Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks

Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was a fantastic read.  It was a suspenseful, thrilling love story.  I couldn't put it down.  I just had to know what happened next.  I can't wait to see the movie.  I hope it's as good as the book.


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Beginning of Healing

I haven't posted for a while I know.  Probably because I was trying to do too much.

Too many blogs.  Too much housework.  Too many meals to make.  Exercise every day.  Play with the kids every day.  Call people back.  Mommy & Me Book Club. Answer Emails.  Play Dates.  See friends.  Try to keep those friends because we NEVER see them.  Get outside.  Stay Healthy.  Too many sick days.  Grocery shop.  Doctor appointments.  Changing diapers.  Shower.  Get ready.  Wash kids.  Get kids dressed.  Feed family.  Nap time (kids).  Pay bills.  Balance my budget.  Organize kitchen.  Organize desk.  Spring Clean (or Winter).  Stare at my jumble of an apartment.  There is just so much, sometimes I do nothing.  You?

This year is about Healing.  Healing my Soul.  My soul has been aching for years and I haven't exactly known how to fix it.  Not that I know now, but I'm willing to try.  This blog this year is going to be addressing my Healing, Spiritual and Physical.  Relieving my soul of such stresses is vital for me and my little family.  It's going to be a great year.

Wear Pants to Church Day. I'm in. Here's Why. . .

I have been saddened to hear that the woman who organized "Wear Pants to Church" day has been receiving death threats over this issue.  Also because most people are missing the point, including the media.

The media made it sound like Stephanie Lauritzen's(one of the organizers) opinions were those of every participants.  This is not the case.

My SIL, Meredith, expressed the purposes of the event better than anyone I have heard so far:

 "it's hard to give a single list, because it means different things to different people. For some of us, it's about simply letting people decide for themselves what's appropriate. For some, it's about the silly idea that some local congregations have dress codes for women that are completely contradictory to official church policy. For some, it's about ward YW programs systematically receiving less funding than the YMs programs. For some, it's about a host of non-doctrinal cultural issues that are taboo to even discuss. For many, it's about removing the stigma of simply asking questions about doctrines regarding sex and gender. For some, it's about ordaining women. We don't all agree about exactly which doctrines or structures are issues. But we do agree that we should bring the discussion out of the shadows, and let others know that it's ok to ask questions, too."

Those are just some of the reasons.  Some I agree with.  Others I don't. (If you want to hear more reasons go HERE.)  I wasn't even sure I was going to participate.  Now I am.

I will be wearing pants this Sunday because of the amount of hate and unwillingness to understand that has been stirred up by this event.  This is part of what I want changed.  It is worth my support.

This reason is just one of the headaches that has persisted for the past 7 years for me.  I need to acknowledge and address it.  I'm acknowledging it now.  Here's to the beginning of healing.

Beginning the Christmas Season Off Right. . .

This holiday season is shaping up to be a crazy one. Between the sicknesses that keep running through my house and the coming Christmas Holiday it's been a little crazy.  I feel like all we do it go to some fun Christmas activity and them come home to someone sick.  Is anyone else feeling like this?

On a happier note, The Festival of Trees at the South Towne Expo Center was FANTASTIC!  I just love looking at all the trees.  The different designs are so fantastic.  I mean there are the regular trees.  . . Utah Tree, BYU tree, Jazz Tree, Disney trees, etc.  But then there are some really creative ones, like the crocheted tree, the Redneck tree made from Green Solo cups, and the PVC tree.  No, I didn't get pictures this year.  It's just not going to happen when you take your two toddlers to the show with you.  Next year.

We are going to admire Christmas lights tonight.  So excited.  Anywhere you love to go look at lights?

Halloween Flinstone Costumes

I am quite proud of these.  I made them all by myself.  Well, my Mom sewed BamBam's shorts, but I did the rest.  So much fun.  My Sweet Pea actually understood what we do on Halloween.  It took a couple of houses, but soon she didn't want to stop.  It was a great night.

Canada Day 2012

I love Vacations.  And this year our vacation was just over a week.  This was much needed.  One of the days we were gone was over Canada Day!  We spent it in Raymond, Alberta Canada.  Here they make Heritage Days wonderful.  Pancake Breakfast, Stampede, Running Race, Parade, Softball Tournament, Glow Golf, Town Street Fair, and Fireworks.  All of the activities are so much fun.  Loved it.

Here is a peek at the Parade:

These Firefighters are AWESOME.  Bagpipes.  Just FANTASTIC!

Great Float.

Gotta have the band.  They were so fun.

This shopping cart was great.  I wish I remembered what they were representing/advertising.

You can't have a parade without horses carrying the flag.

Soaking In The Sun

Between sicknesses, hospitalizations, send offs, trying to clean up after everything, and trying to get back on our schedule, I just haven't had very much time for posting.  It's probably better that way.  We all need to unplug sometimes.

Here is just a little bit of what we have been doing:

Since the weather has been so FANTASTIC this spring time, we have moved our activities outside.  Here is our little piece of MUSIC outside.  Hopefully these bells will not be the last of our musical madness outdoors.

One of our days is Art Day.  What better place to spark the watercolor brilliance than outside?!  Sweet Pea painting.

Green Bean wanting in on the Art action.

I Really Did Organize My Life: Step #2

Oh, has it been a month.  Wow.  And it's still going.  Life with two young children and their whining, crying, allergies, and sicknesses (these are never ending this month) will get better, right?  Deep breath.  Exhale.

Okay, back to the organization plan that has worked for our little family.

STEP #2: Assigning Tasks to Days

Now that you have your Kid Needs and Mommy  Needs put together, you need to grab a new piece of paper to put together your week.  Across the top of the paper write out the days of the week.  Then draw a line between each day and continue each line all the way down the paper.  You should now have 7 columns across your paper.  (I only did Monday-Saturday to begin with.  If that is easier to do less than 7 days, just do the 5 days of the work week.)

Now, in order of importance, assign your needs and your kids needs to the days of the week.  For example, I assigned my Cleaning days as:

Monday - Bathrooms
Tuesday -Vacuum/Dust
Wednesday - Sheet Changes/Sweep
Thursday - Laundry Room
Friday - Kitchen/Storage Room
Saturday - Garden/Car/Outside stairs

When doing this, DO NOT WORRY ABOUT ASSIGNING A TIME OF DAY to any task.  For now, just give each task a day, even if it's something that is on everyday.  List it all.

Don't panic.  There are a lot of tasks.  We are all busy.  Keep it light and fun.  Use different colors.  Pull out your felt pens AND/OR crayons to help with this step.  The color helps everything to be visible and organized for our upcoming step. Not to mention, it keeps the kiddos coloring next to you busy while you are organizing your future days together.

Remember there will always be things that get in the way of your daily schedule.  Don't stress over a day missed or and activity missed.  It's okay.  Roll with it.  Somedays that is better.

Just in case you missed the beginning:

The Beginning

Step #1

Pigs in a Puffy Blanket (Dairy Free)

I am not exactly a hot dog person.  They just aren't exactly a healthy choice, but with my little Sweet Pea LOVING them, we just have to have them once in a while.  Lately I have been using crescent rolls to wrap the hot dogs, but last week I didn't have any in the house.  So, I picked Sweet Pea's favorite Buns to wrap her hot dogs:

Rhodes Rolls

If you read the back of the package you will find that these Buns have the ability to be a great many things.  I decided to use them for our Pigs in a Blanket.

• I put them out on the cookie sheet like normal and let the rolls begin to thaw..
• When they had thawed and begun to rise, I took each roll and pulled them long.
• By pull them long I mean I did this pull/jump rope/flippy thing to the mound which got the dough long enough to wrap around the hot dog.
• Then I wrapped the hot dog.
• Don't forget to tuck the ends of the dough underneath the last wrap so it stays in place. (I had a couple come loose because I didn't tuck them well)
• Place each wrapped hot dog back on the cookie sheet to rise again.
• When they are nice and puffy, put them in your 350 degree oven
• Bake for 10-15 minutes. Just until they are golden brown on top.

When you pull them out, you should end up with Beautifully Puffy Pigs in a Blanket:

They tasted SO good.  Way better than the Pillsbury Crescent Rolls.  Sorry Pillsbury.  My heart has found a new match for my hot dogs.  Fantastic.  YUM yum YuM!

Easter Egg Hunt in Orem

Easter Egg Hunts have so many kids, not enough candy, and sometimes CRAZY parents.  This is why I like to find a smaller Easter Egg Hunt to go to with my little ones.  I just don't want them to get trampled by all the big kids.

This year we went to the 2nd Annual Easter Egg Hunt at Orem High School.  There were less than 50 people and more than 1000 eggs.  Their whole courtyard was covered in eggs.  

So my Sweet Pea was able to find and pick up colored eggs until she didn't want to anymore.

It's a little disorganized, but because there are so few people, it doesn't matter.  It's good for Little Kids.