SPT challenge

So, this is something new, but it sounds like some good thought provoking challenges. This week, Lelly's SPT challenge was to decide on one thing that you would spend money on for yourself equivalent to a tank of Gas. This is all related to the large rise in Gas prices over the past couple of years. I have found this challenge really difficult. It is not that I do not like to spend money, I just don't typically spend it on myself. It actually costs about $90 to fill our Van, and I know that these beautiful shoes fall short, but I have thought about this al week, and this is the best that I can seem to come up with.
So, if I had $90 I guess realistically I would buy these wonderful shoes, and then spend that last $30 on my kids, or my husband. I always find it easier to buy for them anyways.

Free Book

So, this is from an lds author trying to promote his new book. Early May I will receive an advanced reader copy, and early June publish a review, but in the mean time, while I get to read one copy, I get to do a contest on my blog to give away a second copy of the book. If anyone has any suggestions for the contest, I am open, and if not I will come up with something and hope people read Early in May so that they can get their own FREE copy of the book. I am soo excited!

100 Things

so here is a list of 100 hundred things about me; some of them you may know, and some of them you may not...

01. Jordan was my second marriage proposal
02. I am the 2nd child of 5
03. I have 4 male siblings, making me the only girl
04. I have 2 boys of my own
05. I have been married almost 4 years
06. I am happiest when I am busy
07. I have no middle name
08. I love to read
09. I am terrified of picking books out at the library
10. I have terrible eyesight, and have had glasses since 6th grade
11. I love Gerber Daisy's
12. I am slightly anal about being organized
13. I always want things planned WELL in advance
14. I am a child of God - so are you!
15. I am uncomfortable around foul language
16. I was a straight A student, but still cannot spell
17. I am very much a perfectionist
18. a messy home drives me nuts (that means I am nuts a lot of the time!)
19. I have driven school bus for 2 years
20. some have (accurately) called me stubborn
21. I could be called opinionated
22. I make many sacrifices for my family
23. I dated my husband before his mission
24. I have no idea what my decorating style is - I just want it to look nice!
25. I like planned theme parties
26. I love going to live theater
27. If I am outside without sunblock, I am guaranteed a sunburn
28. my favorite color is blue
29. I love pretty containers
30. I am very ticklish
31. I hate being pregnant
32. When I got married, I wanted 12 kids, then I got pregnant.
33. I am terrified of thunder
34. I love to see lightening
35. I like to play games
36. I HATE losing games
37. I enjoy gardening
38. I want to be a well-read person
39. I love new clothes
40. I love shopping for OTHERS
41. I like to try new recipes (poor family)
42. I am a very good copycat, and am always looking for ideas to use myself
43. I love to see the seasons change
44. my favorite season is spring
45. I went to Mexico on my honeymoon
46. I had a 6 week engagement
47. I like the smell of new shoes, new books, fresh baked bread, freshly bathed babies
48. I sometime wish I were invisible...really!
49. My favorite TV show is Criminal Minds

50. I was born in Brooks Alberta
51. Both my parents and my inlaws live less than 10 minutes away
52. I love Montana!
53. I remember all of the words to my elementary school song
54. My dad is a cancer survivor - I am so glad!
55. I don't like sweeping and mopping
56. when given the chance, I read too much
57. I enjoy family vacations
58. my husband is my best friend
59. I LOVE holidays
60. I prefer to speak to someone face to face, instead of letters or e-mail
61. I have played the piano, violin, clarinet, and saxophone
62. I like to laugh
63. I find reorganizing an entire room extremely satisfying
64. I love the beach
65. I love smooth writing pens

66. I wil hide a "good pen" so that my husband doesn't lose it
67. I love to give gifts
68. I could eat roast beef dinner every Sunday for forever
69. I always have lists
70. I HATE ironing
71. my eyes are blue
72. I really dislike going to the dentist
73. I would like to be more easy-going
74. I get headaches when the weather is changing
75. I want to be a better mother
76. I love office supplies
77. I've lost contact with many people who I have loved
78. I often speak before I think
79. I was known for taking my clothes off as a little girl
80. I hate it when my socks don't match my outfit - it ruins my day
81. I often spent time in a Salon as a toddler being pampered - thanks Sandy
82. I had more makeup when I was 4 than MAC Cosmetics has ever seen
83. I lose my temper then feel an insane amount of guilt
84. I love to go on walks, and my husband doesn't
85. I can fall asleep anytime, anywhere
86. I like decorating cakes
87. as a baby I was bald and bug eyed, but grew into a cute toddler
88. I have no interest in computer programming - my husbands chosen field
89. I have always lived in Alberta
90. I didn't want my drivers license
91. I have been told I am just like my mom
92. I take 91 as a great compliment, what a wonderful woman!
93. 9My husband cooks gourmet meals better than I do
94. If I don't use something in a year, it's garbage
95. I have curly hair, but wish it was straight
96. I dislike peas, and will never make my kids eat them
97. I like eating out at sit down resteraunts
98. My nails are brittle and break easily
99. I love one stop shopping
100. My career goal is to become a Clinical Neuro Psychologist, only 7 more years of school to go

52 Blessings

Blessing Number 4
My Children.
Isn't it funny how some of your greatest blessings are also your greatest trials? Raising my 2 boys is my whole world, and I am always looking for ways to make their growing up years more fun, enjoyable, and memorable. But I also spend countless hours thinking about how to get Ethan to sleep through the night, or what it will take to get Skyler to stop smothering Ethan with hugs every 20 minutes (Ethan much despises this practice) Dealing with biting, pushing, sharing, eating. The lord works in mysterious ways. When I sit back and think about it, raising my boys is more stressful than anything else I have ever done, but it is by far the most rewarding and enjoyable thing I have ever done. I am grateful for the joy that they bring to my life, for the little smiles as they wake up in the morning, the snuggle and hugs, the "your my best friend moments" and yes even for the struggles. I love my family and feel very blessed with my beautiful boys!

Snow man

Skyler really wanted to make a snow man today, and the bad mother that I am have never really played out in the snow with him. I don't like being cold, I like being wet even less, and life is busy; there you have it, those are my excuses. So today for the first time in Skyler's life we built a snow man. Skyler took to playing in the snow readily, but poor stationary Ethan (he is normally quite mobile, but in the snowpants...) hated the experience.
Naturally I showed Skyler how to do it, and then ended up being the muscles, and taking orders from a 2 year old.
I sat both boys down beside the snowman to get a picture, it lasted exactly 32 seconds, but long enough for me to snap a picture.
I did try to get a picture with the three of us playing outside, but my arms are too short, and my boys are too squirmy, this is the best that I could manage
I am glad for the opportunity to play with Skyler and make him the happiest 2 year old in the world for a few minutes, but I still hate being cold, and hate even more being wet, seeing as today is April, hopefully I will not have to endure that again until next year!

52 Blessings

Blessing Number 3

I am soo glad, and excited that we have finally finished Skylers room! We have envisioned for quite a while now that our 2 little boys would share a room as soon as Ethan was old enough to go into a big boy bed, so we started a search for bunk beds.
Jordan and I both wanted to find some wooden bunk beds, and not a metal frame. We finally found these in the bargain finder, and started the task of painting out the furniture. I actually quite like them, they have a little book case head board, and are able to be set up as 2 single beds as well.
We set up the bunk beds, and Skyler had no problem getting up, but was having difficulty getting back down off the top bunk, so my wonderful husband thought it would be a great idea to make a slide to help him get down on his own. The idea was there, and there was no stopping him. He did extensive 20 minute research on the internet, and set off to home depot to buy the supplies that he would need. A week later we had a platform, and slide to move into the bedroom. Jordan built the rail to make it safer, and I am glad for it. Skyler will wake up and want to go down his slide right away, and he doesn't necessarily have the balance thing figured out in his half conscious state.
I made the Valence out of Scraps from the firetruck wrap on the bed, that by the way was also Jordan's idea. I of course did all of the work, but he had seen something on a bed in the bargain finder, and decided that Skyler just had to have it (note: Skyler is VERY SPOILED - by mom and dad, and both grandparents live only minutes away) I loved the rings, although really don't think they would do well if the fabric were very heavy.
We were able to put the frames so that they graduated down the wall following the line of the slide, which I think looks pretty neat. Unfortunately the pictures in the frames are not all complete. I heard council from a very wise woman a few years ago that all children should have a picture of the temple and of Christ in their bedrooms. As you can see, we have Christ, but no temple. I am having a terrible time finding a pencil drawing of the temple which is what I so badly want because I love the pencil drawings of Christ. The middle frame will get to hold a family picture, or a picture of my 2 boys when I get around to taking the picture.
We had a blank space on the wall, and was looking for something to fill it when I went to a vinyl lettering party. I love the letters on tiles, and wood, but I LOVE the letters on the wall. I hope that my boys do grow up with a hero like their dad!
We searched the internet extensively looking for some bedding that related to firetrucks, but found it very limited. I guess if you are not doing sports, flowers, or Disney you can't find anything for a bedroom. I was able to find a couple, but really did not want really light colors for this room, I wanted bright vibrant alive colors that would make you feel alive and excited, just like a little boy feels when he sees a firetruck with it's lights flashing. We decided on Heroes by Olive Kids, and then set about getting them bought, and brought into Canada (we were not lucky enough to carry them north of the Border. Thanks to my wonderful parent who were detained at the border because I did not send the receipt with them when they went to Montana to pick them up, the bedding was hand delivered by said parents yesterday. Thanks!
and just because a little boys room is not complete without the little boy, I added a munchkin into the mix, albeit the wrong munchkin, but he is cute too don't you think?

I am grateful to have one less project on our hands, I am grateful for my husbands vision, and patience with mine, and I am grateful for a cute, fun room for my 2 year old to enjoy, and hopefully both of my boys will have hours of fun playing together.

Calgary Weather

Our ward had a new bishopric called today, and I am excited for the new, although sad to lose the old. Our new Bishop is Jason Leishman, and his councilors are Ed Baines, and Todd Coleman, but as we heard from each person in the old bishopric, Brother Koller made a comment that brings this week into perspective. He said that he was grateful to live in a place, where we can experience spring again and again, and believe me, we do!
This is what we woke up to Thursday morning. No real warning, news reports said light flurry's, but my sidewalk had almost a foot of accumulation to shovel, and the day before I didn't even have snow on my lawn. As you can imagine, traffic was a disaster for several hours that morning.
I am soo grateful that by today, Sunday it was 23 degrees outside, and we were able to have a nice family get together outside.
A small difference, but a vast improvement I would say. Not to put a shadow on our beautiful weather, but it is supposed to snow again on Tuesday... Just so we can experience spring again?Ethan loved playing in the grass, and even decided to take a few bites, and see what it tastes like.
Skyler probably ate close to 2 lbs of Strawberry's on his own. (not that we really had a ton to begin with, but he spent most of the afternoon stealing strawberry's from everyone else, and I thought this 2 year olds face was too cute to pass up on a picture!
What a perfect way to end a beautiful day. My mom and dad bought Jordan a Blizzard cake to have kind of an early birthday celebration because life is so busy they didn't know what the week would bring (not to worry, I do have a few surprises up my sleeve for his birthday on Tuesday) Overall we just had a wonderful day, and I am grateful, frustrated, and often confused by the crazy weather that blesses our life in Calgary!

Somebody's Hero

When you see something going on, that you know is wrong, not kind of wrong, but wrong in a big way; It doesn't directly affect you, but you are witnessing it happen... What do you do? I like to think that I am a doer, not much of a watcher. I like to find solutions, and I like to "fix" things.
This is a family photo (an few years old, Jordan and I now have 2 little boys) and everyone looks relatively happy.
This would be the black sheep in the family; Don't you worry, we have several shades of grey, but John would lovingly be called the black sheep. (I am referring to my brother in the picture, not my son)

When my dad was really sick with Cancer, and everything in our home was put on hold in a way, and life had to adjust to a new normal, John acted out. John found the release that we were all looking for with his friends in drugs and alcohol. He did make a lot of mistakes, but he has also made a lot of good choices, and is a very respectable guy, and someone who I care a great deal about.

On Friday night my brother witnessed a guy who was obviously drunk, and not of sound mind at the time drag his girlfriend from a Mr. Sub, and try to strangle her. There was a large group of people standing there looking on.

What would you do in this situation? This is a question I have thought a lot about over the past couple of days, and like I said, I am a doer, a fixer of sorts, but how do you fix this? I would probably have been the first to call the police, but would they have been too late? Would this poor girl be left to die because I do not like confrontations, and I am a big chicken? Would I live the rest of my life with guilt from this situation because I did not do more?

My brother (the black sheep) opened the door to the establishment, and asked the guy if he has a problem. That is all it took. Even with a large group of onlookers, my brother woke up in the hospital looking like thisThe guy who has been set on killing his girlfriend turned all of his rage on my brother. He tore off his shirt, and attacked! The police say the guy was crazy, he was attacking the building as well. John was basically knocked down, and hit to unconsciousness, and then hit a whole lot more. He suffered 2 broken bones in his cheek, and had to go through some re constructive surgery in an attempt to save his vision in that eye, and support the eye socket so that he would not have a sunken eye for the rest of his life. This is what he looks like 5 days after the incident. He is doing well. Swelling is coming down, and he can see out of his eye, although blurry at the moment.

Last Saturday I had plans of spending the day with my family, maybe a walk, and some work with my parents on their home which they are preparing to sell, instead I got to go and see my 23 year old brother cry, afraid of the unknown, not wanting to look like a monster, worried that my kids would be afraid of him, worried that he would lose his vision. Somebody made a decision that will affect my brothers life forever, and has made for a few difficult weeks for him. Was it worth it? Would I have the strength to go through what he has? Did his save a strangers life?

This has really made me sit back and think about who I am and what convictions I have. I am grateful that my brother is ok, and that the girl, at least for that night was out of harms way. Just something that has really been on my mind.

52 Blessings

Blessing 2

I am so grateful for the Book of Mormon, and the strength that I can draw from it. Sometimes you just have a day, or mine seems to be a week, where I have a hard time staying positive, a hard time looking at the good, and I spend too much time looking at the bad! I feel so blessed to have been raised in the home that I was, and to have been taught the things that I have been taught. I know that the Book of Mormon is true, it is a strength to me as I work each day to raise my family, and as I strive to become a better wife, mother, and person.

Blessings

I have seen it being done throughout the blogging world, and have finally (about 4 months late) decided that I have much to be grateful for and that posting a blessing a week would help me to recognize, and value the many things that I have been blessed with. That being said, this is 52 Blessings, blessing number 1.

I am grateful for my husband! I have a wonderful husband who always puts me first. When weeks drag by, and my optimism is low, he always does something, no matter how small to make sure that I know that I am loved, appreciated, and that he notices the small things (some of the small things that is, I could die my hair hot pink, and he would think I bought a new t-shirt)
Jordan and I started dating in high school. The truth is, I met him really, when I was dating his best friend, but who needs to know the details. We never really had any classes together. One that we can both agree we had together, and that was a social class. Jordan is very smart, and has always achieved well is school for as long as I can remember. He has also never enjoyed working on school assignments, but rather liked to learn new things (of his choosing) and implement them.
after nearly 2 years of dating, and a year of that being a long distance relationship while I was away at school, I sent Jordan on his mission. He hoped I would be here when I got home, and I hoped for the same thing, but also did not feel inclined to live like a hermit. He was only gone a few months when I dear Johned him. I did continue to write for the remainder of his mission, just more sporadically. He was after all my best friend.
as the story goes, he was home from his mission 6 weeks, and we were engaged to be married...
and married 6 weeks after that.

I am grateful for Jordan, and think that it is very important to count him among my blessings. I have a wonderful life, and I am grateful that he is a part of it!