Nostalgia

Anna, Andrew, and Lexie October 2008

Sometimes in the middle of a season, I will get an overwhelming feeling that the next is upon me. The other day I had the feeling of fall; the crispness of the air, crunchiness of leaves, the feeling of a fresh start, that for me I associate with the starting of a new school year. Pulling out the sweaters, the fall colors: red, orange, yellow, brown. Thinking about what to be for Halloween. These are the emotions and feelings of fall. For some reason in the middle of July on a 90+ day it felt like fall. Can seasons be feelings? For me they can. The start of each new season denotes certain feelings, emotions, smells. There is excitement and sadness all rolled into one. The adventure that the new holds and the sadness that the old has past. Did I make the most of it, did I do all I should have? Did I enjoy it to it's fullest extent because it is gone for another year. I'm wondering if anyone else gets these whiffs of nostalgia associated with seasons in the middle of the preceding season. Or is this crazy talk? Which is probably the case. Well just my random ramblings. So do any of you get Seasonal Nostalgia?

LOST!

So in an effort to be frugal, save money, get out of debt ect. we do not have TV services. No cable, satellite, not even rabbit ears. I must say I do miss DVR, although not as much as I thought I would. A buddy of Jeremy's at work loaned us Lost season one, and I am an addict. At night, I can't wait for the kids to go down and, the house to be cleaned so I can spend some time kicking back with my new favorite series. I remember my sister Nicole and her husband got into this show a few years back, but we never did. I am a fan now. It has been fun to have a program to veg to and it has also been nice not having the TV constantly on. So, if you have never watched the show check it out you may just like it. I'm almost ready to start season 2. Thanks Rick and Amber for the DVDs!

P.S. My parents and brother fly in today. We pick them up from the airport at 1400!! I have been so excited all week for this day and let me just say it has been what got me through the week. I worked 45 hours and well it is hard to work full time and be a mother full time. Although the thought occurred to me today, that my Dad and brother may not survive without T.V. It could get interesting.

Book of Mormon Challenge!

The other day we received a package from Nicole. It had lots of goodies and the occasion was Andrew's birthday. My family spoils me and well, I like it. Anyhow amongst the gifts was a photocopied article from the Ensign I think. It was about the promises we will receive if we will: Pray, Read the Book of Mormon, and attend the Temple.

"I feel certain that if, in our homes, parents will read from the Book of
Mormon prayerfully and regularly, both by themselves and with their
children, the spirit of that great book will come to permeate our homes and all who dwell therein. The spirit of reverence will increase; mutual respect and consideration for each other will grow. The spirit of contention will depart. Parents will counsel their children in greater love and wisdom. Children will be more responsive and submissive to the counsel of their parents..."
Marion G Romney

This really struck me so, I really felt like these were blessings we could use in our home. So I am issuing a challenge. We have set a goal to read the Book of Mormon as a family, and finish by Christmas. We figure if we read 2 chapters a night at least 5 nights a week we'll reach our goal. So any who want to join us let us know and it will be fun. Wish us luck!

Love the Skin You're In

Today my visiting teachers stopped by. We were talking about swimming and I said how much I love it: being in the water, flip flops and a bathing suit, really what is better? One of the sisters said to me, "Well , you probably look pretty good in a swim suit some of us are a little more image conscious." While I appreciate the compliment I think it is important we all embrace the bodies we have. Here she is thinking I'm confident in swim suit, not really the case. I'm self conscious about my pasty white skin, which still at 30 has pimples on my chest and back. Not horrid but not the skin you hope to have at 30. I'm overtly aware of my flat chest as swim suits don't stay put if you don't having anything to fill them with. I wish my body was more toned and chiseled. I guess my point is we are all self conscious in one way or another about our bodies. I don't mind hanging out in a suit at he pool because of the shear love I have for the water.
Someone I use to work with said we need to be thankful for what our bodies have done for us. If you have been lucky enough to carry a pregnancy and deliver a healthy baby, rejoice in your bodies ability to have done this. So many women would give all for that. If you can complete a 5, 10K, half or full marathon give thanks for that. If you witnessed a beautiful sunset this week, be grateful. If the annoying birds woke you today, sing praise. Our bodies are amazing and we all need to love the skin we're in. "God forgive me when I whine I have to eyes the world is mine." Google the poem I know you'll love it, in fact memorize it, my mom did and I think I will too. Love your body Larry. (Anyone know the movie?)

Andrew at 5

Favorite Food: Jam Sandwiches, Fruit, Guittard Chocolate chips

Favorite Primary Song: I see my mother kneeling, I am a Builder, I am a Child of God

Favorite thing to do: Go swimming, Ride Bike, talk on the phone, or anything Mischievous such as get into the powdered or brown sugar

Favorite Book: What Do You Say Dear and The Giant Jam Sandwich

Favorite Color: Blue

Favorite thing to wear: Shorts

I can Hardly believe five years has past. We celebrated his birthday on July 9th, or as he use to say, July night. He had a great day with lots of fun and went to Chucky Cheese for the first time,which was a big hit for both kids and Mom and Dad. You are not going for the food here. I love this little boy so much. He keeps me on my toes and he is so fun. Andrew loves to play in the hose, this will occupy him for hours. He also has a great love for garages. He has always talked about garages and houses with one garage or two. This is distinguished not by the number of cars a garage will hold, but by the number of doors it has that will open by pushing a button. He frequently says he misses our garage in Utah, as do I. It is a good garage. He asked for a Lego garage for his birthday.

Andrew has a healthy curiosity for how things work. He likes to be the go and doing things. He thrives on attention and it always catches me off guard the things that will hold his interest, as well as the things that bother or scare him. He sat and watched the sprinklers run for about 15 minutes today. He doesn't mind having food all over his hands and face but having grass stuck to his feet will put him over the edge. We have a nest of baby birds on the porch which recently hatched. We have had fun watching the momma bird feed them in the morning and we watched them learning to fly the other night. It has been fun to see this circle of life from our front porch and also funny because Andrew was afraid of the baby bird that was sitting on the porch. He also does no like really big leaves and the itchies that come when you get a haircut. He loves to play with Anna and has a special relationship with her. He is my best cuddlebug. When he is tired he will just go lay down and go to sleep. I love this boy and hope and we are doing a good job raising him. I am certainly learning lots from him and am better because he is in my life. I will always be grateful for Genyia, his birth mom for this gift in my life. Maybe one day we will thank her together. Happy 5th birthday Andrew, we love you!

I saw this video on www.lds.org. I thought is was great and a wonderful reminder of the FREEDOMS in my life. I need to be more mindful of all I have been blessed with and remember to keep a positive attitude, cause really living in this land I have so much. Happy 4th of July. God Bless America!

Do Your Homework

So Andrew broke my camera. For those of you who don't know, I have a fairly nice camera and it is my hobby. One of my passions, my loves. I had it out by the computer and he took the liberty of taking out the flash card and then bent the pins which read the card upon trying to put it back in.

It had been broken for a week or two and I really started missing it and realized the Fourth was upon us and I needed my good camera for the holiday. So I googled camera repair shops in the area. Several came up and I started calling to get quotes. The first two places quoted $195-200 for labor plus parts the whole repair would end up being around $250 bucks. Not to mention when you leave your camera somewhere for repair they keep if for 6 weeksish. So my third call was was to some guy and he said If he could just straighten the pins it would be $60 dollars if the pin board had to be replaced around $150. Sold. I asked when he could have it done. He said, today if you bring it in now. So we drove to Dallas. His shop was nothing fancy, in an industrial part of town. I couldn't believe the difference in price, he tried to straighten the pins, then said it he'd have to replace the board. The whole process took twenty minutes, plus we got to see Elm Street where JFK was shot, because we didn't want to drive home in traffic. The city was really cool and I look forward to doing some more sight seeing in the future. Moral of this long boring post. Make a few calls, it could save you some hard earned greens. The other moral of the story, never make the mistake of leaving anything of value in reach of your child, that is if your child is like mine. So now hopefully I'll get some good fourth of July pictures. I love the Fourth and will certainly miss home as it is my favorite holiday 2nd only to Christmas, well Thanksgiving is pretty good too. Enough rambling. Shop Around!