Off on an adventure...

It is finally here...the day to take amber to BYU-Idaho...tomorrow...it couldn't have been a day longer...
As it usually is before a trip, it has been a chaotic night, and its time to hit the hay, and get up bright and early and head out because as you may or may not know, Rexburg is quite a drive from our little hamlet.  In case you are wondering, there are 3 different routes to get there, and not one is preferred over the other.  I took an unofficial poll. It wasn't much help!
It will be pretty unlikely for me to blog while I am gone, so I will have to play catch up when I get back.  Just know that it will be a great adventure, and I may have a story or two to tell when I get back.
See ya!

2 weeks GBE

Well, two weeks into it, and I haven't been perfect, but I haven't given up either.  Honestly, I don't feel inspired at all to be witty, introspective, or impressive.  I do feel like sharing 2 blog posts I have run across recently.

This one is by Jen Hatmaker.  (Maybe some of you have heard of her post that highlighted her as the Worst End of School Mom Ever.  It is pretty funny in and of itself, and if you are interested, click here.  My son-in-law Brandon actually sent that post to me, and I was ever so glad.)  But I have digressed...

The other blog post was shared by my youngest sister on Facebook. (The language in this post is not squeaky clean.  Just a head's up.)

What I find interesting about both of these posts is not only that they are somewhat related, but that neither of these moms are LDS.  Now, I'm not going to claim LDS women have the market on comparing themselves to other moms, but those of you who have listened to General Conference or a General RS Broadcast lately, know that it is a big problem among us.  We strive hard to be perfect, then fall short because we are human, and move on to beating ourselves up because we are NOT perfect, and surely are the LEAST perfect of all the sisters in our ward who are, well, perfect!!  It is a vicious circle.

Now that I am a grandma, and my kids are not little anymore, and I have (more than a few) grey hairs, I can honestly say that I am often able to refrain from comparing myself to others.  I think I have learned at least that much in my life so far.  But I would be dishonest if I said that the comparison monster does not rear his ugly head occasionally, and I have to beat it away (one good use for those gargantuan zuchinni, hee hee) and step back and remember that I would be a fool to let him get into my head.

I think that the majority of the time, though, I rejoice in the good things that happen to those in my circle, and that I sorrow with them for the not so good things that happen, and cheer them on when they are doing something hard or new, and, most of all, that I keep my perspective.  I would like to think these things anyway...

As I said at the beginning, I'm not perfect, but I haven't given up...

Don't make me call my flying monkeys...

I have always been a Wizard of Oz fan.  I truly have no idea how many times I watched it as a child/teenager.  I haven't watched it a lot as an adult, mostly because my kids weren't very interested in it, not like I was.  I love that it starts out in black and white, then magically changes to full color when Dorothy landed in Oz.  

I love the Munchkins, Almira Gulch and her bicycle, flying through the air, and Dorothy's interaction with each of her Oz friends - the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion.  I don't know how old I was when I realized the farm hands in the beginning of the movie were those three characters in Oz.  I LOVE Dorothy's ruby slippers and the fact that she can tap them 3 times and they will take her home.  

I also love the soldiers marching into the castle singing Oh-Ee-Oh, Oh-Oh.  (maybe its the song I love more than the actual soldiers.)  I don't love the wicked witch, but I do love the concept of her ability to call out the Flying Monkeys when she needed a little back up.

Now, I can't claim magical powers, or that I know the secret to getting yourself back home when you lose your way, but I have been known a time or two to warn my kids that they don't want me to call my Flying Monkeys!!  :)

Enter this sign that I ran across at the BYU Bookstore the last time we were there!  I truly couldn't resist buying it because now I have something physical I can flash when the need arises to call out the FMs.

So perfect when my inner wicked witch surfaces!! ;)

Happy Birthday Chelsie!!! - day 13

Happy Birthday, Chelsie!!  #24, and going strong!  She is smart, funny, has a strong testimony, is a great wife, and will be a mama soon. (She is ignoring the fact that she was a really crabby baby and relying on the knowledge that Dallin was a very happy baby!  :) She works hard, plays hard, and loves life. (If you don't believe me, just look at this picture...it is indicative of Chelsie and her husband, Dallin.  They love to goof off.)

Despite being a crabby baby, she got over that, and for the most part has been a most pleasant family member.

Chelsie spent many, many hours on the soccer field.  She started in Kindergarten and played all the
 way through her Sr. year in High School.   

Dressed up in their wedding clothes at Allison and Ryan's Mexican Fiesta reception.

Of course, I could go on and on about her, and these few pictures don't really tell her full story, but in the spirit of shortness and sweetness, let me just say how much we love her and are so grateful she is in our family, and how much I love that I get to be her mom!! 

Here's to many more, dear Chelsie!  We love you!!!

A lesson learned a little too well...Day 12

Some of you may remember this post wherein I told of the great lesson I learned to live in the moment and not always try to capture it on the camera.  Well, I am here to tell you, there must be a happy medium somewhere, but I have yet to find it.  

There are ZERO pictures from Allison and Ryan's open house because I DIDN'T TAKE ANY!!  Really! None of the dessert table.  None of Alli and Ryan chatting with some of the guests. None of the present table, or the Mexican banner strung along the bottom of the deck, or my 3 friends who slaved in the kitchen to keep things organized, or Ryan's parents who traveled from Southern California to be here, and, you guessed it, none of the beautiful flowers my friend, Roberta, put together!!  AAUUGGHH!!!  I am so sad about this!

The best I can do is show this picture of the lanterns the girls made for the trees.  This is actually the day after the Open House, when we lit them.  Logistically, we just couldn't work out getting them lit for the actual event.  I know - Lame!!  And truly, this picture doesn't do them any justice, but you will have to take my word, they are charming, and will be perfect next time we need them.

Here is a sweet little moment from my day.  As I was cooking the usual Saturday night hamburgers, I noticed a bird on the edge of this lantern.  The bird kept dipping into it as if it was eating, but all I can figure is that there is water in there from our recent rain, and it was getting a little liquid refreshment.





I decided that this moment is one benefit of my blogging experiment...I notice little things like this and run to get my camera.  I truly had to run Trevor over as I was getting it.  It was not my finest moment. :)

Day 11 and a strange coincidence

This morning when I opened my email, I found this waiting for me to read.   The TED talk is short, and really good.  I have been thinking up 30 day challenges all day.

Now just a little background...
Stacy lived in our ward for about a year way back in the late 90's.  She is talented beyond my wildest dreams, and developed a scrapbook education company, and is in demand by scrapbook companies galore.  She is a mom, a wife, and a strong member of the Church, which is about where the similarities between us end.  Well, she is only a few years younger than me, so there is one more.  She was a great friend to have for a year, but sadly she moved away and we lost touch.
Fast forward to 2011...my good friend, Sue, moved to the same town as Stacy and in a crazy twist of fate, moved right across the street from Stacy.  Our friendship was re-kindled.  Yay!

Now, those of you who may know me well, will know that I am often a day late and a dollar short, and NEVER on the cutting edge of anything, but miracle of miracles, I set the same goal as Stacy, and even did it before her!!  I am sure this sounds really stupid to you, but I feel a certain something, although at this point, it must remain unnamed because I really can't define it.  Suffice to say, I feel a little on the cutting edge, and a little more on par with Stacy.  (Not that I am comparing myself to her...no, no, no...that would be foolish as our lifestyles aren't really comparable.  I will admit that seems a lot like what I am doing, but you will have to trust me, I am not.)

So to wrap things up...
-I loved the TED talk.  Have you discovered TED talks? I have only seen a few, but they are good.  I should spend a little more time with them.
-I am happy to have a rekindled relationship with Stacy.  She is really a very motivating person to have in your life.  And I am NOT comparing myself to her.
-I am happy I followed through with the idea to blog for 30 days and look forward to more 30 day challenges.

Day 10 - GBE

Well, we knew it would happen, I just really thought it would take me a little longer, but it's happened, and I'm going to just keep moving forward.  So in that spirit, here is Day 9...

You may just think this is a blurry photo, but if you look closely you will see that raindrops are making it look that way!  The weather all week has been muggy!  Hot and muggy.  Tuesday it rained, and it was still a little hot, but the sun was hidden by the clouds, and it was nice.  Sadly, by the time I walked out of the grocery store, the sun was out, and the rain was gone.

Yesterday, Amber and I traveled to Walla Walla for some desperately needed dental work, and were entertained the whole way home by a very cool lightning storm.  Then in the middle of the night, it rained again.  (The Walla Walla trip is my excuse for skipping my blog yesterday.  I was very tired and had a killer headache by the time we got home, and I completely forgot about doing it!  Darn!!

That brings us to today, and this is what it did all morning.  Lovely, steady rain!!  My windows were open, there was a breeze going through my house, and I even pulled on a sweatshirt as I felt a little chilled.  "Mmm..Fall is falling", I thought to myself!!

But like many good things, it was only temporary, and by noon, it was warming up again, and I was peeling off my sweatshirt, and the sun came out for most of the afternoon.  "Shoot", I thought to myself, "so much for Fall!!"

The sun was hidden by clouds all through Kristin's soccer game, which was not only nice for the players, but the spectators as well.  But as I type, we are back to heavy, hot air.  It was good while it lasted.