Santa Claus Came to Town

We decided we wanted to take Sophia to see Santa. He was visiting at our local mall. He was so sweet with Sophia. Almost totally worth the 2 hours we waited in line. How cute is this picture! This is so typical of our little gal. She is obsessed with her hands and is teething to boot. So I wasn't surprised when we couldn't get her hand out of her mouth. Hey! At least she wasn't crying, like a bunch of other kids were before and after we visited with Santa. Glad she got to meet Santa and that he was a jolly Old St. Nick!

This Made Me Laugh...

"The test of a man or woman's breeding is how they behave in a quarrel."

-George Bernard Shaw

(Taken from REALSIMPLE)

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year?

This year I have had a hard time getting into the spirit of the Christmas season. Why? I think it is because I am so tired! My sweet little gal has her days and nights mixed up and we are having a hard time getting things switched. (Any ideas? Feel free to share!) After I finally get her to sleep, I'm wired and can't sleep. Bless her cute heart. It's made things interesting. Anyhoo.

The day after Thanksgiving, I kick into the season. (I can't do it before then because I don't want to give Thanksgiving the shaft. Poor holiday!) ;] I love Christmas and everything about it. The lights. Decorations. Music. Family time. Shopping for presents. Gift giving. But I just couldn't seem to get my heart in it until I got an email about a week ago from my Uncle Mike with this video. It warmed my heart and finally made me feel like it "tis the season to be jolly". (fa la la la la) :] Check it out:

I hope you enjoy the video, too. I love that song. The Hallelujah! Chorus has always held a special place in my heart, even before this experience. I would love to talk to some of the people in that food court and hear what they thought about it. Hope it brought a smile to your face and warmed your heart like it did mine.

I Heart a Good Package

( That's what she said) ;] Sorry. Couldn't resist.)

Don't you just love to go to the mail box and, instead of bills, you find a package addressed to you?! That's what happened to me last week. I must admit, it wasn't totally unexpected. As you may recall, I signed up for an ornament swap and blogged about it here. Well, I have to say that Evelyn and Sami, who were the gals in charge of the swap, picked a great swap partner for me. Once we got paired up, I went over to Mimi's blog and knew I had been given a winner when I read this post. (I heart it, Mimi! I laughed out loud.) We exchanged some fun emails and I immediately felt like I made a new friend. I love it when that happens! Anyhoo. Back to the package.

Here are some pictures from my package of ornamental goodness:

Isn't he cute?!! He's made of wood. (She said, "Wood.")


I love monograms. (Does this stand for naughty? If so, that's me! Naughty Nancy! I'm spechul!)

This is funny because when something funny happens or I see something amusing I think, "That would be a funny blog post!" (BTW, the sign was actually larger than it appears. --That's what she said! ;])

So, to sum up, I opened my package to find not one but two ornaments and a really cute sign that she made and sells in her etsy shop. How lucky was I, eh? Loved them! They all were absolutely adorable! Thanks to Mimi, Evelyn and Sami for the fun.

P.S. If you want to see Mimi's post about her spoils, click here.

And Mimi, I wanted to get you this.....

...but I didn't want all the other participants to be jealous. (That and I couldn't find one at the stores near me.) Here's where you can find it. And, FYI, it talks. Hopefully there aren't a lot of nervous pee-ers who buy this or they are in big trouble! Bless my heart!

P.S. Sorry the picture quality is so crappy. My camera is broken so I had to use my phone. :[ If I can get better pics, I will switch them out.

Blahs...

Do you ever look at life and wonder why it has to be so hard? Why is it that just when I get over one hurtle, there is another right behind it. This whole last year or so has been filled with ups and downs, one trial after another but I've tried to not let it get me down. I haven't shaken my fist at the Lord and asked, "Why do we have to go through this?!" I knew there must be a reason. It just wasn't clear to us yet. But lately it just seems like I am wearing a bit thin, like I don't have enough to give nor the patience to deal with certain people in my life. Their words are filled with criticism and negativity and it's really bringing me down. Which, if you knew me, you would know that isn't an easy feat! I've been reaching for my reserves of energy and optimism and I've been coming up short. It's a strange, abnormal feeling for me.

A friend of mine shared a story on FB that reminded me that every one goes through times like these and I need to keep on keeping on and look to Heavenly Father to get through them. I liked the article and I thought y'all might benefit from it, too. So, for your reading pleasure:

Coming up Empty and Casting Your Net On the Other Side

If you don't have time to read the article, here are some of my favorite excerpts:

"Coming up empty after giving great effort and passionate engagement is not uncommon in our experience as mortals in a fallen world. The law of the harvest seems sometimes unreliable. We know we have worked and dedicated ourselves beyond all convenience, labored until it hurt on some things only to have our nets empty.

When certain kinds of success, specific and dreamed for outcomes elude us, we cry out, “I am trying. I am trying. What more could I do?” I have labored. I have planned. I have dreamed. I have hoped. I have been dashed.

Currently the economy is leaving many with empty nets...Others have empty nets when children who have been lovingly reared with gospel principles abandon their faith. There are so many ways to come up empty. The marriage of our youth fails. We are overlooked for an opportunity we wanted. Health is fragile and loved ones die. For many reasons there are times when empty nets abound where we hoped to draw in fullness.

However, what look to us as empty nets may not be as empty as they appear.

Coming up empty has its purpose for it arrests our attention as little else can. It is a message that says “look.” We are stopped cold. Some of us just try harder with the net on the same side of the boat and end up bitterly disappointed that there are still so few fish. We insist that we must do things as we have always done, be who we have always been.

Yet, in reality, this dangling empty net is really the kindest invitation to look up from our trouble to the One on the shore who has been waiting there to greet us all along. We are being invited not just to come to Him, but to come to ourselves. We are being invited to a new awareness."

"It is utterly true that to be with the Lord and like him, we cannot do things the way we have always done them. We cannot be who we have always been. We cannot be glued to see as we have always seen. Thus, in his kindness, God gives us experiences that reveal to us our limitations, the short-sightedness of our personally-constructed worldview. It is as if life is a perfect play, scene by scene, to reveal our flaws, to move us right up against our glass ceiling, to trip us up when we would fly.

Why did I have this experience we might ask with lament. The answer is simple, to reveal yourself to you.

What kindness this is for otherwise we should become content and think we got it right, like the blind child who really believes the whole world is dark. Or like the Masai who, when put in prison, die, because they believe that is all there is and cannot envision freedom. We would be robbed of our thirst for God and feel no need to cast our nets on the other side. We would miss the catch that was so great we could not draw it in. We would not yearn to respond to his instructions."

"These are not do-it-yourself projects. Your soul is not a do-it-yourself project. There must come a day on this journey called mortality that we arrive at the place where we finally confess, “I cannot do this alone.” By taking thought on my own, I cannot add one cubit to my height.

In reality, in the spiritual journey we come to this realization again and again. We are his project and he will not come up empty, if we will just be willing to look to him and cast our nets on the other side.

Only he can take us from where we are to where he is with our mind becoming open to this new world of light. We must give up our resistance toward him, even that small piece of resistance that we think is nearly invisible. We must follow Jesus’ example in the Garden of Gethsemane, and under our own small stress, learn to pray “more intently.” We must be willing to have our very core transformed, the identity we have built piece by piece remodeled, even painfully so. We must cry unto him for all our support, because after all we can do, we will find it wasn’t very much."

What I've learned:

Sometimes I do struggle admitting the whole "I can't do this alone" thing. I don't lack faith, I just forget sometimes that I don't have to do it all by myself. That is probably partially a product of living on my own and not getting married until I was 32. I was Miss Independent and happy that way until I met Michael. Luckily he is happy to let me be me and has let me grow into it slowly.

Sometimes trials can be painful, especially when watching our little gal go through hard times and feeling so helpless. This year has given me a new appreciation for what our Heavenly Father must go through with us as He sees us struggle but has to allow it for us to learn and grow in the process.

I am grateful to know I don't have to go through trials alone. I have a wonderful husband and a very loving Heavenly Father who are both there for me, love me and want to help me succeed in all my desires. Also, I have a sweet little baby gal who loves to cuddle. A little family snuggle time with Sophia and Michael reminds me just how blessed I am and makes it all worth it.

Thanks for listening to me. Feels good to get this off my chest. :]

Attention all Bloggers...

Have you ordered your Christmas cards yet or are you a procrastinator like I am? Want to receive 50 free Holiday cards from Shutterfly? I know I like free but I also like good quality. If you want the best of both worlds, go here and see how you can get them. There are so many cute ideas. Here are a couple of my favorites from their selection:

How cute are these?! Can't you just see Sophia's beautiful face on the front of these cards? I am new to Shutterfly but have lots of friends who have used them before for invitations and calendars and have been so happy with the end result. I have also received cards before and am surprised it has taken me this long to order from them.

With the new addition of our sweet Sophia to our little family, I'm looking forward to creating some cute cards featuring our cute little gal! :] I'm not sure which of these cards I'm going to choose. They have so many absolutely darling cards to choose from that all highlight and feature the picture so uniquely. There are also some that aren't featured in the above selections that you can make a collage of pictures which allows for more than one picture. I may just have to go back to their website for another peak before I order! Which one is your favorite? Head on over and join the fun!

Happy Thanksgiving

This time last year I was pregnant and about ready to pop. I had been so sick my entire pregnancy and was on IV therapy for a bit over 6 months of it. My last day of IV therapy was Thanksgiving day. What a glorious day! Just 2 1/2 short weeks later we had our little Sophia. (2 weeks early)

It's strange to remember a time when she wasn't in our lives. Even though things haven't gone smoothly thus far, she has been such a blessing in our lives. And all we have gone through with her and her seizure issue and club feet has only made us appreciate her that much more. I'm so grateful she hasn't had a seizure in 7 months, that the doctors think they may have been a developmental issue and not a permanent metabolic type of seizure disorder, and that we have been able to wean her off 2 of her anti-seizure meds. (1 more to go!) With all she has been through with the NICU and the casting for her club feet and then the braces, I feel so blessed to have such an easy going, happy little gal. She would have every right to be a little stinker. But she is so sweet!

I'm so thankful for her and for my sweet hubby, Michael. I am so thankful for a husband that works so hard and is so kind to me. He and Sophia are my happiness.

I hope everyone has a fabulous Thanksgiving!

Ornament Exchange

Can you believe Christmas is only 2 months away? Where has this year gone??!!! Life sure speeds by when you have a little gal to entertain. To get in the spirit of things, I have joined an ornament exchange on this blog. Go on over and sign up if you want to do so. Now I know Halloween hasn't even gotten here. But, knowing me, I will forget and will miss my chance to do this. So don't be an early holiday celebration hater. I love Christmas ornaments and have collected them for years from every trip I've been on, one from every big moment of my life and from every place I've lived. So how could I let this pass me by! Let me know if you've joined the fun, too!

Here's some ideas for you...

For the kids:

For the geek/sci fi fan:

For the chocolate lover:

For the artist:

For the traveler:

For the motorcycle enthusiast:

For the Twilight fan:

For the agriculturally inclined:

And finally, a few ornaments I'd rather not receive:

Sophia and Her Great Grandma

"Grandma always made you feel she had been waiting to see just you all day and now the day was complete." ~Marcy DeMaree

This picture will always warm my heart. This is Sophia with her Great Grandma E. during our visit to Montana in August. She had a stroke a couple of days after we left and was never able to recover. After a second stroke, she passed away on October 7, 2010.

My Grandma loved Sophia. She came to her blessing in March, even though it was really hard for her to travel. It meant so much to us that she did so! I'm so grateful she was able to meet and love our little Sophia. I'm also so glad that Michael and I were able to go up and visit her at least once a year since we met. He got to know her better and, believe it or not, so did I. We had many talks over the last years that were deeper and more meaningful because, not only were we alone but we got to know each other on a different level. She talked about my Grandpa and her life as young married woman and she gave me some advice that I will always treasure. I felt like I had gotten to know her better in the last 5 years than in the 30 years previous. I feel so blessed to have had that time with her!

I will miss her so much but I'm so happy, after 18 years apart, that she is reunited with my Grandpa E. as well as my Dad and sister Laurie. I know they are all so happy to be together. I'm also so grateful to know that life doesn't end with death and that I will see my family again. This knowledge gives me great comfort.

Love you Grandma!

"The history of our grandparents is remembered not with rose petals but in the laughter and tears of their children and their children's children. It is into us that the lives of grandparents have gone. It is in us that their history becomes a future." ~Charles and Ann Morse

Where Have I Been, You Ask?

Hello world! This summer has been crazy busy. Although the move felt like it took all summer, we did get some fun trips in and had some summer fun. Thank goodness! I promise I will get back to blogging. I have a list of posts to created. Now I just need to make the list a reality. Until then, please still love me! :]

Movin' On Up

The move is officially over! Halle-freakin-lujah!! The old place is all cleaned and the keys are turned in to the landlord. It sure took forever! The joys of moving with a wee babe. She sure was good though. So patient. She really is a good baby. We are so lucky!

I was a bit sad as we were locking up for the last time. The first 4+ years of our married life were spent there as well as it was Sophia's first home. Lots of good times and memories. We are looking forward to getting our new place put away and organized. Oh! The joys of moving! Nothing like moving to make you want to get rid of stuff. We did a couple of trips to D.I. but we still have more we can give away. Hopefully while we are still in "dejunk" mode we will get er done.

I was thinking the other day that when I moved to Kentucky back in 2000 that all I brought with me was what I could fit in my car. I also had a friend drive out with me so I had him and his bag that took up some room. Each time I came home to Utah for a visit I would bring an empty suitcase with me and would bring back stuff with me. Five years later when I decided to move back to Utah I had to have a garage sale. (Granted, I did sell a bed, entertainment center, couches and a washer and dryer that I got out there in addition to "stuff" but it still amazes me.) I got a small U-haul to pull what I didn't sell or give away when I moved. It's amazing how fast a person can accumulate stuff. Too bad I'm such a sentimental sap! But I guess that is part of my "charm". ;]

I may still be out of the loop for a while longer. Our internet isn't working properly and we have much unpacking to do. I'll try to get on to say hi here and there. Thanks for sticking with me, my faithful readers...all 3 of you. ;] You are awesome!

Where Have I Been?!

Sorry I haven't updated much lately. It has been a crazy couple of weeks. We kept smelling a weird smell in the apartment we've been living in for the past 4 years. It's a basement of a big house and we've loved living here and have since we got married. Well, we finally found the culprit...black mold in the back of our closet. Nice! We pulled everything out of it and the landlord had it inspected. Sure enough, it was in the walls and probably in the boards. Verdict. We have to move out and the place has to be gutted. Not what we expected to do during our summer vacation! We've been searching for housing and have finally found what we feel is a good option. In the meantime, we have been doing load after load of laundry. Our entire closet had to be washed. Only about 4 more loads left! :] I lost all of my summer shoes, which were in the back of the closet. A garbage bag and a half of shoes and a bag of clothes were thrown away. Sadness and sorrow! Good news is two bags also went to the DI. Less we have to move, I guess. Trying to look at the positives of all of this. Another positive, at least it didn't happen in the middle of Michael's teaching school year. With him off for the summer, he will be here to pack and help with Sophia instead of teaching and grading papers. Thank goodness! I think I would have gone insane!

So, life will be crazy for another few weeks. If I don't update much, don't hate me. Also, I have over 300 items in my Google reader. So if I haven't commented on your blog, don't think I hate you! I have nothing but love for you or else I would just mark them all as read and not look back. Hope everyone is having a great summer! XO's

Want to Join Me?

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, Universal's Islands of Adventure

"For the first time ever on June 18, muggles (non-wizards or witches) are invited to step behind the enchanted curtain and enter the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. You will get the chance to explore the streets and shops of Hogsmeade, including familiar places like the "Three Broomsticks" and "Hog's Head," before testing your bravery with three new rides.

In "Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey," you will tour the hallowed halls of Hogwarts Castle, where you can see first-hand Professor Dumbledore's office, the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, Gryffindor common room, and so much more. From there, you will join Harry and his friends as you soar high above the ground, encountering many magical creatures. This attraction uses state-of-the-art technology to bring the well-loved characters to life.

Next, you can visit Hagrid's hut, where the burly groundskeeper will give you very specific instructions on how to approach a mythical Hippogriff (a creature with the head of an eagle and the body of a horse). Once you have mastered how to say hello, you will take a "training flight" aboard "Flight of the Hippogriff," a magical wicker coaster that spins and dives through the pumpkin patch and zooms past the hut.

Finally, the ultimate test awaits you at the "Dragon Challenge," where you will choose between a Chinese Fireball and a Hungarian Horntail "dragon," and then hang on tight as the two twist, loop, and come dangerously close to colliding. This ride is actually two different high-speed roller coasters that intertwine at dizzying heights.

Before you head back to the uneventful world of the magically-challenged, stop in one of the many stores in Hogsmeade, and pick up Quidditch necessities, a Screaming Yo-yo, and a few Fizzing Whizzbees.

One-day one-park access tickets start at $79 for adults and $69 for kids."

Here is a link to the official park site. Doesn't this look fun?! Who wants to come with us?