Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Back to the Basics of Christmas

It is not a secret that I LOVE Dave Ramsey. I believe in all of his principles and he CHANGED my life! He changed me in every way when it comes to finances. He sends me articles here and there and I loved this one and thought I would share.....

No matter what your budget is this Christmas, remember to be thankful. Take a deep breath in the middle of all this craziness.
You might have a lot. You might have a little. If you are driving a beater, be thankful for that beater. You would rather drive that than walk, wouldn't you? There is always something to be thankful for.
That's what contentment is all about. When you understand and really grasp contentment, it becomes easier to save money and invest. Stress slowly disappears. Budgeting is easier. Relationships improve.
Be happy with what you have. More than three billion people, almost half the world, live on $2.50 a day. Sometimes we need a little perspective to become content with our current situation.
Without contentment, it's easy to be bitter and apathetic. Happiness is sold to us, especially during this time of year. We think if we can just get one more piece of stuff that "true" happiness will be right around the corner.
We say things like, "I'll be happy when I get that house!" or "I'll be happy when I get that new car!" But happiness cannot be bought. Sure fun—in the form of a house, a car, a new LCD television—can be bought, but fun is temporary. True happiness, or contentment, is lasting.
You can get out of debt, save money, and get on a budget, but until you realize that stuff doesn’t bring contentment, you will always feel stressed and unhappy. Contentment brings peace. And isn’t this time of year about bringing "peace on earth and good will toward men"?
Remember what this deal is all about. It's not about trees, lights, gifts, baked hams, and shopping malls. It’s about a little child who was born in a manger and grew up to die on a cross. It’s about peace on earth and good will toward men.
So if the Christmas frenzy is wearing you out, you've missed the point of Christmas. Make a plan with your money, and make a plan to get back in touch with the true meaning of this special day. (Dave Ramsey). You can visit his website
here

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Gratitude

Being that this is Thanksgiving week, I thought I would jot down a few things that have been on my mind that I am thankful for (in no particular order)...

First and always is my Husband and Kids. They are the most important people in my life. I am so lucky to be Carl's wife. I definitely married up! You know we met when we were 18 (Of course we didn't get married for a couple of years after that)! That is young to find someone that you want to be with for eternity. I know most of it was good intuition and a lot of luck! He is my perfect match.

I love being my kid's mom and am grateful for each of their unique personalities and gifts. They teach me to be a better person daily. I love them each DEARLY!

A job! It seems like more and more people I know are being layed off. It breaks my heart. Carl used to work with a team of 40 people and now that is cut in half. One of his old secretary's was let go.. Sad! We are grateful that he is one of the 20 left!



My brother Kevin. We celebrated his birthday this week and the "sisters" took him out to lunch. He is such a joy in our family and brings lots of energy and life! He has been a blessing to me in many ways! I am lucky to be his older sister.



All of my kids have been sick this past week. It just kept going from one kid to the next. They have ALL had strep (or as Ryan calls it Strep-Throw up). Hopefully we are done for awhile. I am thankful for Doctor's who can get me medication. The kids are better instantly on antibiotics!



Do I need to say more? I had the priviledge of seeing New Moon twice this week with good friends and family. It's fun to see these books that I have loved, be transformed into a movie. I loved New Moon and although I am an Edward fan, Jacob wasn't so bad to look at!



I also got to see Julie & Julia tonight! Loved it and highly recommend it!
I want to buy her cooking book now and blog more. I am grateful for good movies!




Last but not least I am so grateful for these women below. They mean so much to me and I am so blessed to be in their lives. I am so thankful I live only a few minutes from all of them. In the drop of a hat we are off doing something together. I called tonight to see if they wanted to go see the movie above to save Carl from misery and they quickly agreed. I am so lucky to be in such a great family.

I hope everyone of you have a FABULOUS THANKSGIVING!! Here are the two recipes I am bringing to the feast!

RASPBERRY PRETZEL SALAD

2 c. crushed pretzels
3/4 c. melted butter
2 tbsp. powdered sugar
1 (8 oz.) cream cheese
8 oz. Cool Whip
1 c. powdered sugar
1 lg. box raspberry Jello
2 pkg. frozen raspberries
Mix together pretzels, melted butter and the 2 tablespoons of powdered sugar. Then press in 9 x 13 inch pan. Bake 10 minutes at 350 degrees. Cool. Mix cream cheese, Cool Whip and 1 cup of powdered sugar; pour over pretzel crust.
Dissolve large package of raspberry Jello in 2 cups boiling water. Add 2 packages of frozen raspberries not drained. Mix well and pour over cream cheese. Chill for a couple hours.

Frog-Eyed Salad

½ c. sugar
2 beaten egg yolks
1 ½ T. Flour
1/4 t. salt
2 c. juice from cans of pineapple
Boil- then add to the already cooked pasta. Put in fridge OVER NIGHT
1 cup uncooked acini de pepe (Cook 20 min, boiling water)

***After it has sat in the fridge overnight you add these ingredients the next day
2 c. mandarin oranges
1 c. crushed pineapple
1 c. pineapple tidbits
Cool Whip (Medium Size tub)

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Dad's

(I love finding old pictures like this (2006)Ryan and Carl.)


Ryan is a COMPLETE daddy's boy! It's really actually cute but sometimes I am like REALLY?!!!! I am your mother, give me some love! So the other day we were in the bathroom and our conversation went like this:


Mom: You are MY boy!!


Ryan: No, I am DADDY'S BOY


Mom: Pouty face playing the sad card


Ryan: I am daddy's boy (no budging)


Mom: Then who is my boy?


Ryan: Daddy

Monday, November 9, 2009

Kitchen Makeover

So last year my husband went to Hong Kong for a week and I repainted my stripes. This year he had to go once again for the same client to Hong Kong, China, Malaysia, and Singapore for a week to make sure their plants were running smoothly. I had to have a project to keep me busy. So I decided I wanted to repaint my dining room and kitchen. They were both a little dark. The dining room was red and the kitchen was a gray/brown. So now they are all one color (Olive 2) and I love it. I thought I was just going to do the Dining room but when I had over a gallon of paint left I decided to just paint into the kitchen. I also bought a few new decorations. It's called therapy for me when I am left alone for a week :) Carl loves it and is proud of me that I did it all by myself. He is usually my painter and follow through person. I think of all the projects and he does them!



I bought that cute thing on the right. It is a pretty blue green color. I love that color!


I have wanted this plate collage forever! I finally went and bought it. It is so cute in the dining room above the table!

The lighting is so bright in here. It's hard to get a shot of it. But you get the idea of where I put the plate collage. Now for a new dining room table, blinds down replaced with Roman Shades! One of these years :)........ For Carl's sake I hope he doesn't have to go to Hong Kong ever again! Of course for me too, I miss him too much!

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

October Happenings

I went cheap this year for the kids costumes. The boys picked out of the Halloween bin and Ryan didn't remember he was the bat last year so we used it again! Austin is Eragon, Blake a BYU fan, Ryan a bat, and Kate a witch...


So...what have I been up to lately? The question is what haven't I been up to lately!! Man where did October go? Here is a little recap of the month. First of all let me say that as of TODAY I am a blonde again. Seriously 3 times in 6 weeks to the hairdresser and $280 dollars later I am finally going back. It was an experiment to go dark and now I know for me I won't go back. My dad told me I looked like I had gray hair...Thanks dad! I couldn't bear going into the holiday parties with remarks from people so I just went back. It's not 100% normal but for now I am not spending any more money for awhile! I could have done a lot with that cash! Oh well, you live and you learn right!

I think it's been six months since I painted so of course I get the itch again :) Here I am with the first color painting over the red in my dining room. I wanted to lighten things up and make it more airy. I was excited to remember I had a gallon of green paint in the garage to use. well after I spent 3 hours painting one wall and sleeping on it, I went to Lowe's and bought a completely different color. It just didn't flow.

Here is the final product

Love it, it makes my room feel so much bigger!


Here's the first color. I just couldn't live with it. It was way to bright and flourescent!

My kids fight over who's class I help out with for their parties. It was Blake's turn this year. It was fun to be there with the kids. I helped my friend Stacy at the snack/craft table.

I bought a wig for fun. I was the pink girl. Ryan is so cute in this picture.


Ryan's little "imagination landing" preschool class. Miss Carrie is a great teacher. They had a party and a little parade around the block.

Carl with Ryan at his party

I got some cute pictures of Ryan climbing our tree in the back yard. (this is my least favorite one I took but sometimes when I am choosing off blogger I can't tell) It's only a 2 year old tree but it's growing!

I went on the 1st grade field trip with Kate this year to the zoo. Seriously a bus of 1st graders=a diet coke and excedrin! It was LOUD!! I got the cutest group of girls. This little girl Kylee would not put her umbrella down. She loved having it up and almost hit several of us in the face throughout the day. Whatever floats your boat right! She was kind of my wanderer too.


All the girls on the Rhino

I am used to being with boys so it was SO fun to have a group of GIRLS!!! They are so stinkin cute. Kate loved having me there! Have I mentioned I love that I got one girl! L to R Kate, Paige, Kylee, Madison, and Alisa.
We got to go to Aunt Steph's for Fox's 6th birthday party. She bought tons of candy and let the kids decorate cookies. She is such a fun aunt!


I helped Steph get the meal ready and so I spelled Fox's name out with these rolls. Such a cutie. There is my life for Oct. pretty much! Hope you all are doing well!

Sunday, October 25, 2009

The payoff for being a Mom

Kate LOVES writing, coloring, crafts or anything of the sort. As I was cleaning the kitchen a few weeks ago I found this sitting next to her paper. Carl and I had to smile. She was just writing to write and I love to see what goes through that little brain. The misspelling of the words is priceless. Pretty good for a 6 year old. Here is what it says:
"I love my mom and dad. I am a luky girl because I have a family and I am so happy that I have a family. I have friends and family. I have 3 brothers and no sisters. The end."

Friday, October 9, 2009

Hair

So after looking at my cousin's blog, I got this wild idea to go brunette. So I decided to put it to my facebook friends to help me decide for sure if I wanted to go through with this. Most of them said DO IT!! So I did! Well when I first got it done it was so shocking that I didn't recognize myself in the mirror. I thought throughout the week I would get used to it and it would wash out a little more. It didn't. So I scheduled another appt. and got some blonde highlights back in. I have 2 good friends that do my hair so I just went to both to help me out. I actually REALLY like it now. This first picture is after the highlights and the picture below was the day I first went dark...Drastic!

I am sure I will get lighter and lighter and go back blonde. Because truly that is what I am through and through...