My bulletin board

So, if you are wondering where I got my bulletin board on Etsy, here is the link to her little store. Right now, she has a listing that allows you to choose your fabric that you would like on your bulletin board. Not sure if it is the same size as mine, but it is a little cheaper than mine. And she is offering as one of the options the same fabric as mine. I am almost thinking about buying another one, but since I already have one and I would like to get some framing done on some of my things, I think I will not. Her fabric choices are pretty cool.

Help

Does anyone out there know the difference between NTSC and PAL?? What do they stand for? I recorded Lucy on our older camera because something I recorded from there loaded last time. I tried to load it today, and it wouldn't do it. I looked at the settings on my camera, and I didn't get some things. I looked at my new one. And it had a choice of settings for the video function. Between the above acronyms. It is late, and I really don't want to spend time looking it up because I'm lazy and I need to go to bed. If you know, please point me in the right direction so that I can figure out how to make my video's load. For the sake of the grandparents....... thanks. OK, really going to bed now....

Green Eyes in Africa

A few nights ago, when I should have been sleeping, I decided to look up some people from my past. Mostly missionaries that I served with. I found one, and he was a bull rider in Utah. Well, he was from Delta and on pdays he would wear those big belt buckle things and tighter jeans than any man in Southern California would have been caught in. I couldn't find a few. Then I found this one guy. Elder Hansen. He was the companion to the now bull rider. Elder Hansen has done some amazing things with his life since being a missionary.

What I found was a website, called Green Eyes in Africa. He wrote an article for a newspaper in Utah that tells his story about why he started this non-profit, and what he plans on doing for the rest of his life. This was so amazing to read. I feel proud to know someone that is willing to do these sort of things. I don't know if I will donate money or not, but I know I want to. Need to talk to Matt more about it. It is amazing to me how we all have our different callings in this world.

He has no idea I'm posting this on my blog. I just felt like sharing this information. I did try and contact him through his website, but I haven't heard back from him.

It is amazing to read about what good people are doing in this world. There aren't enough good stories out there.

Regardez cette belle photo

See, I told you French people send out stuff after New Years. I get one from my friends Patricia et Thibault LeFloc'h every year. When we visited Orléans, they invited us over after church and made us some awesome French sausages. They cook them on the grill there, and I wish I could find them here. So, I guess it's not too bad that I haven't gotten my cards out yet. Still working on it. Their little girl, Marianne looks a lot like my Lucy. Blond with blue eye's. And even the same color complexion. As much as I like to make cards, I may just do something like this next year.....

Lucy is sick

So we'll see how much I'm here today. Either she sleeps on my lap or wants me to hold her and I won't be able to be online, or she just sleeps and sleeps and I'll have plenty of time to do whatever I need to do. She just has a fever. Not too high yet, but I'm keeping an eye on it. Really hate going to the ER.......don't want to try this one here yet.

Such a random thing.....

Tonight I was getting Lucy's hair combed. She had just taken a bath. The TV was on. A commercial came on for this show called Lipstick Jungle. I looked up, and there was a girl that went to my high school. Her name is Lindsey Price and is the asian one in the group on the show. I couldn't believe what I saw. So, I got online and found it. So crazy. I didn't "know" her, but I knew that she went to my school and of course would see her around. And now as I think about it, she only went to junior high with me. Oh, it's been so long I don't remember which it was. But I did go to school with her. Just wanted to share with you the randomness of this moment........

I am in love

I am in love with Etsy. I had heard about it on several different blogs. I finally checked it out and thought it was nice, but that I would never really need to go there. Well, I decided that I needed to get a cork/bulletin board and I thought I would try Etsy to see what they have. Well, I found the below picture and I bought it. Along with some really cute fabric covered pushpins. I was already given some really cool pushpins, so I am good to go. Isn't this so cool? It is as much decoration as it is functional. I got it in the mail today and I cannot wait to hang it up and start using it!!!

I also bought the charm below. I tell you, I'm a sucker for french things. And this was just so cute. I guess someone would usually but it for someone else. Well, I might give it away, but I don't think I will. And since most things I buy are with Matt's (ahem, our) money anyway, I can just say that Matt gave it to me. :)
The next time I need something for my house or personal use, I think I'll be checking out Etsy.

Foot in Mouth (again)

Yesterday was an interesting day at church. I was asked to be the primary chorister. So, instead of going to Sunday school and to Relief Society, I went to Primary. I really like my pianist. I seem to get along well with her. The bishopric member that had talked to me about being the Primary chorister came in. I went up and asked him a question. He is deploying some time this week, and he was released yesterday. I made the comment that it would be like coming home from the mission and not knowing what to do with yourself. (regarding his release from the bishopric, and that he wouldn't have any type of a calling.) He looked at me and said "I didn't go on a mission." I said "Oh, I did." He continued and said that he was a convert. Apparently he was 21, married and in the military at the time. Well, obviously, he wouldn't be able to serve a mission. But the tone of voice and how he talked to me.....it was like how dare I bring something up that he had not experienced and at the same time make him feel bad for not being able to serve a mission. OK, that is not what I expected at all. I came away from the conversation thinking that it would be good he would not be there (not that I wanted him to deploy) but that I would not have to worry about any more awkward discussions like that.



The next one was not a big thing. I was picking up Lucy from the nursery, and a mom came to pick up her child. She already had a child in her arms, so I picked up who I thought belonged to her by the way the child was acting. Um, wrong. Had to put that one back and bring out the other one. Awkward, but not that big of a deal.



The next one was at night. While in Primary I had been talking to the pianist about the ward. She had mentioned that Enrichment activities seemed to be difficult for this ward to get going. So, I called up the RS president last night and told her that if they would like, I wouldn't mind heading up a book club. Her husband had been called to replace the above bishopric member. And I was under the impression that now that her husband was in the bishopric, that she would be released as RS pres. I said something like I sure hope they release you soon. That is going to be tough for you guys to do. She responded something like this: "Well, we really believe that the Lord will sustain us, and we'll just keep on going." OK. Well, I guess I don't have as much faith as she does or something. It is hard to exactly describe her tone of voice here, but I felt very 'put back in my place' sort of thing. Or that I was being nosy and it wasn't any of my business to worry about their family. But it really just was me trying to make conversation.

The stinky part about it was I really was just being myself. I wasn't trying to be rude or be nosy into someone elses family. And how was I to know about this man's past? It just pointed out to me how much I really do need to watch what I say and work harder at filtering my thoughts so that what comes out sounds just as it was intended. But then I have friends that tell me that my straightforwardness and my honesty is what they really like about me. Well, I won't change who I am, I'll just keep it to myself. No need to cause problems where there really isn't one. I'll stick to my Primary pianist and hope that there are others in the ward that I can be friends with.

Sad

President Gordon B. Hinckley of the LDS church passed away today.

You can go here for the story also.

Oh well

I think I talked about making Christmas cards sometime in November and December. I was planning on bringing them with me on the road so that I could finish them and send them off sometime near Christmas. Well, my zealous packing/moving helpers that came that day packed them up. I was a little irritated by that. I mean, I had worked really hard at making them, and now I wouldn't be able to get to them until way after.

Of course I found them. And I decided, I worked hard on these darn things, and so I'm going to send them out anyway. I have a few more to put together, but other than writing our return address on them, they are mostly done. So, those of you that I have on my card list, you will be getting a Christmas card in February. In France, they send things out in January, like a happy new year sort of thing. And my feelings won't be hurt if my cards aren't displayed on someones mantle, door, or wall or whatever you put your cards on. Blue sparkly snowflakes don't usually scream out Valentines Day. But you'll have it. And that is what matters.

Attention span

Does anyone else out there seem to have adult ADHD??? I cannot seem to finish one thing to the end. And I find myself wandering from room to room... Anyone with some extra meds?? Focus, need to focus....must be overwhelming moving disorder.

Strange sounds

Yesterday, all day, at very random intervals, I kept hearing this big booming sound. After I heard it a few times, I looked outside to see if there was any construction going on that would make that sound. Um, nothing. And then I thought, well, maybe it's that construction over on that other street, and they are just being really loud. Wrong again. As they day went on, and I kept hearing it, it finally occurred to me. Canon. We live on a military post. And I have never lived on one where they actually trained and shot live ammo. Well, now we do. When Matt came home, I asked him what he thought it was. His answer was artillery. Well, duh me. It was seriously loud. Sometimes it felt like something was slamming into our house. Things would shake a bit. I had flashbacks of my days in California and earthquakes waking me up in the middle of the night. And as I am typing this, I hear small arms fire. Nothing to shake the ground so far. Just popping noises.

In other news, I am currently waiting for the hot water to get to a point that will allow me to take a shower. I think I need to call maintenance today. But as I didn't shower yesterday, I think I should shower before they get here. I shouldn't have to turn the hot water all the way up just for it to get a little warm. Really hope this shower thing gets fixed because I really like my showers warm and not one tiny little bit cold. Not even in the summer.

Family blog

I just posted some pictures of our house on my family blog. These were taken a few days ago before things were more organized. Promise things do not look the same as they do in those pictures! And any snow pictures will also be over there.

Figuring it all out

I recently read something in one of my favorite books about our self-worth. This is what it said:

Self-worth is a combination of the positive and negative messages we received while growing up and the conclusions we draw from all those messages. When children are constantly criticized, and consistently given nonacceptance messages, they become convinced they are of little worth. Acceptance, approval, recognition, and self-actualization are basic human needs. When a person is denied these needs, the need for validation is at war with the nonacceptance and nonapproval messages. The conflict translates into a resentment for those sending the toxic messages and the belief that maybe the nonacceptance messages are warranted. Believing you are capable is replaced by doubt, fear, and believing that you are incapable. Doubt and fear of adequacy, worth, value, or desirability of association creates an inward focus. Tolerance for any criticism is eliminated. Even when justified, necessary, and appropriate, there is a hypersensitivity to any criticism. (pg 187-188 in How to Hug a Porcupine by Dr. John Lund)

This paragraph, in a very general way, explains my relationship with my mom. And it also explains why I always treated my friends better than my family. And why I had the friends I did. They fulfilled the need for acceptance and approval. As a child, I must have heard a lot of these nonacceptance messages. I still get them, but because I live far away, I don't hear them as much. I also have a better idea of how to respond to them too, but that is a different subject.

As I read this the other night, I thought about how I treat my kids. How many nonacceptance messages am I sending each day? Am I sending enough acceptance messages to counteract the negative ones? And a big question is do I want my kids to feel the way I do about my mom when they are my age? The answer is a huge big fat NO!

The big problem is, how do I change my behavior? Because we all know that we do what our parents did. I am determined to change it. My problem was, before a year ago, I really didn't know what the problems were, and what I could do to change them. I got the above mentioned book after a huge crisis with my mom, and it was amazing. So many things he discussed, I had experienced them personally with my mother, and with others in my life. Like one of my missionary companions who was a complete freak. Treated me so badly. Was so glad when she transferred. This book really helped me understand what my problems were, where they came from, and showed me the way to fixing them.

I am a religious person. And I truly believe what we need lies in the scriptures. The problem is, even when I do have the time to read, ponder, and discuss with others, sometimes I still don't get it. I can read it, but I have to have books like this help me understand what exactly it means to "reprove with sharpness" or "honor they father and they mother" or even "love thy neighbor". I have gotten it sometimes with some scriptures, but these ones were so elusive to me. They seem so simple, yet my simple brain couldn't grasp them. Or I just wasn't spiritually in tune at the time of reading them to really understand.

Now, lest you misunderstand, I am not claiming to be a victim. Yeah, things were done that shouldn't have been done and said. Nothing I can do now to change that. Now that I am an adult and I can see things clearer than I could when I was still living at home, I can make the changes needed. Things like this are not usually cold turkey. No, I count my progress in the fewer times I fall into the pit of the old behaviors that were toxic. Doing my best to not be irritated at little things. Not throwing guilt around like it was confetti on New Years. And so many other things like filtering my thoughts before they come out of my mouth, or before I react adversely, giving myself some time to think about it and figure it out. Obviously I'm not good at any one of these things, but I'm getting better. My goal is to become the best, most emotionally safe person I can be.

The first time it was pointed out to me that I exhibited these types of behaviors was in the MTC. My companion heard something that I had said to the rest of the district, and she looked at me and said "you know, you could be nicer". It was like a shock to my system. Nicer??? The more time I spent away from my family, I realized things about myself and my behavior. And it wasn't so good. I tried to fix it by filtering my thoughts more, trying to keep my mouth shut or maybe say what I wanted in a nicer way. So, technically, I have been working on this for nine years. Still hadn't gotten at the root of the problem. But now I think I have found it, and it has been amazing what this knowledge has done for me. I am more aware of my behavior towards others, and especially towards my children and my husband. And in so many other situations. I am still Me, but a better one. At least that's what I'm shooting for.

I wrote this post mostly for me to help see clearly what my goals are. But it also goes well with what I was tagged with by MommyK. To think differently about something in your life.

Here are the rules for this meme:
Write a new blog post about thinking differently.
State that the post is a part of the Think Different Challenge and include a link and/ or trackback to this post so that readers know the rules of the challenge. Feel free to use the above banner (inspired, of course, by Seth Godin).

Include a link and/ or trackback to the blogger who tagged you.
At the end of your post, go ahead and tag some fellow bloggers. Don’t forget to let them know they have been tagged.
Sit back and enjoy reading peoples’ responses to the challenge.

MommyK wrote about her one and only resolution for 2008. I tag Shell, Emily and Lei.

Problem

So, I am finding that I spend a lot of time on this seat, looking at the computer. Reading, commenting, posting, etc. I am not a very good manager of my time. I also notice that some very busy moms still manage to write posts that aren't all fluffy in content. Posts that have something to them. How do all of you manage your blogging time? As I type this, I should be organizing the kids room, or taking a shower, or organizing the room I'm sitting in. Yet here I am, wasting more time reading and trying to escape what I really need to do. What is your secret to productive blogging time AND productive home/kids/husband/family/whatever time. I would love to hear what you do.

So Lame

MommyK at The Great Walls of Baltimore has tagged me twice in the last few months. This latest one, I have been thinking about, and the first one I've been thinking about for a long time!! So, I promise that this week, OK, at least this month I will get to one of them. Promise. And I have so many other things that I want to blog about.....
Need to get that notebook handy to write in when I have thoughts.

Sad

Did any of you see this today?? He is younger than me. I doubt we'll never know why either. It's just sad.

Fixed it

So, we were having problems with our water heater. I would take a shower and by the end of it, it was freezing cold. Not so great when it is in the 30's outside. Yesterday, Matt put our shower head on our shower and took off the one that housing had installed. Problem fixed. Their shower heads allow way too much water to come out. So, the hot water is gone really fast. We put in ours (which is a detachable head because once you've had those, can't live without them. So much easier to clean tubs and showers with those, and to turn it the other way when it is time to shave) and my shower was warm all the way through. Awesome. And the shower head is litereally a foot above my head, right above it, coming straight down. And when you move it, it moves. I might have to get one for the kids bathroom for visitors. Just in case any of you visit and need to take a shower.....

How well do you know geography???

I found this link via Design Mom and it was pretty fun. Go here to see how well you know our earth. I didn't do as well as I thought I would. My knowledge of the asian coutries is not so good. But ask me anything about Europe!!! Well, most of it. I didn't know where Finland was!!! Have fun with this!!!

Progress being made

So, my progress today wasn't terribly much. A guy came over from the ward to pick up our empty boxes as they are moving, so that much mess is out of our house. Matt put together a bookshelf that I had bought this past summer that never got put together. We have looked high and low for our external hard drive and have not found it. I emptied the kids suitcases and put their "dressers" (I use this term very loosely because what I keep their clothes in isn't really a dresser. They are sterilite type plastic drawers that are lightweight that fit inside closets easily and do not cost me that much.) I went through Lucy's clothes that I had left in her dresser and gave my new friend/neighbor that watched my kids the other day a bag of clothes for her daughter. I talked to a few friends from Texas, and I might have one visit me in a few weeks. I have been compulsively finding things to wash in my new washer and dryer. Of course after moving almost everything needs to be washed. And I love that my new shirts and my new dress can be "hand washed" in my washer. And that they come out perfect. LOVE IT!!! Matt set up our wireless connection yesterday so I am typing this from our dining room table and watching reruns of What Not to Wear. I recorded Northanger Abbey today so that I can watch it later and cross stitch at the same time. Of course I'm talking much later when my kitchen counters are mostly cleared off and I don't have to tiptoe around my living room area. I also found my How to Hug a Porcupine book. Yay!! Matt has asked me if I would teach piano here. I told him that if people want me to, I will. I just feel like it is difficult when I'm not going to be around for a long time. You really need to stick with one teacher for a while. And by the time word gets around, they ask me about it, we set up a time, they buy the books...there really isn't much time for me to actually teach them something and have it be worth their time before they have to find another teacher. A few Sunday's ago, someone from the bishopric asked me about what callings I would like, and what callings I have had before. What??? Don't ask me about something like this. It's not like I have any say in my calling. I'm from the school of accepting any and all callings that come my way unless I have a REALLY good reason to say no. Matt said no last year, and felt a little bad about it, but got over it really fast. The one positive thing about being here for one year is no matter how bad or difficult the calling is, it will end next December.

I have been wanting to post about so many things, but this whole moving stuff has really cramped my blogging style. The things that I think about during the day as I'm moving are gone by the time I get to the computer and try and type. I'll have to get a notebook and write down my ideas so that I don't forget them. So, hopefully more thought out posts soon. No more of these ramblings late at night that encourage my late night eating habit that is contributing to the four pounds (or more I think) that I've put on in the last month of hotel/eating out life. One good motivation to clean up and get things put away is that if I want to exercise, I better get this done. Cause there isn't room. Not even for my pilates.

I cannot believe this

There are many things that I've been meaning to blog about. But this one is at the top of my list of today. It has been a yucky day. Really wet and cold. I looked outside sometime in the afternoon, and I couldn't believe my eyes. I saw snow. SNOW!! What?? It doesn't snow much here, but of course it does when I move here. And since it is supposed to get really really cold tonight, somewhere in the 'teens, it will freeze. We got a phone call tonight, and church was cancelled! On one hand I think hooray!! Don't have to worry about getting ready, what to wear, getting out the door, etc. But then I think, man my kids need to be around other people and they need to get out of the house. But we need the time to organize this house and get more stuff done.

In something else that is random, I found one of my long lost Enya CD's. Say what you will, I love and always will love Enya. Just putting it on tonight was like a breath of fresh air. I love it. I hope I can find the other two that I have floating around somewhere. And with my extra time tomorrow, I will find the time to blog about some things that have been rattling around in my head.....And I did take pictures of it snowing today, I just have not uploaded them. I will work on that tomorrow.

Je suis revenue!

I am back online. I am sitting in a house that is mostly in moving-in-disaster mode. Hopefully by this evening, it will be slightly less.

Positive things about our house:
-We are the first ones to live in it since is has been renovated
-It has CARPET!! (the last four years have been in 100% hard wood floors excepting bathrooms and kitchen and I am done with that)
-I have new appliances
-I have a laundry closet, with doors that close so no one has to look at my laundry (although we just bought brand new front loader types that are freakin awesome)
-Both of the kids will fit into one room (Lucy will sleep on the bottom bunk) so we will have an office/crafty/whatever I want room
-Our bedroom is so big that our cal king bed doesn't overwhelm it, and we have lots of extra space
-I have double the counter space that I used to have (which really isn't saying much because I had less than the average kitchen)
-I have a nice big dining area that again, our huge table doesn't overwhelm, and there is area around the table to walk without putting your back up against the wall.
-I should be able to hang things in our new house without having to repaint the walls!!
-The shower heads are a foot above my head. Awesome.

Negatives about our new house:
-There are new blinds on every window. My kids plus blinds equals not so great. I'm hoping to keep them in decent shape while we're here.
-The bathrooms are way small, with no medicine cabinets. How can they make a bathroom without a medicine cabinet?
-The water heater is brand new and seems to be having a few issues. I think we might have fixed it. Guess we'll find out when I take a shower today.
-Very little storage. We do have huge closets in every room, and one that is bigger than my laundry closet thing, but a very small storage place outside.
-Lots of cabinet space in the kitchen, but it is mostly on the bottom. Very little up on top. Have to go out and get those kiddie lock things. (had to put my pottery on the bottom. Very scary)
-Our bathroom does not have a bathtub. Just a shower. Which will make it difficult when it comes to shaving.
-It is a duplex, but I met our neighbor yesterday, and she is active duty, so she won't be home during the days. And the wall that separates our houses is a cinder block wall. I know that because they just painted over it. No Sheetrock. Won't be hanging anything on that wall....
-We are on a corner of the street. Only good thing about this is that the speed limit is 15 mph. (how do you go that slow in an automatic? way too hard)


So far, that is what I think of the house. Overall, I really like it. We got our Internet/phone/cable stuff installed yesterday. They really make it difficult here to do that. At Fort Sam, we just did it. Here, we have to have a maintenance guy here, he has to have a letter, we have to have it Okayed through the housing office.....such a stinkin hassle. Our backyard is open, no fences. But some people have theirs fenced in. If we wanted to do that, we would have to do two things: rent it or buy it. As we are here for one year, the answer is NO to both of those. Not worth it. I would rather spend my money other places.

One sad thing is that three of my pottery bowls broke. I had 9 of them to begin with, so I still have 6. And my friend that I got pottery from this year had gotten me more bowls, so I am still in good shape. I have kept the pieces of my bowls (Matt said that must have been the box he dropped....maybe he'll have to pay for me to find some more online....) and so if any of you crafty people out there have ideas, let me know. The tricky thing to it is that some of the pieces are curvy, not flat, so I may have to break them more to make them fit into something flat. Maybe find a wooden lazy susan and use them in it? A picture frame? I don't know.

So far, Lucy has woken up at about 4am every single night. The first night I was so tired that I let her sleep with me. Never do that again. The last two nights, I have gone with her back to her bed and laid with her until she was sleeping. She has some way cute sheets on her bed. And I still have my Little Mermaid ones, so she is set for sheets for a long time.

Fort Bragg is so dang big I need a map to get to the commissary. Luckily, the PX and the commissary are in the same building. But only in the south. There is another commissary in the north and another PX. But I think the one in the south is cheaper. I bought the same things at both, and the south has things for a lesser price. I know prices chance, but I was at the south one two weeks ago, and the prices are still the same, whereas the north had them for a higher price. I know where I'll be shopping. And yesterday I got a great deal on some new exercise shoes. Online I looked them up and they were around $120. I got them for $24. I love having an odd size foot. That means they always mark them down because few people buy them. Matt was even impressed. (they were asics gel nimbus VIII I think) He wanted to know if they had them in his size.....

Sometimes I have a hard time organizing our home when I know it is for such a short period of time. But I have made some goals and I am really going to try and be really organized. Or at least more so than I have been before. Finally get to use my awesome baskets and I will also be throwing out (or having a yard sale, or taking it to the many thrift stores I have seen) many things. When it is all in boxes, it doesn't look like much. But as soon as we start unpacking......its just going to start going crazy. I'll have to do stealth throwing away for some of the kids things. They don't want to part with anything.

The high here tomorrow is supposed to be somewhere in the 30's. I don't know if I can get away with not wearing nylons or tights to church. I think that might be where I have to suck it up and wear them. I have so few tights-appropriate church outfits.....I'm a warm weather girl to the bone.

Will post pictures of disaster move in house later. I will take some "after" photo's too, so you can see my new skills at organizing and getting rid of. I hope it is warmer at your house than at mine.

Just to let you know....

Tomorrow is move in day!!!!! (imagine me doing a dance of joy) As such, I will probably be away from the internet until sometime on Friday when I have it scheduled to be installed. So, nothing from me for a few days. Just hope that things aren't broken, especially my pottery, that I don't lose my mind, and that my children survive the next few days. Not to mention my husband...... I will take pictures of our new home, and not sure if I'll post it here or on our family blog. Have a good rest of your week, and don't miss me too much......

My new favorite thing

My best friend just found this place called Ihatecrocs.com. How cool is that? I really do not like crocs at all. I think they are ugly shoes. I know of only one reason to wear them. I have a friend that has stress fractures in his feet, and these are one of the few things that give him a little bit of relief from his pain. OK, so he has an excuse. The rest of the croc wearing population?? Not so much. If you wear them, just don't tell me about it. If you don't hooray for you!! My husband actually has a pair, but they don't have holes in them, and he wears them with his scrubs. He does not wear them outside of the hospital. I have told him a ton of times that they are ugly shoes, and he could have chosen a better pair of shoes. But they wipe clean which when you work in a hospital where there are yucky liquids, I can kind of understand that. Still, my doctor wearing crocs???? Have to think about that. For my birthday, I think I want to get this for myself.....

This last month since we've been in a hotel, I haven't done any exercising. Other than walking over to the park, and walking in a store, I have done nothing. It's not like I really can. Our room is too small for any kind of exercising, and I have the kids all day. Also, on top of that, I stay up late, read or fool around on the computer. While I do that, I eat all kinds of stuff that I shouldn't be eating. On top of that, we've eaten out more than usual and the food that I am able to cook isn't the good fresh stuff. I can feel the results in my tummy (and in other places)....

I had a DVD that I fell in love with. I had gotten it for a dollar at Walmart. This woman does dance routines to club music. LOVE it!! It wasn't boring with lame music at all. Well, some might label club music as lame, but I don't. I really liked my cool DVD. I tried to do the more difficult section and my DVD just stopped working. I couldn't see what she was doing, or hear anything. I was so bummed!!! I have pilates DVD's but I need cardio too. So, I found her three DVD set on Amazon and bought them recently. I also got a new pilates DVD that came with one of those stretchy band things. And I bought some weights. I am SO excited to start exercising. I am tired of my jeans being tight and of the wrinkles on the back of them because they are being stretched so far. I am tired of feeling fat and I'm tired of complaining about it. I also think that part of my problem is that I have been blessed with an amazing metabolism, and this is the first time of my life that I've actually had any kind of weight issues. Other than after pregnancy weight of course. It will not be easy to make this change, but I think I will be happier if I do.

Today while the kids were at the park I sat down and made a rough schedule of what I want my days to be. I also made a list of daily chores and weekly chores. Of course this won't all come into play until about a month after moving in. Hopefully by that time most of the boxes will be emptied and things will be organized. I plan on my exercising to start sometime next week once there is space enough to do it. And I want to be up before the kids so that I can do it before they wake up. I'm hoping this house has thicker walls than our other one.....

I kind of feel like this is my golden time, or maybe better described as my make it or break it time. If I don't make these changes now, I will struggle for a long time. But if I can manage to do it now, then the rest of my life will be easier. I feel that I've almost pinpointed the reasons for my issues and have decided on a plan of action to get past those reasons. I am so excited for this!!! And I get to start on Wednesday. Yay!!!

I found out

I was returning a vacuum I had checked out from the front desk and I asked if they had found out who had set off the alarm. She said that they didn't know, but it would be immediate eviction if they did find out. And a HUGE fine from the fire marshall. And this morning, a smoke detector went off in a room and they had the firemen back here again. Luckily it was just the room. I really really hope that they find out.

Fires and String Cheese

Have you ever noticed that string cheeses are not all made equal? I am quite picky in my string cheese. Right now we eat the kind that comes in a blue bag. Can't remember what kind it is. And even then, it is not always the same. I like mine a little dry, hard and salty. I cannot stand it when it is mushy and bland. And sometimes, the packaging for them is impossible to open. What is up with that? Those things were made to open easily. Shouldn't need the scissors to open up my string cheese. I really like the one that is cheddar and mozzarella twisted together. Yum. But my kids aren't too fond, so I don't buy it much. Eating string cheese with salt and vinegar chips is really really yummy.

So, tonight, the kids were running around. Lucy just had on her diaper, Andrew didn't have a shirt on. They were just running around having a good time. All of a sudden, the fire alarm goes off. And it is freaking loud. The kids are freaking out. We're trying to get them dressed because it's cold outside. We can't find Andrew's sweatshirt, running around looking for shoes. Matt can't find his scriptures, and his wallet is in them. It was loud. Just as we were almost ready, it stops. Crap. Then it starts again, and then stops really fast. By that time, the fire truck has arrived, the firemen are in the hallway, checking to make sure it really is a false alarm. The kids have no idea what is going on. The fire truck is right outside our window, so they have a fun time looking at that for a little bit. We come back in the room, I decide to undress for pj's and I put on my robe. I got Lucy in her jammies, and finally got Andrew into his. Next thing we know, we hear pounding on doors. The security lady is having to evacuate the entire building so the policemen and whoever can reset the alarm. So, now, we have firemen who have wasted their time. Policemen who could have been doing something better. Then three of the hotels employees who have Sunday off, all had to come in and figure this whole thing out. We spent over half an hour sitting in our car waiting for everything to get fixed. The kids needed to go to bed, Matt needed to get ready for work in the morning. We actually saw a guy leave with his suitcase packed and left. I don't blame him one bit. Wish I could have done the same thing. I just hope that whatever not very smart person pulled or did whatever to the fire alarm, gets a HUGE fine for causing all of these problems. And if it was a dumb kid fooling around, their parents better be doing some big time disciplining. And their parents should pay the fine for letting their kids run amuck in a hotel and causing all these people to have to get their kids up at 9pm on a Sunday night. Not to mention those that have to get to work early.

I also found out interesting information about someone that I knew a gazillion years ago and them setting fire to something. Totally shocked!! People surprise us all the time.

I had been asked to teach in Relief Society (our women's group at church) and my lesson went really well. I made the lesson into a game, and I brought chocolat. Of course it was good chocolat. And because I had so much time this week, I was pretty well prepared for the lesson. I didn't even get nervous. Either I've done it so much it doesn't bother me anymore, or I was just prepared and that takes away all of the butterflies. There are a few women in the ward that seem to be really mormon-y. You know, always being nicey nice and doing their darndest not to offend anyone.... But there are some potential for some good friends in the ward. I'm hopeful. Sometimes people are put off by my straightforwardness. I am much better at filtering my thoughts before they come out of my mouth, but it still happens. Don't know if I'll ever completely overcome that one, but I'm doing much better. And then when I don't say it in the moment, I'll say it to my best friend on the phone much later. Helps to get it out. Poor girl. But she usually just laughs at me.

We move into our house Wednesday morning. I will be spending the next two days getting things organized and packed up so that we can get out of here as soon as possible that day. Cannot wait to have our home back. And to get rid of stuff that we really don't need anymore. I have way too much crap. Maybe I'll have a yard sale and make some money off of it.....go buy me some more shoes...

A nice day

Today we hung out with our perfect couple. We met for lunch on post, then took the kids to a park that is right next to this pond/lake thing on post. There were geese there and the kids thought that was great. The water was not so great.

Our friends have two kids. One was born when we were all in Germany. She was born 8 weeks early, and luckily, other than not attaching to nurse, she has not had any issues since. She is a little small (she and Lucy are the same size, and Lucy is almost a year younger, but my kids are giants....) but that is pretty normal. I would watch her when she was an infant, and our kids would play together too. We haven't seen them in almost two years, but last Saturday, that little girl jumped up on my lap like she's known me for a long time. She let me tickle her, and would show me all kinds of things. Alison said that she doesn't do that with any of her friends. I was surprised. We were talking about it, and Alison thinks that somewhere, she remembers us. Either our faces, or our smell (hopefully a good one) that is still in her memory. When they left Germany, she was about 16 months old. Not very old at all.

I just wonder how much these little people remember. And if she can remember me after two years, what else do they remember? I'm not familiar with any studies on this, other than the little from high school psychology, which was taught by the football coach...... I would like to hope that she does remember us, and trusts us. She let me hold her hand today and carry her too. And this is only the second time she has seen us.

Some interesting thoughts to ponder......

The how and the why

I wrote this about 3 weeks ago, and I have been editing it since. Finally is ready for posting.


Before we joined the military, I would wonder what possessed these people to join?? Why would people choose to go through boot camp? How do people live like that?


I thought I would share the how and the why for us. How we came to the decision and why we did. Although you'll need lots of background information. Just stay with me, and we'll get there I promise.


Matt had always had a hard time choosing a career. First he wanted to be a choir director, but then thought that wouldn't be a good choice for someone who wanted to have a family. It's hard to find good paying jobs for a choir director. Next, he thought about being a fireman, and even took some classes. Then, he wanted to go into business. In the meantime, he was working doing drafting for a guy from church. He was good at it, and made a good amount of money for a guy going to school and working. When we got married, he wasn't working anymore, and I worked and taught piano lessons after work.

By the time we joined the army two years later, he had worked as a shoe salesman at Nordstrom, a door to door ADT (security systems) salesman, drafted for a pool company, a Craftmatic Bed salesman, and Insurance salesman. I even might have skipped a few. We had also bought a house, and I had stopped working full time, and I had about 30 piano students and I was pregnant. I was making a good amount of money teaching, but neither one of us had health insurance. We were having a hard time making the payments on our mortgage. Matt (and a little bit me, but some of it I didn't fully know about or understand) had gotten us way over our heads financially.

Matt's dad has never been very good financially either. He is almost 60, (if not already) and is still living in a tiny house with his two daughters and his wife. He is renting it. He is an insurance salesman, and does pretty darn well. But he has two new cars, and buys things that really aren't that important. I come from a family that doesn't take risks, and sticks to one job as best they can, and does their best to stay out of debt. We come from very different financial backgrounds, and that can cause a few problems.....

I should have been more aware of what was going on. Matt didn't keep it from me, but I just never really asked. There was a lot more with our money that was going on too. He began looking into other things that he could do. Mostly, he was worried about our hospital bills once I had Andrew.

One night, we were laying in bed talking, and he said, "I've been thinking about joining the military". I said "You must be crazy. No way." He then went on to explain as he was praying about what we should do, and been thinking about it a lot, he said it just kind of came to him. So, after that, before he had told me about his little epiphany, he went to each of the recruiting stations and talked to the Marines, Navy, Air Force and the Army. I don't think he went to the Coast Guard. The Marines and the Navy were no ways. No offense against Marines, but you have to be a special kind of person to be a Marine. They are good soldiers, but they are always the first ones in, last ones out, and are really hardcore soldiers. The Navy was a no way too. He would have had to be on a boat six months of the year, on average, and the boy gets seasick. So, he was down to the Air Force or the Army. We could have joined the Air Force, but there wasn't an open spot for several months. So, if we were going to do it, it was going to have to be the Army. We talked and talked and talked about it. He told me all about the stuff he had learned from the recruiters (which really isn't much, and they don't always tell you the whole truth....) and we prayed about it. He took the asvab, which is a test they give you to see what you qualify for. He scored pretty high on the test. He felt really good about joining the military. I still wasn't 100% sure, but wasn't getting any bad feelings about it. And we needed the health insurance. So, we did it. He signed up. He signed up to be trained as a 25 Foxtrot, which means nothing to me, but it was in communications and computers and that sort of thing.

We joined because we needed a consistent paycheck. We joined because we needed the health insurance. I wanted to join because he signed up for four years, and he wouldn't be able to change his job for four years!! It isn't easy when you are constantly changing jobs. The Army hasn't been an easy life. We lived apart for 10 months that first year. Matt wasn't there when Andrew was born. It is difficult when he would have to work on the weekends, and when he had to be at formation at 0400.

The blessings have been enormous. Andrew got his surgery done for free. We got to live in Germany for two and a half years. Matt found what he really wants to do, which to be a PA (which we found out about this school because of Andrew's surgery and all the time we spent at Walter Reed.) Matt is getting to go to school for free, and we're getting paid. We've gotten to live in different places and have met many great people. We have a consistent paycheck, albeit a small one. Joining the military was the best decision we made. Yeah, he might be deployed. We know that, that is part of the job. We knew that when we joined. Constantly moving around is hard on all of us, especially my kids. I never imagined that we would ever live in Texas. Or North Carolina. I didn't even want to go and visit those places. Yet, here we are.

Joining the military is not for everyone. And sometimes they don't find that out until after they join, which is sad. It works for us. We're doing really good. We have benefited from the Soldier Sailor Relief Act. When we got orders for Germany, I was able to turn in our leased vehicle without any fees. We've been able to cut our debt down by way more than half since we've joined, and we haven't increased it. The Army has been good to us.

We still have five years left. (This year he will be in school, and then only four more) And he will be deployed at least once in those five years, maybe more. That will help us determine whether or not to stay in the military for the 20 years and retire. We might get out and Matt will get a job as a PA somewhere. (hopefully not too close to family, but close enough I can get my In-n-out fix when I need it) Another positive thing about Matt doing this schooling, is that as a PA, he will not be out doing any sort of fighting. He will be at an aid station, or a hospital when he is deployed. He will be saving lives. And when I think about that, I really get a good feeling inside.

So, that is why we joined the army.

Car

So, the orange care I told you about? It is a Pontiac GTO. If that means anything to any of you out there. They offered to take me out in it. No way. I am not a good passenger. He said I could drive it, but I don't know these strange North Carolina roads very well. I wouldn't be comfortable. Maybe the next time we see them. Alison and I can take it for our girls nights out. Even if it's orange.....

Check out these shoes

I found these shoes as I was going through some other shoe websites today. I think they are awesome. Only problem is that they are $415. But I think they are still cool. Even on sale I wouldn't be able to buy these. These would be awesome with a black dress. Or a really cool denim skirt. I'm really into shoes right now. I'm always searching for ones that actually fit my feet......

I am in love with these shoes

I really am. I saw these shoes, and I am dying to have them. Since I am having to return those other cool stripey shoes, I have been on a shoes hunt. I posted about those cute brown ones with the rhinestones on them. I found these on the same website. I would wear them with my new dark washed jeans and a cool shirt. And they actually have them in my size!!! There are very few shoe companies that make shoes in my size. I don't understand why. I have met so many women with larger feet. I actually had to buy men's slippers because finding slippers that are feminine and cute, and in my size, is practically impossible. So, do you think my shoes are way out there? Honestly, I don't know if I care too terribly much. I love them, and I want them. And they cost less than the other one's I ordered. As soon as I move, I will be ordering these. I cannot wait to wear them!!!

Elizabeth

Sometime in October or November, I went out with a friend to dinner and a movie. We went to La Madelaine, my favorite restaurant in all of San Antonio. It was yummy. I had their tomato basil soup and some pasta stuff. The best thing about them is they have an area that just has bread and you can have as much as you need. I usually go back at least once. But no butter. Who puts butter on bread? Not unless it's toast.

The movie we went to see was Elizabeth: The Golden Age. Since I had not seen the first one (I actually bought it for Matt to put in my stocking, and then realized it was an R movie. I don't watch R movies. I usually cannot get the yucky scenes out of my head and they torture me. I hate it.) I really like history. I am particularly fascinated with European history. I have been to several castles and other historic places, and I feel a special little bond with them. Anyway, this movie was awesome. I usually make comments to whomever I'm with when I see a movie. I don't think I spoke one word the whole time.

Text book history books leave out so much. I wasn't too much into history in high school. And of course, they didn't make it all that exciting. And the history I usually read is historical fiction. I have since read The Journey, the life of Marie Antoinette. That was a little rough at the beginning, but I really got into it. So, after I saw Elizabeth, I wanted to read a book about her. But I had so many books to read already, and we were moving.

Since we've been in this hotel, I read everything I had brought. So, I went onto Amazon and got me my favorite exercise DVD's, and a few books. One of which is The Life of Elizabeth I by Alison Weir. She's written other history books about her father, Henry VIII, and I also want to get those, but I can only buy so much!! I am very excited to read this book. I feel so uneducated about so many things. Partly because I never finished going to college, and partly because I just have no idea about so many things. So, I educate myself with reading lots of books. It would be easier if I were able to take some classes. But I haven't been in a place for me to be able to do that. Online classes are an option, but I need a teacher and a classroom. I know that about myself. I would fail an online class.

So, there you have it. My lame ways of trying to fill my brain up with knowledge. Still working on it. Hopefully, our next duty station we'll be there for at least 3 or more years and I'll be able to take some classes.

Withdrawals

I'm going through withdrawals. I love baking. And eating baked goods. I have a few favorites that of course do not exist in a grocery store bakery. Like Sour Cream Cookies. What are those?? Well, they are the best cookie on the planet according to me. They look like snicker doodles (which i do not like because my mom would make them hard as rocks) but they are soft and moist with a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar on top. Almost like eating a small cake......
I cannot bake in this hotel. And the options I have at a grocery store bakery are just not acceptable. Homemade cupcakes are always better than store bought ones with the icing so high that you can't even bite it. Homemade brownies just taste so much better when you eat them warm from the oven. There is a cookie recipe on the back of a bag of butterscotch chips called oatmeal scotties. At least that is what they used to be called. SO good. And all I have right now are out of the bag cookies or the yucky stuff from the commissary bakery. Sigh....next week cannot come soon enough. I've actually thought of making some no-bakes, but that would require counter space that just doesn't exist in here. I'll have to replace my cookies with Jelly Belly's.

My kids and TV

When we first got back to the states last year, we were just dumbfounded by all of the amazing channels that existed over here. I stayed up late watching things like the history channel, TLC, and USA. Not to mention my favorite, TNT. The kids watched Disney Playhouse, and they loved it. When we got our house, we got cable for the first time. I loved that the kids had Nick Jr. or Disney Playhouse. We would never watch Saturday morning cartoons or the Cartoon Network. In this hotel, we do not have Disney or Nick. All we have is the Cartoon Network. And I am really hating all the commercials. Andrew repeats them, and tells me about them. Everything from shoes to those cereal straw things. One of the things that I loved about Disney is that there aren't any commercials about that stuff. I'm hoping that we'll have Noggin this time around. The one good thing about the Cartoon Network is that they have Tom and Jerry in the mornings. Which of course I love because that's what I watched as a kid.

Only one more week in this darn hotel. We try to watch movies instead of TV. And I try to turn it off as much as I can. But there isn't much to do in this little room. They have toys from Christmas, but not very many. And today it's supposed to rain. So no park. Last year we survived, so I know we can do it for one more week......

Yay!

I got a phone call from my friend Alison tonight. You know, our perfect couple? Well, anyway, she told me that they weren't moving to Georgia after all, and that they would be moving down here to the dump that is otherwise known as Fayetteville!!!!! I am so happy!! Sad for them though. He was going to reenlist and was going to get an amazing bonus. But for some reason, things did not go through. So, as sad as I am for their financial issues, I am so glad that she will be around to hang out with (even if she will be working) and for someone for Matt to hang out with too. They are both medical, so they have lots to talk about. Not to mention the guitar playing. And driving around in Spence's really ugly car. It's an orange car. Car's should not be orange. That color is reserved for fruit.

Public Laundry

I hate doing my laundry in a laundromat. The only positive thing is that it takes a shorter time because I can do more loads at once.

Yesterday was our laundry day. And boy did we have a lot. It was about 11 in the morning, and I took our huge bag down to the laundromat. One of the washers is out of order, and then they have four others, one of which is an older model front loader. Someone wasn't very smart and put the laundry soap in the wrong place, and so it's kind of yucky. So, I really only have 3 washers to use. Two were being used when I first went in. One of them wasn't, but I wanted to use all 3 at the same time, not do one load at a time. So, I waited. I kept checking back. by 3 that afternoon, those two washers STILL had the clothes in them. I was done. I went up to the front desk and made sure I could take out their clothes. They gave me a small hamper, and took out their stuff. I mean, come on. You're using a hotel laundry room, and you're dumb enough to leave your stuff there for FOUR hours?? I did our four huge loads, and was completely done by five. They still had not come down to take care of their things. Could not believe it!!

In Germany, we had laundry in the basement. It was a first come first serve thing. We didn't have to pay, they were just there for our use. Sometimes I would forget that I had clothes down there and people would put it in the dryer. I hated that, because sometimes I had clothes that weren't supposed to be dried. Of course I should have gotten myself down there, but it wasn't always that easy. It was yucky down there and Andrew was little. I didn't want him wandering around down there picking up yucky stuff.

I just hate public laundry. When we moved to San Antonio, we obviously did not own a washer or a dryer. By the time we moved into our house, we were low on funds. We had just spent the last 9 weeks in hotels or visiting family and friends. Matt found this place that sold refurbished washers and dryers. So we bought from them. They looked just like the ones that my parents had when I was a kid. But they worked!! As we were packing up our trailer a few weeks ago, we decided not to take our washer and dryer. They would have taken up too much space. We found someone in the ward that needed them, and they almost ran over to get them. And they took our rocking chair because that wouldn't fit either. OK, it would have fit, but we would have gone over our 19 feet, and we didn't want that. So again, we are without things to wash our clothes. Matt loves to research this kind of stuff, so he has spent a lot of time online looking at all kinds of washers and dryers. We ended up with a new front loader. Matt found it on ebay, and it was the best deal he could find. We won't be giving this one away!! I have to say, that I'm excited for it. We'll be using less water for washing our clothes. We don't have to pay for water, but I'll feel better about it. And it will take less time to dry our clothes because the washer will spin it so well, they will be almost dry when they get out.

Only one more week of public laundry. Thank goodness!!!

Instructions

Hello readers. Just wanted to mention something regarding my family blog. If you choose to leave a comment there, AND you have a link to this blog on yours, could you please be anonymous and then sign your name at the bottom of the comments, OR make it impossible to find your blog from your comment. Reason being that I do not want my family to read this blog. This is a place for me to vent and to do other things, and I really don't want them finding this link. I know, I'm crazy. Just indulge me on this one. I have actually taken this blog off of my profile just for that reason. Thanks!!

Update

Posted some new pictures and other stuff on our family blog.

The Perfect Couple

I'm sure you're all familiar with the search for the perfect couple. The couple that both spouses get along with. It is very elusive and difficult to find. And when you move as often as we do, it makes it very tough to find another couple that both of us get along with. Sometimes I find someone that I like, and I like her spouse, but then Matt doesn't like her or he doesn't like him. And then sometimes it's the other way around, where I don't like one or both. So far, we've found very few that both of us get along with. In California, our "couple" that we love are our friends James and Jamie. And every time we go to CA, we go and visit them, have dinner, and just hang out. In Germany, Alison and Spence were our neighbors upstairs. We became good friends with them. Matt and Spence would go golfing, would play soccer, play halo, and play guitar together. Alison and I would shop, cross stitch, watch girl movies while we cross stitch, scrapbook, make cards, take the kids to the park, and just talk. In San Antonio, since Matt was so busy, we really weren't able to look for our "couple" there. There were a few that had potential, but because he was so busy, we didn't ever have the time as a group to do much.

One of the reasons that we wanted to move to Fort Bragg was that our friends Alison and Spence were here. We really like them. We haven't seen them for two years, and we still talk pretty regularly. Saturday, we drove up to where they are living now. I had no idea how much time we would spend there, but we ended up getting there around noon. And we stayed until 8pm!!! Alison and I sat down and cross stitched. I looked at her albums that she's been able to finish. The kids played. Matt and Spence and Alison's dad went up to the guitar room (yes, her dad has a guitar room. he has about 15 guitars, both acoustic and electric. Spence has around 5 I think.) The boys also went and drove around in Spence's ugly car that is really fast. (I can't remember what kind of car it is) Spence made us some venison steaks, (they were so good!!) and Alison made the kids kid food, and we just sat around and talked. And then we played games and no one left the table upset with our spouse!!!!! It was such a great day. I wish Alison didn't work so that I could drive up there for the day in the middle of the week and just hang out. We'll probably spend many a Saturday there before they leave for Fort Gordon in a few months. I am so glad that we were able to come here and be with them. Spence even bought root beer for me and bought Matt some other kind of drink. How nice is that!!!! Can't wait to have them come over to our house, once we actually have our house...

Hopefully we'll find a couple in this ward that we like. But, I don't know how busy Matt will be, so I might be on my own again....

Crazy 8's

Vanessa at Convoluted Brainwaves tagged me. Gives me something to do when we have to turn off the lights so the kids can go to bed.


8 Things I’m passionate about
- France and things that are French
-Good food. I hate crappy food.
-Quality Chocolate. I will never buy hershey's again. (see, I won't even dignify it with a capital letter)
-My religion
-Doing my best to make my outside match my insides
-My opinions
-Recycling and doing my part to make our earth better.
-Not changing who I am to make people like me. So not worth it.

8 Things I want to do before I die
-Live in Europe with my kids so they can have that experience.
-Go on a mission again with or without Matt. (I know that sounds bad. If I outlive him, then I'll go by myself is what I mean)
-Go back to school and get a degree in anything. It will probably be in French or be connected to it somehow. Can't help it, it's in my blood.
-Attaining my goal of being organized. This may sound silly but for me it is nigh impossible.
-Get rid of all the yucky stuff in my life: bad habits, bad attitudes, being judgmental, letting go of the bad stuff...
-Being the kind of mom that is a mom when they are little and when they are teenagers, but being still someone that is a friend when they get older, yet still be their mom. Does that even make sense???
-Being financially able to help my children do things like buy their own homes by getting them loans that are amazing because we have amazing credit, and using our money to help others. I know my dad would have a hard time with this, but my mom's parents would show up with things for us. Once it was a huge freezer. Another time it was a really awesome vacuum. Another time it was a year old van. I want to do things like that. Give them things that they can really use, and know they could never afford to do it themselves. But we wouldn't go into debt getting it for them.
-(drawing a blank.....)


8 Things I often say
"you have a choice"
"don't give me a kiss!!" (reverse psychology)
"you can be mad, but you don't get to act like that"
"was that a good choice or a bad choice?"
"if we work together, we can get it done faster!"
(again, more blanks...)

8 Books I have recently read or am currently reading
Pillars of the Earth
Atonement
French Women Don't Get Fat
(all my books are in boxes, and I can't remember the others)

8 Songs I could listen to over and over
Take on Me by A-ha
Wannabe by Spice Girls
Grace Kelly by Mika
Clair de Lune by Debussy
Show Me Love by Robyn
Anything from the Prince of Egypt
Lucy singing her little made up songs
Andrew singing while he's going to the bathroom (these are really funny)

8 Things that attract me to my best friends
honesty
willingness to laugh a lot
supportive
don't think I'm crazy
will listen to my craziness
"being a kindred spirit"
(I can't think of anything else. It's late and Lucy won't go to sleep)

8 People I think should do Crazy 8s
(8 is way too many. I'll just do a few cause I really don't know enough people in the blogging world to tag...)
LeeElle, Kerilynn, Joe (ok, i'll have to stop because I'll be lucky if they do it. I need to make more friends........)

Write Away contest

I haven't entered anything into this yet, but I've wanted to. It is hosted by Scribbit. Go here for this months entry subject and read the rules. Maybe I'll finally be able to enter something if I can get it written before we move into our house.

Where is my DVR when I really need it?

I just got this in an email from my friend, and I thought I would share it with all of you. I am hoping that I can find PBS on our hotel TV. Wish I had my DVR so that I could record them and then record them on our DVD recorder. At least for the rest of them, I should have our DVR. Something perfect to watch on a Sunday evening....
Remember to set your DVR's!!!!!

PBS will be airing all of Jane Austen's books beginning in January, with new adaptations for Persuasion, Northanger Abbey, Sense and Sensibility and Mansfield Park. See the schedule below.

The Complete Jane Austen Premiering Sunday, January 13, 2008 The Complete Jane Austen, beginning Sunday, January 13, 2008, features all new productions of Persuasion, Northanger Abbey, Mansfield Park, and Sense and Sensibility. The lineup also includes the acclaimed Emma staring Kate Beckinsale, and the Emmy Award-winning Pride and Prejudice that made Colin Firth a leading man. Four of the titles -- Emma, Northanger Abbey, Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility -- were adapted by celebrated screenwriter Andrew Davies.

Persuasion January 13, 2008
Northanger Abbey January 20, 2008
Mansfield ParkJanuary 27, 2008
Miss Austen Regrets February 3, 2008
Pride and Prejudice February 10, 17, + 24, 2008
Emma March 23, 2008
Sense and SensibilityMarch 30 + April 6, 2008

Isn't it funny.....

I just put up a link to something called The Story of Stuff. I had seen this link on Jen's blog Lords of the Manor. After watching The Story of Stuff, I decided to send the link to several of my family and friends. Since it has been something that I have been thinking about myself, I thought I would pass along the information. Well, I just got a phone call from one of the friends that I emailed the link to. She works at a PR firm in the DC area. She actually worked on promoting this website!!! She was excited to see how far it had gone. Her entire office watched the twenty minute movie in December, and she said it affected how a lot of them bought for Christmas this year. She was very glad that it was getting around on the web, and so am I!! We can all do something to better our earth. Click on the link on my sidebar when you have some time. It is incredibly interesting.

Cleaning and Purging

Shannon at Rocks in my Dryer has a great post on purging and cleaning out all of our junk and stuff that really doesn't matter. Maybe it will give you the motivation you've been needing!! I wish I had my stuff so that I could do something about it. Head over here to read it.

Sniff Sniff

Do you remember those cute stripy shoes that I posted about last week?? Well, they came today and they are too small!!! They are size 41. They had them listed as an American size 11, but that is not a 41 its a 42. So sad. But they sent me a label so I can send them back for no charge. Most shoe stores online are like that. I have found another pair of shoes that Stacy and Clinton would like. I think. It is so hard for me to find shoes in a regular store. I'm a size 11 (I know, ski's for feet) and they have very little selection in stores. Nordstrom carries a lot of larger sizes but I cannot always afford the larger prices. So, I shop online for shoes and then hope they fit. These other ones should fit as they are listed as a size 42. These are the shoes. What do you think?

Another New Years Thought

I already listed a few things that I need to change in my life. Well, this year I also want to make more of an effort to buy and eat more natural. We have a small budget. We are lower enlisted military, and we don't make very much. But our commissary has many organic products and gluten free products that are cheaper than most natural food stores. I try to buy those more often than things from the huge companies. To me, they even taste better. I buy organic chicken because it tastes better to me, and it isn't that much more. I bought 7th Generation dish soap because it was only 10 cents more than what I would regularly buy, and it is better for the earth. Being in a hotel makes things a little tricky, as I do not have an oven or counter space to make our family good food. But I do my best. I am hoping that we have recycling bins on post too. I just love filling that thing up with broken down cereal boxes, empty plastic bottles, and other stuff that maybe others don't think about recycling. I would love to be able to live somewhere long enough to find out where farmers markets are so that I could buy my produce from local growers and support them instead of peppers from South America and tomatoes from who knows where. My husband has been doing this Eat for your Blood Type diet. It has really helped him. So, I might look into buying gluten free stuff on Amazon in bulk. I recently put gluten free into their search, and came up with 3 pages of gluten free stuff. They also sell grains like quinoa in bulk too. My husband bought amaranth online (but didn't end up eating all of the 25 pounds he bought!!!). So this year, as part of your New Years Resolutions or just your goals for making changes, we can think more about our earth and our bodies and where our money is going.

What??

I have been searching all of the public TV channels and I cannot find anything about the Rose Parade. What is going on over here? We have the silly Thanksgiving Parade on the west coast. Where is the Rose Parade?? I guess being from Southern California I'm used to having it on almost every channel, having friends in the parade and having groups of friends spend the night on the street to get a good spot to watch the parade. I never did it. I've been on Colorado Blvd several times. They have some great shopping there!! And the Norton Simon Museum. Thats the building with the big rose on the side of it that you always see. Oh wait!!! I found one channel with the parade on it. Now it kind of feels like New Years Day...... Happy New Years!!!