Isn't it about time?

I don't know about any of you, but it seems as though there is never enough time.  I've thought about how I could add time.  I could quit sleeping which might work for a day or 2 or I could quit my job which would result in a whole bunch of other problems including not being able to feed my family.

I remember when I was a kid how long the days were.  There were some days of boredom that, as a child, I knew would never end.  I'm pretty sure my mom didn't think they would either as I would tell her a million times a day how bored I was.  I was involved with softball here and there for a few years (because they had cute shirts, not because I loved the sport or competition).  I took swimming lessons and I also took piano lessons.  I had homework, but I don't remember it being my whole life.  I do realize I've been out of school for 20 years and things have changed.

I don't have my children involved in every sport or every activity they have available, but for some reason I can't keep up.  I know there are people with a lot more kids and all involved in a lot more than mine...just not sure how they do it.  Here's a glimpse of my week, proving a point, not for you to feel sorry for me, maybe for Austin. ;)

Monday: 
Work 8-4:30
Drive Heston to preschool 12:30
Austin practice duet for recital 5:30 

Tuesday:
Up at 4:45 to run
work 8-4:00
Drive Heston to preschool at 12:30
Take money to Austin at school
Stetson piano at 4:00

Austin teach guitar 4:30-5:30
Austin take down flags 6:30
Austin scouts 6:45-8
Voting
Work job 2 for a few hours

Wednesday:
Up 4:45 to run
Work 8-4:30
Austin piano lessons 5:00
Stetson wrestling 6:00
Little Mermaid play 7:00

Thursday:
Up 4:45 to run
Work 8-4:30
Stamp club in Wellington at 6:00 p.m.
Relief Society activity also 6:00 p.m.

Friday:
Up 4:45 to run
Work 8-4:30
FREE NIGHT!

Saturday:
Run
Clean

Ok, that is a glimpse of just the scheduled stuff.  This doesn't show my dishes and laundry and cooking dinner not to mention the nagging to get kids to feed horses and do their homework and helping with homework and practicing piano, which by the way nagging is one of the hardest jobs I have to do.

The moral of this post...we simply fill our lives so much with "stuff".  Just last week our 6 week local soccer league ended.  Both Austin and Stetson were playing and of course different ages were on different teams with different practice and game days.  It was a wake up call when Austin said, "I'm glad this is the last game.  I just don't have any free time."  It's true.  The kids have no free time.  They don't get to experience childhood like me or my parents did where we rode bikes to friends every afternoon or played night games at night.  Time does seem to go faster but the kids school is more intense which causes more homework and our society thinks they need to start at age 3 in every sport or they won't have an "in" to play in high school because they will be behind all the other kids who have been playing 10 years.  I believe all these things are tools to keep us and our children from the better things such as family activities and reading scriptures as a family and spending quality time.  Satan has his ways of wedging in the family to break it apart.  Even if the activities are good, it keeps us from spending time together.  The LDS church had a theme a few years ago, maybe 10 years now that said, "Family, isn't it about time."  How prophetic!

So, my new goal...try to SIMPLIFY!  Take time to do what is really important and has eternal benefit, not just for the now.

Ok, I'm out of time. ha ha.  Gotta start the taxi service.  TTFN

Let's talk about laundry...

Ok, so you all saw my embarrassing pictures last week of my filthy house.  I'm still embarrassed.  But we are friends right?  You all love me anyway. ;)

Let's just say that even after cleaning top to bottom, my house looks the same, maybe even worse.  It's a competition here, 4:1 and I'm losing!  For the most part I try to let it slide because I know that it doesn't really matter in the eternal scheme of things right?  I don't remember what my house looked like growing up and not  even what my friends houses looked like.  The kids will remember if I spent time with them and hopefully not what the house looked like.

So you know that the majority of the time my house is cluttered.  There may be 1 day a week where I don't have stacks and stacks of laundry waiting to be washed and folded (that's if you come on a good week).  Generally since I work from home I have a few minutes to get up and put laundry in to wash and dry but don't have time to fold it on the spot so it stacks until I find a day or until the stacks are so big we can't get into the pantry and am thus forced to fold.  This weekend we were out of town and I didn't have my Saturday to play catch up.  To top it of it, Kevin just got home from 3 weeks on fire.  So, I have his clothes plus now extra towels etc from him being home.  Now, imagine this scenario....I have 2 baskets with at least 4 loads each stacked on top and a dirty pile next to the washer that is almost as tall as the washer.  (My laundry room is probably only 4 feet by 3 feet).

So here's my embarrassing story for the week.  Kevin had a staff meeting today and they all do pot luck.  He comes walking in the door and yells out, Darren and I need to use the BBQ grill.  I about died.  You have to go through the laundry room to get to the deck where the grill is.  I went running in to move the ginormous stack of clean laundry up on the washer so they can even open the door, all the while apologizing to Darren that he had to see my house and laundry room like this.  I said are you serious?  It is terrible in there.  Kevin reminds me Darren has seen this before when Austin and his daughter were working on a science project together and Austin took them out on the deck.  I said I know, but this is way worse.  I tried to get him to close his eyes but don't think it worked.

Oh well.  We live here, we are real.  Some day when the kids are all gone I'll have a cleaner house and I'll miss all the stacks of laundry and the continuous messes.

Here are a few laundry quotes for ya'll.

Have a blessed day and may your cleaning fairies not neglect their duties as they have at my house.

For us ladies

I have watched a lot of Netflix and Hulu while I have been sitting at the computer working, probably too much.  I have found some really good TV series.  After looking at the actors for these shows I now realize why I like the shows.  Take a look....

Do you see the common theme here?  It's all about the eyes and smiles.  Beautiful?  Yes!  Ladies, you're welcome.  Sweet dreams.

Never ending clutter

How in the world does 2 months go by in between posts?  I wish I could say that I only get annoyed with life every couples months and that is the only time I blog, but plain and simple I just don't have time.

Today I want to talk about organization and clutter.  I think I might be the queen of this clutter hive living in the eye of the tornado.  It's simply overwhelming to me and I don't even know how to begin to fix it other than by hiring a full time maid which is not in the budget.

I don't know about you other moms and dads out there but I feel like the walls in my house are closing in on me.  We have way too much stuff.  I'm not sure why the grandparents feel like they need to buy 8000 toys per child per birthday, Easter, Christmas, for visiting or any other time their heart feels like it.  Let's just say it is making me crazy.  I have very limited time after I work, cook and do dishes, laundry and run kids around to lessons or activities to do any real cleaning.

I decided I'd go check out Pinterest for some organization ideas.  Let's just say that did little to help my situation, in fact, made me feel worse.  I mean really....which mother/father with living children in their home have toy rooms that look like these pictures?

Seriously?  Even if I organized things to look like this it would only last 20 minutes if we were lucky.  I can't believe I'm gonna do this to myself, but let's take a look what reality looks like.  Warning:  These photos may be disturbing and cause some anxiety.  Take a deep breath....

Let me just add that I have spent a couple of hours on 2 different occasions organizing room #2 with the little action figures in a tote, cars in a tote etc...he just doesn't get it.  Room #1 is just plain laziness putting clothes in dressers or laundry baskets, instead they prefer the floor.  Yes, I do realize we need to quickly part with the enormous amounts of "stuff" we have collected.  But I'm tired now, I think I'll go to bed.


Feel free to share your organization ideas/tips for boys who just don't give a darn and their mother who may shortly be admitted.

Something in the air?

I'm pretty sure the stars and moon have all aligned to create little monsters of what I thought were my children.  Or maybe it's all that cotton flying through the skies.  They've certainly breathed in a few too many cotton balls and they have clogged their brain cells.

We are 3 weeks into summer and I might just start counting down days until school starts.  And when can #3 go to Kindergarten?  Oh, wait, I still have another year!  Heaven help me.

I love the little darlings more than words, but I'm ready for 9:00 p.m. bedtimes and some peace and quiet, a little less whine, fighting,taunting, teasing and wrestling would be fabulous!

In my next life I am going to inherit the trait that half the population has...that wonderful "select hearing" ability.  That was genius, why wasn't I blessed with it?  Oh right, someone has to pay attention and keep the children from killing each other.

I just keep telling myself...one day I'm gonna miss this.  Maybe that day you can redirect me back to this post to remind me. ;)

I guess I'll be off to try counting those blasted stars...maybe I'll find out what's amiss.

Memories

Do you ever hear a song on the radio and it takes you right back to a certain place and time and you know exactly what you were doing when you heard it or who you were with? 

I have had that the last week.  I don't know why those moments come at certain points in my life, but I really enjoy looking back at those moments.

Just the other day as I was traveling I went by a road that one of my friends and I drove on back in the day.  I remember the music we listened to and the conversations we had as we listened to Hootie and The Blowfish and Pearl Jam.  Hearing a song by Darius Rucker on the radio is what brought back the surge of memories.

So I went on a trip down memory lane.  Some of these may bring back memories for you too.

 

Yes, I did wear all of the above with 4 pairs of matching socks and big hair bows or scrunchies to match the colors of the shirt.

 

And speaking of trips down memory lane.  I know I didn't live much in the 70s (not that I remember), but I was bored the other day and started watching That 70s show.  It is so hilarious!  I was glad to add a little laughter to my day.  There are a few unnecessary jokes and probably not a show I'd let my kids watch, but I admit, I was laughing out loud. I dare you to watch it and try not to laugh. ;)

Enjoy your trip down memory lane.  While you are at it, write things down and do a little favor for your descendents who will read them some day and realize you were more than a name on a piece of paper.

Austin entertains with Kalai

I am not really sure where March has gone.  I can't believe how fast time flies...well, except while I am working, then it drags.  We all know how that goes.

This week was full of fun experiences.  We had some awesome friends who received some VIP tickets to the Utah Jazz game.  So Kevin and I went with them and got to go to SLC and watch the Jazz and we sat on the 2nd row just next to the basket.  We even made it on TV and I caught a free T-shirt.  We were treated to a yummy dinner before the game too.  We were sitting so close we could read that tattoos on the players...if you consider that a bonus. Unfortunately we could also read lips of the coach. Let's just say that Jazz being behind and losing by 20 points was not making coach a happy camper and he said a few choice words.

Monday night Austin and his buddy Jesse played guitars to entertain the single adults in our stake.  I heard they did a great job.  It was fun hearing them practice it here.  We were lucky to have grandparents come over to make sure they got where they needed to go while we had a night out.

Wednesday night our ward had a fundraiser dinner/talent show in which Austin and Jesse again played 3 songs.  It was fun to see all the talent in our ward.  Some things were displayed such as quilts and needle work and wood work and some were performing talents.

Friday Kevin guided bird hunters at the ranch.  They brought Kalai down for a concert Friday night and we got to go see as well.  Kalai and Austin performed Folsom Prison together.  What a unique experience for Austin.  I'm sure Kalai had never played a country song before (he asked how this song went and Austin helped him learn it).  Country is pretty much the majority of Austin's songs.  He was an amazing guitarist and entertainer and you wouldn't know Folsom Prison wasn't in his play list.  He told Austin he had a "barn yard" quality to his voice which is refreshing because most boys now days don't have that clean crisp sound.  I was flabbergasted that Kalai used his fingernails as picks and didn't rip them off at some point during his performance as he is one heck of a guitar player and he is also really funny.

We are lucky to get such experiences.  Enjoy the video.

Withdrawals

Well, apparently I am to the point where I have to admit that I am a social media and Kindle Fire addict.  There, I said it. 

This weekend is our stake conference.  Our stake presidency has asked us for the week before our stake conferences that we participate in millennial week.  This means no TV, no unnecessary use of social media or games.  They want us to use that time to study scriptures or spend time as a family playing games or things that will bring us closer as a family and closer to the spirit.  I've participated in the challenge at least 3 times.  I can tell you that it is very rewarding.  You should try it sometime.  I know what you are thinking...."I'm can give up TV, Facebook, Candy Crush and Words with Friends any time I want."  Yes, I thought the same thing.  I do it too, but today for some reason I am having withdrawals.  I think it is because it is so quiet as I sit here working listening only to the hum of my computer and the howling of the never ending Spring wind blowing inches of dust into my window seals.

However, that being said, during my work day is when I feel the withdrawal, not after I get finished.  Here's the reason.  Let me just give you an example of my evening schedules.  Yesterday I had to get off a little early and take Austin to guitar practice (50 min drive one way).  While I was there decided to drop off some Stampin'Up catalogs and invitations for a workshop I'll be doing in a few weeks.  Grab a $5.00 hot and ready pizza and head on home (another 50 minutes).  Take Austin by the neighbors to feed his cats and horses and finally get home.  Talk to the hubs for 5 minutes before he heads out of town while I wash a few dishes.  Remind Austin and Stetson about homework and piano practice.  Then at 7:30 head us to the neighbors to have some root beer floats and help with some computer stuff.  9:00 home and nagging for 30 minutes to get kids to go to bed knowing that 6:30 comes way too early.  Me, no TV or games at night so I am reading a book Storm Testament II).  10:15, lights out.

Tuesday, here's my schedule:  Off work a bit early again to get Stetson at piano at 4:15.  Then on to Castle Dale (15 min drive) to grab Austin from piano lessons.  Stetson has wrestling practice at 5-6 in Castle Dale.  Then at 6:15 Austin is supposed to be back in Ferron to go to scouts swimming in Castle Dale.  Haven't figured this out yet, might just take dinner and eat in the car and drop him off at the pool.  6:30 book club in Ferron for me.  Then hopefully at some point we do some homework and practicing guitar/piano etc.

I'm exhausted thinking of it.  Just glad I am not single mom and have to do it all the time alone.

I love the idea of millennial week freeing up my time, but in reality, I haven't had time for TV or Facebook or games other than a break from work or putting myself to sleep.  Nice idea though.

I'm glad I have mornings to listen to my scriptures (the LDS app on my Kindle is a lifesaver, it reads to me while I get ready).

Kudos to you single parents who do this daily.  My hat's off to you!  Happy millennial week!

Pigs

The last 6 months or so we have been raising pigs, or should I say the kids have been raising them. Their names were pork chop, ham and sausage.  This is to avoid the awkward moment at the dinner table when the kids ask what we are eating.  The hubs took the pigs to the butcher today.  While I think about the cost and the time, I'm not sure we come out ahead.  When I mentioned that to the hubs he said, that's not the point, we just needed to teach the kids."  We love bacon, sausage, pork roasts etc, but mostly we got pigs so the kids would learn.  That old quote, "I'm not raising pigs (inserted your item here), I'm raising children" applies here.

Our pigs were not as cute as the ones pictured.  I can't believe I didn't take any pictures of them.  I gotta work on that.  Maybe some point I will get a smart phone and will have my camera with me all the time, right?

I learned a few things while we were raising these pigs.  First, you can't just raise 1 pig at a time.  They like to have pals.  Can't we relate?  Who likes to be alone in life?  That being the case, we had 3.  We had neighbors who wanted one and we got 2 figuring we could sell one.  Even as little piglets they were surrounded by a lot of flies.  I also learned that they love water.  Their snouts are super strong.  The blue clay that we live on was not a challenge for them.  The used their noses and created all kinds of holes, especially around the fence line.  These critters will eat anything...I mean anything.  I kept an empty ice cream bucket on my counter and any time we had left over food or scraps from peeling and cutting veggies, we filled the bucket and sent it out for the pigs.  A few times the boys forgot to take the bucket and some green stuff may have started growing.  Ya know what?  The pigs didn't even care, not even a bit.  I guess they can't tell the difference of mold or the dirt they are eating it off of.   My boys, especially Stetson, would get in the pen with them from the time we got them.  He played with them and chased them and spent hours in the pen.  As they got bigger he spent less time with them, but they were still nice to him.  One other thing we learned is not to feed them meat.  Our friend's family owned a butcher shop and would feed the meat trimmings to their pigs.  The boy disappeared and they thought he drowned nearby, but later found his shoe in the pig pen and figured the pig ate him.  Morbid yes, but we took that to heart and kept meat out of their slop bucket.  Better safe than sorry.

I haven't figured out if the whole process saves us money.  Between us and our friends we figured the price for food per pig was $240.00 and the cost of the pig was $70.00.  We will probably have another $200.00 or so to have it cut and wrapped.  But when bacon is $7.00 a package, it might just be worth it.  I do love the fact that we know exactly what they have been fed, and even more, that we appreciate the meat because of the work that was put in, whether by us or the kids.

Moral of the story, in a month we will be having a yummy breakfast, maybe 3 times a day. Don't be jealous.  Eat Bacon.

Fun fact:  I have a pig collection that I started in high school.  Anything from salt and pepper shakers, dish towels, ice cream scoop that oinks, pillows, stuffed animals, figurines.  Even after raising them, I still think they are cute.

That one last nerve...

Do you ever have days where you feel like every nerve is right under the surface of your skin and at any moment one wrong sound, touch or someone talking in the wrong tone makes you feel like you want to crawl out of your skin?  It's a feeling I don't control, but do my best to not react, which has taken a while for me to learn.  Who says getting older doesn't have some benefits...I actually learned to bite my tongue?  Anyway, last night I had to pick both boys up from piano.  While in Castle Dale decided to grab a few groceries and with some begging from the littles grabbed Subway.  I went cheap and didn't buy drinks so told them to hold off eating until we got home or they'd be really thirsty.  Austin decided he couldn't stand it and had to eat on the way home. 

What is it with boys and their noise?  The chomping and breathing paired with the nerves just under my skin and the back seat crinkling of wrappers was about all I could take.  Sensory overload!  I took some deep breaths and didn't say a word, though I wanted to scream.

On days like that there isn't much that doesn't make me crazy.  I'm glad I'm finally figuring out how to just bite my tongue.

Oh blessed hormones.

Race recap

I had a great time this weekend at the Dogtown Half Marathon.  I was nervous about the race when I saw the elevation maps before.  It ended up being great weather.  A bit cold before the start, about 36 degrees, but it warmed up once we started running.  The beginning of the race was on a trail next to the Virgin River through a canyon.  It was beautiful.  I wish the whole race was that scenery.  It was a lot of up and down for sure and I'm feeling it a bit today.  I stayed with Kirk, Devin and Skyler (Kirk's friend) for the first 8 miles.  We kept up a pace between 8:45 and 9 minute miles.  I exhausted myself heading up the hills and slowed a bit.  The biggest challenge was coming around the corner and seeing the end line, but realizing we had to run a different direction and go up.  We headed up into a subdivision.  It was a good 1-1/2 miles up hill, a big hill.  Then we went down and once again passed the end and had to do an out and back for 1/2 mile or so.  It was hard passing people that were headed towards me to the finish when I turned that corner.  I ended up with a time of 2:02:56.  Kirk and Devin were exactly the same at 1:56.  Overall, I thought the course was pretty and it was a challenge, so I feel I did well considering it wasn't just downhill.  And as an answer to Stetson's prayer....I was warm.  I dressed a little warm and had to have my jacket around my waist and was wishing for my tank top rather than long sleeves.  It all worked out though.  One down, 3 more half marathons to go for the year.  I'm also 164.6 miles down for the year on my way to 1000 miles.

Funny and so sweet

 This week we implemented a new schedule and some changes at home.  We are trying to watch less or no TV, help kids with their music lessons/practice and keep the house clean.  In doing this we are waking them up at 6:00 or so and trying to get them in bed by 8:00.  Kevin and Austin were home teaching so Stetson, Heston and I had prayer alone.  Stetson said the prayer and it was so sweet.  He said "Bless mom on Saturday that she will be warm at her race and that we'll have a good day."  So cute.  He is so thoughtful.  I will indeed be warm.  St. George here I come. :D

Perspective

Sunday I taught the lesson in Relief Society and it was about the Plan of Salvation.  Not the type of lesson where you draw the circles on the board with all the kingdoms.  The lesson was great about the part Adam plays as well as the significant role of Jesus Christ.  The comfort we have knowing that families can be together forever even after death.  We were talking about how Joseph Fielding Smith lost his sister when she was 18, just 2 weeks before he came home from his mission.  We had a discussion about experiences people have had regarding death and how the knowledge of the plan of salvation helps us through those times.  I personally have felt that I have been blessed to be able to deal well with death.  However, that being said, I haven't had to experience the loss of a parent or a spouse or Heaven forbid, a child or someone close to me in an untimely fashion other than a couple of friends.

Yesterday morning I was made aware that a guy here in town was killed in an avalanche.  I am friends with his wife and 2 of his sisters.  Even though I have only met him a few times my heart immediately broke for the family.  He has 5 kids.  The oldest is 13 and the youngest is 2.  Even with that lesson on the plan of salvation on my mind I was really sad all day.  I feel helpless but feel I need to do something.  I try to think of what I would want or need in that situation.  I tend to be one who doesn't like to put my feelings on my shirt sleeve and like to deal with emotion alone.  Would I want people to visit with me or would I want to be alone.  I hope I don't have to find out anytime soon. 

His untimely death has put things in perspective.  The last few days I could think was about Megan and her children.  Also a thought that was shared Sunday by one of the sisters she said, "Death is hard because we are selfish.  We know they are in a better place but we want them here with us."  Isn't that true? 

If anyone reads this and has an idea how I can help raise some money for Megan please feel free to share.

A restless night

Last night I went to bed at about 10:00.  That seems late for some of you, but for me it is just too early.  I find I have to be extremely tired to sleep all night and 10:00 I'm sleepy, but not exhausted enough.  I played Candy Crush til 10:20 or so and my eyes hurt, so I gave up.  Kevin and the boys have been sick and so that exacerbates the snoring.  Who even knew his snoring could get worse?  Those who have been in rooms next to Kevin or sleeping in the same tent camping know what I mean.  I get it, bad sinuses, whatever, but makes it hard to sleep.  Anyway, 2:30 a.m. Heston, who is in a bed on the floor next to mine because he won't sleep in his room alone, steps up on my bed and says, "Mom, Dad's not being quiet."  I turned and said "I know buddy."  He gets up on the bed and said something to Kevin which I can't remember, gave him a hug and snuggled up in the middle of us and fell back asleep.

I fell asleep too until I had a nightmare.  Kevin and I were driving in our old Pontiac and driving through a place that had a lot of red rock.  He was telling me in my dream that it was no wonder he didn't get an elk because that country had no vegetation for elk to eat and they didn't even live there.  As he was telling me he drove us right off the road off a cliff and we hit a rock ledge head on and then fell like on a roller coaster.  I remember in my dream thinking am I going to live or am I going to die. The car got stuck in between 2 rocks and we were fine, though I'm still not sure if I was dead or alive, but then I woke up. 

I didn't sleep much between that dream and waking up at 5:00 to go for my run.

So, needless to say, the night was very restless and today I'm sleepy.  Like I always say, I'll sleep when I'm dead. Let's just hope the dream was not an intuition and the death part comes soon.

Happy Monday!

To be OCD or not

My name is Emily.  I am recovering...from OCD.  Is that even possible to get rid of OCD?  Yep.  Let me explain.  I have been married for 17 years and now have 3 boys.  The first few years my daily was consumed by making sure my house was always clean, laundry was always caught up and dishes were always done.  Really, though, how many messes can 2 adults make while going to school and work most of the day?  Then 5 years into marriage we had our first son.  Of course the amount of laundry increased, but I was still able to keep up.  He was easy and liked TV.  Plus, I think there really is something about 1st child not liking to get dirty (again, the increase in laundry).  Then, 4 years later son #2.  I had to learn to let things go.  A. LOT.  If there was something to get into or a mess to be made, #2 found it.  From flour in the pantry dumped on the head, to pots and pans or utensils all out of the drawers or filling up toys with water, a large jar of Vaseline all over the hair (at least 2 inches thick), fingernail polish dumping...you name it, #2 did it.  So, I was busy cleaning up his messes and keeping up got a lot harder.  Part of the problem is the time he was 1 or so I started working from home full time, so he was sneaky.  Yes, I got tired, things started to slide a bit.  Another 4 years, #3.  Working full time, 3 kids and husband, lots of housework.  Boy #3 is a mix of #1 and #2.  He will watch TV, but likes to eat in front of the TV and draw pictures on printer paper and then cut them out, leaving lots of messes of broken crayons and bits of paper.  Plus, add Grandparents in the mix who think they have to buy 8 million toys every Christmas and birthday and what do you have?  A VERY CLUTTERED HOUSE.  And now, unfortunately, I'm 37 and starting to slow down.  It still drives me completely bonkers to have toys all over the floor and chips broken and mushed in the carpet, crumbs on the kitchen counter and dishes in the sink along with dirty clothes, shoes, coats all over, not to mention 4 loads of laundry to fold, 4 to wash (not counting what is on their bedroom floor); however, I'm just tired of being the nag asking everyone to pick up after themselves.  Results?  A house that I am ashamed of and hope nobody "drops by" unexpectedly or that I don't have to ask the neighbor to come unplug the crock pot while I take one to guitar (yes, that happened last night).

I'd like an excuse or reason the dust bunnies are growing by leaps and bounds and cobwebs are the latest decor, but mostly just because my give a darn is busted currently.  If anyone wants to take intervention before my house shows up on the latest episode of hoarders or Extreme Home Makeover, feel free.  Just give me a warning so I can clean up a little first. ha ha

Really, though, I think letting things relax a bit is a good thing.  I just need to reach a happy medium and find a balance.  That's the trick I haven't learned yet.  If you are a good organizer please feel free to share your tips and tricks, especially when it comes to toys.

While I sit here in disgust of my house I'm also very grateful that I have 3 healthy kids and a husband who are here to make messes because I keep telling myself that some day I will wish for the day that I had it all back.

A yummy healthy recipe

If you remember, one of my New Year's resolutions was to fix healthier food for my family.  I made a turkey and had some left over and found this recipe in a recipe book from Swanson's easy low fat recipes book.

Zesty Turkey and Rice
1 can chicken broth (I made my own with buillon and water.
1 tsp dried basil leaves, crushed
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp hot pepper sauce
1 can (14 oz) stewed tomatoes (I used some I had bottled myself)
3/4 uncooked regular long grain rice
1 c frozen peas
2 c cubed cooked turkey or chicken

In medium saucepan mix broth, basil, garlic powder, hot pepper sauce and tomatoes.  Over medium-high heat, heat to a boil.  Stir in rice.  Reduce heat to low.  Cover and cook 20 minutes.  Stir in peas and turkey.  Cover and cook 5 minutes or until rice is done.

*If you are really in a hurry, do it like me.  I made minute rice separately while I cooked the broth mixture.  Then I put the cooked rice, turkey and broth all together and just made sure it got hot.  I did not use peas as my hubs won't eat them.

Feeling like the top investigator

As you read, one of my goals is to do 1 hour minimum of family history each week.  The work on my family has been done over and over, so I usually gravitate to Kevin's mom's side since she is a convert to the church.  It is fun to actually find work that needs to be done and find people to put into the family tree.

Sunday night I was just going to do indexing because I didn't think my brain was up to searching.  However, there was nothing to index (in English).  So, I started looking at Kevin's mom's side of the family tree.  In 2005 I had done a bunch of work there and gotten a lot of names temple ready for her for Mother's Day.  I went to her dad's family (Delbert Deloyt Brubaker) and came to his brother (Edward Dean Brubaker).  He was one of the names we had done, but I noticed he didn't have a wife listed.  Perfect starting point.  I didn't have any information except Edward Dean Brubaker and his birth date and death date.  I started first at findagrave.com.  I came to a headstone that was in Colorado matching his dates and gave Greta L as the wife with her years of birth and death.  I started looking for Greta Brubaker or just Greta, but found nothing that matched.  I finally just put in Greta in Ancestry.com with no other searching information and found a census record saying Greta Burbaker married to Than Burbaker, but her age matched.  So i looked at the original record to find the Th was actually a D.  Only figured that out because Daughter looked like Thaughter too.  So, I figured this has to be the same family.  I knew Dean was born in Nebraska which matched as well.  It said they had a 3 year old daughter named Kay.  It felt so good to find them.  I called my mother-in-law later to tell her and she said "oh yes, I talk to Kay once a year."  She is still alive.  Then she proceeded to give me her sister's name Vicky and that Greta's maiden name was Lewis and the names of both of their kids. 

The moral of the story, it was awesome to actually find someone, but maybe we should start with the people who are alive and get info they already know before wasting too much time.

I still need to go find proof of their marriage and then I can get her work done and have them sealed as well.  I'm just getting started though and it was fun to learn something and not come to a wall already in the year.

Finding a positive

I'm cold blooded.  It is in my genes.  I wear socks year round.  It is a problem I can't help, I was born with it.  My feet and fingers are generally always cold.  So, with all that said, you know I don't care for winter.  I am grateful to have a nice warm house and cars that have heaters to ease the pain. 

So, finding a positive, let's talk about sweaters.  I. Love. Sweaters.  Especially Under Armour.  They are soft.  They are cute.  They are so comfortable.  They hide the rolls that seem to be holding on for dear life around my mid section.  I love that in the winter I can dress so comfortably in a sweatshirt and I don't have to worry if the said rolls are hanging over and gonna gross out those in my presence.  Not to mention that they allow me to run in the coldest of weather that I dare brave and I don't get cold generally.  Now if only Under Armour paid me for the endorsement, in sweaters preferably. ;)

New Year's resolutions

The past many years I have not had any resolutions.  Mainly because I feel I should be working on myself all the time, not just at new year's and also because I get so down on myself if I don't accomplish something.  Generally I would write a lot of goals that were hard for me to accomplish so I would just quit because I was overwhelmed.

For some reason this year feels different.  I am determined to change some things.  If I write them down and put them where I will see them I am hoping this will make a difference in my accomplishing at least part of them.

1.  Read scriptures and pray daily.  Notice I have not set a time limit on the scriptures.  I hope to study them, but if I only get 1 verse, I will feel accomplished.
2.  Family history at least 1 hour per week.
3.  Declutter the house and dejunk (this will take all year)
4.  Run 1000 miles.  At least 3 half marathons, hoping for 1 per quarter.  My first one is scheduled for February 22nd.  Bryce Canyon in July and hopefully Little Grand Canyon, Cedar City or Halloween Half in Sept/Oct as well as Fish Lake Relay in August.
5.  Journal or blog at least once a week.
6.  Save at least $20.00 per month.  This sounds little, but I've never been a saver so gonna start small.
7.  Add 1 item per month minimum to food storage.
8.  I'd like to say I'm swearing of candy and sweets, but that is just realistic.  I can't even do it 1 day.  So, instead, I will try to make more healthy meals for my family and hopefully eat more raw foods.
9.  Read at least 1 book a month.
10.  Attend the temple once a month.

I could go on and on in ways to improve, but before I overwhelm myself, I'm gonna stop.  Feel free to share your resolutions too.