Life is...

Well, it is not perfect...

It is not glamorous...

It is work.

It is sacrifice.

It is difficult.

BUT,

I will reap the rewards.

I do reap the rewards.

I can reap the rewards.

...What a week. I have had this much enthusiasm for it [.]
Yes, I mean it. I enjoyed taking some pictures of my Little People (vintage) that I bought this week. They make me smile. I am trying to get a collection going for my kids to play with. I think they are better toys than anything we have these days, and they are 30 years old! Here are a couple pictures.

I am at my wit's end today. More tired than anything. I'm just not willing to deal with an ornery two year old and a crying baby today. Ugh...

I always get to February and fall apart...why?

On my own...

Oooo, this is why I don't like winter. I am husbandless for the majority of the weekends. He has friends here, or is at friend's houses, or is snowmobiling. It's nice that he has that opportunity. But, I would like more opportunity to do something I enjoy. I get taken on snowmobile type outings. They are ok, but I am so tired by them...and they are really something Deric enjoys doing, not me. He gets mad whenever I say that. He threatens to get rid of the snowmobiles. The reality is that I know he would make my life miserable for it. So, I never let him.

I am taking a "Square foot Gardening" class with my friend Heidi. It's four weeks long and runs an hour and a half on Wednesdays. I think it will be fun. :-) Then I can better utilize my garden this year. This will at least break up the mundane weeks through mid-February.

I told Deric we should take a dance class...he wasn't interested. He says there are too many things he already wishes he could do and doesn't have the time for. Those things don't include me. Not that he said that, it's just the reality of it. I grow sad sometimes at how much we don't spend time with each other. But, really, our interests don't overlap in many areas. Camping is one thing we do enjoy doing together. Other than that, we spend a lot of time in front of the TV. I had always hoped to pretty much ban that from my house. A movie on occasion was fine...But, again, it is the reality of things. I do enjoy "Chuck" and "The Big Bang Theory" however.

I want to get my pictures printed so that I can start on Molly's scrapbook and our new year's scrapbook. I want to get the Millersburg pictures too...I would love to sit and write up that book. Anywho...

I am just sad today. Things looks so gloomy when it is smoggy and foggy outside. Not much of a day to enjoy. The air is so bad that if you go out in it it is like smoking a cigarette. One thing about Utah I truly despise. Oh well, such is life sometimes...

I do love my life. There are just some things that aren't perfect.

A New Year...

The New Year came in with a bang. We stayed up until 5, which was a mistake...I finally got caught up on sleep yesterday. We moved Deric into his new office on New Year's Eve. We were able to get a lot of it done. At this point we have moved one of the bunk's beds in there and I have one in my craft room. I put up all his pictures and stuff up on the walls. Then I decided to do mine in my craft room. It looks a lot more colorful and fun. I figure I have 2 years to be in there at least...and that's just until we move Deric in with me. It will be nice to have my own space that doesn't seem so crowded. Maybe I will actually get to do some crafts. I have to make some curtains for our two rooms...we will see what I can come up with. I'll post pictures of the room soon.

New Year's Resolution:
Do a Detox diet this month (exercising comes with it). And after that...
Become "semi-vegetarians"; meaning..we are eating only 1 meal a week with meat in it. We can eat meat when we go out or to a party (or host one), but we eat mostly vegetarian meals at home. Basically, following the "moderation in all things" concept with meat. It really isn't super good for you anyway. Especially in the summer time. I think the detox diet and watching our meat intake will help with lethargy.:-)


Deric came up with a super cute idea for using the space under the stairs in the theater room. The front portion will be a closet and then the lower part (that you have to duck to get into) will be a PLAYHOUSE! :-) I am so excited about that since I was wanting that in my dream house and Deric found a way to give it to me. The best part is I get my storage and a fun place for our kids to play and store toys! I have a little couch and River's kitchen we can put in there. I plan on putting a little door and a window in the wall (in the theater room), and painting a house on the wall as well. It will be SO fun. :-) This way they have some place to escape to in the winter when they can't go outside. And...all of my kids will be able to use it while they are little. Ahh, it just feels so nice to have such a fun plan for this house! (since I am going to be here the rest of my life it seems) The great thing is we already have all the carpet for under the stairs because they gave us the remnants. :-)

Here's to a New Year full of FUN, PROSPERITY, HEALTH, STRENGTH, MOTIVATION, JOY, and LOVE. :-)

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve...

It feels so odd to be doing nothing today...to be so close to Christmas, to feel like it has gotten away from me, and that the excitement I have been used to my whole life is somehow escaping me a bit. I am excited to have a Christmas at home with my little family, but I just feel like it is not the same. I can't wait until my kids get excited about it. I think next year River will be counting down the days until Christmas and that will bring more excitement.

Deric has done so well this year! He got all my gifts before last week, and they will all be here in time. He actually is getting excited about holidays and realizing how he can take part and enjoy them with us! I am so grateful for his coming around. I just hope my hesitating with the Christmas cheer this year doesn't ruin it for him.

We get our carpet on Tuesday next week! To say I am "excited" would be the understatement of the year! We finish painting the ceilings and trim Saturday...or maybe Christmas. Then we will be all set for the downstairs bedroom and hallway to be done! I just can't wait to get it all done down there; theater, bathroom, and my craft room. :-)

Tonight we are going to the Kimber side's Christmas party. It is always a little bit...er, boring...but it is good to have family that is happy to have us around at least. Even if we do just stare at each other. Tomorrow is the Meldrum side Christmas party...that will be interesting as always. I just hope that it will be a good one. I can't wait to give Joan her gift, we got a hardback book printed with pictures from us and Evette and family. It will be wonderful to see her reaction to it! (It took a week of work!) Christmas day we are spending with our little family. Just opening presents in the morning, then awaiting Doug's call. It will be nice to talk to him again.

What a year...it is swiftly drawing to a close. I pray next year brings much happiness, excitement, and joy...not to mention continued good health and prosperity. :-) I wish that for all of you too!

Crunch time...

We ordered the carpet for downstairs! We went with a higher grade (premium) carpet instead of what our upstairs carpet is. It is close in shade to upstairs but without speckles and without the twist. I hope I don't kick myself for having gotten it. It is a light color...I should have compared it to the paint color...eh, oh well, at least it is coming soon enough. 1 1/2 weeks until Christmas and just two and a half in the year/decade! What a crazy last few years this has been. I am excited for the years to come.

I am spending the majority of my week at Alaris' house. She is having me help her with a video she is doing for Christmas presents for everyone in their family. She has to have it done by friday in order for it to make it to all of them in time, more like in the mail friday. We will see how it goes. I am happy River will get to play with her friends, but it will also be a lot of work for me.

Christmas is creeping up on me!

I feel like I have no time to enjoy the holiday this year. I am just running around trying to get the things done for Christmas. I went to a couple parties, which was fun. But, it seems like it is getting away from me this year. Well, off to work on gifts....

Yes, it has been a while...

So, I realized that blogging is really exciting and fun for the first few times you do it and then it gets a little bit hard to keep up. Just like journaling. I did write in my journal about my trip out to PA though. So, yay me!

So, my trip out to PA was interesting. It was really a great trip all around, but there were a lot of things that made me really think about what I am thankful for. That is particularly good because I was there over Thanksgiving and I haven't sat down and contemplated it to that degree for a very long time. My family's life is kind of in an uproar at the moment as they have a rather untidy family living with them. It opened my eyes to just how lucky I am to have a semi-tidy husband, and one that encourages me to clean. Odd as that sounds. I am grateful for children that are fast learners and for the fact River speaks with such fluency and can say all her letters. My children will not be behind in any schooling, I can tell already. I am grateful for the fact my husband has a great job and has so much more self-worth now than he did before we were married, and even in the first part of our marriage. I am grateful that I was able to have my grandparents in my life for as long as I have and that Grandpa Bill was in my life when Grandpa Phil couldn't be. I am so grateful for having my own house to do with what I want, but that I get the opportunity to help others with theirs on occasion. (It's fun to clean someone else's house!) Haha! Life really is, that good. ;-)

We are nearly completed in the hallway and bedroom downstairs, a few more touch ups on the walls in the hall and then trim and ceiling paint to do. We order our carpet next week and get it installed around the beginning of the year! I am soooo happy for it to be so close. (Though, I wish we could be getting carpet IN next week!) The paint color is gorgeous, I went downstairs and thought that the light was on, but it was just the sunlight reflecting off the color! Beautiful! Deric isn't too thrilled, but he only gets it as his office a little under two years. (until the next child is born.) Hooray for getting rid of more of the brown in this house though!

I have been working on Christmas presents and cards the last few days. Got the pictures printed and ordered, got Doug's gift ordered (an 8-bit tie--think: Mario pixels), Molly's gift ordered (a bib with a runway on it and a matching airplane spoon! They light up!), Plus, Joan's gift ordered (a book of pictures from us and Evette's family--she complained about not having us in the one the step siblings did last year.), plus more that I can't tell you about. Hehe! I got all the neighborhood gifts out this week too (purple ornaments with a little "reminder" attached about Christ being "King", get it? Royal purple...anyway). I am excited about Christmas, but behind on getting the tree up, we put it together tonight, and will decorate it tomorrow.

I had a terrible night last night of about 4 hours total of sleep. Molly was wide awake for some reason...so, off to bed I go. Goodnight! Happy Holidays!

Stuff, n' stuff...

Sunday we went up to Deric's grandparent's house. (The Abels) They hadn't seen Molly yet and they basically told us "get your butts up here". So, we went and visited with them a couple hours and saw Pat and Von (Deric's aunt and uncle, the cowboy-Dad's side). Then we went and visited with his half-sister, Monica for a little bit and went to dinner with them. So, we got to see everyone up north, they should be good for another year. ;-)

Monday night was the opening social of the snowmobile club. It was fun. I made Chili and nobody ate any. :-( Sad, so, I froze half of it. I won a hoodie in the prize drawing! Yay, I love hoodies! Got to see some friends and talk with them briefly. We are starting to upgrade this club a bit. It is getting better than just being thrown together each year. It's kinda exciting.

Today we went to the temple for the first time in three years. It is pretty crazy it has been that long...but the last time we were there we asked to get pregnant and River was conceived just days later. I didn't learn anything amazing, but those few moments of pure si9lence and peace in the celestial room were worth it. Molly slept the exact amount of time I was gone too. :-) Good day...

Super Productive Saturday :-)

This is all we did today...so far:

Winterized the trailer
Cleaned out the garden
mowed the lawn and put the debris on the garden (compost)
tidied the yard
tidied the carport
trimmed the blackberries
trimmed the fruit trees
moved the play set
trimmed the rosebushes
insulated the new bedroom walls
weeded the flower bed

We are still going to cover the trailer and go trick-or-treating. :-)

The room downstairs will have WALLS by Wednesday! Yay!

Yay for productive days like this!

Shedule

Well, I decided that the only way to be less stressed and get more done would be to create a schedule for myself. I have never been able to stick to hourly type schedules because I don't like the limitation...so here is what I did:

Monday--vacuum the house, art and music with River

Tuesday--Laundry, art and music with River

Wednesday--Sweep/mop the floors, special treat making with River

Thursday--Grocery Shopping, play group (for River)

Friday--Clean Bathroom, art and music with River, "date night"

Saturday--Yard work/Family Home project day

We started this on Monday and I really like it. I have gotten my house totally clean throughout this week. There are the normal everyday things to do, but it has divided the big stuff over the week. :-) I also like having a plan of what I am going to do with River for at least half an hour each day. I get a teaching moment with her, she gets a creative outlet, and I feel like a good mom! haha! Monday we made a Fall leaf collage, Tuesday she painted egg carton bugs, and Wednesday we made oatmeal-molasses cookies.

Last night was the Halloween Party. Again, Sister Frost went ALL out...yikes, what a crazy night. There were so many booths, and it was just nuts. Last minute the Relief Society Activity committee was told they were in charge of a booth. Yah, it wasn't really very fun...we have young kids, and it is geared toward the kids...so, it was hard to enjoy it. River was so distracted by everything that she didn't eat her dinner or really pay attention to me at all. She just wandered around looking dazed, and staring. Funny girl.

Tomorrow we are winterizing the yard, trailer, shed, garden, and carport. Lots of work, and hopefully it will be doable with Molly...she naps for a while in the morning...so, I think it will work. I am kinda excited to do it. Always feels good to get a big project done.

I just can't wait until November 13th when we get enough money to put up insulation and drywall in the bedroom/hallway downstairs. :-) In December we will finish it up, yay!

Joan and I started a business together called Blissful Bags. We are making those scripture bag things out of the placemats and selling them on a site that contacted us about being on it. Smashion.com. They saw them on etsy and loved them so they contacted me to be on their site. The best part is, it's FREE! Yay! We are hopeful. We got 12 faux leather mats, and 12 microfiber mats, and lots of fun plastic handles (like dalmation print) and so on. If we can sell them for what I was hoping for we could have $300-$350 profit EACH! (with the bags we have already)

I'll put up pics as we make them...just waiting for everything to arrive in the mail now.