Happiness is....

...Lori and I being in the same country and able to talk on the phone again.

Holy- Days 2 and 3

It's hard to be holy when you're sick. It's hard to think about anything but just getting better. Days 2 and 3 came and went with me in a fog, so I'll start over again. In the meantime, hopefully we're all thinking a little bit more about being holy.

Holy - Day 1

Yesterday I decided to more holy in the way I talk to my children. I knew that was one I needed to work on. Let me tell you, when you are trying to be more holy, you are aware of everything that comes out of your mouth. Sometimes I wasn't aware quick enough and some things just came right out (McKay!). Is it cheating if I try to be more holy in the same activity two days in a row?

Did any of you take on the challenge? My mom called and reported that she decided to be more holy while she's driving. I think I'll stick to being more holy in the way I speak to my kids.

Sister Nelson's Challenge

Teaching at BYU-I has its benefits. A few weeks ago I received an invitation in the mail to a women's meeting. The meeting was for all female employees, wives of employees, and wives of university bishoprics and stake presidencies. At first I didn't think I would be able to go because Randy is out of town and Braxton had mutual. However, mutual was cancelled because they are going on a camp out this weekend. Suddenly I had a babysitter so I quickly made arrangements to go.

I called my friend, Amy Jenson, and invited her to go with me. She braved the very slick roads and spent the evening with me listening to Sister Wendy Watson Nelson and her husband, Elder Russell M. Nelson. I had previously heard Sister Nelson speak at Time Out for Women and was excited to be able to hear her speak again.

Sister Nelson told of an experiment of sorts that she had asked six women to do. She had just asked them to be more holy for three days. She said she wanted to know how a holy woman would.....

How would a holy woman do the dishes? fix dinner? bathe the kids? How would a holy woman go to the grocery store? exercise? do her visiting teaching? How would a holy woman deal with conflict or avoid conflict? How would a holy woman do the laundry? clean the bathroom? talk on the phone?

She asked these women to choose one activity a day and try to be more holy doing it. She shared some of the comments with us. Evidently, we women go about being holy by cleaning our floors.

Then she challenged us to be more holy. I'm sharing that challenge with you. For the next three days, choose one activity each day and try to be more holy doing it. Ask yourself, "How would a holy woman_______?"

The one thing she said was we came to this earth to become holy. It takes time to become holy, meaning we have to put forth an effort and be concious that we are working on becoming holy. So, let's work on becoming holy.

How would a holy woman _________? Pick one thing each day and try to be more holy doing it.

Project #2 - Bathrooms

While Randy was busy cutting boards in the garage, I managed to get him to cut some shelves for the vanity in our bathroom. Our vanity is large and there were no shelves. None. How someone could live here for three years and not put in shelves is beyond me. Maybe I'm just shelf happy. Each section of the vanity now has two shelves in it. Imagine the storage!

Then I decided to paint the powder room. This is what it looked like before:

The colors are nice and warm, but I wanted to do something fun. I've always loved the look of sea cottages painted a cool blue and white. So I picked up some paint and away we went. Here is the powder room now:

Besides, going with the beach cottage idea gave me a place to put my collection of sea shells.

I love the colors. Now I just need to figure out what to put on the walls and this room will be done. I'm open to suggestions....

Project #1 - The Garage

The past few weeks have found us working on projects in the garage to make it easier to move around, pull two vehicles in (and out), and create space to store things. This weekend, we finally finished some of the projects.

We began with shelving hanging from the ceiling to store seasonal items: camping equipment, Christmas decorations, lawn care items. This got a lot of stuff off the garage floor and out of our way.

Next project: a porch/landing/platform thing. The purpose for this was to move the freezer closer to the house and create a place for coats, backpacks, and snow boots and pants.


Inadvertently, we also created storage space underneath the platform that will be great for storing paint supplies and seasonal items (like those snow boots in July).

Randy even carpeted the stairs to help get the dirt/rocks/water off of shoes. It is a great little space.

Then, we got the garage door openers installed. This house is three years old and the openers were just sitting on the floor in the garage. We didn't realize they weren't on until we actually found them when we moved in. We are so excited to have them up. We got out and push the buttons just to feel the power.

We are glad that this huge project is finished and out of our hair. Randy really is because now he can park his truck in the garage, too. He will enjoy not having to scrape windows in the morning.

What I Did

This is what happens when you unpack boxes into a house you plan to live in for 15 years:

You find unflattering pictures of yourself and your younger (but taller) sister. You try to figure out how old you were in the picture, and guessing by the sweatshirt, you were about 15 (which is more than half your life ago). And then you show the picture to your husband and say, "See, I changed water at least once. I do know what real work is."

Then you post the picture on your blog and your younger sister will call you up and give you a piece of her mind which isn't a really good idea because she now has four children and there isn't much of her mind left. Then you'll remind yourself that you are an English teacher and run-on sentences on your blog aren't a very good idea.

That's what I did.

Can anyone explain this?

Braxton started school at his new junior high last week. Every morning he got up a took a shower without being told. He combed his hair! He even put gel in his hair. I thought maybe it was a one day thing, but then it happened every day last week! And then....he started wearing button-up shirts with collars because they didn't mess up his hair.

What I want to know is what this imposter in my home did with my 12-year-old who hated combing his hair. This kid is nice and all....but does anyone know where Braxton is?

When Kilee Steals the Camera

This is what you get when Kilee has the camera:

A picture of a horse's butt. Nice.

For Heather

As I was going through boxes, I came across stacks of old letters. Is it weird that I keep old letters? Some of them are over 20 years old! That dates me, you know. After high school, my two closest friends left for greener pastures. One of them, Heather, went to ISU. Because Al Gore hadn't invented the internet yet, we had to use the old-fashioned Pony Express to send letters. Heather wrote to me often. She sent letters:
She sent cards:

She sent letters in funny envelopes which required some explanation to my parents:

One of the funniest things Heather did was write song lyrics on the envelopes. They were always songs that Heather and I shared--driving to Twin to do who-knows-what. She's the one who first introduced me to the Eagles.

Sometimes I think the lyrics were meant to cheer me up.

Heather took care of me during a very hard time in my life. It couldn't have been easy for her because it was just weeks before her wedding. As I went through the stack of letters, I was just so grateful that I was blessed with a Heather who was - and still is - what a true friend should be.

Reporting

The first day was great! I remembered the opening prayer. Parking was horrendous. I just picked a dress and wore it. My nerves calmed down about 10 minutes before class was over. I can't wait to go do it all again tomorrow.

Say a Little Prayer

So today is the first day of school...for me. I haven't taught in a classroom for over a year. I took last spring off to finish my masters and then we moved. BYU-I started classes yesterday and since I have a M-W-F class, my class starts today. It's an English class, which is everybody's favorite subject. I've gone over and over what I'm doing today and I know it like the back of my hand, but I'm still nervous. Why?

Could be because I have to start with an opening prayer, which you don't do in public school.

Could be because I don't know where to park (though my parking pass lets me park anywhere on campus, I think that actually finding a place to park could be a challenge).

Could be that I don't know what to wear; I only have so many dresses.

Could be that I'm always nervous on the first day of school.

Could be that Randy is out of town and he's my calming influence.

But maybe, just maybe, my prayers don't have as far to travel. It is, after all, the Lord's University.

(It's okay to laugh now. I'm not entirely serious.)

So Stinkin' Cute

For Lance's Family

A few months ago, Randy and I were at my brother's home in Boise. Somehow we ended up talking about where we would be buried. My 13-year-old niece says, "That's pretty morbid." My brother and I laughed and he said, "Maybe. But Papa and Nana already know where they are going to be buried. In fact, Papa bought the burial plots years ago."


Then Lance proceeded to tell his kids about how we'd go to the Preston cemetary on Memorial Day and Grandma and Grandpa had their plots and my parents had their plots. And every year, my dad would lay down on the grass, cross his hands on his chest and say, "This is the spot right here where I'll be buried." Frankly, it was a little embarrassing.


As I was unpacking boxes, I came across a stack of pictures. Apparently, one year I snapped a photo of my dad and his brother, my uncle Jeff, preparing for their final resting place. Just in case Lance's kids thought we were making that story up.....

Distracted - PG-13

Randy is working on a project in the garage today. He had a few helpers, but they abandoned him to go sledding with their people. In the absence of slave labor, I become the helper.

Randy wants me to use the drill to sink four screws through the 2 x 6 into a 4 x 4. He's holding the 4 x 4 and making sure it's all level. I'm all excited about using a power tool. Randy gives me the go-ahead and I start to sink the first screw. Then all of a sudden it goes crooked. I stop. "Uh Oh," I said. "Oh, that's okay," Randy says, "I drilled the holes at an angle."

I look up at him. "That would have been nice to know before I started," I say. "Sorry," he says. "I was too busy looking down your shirt."

Resolved

Happy New Year to You! It's now 2010 and the end of the world is just 2 years away! Okay, not really.

We rang in the New Year with lots of snow and some drifts. Those new boots and sleds are going to come in handy.

With the new year, we are all tempted to make resolutions. Randy and I sat down and made some resolutions for 2010. For your enjoyment:

1. Date night every two weeks.
2. No more eating after 8 p.m.
.......unless we're out with good friends every two weeks.
3. Make friends.
4. Try not to be such boring people (that's only for Randy. Trulee is loads of fun.).
5. Come up with a fifth resolution.

Seriously, our resolutions are simple. Be good parents and love each other. Happy New Year!