One of the best things about Indy

I just found my favorite soda that I haven't had in years. Caffeine Free Diet Mt. Dew. I am digging it. I think I'm going to like it here.

And the Basketball, our ward has a women's basketball night every week, seriously how cool is that! Another reason I think I am going to like it here.

And the workout, I am doing Body by Glamour online and it has some great stuff. You should totally check it out.

Ouch.

Yesterday I decided to start a new workout regimen in the morning. It was good, it kicked my butt. And then I had basketball for the first time in I don't know how long. And if I wasn't already trashed from my workout basketball finished me off. 90 minutes of wonderful ball playing after not touching a ball forever will destroy you. I was exhausted, red faced, sweaty, and a little wheezy. It was the most fun I have had working out in a LONG time! I was the girl gasping for breath, partially from my asthma, and partially because I am not in basketball shape. Oh my goodness I forgot how hard it was. But my skills are really rusty. I can't wait for next week and the next! Hopefully if I continue my workout plan I won't gasp for air and feel like my legs are going to fall off.

This morning my whole body hurts. Especially my butt. Thank you one legged squats, and defense. Each step is accompanied by ow, oh, ow, oh. You can hear me coming before you ever see me. And today is my cardio day. Let's hope I am able to move tomorrow.

Eastern Time...

The Eastern Time Zone.. wow it is just a pain. I miss my Pacific Time. I am slowly adjusting, and I am amazed how much I can get done before anyone back home is up. It makes me feel so accomplished. This morning I did my workout, and then I made Little Man a Dutch Baby Pancake, he is so excited! We went to the Original Pancake House on Saturday for breakfast, and I tried one, and he thought it was the coolest thing ever. And they are so easy to make, and just delish. They should be with 1/3 C of butter in just one! HOLY COW! He is in heaven as he sits eating this massive pancake. I think it is more of a dessert than breakfast.



Okay.. back to my original thought. I try to not call my Mom until my sister is off to school which is after 11:00 AM here. I feel so productive when I think of what time it would be at home, and I got up so early. Really I am not that productive for Eastern Time.. but I like to pretend I am so I think in Pacific Time.



The time zone has thrown my kids off too.. but finally they were asleep before 9 last night! WOO HOO! We are making progress.



And just for fun here is a fake Easter picture that I love. And you can see the dress I made for Little Miss. I am quite proud.



Have an awesome Tuesday! Do something fun and new! I am playing basketball tonight and I cannot wait! It has been too long.. hopefully I come home unbroken.

The Luncheon

My friend Allison the week before I left organized a luncheon for people to come have lunch with me. And guess what? People came! Shocking, I know. I have been meaning to blog this, but life has been hectic. We had a wonderful lunch at her home where we were able to chat, laugh, have fun, and have me cry in front of everyone. Have I mentioned I hate crying in front of people. Because I really do. I wanted to crawl into a whole and hide. But I didn't.. I did my best to let my friends know how much I love them, and will greatly miss them. I felt so loved by each of them, and it was just wonderful. So here you go, my wonderful friends, who came to a lunch just to see me. Or was it for the food? Hmmm.. Don't mind that I look pregnant in this picture.. because I am so not pregnant. I have gorgeous friends huh?

Thank you Allison for a delightful lunch. And thanks to each of my friends, Tiff, Meg, Laura, Traci, Missy, Kim, Shawna, Alli, Andrea, and Angie. You sure know how to make a girl feel loved.

Guess What?

The camera cord has been found. I am giddy.

Here is one picture.. from the day we left. I love it.

More to come.

By The Way..

We are here, we are settled.. for the most part. I would post pictures but my camera cord isn't where I thought it was, and I am too lazy to go find it. So.. no pictures.

We have officially been in Indiana for one week. Last Saturday we left bright and early and with tearful goodbyes. My parents took us to the airport, us being my family, and two dogs. My in laws and brother-in law came to see us off also. We appreciated the family support.

It was hard to leave. Friday night was hard knowing that the next day we would leave. The kids ate up every last second they had with Grandma and Grandpa. Our finally goodbye left Little Man coming over hugging me fighting back the tears, and I had been holding up until then, and the tears came. I hugged my parents and my little sis and felt so sad. I have a terrific family, and it broke my heart to leave them. A tip for the future, don't cry during take off, it makes your sinuses pop, a lot.

We landed and got Sage (the dog) and our luggage and went to our hotel. And then we were back to get Izzy from the airport, they went on separate flights.. long story. Now before you think this is normal for my family, we only take the dogs on trips when we are going camping or something. This is not a normal thing for us to fly two big Labradors on airplanes, and we will not be making this a habit, unless of course it is for relocation purposes. Oh... wait.. I am totally off track.

We did the Church thing and then Dallin had school, which he loved. And Tuesday we moved into our home. I love our new house. It is amazing how having your stuff in your home makes it feel like home. My kids, my husband, my stuff and I feel at home.

Evidently I am allergic to Indiana. My allergies are killing me, thankfully I was able to get into an allergist and I am totally drugged up trying to get me breathing decently. The weather is beautiful, and Spring is gorgeous here. I just wish it wasn't trying to kill me slowly.

We are unpacked, the lawn is mowed, Izzy (the dog) was spayed on Tuesday.. seriously why did she have to come into heat the day after we got here! The kids love the neighborhood, and I totally fit in here, (minus the allergy thing).

The kids have been homesick.. so have I. But we are doing well. Love and miss you all.

3 Things You Want to Know

1. I am not blogging again until I am safely in Indiana. We are insanely busy!

2. If you go HERE you can get that bread recipe. Make sure and thank my lovely friend.

3. I am totally going to miss all of my friends. Love you! And see you on the flip side.

And one more.. I my new lens came.. YIPEE! And I used it at I am in love. Check out here to see some fun new images!

Anticipation

I am waiting.. waiting.. waiting. I am not patiently waiting either. Sometime very soon FedEx will be here with my lens. A new lens! I am beyond giddy. I am not leaving my home until it arrives here safe and sound. I have drooled over this lens for months, and have used it twice thanks to Misty allowing me to try it out. I cannot wait to use the nice wide angle and enjoy how fast it is. And I get to use it tomorrow on a fantastic wedding. Oh yeah.. I am shooting a wedding 1 week before the big move.. crazy huh? But after this week I am looking forward to the time away to relax and have fun!!

It's still not here. It is 4:30 and I have yet to go anywhere today because I don't want to miss my beautiful lens. That's all.

9

Nine Days. Do you get what happens in nine days? I will say goodbye to living in Washington State forever. It will no longer be my only place of residence. I will say goodbye to Pacific Time. I will say goodbye to living close to my wonderful family. I will say goodbye to what I know. And I don't want people to see this as sad, and think I am not excited, because I am. But it is so weird.

And you want to know what I am doing to prepare? I am driving to see Misty today, I am running around crazy with my kids enjoy Spring Break. And I am sticking my head in the sand, plugging my ears, and singing la-la-la all the while. It is enjoyable. And I do a great job at it.

9. That's it.

Dear Angie,

The bread... I am drooling just looking at the picture. It is delicious. Delicious I tell you! And not only is it delicious, it is healthy, made with whole grains, freshly ground wheat. It is so healthy that it doesn't matter that I have eaten half the loaf since you brought it to me! Do you see the crumbs on the bread board? Don't even think of wiping them off, I will be eating every morsel of this wonderful goodness. I think your bread you baked must have been manna. It is that good. I could eat it day in and day out and be perfectly content.

And another thing that makes this bread so great, it is mine. I don't have to share it. Thank you for bringing me bread when I can devour each crumb all by myself. So no, I don't plan on sharing.. well maybe a small bite with my children that keep begging me for bread. But they can have the cheap Wonder bread, they don't appreciate the goodness of this bread yet.

My tummy thanks you Angie. This is just delish!

Uplifted and Edified

General Conference. I love it. I feel renewed and able to go out and accomplish the many tasks that are before me after listening to our beloved Prophet, Thomas S. Monson, and listening to the many wonderful witnesses of Jesus Christ.

I especially loved Elder Ballard's talk on Motherhood. I hope I can be a better Mother and enjoy the moment more.

And on a final note were are down to under two weeks. HOLY COW.

Oh yes and I did a fantastic engagement shoot.. you really should check it out. Now.. I am done.. Really I am.

This one goes out to the one I love

While hanging out in the Cincinnati airport I took pictures of the man of my dreams. We traveled all day on his birthday, and it was long and tiring, but I enjoyed every second because I was with him!
Randy Happy Birthday! I still remember celebrating your 22nd birthday together and giving you all of your ties. It is amazing how quickly nine years have past.
I love the Father you are to our children.
I love your smile.
I love that look you get when you are thinking of doing something that you know when get me riled up. It makes me smile just thinking of it. And no this is not giving you permission to do any of those crazy things.. but I think it is cute.
I love how great I feel with you.
I love you.
You are totally hot, and I feel like the luckiest girl in the world, every day. And I dig the scruff.. hot!

Happy Birthday babe!
Hope 31 is as rocking as 30.

Exhausted

Need I say more? This is at the airport waiting for our luggage this evening. I think we all wanted to crash like my lucky boy. Now off to bed.

Psych!

We aren't really gone yet. We should be. But we aren't. We are sitting at home waiting for tomorrow to come bright and early. Our flight was delayed coming in from Salt Lake, which made our flight going out very late. It was late enough we were going to miss our connecting flights, and they couldn't get us on any other flights. Thank you Delta. They sent us home, we are going back at 4 AM tomorrow to catch a 5:30 flight. Seriously who gets up at that hour? Evidently us. And we get a great flight plan tomorrow.. seriously wonderful. We go from here, to Salt Lake, to Atlanta, to Indianapolis. At least we are getting frequent flyer miles for ping-ponging across the country. And our trip is going to be oh so quick now. We are flying home on Thursday as originally scheduled. Chaos I tell you. Pure chaos.
On the bright side I get to spend all day with the man of my dreams on his birthday. I am a lucky girl!

FYI

• I will be MIA.
• We are going to Indianapolis to show the kids around, and to show them the new house!
• They can't wait to get on the airplane!
• Randy is celebrating his 31st Birthday on Tuesday, April 1st.
• We didn't want to miss his birthday and since he has to work in Indiana this week; we get to party in Indiana this week.
• I will be back late Thursday.
• Don't miss me too much.
• Have a fabulous week.

Year's Supply

I read Tiffani's blog and she had talked about food storage.. it gave me an idea to blog about.

Want to see my years supply?



A year ago I decided in a few weeks time I would buy my food storage. My parents are on a service mission at our local cannery and had been telling me I needed to get it done. I took the money and decided to go and do it.



It was such a great experience, I took Little Miss with me and she was a terrific helper. It was nice to go and buy all of the basic necessities for one year for my family. And now that I have it I feel so accomplished. I was transferring some of my items this week from bulk to buckets and I felt so excited that I know we are truly prepared. We wouldn't have a lavish diet but we would live for one year.

I am so excited when I go in and look at all of my food. We had an great 3 month supply but I have been dwindling it down since we are moving and I will restock it once we are settled in our new home. I am thrilled to know I have the sugar, milk, grains, legumes, that I need. I still want to add more to it, but we have what we have been asked to do.

And my little plug. If you have wondered about doing food storage, do it. You will be so very blessed. I have such a testimony of having your years supply and also of having your 3 month supply. We have felt so blessed by having this and feeling like we are prepared. I didn't have to strong desire to care about it until I did it. And I love that with our 1 year basic they aren't saying we have to constantly rotate it, it is good for 30 years! And then I have my 3 month stuff that I rotate. And your basics for a family of 4 will cost under $1000. Quite the bargain if you ask me.

I am looking forward to building up more three month supply again it is always nice to have extras of peanut butter on Sunday when you realize you are out. It has saved me many times.

While in the Shower

Little Miss came in Mommy, can you be done? Can you turn off the shower? I peaked my shampooed head out and asked what was so urgent. She looked at me and sweetly said Mommy I want snuggles.
Isn't she the cutest!

The Strength of You

The Strength of Youth pamphlet is one of my favorite things published by the Church. Recently at our Worldwide Leadership Meeting Julie B. Beck was talking about how it is the Strength of You. I have been thinking about this. And thinking about the meaning of what she said.

This is something that we teach the Youth of the Church so that way they have all of the tools they need as adults to go into the world and raise righteous generations. I don't know that I appreciated this doctrine nearly enough as a youth. Now as I teach the youth of the Church I see the valuable tool that it is. It is something we teach the youth so they will live it forever. It doesn't just apply when we are young. It is for all of us.

We taught at a Conference this past weekend and we talked about it so much. I spoke to them about the importance of modesty.. I don't think that it can be taught enough! Explaining to the kids this isn't just guidelines it is scripture written by our Prophets. I know I have known this but it spoke to me even more. Our leaders have blessed us with scripture to help us in every situation, agency, gratitude, education, family, friends, dress, entertainment, music, dancing, language, dating, sexual purity, repentance, honesty, sabbath day observation, tithes, health, service, and faith. They have helped to clear the grey areas and have given us guidance and right and wrong. The path has been marked so very clear. I read it and think that it should be so easy, but sometimes it isn't. I re-read the pamphlet and I have been trying to apply it to my life even more. We can always do better, try harder. With it mapped out so clearly it should be easy right?

And my favorite part, because I feel so strongly about modesty.

"Never lower your dress standards for any occasion. Doing so sends the message that you are using your body to get attention and approval and that modesty is important only when it is convenient.
Immodest clothing includes short shorts and skirts, tight clothing, shirts that do not cover the stomach, and other revealing attire. Young women should wear clothing that covers the shoulder and avoid clothing that is low-cut in the front or the back or revealing in any other manner. Young men should also maintain modesty in their appearance. All should avoid extremes in clothing, appearance, and hairstyle. Always be neat and clean and avoid being sloppy or inappropriately casual in dress, grooming, and manners. Ask yourself, “Would I feel comfortable with my appearance if I were in the Lord’s presence?”"

Trunky

You know when missionaries are counting down the days until they go home. That is where I am at. Counting down the days until I move. I am seriously ready. And before you get me wrong it isn't that I am wanting to leave my family and friends and where I call home. I am just ready to go do the next thing. We know where we are living, we know when we are moving, we know how we are getting there. Now we just need to do it.

Before I go I hope I get a chance to see many of my friends I rarely get to see. I would to do lunch, run to Target, or just get a chance to sit back and chat. We are under 4 weeks until our move day. How crazy is that! And next week we aren't even here.

Randy and I were both talking about how ready we are to move forward. We feel like our lives have been on hold as we have waited to find out what the next step was going to be. And things are all finally in place and we are just ready to move forward and get started on our new adventure.

Easter Pictures.

I took the CUTEST Easter pictures today. My kids looked just adorable, and Little Miss had on her new dress I made her, and Little Man looked super cute. It was great.
I went to upload them and my CF card was corrupt. All images are now gone, I am ticked, sad, on the verge of tears, and ready to scream. I am in mourning. Stay tuned for some "fake" Easter pictures. Hopefully on "fake" Easter it will be nicer weather.