Feeling blessed this Christmas

The economy being how it is right now, we knew that this Christmas was going to be simple and on the small side. The girls have been sweet and understanding and helped fill our home with the Christmas spirit. Serenity completely ended our Christmas day quite nicely. As she climbed into bed that night, she said that this Christmas had been pretty nearly perfect. That made mommy tear up a bit.

There are also many people who have contributed to that Christmas spirit as well. We are very blessed to be surrounded by wonderful family and friends. Thank you for being a part of our lives. We are very rich in all the truly important ways thanks to all of you. We wish you all a blessed new year and hope your Christmas was as perfect as ours. We didn't send out Christmas news letters and cards this year so I will update you a little here instead.

If all goes smoothly, we will be moving to Palmyra, New York in a few months. I will be helping my dad with some restoration work on my older sister Heidi's house. It is going to be a great adventure, to be sure. I think I will miss the mountains a bit, and we will definitely miss those we are leaving behind in Utah. Wish us luck. Woohoo!

November 2008

Pictures from my date. I went on a group date for Margaret Monson's birthday. We had dinner at The Roof restaurant and then went to the symphony. It was fun.

Thanksgiving. My girls were in Washington with their dad. I have continued walking at least 5 days a week for around 3 miles a day consistently for 5 weeks now, and that helped me improve my race time by more than 3 minutes. 2007 I did 2 miles in 30:13.1. 2008 I improved to 27:56.2. This year was quite warm and pleasant too. Last year was painfully cold. I think next year I will be ready for the 4 mile run, no problem.

GO ME!!!

Well, it may not be much in the grand scheme of things but it is a big deal to me. I just thought I would post a little note because I am so pleased with the roll that I am on. I am beginning to form a good habit of working out. I really don't think I have done this well since P.E. was a part of life. Sad. I am starting off slowly with walking around the neighborhood or on the treadmill at work. I walked a total of 16 miles and for 5 straight days last week and so far 7 miles in the last 3 days this week. Cadence even went with me yesterday which helped me stay on my goal and we had a good time together from my point of view. I am a tiny bit sore but it is so worth it especially considering it has alleviated what had become almost daily headaches last month. Shocking isn't it. So this little post is me being my own little cheerleader (someone's got to do it.) I am very hopeful that this is a lifelong habit in the making. Taking care of me will make me a better mom and friend and employee, I am sure of it.

Halloween Time!

We have had a very fun October full of witches and treats and pumpkins. It has been unseasonably warm and we have definitely taken advantage. Cadence decided last year that she wanted to be Dorothy and Serenity and I kinda decided around her idea. I was going to put together a costume to be a tornado but it didn't work out. So Serenity was a great cowardly lion and I still stayed with our theme as the wicked witch of the west. I hope you all had as much fun as we did.

Recent Fun Stuff

So for those of you who didn't know me before my braces and for those kind people who have already forgotten how crooked and crowded my teeth were....here are a before and an after shot. And then the slideshow is just some of the random fun we have had recently.
Before
After

Weird and Random

Six weird and random things about me:
The rules are:
* Post the rules on your blog
* Write six random things/unspectacular quirks about yourself
* Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them
* Let each person you have tagged know by leaving a comment on their blog
* Let the tagger know when your entry is posted

It really should not be that difficult to thing of six weird things about myself.....but it is.

1. I like to color pieces of my hair unnatural colors like pink and purple.
2. I love unusual names. Not made up names. Just uncommon with special meaning to go with my feeling as to what their personality is like. I think Serenity and Cadence completely fit their names.
3. I love to try out new recipes and twist them to my own tastes.
4. I am fairly mechanically inclined. I can fix things like old hairdryers, I can build my own computer, I have replaced roofs and done drywall and lay tile.
5. I have always had a fascination with vampire stories throughout my life. (The Twilight Saga played nicely into that fascination.)
6. I have a talent for remembering the lyrics to songs and find it annoying when people don't sing the right lyrics. If you aren't sure what they are, just hum instead.

I tag Christianne, Noelle, Julie, Sheri, Amber, and Christie.

Nothin' New

Not a lot of new going on with us these days. We are just kinda stuck in a busy school/work/try to play once in a while routine that is happy but not much worthy of blogging about. Hopefully we will have something soon.

Back to School

Why does time have to fly so fast? It doesn't really seem to matter if you are having fun or not. How in the world did I suddenly become the mom to a fourth grader and another kindergartner. Well I guess that I must have blinked or something. I am very pleased with how enthusiastic my girls are about school and learning. They both have very fun teachers and the outlook for this year is definitely good. I cannot tell you how nice it is that evenings for us are spent with reading more than television. I am so grateful that their grandpa reads to each of them almost every night and now Serenity is reading to Cadence on top of that. I feel that they are creating memories that will serve them well throughout their lives and will bond them closer and closer to one another. Serenity got a small bookcase for her birthday and I was thrilled with how excited she is to fill it with books that she loves. Reading can be a contagious bug too, Cadence wants a bookcase of her own too.

Youth Parade

The girls and I had the opportunity to be a part of the youth parade for the days of '47 pioneer celebrations here in Salt Lake. It was very fun to get to do this together. Cadi, very naturally fitting for her personality, waved her beauty queen wave. Serenity wasn't quite so bold about it but they were in my opinion the cutest two flour sacks in the the whole huge bunch.

Yes, flour sacks. Our ward building for church is on the same piece of land where one of the first flour mills in the Salt Lake valley was after the Mormon pioneers came here. So our float is reminiscent of that mill and we all got to be walking flour sacks.

The white part of our float portrays the different fields in which people of the Millcreek area have been pioneers like computers and medicine.

Each stake only gets asked to be in the parade around every nine years so we enjoyed our turn. I haven't been in a parade since I was drum majorette in junior high. Good stuff. It would truly surprise me though if this were the only parade the girls were in.

Memory Tag

Tag! Here's the drill (This one's kind of interesting...)1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.

Think Pink

So here are finally a couple of pictures of my pink hair(that I LOVE). Cadence took them at Seth's house last weekend. Not much new has been going on so yes this is the most I could come up with for a fun nonsensical update.

Owies

I'll see your owies and raise you a couple of dog bites, Hanna. Well, I have been trying to find the time to post this for a few days now, but really the only time I had was during a power outage. Cadence's owies cannot be blamed on a growth spurt (even though she is in one), however, it has made for a difficult week.

She was playing with a little friend across the street and one of their dogs bit Cadi pretty badly. The story that the girls gave us was that the dog jumped at Cadi after she climbed down from the tree house. I won't bore you with all the gory details but the dog is in a 10 day quarantine, but he should be fine we expect. I hope he is okay and that it isn't necessary to go further.

Cadi is on antibiotics, which she hates. She certainly has kept her sense of humor through most of this as you can see her hamming it up for the pictures. Also, as we were waiting for the doctor to come look at it Cadi said "Well, if nothing else, it looks kinda cool." We decided it looks like she was attacked by a tiny bear. Much more interesting than a dachshund.

Laura Ingalls Wilder in the flesh!

Serenity got to portray Laura Ingalls Wilder for a program her class put together of biography sketches. They all did great and Serenity even had hers memorized. She only looked at her notes a couple of times to keep the dates straight. I recorded hers on my camera. It started recording a tiny bit late so we miss her saying "I am Laura Ingalls Wilder" but I caught the rest of it. Hooray. Good job Baby, I am amazed by you.

Counting Down

Check this out! There is a new TWILIGHT teaser and website. I can't wait!

Riding Bikes

So here is the proof. It is a beautiful day out and the girls are
glued to their bikes, so I caught a few flashes of them on camera. I hope you all are enjoying spring as much
as we are.

Conquerors!

Well, not by the sweat of MY brow but my girls conquered a skill that has up 'til now eluded them. Thanks to the neighbor girl, their friend from across the street, both Serenity and Cadence can ride their bikes sans training wheels. It is so fun to watch them and to see the joy that comes from accomplishing whatever they set their minds to. So far I don't have and pictures of them in the act, but I decided to stop putting off this post 'til I did have some.

The funniest part of it, to me, is that it was neighboring girlfriends who taught me to ride my bike when I was around Serenity's age.

Birthday Photos

Hanna took some wonderful pictures for my birthday earlier this month. I love them. Here are some of my favorites, including one of her that Seth took. Somehow the photographer gets left out too often. Thanks Hanna. You Rock. Again.

Funny Kids

Cadence and I were exploring online. I am not even sure how we found this, but I thought it was cute and funny. Kids do say the darnedest things.

The Girls Vision Boards

Hanna, you are right, I should have posted their vision boards as well. I am not sure that their goals displayed on their vision boards will be as clear to others as they are to the girls. But hey, it was fun and I think they halfway got the idea. Anyhoo, here they are.

Vision Board

A few weeks ago for Family Home Evening each of us made vision boards of our goals and desires for ourselves. I am sure most of you have made them before or things like it, but for me it had been a while. I know what I want in life, but is fun/therapeutic and wise to get those kinds of things down on paper or, in this case, displayed where you will see it often and keep them in the forefront of your mind. I want to display mine here as well to put my wishes and dreams out there even more, so that the universe will send back to me what I am sending out. I know I will be blessed if I do my part and if my desires are in keeping with the Lord's will.

Yummy Recipe

The girls and I made dinner together tonight, and it turned out really yummy so I thought I would share our online recipe find. Try it. It was easy, and fun for my girls, and not just run of the mill, in a rut kind of dinner. Salmon Fillets with Creamy Dill. I followed the suggestion of one of the peoples comments/ratings at the bottom of the page and used half mayo and half plain yogurt. It was a good suggestion. I am not sure that it made a perceivable difference, but we also used fresh lemon thyme. We all loved it. We served it with broccoli and rice.

I'm Lovin' My New Job

I have just started a new job this week. I will miss my friends and clients down in Orem at Well Being Massage, but I feel like this new job is a great, positive step for me and my family. The commute was getting to be too much and now I cut that commute by more than half. I am working now at the Life Spa at Lifetime Fitness. It is an amazing facility and I am excited to work somewhere that will help me to teach my girls a more healthy lifestyle. It will help all of us with creating healthy habits that we all know we should have in our lives. Yeah!

Happy Valentine's Day

We LOVE snuggling and all things warm and soft that make snuggling more fun. I got a new robe for Christmas that the girls just liked so much that they have been continuously asking for robes of there own. So, as their little valentine gift from mommy, I found some robes that were even more cute than mine and on clearance to boot. Score!

We wish you all a very snuggly Valentine's.

Random Facts Tag

My baby sister, Hanna, tagged me. This challenge is to list seven random facts about myself that most people don't know. I am running into the same issue she mentioned of being such an open book person that I am having trouble digging up more than one or two facts. I could steal a few from Hanna's list, but I am going to try for some originals.

1. I have played capture the flag in La Cite (the castle where Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves was filmed). It was a zone activity on my LDS mission in the south of France. I even scaled a couple of walls and cut my leg on some of the jagged glass embedded in the top of those walls. That was one of my favorite memories of a non-spiritual nature from my mission.

2. I had a rare blood disorder when Cadence was born called ITP which stands for idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura. "Idiopathic" means that the cause is unknown. "Thrombocytopenic" means the blood doesn't have enough platelets. "Purpura" means a person has excessive bruising. In my case it meant I shouldn't have had an epidural and I ended up having the epidural needle in my back for almost four whole days. They were afraid if they took it out I could bleed to death. The hospital had only EVER treated people for it six times.

3. I am not as physically active as I want to be, but that isn't my random fact. It just makes this fact on my list more impressive or shocking. I want to run a marathon. I would love to have the discipline to take on something that physically demanding.

4. I was told often as a teenager that I should be a model. Tall and super skinny and pretty, were compliments people gave as reasons. Well, this might not be an unknown fact to most, but I STILL would like to be a model. I hold back now though because now that I am at a much healthier weight than I was back then, I am afraid of the affect it might have if they told me to lose weight.

5. I am a hopeless romantic, but that again isn't the fact that I am sharing. But as a romantic, I don't believe in soul mates. I believe with like interests, beliefs, goals, and attraction it is possible to be truly happy with more than just one person instead of just looking for one who might be impossible to find.

OK, I have racked my brain to try to be original but I can't come up with anything more. So I am gonna share/steal a couple from Hanna.

6. I have never been a natural at flirting. I am 33 years old and the art still eludes me. There has only ever been one boy with whom I found it somewhat easier to flirt and I had a crush type friendship with him for almost half my life.

7. I have only ever kissed two guys and my first kiss didn't happen until I was 24 years old.

Insane Snow Day

This is the condensed version of the story.
Luckily it was a MLK day so there was no school but I had to go to work. Or at least I was supposed to go to work. See, here is where the problem lies with me working way down in Orem. I left to drive to work around 7:50am. Which is a little early but it was snowy so I tried to give myself some extra time. Yeah, right. The freeways were a disaster. It normally takes me about 45 minutes to get to work. This trip, after 45 minutes I was 1/4 of the way there, still on I-215. So I let work know I was gonna be very late. Somewhere around 45 minutes later I was 1/2 way there. I called work again to see if there were any massages on my books. NOPE. So I decided it wasn't worth the insanity and decided to turn around and go back home. I took the surface streets home, because even though they weren't plowed either, they didn't look like a freaking parking lot. It took me another 50+ minutes to make my way home. THREE hours on the road. What a wasted morning. I hope everyone else had a more pleasant, less eventful MLK day.

Here is a view of the snow in our back yard after a little bit of melt time.