We were going to go on a cruise with some friends, but that sort of fell through. I've never really wanted to go to New York, but the last few months I've been really wanting to go, I don't know why. We just went to Mexico last year and I didn't think we'd be able to get people to watch our kids. But my sister was going to watch my kids while we went on our cruise (she's happy to exchange watching kids, and so am I). But just now I saw on facebook a friend and her husband's pictures from their trip to Hungary. She is from there, and he is from Utah. Now I have a huge hankering to go to Hungary. Part of my heart belongs there and always will. I love that such that Dave and I served in the same mission and with each other for a month. My wanting to go to New York is almost gone. It's almost like Hungary or no where. It's such a special place with such special people. I need to go back.

Very pinteresting

I've been looking at pinterest lately. I love it. I love the organization ones. A couple cool ones: An earring holder made from a cheese grater. I think they just spray painted it and that is all! It was really cute. Also, storage for a bathroom. They had rolled up towels on it. You know how you can buy baskets in a group of two or three in different sizes? It was a big basket on bottom, medium in the middle, and small basket on top. The basket was just hanging with the bottom of the basket attached to the wall. Cheap compared to some shelf things. I think I might do that in my kids' bathroom. Some very cool ideas.

So I'm having a lot of fun looking at old photo albums. I've been reminiscing about my younger days, college days, mission days, blah blah blah. And I've also been having fun taking pictures of my pictures. I put up some from my wedding reception, at the temple, the dance festival in elementary school (hi Joleen!) etc. One day I'll scan them, but for now, this will have to do.

I know many people think it is tacky to have a wedding reception in a church gym, and maybe it is. In fact, when I booked my church for our wedding reception I had wanted one of the nicer stake buildings (with wood floors instead of carpet) but it was taken so I got to reserve the church that I went to when I grew up. Later, one of the nicer churches became available but I decided to keep my reception in the building where I grew up. All my childhood church memories are in that building: young women's, primary, volleyball, basketball, mother's day, tithing settlement, EVERYTHING took place in that building with the carpet on the basketball court. At least they had changed from orange to blue (now it is wood). I could not think of a better place to have my reception. So if you see basketball standards behind me in my reception and think it's in poor taste, I think it is endearing. And special. And it was perfect. Seeing all the people in the ward that I grew up in, in the ward building that I attended in my youth was much more special than any venue I could have rented.

And I also think you'll enjoy my shoulder pads in some of those college photos. Those ARE tacky and in poor taste. Good old college days. I had so much fun in college, mainly Ricks College when I lived away from home and had roommates. I will encourage my kids to live away from home and go to school. (Ask me when my kids are grown and I'll probably have to pay for it all). It was such a learning experience. I think it is good for them. If I could pick an age for my kids to get married it would be 25. Maybe 24. 23 just sounds so young.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/394146_302672486449570_100001204632617_963391_1939151954_n.jpg

Have you heard about the American Fork family who where in a crash on Christmas Eve? The crash was awful and they lost their 18-month-old son the following day, on Christmas. If you scroll down to a video posted on January 12th you'll find a video of their son's funeral which was held in the hospital chapel because the parents were not well enough to leave the hospital. I think they are still in the hospital, almost a month later. Anyway, the video is literally the saddest thing I've ever seen. I watched it practically sobbing. There is a warning about the video being extremely sensitive, and it is, so if you watch it keep that in mind. I can't imagine losing a child.


http://kellypack.com/category/updates/

Pictures

A few pictures. I took pictures of pictures from my photo album from my childhood. One is of me as a baby being held by my great grandmother. The other girls are my two sisters. The other one is a four generation picture with my dad, his mom, and his grandmother. And one of me when I was about 11 with a broken arm. I was skinny, huh? But I guess most 11-year-olds are. Check out the short shorts and the bony knees. I broke my arm when I landed on it when I was popped off a trampoline.

Carpe what?

Another mom's look at raising children.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/glennon-melton/dont-carpe-diem_b_1206346.html?ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false

I don't know why I like quotes so much. I mostly put them on my blog so I can find them easily when I want. I found this on a friend's friend's blog and I put it on my side bar. I hope you like it as much as I do.

This is our one and only chance at mortal life—here and now. The longer we live, the greater is our realization that it is brief. Opportunities come, and then they are gone. I believe that among the greatest lessons we are to learn in this short sojourn upon the earth are lessons that help us distinguish between what is important and what is not. I plead with you not to let those most important things pass you by as you plan for that illusive and non-existent future when you will have time to do all that you want to do. Instead, find joy in the journey—now.
-President Thomas S. Monson

Solar lights

This was forwarded to me, and I thought it was a great preparedness idea.


Now, this is a great idea. How many people have these and probably never thought of bringing them inside when the power failed?

Last week, a thunderstorm rolled through our neighborhood and a huge oak tree came down on some power lines, creating a power outage for a large area around us. We lost power for about 5 hours.


We were scrambling around in the darkness, looking for matches, candles, flashlights, etc.


We looked outside, and noticed our solar lights shining brightly all around our patio, stairs, dock, etc. They were beautiful. Pat walked outside, and brought several of the solar lights inside.


We stuck the solar light pipes into plastic drink bottles containers and they made the nicest, brightest, safest, lighting you could ever imagine.


We put one in the bathroom, the kitchen, the living room, etc. There was plenty of light. There are all types of solar lights available. We put them all around our yard. They look nice and they do not attract flying bugs like the outdoor lights around our doorway.
The lights we have fit into the small (20oz) water bottles and they also fit into most of the larger liter bottles. If you need a weight in the plastic bottle to keep them from tipping over, you can put a few of the pretty colorful "flat marbles" that they put in aquariums, and vases. (you can also use sand, aquarium gravel, etc., whatever you have available).


The lights we have were perfect inside our home. They burn all night long if you need them.


The next day, you just take your solar lights back outside and they will instantly recharge and be ready for you to use again any time you need them.


Perfect for power outages, hurricanes, etc.

I love you...

I got this in an email a couple of years ago and this morning I am deleting a bunch of old emails (I had like 3000+) and I reread this and thought it is meaningful. I hope you like it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


One day a woman's husband died, and on that clear, cold morning, in the warmth of their bedroom, the wife was struck with the pain of learning that sometimes there isn't "anymore". No more hugs, no more special moments to celebrate together, no more phone calls just to chat, no more "just one minute." Sometimes, what we care about the most gets all used up and goes away, never to return before we can say good-bye, say"I love you."

So while we have it, it's best we love it, care for it, fix it when it's broken and heal it when it's sick. This is true for marriage......And old cars... And children with bad habits and report cards, and dogs with bad hips, and aging parents and grandparents. We keep them because they are worth it, because we are worth it.

Some things we keep -- like a best friend who moved away or a sister-in-law after divorce. There are just some things that make us happy, no matter what.

Life is important, like people we know who are special.. And so, we keep them close!

I received this from someone who thought I was a 'keeper'! Then I sent it to the people I think of in the same way.... Now it's your turn to send this to all those people who are "keepers" in your life, including the person who sent it, if you feel that way. Suppose one morning you never wake up, do all your friends know you love them?

I was thinking....I could die today, tomorrow or next week, and I wondered if I had any wounds needing to be healed, friendships that needed rekindling or three words needing to be said.

Let every one of your friends know you love them.. Even if you think they don't love you back, you would be amazed at what those three little words and a smile can do. And just in case I'm gone tomorrow.

I LOVE YOU!!!

Live today because tomorrow is not promised.

http://www.thedailybuzz.com.au/2011/11/25-clever-ideas_household-tips_storage-ideas/#.Tw5mNXeoHQU.facebook

Okay guys, the above link has some very, very handy tips. I love them!

Me and Jim

Remember when I talked about getting a gym membership? Well, I did it. I went in on Saturday and paid for a year and I made sure to include child care. The price wasn't too bad. I told Dave that I don't spend money on myself that much. I don't have hobbies or interests that take me away from the home or that I spend money on. I rarely have ME time. And when I have me time, it is when the kids are in bed and my body and mind are too fried to do much of anything. I can feel my muscles atrophying. I can't go anywhere to "get away". Dave has his work, school, his garage, the big field behind our house. I basically have the bathroom. But I can't stay in there for too long. Believe me, I've tried.

I've had gym memberships in the past and used them pretty well at times, and other times they went to waste. Dave bought me a treadmill and I use it off and on. But the treadmill doesn't help me with strength training. And it doesn't get me away. I need a big block of time when I can focus on exercise. They child care allows me 90 minutes a day. My plan is to go after Molly wakes up and the kids are fed and dressed and Matthew is at work. I went this morning for the first time. There were a LOT of kids. I might decide to go in the early afternoon when Matthew is home and after lunch. Then there might be less kids at the gym play place. I want to check out what classes they have. I know there is zumba, cycling, kickboxing, and some others.

So I'm excited! I've tried exercising with a friend at our houses and letting the kids play or going on a walk with all our kids, but it doesn't seem to work out. I never got much "bang for my buck". It's a lot of effort to pack the kids up, strollers, etc. At least with the gym I can have 90 solid minutes for a workout. (or my version of a workout. ha.)

Ruins at Chichen Itza. Beautiful.

Here are a bunch of our pictures from our Cancun trip back in August. I don't feel like labeling them at all. There are some cool ones, cheesy ones, ones of our room, the beach, dolphins, a few ruins. We had a great time. The people were so kind, the country is beautiful, and the food was delicious. It was a great opportunity for us to be together. The best thing about the trip for me was being with Dave for a whole week.

Brain Cells

It's been said that when women give birth they lose brain cells and never really get them back. It's true. When I try to use my remaining brain cells in any capacity I get interrupted. Why bother?

My daughters

I have two daughters, Norah and Molly. Norah is 3 and Molly is 1.

They are so fun and spunky. Molly's personality is really starting to come out and they have a blast together (along with their older brother).

I rarely put bows or headbands on my girls (partly because they take them off), but I love these pictures. Except for the dirty teeth and face on Norah.

Thank Heaven for little girls, indeed.

Love me

"Love me when I least deserve it because that is when I really need it."

~Swedish proverb



"Work for a cause, not for applause.
Live life to express, not to impress.
Don't strive to make your presence noticed,
just make your absence felt."

~unknown