So Thankful

How much do I love Matt????

SO very much!

Today after I semi-complained that it's really hard for me to come home on Tuesday and Wednesday's after work and try to run the house when he could do most of it during the day while he's home, what did he do??? He shoveled the walk, made a deliciously yummy chili for lunch, washed the kitchen floor, cleaned up the living room and tided up.

I am so thankful for Matt. He is really and truly my soul mate and he is always there for me.

When he's sick (he has a bit of a chronic cough and it acts up sometimes...that's his "sick") he sleeps on the couch so that he doesn't keep me up all night with his cough

He makes lunch for Tanner and I pretty much every day of the week

He is seriously THE BEST Dad EVER!!! He plays with Tanner and takes him to school in the morning when I've gone to work. He takes Tanner to appointments when I can't. He meets Tanner after school at his classroom to see how his day was and say goodnight (Matt works until 11pm at the school). He is the best story teller ( I do not have the talent in the least). He goes to Tanner's student led conference. He builds Lego with Tanner. He rubs his Tanner's leg's when they're sore/hurting from growing...apparently I don't do it right/like Daddy.

Matt teaches me to slow down and not rush so much.

He cleans the bathroom like nobody I've ever seen. He cleans it even better than me sometimes(it takes him 30-45 minutes but he does it).

He takes care of Tanner and I when we're sick. He gets us drinks and soup and switches DVD's so we can stay in our warm bed.

He gets up with Tanner in the night if Tanner has a bad dream or needs a drink (I had my night's when he was a baby and Matt slept right through crying and acid reflux vomiting etc.) I do get up with him if Matt doesn't, but Matt usually jumps out of bed before I wake up.

He buys me treats from the gas station. I'm not really a big flower person...I'm more of a chocolate or slurpee treat kind of person.

He always is happy to go to the Temple together

He did a really good job at surprising me on our date last month. He did a great job and we had a lot of fun

I don't know who else would/could be so patient with my antics/craziness...lol. He's really very, very patient

He never judges me

He says I'm perfect and that he loves me for all that I am...craziness and all.

I am really thankful for Matt.

what impresses me

What really impresses me is people that don't know me personally or intimately, who remember Tanner's name and refer to him by name on my blog. Thanks Megan!

Lots has been going on lately. Getting back into the swing of the routine is going fairly smoothly. I still strongly dislike lunch hour...or rather 45 minutes. Tanner was in tears today because even though we always have his lunch ready before he even gets there, he wanted to talk and visit and he couldn't because he was rushed to eat. 45 minutes is just not enough time to pick up a child or children and get them home and fed and not feel totally rushed the whole time. Anyways, that's just my 2 cents on the subject.

The longer I'm married to Matt the more I realize how great of a husband I have. I use to wish I had a stronger minded husband but we totally compliment each other. Recently I had to do a personality test and there were 4 personalities; Lion, Otter, Golden Retriever, and Beaver. Guess what I came out as??? I am not going to tell you in this post but just guess. I'll tell you in the next post. Needless to say, my personality and Matt's totally compliment each other and it makes me really grateful for a loving Father that knew I might have a hard time with a strong minded husband. He's so laid back and gentle and meek and just goes with the flow. I wish I was more that way but that's what makes us so great together.

I have stayed up all this week until he gets home at 11pm just to talk and visit because otherwise, we don't get a lot of time together.

We have already planned 2 monthly Temple trips for next year. That is our goal together. I'm really excited.

It just feels so great to be in a good place in almost every sense of the word right now. Don't get me wrong, we do have weaknesses and we aren't perfect but where it really counts, where it really truly matters, we're in a fairly good place.

We heard the other day on the radio about how money can make a person happy. Is that true?? Then Matt heard the next day that a certain amount of money can make a person happy. The amount? $750,000. He heard that with that amount of money most people could buy their happiness. After that amount, money becomes a problem and a burden. I thought that was pretty interesting. I'm not sure I agree or disagree with the whole "money can buy you happiness. Or a certain amount can". If it ever happens to me, I'll let you know but I'm sure I'm happy because I choose to be not because money can buy me my happiness.

My happiness is not materialistic or co-dependant. I am happy because I want to be. I am happy because I have what really matters in life: Love, Family, Friendship, the Gospel, and a body to help me learn what I need to in this life. My happiness doesn't depend on if I live in a real house or have a nice car or make tons of money or have the latest fashion or the latest gadgets. It doesn't depend on if I have all the friends in the world. You can have all the friends in the world and still feel alone. I know where my happiness comes from and that's what matters to me.

On that note, have a great day everyone!

Did you Know???

That we're going to Salt Lake in less than 48 hours! That's right my friends...Sun, great company, first family vacation, no boiled water, no work, stress free. Ahhhh...I'm am about as giddy as a kid on Christmas Eve! I can't wait. We have waited and planned for this trip for about 3 years now. Every time we plan on going, Matt is in a seasonal job, or we don't have money. But now, we can go.

I'm also really excited to see my sister and brother in law for dinner tomorrow night. Those crazy kids are doing the Swam the Dam triathlon and they've been training for months. Not like me who's been training for only a month for my swimming event. They are amazing! I love when my family comes and I especially enjoy when Megan comes because we're pretty close.

Tanner is doing a bit better. He's eaten a bit more today. I'm going to try some bananas to replenish his potassium loss from the runs he's had. Also Pedialite as well. He doesn't really enjoy that very much, but he might drink it thinking it's juice. Cross my fingers.

Also, in case some of you haven't heard, Matt got the job at the school permanently full time and is on contract! He had it temporarily until the end of summer but they just hired him permanently. So that's also really great news. We are so happy and excited to be able to realistically look forward to saving for a house in the near future. Although the place we rent is perfect for us right now, our goal has always been to work towards home ownership. So that's kind of exciting for us.

Things are good right now. I won't have access to Internet in Salt Lake so you'll all have to wait until the 26 at the earliest for pictures and details of our most amazing, FIRST family vacation. Since I'll be kind of busy with last minute packing and mowing and cleaning, I will do my 5 for Friday today.

5 Blogs I LOVE right now:

Busy Bee Lauren: I adore this blog and I am so lucky that Kristi introduced me to this blog. She is totally *awesomespice*

Nine Peas in a Pod: I love that she is so open and honest and she is so funny.

Kinsey Holt Photography: Her pictures are so cute and fun and I just think she's an amazing photographer.

Rebecca Cooper: What's not to love about this blog. This girl is phenomenal. She is truly an amazing person and I love to read her blog

Tiffany: She is super witty and just says it like it is. Love that!

and as a bouns

Jody: she is my new "blogger" friend and she has a really witty sense of humor as well and her JAW are the best!



Have a great day!

In a lull

My life is in a bit of a lull right now. Things are going fairly well and smoothly. Same old stuff. Matt and I went out to the Firestone Grill last week. It was really yummy. I had this pomegranate chicken on a bed of leeks and pomegranate sauce with goat cheese on the top...it was super yummy. Matt had the rib roast (insert eye roll...such a man). Matt's Mom sent us money for our anniversary and so we decided to go out for dinner with it. I would recommend it to anyone wanting to try something new. I'm a bit of an adventurous eater. I like to try new things and I am not afraid to try anything at least once. There are some things that I've eaten that I wouldn't choose to eat again, but I do like to try new things. Tanner is a little bit the same way. He'll try most things for at least one bite but if he doesn't like it, then that's it. Matt is a mediocre eater. He eats most things but he doesn't like to eat vegetables if there's something better like meat or potatoes. He's not super picky but he's the kind of person that has to be in the mood for certain foods on a particular day. I could eat rice or spaghetti any time, every day for all meals (same with Tanner) but Matt has to be in the mood to eat that. Otherwise he doesn't like to eat it.

Anyways, enough about food.

We are going to the Temple this week. We will be eating in the cafeteria afterwards...mmmmm...soooo yummy. The food in the Temple is like food from Heaven.

Tanner is getting ready for his skating carnival in a few weeks. He's done so well in skating. He was also officially published today. The local paper had a picture of him and a friend riding on GT's behind a quad on Saturday at the fun Elders party. It's a picture of him from the distance but we know it's him because of his coat. It's kind of exciting.

Matt is such a homemaker. He made his first loaf of homemade bread this week. It was much better than any bread I've ever made. Tanner had a bad habit of burrowing the bread when it's warm and it wrecks the bread so we have to be careful not to leave it out on the counter without maximum supervision. He burrowed in one of Matt's loaves and so we told him he couldn't have the "good" bread until he ate the hole-y bread that he made. He was totally fine with that. He continues to bring us much joy and laughter every day.

Well, I guess that's it for now. Life is just chugging along, which is fine by me ; )

The best sleep ever

On Monday night I had the most glorious sleep in all the world. I had been telling Susanne about how I can not sleep for the life of me. My brain does not stop...EVER! I write in a journal, I tell what I think and feel to Matt and my friends but I can not get my brain to just...for lack of a better word...shut up! So she suggested taking Melatonin. I tired it last week, but nothing happened so I upped the amount I took on Monday (I only took 2...I'm not a pill popper, don't worry), and I had the best night ever. I was truly rested in the morning and I felt wonderful and energized. Today, it's another story. I could not sleep at all last night. I have a small head cold and it's affecting my sleep. So, hopefully I'll get over it soon and I'll be able to get into a sleep pattern.

We were in Calgary for the weekend. Tanner had a speech appointment and we decided that we were going to do something fun for our 10 year anniversary (which isn't until the 28th). We normally don't do anything for each other on special days because we always get a yearly gift. But since it is 10 years, we thought it would be nice to do something for fun. We went to the Cheesecake Cafe for dessert and then the next day we took Tanner to the movie 'The Tooth Fairy'. We wanted to see Avatar, but it's still wildly popular and it tends to be sold out still. So we'll see it another time.

It's so crazy to me to think about the fact that Matt and I have been married 10 years! It does not seem that long ago we were getting ready to be married. Time flies by so quickly. It has been such a wonderful journey and I look forward to many more years and challenges that will build our relationship and friendship. I really am so lucky to have such a loving, caring, patient, sensitive husband. I just really love him.

I am really slow going on my scripture study. I am 4 chapters away from Deuteronomy. I am really enjoying the Old Testament but there is so much to learn from it. I feel like I'm only scratching the surface. When I read it again, I'm sure I'll learn lots of new things that I missed this time.

Things are going good and we are enjoying our time together.

My favorites

I re-read the November (General Conference issue) Ensign and found some really great quotes. I will share a few of them with you because there are many and over time, I will eventually share more.

Richard G. Scott: Our Father expects you to learn how to obtain that divine help by exercising faith in Him and His Holy Son Jesus Christ.

Dieter F. Uchtdorf: When we truly understand what it means to love as Jesus Christ loves us, the confusion clears and our priorities align

Dallin H. Oaks: This sobering teaching (Luke 12:51-53) teaches us that when family members are not united in striving to keep the commandments of God, there will be divisions...the straying of our loved ones will detract from our happiness, but it should not detract from our love for one another or our patient efforts to be united in understanding God's love and God's laws.

Robert D. Hales: When we do not do what is right or when our outlook is dominated by skepticism, cynicism, criticism, and irreverence toward other and their beliefs, the Spirit cannot be with us.

Kent D. Watson: Security for our families comes from learning self-control, avoiding the excesses of this world, and being temperate in all things. Peace of mind comes from strengthened faith in Jesus Christ. Happiness come from being diligent in keeping covenants made at baptism and in the holy temples of the Lord.
And finally for today...

Boyd K. Packer: No matter who you are or what you may have done, you can always pray. The Prophet Joseph Smith promised that " all beings who have bodies have power over those who have not"

I was inspired by one of the sisters I teach to go back and really ponder the words of the recent Ensign. I always have the intention to do that but I have not been successful at accomplishing it. So during Christmas break, I did it.

We had a wonderful Christmas. We went to surprise my Mom on Christmas eve day. She was surprised! We had a lovely time. Tanner is very spoiled by my family. Although this year, it was very mild compared to some other years. I think because now Emerson is part of our family (my nephew) they spoil him much more because he's little. Tanner really liked the blanket Santa made him. Santa came to him twice. Once on Christmas Eve Morning (before we left) and then on Christmas day at my Mom's. I was really worried that mine and Matt's gift we got him would be boring compared to some of the other stuff he got but he was the most excited about it when he opened it. We got him the second season of the Transformers cartoon. He opened it up and screamed and jumped up and down for about 5 minutes and when we tried to get him to open another gift, he wouldn't. So that was nice.

Matt had a double Christmas. He got 2 wallets, and 2 attache cases/brief cases.

I got 3 kangaroo jackets (I believe they're just called hoodies now), some really good sheets (400 and 600 thread count...Soooo luxurious) and we got the Wii! We have some really fun games and we love to play together as a family so it's awesome. I use to be very much against any kind of game system. I always thought it was such a waste of time but now, I'm glad we got one because we have a lot of fun together (okay Super Mario Brothers isn't that fun when Tanner plays, but we suck it up...after all, it's just a game).

Maybe this means that one day we'll have a pet...lol. NEVER!!! I like animals but I strongly, strongly detest pets. It's like having a 2 year old for the rest of your life...no thank you. Anyways, it was a really nice Christmas.

I am really glad Tanner is back in school. He was not very good during the holidays and for a week before Christmas we took all his presents away and told him that if he couldn't be good then he couldn't have his presents. He ended up being good but then on the weekend, he started misbehaving again. The Wii can be a good bargaining chip, but it doesn't solve the problem. It ends up that we send him to his room to think about what he's done and when he's ready to come out and try to be good, then he can come out. It's been working pretty good. I think it has helped him to understand the consequences of not making good choices. He was soooo cute yesterday at skating. His coach told him and another boy that she wanted them (the 2 boys) to be able to learn to skate fast and Tanner said "I can do it. I can skate fast because I'm good". Matt and I had to chuckle. We're always telling him what a good job he does at skating (among other things as well) so I think that's where it came from. We're reading the first Magic Tree house book right now. It's a really easy book and the words are not difficult for Tanner. We really try to foster and encourage his reading. He is such a good reader. His teachers are always amazed at how well he reads. They say he reads at about a grade 2 level...which is great, but we're not totally confident that he understand stories at that level. I guess that will come with time.

Matt is still looking for a job. He worked for a short bit for a friend of his. This is going on I believe the 3rd month of not having a job. It is a very difficult market out there. I may have to look for full time work and have him stay at home with Tanner. I'm not sure I can get a great paying job, but even a consistent income would help out.

Well, I think that's about it for now. Have a wonderful day!

All I want for Christmas

I was thinking about gifts...mostly because I'm pretty much done my shopping...and I thought, not for selfish reasons, I would put mine up here. I am a huge list person and I love to shop from lists. My friend has a "favorite" etsy list and I think that is such a good idea. So the things I enjoy or like are:

1. Bath and Body works soap-gentle foaming or moisturizing NOT the deep cleaning kind. Betcha some of you didn't know there was a difference...lol

2. Brown/tan brads for my card making

3. Zip up Hoodie in any color

4. One of those winter hats that covers the ears and has the tie dangling down.

5. Movie passes

6. Any Church movie (I really enjoyed Forever Strong)

7. High School Musical #1, the Re-Mix

8. Taco chips and cheese sauce (for nachos and cheese) it's a weakness

9. Mini Wheats (brown sugar) because I am slightly addicted...lol

That's about all I can think of.

I'm really looking forward to doing our first Christmas together as a family here at home. I have list of 24 different activities to do during the month of December. some of them I used from Megan's blog from last year.

Some of them include: A Jerusalem dinner, go for a drive and look at the lights, go to the old fashioned Christmas downtown, go to the ward party, have a $5 dinner, watch Christmas movies after making a Christmas treat, sleep under the tree (or really close to it) as well as some other things.

Some of them have to be placed in certain places (ie the ward dinner or the old fashioned Christmas) but I'm going to have to make up some sort of calendar to put them all in. Sadly, I do not have an advent calendar.


(The Advent Calendar I made)

My sister made one for the little boy she nannies last year and I asked her if she would make one for Tanner this year. She didn't make one for his birthday so maybe for his Christmas gift she made him one...who knows...one can hope. If not, I am going to make a permanent one in the new year. I'll have to make a temporary one this year.

I've been SOOOO crazy busy making Christmas cards to sell. Matt asked me today if I was done and I replied "I hope so". So that's why I haven't gotten around to making an advent calendar. I would love any ideas or if any of you have one, could you let me know how to make it.

It doesn't really feel like Christmas because there is no snow yet. Matt said he heard on Friday we're suppose to have snow. I love the snow, but I'm enjoying the snowless weather right now.

So in other news...Tanner had his 6th birthday! I invited 9...yes NINE children over to our little house. We were so very lucky and had great weather. Matt and I took them over to the park and played there and Matt started a game of 'what time is it mister wolf'. Everyone seemed to have fun. He got too many gifts. He got a beautiful Nativity from my Aunt. He really loves my Mom's nativity from when we were kids so it's nice for him to have his own. It's an adult type one. Porcelain and a really fancy, moss covered stable. Matt and I don't even have a stable for our nativity. He got 7 new backugans, 3 new transformers, some monster tonka trucks, sugar cereal (he LOVES, by the way) and some bionicles and dress up clothes. He got more than that (I KNOW!!!!! SERIOUSLY!?!? totally ridiculous the amount he got) but that was the main part of what he got.
My sister Melany got him this pressure nerf ball gun...it is soooo much fun. Matt and I use it A LOT! I told her I would like another one so Matt and I can have gun fights. It's just a gun that shoots balls. I know, I'm such a bad parent...encouraging gun fighting...lol. It is so like Melany to get something like that. I can't wait to see what she gets him for Christmas. I didn't do a fancy cake this year (making cards, remember) so I bought these Wall-E cake decorations. Tanner loved them. For his friends party, I did a caterpillar cake. Sharon lent me her jumbo cupcake pans and I made one for each child and they got to decorate the cupcake and take it home for their treat. They all had fun with that. Well, that's probably more than what everyone cared to know about his birthday, but we had a good time...even though he fighting a cold AGAIN!



















Matt is still looking for a permanent job. The Fed-Ex thing...well, we haven't heard back from them at all. So we're back at square one. He has some odd jobs that he's working on, but nothing to bring in the income we need for our bills. He counted the number of places he's applied to right now and he told me it's 27 places. And that's just in the last week. So hopefully something will come of it. I'm not too stressed this time round. We've been through this before and the main thing I learned is that I can't force someone to hire Matt so there's no point in stressing too much about it. Obviously, I'm a little concerned, but we're praying and Matt is doing the best he can. We know that we're doing all we possibly can to put figure out what to do. But that's enough of that.

We just got our new ensign today so I'm excited to read that today. I love the ensign and it really makes me feel so grateful and appreciative of what I have. It really helps re-set my priorities every month or re-affirms that what I'm doing is what I should be doing. Tanner uses the 'Friend' to do Family Home Evening lessons. He will usually read the picture stories (the ones that have pictures for words) or read the 'Matt and Mandy' story. He would teach FHE every week if we let him, but I have to put him into the rotation in the new year. I would like to make a FHE chart because right now I just have it on our calendar who's doing what.

Well, sorry for the LONG winded entry. I had a lot that I was thinking about and wanted to share. I hope everyone is enjoying their day and has a great week!

A great day

Yesterday was a great day! Do you ever have those perfect days where everything just go great and there's nothing, at the end of the day, that you can think of that you didn't like? I love those days. Even Tanner was so good and obedient. A funny story about him...okay more like a conversation:

Matt: You did great today at skating buddy!

Tanner: Yeah! (this is a VERY typical response. He doesn't really say thank you unless you prompt him to)

M: pretty soon you'll be skating better than me.

T: Yeah...pause....and swimming too





Matt got pretty good at swimming this summer, but Tanner is better than him. We all had a good laugh about that.

Matt is home now as the season ended on Monday. I told him it was nice to have him home and he said "we'll see if you think that in 4 days". It can drive me batty to have him home but recently, I actually really enjoy it.

I was looking at where I was in my scripture reading this morning...I am WAY behind. I really wanted to read the Book of Mormon and the Old Testament this year but I am only in Numbers 21 and in 2 Nephi 18. I guess I feel like I've been able to get more out of my studies than just reading it and not really pondering it and thinking about what I'm reading. When I finish, the next time I read them I'm going to keep a scripture journal and write any thoughts or questions I have on them. I try to do something new each time when I read the scriptures. I'm just reading about Moses and when his brother Aaron died. I just love learning about the things in the Old Testament. I never really fully appreciated learning about them when I was a teenager. I think as we grow, we learn to appreciate them a lot more because we can apply them in our lives more easily. We have more life experience and have experienced more trials.

We had a great Stake Conference this last weekend. I was able to go to the Adult session and Matt went to the Sunday session. Tanner had been sick all week and I am a little paranoid of him getting the H1N1 so I kept him home. If I could, I would keep him home this week too...but we can't all live in a bubble. Anyways, Matt and I took turns going. The theme was "Lord, I would follow Thee". We had a great talk on how we need to ultimately rely heavily on the Lord because he is the one constant in our lives. It was a really good talk. I wish they would publish the conferences in a newsletter so we could re-read them. You can only write notes so fast and you usually miss stuff.

Well, I think that's it for now. Tanner and I made Pumpkin Chocolate Chip cookies. I'll put the recipe up later. They are most excellent.

Equally yoked

Yesterday as I was making a special Halloween treat for Tanner I tipped over the bread machine container, which was filled with water, and it spilt all over the counter. My first thought was "if Matt had done the dishes (because it was his turn to do them), this wouldn't have happened". Then I remembered something I heard from someone about how it is the woman's job/responsibility to look after the house because the men go out to work. This doesn't sit well with me because I think that to be equally yoked, as we are told to be, means, at least to me, that everyone shares in all responsibilities. I do most of the cooking, for example, but Matt does know how to cook and likes to cook when he has the chance to. But I would never expect Matt to do certain things because I did other specific jobs (I hope that makes sense). I know Matt works full time outside of the home but I don't think that's a reason to come home and not help out with dishes or parenting (and I am in NO WAY saying that Matt does that, this is just an example) or cleaning up. I think it's stereotyping when a man is expected to only do certain things and a woman is expected to do only certain things.

I did end up cleaning the mess and did the dishes (which I don't mind doing most of the time) but it was just something I thought about as I was making these treats for Tanner and wondered what it means to everybody else to be equally yoked with your spouse.

Music and lyrics

Yesterday at choir practice, our choir director shared an article from the Mormon Times about music from someone who is very well know in the church music industry (forgive me, but the name has slipped my mind at the moment). He talked about how Satan uses some of the most gifted, talented people in the world to influence people and about how we should not tell our kids that what they are listening to is junk because it could be the most amazing piece of music but it's not about the music, it's about the lyrics. There was more to the article but she only read part of it. I agree with that. You can have a super talented artist sing a song but unless the words of that song are inspiring and/or uplifting, then it's not a good song lyrically. I notice that a lot in music. It's just another way the adversary influences us and our children and friends. Next time you're listening to a song that you like, listen to the lyrics and see if they are positive or negative, suggestive words. It's amazing to realize just how lyrically bad songs are these days. That's why I try to play it safe and listen to church music only, unless I'm alone. I don't want Tanner to be influenced by all the bad, suggestive words in songs these days. Even when I'm listening to songs that I listened to when I was a teenager is risky. At the time, I thought nothing of it but now I am a lot more aware of the words in them and what the message they are trying to tell. I do listen to radio and other music, but if there's a bad word or suggestiveness in it, I turn it off. It's not worth it to me. I want to be able to invite the spirit into my life and have it with me all the time and if I listen to some of the songs that are out there, I know I won't have it with me.

In other news...Matt passed his gun class he had to take to get a gun licence!!! Now that he has that, he can apply at Brinks to be an armored guard...and hunt! We're getting low on deer meat and I'm trying to use it sparingly because I LOVE deer meat. It is so good. I'd like to try other kinds of wild life meat like elk or moose. Matt just has to get a tag to be able to shoot those and then we can stock up so we don't have to buy yucky hamburger. I am not a big fan of hamburger.

Tanner is enjoying Kindergarten, still. He's had a few of his friends over to play last week. I was busy making salsa, and applesauce with Susanne. If any of you have beets that you need to get rid of (or you have too many and can't use them all) please let me know. My beets didn't quite turn out so I would like to do some more. I love beets so as much as you're willing to share, I'll take.

This year I canned Pears, Peaches, Beets, Applesauce, Salsa, Peach jam and in October I will do my Raspberry jam. I have LOTS and LOTS of raspberries so I am making lots and lots of jam (Erica, you can for sure expect to get some). I love canning. I wish I could can more but we couldn't afford too much this year. I did do more than last year, which was great. Next year, I plan on doing more than I did this year. Pretty soon, I'll be canning 2-3 times a week for the whole summer.

Well, that's about all to share for now. I hope everyone has a great week.

This one's for you Lahni

The article that refers to what I'm talking about is here:


Although it doesn't specifically say "no Lingerie", it does say that we should not find reason to remove them and to me it is finding reason to remove them to put something immodest on (weather it be in your own home or not, it is still immodest) when we take them off to put on lingerie.
This is clearly my opinion and I'm not trying to say anyone is right or wrong. But I DO feel like (and again, this is MY FEELINGS and opinion) it is defiling the garments when anyone takes them off for lingerie. Of course you have to take them off for swimming. I don't wear mine when I swim. I don't know anyone that does. Anyway, the article is worth the read and everyone will read it differently and that's okay. But that's what I based my opinion and feelings on. So take it for what it is. I'm not here to say I'm right and everyone else is wrong. I'm also not blogging about this to start a huge debate on something that is personal to each individual. I'm just making myself clear on where I'm coming from.

On another note...Tanner and Matt had a great time at the father/son camp. They left really early on Friday and left me all alone...lol. I ended up going swimming with my best friend and her sister and their children. It was a blast! Then on Saturday, I went to Sharon's to hold her baby. Oh so little and cute. I never really understood the phrase "I could eat him up" until I became a parent. But it's true. We had a great Sabbath. We had a wonderful dinner at the Burton's and then came home and hung out and watched Joseph, prince of dreams. We only allow Tanner and ourselves to watch church movies on Sunday. So we have a few of them. I'd like to get more adult ones. We have a bunch of the living scripture ones. I'd love to get the "Liken" series. They look amazing and I think Tanner would really enjoy them. WE are kind of strict on Sunday's about our activities (if you can call them that). We never have big meals or play outside. We are together as a family and read, or play church games (we have a couple of them) or watch a movie or nap or visit people. I know, we're so boring, but I believe that it's part of keeping the Sabbath Day holy.

My MIL is coming this week and we are looking forward to that. There's also the Primary annual swim party. It is always fun except this year we only get the pool for one hour instead of the two that we normally have because of how much the pool costs. It should be fun, none the less.

I can't believe that July is almost over! Where does the time go. We ended up getting a family swim pass so we can go as often as we want. It is perfect in the hot weather we are having lately. I love getting into the cool water and just relaxing.

Anyway, that's about it for now. I hope everyone is having a great day.

What a difference

A year really makes a difference. As I dropped Tanner off in Calgary yesterday, I was thinking about where I was last year at the same time and let's just say it was not in a good place. Matt was jobless and I was suffering from some serious depression because of where our lives were. My Mom took Tanner for a few days so I could have a break from life and it was very much needed. And now this year, Matt's working and our relationship is good...he's such a good, hard worker and he really wants the best for his family. He really tries hard at everything he does and very rarely complains. I know he really hates something when he says even one thing negative about it. It makes me realize that I complain way more than I think I do. He never has anything bad to say about anything and when I start complaining or whining about certain things, he just lets me vent and then says something like, well, who cares...you're a good person and you're just trying your best. I love that man!
I feel like such a retard lately because I took Tanner to Doctor last week to get a referral for and ENT specialist and it was a resident that came and looked at him initially. When he was done I asked if the Doctor was coming in and he said that only if I wanted him to but that he (the resident) was a doctor. My response was "oh, good". OH GOOD!!!!! What in the world! I was just caught off guard because normally when a resident looks at him when were anywhere else (the ACH or his pediatrician in Calgary) the normal doctor comes in and looks at him as well.

THEN...as if that wasn't bad enough, I had a pap (I know TMI) today and just before he (the same resident who saw Tanner last week) left the room, he told me the gown and cover up were under the pillow and to put them on. I was a little confused because normally unless you're having a full physical (which I wasn't) you just undress from the bottom down. So I did just that and then when the nurse came in I said "I don't need to take my top off do I?" She said no just as the resident came in. Holy embarrassing! I was just confused because when he said to put the gown on, I thought "why do I need the gown on...maybe he thinks it's a full physical". I think I will be on my death bed before I go back to the doctor again. It was far too embarrassing. Hopefully I'll have an exceptionally healthy year and not have to go back for Tanner or I for a year.

So next week I have major company. My Mom, older sister, Amy, my Aunt Carolyn, my younger sister, Megan, and her son Emerson, and my Aunt and Uncle from Utah are all coming to my place for the Raymond Parade! Plus, my Mom and her 2 sisters are having their parents sealed to each other and then being sealed with their brother (who previously passed away) to their parents. It will be a wonderful thing. I'm really excited. I don't know why but I think about how sad it has been that they were not sealed together as a family until now. It makes me feel even more grateful that I am sealed to my family forever. Well, needless to say, I have some major cleaning to do. My sister, Amy, HATES HATES dusty things so I have to dust. I have to say, I'm not a big duster. Thankfully, I don't have a huge house to dust millions of little areas. Then on Monday, Matt and I will clean for our own FHE activity. The lawn will be needing to be mowed, but that takes us about 1 hour tops if we both do it. If he does the back and I do the front, it's easy. I am going to clean as I go in the next couple days and just do a final cleaning on Monday. I know, what a boring life I lead...lol. Well, I should get going. I have scripture study to catch up on.

Have a great day!

OH! everyone should check out my sister's website. It's so fun! Just click on "Megan Doll" on the side bar. You won't be sorry.

Baby it's warm in here

I think I'm getting baby fever. There have been a number of babies born to women around me or announcing of babies coming. I'm itchy. Itchy all over. Itchy for a baby...let's hope it happens soon.

On another note, we have to get new tires put on our car tomorrow. We got a flat tire this weekend coming home from Calgary and it was repaired but it didn't last so we are getting new tires. Such is life.

Matt got a aerating job. Hopefully he'll get some good business this summer from people. Especially if we are going to have a baby

This month is so busy! I can't believe that it's almost half over. Time is so precious. There's none to waste.

Well, I'm off to find some books for T-Dog (Tanner's new nickname...apparently). I'm not sure I like it but Matt does so whatever. At least it's not the horrid nickname my sister's friends use to call her in jr.high.

I am so super excited about the Grey's finale this week.

More later.

random musings

Tonight Matt and I are going on a date with my best friend and her husband. We are going to see the movie about wolverine. I am not a huge x-man/wolverine fan. In fact, they kind of bore me but I really need to go on a date with Matt and I love spending time with my best friend so I am going to go. Who knows, maybe I'll enjoy the movie...lol. It does have Hugh Jackman and he's pleasant on the eyes. I'm excited to go. Matt and I haven't been to a movie since...well let's just say I can't remember the last time we've gone together with each other. I think maybe it was Christmas...I can't remember. Matt got 7 movie passes for his birthday and he's sharing one with me so we can go out together. I sure do love him. I have to admit that I'm a tad bit selfish when it comes to gifts. If I got a movie pass, I would have a hard (although it wouldn't be impossible) time sharing it with Matt. It would be worth the sacrifice though.

Last night I learned to crochet and today, I have a migraine. It's very muscle intensive to do that. I get all tense and then the next day, I pay. I have to learn to relax a bit more. I am making a blanket. A baby blanket...no not for me. I don't know who, but it's blue. So clearly for a boy.

I have some quotes out of the book that I just finished reading that I thought were good and I would like to share.

Bruce C. Hafen: When troubles come, the parties of a contractual marriage seek happiness by walking away. They marry to obtain benefits and will stay only as long as they are receiving what they bargained for. But when troubles come to a covenant marriage, the husband and wife work them through. They marry to give and to grow, bound by covenants to each other, to the community, and to God. Contract companions give 50 percent; covenant companions give 100 percent. Marriage is by nature a covenant, not just a private contract one may cancel at will. Jesus taught about contractual attitudes when he described the "hireling," who preforms his conditional promise of care only when he receives something in return. When the hireling "seeth the wolf coming," he "leaveth the sheep, and fleeth...because he...careth not for the sheep." By contrast, the Savior said, "I am the good shepherd,...and I lay down my life for the sheep" (John 10:12-15). Many people today marry as hirelings. And when the wolf comes, they flee. This idea is wrong. It curses the earth, turning parents' hearts away from their children and from each other (D&C 2)

Bruce R. McConkie: From the moment of birth into mortality to the time we are married in the temple, everything we have in the whole gospel system is to prepare and qualify us to enter that holy order of matrimony which makes us husband and wife in this life and in the world to come.
Then from the moment we are sealed together by the power and authority of the holy priesthood-the power to bind on earth and have it sealed eternally in the heavens-from that moment everything connected with revealed religion is designed to help us keep the terms and conditions of our marriage covenant, so that this covenant will have efficacy, virtue and force in the life to come. Thus celestial marriage is the crowning ordinance of the gospel, the crowning ordinance of the house of the Lord. Thus the family unit is the most important organization in time or in eternity

Those quotes just really stuck out to me. In a world where the family is being torn down all around us, I just feel so strongly about keeping our families from being destroyed by the adversary. We have to have strong foundations in our marriages to have a strong family so I felt the 2 quotes were kind of connected in a way.

On another note, my Mom bought us a clothes line. One of those umbrella ones. I'm so excited to have it. I only have one line across my backyard so I'm limited in the amount of clothes I can put on it. With air drying all our clothes (except towels and underclothing) we have quite a bit of clothes. I usually have 3 loads of clothes to do in addition to the towels/sheets and underclothes. It will be great to have more line to dry clothes. I love doing laundry. I love seeing the clothes blowing in the breeze. I'm kind of a nerd...I know. It is just so satisfying to me to do laundry. I love sorting the clothes and organizing them in the washer so I can fit them all in so one side isn't heavier than the other. I've never dreaded doing laundry. I'm weird, it's okay. I dread other things like cleaning my room, or sweeping. I don't like sweeping. I like mopping, but not sweeping.

We are going to Calgary for the May long weekend and I'm excited. It's the first time since Christmas that Matt will be able to come with us. He is now working at the county of Warner and so he has Fridays off so we'll enjoy a bit of a longer holiday. Seeing as we don't go many places together, it will be a nice treat for us to be together as a family. He won't get 2 weeks vacation since this is just a seasonal job so any extra long weekend together will be awesome. He's been off this week and in the past I would normally dread when he's home for long periods of time, but I've actually quite enjoyed it this time. I usually dread it because it kind of wrecks mine and Tanner's routine. But this time, he has been really helpful and even trimmed the lawn and he's getting Tanner new bike tires today. So it's been great. I guess I feel like I'm in a different place in my life and I am not as easily annoyed at change or difference. I think that's what makes it different this time. I'm trying to just go with the flow and not be uptight about things that really don't matter. I am trying to look at the eternal perspective and choose weather what is going on is worth getting upset or annoyed at. It's change, but I feel good about it.

Well, I think that's it for now. I hope everyone is having a great day and enjoying the weather (it's pretty nice here).

Something cute Tanner said

Today when we were playing doctor with Tanner he asked me what was wrong (he was the doctor) and I said that my nose hurt and that I thought it was broken. So he said "I'll go to heaven and ask Heavenly Father for a new one for you". So he comes back in the room and says "how do you get to heaven?". So I explained to him that people go to heaven when they die. So he said he would die and go to heaven and get me a new nose and come back. I then tried to calmly, without laughing at him, explain that our bodies actually heal themselves and that we don't have to die and get new things from Heavenly Father to have our broken bodies repaired. It was so cute.

My sister got to come home today from the hospital from being in there for a few days because of low hemoglobin. I can't wait to meet him and hold him and cuddle him. Megan says that he is already perfect at nursing so that's really good news.

Matt's work season ended yesterday so we are back at square one looking for a new job. I'm not too overly stressed about it. I feel like I have more faith this time and that I trust more in the Lord to provide the way. I won't lie and say I'm not nervous at all but I really don't feel stressed, so I feel like that's a good sign. So I think that's it for now. I could write more but I'm getting my hair trimmed and Tanner's shag mop is getting cut so we have to leave pretty soon. Thanks for all the congrats on my sister's new baby. We are all really really excited.

9 days!

I can't even believe that I haven't blogged for so long! So much has happened and I can't even remember it all...lol. First, I have underestimated my own husband. They had a father son camp out last night and I packed Tanner an ridiculously enormous amount of clothes because I was so worried that he would be cold. Guess what I forgot though???? His rain coat. And guess what happened last night while they were camping???? It rained! So when Matt and Tanner got home, I saw his raincoat and asked if I had mindlessly packed it. Matt said he had packed it! What a great husband I have!!!! AMAZING! I could barely sleep because I was so worried that he would be wet and cold. But my wonderful, amazing husband packed it!!!!! I love him so much!

Second, I lost my job. Not much love is lost...lol. I'm happy but sad at the same time. Happy that I don't have to deal with that high high drama but sad that we won't have the extra money. We'll be okay but it will have to be more careful with our money. It was nice that we were able to have the money for a while because I was able to get the material for Tanner's blanket without feeling like we would have to live on pasta for a while. It's fine. I'm fine. Christmas is coming and so is my birthday...my surprise one.....hint hint!!!! lol.

Tanner started pre-school on Wednesday. He adores it. When I went to pick him up on the second day he said to me "I had a great first day at school". It's so great to have a routine in the morning and actually be able to be highly productive in getting things done around the house.

I also was able to can peaches and pears. It was great. I am so grateful for being able to can and have a wonderful lady teach me how to do it. I thought it would be much harder than it really was. It is time consuming but so worth it! Then last night while Matt and Tanner were gone, I made 9 1/2 quarts of raspberry jam. I LOVE LOVE LOVE raspberry jam. Last year I only made half that so I am ecstatic about this years results.

We are heading up to Calgary this week and I'll finish my quilt at my Aunts. I'm excited to be going up and finish the quilt. I also made a quilt for my sister so I'm going to finish that too. My sister's pelvis is separating so we are praying for her and hoping that her discomfort doesn't last long. It's funny...well, not funny but ironic that both Tanner and my sister's baby were prayed for and fasted for even before they came here. What an amazing blessing to have the gospel and have the Lord on our side.


The quilt/blanket I made for Megan for her baby. We're not sure what it is so it's pretty universal. Also reversible















Tanner's quilt

Anyways, I hope everyone is having a great day and I'll write more soon.

Keys ruin day

Yes, sad but true...

When I woke up this morning I was relatively happy. Then as I was getting ready to go VTing, I couldn't find my keys. This drives me totally insane and batty. I can not stand when I can't find my keys. This does not happen very often and I can usually find them within a few minutes. Today was a whole other case. So I was on edge all day. The reason I am a little paranoid right now was because I honestly believe that someone came into our house and stole our video camera when we had the door unlocked one time. I turned the house upside down...short of literally and could not find it. So I was upset that I couldn't find my keys because I wanted to lock up my house. Anyways, so all day I have been miserable because I couldn't find my keys. I know...a choice that I'm sure I regret and partly to blame on hormones...but nevertheless...grumpy.

Plus, while we were visiting teaching our one sister, Tanner was not nice to my friends little girl who have a very strong hate/love relationship. He was being such a brat. I won't be bringing him again. I try to get someone to watch him but sometimes it doesn't always work out.

When Matt came home, I politely and calmly informed him that I was on a very short fuse and when he asked why I told him. So he says to me "Are you sure you didn't leave them (the keys) in the car?" to which I reply "if I did, I couldn't look because you had the car today". So he happily went out and looked (I think it was to get away from me). They were in there! Thank goodness. Then I told him about the video camera and he said he would check in the car. So he went out a second time and of course it was there. I am so relieved. So needless to say, I am a bad person today for being so grumpy over something so trivial. Plus the fact that I can't call to ask Matt if he knows where they are was a little frustrating. So, I know tomorrow is a new day and I plan to make the best of it because it's Tanner's last swim class and we are going to Calgary!!!!!! I feel like it's Christmas or something. Tanner is so stinkin' giddy about it. Anyways, that's my day today. I am feeling much better now and think I'm going to make some chocolate milk and watch some Grey's.

Laundry

This last week I washed our couch cover because it was getting pretty dirty. So I washed it and hung it out on the line to dry. Didn't think anything of it. Off I went to take Tanner to meet my Mom for his fun weekend and when I got back...no cover. Hmmm....what a wonderful husband I have to bring it in for me.

Well, that's not really the whole story. Apparently the laundry line broke because the couch cover was too heavy. I didn't notice that little detail when I got home and noticed the cover not hanging outside. So for the last 3 days, I think "what am I going to do for laundry? I don't want to hang all the laundry inside in nice weather. I'm just going to have to wait to do laundry".

So today we had to go into town to get Matt some work pants...I guess one pair isn't enough since he's practically rolling around in dirt and who knows what else on the ranch while building a fence. Anyways, into town we go. I really like going into town when it's just Matt and I. We don't have to think about if Tanner's hungry or if he's going to want something at every place we go to. So we go to Value Village get his pants and then we head off to Canadian Tire because I saw one of my friends bought a really nice clothes line and she said that's where she got it. So we get there and I see the clothes line and look at the price and I think "we can NOT afford that". So we settled for just the clothes line wire (if that's what you can call it. It's more like cord). I didn't even get the handy pulley system. We just got the $10 30meter cord. I'm really excited to try it out. My amazing husband is still working on putting it up so it's nice and tight. He's so wonderful.

As he was working on it, I picked a lot of Raspberries and weeded around them because I think Matt sometimes forgets to weed around them. There were quite a bit of weeds and I just did it myself so he wouldn't have to.

Anyways, I'm off to work at 4:30. I have an 8 hour shift so it will probably be a long night.

Tomorrow, one of my best friends is having her baby blessed and then having a luncheon after that we are going to. Then we get to pick up Tanner! Today, I really miss him : ( Only 24 more hours!!!! It will be nice to be able to sit through church without any distractions from him or potty breaks. I am looking forward to that. We aren't really doing anything special for the holiday. What is everyone else doing on Monday?

Until tomorrow...

I miss Tanner

Sadly for me, and happily for Tanner, my Mom took Tanner up to Calgary on Wednesday until we get up there on Saturday for the work bee. As soon as they drove off, I started to cry a little and got all my card making stuff out so I could focus on something else. But it's very unusually quiet and I'm not enjoying it all the time. Some of the time I am, but not all the time. I haven't even gotten to talk to him today yet : ( Ahhhhh....oh well.

BUT! Matt and I treated ourselves to sugary, no good for you in any sense of the word, eat until you can't stop cereal. Matt chose Corn Pops and I chose Fruit Loops. Mmmmm...I'm going to have a bowl for supper (like I did last night) when I'm done blogging. I know, it's not the best supper but who cares...we're livin' it up at our house! Sleeping in, eating all the crap we want, being totally selfish. But I do miss my little guy.

I have been able to make 8 cards so far. It usually takes me about 45 minutes to make one from picking out the card I want to make, to picking the colors, to deciding what ink, what technique, where to apply what to the finished product. A lot of people think it's easy and quick, but if you want a nice card, you have to put some thought into it and take the time to make it look good. Plus embellishing it is the hardest for me. I never know how or what to embellish it with. Buttons? Ribbon? Brads? Embossing? It can be a lot of work to think of cards to make. I'm thinking of taking them over to the new quilt shop here and seeing if I can sell them there.

Anyways, that's what we've been up to. I just want to say a HUGE thank you to all of those who have been praying for us and helping us with leads. It has really helped and we can feel the power of the prayers on our behalf. It is so appreciated and we are so grateful. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Until later (if I don't make more cards) or next time....

Father's Day already?

So Matt and I decided that it was not in our best interest to work for a company such as the one he was with. So we took the truck and everything else back up to the company and left it at that. We both feel really good about it and know that something else will work out. I actually feel happy that we got ourselves out of the situation when we did because I'm not sure how much longer we could have lived walking on egg shells, having this dumb company manipulate us. What a headache.

So in spite of my frustrations, I will not post my personal feelings on this company and or boss because heaven forbid I might be accused of slander and get sued. WHATEVER!!! It's okay for people to complain about Telus or Shaw or a place they got a bad haircut at, but I'm not allowed to say anything about Action Auger because it's different if I said anything that wasn't positive about the stupid company right??? *rolling my eyes*

Anyways, my Mom and Aunt arrived from Utah today and they had a great time down there visiting their sister.

Sisters are so great. I hope that I can have a good relationship with my sisters when I'm older. I mean I do, but everyone in a family has their own differences and issues. I guess that's what makes a family so great is having different characteristics. It's nice that we all just fit together and even though there are things that bug us, that's what makes us love each other more.

It's funny this year because I didn't even think about Mother's Day. For me, it's just another day. I don't ever expect it to be anything overly special. I think because I have such an amazing husband and great son, I feel like most days are Mother's day for me. I feel lucky, every day (yes, even despite the crankiness), to be blessed to be a mother and have the wonderful son that I do. There really isn't a week that goes by that for at least one day, I don't feel special because of something Matt or Tanner does. So to have one day out of the whole year to celebrate motherhood is not really anything spectacularly great. I appreciate it, don't get me wrong, but I think if I had more children and they all did something special just for me on that one particular day, I might feel differently.
And on the subject of Mother's day, how come when it's father's day, the fathers don't get something special in church. I have only been in one ward (the Horizon ward) where they did give out something to the Father's. Why is that? Why are mother's or mother's day, more important than father's? Aren't we suppose to be equally yoked? So if we are equally yoked, why do mother's get a flower, or plant or whatever the gift may be and father's don't? Do people think that father's are less appreciative or deserving of something a little extra? There's always someone saying that a mother works 2 full time jobs, but isn't the fact that the husband provides and works outside the home, equally as important to raising a family? Both are working for the greater good but in different ways. The concept is like washing dishes. There's more than one way to wash dishes. Just like there is more than one way to teach a child about work or whatever the goal is. Life is kind of funny that way.

Anyway, that's my philosophical brain talking tonight.

Until next time...