Pedicure Party

I just got home from a Pedicure Party! It was so much fun. It was nice to take a break from work and just go and relax. We had some lunch and then we all got pedicures.

It was held by a friend of mine from dance class, Fara, and it was great to get away from the work day and just relax and pamper yourself. I wish I was able to do it more often but it was nice to do it today. She even bought us all matching flip flops which were very cute and bright. I loved them.

Pass the Remote!

We made it through Turn-off Week and lived to tell about it...

In reality it wasn't all that bad. Dan might have a different opinion but I can say it wasn't too bad. Our schedules were so full and our nights were packed that we HONESTLY barely noticed we were missing an entire week of television. It was actually kinda nice.

The only thing that I felt deprived of was American Idol. I hated not being able to see the show, and then VOTE, of course, and then see who went home. I of course knew the following day because of the Internet but not being able to see it was hard. We have since viewed the show thanks to TiVo.. but it is not the same. Other than that all of the other shows that we watch I didn't really miss too badly. Makes me have to sit back and re-think all of the time that I spend watching them.

I do also have to mention that I felt like I had so much more energy last week. I woke up much earlier than normal, but didn't go to be any earlier than usual. We were able to get a lot more reading done than normal and just be able to spend time together doing OTHER things which is nice. I think it was a great week and maybe we will do it more than just once a year... MAYBE!!!

Weekend Wrap-up

I think we had a pretty exciting and fun-filled weekend and I wanted to share it with you...

Our plans for Friday got a little messed up so we were left with not a whole lot to do. I didn't really want to attend my mom's card class and we were still not watching any TV... so what was the next best thing to do??? SIT AND WATCH THE PLANS GO BY... LITERALLY.. Well actually we are still doing the Book of Mormon Challenge and trying to finish by May 10th and are a little behind so on Friday night we grabbed the book and went to watch the plans go by as we read. We actually got a lot of reading done and it was nice to not just be sitting in our house doing it...

Saturday I attended a BIRTHDAY PARTY... Stamp Camp that is. My mom and I hosted the stamp camp and it was a lot of fun. We made a scrapbook page, a few cards, a gift card holder, ate cake and had lots of prizes. Everyone there enjoyed themselves and it was one big party.

Dan and my dad decided not to attend the party and instead they thought it was time to get the jet skis out of storage and get them cleaned up and ready for the summer season. ( I agreed but really didn't want to do the dirty work!!!) So they spent the morning getting them all shinned up and ready for the water. YEAH!

Saturday afternoon we attended the temple. It was actually our 2nd time there in 3 days since we had been there on Thursday night with FSA, but this time we went with the ward.

Saturday night after hurrying home from the temple to change and rush to get to Mandalay Bay we were able to attend a charity concert event hosted by the Lily Claire Foundation which had the Goo Goo Dolls as the main performance but also showcased Josh Kelley and Sugar Ray... I know, who even knew they were still playing right. It was a fun night and we went with another couple and actually had some really nice seats. I loved listening to Sugar Ray ( I will admit) because it brought back lots of memories from High School and the summer times. It was all a really good concert though and all for a good cause.

This leaves us with Sunday, which thankfully is a day of rest and that is what we did. After a full week and a busy (but fun) weekend we were ready for a restful day. We enjoyed some time outside in the beautiful weather, read some more in the BOM and just hung out. I think I am ready for a new week to start but hopefully it won't be so busy.

BOOK CLUB MEETING: To Kill a Mockingbird

Let the meeting begin:

I picked up the book and basically couldn't put it down. I know that I had read it before but it had been a LONG TIME AGO. The names all sounded familiar to me but I honestly couldn't tell you what was going to happen in the end.

I really enjoyed reading this book and connected with different characters at different times. At first I enjoyed feeling a part of the Scout and Jem's childhood. The easiness of the summers and their wild imaginations. I could relate to being the younger sister and tagging along. By the end of the book I was pulled towards Boo Radley and the desire to not have to deal with the "real world" and to just help out when I can and to make other's lives better but to sort of be left alone and go about my business. That is me at times as well. I also was very proud of Atticus and what he stood for. I wonder if I would have been able to stand up for what I believed in and done the same thing??? He was a very courageous and honorable man, especially in his situation and in his time.

Overall I really liked the book and I am sure that I got much more from it this second time around. I don't know that I fully was able to appreciate it the first time that I read it and wonder what I really thought about it when I read it at maybe only about 5th grade or so....

Thanks again to Marathon Bird for hosting the Book Club and for choosing such a great book. I can't wait to see what is up next.

the Fab Four

We had tickets tonight for the FAB FOUR! It was a really good show. Besides the fact that we were the youngest people in the audience by about 30 years.....

It was great to listen to all of the songs and KNOW them all. The guy doing John Lennon did a really good job and did IMAGINE great. We heard everything from She Loves Me.... to Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band. It really was a great show.

The Beautiful Places I've Been

In honor of Earth Day I wanted to share some of the beautiful places that I have been able to experience. I wanted to remind you of the "beauty of the Earth".

Catalina, California


Hamburg, Germany

Stockholm, Sweden

Ensenada, Mexico

Nassau, Bahamas

Arizona Desert

From a familiar hymn:

"For the beauty of the earth, For the beauty of the skies, For the love which from our birth Over and around us lies... For the beauty of each hour Of the day and of the night, Hill and vale, and tree and flow'r, Sun and moon, and stars of light,....."

Celebrate the EARTH!

Today is Earth Day! So I am not officially a "tree hugging hippie" but sometimes the ideal is very appealing to me. I do recycle and I try to make the small changes in my home that I think everyone can do to help make a difference. It has only been in the last few years that I have become very observant to the fact that we need to do something or we are going to be in serious trouble. I think I have noticed this since I live by a lake that is rapidly draining... RAPIDLY!

Here is a small sample of some of the VERY EASY things that we can all do to make a huge difference....

*Only run the dishwasher and washing machine when you've got a full load.


*Use alkaline manganese batteries because they are free of toxic heavy metals. Better yet, use rechargeable batteries and save some money.


*Recycle cans, bottles, plastic bags and newspapers. Support recycling by purchasing items that are reusable and/or recyclable. When you recycle, you send less trash to the landfill and you help save resources that would be used in manufacturing non-recycled products.

*Switch to cold water washing and save 80 percent on energy used for laundry and save an estimated $60 a year. Hang dry your clothes instead of using the dryer and save 700 pounds of C02 a year.


*Turn off the lights when you aren't using them and reduce your direct lighting energy use by 45 percent.


*Switch to compact fluorescent from regular incandescent bulbs and use 60 percent less energy per bulb and save 300 pounds of C02 a year.


*Take shorter showers. Showers account for 2/3 of all water heating costs. Save 350 lbs. of carbon dioxide and $99 per year.


*Choose products that come with little packaging and buy refills when you can. You will also cut down on waste production and energy use!

These are all great and easy ideas and thing that we can ACTUALLY DO! Think about it and think about this great EARTH that we have been blessed with and been blessed to live on. Here are some other great websites that have awesome information... take a look at some of these too....

idealbite.com

thedailygreen.com

goinggreenmatters.com

thegreenguide.com

treehugger.com

plentymagazine.com

One site that I want to tell you about for sure I saw on an episode of Oprah and it is called greendimes.com. I signed up myself. It is sponsored by Matt Damon and what it does is takes your name off of all of the "junk-mail" lists and in your name plants a tree. I think it is a great cause and who doesn't want their name off of those crazy lists. Take a look and see for yourself!

Turn it off

I found out that this week is "Turnoff Week"... Dan hates it when I find out these random pieces of information. I on the other hand love to learn new things! What it is is a challenge to turn off your TVs and do something else. To spend more time with your families, to get the kids away from the TV set and have them doing something else, to read more, to be outside more (especially since the weather is so nice right now), just to break away from that TV for one week.

I think it is a great idea. I am saying this as it is only Monday morning and I haven't missed any or my shows yet! I am also saying this knowing that I have TiVo... I am cheating a little bit because in the back of my mind I know that I technically will not be missing any of my shows because they will all be recording and I will be able to watch them at a later date. But I still agree with the concept and think the idea is what is important.

We are going to give it a go! So I am stating right now Dan and Aranne are going to be 100% TV free from right now until next Monday. So that means no American Idol for us, we won't know who goes home, no ANTM, no One Tree Hill, etc. It is going to be a hard week. But at the same time, almost like a coincidence, our schedule is so full this week. We have something almost every night so hopefully we won't even notice that we aren't watching TV! Wish us luck that we don't go crazy without it.

Waiting...

I talked to my friend Kirsten today and told her about the adoption and the process and what we were going through. She has a blog over here and I asked her if it would be okay if she would put a link on it to our adoption profile. She said she would love to do that for me and I was very thankful. They tell us to do all that we can and try to get our name out there as much as possible and that we will be blessed for our efforts. Now I don't know if having our profile link on her site will do anything for us, but I feel like we are doing our part and doing all that we can and that is the important part to me....



Well, I went to look at her site to see if she had done it and what it looked like and not only had she put a link on but she had typed up a beautiful post that I wanted to share with you. It is great to have wonderful, supportive friends and family and once again I feel uplifted. Here is what she said.

You can get so confused

that you'll start in to race

down long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace

and grind on for miles across weirdish wild space,

headed, I fear, toward a most useless place.

The Waiting Place...
Waiting for the fish to bite

or waiting for wind to fly a kite

or waiting around for Friday night

or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake

or a pot to boil, or a Better Break

or a sting of pearls, or a pair of pants

or a wig with curls, or Another Chance.

Everyone is just waiting.
NO! That's not for you!
Somehow you'll escape all that waiting and staying.

You'll find the bright places where Boom Bands are playing.
-Dr. Suess, Oh the Places You'll Go

It seems right now that I have a lot of friends who are just waiting. Waiting for their lives to begin. We are all waiting for something whether it be graduation, a home, a baby, a move a job ect. Just waiting and waiting with no end in sight sometimes. Right now I seem to have a lot of friends who are waiting to have a baby bless their lives. And it breaks my heart. I admire their strength and faith so much. I can't imagine what would be harder than to be so ready and willing to bring a baby into a good home and to be have to just wait. Not knowing when....My friends Dan and Aranne have been waiting for a baby for a long time. They began the adoption process in the fall and are anxiously awaiting a little baby. They were our good friends in Vegas and I know they would make great parents. They are fun and generous and spiritual and responsible and I could go on and on. A baby would have no idea how lucky it would be to be placed in their home. But for now they are just waiting. There is always an end in sight though. The waiting will not last forever. Like my friend Aranne said today it will just make us stronger and make us appreciate it so much more when the wait is over.I know all my friends that are waiting for children will be blessed with them one day. I just want them to know they are always in my prayers."

Again, I can't say it enough but I want to thank Kirsten and everyone for their thoughts and prayers and let them know that they are felt and appreciated. We are doing good and hanging in there. We know that the reward will be worth the WAIT!

Thanks

I just wanted to say thanks to everyone for their kind words and their thoughts and prayers. I have definitely needed them and have felt the influence of them. Thank you so much for thinking of us and supporting us right now.

I got a quote from my brother-in-law today and it was the nicest thing ever and I wanted to share it.....
"True, enduring happiness, with the accompanying strength, courage,and capacity to overcome the greatest difficulties, will come as you center your life in Jesus Christ. Obedience to His teachings provides a secure ascent in the journey of life. That takes effort. While there is no guarantee of overnight results, there is the assurance that, in the Lord's time, solutions will come, peace will prevail, and happiness will be yours."
(Richard G. Scott, "The Atonement Can Secure Your Peace and Happiness," Ensign, Nov. 2006, 41)

I have also received a link to a wonderful website that I have been searching and searching. It has so much information on and is so great, so I wanted to say thanks to Kelly for passing that info on to me.

Just so everyone knows... We went to our FSA meeting last night and man did that help. We first off had a planning meeting and we have some great activities coming up and are excited about all of that. I am continuing to work on the blog for the group and that is fun. We had a great turn out for the Waiting Couples Meeting too. The topic was a birthmom panel and it was very interesting. There were four ladies there and they were all so great. They had such great testimonies of adoption and such great stories and insight to give to us. It was exactly what I needed. There really is a reason that we are part of FSA and that we go to these meetings. Right when I was feeling my worst, meeting time came up and now I am excited again and ready to move forward and press on!

Thanks again for your support and showing us that you care!

A New Day

I am ready for today to start and ready for A NEW DAY!

Yesterday was a rough day for me (actually the past few days I have had some rough patches). Sometimes it is a good thing that I work from home but sometimes it is not so good. I have a lot of "down time" and that leaves my brain to wander and that is NOT good. I start to think about things that I should not think about. I start wondering about the adoption (of course) and start thinking negatively because that is the kind of person that I am.

I wonder about all kinds of things.....

* Will someone really decide to give us their child?
* Why would someone choose us over anyone else?
* What makes our profile stand out over anyone elses?
* Will I be able to be a good mother or not?
* Am I going to have enough patience as a mom?
* Will we be ready when the time comes (whenever that is)?

All of these things run through my mind and TONS more and then I start getting down on myself and the situation. I KNOW that it will all work out but sometimes it is just hard when it is out of our control COMPLETELY and we have to just sit back and wait, and wait and wait. This is the hardest part. We want to be excited and we want to get prepared but we don't want to get overly excited and then be let down. And we don't want to have a nursery all set up and ready to go and have that waiting, and waiting and waiting too. It is a hard balance and we just don't have it right yet I guess. Some days we do and we are fine, but other days it just hits me and I realize that there is nothing that I can do but just BE and that is very hard for me to do.

Above all I know that the Lord has a plan and that it will all work out but this is a huge test of my FAITH. Some days I pass and some days I honestly don't. I wish I could say that I passed everyday and that it was a breeze for me, but it is not. It is a struggle, but it is much easier than it use to be before we made the wonderful decision to adopt. Now we are just waiting for that great reward and that is the hard part. He is teaching me and I am trying to learn but I am stubborn and I know that. I am grateful for this new day and for every new day that I get to start over and the chance that I have to learn new things about myself and what is to come and to be ready to be a mother and I hope it will make me a better one!

Weekend Recap

Okay so we don't have any pictures but we did do some fun things this weekend.....

Friday night to Saturday morning - I went to my mom's house and was able to get a bunch of scrapbook pages done. I love to feel like I am catching up on this kind of stuff. Dan went on his first campout with the scouts. He only had three "real" scouts and then a few other kids and a couple adults from the ward joined in the fun also. He had a great time. They took a mine tour, did an obstacle course, orienteering course, and first aid station. They also had the kids passing off requirements for advancement which means they got breakfast cooked for them! All in all he had a great time, with the exception of a windy night out in a tent which he is not used to any more.

Saturday - After Dan got back from his scout trip Dan, my brother, my Dad, me, and my nieces; Morgan and McKenna all went out to Logandale for the Clark County Fair and Rodeo. Besides having tons of traffic to get there we had a great time. We were able to have the girls see lots of animals and walk around at the exhibits. We of course had dinner out there (fair food is the best!) And the highlight of the night was the RODEO! We watched the bull riding, the barrel racing, team roping, etc. This was the first rodeo the girls had ever seen and I think they had a good time.

Sunday - I had gotten all of my work done on Saturday morning before heading out to the fair so I had absolutely no work to finish up today. It was wonderful. After going to church this morning, Dan and I came home to wonderful, warm weather and were able to sit outside and just relax. He cooked us up some BBQ and we enjoyed the day together. We had a great weekend and hopefully this means we are in store for a great week to come!

The unbeaten path

I came across this poem and thought it was perfect. It is exactly us and what we are going through and how we feel. I made a few adjustments, obviously, but here it is....

A baby to Love

There once was a boy who came down to the earth,

his parents were happy the day of his birth.

their second child, he was a little man

a cute, chubby boy, they named him Dan.

There once was a girl who was sent to the earth,

her parents were joyous the day of her birth.

their very first girl, she had them glarin',

big brown eyes, her name was Aranne.

Well these two grew up never knowing each other,

but one day they met and liked one another

Their friendship grew strong and what did they do?

Yep, they got hitched in Feb of '02!

First thing was first and they felt they should be,

adding some kids to their family tree.

They prayed and prayed and did all they should,

they were patient and willing to be extra good.

But their children weren't coming

and they weren't sure why,

so they went to the experts for options to try.

When none of the options were going their way,

the next thing to do was to kneel down and pray.

They weren't quite sure at this point what to do,

so Father in Heaven showed a new path to view.

He helped them to know there are different ways,

to add to your family in these latter days.

Out there somewhere there's a baby to love,

sent to a mother from heaven above.

That mother realizes her baby needs more,

taking care of a child by herself is a chore.

How great the birth mom to give up so much,

she'll know that the path you have taken is tough.

She'll know that you've wanted a child for so long,

she'll feel you're the right ones when you come along.

Although it is different to have a family this way,

when our child comes along, it will be the best day.

We'll look at our child and we will see,

this baby was meant for our family.

Couples are chosen, hand-picked by Him,

that can handle these trials that are given to them.

We never expected that we'd take this path,

but we'll be glad we did and we'll never look back.

How excited and grateful that we will be,

to be able to add to our family.

The blessing of having a baby to love,

comes straight from heaven way up above.

Nothing else will matter, you will see,

except that there's love in our family.

And all those who know us will surely agree,

we'll give nothing but love to our new baby!

Real Gambling in Vegas!!!

Let me give you some backround about this whole thing. Skydiving has always been something that I would say "yeah I want to try that" or "that might be kinda fun". So when Marvin and I were talking a few months back about crazy things to do we fell upon skydiving and I expressed my somewhat mild desire. He then told me he had always wanted to do it but never had anyone willing to go with him.

We decided to finally do it. So while the girls were getting their massages the boys were suiting up for real fun. We went out to Boulder City Airport which is about a 10 minute drive from the house. We were walking up to office and seeing some people in their jumpsuits and we both were getting pretty excited. After waiting for about an hour, it was our turn to get in the plane. We got up to about 15,000 feet and then opened the door. Marvin and I were the last 2 on the plane with our instructors. So we watched 5 other pairs fall out that door. Then my turn. There is nothing like the 4 seconds when you are sitting in the doorway looking out at this desert thinking "Here we go!"

After free falling(the background music provided by Aranne) for what seemed like forever, the parachute opens and it is just scenery the rest of the way down.

One Word: AWESOME!!!!!!!

Running on Empty

Our friends from LA came into town this weekend and that can only mean one thing - NO SLEEP!

They got here late on Thursday night and we hit the ground running. We didn't make it to bed until 6:30am on Friday morning.

That Friday we had gotten some tickets to see "Ron Lucas" at 1:00 in the afternoon so we were up again at 10:00am. The show was great! We then spent some time that afternoon at Town Square doing some shopping and we also watched "21" at the new movie theater down there to get in to the VEGAS mood. We had dinner at Claim Jumper and were stuffed. That we another late night with us getting to be at around 4:15am.



Saturday morning the girls had their "traditional" massages scheduled and we had to be up at 8:30am so we could get there by about 9:30am for a 10:00 appointment. The massages were wonderful and very needed.

The boys on the other hand were not going the relaxing route but instead decided to take the exciting route and went skydiving. They have been talking about doing it for a while now but finally got up the nerve and took the leap. After our massages we were able to drive out to Boulder City just in time to see them suit up and jump out of the plane. Those crazy boys.

Saturday afternoon we had time to relax. The boys watched the basketball game and us girls relaxed some more in the jacuzzi. We then got dressed and ready to go and headed out to do some shopping at the outlets and had dinner at Joe's Crab Shack. Once again we split up and the girls watched a movie "Shutter" while the boys just hung out, loitering around the casino. Not such a late night since we all had to get up early the next day. We called it quits at about 3:30am.


All in all it was a fun-filled weekend and one that I am sure that Dan and Marvin won't forget any time soon. We are glad we have such great friends like them and are able to share such fun weekends like this and make such lasting memories.

Book Club

Okay so I have joined an online book club and I am so EXCITED!

This is the first month and we are reading "To Kill a Mockingbird". I am pretty sure that I have read it before in high school or something but it has been a while and I am not opposed to re-reading books anyways, so I am off and running.

If there is anyone out there who would like to join the CLUB please feel free to do so. It is sponsored by a great gal named Holly and you can find out more info here. We will pretty much decide on the book, read it and then "meet" to discuss it on the 25th of the month. It sounds like fun so I jumped right in. I will let you know how it goes, but like I said feel free to join us!