I QUIT!

Is it possible to quit life? I feel like quitting and giving up today. Give me a few days and hopefully I'll get over it : )

Bobbi has this really fun thing on her blog. So I decided I wanted to do it. So on Monday's I'm going to try to be faithful about posting "My Life in Photographs".

Favorite brand of toothpaste:

My favorite brand of toothpaste is Crest...and more specifically the gel. I don't enjoy the paste as much but the paste is usually what's on sale.



Your favorite color:

My favorite color(s) Purple and yellow...hands down. I use to love the color peach when I was younger but then I decided it wasn't a "cool" color. I mean, who LOVES peach? Not many people. So I decided I wanted a new favorite color. I realize that this makes me a bit of a follower but that's me. So I chose a blend of my 2 other favorite colors, blue and red...hence purple became my new favorite color. When you have a favorite color, I think you have to have a color that compliments it and I remember my best friend in High School had a boyfriend that had a dark purple Sunfire with bright yellow rims and I thought, yeah, that can go together. So that's how I chose my 2 favorite colors. I know, kind of a lame story, but whatever!








(A flower at my Mom's)

What camera you use

Nothing fancy. It's a Cannon PowerShot A560. Although I like to think I would like to have a fancy camera, I don't think I would use it as much. Plus there are lots of self taught photographers in my life that do a terrific job. I just want snap shots of our life and I'm happy with that.




Favorite board game:

My favorite 2 games, although I'm not sure you can consider them board games, are Scattegories and Taboo. I LOVE playing those games. Scattegories is actually the first game that I played with Matt and it was that night I knew we were going to get married. So it has a place in my heart.








And lastly for today

Your favorite book:

Tiny Dancer. This book moved me in a way I have not been before. I love this book. Other than my Scriptures, this is my favorite book I've read.





By The Way: You HAVE to check out THESE super adorable pictures of my nephew. This makes my heart happy

Books, Books, Books!!!

I'll bet you can't guess how many books I have read since the beginning of September?

Wanna know??

FOUR! 4 great books.

What were they?

I bet you wanna know that too...lol

1.Mormonville- This was a really great book. I laughed out loud numerous times. It's about a journalist that is sent to Helaman, Utah to basically find out what was wrong with the church and why everyone was following this "cult". It was very well written. Clearly not the kind of literature that Jamie or Lahni would read, but it was overall, a good book. I would absolutely recommend this book.

2. A little Sisterly Advice- the beginning and end were good but the middle really dragged on. It is about a girl who goes to college and navigates her way around the first year of college and dating etc. It was an okay book.

3. Never the Bride- I enjoyed this book for many reasons. This story is similar to the movie 27 dresses. Not exactly but sort of the same. I would recommend this book.

4. Surprise Packages- This was the 3rd and final book in a "trilogy" that my Aunt and I have been reading. It was a really good book but I was a little disappointed in the end. It ended in a way that leaves you to think about what the ending could be. I was looking for closure in the series but it's good that I can think about what happened to the characters in my own mind.

Now I'm reading 'Whale Done' for book club in October. It's basically a relationship book. I haven't started it yet but it's not a very thick book so it won't be like reading a Dr.Phil relationship book...thank goodness.

I went onto our library website and looked for a bunch of books that I have wanted to get to read from the church bookstore but don't want to invest the money in buying them. So I found a cheaper way to read them...checking them out at our library. They, surprisingly, have A LOT of the books that I want to read. They even have quite a few very 'churchy' books...like a FHE book that has some great ideas in it. I can not not read lately. I might have an addiction to it. We'll see how long it lasts.

Books, books...who could ask for anything more??? I love books!

What do I have to say????

I have thought of many posts to write and things to write about but of course I did not write them down and they have escaped my mind. Tanner is going up to Calgary this week and I'm looking forward to having time to myself. Lately, Tanner has been acting up and not listening at all. It must be because there is no school. I can't be that bad of a parent, can I????

We've been busy with yard work and weeding our garden. It's a lot of work but I can't wait for the reward. We have found out that the cost for a pass to the pool here is going to be $200 for a family of 4. I'm hoping that individual passes might be cheaper. It's $5 for adults and $3 for kids so to make it worth the $200, you'd have to go every day for the whole 8 weeks it's open. It just might not be worth it. If you have a larger family, it will cost more per child. We haven't totally decided yet. For sure NOT a family pass, but either 2 passes (1 for me and 1 for Tanner) or just pay as we go to it.

I am reading the book "The 5 love languages". It is really a good book. It has already made mine and Matt's relationship better. Knowing each other's love language is really helpful for both individual and relationship purposes. I would highly recommend the book to anyone. The next book I'm going to read is Anne of Green Gables. I'm looking forward to reading it. Then I'm going to read Pride and Prejudice. I finally watched the BBC version of that and loved it a lot. It's 5 1/2 hours long but so worth the time.
Anyways, that's about all for now.

What do you think

Last night at book club (yes, I know, I'm such a nerd...lol) we got on the topic of obedience to laws of the land vs laws of God. I heard a talk...or it was in part of a talk...that mentioned that when the law of the land is different from the commandments, we are suppose to try to live the law of the land. Then I got thinking today, isn't that what the article of faith say is We believe in being subject to kings presidents rulers and magistrates in obeying, honoring and sustaining the law.

We got talking about hos doctors aren't allowed to suggest certain alternatives because it's against their oath or whatever...but they could call you up (or talk to you in church) when they are outside of medical walls and tell you those alternatives. Wouldn't that be considered, in a black and white world, deception or lying? When you withhold the truth that's not being totally honest.

I'm reading (as if I wouldn't be) this book called "The Tomas Jefferson Education". It is such a good book. I am actually considering the possibility of thinking of home schooling Tanner because of reading this book. Education has, in many societies, become socialistic and not so much about educating. This, in my opinion, is not the way to educate children. It talks about the difference of teaching vs educating. Teaching is more about the conveyor belt type life and educating is more about inspiring and teaching kids to think for themselves and not what the government wants people to think.

You can see it a lot in schools. All you have to do is look at the fact that recently they are talking about letting children out of discussions on anything religious...be it evolution, or even the creation of the world. They basically are taking God out of schools altogether and not allowing kids to make the choice. There was a really good sentence in the paper today that I will have to post another time because it was so good. I think the people who are so worried about this are most likely people who have no strong religious affiliation and are concerned that their child will be easily influenced to believe something else. Why should that matter? We live in a country where we are supposed to be able to worship freely, right? So how does controlling the topic of religion allow that freedom to citizens of the country?

I think it's almost comedic that the government tells us or tries to prove to us that they are such heroes in giving us "free" things like 'free' health care, or 'freedom' of speech, or 'freedom' of religion. Yet those things aren't really free. We all will have to pay double in health premiums as of July 2010. We don't really have freedom of speech or religion because if we did, those who believe something different from what the government thinks you should believe in, wouldn't be persecuted for believing something different. Well, that's my rant for now. Just something to 'chew' on, I guess.

Anyways...what do you think?

I can't stop!

I can not stop reading. I LOVE LOVE LOVE reading. I have read 8 books in the last 4 months and I am itching to start reading another but I'm trying to not read more than 2 books a month. PLUS I am reading the Book of Mormon, Old Testament, and D&C in addition to these other books. How do I have time for normal every day stuff like picking up Tanner, making supper, doing laundry, cleaning???? I don't know, but I do. Maybe because I'm up at 6am every morning to do the paper route and I read when I come home before Tanner wakes up. Maybe I'm more efficient at keeping my house tidy and I don't even notice that I'm doing it. It's amazing to me that I can read that fast. I just finished this really great book that I would highly recommend to any woman. It's called "behind every good man" It's by John Bytheway. He is such a good author. I was lucky enough to hear him once at a fireside. He is so funny and puts things into a perspective that is easy to relate to.

Tanner started soccer last week and he loves it. He slept with the soccer jersey on that night and wore it the next day as well. What a funny boy. I just love him.

The other night we had Doritos and he asked if he could have some "Dorts" and I was like "huh?". So he pointed to the bag I had and said, "you know, Dorts." I then pointed to the word Doritos and told him that's what they were called. he still called them Dorts. He's so funny.

I went for lunch with my Aunt today. Going for lunch makes me feel rich for some reason. I always think that only rich people eat out for lunch. So it's nice. It makes me feel special.

Anyways, I think that's it for now. We are looking forward to the summer...as I'm sure most of you are.

150 already????

So, in this moment right now, I'm feeling somewhat reflective myself so I thought I'd write something that everyone is use to....a thoughtful (and hopefully non-controversial) post.

Here's a thought: If you went to bed and woke up in the morning and a miracle had happened in that everything in your life was the way it could or should be, how would it look?

What would you be doing that would tell your family and friends that this miracle had occurred?

What would you be doing?

What would other's notice that was different?

How would you treat other people?

I've been deep in thought lately on many topics but this one is something I can't stop thinking about.
I think sometimes I think I'm grateful for things in my life, but when I really think about it, do I feel the gratitude burning within my heart? Am I really truly grateful for what I have right in front of me? I say thank you and say I'm grateful, but do my actions show those words?

I'm reading 3 books right now; The Book of Mormon, The miracle of forgiveness, and a parenting book that is sooooo fabulous that I highly recommend it to anyone and would be happy to lend it out. Anyways, in The miracle of forgiveness, Spencer W. Kimball talks about sins (obviously) and how someone who doesn't share their testimony is committing a sin. That really struck me because who knew that? I didn't. Weather it be small or great, it is our responsibility to others and the Lord to share our beliefs with others at every opportunity. Of course, I admit that I am a huge sinner in that department. But now that I know, I pray for the strength to share that testimony publicly and with others and have the courage to do that. I think that people are afraid to do it because of what other people might say or think. I think it's especially hard for people who have a fear of speaking or getting up in public but I know, without a doubt because it's happened to me, that when you share your testimony on a regular basis the Lord's spirit increases within you...if that makes sense. You're in better tune with the Spirit and your knowledge of Him increases so much more.

My sister and I were talking about the Spirit and she said that when you're not doing the things you're suppose to be doing and don't have the spirit with you, you don't remember the things of a spiritual nature as easily. Like your mind fogs up. I think that's so true because when I don't feel the spirit as easily, it's hard to remember even simple things like a scripture story. So I know that it is so important to live as worthily as we can and know how to.

Life is so short. We don't have time to be wasting. The time to do and be better is now. I get so afraid when things like what's been happening with the economy and the weather and freak fires, that the end is so much closer than what we want it to be. I think of the scriptures and how the wrath of the Lord was upon the people who didn't and or don't repent. It's so scary...but it's exciting at the same time. I know this is minor to what will really happen when the time gets even closer. Things will be so much more worse than this. We'll look back on this time and wish we could live back in this time. Now, I'm not trying to scare anyone, but I'm just expressing my feelings of worry and excitement about what's going on in our world today. I think people have times when they are much more aware of things like this. I mean, last month, I didn't think anything of the last days. But lately, it's been in my mind and thoughts a lot. Like I said, things like freak fires or hail storms, or flooding, or other crazy things make me think about it more. I think every day we should treat like a gift of preciousness. A day where we are given the chance and opportunity to be better and know Christ better and do better. I think sometimes we get into our routines and we just go through the motions of our life and don't really truly appreciate all that we are blessed with.

For me, a huge part of what motivates me in life is Tanner. Now that I have someone else that depends on me to teach him the gospel and build his testimony...failure is not an option for me. So I try really hard to do the things for him that will build him up. Of course there are other things too. I know that may sound like I put a lot of pressure on myself, but I honestly feel like it makes me the kind of mother that I am today and the kind of mother I want to be. It works for me and that's all that really matters.

So for my 150th post, there's another piece of me for now while I'm feeling a little bit myself.

Twilight

I'm only about 1/4 of the way through twilight and I'm not sure I would classify my interest as loving it but more about curiosity. I want to find out if Edwards classmates think he's a vampire or if the family is genetically engineered or something like that. And I want to know how Bella finds out for sure that he is a vampire. I'm reading it to find the answers, not because I LOVE it. I'm enjoying it for the most part right now and it's certainly keeping my interest but I'm not sure if I don't really enjoy it that I would read the next one. We'll see. So stay tuned.

Guess what...

I've caved. I had no intention whatsoever to ever read or look at this book ever, but 2 of the girls at work convinced me that I would LOVE it and so I have caved into reading it. I don't know why I was convinced but I was. Maybe it won't be long before I will read Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter. The thought has actually crossed my mind. What's wrong with me???? lol

Tanner told me me last night that Matt told him that I didn't want any more babies and Tanner told me he wanted one. I told him that he would have to wait until he got married and had them with his wife. He seemed satisfied with that answer. So that's good.

I think that's it for now.

In response...

Okay, for those of you who have read or made comments on the previous post, I just want to say this: I am not saying that you can't gain spiritual insight by reading and or watching these movies/books. That is not what I am saying AT ALL! What it comes down to is that I'm just not really into the other 2 books/movies. And when I say evil when referring to HP, I don't mean Satanic, I just mean it makes me think of witchcraft which by definition is "the practice of Magic" and I do not believe in magic.
Maybe my level of understanding in all these books is far less than all of yours, but that's for me to learn as I mature. I don't discourage people from reading the books or watching the movies, like Jamie said, to each their own. And my own personal opinion is what it is. Lord of the Rings is not entertaining or interesting for me, but Narnia is.
Maybe one day when I'm grown up, I'll sit through the all the movies and understand it like the rest of you do. I just relate better, on a personal level, to the Narnia storyline.
And my opinions are strictly on the movies, NOT the books. I have not read any Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings books and at this point in my life, don't want to read them soon. Like I said, maybe one day but not now.
As for the Human thing in Narnia, my opinion was just that I felt that the story line (even though they were both probably similar) in Narnia was more about the Human children's journey and in LOTR, it was about a mythical creature. I was in no way saying that there were no Humans in LOTR. I know there are. I have seen at least half the movie so I'm not retarded..lol.
I also have to say that I disagree with my "judgement on something I don't understand". I believe that we all have different levels of understanding on the same things. For example, my level of understanding the Atonement could be totally different than someone elses. That doesn't mean that we don't understand the Atonement. We just understand it at a different level and that's perfectly normal. The post was just my opinion and like Bobbi said, every one has their own opinions on different things. That's what makes us all individuals. I might totally disagree on someone's opinion on discipline, but that's okay. It doesn't mean that either one of us are wrong.
I don't believe that Harry Potter books/movies are Satanically evil, they're just not for me. That's really what it comes down to.
I hope this somehow clears some things up. Evil is a strong word and maybe not the right word to use. I realize and know that in a lot of movies/books the message is about good over evil/bad. There are life lessons all around us and for me it's just about the presentation. The HP and LOTR movies are not a presentation that I understand. If the message about good over bad is presented in all 3 movies I don't think I need to watch all 3 series to understand that. I get that from Narnia and that's good enough for me.
Jamie and Lahni, you are right in saying that I would probably like them if I read them, and maybe when I do read them, I will write a post that has actually changed my opinion on the books. But I wasn't talking about the books in the previous post so stay tuned, because even though I will probably suprise myself with a different opinion after reading the books, you will have known all along. Or maybe the other way around. Maybe I'll still dislike them. But for now, for today, this is just what I think of the movies and hype about them.
Like I said earlier, maybe one day I will find the interest in reading the books.
And thank you again for all your comments. I was not put off, offended or felt contentious by any of them.
Like Adrienne said, I never apologize for my opinions (unless I know that they have offended someone personally) because that's just what they are...opinions. And they're mine and I don't believe in changing my opinions because they are 'un-popular'. Everyone has their own opinions on things and that's great. That's part of agency. I'm just not afraid to share mine, though I do realize that sometimes they aren't as clear to other's as they are to me.
I am happy to read more comments if you want to write them. I just thought I'd try to clear up a few things.

Here's the thing

Here's the thing...I get A LOT of grief about my opinions on these movies. I have no interest, even if it was going to save my life, in watching Lord of the rings OR





Harry Potter. I can't even get past the first 20 minutes of either of these 2 movies without wanting to scream BUT.....









I LOVE LOVE LOVE these movies. I adore the chronicles of Narnia. A lot of people say if I hate Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter, how could I possibly love Narnia. Here are my humble, honest thoughts on this (and yes, I expect I'll get even more grief about my opinion, but that's cool).

Harry Potter is all about witchery and, to me, evil. I don't know what it is about those movies, but the repulse me in every way. It's like witchcraft in my opinion.

Lord of the Rings, I realize, is VERY similar to Narnia, but here's the difference. In Lord of the Rings, it's more about the journey of a mythical creature, NOT a real person like in Narnia. I realize that there are mythical creatures in Narnia, but the main story line focuses more on the real people and the things they have to learn.

My Aunt read us The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe when we were kids and she had the BBC version of it on VHS (I know, I'm soooo old...lol) and I remember it was one of our favorites. So there was no doubt in my mind, even though I have never read any of the following books of Narnia, that I would love the rest of the series.

C.S. Lewis is quoted by our Prophets...I don't recall J.R.R. Tolken or J.K Rowlings being quoted by any of our Prophets and that's enough for me to want to continue to love these great books and see the movies.

I think in most (not all) movies you can draw spiritual parallels and see how it relates to real life. I find there are a lot of those in the Chronicles of Narnia. The other 2 movies to me, are just too dark.

Anyways, that's my 2 cents on the subject.

What have we been up to lately?

Let's see...what have we been up to????

Me-Running for 10 minutes at a time this week, making cookies, working, playing really intense games of hide and seek with Tanner, starting to read my book "Eat, Pray, Love", doing 8 loads of laundry (more than usual), going to FHE at Suzanne's house, making a Sunday Activity box for Tanner (it's going to be amazing), cutting and pasting things to put in the Sunday box, and sleeping when I can...lol.

Matt-working, playing with Tanner while I'm at work, making pancakes, and looking for a job

Tanner- school, playing with friends, skating on the ice on the sidewalks and edge of the roads, throwing snowballs at Mommy, having 2 baths in one day, playing with his Cars and toys, getting himself dressed, watching the sword in the stone, practicing printing and printing his letters, doing puzzles, climbing on the couch, getting a treat at Subway with his piggy bank money, learning to push the pedals on his bike all by himself, and eating like it was going out of style.

That's our short update for this week.

Not so bouncy

I know I am a little behind and I've gotten a little bit of grief for this....sorry. I will try to stay on top of it. Tanner's surgery, overall, went well. He is such a trooper. When my sister, Megan, came to see him he asked "is Uncle Dean coming in 5 minutes?". He wasn't able to come but he sent Tanner a hug. Then as Amy, Megan and Grandma were leaving, he said "I don't want you to go, I want you to stay". It was so sweet. The next day he informed me that he didn't want to go home to Raymond, he wanted to stay with Grandma and Amy. So though he is a trooper, he has not completely recovered yet. He is not bouncing back like he usually does after surgery. That little spark in his eyes is not there. He just wants to lay around and watch movies. I have to tell him that if he doesn't drink and eat, I'll have to take him back to the hospital. He just isn't himself in any capacity. He has an appointment with the doctor tomorrow afternoon. I suspect he has a bad case of a cold, but even when he has a cold, he is perkier than this. So hopefully, he hasn't got an infection. That would not be the first time though. After he had his head surgery he got a very bad bacterial infection that landed him in the hospital for 5 extra days after the fact that we had been discharged 24 hours earlier. Anyway, that's Tanner for now.
As my sister was telling us a story about how when she took the boy she nannies to skating practice and how all the other mom's were outfitted in the suburban type outfits...you know the ones. The ones that wear lululemon outfits just to take their kids to practice, the ones that are ALWAYS perfectly put together, always have their hair and make up just right, the ones that have their Blackberries with them at all times. You know the "type" that I'm talking about. Anyways, it got me to thinking, why does it matter so much if you are perfectly put together or not. First, let me say, if you like that kind of thing, fine. But for me, that is one of the reasons I love where I live. People go to the grocery store in their P.J.s and slippers (don't laugh, I've seen it before) and nobody even bats an eyelash. It's like it is a normal thing to do. And I say, good for them. I don't believe you have to be perfectly put together to go out somewhere. I know that when you dress nice, you generally feel better but do people honestly feel like they WANT to dress their best every single day. Don't people ever just want to put whatever they want on and just go? Why doesn't it seem acceptable to just throw on a pair of sweats or comfy pants and your favorite t-shirt and go out? If you do this kind of thing in the big city, you get looked at like you have some sort of contagious disease. And what is it about dressing nice that makes a person feel good? Clothes is clothes isn't it? When I wear nice clothes, it's usually a little more restrictive than clothes you would hang out at home in and it makes me want to get out of them faster. Sure, I feel good and look nice, but I want to go home and get in my p.j's or sweats and just be comfortable. Why does comfort come at such prices?
On another note, I won a photo contest on Facebook. It's a picture of Tanner peeking out of the dryer. It's really cute. I was happy that my picture got picked. I really don't like posting pictures on here, so if you're not already a Facebook friend, you'll have to check it out on our family website.
A friend at work lent me "the office" season 1. Matt and I watched it and it is so hilarious. We don't have cable (most of you know that already) so we watch movies and the few shows that my sister tapes for us later. It has really cut the cost of living down. We haven't had T.V. since we moved here, so about 13 months. We don't really miss it to be honest. It has really helped us accomplish things that we would otherwise get distracted from with T.V.
Today, I was able to accomplish a lot. I got all my laundry done and folded, bathroom cleaned, kitchen swept and mopped, emptied my deep freeze so that I can clean it out from the ice that's been building up in it, vacuumed, and went through my cooking magazines and got rid of the ones that I knew I wasn't going to look at again and tidied up Tanner's room. I also bathed Tanner for the first time in a week (that was one of the instructions when leaving... is I couldn't bathe him for 3 days and when I could, it had to be 5 minute baths in only about 2 inches deep of water). It feels really great to be able to accomplish so much. Oh! I also cleaned out our 'junk' drawer. Now, I need to put the dishes away and wash the ones that are dirty.
I am reading this amazing book right now. It's called "Simplify". It is such a good book. An easy read and really enlightening. It's a church book so that makes it even better. One of my goals this year is to read one book a month. I picked an easier one this month. Next month, it's a bit of a challenge. I got about 5 or 6 books for Christmas last year (2006) and I haven't had a chance to read them all. I have an Aunt that is an avid book reader and so I really want to be able to do that.
While I was in Calgary, I actually missed working a little bit. I missed seeing the girls I work with and having that bit of routine at night.
So that's my life for the last week. It's been a nice break in one way, but I'm glad to be back into the swing of my life here at home.