Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Thank You Pinterest and Lookout Martha!!
Well, it’s Halloween. This specific holiday is not my favorite (but I don't hate it) and I have never been a huge fan of dressing up, except maybe when I was younger. I get confused why grown women dresses in ¼ of what they would wear normally for this holiday and look like their teenage daughters. I missed the memo that standards are not applicable during this holiday! (End of rant) However, over the years I have grown to find this holiday to be fun. I’ve never been a fan of body parts in the yard, and cheesy stuff from Walmart and the decorations I like, that are found at boutiques is ridiculously priced. Hence, me never getting into the decorating spirit! My mom always went all out for any holiday when it came to decorating our house and fun activities during the weeks before, so sometimes people are a bit confused as to why I am not that way. Side note: My mom is amazing. If I can be half of the woman/mother she is, I would consider my life a success.
This year, thanks to sites like Pinterest, I decided to perk up my Halloween decorations. I have a few friends in my neighborhood who go all out and I love their decorations!! They have sparked my creative juices (Thank you Karen!!). So…I’m trying to turn my kitchen into a Witches’ Kitchen, thanks to the help of the gals in my neighborhood. We had a recent Girls Night Out, craft night. We made potion bottles, which were absolutely darling!! I ended up making 25. You should have seen Brandon’s face when I came home with 25 wine bottles turned into potion bottles!! Laura helped me put glitter on a couple of skeleton heads and we put the new décor up this weekend. I also got an idea for a wreath off of pinterest. I dyed some monk’s cloth a burnt orange color, cut into two inch strips and twisted and glued to a wreath. Slapped a bow on that baby and VIOLA! I got through this craft project with only one battle wound. I was caught off guard by my glue gun. But my thumb is healing and I shall survive.
Yet another cool thing about living in Plain City? I bought 7 pumpkins for $5.00 from a neighbor. There are many people out here who grow pumpkins, then set up a little stand on their front lawn where you can buy them. Pumpkins at Walmart are $3.88. Each. Take that, Walmart!! So I wrapped some of those in tulle and Laura and Liz helped me paint two of them. While Brandon was at the priesthood session of general conference, we finished the pumpkins and put them outside.
The three of us decided to put out the rest of my decorations. I had a new and unexpected item in my Halloween box. It was a mouse. About half way through putting things out, I reached my hand in the box and all of a sudden the unexpected addition ran across the box right by my hand. EEEEKKK!! Ok, I don’t really freak out over mice. Or spiders. But this little guy totally scared me. We took the box out back, I finished emptying it and then got Jerry and dropped him in. Ha! Take that! Looks like I need to put out more mouse poison in the garage, or is it mice poison??? (This is one downside to living in Plain City….there are little critters)
Once we were done, Laura, Liz and I hit the Maverick for a treat. We made it moments before the priesthood session ended and so needless to say, missed waiting in a long line of men and boys for our coke’s and treats! WHEW!
I walked into the twin’s room and found one of Elizabeth’s craft projects on the wall. She is constantly leaving notes to each of us about how much she loves us and her family. I had to throw a picture of one of her recent posters in.
Thursday, September 13, 2012
End of Summer
Summer is over. It was a fun summer and very low key. I decided to throw up a few pictures from us playing around...I did not do a very good job of keeping up with our blog this summer. My excuse would be is that I've been busy having too much fun! We hope that everyone had a good summer!
Mercy River performed in Brigham Young Historical park in SLC this summer. My good friend Amber and I were going and Brandon and Laura came along. It was a lot of fun. We got carmel apples and sat on the grass and enjoyed one of our favorite groups!
One of my good friends had surgery and so her little girl, also known as my little BFF, came to stay overnight over the weekend. We roasted marshmallows and made s'mores and we took her fishing for her first time!! We went up to a city pond in Brigham City that is stocked with fish. It's a great place to go with kids, you are almost guaranteed to catch fish. Mak loved it! You are allowed to take home two fish each. So, with a plan in mind, we kept a hold of 12.
Over the summer several "pets" Luke and Duncan caught ended up at Duncan's house. One of them was a catfish. When that catfish was returned to the wild, I told Mike and Amy to not be too sad. That I would get them another. So, while they were at church, Laura and I drove over to their home. We filled the bathtub and kitchen sink with water and we introduced the catfish to their new home.
Mercy River performed in Brigham Young Historical park in SLC this summer. My good friend Amber and I were going and Brandon and Laura came along. It was a lot of fun. We got carmel apples and sat on the grass and enjoyed one of our favorite groups!
One of my good friends had surgery and so her little girl, also known as my little BFF, came to stay overnight over the weekend. We roasted marshmallows and made s'mores and we took her fishing for her first time!! We went up to a city pond in Brigham City that is stocked with fish. It's a great place to go with kids, you are almost guaranteed to catch fish. Mak loved it! You are allowed to take home two fish each. So, with a plan in mind, we kept a hold of 12.
Over the summer several "pets" Luke and Duncan caught ended up at Duncan's house. One of them was a catfish. When that catfish was returned to the wild, I told Mike and Amy to not be too sad. That I would get them another. So, while they were at church, Laura and I drove over to their home. We filled the bathtub and kitchen sink with water and we introduced the catfish to their new home.
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
CTR, Remember Who You are. Don't do drugs and stay away from weird men/women!
With the start of school here...I wanted to write to the beautiful girls in our ward (boys, you count too but I'm not friends with a lot of you on facebook and that is where this will be posted), my nieces and nephews, my cute step kids and all the teens and kids getting ready to start another year of school where so many of your best memories will be formed but where you will be faced with real adversity... I always say, jokingly (yet, I'm not joking), when the kids get out of the car or leave the house, "Choose the Right! Don't do drugs! Remember who you are! Stay away from weird men/women!"
I want to share a few things from a book I recently read, When Life Gets Hard by Meg Johnson:
"Being spiritually "able" requires very simple steps - the kind of answers always given in Primary. Praying, reading scriptures, and being nice to others all invite the Holy Ghost and spiritual ability. Likewise, spiritual paralysis happens with similar simplicity."
"Being spiritually paralyzed is not a disability I can handle."
"Those who are spiritually disabled look at us as "self-righteous" and "haughty" when we refuse to join them in their unfair judgements, gossip, parties, movies and every other activity that would numb us spiritually. They wallow selfishly in their spiritual paralysis. They know where the path is but choose to stay spiritually disabled. They do not wish to join us, instead, despise us for our valiance and humility - and ability."
This is so hard!! How do we know if it is our pride or if it is someone else's insecurities/anger or spiritual paralysis?? And when we make a mistake, what do we do? That is something that others sit and wait for us to do, to use as a tool to drag us down and to hopefully pull us off our path. To point out what hypocrites we are. We all make mistakes, and if you are me you make mistakes, A LOT (like, daily). I don't have a deep, profound answer. I have to always go back to the Primary answers above and have found that those, simple things, are the true answer. If it is my pride, I ask for help to humble myself and apologize. Apologies are not always accepted, but you have done your part in it, allow the Savior to do the rest.
A part in the book, she talks about being in a movie that does not align with her standards and that she knows she needs to leave....and asks the question that I find myself asking, all the time. What do I do?
"As a modern-day Daniel, you have two places to pray- hidden in your closet or right in front of the window. Sometimes it is right to pray in your closets, but in this instance, being subtle about your standards and still keeping them - like closing your eyes during the bad scenes - may not be enough. But if you "pray in front of the window" and stand up in the middle of the show to crawl over everyone in the audience to get out, people might not be so happy with you.
Sometimes when we "pray in front of our window", we're considered arrogant and self-righteous. Sometimes our friends won't understand our standards. Sometimes our family will be angry at us for reminding them of our standards. God does not always close their mouths.
Sometimes those who see our righteous example are not softened, sometimes they are hardened against us."
"As modern-day Daniels, what do we say in our prayers? Do we ask that the lions' mouths will be closed? Or do we ask for thicker skin?"
"....courage is not the same as bravery. When we're brave, we are fearless and confident. But I rarely feel that way. Like you, I know people who dislike it when I pray at my window. I fear that those lions may eat me and that the fires will burn me - but I fear God more. In my fear, I have little room for bravery.
But I have room for courage. Courage is not the absence of fear. Rather, it is the willingness and determination to do what needs doing anyway - despite how we feel. With courage, we can fall down on our knees right in front of our window, standing tall in our commitment to righteousness, and let the lions eat us.
With courage, we can walk through the fires that burn, and as we do, we will walk with God. As we are courageous, we will know that if lions eat us, we're going to taste good because the fruits of the Spirit are sweet!
So let the lions eat us as we bear our testimony with our actions and pray in front of our windows. Let the fires burn us to a standard-waving crisp! There is nothing on our trail - no lion, no fire, no rock - that we can't handle when we walk with God, even if we can't walk."
Please remember to include everyone. Gossip, talking poorly about others, bashing on facebook, that all hurts. I know because I have been guilty of doing it and hurting people in the past and it has been done to me. Words cut deep and being left out hurts. I have few regrets in life, but when I have allowed emotion to take control and I have vented on social media, or said things that were hurtful, I have felt true regret. It is hard to repair that kind of damage. Look out for one another, and include one another. Have fun and have courage. If you won't, who will?
And most importantly, choose the right! Remember who you are! Don't do drugs! And stay away from weird men and women!!
I want to share a few things from a book I recently read, When Life Gets Hard by Meg Johnson:
"Being spiritually "able" requires very simple steps - the kind of answers always given in Primary. Praying, reading scriptures, and being nice to others all invite the Holy Ghost and spiritual ability. Likewise, spiritual paralysis happens with similar simplicity."
"Being spiritually paralyzed is not a disability I can handle."
"Those who are spiritually disabled look at us as "self-righteous" and "haughty" when we refuse to join them in their unfair judgements, gossip, parties, movies and every other activity that would numb us spiritually. They wallow selfishly in their spiritual paralysis. They know where the path is but choose to stay spiritually disabled. They do not wish to join us, instead, despise us for our valiance and humility - and ability."
This is so hard!! How do we know if it is our pride or if it is someone else's insecurities/anger or spiritual paralysis?? And when we make a mistake, what do we do? That is something that others sit and wait for us to do, to use as a tool to drag us down and to hopefully pull us off our path. To point out what hypocrites we are. We all make mistakes, and if you are me you make mistakes, A LOT (like, daily). I don't have a deep, profound answer. I have to always go back to the Primary answers above and have found that those, simple things, are the true answer. If it is my pride, I ask for help to humble myself and apologize. Apologies are not always accepted, but you have done your part in it, allow the Savior to do the rest.
A part in the book, she talks about being in a movie that does not align with her standards and that she knows she needs to leave....and asks the question that I find myself asking, all the time. What do I do?
"As a modern-day Daniel, you have two places to pray- hidden in your closet or right in front of the window. Sometimes it is right to pray in your closets, but in this instance, being subtle about your standards and still keeping them - like closing your eyes during the bad scenes - may not be enough. But if you "pray in front of the window" and stand up in the middle of the show to crawl over everyone in the audience to get out, people might not be so happy with you.
Sometimes when we "pray in front of our window", we're considered arrogant and self-righteous. Sometimes our friends won't understand our standards. Sometimes our family will be angry at us for reminding them of our standards. God does not always close their mouths.
Sometimes those who see our righteous example are not softened, sometimes they are hardened against us."
"As modern-day Daniels, what do we say in our prayers? Do we ask that the lions' mouths will be closed? Or do we ask for thicker skin?"
"....courage is not the same as bravery. When we're brave, we are fearless and confident. But I rarely feel that way. Like you, I know people who dislike it when I pray at my window. I fear that those lions may eat me and that the fires will burn me - but I fear God more. In my fear, I have little room for bravery.
But I have room for courage. Courage is not the absence of fear. Rather, it is the willingness and determination to do what needs doing anyway - despite how we feel. With courage, we can fall down on our knees right in front of our window, standing tall in our commitment to righteousness, and let the lions eat us.
With courage, we can walk through the fires that burn, and as we do, we will walk with God. As we are courageous, we will know that if lions eat us, we're going to taste good because the fruits of the Spirit are sweet!
So let the lions eat us as we bear our testimony with our actions and pray in front of our windows. Let the fires burn us to a standard-waving crisp! There is nothing on our trail - no lion, no fire, no rock - that we can't handle when we walk with God, even if we can't walk."
Please remember to include everyone. Gossip, talking poorly about others, bashing on facebook, that all hurts. I know because I have been guilty of doing it and hurting people in the past and it has been done to me. Words cut deep and being left out hurts. I have few regrets in life, but when I have allowed emotion to take control and I have vented on social media, or said things that were hurtful, I have felt true regret. It is hard to repair that kind of damage. Look out for one another, and include one another. Have fun and have courage. If you won't, who will?
And most importantly, choose the right! Remember who you are! Don't do drugs! And stay away from weird men and women!!
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Thank you, Pinterest
So I like Pinterest. I actually use it. Mainly for recipes and hairdo ideas. Recently, I saw a hilarious picture of a dog with penciled on eyebrows. Monday, I did it to Charlie and Jerry. Truly, mid conversation with Brandon and Laura, I reached under the bed and grabbed out a cheap, old eye liner....Here is the result. I find it hilarious. Hoping no one reports me to the ASPCA.
They both held completely still, I must not be the only one who likes getting my makeup done. Jerry, seemed a tad bit ticked off when I was done.
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| Before... |
They both held completely still, I must not be the only one who likes getting my makeup done. Jerry, seemed a tad bit ticked off when I was done.
Box Spring: 1 Brandon and Jill: 0
The story I am about to tell is completely true. There is a good possibility that Brandon won't talk to me for at least a week after posting this. Thing is, I know we have all "been there done that" in a similar situation, and I happen to think this is very funny. Unfortunately for Brandon, he's married to someone who is incredibly open and has zero problem laughing at her antics and her husbands....
It was 4 o'clock, one hot summer afternoon. Brandon and I started to move a queen size box spring down stairs to Lilly's room. The stairs in our cottage, to our basement, are narrow and kinda steep (Cottage = old house).
We got the box spring part way down and then, it stopped moving. The corner of the box spring, literally was sitting on the very edge of the stair it needed to pass. I am positive there is no measurement in existence, small enough, to describe how close we were to getting it down this one stair.
With it being so close, we made the conclusion that most would make. We can do this. It just needs a little "coaxing". Right? Coaxing is code for force. Let's cut to the good part. We could not shove it down the stairs, and trust me, we tried. A million different ways, one which included me throwing (literally) all my weight on the box spring. I will let your imagination run with that one. Not ready to give up, we decided that if we took apart one of the corners of the box spring, it would give the wood frame the ability to move and twist just a little, and just enough, so that we could maneuver it over this last, stupid, stair.
We did the wrong corner the fist time. Moving on....
We get the right corner undone and are able to fold the boards up into the frame and were able to maneuver the box spring! Apparently, there is a measurement in existence for where the box spring was originally stuck because we were able to move it. But not off the stair.
Those of you who know me, know I'm someone who sweats. Always have. Regardless of what shape I am in. Brandon, however, does not, sometimes that is super irritating. At this point, he is drenched in sweat. So that says a lot to the state I am in.
I need to backtrack....Yes. We measured things. According to my ladybug tape measure, the box spring would fit down the stairs. And really and truly, we were so so so so so so so so close to having it down that one stupid stair that stood in our way.
Ok, so if we take apart all four corners, surely it will give us the little flexibility we need. Right? We unwedge the box spring and take it out back and take apart all four corners so we can fold the boards up in the frame.
We stood at the top of the stairs, ready to conquer. Filled with determination and covered in sweat. This box spring was going downstairs.
We lost. The box spring had other ideas and after many more comical minutes we conceded and literally threw the box spring off our deck. I plan to roast marshmallows over it for my revenge. Take that!
The kids were pretty confused about the state of the back yard and wanted to know what had happened. I simple told them, "We got into a fight. With a box spring. It won."
I hope you found this as funny as we have. I think we all have a story where we can relate. Because clearly we know better, right? A square block will fit in a round hole if I force it. Tthis time, just this once, we were wrong.
What about Lilly's bed??? Brandon made a low bed frame. Thank goodness it is "in" to have low beds!
(Brandon is unaware that I had Laura take pictures of the box spring for evidence of our fight)
Saturday, July 28, 2012
Random Summer Moments...
This summer has been laid back. I continue to like living in Plain City and the kids really like that we are closer now. The kids have made some friends in our ward here and Luke, in particular, has become good friends with a boy not far from us. Luke and Duncan have spent their time hunting for frogs, fish, and snakes. Having lemonade stands, running between houses, playing in water and having late nights. They are fun to watch. They recently caught a huge tad pole with their other friend, Seth. Luke even gave Duncan a catfish he had caught when he went fishing with Brandon one morning. Luke and Duncan explained to me that Duncan needed to keep it at our house because he needed to have a pet at our house. Brandon and I let him know that there was no room at the inn and the fish would have to go back to the wild. Little did I know, Duncan took it home. He took the tadpole home too. Amy and I remain friends despite the critters that make their way from our house to hers! Whew!
Liz has been practicing doing hair and Brandon has become her model. He is so pretty!
We had s'mores at Brian and Andrea's house one night while David and Olga were in town. Andrea, I love you. Those were the worst s'mores. Ever! Who knew that a gram cracker could go stale??!?? So I have yet to have had my summer fix of s'mores and summer is almost over!!!
Little Lincoln tends to have the same facial expression. He is such a sweet and mellow baby. We love playing with him, especially the kids. I get zero holding time with him with our kids around! Brandon realized the other day that his facial expression reminds him of Zoolander (which happens to be Andrea's (Lincoln's mom) favorite movie!). So we now refer to it as "Blue Steel".
Brandon got a pedicure at Girls Camp and we had quite the time getting all the glitter off his toes. But he wore his badge of honor, proudly. Love my B!
Charlie is huge. Kind of going through a rebellious stage. Trying to figure out how to nip that in the bud. ASAP!
One night, I sent out a text to the numbers I had in my phone for girls in my new ward to meet up at the Maverick for a coke. We were there til 2 a.m. and a sort of tradition has formed. Brandon has named it the "Summer Special". There are over 20 girls on the list to get the text now. I send it out about 30 minutes before and we meet up after everyone's kids are in bed and grab a coke, snow cone or some treat and sit and gab and laugh. It has become such a fun for thing for us to do! Best stress relief, ever!
Liz has been practicing doing hair and Brandon has become her model. He is so pretty!
We had s'mores at Brian and Andrea's house one night while David and Olga were in town. Andrea, I love you. Those were the worst s'mores. Ever! Who knew that a gram cracker could go stale??!?? So I have yet to have had my summer fix of s'mores and summer is almost over!!!
Little Lincoln tends to have the same facial expression. He is such a sweet and mellow baby. We love playing with him, especially the kids. I get zero holding time with him with our kids around! Brandon realized the other day that his facial expression reminds him of Zoolander (which happens to be Andrea's (Lincoln's mom) favorite movie!). So we now refer to it as "Blue Steel".
Brandon got a pedicure at Girls Camp and we had quite the time getting all the glitter off his toes. But he wore his badge of honor, proudly. Love my B!
Charlie is huge. Kind of going through a rebellious stage. Trying to figure out how to nip that in the bud. ASAP!
One night, I sent out a text to the numbers I had in my phone for girls in my new ward to meet up at the Maverick for a coke. We were there til 2 a.m. and a sort of tradition has formed. Brandon has named it the "Summer Special". There are over 20 girls on the list to get the text now. I send it out about 30 minutes before and we meet up after everyone's kids are in bed and grab a coke, snow cone or some treat and sit and gab and laugh. It has become such a fun for thing for us to do! Best stress relief, ever!
Wright's and Sandall's, together again!!
Last weekend, we got an invite to go up to a cabin with our good friends, the Wright's. Needless to say, we were all so excited!! We met up during the afternoon on Friday and headed off over the North Ogden Divide. Honestly, I'm not exactly sure where this cabin was. Ha! I had never been camping in this area before. Once we got to the cabin, we did a little exploring. Found a beaver dam and a beaver that was about 70% rotted. PEE-EW! We headed off to the pond close by to go fishing and explore some more.
We did a little fishing and headed back when it got dark. We just hung out, the kids played games and Cody, Kari, Brandon and I relaxed and hung out. Brandon and Kari kept Cody and I up, way past our bedtimes! So much, that I did not hear anyone leave at the crack of dawn that morning to go fishing and slept through the morning til 9:00 a.m. Liz stayed back and so did Kari. Once everyone got back, Cody and Brandon got to making breakfast. Chocolate chip pancakes, eggs, bacon and fish!!! Right from the lake (pond). YUM!!
The older girls cleaned up and then it was off to fish, canoe and relax by the water. Brandon and Cody took the four younger kids out on the water and the four older girls blew up a little raft and hooked tubes to it to go out in the water in. As the girls were getting out into the water Kari and I heard screams and giggles. We looked just in time to see the last of the four kids in the canoe jump into the water. I think those sounds just might be the best sounds on earth. Cody and Brandon did some fishing in the canoe and the kids had a blast playing in the water and hunting for frogs and water snakes. Luke hung on to his first water snake til his dad came in from being in the canoe. Let's just say that required him hanging onto it for more than just a few minutes. Lunch and then more swimming!! Sam caught a snake and was pretty set on taking it home, same for Luke. Eventually, and with some tears, the snakes were returned to the wild and there were no new pets taken home. WHEW!
We watched the Princess Bride after dinner and hung out for as long as we could. Cody was speaking in Sacrament meeting and both Brandon and I were teaching at church the next day, so we needed to get home before Sunday. Right before leaving, Brandon shared a couple of songs that we love. It's a blessing to have friends that you can share life with. We had a blast hanging out and laughing but also got to share something that brought tears to all of our eyes and feel of the spirit. It was a perfect way to end our little adventure to.
Sunday, was spent recovering from our adventures. Recovery involved many naps and little movement. Thanks to the Wright family for inviting us! As Luke and I would say; "We love you! To the moon and back!"
We did a little fishing and headed back when it got dark. We just hung out, the kids played games and Cody, Kari, Brandon and I relaxed and hung out. Brandon and Kari kept Cody and I up, way past our bedtimes! So much, that I did not hear anyone leave at the crack of dawn that morning to go fishing and slept through the morning til 9:00 a.m. Liz stayed back and so did Kari. Once everyone got back, Cody and Brandon got to making breakfast. Chocolate chip pancakes, eggs, bacon and fish!!! Right from the lake (pond). YUM!!
The older girls cleaned up and then it was off to fish, canoe and relax by the water. Brandon and Cody took the four younger kids out on the water and the four older girls blew up a little raft and hooked tubes to it to go out in the water in. As the girls were getting out into the water Kari and I heard screams and giggles. We looked just in time to see the last of the four kids in the canoe jump into the water. I think those sounds just might be the best sounds on earth. Cody and Brandon did some fishing in the canoe and the kids had a blast playing in the water and hunting for frogs and water snakes. Luke hung on to his first water snake til his dad came in from being in the canoe. Let's just say that required him hanging onto it for more than just a few minutes. Lunch and then more swimming!! Sam caught a snake and was pretty set on taking it home, same for Luke. Eventually, and with some tears, the snakes were returned to the wild and there were no new pets taken home. WHEW!
We watched the Princess Bride after dinner and hung out for as long as we could. Cody was speaking in Sacrament meeting and both Brandon and I were teaching at church the next day, so we needed to get home before Sunday. Right before leaving, Brandon shared a couple of songs that we love. It's a blessing to have friends that you can share life with. We had a blast hanging out and laughing but also got to share something that brought tears to all of our eyes and feel of the spirit. It was a perfect way to end our little adventure to.
Sunday, was spent recovering from our adventures. Recovery involved many naps and little movement. Thanks to the Wright family for inviting us! As Luke and I would say; "We love you! To the moon and back!"
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