Moving.. Again

We closed on our house today, I have been busy painting and getting stuff ready. We are moving today and tomorrow.. hopefully we will get it all done quickly. I don't know that I will post again until we are settled!! WOO HOO!!!

Goodbye to a Great Woman

My Aunt Marge passed away today, she lost a long battle to cancer. She is truly a great woman, and she will be missed by all.
Her newest Grandson, Harrison was born on Thursday, and she got to meet him today, and then died shortly there after. Amazing how thin the veil is. I truly believe she was just holding on to meet her new grandson.
My Aunt Marge had little feet, she wore a size 5 shoe, that is what I wore in first grade, and she would let me play in her shoes when I was little, it made me feel very important and special.
She is a great example of a righteous woman. She always made me laugh to, had a great sense of humor. It is sad to see her go, but we are all grateful she doesn't have to suffer anymore.
Aunt Marge, I love you!

Swinging!

We are swingers! Well, my kids and I are, Randy, not so much. He really isn't into it, I think it is because he gets sick. Everytime he swings for very long he gets motion sick. Poor guy huh?

I have loved to swing since I was little, and I still love it. My kids have the same passion for it as I do. It brings back fun memories and makes me feel like I am a kid again. I love things like that. Little Miss is so obsessed, she goes out and yells, HIGH, HIGH! Over and over. She is all laughs. My Little Man who can pump, hooray!! Keeps telling me he is the fastest and the highest! The major perk, is the kids are wearing themselves out!! WOO HOO!!!

It is fun for me to see my kids enjoying stuff that I loved so much. It is amazing how strong some of the similarities are. My kids love the outdoors, and would spend all day there if they could. Darn Mom makes them come in to use the bathroom, and try to keep them somewhat civil.

It is fun to watch them and see a piece of me, to remember what it was like to be a kid, when dandylions were the coolest flower, not an obnoxious weed. Swinging, ahh the memories.

Stitches.

My little man had to get stitches last night. He was climbing up onto a chair and his finger got pinched badly. He cut his left ring finger open on the tip exposing all of the flesh. He is a bleeder!!
We took him to the urgent care and the put 3 stitches in his finger. I am very proud of him, he sat there bravely and was a big boy. The doctor said he was one of the best. He got a shot to numb it and was so calm, and good. He watched the doctor stitch it up, and he didn't flinch at all. Amazing coming from a four year old.
We took him for Ice Cream, and to get some cool band-aids. He is quite proud of his wound and has been telling everyone it is good as new! Hopefully we can avoid the urgent care for a while.. but if things really do come in three's then we have one more.

House Pictures!

My House

Living Room the Office is across the hall with double doors, I didn't get a picture of it.

Kitchen, and Pantry

Kitchen

Dining Room

Bathroom Next time stairs and family room

Family Room Main Floor, we plan in time to build a mantle around it, by we I mean Randy. It took two posts to get all of my pictures in, sorry. So this is kind of a tour of it. We are so excited to move in!!

Pictures of the House!!

Stairs


Looking Down the Stairs


Family Room Upstairs

One of the bedrooms

Another shot of the room, the only one painted

Kid Bathroom

Our Bathroom

Checkout the tub!! I can lay down in it, and that is saying something since I am 6'!!

HAPPY NEWS!!

I promised I would update, and today we found out we didn't get the house I wanted. We found out Monday night that it didn't look like we were going to, so I started a mad hunt for something else. Tuesday I drove by a nice light yellow house, thought it was cute, called my realtor and said I want to see it. We went through it that day, and it was awesome!
Wednesday we went through it again, and then made an offer on it. We offered a little low, and I was praying they would take it, and guess what?? They did!! Hooray!!!! So in 3-4 weeks.. maybe even less we get to move into our own house again. I love my parents dearly, but I seriously cannot wait to be in our own home again.
Now all of the details. It is almost 3100 sq ft. 5 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, with an office also. I wasn't going to do a two-story, again, but we did. It has all bedrooms upstairs, the family room up and the laundry room. I love the master it is huge and it has a 6' jetted tub in it, so it will be great for a nice soak!!!
Downstairs has the kitchen, dining room, living room, office, and another family room. It has tons of tile, (I have never had that before). I will post pictures when I get some. I am so excited to paint and to decorate.
It doesn't have as big of a yard as I was wanting, but it is still really nice, and all we really want to take care of!! So today has been a great day!!!

The Last One

This is my last Time Out For Women post.. (I think.) Dean Hughes author of the Children of the Promise series, and All Moms Go to Heaven talked on Motherhood. Kind of ironic for a guy huh? It was wonderful!
He talked about how hard it was to be a SAHM, he was a SAHD one summer.. and told some great stories, I suggest reading his book also. One thing he said, and I rang true to me is that we as women are in danger of comparing ourself to other Moms. Seeing everyone's good qualities and only your bad ones. How true is that? He talked about what a great work this is, and that the job is worth the work.
I wish I could express everything that I felt on Saturday, it was truly a wonderful feeling. Michael McLean and Cherie Call did a great job with the music. Music really speaks to me, and to my heart. It was such a spiritual experience and something I do not want to forget.
I am so grateful for the opportunity I had to feel the love of my Heavenly Father so strongly. If you are anywhere close to where they are doing a Time Out For Women, go!! It is well worth it.
For me I find that so often at Church my kids are crazy and I don't really get to "fill" my bucket. Right now it seems that it is overflowing. It has rejuvenated me, helped me to feel like I can go on, and that I am doing what I am supposed to be doing.
How grateful I am for this great gospel, what a blessing in my life. I don't know how I could do it without it.

Feeling God's Love

Viriginia Hinckley Pearce was another phenomenal speaker. She talked about Feeling God's Love. I don't think I had ever really thought about this. What a great topic it was, and she had such a wealth of information and it was just wonderful. Okay, they all were wonderful!
Every Human Being is of Great Worth. Our Heavenly Father doesn't care if you are Bill Gates, or Me, we are worth the same to Him. I don't think I had ever really thought about that.
I have struggled with my self-worth, and feeling like I am okay. Loving myself enough, I always feel like I am not doing good enough, and I could be kinder, nicer, skinnier, prettier, blah, blah, blah. She said we need to have a testimony of our own worth, it is very important, as important as our testimony of Joseph Smith. We need to say it outloud so that we can hear it, have the Holy Ghost witness it and know it is true. What an interesting concept for me. Can I really do that? I have never thought of the importance of really KNOWING your worth. I know in Young Women's we have our value, the red one Individual Worth, I was always like yeah, yeah, whatever I don't want to be self-centered, and arrogant. The other thing that struck me along with this was that we need to quit telling ourselves the bad stories about us, and quit believing them. Who cares what people have said about you in the past?? Easier said than done huh?
I am working on that, working on it hard. For years I have had people tell me I am fat, not as much anymore except the one brother that I see on occasion. He always has to make sure and tell me I look huge. It hurts, but I need to realize oh well.. that is his issue, not mine.
As we feel God's love we will know of our great worth. There is no shortage of God's love in the universe, only our inability to feel it. I got Sister Pearce's book and it is just wonderful. I am really striving to find ways to feel God's love more, and to open my heart to others. If you want a motivational good read I highly recommend it!!

Broken Dreams

Sharon G. Larsen gave an excellent talk, it was Our Dreams May Be Broken, But I'm Not.
She started by saying, for most of us life hasn't turned out the way we dreamed it would when we were fourteen. I have tried and tried to remember dreams I had from 14, where I wanted to be.
I knew I wasn't going to have kids before 30, and hopefully wouldn't be married much before then. I either wanted to be a vet, nurse, or a model.
How different my life is. I got married shortly after my 19th birthday, and had my first child at 21. My life isn't at all what I thought it would be. But I am not sad about that. Amazing what the Lord does.
Sister Larsen said some great motivational things. She said, "When we think we are entitled and life isn't fair, Satan is able to get a hold of us." I know there have been many times life hasn't really seemed fair. I think we all deal with times like that.
I wish I could explain this more eloquently, but these are just my memories and thoughts from it. She talked about how we need to quit being the victim. Happiness and Joy our own. We will all have people in our lives who have wronged us, but we cannot dwell on those facts, we need to allow the Lord to heal our broken hearts. We need to let go of the stuff that people have said to us/about us/or the times we have been wronged. We can't borrow strength from others. We draw it from ourself, and from God. How true that is. He is there to sustain us and to help us.
We have to move forward from the past, move past our broken dreams, and embrace what we have. Be happy with who we are and what we are doing. She has a great book, it explains it better than I can, but I left there with a great appreciation for her.
What were your dreams when you were 14?

Free Agency

I am still on the Spiritual High from TOFW. I want all of my thoughts written down so I can remember them. So I figure my blog is the best spot.
Joseph Fielding McConkie gave a terrific talk on The Power God has Given Us. Our Free Agency. I learned a lot from it. Stuff I guess I hadn't really understood as well as I thought I had.
He said, "We have the capacity to do wrong, we do not have the God given right to do wrong. Agency is the right to do what is right."
What a powerful statement that is. It really impressed me.
I walked away with a better understanding of Free Agency, it helped that he used a NBA anaylsis. He explained that when a player signs a contract to play for a team, say the Utah Jazz, they are under contract, they can't get mad and go make a basket for the other team just because the coach did something dumb. It is the same when we make covenants with the Lord. Our covenants are our contract. We can't go make a basket for the other team, we signed a contract. For me, it made more sense, it was an ah-ha moment.
I love learning gospel stuff that I have heard my whole life, but suddenly it clicks and makes more sense, and it just works.

You're Not Alone

Today was a great day for me. I went to Time Out For Women, and was able to really enjoy the Spirit I felt, and the peace. This week I am going to share little stuff I learned. If I wrote it all now, it would take forever.
I really like Michael McLean. He has a great song, You're Not Alone, and I have heard it many times before, but today it hit me, and I really heard it. I have been struggling with my lupus for a few months now, and I have good and bad times, but it is a constant roller coaster. I hate to whine complain or tell anyone how I feel, I don't want to be a downer.
So often I feel like no one knows how I am feeling. I have friends who have it, but it affects each person differently. Today I realized that I am not alone on my journey. I have someone who does truly understand and will ease my burdens. My older brother, and Savior Jesus Christ. How grateful I am to Him. I know He will ease the burdens if I allow Him to. He will never leave us. How grateful I am for this gentle reminder. Those days when I feel all alone I know that He truly knows how I am feeling. This realization today has brought me so much joy.
How grateful I am for a loving Heavenly Father who helps us to hear messages we need.

OOPS!!

We had a major laundry mishap today. We needed some clean clothes so I was on a mission to get it all done today. That didn't happen. I got a few loads done, and then when I was getting ready to switch my darks, I noticed that the bottle of ALL has fallen over and leaked a little, not sure how it leaked, but it did. I didn't think it was a big deal, I mean ALL is just detergent right?
I finished folding and then opened the washer and looked in horror as I saw bleach spots all over my new jeans, so quickly I close it. You know maybe it really isn't what I thought, right? I open it again, and nope it is still there. So I freak and ask who put bleach in with my darks. I tell my Mom the ALL detergent had spilled and maybe it even leaked into the washer, and then she tells me, nope that is ALL BLEACH! Yep, bleach. I had no idea that ALL even made a bleach, but they do, and let me tell you it works very well.
It literally ate through my jeans, and a nice dress shirt of Randy's. And it bleached spots on several other items.
This is a time I am thankful that I can laugh, and know that it is okay. One of my first thoughts was ohh.. I need pictures, I want to blog about this!!
Good thing I like shopping huh? I have lots more pictures of everything that got ruined, my sweet Mom keeps telling me she wants to pay for it, I don't expect that. It is not like she poured it all over my clothes.. or did she?
It could have been worse, and after all it is just clothing, nothing that important. Wouldn't it be easier if we could just get disposable clothes, no more laundry, or mishaps with the laundry!!

The House I Want

I have been sitting here trying to think of something interesting to blog about. But the only thing on my mind is this blasted house that I want, and might possibly get.
The odds are going up slowly each day. The first people lined up to buy the house are supposed to close next Friday, the 14th, and they still don't have all of their ducks in a row. I am thrilled about this. Nice huh? It gives me hope. I need hope for this right now. I can't find another house that I like nearly as much as this one.
Want to hear all about it? It is 2808 square feet all on one floor. For me, that is wonderful!! It is exactly what I want. It has four large bedrooms, and 2 1/2 baths. It has everything I want, it isn't elaborate or anything fancy, just the right floor plan and flow for what I like. I really really want a one story so I can be done with stairs. Somedays they are just too hard. So it works great. It has a huge kitchen with a nice breakfast nook. Nice size family room that is a great place for the kids. It has really ugly berber in their though lol. I love the formal living area, I can totally see my piano there, and the formal dining room is huge. We won't use it for a long time for eating, maybe for a pool table?? The bedrooms are all really big. The master has hideous wallpaper and that will have to go, but that is doable. The kids rooms are great sized, one is already blue!! Just have to paint my little princess' room pink and it will be good to go!!
Best of all it is located on a half acre, so we will have a huge yard, and it has a great pool. I have had mixed feelings on the pool, but after prayer and deliberation we have decided it is okay. It will have a six foot locked fence around it and security cover so my kiddos are safe!!
Sounds great huh? See why I am in love? People who have seen my others homes are a little suprised I am so in love with this one. In fact my brother and his wife were sure I wouldn't really want to live there. The last two houses I have lived in have been brand spankin' new. If this was new, well I couldn't even touch it, it would be too freaking $$. But it isn't, it was built in 1973. And you can tell. It doesn't have green and orange shag carpet, but it does have the old dark dark wood, and the popcorn ceilings. It needs to be cosmetically updated and modernized a little. I am so excited to do it all. I have the vision of what it will be when we are done, and it is freaking gorgeous!! So I have to be patient and realize it will take time and money to get it done, but when it is done, I will love it. I have all sorts of stuff planned for what I want to do. But I am being realistic, realizing that it will probably take five years or so. Unless we come into a ton of money.
I am emotionally vested in this house, I want it. I see us there, and not moving again for a LONG time. I want a house that my kids will bring their friends to. It has the seperation I want, and the yard I want. I see us raising our kids their in this nice quiet neighborhood where it seems everything is a slower pace of life. So I am praying we get it. Nothing compares to it, not even the new ones. This one just flows right, it fits us so well.
We will know soon.. but not soon enough, I wanted to know yesterday!!!
P.S. Sorry there are no pictures, but if we get it I will post all of them!!

OW!

My little princess is proving to be more and more like me. I am told by most people she looks like me, just with a lighter complexion. She has curls like me and is tall like me. She also has been blessed to inherit my grace, or the lack there of. She is a klutz like me and tends to get hurt a lot.
Now just since moving between the two of us we have gotten hurt a lot. Today for example, she had to go to the urgent care today after running into a door jam and gashing her chin open. It split pretty good. Thankfully it wasn't that deep and we ended up with just steri-strips. She also banged her knee good.
Today I was leaving Costco with my Dad, it was raining, I was wearing flip flops. (Haven't found my other shoes yet, haven't looked either.) My Dad took off so I was running to catch him, I had just walked out of Costco. Did you know that wet concrete is very, very slippery? It is, I totally fell, almost doing the splits, but I landed really hard on my right knee. It hurt. A lot. I got up and caught back up with my Dad to be informed that he had beat me. Gee Dad, not hard when I am lying on the concrete. But whatever. So now I am limping a little. This is just one of the ordeals my little princess and I have had.
After 25 years of this I have learned to laugh, and hope she will do the same. I see a little piece of me in her everyday. It totally cracks me up, and so far she seems to handle it quite well. It makes it a little easier to be able to laugh about it. But man, sometimes it leaves you hurting pretty good. We need to invest in some good protective wear! We would be much safer.

Moved

We are moved, and currently living with my parents. I am grateful for their kind hospitality. Life is hectic, so I am not sure how often I will get a chance to actually post anything.
I am looking for a house like crazy. We put an offer on one, BUT we are the first backup, sadly. Hopefully the first offer falls through, then mine will be accepted and by the end of April life will be returning back to normal. I will keep that updated. So if you have any extra prayers, pray we get the house, and not the other people. Nice huh? I will update when I learn anything on that.
Moving is not fun, I am not looking forward to doing it again. Next time I think I sell the house furnished.