National Adoption Month

It is officially November and along with changing our clocks back, my birthday, and Thanksgiving, it is also National Adoption Month!

I will probably be talking a lot about adoption over the next month as it is National Adoption Month and on my mind (as it always is) and I want to share some of the things that I have run across in my searching and searching, with you.

Run for Nie

Thanks to THIS great lady (who I actually got a chance to meet) we were able to participate in a great event this weekend. Things have been circulating all over the Internet and blog-world about THIS COUPLE and I have wanted to find a way to help but didn't know how until now.

Bright and early Saturday morning I rallied the troops and we headed out to Summerlin to participate in the 5K Run/Walk for Nie. I was really the only one who knew what the cause was but I got my mom, dad and Dan on board for a little morning exercise. We got there with our running shoes on and headed out on the course. When we finished up we grabbed some fruit and muffins and were on our way. It was an easy way to help out for a good cause. There was a pretty good turn out and we were able to help raise over $700 for the Neilson family. It feels great to be able to help out in any way that we can.

Happy Boo to You

Here is my little devil... okay, so he is not really that little!

We went to our ward's trunk or treat this Halloween just like we did last year. Our friend's the Young's came in from out in Pahrump and went with us. There was not really a lot of people there (I think because it was a 3-day weekend here in Nevada (Nevada Day) and because of Halloween being on a Friday) but the kids still raked in the candy! We saw lots of cute costumes and hung out for the evening.

After some time at the church we decided that we wanted to walk the neighborhood too and see what was going on there. We took the kids out and they had a good time until they got scared by one house and then they were pretty much done!

It was a fun and safe Halloween and that is what counts.

Cast Your Vote!

Well we just got home from VOTING!!!

There were lots of people out tonight and that is a good thing. This has been a long time coming and I am ready for the election to be over and done with. I am tired of getting phone calls and tired of the commercials and ready to just see what happens in the end. I don't know if the person I voted for will win or lose but I got out and made my voice heard and that is all that I can really do....

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!

Can you help?

I am always looking to THIS girl for inspiration and advice and once again I found some. Only this time she is not dishing out advice about adoption or offering hope when there seems to be none... she is asking for help. She is asking for us to help out someone who really could use some.

We are coming up on a hard time of year, during a hard year and what better thing can we do then search within ourselves and help someone else who really needs a helping hand. Read a little bit about her story and see what you can do. Anything will help I am sure.

Surprise Weekend

So the surprise was a success, THANK GOODNESS. It has been a stressful couple of months trying to keep things under wrap but on Saturday things came together and the shower went off without a hitch.

We left for Arizona on Friday morning and arrived to spend the evening with mom, dad, Amy and Steve. We just hung out and enjoyed some time together. We then made sure that we had things ready for the big party on Saturday. We then woke up on Saturday morning and had to put our plan into action. We had to get Amy out of the house. We took her to Wal-Mart and Starbucks and Jamba Juice. Once we got the call from mom that "Nate and Katie were ready for lunch" we came back and got the big surprise. Amy was truly surprised and that was all worth it. The shower went off great and she got lots of great gifts for their little one who will soon be here.

The rest of the weekend was smooth sailing. We had pizza for dinner and celebrated the upcoming holiday with some pumpkin carving; Styrofoam pumpkins that is.... It was so much fun. Everyone got into the spirit and had a great time. We carved a bunch of fun pumpkins and they all looked great, especially for first timers. The kids then went to a movie and saw Eagle Eye. We had to get up and head home on Sunday which is never fun. It was a long drive but the weekend had been well worth it. It is always great to see family and we won't be able to see them for the holidays this year so this was our big trip. After getting home, we just relaxed with a football game... The Steelers lost but it was a good game!

Hockey Game

I went to my very first hockey game tonight. It was the Las Vegas Wranglers versus Canada. I can now say that I am not a hockey fan. I decided that I would give it a try and go to the game and the game was fun but I did not get it at all. I had a good time hanging out with friends and the experience but I have no idea about the rules or anything about what is really going on. I don't understand why they get called for the penalties when they do, whey they start the puck off on the side of the rink... all kinds of weird things. I guess I will just stick with football.

Yoga... BIKRAM YOGA that is

Last night Dan and I were able to attend a free Yoga class. I have always wanted to try Yoga, Dan probably not so much but he is a good sport. This was not your typical Yoga though. This was what they call Bikram Yoga. This is Yoga done in an extremely HOT room, increasing sweating and detoxification. It was crazy!

This was our first Yoga class at all and then we decided we go not hold back and go with Bikram Yoga... what were we thinking?

No, honestly it was actually really interesting and really neat. We both had a really good time and enjoyed the class. I was really proud of Dan. He did a good job for being the sports guy that he is and not really the Yoga type. He hung in and did the entire class. I did okay with most of the poses but the heat did get to me a bit and made me a little dizzy here and there.

We are definitely going to try and check out a regular Yoga class when we find one around town and see what we think about that, then we will make our final decision. Yoga. Or Bikram Yoga. We will see what we decide.

SPT 100 Things: #21

#21: My favorite calling was as Assistant Girls Camp Director

I know I have plenty more time to have lots more callings but up until now this was by far my most exciting and fulfilling calling. I loved being a part of Girls Camp and working with the girls. I had been in Young Women's as the Mia Maid Advisor but working on camp was so much more exciting. Not only was the director my best friend (Yeah!) but I had never been to camp myself so that was fun too. We were able to plan what we wanted, eat what we wanted, and do the activities that we wanted. It was awesome. We also had a chance to really get to know the girls on a different level. It is great to take them out of their normal enviornment and see them interact with you and each other. They all were really great girls and I loved the whole experience.

I don't know what my future holds as far as callings go, but it is going to take a pretty amazing calling to top this one!

WEEKEND WRAP-UP

The weekend was actually okay. We were able to do some housecleaning, organizing, and shopping that needed to get done (sounds really exciting right?!) but the end of the week and part of the weekend was still quite stressful and not pleasant. I had seen my fair share of Tylenol and Excedrin Migraine recently and that has not been fun.

I don't know what it is exactly but I have been having a lot of annoying headaches. I would not classify them as my migraines (thank goodness) but they have been daily, annoying headaches and that is almost worse. They just stick around all day! I know I have been stressing over certain things and been really busy with work and other parts of my life but usually that doesn't effect me like this.... Maybe I am just getting old and need to chill out a bit. I look forward to this coming weekend when we will be able to go spend some time with family and just relax. Hopefully I will feel okay and be able to just relax and have a good time; if I can make it through another week!

SPT 100 Things #14

#14 - I Love the Rain

I do love the rain. I love the smell that it has. I love the coolness that it brings to the air. I love what it does for our Earth. I love to sit inside and watch it fall. I love to stay at home all day and watch movies, cuddled up in a blanket on days that it rains. I love to build fires when it rains. I don't like to drive in the rain very much. I don't use umbrellas, they are just too much extra work. I just walk fast!

It is a shame that I live in the desert because it doesn't rain that often here. But maybe that is a good thing after all. Because maybe if it rained all of the time I wouldn't appreciate it and wouldn't love it so much!