EmBrAcInG different CULTURES?!?!?!.......(not really)

For Family Home Evening last night we thought it would be GREAT idea to expose our children to different cultural rituals found around the world. We chose the AfRiCaN Culture for our lesson and talked about some of their beliefs and rituals (hence the body paint),................I aM ToTaLLy JuSt KiDdInG !!!!!!!

ChAsE

This is actually what my boys chose to do with sidewalk chalk.

I'd hate to see what they would do with MaRkErS!!!

JeTt

JaGgEr

Our CrAzY boys!

If cleanliness is next to Godliness, then I am well on my way straight to hell!

So my good pal, Char let me borrow her Bissel Vaccum Cleaner to deep clean my way over-due, slimy, dirty, nasty carpets, and this is what the water looked like after I was finshed with just my living room. (if none of my friends want to ever come over againg for movie/game night or dinner, I will completely understand)

It was AwEsOmE!!!! I am now completely disgusted with myself and how much of a pig and slacker I have become in my house-keeping skills. I fully blame my twins for that (heaven forbid I have AnYtHiNg to do with it!). I barely have time to put a bra on, let alone clean an entire house, and all for what.......so my 3 adoreable, busy, and unfortunately MeSsY BoYs can un-do 6 hours of a good cleaning and scrub down in under 3.5 minutes!

I used to be OCD about a clean house. I like a clean house, it is nice when your house smells kinda nice, your shoes don't stick to the tile, and there isn't any Mac N' Cheese dried into your rugs, I became a cleaning NAZI today and literally spent 6 hours washing windows, rugs, tile, floors, bathrooms, bedding, carpets, you name it, and I cleaned it!

and so here I sit in my perfectly clean house at 11:18 p.m. enjoying and basking in its lovely odor of 409 and Clorox Bleach. Because while it will only last for 7 hours and 41 more minutes (my boys will be waking up) I will enjoy it while I can :P and when tomorrow comes and the day is through and my boys have messed it all up, I will tell anyone who comes over and wanted to see my clean house that once was but it is no more after the boys get a hold of it;

"My house was clean yesterday, Sorry You missed it !"

Swiss Days, girlfriends, food, and fun !!!!

I conformed with the other 75% of Utah woman and attended Swiss Days in Midway this past weekend. Me, my lovely (skinny) sister, Shanelle, my 4 AdOreAbLe nieces (that includes you, Josephine, you are pretty much family in my book) My 2 AmAzInGlY hIlLaRiOuS and cute friends, Courtney and Randy, and sweet Alexis and Kathy, whom I just got acquainted with on this trip, all went down together on Friday night.

We stayed overnite in a Condo, met for dinner at the YuMmY, Baha Cantina, topped off dinner with some delicious chocolate from Wasatch Mountain Chocolate and then heade back to the condo for a night of chatting, giggling, and getting to know eachother a bit more. (Although I fear that Courtney and Randy got to know me a little more than they would have liked to, "sorry girls, late nights do wierd things to me".)

On Staurday morning we woke up and headed down to Midway fro Swiss Days. It was fun, if you like looking around and shopping for random items, such as jewelery, house decor, etc... i think you would enjoy it. However, if you do NOT like crowds or spending time looking around for things to buy and are one of those people who knows exactly what they want and wants to be in-and-out to purchase it, don't come here!

I enjoyed it and ended up buying some fun jewelery and a darling Bumbles Watch which was one reason why I wanted to go there. We shopped, ate, looked around and then headed for the outlets where I scored at the GAP, which took me by surprise because I don't normally tend to dig the GAP.


Anyways, it was a weekend of fun with some great girls. I look forward to doing it again next year, except I would love to have Lindsay, Char, Tamaryn, Elizabeth and of course, Keelee and Brooke come along-side me for the ride, that would be too much fun!


By the way, I can't believe how many peopl eI bumped into up in Park City, you would have thought there was a mini Taylorsville High School reunion going on up there. I saw, Sara Morrill, Emily Nixon, Marie Leffler, Danny Wright, Kim Fox, Brooke Neeley, Melissa Lucas, my brother-in-laws family, Some ward members. it was CrAzY !!!!

P.S. I love and adore you both, Courtney and Randy. We need to ge together at least once a month. You make me laugh so hard!

Take Time

Author Anna Quindlen reminds us not to rush past the fleeting moment.

She said: “The biggest mistake I made [as a parent] is the one that most of us make. . . . I did not live in the moment enough. This is particularly clear now that the moment is gone, captured only in photographs. There is one picture of [my three children] sitting in the grass on a quilt in the shadow of the swing set on a summer day, ages six, four, and one. And I wish I could remember what we ate, and what we talked about, and how they sounded, and how they looked when they slept that night. I wish I had not been in such a hurry to get on to the next thing: dinner, bath, book, bed. I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less”(Loud and Clear [2004], 10–11).

Starting today I am going to be better. I am going to listen, love, communicate, cherish, enjoy, teach, preach and prepare my children. Time for everything else later.

Bob, the blob is being evicted!!!

So I have re-motivated myself to finish what I started; to get rid of these last 15-20 pounds cause boy-oh-boy are they buggin'. I joined my friend, Ashley's "Hot Mom's" blog. It has been great! I am doing Phase One again and am going to the gym 5x's a week, wish me luck.

P.S. I think it is time for a picture up-date!

I can't even begin to tell you how much I HATE

this picture of me at 192 pounds!

Me at 152 pounds with 22 pounds to go! Wish me LuCk!!

We are daughter's of our Heavenly Father......

I was called, sustained and set apart as the first councelor in the Young Women's presidency this week!!!! I am so excited to be serving the cute girl's of my ward. I am also excited because I will be serving alongside some AmAzInG women, whom I know i am going to completely love. One of my dearest friends was called as the president. Good ole' Dana-Banana Grandy. She is going to be great for the job. I can't wait!!! I absolutely loved Young Women's as a youth and still love it as an adult. I have been able to serve as camp director for this ward twice, and was kind of sad after camp this year because I knew I wouldn't be up there for the next Gir's Camp (our bishop is pretty good about keeping you your calling for 2 years and then releasing you) But now, I will be there for hopefully 2 more years and have a bigger part in these girls lives. Love them all, can't wait to serve them !!!!! Wish me LuCk!!!

For Lindsay

I missed a few 80's greats that I feel I need to mention thanks to my friend, Lindsay;

• "Girl's just Want to have Fun", how could I ever be so stupid
• "Better Off Dead"
• Garbage Pale kids trading cards
• Who's the Boss

P.S. Lindsay, the fact that you called, "New Kids on the Block"- "NKOTB", screams that you were a die hard, so I think I will have to agree with Ammon! Wish you were coming with us to Swiss Days, but have fun in Vegas.

Nastalgia!!!

I am having all these carzy flashbacks of things from my childhood that I have either forgotten about or haven't thought about for years and years until someone reminds you either through a blog, a client, a conversation etc... So I am going to pay tribute to THE BEST decade of all by reminiscing about the AwEsOmE 80's! If I have forgotten anything of great importance please do feel free to remind me. Those of you who are of a previous or later decade, sorry, guess you'll have to reminise on your own blog.

Things that you probably haven't thought about for a long

time that are from the 80's (or at least close):

MOVIES/TV SHOWS:


1985 "The Peanut Butter Solution". Thanks to Marie Leffler i was reminded of this show that i haven't thought about since I was 4 years old and could barely remeber the name of it, but right when she mentioned it, memories flooded my mind. Does anyone else remember this one?


1986 "Pretty in Pink" One of my top 10 fave movies. You better know this one or you can't call yourself a girl

1986 "The Labrynth", starring David Bowie and Jennifer Connely. One of my Favorites and now one of my kids favorites.

1987 "Some Kind of Wonderful", again one of my top 10 fave movies. Favorite line from that movie, "You look good wearing my future."

1983-1987 "Fraggle Rock", if you were a cool kid you watched these furry little creatures with names like, Red, Gobo, Mokey, Wembley and Boober. ("you are so having flashbacks right now, aren't you?")

1984 "Rainbow Brite " again, every little girl watched this one. Remeber "Wisp", "Twink", and the horse we all wished we had, "Starlite".

1984-1986 "Punky Brewster"

1982-1987 "Today's Special", starring Sam, Jody, TXL, Muffy the Mouse, Mrs. Pennypacker, (wow, I can't believe i remember all of their names). This was my personal favorite.

1985-1989 "Small Wonder", the show about a kid who has a robot for a sister. barely remembering but there is a little something still there.

1985 "The Goonies", loved it, still do. "Rocky....... Road"?

CANDY/FOOD ITEMS

"Bonker's" Remember the slogan for the commercial. "Bonker's, they bonk you out."

"New York Seltzers", these were the best soda pops ever.

"Chocodiles" These lovely refined carb desserts came out in the 80's and are still around today. it doesn't get any better than a chocolate covered Twinki.

"Fruit Stripe Gum" The nastiest but coolest to look at gum

RESTAURANTS/STORES

"Hardee's" Fast food restaraunt that used to be on Redwood Road in Taylorsville, Utah

"Grand Centeral" Grocerey Store in Taylorsville on 54oo South and Redwood Road that is now Furniture Wearhouse.

CLOTHES/ACESSORIES/BEAUTY PRODUCTS

Biker shorts, oversized T-shirt and a T-shirt Ring. You know, the plastc circle thing that we would string the bottom of one side of our T-shirts through.

L.A. GEAR'S HIGH TOP SHOES

LEG WARMERS

ACID WASHED JEANS

BLUE AND WHITE STRIPED GIRBO 9can't remember how to spell) SHORTS

SKORTS (a skirt with built in shorts)

UNIT BELTS (these you would wear over the end of your T-shirt where it met your pants to make it look like you were wearing a one unit piece of clothing)

ELECTRIC BLUE MASCARA

BLIND SUNGLASSES (there were no lenses just little blinds)

B.U.M. EQUIPMENT BRAND CLOTHING

HAIR CRIMPERS

ACQUA NET HAIRSPARY (i think my sister's still use that stuff, gross)

Trapper Keeper's, the all-time greatest invention for any student who like to be organized. I actually was wondering if they still make these because I would love one for myself.

MUSIC/BANDS

"New Kids On The Block", Danny, Donnie, Jordan, Joe, and Johnathon. LOVED THEM SO MUCH, (kind of still do)

"Millie Vanillie", Those lip syncin' fools who won a grammy just to give it ack beacuse they got busted. Looks like they won't be blamin' that one on the rain ;D

I'm done