Furlough "Fun"

So. Back in October 2013, the government went over budget, or whatever, and put a lot of people on furlough, which is like vacation, but not paid, and you still have to work. Makes sense, right?

Because Pete works at a D.O.E. site, that means that the workers out there were going to be furloughed, except not work. Everyone out there FREAKED out. I mean, do you blame them? I'm including us in the freaking out group. We were like, does Pete look for a new job? Do I find a part-time job? We didn't know how long the furlough would last. I mean, he would still have a job, but just not get paid until the government was up and running again.

We ended up being fine. We had gotten a furlough notice letter in the mail, and it was going to be starting the next week. Thankfully, the government got things pulled together, and we didn't have to go on furlough.

We were lucky.

Now, I know that we didn't lose a job. Not even close. But that's the closest that I've felt to losing a job, and it was not a fun feeling. It made me take a really close look at our savings accounts, our budget, and our food storage. I felt like it was kind of a voice of warning, if you will. Like, how prepared are we for a financial disaster?

We worked really hard last year, and FINALLY got all of our debts (except mortgage) paid off. YAHOO! So that was kind of a relief. It's nice not having a car payment or whatever hanging over your head. But our savings would have held us through for maybe two months, which was a scary thought to me. I'd feel a lot better with 6 months of money (for like utility bills and whatnot), and 3 months of short-term food storage along with our long-term food storage.

I looked at our budget, and we live pretty minimally already: no cable, basic internet, no huge extravagances. So I knew that budget-wise we were doing all we could. Except...

Short-term food storage. We've purchased long-term food storage ("store and ignore"), which is stuff like wheat, rice, beans. I honestly haven't looked at it for years (it lasts in #10 cans for 30 or more years), and had to look up some of the stuff. Like, what in the world is germade? (Answer: pretty much like cream of wheat. Good to know.) But what about, like spaghetti sauce? Or even yummy things, like brownies? That's where the short-term storage comes in to play-stuff that you regularly eat, and rotate it through, like canned goods (canned corn, for example).

So, that's what I've been working on now. I've tried a few different things, and have been narrowing down what it is that I want to do. We had a lady come to our Relief Society meeting who talked about a shelf-stable three month food supply. She broke it down to 7 meals each of breakfast, lunch, and dinner, then you get all the stuff for those like 12 times. So you eat each meal once a week and have enough for three months. I like the shelf-stable idea, because in case you lose power you don't have to worry about having things that would spoil (like in your fridge or freezer). She also talked about getting "just add water"-again, so you don't have to worry about adding eggs to something or whatever. Like muffin mixes-there are some you add all sorts of things to it, and ones where it only takes water to make.

I started looking at that. She had some ideas already. So I was like, "easy peasy, I'll just follow her list". But some of the stuff I know I would eat, but not necessarily Pete or my kids (like cream of wheat-I love it, but none of the rest of my family does).

Then I talked to another lady that was like, just write down everything you use in one week-meals, shampoo, etc., and just get that stuff over and over. Which I was like, okay, good idea, but again, there are some meals that I have that are SOOO not shelf-stable compatible.

Another strategy-write down everything I have in my pantry, and get a whole bunch of that. But I know myself, that I'd be like, what can I combine together for a meal? I need to know I have all the ingredients for a meal, and have it written down. So I think it's good to kind of do this, but kind of do the other, too.

So that's where I am right now. Like, kind of gathering things, but kind of not really specific meals so far. (Plus, I'm thinking I might need some more storage space, which is a whole different expense in itself.) So I've gotten Kraft Mac and Cheese, which my kids and I like for lunches sometimes. And pancake mix (the just add water kind). I've also been gathering more long-term storage stuff that I don't have, just so we can have some flavor, you know? Like, strawberry slices, and banana pieces. Just so I wouldn't lose my mind on MORE WHEAT AND BEANS-AGAIN.

Long story short, I hope that by the end of this year I have my three-month food supply. Of course, you need to rotate it through, but I hope I have a good amount going for us, and divided up into meals. I also hope to have more money in savings for us too. Because you never know when tragedy may strike (job loss, weather problem, or another furlough).

Kinda Like Lent, Or, 7 Pounds

Well, my family and I just ended our 6-week health challenge.  It was a really great experience. And now I'm going to write ALL about it!

We started January 2, and ended February 12. The different categories of the challenge were: getting 7 hours of sleep every night, eat three servings of fruit and three of veggies every day, no eating after 8 p.m., drink 64 oz. of water every day, exercising, and no sugar. Each part was worth 5 points, except for no sugar, which was worth 10 points.

7 hours of sleep every night. This one is easy for me.  I actually think that I need more like 8 - 8 1/2 hours of sleep. For a while a couple of years ago I was trying to go with about 6 1/2, and I couldn't keep my eyes open by the end of the day. My kids get their own breakfast usually, so when they do and I don't have to set an alarm to get up (like in the summer), I usually wake up at about 8 or 8:30 when going to bed at 11:30. During the challenge, I had one day that I didn't get the 7 hours, and it's because I was out way too late with a couple of my girlfriends, and then we had to get up early the next morning. So I got 6 1/2 that day.

I felt like, during the challenge, that I had really weird dreams the whole time.  Well, I have weird dreams a lot, but it seemed to be more than usual. Maybe I was getting more REM sleep time or something. So yeah, this part of the challenge was not so challenging for me.

Eat 3 servings of fruit every day. This part of the health challenge wasn't all that hard for me, either. The very first day for breakfast, I ate some oatmeal with peaches chopped up on top. It was really yummy! Before the challenge I would have had the oatmeal but no peaches, or no breakfast at all. I also had Life cereal with a banana cut up on top (before would have been Life cereal with a load of sugar on top). I would usually have one of my fruit servings in the morning, one at lunch, and one at dinner.

My sister Kar introduced us to a super easy smoothie recipe. It's 3 cups frozen fruit, 1 cup milk (or water or juice, but we always did milk), 1/2 cup yogurt (we did vanilla), and 1/2 cup sugar. We tried this with different mixes, but my favorites were strawberry/banana, and one that had raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, and blackberries. YUM! It was an easy way to get all your servings in one fell swoop. (A serving size of fruit is generally 1/2 cup, so when we made this Pete and I would have half a smoothie each and get our servings in.)

I realized that I really enjoy having fruit for breakfast in whatever form, so I plan on continuing with that. I also liked having a variety of fruits so it wasn't just an apple every day or something.

Eat 3 servings of vegetables every day. This part was...surprisingly fun. Exciting, even. It was almost like rediscovering all the veggies that I liked, but just didn't take the time to buy or eat on a regular basis. Like broccoli, and green peppers, and cucumbers. We made Veggie Pizza at least 3 or 4 times during our challenge, which is SOOOO good. I also cut up veggies and stuck them in little baggies of one serving in each. That way we could grab a bag that was ready to go and know that it was a serving. Very handy. Though celery doesn't last very long that way.

Another thing that got introduced to me by my sister Lex was individual salads. They're called Ready Pac Bistro Salad. They are a salad that has all the cool, yummy stuff you'd want. For example, the Santa Fe one has little chicken bits, tortilla chips, shredded cheese, roasted corn, and a dressing that's like Thousand Island.  Oooh, yum!

The hardest part of getting my three veggies in was sitting down to a huge plate of veggies at lunch. I would try to get two servings in at that time. I kind of have TMJD, where my jaw will lock up sometimes to where I can't open my mouth, and I have to pop my jaw open, and then it continues to lock and pop while I'm eating. Like 80s robot dancing, but in a way nerdier, crappier, non-productive way. It's SUPER fun. I've noticed it comes on when I'm chewing hard things like carrots, or dense things like steak. (And forget about gum.) So during a lunch of carrots, apples, and celery, my jaw would be hurting and I'd be frustrated. I guess the lesson with that is to chop up my food into smaller bites, like diced celery instead or something. But I do love having a veggie-oriented lunch, which I plan on continuing now that our challenge is over.

And to get my last serving in of the day, I usually ended up cooking something with veggies in it. Most of my dinner meals are like that, so that was a no-brainer.

Here are some FABULOUS recipes you have to try. The first two are family favorites, and the last one is one that I discovered during this challenge:

VEGETABLE DIP

1 cup mayonnaise

8 oz. sour cream

1 Tbl. minced onion

1 tsp. dill weed

1 1/2 tsp. Bon Appetit spice (Shillings or McCormack)

Mix all ingredients together and serve with vegetables. This gets better if it sits in the fridge for a few hours.

VEGETABLE PIZZA

Thaw and flatten 1 loaf of frozen Rhoades bread on a cookie sheet.  Cook at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

Mix together and spread on top:

½ cup mayonnaise

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

2 tsp. dry Hidden Valley Ranch dressing

1 Tbl. liquid Hidden Valley Ranch dressing

Then add on top:

1 cup grated carrots

1 ½ cups cut up broccoli

1 ½ cups cut up cauliflower

Sprinkle shredded mozzarella cheese on top.

CHEESEY VEGETABLES
24 oz. bag frozen California blend vegetables
1 stick margarine, melted
10 oz. Velveeta cheese, melted
1 sleeve Ritz crackers, crushed

Cook veggies according to package directions. Mix half of margarine with cheese and half with crackers. Add cheese mixture to veggies. Place cheese and veggies mix in 1 1/2 quart baking dish. Top with crushed cracker mixture. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until bubbly.

California blend veggies is a broccoli, cauliflower, carrot mix of some sort. I tried this with a carrot, corn, green bean veggie mix. I LOVED it.

No eating after 8 p.m. I'm not sure when the bad habit of eating snacks after 8 started for me, but rest assured it was a habit I needed to break. Because it's not like I was snacking on veggies. So the first night at about 7:30 p.m., I was still hungry, so I snarfed down some cheese really fast before 8. After that day, though, I was totally fine not eating after 8. Here and there I would get cravings for things, but I wasn't hungry, and there's a huge difference.

That's one of the really cool things about this challenge, is it makes you extremely aware of what you're putting into your mouth, and when. For instance, now that our challenge is over, Pete bought some Twizzlers Bites, and we were watching Downton Abbey (which is AMAZING: if you haven't seen it then WATCH IT RIGHT THIS SECOND FROM THE BEGINNING). I popped a couple of them into my mouth.  Then about 10 seconds later, I threw a few more into my mouth. And again. And again. I physically had to move them to stop eating them.

So now that our challenge is over, I need to continue to be aware of what I'm eating and when.

Drink 64 ounces of water every day. I didn't struggle with getting the water into me. I hated the aftermath of it though. I seriously had to use the bathroom every 2 hours, and would get up at least once a night to pee. UGH!  I hated that part of this. Drinking the water: good. Going through 500 rolls of toilet paper: bad.

To prevent the multiple bathroom trips at night, I would try to get as much water into me in the morning as I could. I would fill a 20-ounce water bottle, add some Propel or Crystal Light flavoring to it, drink it down halfway, then fill it to the top and drink it down all the way.  That way I figured I got 30 oz. in in the morning. Then I'd have 20 ounces at lunch and 20 at dinner.

Since I'm such a Coke lover, I thought I'd be going through withdrawals or something during the challenge. Before the challenge, I would have a glass (14 oz.) of Coke at lunch time. So roughly a can a day, which to me doesn't seem like all that much. Not good for me, but not necessarily bad for me, either. It was mostly my little indulgence, a way of pampering myself. But surprisingly, I didn't crave Coke at all the whole time. Okay, that's not true. The only time I craved Coke was when we went out to eat like at Chilis or Wendys. That's when I didn't want to drink water.

So I decided that now I'm not going to buy pop for myself to have at home. But if we go out to eat, I'm not going to stop myself from getting a Coke.

And yesterday, I had been so sick of peeing so much, that I went the other extreme and didn't have hardly anything to drink the whole day. And right before dinner, I felt kind of sick to my stomach. Maybe my bladder was cramping up or something, like FEED ME, SEYMOUR! So even though I might cut back slightly on the 64 ounces, I still need to keep hydrated. Also, I need to get more milk into my diet, so maybe I'll substitute that for my water at dinner.

Exercise. These last two categories (exercise and no sugar) were the hardest for me. The original challenge had 5 points for each 1/2 hour of exercise, up to 10 points a day (so an hour of exercise, for all you mathematically-challenged people). We changed ours to be 1 1/2 hours a day (so up to 15 points a day). This was the main category where I lacked in full points. (I got perfect points the whole challenge in fruits, veggies, no food after 8, and water. I missed the one night in sleep, and one day at the very end in no sugar.) I always got the first half hour of exercise in, and usually the hour, but getting that last 30 minutes was a bit of a struggle for me. I did it more times than not, but it was hard.

For the exercise, I did a lot of yoga, walking, and Dance Central. My parents have the Dance Central on the X Box, and it has a fitness section and you can choose the length and intensity of your workout. It was really fun, and I would get super sweaty doing it.

I would go walking with my mom; we mall walk. That's also way fun, because I get to chat with my mom as I push Ivy in a stroller. There are a lot of cute elderly people that are there. One guy that salutes us as he walks by told us that walking next to the walls for 1 lap is 6/10 of a mile. Since my mom and I do 5 laps, that's about 3 miles (we cut corners a little because of the stroller).

Pete and I would do the yoga, which I LOVE. It is so relaxing! I noticed that I got a lot stronger and more flexible after doing it for so many weeks.  At the beginning when I would bend from the waist and touch the floor, I could grab my ankles and that's as far as I could go. At the end, I had my palms flat on the floor.

So now that the challenge is over, will I still get 1 1/2 hours of exercise in? Maybe on some of the days. But I most definitely want to do something each day. Before I would make up the excuse of not having the time, but now I know I can find the time to exercise, even for a half hour.

No sugar. Okay. This is where my "Lent" reference comes in. One part of Lent is giving up something -like a luxury or indulgence of yours- for the 40-day span. In our challenge, we had decided that "no sugar" meant no candy, no chocolate, and no pop, including diet. I already explained the pop part. But that was only part of it.

The other part I had to give up was my weakness: chocolate.

The night before the challenge started, I cleared our house of chocolate...by consuming it.  That's right. That means I ate, like, 12 snack-sized Kit Kats so that they wouldn't be around to tempt me. The first few days were fine.  And then the cravings kicked in.

Now normally, when I would have a chocolate craving, I would have grabbed some chocolate without thinking twice. When there was none to be had during the challenge, and 10 points at stake, I would just have to ignore that craving.  And usually, about 20 minutes later, I wouldn't crave it any more.

There were some days, though, that it was all I could do to stop from jumping in my car and driving down to Sarah's Candy Cottage and devouring a whole pound of fudge. Seriously.

Yes, I missed one day and had a piece of chocolate cake. On day 41. Pete and I went down to Logan, Utah, for a basketball game, and we had dinner at Olive Garden. And the coaster had the picture of the cake on it. It was STARING at me. And Pete was the devil, being all, "Just get it. Just eat it. And get a cherry Coke, too." And you know what?  I figured that I had been great the entire time with NOT giving in, that one time would be fine. And oh, it tasted sooooo good. Which part of me was all, "I should stay strong. I've made it this far, what's another 2 days? Don't give in." But the other part of me was all, "CHOCOLATE CAKE!!!!!" It was totally one of those angel and devil on the shoulders moments for me.

The one thing I noticed about my cravings, though, is that it was always for the really rich, thick, amazing chocolate. Kit Kat or Snickers? Nope. Mississippi Mud Bars and fudge? Absolutely.

So, now that this is over, when I have chocolate, I'm not going to eat the whatever, filler chocolate.  If I'm going to have chocolate, I'm going to go for the big guns. Which means I'll have to make a specialty trip, or bake it, which means I'll have it less often.

Overall. I noticed that I ate more food, especially during breakfast and lunch, but I'm sure I was consuming fewer calories. Before I would crash in the early afternoon, and while doing this challenge I would still get tired then, but not the full-on crash. But I did fall asleep almost instantly at night the whole time too.

I ended up losing 7 pounds, which surprised me. I didn't set out trying to lose any weight, but it happened anyway.

I won the challenge, which means I get 60% of the kitty. (Pete came in second, and my sister Lex was 3rd.) Maybe I'll use my money to buy some new jeans for myself that fit me-mine are loose now, especially in the waist, which seriously rocks.

I think the rest of my family saw some changes, too, with weight loss or how they felt.

I'm glad that I did this challenge, because it changed me for the better. And even though I plan on slightly modifying it for "real" life, for the most part I'm going to keep on keeping on.

Eat Pray Love

So. Been gone for a while from my little blog. I've been reading a lot: The Help, Northanger Abbey, Eat Pray Love, The Potter and the Clay, The Glass Castle, and I'm currently reading Uncle Tom's Cabin. Come to think of it, maybe that's why I haven't been blogging-I've been reading instead!

But what better time to do some writing than at the beginning of the year?  Of course I have some new goals, but first I want to review last year. My goals are here.  And how did I do?  Well, let me tell ya!

Attend the temple every month. I didn't make it every month, but I did better than the year before.

Earn my honor bee. Well, I did all the work for it, but now that I'm not in Young Women's any more, I don't know if I'll get the official token. But it's nice to know that I did the work to earn it.

Be more financially fit. Done and done.  I still haven't done any investing on my own, but we've been a lot better with our money.

Laser eye surgery. Read about my experience here.

Exercise. Again, a little hit and miss with this. But trying is the thing, right?

Learn to play a new instrument. Nope. Right now I just don't think I have the time to take lessons. This might have to go on a future goals list or something.

Last year my motto was "I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul!"

This year's motto is....drum roll please...

Eat Pray Love

Let me 'splain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up.

I mentioned reading the book Eat Pray Love.  I really enjoyed reading it, and there were some things that resonated with me.  No, I'm not going to go travel the world. But these are three areas in which I need to work.  And here is my plan.

First, EAT.  To be honest, I eat...not like I should eat. I love me some chocolate, and Coke! A couple of months ago some ladies in my ward did a health challenge, and I thought it sounded really great. So my family and I are going to do this, starting tomorrow.  Here are the things in the challenge: sleep for 7 hours each night, eat 3 servings each of fruits and veggies every day, exercise for at least a half hour every day, no sugar, drink 64 oz. of water every day, and no eating after 8 p.m. It's a point system, and whoever wins (1st, 2nd, 3rd place) at the end of 6 weeks gets the kitty.

For exercise, I've been doing yoga a bit, which I really enjoy.  I also got another exercise video, and a jump rope.  And I go mall-walking with my mom.  So that should keep things mixed up for me exercise-wise.

I'm really excited to do this. It's something that I really need to work on, and maybe I'll get some money out of it, too. It will be nice to do it with other people-I think that will keep me going.  And after 6 weeks, it should become a habit, right?

Next, PRAY. Yes, I pray, but sometimes I just mumble something up to heaven, and get on with my day.  In that book, the author talked about meditating a lot, as in communicating with God. I talk to God, but I don't really take the time to listen afterwards.  So I'm going to work on my prayers, making sure they are sincere, and making sure I take the time to listen to my Heavenly Father's responses.

Also in this category I'm putting my scripture study. Last time I read my scriptures, I did it fast, which was nice because the story really flowed.  The time before, I read a chapter at a time, and wrote down any thoughts that I had about that chapter, or a scripture that stuck out to me.  Both ways, I've gotten things out of reading The Book of Mormon.

As a family we just barely finished reading, where mostly it was me reading to my kids, which was okay, but not the greatest. This time around as a family, we are taking turns reading.  Jakob and Brock split a column of scripture, then I read a column, and then Pete does too. So we'll go a little bit faster, but it will be good for my kids to read out loud and get used to the way the scriptures sound.  And as Troy gets to be a better reader, we'll include him in the rotation.

For myself, I decided I would read my scriptures along with the Gospel Doctrine manual.  That way I can have ready-made questions at my disposal.  And since I teach every 4th lesson, I might as well have it be part of my personal reading.

And last, LOVE. This one is a little bit harder to define into specific goals.  I just want to love more.  I want to give more service.  I want to be kinder.  I want to spend more quality time with my children.  I want to be more patient with them.  I guess if I can do one nice thing every day that I wouldn't ordinarily do, then that's what I could do to develop more love.

So, yeah.  There you go.

I feel bad that I didn't post about Christmas. Christmas night my kids decided that they wanted to take pictures of their toys, so they borrowed my camera, and -surprise surprise- it broke.  Luckily, I had a warranty on it, so we'll see if they can fix it or whatever, but I won't get it back for a couple of weeks.  So my pictures are stuck in limbo for a while.  Our Christmas was fabulous, though.  Not only were we blessed materially, but it always makes me realize how much we are spiritually and physically blessed.  I think some of my kids' favorite new toys have been their pillow pets that Santa brought, although Brock's made him break out in hives.  We washed them, though, and now it's all good.

Well, wish me luck tomorrow, being chocolate and Coke free!  I'm sure I'll need it!



Are You There, Eyelashes? It's Me, Nat

Well, got my laser eye surgery done.  It's absolutely amazing.  You wanna hear all the gory details?  Okay!

So, you get a Valium, so you don't care about anything.  Then you go lay on a table and hold a teddy bear.  You look at a little green light, and then it gets dark.  They move the table to another area, then back to the green light.  You stare at the green light for about 10 seconds, and then you're done.  Rinse and repeat for the other eye.

Seriously.  It didn't hurt, it wasn't weird.  I could almost instantly see better.  (Right now everything looks as if I am still wearing my contacts.  Cool, huh?)  For a couple of hours following my eyes stung, but they told me to try and sleep.  NOOOO problem there-the Valium made me really tired.  And really, as a mom, when am I not tired?  So I slept most of the rest of the day, putting eye drops in whenever I woke up.  And they felt fine after I slept a little.

The next couple of days I had a hard time with sunlight and with headlights.  But I've been totally fine ever since.  If you're thinking about getting it done, DO IT!!!!  So, so worth it.

There is one downside: I haven't been able to wear makeup from three days before the surgery to a week after surgery.  It's a small price to pay for, you know, VISION.  But.  My eyelashes are really light, and when I don't wear mascara I feel like my eyes disappear.  My brother-in-law said I look "washed out".  Which is true.  I don't think I would want to be wearing mascara right now, anyway.  There are some eye drops you have to put in 4 times a day, and if I were to have makeup on and do that I would look like, well, her:

But in a few days I'll be good to go AND I'll be seeing 20/20.  Oh, and my eyes are a lot less bloodshot without contacts.  I even bought some new mascara to go with my new eyesight.  Fancy, huh?

In other news...well, not much going on.  Just kind of the same old.  Work, work, and more work.  Work at home, work at the office, work at teaching piano, work at keeping things, you know, working.  There are days that I feel like the hamster on the wheel-you just keep running, with no end in sight, and for what?  So you can keep running, with no end in sight.

I hit kind of a lull the last few days.  I'm very project/goal oriented, so now that I got my eyes done, I'm like, what next?  There is plenty to DO, but nothing that I'm really aiming for.  Monday and Tuesday days I felt kind of "meh".  Today I feel better.  Of course, I have all the ongoing things, but they're the hamster wheel kind of things.  Which are important as well, but... I don't feel like I have to constantly have entertainment, per se, but it IS nice to look forward to things, too, right?

Of course, Thanksgiving and Christmas are coming.  I like to do my Christmas shopping in November.  I find there are just as many sales but far less crowds.

Halloween was fun. Last year we were all matchy-matchy, which I loved doing, but this year the kids were all different things.  Ivy was "Gumpunzoh" (Rapunzel), Troy was Batman, Brock was The Count/a vampire, and Jake was a ninja.

Ivy's wig itched her a ton, so she didn't wear it all that much.  Brock's makeup, though very cool, was also very time consuming.  And there were about 20 other ninjas just like Jake.  I told him it was like a Ninja club, but I don't think he really liked that.

Next year the kids will all be different things again.  Brock already told me he wants to be Spiderman.  And today I went to the store and got some costumes for 50% off.  Even though I HATE keeping stuff around (it goes against my minimalism tendencies), I'd rather spend half the money on costumes now for next year.  Cheapness 1, Minimalism 0.

Well, that's about all for now.  I'm off to work!

In One Month From Today...

...my vision will no longer look like this without contacts/glasses:

(This picture was titled "blurry mess".  I find that to be a very apt title, for both the picture and my current eyesight.)

Yes, that's right.  After much saving, and whining, and setbacks, and extra work to get the money, I have finally succeeded in accumulating enough money to get my beloved laser eye surgery.

Say it with me: WOOOOOO HOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!

Because I have astigmatism, and have to wear toric lenses (which kind of help the shape of your eyeball), I have to abstain from wearing contacts for three weeks so my eyes...unshape.  Or something.

Today is day 1 of wearing my glasses again.  Since I got contacts in...8th grade, I've pretty much worn them and NOT glasses.  Here and there, sure, but not constantly.  So after all day of glasses-wearing my ears hurt, because they're not used to having large thingies hanging out behind them.

Also, putting on my makeup this morning was really...exciting, since I couldn't really see what I was doing.

But what is for reals exciting is the fact that I'll be able to see my alarm clock in the morning, and not have to have it 6 inches from my face and I'm still squinting to read the numbers.  It will be exciting to not have to stick my finger in my eye twice a day and blinkety-blink a little clear disk around.  It will be exciting to actually be able to see the big "E" on the eye chart, instead of just knowing that it's down at the end of the room, and only see a big gray blur.

Speaking of "E": my brain, after setting the appointment today, went "EEEEEEEEE!" with giddiness.  (That doesn't sound right.  With "gid"?  Hmmm.  Happiness?  I mean, I would say "excitement", but now that's just overused in this post.  But you know what I mean.)

Let the countdown begin!

Knock-Knock!

Who's there?

Nat's blog!

Nat's blog who?

Exactly!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

Yeah, I know that it's not a joke.  My kids like to tell knock-knock, um, "jokes".  And they sound a lot like the "joke" I just told.  For instance: Troy: Knock knock!  Me: Who's there?  Troy: Um, apple.  Me: Apple who?  Troy: Apple that is yummy.  Me: {fake laughter that's really not convincing}

I have GOT to go online and find some good knock-knock jokes.  The only ones I know are the boo/boo who/why are you crying, and the one where you say banana over and over, and then finally orange/orange who/orange you glad I didn't say banana again?

ANYWAY, I've been wanting to blog, really I have.  But I've been busy being busy, and busy with relaxing, and busy potty training.  And one of these days I'll write the adventures that we've been having around here.  But first thing, I want to write my New Year's resolutions.

Before I get to that, here is the post for my 2010 resolutions.  Let me reflect a little on how I did last year:

Learn to make freezer meals.  Um, not so much.  However, I've been doing a lot of crock pot meals, about once a week, and it ROCKS.  Throw everything in a big pot and let it cook itself?  Why can't every meal be that easy?  I'll write more on this later, in a future blog post.

Scan scrapbooks.  Nope, still haven't done that.  I keep thinking about it, and yes, it's one of my new resolutions.  I did get an external hard drive to store things that I will scan, though, so that's a step forward.

Potty train Ivy.  Yes!  I started not in March, like I had originally wanted, but she wasn't ready one bit at that time.  However, she was ready for it end of December.  Again, I'll write more on this in a future post.

Digitally scrapbook 2008-2009.  I worked on this a little bit.  On the 2011 resolution list.  I just need to set aside some time every week to work on it.

Read Book of Mormon with my family every night.  Yep!  We don't do very many verses each night, but we're in Alma, and are reading about Ammon.  I know my kids aren't absorbing a ton right now, but eventually they will, and eventually we can read more, and they will be able to read along as well.  Someday.

Getting up before my kids.  On and off for this one.  Mostly off.  It's back on the new resolution list.  Getting up early is definitely one of my weaknesses.

Build up food storage.  I've been working on this.  It helps that I've been more aware of sales, and things like Case Lot.  The last couple of months I've been a little hit and miss with couponing, too.  Just...super busy.  I haven't had the time to research, and run around to five different stores.  Maybe this summer it will be a different story.  And I went Tuesday night, and got free Halls cough drops and free yogurt!  I went to Case Lot at Smiths in September and got a bunch of canned goods, and they're having Case Lot again this week-I'm planning to go tomorrow, actually.  So that's been good to help build up our food storage.

In summary, I did...fair on my resolutions last year.  Which is better than nothing, right?

This year, I decided that my motto is going to be "I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul!"  From this.  And because of this. 

So without further ado, my 2011 resolutions:

Attend the temple every month.  This was one of my goals last year, too, and I think I went twice, which is pathetic.  I love going; the babysitting arranging is what's hard for me.  I just need to be more proactive, and get 'er done.

Earn my honor bee.  This is the next step in the Young Women's Personal Progress program.  You read the Book of Mormon again, and serve for 40 hours.  This will help pull me out of my comfort zone a little bit.  And yeah, I serve my children almost nonstop, but I need to reach outside of my own life and family, because I know I can help others.  Also, even though I'm great at reading scriptures with my family, my own scripture study is irregular.  So reading through again (and again and again) is a good thing for me to be doing.

Be more financially fit.  I'm embarrassed to say, we have more debt than I would like.  Ideally, I would love to be completely debt-free, but at this point in life it's not necessarily possible.  The debt I'm okay with having (for now) is our mortgage, our car payment, and our student loans.  And all three of those are at really low rates, so even though it sucks to have them at all, someday they'll get paid off, and they aren't the worst thing in the universe right now.  However, we had an expensive summer/fall, which we weren't financially ready for.  Which is so dumb, because hi-I graduated in finance, for crying out loud!  So a few days ago, I hid our credit cards, and today....drum roll please....I paid off Pete's hospital bills!  YAY!  We also should be getting a decent tax return, so that should help get rid of some debt.

In college, we did mock investing in one of my classes.  And I LOVED it.  It was so interesting to me.  And in my class of 40 students, I was the 2nd or 3rd highest earner (it changed back and forth, depending on the day/market).  Of course, when I was taking that class the stock market was bubbling, so it may not be as fun in today's market, or with real money.  Still, though, I think it would be fun to try for real.

Also, I want to get a bunch of money in the bank.  Paying off the debt will help with this goal, obviously.

Get my eyes lasered.  No, not getting burning eye beam things like Superman.  I'm talking about getting laser eye surgery.  Where I would be able to see first thing in the morning, instead of having my alarm clock 8 inches from my face in order for it to be clear enough for me to see the time.  It's an expensive procedure, but oh!-life without glasses or contacts!  I got glasses in 2nd grade, my friends.  I've been blind for way too long.  So I'll need to save for a long time to get this, but I'm hoping that I can get this done this year.

Exercise.  Pete and I have been sporadic with exercising this year.  We'll do really great for a while, then miss, and then fall out of habit.  Then get really good again...and the cycle continues.  We're back out of the habit.  So Tuesday night while at the store I got a jump rope, and a yoga tape that has 20-minute workouts.  Pete and I were doing P90X, which I love, but every session is an hour or so, except for ab ripper, which is still, like 30 minutes or something.  20 minutes in the morning, though?  I can handle that.  Or jump rope for 20 minutes.  Just...something.  I don't want to lose weight, but I care about having a healthy heart.

Lastly, I want to learn to play a new instrument.  I've always been drawn to the violin, the guitar, the harp, and the cello.  I might wait until the summer or fall to do this one.  And I'm not sure if it is even conceivable while I teach piano because of time constraints, but I don't want to quit teaching...hmmm.  So maybe the summer would be best, since I don't teach piano during the summer.  But that's if I can find a class or a teacher willing to do summer, and have me drag my kids along with me.  All good questions and/or challenges.

Oh, and the digital scrapbook thing and the getting up early thing that I continually try to accomplish.

So there you have it.

And I really will try to be better at regular blogging.  Just as soon as I learn some knock-knock jokes...

Unfinished Thoughts

I've been a little frustrated all week.  I think it's because I taught a lesson on self-mastery to my cute Young Women on Sunday.  And I'm probably the last person that should be teaching that.  Because I'm the ultimate non-master of myself. 

We were talking about bad habits, and I told the girls that sometimes I end up leaving my dishes unwashed, so that they're lining my counter, and have dried food on them and I hate that that's become one of my habits.  Now, it's not every day, but still, it happens way more often than I'd like.  I was explaining this, and one of the girls got this "how gross" look on her face.  And I was like, I know, right?  Totally gross. 

But really, it's not just dirty dishes.  It's laundry that piles up taller than Troy (I measured today).  It's unmopped floors and stinky bathrooms.  It's the unfinished projects sitting by my computer.  It's the oh-crap-we're-almost-out-of-milk-better-finally-make-a-list-and-run-to-the-store.

It's procrastination.

And I hate it about myself.  It's even hitting the snooze button-I'm procrastinating getting up out of bed.

I wish I could be one of those tackle everything immediately kinds of people.  And I can be like that about some things.  But I end up procrastinating a lot more often than I'd like.

Let's be honest.  Most of the things that I procrastinate are the things that I hate doing.  Chores, if you will.  And it boils down to being part of my "job" as a homemaker.  If I had a performance review right now of how I was doing, I'd probably get fired.  I'm surprised my kids haven't fired me yet.

So, what to do about it?

I only had a few minutes to prepare my lesson.  (Not because of procrastination, luckily, but just a miscommunication.)  So here are a few more thoughts that I wish I could have brought up.  I'm writing them here, just for myself.

In the lesson I brought up the ending of the poem Invictus.  The last two lines read "I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul."  I wish I had had a copy of the whole poem, and had given it as a handout.  We talked about it briefly.  Basically, we are in charge of our own destiny.  If we don't like the direction we are heading in, we need to change it. 

I wish I had known beforehand that the author of that poem, William Ernest Henley,  had to have his leg amputated at 25 (which is about when he wrote the poem), and he died at 53 after leading a very active life.

We also read a scripture: Mosiah 4:27-...it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength.  And again, it is expedient that he should be diligent, that thereby he might win the prize...  I wish I would have had a minute to think about that scripture.  Because right now, it's not realistic to expect my house to be spotless-I have four little kids running around making messes right and left!  But again, I can't blame them for it all.  I need to be diligent, that I "might win the prize". 

I was thinking about some of our girls that play sports, especially the track girls.  Every person has their different strengths; not everyone is made to sprint; not everyone is made for long distance, either.  But everyone has their own race to run, at their own pace.  What one person can accomplish in a day is not the same as another person.  And it can ebb and flow in our own lives-there are times when we can conquer a lot, get a lot done, and feel great.  There are other times when it's all we can do to get everyone fed for the day, never mind do the dishes on top of that.  But you can't win a race if you don't even get on the track to start the race to begin with.

The gist of the lesson was thoughts lead to actions, which lead to habits, which lead to your character, and finally to your destiny.  So to change a habit, we need to change our thoughts and our actions, which will lead to a different destiny.

So this is my step 1: I'm trying to change my thoughts.  I've realized that no one is going to do the laundry for me.  No one is going to push me out of bed.  Not that this is a new epiphany for me, but I'm the only one to blame for having a laundry pile the size of a small mountain.

My step 2: my actions.  Yesterday I "caught up" on dishes.  Today I "caught up" on laundry.  My goal to change my habit of procrastination is to do two loads of laundry every day, and to do my dishes every day, no matter how late. 

And, this should lead to my step 3: my habits getting changed.  There are so many other things that am tired of procrastinating on, like painting my downstairs living room, or making new bedspreads for my boys.  But if I can conquer the mundane everyday tasks, then I can move on to bigger and better, and conquer those things, too.

Out of the night that covers me,

Black as the pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be

For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the Horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the master of my fate:

I am the captain of my soul.

I challenged my girls to pick just one bad habit, and work to change it.  And that is what I am going to do.  Because I AM the master of my fate.  I AM the captain of my soul!

Lost

Wake-up call #1: Pete and I watched "The Bucket List" the other night. It was more philosophical than I would have guessed. Pretty much, though, two guys travel the world and have these experiences, things that they've always wanted to do but just have put off. In one moment of the movie, Morgan Freeman tells Jack Nicholson that the Egyptians believed that you must answer two questions correctly in order to get into heaven. Question one is "Have you found joy in your life?" And question two is "Have you brought joy to others?" I really liked that. But the whole time, I thought, what is on my bucket list?

Wake-up call #2: We have an awesome new Beehive advisor in Young Women's. And she introduced herself, and asked the girls to introduce themselves and say what they like to do, etc. When it got to me, I said, "Uh, well, I'm Natalie, and uh, I have four kids, and, um, I..." I think I mumbled out something about teaching piano, and later was all, "Oh yeah! I love chocolate! And Coke!" Seriously, I couldn't think of a single thing that I currently do in my life that is just for me, just for fun. And I felt lame that two things with which I defined myself were food items. Am I...just an absorber/calorie burner?

Wake-up call #3: Jake and I were talking one day. And he asked, "Mom, what do you like to do?" Again, I fumbled with an answer. "Well, I, um, I like to cross stitch." I thought about the last time I had cross stitched something. It was at least two years ago, a piece I had done for my mom. "I like to play piano." I play all the time, but when was the last time I just sat and played for myself, or learned a new piece just because I wanted to? "Um, I like playing racquetball." Again, the last time I played I think I was pregnant with Brock. 5+ years ago. "I like to scrapbook." Though I haven't done that in over two years, and besides, I'm moving to the digital world in that arena. I kept thinking, are my hobbies things of the past? Am I made up of things that I used to do? What are my hobbies now? Am I just so busy with the daily grind, and so mixed up in my children's lives that I don't have time to be me any more?

Wake-up call #4: A couple of Sundays ago, a cute little girl played the violin in church. She did a fabulous job. I've always loved hearing the violin, and I was totally crying. Jakob was sitting next to me, and after she was done, he said, "Mom, that was so beautiful. I sat like a statue to listen. I could be a statue all day long." I agreed with him. I could listen all day long, too. I kind of had a twinge of regret, that I haven't tried to learn something new.

...

So, let me 'splain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up.

Basically, I'm wondering where I am. Where did I go? Did I get lost in my "job", so much so that I no longer have interests outside of my kids? Don't get me wrong, I love my kids, I love what I do. But lately, I've felt like all that I do are the things I should do (which is still fun and rewarding and fabulous), rather than something that I want to do, that is totally just for me. I almost feel like I've let time slip by.

When I was younger, my parents enrolled me in different classes-gymnastics for a year, jazz dancing for a year, singing lessons for a year...But the only thing that stuck long-term was piano. I also did other things for several years, like water skiing and snow skiing. At first I hated both, for years and years. Then I eventually liked them. Now...I'm kind of at a point where I could take them or leave them. I'm just saying that I'm not going to buy a season pass to a ski resort, or go out and buy a boat. Here and there, sure, but they aren't something that I absolutely love.

I think there were other things that I could have tried, that I should have tried. I took swim lessons, and I remember in one of my classes the teacher told my mom that I was a really good swimmer. She suggested that I join the swim team. (A city team? A school team? I really don't remember.) I was flattered. But it never came to be. I don't know if it's because I was shy and lacked confidence, and so I didn't try, or if I left it in my mom's hands to pursue the option, and she just never followed through, or what. But, thinking back, what if I had done that? Missed opportunity.

When I was a freshman in college, I decided to take a racquetball class. Just because. My roommate told me I'd hate it. But I LOVED it, from day one. And almost every semester, I signed up for a racquetball class. It was twice a week, but I'd go once or twice a week extra with friends. I'm glad I got to try it. And I would love to go again. Though right now I'd have to find a babysitter if I wanted to go. But that's kind of beside the point. The point is, I tried something, just for fun, and if I would have hated it, then oh well, at least I tried, kind of like I did when I was younger with dance class, etc.

I want to try stuff again. New stuff. I want to pick up on the old stuff that I love, too. And not put it off because I have something that I have to do. Because I always will have stuff that I have to do. That list just never ends. I always think, oh, someday I'd like to... or, maybe such-and-such would be fun... or, if I have time tonight, maybe I'll...

...

That was a lot more 'splainin', a lot less summing up. Let me try again.

I need to stop "some day"-ing my life.

So, what's on my Bucket List? What do I want to do/learn/try/pick up again?

-I want to learn a new instrument. I love the harp, the cello, the violin, the guitar. Apparently, I'm drawn to string instruments. My mom said there are community classes offered where I could learn guitar or something. I really want to check into that, hopefully this summer.

-There's a piano piece that I've always wanted to learn. I even have the music. "Rhapsody in Blue", by Gershwin.

-I have a beautiful cross stitch, just sitting in my closet, ready to pull out.

-I want to go to Austria again.

-I want to go to Grand Cayman again. (Pete and I are planning to do this for our 10-year anniversary.)

-I would love to take a photography class.

-I wish I was artistic. Some kind of pottery class or something would be fun.

-Gotta do the digital scrapbooking. I've been thinking about this a lot lately.

-I've always wanted to be able to do back handsprings. But I think the window has closed on that one for me. (And I get all twisted around when I go upside down-I can't tell up from down. I know I'd fall flat on my face.)

-I love dancing. I took a ballroom class in college, and loved every minute of it. Dancing like that again would be so fun.

-I love to read. I feel the need...for read(ing). (You can tell I watch a lot of movies, though. Sheesh.)

-A cake decorating class would be awesome. I tried doing fondant, and it was fun, and it was terrible-looking because it was the first time I had done it. But making cool cakes would be so fun.

-I graduated in finance. I want to actually do something with my degree.

So, that's the tip of the iceberg, bucket list-wise. There are so many things I want to do and try and be. And not that I want to push aside my responsibilities and be completely selfish, but I want to experience. And I don't want to wait to experience until my kids are out of the house. So, maybe a little here, a little there. So that, when someone asks me about me, I can say what my current hobbies are, and what I'm actually doing, instead of what I used to do, or what I'd like to do someday.

I saw this quote on Mormon Mommy Blogs the other day. So, for a sum up (for real this time):

"If we as mothers do something we absolutely love alongside raising children we absolutely love, we will almost guarantee that our children will be raised in an atmosphere steeped in joy." -Debra Sansing Woods, It's Okay To Take A Nap

Just a Few

I taught a lesson in Young Women's this last Sunday that I think resonated more with me than with the girls I was trying to teach. It was about setting goals, and how the things that we do now in life can get us to some of the more major goals we have for the future. For example, what do these girls want in their lives in one year? What about in 5 years, or 10 years? (They were all freaking out about that: "In 10 years I'll be 24! WEIRD!") And it is pretty weird to think about-in 10 years I'm going to have 3 teenagers, one of which will be dating and driving!

I loved this quote: No plan. No objective. No goal. The road to anywhere is the road to nowhere, and the road to nowhere leads to dreams sacrificed, opportunities squandered, and a life unfulfilled. -Thomas S. Monson

Anyway, some years I've made New Year's Resolutions, and some years I have not. When I was younger, I'd always have a huge list of things that I would be better at or would want to be doing, and of course January 1st I'd try to do all of them, and fail miserably. Sunday after my lesson, I sat down and wrote the things that I want to do this coming year, whether it's a habit I want to implement in my life, or a project that I want to get done. I also wrote down specific things that I want to do in order to accomplish my goals (a point my lesson made). And hopefully, as I implement some of these things now, it will help me as I get into what I want in 5 or 10 years from now.

So without further ado, some of my goals/resolutions:

Learn how to make freezer meals. I never know what will freeze well, or what to do when I want to actually use that meal (thaw it out for a couple of days? just put it in the oven for longer?) So I want to learn this fine art, and implement it in my life. That way, on the days I don't want to cook, we won't be tempted to eat out at yucky overly-salty McD's.

I want to scan in all my old scrapbooks into my computer. I don't know if at that point I'll make CDs of them, or if I'll keep my scrapbooks or get rid of them, or what, but I'll figure that out as I go along, I think.

I want to have Ivy potty trained some time in 2010. My friend told me about this book, of potty training when your child is 22 months old, and in 3 days. She did it with her triplets, and she said it was literally 3 days and they were all trained. If I train Ivy when she's 22 months old, that means March. (I get little flurries of excitement just thinking about how awesome it will be to NEVER change a diaper again!)

Scrapbook-digitally-the years 2008 and 2009. When I had done some of 2008 before my computer died, it didn't take me all that long to do. So hopefully...

Reading the Book of Mormon with my kids every night. We're really good about saying prayers every night, so adding reading to that shouldn't be too big of an adjustment.

Getting up before my kids do. I was doing awesome at this before my surgery, but after it was all I could do to get up with enough time to get Jake out the door.

Build up food storage. We have a bunch of "store and ignore" (food that's sealed and will stay good for at least 30 years), but I want to build up a supply for meals that we eat regularly. I have a little bit, but sometimes it's only part of the meal.

I could go on and on, but I don't need to re-write all my goals that I've already written down.

Happy New Year, everyone, and may you reach your goals and live the life you want to be living!

Anticipation

School starts soon; it has come sooner than I thought it would. The school supplies are bought, new clothes are waiting to fill the void of the very worn out, very getting-too-small old clothes and shoes that have been or will be shortly discarded; the weather is even cooling down, signaling that our short short summer is over.

I feel like it's me that's going to be starting school instead of my children; I've had this gut-wrenching, nervous, excited, anticipatory feeling for the last week or so. Because it's not just school that's starting, but about 50 thousand other things, too. We're going to be busy.

Busy is good, but man, if I put one foot out of line, just shirk my responsibilities for one day, I'm going to be screwed. I made a little schedule, complete with color-coded blocks of time (I'm totally not OCD, I promise), so everything fits into place, and hopefully I have the energy to carry it out week after week. Right now, we get up, and get ready for a day of leisure and play. In a week, well... Besides school and homework for Jakob, we have preschool for Brock twice a week, pre-preschool for Troy twice a week, karate lessons for Jakob twice a week; I will be teaching piano lessons three days a week, exercising twice a week, and having Jakob help me with a few chores for an allowance. Instead of getting up at 8 or 8:30, we'll be getting up at 7:00. Instead of the leisure, we'll be running around, constantly doing. I dread it, but I also look forward to it.

I hope that, because we (ahem, I) will be "ceasing to be idle", that we (ahem, I) will be able to accomplish great things. That I'll be able to cherish the down time (because, thankfully, there still is a small bit of that). That I will find joy in the busyness and thrive in the chaos (which has happened to me in the past, so I hope it is still true of my character now).


But, oh. Heaven help me. (Because seriously? Look at this thing.)

Murphy's Law

My sister decided to instigate a "Biggest Loser" contest in our family. She recorded our current weights, and our goal weight. After a few months (I think we're ending at the end of May) we'll record our weight then, and for every pound we don't make it we put a dollar into the pot.

So. I'm not really at the point where I want to lose weight, but I DO need to exercise, and badly. Sure, I go up and down the stairs multiple times a day. I'm constantly lifting my children, and getting up and down off the floor. Once a week I push a heavy cart of children and/or groceries around a store for an hour. But it's still not a condensed, get-your-heart rate-going kind of regimen.

The last time I went skiing with my family I made it about a run and a half, and then I was kaput. It was embarrassing, to say the least. So instead of poundage, I decided to make my goal to exercise three times a week for a half hour each time. And I thought it would be simple-I'd get up before the kids, exercise for half and hour to TaeBo or with Dance Dance Revolution, and then get all showered and breakfasted before my busybodies are up and at 'em.

This is where Murphy's Law comes in to play. Every time I try to get up before the kids, they end up waking up early. They're usually 8:30ish kind of kids. So when my alarm goes off at 7:15, inevitably at least one of my kids gets up about then, too. What's up with that? I've only half-succeeded just once: I started the TaeBo tape, and about 30 seconds later Jakob wandered out of his room. As I attempted to force my limbs into movements they haven't done in ages, Jakob took one questioned look at me, and said, "Uh, Mom? What are you doing?" I replied, "Working out. Do you want to join me?" He said, "No. It's stupid." Although later in the tape when they were doing side kicks Jakob said it was "cool". And this morning when my alarm went off, I hit it, and immediately Troy started scream-crying, so I pulled him into my bed to calm him down (mostly so he didn't wake up his sister), and he and I fell back asleep. (It actually kind of rocked, because all my children slept until 9:15. It was like a reverse Murphy's Law.)

I guess I could work out after the kids are in bed. If I make Pete go in the other room. I have a hard time exercising in front of people, because I'm so uncoordinated. I'm the person in the step aerobics class running into the others, and missing my step, and standing there for a while with a bewildered look on my face because I can't figure out the sequence of moves.

So until I get some kind of miracle wherein my children stay asleep until they're supposed to get up (Benadryl?), maybe I should count that extra hour I'm awake as a half hour of exercise, eh?

I Do!

In the spirit of New Year's Resolutions, I present to you the things that I've done from a tag of random experiences. I've done 44 of the 100. Not to say that I'd actually want to do some of the things listed (sing a solo-#10-hey, no one else wants me to do that, either), but some of them I wouldn't mind checking off someday, like visit Hawaii (#4), or go whale watching (#62).

Things I've Done. To participate just copy and paste in your own blog, and bold all of the things you have done.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen an eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted (I've been sketched)
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. One cavity or less

Ch-Ch-Changes

It's that time of year again. The thermostat got switched from "cool" to "heat". And we had our first snow. Way too early for my taste (last winter was really, really long). But Brock was anxious to go out and play in the snow. So it was also time to hand down coats.

And I realized we need snow pants, and another pair of boots! For crying out loud! If only my kids would stop growing so fast! Especially this one:

(I just want to take a mom moment and say how stinking cute is my son??? He could totally be a model. If he was good at, you know, letting people take his picture. Which he's not. So it will be a small population that gets to enjoy his cuteness. Feel privileged.) His Sunday pants no longer fit, nor do his Sunday shirts. Wait, does that mean he's getting too big for his britches?

And this one got her first taste of "solids". She really didn't know what to think at first:

And then she decided that it wasn't all that good. I tried adding sugar, and the next day added formula (because she and the bottle are like this), but to no avail. I tried oatmeal the next day, and she wasn't having that, either. At least not yet.

Yesterday my son asked how long until Halloween. Uh, a little less than three weeks away. Which means the holidays are upon us. I like to get my Christmas shopping done in October and November, because I hit just as many sales without fighting the crowds. I only have to focus on the kids since Pete and I already have our Christmas:

But I'm so tired of getting toys! Ugh. Maybe I'll buy them food storage. Then my kids will think I'm the coolest mom ever! We thought about bikes for Brock and Troy, but I don't know how they'll feel about that. "Here's a present for Christmas, but you can't use it for another 5 months until the seasons change again! How exciting and fun is that?" Hmm.

In other "change" news, I was making dinner last night and realized I didn't have sour cream for the recipe. DOH! I'm still out of money until this Friday, but I think I may have a couple bucks in change in my purse. I never thought having random coins laying around could be so handy.

And, I've also come to realize, with all the change happening around me, that I need to do some changing of my own. Jakob has afternoon kindergarten, which means I spend the morning essentially just feeding and dressing me and the kids. That shouldn't take 3 1/2 hours. Then I'm also not taking advantage of the time that Jakob is at school, by spending more time with the others, etc.

Today Jakob had to catch the bus at 8:10 a.m. Every month our school has an early release day, so the kindergarten classes take turns going to school, and go for a longer period of time. So last month the p.m. class didn't go to school; today the a.m. class doesn't go, and the p.m. attends from 8:40-1:40 p.m. He took a lunch with him and everything. My point: I got up at 7:30, got him up, took a shower, was ready to go at 8:00. And...I feel I have so much more time! So my idea (and again, I'm posting about this so that I have more incentive to stick to the plan because I'm making my plans public), is to get up before the kids, exercise, and shower. Okay, I'll be honest: the exercising probably won't happen every day. But maybe three days a week or something. And because I'm sick of my house being a pig sty, the other days I'll do laundry or dust, etc.

So, please send your good vibes my way. I'll need all the help I can get to make my changes in my mind become tangible changes.

Pennies from Heaven

On Sunday my sisters and mom and I went to my grandma's grave. My sisters and I hadn't been there since her funeral, two years ago.

My grandma and grandpa used to go for walks, and whenever she saw a penny, she would pick it up, and say it was a "penny from heaven". I found the lyrics to the song "Pennies from Heaven". Basically it talks about how we have to have rainclouds in order to enjoy the sun. But I like my grandma's version better: she said if you found a penny it meant that someone in heaven was thinking about you.

So now people put pennies on her gravestone. So sweet.

Anyway, my grandma basically was the most perfect person to walk this earth. We talked about her a little bit, how she never said anything bad about anyone EVER. And how sweet and kind she was. She had arthritis, and before she died she could barely breathe. But she never complained about the pain that she was in.

My grandma wrote her memories down, which were actually really interesting to read. She was born in 1930, and grew up on a farm. They made their own butter and everything. (It's amazing the difference 78 years makes.) She also wrote little tributes to all her grandchildren. Wanna know what she said about me?

She said of all her grandchildren, I'm the most like her.

Wow. I take that as an extreme compliment. Everyone loved my grandma.

But...

I also take it as a challenge almost. I want to be as amazing as my grandma, but I'm not close to that at all. I complain about my kids, if I even have a headache I'm whining about it. And the list of flaws goes on and on. Long story short: I know where I am at now, I have someone that I want to emulate. I just need to get started on getting there. I just need to start small and work my way up. Small...like a penny.