that absolutely have to be bought and their release dates. Happy reading!

peace and love y'all!

POTW---Week 3 Topic Sweet

2010-01-17T19:02:00.006-05:00

Dear readers,

Lately, my mind has been on my boys alot. It seems that the children take turns as to who needs me more at any one time and right now, Jared has come to the front. I don't mind that, he's one of my favorite people. He's having a rough time of it, but we're working through it slowly but surely. When this week's topic came up, I thought to myself, there is no one sweeter than my sweet boy, so he's my focus of the pictures for the week. I can't ever choose just one so you'll have to bear with me.

He had just gone to the bathroom in the middle of the night and instead of going back to his room, he decided to curl up in the sock basket.

Possibly my all time favorite picture of the boys. Jared's first fishing trip to the lake, he's probably about 2 years old. He was so excited and every fish he caught was given a kiss and thrown back in.

Christy P. took this while she was taking the pictures for Christmas. This is so him, always full of energy and acting crazy.

Another one of Christy's beautiful shots of him. This one has the smirk that I love so much.

He really is one of the sweetest people I know and I'm so glad he's my son. We have a ton of fun and I enjoy listening to him and talking with him. He really is one of the most interesting kids I know.

So, that's my picture post for the week. My sweet boy! If he sees this he'll probably want to kill me.

Peace and love y'all!

POTW---Week 2 Home

2010-01-11T19:14:00.004-05:00

To some people, home is where you live, but to me home is people. My house is made of wood and siding and walls, but my home is wherever my family may be. We may bicker, but we mostly laugh. There are occasionally some sad tears, but they are aways balanced by the tears of joy. Mike is the anchor, always steady and sure. I'm the listener and worrier (not a surprise to most). Kiersten is our dreamer, always writing or drawing. Jared is our hugger, always quick to help or give you a hug when you need it most. So, this is my home.....

photo of the kids done by Christy Peake

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

2010-01-07T08:44:00.002-05:00

This morning as I was doing my usual meander through the internet, I came across Orson Scott Card's article for the week in the Deseret News about respecting the Savior. There was also a lot of thought put into the language of prayer and how we show respect for Heavenly Father and Christ when we use the whole "thee, thou, thine" stuff.

However, I'm not going to write about that, it's somewhat confusing and I haven't had my Pepsi. My mind soon wandered onto other paths dealing with respect. If Christ was standing next to us, how would we behave towards others around us? I can pretty much guarantee you that there wouldn't be so much gossip, back biting or bickering. How about how we treat our family? There wouldn't be the fussing and fighting or talking down to each other or abuse. How about in the workplace? We wouldn't degrade others or make them feel bad about themselves. We would build each other up instead of tearing each other down.

In the cartoons that I watched as a kid and take great delight in educating my children about today, this whole thing was usually depicted as an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other. Too bad that the angel usually got thumped off and the devil took over which led to general mischief and mayhem. Just think about what a great place the world would be if it were the opposite in real life. The angel stayed on the shoulder, which led to kindness, gentility and compassion.

Just a thought---keep the angel on your shoulder and as we learned in Bambi "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all"!

Peace and love y'all!

12 hours or so and counting....

2009-12-31T11:55:00.004-05:00

Hello dear readers!

As I sit here thinking about the past year, I can tell you it's been one of mostly joy with just a little bit of stress thrown in, which is the way we like it. The Christmas holidays have come and gone and I never did get in the "Christmas Spirit". I think maybe working so crazy might have had something to do with that, but all is well now. I decided to take a page from the books of some friends and pick a word for next year. They pick wonderfully cool words, but I'm just starting out on this path, so I'm picking something that I can sort of work with. I thought of many words for next year, but one kept coming back to my mind. Fit. Not like fitting in a crowd or anything. More like spiritually fit and physically fit.

My spiritual fitness has turned to flab lately and I feel that needs to change. I need to get myself back on track so I can set the right kind of example for the kiddos and all that jazz. Because I'm inherently lazy, this is going to be a challenge, but I think I'm up to it. Maybe I'll even talk the family into getting in spiritual shape with me because it's much more fun if you're pulling each other along.

My physical fitness-YUCK! Exercise? What on Earth is that? Sweat? You must be kidding me. Yes. I hate to exercise and I love to eat. You may say---but I just saw you and you look fine! To you, maybe. To me, not so much. I'm carrying 10 pounds that I don't like---don't laugh or scoff. 10 pounds is an issue for me. My clothes don't fit as they should and I feel uncomfy in my skin. That 10 pounds has to go!

So dear readers, that's my word for the year. FIT. I will get in shape both spiritually (which really is more important to me) and physically (even if I have to break a sweat-ick!).

So everyone, here's to a healthy, happy and safe New Year! I'll be seeing ya!

Peace and love y'all!

A post for Connie

2009-12-11T09:18:00.004-05:00

My DFC has written that it's time for a silly Chesley post. Here is my silly post for today, because I'm cool like that.

The Humidity Song (think O Christmas Tree)

O Humidity, humidity, how much I miss you right now
O humidity, humidity, how much I miss you right now.
Winter's cool and drier air
plays havoc with my fine straight hair.
I miss the days when it was warm outside
that way my hair would not skyward fly.
I walk across the floor
Knowing I'll get shocked at the door.
I rub dryer sheets on all my clothes,
and on my hair a hat cannot repose.
So my ears are cold at the tips
No I haven't been taking any nips (of alcohol).
Humidity, you're my hair's best friend
I hate to see the summer end.
For I know in just a few months time
I'll be shocked in a way not so fine.

Thank you, thank you very much.

Peace, love and Merry Christmas y'all!

no title

2009-12-07T16:04:00.002-05:00

Writer's block, no time, special project rolling around in my head for Christmas. Not dead!

Peace and love y'all!

The Chesleys go to Washington...

2009-11-05T20:12:00.010-05:00

A few months ago, Mike and I decided to take some much needed time off and take our little family to our nation's capital. I had been in high school but none of the others had ever been. We figured now would be the absolute best time, not too hot, not too cold, leaves changing, everything dandy. Well, we were absolutely right! Here's a little travelogue (with pictures) about our trip....

Tuesday...pick up kids from school, hit the road. All goes well, thank heavens for a portable DVD player. We stop a few times for bathroom breaks, eat dinner and stuff. The best thing about this day is that we don't get to DC area until late at night so hardly any traffic. Mike makes the observation that the highway system in DC looks like a plate of spaghetti. We only get lost twice.

Wednesday...The first adventure with the metorail system (we all survived and loved it although Mike found out he can't ride backwards). We ended up heading to the National Zoo. If you've never been and you're in the area, go, it's so cool and free!

You've got to see the pandas! They really are a beautiful animal. I read somewhere once that they are nature's most evolutionary inefficient animal. There were a ton of school kids there on a field trip and all we heard was "Panda! Panda! Come back Panda!". Jared remarked to me "Mom, I'm sure that panda's got a name besides hey panda!" We felt like the pioneer children in the Primary song at church because we walked and walked and walked but it was a good time.

This isn't the best picture of this little guy, but he was the coolest frog! He was about as big as two keyboard keys, maybe three. Very tiny but very colorful. By this time we were just about too pooped to do anything else but say, oh look! An animal!

At this point in our story, let me digress. I had read that food in the zoo and museums was atrociously expensive and I shared this fact with my family. We took our own water (I refuse to pay $4 for a bottle of water) and snacked on trail mix (the homemade kind). But we were HUNGRY! We ended up buying a couple of cheeseburgers and splitting them (hey, we're on a budget here!).

Really, what can I say? He's Mike's son. He was super excited and all we heard the whole day was, "I want to take a picture" repeated over and over and over and over again. We decided that day to go and find him a camera as part of an early Christmas present. He actually did really well with it. He took a lot of pictures of pigeons.

The two monkeys outside of the zoo. I just want to say that although it doesn't look like it, Kiersten does actually have lips. She just hates to have her picture taken. After we got back to our hotel, we went to find a place to eat (thank heavens for Texas Roadhouse). Even one bite left Kiersten ate her ENTIRE dinner (plus a salad).

Thursday was the air and space museum... home of the Spirit of St. Louis, the Apollo moon landing stuff, rockets galore and the most expensive McDonald's in Washington D.C. There is no dollar menu there folks! Mike was in charge of the camera during our trip so we got bunches of pictures of planes and rockets. This, however, is my favorite picture....

Can't you just hear the teenager in her saying, "Daddy! I can't believe you're making me do this, how embarassing!"? I was asked numerous times where the big field that they kept all the airplanes was located. Apparently some people in my family believe everything they see in Transformers 2.

We also went across the mall to the National Gallery, which was really beautiful, but we were again very tired so we just meandered for a few minutes and then back to the metro. Have I mentioned we all LOVED the metro?

Friday was tour day. We booked tours on the trolley tour (the orange and green ones, I can't remember what they're called) and had a great time. We were able to hop on and off (really that's the only way to do a decent tour) and take our time. We went by most of the monuments, even if we didn't stop. They really are quite beautiful.

The Jefferson Memorial---it really is one of the prettiest places I've ever seen built by man. We didn't go in but it's still an awesome sight just to ride by. I wanted to go to the Lincoln Memorial, the Vietnam War Memorial and the newish World War II Memorial, which is what we did.

The Lincoln Memorial is just huge, and again, beautiful. While we were there, the National Park ranger played Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech, and it was all the more powerful because you can stand where Dr. King stood and look down the reflecting pool and think about all of the people that have marched for a cause in that place. It really is a vast place. On to my favorite memorial....

The Vietnam War Memorial. It's really hard to believe that the Wall is in the middle of a busy city. It's so quiet. There were people there doing rubbings of names, a few veterans looking for lost friends or family members seeking to reconnect with a lost loved one. It really is my favorite. This is where I wonder about the stories, behind the names on the Wall as well as the stories of people that come there to pay their respects or just to see it.

We did get to the WWII memorial and it really is another beautiful place. Walking from The Wall to the WWII memorial, Kiersten and I were stopped by a squirrel. Apparently it was a tourist as well because he looked a little lost and seemed to be asking for directions.

Saturday was our coming home day, but we had one more stop to make. A few weeks before our trip, Jared told me at dinner one night that he thought we should go to the Holocaust Museum and Memorial. I wasn't too sure, but they outvoted me so we went. Let me tell you, that brought even me to tears. You're given the identification of someone who actually was in a concentration camp or lived during that time when you go in so it personalizes the story for you. Pictures aren't encouraged there, but what we saw there was seared into my brain. We saw the cattle cars, the bunks from Auschwitz, and in one hallway, thousands of pairs of shoes from prisoners that were never heard from again. Jared gave out pretty early, so I went with him into the Hall of Remembrance, where we lit candles for those that were lost and talked about why people do awful things and how we can stand up for others.

Then, we were on our way back home. It was a wonderful trip. We have to go back so catch those things that we didn't get the first time. It was a great experience to take the children---they of course think we're the coolest parents on the planet for getting them out of school for a couple of days for an educational trip.

I have plenty of other pictures, but just don't have room to share them with you. The pictures that are the best ones are really in my mind and heart of spending time with my family.

By the way, sorry if this doesn't format quite right, I'm tired and needed to get it done.

Peace and love y'all!

Just a thought

2009-10-12T13:52:00.002-04:00

Today it's rainy and somewhat chilly my dear readers. I'm getting everything finalized for our little family getaway next week and have suddenly felt the urge to pick up my knitting again. It could be because of the weather. It's probably because I've got a 7-8 hour ride ahead of me next week (Mike likes to drive and who am I to tell him no?). I've also got a whole bunch of yarn from last year's knitting frenzy that I never used. Note to self---get Heather to teach me how to make socks (again).

That's my thought for today.

The Driveway From H-E-double hockey sticks...

2009-09-30T19:55:00.002-04:00

Hello dear readers!!!

A few matters of blog business...since a squirrel fried our transformer at work yesterday and the IT people had to put in our new firewall, I am unable to view my blog there. Yes, it's a travesty I know. What do those people expect me to do? Work? So, I am not ignoring you, I'm just unable to "see" you. And if you're a FB friend, you guys are banned as well. This makes me unhappy but I'll adjust.

Anyway, on to the matter at hand. In my last post, I mentioned the driveway from hell and some of you expressed an interest in hearing about it. Well, I finally have time so I'll tell you about it. The weekend in question, the DH and I were in Chimney Rock, NC for a family wedding (which was absolutely gorgeous and fun-never laughed so hard in my life). We moseyed to the appointed place early that day so we could take in the sights and just explore. This is something we love to do, especially when we don't have little people telling us, "we're bored", "my feet are about to fall off", "are we there yet?". Anyhoo, as we were driving through the quaint little tourist trap of Chimney Rock, Mike spied a lovely covered bridge with a sign on it that said Home Sites for Sale. Oh goody! We love looking at house we would never be able to afford, so we turned in. Little did I know that we had just passed the threshold of the land of the crazy driveways. Now, let me just warn you, if you can't see the top of the driveway---DON'T GO!!!

This is a picture of the little car going up just the bottom part of the first driveway....

Do you see the incline? What is virtually invisible is that there is a turn at the top of this little incline that is the sharpest thing I've ever seen in my life. It was like this >. Yes, that symbol is what the turn (and the incline following it looked like). After much twisting and turning and praying we reached the top.

Which looked like this. It's beautiful, right? What you don't understand is that the width of this "driveway" is about as wide as I am tall (5'4" on a good day). Now don't get me wrong, the view was lovely and serene. And all I could think of was "Holy crap! We've got to go down that stupid thing!" There was much discussion and I'm ashamed to say that I was thinking about walking-it's good for you, you know. But, I would not leave my DH to fight it alone. So, off we went---slowly! All I can say is thank heavens, all the holy angels and whatever Saints you can name off the top of your head that Mike was driving.

We did end up going up another driveway that was was even worse than the first, because it lulled you into a false sense of security through not showing you the top. Even Mike the Fearless was a little worried about that one. He said once we got to the top, "I thought the car was going to tip backwards!" It's a miracle we survived. But survive we did. Here are some more pictures that were taken after our encounter with "the driveway".

All in all, it was a lovely trip. We plan to go back when we can take the childrent and spend more time hiking around Chimney Rock. This trip was like a brief "get to know you" trip. Hope you enjoy the pictures and our adventure. I don't think I'll be buying any mountainside home site in the near future.

Peace and love y'all!

Bring it....

2009-09-16T11:46:00.002-04:00

Hello dear readers!
Living in the sunshiney south all of my life has real advantages. It's not really COLD during the winter, the spring is beautiful and full of flowers blooming, summer is a time for sipping lemonade and going to the beach and fall is full of color (leaves and football abound). That being said, this morning I was looking at our Bradford pear trees and noticed an ever so slight color shift in the leaves. WOOHOO!!! I'm ready for fall to arrive. Mike and I were in the mountains of NC this weekend and the air was just a tad crisp with the wind blowing (more including pictures and a story about the driveway from hell later). I was listening to the radio this morning and the Paul Walker song "Cool nights" came on and I thought "self, you are SO ready for fall! You're thinking of sweaters and jeans, boots and the smell of dead leaves". So, in honor of my ever so slightly changing leaves, here are some things to think about:

-The crunch of leaves as you walk through them (I'm one of those people that kick them and scatter them all over the place)

-The smell of smoke as people start burning said leaves and firing up their fireplaces

-That crazy "turning the heat on for the first time" smell that always freaks me out just a little

-College football (I had to put that in there, I'm not a football fan but friends are) and all the sounds, sights and colors of tailgating and the games

-sweaters and jeans!!!!!! With boots!!!!!

-pumpkin hunting and carving

-seeing all the little ghosts and goblins on Halloween (CANDY!CANDY!CANDY!)

-Orange, red, yellow and brown

-That really cool tree on I-20 that turns the brightest yellow every year

What are your favorite things about fall?

Til next time....

Peace and love y'all!

It is enough....

2009-09-01T19:55:00.002-04:00

Hello all,
This has been running through my head since last week and I've finally got a quiet moment to sit down and put it down "on paper". I have phrases that I use a good bit when I'm talking to myself. Phrases like "Let go and let God", "I don't have to, I GET to..." and now I have a new one...."It is enough.". This is probably more powerful to me than anything else I can think of. Case in point, a few weeks ago, I was commiserating to my mother that I never did this or that or the other that my friends were able to do before, during and after college for some reason or another (is that vague enough?). The same day, Mike the wonder dude came home and was complaining about not having this or that or the other. Well buddy, did I set him straight and got myself to thinking. This is what I came up with....

-I may not have a big fancy house decorated all fancy dancy. However, I have a home where my family laughs, cries, fights, loves, learns and occasionally works.

-I may not have my dream car (this is something I complain about often). However, our little car is almost paid for. It gets everyone where they need to go safely.

-I don't have my dream job, but in this time of employment uncertainty, I work and earn decent money. If I had kept on track with my education, I would not have my beautiful daughter or be married to a great guy and have a precious boy.

-I may not wear cool clothes (believe me, I don't---I'm more of a tshirt, jeans and flip flops kind of gal). But, I have clothes and they keep me warm when it's cold outside.

-I may or may not agree with the politics of the season, but I live in a country where I can speak my mind freely without fear.

What I have is enough. This isn't to say that I don't WANT things, I do, I want a lot of things. But, I have what I need.

I have a loving, gentle, kind, respectful husband. I don't ever worry about what he's doing or who he's with or in what state he's going to come home. Our relationship is strong, we've gone through a lot and we've come out better on the other side.

I have smart, talented, beautiful children who most of the time think I'm a pretty good mom. They are friendly and loving, scary funny and deeply perceptive. I love seeing them in the mornings, I've memorized their faces and see little changes every day. I have friends who can't have children or have lost a child and I can't imagine the pain and anguish they go through on a daily basis.

I was raised by loving parents. We didn't have much, but we knew that we were loved. They taught us right from wrong and when we messed up, they were supporting us through whatever trial we had to face.

So, my dear readers, I'm standing up today to tell you, I don't need a big house, fancy cars or clothes. I have enough.

Peace and love y'all!

p.s.---Mike, if you read this, I still would like a Porsche convertible for my 45th birthday. Hey, a girl's got to have some goals in life :-)

We survived....

2009-08-18T15:50:00.003-04:00

As many of you know, yesterday was the first day of school for my kiddos. It was also the first day that Jared would be getting off of the bus by himself at our little abode. He was under STRICT instructions to come in the door, let the dog out and call me at work-in that order. I knew about what time he was going to get home, so I waited, and waited and waited, developed an ulcer, waited, called the house, called the babysitter's house just in case, waited some more. Kiersten finally called to tell me that she was home and that Jared was also at home and alive.

When I asked Jared what happened, he said that someone had erased the numbers from the board on the fridge. Well, I had moved the numbers to a more manageable level for him---read eye level for him, right beside the fridge door handle. We talked about looking for things on the fridge and giving mommy a panic attack, and all was well. I reminded him again this morning where the numbers were and again today sat by my phone waiting for him to call---and he did! I've never looked so forward to a phone call (except when Kiersten first started staying at home by herself) all day. It seems to make the day go by so much quicker.

Anyway, a report on the first day...Jared had a blast! He loved it and was excited about going back today (this never happens and briefly made me wonder what alien race had taken over the small boy child). When he called this afternoon, he was happy and upbeat and talked about torturing me with homework. Loved his teachers and is adjusting well. All in all a great day. For Kiersten the day was great as well, she looked cute and had a pretty good hair day. Her teachers are good and she was excited about English I especially. I looked at the book list for her and told Mike that we're going to be shelling out some cash for her books, but all is well. It's all literature books, not a vampire book in the bunch but hopefully she will enjoy them. She has PE and health for related arts 1st nine weeks (she is her mother's daughter and the only time she runs is if someone is chasing her). But she has a positive outlook, she's getting them over with. She's very excited about 8th grade and I'm excited for her.

Well, that's all from my end of the world. I just wanted to let you all know, especially my western readers (big wave to papa and granma C) that the babies survived, and so did I (barely).

Peace and love y'all!

Where has the time gone?

2009-08-17T11:39:00.003-04:00

Last night on the way home, Mike and I were talking to Kiersten about not growing up too fast, and how this stage of her life is seeming to fly by (for all of those who are just tuning in, Kiersten is 13 going on 20). It doesn't seem like this tiny child that was just itty bitty yesterday should be going to 8th grade today. It's even worse for Jared (who is 9 and perfectly happy not to go to school), because he's the baby that we just brought home it seems like just a few hours after Kiersten. During our own late night conversation, Mike and I realized that pretty soon (to us), Kiersten would be going to dances, driving, dating, going to college, getting married and then all of a sudden we would be grandparents, with Jared right behind her--starting Boy Scouts, dances, dating, mission, college, married and more grandchildren! Where have our babies gone? They are the teenager in her room writing a story or 15. They are the boy that is fast losing his "baby face" and becoming his own person.

I took Jared to school this morning for the first day of 4th grade. Usually these occurrences are traumatic for all involved simply because he can't stand to go to school. But today, it was easy. Of course, he wouldn't let me hold his hand, even though I needed it more than he did. I got the "mom, you've already told me this a thousand times, don't make me roll my eyes at you" look when I told him something for the 1001 time. I remembered on the way to work that first day of Kindergarten when he was excited but the closer he got to the door, you could see him walking slower and slower until we got to his classroom and he refused to budge. We were all crying that day, it just about killed us to leave him with someone we didn't know while he was crying. This morning he asked "so, you're going to walk in with me?" and I told him yes, unless he didn't want me to do that. He said "no, that's okay, I don't mind". There may be just a little bit of the little boy still in there. I hope so.

I've got to go now so I can go sit in a dark room and cry for a bit. I'll post an update on the first days for the kids maybe tomorrow.

peace and love y'all!

It's all in the attitude....

2009-07-27T15:21:00.003-04:00

Greetings all,
As I was lying in bed this morning at 4 a.m., my mind started running over things like a hamster on a wheel (how's that for figurative language skills my son!). I've been thinking a lot lately about obedience and how it impacts our lives. Last evening, we were told that our little ward would now be joined by pieces and parts of other wards to make an entirely new ward. This means that we will be going to different services than my parents and some friends, Mike will no longer see "his kids" every Sunday and the kids will have to get used to new teachers and classmates. We are going to be going to church at 12:30, and for those who know me, you all know that that's prime naptime. It's a bit disconcerting to say the least, especially since the only people the new ward has in place is a bishopric.

Anyway, at 4 a.m a light came on in my head-this is an obedience test! We all have them, sometimes it seems that life itself is an obedience test. This test is to see not only if we will listen and obey our leaders, but also the attitude in which we do it. As I watch the children as they grow, they are given more responsibility and yes, more things that they have to do. Jared has no problem doing chores (mostly), but absolutely hates doing his schoolwork. It's a fight every night and sometimes it gets to the point where I tell him "look, you're frustrated and I'm frustrated, go take your shower and we'll finish later." He obeys (of course, it's getting him away from the dreaded homework), and after the cooling off period we both have better attitudes. Kiersten on the other hand, doesn't mind schoolwork but absolutely hates doing chores. Her attitude is a little louder-a lot of deep sighs and eye rolling, occasionally some door banging, but she will eventually get it done. The point to all of this, I keep telling them that if they didn't complain it would not only get done quicker, but everyone would be much happier at the end of the day.

It's all in the attitude. Do I obey all the time? Don't tell the kids, but no. I'm working on it, but I keep telling myself that there's a reason for what is being asked of us. Do I know that reason? Sometimes, but that doesn't make it any easier. An example: When I was 15 I thought I loved a boy, and we were "going out". I knew the rules about dating at 16, I wasn't allowed until that magic day, don't even ask. Well, said boy and I were talking on the phone one night and he asked if I would go to the prom with him (WOO MEE!!!!!). I very calmly and rationally ran down the hall and begged my dad and mom-something along the lines of "he's asked me to go to the prom and if I don't go my life as I know it will end!" Permission was granted (prom was in May). The boy said great! How about going to the movies this weekend? Once again the run down the hall thing-permission DENIED!!!! You see, it was January/February timeframe, my birthday is in March-wasn't 16. I had to explain to boy that my parents were totally uncool and were going to make me wait until I was 16-how embarrassing! But, the point is, I obeyed-not happily mind you, but I did it. Am I happy now that I obeyed? Yes. Was I happy then? Not on your life, I thought for sure that I was destined for unhappiness. Was that boy even around for long? Nope, didn't make it to the summer.

What I keep thinking about with this new change is I'm thinking of it as an adventure of sorts. I don't have to cross the plains or leave my family or do something too awfully hard. I get to go to church at 12:30. That means sleeping late and extra naptime on Saturday.

For all of you in the new ward, and the old one, what are your thoughts?

Peace and love y'all!

A Picture Post

2009-07-11T15:13:00.014-04:00

Hello all,

I have some time today (read I don't feel like doing anything), so I'm catching up sharing my pictures with you. I downloaded from my camera the other day and was amazed that I had so many pictures. Won't post all 376 of them, just the ones I like the best. I'll post where, when and who so you know what's going on. On with the show......

Savannah, GA April '09. Saw this little place while Mike and I were walking 3000 miles and thought "that's just the cutest little place!"

Forsyth Park, Savannah. I fell in love with the city of Savannah during our long weekend. The history, architecture, pralines....

Forsyth Park is really quite beautiful, lots of open space and huge trees. A lovely little oasis in the city. I think I wouldn't mind living in Savannah.

Just a little something we picked up at Bass Pro Shops. In Mike's fondest wish!

Tybee Island Lighthouse. Yes dear readers, Mike and I climbed to the top. I wouldn't mind vacationing for a few months on Tybee. Very peaceful and beautiful homes and lovely beaches.

The kids July '09. From left: Jared, Olivia, Kelsey, Kiersten and Connor.

For all of those just tuning in, Jared and Kiersten are my kids, they are 9 and 13. Olivia, Kelsey and Connor are my brother's children. They are 9, 5, and 1.

Aren't they all just the cutest?! I can't believe how grown up they all are getting.

The girls. Kelsey is such a poser! Gosh, Kiersten is just gorgeous! I'm her mother, I'm biased. It's amazing that I've watched her grow for these 13 years. How she has changed, from little baby who wouldn't sleep to this beautiful young woman ***sniff, sniff****.

The boys. Jared was so happy when Connor was born, he did a happy little booty shake that there was another boy. I don't think he realized that Connor wouldn't be ready to play for a few years. I'm sure Jared will set a great example for Connor, hunting, fishing, shooting fireworks, aggravating sisters. You know, boy stuff.

Part of the grand finale for 4th of July. Yes dear readers, those are 31 mortar tubes connected with fuse to all go off around the same time. The big boys also had 5 big boxes of stuff that went off before. Mike LOVES fireworks!

Tried to upload the video, but didn't work, I'll come back to it later.

Thanks for taking a look, I'll be posting more pictures hopefully ( I just have to get motivated and nothing motivates me more than trying to find a way out of housework).

Until next time

Peace and love y'all!

Normal? What's that?

2009-07-08T14:02:00.003-04:00

Please excuse the recent absence of the writer of this blog. There was nothing to say that needed to be said online for fear of it coming back to haunt her. Now on to our regularly scheduled post.......

I was ruminating on the value of normality the other day and wondered what the heck is normal. What brought this up was a weeks long cruise on the good ship witchy for yours truly. I don't normally have great amounts of rage, temper tantrums, or shed lots of tears. It's just not in my general makeup. I'm normally a very even tempered person, a tad sarcastic but only to my nearest and dearest and stoic to a degree that sometimes worries my mother. After my cruise docked, I noted on facebook that I was back to normal after said cruise and a friend brought up that I am never normal. This was not said with malice and not taken with any offense because it's true. This led to my ponderings. What is normal? Is there a medical definition somewhere out there?

Let me tell you about normal in my house. Normal in my home is a 9 year old that thinks he's growing a mustache and insists on stroking his face in a rather villianish way. Normal is a 13 year old that has turned the floor of her closet into a "reading area" and has a deep and abiding love of vampire YA novels and sometimes might not be seen or heard from for hours. Normal is the 37 year old man who wakes me up talking about the number of spiders there are in the house, and although I know he's asleep it's a tad freaky because his eyes are open the whole time. I'm the epitome of sweetness and light with occasional tangents of meanness. Normal is our little family. Are we overly odd? Some might say so. Do we have slightly off-kilter senses of humor? Yep, every single one of us. Do we love to pick on each other and relish in finding something new to pick on a member of the family about? Heck yes, just ask Anita, she's such a good sport about the whole thing. That's normal for us. It might not be normal for you and your family.

I can only think of a few people that I would categorize as "normal" although I'm sure deep down they're really not.

Do you think in your heart of hearts that you're a "normal" person? What do you think of as normal? Share!

Until next time, peace and love y'all!

An Eternal Companion

2009-06-09T11:25:00.003-04:00

Today on my way to work, I was listening the the little spot on the radio called "Life Matters" from one of the churches here in town. This morning, the Pastor was talking about his parents' anniversary and how when his father passed, his mother almost grieved herself to death. When he reminded her of the 60+ years that they had together, his mother reprimanded him and informed him that 60+ years was not enough to spend with the one you love.

I thought at that point how lucky I am to have my "eternal companion". I can't imagine being with anyone else for eternity, and I can't imagine the heartache of not having him with me. Sure, we might bicker (not very often) and argue (hardly ever) and even make fun of each other (only in a loving way), but we have fun and love each other to distraction. He is always running about with work or church or something else, and I'm more of a homebody. One day, he was telling me that he would be home late or something, and I said-as always- I'll be here when you get home, and he told me just how much he appreciated that, the simple act of me being home. Now don't get me wrong, he tells me-go out, go do something with your friends! Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't, but it's nice to know that he wants me to be happy, whether I'm with my friends or at home reading a book. He makes time for me to go to book club, to spend a Saturday at the museum, to go to the beach with friends, to watch a Pride and Prejudice marathon if I want to.

I'm picturing him last evening going through his emails and coming across one from his dad that made him laugh so hard he was crying and couldn't breathe. He has such a wonderful sense of humor and is so funny. He teaches our son all of the stuff that his dad taught him and sets an example for our daughter of what a great husband and father should be. We've only been married a relatively short time in the eternal scheme of things (11 years), and sometimes it feels like it's already been forever. But other times, it seems like just yesterday that we were getting married and going through that whole "living together" phase. You know what I mean, that first year of getting to know the person you marry, their little quirks that you didn't see when you were dating. Some of Mike's quirks: he talks in his sleep, he has an unnatural obsession with making sure that the colander is clean after I make macaroni or pasta, thinks Christmas Vacation is the funniest move EVER, has a very short list of wants (truck, boat, motorcycle), and thinks that he did something incredibly right to be married to me and have our kids.

Because this is my blog, I don't have to share with you my little quirks, but in the interest of fair play, I'll give you a few. I have a tendency to get mean when I'm asleep and you fan or move the covers, I have an obsession with making sure the cabinet doors are closed and the toothpaste lid is on (I'm getting a little looser about that), I have a rather oddball sense of humor. He thinks that I'm an interesting person because very few people know the real me and he says I've got just about everybody fooled.

I'll probably get hounded from him about airing his quirks on the internet, but I only did to show everyone how wonderful he is. Even his quirks are easy to deal with! One thing that I definitely know is that I did something miraculous and wonderful when I married him. It's been one heck of a ride and I can't wait to see where we go next.

Peace and love y'all!

Turner to Cezanne

2009-06-08T09:38:00.005-04:00

On Saturday, DF Connie and I went to the Turner to Cezanne exhibit at the Columbia Museum of Art. There were a bunch of people there (this was the last weekend) and we went fairly early. As we were touring through the galleries, we marveled at the beautiful paintings by some of the more famous names dealing with Impressionist art like Renoir, Monet, Corot, etc. I'm not the type of artsy fartsy person to discuss line, the use of shadow, what the deeper meaning of a painting is, I'm the type that will stare at a painting that captures my attention or speaks to me in some way. On our first tour through, we came across the painting call La Parisienne by Renoir.

In front of this HUGE painting is a little girl sitting on the floor. She looked to be about 4-5 years old and she had her paper and markers out and was drawing the painting. Connie and I stood and watched her for a few minutes and then moved on. I thought to myself, how wonderful that this little girl is being exposed to work by the masters at such an early age, and that she loves this painting so much that she feels the need to reproduce it. What a cool thing it would be if she grew up to be an artist and her first memory was of sitting on the floor at the museum, looking up at this woman in a brilliant blue dress.

A painting that really spoke to me was Eugene Carriere's Maternity (Suffering). This picture doesn't really do the actual painting justice. I don't know what it is about this picture, but I love it. Maybe because I'm a mom. The Monets that were there were, of course, beautiful. They had one waterlilies painting and then Connie's favorite Palazzo Dario. What a beautiful painting. I am amazed that people can paint these beautiful pictures that say so much without speaking a word. What they can convey with just a brushstroke or tilt of the head is something that I think is fascinating.

So, if you saw the exhibit, tell me what your favorite painting was. If you get to see it, take some and go, it's well worth it. I wish that I had been able to take Kiersten and Jared, just to get some culture, but didn't happen. I am glad however, that I was able to see it and spend some time with a good friend.

Peace and love y'all!

Summer's here!!!!

2009-06-04T10:55:00.002-04:00

Hello all,
Summer is officially here! It's time for running through sprinklers, the smell of sunblock, fresh veggies from the garden, humidity that wilts even the sturdiest of hair and oppressive heat. Added to that, the smell of jasmine, the feel of grass under your feet(watch out for those fire ants-tiny spawns of Satan), and flip flops. Man, I love living in the South!

The kiddos were released from prison (aka school-I'm starting to sound like Jared) last week and there was much rejoicing in the Chesley household. No more "mommy, I think I'm sick" at night from Jared- who has yet to learn that unless you're running a fever, puking or bleeding out of your eye sockets, you're going to school. No more "mom, I have NOTHING to wear and my world as I know it is disintegrating!" from Kiersten-this is a tremendous blessing, as any of you who have lived through 13 year old girlhood can attest.

This week, Kiersten is at the beach with her other family and Jared is an only child until she gets back on Sunday. He's loving it. Before she left, I said to my sweet baby girl "please dearheart, call me every once in a while to let me know how you're doing." I got a call yesterday after talking to her on Tuesday to tell her about her grades. I wasn't expecting a call, but she asked me if she could call me every day. Of course! I tell her, I love to hear from you, I love you. She told me all about the goings on (she's already sunburned and they just got there). I made her pinky promise that she would not come home with a boyfriend-which probably entertained her dad immensely. She got contacts for her birthday and is doing really well but she looks older without her glasses and I'm not sure how I feel about that. She's beautiful no matter what. She's still writing but we don't talk about it much, it's just something she does. She's gotten into English I next year and that's exciting. She was very excited when I told her, her words were "that makes me feel like I'm smart!".

Jared is excited to be going to the drag strip on Friday with Mike-that's definitely a boy thing, and then fishing on Saturday. He's also gearing up for Cub Scout daycamp towards the end of the month. He LOVES day camp! He can run around like a crazy person, shoot BB guns and hang out with some of his friends. I love it because he comes home absolutely exhausted. He's been after me lately to let his friends come over to spend the night. I'm not sure about two or three 9 year old boys in my tiny house, the thought just makes me shudder. The house and dog might never be the same. He's reading Harry Potter and loving it. He would still rather be outside riding his bike or playing with his hatchet (don't worry, it's dull and he can't really hurt himself), but I still try to get him to sit down for a few minutes and read. He spent a good bit of time last weekend helping out with nana's 80th birthday celebration. He's a great helper and I'm so glad he's a friendly, outgoing kind of kid.

Mike and I are rolling along as usual. Mike has a busy summer with Scout camp in June and the Youth Conference in July. Work has picked up and that's a blessing. I've been released from nursery :-( and I know that I'm going to miss all my little children. It will be nice to go to Relief Society on a regular basis and maybe even slip into Sunday School.

That's what's going on with us, I'll write more than an update later.

Peace and love y'all!

Weekend Update....

2009-05-20T15:07:00.002-04:00

Hello all,
I have been without access to blogs, facebook and several other "must see" sites for a week now and it's been torturous! Those stupid computer servers are always doing something silly! Let's see, update, update, update....

1. I have seen 2 movies so far this summer (it's a miracle-we very rarely see movies in the theater). Wolverine was awesome! LOVE Hugh Jackman! Star Trek was also great, set up for a whole new series and Spock got some lip action woo hoo! We're actually planning on seeing more movies in the next few weeks and I think it will end up by the end of the summer our family seeing more movies than we have in entire YEARS.

2. School is winding down and all the little children in my house are beyond happy. This year has been especially tough for the kiddos but they managed to get through it with okay grades (some I'm not happy about but I'll deal). Kiersten is excited because she can sit at home and write all day, Jared is excited simply because he won't have school.

3. We went to see the Kershaw County Show Choir's performance last night. The Choir has a few of the kids from our ward involved and it was a great concert! How those kids sing and dance is beyond me, I can't walk and chew gum at the same time without serious bodily harm to myself or others. Even the boys enjoyed it, which sort of surprised me. Jared was trying to remember all the words to that Officer Krupke song from West Side Story that they guys did last night this morning while he was eating his breakfast. He also told me, "mom, we need to go to more of these things". Hallelujah, pass the tissues, he is part of my genetic makeup! Great job Tony, Sharon, Jessica and Mari!

I think that's it, nothing much going on-that I can remember. Got to be moving on!

peace and love y'all!

Quick post on Mothers Day

2009-05-12T08:50:00.002-04:00

Hello all,
Happy late Mother's Day to all you moms, sisters, crazy aunties, etc. wherever you may be! Last week I was so busy here at work I didn't get a chance to post about Mothers Day, and I had actually written a post about the seasons of motherhood, how wonderful the women all around us are and all sorts of other stuff. However, this is what I wanted to say...

The best Mother's Day gift wasn't actually on Mother's Day, although I did get hugs and kisses and love galore. Last night, Jared had taken his shower and was running around our house like a wild child while I was reading and Kiersten was in her room writing, Mike was out in the garden and all was right in our little corner of the world. Jared comes to me, holds my face in his hands and says, "mommy, do you know how much I love you?" I answered that I didn't. He says, "there are no words to tell you how much I love you, I can't tell you because I don't know the words." I told him, "son, I know exactly how you feel because as much as you love me, I love you even more and I don't have the words either." That was the best gift I could get.

Peace and love y'all!

Everyone has a story...

2009-04-30T09:16:00.002-04:00

I'm a people watcher (welcome to the new support group, People Watchers Anonymous), I am also nosy. I learned quite early in life that if you sit quietly for long enough, older people forget that you're there and that's when you can pick up the most interesting tidbits of news. My favorite places to watch people are: the airport (there's a lot of love at the baggage claim), in the car (apparently people think once they get in their car they're invisible), and walking around a different place. My DH is also a people watcher but we're watching for different things. He watches, I think, to see what kind of craziness will come along. I watch and try to figure out the stories behind the people (inner nosiness you know).

Last month, Jared and I dropped my mother off at the airport for her first plane trip to visit Ervins the Younger. It's always so sad to see someone off at the airport-I've done it quite a few times, being the one left behind. You're excited for them, worried (that whole plane crash thing), and in this case, J and I were thinking we would love to be a fly on the wall with mom's first flight. I knew that when mom got to her destination, there would be hugs and kisses and general mayhem at the baggage claim and that would be a good thing. Jared and I wondered where people were going and why, if they were going for fun or a "have to" trip.

Mike and I recently went to Savannah for our annual anniversary trip. I fell in love with that city! On Friday we sat for hours on the river and watched people as they walked along the river front. We saw young couples, mature couples, families, street entertainers, multitudes of dogs and a few Girl Scouts. I wondered about the stories of those couples and families. On Saturday, we took a tour-no Connie, no ghost hunting for us, and walked about 3000 miles. We watched our first rugby game in Forsyth Park, saw a bunch of Savannah College of Art and Design students, more dogs. I loved the squares, the city market, all of the stores. Mike fell in love with the candy stores and especially the pralines. We plan to go back and if I were rich instead of the epitome of sweetness and light, I wouldn't mind living there. I made the observation while there that I didn't see any jaywalkers, everyone at the crosswalks waited patiently until the light turned which was fascinating to me. Mike made the observation that we didn't see very many police cars or policemen. Savannah seems to be full of interesting stories.

As I was coming to work this a.m., I noticed a person in the car ahead of me apparently having some sort of fit. Then I realized they were just really into their music. I also saw people from out of town crossing 2 lanes of traffic trying to get into Ft. Jackson and blocking the road for everyone behind them. I also saw the people downtown, a man in a wheelchair (I made sure to watch until he crossed safely and was on the sidewalk), a lady that got out of her car at the stoplight to get something out of her trunk (what was so important I wonder). I also see people coming to my office and to the unemployment office across the street and wonder about their stories.

Sometimes I think about my personal story (from my perspective of course), and think it's not too bad.

Peace and love y'all!

I need help....

2009-04-17T10:47:00.002-04:00

Last night, Mike and I were watching CSI (the original), and the episode was about a murder at a Sci-Fi convention dealing with a Star Trekish type show. As I'm squealing like a complete fangirl when Hodges says "He's dead Jim", Mike looks at me and tells me I'm weird. What? Star Trek is one of the greatest TV series of all time! William Shatner talking...like....this, Leonard Nimoy and all his logicalness, the contentiousness of Bones? Come on, work with me here! I also found out that my DH has NEVER watched Star Trek---any of the series or movies! Coming from a long line of Sci-Fi readers and watchers, this almost sent me over the edge. I could not believe that my hubby, the love of my life and father of my children has never seen one single solitary episode of Trek, DSN, Voyager, TNG, Enterprise, or the movies. The Horror!!! Now, would I dress up like a character? No. Some people are just a bit odd about things like that, but if, by chance there's an old episode on the TV on a Saturday, I'll sit down and watch.

I was also thinking this a.m. about other things that I love. 80's music---Jump by Van Halen was playing this morning on the way in and you can't drive slow or quietly when that's playing. Mike and I have passed that love to our children, one of Kiersten's favorite songs is by a hair band-I'm so proud! Recently we watched the 100 Greatest one hit wonders of the 80's on VH1. I only caught the top 10, but I new every video and song. The Muppet Show---yes, I'm a frog/pig 'shipper. MASH---I've seen every single episode at least twice thanks to DVR and the Hallmark Channel (some more than twice). Vampires---Edward, and all the rest. I'll read any vampire book. Pride & Prejudice (the newer one thank you)---I have constant conversations with Crystal about the pros/cons of the Colin Firth/ Matthew Mcwhatever Mr. Darcy. 4 words my friends---walking through the mist! Goodness, there's so much more, but I think that's good for now. I think I'll go listen to my 80's CD and maybe get a vampire book (or two) to read while the boys are camping out this weekend.

What are your obsessions? Are you a Trekkie?

Peace and love y'all!

Did you know? And an update on the kiddos

2009-03-27T10:49:00.002-04:00

Hello all! As many of you know, I love useless information and have all sorts of crazy facts running around in my head. This is also why the Science Channel and Animal Planet are my 2 favorite channels, the shows on there are just chock full of interesting stuff. I'm thinking it's probably a good thing that I don't have the History Channel or we would all be in trouble. Anyway, I've been sucked into the black hole of How It's Made/ How They Do It shows along with Survivorman and Against the Elements. I do learn some really interesting stuff. Do I think that I could survive in the wilderness like Les Stroud on Survivorman? Only if the wilderness has a Holiday Inn.

However, it's fascinating to watch as Les survives for a week by himself with no food, no crew, no nothing! He would be a handy guy to have around if I ever got up the gumption to go hiking in the Canadian wilderness (which we all know would NEVER happen). I have learned that having a fire is the most important thing about surviving and that I can carry a fire from place to place by placing an ember in some tinder and rolling it in bark. Then, when I get to my destination, unroll and blow on the ember a little bit, instant fire!

Anyway, the purpose of this post is to share with y'all a few interesting pieces of information that I've found out lately and have been rattling around in my head.

Did you know that glass is not classified as a solid? It's actually a super cooled liquid! Don't ask me why it's classified as that, I don't know, something about the molecules not being stable.

Did you know that a slushy machine keeps the slushy stuff at 27 degrees? It doesn't freeze because the sugar molecules in the slushy mix get in the way of the water molecules bonding to form ice. Thus, slushy. Isn't that the neatest thing?

Did you know that the bowhead whale has the largest mouth in the animal kingdom? Did you know that the huge mountain range in the ocean dwarfs mountain ranges on land put together?

Fascinating stuff! Anyway, a quick update on the kiddos as well. Kiersten has been nominated to go to Europe by her science teacher. Yes, you read correctly, EUROPE!!! Don't know if she'll be picked or if she is, if she will go-that's a bit expensive and far away. Jared has a serious entrepreneurial (I think I spelled that correctly) streak. He and a friend of his are drawing comic books to sell to their classmates. They're about 4 uncommon superheros (Super Grandpa, some lightening guy, a cow lady and somebody else I can't remember off the top of my head). The cow lady has a "sonic moo" which incapacitates evil foes. Funny! My kids are great and I am blessed to be their mom.

That's about it for this week. Peace and love y'all!

Can you speak Southern?

2009-03-24T11:54:00.002-04:00

When I married my DH, little did I know that I was in for constant ribbing about my southern accent. You see, Mike comes from a long line of Westerners (on his dad's side) with a solitary Southern belle as his mom. Thus, the crazy western accent ended up being his accent. People are constantly amazed that we genteel southern belles can draw out a relatively simple one syllable word (take for instance jail) and turn it into a multi-syllable word that might go on for a few seconds (say it as I write it: Jayyyyy-ellll).

So, for all of y'all that don't speak Southern, I'm writing just a few entries for the Southern dictionary, so here goes------

y'all- noun, a group of people. As in: I love y'all. Also can be "all y'all" which means a bigger group of people. As in I love all y'all.

yonder-noun, over there. As in: I'm going over yonder.

fixin'-noun or verb. Noun usage: I like fried chicken with fixin's. Used in this context (which confused Mike greatly upon first hearing it) it means side dishes like mashed potatoes and gravy, corn, rice, whatever. Verb usage: I'm fixin' to get up. Used in this context means getting ready to do something.

cut-verb. Oh silly girl you say I know what cut means! Oh ho!!! Cut in Southern means turn on, i.e. cut on the light. Also can be used in the phrase "cut that out" which means stop doing that or you're going to get hurt.

Bless her/his/their heart(s)-I've explained this to my cousin and western sister Stephanie that you can say whatever about whomever and all is forgiven if you say "bless her heart" right after it. An example from long ago, the following statement was actually heard by myself at some time in the distant past (I'm typing like it sounds): I cain't beleeeeve she's waring wite shoos after Labor Daaay. Don't she no any bedderrrr? Bless her heart.

Bar-B-Q-This term is still a source of endless bickering after 11 years of marriage. To me, BBQ is what you eat, depending on where you're from it could be mustard, ketchup or vinegar based and it's usually on ribs. When Mike says Bar-B-Q, he means that thing that is outside of our house that you cook on, commonly called a grill.

crick-To me, a crick is something in your neck whenever you sleep wrong. To my wonderful DH, a crick is a trickling stream of water that you can fish in (I call that a creek).

I know that there are all sorts of little Southern words and phrases that I'm forgetting, but there's only so much room and time. The longer that Mike has lived down here, his western accent has faded and he's taking on a bit of a Southern accent (or so his family says-I can't tell).

It's funny that my accent gets worse when I'm tired (pronounced t-eye-ered) or have been at my granny's or with Crystal. Other than that, what accent are you talking about?

Peace and love y'all!

Me v. The Jeans

2009-03-03T09:00:00.002-05:00

Dear Reader,
I have been looking for the perfect pair of jeans for some time now and have decided that they don't exist. After Sally chewed a hole in my favorite relaxed fit jeans, I had to go find another pair to go with my "going out" jeans. After searching long and hard, I thought I had found the perfect pair of Levi's. Sure, they were too long and if you tugged real hard they might just slide down, but who cares? So I bought two and washed one pair to try them out. Well, they're still too long (I was hoping I would grow a few inches but no) which doesn't bother me, but they're still just a tad loose. So, after much debate with myself, I'm going to take the second pair back.

My friend at work were discussing this the other day at lunch. There is no such thing as the perfect pair of jeans anymore, especially if you don't want to pay triple digits for denim. I'm partial to Levi's myself (let's face it, they just make my butt look better) but will wear whatever I can find. How many pairs did I try on and make Mike and Jared sit through? At least 10 to find one pair that didn't really fit (but made my butt look cute) and by that time both of them had started looking a little harassed and Jared was making let's go noises.

So, to vent- here is my list of gripes having to do with denim

-everything is too freaking long. We are not all 5'8". In fact the average American woman is quite a bit shorter. If it's a "regular" or "medium" length, make them just a few inches longer than the national height average, that's fine. The ones that I bought-almost 3 inches too long and you can't hem those! What do you do? Don't tell me to buy short length, doesn't work because my legs are actually too long and I have a normal length torso. I just happen to be vertically challenged.

-why can't jeans come in half sizes? I'm too big for this size but then the next size falls off. Or how about this sizing: Size I'm feeling cute and tiny today. Size I'm feeling pretty normal today. Size I'm feeling big as a dadgum elephant but these better make my butt look good. I think that would be wonderful!

-If I wanted to look like I had been rolling around a mechanic's greasy floor, that's what I would do. I also don't want my jeans to look dirty. Again, If I wanted jeans with brown stuff on them, I would roll in the dirt. How about faded enough to look cool but not dirty and especially not that whole dark dark blue and stiff that we all know and love from the first days of school when our parents still bought our clothes.

-Do not expect me to pay $50 or more for ripped up jeans that are "recycled". Recycled from whom? If I wanted ripped jeans, I would artfully rip them myself. But again, why am I going to pay $50 for something I'm going to tear up?

-The rise thing. I'm a mid-rise girl myself which means I like my jeans to sit just a little low. Not "hello look at my butt crack if I bend over" low, a classy low where everything stays where it should and there's no threat of being arrested for indecent exposure.

I am not a teenager any longer, I'll be 35 in about a week. I just want a pair of jeans that looks cool (not hoochie momma cool), is not too expensive, will actually fit right and makes my butt look great. Is that too much to ask?

If you have found the perfect pair of jeans, please let me know!

Peace and love y'all (and happy shopping)!

Holy Hannah!!! I got sucked in....

2009-02-27T14:20:00.002-05:00

Yes readers, I've signed up in Facebook. Why you ask? A good question and I don't really have a good answer other than why not. Well, I'll tell you why not---it's somewhat addictive and I sit there looking at the page that comes up with so and so did this to whomever and I think to myself: Self, you're confuzzled "and &^$#" (shoutout to Michelle B). I know that I can figure this whole thing out (hopefully) with time and a great deal of patience on my part.

What else has happened this week?

Let's see, Mike is working to put in our new a/c and heating unit, should be finished today (we're crossing all our appendages) since there's apparently a chance of some snow on Sunday. Snow you say? Yes. It's supposed to be 75 today and snow on Sunday. Welcome to South Carolina-home of wacky weather. The kids received interims this week and everything was okay, Jared still has a D in math but we're working on it, it's closer to a C than it used to be. There were robins all over my yard this morning and Sally the wonder puppy had a fit trying to chase them. Speedy she may be but she can't fly. Speaking of Sally, I've scheduled her appt to be "fixed" so we're moving forward from the trauma that was doggie diapers. Mike and I have been talking about our potential garden(I'm becoming countrified, chickens and a garden, the horror!) and he's probably a little more excited about it than I am, which is no real surprise. I've got to get my hair chopped again this weekend since I'm getting way too shaggy so that makes me happy.

Well, I think I've done just about all the damage I can do here. I think I'll mosey on over to Facebook and see what I can figure out.

Peace and love y'all

Commercials

2009-02-25T09:27:00.004-05:00

This morning, I was watching the Today show and I saw just about the stupidest commercial ever. I actually went on Youtube to find so I can (hopefully) post it for your enjoyment. As some of you may know, I'm not the best of morning people, I prefer silence to singing and dancing. If I happened to be around these people, I might have to do something illegal, like shoot them. (See example 1 below)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WMUyKx1pWc

But, as I was thinking about all the crap that we as people watch on TV, I started thinking about the commercials, those things that people put in the middle of a perfectly good episode of TV watching just when it's getting good. Since we got Dish and the DVR, it's very hard for us to watch commercials on "live TV". Mike has started relying on the fast forward button quite a lot and gets a tad peeved when it won't skip the commercials. However, one of the favorite commercials in our house, guaranteed to make us all laugh until our sides hurt is also below (see example 2). This is the commercial that Mike and Jared will watch over and over and over and laugh hysterically every single time. It is pretty funny and just finding it this a.m. brightened my day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkvI4NoUX6E

After much trying, couldn't get blogger to upload the videos, so please copy and paste the links to your browser. I'm so happy to be back blogging! I missed you so!

Peace and love y'all!

Here I am!!!

2009-02-23T14:05:00.002-05:00

Hello all,
I have not been ignoring you, it's been very, very, very busy the last few weeks. I've barely had time to do some of my own work here at the second homestead (work) while I've been "on assignment". That just sounds better than "doing something stupid that no one is going to look at" doesn't it? So, here's a rundown of my month, depressed at the beginning of the month (which I wrote about), yes I'm better, thank you for asking. The mood picked up a little and then we lost a young man in our ward to a serious illness which saddened me greatly and made me contemplate the whole life/death issue for a while. What a blessing it is know that this special young man is in a better place where there is no pain and he can run and swim and do things that he was never able to do on this earth. His parents are an example of faith in Heavenly Father's plan that they can laugh and talk about him and know that they will see him again.

We've had science projects and algebra problems and doggie issues (oh my!). Let's just say this about the latter, I've never had a girl dog and never expected to find myself and my DH on a date night buying doggie diapers. I'll leave it at that. I try to erase traumatic experiences from my mind. Jared has been sick but is on the mend, I've been sick (again) but also on the mend. Kiersten is working on another book and Mike is busily putting together our new heating and a/c unit (pays to know someone in the business-we're getting labor for free!).

Other than that, it's been a regular month.

Peace and love y'all!

The light will come...

2009-02-04T12:17:00.002-05:00

Hello all,
The last week or so I've been down in a funk and I don't know why. This isn't really a norm for me, usually I'm pretty much on an even keel as far as my emotional well being goes. However, lately, I've been sad off and on with longer periods of sadness, and irritated easily by silly things like people breathing, talking and laughing. So, I thought I would do a thankful post to remind myself of my blessings, which are too numerous to really count.

-My DH. He's such a sweetie. I know he loves me and appreciates me and the things that I do. He also gives the best hugs and makes me feel safe.

-Kiersten. She is what her grandma Breta would call "A marvelous work and a wonder". I marvel that this person is half of me and she cracks me up with her silliness and enlightens me with things she comes up with.

-Jared. He's such a special kid. He's never met a stranger and people just love him. He's also the best helper a mom could have and has the best laugh ever heard.

-Friends. I'm thankful for my friends that I talk to on a daily basis-by email, text (on their side, I don't know how) or on the phone. I'm bound to find something to laugh at even when I feel like crying.

-A job. At this time when hundreds of thousands of people are being told that they have no job, my job is running full steam ahead and I am a necessary part of what my department does.

At the women's conference last Saturday, one of the sisters putting the program on was very frank and honest about her battle with depression and her phrase was "the light will come", whether it's spiritual sunlight from Heavenly Father or just a little lightbulb from a friend with a funny story, I know that the light will come. Sometimes it just takes a little longer to reach me.
I've got to get back to work, but thanks for reading.

Peace and love y'all!

Did you hear the one about grape juice?

2009-01-27T09:35:00.003-05:00

Last night I made it a point to put both of the children to bed early (8ish). Kiersten, who likes to think she's grown, usually stays up until about 9 and the conversation between the two of us went something that sounded like this.....

Me (in my patient mom voice): Kiersten, I think you need to go bed early tonight.

Kiersten: No I don't. I'm perfectly awake. ( This is after I caught her yawning and almost snoozing on the couch).

Me: I understand that. However, you've been at your dad's all weekend .......

Kiersten: It's against the rules to go to bed early.

Me: Whose rules?

Kiersten: Mine.

Me: Apparently you didn't get the memo that only me and your daddy could make the rules, let me get you a copy of that. Plus, you have purple shadow under your eyes.

Kiersten: I drank some grape juice today.

Me: Pardon?

Kiersten: Didn't you know that if you drink grape juice, you have purple shadows under your eyes? There's this new study out that says that somewhere.

Me: Really now?

Kiersten: Yes. It says if you drink the purple grape juice, the color comes up to your eyes and it looks like you're tired even though you're really not.

Me: Uh huh. I'll have to look that up tomorrow. In to bed with you....

Fast forward to this morning, the grape juice drinker is standing in the hallway looking sullen. When asked what is wrong, the response is "I'm tired".

Me (in the wise mommy voice): Well scooter, you went to bed early last night and actually went to sleep because I checked on you and you were zonked.

Kiersten: I guess it wasn't the grape juice.

Me: No my love, it wasn't the grape juice, but you get an A+ for effort.

By the way, she finished her book and is editing it now. Somedays she cracks me up.

Peace and love y'all!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

2009-01-20T14:37:00.002-05:00

Greetings all you frozen people! I'm writing from the coziness of my office after fighting my way into downtown Cola town, amidst snow drifts, blowing snow, icicles on trees three feet long and shortages of bread and milk. Yes, I'm being silly. However, we did have a little bit of snow today (which accounts for the shortages of bread and milk) and a snow day for the children. Yesterday afternoon, Mike called all excited saying that he had heard on the radio that we were going to get 5 INCHES OF SNOW!!!! Call the National Guard, bring in the firewood and don't forget to go get bread and milk!

School was called off about 6 p.m. (they don't believe in taking chances I guess) and there was much rejoicing in my home. I was hoping that we would get more than a dusting so that I could stay at home and watch the Inauguration, but no such luck, a 2 hour delay was all we got. I did get to watch some of the festivities in D.C. thanks to MSN streaming live (shhh! don't tell!) and since the boss man is away at court in Dillon, I'm caught up.

A morning funny from Jared (who inherited a sense of the dramatic from somewhere): The little man comes into my bedroom this morning while I am watching tv trying to figure out if I'm working or not. He tells me, mom, it's snowing outside! I have to go play in it! It's a winter miracle!!! The miracle in that sentence is pronounced MEEERACLE. He then proceeds to dress in five seconds flat and off into the yard he goes. The real winter miracle is getting him into regular clothes that fast. If we're not going anywhere, it's a usual occurrence for him to stay in his jammies all day.

If you live in sunny SC, what did you do during "the winter storm of 2009?" That's really a bunch of bull-it was a light dusting that didn't stick, but I bet you can't find bread or milk anywhere.

Peace and love y'all!

First real thought for this year's blog

2009-01-14T15:09:00.002-05:00

Hello all,
I've been trying and trying and trying to come up with something profound to write about as the first "real" blogpost for the year. Connie and Jayne have these words to live by for the year and I was thinking about doing that, but then I couldn't figure out just one word. So, as I was sitting here looking at my quotes, one jumped out at me :

"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind."
— Dr. Seuss

I thought to myself--- Self, this is what you need to be doing this year. I've found that some of the time, I don't say what I feel when people ask me about my thoughts. Yes, this is hard to believe knowing who my mother is, but it happens.

So, this year, my goal is to be who I REALLY am (strangeness and all) and say what I feel. Because like the good Doctor says, those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind (probably because they already know how strange I am).

Peace and love y'all!

Lifting my head...

2009-01-12T13:08:00.002-05:00

Hello all,
Yes, I'm still alive and well, although the last month has been absolutely crazy. Quick report, yes, we made it through Christmas, everyone got what they wanted. Work has been out of control, it's finally settling down again. I've been knitting like a crazy person (b/c of work) and finished a whole bunch of stuff. I'll be posting more often now that I've gotten some time. It's all good.

peace and love y'all!

Sounds of the Season....

2008-12-11T09:24:00.002-05:00

This morning on the ride in to work, one of the local radio stations announced "This is a SOUND OF THE SEASON!!!" meaning that a carol of some sort was coming up. Now, I normally like carols of all sorts, the instrumentals, the vocals, rocking TSO and ethereal Celtic Woman. The DH on the other hand gets highly irritated when people take a well known carol, say Silent Night, and "jazzify" it up in some way. You know of what I speak: the crazy arrangements and sometimes even crazier singing.

So, I thought back about some of the sounds of the season that may have been heard in my house since we put up the tree on Saturday. Here goes

-Children fighting trying to get the Christmas stuff out of the attic followed closely by the sound of the DH telling them "If you work as a team it wouldn't be so hard."

-The thunk of the Christmas tree box hitting the floor where I dropped the bottom (oops).

-The rustle of the limbs of said Christmas tree (we have a 7.5 foot prelit-white lights-it's a big tree) as the children and I set up the tree in it's itty bitty stand. The organizationers of the D-Day Invasion have nothing on me trying to get Jared to lift his side and Kiersten to move forward.

-Again the rustle of limbs as they whack me in the face when I pull them down and "fluff" and the ensuing murmuring (with some bad words thrown in) from me. I get a picture of the tree in the Charlie Brown cartoons that always eats the kite except the tree is eating me.

-Another bunch of murmuring from me while I try to find all the plugs for the stupid tree. Finally, I go to Mike who is cooking dinner and say "I can't find the other plug in for that side of the tree, it looks crazy with lights only on one side and why don't they put a longer cord in the stupid thing?! Could you please deal with it after dinner?" He looks upon me with that sweet, patient look and probably sees a crazed lunatic with her hair standing on end and scratches from the limbs mentioned before and takes pity on me. I get the sweet patient look a lot during the holidays.

-As we listen to TSO, the kiddies decorate the tree with their own ornaments. Of course, this year the bottom foot of our tree is undecorated to keep temptation from Sally the wonder dog. There isn't any fussing amongst the family, just looking at the pictures in some of the ornaments and reminiscing about how chubby Jared was as a baby or how much Kiersten has changed.

What other things do I listen for at Christmas? Bells, Christmas movies (although I don't watch them and I hate It's a Wonderful Life. Yes, I know, it's sacrilege to hate that movie but I just don't like it). Mike absolutely howling with laughter watching Christmas Vacation and then proceeding to quote the entire movie right along with the actors. Like he says, everything can relate to Christmas Vacation. Mike telling me at 3 a.m. Christmas morning "let's get the kids up, come on, PLEASE!!!!" The patter of feet not so little anymore on Christmas morning. The sound of hours of wrapping in just the perfect paper being ripped to shreds by eager children. Big and little boys alike putting together toys and the big boys "trying it out" before the little guys can play with it. The sounds of family gathered at mom's on Christmas Day and the madness that ensues. We will be missing some this year and it will seem empty without the younger Ervins there.

What are your favorite sounds of the season?

Peace and love y'all!

Who am I?

2008-12-05T12:06:00.002-05:00

I've found myself lately really thinking about who I am as a person, an individual. It all started when I asked DH the other day why he called me "my wife" when he was talking to someone that we both know fairly well. This puzzled me, why doesn't he just say Kristi did such and such? DH's answer was that sometimes he was talking to someone that didn't know my name and it's just easier to say "my wife" rather than explain who I am and it has become a habit. I've also noticed other men that do this and want to ask them the same question but refrain. I've also gotten into the habit of introducing myself as whatever kids mom I need to be in that situation. It's irritating.

Who am I? To the world apparently I'm Joe and Vicki's daughter, Mike's wife, the kids' mom, Anita's SIL. Someone stopped me at church a few weeks ago and said to me "Hey, you're back!". No, I never left, that would be my brother's family. This is a person that has known me for years. This wasn't the first time they had made a comment about me leaving and/or coming back. Am I so forgetable? I know that I'm shy and quiet and fairly low maintenance so I'm overlooked a bit (not that I mind most of the time), and that's part of who I am but not everything.

Who am I? To me, I love being a wife and a mom and that is a major part of my life at this time. However, I'm also a person who has all sorts of interests. I love to read. I'm a beginning knitter. I love to learn stuff. I long to travel. I have a horrible temper. Christmas isn't my favorite holiday (Thanksgiving is). I have a silly sense of humor. I have crazy stuff that runs through my head almost all of the time so if you say something to me and I just get a silly smile, it's usually a stray thought that's gone through my head that I find amusing. I dream in color sometimes. I love to cook. I like Impressionist Art. I'm not one for a lot of drama, it's just too tiring. I love naps. I would love to go back to school and learn Russian and Hebrew and more about Art History. I think Russian history is fascinating. I can't do 7th grade math. I like to learn about other religions. I want to go to Italy just to look at the art and go to The Vatican. I wanted to work for a major museum before my life got a tad sidetracked.

What's the point of this? I'm saying sometimes we get lost in our roles as someone else's whatever (parent, child, wife, husband, daughter) that we lose who we are as individuals. Am I suddenly going to become some drama requiring, it's all about me type person? No, that's not who I am. I am me.

I was thinking over this post while I was knitting at lunch (it's a great destresser, as DFC says, it's cheaper than therapy) and I figured out that the people that matter in my life know who I am and that's fine with me. As for the others that don't really know me as me, just an extension of someone else, maybe eventually they'll learn who I am and I'll get to know them.

Peace and love y'all!

Finishing Up (Better late than never)

2008-12-01T14:06:00.002-05:00

Well all, it's been a hectic but fulfilling November. I'm going to finish up the thankful posts today (only one day late) and then we'll move to something else. This final list has been rolling around for the last few days but I've just gotten a spare moment. So, here goes the final 9 things I'm thankful for....

1. Extended family. After spending Turkey day with a bunch of people that I only get to see a few times a year, I'm so thankful for all of them. From the oldest member of our family to the almost youngest (not counting Connor), we're a wacky kind of family. And of course, the craziest of all, cousin William who thinks I'm just the best thing ever (who am I to tell him I'm not?). Also included in that whole crazy mess is Mike's family and Kiersten's extended family. I love them all.

2. A car. My car is currently in the shop being diagnosed with something horrid so we're borrowing dad's "going to the flea market" van. It's hard to look stylish in the van, but, I'm grateful to have wheels to take us places and heat.

3. Speaking of heat... I hate the cold. I'm thankful for heat in my home, my car and my little electric blanket that Mike harasses me to turn on.

4. Legs. I was thinking that I'm thankful for my legs. I can walk, run, skip, hop and sometimes cartwheel (don't ask to see it-it's not pretty) all because of my legs. Sometimes you take the most mundane things for granted.

5. Prayer. I'm so thankful that I can speak with my Father in Heaven whenever, however and about whatever I choose. His line is never busy and he always listens to me. He knows what I need before I can ask for it, but I do need to ask. Sometimes He's going to tell me yes, sometimes He's going to tell me no or not right now, but He always has my best interests in mind and an eternal perspective.

6. A job. I love my job and I'm thankful to have it. I deal with lots of people in the safety of an office. I work for and with great people. At this time when so many people are jobless, I'm jobful.

7. Jesus Christ. I'm thankful that He took upon Himself my sins, that he suffered so that I wouldn't have to. He is my advocate, my elder brother, my friend. I can't go through the holidays without reflecting on His birth, resurrection and the Atonement.

8. Animal Planet. I love Animal Planet, it's a fountain of knowledge for useless facts. Who knew that primates can't swim because their bones are heavy and they have very little fat? Found out on Animal Planet. It feeds my dog training need (thank you Victoria Stillwell) and gives me all sorts of stuff to talk about with Jared.

9. You. I am thankful for all of you. Whether you be family, friends or occasional passersby, thank you for stopping by my little part of cyberspace.

Well, I think that's it. This has been an interesting little exercise, thinking of things to be thankful for. Sometimes they were serious, sometimes mundane but it really made me think.

Peace and love y'all!

And another one....

2008-11-21T12:08:00.002-05:00

Today I'm thankful for books. OH NO!!! you say, you've already used that one. Nope. That was the ability to read back on Monday. Today I'm thankful for the things that I do read. I love the smell of books, bookstores and libraries. Mike thinks I'm just a tad off but he doesn't get it. Think about it, in a book you can learn fascinating facts, learn about a person or put yourself into a novel. This kind of ties in with what I'm doing this weekend-going to see the movie Twilight. BFF Crystal (the fellow ESAL) told me I don't know how long ago-I've got these books that you need to read, you'll love them. As I love all things vampirish, I decided to give it a whirl and loved them. BFF Crystal, DF Connie, Kiersten and I stood in line in August to get the 4th book in the series and tonight I'm going to go see the movie of the 1st book.

What do I read you ask? Everything! I love the smell of a new book, the feel of the pages and the sound of the spine bending (I'm terrible, I tend to break the spines of my books so that they will lay flat) and the fact that I tend to come away from reading a book with blackened fingers from the ink. I will walk into a bookstore or library, especially a used book store and just stand in the doorway and smell the loveliness that is the smell of old books. Mike says it smells like dust and maybe mold but what does he know?

So, that's it for today. To all of you going to see Twilight this weekend, good luck and hope you enjoy the movie. To all the rest of you, you might want to pick up a book and see where it takes you.

Connie, I mentioned your name, do I get a prize?

Peace and love y'all!

Here we go for today....

2008-11-20T13:27:00.002-05:00

I'm thankful today for a drama free life. You know how some people and families are constantly surrounded by some crisis or drama? Not me thank the heavens. Mike and I were discussing this fact a few weeks ago and we both came to the conclusion that our steady, somewhat boring lives were better than crazy ones. I had an acquaintance once that seemed to attract drama. Her family was crazy, her kids were always in trouble, there was always something going on in her life that would classify as "drama". I thought she must be so tired having to keep up with all of that craziness. Now, I'm not saying that sometimes we don't have a little bit of drama, but usually it's not bad and we move quickly back into our normal pattern.

So, that's the thankful post for today. I'm knocking on wood as I'm writing it that it won't come up and bite me in the butt later.

Peace and love y'all!

Today's Thankful Post

2008-11-19T12:13:00.002-05:00

Today I am thankful for food. I LOVE food! One of the best eating holidays is coming up next week and I cannot WAIT! I love turkey and dressing, deviled eggs, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, green beans...the list of Thanksgiving food sure to induce a coma goes on and on and on.

What brought this to my mind was an article I read yesterday about people in Haiti having no food and the world food shortage. I read about mothers having to decide which child to feed knowing that a child may not live because of hunger. It also brought out the fact that the USA eats more meat than any other country, and because other countries are starting to follow our example it's causing a problem because those cows eat a lot of grain or whatever which doesn't get made into bread. I'm probably oversimplifying the problem but I can't find the article so I can't cut and paste. But anyway...

The Word of Wisdom in D & C Section 89 states:

10 And again, verily I say unto you, all wholesome herbs God hath ordained for the constitution, nature, and use of man—
11 Every herb in the season thereof, and every fruit in the season thereof; all these to be used with prudence and thanksgiving.
12 Yea, flesh also of beasts and of the fowls of the air, I, the Lord, have ordained for the use of man with thanksgiving; nevertheless they are to be used sparingly;
13 And it is pleasing unto me that they should not be used, only in times of winter, or of cold, or famine.
14 All grain is ordained for the use of man and of beasts, to be the staff of life, not only for man but for the beasts of the field, and the fowls of heaven, and all wild animals that run or creep on the earth;
15 And these hath God made for the use of man only in times of famine and excess of hunger.

Interesting huh? I'm thinking that the whole sparingly thing is the point. I'm not looking to get into a deep doctrinal discussion about vegetarianism and whatnot, I like a good burger or steak as much as anybody, but He tells us to eat meat sparingly.

That being said, I'm off to eat lunch and dream of sweet potatoes like my granny makes and mac and cheese made by my cousin (YUMMY!)

Peace and love y'all!

I am Thankful for....Part 2

2008-11-18T11:07:00.002-05:00

Let's see, what am I thankful for today?

1. The deer that Mike ambushed and shot last night. You deer season widows will understand. I feel sorry for Bambi's daddy, but happy that Mike finally got a deer. That means he'll be home a good bit more (woohoo!).

2. Agency (as in freedom to make our choices). One of the great parts of our Heavenly Father's plan is our ability to choose our own way-good, bad or ugly. We make bad choices and have to deal with the consequences of our actions. We make good choices and receive blessings. It's simple, but very important.

3. The Church. Who would have thought that a boy prophet that everyone thought was loony would establish a church that would grow to however millions of members in all different parts of the world? This is my testimony, to be added to millions of others, I know it's true, I'm blessed by its teachings.

4. Kiersten. I'm thankful for the baby girl, she'll ever know how much. She brought light into my life at a time of overwhelming darkness and although we sometimes bicker, she's a wonderful child. She's talented and funny and smart and wise beyond her years. She's had to grow up in a different way than most of her friends, but she adapted well. I just look at her sometimes and feel this overwhelming sense of love for this precious angel.

5. Jared. He is the most helpful child I've ever been around. He is so funny, I laugh constantly. He's also my hugger, he gives the very best hugs and seems to know exactly when to say "mom, do you need a hug?". He loves to build things and learn stuff (just not in school). He is more outgoing than his sister, he never met a stranger and people just love him. He's also really good with younger kids. He's his dad in miniature.

6. Grass. Not to get too serious here, but fluffy green grass in the springtime that you can walk barefoot in without hurting yourself. I long for fluffy grass, but alas, I have regular everyday grass that turns into spikes if it gets dry.

7. Friends. I have great friends all over the place. It's funny that some of the friends that I thought would always be around have fallen by the wayside, but others have come in to take their places and my life is made richer by knowing them.

8. Mike. I can't leave my best friend out. He will never know how much I love him. I've loved him forever and will continue to love him through eternity. He puts up with my moods (they are many and varied) and my silliness. I feel somewhat incomplete without him. I'm moving into cheese territory so I'll move on.

I think that brings me up to date. Today is the 18th, so I'm on track. Today was a tad more serious than I thought it would be, but some days are just like that.

Peace and love y'all!

I am Thankful for...

2008-11-17T08:53:00.002-05:00

I've finally gathered my thoughts (as much as they can be gathered) and realized that everything floating around in my head was an expression of thankfulness. So, what I thought I would do was do one post a day about something I am thankful for. It may be just one line or an entire book, but that's what I'm thinking. So, since I have 17 days to catch up on, here are a few things I'm thankful for in no particular order.

1. Primary programs. We had ours yesterday and it fills me with joy to watch the children sing their songs and do their parts.

2. Hunter B. I am thankful for Hunter B. because he reminded me yesterday of the joy of a 3 year old boy and brought just a bit of that joy to the congregation.

3. Feet. This morning I drove in and I was thinking about the pioneers (we're listening to a Trek CD) and how they had to walk and walk and walk. I don't think I could have done that without some serious complaining. I would be the one saying "are we there yet?".

4. Music. Last night, there was an EQ singing thing at the church and it was GREAT!!! All of the performers were terrific. Billy Brittain played a guitar and harmonica AT THE SAME TIME and sang too! As someone that really has a problem walking and chewing gum at the same time, that's an amazing feat.

5. Sally the wonder puppy. She has brought so much laughter into our home, and after setting some rules out (no peeing or pooping on the floor, no pulling empty milk cartons into the middle of the living room), we're doing really well.

6. Work. At this time of high unemployment, I'm getting a lot of phone calls from people who have been out of work for a while and they're really in dire situations. I'm grateful that I have a steady job that pays okay and I enjoy.

7. Parents. My parents are great! I was reminded yesterday when Jimmy P. told his dad thank you for making the decision to be baptized. I realized that I would not have what I do if my parents had not made the same decision. I wouldn't have my DH, or my kids or even a complete family. So, thanks mom and dad for making the decision to be baptized .

8. Fingers. I do a lot of typing in my job and I'm pretty sure I couldn't even do my job without my fingers. If you've ever hurt one of your fingers bad enough to have it taken out of commission, you feel handicapped.

9. A car. Now, I diss the cruiser sometimes because it's not really MY car. But, I'm grateful to have it to get us where we need to go.

10. The ability to read. I LOVE to read. I'll read anything I can get my hands on, except for true crime, went through a bunch of those a few years ago and ended up freaking myself out and never wanting to go outside. I love the magic of a person's imagination, and how they put words together to make ideas. I think it's really cool when authors have these complex worlds and characters in their heads.

So there's a few, I'll catch up eventually.

Peace and love y'all!

Writers Block

2008-11-14T12:20:00.003-05:00

I am afflicted with writers block in some sort of funky way. I can think of things to write about but then forget them fairly quickly or they're rolling around in my head and I can't put the thoughts down the way I want them to read. It's frustrating. Just wanted to let you all know "I'm not dead yet" (love the Monty Python reference), just can't write.

Love and peace y'all.

I voted, did you?

2008-11-04T10:22:00.002-05:00

Today is Election Day, the end of the longest campaign season known to man and the beginning of a new era no matter who you voted for. This is truly a historical election, we will either have the first African American President or the first woman Vice President.

As I was standing in line this morning, I was thinking about the people all over this country who are going to the polls today. We are of all different backgrounds and places in our lives, but we have the power and the privilege to elect our leaders. All in all, the line wasn't horrible, only waited for about an hour and a half, but I think it's well worth my time. I remember when I turned 18, my parents told me that the first thing I had to do was register to vote so that's what I did. Every major election, you can find me standing in line somewhere waiting to vote. I told Mike this morning that I love to vote and I really do, I love that I have a voice in our political process. Granted, my candidate may not win, but I did my part.

So, tomorrow we'll have a new President, let's pray for him (whoever he is) that he will lead our country in the way it should go.

Peace and love y'all!

Thanks Christy! Now I have something to write....

2008-10-23T11:56:00.004-04:00

This week, there's been nothing special to write about and then on my morning perusal of the bloggerverse, I saw that I had been tagged by Christy P-maker of cute dresses and all around cool person. So, I'll tell you a quick story about the young man (Jared) before getting to the ABCs of moi. A few days ago, Jared and I were on our way home from Alona's and we were talking about Alona's dogs being preggers and discussing that we needed to get Miss Sally fixed so there wouldn't be any puppies at our house. My parents asked who the daddy doggie was, and he informed us in a very grown up and mature voice, "that Beenie, he's just a maniac about THAT sort of thing". All of the adults in the car quickly looked out of the windows and tried really hard not to laugh. This is also the child that told me the story of the Headless Horseman using the words "a.k.a Bram Bones" and told me yesterday he wanted to be "a fixer" so that when other people's stuff broke, he could get lots of money for fixing it. He's a joy!

Now, back to our regularly scheduled program: The ABCs of M-E.

A. Attached or single? Attached
B. Best friend? My husband - Mike
C. Cake or Pie? Cake - Yellow cake with chocolate frosting
D. Day of Choice? Saturday
E. Essential item? books. Lots and lots and lots of books
F. Favorite color? cranberry red
G. Gummy bears or worms? Bears, I like to bite their little heads off and then put one color head on a different colored body. Strange I know.
H. Hometown? Elgin
I. Indulgence? See E
J. January or July? July
K. Kids? Two
L. Life isn’t complete without? my family
M. Marriage date? March 14
N. Number of brothers and sisters? 1 younger brother
O. Oranges or apples? Oranges
P. Phobias? Too many to name, I'm a scaredy wimp.
Q. Quotes? My new favorite is: "Trouble knocked at the door, but, hearing laughter, hurried away"— Benjamin Franklin This is how I feel most days :"I make mistakes, I am out of control and at times hard to handle. But if you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best."— Marilyn Monroe And to answer your question, Mike does handle me at my worst.
R. Reasons to smile? My husband loves me!
S. Season of Choice? Spring
T. Tag some people: Connie, Crystal and Anita
U. Unknown fact about me? I'm an open book
V. Vegetable? I love most all veggies
W. Worst habit? I bite my fingernails
X. X-ray or Ultrasound? Neither, that would mean something was wrong.

Quick post

2008-10-14T11:19:00.003-04:00

Hello all,
Every Sunday on our way to church, we listen to some sort of church music (hoping to get everyone reverent and in the right frame of mind-sometimes it works, other times not so much). Anywho, lately we've been listening to the 2008 YW CD called Steadfast and Immovable. The music is always so moving, but this year, one of the songs hit me very hard and here are the lyrics from Jenny Phillips' website:

To Become Like Him
Jenny Phillips/Tyler Castleton

You look around you
And you wonder if you’ll measure up
In this world it seems you may never be enough
Don’t let anyone convince you that it’s true
So much beauty lives inside of you
And you are enough
Just look up

Remember you are greatest
When you walk with God
When His light is in your eyes
You are truly strong
You don’t have to prove your beauty
In the eyes of men
You are divine within
You were sent here to become like Him

When you’re uncertain
Of the place you hold and who you are inside
He will share with you your part in His design
Seek for His meekness
Seek to emulate His life
And you will feel Him always by your side
You have His love
Just look up

Chorus

Holiness, love, good works, mercy
To be like Him
Charity, hope, truth, and wisdom
To be like Him

Chorus

I think this is definitely inspired, not just for the youth and the YW, but for all of us. We are enough, we have our Heavenly Father's love, we don't have to prove anything to man, we are divine.

Just a thought---peace and love y'all

Well, it finally happened....

2008-10-10T12:24:00.002-04:00

Well all, it finally happened, I offended someone here at work. After the oh so nice email to me about my unprofessional and untactful comments about people at my desk, my heart sped to Indy 500 speed like it does when I get angry. Then I thought to myself, self, I'm not going to let this boil into something that is crazy, this is an office. So I wrote the offended back thanking her and telling her that I would be more mindful in the future. I hope this took the wind out of the sails of whatever is up her butt.

What did I do you ask? I have no clue. We were supposed to have a department picture (spur of the moment type thing apparently) and I don't know why everyone chose to come to my office to be around MY desk. I do know that I moved out of MY chair when people came behind me and touched me-those are big no nos in the Book of Kristi. My friend here explained that I do not like people behind me (even the boss won't stand behind me). Let me explain about that whole issue, most of you know that I don't like to be touched by people I don't know, I'm not a touchy feely person, never have been, never will. I don't like people hovering over me because it just bugs me to death. But I digress. After a bit, when it was determined that maybe another time would be better, some people had left, I was back at my desk doing my work and my phone rings. Everyone still in my office continues to talk at top volume and I tell them "Y'all!" and make go away motions w/ my hands. I can't hear or concentrate when people are talking and I'm already on the phone. Maybe this is what set her off, I don't know.

Do I care? Not really. Why am I writing about it? Because I had forgotten for a moment that people take offense at the smallest thing. MY DH heard something at stake conference one time like you choose to be offended. I may have lost my membership in the Epitome of Sweetness and Light club.

Whatever. I'm going to the fair tonight! I'm taking my camera so hopefully I'll get some interesting pictures of the craziness that is the fair. BTW, I got my hair chopped off a la Katie Holmes so maybe there will be a picture of me as well but I'm not promising anything.

Y'all have a great weekend, I'm ready for some fair food!

Peace and love y'all

It's the most wonderful time of the year...

2008-10-02T14:04:00.002-04:00

This morning was chaos. I was sleeping peacefully, just beginning to wake up when Sally jumped on my head (her oh so lovable way of telling me it's time to go outside), and I realized it was a little too bright to be the normal waking hour. I looked at the clock, 7:00!!!! After much running and stress, Jared and I finally headed out the front door only to go right back in and get jackets. Fall has arrived!! I love what I call the "in- between seasons", fall and spring. It's not too cold or too hot, just right for doing whatever you want to do. I love spring because everything turns green and the trees bloom and it starts getting warm. I love fall because the leaves turn and the weather starts getting cool.

So, here's my list of fall loves:

1. The state fair. Yes, I'm a people watcher and that's the best place to watch the wackos that inhabit the great state of SC. Also the fair food. I don't ride anything (hello, you put it up and take it down in a matter of days, it can't be all that safe), but I will eat until my little heart's content. This brings up a funny memory, Anita, do you remember the chicken gyro burps?

2. Sweaters. I LOVE sweaters, they are my most favorite article of clothing. If I could buy nothing but sweaters I would. Sweatshirts are nice too but I really have a thing for sweaters. This is a perfect segue into....

3. Boots. I'm rather short so any height is a good thing. I need a new pair of boots this year but will never be able to find any as comfy or cool as my old boots (and I got them on sale).

4. The colors. Red, orange, yellow, brown leaves. I'm always on the lookout for bright leaves. There's a tree in our little town that turns the most vibrant shade of yellow every year. I'm always so happy to see that tree when it turns. It's like the trees are giving us one last little cheer before going to sleep for the winter. I also look better in fall colors but that's another issue.

5. Hot chocolate. There is nothing better than getting a big mug of mint hot chocolate (with whipped cream) and a book and reading in front of the fire.

6. The stars. Once the haze of summer leaves, you can see the stars so much better at night. You really get a feeling of smallness when you think of all of the planets and stars that God created, it's a source of amazement to me.

7. General Conference. This used to be an excuse to stay home and do nothing on a Sunday (which feels kind of odd), but now as I grow older, it's a time to learn something and spend time with the family. Of course, we're horrible parents because we make the kids sit through at least one session which is torture to a certain 8 year old boy that I know whose first name starts with "J".

8. Blankets. I'm always cold so blankets are a plentiful thing in my house. I love to snuggle up in a blanket and watch tv, read, stare at nothing in particular.

9. The holidays. Halloween and Thanksgiving, gotta love them. Some people have issues with Halloween but I've always loved it because you get candy for minimal effort. We are always at the trunk or treat at church and all the kids have to do is keep going from car to car to car until the candy runs out. My kids then are on a sugar high until Easter (another high sugar holiday). Thanksgiving is my most favorite holiday of the year, again, very little stress but good things abound. It's a time for me to think back on the year, before the Christmas chaos begins and really appreciate what I've been blessed with. Also, going to granny's house: mac and cheese, chicken and dumplings, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, deviled eggs....I can't go on, I'm drooling.

What is your favorite thing about fall? Let me know.

Peace and love y'all!

A Good Mormon Wife? What the heck is that?

2008-09-26T10:21:00.002-04:00

This morning I was reading an entertaining article in the Deseret News by Orson Scott Card entitled A Bad Wife or just a Busy One (It's in the Mormon Times section if you want to take a look at it). Anyway, the general gist of it was that Mr. Card's wife had an issue with him taking his shirts to the cleaners because as a good Mormon wife, she was supposed to iron although she hated it. There's also talk about division of labor and stuff like that (read the article folks!). That got me to thinking-what exactly is a good Mormon wife? and am I one of those people?

Sometimes we think about a good Mormon wife and what she supposedly does. She bakes, knits, cleans, has a spotless house, does her visiting teaching every month (the first day), her geneology is up to date (from Adam), she volunteers at the school, hospital and library (every day), she's read the scriptures at least twice this year (all 4 standard works), her husband comes home to a four course meal and her children are always polite, clean and on their way to being the next Bill Gates or Nobel Prize winner. That must be tiring. I need a nap.

From me, you will get a blank stare when you ask who my great great great grandmother on my father's side is (dad who is it?). I also laugh if someone asks me if I sew or bake my own cakes and cookies or if my oh so delicious brownies are "home made". My brownies, by the way are home made, I make them at home from a Duncan Hines mix, my idea of darning socks is to look at the hole in them and say "Darn!" if not something else better left untyped, sewing is something that I have never got the hang of (I've never really tried, it just seems cheaper to go buy something). When Mike and I got married, we had a deal that he would do the yard work, the house work and everything else if I changed poopy diapers. That deal worked really well until Jared was potty trained, now I have to actually do some stuff that I don't like doing, like housework. Mike still does the bulk of the cleaning, I'm more of a "picker-upper". However, he doesn't do the homework with the kids, that's my job. I cook and draft him to wash dishes. He cuts the yard and I actually don't do anything with it other than say "honey, the yard looks really great, good job!". I am also the supreme planner, scheduler and kid taker and picker upper. Ask me what the kids or Mike has going on and I can tell you the rough schedule until the end of the year (including the holiday schedule and who will have Kiersten on Christmas Eve this year).

Where are you going with this Kristi you ask? This is where I'm going: We as LDS women sometimes put too much pressure on ourselves to be "perfect". We all have different strengths and weaknesses. We need to celebrate ourselves, not dwell on our failings. I think my mom keeps a spotless home, Connie has the most loveliest decorations, Christy P. makes the most beautiful dresses and outfits I've ever seen, Trish makes the most to die for desserts, I could go on and on with things that other women do that I don't. I'm glad they do them.

The answer to the question what is a good Mormon wife to me is: a woman who loves her family, does her best to do what she's supposed to and appreciates the gifts and talents of others. Am I one of those people? Although I may fall short at times, I'm trying and I think that's all the Lord asks of us.

That's my post for the week. Peace and love y'all!

A Few Pictures for this evening

2008-09-22T20:16:00.004-04:00

Hello all-

As Kiersten sits here reading over my shoulder, I'm finally able to post some pics of the dog and Jared in his new hunting garb.

This is Sally, our new addition. She is a sweet puppy who saved Mike and I from a particularly vicious roll of toilet paper last night. I woke up this a.m. to find the scattered remains by our bedroom door and a very tired Sally by the bed. When we come home, it's a dash to the door (for her to potty) and then jumping and playing. She seems to be getting along with Buster pretty well. She jumps on his head and he seems to tolerate her.

Jared and his new camo. He's actually more excited about hunting than he seems in this picture. I think he's just so tired here that he doesn't care. But you can't see him can you?

More later, that's all folks!

The Mother of All Posts

2008-09-11T10:04:00.002-04:00

Hello all! It's been forever and a day since I last posted, but it's been extremely busy here at work (those unemployed people just won't leave me alone!), and at home I don't feel like looking at a computer. BUT, the bossman is out today so I have a little bit of spare time to tell you all what I've been thinking lately and since I'm a listmaker, here's my list:

1. Saturday, Jayne, Connie and I and maybe some others are going to the beach to get inked (henna people!). I've been ruminating on what to get that is "me". We're also going to do some shopping and lunching. I'm so excited, I'm bouncing in my seat like a little kid. I get to go somewhere with cool females!!!! I am bummed that my fellow ESAL Crystal is not going to be able to come, but we'll figure something out between the two of us.

2. I was watching TV about the HADRON whatever over in Switzerland that they fired up this week to simulate the Big Bang. Detractors are saying that it's possible that the collision of the whatevers that are moving at the speed of light will cause a black hole that will swallow the Earth. I don't think that will happen but wouldn't that be a neat disaster movie?

3. The political conventions are over (thank goodness). I didn't watch them and I'm still undecided as to who to vote for. I'm more of a debate watcher. This leads to a rather largish gripe that I have which I will share with you. PEOPLE OF ALL POLITICAL PARTIES LISTEN TO ME!!! Please do not send me an avalanche of anti Obama, anti McCain junk. Some of the stuff that has hit my email box here and at home is actually bordering on offensive. I understand that all people have the right to their own opinion and it's a great country where we get to vote; however, you will not sway me with anti whoever crap. Vote the way you want and I'll vote the way I want. If we agree, great. If we don't, that's great too.

4. Back to the fun stuff---Kiersten got her expander put in her mouth last week. It's quite an interesting little gadget that I have to "turn" every day for 22 days. She is still having an issue talking, it sounds like she has a big jolly rancher in her mouth. But, it's getting better. We were laughing together at the orthodontist about the way she sounds and Dr. Green said we were having too much fun.

5. Jared told me this morning he "has allergy symptoms". He is learning new words and loves to use them. We were going through World Market on Saturday and he was saying "that's so awkward!" about everything. Sometimes he got the context right, sometimes not. He's also turning into a guilt tripper. It was funny during the Olympics, he would want us to record something and if we didn't, we would hear this little voice go "it's okay. I didn't REALLY need to watch the BMX stuff."

6. Hunting season is upon us, which means I will soon be a deer hunting widow. Actually I don't mind so much as it gives Mike a chance to do something that he loves (hang in a tree and kill defenseless animals), while teaching our son a necessary life skill (hang in a tree and kill defenseless animals). Mike bought Jared some really cool new camo last week when they went goose hunting. I know that they're supposed to look tough and tree like, but Jared just looked so darn cute! I have a picture somewhere that I'll post.

7. Kiersten asked me the other day when she could start wearing makeup and get contacts. Oh the horrors! My baby is growing up! Mike and I talked about it last night and we're going to tell her 13 for very little makeup (don't want her looking like a streetwalker), like mascara and lipstick. Then after the braces are off we'll talk about contacts again. She, of course, thinks it's a travesty that she has to wear braces and glasses at the same time (this was put into her head by her father and I would gleefully smack him for saying such, but I refrain. I am the epitome of sweetness and light).

8. Life in the Chesley household has changed in the past month, we added a new addition to our family, little Sally Mohawk the puppy. I have never had an inside dog so this is a totally new experience for me, getting up in the wee hours to take her outside to wee. (Do you think that's why they're called the "wee" hours? I made a funny!) Thanks a bunch Alona for letting us have the precious miss. Her favorite person in the whole family is of course, Mike. It's quite entertaining to watch her when he comes home. As soon as his wheels hit the driveway she is at the door waiting for him. When he comes in, she looks like she's having some sort of fit and if he leaves the room, the little lady follows him. I call her his shadow, they work on the computer together, watch Outdoor Channel together, and play with the laser pointer together.

Well, I guess that's all for now. I have been thinking more, but those are kind of deep and not much fun so I'll let them pass by for another day. So everyone, here's a brand new post for all of you who have been waiting for one. Hope you like it.

Peace and love y'all!

Beauty is....

2008-08-28T09:05:00.002-04:00

As many of you know by now, a few weeks ago Kiersten got braces. She will still need some stuff done on her mouth, but it's all good. After getting them on, she didn't want to look at them and looked at me a little teary and said " mommy, they're so UGLY!", it almost broke my heart. However, after reminding her that teeth do not the woman make and that she is truly beautiful inside and out, I started thinking about what true beauty is.

In the world's view, beautiful people are those stick thin model types with perfect hair, teeth and lose baby fat in a matter of weeks. Those people make me want to puke. There are few and far between "regular" or "plus sized" people that are considered beautiful in the eyes of the world. We look at the world's beautiful people and think, man, what I wouldn't give for her hair, butt, boobs, face, house, clothes, seemingly perfect children. I have this not so secret fascination with Katie Holmes' new hair style. However, we don't know what those people are like on the inside. I know of some truly beautiful people on the outside, that once you get to know them, they're ugly as those little Chinese Crested dogs. Their ugliness on the inside seeps out of their pores it seems and coats them on the outside to those of us that know them. I also know women that think of themselves as "regular" looking that are so beautiful on the inside, it radiates to the outside and people gravitate towards them.

After the chat with Kiersten, I really pondered about what true beauty is and I think I found just a few. You know that Coke commercial that ran during the Olympics that showed athletes receiving their gold medals, including some athletes from the Special Olympics? Those special spirits that the world may see as "different" were truly beautiful to me. A woman that goes through chemo and loses her hair but not her sense of humor is truly beautiful. A woman, though frail of body who is mighty in spirit and a testimony to the power of faith-that's true beauty. A man who pushes his father's wheelchair around on Sunday, through crowded church hallways without complaint-that's true beauty. A 12 year old girl with shiny new braces, who is funny, good hearted, and smart-that's true beauty.

What examples of true beauty have you seen lately?

Peace and love y'all!

Olympic thoughts

2008-08-18T11:05:00.007-04:00

Every four years, the Olympics come around, I get little to no sleep and learn a great deal about obscure sports. I also get to watch from the comfyness of my own home (usually my own bed) new world records set, amazing feats of stamina or lessons in endurance. I love to watch swimming, diving, gymnastics and my new favorite, beach volleyball. Some standout moments for me that I have either seen or read about:

Holy Fireworks Batman!!! I know that China is the birthplace of fireworks, but man, that was SOOOO cool. I understand that some of them might have been digitized for the viewing audience but still.

All those little boxes that moved around had people in them!!! I was amazed and sat on my couch for a few minutes in awe.

Unless you've been under a rock the past few weeks, you've heard about Mr. Phelps. In our house, we've been stressed out and totally blown away by this young man. The relay where Jason Lezak found some fountain of speed and blow past some Frenchman for the gold medal. The race that almost killed my poor hubby was the one just a few nights ago where Phelps won by 1/100th of a second.

Dara Torres-the 41 year old mom of a 2 year old in her 5th Olympics. What most impressed me about her is her sportsmanship. A few nights ago as we were watching a relay, one of another country's team had a swimsuit issue. Ms. Torres went over to the judge, told her and then the whole race waited for this swimmer to come back out and the race continued.

One question---why do the men get to wear shorts and t-shirts but the women wear those littlish bikinis? Anyway, I'm the newest fan of beach volleyball. It moves alot faster I think than regular volleyball (what can I say-short attention span).

A story that I read today really touched me and I had heard about it from some of the YW at Stake Conference yesterday. A marathoner ended up getting hamstring issues only a few miles from where the finish line was. Instead of pulling completely out of the race, she continued on. Of course, she didn't win, but she wasn't last either, she kept going even though she was in pain and had to stop several times. This is a true example of enduring to the end.

So everyone, if you see me around and I look a little bleary and tired, now you know the reason. The kids started school today so I'll report tomorrow hopefully.

Peace and love y'all!

Let Go and Let God

2008-08-13T15:13:00.002-04:00

This week I've been thinking a lot about my granny's favorite saying "let go and let God". As many of you know, I have a slight tendency to worry-actually if worrying was a sport at the Olympics, I would be on the podium in the gold medal spot. Years ago, when I was worrying myself sick about something, my granny told me to "let go and let God" and everything would be fine. Letting God was not a problem, letting go was a whole different thing.

I'm not only a worrier, I'm a control freak and I like things done a certain way (my way and in my time). However, I like to think that I'm getting better at doing both. I have learned that I can either worry myself into an early grave, or I can let go and let God handle it. I finally figured out that God was all knowing, all powerful, knew me and my strengths and weaknesses, even had a plan for me. He would know what I was going through and what needed to happen in my life. I, of course, needed to do my part by thinking up solutions and then taking them to the Lord because the answer to a problem wasn't just going to plop out of the sky on my head. I also figured it out that I can't control what other people do, think or feel as much as I wish I could because I'm always right :-) They have their agency as well and I have to let go and let God handle their problems or issues and if I "don't have a dog in that fight", I need to get away from the fight and let other people sort it out. Now, I'm not saying that I don't get upset about things (just ask Mike-he's privy to my rants about the injustices of the world on an almost daily basis), but I know that I can't change certain things. I can work toward a goal-giving money to certain groups that I support, paying my tithing and fast offering, vote, etc. but I can't MAKE certain things happen just because I want it. Believe me, if I could do that, everyone would have jobs, homes, world peace and enough to eat.

Also while I was thinking, some verses of scripture came to my mind that pop up when I am troubled or feel put upon or that I just can't deal with things anymore. I think about the Prophet Joseph Smith, in Liberty jail for months and in the Doctrine & Covenants (for all you non-LDS readers, it's a book of scripture written during our day dealing with modern day revelation), there are two sections that really hit home. Those are Sections 121 and 122 and here are the pertinent verses for me:

5 If thou art called to pass through tribulation; if thou art in perils among false brethren; if thou art in perils among robbers; if thou art in perils by land or by sea;
6 If thou art accused with all manner of false accusations; if thine enemies fall upon thee; if they tear thee from the society of thy father and mother and brethren and sisters; and if with a drawn sword thine enemies tear thee from the bosom of thy wife, and of thine offspring, and thine elder son, although but six years of age, shall cling to thy garments, and shall say, My father, my father, why can’t you stay with us? O, my father, what are the men going to do with you? and if then he shall be thrust from thee by the sword, and thou be dragged to prison, and thine enemies prowl around thee like wolves for the blood of the lamb;
7 And if thou shouldst be cast into the pit, or into the hands of murderers, and the sentence of death passed upon thee; if thou be cast into the deep; if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if fierce winds become thine enemy; if the heavens gather blackness, and all the elements combine to hedge up the way; and above all, if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good.
8 The Son of Man hath descended below them all. Art thou greater than he?
9 Therefore, hold on thy way, and the priesthood shall remain with thee; for their bounds are set, they cannot pass. Thy days are known, and thy years shall not be numbered less; therefore, fear not what man can do, for God shall be with you forever and ever.

I know that my trials are puny by comparison and if he can Let Go and Let God, then so can I.

Peace and love y'all!

Words to Live By....

2008-08-08T09:38:00.002-04:00

This morning I came in to work feeling blah and got this nifty email from Papa C (Mike's dad aka Steve). I thought I would share. Hope you all have a lovely weekend!

An unknown author wrote the following as “words to live by”. Hope you can use them or they can help in some way. If someone knows the author, let me know.

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
4. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.
8. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.
9. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
10. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
11. It's OK to let your children see you cry.
12. Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
13. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.
14. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.
15. Life is too short for long pity parties. Get busy living, or get busy dying.
16. You can get through anything if you stay put in today.
17. A writer writes. If you want to be a writer, write.
18. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else. 19. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.
20. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
21. Over prepare, then go with the flow.
22. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.
23. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
24. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: 'In five years, will this matter?'
25. Always choose life.
26. Forgive everyone, everything.
27. What other people think of you is none of your business.
28. Time heals almost everything. Give time, time.
29. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
30. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.
31. Believe in miracles.
32. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.
33. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.
34. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.
35. Your children get only one childhood. Make it memorable.
36. Read the Psalms. They cover every human emotion.
37. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
38. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.
39. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
40. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
41. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
42. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
43. The best is yet to come.
44. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
45. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
46. If you don't ask, you don't get.
47. Yield.
48. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift

Fun Fact Friday!!!!

2008-08-01T12:01:00.002-04:00

I LOVE useless knowledge! I love to watch Jeopardy, Animal Planet, Discovery Channel and those icky forensic shows. So, today, to honor my love of goofy facts, here are a few of my favorites:

Just learned this week that the Tibetan Hot Spring Snake is the highest living snake on the planet. If you haven't guessed by it's name, it lives in hot springs in Tibet.

The sloth is the world's slowest animal. It moves so slow that moss grows on it. Also an interesting fact about sloths, they eat, sleep, mate and give birth upside down.

The peregrine falcon is the world's fastest animal. They've been clocked upwards of 170 mph.

Can you remember what happened to the 6 wives of Henry VIII? I use this little rhyme that I heard somewhere: Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived. Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Catherine Howard, Catherine Parr.

Wint-O-Green Lifesavers spark when you bite them.

Walt Disney was given an Oscar for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Big deal you say! However, this Oscar was special. It really had 7 "dwarfs" and an Oscar.

That's all I can remember right now. Maybe I'll do this again. Do you know of anything to add? Please let me know. I can't remember my name sometimes but all this stuff is rummaging around in my head.

How Oprah Changed My Life....

2008-07-28T11:14:00.002-04:00

One day many moons ago, I was sitting on my couch watching Oprah when she had Jamie Lee Curtis on talking about a book or movie or something. Ms. Curtis informed the audience that she had had a revelation that had changed her outlook on life. I, of course, was riveted because I think she is just so cool (love her hair!). Anway, moving on. She changed the way she thought of things from "I have to" to "I get to". I thought to myself that that was indeed profound and decided to try it out on myself and the other guinea pigs that live in my home.

How did it work you ask? It changed our way of thinking. Instead of dragging ourselves out of bed every morning and being all down in the mouth and saying "I HAVE to go to school/work", I became a Pollyanna and said "No, you GET to go to school/work". This reminds us all that these things are blessings that some do not get to share. Now I'm not telling you that it works perfectly because some days are just like that, but most of the time it works. So now, we GET to go to school/work, GET to go to visit family, GET to do service projects, GET to go grocery shopping (this is a constant source of pain for Kiersten and I), GET to work in the yard, GET to do the dishes (Kiersten disagrees with me about that one), and so many other things.

People have been telling me that my brother's family HAS to move to Oklahoma. I look at it as they GET to move to Oklahoma. I've never lived out of the state, I think it would be an adventure. They get to meet new people, establish new traditions, yada yada yada. You never know, there may be someone in Oklahoma that needs their family.

Anywho, that's the way Oprah changed my life for the better. It's now not quite so painful to get out of bed to go to work (although Mondays are still rough), and it's a phrase that constantly goes through my head: You don't HAVE to, you GET to.

Love to all and hope you have a great week!

A few gripes

2008-07-24T09:12:00.004-04:00

This is just not my week. I did finally end up with a Pepsi and all was well in my corner of the world. I've been floating along until today. I don't know if I'm just grumpy or people are actually trying to dance up my last nerve but I've gotten some pretty fussy people on the phone already. Now, let me explain. I work for a state agency dealing with the public a good bit. I answer the phone in the General Counsel's office so I get all sorts of interesting folks (usually angry by the time they get to me). I try my hardest to be pleasant and helpful to everyone at all times but there are a few things that just drive me nuts.

1. Don't threaten me by saying you're going to call the Governor. I don't care. The only person that scares me at work is my boss in a bad mood.

2. Same goes for local TV stations. I'll give you the number for our public relations people. Your people can call my people.

3. Don't treat me like I'm an idiot just because I'm not an attorney. I've been here a while now and pick up on a lot of stuff and legalese. Big words don't scare me.

4. Please read the notices that you get from our office. We don't like killing trees unless we have to.

5. 10 days is 10 days is 10 days. Calendar days people! Not business days from whenever you receive something. We don't know when you receive it. It's calendar days from the date that we mail it.

6. Other attorneys don't frighten me either. My attorneys know more than your attorneys about this particular type of law.

7. Yes, you're going to get the same answer from all of us because we actually FOLLOW THE RULES!

8. I am not the switchboard for the agency. General Counsel/Legal Dept. does not mean "please let me to direct your call". There's an information line for that.

9. If you call me, turn your radio, tv, children down. It's kind of hard to hear you and concentrate on you when there's a bunch of loud background noise.

10. Don't have your mommy call. We can't talk to her, we need to talk to you.

11. You don't have a permanent record after you graduate from school. Someone firing you is not going "to go on your permanent record". It may go on youre resume, but there's no file on you floating around.

I am generally nice to all and sundry who call because I know that they are frustrated and in a bad situation. However, I'm going to be more willing to stay nice if people are nice to me.

I feel better already. Thank you and have a lovely day. What are some of your gripes about where you work?

My day so far...

2008-07-22T10:11:00.003-04:00

Today has so far been not the best of days. I had a hard time waking up this morning and am still draggin' at whatever time it is-10ish a.m.

I got to work and ended up going downstairs to get a little pick me up (good morning Pepsi) and somehow I ended up with a Canadian quarter. Pesky pepsi machine wouldn't take said foreign currency so back upstairs I went to get another quarter. I end up getting accosted on the elevator by a co-worker's perfume and conversation (She's not my favorite person and after the happenings, it takes everything in me to not tell her to shut her yap, I haven't had my morning can of happiness-but my home training prevails).

Back down again with a US quarter and even the Pepsi machine is having a hard time waking up this morning! I thought I was going to have to kick it, beat on it and shake it to get my drink out (it's not a pretty picture believe me but you really don't want to get between me and the cold Pepsi), but it finally came down. Happiness reigns in my little world for about 20 steps, can slips out of my hand and proceeds to explode. After saying a few choice words (my mother would be so pleased!), picked up can and walked it quickly into the ladies room grumbling all the way.

I have now figured the better part of valor would be to stay at my desk with my bottle of water, somewhat bleary eyed until later in the day. But wait-we get an email saying that the water in our building will be cut off which automatically throws all the bladders into overdrive and there's a mad dash to the bathroom. I think there are heel marks embedded in my flesh.

So right now I'm listening to my music on Itunes and trying not to think about having to go to the potty. The day will get better-it has to.

We are Family...

2008-07-21T08:42:00.002-04:00

I've been thinking a good bit about family the last week and what is family. With Ben and Anita and the kiddies moving to Oklahoma in about 2 weeks, it's really struck me that our family has always been together and now we're going to be half a country apart. However, I will not cry, I'll just miss them a bunch, but since Anita's got her nifty new blog, we can "see" what's going on.

This leads me to the meat of the blog today. What is family? A family is usually made up of mom, dad, brother, sister, grandparents, and all those folk. However, I've added people to my family and I cherish those relationships just as much or more than my "blood" family. People like Crystal (BFF, fellow ESAL and the first "adopted" kid), Heather (my sister of Jewish extraction), Steph (she actually is a cousin of sorts but more of a Western sister), Connie (crazy fun auntie) and a whole bunch of others that would take me days and days to name. Most times my "put together" family knows more about what is going on in my life than my other family members. Added to that are all of Kiersten's family members, who feel like offshoots of my own. Not to be left out of course are the families that have "married in", the Chesleys and Branhams that came with Mike and the Crews(es?) that came with Anita.

I wonder sometimes is it a Southern thing, to have the regular family tree, then a whole bunch of offshoots and twists and turns. I don't know. However, I know that I'm blessed to have ALL of my family, blood, adopted, married in and tacked on.

By the way, for all of you that are wondering, I'm doing fine driving Mike's car and we sold my van on Saturday. The whole driving thing is a topic for another day.

Happy week to all!

Farewell old friend

2008-07-11T08:57:00.003-04:00

Last night I returned home from a jewelry party only to find my house empty, no boys watching outdoor channel. Turns out that they were in the camper with our older dog, Monty, who was not doing so well. I ended up putting Jared to bed and then Mike and I sat with Monty for a few hours, just petting and talking to him. He ended up passing this morning. Mike and I got him when we were just married and bought our house, so he's been with us a while. He was a sweet dog who provided endless hours of entertainment, served as a guard for Kiersten when she was little and stood watch over Jared as he tried to chop down trees. Mike is torn up and Jared is not much better. I'm sad but grateful he's now in a place where he can run and chase squirrels to his heart's delight. So Monty, here's to you old friend, you were a great dog and we'll miss you.

What's Up Buttercup?

2008-07-10T10:00:00.002-04:00

Well dear readers, my life has been full of joy, sadness, trepidation (isn't that the coolest word?) and downright fear the last few days since my last post.

We had a annual 4th of July gathering at mom and dad's last Friday, it was lovely. Fireworks were great, no one was injured (always a blessing) and a good time was had by all. The boys went to Charleston fishing on Saturday so Kiersten and I went to get haircuts and just hang out which is always fun. I love bonding time with her because I know eventually I'll be stupid mom and so uncool she won't dare be seen with me. Sunday was good even though Jared and I missed church. I think the sun, 11 honeybuns and little sleep don't mix really well with a certain young man. He was feeling "off" and I kept him home and he ended up sleeping until 11 a.m. We also had Olivia's baptism on Sunday evening and it was really nice. Kiersten said Olivia looked like a princess, which she did.

Monday I got in my car to go to work, the engine light was flashing and it made the kerplump noise that's never good so off to the mechanic it went. Tuesday we found out that the car had a cracked head gasket (whatever that is), and would end up costing $2000 to fix. Apparently if you have to do engine work on my van you have to take the engine out (bad). This is where the trepidation comes it-wait for it, so, Mike and I made the decision that instead of having another car payment, I would learn to drive his car (it's a stick) and he would drive his truck to and fro work.

Here's where the downright fear comes in now-I'm scared to death of driving Mike's car. All I can see is me in downtown Cola town in the middle of a massive pileup and it just gets uglier from there. However, last night we went practicing because I am determined to do this and I will not let a car get the better of me. I must say that I did pretty well although by the time we got back to the house my feet were cramping and I think I had bleached my knuckles white from gripping the steering wheel so hard and I think I actually sweated. Mike said I did great ( this was actually the 3rd time I had driven his car but it's serious now), we even practiced starting out on a hill. I drove from Lugoff to Camden and then back home. I'm still scared pale but I'll get it.

By the way, I was thinking last night about feet. I know, this is a crazy topic but work with me here. Aren't feet a wonder? The skin on your feet has to be tough enough to walk on rough surfaces but sensitive enough to be ticklish. Also, your feet have hundreds of pounds of pressure on them every day and generally don't complain. I wonder if it's because of the way feet are shaped, the pressure is distributed. Don't know, a topic for internet research. If you have any thoughts, let me know. It's just one of those random thoughts that came up.

Independence Day thoughts

2008-07-02T09:28:00.002-04:00

As we come up on the 4th of July on Friday, I've been thinking about what the holiday means. To Mike and Jared, it means setting stuff on fire and watching it explode into pretty colors. Always pretty and entertaining and may have some deeper meaning in connection to our nation's independence but not what I'm writing about today. What does our independence really mean ?

It means

-We can worship who, what and where we want to. Our country is a mixture of all religions, Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Muslim, Wiccan, you name it we've probably got it and usually we get along pretty well.

-We can own guns (a personal favorite of my DH). For better or worse, you can get a gun pretty easily. It's also a constant source of conversation in our home about whether someone actually NEEDS an assault rifle to hunt deer v. the right that we all have to protect our property.

-We can speak out against the powers that be without fear of being jailed, tortured or killed. I was reading about the recent "elections" in Zimbabwe where people were being forced to the polls, harassed and if they didn't vote they would be in trouble. How wonderful it is to know that in November, we'll be able to vote for the leader of our country. If we don't want to vote, fine. If we vote, fine.

-Pretty much everyone has the right to vote. There's no more white men only type voting, so if you're a citizen you can vote. Sometimes we take this for granted but it's the way we can have some sort of say in the way our country is led.

-We can pretty much do whatever we want as long as we stay within the laws and don't hurt anybody. Sounds silly, but it's true. In some Middle Eastern countries, women can't drive, vote or be seen outside without a man.

That's just a short list. So, on Friday when we're all having a grand time grillin' and chillin', watching the fireworks and spending time with our friends and family, take a little time to think about what Independence Day actually means to you. Have a safe and happy weekend!

-

Things you should never ask....

2008-06-26T10:44:00.003-04:00

My friend and I were talking the other day about things that people have asked us that they just shouldn't. We wondered why this was so and came up with two really good reasons. 1. They've known you all your life and expect some sort of free pass to get all up in your business, 2. They just don't know any better. So, to honor that conversation, here's a list of things you should NEVER ask.

1. When is your baby due? You never ask this unless the person has brought up the fact that they are pregnant. Could lead to serious embarassment.

2. When are you getting married/ Why aren't you married yet? A snappy come back: All the guys that I date kind of freak out when I turn into a werewolf at the full moon, it's a little off-putting. Serious note here: People that aren't married might not want to BE married, leave them alone.

3. When are you having another child? Serious note on this one: Again, it's none of your business, don't ask, it could be very painful. I can't think of a snappy comeback that's not really offensive so I'll pass on that one.

4. Is that your natural hair color? Snappy comeback: That's between me and Ms. Clairol.

5. You used to be so cute, why don't you lose some weight? Snappy comeback: We've been commanded to have a years supply of food, I just carry mine with me. Where's yours?

6. What happened? These two words can be tacked on to the end of any phrase and it becomes something you never say. Example: You were so cute as a baby, what happened? Snappy comeback: Life.

7. Are you wearing that? Snappy comeback: Apparently so unless it's clothing optional.

So people, the point is to think before we speak. I have been known to blurt things out only to wish that there was something in front of my face to catch my words but I'm trying to do better. We never know someone else's circumstances so unless they bring up the subject, it's better not to ask.

***Disclaimer (read in that car dealership mumble at the end): This is not meant to offend anyone, just bring to light something that happens. Please remember, the cone of safety is in place.

Y'all have a great weekend!

What is Love?

2008-06-19T14:00:00.002-04:00

Hello all-
Notice the title, it's a capital "L" in love. A few weeks ago, Mike and I were enjoying some well earned time by ourselves courtesy of granna feeling adventurous and having all of the grandkids spend the night (brave soul), and we went out to dinner at our local Olive Garden (love me some bread sticks). Anyway, as we're going to the car after finishing our meal, we both notice the older couple on the sidewalk in front of us. The man is tall and straight with silver hair and wearing dress pants and a polo with little tassely (sp?) shoes. The woman is small and straight, with hair just so and dressed in a dress, pumps with a matching handbag. She has her arm through his as they walk down the sidewalk to their car. As we are walking behind them, we also see another older couple coming to the sidewalk. He is also tall and straight and casually dressed. She is tall and willowy, but there's something not right. He's having to help her stand and walk. It looks like she's been the victim of a stroke or something else affecting one side of her body. As Mike and I stepped onto the grass, this gentleman helped his wife up onto the sidewalk and they moved into the restaurant. I remarked to my DH that those I wonder what we'll be like when we're older. He of course says, just like now older and a little shorter, but we will still love each other, probably more than today.

I've been thinking alot recently about those two couples and others that I see around me. What exactly is Love? My thoughts on that subject have changed through the years. In the teen years everything was bright and flashy and quickly crashed and burned. As I listen to teenagers today, I think about what some of them are looking for, looks, money, a cool car, whatever. That is love. They don't think about after those looks are no more, you're driving a broken down car b/c you've got kids to put through school or heaven forbid your spouse gets sick with some dread disease. I read an article a while back about Fmr. Supreme Court Justice O'Connor's husband who is stricken with Alzheimer's and is in a facility of some sort. He doesn't know who she is, who his children are, but he's found a new love there in the facility. Their family acknowledged this and pretty much said to the public, if he is is happy then they're happy, they love him and want him to be happy. That, my friends, is Love.

Here is my definition of Love: A feeling of peace, contentment, joy in being with someone else. This feeling is not affected by the mood of either individual or circumstance. Love is patient, kind (you guys know that verse, it's all true). Love is, for me, something you don't take lightly. It's not a passing fancy or crush. Love is knowing that the looks that attracted you may fade, but now you're more attracted to the heart. Mike isn't Brad Pitt, I'm not Shania Twain, but I know that he would be there for me to lean on walking down the sidewalk, helping me when I need it (although sometimes I won't ask for it-I'm stubborn like that). He knows that I am there to support him, lift him when he's down and generally make his life wonderful :-)

That my friends, is Love.

Happy Father's Day!

2008-06-14T16:03:00.002-04:00

As I think about Father's Day, I realized that sometimes we take dads for granted. Of course, they never complain, that's not the dad way. But, they are always there to bail us out of trouble, whether that be car trouble, money trouble or any other kind of trouble we get ourselves in to. I'm lucky to know and be associated with three wonderful dads.

First, my own dad-we're so much alike it's funny. We both have a quirky sense of humor, an obsessive need to plan everything and a great amount of let's call it stubborness. Years ago when my dad was going to have a gamma knife procedure to cut something out of his noggin, mom and I were there to lend moral support. He was hooked up in a halo type head thing so that the doctors could put the radiation just where it was needed. Anyway, there were quite a few jokes from him and I about him turning green and bulking up the next time he got angry. Then of course, the Darth Vader impersonations began and trying to get him something to eat was an adventure in and of itself. When I was young, we fought but I also knew that I could count on him. I've come to appreciate him more that I'm older and have my own kids and watching him with said children is a joy. He's taught me to hope for the best but plan for the worst just in case. Maybe I get a little of my craziness from him (ya think?). I couldn't ask for a better dad.

2nd is Mike's dad-Steve is truly the epitome of sweetness and light. I don't think the man knows how to raise his voice in anger or frustration. He set the example for Mike of how to be a good, gentle, caring man who thinks more his wife and kids than himself. He is steadfast. I always see him as a ship on the sea, whether the seas are turbulent or calm, he is there doing what needs to be done without thinking what's in it for him. Mike looks up to his dad and wants to be like him. I couldn't think of a better person to be like.

Last but certainly not least is Mike, my own love. You've read "our" story and you all know us. He was a blessing in a time of great need and he continues to bless my life everyday. He came along to love me at a time when I felt very unlovable. He stepped into a ready made family and then glued us all together into one family. He is an example to me of what selflessness is(much like his dad). He always thinks of our needs first and does without so that we can have what we need. He is crazy, caring, sweet and a wonderful man. I see Jared following him and hope that he'll be the next in a long line of good men.

We'll hug those that are with us still, cry a little for those that are gone, but mostly, be thankful that they were our dad. Happy Father's Day guys!

Hi Ho! Hi Ho! It's Off to Camp She Goes.....

2008-06-12T13:53:00.002-04:00

Yesterday I dropped Kiersten off at the church to go to Girls Camp for the first time. As I said earlier, she's excited and ready to go and hang out with her friends. I stuck around until everyone was packed into the cars and they were on their way. As I drove home, I felt a little pit in the bottom of my stomach. You know, the kind you get when you leave your first child at daycare for the first time, the first time they spend the night with a friend, the first day you leave them at school. It's another first for her and I'm glad she's able to go. I told Mike the other day that I'm glad she's flying a little bit on her own now and it's a little from the nest. She's always been a little more adventurous and more able to accept changes than Jared, she'll get on a roller coaster in a heart beat, I've never had to worry about her going to a new class (although she did have a little bit of an issue last year changing schools and all). She'll have a blast and I'll hear all about it when she gets home.

As I was doing my morning flit around the blogs, I came across Cindy's blog about sending her daughter off to camp and the memories that she had of camp. I had to laugh at that because she and I have some of the same memories. Some of my (now) fond memories of camp:

Running with the bull. If you weren't there you don't understand. We even got little medals. However, watching Crystal's mom and aunt Libby clear a gate like Superman was something I'll never get out of my head.

The camp with the pool (only one time in all the years that I went to camp that we had a pool). Watching Sis. Barentine go off the high dive and thinking "that's not going to be pleasant".

Camp Appletree in the NC mountains, it rained all week and we were all sopping wet. However, being in the testimony meeting and watching the clouds come over the mountains like a wave was really cool. That was my favorite year I think just because of all the spiritual experiences, like that final testimony meeting.

Camp Hell(that's my name for it anyway) at Sis. Marsh's family cow pasture. I learned how to conserve water and put together a shower out of a hoola hoop, a shower curtain and a wooden pallet. I got chiggers on my feet so bad I couldn't wear shoes and my mom ended up giving the Bishop and Stake pres. a piece of her mind for putting "her girls" (she was YW Pres. at the time) in a hell hole.

It's funny how now the craziest things stick out in your mind. They may be funny, sad, spiritual or bad memories but I'm glad I've got them.

I will never, ever, ever...

2008-06-10T09:37:00.002-04:00

In life, there are things that you will just never, ever, EVER do and no one will ever be able to talk you in to doing them. I'm quite the chicken and worrier so my list is long and somewhat silly but I'm taking a break at work right now so I'll let you in on the list.

I will never, ever, EVER....

1. Eat in the bathroom. That's just icky.

2. Ride another roller coaster. I hate them, they scare me to death. However, Kiersten loves them-she can ride with Mike, not me.

3. Eat bugs. I know that there may come a time when bugs are all we have but I will eat grass and dirt before bugs. I'm working on my food storage a little every week just so that it won't come to that. ICK!

4. Check a mouse trap. If there's a mouse in it, someone else has to get it out, not happening. If Mike isn't at home, I'll call my dad or the neighbor.

5. Watch a scary movie. I can't deal with things like that, gory, make you jump. The previews for the horrors movies now scare me slam to death. I know, some people really enjoy them. I am not one of those people.

6. Ride in a hot air balloon. The thought of riding in one is very lovely but then the whole thought about what if it runs out of hot air, what if the bottom falls out and I plummet to the earth? Not good thoughts.

7. Sky dive. Again, plummeting to the earth and I don't get along.

8. Go underwater spelunking. Don't people know that you can get lost and there's NO AIR DOWN THERE! That gives me the shudders just thinking about it.

I know it, I'm a chicken.

Okay, that's what I can think of right now, I'm sure there are other things but the thought of them is just too traumatic for me at this point. What's on your list?

Bringing You Up to Date....

2008-06-09T14:22:00.002-04:00

Hello all,
We've survived the first really hot weekend of the summer (highs in the 100s). Mike has survived yet another deep sea fishing trip (barely and he's still feeling the effects almost a week later). Kiersten is getting ready to go to girls camp for the first time and Jared will be going to Cub Scout daycamp at the end of the month.

Mike went with a group of friends from church deep sea fishing on Wednesday, thinking that the first pukefest about 5 years ago was maybe a fluke. Well, it wasn't. The poor guy had been popping dramamine from Monday before going on Wed. He said he was fine until about an hour in (only halfway to the destination 50 miles off the coast of Charleston), then it did not go well. He did manage to catch some fish but I really don't think he cared. He ended up getting sunburned only on his face (hanging off the boat and the sun reflecting off the water and all that). To add insult to injury because his lip was burned, he's got fever blisters all the way across his lip. He said the pain in his lip woke him up a few times last night.He's also being ragged by the Bishop about the whole thing. He and Kiersten went to the temple on Friday and the good Bishop asked if he would be okay doing baptisms because the water was a little choppy. Silly Bishop.

Kiersten is leaving for camp on Wednesday and it promises to be an adventure. They're going to an actual camp with cabins and a pool, rock wall and zip line. When asked if she was going to go on the rock wall, the fearless child said of course, who cares that it's 40 feet up in the air. She's even more excited about the zip line. It's a good thing I'm not going, I'd need some Miss Clairol for sure. She's very excited about the whole thing, her first time away from home without a parental unit (unless you count a few days at the beach with her BFF last summer). She'll be back on Saturday and I hope everything goes well.

Jared is being himself, just kind of hanging out. He goes to Cub Scout day camp the last full week of the month (same week that his dad will be at Boy Scout camp). He's progressing nicely in the Cub Scouts, got his 2nd belt thingy last week. He should get his Bobcat badge at the next pack meeting (I think next week?), he only has 2 more requirements for that and we're going to work on them this week. He's keeping up with his reading and is not all that impressed with the Lego thing that he bought with his birthday money (it apparently is not as indestructible as he thought). He keeps telling me he needs to glue the thing together but he won't stop playing with it and changing it long enough for me to glue it.

That's the report for right now. It's too hot to think deep thoughts. love to all!

Weekend report

2008-06-04T13:27:00.005-04:00

Hey there all,

Just got a few minutes to post about J's baptism on Sunday. It was really wonderful and special. Thanks everyone who was able to come. It was extra special because all of Mike's uncles were able to attend. The kids just came home from their granna's house last night wiped out after being in the pool all day so hopefully I'll get some of his thoughts about the baptism as we go through the rest of the week. Here are some pics and everyone have a great week.

Mike, Jared, Nana and "the boys"

Sam, Paul, Brad and Tim

School's Out for Summer!!!

2008-05-29T15:10:00.002-04:00

Yep, that song's been going through my mind all week long. The children are done with 6th and 2nd grade. Jared was worried that he wasn't going to be going to 3rd (don't know why, he made A/B honor roll all year long). He's a worrier like his mom. I know, this comes as a shock to many of you that only know me as the epitome of sweetness and light (candy bars and lightbulbs as Mike says), but I am a worrier. I'm trying to be better and sometimes I am, sometimes not.

Anywho, this blog isn't about me, it's about the kiddies. I missed Kiersten's awards day on Tuesday (we had a nice long discussion about telling mommy things before the night before), but she received the highest average in art and in English/Language Arts. I did attend Jared's thing on Wednesday, where he received a PE award ( the boy loves PE, says it's the only place he can run and jump and play without getting the whole Jared, stop, slow down, calm down thing) and A/B honor roll. I'm so proud of both of them, I have great kids.

Do we have plans for the summer? Nope. Kiersten is going to girls camp (Please Lord, let her have fun and not get hurt on the rock wall or zip line), Jared will be attending Cub Scout day camp (Please Lord, don't let my son get shot by a stray arrow or shoot anybody with a BB gun). That's about it. Pretty soon I'll be hearing "I'm BORED, I don't have anything TO DO!!!" But until then, I'm going to chill. No more teachers, no more books, no more homework, no more getting up at the crack of dawn to get everyone showered and dressed and out of the house by 7:10. WOOHOO!

Happiness is....

2008-05-27T10:33:00.002-04:00

Mike and I were talking the other day about what makes us happy and that's what I've been thinking about for the last few days. Here's a list about what makes me happy (some silly, some serious).

-clean sheets (some prefer line dried, not me. There are bugs in the great outdoors my friends)
-naps (on the clean sheets is even better)
-pansies in the winter time
-the first SC spring blue sky after the gray of winter
-towels just out of the dryer(once again, bugs and outside ick)
-a little boy's dirty face (I saw this yesterday, it wasn't dirt, it was chocolate pudding)
-talking to my daughter
-an email conversation with a friend that lasts all day
-vacation planning (McBrides and the Chesleys take Nauvoo by storm '09)
-sitting beside my DH in church (doesn't happen very often, there's usually at least one child between us)
-Knowledge of the plan of happiness
-watching the kids do something for the first time and succeed
-hearing my grandmother sing happy birthday to me at 6:30 a.m. (strange but true)

There are many, many other things that make me happy. I'm trying to find at least one "happy moment" each day. My happy moment on Saturday was when I walked into the kids bathroom and it was done! The shower curtain (not the new one, still on the hunt) was up, the sink had its guts back together, Kiersten contributed a pot that she had painted to put toothbrushes and toothpaste in. Mike had stayed up entirely too late putting stuff back together so it would be done for me when I got up in the a.m. I'll be posting pics in the future.

Jared had his interview with the Bishop for his baptism (June 1st -all are invited) on Sunday and he's excited/nervous. Kiersten is still writing. She's now on her 2nd story, she tells me she's going to have to go back and rewrite the 1st. Mike and I spent the day together yesterday (which very rarely happens b/c he had the day off, I had the day off and the kiddies had school).

This weekend was good, we are blessed. Love to all and have a good week!

Maybe I wrote too soon

2008-05-19T10:29:00.003-04:00

I was all chipper on Friday because of my it could be worse post. Well, I forgot to knock on wood, click my heels three times or whatever it is that you do to ward off bad luck. I get a call Friday as Jared and I are going to Wally World to spend his birthday money that Mike and the scouts have broken down on the side of the interstate in my van but they're going to the house to get Mike's car and continue on their way camping. Frick, frack, fried green tomatoes!!! Luckily, our mechanic is the nicest guy in the world and would get it off the side of the road later that evening.

As Jared and I are checking out, the monsoon comes and it looks like it's never going to stop so we run for it after waiting a few minutes at the door. After almost losing my flip flops, and my pants (bottom of them was weighed down with water), and thinking about all the icky stuff that ends up in the WalMart parking lot that could cause illness or death if it even touches my feet.
Jared and I watched this thing on Animal Planet a couple of weeks ago about parasites that enter through your feet although these are mostly found in South America, not South Cackylacky and it's freaked me out ever since, we get to the truck and we're on our way. Jared, sweet baby boy that he is turns to me and says Mommy, it's okay that your hair is all wet ( I was looking like a drowned rat by this time), we've had our shower for the night and when we get home we can get in our jammies, eat our Rush's dinner and watch TV. As we were headed home, we passed a forlorn looking little green Mazda on I-20 and I almost cried for the van. It's been such a good car, hopefully David can fix it without too much trouble or pain in the pocketbook.

Saturday J and I woke up early (7 ish) and I was ready to paint the bathroom which Mike had finished priming for me on Friday. I'm a horrible painter, I want to get it done as quick as possible which is sometimes a bad thing. Didn't know that I would need like fifty coats of paint to make it turn out like I wanted it. After one, there were still streaks and stuff. Mike did another coat Saturday night and it looked better. I'll probably do a coat a night all this week to make it end up where I want it, but anyway. Mike doesn't like the color, says it's depressing, I tell him let me finish it and get everything back in, pictures and accessories and it will be lovely. He's skeptical, I'm optimistic and I'll be damned if I'm going to paint that stupid bathroom again. Pardon my lapse of language there.

Sunday was lovely, church was good and I got a nap. Jared's baptism date is firmed up for June 1st and he wants my dad and Derick to speak. He's still a mite worried about people looking at him but he'll be fine. Heather and I will be planning a baby shower for Anita and the end of school is coming barreling like a freight train out of control. In other words, just a normal, every day kind of craziness.

However, it could be worse. My engine could have blown up in the middle of 5:00 traffic, I could have gotten some form of strange parasite from the water runoff or driven in the monsoon (I hate driving in the rain), the bathroom could be pink.

Our family is blessed (pray for my bathroom and my sanity).

It could be worse

2008-05-16T10:02:00.002-04:00

This is my favorite phrase to remind myself and my family to count our blessings. Some people sing the count your many blessings song, others name their blessings one by one, I say it could be worse. This sometimes drives Mike crazy but it's really the only way to sometimes keep myself from going crazy (er) when something that I think is just horrendous happens.

When the roof leaked, I told Mike it could be worse-the whole roof could be falling in or ripped off in high winds. When Kiersten complained about wearing glasses-she could be blind. When Jared complains about having to do homework-he could be in a country where he wouldn't be able to go to school. It's a Pollyannaish attitude I know but it really makes you think sometimes things aren't as bad as we make them out to be in our heads. We have trials, some are big and some are little, but once we get through them we are stronger people.

The whole it could be worse thing came when my mom was going through chemo a few years ago and she was wiped out and tired and hairless. She was telling me one day about this trial and I told her it could be worse, the type of cancer she had is known as a silent killer, you don't know it's there until it's too late. She was lucky to have good doctors that listened to her and found something that could have killed her. Now she is able to play with the babies and watch them grow.

Yes, there are trials where nothing could be worse but hopefully those don't come around too often. I'm not saying that the trials that we go through are meaningless or not acknowledging the severity of said trials, this is just gospel according to me. So, until some other phrase comes along, I'll keep telling myself it could be worse.

Love to all and have a good weekend!

Happy Birthday Boys!!!!

2008-05-12T22:00:00.003-04:00

Got a little freaked out when the slide show wouldn't post right but it eventually did (see below). Today (the 13th) is Jared and Mike's birthdays and I couldn't ask for two greater guys in my life. Mike, I know you gave Jared your birthday and you're 28 for the rest of your life. I love you more than words can say and I thank God every day that He sent you to me. Jared, you're a ray of sunshine in my life and my sweet boy. You're a little of your dad and a little of me. Happy Birthday to my boys!

Check out my Slide Show!

2008-05-12T21:59:00.001-04:00

Mother's Day Musings...

2008-05-12T09:52:00.002-04:00

Hello all in the bloggerverse! Yes, I've been MIA for a while, but I've been waiting until I had something I could actually write about. Yesterday was Mother's Day and I had a great weekend! Thursday was Kiersten's first temple trip so Mike and I went with her. It was fun watching her and seeing her mind rolling things around while we were in the temple. Friday everyone was gone, Kiersten to her dad's for the night and the boys were camping so I had time to myself. I taped and sanded the bathroom, which still isn't done but the toilet and the shower work so that's okay. Saturday Kiersten, mom and I went shopping for hours and hours and hours. I'm not a big shopper but mom and Kiersten are. I think by the time we were done I had started getting a tad fussy and whiney but it was fun spending time with those two. Sunday we were late for church so we had to sit in the back but still, it was a great meeting. Here is the poem that Laresa read in sacrament meeting:

The Girl in a Whirl
By “Dr. Sue” aka Vickie Gunther
Look at me, look at me, look at me now!
You could do what I do if you only knew how.
I study the scriptures one hour each day;
I bake, I upholster, I scrub, and I pray.
I always keep all the commandments completely;
I speak to my little ones gently and sweetly.
I help in their classrooms! I sew all they wear!
I drive them to practice! I cut all their hair!
I memorize names of the General Authorities;
I focus on things to be done by priorities.
I play the piano! I bless with my talents!
My toilets all sparkle! My checkbooks all balance!
Each week every child gets a one-on-one date;
I attend all my meetings (on time! Never late!)
I’m taking a class on the teachings of Paul,
But that is not all! Oh, no. That is not all.
I track my bad habits ’til each is abolished;
Our t-shirts are ironed! My toenails are polished!
Our family home evenings are always delightful;
The lessons I give are both fun and insightful.
I do genealogy faithfully, too. It’s easy to do all the things that I do!
I rise each day early, refreshed and awake;
I know all the names of each youth in my stake!
I read to my children! I help all my neighbors!
I bless the community, too, with my labors.
I exercise and I cook menus gourmet;
My visiting teaching is done the first day!
(I also go do it for someone who missed hers.
It’s the least I can do for my cherished ward sisters.)
I chart resolutions and check off each goal;
I seek each “lost lamb” on my Primary roll.
I can home-grown produce each summer and fall.
But that is not all! Oh, no. That is not all.
I write in my journal! I sing in the choir!
Each day, I write “thank you’s” to those I admire.
My sons were all Eagles when they were fourteen!
My kids get straight A’s! And their bedrooms are clean!
I have a home business to help make some money;
I always look beautifully groomed for my honey.
I go to the temple at least once a week;
I change the car’s tires! I fix the sink’s leak!
I grind my own wheat and I bake all our bread;
I have all our meals planned out six months ahead.
I make sure I rotate our two-years’ supply;
My shopping for Christmas is done by July!
These things are not hard; It’s good if you do them;
You can if you try! Just set goals and pursue them!
It’s easy to do all the things that I do!
If you plan and work smart, you can do them all, too!
It’s easy!” she said…and then she dropped dead

She also talked about the voices in our heads as women and mothers and I thought that that was an interesting way to describe those things that go on in our heads. I realized that I will never make my own pie crust or figure out how to can. I don't really care to sew even though I admire other's work. I'm not the scripture reading, praying, family home evening every week perfect wife and mother even though I keep trying. However, I can make a mean chicken casserole, put together a Bionicle, proofread a budding author's book (when she lets me), help lay a floor, explain to my husband the varying shades of red, not get creeped out by reading about bugs and snakes, help with 6th grade homework and listen to explanations about mini-splits and duct work.

Enough about me, I want to write a few things about the moms in my life. Starting with my own mom who showed me how to be a mom. She is so funny and silly, strong and a bucketful of tears, an example to me and my daughter. Mike's mom is also important to me. She is also an example to me of how you can live through great adversity and raise a wonderful man. There are moms all over the place that I look up to and admire.

So to all you wonderful women out there---you're doing a great job even if the voices are telling you something different, you are a daughter of God who loves each and every one of us. I'm not perfect in the least, but I'm working on it one thing at a time. Love to all!

And so it begins...

2008-05-05T14:53:00.002-04:00

I've been after my DH for months about wanting to redo the kids bathroom-new paint, tile, all new stuff because I just wanted to. Finally we were able to start on Saturday. It's always fun to go and get a whole bunch of stuff from Lowe's and Home Depot. What's not so much fun is putting said stuff together and getting it all looking right. Saturday, the boys and I went out and got the new linoleum, paint, vanity, wainscoting, chair rail and medicine cabinet for the new project. At about 2:00, we were ripping up tile and taking the toilet out of the bathroom and Jared was knocking in the old cabinet. Mike and I ended up laying down the new lino, putting in the vanity and wainscoting because you can't put the toilet back in without all the stuff behind it and underneath it. Long story short, all that needs to be done to get the room finished now is some primer and paint and caulking along with the new shower curtain (I have a feeling there's going to be a disagreement about that-mike says red to match the walls I think that would look like a brothel, I'm saying white). I'll try to post some before/after pics pretty soon. Mike did ask me-what's our next project and all I could think was recovering from this one. I've got a compressor sitting in the middle of my hallway and boxes and a nailgun in my living room. It's not pretty, but my bathroom is lovelier even without the new paint. There is a certain amount of satisfaction when you do the work yourself but I wish I could do a Mary Poppins and SNAP! things would be done.

Other things of interest coming up-Kiersten's first temple trip is Thursday (thanks Alona for keeping the baby boy) and we're all excited. The boys are going on the annual father/son campout on Friday and they're excited (I'm excited b/c I think that I get Friday night to myself-hello new book!). Jared's counting down the days until his birthday (week from tomorrow) and I still haven't figured out what we're getting the child. I'm thinking about getting him a suit for church, he wanted one for Christmas but I think now would be a better time. He gets to go to Cub Scouts next Wednesday and you would think that he's going to the moon on a rocket he's so excited. That's all that's on my mind today although there's something else rattling around in there that I might write about tomorrow...

I'm not dead yet!!!!

2008-04-29T10:25:00.002-04:00

If you have been wondering where the heck have I been, let me tell you, I've been sick as a dog and looking like warmed over death! Apparently the flu snuck up on me and smacked my behind. I'm feeling better today but missed all of Kiersten's weekend bday festivites this past weekend. I was thinking on Sunday that I might drag myself to church so that I could sneak into primary when the YW came to get her but after washing and drying my hair I had to lie down and take a nap. It's bad when even your hair feels sick and no matter how hard you try to get it to do what it normally does all by itself, it just lays there like limp spaghetti. Luckily Mike took pictures and apparently my momma embarassed the living daylights out of my child telling all the YW about the ruler incident. So, that's the reason I haven't blogged since Kiersten's bday, I haven't been around anything to actually blog about since then-although I did read the whole Twilight series again in between naps.

For Kiersten's Birthday

2008-04-18T19:55:00.002-04:00

Happy Birthday Sweet Baby Girl!!!! Kiersten is 12 on Monday the 21st!

Mommy, I'm armed with a ruler...

2008-04-16T15:45:00.002-04:00

Yesterday, while I was on the phone with Kiersten for the "I'm home and safe and all is well" call, I heard a bang, a shriek and feet running. About to jump through the phone, I'm asking her what's wrong, what happened? This is the conversation that followed (please read her parts in your best drama queen impersonation) :

Me: Kiersten, what happened?

Kiersten: Mommy (pant pant pant) the back door flew open and there might be SOMEONE IN THE HOUSE!!!!

Me: Kiersten, where are you?

Kiersten: I'm in your bathroom with the door closed. I need the key to the gun cabinet.

Me: You need WHAT? NO MA'AM, YOU ARE NOT GETTING THE KEY TO THE GUN CABINET!!!

Kiersten: Mommy, I'm armed with a ruler, do you REALLY think that will do any good against someone with a gun????

Me: You are not getting the key to the cabinet! Okay. I'm going to call the next door neighbor and have him come over and check the house. STAY WHERE YOU ARE and I'll call you back.

Kiersten: Okay

After a minute or so, couldn't get in touch with the neighbor. At this point, remembered that the back door will fly open if it's not latched properly(it's done it to me a few times late at night and scared the bejesus out of me) and Mike had been out that morning. I call back.

Kiersten: Hello?

Me: Hey sweetie, is everything okay?

Kiersten: I guess so.

Me: I want you to walk into the front of the house and out the front door and go next door.

Kiersten: I'm already in the front of the house armed with the ruler, I'm checking the rooms. The bathroom is dark and suspicious.

Me: Kiersten, your bathroom has no outside source of light-of course it's going to be dark! Are you not scared anymore?

Kiersten: No, I'm good.

Me: I'll stay on the phone while you check the rooms.

Kiersten: The office is scary, I'm not going in there.

Me: Didn't you have to go in there to get the phone when you got home?

Kiersten: Oh RIGHT! Okay mom, I've finished checking the rooms and there's no one in the house.

Me: I told you, it was just the back door.

Kiersten: Maybe it was a GHOST!!!!

Me: I'm not talking about ghosts with you, don't mention that to your daddy, I'll be home in a few minutes.

The joy of having a child with an overactive imagination. By the way, if any of you tell her I wrote about the whole thing, I'll have to deny it.

Night creeping in......and reasons to rejoice

2008-04-14T13:42:00.003-04:00

Last night as our little family was driving home from my parents, Kiersten remarked that the clouds in the sky looked like night was creeping up on us. I've really been thinking about that today...night creeping in. Night brings darkness, to some of us, it's a scary thing, but it also brings promise of daybreak. I think about the time when Christ was crucified, there were three days of darkness where no light could be seen at all, how terrifying! But, to those that had listened to the prophets there was a knowledge that all would be well. On one of our vacations to the West, we went to Lewis & Clark Caverns in Montana and at the end of the tour, the tour guides shut off the lights. That's how I imagine total darkness, not a glimmer of light from any source.

As I was thinking about the night creeping in, I remembered something I had read in Jayne's blog a few months ago that morning always comes. This "night" could be seen as spiritual darkness, emotional darkness or actual night and darkness. The spiritual darkness that we are sometimes engulfed in is as dangerous as actual darkness-you stumble and trip and lose your way if you don't have an anchor. Remember about Lehi's vision? The most frightening part of that for me was the mists of darkness where people got lost and were separated from the ones they loved. Emotional darkness is just as debilitating I would think. Think about those scriptures that are written that someone was sorrowing in spirit or low in spirit. How many people in today's world are touched by depression or other illness where their spirit is low. Physical darkness itself is something more temporal but can still be "spun" to have a gospel message-72 hour kits! When the lights went out at our house a few weeks ago, we dug into the 72 hour kits and there they were-handy dandy lights and both Mike and I remarked how grateful we were for those little break and shake lights.

But in the midst of the darkness, the morning comes, first as those few purple rays that bleed gradually to pink and then a beautiful sunrise. As Jayne's blog said, the morning always comes and there is reason to rejoice. I love the morning when the day is new and there is something to look forward to even if it's just watching the sun rise or hearing birds sing. What a wonderful thought it is to rejoice in the knowledge that my Father in Heaven loves ME, Jesus Christ bore MY sins and loves ME still, even though I do wrong and fall. We truly have reasons to rejoice.

Random Wednesday

2008-04-09T14:29:00.002-04:00

Today I decided to put down some random thoughts that I've been having lately. This is always fraught with peril, but here we go....

1. Watched conference on Sat/Sun and was amazed. How cool was it when we all stood as groups and as a general membership of the church to sustain Pres. Monson? For me, knowing that there were 13 million of us standing at one time to sustain that wonderful man gave me THE SHIVERS (for all of you in book club, read that in an Owen Meany voice). Also while listening to the talks, some of them were for me. I've never seen both days (I know, I'm a slacker) but it was actually really cool.

2. Finished my book club book earlier in the week. Thanks Michelle for picking that book (no, I'm not being sarcastic). It got me to thinking, Owen Meany believes that he's an instrument from God, but aren't we all in some way? We are sent from Heavenly Father for a divine purpose, we may not save anyone's life, but we all are part of a plan.

3. Read an article yesterday that made me want to scream with rage. It was about this documentary filmmaker that goes and interviews soldiers in the Congo about the raping of women there during the civil war and strife going on in that country. These men believed-HONESTLY BELIEVED-that if they raped a woman it would give them special "magic" to defeat their enemies. I've tried to find the article but now I can't remember where I read it, but you can read about the documentary, called The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo on the net and on HBO's website.

4. After reading about the documentary, went online to LDS Humanitarian Services to learn a bit about what they give money to. They spend billions of dollars a year on every continent helping people with water, humanitarian packages, the whole school supply thing, etc.

Now for the light and silly:

5. Why is there so much flippin' traffic on I-20 when I'm trying to go to work? It drives me insane(r). This morning as I was getting on the interstate I heard that there was an accident at Clemson Rd backing up to Pontiac. After sitting in the parking lot that used to be I-20 at Pontiac, decided the better part of valor was to get off and hop back on at Alpine. Well, wouldn't you know that there was a backup on 277 as well? So, 20 minutes late for work but luckily no one else is there at that time and I can sneak in.

6. Will Edward change Bella or will Bella change her mind and go with Jacob? If you haven't read the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer, you have no idea what I'm talking about but you need to read it. Wonderful, lovely books. I'm on the fence about the whole Edward/Bella/Jacob triangle. It drives me crazy.

7. That brings up a thought---libraries in the spirit world, got to have books for the eternities! I know that we'll be busy and all that, but we do need some downtime.

8. Kiersten will be 12 in a matter of 12 days, this is a traumatic experience for me, but she's excited.

I can't think of anything else right now. See y'all later

Crap! She hit me!

2008-04-03T14:58:00.002-04:00

I figured if I laid low, no one would tag me but alas, no such luck. Michelle tagged me and now here are 7 random things about me

1. I'm a closeted 80's hair band junkie.
2. I don't like scary movies AT ALL!
3. I like vampire novels (does seem quite strange after 2, but it is what is is)
4. My first name is Jessica (Mike didn't know that until about 2 weeks before we got married).
5. My middle name is Christina (spelled exactly like that even though I spell my name with a K)
6. I read while my boss is gone on trips since there's nothing else to do at the office.
7. My dream trip is England, Scotland, Ireland, Russia and New Zealand

I tag Connie, Jayne and Laresa (someone might need to tell her)

The Power of Music

2008-03-31T12:05:00.002-04:00

I was watching The Opry on GAC the other night when they had on a bunch of country artists doing their favorite hymn or gospel song. They also talked about what a role music plays in their faith and as an expression of their faith. I think that's true with all of us. It's really quite interesting what power church music has to make you feel the Spirit. I remember back in my dark days, I was sitting at the YSA branch with Crystal and Kiersten's dad and was so depressed and feeling alone. We were singing "How Firm a Foundation" and I just started to bawl. Now, you guys know me, I'm not a crier, but the words brought such comfort to my mind and heart. Here are some of the verses (some we don't sing-but they are some of the most powerful)

3. Fear not, I am with thee; oh, be not dismayed,
For I am thy God and will still give thee aid.
I’ll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand,
Upheld by my righteous, upheld by my righteous,
Upheld by my righteous, omnipotent hand.

4. When through the deep waters I call thee to go,
The rivers of sorrow shall not thee o’erflow,
For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless,
And sanctify to thee, and sanctify to thee,
And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.

5. When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie,
My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply.
The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume, thy dross to consume,
Thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine.

7. The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose
I will not, I cannot, desert to his foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I’ll never, no never, I’ll never, no never,
I’ll never, no never, no never forsake!

Text: Attr. to Robert Keen, ca. 1787.
Music: Attr. to J. Ellis, ca. 1889

What a wonderful song! Even now, I can't sing that 3rd verse without tearing up and sometimes overflowing. When I am down or feeling especially put upon and tested, I sing those verses in my head and I know that my Heavenly Father loves me, he's not going to try me more than I can bear.

Some others that I love: I Stand all Amazed, O Lord My Redeemer (not a hymn but I cry every time I hear it), We'll Bring the World His Truth (love that when the YW and YM sing that medley with As Sisters in Zion), Ye Elders of Israel (love to hear men sing!), The Spirit of God, I am a Child of God, I Believe in Christ, etc, etc, etc.

Someone told me one time that our songs are "boring". I don't see them that way at all. To me, if I can be quiet and listen to the music and the words, that brings me closer to the Spirit and I can hear what I need to hear. When we were in Nauvoo last year watching the Joseph Smith movie ( holy tearjerker Batman!), at the very end, the bagpipes play "Praise to the Man"-man, chills went all over me and the tears began again. By the way, the tune for that song is the unofficial Scottish national anthem called Scotland the Brave. So, if you ever go to the Highland Games and they start playing "Praise to the Man" don't freak out. The bagpipes just make it so much better!

What are your favorite hymns or songs from church? Have a good week everybody!

Make each day a special day

2008-03-27T09:05:00.002-04:00

This is the last post for the week probably unless I am struck by the bluebird of inspiration, which probably won't happen but one never knows when you're going to get blindsided by a bird.

Yesterday as I was listening to my favorite morning show (Bob & Sheri out of Charlotte), they were talking to people where one day had changed the course of their entire life. Example, a single mom received a check from her dad for $50,000 from an inheritance. Sheri accepted a job to be Bob's co-host and changed where she lived, worked and pretty much everything in her life. I was thinking I haven't had really life changing days, but I try to find something about each day that will make it special. Some things I have thought about recently

-that first really blue blue SC sky in the springtime (before the pollen turns the air yellow)

-an unexpected hug and sniggle from your child

-a thank you from someone that you helped at your job (and they actually mean it)

-the first spring flowers or a Bradford pear tree budding out

-hearing from a friend just to chat about books that you love (just got off the phone w/ Crystal----Crystal + Edward Cullen 4 ever)

-laughing at yourself at line dancing class at church (what fun we had last nite and Michelle always gets me in trouble)

I found that it's important for me to sit down after the kids are in bed, have a little quiet time and think about all that's happened in the day. Usually I can find something that would make it a special day. What about you?

Musings about Kiersten and American Idol

2008-03-26T13:37:00.004-04:00

Greetings all-I am basking in daughter happiness at the moment. Kiersten is at that in between stage where her moods can swing radically and it's somewhat frightening to behold. My mother just laughs and laughs, but anyway. Last evening, I had the pleasure of spending time with the not so baby girl by ourselves (the boys were fishing until late). I had a blast! We talked, we laughed, Kiersten almost shot fruit punch out of her nose! After eating dinner out, we went back home and watched the idiot box for a while (American Idol was on). I actually heard my daughter squeal for the first time last night when we were watching Dancing with the Stars and they announced that The Jonas Brothers were going to be on. Cue Kiersten squealing and almost hyperventilating. I don't see what the big whoop is, but then again if Mr Darcy came walking through the mist I would probably squeal and hyperventilate as well-maybe even fall over, I'm not sure. We talked about the progress of her story (200+ pages people!) and her upcoming birthday and just silly stuff. It's quite interesting because a lot of people see Kiersten as a quiet, reserved, very shy person, and she is like that until you get to know her and then she's loud and silly and very funny and can cop an attitude with the best of them. I love her so, she makes me bonkers, I don't know what I would do without her.

On to AI---the top 10 performed songs from the year of their birth this week. It was actually quite scary that I was a teenager when most of these people were born. The ones that stood out for me were Michael Johns (the one that sang the Queen songs), Carly Smithson (sang Total Eclipse of the Heart) and David Cook (sang Billie Jean), David Archuleta (didn't catch his song title) and Brooke White (sang Every Breath You Take). Michael Johns---I do love Queen! Some people try to sing it and it just is sick and wrong-you've got to have a great big voice to sing Freddie. MJ did a great job. Carly Smithson---our resident Irish tattooed person. I really love her voice and although the judges weren't all that big on it, that's a crazy hard song to sing but she has just enough raspy to do it. David Cook knocked it out of the ballpark with the Chris Cornell version of Billie Jean (never want to hear the Michael Jackson version again!). David A. is just so darn cute and he's got a really nice voice-Simon was right though, it did sound kind of theme-parkish. Brooke took the most famous stalker song of all time and made it sound like a love song. Even Sting has said that he gets a kick out of people thinking it's a love song when it's actually stalkerish. I can't remember where I read/heard that so right now it's the gospel according to me. I'll be DVRing the show tonight. Who do I think is out? Bottom three will be Ramiela, Chikezie and Jason C (dredlock boy), Ramiela will be hitting the doors.

A post just for Connie....

2008-03-24T14:14:00.002-04:00

Today I received a slacker email from a dear friend (hello dear friend Connie) reminding me that I had not posted anything in a week and a bit. So, here are my ruminations over the past week...

1. So long crazy biker/nurse/screamer/singer on American Idol. Amanda of the crazy hair needed to learn to enunciate and maybe sing something slower. She said ballads are boring. Has she never heard the Monster Ballads CD? Some of the COOLEST Ballads were done by hair bands. Now Kristy Lee whatshername needs to leave and we'll have us a show. Also, what's up with David "Could I be a balding rocker?" Cook's hair?

2. I am back on dish washing duty since Mike took pity on Kiersten and she no longer has to wash the dishes. Instead she now has to do the clothes (hang and fold-not wash). I personally would rather do dishes because I can wash 4 loads of laundry a day. That's a lot of clothes (most of them are hers).

3. I'm still waiting for new books to come out. My 2 B bought list is up to 7 books by September and it starts in May. I think I get a break in July, but I'm not too sure about that. A few are in hardback but they are usually reasonably priced as long as I get them at Wally-World the week they come out. I was telling DFC (dear friend Connie) that I need an allowance just for books. Note to self---talk to Mike about said allowance. If Kiersten gets one, I think I deserve one as well.

4. We got our notice about the IRS economic stimulus package on Friday. Can I get a WOOHOO! That pays for the kid's bathroom redo this summer and a little in savings.

5. I am pretty much caught up at work which is in and of itself a small miracle. I still have stacks on my desk just so that my boss won't think I need anything else put on my desk that tends to migrate from his desk with a scribble on it.

6. An answer to one of the great questions posed in the why post a few weeks ago. The question: Why do cars in England drive on the left and we drive on the right? Answer: From The Book of Totally Useless Information---I'm cutting it down for the sake of space. In the 1700s in England, coachmen sat on the right side of the carriage. If the carriage traveled down the right side of the road, the whip would have whacked people. So, they stayed to the left so that the coachman could use his whip and pedestrians could meander safely.

There you have it. A post for Connie. Maybe now that I'm back in the swing, I'll post again tomorrow, this time about the weekend.

A Story

2008-03-14T09:04:00.002-04:00

Gather around guys and I'll tell you a story. A story of a quiet, shy girl and a funny, outgoing boy. Our story begins in the summer of 1987 (yes, I know, a long time ago). The girl was 13, with braces and the gawkiness of that age. The boy was 15, on a vacation to visit family. They met and hung out together. He kissed her best friend (the 14 year old blond who was as outgoing as our heroine was shy)-and our girl was sad to see him leave. Fast forward a few years, the girl is now 16 or so, the boy has graduated from high school, another vacation to visit his family. The girl is now a little more social, still quiet but she thinks she loves the boy. At that age everything is "love", isn't it? Moving on, the boy lives at the beach and occasionally comes to visit, but thinks that the girl doesn't like him, so they really don't see each other a lot. Fast forward another few years, the girl is now 20ish and the boy has again come for a visit. They get to hang out and have fun together, but the girl is wrapped up in someone else.

We're getting to the good part, hang on just a bit. Moving forward another 2 years, the girl is in a little house in Camden, praying for the first time in years for guidance, praying for someone to love her and her precious girl. The girl makes the decision to move on, to leave with her precious angel and hope for the best. An angel tells the girl, did you know that the boy is moving this way and he'll be here around Thanksgiving? No says the girl, but her heart is lightened a bit thinking that she her friend is coming and they can hang out together and the grown up girl can be, for just a moment, a girl. A few weeks, go by and the girl answers the phone and hears a welcome, warm voice asking if the boy can come and see her. The girl says yes. The boy knows what's happened with the girl, but it's just like all the times before, they talk like they've been together all this time. The girl is glad to have her friend to talk to, but then something changes. The grown up girl's feelings are changing back into something they've always been but different, stronger. When the grown up boy asks the grown up girl to marry him, she says yes and is happy for the first time in years.

Let's fast forward again, to this year and this place. The boy and girl are married and have added a precious boy to the family. The girl loves the boy more each day because of the things he does. He is a wonderful husband, always thinking of her before himself. He is a wonderful father, an example to the precious boy and the precious girl's example of what a husband should be. He is still funny, outgoing and just generally crazy (but in a good way). There have been 10 years now since the boy and girl were married, some bad times, but mostly good.

We've been through a lot, that boy and I. I love him more today than I did 20 years ago, 10 years ago or even yesterday. I see him as he teaches our son how to be a good man. I see him as he comforts our daughter better than I can. I see him laughing at me when I'm being silly or answering my questions or holding me while I cry. I love him so dearly, words cannot express it and my heart is full. So, happy anniversary my love, my heart, my answer to a prayer. I love you Michael.

My Normal Strangeness

2008-03-13T10:23:00.002-04:00

Hello all in the bloggerverse! It's been a crazy week all the way around, usually one place I go (i.e. work or home) is normal. Not so this week. Jared's been sick, Mike is in a funk, Kiersten is on the teenage roller coaster, work is out of control. But, I have the car and a nice drive and peace once I drop the little man off at school. As I was contemplating the goings on this week, I decided that I'm a tad odd. I know, this is no surprise to some but sometimes it sneaks up on me. Examples of my regular, everyday strangeness

-eating one thing at a time, nothing touching, thing I dislike most gets eaten first

-hating to go under bridges where there are cars sitting in traffic. This is weird even for me. I go under the I-126 bridge every morning coming to work and I'm always afraid that this is the day that it's going to fall smack on top of my car. Yes, there are ways to get to work without having to go that way, but they are longer and more stop lights.

-Going a different way to and fro just in case I'm being followed. Sometimes I go a different way everyday to see if I ever was followed and had to change up the routine, just how many ways I can get to my office.

-Going around logging trucks or any trucks with stuff hanging off the back of it as fast as my little MPV will carry me. I know in my head that those things are tied down, but I always think about a boat flying off or a log coming off. Where would I go? Is the ditch safe or would said flying whatever still hit me?

-Not liking to drive in the country without someone else in the car. Connie knows about this b/c I wouldn't drive to Carol's by myself for fear that car would break down, there wouldn't be cell phone reception, I would walk to a nearby house and never be seen or heard from again. Go ahead and laugh Connie.

-tapping my incoming work mail on my desk to settle any crazy powder that an unstable unemployed person sent to me.

So, what are some of your weirdness things? Have a lovely day!