Michael Crawford O Holy Night , the most amazing version!

Sorry for my absence!

I'm still here, just started a new job which I love as a preschool assistant teacher. I think I've found my calling in life to teach little ones. So, I've decided this August or so to start college. I want to teach elementary ed or preschool like I am doing currently. I have never had a job that I love going to until now! There's much more to post soon, needless to say my children and work have taken up more of my time lately. Sorry for my absence!

I'll do better this time!

The Husband Song** LOVE IT!

Amazing Song~ Amazing Pictures

Starting anew...

I'm starting another chapter in my life... For a few years I've been a stay at home mom but now I'm going back to work again now that my children will be in school all day. I have been greatly blessed to have a job with the same hours and holidays as my children. I'm working as a preschool assistant at an elementary close by. I have had people come out of the woodwork to help before and after school for a few minutes. I have awesome friends and so much support, I can't help but think this is what Heavenly Father wants for me. I prayed and prayed to be a stay at home mom several years ago when working at a high school as the financial secretary. I loved that job and my prayers were answered, although not in the way I wanted but it did get me home with the kids.

Our goal is to be out of debt and into a home in a year and now with my income that's becoming a very real goal. I do see the light at the end of the tunnel and I'm so grateful for this opportunity.

You know you want to!

This is a fun idea that I got suckered into. Maybe it's just plain old greed. I wanted to see what my friend would make for me and so I now have the priviledge of making something for some other lucky individuals. The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me! My choice. For you. This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:

1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
2. What I create will be just for you.
3. It'll be done this year. That gives me a good five months to get it done!
4. You have no clue what it's going to be. Who knows? Not you, that's for sure!
5. I reserve the right to do something extremely strange (but don't expect my gift to be too strange because I am not good at coming up with strange things:).

The catch? Oh, the catch is that you must repost this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on your blog. The first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they did win a FAB-U-LOUS homemade gift by me! *Oh, and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it!*

Lead Me...

This is a touching song I have heard that's about a couple having marriage difficulties and working to resolve them. It's helped me for sure...



I look around and see my wonderful life
Almost perfect from the outside
In picture frames I see my beautiful wife
Always smiling
But on the inside, I can hear her saying...

Lead me with strong hands
Stand up when I can't
Don't leave me hungry for love
Chasing dreams, what about us?

Show me you're willing to fight
That I'm still the love of your life
I know we call this our home
But I still feel alone”

I see their faces, look in their innocent eyes
They're just children from the outside
I'm working hard, I tell myself they'll be fine
They're in independent
But on the inside, I can hear them saying...

Lead me with strong hands
Stand up when I can't
Don't leave me hungry for love
Chasing dreams, but what about us?

Show me you're willing to fight
That I'm still the love of your life
I know we call this our home
But I still feel alone

So Father, give me the strength
To be everything I'm called to be
Father, show me the way
To lead them
Won't You lead me?

To lead them with strong hands
To stand up when they can't
Don't want to leave them hungry for love,
Chasing things that I could give up

I'll show them I'm willing to fight
And give them the best of my life
So we can call this our home
Lead me, 'cause I can't do this alone

Father, lead me, 'cause I can't do this alone

God's love is never ending

This is taken from a dear friend's blog whom I love very much... You should check out her blog. She writes a lot from her heart.



"My soul is carried in his heart, my tears caught by his hands. In this storm he will not take this away, but he will walk with me. In this storm I will gain strength needed for the battle ahead, in this storm I will learn lessons that God needs me to know. I will hurt and I will cry, I will question and I will wonder but, I will not walk this path alone.

and I will praise him here, I will praise him now, my Father who walks with me in the darkness and the light."

Marathon post # 3

We've been goofy, made trains with rope, two cars and a stroller, played outside a lot as well as swimming. There's a lot that's happened around here but now that you've gotten to the end I think you get the gist of it...

Marathon post #2

We went to St. George Utah for our family vacation for 6 days and while there we visited Zion National Park, celebrated Father's day by sending balloons to heaven for a close friend of a family who passed away at the end of May, Marc and his two brothers went caving at Bloomington Cave and the kids shot their first gun... "BB" style. We had a lot of fun!

This is a marathon post!!!

This is all of what I've been wanting to post about so have fun,grab a drink and sit back and enjoy. Jaidyn graduated pre-school, we've been to the zoo, been hiking... little sister in law got married...

Poem by a dear friend...

My heart was Humpty Dumpty, it sat upon a wall.
Throughout my life, young and old
My heart had oh so many falls.
Sometimes it chipped a little bit,
Other times it completely shattered.
It often hurt, bruised and bumped,
But I wondered if it even mattered.
Was it worth putting back together?
Was it even possible?
I knew I couldn't do it myself,
Was there someone I could call?
Of course there was, but only one.
The one who loved me best.
He came with me and healed my heart
Showed my beauty, gave me rest.
It wasn't without sorrow,
Work and pain companions too.
But oh how worth experiencing
That my Savior has the glue.
His glue not only puts hearts back together,
His glue's not used just for it's stick
His glue is the balm of healing
It's the ONLY glue that'll do the trick,
That puts my heart back together
Makes it stronger than before.
Takes my heart and makes it whole again,
The wounds I feel no more.

Amy Uhl

Help...

For those of you that know me and those who don't I could use some prayers, good karma... anything good sent my way. I'm really having a hard time personally and have to decide what my next move will be. I don't feel that I can share with the whole world so I won't say what's going on but just know it's not a good situation. Thank you in advance.

Much love to you all...

Still Here!

I'm still here! I've been a bit absent for awhile dealing with some issues personally. There's been ups and downs and I'm in recovery I suppose. I've had so much go on it's hard to really put it all in this post... We celebrated the 4th of July with some friends which was great fun. We had picnics, sleepovers, been to St. George for 6 days, swam in the pool, played at the park... I have pictures but the card reader on Marc's computer isn't working so I'm waiting for him to either fix that or hook up my computer so I can get to normal life.

So, tell me, what's new with you?

Touching Shoulders With You

There's a comforting thought at the close of the day
When I'm weary and lonely and sad,
That sort of grips hold of this crusty old heart
And bids it be merry and glad.

It gets in my soul and it drives out the blues
And finally thrills me through and through,
It's just a sweet memory that chants the refrain
I'm glad I touched shoulders with you.

Did you know you were brave, did you know you were strong
Did you know there was one leaning hard,
Did you know that I listened and waited and prayed
And was cheered by your simplest word.

Did you know that I longed for that smile on your face
For the sound of your voice ringing true,
Did you know I grew stronger and better because
I had merely touched shoulders with you.

I'm glad I live; that I battle and strive
For the place that I know I must fill,
I'm thankful for sorrows, I'll meet with a grin
What fortune will send, good or ill.

I may not have wealth, I may not be great
But I know I shall always be true,
For I have in my life that courage you gave
When once I touched shoulders with you.

Author Unknown~

Absent...

So I've been away from blogging for a bit and I want you to know I'm still here. No answers regarding what's wrong with me but some meds I'm taking are helping with the pain a bit.

There's some personal struggles going on in my life which have kept me away. I could use your good thoughts, prayers sent my way. I love all my dear friends out there. Until my next post...

I Can Only Imagine!!!

To my knees will I fall when I see my Savior.

This is one of the amazing songs I heard at my Captivating retreat which changed my life forever! I am amazing, beautiful and I love my Savior and Heavenly Father with all my heart.

Here we go!

Today I had a CT scan both with contrast and without to find out what the heck is wrong with me. I've had all kinds of ideas thrown at me and I'm wondering if it's diverticulitis or chroan's disease. I'm hoping for the first since it's easier to treat. I'm also hoping for an easy fix instead of something severely life changing. Needless to say I'm hoping for a resolve instead of more and more tests. I'll keep you posted on what happens.

Also this week I'm leaving my children and husband and well frankly, everything! I'm heading to Eden, Ut. to go on a self discovery retreat. It's called Captivating and a group of women come together to connect with God and then with ourselves. I am soooo excited to be going and am hoping to come home a new woman, mother and wife. I've really struggled lately with depression and the thoughts and feelings that come with that and I've really felt alone and of no worth to anyone. Of course I know that's not the truth but still it's a very real feeling when I'm in the pit of despair. You should read the book, "Captivating" by Stasi Eldredge.

Well, thanks for your time and here's to a good weekend away!

Memorial Day Thanks

I'm grateful for the men and women who risk their lives for our country and way of life. Sure I don't agree with our government but I applaud the service men and women who fight for America anyway.

I am also grateful for their families who send them away hoping to see them again but yet not knowing if they will. Their sacrifice is appreciated by me just as much as their family members who serve.

I love the military and all it stands for so I can live where and how I do. THANK YOU!

Wonder By Alex Solomon

Wonder

As I gaze and marvel, wonder and stare,
I wonder if God notices me, somewhere up there.
I wonder if He looks and marvels equally.
I wonder if He laughs and chuckles with glee.
I wonder if I’m looking Him square in the eye,
As He smiles, saying wordlessly, ‘Here am I!’
I wonder if someone else sees what I see.
I wonder if He wonders the same thing as me.
I wonder if after my life is spent,
What He’ll have to say about this say about this single event.
But one thing I wonder, more than anything at all;
I wonder if He’s having fun with it all.

My nephew wrote this poem and I love it. I've been through some struggles personally lately and I really liked how this made me feel. I hope you enjoy it too.

Quickie

The picture comes from the $5.00 dinner blog.
Blackberry Vinaigrette... Doesn't that sound amazing? Check out the recipe here!

News and something to change the way you eat/drink!

Still no news on why my white blood cell count is up but I'll have to go back when I'm "well" to see if anything has changed after I'm done with the antibiotics. They make everything taste like metal and it's really disgusting.

On to other things... I came across this blog and was absolutely blown away at what people in the industry call healthy. Check it out and change the way you eat/drink! I got the picture off the blog.

Hmmmm....Bear with me...

I'm just venting here so bear with me. For the past year I've had some stomach pains and lately they've gotten really painful. So I went to the Dr. today and after a urine test I was informed my white blood cells in there were through the roof! Well, I don't have any symptoms of an infection dealing with that area but they're going to test it more to see what they can find. Also, I had a blood test today and if it's anything like last year the white blood cells are going to be really high too. After last year with antibiotics my WBC's never went down much and I just let it go for the time being. I'm growing really anxious to know what's really wrong with me and why they won't go down. I'm currently on two antibiotics to see what will happen and see if my WBC's go down at all on Thursday when I go back to the Dr. Have any of you out there been through this at all and can offer me any advice? I don't have any symptoms of the obvious like the usual sickness would show. I have lost my appetite and have lost some weight but not too dramatically. My clothes don't fit anymore from just a month or two ago...

I guess all I can ask you for as friends, casual readers and people I don't know is for any good thoughts, advice, prayers, good karma that you can send my way.
I may be jumping to the worst of the situation but who knows if this has been the same for over a year.

So thank you in advance for reading this post and still loving me! Really, any advice would be very much appreciated.

Amazing Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies!

I made these last week and had so many requests for the recipe that I thought I'd share it here as well. These were truly amazing!

INGREDIENTS:
1 C Butter
1 1/2 C Crunchy Peanut Butter
1 C Sugar
1 C Packed Brown Sugar
2 Eggs
1 tsp. Vanilla
2 3/4 C all-purpose Flour
1 tsp. Baking Powder
1/2 tsp. Salt
1 1/2 tsp. Baking Soda
2 C Chocolate Chips (optional)

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 deg. fahrenheit. Cream together butter, peanut butter and sugars. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix until blended well.

Slowly add the dry ingredients into the batter until the dough forms. Stir in as many chocolate chips as you want. I used 2 C which was perfect.

Roll into 1" balls and put on baking sheets. Flatten each ball with a fork, making the criss-cross pattern. Bake for 9 minutes and don't over bake! Let sit on cookie sheet for 1 minute before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container. These make great chewy cookies! HINT:If you want them softer simply place 1/2 slice of bread in the container with them and your cookies will be really soft! This also works with stale cookies.

Picnic Club!

I saw this on a friend's blog and thought I'd share too. I don't live in Provo but I know some of my readers do so check it out. Who wouldn't love a picnic in the park making new friends? We as a family love doing picnics whenever we can. Click on the button on the side of my blog or click on the picture to take you to the blog site with all the info! Happy picnicking!!

This is why we wear seat belts

Love this commercial!

I love the last scene in this commercial...  It gets my funny bone every time!  I hope you can laugh at it too!

I know this book is true!  I know it's the word of God spoken by the mouths of His prophets!

I'm the mother of the month!

My friend Michelle has named me mother of the month and I've answered questions about myself HERE.  Check it out if you're interested.  Michelle and I have been friends for many years and she is someone I've admired for as long as I can remember.  Thank you Michelle for this honor and opportunity!  She's also got a fun blog too!

Strawberry Cream Cheese Muffins

These were some amazing muffins and I'll definitely make them again.  I would think you could trade out the strawberries for any other fruit you'd want.  I love the creaminess and texture of the muffins.  I took the picture off Cooking Club's website which is also where I got the recipe from.

2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar, divided
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled, cut up
1 cup chopped strawberries
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons buttermilk
1 egg
1 (3-oz.) pkg. cream cheese, cut into 12 cubes

1. Heat oven to 400°F. Grease bottoms of 12 muffin cups or line with paper liners. Combine flour, 3/4 cup of the sugar, baking powder and baking soda in medium bowl. With pastry blender or 2 knives, cut in butter until mixture is crumbly. Stir in strawberries.

2. Whisk buttermilk and egg in small bowl until blended. Gently stir buttermilk mixture into flour mixture just until combined. Divide evenly among muffin cups. Dip cream cheese pieces in 2 tablespoons of the sugar; place in center of each muffin. Press cream cheese until level with batter. (Do not cover cream cheese with batter.) Sprinkle muffins with remaining 1 tablespoon sugar.

3. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until light brown and toothpick inserted off-center comes out clean (do not put toothpick in cream cheese). Cool on wire rack 10 minutes. Remove from pan; serve warm or at room temperature. Store in refrigerator.

.31 cent scoop night at Baskin Robbins!!!

Baskin Robbins is having a fundraiser to help honor the fallen fire fighters.  Click HERE to find out more information!  It's tomorrow so go and have some ice cream and donate to a wonderful cause.

Awesome movie from JIBJAB...

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!
My husband Marc is the one with the sunglasses and goatee!  Love it!

Heart shaped tomatoes anyone??

I saw this ad in an email sent to me and thought it was really funny, thought I'd share and let you get a laugh out of it too. Heart Shaped Tomatoes...  Click here

WordPress!

My husband brought this to my attention this morning so I thought I'd post it here for anyone of you who have a WordPress account/blog.  Check it out!  Very scary stuff.

Pop up Pancakes

I found this recipe on Make and Takes and we've fallen in love with them.  Since they make so many you've got easy and yummy leftovers or snacks.  They're so easy and really do taste great, we've tried syrup and powdered sugar so far.  Read some of the comments under her post and see what others have tried.  I also used her photo since we're having problems adding photos to the computer.

Coupons anyone?

There's a new site I was introduced to by Becky who emailed me some information about the site.  It's a forum that has links to grocery stores in your area and you can load coupons to your store savings card, find great deals you didn't know where there!  Who wouldn't want to save money in these hard times...  I joined the site and am excited to get to know it better.  I hope you check it out too!  www.afullcup.com    

Sick and Tired

We are sick and tired at our house... Jaidyn has had a fever since Saturday and a pretty bad sounding cough.  Well, we went to the Dr. on Thursday and they said it was viral bronchitis and said take some Delsym for the cough and sent us on our way.  They also told us the fever should be gone by the next day.  Saturday he was fine with just the usual cough which was good since we had a family gathering the next day.  So he went with Marc and Hannah to the gathering while I stayed home with a stomach bug which was no fun.  I missed being with my extended family...  Last night Jaidyn woke us up with an earache and was in a lot of pain.  This morning they were still bothering you so we went to the Dr. yet again and found out he has a double ear infection and yet another bout of a 102 fever.  I'm so tired of sickness in our house but I can't imagine how bad Jaidyn feels.  I hate to see little ones suffer...  Here's to a good week ahead since our spring break starts Tuesday. 

Amazing fire topaz ring by Avon

This beautiful ring has fiery topaz with a supernatural light and a precious rainbow of color. Genuine fire topaz with CZ accents.  I love this ring!  It's so beautiful and I get comments every time I wear it.  You can find it by visiting my site here.

It would make an awesome gift for your mother, sister or wife if you're a man reading this blog.  There's also some great deals and gift ideas for Mother's day coming up this May 9th.


Click HERE to shop!

One of those days...

Do you ever have days like this?

Notice the picture on my side is very crooked...

St. Patrick'sDay Corned Beef

Here's my recipe for the best Corned Beef you'll ever taste!  I've experimented over the years with different recipes but this one tops them all.  I don't like using the spice packet that comes with the roast so I just toss those.  All I do is use one 12oz bottle of Bud Light Golden Wheat beer, one can of beef broth, 2 C water, chopped garlic, 1 small onion and boil in my covered stock pot for at least 5 hours on low.  The beer actually has a wonderful flavor and actually helps get rid of some of the fat inside the beef since it's full of it.  We don't drink beer but this beer has an awesome flavor to cook this with.  Give it a try and tell me how you like it!!

One of the BEST commercials ever!

I absolutely love this commercial and laugh every time!  I especially love how he says look at him now look at me...  

Good Quote

I saw this on another blog and it really hit me tonight...  I hope it can help you too.

"When we put God first, all other things fall into their proper place or drop out of our lives. Our love of the Lord will govern the claims for our affection, the demands of our time, the interests we pursue, and the order of our priorities."

-President Ezra Taft Benson

Children

They never cease to amaze me.  The light in their eyes, the imaginations they have...  I'm blown away by my children and how much they really know about life.  I love listening to the two of them talk and play together.  Of course there are many fights and plenty of punches and kids thrown but their love of life blows away any contention or frustration.  I am just now coming to understand a little more about what the Savior meant when He said, "Behold your little ones".  I love my little ones more and more each day and am so grateful for them being in my life.  Surely I make mistakes as we all do but with their sweet examples of the love of life and living it they teach me how to be a better mother daily.  I love you Hannah and Jaidyn, thank you for allowing me to be your mother and for being patient with me.

St. George Fun

For our anniversary this year we celebrated a little early and went to St. George for some fun. Our good friends Randy and Jessica Grimes went down too and spent some time without their kids for a birthday, anniversary, valentines day and pre-new baby fun.  She's 7 months pregnant with her first boy after 3 beautiful girls!  Here's some pics of our fun!

7 Years ago today

 7 Years ago today I married my best friend.  We were married for time and all eternity in the Manti, Utah temple.  I'm so grateful for Marc and the amazing man he is.  I love him so much.

Update

So it's been a bit since I last posted how things are going...  We won't see any money from the bounced check for quite some time, can I say big pain in the butt!!  On the positive side Marc and I really learned to pinch our pennies and be very creative with food storage.  We proved we can be very stingy and still survive. 
My mom is doing well since the cardiac conversion and I'm really grateful for that. 
This next week we're going to St. George with our good friends Randy and Jessica and we're so excited to play with them down there.  They're not taking their kids and we are so they're going to want some alone time, hehe!  We'll be staying at Marc's oldest brother's house and we always have a blast when we go.  Also while we're down there our tax refund is supposed to come so I should be able to get my hair highlighted and use my massage gift certificate.  A whole day to pamper myself and I'm so excited!!  It's also our anniversary weekend.  On Marc 1st we'll be married for 7 years and I'm so grateful for an amazing husband.
Also, in April we plan to drive out to Kansas to see my dad for the first time since I was 5 which was many years ago.  I have to admit I'm nervous to see him, but I'm also excited to continue building a new relationship with my family out there.  I have two half sisters and many aunts and uncles I get to meet as well as two nephews.  I'm excited!

Well, I think I've said enough for now!  Hope you're doing well!  Thanks for reading...

Happy Valentine's Day!

I love you Marc.  I'm so glad you're my husband and father to our children. 

Need to complain.. It's a long one!

I just have to say this week has been one of the worst ones in a long time.  My mom needed to go to the hospital for what's called a "cardiac conversion" on Monday which is a procedure where the Dr. shocks the heart to get it beating regularly again.  Her heart had been in "atrial fibrillation" which meant the top part of the heart wasn't pumping the blood correctly.  The Dr. let me stay in the room to watch the process and I must say it was horrible yet very interesting to watch.  My mom was so helpless and yet I knew she'd be just fine.  It brought back all the feelings that came when she had her first heart surgery.  She had an aortic aneurysm blow and tear into her heart when I was 16.  I was told she wasn't going to make it through the night and that I needed to make preparations.  Needless to say that scared the hell out of me and I felt a whole rush of those old emotions leading up to the procedure that Monday morning.  I love her so much and realized yet again just how grateful I am for her amazing example for me.

The very next day we found out that a pay check from some side work Marc did for a company wiring their internet and phones for them of over $1000.00 had bounced which sent us into a deep spiral of crap!  I only found out when I was at the store trying to buy milk and a few other things and I had to embarrassingly walk away empty handed and with no milk to speak of.  Luckily I had some coins at home I got together so I could buy another gallon but good grief!  We can't pay rent which was due on the 1st, buy groceries, pay any bills...  Good thing our landlord April is very understanding and is willing to work with us.  The responsible party for the bounced check said he'd cover any fees it cost us which will include any late rent fees and I wish it could cover "pain and suffering".  I've gotten pretty creative with what I've had to cook for dinner to make it exciting for the kids and us.

On top of all that stuff, Hannah and Jaidyn have come down with really horrible sore throats and have had to stay home from school.  We don't really see Marc all week due to his school schedule keeping him away Monday-Wednesday evenings until after the kids are in bed.  Then I have a class on Thurs. nights so I really don't see him or get to spend any quality time with him until Friday and the weekend.  Which leads me to this, he's gone this weekend with some of his guy friends at a cabin up the canyon...  With the week I've had I just wanted a break and some kind of relaxation but there's no money, no time and plenty of frustration.

I can say I've had a few good things happen during all this misery, Jaidyn read his first book all by himself!!!  We're so proud of him!  He just picked it up and started reading... It's called "Stop the tot" from the scholastic phonics sets.  His big sister Hannah has been quite the little teacher helping him learn and it helps he wants to do what she's doing.  I've also learned that children's laughter and loves can melt any frustrations away in a short time.

So, sorry this post is so long but I just needed to rant for a bit.  Thank you for sitting through all this, that means you really care!  Just kidding, love you all!

Jaidyn is turning 5!

My little man Jaidyn is turning 5 on Sunday and I just want to share with you how much I love him and am so proud to be his mother.  He's an amazing little guy with so much spirit and sweetness in him.  Up until just recently he's been a mamma's boy but lately he's becoming a daddy's boy and Hannah is becoming a mamma's girl.  I'm so grateful to be his mother and am constantly reminded daily of his awesomeness and closeness with his Heavenly Father.  Here's some pictures through the years... I love you Jaidyn!  The picture at the bottom shows his tenderness in a nutshell...

 

Another tooth lost!

Hannah wanted me to share with you her lost tooth!  She was so excited as you can see by the pictures.  Today is also her 6th birthday and on the eve of her 5th b-day she lost her first tooth, she she followed suit last night and lost #3.  Off to have birthday dinner and cake now!