As many positive things I can think of

So, I'm realizing that in my day to day life, I tend to be a little negative. So, here are as many positive things as I can think of about my life.


1~My husband really loves me

2~I love him

3~I have a decent house to live in

4~I have healthy and very cute kids

5~We always seem to have more than what we need

6~I have a nice car to drive around

7~I've made a few friends since moving here

8~I've been able to live in France and Germany

9~I am pretty independent

10~I'm doing MUCH better at being motivated to clean my house

11~I'm reading my scriptures almost every day

12~We have free long distance on our landline

13~And wireless internet

14~My kids know what the Eiffel Tower is and want to go to see it.

15~I have friends all over the US

16~My husband will eat almost anything I make for dinner, even if it doesn't taste all that great

17~I have a great sister

18~Matt rides his bike to work so that I can have the car

19~I have enough books to read to last me about three months

20~I love my DVR

21~The Gap has saved me from looking like I'm waiting for a flood

22~My kids CAN but don't always play nicely together

23~I can talk and talk about pretty much anything

24~Online shopping is one of my favorite things to do

25~I love my garlic press

26~I don't mind watching other peoples kids

27~I am always trying to be a better me

28~I love baking

29~I love trying new recipes (I just got a new Rachel Ray book!)

30~You can always count on me to have a treat

Ok, going to have to stop at 30 because I can't sit at the computer for the rest of the day.

I want this dress

SO interesting

First, this is my 400th post!! Who knew I had this much to say??

Next, I saw this article today. I thought it was fascinating. I had no idea they were still looking for these people. I'm currently reading a book called Those who save us by Jenna Blum. Which is about the same time period. I had to make myself put it down so that I could get to sleep!! I don't want to stop reading it. But it is NOT a G rated book. I'll let you know how I like it when I get done.

Perils of Primary

Yesterday was a very hard day in junior primary. I had one little boy tell me he was going to kick my butt, and another little girl try and lift up my dress to look under it. A few other things happened, but those two were the worst. I'm hoping next Sunday is a little better.

REALLY close to home

This fire is about ten miles or less from my parents house. In fact, my dad and the scouts have camped at those exact places that they mention. And I LOVE Sierra Madre. Such a cute little town. But, like the rest of So Cal, very expensive. Hopefully those that were made to evacuate will be able to get back to their homes soon.

SO different

I had written this whole post about something, but I just deleted it because it sounded dumb. I'll paraphrase it:

Every one of us is so darn different. I wish instead of judging and putting down those differences that we could do our best to understand them. But how difficult it is for me, who was brought up with someone who was very judging and now it is so natural, to change that, to get past it, and just accept people. I hate it. I'll need to live for a REALLY long time to be able to rid myself of this bad habit and be completely changed. I sometimes wish some things in this world could be done just as quickly as Mary Poppins tidied the nursery. I need some magic snapping fingers. Unfortunately, singing "A spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down" over and over doesn't do the trick. I've tried it. (mostly because that is Lucy's current favorite movie. She gets excited when Mary Poppins shows up, and then cries at the end EVERY time when she leaves because she doesn't want Mary Poppins to go. A couple times I almost cried with her. Anyone know where I can find her??)

And this is mostly referring to the military world versus the civilian world. It is amazing to me just how different it is.....

Finding my way

My entire life I've had a hard time picking up after myself. I hate housekeeping and cleaning in general. There are many reasons, I won't go into them here. Recently, I have figured out how to make my cleaning and housework more enjoyable. I've already posted about this, but having nice smelling stuff really helps. I love walking into my bathroom and having it smell like geraniums.

My mom would always make us sweep, and I just hated it. And normally, I would just use the vacuum to clean a floor period. About a month ago I was at TJMaxx, and I saw this:

Isn't that the coolest broom??? I love it. I sweep WAY more than I did before. Not that my floors were really bad before, they are just much nicer. Totally worth the $7. Last time I went I hoped to find a mop. No such luck.

At Ross, I found this gem:

Who wouldn't want to use this dustpan?? I think this was $5. So worth the money. I use it often. Every day. I will be so sad when my brooms don't work anymore.

About eight months ago, Matt came home from Walmart with this:

How cool is a purple vacuum?? It is bagless and has amazing suction. I've vacuumed up socks before. Then spent 15 minutes trying to get them out of the hose. But hey, it can vacuum up socks. And almost anything else I can find on my carpet or anywhere else.

So, that is how I make cleaning a little more fun. I find things that are cute, with lost of color, and use them in my house. Granted, Matt got me the vacuum, but I've gotten everything else. Cleaning still isn't that fun for me, but it is much easier with fabulous smelling cleaning products and a fun broom to use.

I just don't wanna

I've been battling this desire to not exercise. I've thought about it and come up with a few reasons why I don't want to do it right now.

1~I have to do it inside my house and sometimes that sucks
2~Sometimes I kick my kids while I do it
3~My kids are getting up at 0630 and that is before I get up
4~I'm bored with it
5~We've been having a lot of rain which means gray skies and little sun.
6~I need lots of sun to function (I know this because of living in two countries where I almost stopped functioning and went into a depression because of the lack of sun.)
7~It takes so much effort to do it with two small kids and I'm getting a big tired of that.
8~Walking to the track with them is torture because I'm either pushing 80 pounds of kids, or trying to get them to keep up with me
9~At the time I want to exercise the two neighborhood centers closest are full of exercising women which means no space for me.
10~For some reason Matt won't stay home until 0930 so that I can exercise and take a shower. Wonder why....

I do like it, but the effort to do it is almost the same effort I make to exercise. I did just get a new Billy Blanks Taebo DVD. I did it yesterday, but I tell you, I just am not coordinated enough. I'll have to do it every day for more than a week to really get it down. Luckily, this one is longer than my other ones. I know people that are addicted to it, that love the endorphins from exercising. I just don't feel any of that. Even after playing a basketball game. So, maybe I'll take the rest of the week off and start fresh on Monday. I really think it has a lot to do with the lack of sun right now. And we're not supposed to get any until tomorrow. And then not again for a few more days. Sigh....

So, I'm going to start again on Monday, and hopefully it will be better. And I think I'll make cookies today to wallow in my lack of exercising. Yum.

Update: My friend Rachel read my post today (after she had called and asked if i wanted to go with her to her neighborhood center and exercise. which I ended up doing) and did the exact opposite of my post. You can read it here.

What I want to tell everyone in my address book

Please stop sending me forwards. They clutter up my inbox, and most of them are pointless anyway. All of you should try checking snopes.com to find out about most of those "true" stories. Please do not send me anything with a gazillion pictures of animals and flowers. Please do not send me any more emails about the soldiers in Iraq. (I've seen all of them) If it says "you have to forward this to 50 friends or you'll have bad luck", or "if you send this to 10 friends you're hearts desire will come true" or anything like it, don't send it to me because I will delete it. Oh no!! Bad luck you say??? Bring it on. Ultimately, if you're going to send me an email, write me an actual email. Even a one sentence email is infinitely better than ten pointless, dumb, and usually untrue forwards. Thank you for your time.

If any of you are in my address book, please take note. But I think most of you that read this blog don't send me forwards. So, I hope you're not "offended". And I am DYING to really send this. If I could open up my inbox and not see another forward, no matter how funny, or touching or true, I would be just fine. There are exceptions, but very very very few. Sigh....just in my dreams would that happen......

Mary Poppins

So, does anyone else get weepy when they hear "lets go fly a kite, up to the highest height"?? Cause EVERY TIME the kids are watching it (which seems to be often as Lucy LOVES it) I always get weepy. Now that I'm an adult it makes so much more sense now as to the whole purpose of the movie. Maybe that's why I get weepy. Weepiness seems to happen more often now for some reason. In fact, yesterday morning I went to the track to walk my two miles, and there were some soldiers doing their PT test. There was a guy that was really struggling to run his two miles, and there were two guys that were running with him that kept encouraging him to keep going by saying all kinds of things. As they ran by, I got a little weepy. Why?? Because these soldiers cared enough about their fellow soldier to run with him even though they could run faster than him. One ran the entire way with him. And he looked as if he could have finished a long time ago. But he stuck with him. One thing that made me laugh as they ran by was what he said "if you haven't puked yet, you haven't run hard enough." That kind of took any moisture (from my eyes as I was really sweaty) away. Something is happening to me as I get older. I have no idea what it is, but I'm not a big fan of crying (or being weepy) so I kinda wish it would stop.....at least most of the time no one knows.:)

So Brave

I was brave this week and went up to another mom at Andrew's school and introduced myself. Her son is one of Andrew's friends at school and he has been asking to go over and play at their house. So I figured I better get to know her. Luckily, she lives down the street. And they have a two year old girl, so Lucy has a playmate too.

What I'm surprised at, is that I've been taking Andrew to school for at least two months now, and not one person has talked to me. Not one. And we are at that school, five days a week, two times a day. And no one says a word to me. There are mom's that talk. But either they knew each other before, are neighbors or something. Admittedly, after watching these other moms for two months, there are a few that I don't mind not talking to. But there are a few that I wouldn't mind at least chatting with at the school.

So, I've got to decide whether or not to try it again. Or wait until Andrew starts talking about another kid in the class and then introducing myself to them. School gets out beginning of June, so there really isn't that much time left.

When I introduced myself, I told this other mom that when we picked the kids up, I would have paper that we could write our info on. When I came back, I had written "Andrew's mom" on it just in case she didn't remember who I was. She said, "oh I would remember. I don't talk to anyone." I thought that was so sad. I feel very lucky to have my church every where I go. And that there, usually I will find at least one friend, if not lots lots more.

Back to being brave, well, we'll see if it happens again. But at least I did it once. So the next time will be even easier than the first time. I've never been terribly shy....

What???

Ok, and then I read this one. This one is crazy. The fact that people even NEED this kind of a children's book is ridiculous. And the woman they site at the beginning? So what? Who doesn't have saggy skin out there????

Your mom is your friend???? Then who is your mom?

I saw a link to this article on Goodyblog today, and I really liked it. Thank goodness I've never wanted to be that kind of mom.

Mirror

Saturday night, I went to the PX by myself just to be by myself. I went to the north PX because that one has better clothes than the south one. I had found a few shirts and went to try them on.

We have never had a full length mirror in our house. I've wanted one, but finding a place for it, and we move a lot doesn't really make it an easy thing. So, I rarely see myself from head to toe. The mirror in my little changing room was odd, so I walked out to look at the big one. And I saw what others see on a regular basis. It was kind of a shock. I have struggled a lot of my life with being unhappy about how I look. I also didn't dress well for most of my life (for many reasons, which I won't go into) and I never really knew how to do my hair or put on the right makeup. I just turned 30, and I'm just now learning how to do that stuff. So, now, I have learned how to put on makeup, I've learned how to dress my way too long legs and short torso, I've learned how to do my hair. It was amazing to look in that mirror. That was why I was shocked.

I am not as rolly around my middle as I thought I was. I am also not as large as I thought I was (I think the dark wash capri's helped that one). And my face and hair looked really good. Since that night, I have walked with more confidence. And I feel better about how I look. Even if I don't put on makeup or do my hair. Even when I'm getting in the shower and I see myself in the mirror without my clothes on. It hasn't been so hard to look at.

The hard part of this is that people in the past would ask me if I had lost more weight, or that I looked so skinny (I had a friend call me up and ask me if I wanted a pair of her pants that were too long. I asked what size and she said 2. What??? I don't think I ever wore a size 2. I am a good size 10, and should never wear a size 2) or just whatever people say that you just don't believe. I got so tired of that because they couldn't see me naked and see all my flaws. And when people couldn't believe I was a size 10 I would have to point out the fact that I am SIX FEET TALL. I weigh around 150 pounds. I have weighed 135 pounds at this height, and I was literally a sack of bones with some skin. I looked sick. (I kind of was, but that will have to wait for another post)

So, just that quick look in the mirror has really changed how I see myself every day. I don't want to go back to what I felt before. I want to keep going down the path of self discovery. I like it. I don't want to be old and unhappy and upset. I want to be old, happy, still working on being a better me.

Hair

I know I haven't posted pictures of me yet, but I am just LOVING my new hair. It takes more time than what I'm used to do it. But the result is freakin awesome. It also helps that my friend told me to get some awesome stuff to use. I think I'm sold on it. Matt has even said how good my hair looks. I will try and get someone else other than him to take my picture though. Maybe by the end of the week I'll have a good one to share.

Kind of long

If you have some time today, check out this post on Mormons in the Military. I found it over at Times and Seasons, which about monthly I read. It has some interesting stuff in it.

Finally!!!

After almost 3 months of being Primary chorister, I have had a breakthrough. Today we were learning a hymn, rather than a Primary song. So, I knew it would be tough for the junior Primary to get it. For the juniors, I brought this expanding ball(if you go to the link, I didn't pay that much for it. mine was $2 at a community yard sale in Germany). And as they sang louder (no screaming or yelling) and said the words well, I made it get bigger and bigger. They LOVED it. For senior, I had made copies of the hymn as all of them can read. We went over the song line by line explaining what it meant. I had them sing it through a few times, and then for the big finale, I had had one of the teachers put on one of Matt's old ties. He came up, and I told the kids that the better they sang (as in louder and saying the right words) the more I would cut off the tie. You should have seen their faces!! Cutting ties is old hat for me. I used to do it at the restaurant I worked at for four years. So, I cut off about four pieces and they loved it. Hopefully they will retain the song for next week. And in exciting news, the Primary presidency changed the scheduling of Primary. I get singing time FIRST! so that I always have enough time to teach the songs. YAY!! Now I just always need to be really really prepared. Cause some days I'm not. Anyway, just my happy moment of the day.... and that people complimented me on my skirt AND my new hair. I'll post pictures of me soon as soon as I can get a decent picture of me. Andrew takes better pictures of me than my husband.....sigh....

This is not us

I'm sure most if not all of you have heard of this horrible story. For all of you that are not LDS, please note that this is NOT our church. They are a breakoff group, and this does not happen anywhere in our church. I just feel sad for these people. Those poor kids will have so much to adjust to.

So Cal freeways

This happens so much. How many times have I been in a car that did that was trying to catch up. And the 60 is such a busy freeway..... so sad for that church.

Green

I have talked about what changes I have made since I have become more aware of what we are doing to the earth. Well, here are some of my recent ones:

I finally have enough reusable grocery bags and the last two times I've gone to the store I've used my bags. So exciting! I just wish I saw others doing the same thing. So far, I have yet to see anyone with them. The hard part is remembering to put them back in the car, AND remembering to take them in with me. Luckily last night I remembered them as I had just walked in the door, so I could run back out and get them.

I love recycling. And because I'm so consistent with it, even though Matt forgot to put out the trash last week, we still have plenty of room in our trash can. And I saw it soon enough to put out the recycling. That bin is always overflowing.

I am using a product called Seventh Generation. They sell it at our commissary, and about each month, or as things run out, I'm switching them for Seventh Generation. I use their dishwasher detergent, their All purpose cleaner, and their dish soap. And yesterday, since we are on our last roll of paper towels, I bought the Seventh Generation brand. A little more expensive, but I think it is a better idea to get those.

I know I already posted about Mrs. Meyers Clean Day, but really, they are so awesome. I love using it, it is better for the earth, and I am cleaning more often because I love the smell. And I love the fact that I'm not supporting all those other companies.

I make a point to walk Andrew to school. We live so close, it is pointless to drive unless I have plans to go somewhere right after he goes to school. Matt often rides his bike to work, not because of not wanting to pollute, but because we only have the one car. But there are days when he rides his bike, and I don't use the car all day. I try to make one tank of gas go as far as I can.

I have also been trying to not waste so much food. My sister gave me this good idea to take your ground meat and separating it into balls that are equal in size. That way you aren't using so much meat. For us, a pound and a half of ground beef is WAY too much, and sometimes I can only get it in that size at the store. So, I've done it the last few times, and we waste very little, if any. And when they have free range meat, I buy it. Which isn't too often. And I want to go to the Farmers Market and get our veggies.

I have been buying more organic or better for us foods too. Honestly, they taste much better than their non organic/natural counterparts. They really do. Cascadian Farms granola bars are far and beyond better than any Quaker Oat granola bar. And we are eating Annie's Cheddar Bunnies instead of Goldfish. (by the way, we don't pay that much for them. at our commissary they are only $1.89 for that same box.) Back to Nature makes really good mac and cheese and Fruit and Grain bars. A lot of this I can get for much less at my commissary that most of you can at your local Whole Foods or other natural store. So I know I'm lucky. I've also done this slowly. And I buy a whole bunch when they are on sale.

I have also switched out some of my personal products. Avalon Organics makes the BEST shave cream I have ever used. My legs have never looked so good. It is pretty expensive in a regular store (around $6 when I've seen it) but only $4.19 at my commissary. So, still more than a regular shaving cream, but SO worth it because I nick myself less, the skin on my legs is much healthier and softer, and this cream actually stays on your legs. Lots of times there will still be some on my legs when I get out of the shower if I don't make sure to rinse it off. Also, I've been using Natures Gate lotion. Again, I do not pay that much. I think it was $3.50 when I bought it. Maybe $4, but still that is much less than what it goes for in a regular store. I've also bought, but haven't used yet, their face soap and scrub. I'm almost out of what I had before, so I thought I would try something different. I'm pretty sure I'll like it if it is anything like their lotion.

My sister introduced me to Herbs for Kids. She uses a few of their products. The one that we both LOVE is their herbal throat spray. This isn't sold at my commissary, but I did find a website (which I have no idea where it is now) where I could get it for $5.99 a bottle, but I would have to buy $30 of it to get it at that price. So I ended up buying 6 of them (if it would have been an even $6 I wouldn't have had to!!!) but we've gone through at least 3 of them. My kids love it, it helps their throats to feel better, especially in allergy season. Matt and I have both used it several times. He even kept one by his bed for a few nights. It works much better than any throat spray we've gotten at a pharmacy. When we get to our last bottle, I'll be buying more. There are always allergies to deal with (especially as we move a lot and always something new to deal with) and so it is worth it to me.

My kids eat their greens pretty well (they'll eat spinach and broccoli with big grins on their faces) but there are times when they don't get their greens. Like when we live in hotels for weeks on end. Or when we're traveling. Or when they are sick and aren't eating too well. Or sometimes I just don't make them. I bought these KidGreenz chewables that have broccoli, spinach, and other green foods, like spirulina and algae. For some reason, my kids love to take vitamins, and they love these ones. They don't get them every day, or even every week. But I'm glad I have them.

Gosh, this is long. If you've made it this far, I hope that I've helped you a bit. Maybe you didn't know about some of these products. And the last few aren't really organic, but they are better to use than filling our bodies up with yucky stuff. And I'm not completely organic. But I do what I can so that we can treat our bodies better and our earth better. I wish I could do more about things like composting and having a garden. But we have been moving so often, and living on a military post doesn't always allow me to do gardening or composting. But I still hope to do it someday. The next thing I want to try is natural toothpaste. I know you can make it, but maybe I'll just buy it to try it the first time. Does anyone have any recipes? :)

I was going to....

Post something interesting about how I'm getting myself to enjoy household chores. Or about the stack of books in my living room that I've been wanting to read. (all with pictures too!!) Or something about last weekends General Conference. But I'm tired. I think I fell asleep on the floor trying to read the Newsweek that I bought tonight at the commissary. I'm so tired, that there will be no linkage for either General Conference or the Newsweek. Yet both deserve it. Maybe tomorrow I won't be so tired.......(maybe it was the 15 minutes I spent trying to blow dry my hair with a round brush. will have to try something different tomorrow.)

Hooray!!!

Did any of you hear about this??

Running

Anyone want to come?? (not really, but we can pretend)

(i got the pic from etsy)

Home

My friends husband just came home from Afganistan this past Saturday. You can see all their happy smiling faces here.

Sigh

For the last few months, I have been trying to exercise regularly. And I've been doing pretty good, other than those special weeks of the month, where it is difficult to just get out of bed, if you know what I mean. I have felt better, and even if I haven't lost weight (I haven't weighed myself in a while) it is a good thing to exercise. I'm just getting bored with it. If I got up early enough I could go to the track by myself, and walk and walk and walk. If I would get over to the housing office, I could get a pass into the neighborhood centers small exercise area, and I could use their treadmills while the kids played in the playroom. If I had a bigger house, I would buy my own darn treadmill and watch my Dancing with the Stars while I exercise. Maybe I just need to get myself an MP3 player. I like my dance DVD, but I'm getting a little bored with it. I don't have enough different DVD's to change it up enough. We have a very good exercise bike, but it is made for training for actually riding a real bike the way real bike racers do. Which is not what I need. Plus, I have such a short torso and such long legs, it doesn't work well for me anyway. I have to sit straight up when I ride it, which is a delicate balancing act. So, I need to find a solution. Today it wouldn't have mattered how early I got up to exercise, or if I had tried to do it while Matt was home, because he got a call this morning at 5am to go into work. He was on call from 7am to 7am for the first time, and I was surprised there wasn't a call earlier. So, yeah, not getting up before 5am just to exercise. I do have a double jogger, but pushing 80 pounds of kid just isn't fun. (Andrew weighs over 50 now) Maybe today I will brainstorm and see what other options I have, and what Matt is willing to work with me on.

Book and Movie reviews

Last night I stayed up WAY too late to finish a book. I was finally finishing The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton. It took me a while to get into it. But ultimately, I liked it. And for some reason I had a feeling that I had read it before a long time ago. I don't understand the mentality of old New York Society. I would have to read it again, and maybe some of her other books to really understand. The ending was a bit "what the heck is he doing!!". But I would recommend it for sure. It is a deep read, so be prepared for some deep thinking.....

Last night we watched Mr. Magoriums Wonder Emporium. Uh, no. Natalie Portman at the end was a little strange. Jason Bateman was very good, but Dustin Hoffman was no where near as good as he was when he was Hook. The kids kind of liked it, but we for sure will not be buying it. The plot was kind of lame, and silly. I would not recommend seeing this one. Good thing we didn't buy it.

It's late, and I don't want to link anything, so there you are. If you really want the book or movie, I'm sure you all know how to use google...:)

Story link

So, I saw this today. What do you other LDS members think? I thought it was interesting. And if you are not LDS, please share your thoughts too.

So many things.....

I have many things that I've been wanting to write about. I thought I could do it as they came up, but that does not happen with my goal of cutting back my computer time, and having a neater/cleaner home with happier children. So, it'll all have to be on one post....

Not really planned this way, but I got my hair cut on my birthday. And my eyebrows done. I always love how they style my hair. Doing it on my own is always a huge challenge as I never really learned how to do my own hair. I am always having to ask my friends that are in the know (as in they went to cosmetology school and know this stuff) for help and direction. I learned for the first time 18 months ago how to put on makeup properly. For this haircut, I asked a friend from San Antonio and she had a lot of thoughts on my new haircut. So, until I've figured out how to do it (and my new hair stuff gets here from amazon) there will not be any pictures of my new hair.

Matt and I went out Friday night for our birthdays. We tried a "Mexican" restaurant that I had seen. Matt liked the salsa, but I wasn't sold on it. Since we didn't really have a specific plan, we decided to go to the mall that was right next to the restaurant. I haven't been in an American mall for a long time. The last time was over a year ago in Dallas with a friend, and before that I can't even tell you when it was. Possibly it was at the outlets in Ontario CA, but I can't be sure. I have decided that I do not like malls. I'm sure since it was a Friday night, there were more strange people out than a normal day at the mall. My reasons are: Lame stores, too many people, high prices, and this mall did not have a bookstore in it. What kind of mall doesn't have a bookstore? We also saw a guy in there with so much "bling" that I had to make an effort to not stare. I mean really. Do we need five chunky silver chains with huge medallions on it to be cool? Also, some guys that were wearing black socks that went halfway up their calf, but then also had on ankle socks that were white. I thought the style of wearing different colored socks went out with the mid 90's. And I have never ever seen a kiosk in the mall with huge guns behind glass. They may not have been actual rifles, but really, you would NEVER see that in California. I don't think we'll be going back to the mall ever. If I did, it would only be for the Gap store they have there. Sometimes the store markdowns are better than the ones online. So, next date, no mall. I'll try and get him to go to Barnes and Noble for a few hours. :)

This weekend was our churches semi annual General Conference. Which I like for a few reasons. We don't have to get up early and go to church on Sunday. I can stay in my jammies all day Sunday. I get to cross stitch for hours as I listen to it. In Texas we were able to watch it on TV, but here the cable company didn't have it. So, this year we listened to it (and watched when Matt wasn't moving everything to our external hard drive) on the computer. Matt had recently gotten some new speakers, so we could hear it very well. I always enjoy conference. I always have a lot to chew on afterwards.

I had a very disturbing dream last night about my calling at church. I was supposed to teach a new song, but I wasn't prepared, and I can't really remember the rest, but it sure was not a good dream. I wouldn't categorize it as a nightmare, but I sure hated how I felt in the dream. Maybe somehow someone is trying to tell me I need to be more prepared.......
Andrew also had a scary dream last night. He told us about it several times today, and exactly the same every time. There was a steep hill, and they ran up the hill, but they couldn't get down. Somehow Lucy had died in his dream, and he was crying in his dream. He was even a little worried about going to sleep tonight because he didn't want to have a dream like that again. So, he said a prayer before going to bed that he wouldn't have a dream like that again, and that he would have good dreams. He actually came and slept with me last night at some point, and then went back to bed a few hours later. All on his own, I didn't have to kick him out like I usually do.:) So, hopefully he will wake up with a good dream in the morning.

Also, I got a very sad email on my birthday. A companion from my mission had emailed me a link to an obituary. Someone we had served with. It didn't state his cause of death, but he was only 28 when he died. So sad. He was a good guy, even if he was irritatingly positive all the time. I wish I could have gone to his funeral. So sad. He did not leave behind a wife or children.

So, lots of random thoughts here. Maybe I'll get to bed earlier from now on so that I can blog in the mornings before my kids are up.... Well, since it is 11:26 as I write this, I doubt I'll be starting that tomorrow. But maybe the next night I can.....

Reflections

So, this past week I turned 30. I think it might take all year for that to sink in. In my head, I don't feel any different than I did at 20 or 21. In fact, we went out Friday night for both of our birthdays (Matt's is a few days after mine. He'll be 31!!) and when we came back, I told our babysitter how old I was. She said (and I quote) "you don't dress like you're 30". My babysitter is 18. I took that as a huge compliment. She even liked my shoes. Now, I don't dress like a teenager that's for sure, but I refuse to dress in crappy clothes anymore. So, I probably dress better now than I ever have before. I also look lots younger than I am. Most people are a bit surprised when they find out my real age. My body (which I hide with my nice clothes) shows the results of nursing two babies, having two c-sections, and lots of late night eating. In talking to my Grandma about it, she said that she loved her 30 year old body and is hoping that's the body she gets in the resurrection.:) What I am surprised about is how fast time is moving. As a teenager, it moved so slowly. On my mission, that 18 months at first seemed so long. Now those 18 months seem to have gone by so quickly. We've also moved a lot in the last few years. We'll only be here until December, and I've said a few times, that I don't want to make anymore friends here because it just takes too much effort. Their response is that a year is a long time. Um, no it is not. It goes by so fast!!!! (actually I'm hoping it flies this year because this city is driving me crazy.) Basically, it is mind boggling that I'm this old. Hopefully this year I will become more comfortable with it, and feel good about it. I have accomplished many things since I turned 20, which I am proud of. Hopefully when I turn 40 I won't be so shocked. That it will come easier than this birthday of 30......and that I'll be a whole lot smarter and wiser too.

Something good to read

Sometimes in the news, it is full of horrible things. It's a nice change when you read something like this.

Some links for you

If you want to read something funny go here. And if you want to read something sappy/silly/funny you can go here. (the last link isn't directly to the post, but it should still be the first one up.)

Dancing and Le Bon Fromage

So, Kylie was a little disappointing last night. Not even sure what I expected, but it wasn't what I saw. Sad that Steve Gutenberg is gone, because he cracks me up, but oh well. Kinda wish Marisa would go......

So, I love cheese. All different kinds. Right now, in my cheese drawer I have some Boursin (which I'm eating right now), Holland Gouda, Smoked Gouda, BabyBel red cheeses, string cheese, two kinds of goat cheese (my favorite pizza is goat cheese pizza with the huge slices of goat cheese on it with just a sprinkling of mozzarella or Gruyere cheese), blocks of mozzarella and cheddar, and a small wheel of Brie. I really like cheese. And so do my kids and my husband. The sad thing is here in podunk Fayetteville, a good baguette is hard to find. You know, crispy on the outside, nice and soft on the inside. In France and Germany, you will see people touching and squeezing their baguettes to see how crispy they are. Unless you go into the bakery and they just hand it to you. People are very picky about their bread.

When I married my husband and he saw me buying baguettes and cheese from Trader Joe's, he thought I was crazy. Until he had some. Now, if I don't eat it soon enough, my cheese is gone, as is the good bread. When we were in Germany we ate good cheese all the time. When we would go to France, we would literally only eat bread, cheese and french ham (which is SO much better than American ham) for almost every meal. We would get sliced Gouda, and some good baguettes...so yummy. I also love babybels with tuna and a baguette. I just like good cheese. I wish our commissary carried more cheese. They actually have a decent selection, but I'm so used to paying French or German prices for things that when I see how much a small slice of Gruyere is, I just want to laugh. In France we get bags of that stuff shredded and it costs hardly anything. My brother and I both love raclette too. My sisters and I bought him a raclette for his wedding, now he just has to find the cheese to go with it. And since he is exactly like my dad, getting him to put out the money for it is going to be hard. OK, so it is expensive, but if you really want it... (note that the two links for raclette are different because the cheese and the doohickey that you cook it on are both called the same thing!!)

Why am I talking about cheese? I don't know. Because I like it, and I think most Americans don't eat much more than cheddar and mozzarella regularly. It is good to try something different. I would highly suggest smoked Gouda. OH SO GOOD!! On some good crackers, or if you have some decent bread.

So, try some new cheese the next time you go to the store. Babybels are a good start. Not too strong. But goat cheese can be really strong (when I was in France some people took us to a farm to eat and you could go and see the goats that made the cheese you were eating. the male goat smelled like the cheese before you even went into his little pen.), so you might want to work up to that. And it can be expensive, but for us cheese people, it's worth the extra money.

This sounds nice

I read this article this morning and thought "when is the army going to start doing this??" What do you all think about this? I would sign up so fast, even though Matt has yet to be deployed.