Day 14: Favorite pictures

Day 13: Goals

Goals:

Where do I begin????

I have high hopes for this year.

1. get into a regular routine of study

2. keep myself healthy

3. be less sporadic in my jounal writing

4. take more pictures of our life

5. loose 50 pounds...LOL...actually I just want to loose 10-15.

6. learn to control my "re-actions"

7. make a new friend

8. increase temple attendance to 2x a month

9. continue to strive to be a better mom and wife

10. live with more purpose

Day 12: my beliefs

What you believe

This may seem sort of silly, because to me it kind of obvious, but the Articles of faith are what I believe and what helps me get through a lot.

1 We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.

2 We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam’s transgression.

3 We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.

4 We believe that the first principles and aordinances of the Gospel are: first, bFaith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.

5 We believe that a man must be called of God, by prophecy, and by the laying on of hands by those who are in authority, to preach the Gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof.


6 We believe in the same organization that existed in the Primitive Church, namely, apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, and so forth.

7 We believe in the gift of tongues, prophecy, revelation, visions,fhealing, interpretation of tongues, and so forth.

8 We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God.

9 We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.

10 We believe in the literal agathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes; that Zion (the New Jerusalem) will be built upon the American continent; that Christ will reign personally upon the earth; and, that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory.

11 We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.

12 We believe in being asubject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.

13 We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul—We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.

Day 11: fave shows

Favorite T.V. shows

We use to not have cable for the first 3 1/2 years we lived here but now for the lat 6 months we have...needless to say, although 90% of T.V. is crap (including the shows I watch and love) we are cancelling it in the new year to go back to no t.v.



The Ellen Degeneres Show. I love Ellen and think she is stinkin hilarious! I really enjoy watching her show when I can.







I'm a Grey's addict. I have watched it from the beginning and will probably continue to watch it for a long time...even though sometimes I threaten to stop watching it if certain things do or don't happen. Like if George and Izzy ended up together, I would have stopped watching...lol


America's Next Top Model. I couldn't find a semi modest picture (that's says A LOT about this show...LOL!!!) of the show.

Everyone has their vices and t.v. shows are mine. I don't have a pop drinking vice or a shopping vice or whatever other vices people have. I have given up a lot of t.v. since we moved here...seeing as you can get a lot of it online but I don't think there's any point. That's my reason/justification...take it or leave it : )

Day 10:Fear!

Something you're afraid of

a fear of anything has a root and my root fear is being alone. i am also very afraid of the dark. and if it comes with bad weather, you can count on me not sleeping. when we had a few blackouts early this year, i was very nearly (really and honestly) in tears. i was alone and i was terrified. it was very, realistically, scary for me.

Day 9 iPod shuffle

Day 9- Put your iPod on shuffle, first 10 songs

1-Santa Claus is Coming to Town: Maraih Carey

2. Lost in the supermarket: over the hedge soundtrack

3. Lucky Star: Madonna

4. Winter Light: Tim Finn from Chronicles of Narnia

5. On this day, the earth shall ring: A traditional Christmas

6. Midnight Train to Georgia: Gladys Knight

7. Mine: Taylor Swift

8. Ours: Taylor Swift

9. Dirty Diana: MJ

10.Speak Now: Taylor Swift

hmmm....my shuffle likes Taylor : ) So do I!

Day 8

A place you've traveled to

So when I actually sat down to think about this, I realized I've been to a lot of places. Much more than I actually thought I had. Each has a special memory or story

-hamilton
this was my first solo trip after being married. i went to see my best friend, trish.

-san diego
san diego was my very first solo trip ever! i went to see my cousin who was in the navy and based there. i saved up for it and booked my flight and motel. it was a really awesome trip.

-tijuana
i went there while in san diego. it was dirty and i don't know that i would go there again.

-Idaho Falls
we just went there this summer and i can't believe i hadn't been there before...at least not specifically in idaho falls

-Salt Lake
on of my aunts live there and we've been there many times but this summer was one of my top 3 times we've been there (we've been there about 10 different times)

-shushwap
a family friend has a family cabin there and i went out and stayed with them for a week. it was cold but i had a good time

-edmonton
my other aunt use to live there and we use to go up there every summer for a week for a holiday with her. it was one of my favorite childhood memories.

-swan hills
my mom's best friend lived there and we went fishing up there while visiting and my sister that caught the fish refused to eat the fish she caught...lol

-canal flats
the family i first ever nannied for had a cabin there and i lived with them in the summer to nanny

-banff
i've been there numerous times with different people. my cousin and i use to go out there every year until the year after tanner was born. our schedules just didn't allow for it. my other favorite was when i went up with trish and 2 guy friends (NOT boyfriends) and we had a blast.

-eufaula, alabama
this was part of matt's mission and he grew close to a family there and we went a year after we were married to visit them. it was a little scary because the culture is so different...lots of people carry guns etc but we had a great visit.

-broomfield, colorado
my aunt and uncle lived there and we've been there twice.

-drumheller
drumheller was my second home when i was a child. i have really good memories...although there were some not so good times, the good outweigh the bad. remember the time the van got stuck because it rained so much and we had to walk, in the rain, down the hill to get a ride to church while in our church clothes???

-new mexico
when my dad was in scouting, we were invited to attend a camp called little philimont. it was the longest trip of my life but it was lots of fun.

-victoria (i was really young and i don't really remember it)
i don't remember much...only what i see in pictures.

Day 7:Favorite Movies

Favorite Movies

The Lion King was my first favorite Disney...although I think my sisters would argue it was Bambi...but I don't remember that. I use to come home every day after school in Jr.High and watch it for weeks on end. I loved it that much.





High School Musical. The family I nannied for before we moved here got me hooked on this series of movies. Honestly, at first, I thought the first one was a little pathetic...I thought the acting was so silly. But somehow I have become hooked and I just adore these movies.




Ahhh..Penelope! I love that this movie has such a good message.





What's not to love about this movie??? Seriously! It's so good and clean and just a really feel good movie about 2 villains...now who can honestly do that???




Aunty Carolyn introduced us to this particular movie when we were just kids. We use to go up to see her in Edmonton for a week in the summer and one summer she showed us the BBC version of this. When I heard it was coming out a few years ago, I wondered how much better they would be able to make it...I know, lame ...because the BBC version (after watching it after the newer one) is really bad! bad acting, the animatronics for Aslan was horrible! But that's the one we grew up with. Anyways, I love these movies.





Prince Caspian was a great one too. I love that Lucy got to use her knife and was actually included in some of the fighting in this one...unlike the previous one she didn't get much.





Voyage of the Dawn treader is my fave! I can't say enough about this movie. Not as dark as Prince Caspian. Although it does have the sea serpent they fight and that's pretty ugly (I mean the serpent itself is ugly). But I just loved the clear messages in it.






Dirty Dancing...this was a movie my Mom did not like us to watch and although when we were children and watched it at our neighbors (thanks Kara) and didn't think our Mom knew, I'm sure she knew because we would quote it and talk about it. We ALWAYS watched the part when Patrick jumps off the stage in reverse because to our childish mind, it was HILARIOUS to watch him "jump back on the stage in reverse motion". Good times, good times.

Day 6

Day 6 — A song that makes you cry {or nearly and why}

-imagine

this song makes me cry because one day the world will live in harmony and that makes me so happy that i know that day will come.

-because i have been given much

this song makes me cry or nearly because it just has a special place. there's a bit of story to it. the first sunday we were able to take tanner out of the hospital just to take him to church, this was the opening song and the words really hit me like a brick as i pondered what we had been going through that first week of tanners fragile life in the hospital. we weren't even sure we would be able to take him out but i asked for baby steps...just 3 hours to go to church. we we granted the 3 hour pass and went just to sacrament and then we had to head back right after. even now when i hear that song or sing it, i am filled with the emotion that i was 7 years ago when we took our tiny, fragile baby to church for the first time and i really knew how much the Lord loved us and had blessed us with this amazing human being. so if you didn't cry while reading that like i did while writing it, that's the story behind that song.

Day 5

Day 5- Something that makes you happy







Love




Family




Friends


Being alive

Day 4- Something you're looking forward to

-i know it's 11 months off, but i'm actually looking forward to tanner being baptized

-routine (it kind of goes along with my goals)

-continuing to move forward and growing



AND



-10 GLORIOUS days off starting on the 25!

I'm just going to say this...

On my facebook yesterday I posted that I was a little disappointed that the older grades in the school had to sing "we wish you a happy holiday" instead of "we wish you a merry Christmas" in order to be politically correct.

I HONESTLY didn't think I'd get the response I did because I didn't post it to be a "button pusher". But now I feel like I need to say how I feel about it because I think it's important...especially so at Christmas, to stand up for my beliefs and the true reason for the season that everyone seems to take for granted.




FACEBOOK POST:

we wouldn't ask other religions to take their "god" out of their songs or their beliefs so it seems slightly unfair for Christians to do so...even if the government is run by non Christians. What about freedom to worship???

I do agree that ...most people know what kind of community we are when they move here so why are we being forced to take Christ out of CHRISTmas???
If we want to be examples, let's stand up for what really counts and put CHRIST back in CHRISTmas?!

The songs were originally written with the word Christ in them...so why, if the government or the people who want to "rob" us of using the word Christ, are we allowed to still use Christ in our religious songs???? BY THEIR OWN DEFINITION, if we can't use Christ in Christmas songs, we shouldn't be able to use Christ in our religious songs, yet we proudly and humbly sing of the Saviors life each Sunday. How are they (Christmas songs and Religious songs) different from each other?

Why does it have to be the ONE time of year that we celebrate something real and not pagan we aren't allowed to use the word that the reason we celebrate for?

Having the PRIVILEGE of singing songs about Christ is NOT expecting " a Christian education in a secular system". It's ONE time of the year...not all year, every day. It should be an honor to be able to sing the great songs that were written about Christ...but unfortunately, we all know that that doesn't happen.


Let me just say this one last thing...if any of us moved to India or Pakistan or anywhere there was another dominant religion, we would NOT ask them to take their "god" out of their daily practices or seasonal practices or whatever it may be.

We have been asked to be loving and patient and kind to all people no matter what their race or religious background is/was...so why are we not always afforded the same courtesy??? It's an unfair world we live in and when the reason for our existence is being questioned or taken away, that's not okay.

Christ is the reason every single person on the earth is here...we all agreed to his plan. Being tolerant can be hard sometimes because I believe we all love Christ and know that he is slowly being forgotten in this evil existence we call the world today. What a great day it will be when He comes to earth and we don't have to think about weather or not we can sing about Him!See More

Day 3

Day 3: Siblings and parents



mom is the heart of the family. she is the best grandma ever! she loves us girls (her daughters) more than anything. she sewed us fun clothes when we were little. she'll hear you out when you feel like no one else will listen. she always makes sure she has chocolate milk for tanner when we visit (we don't buy it at home very often). she never gives up on us. HELLO! she raised 4 pre-teen to teen girls after losing my dad after 14 3/4 years of marriage. she is awesome!







My ultra "cool" (baby)sister Melany. Melany was/is the tomboy of our fam. she HATED wearing dresses and when we had to keep our dresses on after church, she would put pants on under hers so she could have "normal" clothes on.

she can go from tomboy to stunner in no time flat. melany is the "fun" one. melany is 4 1/2 years younger than me

Megan (my younger sister) was the princess...i guess we all were but she was ALWAYS twirling around in her fancy dresses and posing. i love this picture of her and Em. her and i are the closest in our relationship. she is absolutely the peacemaker in the family. Megan is 13 months younger than i am.

one of the very rare pictures we have of dean. he is the resident handyman and our family is so lucky to have him. he is so smart and just knows so much. he is more of the listening than talking type. which our family needs since we all talk a lot!

ahhhh...Amy! she is the drama major in our family. she has a flare for the theatre and she knows pretty much all there is to know about any star. she, too, is super gospel smart and it's something i've always admired about her. she is a clean-aholic. you know monica from friends...that's amy. she really values things being clean and put just so...which is really good.

Day 2

Day 2- Something that stresses you out

-when tanner has a headache, i seriously worry because it could be a sign of tightness in his craniofacial area and that = possible sooner surgery!

-when people aren't honest

-trying to be who i am without offending people.

-being pulled away from my family really stresses me out somedays.

Jumpin' on!

So, as Malauney has said, I'm jumping on the bandwagon! I thought this might be fun to do and who doesn't like to get to know a little more about another person right???


Day 1-Self portrait picture, and 15 interesting facts

What makes ME interesting??? I'm not really sure, but hopefully you find the following interesting.



here i am at 9:30 on a wednesday...seriously ready for bed...but taking a self picture of myself. i totally could have done this when i look nice, but what's the point in that? everyone knows what i look like all dressed up...let's see the "real" me...lol.



-i have a birthmark that covers my upper left leg. sometimes i feel like i have leparcy...i don't but some days it feels like that

-i have nannied for a female couple

-i have a pen fetish. i love them

-i love the smell of coffee. i have only once tried coffee (he who is without sin let him cast the first stone) and it was utterly gross! and i am NOT a tea drinker. i just recently found a tea that i enjoy on a rare occasion so that's kind of big for me.

-i don't just work at the chiropractic office here in town. i clean people's houses

-i've never swam in the ocean

-i am pre-diabetic (which means that my body doesn't use it's natural insulin properly)

-i played in a piano recital in the middle of sunridge mall when i was 8/9

-i love brittany spears (some of you already knew that and i hope that doesn't compromise my friendship with you, jamie :0 )

-i have a love/hate relationship with shoes and socks. most of the time i hate wearing them but there are the odd times where i love wearing socks (like to bed). I have walked home from church in bare feet because i was annoyed with my shoes

-i took french in college

-i hate when matt drives the car. i perfer to drive

-i use to work at the saddledome and i've seen some pretty awesome concerts being an usher

-i have been to the nutcracker ballet twice. it is a divine experience.

-when i was in grade 7 i played the trumpet and one day while walking home i fell and tripped on my trumpet case and pulled my groin. it was the first time i had to use crutches.

A video for you...made by Matt

So Matt wanted me to share THIS with everyone...and since he NEVER asks me to share anything on my blog, I thought I would. Enjoy...Matt made this himself with Tanner.

This just in...

I always have the BEST conversations with Tanner when we walk home together. Take this small clip for example:


T: Mom, does Santa know Jesus?

M: I don't know. Do you think that Santa knows Jesus?

T: No

a little while later

T: When I'm 19 I'm going to go on my mission and then when I'm 22 I'm going to get married and be a Dad.

I love that boy!

We have a WINNER!

Congratulations: Lynn

She got all of them correct. I think that #17 is ring out wild bells but the answer sheet says it's silver bells. You can check out her answers in the comment section in the post below.

I will put your Gift Card in the mail on Monday!

Tim Horton's for Smart People

Matt came home with this fun thing (my Brain is having a major freeze and I can't think of the word I actually want to use) so I thought I would post it here for all you really smart people (I am NOT one of them) to try to solve. They are Christmas Carols and Yuletide Songs.

For the first person who gets all of them right or gets the most right, will win a $10 Gift card to Tim Horton's. I will be making the comment section so you can't read each other's responses and only I can read them. After there's a winner, I will post the answers. Good luck.

1. Move hither ward the entire assembly of those who are loyal in their belief

2. Listen, the celestial messenger produce harmonious sounds

3. An emotion excited by the acquisition or expectation of good given to the terrestrial sphere

4. Embellish the interior passageways

5. Exalted heavenly beings to whom hearkened

6. Twelve o'clock on a clement night witnessed it's arrival

7. The Christmas preceding all others

8. Small municipality in Judea S.E. of Jerusalem

9. Diminutive masculine master of skin covered percussionist

10. Omnipotent supreme being who elicits respite to ecstatic distinguished males

11. Obese personification fabricated of compressed mounds of minute crystals

12. Expectation of arrival to populated area by mythical, masculine perennial gift-giver

13. Natal celebration devoid of color

14. In awe of nocturnal time span characterized by religiosity

15. Geographic state of fantasy during the season of Mother Nature's dormancy

16. The first person nominative plural of a triumvirate of far eastern head of state

17. Tintinnabulation of vacillating pendulums in inverted metallic resonant cups

18. In a distant location the existence of an improvised unit of newborn children's slumber furniture

19. Proceed forth upon a specific geological alpine formation

20. Nocturnal time span of unbroken quietness

21. Jovial yuletide desired for the second person singular or plural by us

On your mark, get set, GO!

Christmas Food Court Flash Mob, Hallelujah Chorus - Must See!

If you haven't heard about these Flash Mobs....you are seriously missing out! They are the best. This one has restored my Christmas spirit! I literally cried for half of the video. Enjoy...it's a bit of a wait to download but seriously worth the wait.

A bunch of random stuff

So I felt like doing a random post about random things...a little bit of this and that, so enjoy...or not...whatever...lol

Not just a dust pan but....

a lego shovel (I know, I'm so smart)

And because I just LOVE this boy and LOVE this picture!



***********************************************************************


These are the cupcake I made for Tanner's birthday party at the movie theatre.

You'll need these ingredients

Then mix it up following the package directions. Yes, this is not the mixing bowl that comes with the mixer. I used it for something else so I had to use my trusty tupperware.

Seperate the batter into 3-4 bowls and mix in food coloring gel. Pour each color seperatley.

Here is the yellow on top of the blue.

This is what they looked like after I took them out of the oven.






And then I iced them

For all you photographers

I learned about this giveaway from the wonderful photographer that took our photos last month, Kinsey. This would make a perfect gift for a few people I know!