Two Words....

Two words:

Wedding Week.




My little sister is getting married tomorrow. I love her like crazy and wish her all the best!

I plan on being back to blogging after a long recovery from the craziness of this week. Aren't weddings AWESOME!!!?? :-) Love you all. Especially you, Miss Jazzepha!

Thoughts on "Heaven is Here"

So I read Nie Nie's book this weekend.

When I heard it was coming out I was really reluctant to want to read it. Why? I have no idea. I really can't pin it on anything. Whatever it was, I'm glad I overcame it and borrowed the book.

I'm not sure I would say her book was life-changing for me, but it struck a chord with my soul and shifted my perspective on life.

Since I'm not very skilled at being concise, especially without a list, here's a list, that may not be concise, of things I particularly enjoyed:

-Her love and zeal for motherhood and wifehood.  What a great example of how to cherish your children and relish in even the mundane, everyday, tasks of being a wife and mother!

-Her fairy tale life before the accident. It made me reflect on my own life and had me wondering if I was living it as a fairy tale. I'm sure her life was not perfect, and full of challenges, but through her writing I could feel that she truly loved life and was living her fairy tale dream with her Prince Charming. I realized that I, too, am living my fairy tale dream with my Prince Charming, but that I need to recognize and appreciate it more every day.

-Her deep, resonating, love for her husband, children, family and the Gospel.
-Her exemplary example of service, compassion, love, and recognizing what true inner beauty is.

But most of all, my favorite thing about her book was:

-Her profound message of faith and hope, even during the darkest, most difficult times of life. Two of my favorite quotes from the book were:

"I had to be willing to fail and try again. And keep trying and failing until I got strong enough to succeed." 

(Nie)

"I testify that bad days will come to an end, that faith always triumphs, and that heavenly promises are always kept."

(Elder Holland)

Reading her book gave me a renewed sense of hope, faith, motivation, and inspiration to keep truckin' along during this difficult time in my own life.

This too shall pass.


The challenge, and blessing, is finding the beauty along the way.

source

New Happenings in our House...er, apartment!

I'm finally back.

Perhaps you may not feel that way, but I sure do! If I go a week without blogging I feel like it's been forever.

Would you like a sneak peek into my past week?
I'm a really good rhymer...

Friday-
I can't remember what happened this day. It was far too long ago. I'm quite sure I ate some chocolate.
Ooh! Wait! It's all coming back to me!
I spent the morning teaching my choreography to a group of youth in the Chesterfield ward who are performing Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat next weekend.
I spent the afternoon birthday window-shopping with my dear husband.
I also tried on skinny jeans.
That's monumental.
And a story in and of itself.
I also spilled water on our laptop. Somehow.
It ended up frying the keyboard, which we had to replace, which meant no blogging for a week.

Saturday-
More birthday window shopping plus we finally bought a fun, new, addition for our home!
After 3.5 years of this...

(focus on the card table in the center)

We finally graduated to this!:

TA-DA!!!!!!

A real, grown-up table! (thank you tax refund)

Sunday (Easter)-
Actually went to church at the same time as Mr. Man. Oh, how I wish every Sunday could be like that!
We also enjoyed an Easter dinner with our wonderful family, and I made these killer, amazing, Cupcake Wars worthy, cupcakes.

Monday-
Vet appointment for sweet Kaiya. We got her at 2.8 lbs, she is now 6.8 lbs.
Loads of laundry.
Loads of grocery shopping (25 lbs of flour worth!)
Loads of cleaning.
Got my hair did. It looks killer good. I'll take a picture later.

Tuesday-
Babysat all day.
I made the horrific, gut-wrenching, frustration-invoking, mistake of loading two toddlers in the car and driving 15 minutes to our first of three destinations before realizing I had no wallet. 
On the way home from my last appointment of the day, Bubs and I were rear-ended in our Highlander. It has been a very interesting learning experience.
Thankfully, we did not sustain any major injuries, though my back and neck got pretty sore and tight, so I will be headed to a Chiropractor asap to be worked on. (Mr. Man is fabulous, but I prefer a pro to do the job for something like this!)
Went to YW.

Wednesday-
Helped sort garage sale items.
Doctor's appointment for Bubs. He did great! It's still pretty little, but growing. He surprised the doc by giving her loves and cuddles, then running back to mom, then back to doc, back to mom, several times.
She said he's a "high-velocity" kid, as far as activity level is concerned. She's pretty accurate.
Helped teach more choreography for Joseph.


Thursday-
Babysat all day again.
Went to the Magic House for the first time. It was pretty cool, but I think my baby is still too young to make purchasing a membership worth it. Maybe in 4 years from now? Oh wait, we won't be here anymore! :-)
Started the learning process of working with Insurance.
First night at home this week.

Today (friday)-
Discovered more about Insurance and car accidents. They've been super nice to me, which has been fabulous.
Went walking for the first time in over a week. Stress makes me too overwhelmed to want to do anything but sit around and eat chocolate.
Went to Costco and overfilled our sparse cabinet space with food. I'm not complaining. Anyone need some flour, sugar, cereal, or snacks? I also have some strawberries...
Now I'm home for the 2nd night this week, and I'm procrastinating cleaning the kitchen while listening to Bubs whine on and off while trying to fall asleep.

Was your week as crazy as mine? I hope it was. Please share. It'll make me feel better about my life.

Now I'm off to find more chocolate before hunkering down and cleaning up.

One of those "learning" days...

I had a really, sweet, humbling experience today.

However, the details are a little too personal to share much.

Just know that I will be the first person to tell you that I'm not always the most humble person. Sometimes I think I have it all figured out, I feel all put together, or feel like my life is relatively perfect (newsflash: it's really not. at all.) When I was a teenager, I used to think I was really hot stuff. I would strut my stuff and think all the boys wanted me because I was so cute.

I was pretty cute.
And just a little bit cocky.

Senior picture, 2006

Now that I've grown up a little bit, had a baby, and moved halfway across the country into unfamiliar territory, I have come to the realization that:

1. My life is so not perfect, but I have been blessed tremendously
2. I am not the cutest thing that ever walked the earth
3. There are plenty of other people who are just as smart, just as capable, and just as good as I am. If not tons better.
4. I still have an awful lot to learn about life, relationships, friendships, and being a mom.

So now I'm working toward change. Isn't this life about constantly growing, changing, and improving? Oftentimes along the way we need a little kick in the pants to humble us and remind us of what's really important. I got that today.

While you let those words simmer and stew, check out some pictures:

Conference cinnamon rolls about to be baked.
Sorry, I am not at liberty to share this recipe. Currently.
You should know that when these are made right, there is no better Cinnamon Roll on Earth.
My sister makes them right.
I need some practice.

This was in effort to capture the "delicious" concoction Bubs brewed in his cup.
There was water, strawberries, and bits of pasta.
He drank the water.
And ate the food.
It reminds me of someone else we all know very well....

This was in effort to capture the array of crusty faces he has recently discovered how to make. 

Another.
Notice he is acting like a big boy, too?

I promise I'm not bad at taking pictures.

Actually, I don't promise that.

He's just really wiggly.

And he really, really, loves sitting at the table.

One good, semi-clear, shot is all ya really need, right?

Can someone please come be my personal photographer for my life?

for free.
Thank you.

I have no other funny or wise words to say now. 

Except I saw this picture on facebook last night, and I about died laughing. 

What is "s-t-r-e-s-s-e-d" for you?

I have a confession to make.

Actually, it's not really a confession, mostly that's just a really cool, attention-grabbing word.

My non-confession confession: 
When I get really stressed out, I turn to desserts. Namely, chocolate.


D-e-s-s-e-r-t-s is s-t-r-e-s-s-e-d backwards, so it's okay, right?

My weekend started off marvelously. I learned a valuable lesson too.
For months, actually over a year, I have told my sweet Mr. Man that I absolutely cannot run outside because:
a. I don't want to run alone.
b. It's too cold or too hot.
c. There are too many hills in our 'hood and I don't like hills

On Saturday morning something changed. Maybe it was the fact that our 12 week old puppy barked her brains out at 6:00 am sharp until we got up. Maybe it was the fact that I couldn't fall back asleep. Maybe it was the fact that I knew I was making cinnamon rolls the next day so I should at least have a walk. Whatever it was, I  got out of bed, put on my shoes and headed out the door.

No, it was not easy.
I promised myself I would run (and by run I mean walk/jog) for at least 30 minutes before coming home. I started out and it felt good.
Then it hurt.
Then I came to a hill.
Luckily at the same time as the hill popped up in front of me, LMFAO popped on in my headphones.
Somehow, I miraculously made it all the way up the hill. Jogging. Without stopping.
About halfway up, I saw the sun peaking through the trees: rays of hope urging me forward.
I was overwhelmed with emotion.
I almost cried.
Then I reached the top.
I had accomplished something. Something very difficult. Something I thought was impossible.
I finished my run jubilantly with an incredulous amount of self-satisfaction.
There are no adequate words to describe my feelings.
Other than the thought that popped in my mind: "If this is how I feel reaching the top of that hill, I wonder what it feels like to see the finish line of a half-marathon. I have to do it."


The lesson I learned: running outside, in the morning, as the sun is coming up, is ridiculously invigorating, and SO much better than a treadmill!

Then I made cinnamon rolls the next day. Buttery, sugary, drenched in icing, cinnamon rolls.
I also finished off those blasted cadbury eggs, a bag of robin eggs, ate some trail mix with m&m's, some peanut butter cookies, and opened a bag of crunch eggs.
I had a stressful day over the weekend. So I turned to chocolate.
My great demise.
My huge flaw. Aside from that I'm perfect, didn't you know? *winky wink*

And now that it's Monday, I'm in a sugar coma, and I feel slightly discouraged, plus still stressed, and I'm wondering: what is a better way to de-stress my stress without turning to chocolate?


Help me out: how do you de-stress your stress without turning to food?
Please share.
Otherwise I may need therapy and a personal trainer someday...

For now, I will just have to consider whether buying a kitchen table will help de-stress me or not.
Peace, love, and Go Jayhawks!!!!