A Day in the life of the Railings

Friday's Letters (continued)

2012-02-11T00:05:00.000-08:00

{If you missed it, you can catch a letter I wrote to our little one today here.}

Dear Self,
It's ok to not finish everything on the to-do list today.
You really can go relax and read that book you picked up today.
Being a wife and mama doesn't have to be nonstop doing.
It can be moments of just enjoying and relaxing.
{Just one more thing! Promise!}
Just a reminder too that you don't always have to say, "Yes"
to doing things. Over-committing or even,
committing when you really can't give 100% just isn't worth it.
Balance is important. Especially at this point in life with another little one on the way.
But, thinking things through is important too.
An, "I'll have to get back to you on that" works too.
And, your husband and son are pretty good excuses for turning down something :)

Dear Husband of Mine,
You're wonderful. I love you.
Even the times I get a little irritated these days.
It's not you (well, not most of the time at least ;-)
Although, I did chuckle today
when I told you I wasn't feeling too great
and you asked, "Why?"
Oh, I don't know. Maybe it has to do with
a little someone coming in
seven months :-)
Still. I love you a great deal.
You put so many other guys to shame.
You treat me like a princess.
You are always asking if I'm ok,
and calling just to say hi.
You love dinner whether it's top ramen
or something fancier.
And you do great with Andrew. It's so sweet to watch.
I can't wait to see what the next years bring for us!

Dear Andrew,
I love you so much.
You amaze me every single day.
Today, I was telling your daddy a story about years ago,
spending the day with friends at a rollercoaster park,
and how we got slushees because it was hot.
We got in line for a roller coaster and were sad because
we had to throw them away, even just standing in line.
You piped up with an idea.
"They should put a trash container on the roller coaster!
Then everyone could keep their slushees!"
It amazes me what you pick up on, are listening to,
and think of in response at just four years of age.
I love your enthusiasm for life. I hope you never lose it!
It is so sweet. I love you sweet boy.
And our snuggles at night. They are the best.
I love hearing you sing. You're at a pretty sweet
place in life right now.

Dear craft box,
I miss you. I really do. I have so many great ideas!
Like this one

And this

(except I have a much prettier idea! And using the letters to spell out words)
And, this to store my jewelry

Someday. I'll get back to you, craft box. I will. :) Promise.

Dear Pillow,

You and I are on pretty good terms right now. Oh yes. :)
Except for some days. I need to make longer appointments with you.
This baby loves that!

Dear Goodwill,
I will forever be your fan.
Where else could I find this

for $6.99?! Total with food: $15.99. Oh yeah!
We have one happy little chef-in-training!

Dear Charlie Puth,
Your covers of songs are quite amazing. Truly.
I could listen to them for a long time.
Exhibit A.
Exhibit B.

Dear identity thief,
Did you really think I'd fall for this?

I'm honored that you'd like to confirm my account, but I think I'm good.
You might as well just as for my social security number and credit card
while you're at it.

Dear Chase, Visa, and Paypal,
No more interest or payments for you!!
Paid you all in full! Hallelujah tax return!!!

P.s. to self
Laughter is good for the soul.
Very very good!

Happy weekend everyone! I'd love if it you'd link up too :)

Friday on my mind

2012-02-10T01:21:00.000-08:00

Dear little one,

You are almost 10 weeks old!
You are looking more and more like a little baby!
You've been on my mind a lot lately.
Part of me is so scared at the thought of having two little ones to take care of now.
And, I don't even know why.
I've always been nervous about this change,
but change doesn't usually ever get to me.
I think it might have to do with having your sweet four-year-old brother
and being able to meet all of his needs, and all of your needs too.
So drastically different, yet both important!
I don't know how I will do being stretched two different ways,
but I know your daddy will try to help as much as he can.
He is so good that way. He loves us a lot, and does such a good job taking care of us.
Maybe it's the sleepless nights. We had so many with your brother.
But, we made it!
I was thinking though, and you know what?
I realized after all these doubts and thoughts that,
"You know what?
I can do this.
God has blessed me with these two beautiful little lives.
I can be a mama to both of them
He is the one who gives me enough strength and grace for each day.
I can do this."
And then, I felt a little better. I already do it with your brother!
It will mean changes (a lot less me time, as selfish as that sounds :-S )
But I know it will all be worth it.
I cannot wait to feel your little flutters,
and to see you move against my tummy.
I can't wait!!
Your daddy gives you the sweetest kisses already, and tells you that he loves you.
It makes me melt.
Your brother has been begging for days and days to go to the hospital
so they can do an ultrasound and he can "see" you on the ultrasound.
He is in love already.
He noticed my tummy the other day, and told me,
"MAMA! The baby is growing!!!"
You are, sweet child. I am smitten.
I want so badly to buy you darling little clothes, but alas, we wait ten more weeks!
That's ok though. I cherish the moments.
Part of me worries that you'll be ok.
We lost two little ones already. And, part of me is holding my breath.
I don't want to get my hopes up.
But, I am trying to trust God. He is my strength and my song.

I love you, little one.

Love, Mama

{Linking up here }

Eleven!

2012-02-09T23:50:00.000-08:00

Rules

1. Post these rules
2. You must post 11 random things about yourself
3. Answer the questions set for you in their post
4. Create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer
5. Go to their blog and tell them you've tagged them
6. Tag 11 people

11 Randoms About ME:

1. I am as close to my dad as most girls are to their moms. I think it's because we're just a lot alike. My mom and my brother are alike and both close too. It's funny how that goes but I don't mind.

2. I can't stand mushrooms cooked or raw. If they're on pizza, I'll eat them. Just not my thing though.

3. I love it when Josh calls me his princess. It's his thing. I love it.

4. I've always wanted to go to New York around Christmas time and take everything in. It would be fabulous.

5. I always have the best ideas that I start but never finish it! {My craft drawers are proof of that}

6. I am like a walking spell check. I don't correct people unless they ask, but, if you ask, chances are I know how to spell it.

7. I recently fell in love with popchips. SO good.

8. I am so sentimental. Example today: We recently went to my brother's swearing-in ceremony for the Navy and I took pictures. I wanted to put some on my Facebook page. But declined getting the camera because I know I'm going to cry looking through them. Gah. I love memories. I just get so teary-eyed thinking of the times we've had together and thinking of him being gone now. But, I'm thankful we were able to get pictures. We didn't think we'd be able to.

9. I've never been to a single prom. I was homeschooled and went to private school for all of my school years.

10. Ironically though, the wedding dress I bought was a prom dress. Why they made a white prom dress, I have no idea. But really. Can you beat $150 at Dillard's?! It had beautiful beading and daisies, and I am short so it was floor length! My mom made my veil.

11. I am really independent. As sentimental as I am, I don't get homesick. It's weird. Anytime I've traveled, I haven't really missed home, growing up or now. Don't get me wrong- I love the people there, but I love the people I'm visiting too. And it's not that I don't love being home or my home- I definitely do! It's just how I am. Weird huh?

Randi's questions for me

1. What was your favorite book as a child/teenager?

I don't think I could pick just one. I loved to read and frequently had the limit of books checked out on my library card. Some favorites: Choose your own adventure series, American Girl books, historical fiction, Frank Peretti, Melody Carlson, Janette Oke, Robin Jones Gunn... so many many favorites.

2. What is your most visited website?

Facebook. It's how I connect with so many far-away family and friends.

3. How did you meet your spouse/significant other?

Through my cousin, actually! We were all hanging out one summer and started dating the next year.

We decided we kindof liked each other, and, well, the rest is history!

4. Do you have any can't miss TV shows

We don't have cable or even basic tv so it makes it a little challenging to follow any shows

but some of my favorites are shows like Cake Boss, any cooking competitions, any fashion competitions,

Grey's Anatomy, Deadliest Catch, Mythbusters, and some of the crime dramas.

5. If you have children, how did you come up with your child's name? If you don't have children, do you already have name ideas for future children?

Andrew was a good compromise from some of Josh's traditional favorites and some of my more modern favorites.

6. What is your earliest memory?

Going to see my brother at the hospital when I was 3. However, I don't remember him. Just going to the hospital and getting this fun pretend food from "him." Funny how that goes, isn't it?

7. Do you celebrate Valentine's Day? How?

It depends on the year and the finances! Usually though just something small and thoughtful for each other.

I told Josh a card is a must. I don't know why, but I am a sucker for getting a good card!

This year we might go out on a date. We'll see!

8. What's your favorite bible verse and why? (If you're not religious, any other quote, etc you find inspiring?)

I love Jeremiah 29:11- For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

9. How would you describe your decorating style?

You mean, the style I hope to one day have? It's hard to really decorate when you only have white walls and a small place to work with, so now, where we're at, it doesn't quite reflect the style I love, but describing it- I love blue, & brown, with touches of pretty flourishes, and creativeness. Someday.. we'll have our place.

10. If you had $5000 to spend, but could only choose one store, what store would you pick? What would you buy?

Target. All the way baby. There are so many things you could spend $5,000 on there. I'm always hoping I'll win those surveys they have! Plus there's target.com too!

11. And a hot topic question- Chili: noodles, no noodles? How do you make your chili?

Can't stand noodles in my chili. Just meat, beans, and veggies!

Tag, You're It!

My questions for you

1. What's your favorite morning beverage?

2. Where would you go on vacation right now if everything was paid for and taken care of (including children and work taken care of!) Also, who would you take with you? Or would you go alone?

3. What is something you will never forget?

4. What is something that changed you for the better?

5. If you could learn to do anything, what would it be?

6. What would you do with an extra two hours in the day to yourself?

7. What language would you learn if you could?

8. What's your favorite kid movie?

9. What brings back memories from your childhood(thing, scent, place, etc) ?

10. Interesting fact about you?

11. Romantic date night in, or out? And, doing what?

(Don't forget! You don't answer the first set of questions I answered! Those are from my tag. Your questions to answer are the second set of "my questions for you." Answer my questions, post 11 questions of your own, tag some blogs (and be sure to notify them on their blogs too!) then have fun getting to know the bloggers better!!)

Bloggers I'm tagging:

1. Julie @ Julie's Thoughts

2. Melody @ MelodyMae
3. Candy @ A Few of My Favorite Things
4. Ashley @ Mommy... A Work in Progress
5. Christina @ A Homemaker's Journal
6. Lenae @ {just} Lenae
7. Sarah @ This Heavenly Life
8.Melanie @ Keeping up with The Cantelmo's
9. Andi @ The Hollie Rogue
10. Jessy @ Jessy's Jotted Thoughts
11.Lori @ Livin' in a Fishbowl

{If you don't want to tag 11 bloggers, that's ok :) Do as many as you'd like. 11 is just the theme of the # of questions :) }

Wordless Wednesday

2012-02-08T11:40:00.000-08:00

(Note: this isn't totally wordless- some of the photos you'd wonder who the people were or what was happening! But the main idea of Wordless Wednesday is to use as few words as possible so the photos speak for themselves)

{My brother left for Navy basic training last Thursday. We were blessed to see and surprisingly be able to take photos of his swearing-in ceremony! We are so proud of him!}

{Pictures from his going away party}

{A sweet moment between my cousin Anne's son Charlie & Josh. Kids are just drawn to Josh!}

{Rare moment captured. Andrew & his Great Papa Fox}

Menu Plan on a Monday

2012-02-06T21:53:00.000-08:00

This is our menu for the week!

Monday- Cornbread muffins with bbq beef baked in the middle, salad. (Normally I make bbq meat in the crock pot and it is good! But today we splurged on Jack Daniels BBQ Beef. It is to die for. Worth the price.) {This was a new recipe and SO delicious!}

Tuesday- Roast chicken pitas

Wednesday- Twice-baked potatoes with bacon, sour cream & chives

Thursday- Baked creamy chicken taquitos

(LOVING this website where the taquito recipe is from! so many great recipes!

Friday- Pizza

What are you eating this week?

8 1/2 weeks!

2012-02-05T03:27:00.000-08:00

This pregnancy, I wanted to do nice pictures every month to document it, rather than my easy fallback of bathroom mirror photos. Today was gloriously sunny and the temperatures were quite lovely for February! These are my two favorite photos we got. My sweet husband took them! I thought it'd be perfect to add one of my favorite verses to one of the photos. I can't wait to document the next seven months!

Midweek Confessions! 2/1/12

2012-02-01T23:34:00.000-08:00

It's that time again! Linking up to Midweek Confessions. Hard to believe it's almost Thursday, but I am thankful the week is almost over!

My confessions this week:

1) I baked cupcakes tonight. And raspberry cheesecake. So good!!

(But I've eaten really healthy this pregnancy and decided to not make anything so far that hasn't been healthy. I've wanted a lot of fruit. )

2) Jamba Juice sounded way too good the other day. Enough so that I called my sweet husband to get me one. And he did :)

3) We almost applied for the perfect duplex this week. In town. Backyard. New. Beautiful. Bigger. Sigh.

But then I was up til the wee hours realizing that the timing just isn't quite perfect yet. Yes, it would be nice, but better to pay off the debt we have, and add a bit to savings, and be able to buy the things on our baby list than to be on a super tight budget all of a sudden. Next year!

4) Our library movies are overdue again. Argh. Totally forgot to tell Josh to return them! And, no returning them after hours! They have a $10/per item fee for dropping them in the drop box. (Kindof understandable! Have you ever seen beaten up library videos?!)

5) The new JC Penney ad seriously bugs me. It's just annoying. And, the hubby isn't too amused either. Since he works there, he had to do all the work to get this "great" new pricing system going (thanks to a new company CEO.) Why is it that newer ends up being more complicated with more flaws and issues??

6) I'm not a fan of relaxin. But I am of relaxing. Figure it out? Relaxin is a hormone produced by the body during pregnancy to loosen the joints to prepare the body for birth. Yes, well at 8 1/2 weeks pregnant, I'm not liking this too much because my hip joint is a little too loose and it hurts to walk! Oiy.

7) I'm surprised at the 100 I got on my latest case study in my business communications class. Reason: the teacher is super strict, and the class is one of those where you have to discuss ideas and nice communication and it's not just straight facts. It makes everything a lot harder. I felt for the other people in the class when she informed us after the fact that last week's case studies would get no credit if they were late. She told everyone the day after they were due. Thankfully I had already turned mine in. And, surprisingly got a 100 on it. Yay for small blessings!! (Ok, or big ;-) )

8) One of my biggest pet peeves is when people misuse "you're" and instead write "your" all over the place. "You're" driving me crazy with "your" use of that word!!!! Aah. And with the advent of using phones, it's ever-prevalent now on social networks. I bet I would have a good thousand bucks for every time I've seen it the past year. Just saying.

9) My other big pet peeve are the people I know who would rather be all sugary sweet to your face, then out of the blue cut contact because they really were bugged by a bunch of things that you did. As hard as it might be, it is so much better to just talk to the person. After all, you may have had a misunderstanding! And even if not, there is always room for forgiveness and more communication. I'd rather know the truth and have my feelings hurt a little than be happy with a lie and a friendship that isn't very open and honest.

10) I love not having a car payment. Not bragging because we do have other debt we're working on. But, really. I love it. How in the world though? It's doable! Be content with less. Save up cash. Or sell what is giving you a payment (and think, is it really worth the money?!) Buy something you can be content with. Then continue to save cash and you can get double what you have, and so on and so on. Dave Ramsey is quite brilliant.

11) I was totally blown away by some bags of frozen fruit I found at the store today.

Yes, really. $9.29. $8.99. $9.89. That's gotta be some pregnancy craving! Or a REAL need for good fruit.

12) I want to take nicer photos to document the pregnancy than ones with my camera phone (like, outside maybe?! But it's been cold and I haven't gotten around to it yet! Here is last week @ 7 weeks.

13) I am and I'm not looking forward to my brother's Navy swearing in ceremony tomorrow. I'm going to miss him. I'm so sentimental. Cute story: I told Andrew that Uncle Nathan would be leaving soon to protect our country. Andrew got a little teary-eyed and said, "But I will miss him!" He was quiet for a few minutes. Then perked up. "I know! I will send soldiers to get all the bad guys! Then Uncle Nathan can come home soon!!" Kid is so smart! And such a sweetheart. Sigh. I am trying not to think about him leaving. I'm thankful I can go. We've gotten so much closer as the years have gone by and I am thankful for our friendship. He's my only sibling, so it's a friendship I cherish.

14) I am up way too late for going down to Seattle early tomorrow! Oops! Goodnight all!

Those cravings!

2012-01-30T23:44:00.000-08:00

Those pregnancy cravings...! Seriously all I have been wanting lately is fruit! And fruit smoothies. And more fruit.

Today Josh just so happened to be near a smoothie place when I called him today. He even stopped and got me one! My day was instantly amazing! What a sweet husband I have!! I am spoiled! I really wanted something blackberry. Like, would have paid a lot for it! But, alas, blackberries are out of season. (I knew this too, but thought there might be a small chance they'd have something!!) So, a yummy raspberry-strawberry-blueberry concoction it was. It was so good.

What did you crave when you were pregnant?

Hello Seattle!

2012-01-30T23:35:00.000-08:00

{love that song :) }

Last weekend, we took a little trip down south to meet up with family. On the way back, we decided to stop in Seattle. After all, Andrew had yet to ride the monorail, and since we were down there, why not?!

{There is art everywhere in Seattle! I love it.}

{EMP}

{Train was pulling up!}

{50th anniversary of the Mono Rail already! Both my parents were at that World's Fair!}

{Love this!!}

{I really want some of these! They are so pretty!}

{Awesome flamingo made out of metal}

{Somebody scored free Dr. Pepper 10!}

{Andrew loved this street musician! He waved hello and the man stopped playing to say hi back!}

{On the skybridge on the 6th floor of Macy's}

{Yes our son loves escalators! And yes we went to Macy's for the sole purpose of riding the escalators all the way to the top and back down again! Did you know they have a cafe at the Seattle Macy's?! You can order amazing desserts and coffee and such!}

{Cool chair in the men's department of Macy's}

{Not candy or soap! It's cosmetics!}

We had fun. We went to a toy store and Andrew picked out a police matchbox car (yay for toys that are only $1.49 in the city!!). He was thrilled to add another to his growing collection. He has each car memorized. Pretty amazing memory! Oh Seattle. How I love you. There is always something going on in this city! I love it! No time for Pike Place this time but perhaps in April when Josh and I make it to the Weekend to Remember!

Easiest cookies ever!

2012-01-25T12:27:00.000-08:00

I am definitely craving all things sweet this pregnancy! (Maybe it means it's a girl since I craved salty, meat dishes with Andrew?!) Last night, I was craving some cookies. Actually, scratch that. I've been craving cookies for about two days. Badly! Problem: we ran out of flour and I forgot to put it on the shopping list!! (That is a problem when you're craving the cookies at 1 am!) What's a girl to do?! I know you can make peanut butter cookies sans flour, but one of the girls I nanny has a severe peanut allergy and I try to not eat anything with peanuts on the days that I watch her. So.. back to the drawing board. Then I remembered a recipe my lovely mother-in-love passed on: cake mix cookies. Ohh was I excited! We had a cake mix left!! These cookies are so easy. And tasty. And have endless possibilities for what you could do with them! Oh this pregnant girl was excited! Craving satisfied!

Cake Mix Cookies

Preheat oven to 350 Degrees F

Ingredients:

1 cake mix

1 egg

1/4 c. oil

1/4 c. water

Combine all ingredients. Blend well. (Don't add anything to the cake mix. Just add the dry mix to the other ingredients)

Form 1 inch balls and place on cookie sheet. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown
Sprinkle with a little sugar to make prettier.
Other ideas: Frost the cookies, make cookie sandwiches using ice cream, or frosting, or make a marbled cookie by making two batches of dough with different cake mixes (chocolate and vanilla for example) and take two parts of dough to make one cookie.

Home made frosting recipe:
1/4 c. butter softened
1 c. powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla.
Combine all and beat until smooth. Add food coloring if desired. So good!

Enjoy!!
On another note, I am stoked because this book came in the mail today!!

I journaled some with Andrew, but not as much as I wish I had!! It will be fun to fill up with letters to this new little one, and memories of the pregnancy!

Guest posting today at Interlacing of a Living Fractal Life on what hope means to me.

Happy Wednesday!

Loving the spontaneous moments in life

2012-01-21T01:40:00.000-08:00

What kind of person are you? Do you crave set schedules or do you long for the spontaneous moments life has? Or, maybe both? I am a mix of both. I am pretty flexible and love to go with the flow, but if I have plans carefully made, I don't want something to throw it off.

Kids definitely don't go with carefully made plans! That part of life has been an adjustment the past few years, but that is ok! Learning to change with what our son needs is ok!

Tonight, it was time to get ready for bed. He begged with the cutest little eyes to take a bath. We have plans tomorrow to take a little trip down south to see family. Getting enough sleep is definitely on the top of the list for the boy! (Well, the mama's list! Not his list!) A bath would have just prolonged bed time. But, alas, I gave in. After all, I know a bath helps me relax and be even more ready for sleep.

I'm thankful I went with the flow. It was a sweet moment together!

Proof Positive

2012-01-20T19:27:00.001-08:00

Had to post just for kicks.

Second test didn't even take ten seconds to show up!

Feeling pretty good.

Craving lots of fruit.

Mmm.

Loving one another

2012-01-18T00:00:00.000-08:00

Take a few minutes to watch this video. It might change the way you look at autism.

This made me think

about the way we judge others.

The way we look at those with special needs

especially if they are a "bother"

or make us feel uncomfortable.

I realized that, Jesus loved everyone

including those with autism or any other disability.

We need to stop treating them like they are the disability

and rather treat them the way they should be loved by Jesus

After all, like you saw with Carly,

they may be hearing your words more than you realize!

And just think, how much farther a loving, encouraging word will go

than a harsh, unloving one.

And then there were four

2012-01-15T01:07:00.000-08:00

(Wait for the video to load :) )

Due 9.10.12.

Couldn't be happier!!!

{Don't you just love that announcement? He is so darling!}

Right now, keep the baby's health(and mine) in your prayers

Because, it is early on

But, if you think about it, even though the percentage of risks go down as pregnancy progresses

there is still no more of a guarantee at 5 months or 6 months or 9.

It's all in God's hands.

Praising the Lord for a totally low-stress job (compared to the pregnancy with Andrew. Working at a daycare is not low-stress! Children are sweet and I love them but some of the little darlings.. ;-) Now I nanny)

"Andrew what are you going to do with the baby?"

"I'm going to change his diaper! And give him kisses!

And he can have my crib!! oh! And I can give him my baby clothes too!"

"Is it a girl or boy?" It's a boy!" "It

might be a girl!" "NO! It's a boy!"

When he told my dad he said, "Papa you need to sit down! I have some special news to tell you!"

It was precious. I love him!

Vintage Love Senior Photoshoot

2012-01-14T11:17:00.000-08:00

It may be January and a little chilly out but we were totally up for the challenge, even with only 1/2 an hour of dusk left! Linking up with thisorthat Thursday (yes, on a Saturday ;-) ) to show you some of the fun we had and some of the gorgeous shots we got!

(in)spired deals review & giveaway!

2012-01-13T11:02:00.000-08:00

This is a Dayspring (in)spired deals sponsored review.

I was given this product to review by Dayspring.
All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I love getting personal mail. Love it. I miss the "good ol' days" of sending snail mail. I would run out to the mailbox, baited breath, and eagerly open the box, thumbing through the pieces of mail to see if any held my name. I had several penpals growing up and cherished mail from every single one of them. We wrote about life, about our hopes, thoughts, and dreams. {Confession: I still have almost every letter saved in shoeboxes! They are sweet to read through! I am one of those sentimental people who save almost every single letter and card people send me because, I appreciate the thought and don't want to throw away their carefully chosen words. -Note I said "almost every" though because it would be space-consuming to save that many years of cards ;-) }

This month, Dayspring's theme is "Encourage One Another." I love getting personal mail but even more than that, I absolutely love to give and send mail to others. I am all for encouraging people I know! Think about the last time you received a card that just made your day. It's one of those things you don't forget, isn't it? It touches me to think that someone cared that much to send me a card! I love to do the same!

I had the opportunity to review some of Dayspring's wonderful cards as part of their (in)spired deals reviews for bloggers.

Dayspring sent me a package of adorable Peanuts Thank-you cards and another of a mix of other great encouraging cards. I was challenged to send out ten cards. I gladly embraced that challenge!

Andrew wanted to add his own special touch, and send a special note to our Aunt Judy who we were blessed to spend a week with after Christmas. Children are never too young to add their touch to cards and to learn the meaning of showing appreciation!

This month, I am pleased to be offering a $20 giveaway to Dayspring's site for one lucky reader.

I could spend a long time on their site!

They have beautiful, tasteful home decor and cards with a great message.

Even better, the prices are very reasonable!

Some favorites from this month:

Ever Grateful Platter

Ever Grateful Dinner Plate

{I love the beautiful scroll work on it! They also have it in taupe and it's on sale! Dishwasher & microwave safe}

Beautiful Glass Hurricanes

Tiered Server

{This is deeply discounted right now! More than half off!}

They have great gifts too

How darling is this little baby hat?

And any of their beautiful cards. They feature some great collections like Peanuts and Really Woolley (the baby hat is from the Really Woolley baby collection. The items are darling and would make perfect gifts or something for your own baby! The prices are reasonable too.)

{That card on top? The ice cream one? It's perfect. "It's hard to imagine a world without ice cream."
The inside says "or you. Thanks for being a great friend!" I sent that to a special friend of mine :) }

This month, take a second to pick up some cards at Dayspring's site and send some encouragement to people you know! {they even sell boxed sets so you get a bunch of great ones to send!}

To enter the $20 giveaway, simply comment on the blog with who you would send a card to, to show some encouragement!

{Giveaway ends 1/20/2012 at 11:59 PM}

Andrew lately (photo linkup)

2012-01-12T22:40:00.000-08:00

Just can't get enough of his sweet smile! Thought I would post some photos today for a linkup with the Hollie Rogue to show you some photos I've taken this week. Because I take pictures as a profession, our son is, well, not camera shy, but rather camera-over-it. He's used to it. But, that doesn't mean he likes to pose! Oh quite the opposite! And, it's hard to get a great natural smile. He sure has the cheese down! So, today, when the window light was just perfect, and he was in a camera-happy mood, I decided I should get some pictures to capture the moment.

Somebody made a match!

Look at that darling face! I could stare into his eyes all.day.long.

Playing with mama's train whistle gotten at Yellowstone years ago on a beloved family vacation.

And, for some post-bubblebath sweetness.

Of course, you can't forget the fun too!

No flash! These photos were all taken with natural light.

Cooking on a dime (asking for recipes!)

2012-01-12T21:16:00.000-08:00

OK, maybe more than a dime :) Ringing in the New Year means good changes (like cooking more). But, I have to admit-I fall short in just coming up with great ideas. And, although sites like Pinterest and other cooking sites are lots of fun to browse, there is nothing better than getting some great recipe recommendations from people I know. What are your favorite things to make (especially on a budget)Any fun new recipes you've tried?

P.s. We don't like seafood. Only thing. Crazy, I know, living in the PNW! Tuna is the extent of it. Maybe someday...! lol. I do love crab though!

So. bring on those suggestions!

Some I am wanting to try:

Chicken Piccatta

Avocado & Grilled Corn Salad with Cilantro Vinaigrette

Chicken Parmesan Bake

Pesto Focaccia Pizza

Homemade Tomato Basil Soup (drooling already!!)

Breakfast Pita

Most of the recipes are from Budget Bytes. Lots of fun, budget-friendly meals and recipes there( look through the archives too!)

But. Don't forget. I want your recipes! This is just a wishful to-make list! Our dinners normally don't look so creative! Comment away!

Pretty on Pinterest Linkup

2012-01-11T22:18:00.000-08:00

I quietly squealed when I saw this linkup.

I love Pinterest. Love it. It's like Google Image Search but.. better. Times ten. Times one thousand actually. I am in love. It's really fabulous actually. And, I know. Like Facebook, it was one of those *things* I just avoided like the plague. After all, who needed to waste more time on yet *another* site. But... I decided to bite the bullet, and just do it. And it was love at first sight. And then I found out you can create boards. Specific boards. It's like having all these fabulous magazine photos right at your fingertips.. and instead of creating a huge mess clipping and cutting and saving pages of ideas in a binder, you can save it all on Pinterest. People have used it to plan a wedding. Or to plan house decor. Or find a recipe for dinner tonight. Or a great gift idea. Or a creative use for a cardboard box. (yes, really!) Curious? I know I was! If you are curious what it's all about you can follow me there

This week's linkup is hosted by Simply Stacie and Sassy Mama in LA and the theme for the pins is Winter.

So, behold, all my favorite winter things found (or pinned) on Pinterest.

1. Marshmallow snowmen. We tried them last week and LOVED it. So much fun.

From Cooking Unbound

2. Paper snowflake. Isn't that beautiful? Made with curled paper. I think it would be beautiful hung by pretty ribbon in the window, or smaller ones made as ornaments.

3. I want this light someday. Gorgeous.

4. Scarves. I love them. I found several I totally adore.

5. Winter style

6. Winter home decor

7. Penguins. I totally have a thing for penguins. I am not even sure why! But I do! Here are some really cute penguin-related things I found.

How cute is this costume?! Some year.. we'll do this with another little one!

Adorable penguin art project

Penguin pillow!

8. Cutest winter baby picture :)

9. And last but not least,one of the most amazing winter-related desserts

Peppermint mocha cupcakes

If you're not into the whole cupcake thing, then this drink might hit the spot
{Peppermint hot cocoa}

Meal planning

2012-01-11T17:56:00.000-08:00

Those two ominous words!

Every day I have to come up with something to plan for dinner, and, well, I am just not that creative spur-of-the-moment with whatever we happen to have in the cupboard.

So, attempt to meal plan I go! Anyone else want to join in?

A few tips from a friend who rocks meal planning:

Plan with what's on sale. A couple times I've planned meals that end up costing a bit because none or few of the things were on sale! Oops.

Get great ideas from places like Pinterest (you don't need an account to lookup things, but do to save the pins.) or All-Recipes, or from family & friends. Most people love to share their fave recipes.

Don't over-do it. Challenging yourself is good. But, being realistic is good too :) Menu planning doesn't mean spending an hour on the dish and then another hour on the sauce if that's just not your thing. Look for ideas that are "semi-homemade" where you make part of the dish but not the entire thing.

Have easy fallbacks. Sometimes a dish just fails to execute! It ends up looking way better than it really actually does, or you have a super busy day and need something fast like pizza. Don't stress about missing a day. If you miss it, you miss it. Maybe it should be renamed Meal Suggestions because, that's a much better name!

There are some great free meal-plan printables here (Print off a couple copies and go to town on it!). There's even a shopping list on it.

One easy idea for meals is to spend a day cooking different meals and then freezing them (or refrigerating if you know you're using it sooner). To make it easy you can make meals with the same kind of meat but different dishes. Wrap with foil and write the contents and baking instructions with a sharpie so anyone can stick it in the oven. It gets a lot of the cooking out of the way! You can incorporate that into meal planning. One thing I love to do is buy a large package of meat, cook it all up, and have it in the freezer in a bag so I can just grab what I need. It works great too if you want to save a step.

Don't over-think it all! If you are a busy mom with even busier kiddos, google "easy meal ideas" rather than trying to find new dishes that take forever. If you have more time, or just love cooking, then great! This could also be a good chance to try some new baking things like home-made bread or rolls or biscuits to go with meals. (Google is awesome. Pinterest too. Just lookup whatever it is you are having troubles thinking of!) Confession: we definitely don't have a bunch of dishes with each meal. Usually it's veggies and the main dish. That's it. Sometimes I'll add a salad too, but rarely do we have bread, salad, veggies, the main dish, and a side dish. Do what works for you! Menu planning is simply a tool to take one less stress off your mind! (And just think, you could put the list up to eliminate the "what's for dinner" question- or put up pictures if the younger ones can't read. They could even help you plan it! kids are full of good ideas!)

And.. with all that said... off I go to figure out what's for dinner tonight ;-) (Hehe. Wonder why I'm embarking on menu planning?! I need it! Greatly!)

Midweek Confessions 1/11/2011

2012-01-11T13:40:00.000-08:00

Linking up with E, Myself, and I to do another fun Midweek Confessions post.

1) I've been singing the "ABC" song from the Hooked on Phonics DVD all day.

{I've even caught Josh humming it too ;-) } Andrew is reading small words so it must be working?!

2) I procrastinate too much. Right now I should probably get back to writing down the zillion medical terminology terms for my class. But alas here I write away on Blogger ;-) (after this. Promise!)

3) I threw away a bag of candy today. Serious. Because, really, what was I thinking buying it on clearance?? We don't need it and Andrew just keeps getting it down after finding about ten wrappers on the ground, I decided we'd had enough. No more clearance candy! It's good but... getting it dirt cheap is way too tempting to "stock up." ha.

4) I have nooo idea what we're having for dinner. Hmm.

5) I wore a pair of Josh's (clean) socks yesterday (his feet aren't much bigger than mine) because we were short on time and it was the easiest pair to grab.

6) I'm hooked on Glee & Teen Mom 2 & any HGTV shows. Although, have to say, I'm more into Glee for the amazing covers, fun mashups, and great original songs than the storyline. For the latter show though, the drama is interesting to follow. One of those shows you don't know why you watch but you just keep wanting to see the next one to see what happens. HGTV- I just drool over the ingenious decorating ideas. and beautiful houses and rooms. Someday.. someday...

7) I watched this creepy family-went-missing story on E last night. Yeah.. I'm still wondering why I did that... I was creeped out last night at every sound! Ahh. Silly me!

8) I may or may not have made hot dogs with mashed potatoes & cheese on top for dinner this week.

9) But to make up for that (it's good! hey! lol) I made home made parmesan herb breadsticks that were amazing to go with lasagna later in the week. MMM. Definite hit.

10) I love the mystery shopping network I signed up for. A lot. (Ok not so much a confession as a fun thing from this week.) Serious. I've already signed up for three shops within a few days of singing up (which, is free to sign up with! www.bestmark.com ) A lot of major companies are signed up with them for you to do secret shops for them to get feedback from (Applebees, car dealerships, Best Buy, etc) Free date night anyone?? (You do have to pay for the shops if required and they compensate you if you do the shop correctly but they give detailed instructions :) Some of them you get paid a flat rate and don't have to pay anything out of pocket )

I'd love your confessions! Feel free to link up or comment! (it doesn't have to be 10 confessions)

Time to replan...(again!)

2012-01-09T23:33:00.000-08:00

Isn't that how life with kids goes? You so carefully make plans, and then guess what? Kids inevitably throw their own twist on those lovely plans! I chuckle. You think I would have learned by now! But alas it is sometimes frustrating! The days you have a birthday party to go to and a grumpy child. So, you lay the grumpy child down for a nap and end up with no nap and an even grumpier child. Time to replan. Sigh. The days you have to run about ten thousand million errands and... yeah... well.. they just have to have the racecar shopping car. You know.. the kind that is a giant monster and only maneuvers if you shove your entire body weight against it, of course bumping into the cart that sweet little Grandma Tilly is pushing. And the display of five hundred cans of corn rolling everywhere. Oops. >.< And then cue the shrieks of "I-must-have-that-car-Mama!!" "No honey, we can get it next time." "NOOOO I NEEEEEEED IT!!!!!!!!!!!!" commence sobs. Or a fit. Sigh. Should have replanned those ten thousand million errands :-S. And then the playdough the other day. Andrew wanted to play playdough. I'm not much of a perfectionist but when it comes to keeping things where they belong but game pieces I like to keep at least near the box they go in. Same with Andrew's toys. We try to keep them at least semi-organized in boxes and not ten containers with 100 different kinds of toys. (Note the try. His room protests that statement right now though.) So back to the playdough. He wanted to play playdough. I love playdough. Playdough creations are awesome! (Anyone remember the McDonald's playdough set and the awesome stuff you could make with it?! ) Yeah.. playdough. I had visions of creating this great elaborate scene with cute little people, and maybe even a few pets, and a rocketship for Andrew and maybe the moon too. All in their lovely individual colors. Time to replan Andrew style. (It's a volcano.)

Oh the joys of parenting, huh? :-)

I love his creativity. I do. It always challenges me to redefine the "standards" I am trying to enforce. Really.. when it comes down to it, I guess it really is just playdough. And if he wants to mix the colors? Well so be it! I'm learning to love his little style, even if it means doing some replanning and redefining of my own. I don't think motherhood would be very survivable otherwise!!!

Some days though! We'll see how tomorrow goes. And how much replanning there ends up being. Little Mister didn't want to go to sleep until almost 11. Those nights are the... "fun" ones aren't they? The ones with getting up needing his bear Cocoa or a hug or a kiss for an owie or fixing his blankets or a drink or chasing away a funny "bug" he saw or another story or sleeping with him or..or..or.. sigh. Yep that was definitely tonight!! (minus.. maybe the bug (that was another night)). Sometimes parenting is overwhelming. But.. as nuts as he might make this mama, the love in my heart for him makes me just sit in wonder at the sweet life we created, and the joy it is to parent him. (Can't say I am not doing that pondering enjoying this bit of silence though.. finally!!!!!!)

Joy

2012-01-09T22:20:00.000-08:00

‎"Proverbs 17:22 - "A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones."

It might be losing a friend. It might be something hard like losing a loved one or someone you know (or are married to) going into the military, or losing a job.We can't control what happens in life, but you know, we can choose our attitude about it. Enduring something doesn't give us a "right" to complain or be sad or upset (even though it probably feels like it). It's probably the hardest thing you'll do but choosing joy is the most healing thing you can do. To everything there is a season. There is definitely a time to grieve the loss or miss someone or have a sobering moment thinking about what happened, but your life is affected by choosing to continue living in that or to move beyond that and live life to the fullest. Some of the neatest people I know are some friends of mine.They lost an amazing little boy to brain stem cancer. It was heart-breaking. It hit me hard because I had had him in my class. He was precious. Those kids become like your own children. I know you're not supposed to pick favorites but he was one of the ones that just touched my heart. The loss was terribly hard. And hard to see his parents go through it. It amazes me to this day to see their strength and courage. They choose to live life. To live it in honor of him celebrating the time they had with him rather than living in constant grief of the time they didn't get. And I know no one's perfect. There are going to be *those* days. There are. They come. But it's what you do with those days that matters.

Ten in a sec linkup

2012-01-08T17:30:00.000-08:00

Here is a photo yours truly, the blogger of A Day in the Life, just for fun.

Self- portrait. With my beloved camera. What do you think?

And another just for fun, ten things about me, in just a few seconds.

You know what I love? Hearing about you my wonderful blog friends & family. After all, you all are a big part of why I write. I would love to hear ten things about you. Maybe things no one else knows or are surprised to know, be it random, funny, or just plain unique. Link up or comment below! Feel free to post a photo of yourself too! It's always fun to see the faces behind blogs (other than the tiny profile pictures! Those don't quite count!).

Happy Sunday!! My big accomplishment this weekend was finishing two exams I had! Got a 97 on one and a 94 on the other! Woohoo!! Just nine more months to go and I will be done with school!!! Yes!!

(A friend of mine joked that so many things can change in 9 months. Ha ha ha! Why yes they can!!

Not those kinds of changes yet though! ;-) )

Great deal: 60ct Cascade Action Pacs $10.77 Shipped

2012-01-08T14:55:00.000-08:00

Right now, you can get a super deal on Cascade Action dishwashing packs only $10.77 shipped which makes it 18 cents each! (I love Amazon! So many great deals!) Here's how-to:

1. Find the Action Pacs here
2. Look underneath the product for the 25 cent coupon. Clip it.
3. Select "Subscribe and save" (you can do as long as six months from now)
4. Add to cart.

Enjoy! I know these little babies make dishwashing a lot easier! They get a lot of baked on gunk off.

Hot Seattle Aquarium Groupon!!

2012-01-07T23:06:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to let anyone living in the lovely PNW know that there is an awesome Groupon going on until Sunday (1/8/12) for one adult admission to the Seattle Aquarium for only $10! (Admission ticket expires March 31, 2012. You just have until Sunday to buy it.) Normally it is $19.95 per adult so this is a good deal to snag! Children are normally $13.95 so if you can get any extra, it's also a good time to get some for them too! Good luck! Find the Groupon deal here I love Groupon. Their app is very handy if you are going out and looking for a great "now" deal. I've gotten several and used them as gifts too. With all the rain and clouds we get here, this is a great chance to provide some much-needed rainy day fun for the youngsters (or the kids at heart in you adults :) Think cheap date!)

Photo Friday: Marshmallow Snowmen!!

2012-01-06T14:00:00.000-08:00

Linking up to Photo Friday to post a super fun project that you and your kids can do!

I love fun food projects(baking, cooking, or not). I grew up with amazing baking and cooking so being in the kitchen just felt like such a natural thing. Having Andrew around now means that it is twice as nice to do fun projects in the kitchen. He loves to help (especially if it means taste-testing!!).

When I found this project at my friend Kristi's fabulous blog Cooking Unbound, I just had to try it.
(I'm on her blog all the time drooling over the great recipes & ideas so it was fun to find this one too. Go check out her blog for more!)

I mean, how can you go wrong with adorable marshmallows turned into snowmen?!
I don't know what's more fun- making them or eating them!

(as a side note- hers are way cuter. But really, who cares when you just eat them anyways :-) We did three parts to the snowmen. Andrew loved helping.)

Directions from Kristi's site:

What you need:

Marshmallows
White decorating sugar (for the front of the snowmen)
Different colors of decorating sugars (for the hat)
Larger sprinkles for the eyes, nose, and buttons (we used brown for the eyes, orange for the nose, and different colors for the buttons).
A 3/4 inch circle cutter, or something fairly close to that size (I found something in my kids' playdough stash that worked).
A 1/2 inch circle cutter, or something fairly close to that size that is smaller than your 3/4 inch cutter. (I used a small frosting tip).
A toothpick (to poke holes) -I used a bobby pin since I didn't have any toothpicks.
Small bowl of warm water
Skewers -you can use kabob skewers or little dowels cut in half
The process:

1. For the body, cut marshmallows in half, crosswise. One half will be the body.

2. For the head, take the other half of the cut marshmallow, and cut it with the 3/4 in. cutter.

3. Slide these pieces onto the skewer, with the cut sides (sticky sides) facing forward, as this will be the the front of the snowman.

4. Dip the front of the snowman in a bowl of white decorating sugar.

5. Using a toothpick, make holes for the eyes, nose, and buttons. Place sprinkles in the holes. Try to push them in a bit so they stick well.

6. For the hat, cut a marshmallow crosswise into thirds. Cut another marshmallow crosswise into quarters.

7. Using the 3/4 in. cutter, cut circles from the quarter slices. These will be the brims. Coat brims in decorating sugar of choice, then slide onto skewer.

(Tip: Dip the cutters into warm water first. This will help the marshmallows to release easily. Otherwise, they might stick to the cutter and misshape when you try to pull the piece out.)

7. Using the 1/2 in. cutter, cut circles out of the marshmallow that you sliced into thirds. Coat in decorating sugar of choice, then slide onto skewer.

8. Now stand back and admire your work! And make sure to have someone take a picture of you with your snowman, and post it on my facebook page for me to see! :)

The Living magazine version included a scarf. If you're up for it, use the scraps from the cut marshmallows, coat them in decorating sugar, and wrap it around the "neck." I tried one and it didn't turn out so good, but maybe you'll have better luck than me. :)

{I think someone had fun, don't you? :-)

Notice the falling scarf-he ate it before I had a chance to take a picture of it! }

5QF! (5 Questions Friday)

2012-01-06T10:00:00.000-08:00

Linking up with My Little Life at http://fivecrookedhalos.blogspot.com

to do a fun 5QF (5 Question Friday ;-) ) Post!

1. What is the weather like where you are and do you like it?

2. When you're sick what do you seek comfort from?

3. What do you need to do before the end of the month?

4. Have you ever served on a jury?

5. If you could be any animal, what would you be and why?

~.~.~.~.~

1. What is the weather like where you are and do you like it?

It's been cold & rainy lately. I'm wanting me some summer! Or a trip to Hawaii.... It's probably just because of my mood today though that I'm not a huge fan of the clouds and rain. Most of the time I cheer for a great reason to make amazing tomato soup & curl up with a good book. (Hmm now tomato soup sounds good!!)

2. When you're sick what do you seek comfort from?

My hubbie. My comfy bed.

3. What do you need to do before the end of the month?

Finals for school this week. Starting new classes (medical terminology & language of business.)

4. Have you ever served on a jury?

Nope. I've always been excused or not had my panel selected

5. If you could be any animal, what would you be and why?

A dolphin. I'd love to be able to swim like that and they are so dang cheerful.

Feel free to copy and link up!

Can't stop listening to this song!

2012-01-05T14:42:00.001-08:00

I just found this and thought I'd share it. I keep replaying it because it's that good.

Watch "Hillsong - Unending Love with subtitles/lyrics" on YouTube

My Morning Must-Have

2012-01-05T11:46:00.001-08:00

I don't know about you, but my mornings just aren't the
same without a steamy cup of comfort to start my day.

Guess what two things I found half off?? Dunkin' Donuts Vanilla Nut Coffee for $4.99 at Target!! And, Pumpkin Eggnog for only $1.89 at our local grocery store. I had to marry these two flavors. I know eggnog is one of those hate-it-or-love-it relationships but this drink is pretty darn amazing. (I add a bit of milk so the eggnog isn't overpowering.) My new morning must-have. It's even better with a dash of cinnamon & nutmeg.

What's your morning must-have?

Midweek Confessions

2012-01-04T20:32:00.000-08:00

Linking up with E, Myself, and I for their Midweek Confessions post.

- Our tree and ornaments are all put away, but the bows and wrapping paper are still rocking their place on the floor

-I've enjoyed way too many "extra" sweet things the past two months. So hard to say no!!

-I've stayed up way later than I probably should have the past two nights. Sleep sounds so good, but time just flies!

-Andrew had cookies for breakfast. (on his own. thanks to me leaving my favorite cookies ever out- Milanos)

-My house... yeah well about that... someday I'll have the space to really organize & decorate and make a lovely home.(hard to do with a rental)

-I like shopping way too much.

-I like Target even more.

-I'm wearing lounge pants to work today. (forget the dressing up. It's rainy and icky!)

-I still haven't mailed out some of our Christmas presents. Oops.

So. What about you? Feel free to link up below.

Getting our fill

2012-01-03T23:31:00.000-08:00

Love: :

Christmas.

Eggnog lattes.

Time with family.

Last minute roadtrips

The perfect cup of hot cocoa.

Finding that amazing sweater on clearance.

That has been my last two weeks. Oh, we have gotten our fill of Christmas time. {Have we ever!} I love it. It's like this amazing sensation that you don't want to leave. It tingles you toes and warms your heart.

I don't even mind having the merriment continue past Christmas. Part of that might have to do with the fact that I try to limit how many things we do, so I am not burnt out (after all, what fun is Christmas then?!). {It really is ok to say no to the extra parties, and to take family time over another Christmas concert or event. You will not be less of a person for doing so! Also- family is important but so is your sanity and a balance. It's ok to trade off years with whom you see and not try to get in everyone at once.} I have a custom Christmas playlist I don't grow tired of. I don't particularly care for the radio mix, (what about you?) but my own mix? Bring it on! The reason for the season is a beautiful Savior who came to Earth because he loves me that much. Why not celebrate that? :-)

.on my playlist.

She & Him

TransSiberian Orchestra

Josh Groban

Carpenters

Jim Brickman

Sixpence None the Richer

John Denver

MercyMe (love love love Joseph's Song)

Third Day

and.. many more. So many more. Too many to list. Holiday music is better when you don't have to listen to "And oh happy Christmas" again.. and again...and again.... Some songs just.. don't.. quite.. belong. {Know what I mean?} I don't know about you, but I would rather listen to the glorious strains of "Oh Holy Night" or "How Many Kings" rather than "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer."

Want to know a confession of mine? I didn't take any pictures this year on Christmas Day. And, to be honest, I don't really feel that bad about it. I guess the photographer side of me and the mom side of me have blissfully blended and have decided that you know what, pictures are great. I am all for pictures, but you know what? There is something beautiful about just enjoying the moment. It's not the end of the world if one Christmas isn't documented ( I mean really, what kids look back and are eternally scarred because their mom didn't take photos of one event?! I don't think many... or any?!) I am loving the balance between photographing the moment and just being in the moment.

I did get some great pictures of Christmas Eve though. We decided, despite the rain where we were, to venture to the mountains where there was snow and go sledding!! It was incredible. Soothing to the soul. Why?

I love snow!!!

Love it. The coziness of being bundled up. The crunching snow beneath my boots. The thrill of going down a hill. The panting and shortness of breath attempting to climb that gigantic mountain that mere seconds ago seemed like a small hill. The hot cocoa afterwards. But best of all, the memories shared. {I also grew up around mountains so snow just runs in my blood!}Another reason I wanted to go sledding though.

My brother is going into the military. He leaves in a month. I'm trying not to think about it (because I am hopelessly sentimental and tear up way too easily. Plus thinking about it means thinking that, "Sigh. This is the last time we get to go sledding. This is the last time we get to share Christmas. This is the last....." and so on.). I am, however, trying to make the most out of our times together before he leaves. After all, it is a great thing that he is doing! I am excited for him! We all had a blast sledding. Some pictures of our fun.
(Josh had to work :( But joined us in the evening for presents and dinner.)

Ahhh....

{I am behind posting, I know! I was enjoying time with family. Can you blame me?! :) More posts to come this week, no doubt!! }

How was your Christmas? Feel free to link up to your post about Christmas!

And Glad Tidings to you

2011-12-24T09:30:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite things about Christmas are the sweet moments shared with family. After all, as wonderful as the presents are, what stands out are the cherished memories with my family and friends. A few nights ago, I changed plans (from homework) to spending time with my dad and brother. Sometimes a change of plans is a good thing. A very very good thing. We shared a meal, told stories, and slowly sipped hot cocoa by the twinkling lights of the tree. You can't get much more Christmas-y than that now, can you? (Much better than homework too, don't you think?!) I recently discovered the joy of making my own hot cocoa. It is delicious. See for yourself :-)

Perfect Hot Cocoa
4 c. Milk
1/2 c. cocoa powder (the real stuff!)2 Tbs vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
2 Tbs. chocolate syrup (opt.)
1 c. sugar
Makes 4 servings
Bring all ingredients to a boil. Simmer for several minutes.

Enjoy!

What says "holidays" for you?

"This week in photos" coming again on Monday (Instead of Sunday) so you can enjoy Christmas!

Be getting your posts with photos ready to link up!

And while you're at it.. don't forget to enter the lovely giveaway by Funky Mama Bird here!

Beautiful earrings just ready for the taking!!

Just a reminder discount code ADAY10 will get you 10% off in her store here!

Merry Christmas Eve!

We are taking ourselves sledding! {With plenty of hot cocoa, of course!}

What are you doing?

Starbucks gift card winner

2011-12-22T21:00:00.000-08:00

The winner of the Starbucks Gift Card is....

Lia Matthews!

Congratulations!

And enjoy your time together! I'll be getting your card to you soon!

Pull Apart Rolls (recipe!) and a Giveaway!

2011-12-22T12:33:00.000-08:00

A giveaway and a recipe for a beloved family tradition?! Aren't you readers lucky!!

I have had several requests for the recipe for our family's traditional Christmas pull apart bread. While it's tempting to keep it a family secret, it's more fun to share the goodness!! I have fond memories in my childhood of waking up to the smell of this deliciousness baking away on Christmas morning. { We actually have it twice now on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day! (Aren't we lucky?!)} It's really quite simple. Butter. Biscuit dough. Brown Sugar. Nuts. But it is so so good!

Christmas Pull Apart Rolls

Preheat oven to 350 Degrees F.

You'll need:
1 1/4 c. butter
3/4 c. packed brown sugar
1/2 c. chopped nuts (optional)
2 jumbo cans Grands brand biscuit dough (home made or from a mix won't work. Trust me on this. The consistency isn't the same.)

To do:
Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Cut up biscuit rounds into quarters and roll into balls. (If you're short on time or want larger pull apart rolls, just halve the rounds)
Drizzle a few TBS of the melted button in a Bundt pan. Add the nuts, if desired.
Add brown sugar to butter mixture and boil until bubbly and slightly carmelly. Turn the heat off.
Arrange half of the balls in the Bundt pan.
Cover with 1/2 of the carmel mixture.
Arrange the remaining balls & pour the rest of the carmel mixture over.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 25-30 minutes.

This is very sweet so we always have something to balance it out- a breakfast skillet, bacon, etc.

My drink of choice: Constant Comment tea. {Or no-pulp OJ :) }

~~~~~~~~~

And now for the fun giveaway part! I love jewelry. (Who doesn't?!) I love finding fun, beautiful, unique, and inspirational jewelry to add to my collection. It's even better finding hand-made jewelry. Betsy over at Funky Mama Bird Blog has a charming jewelry shop with many great finds. The Funky Mama Bird Etsy shop is full of inspiring, lovely pieces! {I am in love with her Blue Mother of Pearl Birds Nest Earrings!} She's been making jewelry since shortly after her son was born and enjoys making anything & everything to do with birds since that was what she was drawn to while expecting! She finds inspiration everywhere in life, and from that inspiration, many wonderful things come to life! You can find beautiful bracelets, necklaces, earrings, art prints, and more in her shop! I am pleased to be giving away a lovely pair of earrings from her today. They are beaded and about an inch in legth. {Comment on this post to enter. Giveaway ends Monday at 11:59 PM.}

For more loveliness, use discount code ADAY10 at checkout to receive 10% off your order.

{A little birdie told me that she also likes to include coupons with orders!}

A Very Merry Bloggy Week of Christmas: Guest Post!

2011-12-21T11:24:00.000-08:00

Today's post is from Melanie who writes the delightful blog Keeping up with The Cantelmo's. Melanie is one of my favorite bloggers I follow. There is always a fun article to read whether about life with her hubby & three adorable kiddos, her great sense of style, or passion for helping people.

So, without further ado, our guest post for the day. Enjoy!

Hi! My name is Melanie and I have a little blog over here.

I blog about my faith, family, and marriage. Sometimes I share easy crafts that even I can do. This is huge because I am a free spirit that isn’t artistic and lacks any sort of detail orientation.

Today I am going to share with you two easy frames that will make great Christmas gifts. The best part, they don’t cost a log of money and they are super personal.

The grandparents will love it and your pocket book too!

Alright, lets get creating….

Super duper easy canvas frame

Supplies:

Canvas board

Fabric

Picture

Glue

Wrap fabric tightly around canvas board

Glue down (or staple)

Place photo on the front

Easy huh?

Okay, here is the next one...

Mod Podge Frame Supplies:

Frame

Paint

Mod Podge

Paper

Paint Brush

Sponge Brush

Mod Podge roller thingy (I didn’t have one so mine turned out bumpy)

Jewels

Nail file

Hot glue gun

First paint your frame and let it dry

Once your paint is nice and dry trace your frame onto your paper and cut it out

the paper I used is your everyday wrapping paper

Next use a sponge brush to put the Mod Podge onto your frame

Then lay your paper onto your frame

If you have a roller thingy, now is the time to roll it over your frame to get the bubbles out

I don’t know what I did with my roller thing, so unfortunately mine has bubbles

Can you see them?

I am going to have to buy a roller thing so I can get those bubbles out for the next frame

Then let it dry

Or if you are super impatient like me, go ahead and put the top coat of Mod Podge on top

Once the topcoat dries

Use the nail file to even out the edges

Now you can glue a pretty jewel down

So fun!

Jewels make things so much more fun!

The printable in the frame is from here

Hope yours turns out better than mine!

A week of Christmas fun

2011-12-20T02:45:00.000-08:00

Stay tuned for a fun giveaway from a friend of mine, guest posts, and cheery, Christmas fun this week!!

{Starbucks giveaway ends Thursday! There is still time to enter here!! }

What is on your to-do list this week?

What I love from this week {In photos}

2011-12-18T11:00:00.000-08:00

{Being silly}

{Hot cocoa by the twinkling lights, sharing memories & laughter with my family}
sidenote-that mug is pretty special. We got it on a trip to Bermuda years ago on a fun family vacation.

{Getting crafty with good friends}
Andrew painted the star. I love his creativity & love for color

{Rare snuggly moments}

What do you love from this week? Feel free to link up or comment below!

Christmas sessions

2011-12-18T00:45:00.000-08:00

Every year, I do Christmas mini sessions. I've been pretty busy! But, I love it. I've snagged some pretty sweet photos. Half the fun is finding great props. The other half is capturing those moments.

The School of Life

2011-12-17T22:42:00.000-08:00

Had to share this :) So many great thoughts!

Thankful for....

2011-12-17T16:31:00.001-08:00

A happy little shopper :)

Time for a change!

2011-12-16T16:24:00.000-08:00

What do you think about the new look? I love lots of color and scrapbook style designs but I wanted something a bit more simplistic and fitting for the season. I also wanted to design it myself because, well, I am a little picky when it comes to how my blog looks and want everything to be just right. {Ironic though considering I am not a perfectionist in any other area!} So, time for a change. I'm missing a few things though- your blog link on the sidebar. If you would like to be featured on the blog, contact me for more info. It's an affordable way to get more exposure to your own blog. Shoot me an email at laura.railing@yahoo.com

25 Questions, Holiday style!

2011-12-16T12:37:00.000-08:00

My lovely friend Ashley over at Mommy... A work in Progress did this fun Holiday version of 25 Questions and I thought I'd join in.{Go check out her blog while you're at it! She is not only a great friend of mine but also a great blogger. She is always posting cute stories about her kids, life, and neat craft ideas.}

25 Questions: Holiday Style

Eggnog or hot chocolate?
Home made hot chocolate with a hint of cinnamon, vanilla, and of course lots of chocolate!

Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree?
What fun would Christmas be without the memories of sitting around the tree, lights sparkling, a presents to unwrap? Definitely wrap presents! (plus the 4 year old wouldn't do so well with unwrapped gifts just sitting under the tree!)

Colored lights on tree/house or white?
I love white lights. But this year all I could find was colored so colored it is!!

When do you hang your decorations up?
Before my birthday December 2nd. It's a must! Taking them down is another story. I love the holiday season. One year it was pretty funny because the box for our tree was in a storage shed we lost the key to the lock and so, our tree was up until July! True story!

What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)?
The traditional pull apart bread we have for Christmas breakfast every year. My mom made it Christmas morning every single year for us, and I have gladly carried on the tradition!

Favorite holiday memory as a child?
Going to see lights downtown Salt Lake City. They used to do these fabulous, fun themed windows in the old ZCMI store(One year it was scenes made out of candy!) When the store changed ownership, they stopped doing that. Other fun traditions were going and driving around to see lights. One neighborhood always did (and probably still does)a scene from "the Night Before Christmas" at each house. Another neighborhood did the Christmas story. And always always going out to the mall Christmas shopping as a family close to Christmas. Lots of great memories!

What is on your Christmas wish list?
Fuzzy socks, sweaters, jewelry, gift cards to places like Starbucks & Target, board/card games- nothing big but fun still.

Do you open gifts on Christmas Eve?
When I was growing up, I could never stand to wait until Christmas morning so we had a tradition of opening a few gifts Christmas Eve. We've carried that on! Usually we do Christmas with my dad on Christmas Eve so now it's a given that we get to open presents then :)

How do you decorate your Christmas tree?
Blue, gold, & silver ornaments from Target. And many adorable Andrew-made ones. Those are my favorite.

Snow? Love it or dread it?
Love playing in it and staying cozy and warm inside if it's a snowstorm. Driving in it though? Not so much.

Do you remember your favorite gift?
Andrew. He was born just a few weeks before Christmas. Best Christmas present ever.

What’s the most important thing about Christmas for you?
Getting to spend time with family and the memories made

What is your favorite holiday dessert?
Cheesecake. Yum.

What is your favorite tradition?
Finding the perfect gift, hot cocoa with family, Christmas/Christmas Eve breakfast & dinner. Putting up lights & ornaments on the tree.

What tops your tree?
Nothing right now. I still need to find that perfect tree topper!

Do you prefer giving or receiving?
I love both. It is so fun to find just the right gifts for friends & family, but I also love receiving gifts too.

What is your favorite Christmas song?
Any well done not over the top version of Oh Holy Night, along with about 30 others :) Any song off the Carpenter's: Christmas Portrait album. Fave from childhood. {Thank you dad :) }

Candy canes, yuck or yum?
Love.

Favorite Christmas movie?
any good Hallmark one. Or Home Alone 1 & 2

What do you leave for Santa?
Nothing :) Growing up, we knew he wasn't real but we still had fun pretending.

Do you have a Christmas morning tradition?
Oh yes. Pull Apart bread & presents.

Do you prefer to shop on-line or at the mall?
Lately online. I've found better deals, especially starting early in the year.

Christmas letter or Christmas card?
Why not both?! I love hearing news from the last year from friends & family

If you feel like playing along, answer a question or two and leave it in the comment section.... or better yet, do a blog post about it and let me know! I would love to see your answers!

Oh-so-true!

2011-12-15T21:04:00.001-08:00

Upon entering Heaven a believer realized something that he had seldom thought of before on earth. While he was walking beside his Savior he said, "Lord, I know this sounds silly, but I just realized that I'll never hunger again, I'll never have lack again, I'll never have enemies again...." His list continued for a while and before ending with, "I'll never have to worry about anything ever again!"

The Lord turned to him and said, "You never needed to."

-------------------------------------------

Thought I'd share this with you today!

$20 Starbucks gift card giveaway!!!

2011-12-15T01:37:00.000-08:00

Just for fun, I am giving away a Starbucks gift certificate. I don't know about you, but it's that time of year when it just feels so right to have some sort of amazing warm dreamy beverage in hand. Starbucks is my go-to for delicious seasonal favorites. This time of year finds me with a lovely peppermint latte in hand. Closely followed by a creme brulee latte. I love the way the liquid warms my heart and soul. I love the memories made sharing a drink with a close friend or family member just as much though!

So, tell me. If you were going to spend a $20 gift certificate at Starbucks, who would you take with you and what would you get?

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Four years!

2011-12-15T00:32:00.000-08:00

I totally forgot to post this on our son's birthday, so here you go!!

December 7, 2011

Dear Andrew,

You are four years old now!!! Where did the time go?
Just four years ago we were rushing to the hospital,
anxiously awaiting your arrival. You were nine days
late so we were definitely eager to meet you!

You are such a delightful four-year-old! You have
such a contagious enthusiasm for life. We sure love it!
It wouldn't matter if it was only a pretty leaf on a walk,
or a book someone gave you, or a beautiful sky, or
a day with Papa. You are in love with life, and it is
so refreshing.

You are one smart cookie too! I was reading
Charlotte's Web to you yesterday like we always
do at bedtime (it's our special time!) and you read
your first word, all by yourself!!! I was so proud of you!!!!!
You can count to twenty in English, and ten in Spanish. You've started picking up on a ton of Spanish words (probably thanks to Dora & Diego, two of your favorite shows! ) You know all your shapes and memorize things so easily. You have lots of Cubbies verses memorized already and continue to learn even more.

You love to sing and break out into many cute songs a day. Some of your favorites are Twinkle Little Star, Away in a Manger, How Great is Our God (the first song you memorized from church!), It's Raining It's Pouring, ABCs, and more every day. You ask so many many great questions about life (amazingly, you don't ask {and have never asked} "why"!!You ask way more specific questions. I love it!) If I tell you we are going to the store, you'll ask, "What are we getting there?" Or if we are leaving, you'll ask, "Where are we going to next?" (Usually to find out if we are going home next so you can suggest a great alternative plan!) You love to plan. You'll ask what day it is tomorrow, and what we are doing. You are great at coming up with a great plan for the day, even if we already have plans. You are so adorable in how you suggest it too. You have the cutest little twinkle in your eye, and grin on your face, and will say so enchantingly and eagerly, "I know! I have an idea! Let's go to Papa's house tomorrow! That will be fun!!"

{ Birthday party with your
requested flip flop cake!! :) }

You have such a sense of humor. It's amazing.
You totally get it. You know what makes people laugh.
(See photo :) )

You are short but you don't even know it (10th percentile in height and weight! You definitely came by that honestly!) In fact your latest reasoning is that, "I can do it!(or "it's ok!") I'm tall enough!!" You apply this (so cutely!) to so many different things- trying to have daddy's mountain dew, staying up late, not listening... oh you are adorable. You are incredibly logical too. Even at the age of 4. Which... does make us laugh sometimes (because, um, being tall doesn't quite have much to do with you not listening!!) But oh we love you! You care about people too. You want to make sure they're ok. It's so sweet to see you caring about your friends and family. If they get hurt, or if they are sad, you do whatever you can to make them feel better. It has been an amazing four years Andrew. I am so thankful to be your mama. Those 21 hours of labor were totally completely worth it!

We love you Andrew!

Happy Birthday!!!!!

{Birthday boy with your chocolate milk treat!}

If you care about the girls or women in your life, read this!

2011-12-07T14:34:00.000-08:00

Most of us take our safety for granted, especially online. But, what you don't know could hurt your family, especially if you have a daughter, and most definitely if she has an account on a social network. It is general wisdom to not add people you don't know on social networks, but that line can easily become blurred for kids and teens who find people they don't know(or, in many cases, people they don't know contact them) who seem trustworthy. This is a paedophile's hayday. Take a second to read this article. It was written a year ago but has some very valuable words of wisdom and caution. Consider it a wakeup call. Paedophiles are now starting "online modeling agencies" where teenage girls can submit photos to model online. They may be literally signing their life away though. The owners of these sites can demand more and more photos, asking for more risque photos. These photos are usually doctored. Submitting photos may easily give them permission to do whatever they so wish with that photo. Including stripping all or most clothing away and putting it wherever they would like online. Gross? Yes. But it is a scary reality. These site owners (aka, paedophiles) are not sweet and kind either. They make demands and if you do not meet those demands, you very well may find yourself up against a scary threat, involving your own life. Some of our friends recently had to contact the FBI and local police because their own daughter received serious threats after being involved in these modeling sites and not wanting to comply with their twisted requests. They seemed harmless enough at first (and, some of them are, but better to be safe than sorry; it's almost impossible to know which sites aren't run by paedophiles.) Parents: BE aware of what your children are doing! Paedophiles know just how to worm their way into the lives of young girls in what turns into very inappropriate, scary ways. If you haven't installed a good web monitor, now may be the time to do so. (Netnanny is a great one!) But, more importantly, keep the lines of communication open with your daughters. A good relationship is key to being able to be in her world (even if it's just a little). Teach your daughter how to be wise, discerning, and on guard. If you find that your daughter has been in contact with people she does not know, or on a modeling website, don't rake her over the coals for it. Be loving and explain the serious dangers of being friends with people you don't know. People can be anyone they wish to be online. The scary thing about these people is that some of them are being honest about their older age, and girls are falling for the thrill and intrigue of it. It's also brings another question to light- do our daughters know they are valued and loved? If you don't already, make an effort to convey that. It's especially important for dads to do this. If a girl doesn't find affection and affirmation of her worth and beauty from her dad, she may look for it in the form of a charming young man. Dads, take your daughters on dates. Model for her how a real man should treat her so she doesn't settle for the creeps that pose as prince charming.
Some eye-opening thoughts for us all today.

25 Fabulous Handmade Gifts all under $5

2011-12-06T21:43:00.000-08:00

Do you want a way to save money on Christmas gifts? What about a way to save money on Christmas gifts and give some fabulous home-made gifts too? Intrigued? Read on! Here is a fantastic article to check out with some super great ideas for gifts. They'd all be really easy. You'd even have a better deal if you printed off a 40%off coupon to Michael's to use at Joann Fabric. (They take any competitor's coupons!) Check out all the great gift ideas here. Some of my favorites are the birds nest necklaces and the jersey knit bracelet. Which ones do you like? I might have to add a few to my Christmas to-make list!

Merry & bright

2011-12-06T07:29:00.000-08:00

Just for fun, here are some more photos from the Christmas mini shoot I posted a photo from the other day. :-)

To-do list

2011-12-05T22:12:00.000-08:00

Here are a few fun things on my to-do list.

Handprint canvas
{Somewhat like this, but on one canvas}

Ornaments for Andrew to make

Holiday candles

Healthy smoothie

I tried doing this project but it ended up being a flop. It would be better with darker paper. The paper I had was light and the modge podge can dry with a yellow tint to it that shows up. Good idea though!

My accomplishment for the month: Getting all my Christmas shopping done before Thanksgiving! That never ever happens so I am quite thrilled that this year I am all done and can just relax now.. Ok maybe not relax but.. at least not stress about presents!!

Back in the land of blogging

2011-12-05T12:10:00.000-08:00

It's been almost a month since my last blog post?! How did that happen?! This time of year is super busy for us with Thanksgiving, then my birthday, my Father-in-law's birthday, our son's birthday, and my Grandpa's birthday (who our son shares a birthday with! How special is that?!) So yeah... this time of year starts to get crazy!!

I have been doing some Christmas mini sessions and captured such a precious photo yesterday. I wanted to share it with you all.

Can it get any cuter than that?!

Happy Veterans Day!

2011-11-11T13:04:00.000-08:00

Laugh for the day

2011-11-09T10:55:00.000-08:00

Have you ever started laughing and could not stop? If someone else is with you and laughing it just makes it ten times harder to stop!!! (The worst place I've had this happen is the middle of the production of a school play!!! With everyone watching!!!) This video catches some hilarious laughs, which might in turn, make you laugh! The video is an experiment Skype did to see people's reaction to the first video.

Funny story!

2011-11-03T00:46:00.000-07:00

Had to post this! I'll admit, I laughed for quite a while afterwards :-)

30 Day Courageous Parenting Challenge: Day 6

2011-10-29T23:35:00.000-07:00

30 Day Courageous Parenting Challenge Day 6:

There is no such thing as a perfect parent so just be a real one. – Sue Atkins

We can live our days trying to be "those parents"- you know... the ones that have it all together, who never yell at their kids, whose homes look like the pages of a magazine, who do a bazillion fun things with their children, who always have them in the cutest clothes? Yeah well guess what? Even the "perfect" parents have imperfections and things that aren't so perfect! The fact is, no one is ever going to have it all together! While we need to make our effort to be good parents, it's ok to let the laundry or dishes go a day. it's ok if their outfit isn't perfectly coordinated, or if some days you don't get dinner on the table until 7 pm (or breakfast made until 11am). It's OK! Those days happen! Learn to make the most out of every imperfect moment. After all, times together with your kids and the memories made are going to stick around far longer than the unvacuumed floor. (hey! Maybe make family fun out of cleaning. See who can pick things up the fastest! Or race to see who can get which job done the fastest! Mom and dad- you don't have to do it all! Even the little ones can help there! More on that later!)

Join us at http://www.facebook.com/30DayCourageousParentChallenge to follow along!

Why I love Dave Ramsey....

2011-10-29T17:14:00.001-07:00

Dear Occupy Wall Street ...

A Message From Dave Ramsey

from daveramsey.com on 19 Oct 2011

By Dave Ramsey

“I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take it anymore!” Yeah, that’s great. But what do you want? What are your goals? What are your demands? What result are you looking for?

The beauty of being vague is that anyone who has any emotion can get caught up in the excitement and join your crusade. They’ll just get mad at something and assume that you’re both mad about the same thing. Put a few hundred of these people together, and boom. You’ve got a crowd, a headline and a lot of attention … but no message.

A lot of people on Twitter are saying I totally agree with the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) demands and goals. The only problem is that I have no idea what their demands and goals are. And neither does anyone else. If all you ever do is stomp around, yell and hold up signs protesting a million different things, sure you’ll get some attention, but over time, you’ll just look foolish. You end up coming across like a three-year-old having a temper tantrum.

This is what’s happening to the OWS movement. They’re being discredited because no one has stepped forward and really stated what it is they’re after. The whole group is just coming across like a bunch of jacked-up, jobless, wannabe hippies. That’s not going to change anything in this country. You’ve got to state your goals clearly if you want to accomplish something.

So in the absence of any clear goals, let me comment and offer some helpful advice in some areas that seem to be getting a lot of disorganized OWS attention.

“No Government Bailouts!”

Banks and big companies should not receive taxpayer money for a bailout while their CEOs are making hundreds of millions of dollars. If that’s your gripe, then you’re protesting in the wrong location. Pack up and head to Washington, D.C., to deliver your message to the current administration. Don’t get me wrong—I totally support a company’s freedom to pay their leaders well. I just don’t believe that I, as a taxpayer, should subsidize those huge salaries in the form of taxpayer bailouts. I pay my own team members; I don’t need to pay everyone else’s too.

By the way, you may be shocked to learn that the Tea Party agrees with you on this one—and so do I.

“Down With Corporate Greed!”

Gordon Gekko was wrong. Greed is not good. Greed is bad—very bad. It’s a spiritual disease, and it is a disease that sadly affects a lot of companies across the country. If you believe a specific company is acting purely out of greed, then don’t just get mad—do something. Point out where and how they’re greedy and let the world know. Stop doing business with them. If enough people listen to you, the company will get the message because you’ll hit them where it hurts: the bottom line. If they don’t get their act together, then they’ll go out of business and another business will take their place.

But if you’re saying that all businesses are greedy and that capitalism itself is evil and ineffective, then I’m sorry—you’re just being stupid. You’re being misled and misinformed by some of the louder voices around you. Are you wearing clothes? Have you eaten any food lately? Do you have an iPhone in your pocket to check in with Twitter and Facebook while you’re out marching around? Good. All of those products and services are brought to you by quality companies dedicated to serving you well in a capitalistic system that works just fine.

“Wall Street Is Evil!”

If you have this painted on a sign, well, now you just look ignorant. Wall Street is a street that people drive on. The New York Stock Exchange is a building where people exchange stocks in New York. This is the flea market of the financial world. Don’t turn Wall Street into some terrible monster attacking American citizens. It’s just a road with some buildings on it.

But here’s what happens. Sometimes when people don’t understand something, they start to fear it. And as the fear grows, it turns into anger. But just because you don’t understand something, you shouldn’t see it as bad or frightening or a conspiracy. You should just think of it as an opportunity to learn something new—something that could actually be a blessing to you.

For example, imagine a group of natives out in the jungle in the farthest part of the world. I mean, picture a group of people who have never seen anyone outside of their tribe and have certainly never seen any kind of machine. What would they think if they saw a Red Cross helicopter land near them? And what would they think of the strange-looking men and women who jump out of the chopper and start walking toward them? They’d be freaked out! They wouldn’t know or care if the Red Cross was there to help them with food or medicine. They’d think it was the end of the world or something because their minds would be totally blown!

I hate to say it, but a lot of OWS protestors are just about as uninformed as those jungle natives when it comes to how the American financial system works. A road and an office building. That’s Wall Street.

“Wealth Redistribution Is the Answer!”

I’ve heard a lot about wealth redistribution over the past few years, and I’m sure you’ve heard it too. Call it whatever you want, but this is how it usually sounds to most Americans: “We are the 99% of Americans who don’t have as much as the 1%, so we’re mad and think the government should take their wealth and property away so that I can have a piece of it. Wealth inequality is a moral breakdown! We should all spread the money around so everyone gets a fair share!”

I have my toughest critique for those who believe this: You are a thief. When someone takes my money and gives me no say in the matter, that’s called theft—whether they’re using a gun or the government. At the core of this demand is envy. And that’s not the same as jealousy. Jealousy just says, “I want what you have.” Envy is a different beast. Envy says, “I don’t think I can ever have what you have, so you shouldn’t have it either.” Decades of horrible economic teaching and the politics of envy have kept this monster alive and growing and moving forward.

This way of thinking makes you assume that all rich people are evil and have scammed their way into wealth. That may be true in the tale of Robin Hood, but I choose to live in the real world. Sure, there are some scoundrels, but the vast majority of successful men and women got that way by working hard and serving people—lots of people.Steve Jobs and Bill Gates changed the world in ways we’re just now starting to realize. Their positive impact on the world has helped all of us live better lives, and they made fortunes for themselves by doing so. Why is it that you’re holy if you help one person but evil if you help a million? That’s just stupid.

A good friend of mine is a country music legend. He’s made a bazillion dollars over his career, and he just bought a $400,000 car. He’s worked like a crazy person his whole life, spending decades in tour buses, writing songs in the middle of the night, and entertaining enormous crowds of cheering fans. He paid a price to get there, and I’m happy for his success. Would it be right for me to walk into his house and demand my “fair share” of his wealth? Heck no! I’m a terrible singer! I didn’t do one thing to contribute to his success, so why would I be entitled to a share of his wealth? He’s given me years of entertainment through his music. That’s my fair share of his hard work.

My problems aren’t his fault. And my problems aren’t McDonald’s fault or Home Depot’s fault or Walmart’s fault, either. My problems are my fault! And the more people these companies serve, the more money they make—and that’s none of my business! If you don’t like McDonald’s, then here’s an idea: Don’t eat there. But don’t walk into the restaurant and demand a portion of their proceeds for the day.

When you scream, “I’m in the 99%!” you just look like a whiner. Those of us willing to pay the price to win look at you and shrug. Heck, when it comes to the music business, I’m in the 99% myself! But that doesn’t mean I have to tear Toby Keith, Brad Paisley or even Kanye down. Oh, and a special note just for Kanye: Capitalism has been pretty good to you. I celebrate your success, but you look a little hypocritical protesting capitalism while wearing a $50,000 watch.

Celebrate the Land of Opportunity

This is the greatest country on the planet, but even here, you’re not guaranteed wealth, talent, fame, a full head of hair or six-pack abs. Those things are not in the Constitution. You are, however, guaranteed the freedom to make your life what you want it to be. And when you do that, when you build your life around your dreams and passions and hard work, you’re guaranteed the right to keep it. No one has the right to take it away from you.

So to summarize, I’m not very impressed at the moment. I’m not impressed by your temper fit. I’m not impressed at your lack of goals and focus. I’m not impressed by the fact that the only thing I see about your movement is ignorance, immaturity and envy. Grow up—and get a job.

Yes, there are jobs out there. There are jobs out there that haven’t even been invented yet. Go create the next Facebook or Weed Eater. Go pick up so much dog poop that you can start your own fertilizer company. And stop complaining that companies are TOO RICH while also complaining that they aren’t RICH ENOUGH to hire you! I’ve seen a lot of you guys. I wouldn’t hire you, either. But if you take all of that energy and excitement and pour it into something new and creative, you’ll get the chance to serve a whole lot of people really well, and over a decade or two, you’ll get to become the very thing you’re now protesting: rich people who actually earned their money.

30 Day Courageous Parenting Challenge: Day 5

2011-10-28T15:58:00.000-07:00

‎30 Day Courageous Parenting Challenge Day 5:
“Kids spell love T-I-M-E.” – John Crudele
“The best inheritance a parent can give his children is a few minutes of his time each day.”
- O. A. Battista
“To be in your children’s memories tomorrow, you have to be in their lives today”
- Anonymous

Today's challenge is to be more present as a parent. I don't mean physically there. (sometimes that isn't always possible with custody or other things in life like a parent being in the military). Make an effort to interact with your child more. If you are at home, turn off the tv, or your computer, and spend some one-on-one time with them! Go on a walk. Talk about their day. Do something you know that they love. Tell them you love them and have a fun tickle time. If you are parenting from a distance, get skype set up. Send a fun box. Call and read them a story. Make them a game to do. Send them notes saying you love them. (Recordable cards are great by the way! I can guarantee you it'll be some of the best $5 you ever spent!) Whatever you do, find ways to do it more often! Aim to do something special with your child every day.( It doesn't have to be expensive!Today my son and I made awesome binoculars out of tp tubes taped together. He had a blast.) Time together and the memories made are priceless.

Join us on Facebook and see the rest of the challenges here.

30 Day Courageous Parenting Challenge: Day 4

2011-10-28T15:46:00.000-07:00

30 Day Courageous Parenting Challenge Day 4: “Don’t worry that children never listen to you; worry that they are always watching you.” - Robert Fulghum

We've all heard the song "Oh be careful little eyes what you see." As parents we have a phenomenal impact on our children. What we do speaks much louder than what we say. Do you strive to be the kind of person you teach your children to be? It is easy to expect much from our children and justify our own actions. To teach them honesty but then lie to avoid discomfort. To teach them to respect others but then make comments they hear about someone different. To teach them to obey authority but then disobey the speed limit. They will pick up on this! The ultimate example for us is Jesus. If we set the bar high, we will find that, although challenging and not always easy, the work will be worth it!

Join us on Facebook to see every day of the challenge! http://www.facebook.com/30DayCourageousParentChallenge

30 Day Courageous Parenting Challenge: Day 3

2011-10-26T03:56:00.000-07:00

Thirty Day Courageous Parenting Challenge Day 3:

Psalms 103:13 ESV As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him.

Imagine this: You have told your child, at least ten times, that they need to be ready for the test they have coming up. They ignore your instruction and fail the test. It's pretty hard to feel compassion for them! If you have younger children, think about the times you have told them not to get into something. They do, and then get hurt! What is our instant response as parents most of the time? Something along the lines of "they asked for it!"? Psalms 103:13 tells us that we are to show the same compassion God shows us. It's giving the hug and the love rather than the instant reprimand. Sometimes kids also need to learn on their own! (next time, remind them once, and let them know the rest is up to them!) I bet they DID learn their lesson from their unfortunate results! And if not, there is still always room for more compassion on our end.

Join us here! http://www.facebook.com/30DayCourageousParentChallenge

30 Day Courageous Challenge Day 2

2011-10-25T10:56:00.001-07:00

You can now find the 30 Day Courageous Parenting Challenge on Facebook! Check it out here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/30-Day-Courageous-Parenting-Challenge/254893984558361

Thirty Day Courageous Parenting Challenge Day 2

Proverbs 14:29 He who is slow to anger has great understanding, But he who is quick-tempered exalts folly(foolishness).

How often do we disciple our children based solely on our emotional reaction to the situation? There would be much more peace in the home if we would take a moment (or two, or three) to be understanding and slow to anger. There have been times I have gotten frustrated at my son's lack of listening, only to realize that he is tired, or hungry or picking up on my own frustrated attitude. Keep in mind that children are still learning! We are teaching them by our own reactions, which they will in turn, pick up on. If we are always reacting frustrated and angry to their actions, they will learn to do the same. (Vicious cycle, isn't it?) Make the decision to be more understanding, and slower to anger. It can help to take a few minutes (parent time out!) to compose yourself if you find that you are angry, before dealing with the situation through love and understanding rather than anger.

30 Day Courageous Parenting Challenge: Day 1

2011-10-24T20:40:00.000-07:00

Let's face it: Being a parent has some tough moments! Think back to those blissful thoughts about having a sweet little baby to hold and love. to comfort and nourish. You dreamily thought about the tender moments you would share in your child's life, and the peaceful, blissfulness of it all. Fast-forward to reality. Those sweet little moments are punctuated by Cheerios spilled across the entire kitchen floor in a moment of toddler independence; by shrieks,laughter, and tears; by more messes than you could have ever imagined. Where are those blissful moments?! They are there! They are just surrounded by the reality of life as a parent.

The hubby and I recently saw Courageous. (Fantastic movie. Go see it while it is still in theaters!!) While the message is mainly for men, to challenge them as fathers and men to step up more, I really took it to heart as well. I left challenged to be more present as a parent (think: the times where we send our children away to play or plop them down in a movie so we can have more time on the computer= not being as present as we could be). It also challenged me to cherish each moment.

I decided to start a month-long challenge and post something different every day. I am posting it on my own Facebook page but thought I would post it here as well. You are welcome to join in! Feel free to comment with thoughts or check in and let me know how it's going! Grab the button below too to add to your blog if you join in!

Day 1: 1 Corinthians 13:4- Love is patient, love is kind. When we treat the frustrating or irritating moments of parenting as an inconvenience or chalk it up to our children "just not learning" we miss out on the real purpose of parenting.-to lovingly teach our children with an abundance of grace and understanding. Today,decide to treat the irritating moments as a chance to show extra love & grace

If you join in on the challenge, grab this button to display on your site!

Spoken so well...

2011-10-23T20:32:00.000-07:00

Is it not ironic what situation we are in with our current leadership and the words spoken by that very leadership before their current held position??

The Quote of the Decade: “The fact that we are here today to debate raising America 's debt limit is a sign of leadership failure.

It is a sign that the US Government cannot pay its own bills.

It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Government's reckless fiscal policies.

Increasing America 's debt weakens us domestically and internationally.

Leadership means that, "the buck stops here.' Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren.

America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better.” ~ Senator Barack H. Obama, March 2006

Month long Courageous challenge

2011-10-23T18:15:00.000-07:00

I posted this on Facebook but will post it here too for anyone who wants to join in. In honor of seeing Courageous, I want to do a month-long challenge for anyone who wants to join in. While the message of Courageous is mainly for dads today to step up as fathers & men, it makes a really good point to all parents to be more involved & be better parents. Anyone else in? The drawback is more time with your kids and less time online... ;-) Each day will have a new challenge. Let me know! I will be posting each day's challenge.

Not a subtle hint or anything...

2011-10-23T18:05:00.000-07:00

I don't know... do you think he's hinting at something?? :-)

In memory of a life

2011-10-11T10:46:00.000-07:00

There are some people that you remember forever.

Sandy Schmuck was that way.

English she taught,

giving us a love for literature,

but more importantly, a love for God.

She showed kindness to everyone

and the touched the lives of all she knew

Her smile was contagious.

Fifty-two years.

How can one make such a big impact

in such little time?

She will never be forgotten.

In memory.

Sandy Schmuck

1959-2011

Fun traditions

2011-10-03T00:39:00.000-07:00

What fun fall traditions do you have? It's funny the things that end up becoming traditions; the things you don't plan on doing the next year but realize how much you enjoyed it the year before. Our tradition of visiting a local farm every October is like that. They have a huge festival with tons of activities. Andrew wasn't even a year old the first time we took him.

It was hard to imagine what he would be like a whole year later!

It became a tradition for sure after that! There are so many great activities- a barrel train ride, fall treats, a corn maze, hay ride, little petting farm, yellow brick road to a rainbow garden, and a kids' playground made out of big tires, huge pipe slides and old boats. It's been fun to see how Andrew has grown over the years! In 2010, I had my awesome new Canon 50D that I had just gotten, so there were many more photos taken!

This year I took over 200 photos. I blame it on the new lens :-)

I couldn't pick just a few to go into one collage, so here are some favorites in several collages :-)

It's funny to compare these two family photos from 2008 and recently

(the camera makes a huge huge difference I will say!! Point and shoot versus DSLR{sooc} )!

Family pictures

2011-09-27T21:56:00.000-07:00

We don't often have family pictures taken in a studio. Actually, never have we as a family had studio pictures taken! Walmart sent me an offer for a free session and some free portraits so I thought, why not? I didn't know if we would have any turn out, but I think we may have gotten a few good ones.

If you'd like to make my day...

2011-09-25T01:22:00.000-07:00

then humor me and {pretty please!} go vote for me in a local Best of photography contest here: http://best.king5.com/snapshot-in-time-photography/biz/637104

It takes one second. That's all :)

Thank you so much!!!

)

Photoshoots lately

2011-09-24T20:29:00.000-07:00

I've been photoshoot busy!!! Here are some of my latest senior photoshoots. Note the lovely logo my cousin designed for me!! I think I kindof like it! :-) What do you think? One of my favorites is the umbrella photo. It was rainy that day and I wanted to play along with it. (I added a rain texture as it wasn't raining by the time we did the photo!) What are your favorites?

On an organizational kick

2011-09-21T03:32:00.000-07:00

I love being organized (who doesn't?!) but organization is most definitely not my strong point! I have a hard time seeing great ideas and keeping things nice and in order. I notice it when it is long past unorganized, and at that point, I would rather just a)leave it and just walk around it/ignore it or b)get everything in boxes or bags, no matter how random the content, and put in our garage or closets. It only works for so long! It's pretty hard to find things that are who-knows-where! I am working at changing all of that though!! Eventually we are going to move, and I don't want it to be like our first move- organized chaos packed into boxes (it doesn't work very well, believe me!) So, room by room, box by box, bag by bag, I am going through everything and doing something with it. Today I was at Target and was wanting to find something to organize our son's toy area in the living room. I didn't want to pay more than $40 though. Everything I found was either too small, not what I was thinking of, or too expensive. I stumbled upon a double shelf piece and had some great ideas for what I could do with it. The hubby and I set to work and within half an hour we had a great piece of furniture that could finally contain the toys! Check out the before and after!!

I went through every single toy he had and pulled some out to go into a toy rotation so he can enjoy his toys more, and I can rotate them when he starts to get bored with the ones out right now. I was going to put all the other books into the rotation/storage bin, but realized that the ottoman (pictured on the right) would make great storage for them. See the three-drawer storage container on the left? Since toys no longer reside in it, it needed a good use. I happily realized it would work perfect for my fabric and craft items that were sprawled out on our ~~craft table~~ coffee table.

I found everything I needed to make the beautiful wreath I posted about earlier. I am SO excited! Pictures of that soon! I found beautiful vinyl wall art at the dollar store to go near the wreath too. (Check out your Dollar Tree to see if yours has the wall art! It is beautiful and they have several varieties. They also have themed kids room stickers too. Can't beat the price!!)

Ahh. I keep saying that!! It is such a blissful thing to have some organization!!

First night of Cubbies!!

2011-09-20T01:00:00.000-07:00

It's official- our son is old enough to be in AWANA Cubbies now! (AWANA is a great children's program many churches participate in. More info about it here. ) Does he look cute or what in his little blue vest?

I am looking forward to the year ahead of him hiding many great verses in his heart. He has such a love for learning and enthusiasm for life. AWANA should be perfect to encourage that!

Getting a little crafty

2011-09-18T22:14:00.000-07:00

I love to craft. I love making things. One of my favorite sites is www.pinterest.com Another is www.tipjunkie.com Both have fun diy ideas. I found this on pinterest today.

Definitely on my to-do list. The butterflies are made out of cardstock. Guess what the brown part is?

Paper bags. :-) Directions can be found here.

Pinterest is also amazing for food ideas. Tons of yummy amazing-looking ideas there!

One craft of mine that I have made several of is a fabric flower ring. I decided to take the instructions a step further and do earrings too. Here is a photo:

Instructions can be found here.

This year, I am going to try to make as many Christmas gifts as I can. I have to be careful though because some of the projects can end up costing more than buying a gift would have! Some of the gifts I might make at a local ceramics shop (some of the grandparent gifts especially from Andrew :-) ) What crafty things have you been making lately?

Photography cheat sheet

2011-09-18T20:59:00.000-07:00

I found this handy sheet on Pinterest and thought I would share it. Even you point and shoot owners can benefit from this because you can set some of the settings like ISO and shutter speed.

On raising great kids

2011-09-16T03:27:00.000-07:00

Picture this. You're our for the evening, enjoying a lovely dinner at your favorite romantic restaurant with the love of your life. The ambiance is perfect. The candles are flickering. You gaze into each other's eyes. There is no rush to get back to the demands of life. You are thoroughly enjoying this time. All of a sudden, an ear-piercing, blood curdling scream fills the entire restaurant. "NOO!! I DON'T WANNA SIT DOWN!! I WON'T EAT! YOU CAN'T MAKE ME!!! AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!" Chaos ensues. Silverware is thrown onto the ground. More screams are uttered. The parents of the guilty little person simply exchange glances and continue on with their dinner. Every other person in the restaurant is inwardly breathing a sigh of relief. "Phew. That wasn't me!" Sound familiar? If not at your favorite dining spot then your local grocery store or shopping center. We have an almost-four-year-old son. It is hit and miss with his meltdowns. Part of good parenting is knowing what to do with these lovely displays of emotion.

I watched an episode of Dr. Phil appropriately called, "The Brat Ban." Much of the discussion was about a no-tolerance policy towards young children in many places. Opinions were varied. (Interestingly enough, the people with the strongest opinion that no children allowed should be enforced did not have any children of their own!) The audience had to vote on a video clip of an out-of-control-child in a restaurant with what they would do if they were the parent. The answers went something like, a)tell the child to calm down b)ignore the fit or c)take the child outside. Most of the audience chose c. One audience member made the point that there was one more option that more people should consider. Simply, don't take your child to the restaurant!! What a profound statement! (sarcasm intended).

As parents, we all have expectations for what we desire our children to be like (or who). We expect them to say, "thank you" when given something. We expect them to sit nicely at a meal as a guest at someone's home. We expect them to show us respect. How this actually goes down is another story altogether, but regardless, we all have expectations in the back of our minds.

A few months ago, I needed to pick up several grocery items. I had our son with us. He was tired. He was emotional. He was not in a very compliant mood. I love a good adventure though! (Don't you?!) As I pulled into the parking lot, he began to whine, "No Mama! I don't want to go to the store!" "Andrew, we need to get a few things it will be fast." "But I don't want to!"

That should have been my first clue! It's easy to just make choices for our kids, isn't it, and to just brush over what they said, enforcing our expectations and authority anyways.

We entered the store and picked out a cart. I put our son in the cart. Well, tried, at least. He would not go. He wanted to walk. After a little battle, I let him walk. "Ok Andrew You can walk. But you need to stay right by me." Two seconds later he was ten feet away. "Andrew, come here!" No luck. I chased him down and took hold of his little hand. Screaming ensued. "Andrew!" I whispered in a you-better-listen-to-me tone. "You have to stay with me!" "Noo!!!" He whined. He threw himself on the ground. Ok then buddy. Privilege gone. I put him in the cart. He was not having any of it. He screamed louder than I have ever heard him scream. Which then turned into trying to hit. Which simply escalated louder, and louder. We hadn't even picked anything out yet, but that was a blessing right then! I turned around and left the store.

Having a screaming, fit-throwing child in the store is frustrating, but I as his mother should have been a lot more perceptive and understanding. It was a bad time to try to do a shopping trip. He was not in the mood and it definitely did not go as planned!! Part of good parenting is understanding your child and having the discernment to know when to plan and do things! If your child throws fits every time you go to a fine-dining restaurant, maybe you should stop taking them with you! Know your kid! If your child has a spot like mine does in the afternoon when they are cranky, don't plan a big social activity right then(think birthday party or dance lessons).

One of the hardest things about parenting is seeing your child go through disappointment or hard emotions like sadness or anger. It's easy to try to prevent them from going through some of these things, or at least to soften the blow. After all, "real life" is hard enough, isn't it?! Having worked at a learning center for 3 1/2 years, I have stories of parents who softened the blows of life for their kids. Like the twinkies used as a bribe and reward for every little good behavior. Or the promise of a fun activity any time the child was sad. Or a new toy regardless of the child's behavior that day. The list goes on. As parents we want our children to grow up happy and healthy, but are we really doing that or are we unintentionally doing the opposite?

At first look, it would seem many many children are very happy and healthy children. The real test comes though when something happens to disrupt the balance of a child's life. I don't mean anything majorly life-changing(like moving or a new family member born), but the little things in life add up and soon equal the big things. It's the toy getting taken away from them. Dessert being denied as a viable dinner option. Being told no or being told to obey. We want our kids to be well-rounded happy beings, but does softening the blow accomplish that?

Sadly, it does not. I think part of the problem is in our lack of resolve and stubbornness as parents to enforce what our kids need, not what they are screaming that they want. It is easy to give in isn't it? To just say yes,to just let them do what you told them not to this one time. In the long run though, it becomes harder, and the screams just become louder. I think we, as parents, might be scared. Scared of what our kids will think of us for saying no. Scared that they might remember what a terrible parent we were. Sometimes it's the energy (or, well, lack of.) It takes work to make these little people listen!! (After all, have you ever tried carrying a kicking, screaming child to their room for a quiet time?) I think we need to step it up. I know that isn't sugar coated, but sugar-coated parenting is not going to get fabulous results. It lasts about as long as that m&m in the hot sun.

Step it up. I said it. We, as parents, need to take our role seriously. You know what? It is ok to say no; to set boundaries and enforce them. This sounds terrible but please let your kids cry!!! If you tell them no and they are throwing a fit, let them cry it out! (at home preferably to teach them this though!) Dare to listen to the tears. Don't cave! After all, would you rather listen to a three-year-old's tears and tantrum now or have to deal with it thirteen years from now when they are sixteen?! Be consistent! If you tell them no tv before bed, stick with it!! Kids need this! Ohhh they would have us fooled with their pleading cries and screams, but it is true. They will be chaotic without it. Have you ever seen SuperNanny? Consistency and stability are huge. She enforces it and I can vouch that it works! Kids need to learn how to deal with life too. By preventing them from dealing with hard emotions, we actually help them throw temper tantrums. You wouldn't tell a sixteen-year old to just stay off the road instead of teaching them how to drive. Likewise, kids need help learning how to "drive" the roads of life whether that means the happy ones or the frustrating ones. Now, I do think age-appropriateness teaching comes into play. You have to know your child and what they can handle. You can help your child with the areas they do not do well in though. Say your child does NOT like to share. Instead of trying to either 1)limit their playdates or 2)try to find a lot of social settings for them to learn with other kids, why not teach them at home? You as the parent can play with them and teach them to share. It's ok to take a turn with their toy and to role-play what they might face with other littles.

Don't react. Really. Don't! It will feed their frustration and anger. I know how tempting it is when you have just been hit with a very hard toy by your child or, they are kicking and screaming over brushing their teeth to respond in a loud irritated, upset voice, but it doesn't teach them anything but to do the same. Love. Calm, quiet love. It works wonders. Kids actually want to listen!!!

Parenting is such an adventure. So many memories, milestones, and sweet moments. Many that make you want to take a parent-timeout too! But, really, I wouldn't trade it for the world!

P.s. If you have a parenting question, feel free to ask away!! I've worked with just about every age!

Five years to forever

2011-09-14T12:07:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe it's been five years since we proclaimed, "I do!"

I wanted to do something fun and special for our fifth anniversary, so I had a friend take pictures of me out at our favorite beach. I was pleasantly surprised at how well they turned out.

What do you think?

{Hubby's favorite}

{My favorite}

We went out to dinner and then spent the night enjoying each other's company. Nothing big, but it was still fun to have a night out and a chance to celebrate five years! Five years later, and we're still blissfully, madly in love. It was fun to talk about where we might be in five more years! We shall see!