Thoughts on the New Year

First off I still can't believe it is 2011...

What do I want from this New Year? What do I hope it brings for me and my family? What do I hope to accomplish during the year? What do I want to change about myself this year? These are the questions I ask myself at the beginning of every year.... I love the New Year because I feel like it gives me a chance to start over and reconnect. I have a lot of big goals for 2011 and a lot of small ones too.

* I hope to find the time to reconnect with my creative side. I miss working on projects and using my hands. If I can find a way to sell them/earn some extra cash that would be great. But my main goal is to just get busy making things again. I miss that.

* Try to figure out this whole coupon thing. I am not very good at it and want to be. I see and hear about how people save tons and I have not yet been able to do that. I want to!

* Save, Save, Save... Most of you know we want to adopt again and this is our year to SAVE in order to begin the process again. We hope to be putting papers in this year and want to have money saved towards the adoption costs.

* Get moving! Now this doesn't always mean lose weight but that would be a great outcome. I just want to feel like I have more energy. I want to run and jump and play more with Blake and not feel so worn out after doing so.

Again... there are tons more little things I hope to do but these are the BIG ones on my list this year. I hope to be successful with these goals and see progress. That is the thing that keeps me going. Wish me luck and to all a wonderful 2011!

I Pledge....

Did you see the Oprah Show today? What an eye opening show. Now.. I know that most people, if we are being honest, are guilty of talking or texting while we are driving from place to place. I know that I am one of those people. I am usually good about not texting, but talking I am for sure guilty of. Well... I am taking Oprah's challenge and deciding today that I will no longer be doing so in the car while driving.

I was shocked at some of the stories on her show today. It was sad, scary, and just plain unbelievable some of the things that were pointed out on the show. Mostly, it is the fact that it is all preventable and I hope to be able to do my part. I hope that others will follow along.

Read about Distracted Driving from Oprah HERE and please take the No Phone Zone Challenge and help save lives!

Take a hike

This is a post that really should be written by Dan but that is not going to happen... so, I will do my best and just give you a re-cap on the main event.

Dan and Brian have been talking about and planning this trip to hike the Grand Canyon for months and the day had finally arrived. They were both like little kids. They both had gotten new backpacks for the trip. Dan got a new Ipod (father's day). They were set.

They left Vegas at midnight on Wednesday night and drove all the way to the Grand Canyon and then started down the trail as the sun was rising. They spent the next few days exploring the village and doing a few smaller day hikes up to the falls and the nearby area. Overall they said they accomplished about 30+ miles in the four days they were gone....

They had a great time and besides Brian coming home with terrible blisters (Dan didn't fair too bad).. they loved the adventure and are planning their next trip!

Corn and Carrots and Peas, Oh My....

I have been eating a lot of these types of food lately... Since around Easter I have changed my diet and gone strictly vegetarian! This is a big deal for those that have known me a long time and know that my standby has always been chicken strips. Now I was not a big red meat eater so that has not been a big change but the chicken has taken a little getting use to.. but a few months later I am still going strong. The biggest thing I am struggling with is trying to find ways to make sure I am getting enough protein and also not getting bored with what I am eating.

Dan has been supportive (not on board with the idea, just supportive and eating more vegetables too) and everyone else just seems to keep saying "are you STILL doing that?"... so in answer to everyone else - YES... I am still doing that!

Asking for help....

We just got home from our monthly FSA meeting and while I feel great about the meeting and great about the activities we are planning, I can't help but feel a little frustrated with our own progress and our own situation. Many of you know we are fast approaching the 2 year mark of our adoption process and that is testing our patience beyond measure some days; other days we are fine and don't even really think about it. On our way home from the meeting tonight we were talking and trying to come up with ways to reach our goal of an eternal family faster and what we might be able to do to help speed the process along. While we don't really have any "good" ideas we were hoping that we might be able to call upon our family and friends yet again.

I gave a class a while ago to new couples and told them all about ways that they could "promote" their own adoption and while we have done many of these ideas ourselves we are still trying to come up with more ways. I am hoping that we might be able to get some of you on board with us on this effort as we hope it might reach someone, who knows someone, who knows someone, etc.

What we are asking is that if you would be willing we would love to have you "STEAL" our picture that I have on the top of this post and place it somewhere on your blog. I would then love for you to have a link attached that leads back to our adoption blog which is www.danielandaranne.blogspot.com. That is the least that we are asking. If you feel like you want to do more and write an actual post telling who we are and why you suddenly have a picture of two strange people on your sidebar that would be awesome! Anything that you could do would be great.

Please let me know if you did any of the above, for one because I want to see it, and for two because I want to thank you. It really does mean a lot to us. We are just trying to get our names and faces out there and figure this might be a good way for a lot of people to see us. No pressure, honestly, but if you think you can... great! If you have any other questions about it, just leave me a comment and I can get back to you.

Thanks again!

Red Alert

Heart Disease is the #1 killer of women in America and this Friday, February 6th we can all show our supporting by wearing red.

Go HERE and find out more about a great cause and a great campaign, and what you can do to help fight such a terrible disease.

End of the Year Tag....

1. What did you do in 2008 that you had never done before? PARTICIPATED IN A 5K
2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year? KEPT SOME... WILL MAKE A TON FOR THIS YEAR!
3. Did anyone close to you give birth? YES... WE HAVE TWO NEW NEPHEWS!!
4. Did anyone close to you die?... WE LOST AN UNCLE AND OTHERS WE KNEW
5. What countries did you visit?.. NO COUNTRIES BUT WE WILL THIS YEAR!!
6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?... MORE PATIENCE AS ALWAYS
7. What dates from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?.... NOVEMBER 4, 2008 VOTING DAY
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?... JUST BEING CONSISTENT
9. What was your biggest failure?.... BEING LAZY
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?...NOT REALLY (THANK GOODNESS!)
11. What was the best thing you bought?....A Wii
12. Where did most of your money go?... TO BILLS OF COURSE
13. What did you get really, really, really excited about?....OUR TRIP TO DISNEY AND KNOTT'S IN OCTOBER
14. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? 
b) thinner or fatter? 
c) richer or poorer? A) HAPPIER FOR SURE B) FATTER? C) RICHER?
15. What do you wish you’d done more of?... RELAXED
16. What do you wish you’d done less of?....COMPLAINED
17. Did you fall in love in 2008?...EVERY DAY
18. What was your favorite TV program?....SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE (LOVE THAT SHOW!)
19. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?...NOPE... SAME PEOPLE. JUST KIDDING!
20. What was the best book you read?.....TWILIGHT SERIES OF COURSE!
21. What did you want and get?....Wii FIT
22. What did you want and not get?....iPOD
23. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?....HAD FRIENDS HERE FOR THE WEEKEND... TURNED 28 (NOT AS EXCITING AS WHEN YOU WERE YOUNGER!)
24. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?..... RECEIVING "THE CALL"
25. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?.....TRYING?!
26. What kept you sane?...MY FAMILY AND FRIENDS AND THE GOSPEL

SPT: 100 Things #28

#28: I love to Snowboard

I do love to snowboard. I am not very good at it, but it is something that Dan and I have found that we can do together and that we enjoy and that makes it even better. We took our very first lesson in 2005 and then bought our gear in 2006 and have been going ever since.

I told him that I wanted to try it out but that I had to have a lesson. I am the kind of person that gets frustrated very easily if I don't know how to do something and especially if everyone else does. I knew that he would be able to pick it up and that I would have a harder time so if I didn't get a lesson and at least have some idea of what I was SUPPOSE to be doing that I would get angry and give up. So we took the lesson together, got the basics down and then were on our own. I was pretty proud of myself for sticking with it and giving it a go. I was not fabulous by any means (and still am not) but went back the next day for more. Dan has gotten pretty good and attempts jumps and turns, while I on the other hand feel like I have had a successful day if I go up and down the mountain without having a horrible spill. We have Mt. Charleston close by so that is where we go most often. It does not have the best snow but it is close and that makes it nice. We have been to Big Bear in California and that makes a fun trip, and we have also been to BrianHead in Utah and so far that is our favorite. We will see what this season brings us!

I am still not a huge fan of the chairlifts. In fact I HATE them. I nearly panic when it is my turn to get off but I know there is no other way to get to the top of the mountain. I fell one time pretty bad (my jacket got caught somehow and nearly ripped my arm off) and now I am pretty scared of them! But snowboarding is a great activity and so much fun for us to go and enjoy the outdoors and the time together. We are for sure not the best ones on the mountain and got started a little late in life, but it shows that you can teach an old dog new tricks and they can still have fun!

Conference Weekend

Another six months has come and gone and we were blessed with the opportunity to hear from our Prophet and his apostles. Dan and I have the calling of being the Stake Technology Specialists (a fancy name for being in charge of taping and recording anything that comes across from Salt Lake), so that means we always get to see all sessions of conference.

These sessions were no different! They left us feeling uplifted and inspired. I usually leave feeling that there was one or two talks that were especially for me and this time the one that sticks in my mind for sure was the talk by the Prophet himself on making sure that we life for today and do all that we can with it. We need to remember the past and prepare for the future, but we need to do all that we can with today. We need to reach out to those who are in need and we need to tell those that we love we are thinking of them and leave nothing unsaid. For some reason this is the talk to spoke the strongest to me. I hope to be able to learn from this and become a better person, a good example and take advantage of the time that I have and do the most important things with it.

The rest of the weekend was pretty uneventful. The Steelers won yet again!! Now we have to get ready for a short work week and our trip to California that we have planned for the weekend, YEAH!

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.

But it's soooo good

I cheated today and drank a Red Bull. I haven't had one in FOREVER! It is not really by choice but more under doctor's orders. Ever since the beginning of last summer I have had to severely cut back (if not totally eliminate) the amount of caffeine that I consume. And for me that was a big change. I went from at least one Red Bull a day, with a few sodas mixed in, to no Red Bull and probably about 5 sodas total since the day he told me to quit. I would say I am doing really good. I now only drink caffeine free soda, water, juice, milk, etc. and no Red Bull for sure. But some days I just have this overwhelming urge and NEED the caffeine. Today was one of those days. I saw the can sitting in the fridge at my mom's house and I could not resist the temptation. I went for it. I will probably pay for it later tonight or tomorrow with a headache since my body is no longer use to it, but boy did it taste wonderful on the way down.

Before I die

Last night Dan and I went out to dinner (TGI Friday) and then went to a movie. We saw "The Bucket List". It was a sweet movie and kinda funny. It was not my favorite movie ever but it got me thinking. It made me think about how I am spending my life now and whether or not I am making good use of the time that I have here on the earth. They knew when they were going to die (hope I don't spoil the movie if you haven't seen it yet) but most of us don't have any idea. There was a part in the movie where they talk about the conditions of getting into heaven were only two questions: 1. Is my life joyful? and 2. Do I bring joy to others? I hope that I will be able to answer "YES" to both of those questions when my day comes.

The second topic of the movie has to do with doing all that you can in life and living each day to the fullest. That is where the "Bucket List" comes in. The list of things you want to do/accomplish before you "kick the bucket". That part really struck me. There are a ton of things that I want to do and hope I will have the chance to do them. I have made my own list of sorts and hope that I will be able to start crossing things off now and not wait until one day when I am old and gray and look back and think "I wish I would have..." NO REGRETS!

Part of my list:
Eat pizza in Italy
See Big Ben
Run in a marathon (or at least a half marathon)
Go whitewater rafting
Volunteer for Habitat for Humanity

There are lots of big things on my list but also lots of small things... I hope that I will be able to do them all and then start my list over again.

Getting Prepared

Our goal for this month was to update and add to our 72 hour kits. We have a good start, thanks to Mike & Holly and a fabulous Enrichment that I helped organize, but there are always things you can add and things you need to update.

We added things like a pair of long pants and a jacket that would fit into our backpacks. We also added two pairs of socks for each of us. We also finally made the copies of our important paperwork and got them into our backpacks. We didn't have to change out to much since the 3 days worth of food that I made at Enrichment is good until 2012 (but that will be here sooner than we know it). Now we only have to go back and check on our supplies every six months just to do an update.

Since I was in the "emergency preparedness" mode this month I spent some time searching around and actually found some sites that had a lot of helpful information on them. Besides the church website there is a really helpful site that the city of San Francisco has set up. It can be used for any city and has a lot of helpful info on it. Hopefully we will never need to use any of our supplies but we all need to be prepared and have the supplied on hand and be ready for any situation, JUST IN CASE!