Aaron and Marly

Whom will Dane look like?

2012-01-19T19:15:00.000-08:00

I've been wanting to post our baby pictures for some time now to compare them and get an idea of whom our little man will look like when he joins us. But, after looking at the pictures, I've decided neither of us look anything like our selves in our baby pictures (well, Aaron does more than I do). So, we shall see (hopefully sooner rather than later;-).

Aaron 6 Days Old
(So tiny!)

Aaron 12 Days Old

Marly about 6 Days Old (I think)
Marly 17 Days Old
(I know, I know, I look nothing like my baby pictures.)

We were both 7lbs 2oz and about 21inches long.

And for some really exciting news...

I met Dane's best friend Roan today! Welcome to the world Roan!
Congratulations Stephanie and Lars!

(Yes, he was born on Dane's due date. I'm guessing Dane will be born on Roan's due date- Jan. 23rd. Little tricksters:)

40 weeks! and not much to report

2012-01-18T14:28:00.001-08:00

Well, there I am...

40 weeks! My ticker officially says "0 days left". I really can't believe how fast this pregnancy has gone. It has been by far the coolest experience I have gone through. It had it's ups and downs and I've had my aches and pains but like someone once said to me, I am growing a miracle from God, a human inside of me- it's bond to be uncomfortable. Really, I feel so fortunate to have had such a relativity uneventful pregnancy.

I would be ungrateful if I didn't say how wonderful my husband has been through the whole thing. Seriously, even before we were pregnant and then through the whole pregnancy he has been supportive, kind, patient, and with a good sense of humor about the whole thing. Dane is one lucky little boy to get to have Aaron as his daddy.

I had a doctors appointment yesterday where he checked our progress and, well, there isn't any. So he said that we will see how things look next week and if they still look the same at that point he will probably let me go another week with fetal monitoring. He also said I look a little to happy and there isn't enough huffing and puffing going on. Guess I should start looking a little more miserable.

At 40 weeks I:

Am excited
Not dilated at all
Have lost 1.5 lbs since my 38 week check up (whoo hoo!)
Am craving soft serve from Joe's Italian Ice, and cuban food
Am really tired
Completed everything on my 'to do' list
Have the hospital bag packed
Walk everyday with my prego buddie Stephanie
Don't mind if Dane hangs out in there for a little while longer
Still don't know what his middle name will be
Am having tons of contractions, including real ones
Have frequent strong pains down there-which I thought meant progress. Not so much
Have gained a total of 34lbs- which I'm okay with
Have mastered the art of picking things up with my toes

Now it's just a waiting game. Hopefully he will pick any day but a Wednesday since that is the day that Aaron is gone all day either in LA or Ontario.

But at least we know he is healthy and will be here with-in 2 weeks. Yay!

Here is the belly growth over the past 40 weeks:

It's crazy how much a women's body can expand, ha? ;) And can you tell which week I had "morning" sickness. I didn't notice it till now but I totally have "I feel like crap" posture in week 15.

January Book Club

2012-01-16T13:07:00.000-08:00

We read Austenland by Shannon Hale and we all liked it. It got me a little bit more motivated to actually read Pride and Prejudice (I promis I'm trying Rachel J.). We had a tea party themed book club and I'm sad I didn't take any pictures of the cute tea set that Ann had or all of the yummy food. We also had a visitor from Arizona and Ann confirmed that she is actually pregnant. It was an exciting night:-)

Why are we all hiding behind the couch? I have no idea.

Next month there are going to be two little boys going to book club! Yikes!

A Muppets Baby Shower

2012-01-09T21:34:00.000-08:00

I helped host a baby shower with my friend Karen and the theme was The Muppets. Honestly something I don't know too much about but I ended up having some fun! Here are some pics of the fun shower...

Fozzie Bear Cookies

Kermit the Frog and Gonzo Cupcakes

Grover Punch

The food

Getting ready!

Decorations
(The baby's name is going to be Roan)

The Games

The guests

The crazy mom to be- Stephanie!

Stephanie with her gift helpers

It was a colorful, bright, happy, and fun shower!

Dane and Roan...

2012-01-06T14:15:00.001-08:00

This is my friend Stephanie

Stephanie is my next door neighbor

Stephanie's due date is 5 days after mine...with her first baby whose name is Roan

It has been fun having someone to share all of the crazy things that happen while you are pregnant with.

Dane and Roan will be friends:-)

P.S- You better not go into labor before me. Lol, just kidding:-)

When will baby Dane arrive?

2012-01-02T14:21:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone! It's getting close to D day!

Anyone have a guess what day he will be born?

*Guess right and I will make your name his middle name.

To help you pick: He dropped last Monday, I'm having a ton of braxton hicks contractions, and his original due date is Jan. 18th.

(*as long as your name happens to be on our list of names we are picking from)

Project 52 wrap up

2011-12-31T18:33:00.000-08:00

Making and executing 52 goals sounded pretty much impossible around this time last year. I am really glad that I made the goals and realized just having them written down helped me stay focused on accomplishing them. So here is what I got done with some thoughts...

Project 52 Goals

~~1. Laundry every other Wednesday~~
I really enjoyed having a set day for laundry. When I got pregnant I got off schedule for a few months but really tried hard to keep it going. I think Aaron liked having it on a set day as well so he always knew when to add things to the hamper.

~~2. Complete 21 days on the~~ ~~Clean Program~~
Done! This was a hard but an incredible experiment. I'm so glad I had a friend to do it with (Thanks Rachel) and friends that have done it to keep me going. You really do feel incredible while doing the program and the 12lb weight loss was nice too. After a very long time of trying to get pregnant I have to wonder if me getting pregnant a couple weeks after finishing the program was more than a coincidence.

3. Start and attend a spanish class taught by my husband- Not done.

4. Volunteer in the community once per quarter of the year (1/4)- Only got one done (we helped dig out the flood victims early this year). Getting pregnant made this a little harder- not an excuse though. I did however try to do more service for those around me.

5. Learn to play one of the nursery songs on the piano each month till all are learned.- I learned three. I still want to learn them all even though I'm not in primary any more.

~~6. Increase my workout schedule from 3 times per week to 4.-~~
I actually did this for a long time. I was at the gym 3x per week and then usually took substantial bike ride 1-2 times per week. Then morning sickness happened. I did keep up going to the gym 3x per week until about the time I was 32 week pregnant.

~~7. Take a bike ride with my husband at least 2x per week.~~
I'm going to count this one done. We rode at least 2x/week until we decided it was just to much and a little dangerous for me.

~~8. Learn how to shoot a gun:~~
~~I guess you aren't supposed to do this while prego:( I'll try next year)~~

~~9. Go rock climbing~~
Did it on my birthday! I loved it.

~~10. Go on 2 hikes (2/2)~~
Done! My favorite one was with Karen and Rachel.

~~11. Plan 2 girls night out with Sister-in-Laws (2/2)~~
These were really fun. We went out for dinner one time and then got pedicures and dinner the other time. I hope to do more of these this coming year.

~~12. Learn 1 new duet with my husband~~
Thanks to a request from Dawn Cook to sing at a funeral we learned a new duet and I kid you not, sang it 4 times after that in various wards.

~~13. Start and finish my CAM finished 6/22~~
Done! It was easy (time consuming but easy) and now I'm a certified apartment manager.

~~14. Attend my brother's wedding~~
This was a big one but we saved our money and were able to go to Miami for my older brothers wedding to the cutest girl. My mom and sis went too so we had a blast!

~~15. Make a special gift for our 5 year anniversary~~
It was a picture with a special poem on it. Kind of mushy but Aaron was really sweet about it:-)

~~16. Complete all visiting teaching every month (12/12)~~
Thanks to an awesome VT partner we got this done! Even if it just meant a card in the mail.

~~17. Make and post on blog 52 goals~~
I actually haven't counted so I'm not sure.

~~18. Invite 2 new couples in the ward for dinner (2/2)~~
Done. We had fun inviting some new couples over for dinner. I would like to increase this goal for next year.

19. Vacuum on Saturdays
Nope. At least I got the laundry on a schedule. Maybe this one will happen in 2012

~~20. Go to the Temple 12 times (12/12)~~
Done! I almost didn't make it but with some help from my sweet husband I went for my 11th and 12th time on Jan. 29th & 30th. Talk about cutting it close! I do have to say that the last two times were really special experiences and I'm really glad that I did it.

~~21. Bear my testimony in Sacrament meeting~~
I'm kind of cheating with this one. I did bear my testimony but it was at the end of a talk. Next year I want it to be during testimony meeting.

~~22. Give a fast offering every month (12/12)~~
Done. This is a good habit that I'm glad we got into. Aaron helped me remember this one all year.

~~23. Run a 5k (this will probably be on a treadmill) This was done in Lakewood 5k not the tread mill. 32 min!~~
I can't believe I actually did this! In the nick-of-time too since I did it in March and got prego the end of April. Rachel, I couldn't have run the whole thing with out you!

24. Return music to Long Beach Stake
Not done and I'm mad about it. It is such an easy thing to do and I just keep forgetting.

~~25. Make 5 homemade gifts and give them (5/5)~~
Done. This was fun and I hope to do it again next year.

~~26. Get a hair cut~~
Done twice!

~~27. Take a diner to 3 people in need (3/3)~~
This was also a very rewarding goal that I'm glad I got to accomplish. Having it as a goal helped me be more outgoing with volunteering.

~~28. Take a bubble bath~~
I've been taking a lot of baths the last couple weeks and I'm loving them.

~~29. Take a Zumba class~~
It was a relief society activity and Amber taught it. So fun!

30. Write in my journal 52 times (8/52)
I used to write in my journal EVERY night. Why is it so hard now?

31. Send out Christmas news letter
Not done, but I will change this one to sending out a birth announcement in Jan.

32. Go to the Dentist
I'm embarrassed. Not done. I should have done it early in the year cause once I got pregnant I just didn't want to.

~~33. Paint and decorate spare bedroom~~
This turned out so cute. It is amazing how much a little paint will do for a room. I will be doing a post with pictures soon.

~~34. Go to Palm Springs~~
We did this for our 5 year anniversary in February and had a great time.

~~35. Go to Disney and stay the whole day: not going to do this anymore, I just wont make it all day.~~
I didn't do this but instead sent Aaron with our neighbor (who's wife is also very pregnant) Lars to spend the whole day there. They had so much fun. Probably more fun then he would have had with me since I can't do startours without having a panic attack.

~~36. Say morning prayers~~
Aaron was also a big help with this one. We got in the habit of reading our scriptures and praying together every morning.

~~37. Learn all the words to this year's primary song~~
Done! Then I was released :(

38. Hand out 5 pass-along cards (0/5)
I should have just kept them in my purse. I kept forgetting. Maybe I can run to the store tonight and hand them out to 5 random people?

~~39. Build up savings~~
Kind of done. Not by a lot.

~~40. Be gluten free for entire year~~
Thank goodness I figured out that I'm gluten intolerant. I have completed 1.5 years of being gluten free!

~~41. Take vitamins everyday~~
Can't get around this one when you are pregnant. I do have to admit though that I am sick of taking them.

~~42. Drink 4 glasses of water every day~~
I drank at least 4 glasses.

43. Add three months (each) of food storage
Not done. Our budget was to tight for this one this year.

~~44. Fill water storage~~
Done. We have one of those big blue water storage things on our back patio and it is filled.

~~45. Throw one baby shower~~
Done! I helped through Shawna's baby shower and had so much fun doing it. I'm excited to help with another one early in January.

46. Clean off my chair in my bedroom 1x per week
I really tried.

~~47. Have a conversation with someone in Spanish~~
I did this on the phone with the person that cleans the apartments for my company. He only speaks spanish and I usually have Aaron call for me. I had Aaron sitting next to me just in case I needed help.

~~48. Take 6 dance classes (0/6): Not going to happen~~
Got pregnant, tired, poor, and didn't want to try to get into a leotard.

49. Read each book club book. (5/12)
I started off the year strong and then lost motivation. Usually b/c it was a pain to get the book.

~~50. Sing in church (solo)~~
Done. I can't remember what I sang though.

51. Make a skirt and wear it to church
Half done. I made a skirt but it was to ugly to wear anywhere.

52. Purchase a gun
This will have to be next year too as long as the budget allows.

2011 was a great year. I feel like I have accomplished a lot. But the biggest goal that was accomplished was getting pregnant and carrying that baby to full term and I am so excited that we were able to do this. I didn't add it to the 52 list because it was a personal goal but it has been the most incredible thing I have experienced.

I hope you all have a great 2012 and I can't wait to see your goals for next year!

37 weeks. A full term baby!

2011-12-28T17:38:00.000-08:00

Yay! We officially have a full term baby boy! Still 3 more weeks till he is due but it is nice to know that he could come any day and be okay.

New for this week:

Dane has "dropped". I woke up on Monday and looked completely different then the day before. I also waddle more and need to know where the restroom is at all times
Started the weekly doctors appointments. Everything looks good.
Purchased a breast pump. One sided and manual. Will I really need this?
My hospital bag is ready to go.
Things I still need: a boppy pillow, swing or bouncy chair(?).
I'm excited and getting ready for my friend Stephanie's baby shower. She is my neighbor, in the same ward, and due 5 days after me with a little baby boy that will be named Roan. Cool ha?
Car seat is installed.

You can really tell in this picture that he has dropped...

Merry Christmas to me!

2011-12-26T14:07:00.000-08:00

This may be my favorite Christmas gift. Thank you Aaron!

Enjoy...

...the "Hoodie-Footie"

I know you want your own!

I kind of want to get one of these for all my girl friends so we can have a Hoodie-Footie party

I know, I know, way sexy ;-)

Seriously though, they are so comfortable. Aaron may regret getting these for me.

With other news, we went on a bike ride today and it was wonderful.

I got several funny looks but it felt so nice to be riding again.

Oh, and I think I might have "dropped". I have a Dr. appointment tomorrow and I'll ask him but my belly looks way different today then yesterday. It's getting close! I'll post a pic tomorrow.

35 Weeks

2011-12-21T18:17:00.001-08:00

35 Weeks! Crazy!

(30 weeks)
Update:

Feeling good!
The nursery is ready
I'm having a lot of braxton hicks contractions
Weight gain has slowed down.
Starting every week dr. appointments next week
Pulled out a bag to start packing it for the hospital. Any suggestions with this?
Christmas decorations are up!
Dane is very active. I think I'm going to miss feeling all his wiggles.
I waddle.
Birth plan written up

Seems like everyone I talk to tells me about how I am in the worst part of pregnancy and how it will be the worst month of my life. I almost feel guilty that I still feel relatively good and that I am really enjoying being pregnant. Sure I have a lot of the aches and pains and sleepless nights and the ever expanding body but I just think that being pregnant is the coolest experience ever. I am so grateful to be able to carry our little Dane.

We are very excited to meet him!

We got a new camera...

2011-12-06T10:43:00.001-08:00

and this is my favorite picture so far...

I couldn't stop laughing. Needless to say, the shutter speed is very fast :-)

30 weeks, maternity pics, and belly pics.

2011-11-15T20:05:00.000-08:00

30 weeks! Yikes! (actually I'm now 31 weeks but I did take my 30 week pics last week. I'm just now getting around to this post)

It's hard to believe that our son will be joining us in 9 weeks. I have been really enjoying carrying him and love him so much already. Aaron and I have been busy getting ready for this little guy and hope to have the nursery done in the next couple weeks. All the hard stuff is done and I'm just working on the sewing now. I'll do a nursery post soon.

While on our vacation in Miami we had some family/maternity pictures taken and here are a couple sneak peaks. I haven't seen them all yet and will post more when I get the cd.

I don't really look that big from the front but then I turn to the side and you get this...

(that picture didn't turn out that great. It was a dark rainy day)

(25 weeks for comparison)

Big difference in the last 5 weeks, ha?

Here is my 30 week list:

We have a name! Well, all most. His name will be Dane Christensen and we just need to finalize the middle name.
I feel heavy. It's a lot harder to get around.
No swelling...yet
I have an "outie"
My baby shower is THIS weekend! I can't believe that I'm about to have a baby shower!
I've been eating to much ice-cream/frozen yogurt.
Just need to finish the bumper and dust ruffle and two pillows and the sewing for the nursery will be done
We took our birthing class and it was great! I feel excited and prepared for labor (as prepared as you can be I guess)
The most common comment I'm getting "When is your due date again? Wow, I don't think you're going to make it" -Lol, nice way to make a girl feel small ;-)
Nesting has started. Actually started about 3 weeks ago. Isn't that to early? Poor Aaron.
Every now and then he will get in a position where he is sitting on my sciatica nerve and I can't walk. Ouch!
Dane is really active and strong. I'm starting to be able to recognize where body parts are.
He gets hiccups :-)
I dressed him up as a basketball for Halloween since that is what everyone says he looks like. His Daddy was a basketball player.
Sleeping at night? Not so much.
I get a lot of offers to help me with things. I guess that is the up side of looking so big:-)
Finished my glucose test. It wasn't that bad. I did just fine.
I can't seem to remember anything! I apologize now if I was supposed to call you back or show up to something and I don't. I have a serious case of pregnancy brain.
I'm so excited for the Holidays!

We are in the market for a new camera. Any recommendations? We want a pretty good one.

That's it for now. I think I'll start taking my belly pics every two weeks now since we are getting close to D-Day.

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T14:26:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween Everyone!

Here is a lazy post about our Halloween festivities so far (pictures in a completely random order, sorry)

We won best family costume at our ward Halloween party.

This was our big competition for the costume contest. They won best adult costume and really deserved it. She made all of their costumes! So cute.

Mama Bee and baby Sunflower aka Shawna and Shye.

Anaheim 4th ward peeps

The Walks threw a really fun Halloween party and everyone dressed up! Here are the boys fighting it out at the donut eating contest.

Back to the ward party for a pic of the girls (minus Rachel...we missed you).

One of the YW was dressed as a referee and so we grabbed her for some pics. I'm pretty sure she thought we were crazy.

Now back to the Walk's party, the night ended with a little Rock Band.

Aaron tells me this is the "triple threat" pose...what ever that is.

What did you dress up as for Halloween?

25 Weeks

2011-10-08T10:51:00.000-07:00

Well, it looks like my blogging has been reduced to an every 5 week event. It's not because there isn't anything to blog about but more like we are so busy that I just don't have time.

I got a little bit of anxiety when I looked at my pregnancy ticker and it said we have less then 15 weeks left. I have a feeling these last 14 weeks will go by a lot faster than the first 14 weeks of pregnancy.

25 Weeks picture

2o weeks picture for comparison.

It doesn't really look like I've gotten much bigger since 20 weeks but that can't be right. I feel so much bigger and heavier. It is getting harder to maneuver.

Oh, and for all of you wondering if I am naked in these pictures, I'm not. You can kind of see in the top one I am wearing a black t-shirt and black yoga pants.

At 25 weeks I:

am starting to feel pretty big
have pretty text book weight gain. Not under not over.
have painted the nursery & prepped the chair rails to go up.
started the stroller selection process. It is a little traumatizing, I'm not going to lie.
am still craving green grapes but now I can't stop thinking about Costco's chocolate dipped ice-cream bar.
Experienced my first swollen ankles. This happened when we flew to Miami, luckily they went back down pretty fast.
Have increased my working out. I figured it is only going to get harder so I might as well do what I can when I can.
We are pretty close to a name decision.
am enjoying all of the kicks and wiggles from this active little boy.
can recognize his sleep cycles. So neat!
am enjoying singing in the OCMCO! He seems to love listening to the music.
am itchy. Really just around my belly button and bio-oil helps with it.
will have an outie pretty soon:)
starting to try to figure out someone to take newborn pics. Any suggestion?

That's it for now.

I also wanted to thank everyone for their registering suggestions. They are great! We will be making our first trip to register this week. Hopefully we are less overwhelmed then when we went to look at strollers. While we are on the topic, any suggestions on strollers?

Next post: Our Miami trip! Be prepared for some pregnant lady bathing suit pictures.

Half way there, Somersaults, baby bump, & advice please.

2011-08-30T14:26:00.000-07:00

20 Weeks today!

That means we are half way there to meeting our little boy. We are so excited and busy getting our home ready to welcome him. I have a feeling this last 20 weeks is going to fly. We are coming up on my favorite time of year and with all of the holidays and vacations, January will be here before we know it.

At 20 weeks I am:

Feeling great!

I really haven't gained that much weight but my belly is really sticking out!
Can't sleep very well (my hips are killing me!)
Have started the name selection
Is motivated again to get to the gym
Decided (with help from Aaron) the nursery theme will be vintage airplanes
Has strangers ask how far along I am...I love it
Know we are having a boy

Here is my 20 week picture. I'm getting big!

Progress so far. I really popped between 15 & 20 weeks!

This little guy is so active! It feels like he is doing somersaults all day long. It is the most incredible feeling.

Now, for some needed advice...

I'm thinking it's time to start a registry. So, what is one thing that you; couldn't live without, one thing that was nice but not necessary, and one thing that was a waste of money? Plus if you have any other tips on making a registry I would love them.

Thanks!

Our little baby boy

2011-08-23T13:48:00.000-07:00

Today was the day. It felt like forever waiting to find out if this little peanut is a boy or girl. Aaron and I are just thrilled to announce that...

We have always hoped for a baby boy and shed tears of joy when we saw the proof on the monitor. The ultrasound lady was so wonderful and talked us through the entire thing. We saw ten fingers and ten toes, a perfect spine, a strong heart, working digestive system, a cute little face, and a very convincing "boy area". He was pretty relaxed and just moved around a little bit. I think he was being shy because he is such an active little boy most of the time. Aaron was even able to feel him kick a few days ago!

We got a ton a pictures. I know these can be hard to understand but if you stare long and hard enough you can see our little boy!

Those are some of my favorites. Pretty cute, ha?

We feel so blessed and grateful to our Heavenly Father for this child. Now, we start thinking about names!

And now for a song...

"Little boy, when you speak, I can’t help but kiss your cheeks" Enjoy:)

Next week?... another belly picture!

Being Pregnant is crazy! (and belly pics)

2011-08-03T12:35:00.001-07:00

There really isn't anything like it! I've started feeling the baby move and I seriously get the giggles every time.

I'm 16 weeks now and the nausea has gotten A LOT better however, the vomiting hasn't stopped yet. Hopefully soon:) Now, I am just uncontrollably hungry.

Last night was my first night sleeping with a pregnancy pillow and it made a huge difference. I love it! Aaron was not exactly excited when he saw the size of it. Thank goodness we have a king size bed:-) Thanks Erin for the pillow!

I think it is funny how many people already thought I was pregnant before I announced it. I know I was being a little silly waiting so long.

We have our ultrasound in 20 days to find out if it is a girl or boy and I am so excited! We can't wait. Want to take a guess? There is a poll on my side bar.

Okay, on to belly pics. I've debated whether or not to post any. I know it can cause some judgements to be made but this is the first time that I have actually had something that looks like a baby belly and I'm just happy to have one:) (I didn't really have one with my first pregnancy). So be kind:-). With that said, here they are: 5, 10, & 15 weeks. For those wondering I've gained 5lbs so far. Not that much considering my back feels like I've gained 40.

Expecting!

2011-07-09T16:58:00.000-07:00

Yes, it is true! We are going to have a baby! Here are some details...

I am currently 15 weeks along, about 3 1/2 months.

The baby is due January 18th, 2012

No, we don't know if it is a girl or boy...yet. We will find out asap.

I have been having morning/all day sickness since about 6 weeks. It makes me happy:-) A sign that things are going well for baby.

Aaron is really excited.

We saw the baby at 7wks and will have the big ultrasound Aug 23rd.

Heard the heartbeat at 10wks and at 15wks. It was about 160 bpm.

My belly is growing!

We are so excited to have this little baby join our family. I'm not sure if the worrying will go away at some point in this pregnancy. Probably not:-) We are hoping and praying that this baby goes to full term and we can welcome this blessing into our lives. We are just taking it one day at a time.

We will keep you updated!

Project 52 Update

2011-07-02T10:12:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that it is already half way through the year! Time is flying. After a long break from blogging I thought I would do a Project 52 update. The two things that I finished weren't an easy one day thing. I was able to complete a 21 day cleanse and then an 11 week course to become a certified apartment manager. Below are my reviews of both.

My good Friend Shawna introduced me to the Clean Program. It is a 21 day detox cleanse. I started off by reading the book. I was just going to get the list of things that I could and couldn't eat and get started but I'm really glad that I read the entire book first. This is not a simple program and reading the book really got me motivated and confident to give it a try. The basic principle of the program is that you are taking out every possible allergen (wheat, dairy,peppers,etc.) , processed food, all sugar except natural fruit and agave nectar, and chemicals from your diet. It also includes having two liquid meals (breakfast and dinner) and one solid meal for lunch. This allows your body to have a fasting period during the night with easily digestible food.
It wasn't easy and it involved a lot of cooking at home but I am so glad that I did it. The first week was the hardest but I started feeling results in the second week. I had more energy, needed less sleep, stopped craving sugary and fast foods, and felt happy. I have to say that it really helped having my friend Rachel doing it with me. Every time one of started to feel like cheating we would talk each other out of it. To find out more about the program go here. Oh, and I should say that I was never hungry on this cleanse (something I was afraid of). I loved the smoothies for breakfast and continued that after I was done with the cleanse and didn't mind having soup for dinner. After the 21 days you start adding things slowly into your diet. I would really recommend this program. It isn't really meant to be a weight loss program so don't do it if that is all you are looking for but I should mention that everyone that I know that has done it has dropped about 12 lbs without thinking about it. You might gain one or two lbs after you stop but the rest should stay off.

(Picture of my graduating class)

Now, on to my Certified Apartment manager course. It is offered by The Apartment Association of Orange County and is an 11 week course. After the course is completed you get a certificate and are registered in CA as an Certified Apartment Manager. There were all sorts of people and experience levels in my class. There was a girl that has never manager a property and wanted to get the certificate to help her get a job up to people that have managed for 30 years. It is a great once a week class and it pretty much teaches you everything you need to know. I was grateful for the opportunity to take it.

So, those were two big goals to cross off! It feels good. I hope you are doing well on your goals for this year!

Want to win a free photo session...

2011-05-19T18:01:00.001-07:00

...with an up and coming photographer? Go here and here and enter the contest!

Easter Sunday

2011-04-26T19:14:00.001-07:00

And here I thought I was wearing a unique outfit. Rachel showed up in the almost identical outfit on Sunday. What made it worse was that our friend Shawna (not pictured due to maternity leave from pictures) was also wearing the the same exact colors and all three of us are in the Primary Presidency. It was a day of "Awww, did you girls plan that? Why didn't I get the memo"

Easter was wonderful as we spent the day with family and also celebrating all the April birthdays (Aaron, his mom, and me).

I hope you had a great Easter!

April so far has been exciting

2011-04-12T15:20:00.000-07:00

Birthday surprise from Aaron:

Battle of the Dance!

It confirmed my desire to take a bollywood class. I'm serious. I already found the studio.
Anyone want to come with me?

These two guys were incredible.

Aaron didn't appreciate the fact that this guy kept smelling me. "You smell like cotton Candy"

Aaron and Me with some dancers.

Aaron put together a Rock climbing party for me.

Aaron wasn't really sure about the whole thing.

We ended up in the ER. It wasn't me (I know, surprising), my good friend Karen broke her arm.

And last but not least some pictures from our April book club.

Some were ladies and some where Zombies.

It's My Birthday!

2011-04-01T13:18:00.000-07:00

No, no april fools day joke:-)

My love for soft serve started at a very young age. I plan on enjoying some today!

That's me 28 years ago.

I'm off to have some fun! I hope you all have a great April Fool's day!

Shawna's Tea Time Baby Shower

2011-03-30T23:31:00.000-07:00

I co-hosted a baby shower for my good friend Shawna. Here are some of the pictures from our baby shower tea party!

Project 52 update

2011-03-23T21:49:00.000-07:00

This post is a little overdue. One of my 52 goals is to get a haircut. I know that seems like a silly goal but I know that if I don't make it a goal I can go for over a year without one. I know, I know, it's bad.

So, I did what any other girl would do. I threw a haircut party!

I met Aura last time I got my hair cut (remember this post) and really liked her. She really strives to make you look your best and have you love your hair cut. I went to her last time and this time she came to me (you don't have to have a party for her to come to you, she will come for one person)! She brought her own chair, tarp to put down (we didn't use it), all her products, and tools. I had a mini salon in my dining room!

So without further ado, here are the photos from that night...

(click on picture to enlarge it)

Our food

Our entertainment
(when we put this on Aaron came very close to leaving the house)

Action pics...

Apparently something very funny was said.

And now for the Before and After pics

Such a fun night. After we were done we all went to the Saturday session of Stake conference looking all fancy. Then finished the night off by going to Ruby's and ordering every variety of french fry on the menu and wishing Karen a Happy Birthday.

Haircut. Check.

Want to have your own haircut party? Or, looking for a new hair stylist? Email Aura!

bttrflysugarbaby@aol.com

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2011-03-17T09:56:00.000-07:00

I thought this picture would be appropriate for today. Book Club goes "Green"!

It was our second annual green party in celebration of St. Patty's day. I didn't get a picture of all of the green food this year but it included: broccoli cheese soup, guacamole, green cookies, key lime pie, a green salad, a green money/chocolate tree, and green water. I'm pretty sure I'm forgetting something.

Fun stuff!

Eat some green food today! I'm feeding the missionaries tonight and I'm tempted to make an all green diner. Hmmm.

What is your favorite "green" food?

I'm going. Want to join me?

2011-03-16T16:37:00.000-07:00

Click here for more information!

How We Roll

2011-03-12T09:44:00.000-08:00

(Turn your volume up and feel free to laugh)

I'm crazy...

2011-03-06T19:32:00.000-08:00

...I signed up to do a 5k...with 3 weeks to get ready for it.

I'm not a runner. Dancers typically aren't. So, getting ready for a 5k (3.1 miles) race was pretty terrifying and hard for me. I realize to some of you crazy runners out there that run 10 miles every other day, this sounds pretty silly but running has never been my strength.

We trained by running 1.5 miles the first two days, then bumping it up to 2 miles, then 2.5 miles, then 3.1 the couple days before the race. I had 3 other friends that ran the race with me. Rachel said she ran her last 5k in 37 min. so her goal was to be under that time and that sounded like a good goal to me. Karen said her goal was to finish without dying (silly girl), and Shawna just wanted to finish without going into labor (she is like 7 1/2 months pregnant. Yes, she is a super star).

We ran the Lakewood Sheriff's Community 5K/10K on Saturday. We carpooled and got there at about 7:15. We checked in, picked up our shirts, clipped on the timing chip, and did some warm ups.

While we were doing all of that none of us had a watch and finally we decided to go look for the starting line. We almost missed the start! We got to the line at 7:57am and the race started at 8! That would have been embarrassing. We started at the front to avoid all of the strollers and before I could finish freaking out it started.

And we were off. Rachel and I took off at a pretty good clip. Did you know I'm competitive? Well, I am, and I don't really liked being passed by an 80 year old and a man pushing a double stroller. Grrrrr. Anyway we got to the 1.1 mile marker and we were under 10 min! That is WAY faster then we ever run at the gym. No wonder I couldn't breath.

The hardest mile for me was the second one. That was about the time that I started thinking "What. In. The. World. Was. I. Thinking?" "This is officially the dumbest thing I have ever done" "I know I'm pretty close to where my brother-in-law lives. Maybe he could drive me to the finish line". Luckily I had Rachel there and without her I probably would have started walking. The whole time I felt like I was holding her back. So, when we hit the 3 mile mark I told her that I really wanted her to go for it for the last .1. She told me to do the same and so we pushed through. When we saw the finish line we took any energy we had left and sprinted as fast as we could to the finish line. (at this point I pretty much couldn't feel my legs)

We finished in 32 min! That is a pace of 10:33/mile! Holy cow, where did that come from? We tried running a 10 min mile on the treadmill and we could only do 1 mile. I placed #161 and Rachel was not even a second behind at #162 out of 407! Not bad for my first race.

After we finished we couldn't stop walking. Personally I was thinking that I was going to stop breathing and pass out but we walked once around the trade show that was there and then went back to cheer Karen and Shawna on. Karen came around the corner in no time and we decided to cross the finish line with her. She did great! Then Shawna came next and we finished with her too. Poor thing was having contractions but finished under an hour and not in last place. She is the toughest pregnant lady I know.

I haven't gone through natural labor before but I will have to compare it to running the race in a couple ways. Nervous, anxious, excited right before it starts. Wondering what in the world was I thinking in the middle. On cloud nine when it is over. And kind of forgetting how horrible it was because you feel so happy and proud at the end.

This was a huge fear of mine and that is why it was on my list of goals for this year. I literally had nightmares leading up to it. So, it may have been a small race but to me it was a huge accomplishment.

(check out my awesome new running shoes!)

I don't have any pictures of us running yet. I know they were taking some so as soon as I find them I will post them.

Thanks for reading my long post!

Four letter words in our home

2011-02-21T11:55:00.001-08:00

1. "Invite". Aaron insists this is not an appropriate substitution for Invitation. I insist that only cool people use it. :-)
2. "Febuary". That is the word February with out pronouncing the 'r' after the 'b'. This one created a lively discussion the other day at my house with some friends. Is the 'r' silent? You be the judge. The dictionary says no it is not.
3. "Supposebly". No, no, it's "SupposeDly"
4. "I'm waiting on you to finish reading your book" This one is not a word but more of a four letter phrase. Correct would be "I'm waiting FOR you to finish reading your book" Unless you are actually waiting ON top of that person- it's not right.

I married a grammar and spelling expert. Since I pretty much can spell at the level of a 4th grader it comes in handy ALL the time. He is my own walking talking dictionary and thesaurus. (Luckily my grammar is pretty good so I don't drive him crazy with that:-)

Some spelling tips that I've learned in the 5 years (we celebrated our 5 year anniversary last Thursday in Palm Springs. Post to come) of being married to my honey....

Having a double consonant makes the vowel before it have a "short vowel" sound. Diner vs. Dinner. Super vs. Supper. This one helped me soooo much!

"A lot" is not one word (ex. alot)

Desert vs. Dessert. You always want more Dessert and that is why there are two s's

Those are the only ones I can think of right now. I'm pretty sure all of you already knew these tricks but just incase there is anyone like me out there, you're welcome. I know there are more tricks but those are the first three I could think of. I've also learned a bunch of new words...

Do you know where your acnestis is?

Do you or your family have any spelling/grammar pet peeves?

February Book club

2011-02-15T17:37:00.000-08:00

We read The Uglies for this months book. I liked it. I went on and read the rest of the series but kind of wished I hadn't. The first book was the best but I HAD to know what happens.

For our meeting we did a red and pink party. Here are some photos from the night.

Shawna made some gluten free strawberry cheesecakes. Yumm! My friends love me:-)

Some "SpagBol"

All of the girls!

So much fun:-)

Project 52 update

2011-02-09T09:48:00.000-08:00

Okay. I haven't posted something in a while. Mainly because I knew I had to do a goals update and to be honest, I just didn't want to.

It's not that I haven't accomplished anything. I have accomplished a few things. It's actually the daily and weekly things that I'm having the worst time with. This goal thing is really pointing out to me how unstructured I really am.

So, I'm going to give an update on a few things on my list and if you have any suggestions on how I can actually be successful with them I would really appreciate it. Here we go...

Starting with some successes

Laundry every other Wednesday. So far so good. I haven't missed one yet. Today just happens to be laundry day. I'm sick. So... today doesn't count. Right?
Volunteer in the community once per quarter of the year. One down. I helped with disaster relief this past Saturday. I went and helped dig out houses that were buried in mud when we had all of those rain storms. Three hours of hard labor shoveling, passing buckets, and using a pick ax, left me with every muscle in my body hurting but feeling so good to have helped save one man's house. One down 3 to go. (A plus with this one is that I got my husband to go with me!)
Go on 2 hikes. One down one to go. I'm thinking I might actually surpass this goal because I had so much fun on the hike. We went here. I would recommend it. It has a lot of trails for varying degrees of difficulty.
Complete all visiting teaching every month. January- "check"!
Make and post on blog 52 goals. What can I say? I like making a couple of goals that I can cross off right away:-)
Invite 2 new couples in the ward for dinner. I will probably surpass this goal also. I love having people over for dinner. We invited a cute new couple over for dinner as well as 3 other people from our ward so that the new couple could make a bunch a friends all at once. It was fun:-)
Give a fast offering every month. Two down. I even fasted both months. That is saying a lot. Now I am going to be trying to be a little more pleasant while I am fasting. I'm pretty much mean when I don't eat. Poor husband (he, on the other hand, could not eat for 2 days and wouldn't notice. >:-I)
Take vitamins everyday. I had to buy one of those weekly pill holders to accomplish this one.
Drink 4 glasses of water every day. I fill a water bottle that holds 4 glasses of water and work on it throughout the day. For some reason if I actually have to fill a glass 4 times it won't happen.
Read each book club book. January's book was "The Uglies". I liked it and finished the series while I was at it. I will be hosting the book club party this month.

Now for the Failures

Ironing every Thursday. Not happening. Not sure why. I actually don't mind ironing.
Start and attend a spanish class taught by my husband. It's February and I have not made any progress. However, the month isn't over so I still have a chance with this one.
Learn to play one of the nursery songs on the piano each month till all are learned. Did not happen in Jan. and I haven't started with Feb. I guess pulling my keyboard out of the closet would help this one along. I guess.
Increase my workout schedule from 3 times per week to 4. Nope. I did it one week and it made my knees hurt. If I do increase the workouts I will have to not run everyday.
Take a bike ride with my husband at least 3x per week. Started off strong with this one but it has turned out to be one time per week. I'm going to complain that the weather has been cold on some days so we didn't want to. I know all of you living in snowy climates won't accept that as an excuse considering my "cold weather" was like 70 degrees with some wind. That is a beautiful day in Buffalo.
Make a special gift for our 5 year anniversary. It's next week. Thursday to be exact. I haven't started. Any suggestions?
Vacuum on Fridays. Happened once. This is embarrassing.
Write in my journal 52 times. In my head this meant once per week. But considering I didn't actually specify that I guess I'm still okay...at least that is what I keep telling my self.
Say morning prayers. What is my problem!? I can not seem to accomplish this one. I had a roommate once that I would watch in the morning- literally before she would open her eyes in the morning she would roll off her bed and say her prayers. Now, granted, if I try rolling off my bed I will probably dislocate a knee or something (my bed is 3 ft off the ground). I do say prayers at night and through out the day but the morning ones aren't happening. Any suggestions?
Be gluten free for entire year. Big fail on this one last Thursday. After 8 mo of being gluten free I ate a flour tortilla. No wonder that burrito tasted so good. Well, I woke up the next day with exhaustion, depressed, and the beginning of a cold. How did I survive before I stopped eating wheat? I would feel like that everyday! Well, my cold is starting to go away and at least I know what will happen if I mess up again.
Clean off my chair in my bedroom 1x per week. Also not happening. I did it once. It is currently a mess. Any suggestions for this one?

That's about it for now. 9 successes and 11 failures. This needs to improve. For your viewing pleasure, here are some pictures of the successes and failures mentioned above.

"A Hiking we will go, A Hiking we will go..."
No we didn't actually sing.

At the top of the mountain. Okay, okay, large hill.

On one of our bike-rides

Yes, I do have a small white dog that I put in my basket. He loves it.

The service project.

This one is kind of at the beginning of the the shoveling. About 1 hr in. Notice that the roof
of the house is at that guys shoulder level. That is a normal roof .

This is about 2 hrs in. There is Aaron shoveling and the roof is starting to get higher
(the mud getting lower)

3 1/2 hrs in. We hit the ground!

My dumb chair that I can't keep cleared off.

I know I was going to try to do an update once per month. Well, this one is going to count for Jan. and Feb. ;-) If I don't post an update for March please get after me.

You should go check this out...

2011-01-26T16:46:00.001-08:00

Christmas through New years

2011-01-18T10:08:00.000-08:00

Yes. This post is late.

Christmas time for us this year was different. We normally do all of our celebrating with the Christensens. This year it was all about the Temples! We were so excited that my family was coming to stay with us from Dec. 20th-Jan. 4th. There was a little concern with having 5 adults in our home for that amount of time but they were such great house guests that we really enjoyed it.

So, thanks to my mom the planner we had everyday planned out with fun things to do. Here are pictures of what we did!

Manhattan Transfer at the Disney Concert Hall
(they are so fun live!)

(I got in trouble for taking these pictures in the theater...oops)

Next we went to the place of our first date 6 years ago. We go every year now:-) The lights there are magical.

Me, my Mom, my Sister
The whole group of us.

Then off to see the Long Beach Ballet's production of the Nutcracker in Santa Monica. It is really such a good performance and I would highly recommend it. (and I have to say that I really liked the Santa Monica theater better then the Long Beach one)

We got family pictures taken by Sarah Hull

Next on the agenda was Christmas Eve diner with Aunt Bonnie and the Chistensens....

and then a Gondola ride through Naples.

thank goodness we had a cute Gondola guy because my sister was NOT into sitting between the two couple:)

Have you done the Gondola ride through Naples? It is so worth it. The motor boats are fun but it was so peaceful to be rowed around Naples.

Christmas was spent opening gifts (our two main gifts to each other pictures below. The other gift was food storage)

and playing with these three cuties:-)
The day after Christmas we went to my Uncles house for dinner and Aaron got to "play" with some of my Uncles "toys"

this one has a laser on it. It was scary.

And then a quick trip to Lake Arrowhead to see some snow on New Years Eve Day.

We actually did a lot of other things (like Medieval Times for New Years Eve)and then couldn't do a lot of things because of the weather(Disney). We had so much fun with them and it was really hard to see them leave.

I hope you had a great Christmas and New Years!

Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior

2011-01-13T10:30:00.000-08:00

Interesting article here.

Any thoughts?

Project 52

2011-01-09T18:11:00.001-08:00

Where did last year go? Seriously. It came and went so fast. Well, with the new year it is time to make some goals. Last year I only had one (I know, not really shooting for the stars), Food storage. I'm proud to report that I made really good strides with it. I don't have 1 year for each of us but at least 6mo for each of us and possible a little more than that(considering I had nothing in the beginning of the year I would say that is pretty good).

This year I will be striving for a little bit more. 51 more goals than this year to be exact. My good friend Karen from A Peek at Karen's World, has started project 52. The goal is to set 52 goals. One for each week of the year (not that you have to do one per week just finish all 52 by the end of the year). She does a really good job of describing it so go on over to her blog and click on the tab at the top called Project 52. Then after you do that join in!

So with out further adieu, here are my goals.

1. Laundry every other Wednesday
2. Ironing every Thursday
3. Start and attend a spanish class taught by my husband (by February)
4. Volunteer in the community once per quarter of the year
5. Learn to play one of the nursery songs on the piano each month till all are learned
6. Increase my workout schedule from 3 times per week to 4.
7. Take a bike ride with my husband at least 3x per week.
8. Learn how to shoot a gun
9. Go rock climbing
10. Go on 2 hikes
11. Plan 2 girls night out with Sister-in-Laws
12. Learn 1 new duet with my husband
13. Start and finish my CAM
14. Attend my brothers wedding
15. Make a special gift for our 5 year anniversary
16. Complete all visiting teaching every month
17. Make and post on blog 52 goals
18. Invite 2 new couples in the ward for dinner
19. Vacuum on Fridays
20. Go to the Temple 12 times
21. Bear my testimony in Sacrament meeting
22. Give a fast offering every month
23. Run a 5k (this will probably be on a treadmill)
24. Return music to Long Beach Stake
25. Make 5 homemade gifts and give them for birthdays
26. Get a hair cut
27. Take a diner to 3 people in need
28. Take a bubble bath 1 time per month
29. Take a Zumba class
30. Write in my journal 52 times
31. Send out Christmas news letter
32. Go to the Dentist
33. Go paddle boarding
34. Go to Palm Springs
35. Go to Disney and stay the whole day
36. Say morning prayers
37. Learn all the words to this year's primary song
38. Hand out 5 pass-along cards
39. Build up savings
40. Be gluten free for entire year
41. Take vitamins everyday
42. Drink 4 glasses of water every day
43. Add three months (each) of food storage
44. Fill water storage
45. Throw one baby shower
46. Clean off my chair in my bedroom 1x per week
47. Have a conversation with someone in Spanish
48. Take 6 dance classes
49. Read each book club book.
50. Sing in church (solo)
51. Make a skirt and wear it to church
52. Purchase a gun

That was kind of hard but I'm glad they are down. Now, I'm posting these so that I have some accountability. We are supposed to do an update post once per week to share how I am doing on my goals. I will try, but it will most likely be once per month.

If you have set some goals, I wish you luck!

We are in a couple upcoming concerts

2010-12-11T10:40:00.000-08:00

A note from my choir director to all of you! Free concerts in YOUR area!
.
.
.
Dear Music Lovers,

You must come to this uniquely entertaining and inspiring concert, Paean to Peace prepared for you by Women of Note! From Palestrina's "Adoramus Te" to Steve Allen's "Cool Yule" you'll find much in this varied program of Peace on Earth to please you. The concert is free, open to the public, and you have two different days and venues from which to choose:

Saturday, December 11 at 7:30 pm at Los Altos United Methodist Church 5950 East Willow Street, Long Beach, 90815.
Sunday, December 19 at 4 pm at St. Luke's Episcopal Church, 525 East Seventh Street, Long Beach, 90813.

Please mark your calendars now to hear Women of Note in concert. As their director, I make no secret about my pride in their accomplishments and I hope to see you in the audience. Adding to the the variety of sound, you will hear sparkling selections by the Men of Note Quartet and by The Quintessentials Wind Ensemble. Among the traditional holiday songs on the program will be a "Silent Night" sing-a-long. You won't want to miss "Feliz Navidad" or "Rudolph's Ragtime Razza-ma-tazz!" either. You know how I love recently written songs and there will be a few of those, too.

Our own Three Sopranos will open the concert with Rachmonioff's "Vocalise". "Iraqi Peace Song," sung in Arabic, is an interesting contrast to "Winds of Peace," sung in Hebrew. Closing the program is "Peace", a Twentieth Century song by Martha Alter using words from a 5th Century B.C. poet, Bacchylides, that tell of spiders spinning webs over iron shields and rust growing over the lance's blade. Aren't you curious to hear this paean to peace? You can go to www.womenofnotelb.blogspot.com to see a complete listing of the program.

One more thing, would you please help us get the word out and forward this invitation and the attached pdf concert flyer to other music lovers?

Let there be Peace on Earth!

Carla Strandberg, Director

Women of Note

My Thanksgiving morning

2010-11-29T09:51:00.001-08:00

I woke up early Thanksgiving morning even though I was planning on sleeping in but, that's okay because I was really excited for Thanksgiving to finally be here. I snuggled up on my couch with a hot chocolate in my favorite mug (thanks Erin:) and started to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving day Parade(as is tradition).

Then I get a phone call... *Don't answer the phone, don't answer the phone, don't answer the phone*

I answer the phone...
Resident:"Someone has left their laundry in the washer too long." said in a annoyed, this is your fault tone.
Me:"Okay, well just go ahead and follow the posted Laundry room rules, if it has been in there for longer than 5 min, pull it out and put yours in"
Resident:"I don't want to touch their laundry"
Me:"Well then at this point there is nothing I can do... It is Thanksgiving and we are actually closed."
Resident:"Oh, sorry."
I hang up the phone.

Snuggle back up on the couch. *No big deal, It was just a phone call. Now, back to the parade*

30 min later. A knock on the door. *Don't answer the door, don't answer the door, don't answer the door*

I answer the door (in my pajamas, no make-up, crazy hair).

Resident: "There is water coming from outside the laundry room and it is flooding the laundry room"
Me: "Okay, thanks for letting me know." as I'm closing the door, running to put some clothes on, and grabbing the phone to call the owner.

(It's hard to tell in the video, but there is 3 inches of water covering the entire laundry room and water heater room.)

Well, an hour and gallons of water later the laundry room was back to normal.

In the middle of trying to keep the water from leaking into the next door neighbors apartment, calming all of the on-looking residents down, trying to talk to the non-English speaking maintenance guy, and worrying about being electrocuted I was half in tears and half laughing.

Of course this would have to happen on my one true day off.

Of course it would happen on a day that my husband wasn't feeling good.

Of course the water would be coming out of a place that I have no idea how to turn off.

After all was said and done, my Thanksgiving weekend was surly not what I would have planed. Not at all actually. But, sometimes Heavenly Father puts us through trials and situations that may seem absolutely wrong when standing in the middle of it. But, when looking back lessons are learned, friendships grow, faith is strengthened, laundry room floors get really clean, and we become a little more like the person we want to be.

I didn't do a "things I am thankful for" list leading up to Thanksgiving. Mainly because It would be to hard to narrow down just 25 things. So, here is a list of things I am thankful for that came from my disastrous, I mean eventful weekend.

I am grateful for:

a sense of humor
my job
my sister-in-laws
my good work ethic (Thanks Mom!)
best friends
my close relationship with Heavenly Father
that I didn't get electrocuted
the fact that the laundry room floor is the cleanest that it's ever been
my family
my health
it was water from the pool not from the sewer
prayer
my camera
my dog
forgiveness
family photos
Fruit salad

I hope you had a Happy (dry) Thanksgiving!

Black Friday.

2010-11-26T09:20:00.000-08:00

We don't do black Friday over here. We love to sleep to much. But, since most of you are going to be out and about starting (and maybe finishing?) your Christmas Shopping (yes, CHRISTMAS shopping not holiday shopping- don't get Aaron started on that one) I thought I would get involved and suggest a great gift(s).

Songs on the CD include: Scatter Sunshine, Where Love is, Stand Up and Be Counted, Shine On, The light Divine and MORE! It's only $10!

It's a CD and it will make a perfect stocking stuffer! I have five of these left and while supplies last receive a free cute handbag with your purchase.

(Pick one bag as your free gift with purchase)

Just leave me a comment letting me know that you would like one and I will get it out to you in plenty of time for Christmas. You can also purchase it on-line here.

Have you already purchased the CD? Leave a comment and let me know what you think of it!

Happy Shopping everyone!

P.S. Looking for some other cute Christmas gifts? Look here and here and here.

Sneak Peak

2010-11-06T10:42:00.000-07:00

We had a photo session with this very talented photographer. Sarah did our pictures last year
and we had so much fun and the pictures turned out so good (that picture at the top of our blog is from last year too) that we (mostly me but Aaron is such a good sport he agreed to do it) wanted to do it again this year.

Since we will be doing the traditional family pictures with the whole Christensen family later this month I got it in my head to do something different for our pictures. So, I had the idea to do a 1940's themed shoot, Aaron had the idea to do it on the Queen Mary, Sarah loved the idea, some great hat finds and this is what we got.

Just a sneak peak!

(I seriously could not keep my hands off Aaron in this outfit. I say we bring back hats. Anyone else in?)

No boys allowed?

2010-10-28T19:20:00.000-07:00

A couple of the girls in my ward and I had a great idea to get together as couples to carve pumpkins, make Carmel apples, and hang out. Apparently the husbands didn't really think it was that great of an idea. I think some of their descriptions of the idea included "lame" , "gay" and an enthusiastic "whatever". One of the husbands put his foot down and said no, and that resulted in the rest of the husbands backing out. So, we decided to make it a girls day and here are some of the pictures...

Apparently the earliest you should carve a pumpkin in Southern CA is the day before Halloween. It only took 2 days for my pumpkins to get moldy, runny, and pretty much ready for the trash(I'm used to Buffalo pumpkins that freeze and are good to go for the whole month). Oh well. Next year we will do it closer to Halloween and maybe the husbands will join in!

Carmel Apple Art
(only for those who where there to make them)

My friend Shawna wins the award for cutest pumpkins
(she had some exciting news to announce:)

Out trip, the cliff's notes version.

2010-10-17T21:25:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! Most of you know we just recently went on a small vacation to Provo, Ut (via a short stay in Vegas...as in one night) for Aaron's mission reunion. He served a mission in the Guatemala City Central mission 16 years ago . They haven't had a reunion for about 13 years so when we heard about it we made special arrangements to go. I don't want to bore everyone with a wordy lengthy post about it so I will give you one picture and one word to go with it. Here it goes... our trip cliff's note style.

Comida

Reunion

Companions

Before

After

Anxiety

Friends

"Stay"

Family

Handsome

Posing ;)

Love

Happy

Colors

Envy

Cuteness

Tall

Pondering

Freezing

Peaceful

Eternity

Obsessed

Squinty

Stand-off

1940?

Huge!

Relative?

Buddies

"Smile"

Tricks

Static

Pilot

Wrong

BFF

Famous

Today is the last day!

2010-10-16T09:25:00.000-07:00

COME ON BY!

Do you like John Grisham?

2010-10-06T09:45:00.000-07:00

Well, then I have a give away for you!

Just go to this blog and leave a comment and you could win a hardback copy of one of his books!

Fun Fact Friday!

2010-10-01T15:51:00.000-07:00

I'm in Utah!

Okay, that's not my fun fact but we are having a fun time out here. I can't wait to share some of our pictures with you guys.

Since I'm traveling right not I think I will do a fun fact about traveling.

When I was 12 years old we took a train ride from Buffalo NY, to San Diego CA with my mom, sister (6mo) and my grandma. It had been my Grandma's life long dream to do that trip and since my Uncle(her son) was getting married in San Diego we figured it was a good time to take it.
We loved it! It took a long time but we got to see the whole country pass in front of us and no one had to drive. We liked getting out at the rest stops and buying jewelery from the Native Americans.

I have a lot of fun memories from that trip and most people can't say they have taken a train ride across the entire country!

How about you? Share one of your fun facts!

Fun Fact Friday

2010-09-24T10:39:00.000-07:00

I can not stand the feeling of a car going backwards down a hill.

I seriously freak out! (This also applies to roller-coasters that go backwards but I still think that a car is worse.) I can't take it when I'm the passenger or the driver. I'm not really sure why or when this dislike started but I'm getting the heeby-geebies just thinking about it.

Aaron finds this very amusing and likes to torture me with it. It was the worst when we took a trip to San Francisco. On almost every incline he would take his foot off the ignition for a couple seconds just to see me freak out. He is such a sweetheart ;-)

Okay, your turn! Tell me one of your fun facts!

I got a haircut!

2010-09-19T18:36:00.000-07:00

It was way past due. The girl that I used to have cut my hair moved to Washington State about 1 1/2 years ago and I haven't had it cut since (well, except for some unfortunate cutting that I did on it when I was desperate for a trim).

Aaron noticed on Facebook a friend of his was offering haircuts and he jumped on it for me. I was really glad because I met this super cute girl and got a great hair cut!

Man, was my hair long! You don't get a picture of the back of your head very often.

Aura took a little length off and added in lots of layers. I really like it. What do you think?

The good news is... She will cut your hair too! Her prices are unreal (inexpensive) and she can either do it at her place or, get this, she will come to you! Not only does she cut hair she does color, highlights, perms, extensions, updos, threading, waxing, makeup, facials, nails, and massages. She does hair cuts for men/boys too. I really enjoyed how knowledgeable she is in all things hair. This girl knows what she is doing.

Give her a call 562-688-4514 or email her at auraspencer@aol.com.

Fun Fact Friday

2010-09-17T11:00:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone! It's Friday!!!!! I got the idea to have a Fun Fact Friday from this cute blog. I think it is such a fun idea and I want to know some fun facts about you!

So, to start off I will share a fun fact about me and then you get to leave a comment about a fun fact about you.

I thought I would start with a very early in life fun fact.

I was walking by 7 months old
(taking first steps at around 6mo)

(already getting into trouble)

No crawling, just got up and started walking. Most of the time on my tip-toes. Those of you with kids are probably cringing a little bit imagining your 7mo old walking around. This fact actually scares me! I hope it's not a genetic thing because I know when I have kids I am going to be wanting them to just stay put for as long as possible- around 1 yr old sounds about right (actually 18 mo wouldn't even bother me).

I truly believe that this early walking led to the fact that as a little girl I was incredibly clumsy. I did a lot of walking and a LOT of falling down. I had continous scabs on my knees till I was probably about 7 years old. (Probably part of the reason I was put in ballet at 2yrs old.) To make things worse I wasn't a tough little girl either so each fall meant a full on melt down- my poor mom.

So, 20 years of ballet later, I pretty much have the walking thing down. I can even pull of graceful sometimes:)

How about you? Have any fun facts about yourself as a baby? Or, really any other fun fact you want to share.

I'm excited to hear them!

You can make the pathway bright

2010-09-16T10:01:00.000-07:00

‎"You have had those days, weeks, months, or years too. You have had those times where you just didn't know how you would make it through. And then, the Spirit whispers exactly what God wants to teach you. My lesson was this..."

~Rachel Gubler

Save The Date! October 15th and 16th

2010-09-14T11:25:00.000-07:00

There is going to be a great craft boutique October 15th and 16th! I went to their spring craft boutique and it was sooooo good. Tons of cute things to buy! There are going to be even more vendors this time, over 30, and it is sure to be a great opportunity to get your holiday shopping started and maybe finished.

Click here to see more information.

One of the vendors it going to Rachel Gubler! I know you have been wanting to pick up her new cd "Shine On" and this will be the perfect time to do so! There will even be some cute free bees for the first people to purchase her cd! It will make a great stocking stuffer or Christmas party gift.

I'll be there and I hope to see you!

Yes, this did happen...

2010-09-10T22:24:00.000-07:00

What do you get when grown men find fake mustaches at a bbq get together?

*No those mustaches are not photo shopped on*

(these pics are actually worth enlarging to get the full effect of the mustache art)

Aaron walked around this party speaking in Spanish- as in from Spain Spanish, with the lisp-all night.

I drew the line when he tried to kiss me with it on. It Tickled!

One picture One word Labor Day

2010-09-07T19:31:00.000-07:00

Goofballs

Matthew McConaughey

Angelina Jolie

Really?

Love

Sunburns

$2.00

Curls

Sandcastle

Giggles

Silliness

Friends

Cold

A beautiful blog post...

2010-09-03T13:04:00.000-07:00

(I've been wanting to do a post about my friends blog for a couple of days now so here it is.)

I know most of you remember the give away that I did a couple of months ago for Rachel Gubler's new CD.

She has recently made a blog where she is writing some pretty cool posts. My favorite recently is that she is posting the stories behind the songs that she picked for her CD.

The first one is truly a story of trial and triumph with her sweet little girl that was very sick when she was born.

So check it out, leave a comment, add it to your blog list! I'm sure there will be more good blog posts to come!

Click here to check it out!

Thanks! Have a great weekend!

Summer, Summer, Summer Time!

2010-08-27T10:29:00.000-07:00

It is FINALLY hot here in Southern California! It has been a cold summer but as soon as I heard It was going to be 99 degrees out I made a few phone calls to a couple cute girls and headed to...

the beach!

It was a very successful trip to the beach. It always seems like whenever I go to the beach it is not quite warm enough for me to be in just my bathing suit. It was that day! I am so lucky to be able to live in such a beautiful place.

What has Aaron been doing?

And softball but I guess I have been slacking on taking softball pictures this season.

How was your summer?

The Invisible Man and Married Women

2010-08-19T10:13:00.000-07:00

August book club! We added a new girl (Melissa) to our book club this month and Cece hosted the party. The book for the month was The Invisible Man. We had a yummy grilled dinner and chatted late into the night.

(yes I did spell Invisible wrong in the picture but It was to hard to change it)

Trying to figure out how to turn the timer on CeCe's fancy camera.

Last Friday two of my favorite people married each other, Emily and Brigham. It was such a beautiful romantic day.

(to see more pictures by a talented photographer go here)

I was lucky to be a brides maid (5th time being a brides maid) for Emily and had so much fun on that day. I actually teared up at this wedding. I think it was my first time. It was during their first dance and I think I was just so happy to see these two people so happy and in love. They both really deserve it. Then I got to dance with the cute MC, a.k.a. AC, that they had. It was romantic under the hundreds of white lights and stars and he twirled me (I love twirling:). It was a perfect night.

Cutest thing of the decorations... the Jones soda and Welchs juice that was served. How cute is that! ( I should mention that their last names are Jones and Welch)

Do you cry at weddings? How many times have you been in the wedding party?

(why are the children always out of control at weddings? Seriously!)

Forgiveness: My Burden Was Made Light

2010-08-11T10:41:00.000-07:00

I Love to See the Temple

2010-08-10T11:31:00.001-07:00

When we were dating, Aaron used to take me to the Newport Beach Temple grounds on dates. At that time they were just building and finishing up the Temple. We used to just sit on the wall outside the grounds and talk for hours (and watch the bunnies. There were always a lot of bunnies). It really was romantic. I was so excited when I got to go through this Temple to take out my endowments with my sweetheart and then get sealed in the LA Temple. The Newport Beach Temple will always feel like my "home" Temple .

I am so grateful that we have a Temple so close to home. I remember being a kid and having to drive for hours and cross the boarder to get to the closest Temple in Ontario Canada. Now it is just a short drive down the 5. Temples have brought so much happiness into our family's life:-)

It just so happens that this month's visiting teaching message is on this wonderful topic.

FHE last night: The grounds were closed for cleaning so we sat on that same wall and watched the bunnies and snuggled:-)

"For the temple is a holy place
Where we are sealed together.
As a child of God,
I've learned this truth;

A fam'ly is forever."

What is the Temple you will always feel like your "home" Temple?

Great Craft Blog

2010-07-31T11:26:00.001-07:00

Hi Everyone!

My roommate from BYU has a really cute craft blog. I thought I would share...

Lynnspin

She just did a tutorial on how to make cute yo-yo jewlery. I have been wanting to know how to make a cute yo-yo and just learned that there is actually a yo-yo maker that you can buy. Who knew? Okay, probably everyone:-)

Enjoy!

Don't mess with these guys...

2010-07-27T12:04:00.000-07:00

Did I ever mention that I LOVE Aaron in his softball clothes? Well, I do ;-)

Little Penelope Lane Party & Recipes

2010-07-26T10:33:00.000-07:00

Saturday was the day! I hosted a Little Penelope Lane hair party. The long day of cooking and cleaning paid off with a good turn out of really fun girls! Poor Aaron was forced to find plans out of the house but after coming home and finding a lot of the banana bars left over for him I don't think he minded that much:-) Here are some pictures of the party...

This is Sarah, the creative girl herself! Check out her blog or join her facebook page to see more of her creations. Did you know that she is also a very talented photographer? Well, she is! Check out her photography blog (she did our last family pictures). Speaking of family photos, Sarah is doing a fund raiser right now to help her darling little girl that has Spina Bifida Myelomengocele and Hydrocephalus get her first bike that she can ride all by her self! Go to her photography blog to read more and find out how to schedule a time!

Some of you asked for the recipes of some of the dishes I had at the party so I put links and tips for the dishes below.

A- Ice-cream cone cupcakes. I used a box mix for them and didn't use a recipe but I found one that sound about right HERE. I filled them a little bit more so it would look like the ice-cream was dripping over. I also found that if you use the "Whipped" frosting it stays better on top. I frosted them then put some star sprinkles on them and a cherry on top. These little cupcakes are darling BUT you need to know that they are not easy to move . So, frost them where you want to serve them and don't wiggle the table because they will ALL fall over and you will get frustrated trying to fix them. I learned the hard way.

B- Frosted Banana bars. A huge hit! I think my husband fell in love with me all over again after trying these. Even people that don't really like bananas liked THESE. I stuck to the recipe for this one and didn't change anything. Oh, FYI- a "cube" of butter = one stick of butter (also learned the hard way).

C- White pizza with spinach and fresh tomatoes. I used THIS recipe but without the crawfish tails (yuck). I also went light on the garlic to be better for a crowd but if I were to make it again for my self I would put more garlic on it. I also added a sprinkle of spinach (frozen and then thawed) and some tomatoes from my garden on top. I didn't actually make the pizza dough. I just went to one of my favorite pizza places ( Cortinas ) and bought the dough ready to be baked. It was only $1.18 per pizza dough! They have an Italian market attached to the restaurant and have everything Italian you could need. That is where I bought my fresh mozzarella too. If I had a Tader Joes somewhat near by I probably would have picked up their hole wheat pizza dough but I live in a black hole for Trader Joes so Cortinas was a good option.

D- Black forest ham , brie, and raspberry preserve sandwich. I got the idea from watching a cooking show and changed it up a little.THIS is the original recipe. I used black forest ham (the recipe just says ham) and ciabatta bread instead of a baguette. I found using a baguette was just to "bready" and hard to eat. I also put the ham and brie on the ciabatta bread then covered it in tin foil and baked at 400 degrees for about 15 min (till the brie is all melty)then took it out and THEN spread the raspberry preserves on so that it didn't make the bread mushy. I also put the sandwich back in the oven for about 5 min to make the top crispy. This is a really easy sandwich and it turns out looking and tasting fancy. Also a crowd pleaser & Pregnant lady approved ;-)

E-Pesto Pizza. I was inspired by THIS blog post. I'm not vegan so I used regular fresh mozzarella cheese and the same pizza dough that I used in the White pizza. I make my own pesto from fresh basil, garlic, olive oil, pine nuts, salt, and Parmesan cheese. I put it all in the blender and add more of what ever to taste. You could probably use the recipe for the pesto that is on the blog post or just buy some at the store if you don't want to deal with making it your self. I do have to say though that home made pesto is always 10 times better then store bought. This pizza was one of my favorites of the night.

F- Spinach salad with glazed walnuts, fresh granny smith apples, shaved Parmesan cheese and a raspberry vinaigrette. I didn't use a recipe for this. I just bought a bag of baby spinach, chopped up two granny smith apples, used glazed walnuts bought from the store, put in some shaved Parmesan cheese that I used on the pizzas, and used a raspberry vinaigrette from the store (any brand would probably be fine. It's the raspberry part that is important.) I would have put some blue cheese crumbles in it but forgot to buy it so that is why I used the Parmesan. I think I liked it better.

Okay, that's it! Enjoy!

Hair party! Come one, come all!

2010-07-23T10:24:00.000-07:00

Saturday July 24th 6:00-9:00pm
At my place- Everyone is invited!

A lot of you have requested it- So here it is! I will be hosting a hair party at my place and Little Penelope Lane will be here with all of her cute hair accessories. You have seen me wearing them (all the time) and I know you want some for your self or for the little girls in your life. The are really beautiful and she has a huge variety of styles for you to choose from. THey make great gifts! So, come on over and shop for so...me cute hair accessories, snack on some yummy snacks, visit with friends, and basically have a wonderful night out. Feel free to invite anyone you would like and bring them with you! Don't be shy! If you need my address just leave a comment with your email address and I will send you my address.

Those of you with children- You may bring them:-) Or maybe take this opportunity to have a night out with the girls:-)

Want to see some of the cute things that will be here? Check out their blogs...
http://littlepenelopelane.blogspot.com/

I hope to see all of you there and to meet a lot of your friends!
Marly

P.S.- Cash and Check accepted. They are all very reasonably priced.

Did you know...

2010-07-22T10:42:00.000-07:00

...That you burn 662 calories if you ice skate for 90 min? I'm all about the exercise that is fun to do:-)

This is where we went. It was very reasonably priced and a nice rink. You should try it out! For you moms out there, they have day time open skate sessions that would be a fun and cool summer activity:-)

P.S. I only fell once

P.P.S I could not spin to the left! Weird.

Craft night skirts

2010-07-21T17:08:00.000-07:00

Making of a skirt. Sounds easy? Well, it did to us. Then we tried making one and it was a disaster. Mainly because we used a pattern and didn't understand the sizing. We decided to make the skirts 2 sizes bigger than the size that we would buy at a store just to be safe. Well, after sewing all SIX of the panels together when we went to try it on (before we added the zipper) it was WAAAAAY to small. So, we pretty much left that craft night defeated , feeling fat, and skirtless. Good thing we had good company and had each other to laugh about it.

So, our next craft night we decided to tackle the skirt again but tried an easier pattern and made the skirt about 10 sizes to big (we ended up having to cut A LOT off. That is a much better feeling that the opposite) and I think we did a pretty good job! All of us that made skirts decided to wear them to church on Sunday and of course we had to take some pictures. I love that we all used the same pattern but we all look so different:-) I wish I had taken some pictures of our actual craft night. It was a pretty funny night:-)

P.S.- We learned a pretty fantastic tip on sewing in zippers. Let me know you need it!

"Come out and play?"

2010-07-16T13:27:00.000-07:00

At the rick of sounding like one of those crazy dog people that share stories of their dogs- I have to share this story...

The way it starts:

One dog will go out and go to another dogs door and start sniffing under the door. That dog comes out and joins him. They both go to another dogs door and start sniffing then that dog joins them. This continues till all 4 (sometimes 5) of them are out and playing together. At first I couldn't figure out why my dog was at the door literally crying (especially because I had just recently took him out). He would follow me around whimpering, yelping, and dragging his leash (he has been taught to get his leash when he needs to go out). I first thought that he was in pain so I would pick him up to see what was wrong and he was always fine. Then I could hear a faint sniffing sound under our front door and realized what was going on. His friends wanted to play...

(Luke is the one in front)

(Click to enlarge this one)

They are all boys and will play and run around the courtyard chasing each other (Luke is the smallest of them and can't run as fast but has figured out a way to cut corners and take shortcuts to keep up). When one of the dogs gets disciplined all the other ones will come to his rescue and bark. It is so dang cute!

Here it is; Luke (my Maltese), Cody (poodle/cockerspaniel) , Navar (Maltese), and One-gee (not sure- but he looks a lot like a creature from Star Wars and is named after how much he cost)

Busy week!

2010-07-13T15:32:00.000-07:00

Aaron started up softball this week. I have really missed his softball uniform *wink* and the softball wives (and wives to be:-). We have a couple new softball babies this season. They are so cute!

We had our second primary day activity on Saturday and had a lot of fun with our Olympic events. It was a little bit of organized chaos but the kids didn't notice.

We finished off the week by celebrating Arthur's (Aaron's friend since 7th grade) 35th birthday. And I must say they certenly did celebrate it in style! Good food, lots of friends and family, bouncy house (an amazing workout-by the way), fire works, kids against grown-ups bball (do you think the adults refrained from dunking on the kids? Absolutly not), the cutest cup cakes (I wish I had taken a pic of them), and fireworks to finish off the night.

Yay for summer time!

Team Edward

2010-07-09T12:29:00.000-07:00

Oh yes we did...

I love these girls and I LOVED the move:-)

Okay, so let's here it. Team Edward or Team Jacob? If you pick Team Jacob you have to tell me why (and I don't want to hear b/c the actor is hotter-it's about the characters people not the actors) because I really have no idea why someone would not be team Edward.

Okay, I'm probably to excited about this...

2010-07-02T20:48:00.000-07:00

So, nothing really exciting happened this week. Until I was walking by my garden and spotted this...

Can you see it?

How about now?

Yes, you guessed it!

My very first successful homegrown tomato! After my fiasco last year of planting my tomato plants and having them grow to be 8 feet tall without a single fruit I was trying hard not to get my hopes up this year. So, I was so excited when I saw the green tomatoes growing and then the waiting for them to turn red was really hard. I seriously considered picking some green ones and making fried green tomatoes (not that I have ever had them , know how to make them, or even know if I like them).

I am really excited because I have a tone of green tomatoes on the vines! Aaron doesn't like them so don't be surprised if you get a bag of tomatoes from me:-)

Yes, I do eat them like an apple strait off of the vine with a little salt. I am one of those people. Yummm!

And the winner is....

2010-06-28T21:45:00.000-07:00

Soni Christensen, who says "Oooo, pick me!! *waves hand* I would listen to it (and play it) at girls camp", for winning the CD and the sheet music!

Thank you all for entering and helping to promote this new cd. Rachel appreciates it a lot. Now, just because you didn't win the CD doesn't mean that you cant have it. Just go to itunes, Napster, Zune, or Amazon and download it for your self. It is under $10 for the whole CD.

Also, if you are looking for a great fireside idea just go to her website and contact her! For booking information call 702-496-9781. It's free and she will travel to your location (I would really like it if someone in my area booked her so I could see her again:-).

An Addition to the Give Away!

2010-06-27T14:07:00.000-07:00

Exciting news! Due to a generous contributor not only will you win the autographed CD but you will also get a...

home-n-family copy of sheet music for Stand Up
and Be Counted that's on the CD!

So, go ahead (it only takes a second) and leave a comment (in the post below) telling me when you would listen to this cd and enter for your chance to win!

Shine On GIVEAWAY!

2010-06-25T12:20:00.000-07:00

Are you ready for this?

I'm doing a GIVEAWAY!

(Background story)

About seven years ago I went to BYU for a semester. While at the orientation I got lost walking around and ran into a cute girl and her mom. I asked them if they knew where the building I was looking for was and luckily they did. Her name is Rachel. While walking I learned that we both had the same major, same 8am ballet class (yuck), we were both from the east coast, and we were both living in the dorms. That was the start of a summer where we spent pretty much every free minute of every day together and became the best of friends. We met every morning at 7am to eat breakfast before making the long walk over to the dance building where we would try to wake up our bodies before ballet. A few hours later we would meet up for a Jamba Juice (a new thing to both of us- *love*) and a foot long steak and cheese sub at subway. Then some kind of double date (I seem to remember a date where one guy asked us both out at the same time for the same date, weird. We had fun), hanging out in the courtyard, crying and laughing about some guy, singing, making fun of the west coast fashion and manners, or going on crazy adventures on the city buss. Oh the craziness! We only spent something like 2 1/2 months together but we have stayed best friends ever since. Even though we have only lived in the same state for those two months it feels like she has always been right down the street and just a phone call away. I am so grateful for her and her friendship in my life. She is one of the most spiritual women I know and really look up to her. God's hand is very apparent in us being bffs.

Okay, now for the real reason of this post.

Rachel has released her first cd! It is called "Shine On" and is filled with uplifting arrangements of hymns and primary songs. It is available to download on itunes and the cd (hard copy) is being released today. You can't listen to this cd without smiling and wanting to sing along. She sounds like a combination of a Disney Princes and Mary Poppins in my opinion (little girls will just love it!). Along with this cd Rachel is available for a devotional program (formally known as fireside). Though her album, Shine On, can be enjoyed by all, the program is focused toward Young Women (older Achievement Day girls may be invited as well). The program focuses on shining bright despite the growing challenges in the world today. Her program can also be adapted if you would like it to be for all the youth or for adults.

Okay, now for the give away! I am going to be giving away a autographed copy of her cd "Shine On". All you need to do is:

Leave a comment on this post saying when you would listen to this cd:-) Like in the car, Sunday mornings etc.

If you would like to be entered twice- leave a comment & post a link to her website on your facebook/myspace status www.rachelgubler.com

If you would like to be entered three times- leave a comment, link on facebook, & put a link on your blog. (You don't have to say much just something like "Check this out")

(make sure to tell me in your comment where you posted the link so I can enter your name the appropriate times)

I will be picking the winner on Monday June 28th at 9pm and then will mail out the cd to you asap!

Good luck!

The new ab work out

2010-06-23T19:11:00.000-07:00

First off I should say that I'm really excited because I joined a new gym. It is called Planet Fitness and it is a great deal. It was one dollar to sign up and it is only $10/mo with no contract (month to month basis). (If you sign up for the next level up of $20/mo you get unlimited tanning, unlimited guests, free massage chair use, and half priced drinks.) I'm also excited that this place is right down the street for me and that I have a great work out buddy to keep me motivated.:-)

So, today while I was in the ab section doing crunches with my friend we observed this...

I guess that is the new ab work out- You kick me in the stomach and then I'll kick you in the stomach. I felt pretty bad for the skinny kid when it was his turn to get kicked. Yikes!

Go Lakers!

2010-06-18T10:00:00.001-07:00

No, we weren't part of the rioting in LA but we did our own form of rioting by listening to "We Love LA" in the car on the way to Joe's Italian Ice to get some Joe Lattis. We were pretty wild and crazy:-)

Man, that game was hard to watch. But, Congrats Lakers! The rioting was even harder to watch because Aaron's best friend is LAPD and I always get so worried. Thanks to all the cops that couldn't be home watching the game with their families and friends but had to be policing the streets and putting out fires.

WE LOVE LA!

Notice my cute Lakers purse:-)

Women of Note

2010-06-15T15:57:00.000-07:00

I have been in Women Of Note , an all female choir, for a little over a year now and last winter season Carla, the director, started Men of Note a male quartet and Aaron sings in it. We just finished our spring season concerts and they went really well. If you are in the area and are looking for a choir to sing in, check out the choir's blog for more information. Click here! The day and place that we practice will most likely be changing for the winter season so look for an update!

Laker Love

2010-06-11T11:29:00.000-07:00

This picture pretty much summarizes the game last night.

Coronado Island Love

2010-06-09T10:21:00.000-07:00

I love is this man. He takes such good care of me and puts up with so much. I am truly glad that 5 1/2 years ago that when I met him in the singles ward I knew he was for me:-)

My Mom is in town!

2010-06-01T11:35:00.000-07:00

After almost 1 1/2 years of not seeing my mom, she is in town! It will be a fun week:-)

Baby Boston

2010-05-29T09:27:00.001-07:00

My cute sister-in-law Jodee just had her second baby and we headed over to visit her in the hospital. Baby Boston is a precious little girl that weighed in at just 6lbs 1oz. She looks and feels just like a little doll:-) Jodee looked amazing and has a great delivery story. That girl is a so lucky when it comes to deliveries.

Welcome to the family Boston! We love you!

I think this picture is so cute! She is so wide awake:-)

We ran into this cute couple at the hospital. Stacy just had a baby like 2 weeks ago and you can barely tell.

Boys, boys, boys

2010-05-23T22:26:00.000-07:00

We went over to Art's house on Saturday because one of their bffs was in town. I wonder if guys use the term bff. Probably not. Anyway- Wow, there were a lot of boys there! Art has 4 boys, Dave has 3, and then of course you have to count the big boys Art, Aaron, and Dave.

The basket ball was so intense that the girls (just us three wives) stayed in side.

We missed Ryan and his girls that would have kind of evened out the count. On the plus side I learned how to make really good egg rolls from Jessy (Art's wife). Maybe I'll make them for my next book club:-)

Aaron has been friends with some of these friends since middle school. I have moved around so much it is hard for me to imagine that. Any of you out there still friends with people you knew in middle school? Elementary school?

Congratulations!

2010-05-19T19:24:00.000-07:00

Congratulations To my good friends Emily Jones and Brigham Welch on your engagement.

We love you guys!

Do you know what the Battery is in Baseball?

2010-05-08T20:57:00.000-07:00

I do.

Friday was Darrel's(Aaron's brother)birthday. He invited us to celebrate by going to a Dodger game. We had a great time.

Sometimes I still think it is funny that I enjoy going to these games. If you had asked me 5 years ago if I like baseball games I would have said- "No, not really". That was all before Aaron came into my life. Right off the bat in our dating Aaron was taking me to sporting events. I think the first picture I have of us we are at a Dodger game. At that point I had no idea what was going on in the game but I did enjoy the food and crowd participation but most of all I like the boy sitting next to me. After that I decided to take some interest in Aaron's two favorite sports baseball and basketball. Aaron was so patient with me and answered all of the (dumb)questions I had while we were watching the games. 4 1/2 years later I can talk sports with the best of them. Well, maybe not the best of them because my sports knowledge is limited to anything that happened after 2006 and has to do with the Dodgers and Lakers. But, that being said I do pretty well. I really embraced it.

I think making that small decision to embrace that one thing that Aaron really likes in our marriage really made a huge difference in the long run. Plus, I think that if I had decided to not like it and resent it the person that would have suffered the most would have been me. Now we can both yell at the TV together:-)

Have any of you out there ever embraced something that your significant other loved that you never thought you would like and then end up liking it? Or visa versa?

(Oh, by the way, I am not the only one in our marriage that learned to like something new for the other)
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Aaron takes me to the Ballet! Aaron knows what it is to beret :-)

April book club

2010-05-02T13:58:00.000-07:00

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

For April it was my turn to choose the book. After a suggestion from a fellow book club member I choose The Help by Kathryn Stockett. It was a great book and we all enjoyed talking about it. We couldn't stop laughing about the chocolate pie that Rachel brought (read the book to find out why;). I seriously look forward to our book club meeting all month. The girls are so much fun and we have been having good luck with our book choices.

Mmmmmm have a nice big piece of Chocolate pie!

Happy 35th Birthday to...

2010-04-22T10:34:00.000-07:00

He is the best friend and husband around! I love you and hope you have a fun day!

Goodbye mid 20's, hello late 20's

2010-04-01T10:06:00.000-07:00

(27 years ago)

26 went so fast! I feel like I just wrote my blog entry for turning 26 but here I am again another year older. Each years seems to be going faster and faster. I woke up to my sweet husband singing to me and then some chocolate cake for breakfast so I would have to say that my 27th year is starting off well. So, here goes a quick summary of being 26....

26. Went sailing and learned that you should not set up the food before the boat gets going
25. Went to the mountains & learned that checking your tire chains a couple of times is worth it
24. Started dancing again
23. Got Mono
22. Worked from home for my entire 26th year
21. Started a garden
20. Started sewing
19. I became a lot better at doing apartment maintenance
18. Started reading for pleasure and joined a book club
17. Made a new work-out buddy that turned into a great friend
16. Laughed more than I cried
15. Directed a musical
14. Did my first primary program for Sacrament meeting
13. Became a member of Team Edward, Team Jack, and Team Peeta and Gale (undecided still)
12. Enjoyed eating at Cafe Rio in CA!
11. Ran 5 miles strait. (That is huge for me!)
10. Sang a lot with my husband
9. Got a dog!
8. Made a bunch of new girl friends that I love
7. Made a huge step in the right direction for our financial goals
6. Spent to much time on Facebook
5. Missed my mom and sister
4. Got to see my Bff
3. Baked my first bread & cookies from scratch
2. Loved and appreciated my husband more than ever
1. Became closer to my Heavenly Father and built my testimony in Jesus Christ.

It was a fun year and I am excited to see what 27 will bring! Thank you to everyone who made this past year so fun and I am so blessed to have all of you in my life.

A week without musical rehearsals

2010-03-27T00:12:00.000-07:00

We are just starting to recuperate from our musical last weekend(pictures to follow). We have enjoyed this past week not having rehearsals every night.

Through the musical we met this great girl Devan who played one of the brides. She just started working at a new job at the new Ruby's as a server that opened in Anaheim. She was so sweet and invited us to come to their mock opening and we went! We had a great time being served in our car with the window trays, watching all the rollerskating servers, and eating the tasty food. Thanks Devan!

Our primary had an activity night and we did a multicultural night. We had a ton of kids show up (I wish we had that many on Sundays. I didn't even know some of the kids!) and they all had a blast. All the adults did fantastic jobs decorating each room and doing fantastic presentations. My room didn't have very fun decorations but we did do a spaghetti slurping contest and I gave the kids Italian cookies and chocolate so that made up for it.

One thing that I look forward to every month is our book club. We have the best group of girls and we always have a fun time. This month we read The History of Love which is a good book (I was confused pretty much all the way through. I guess I just wasn't smart enough for this book:) and we did a green theme to celebrate a belated St. Patrick's Day. We had a smaller group this month (last couple months we have had like 10 people show up) but as you can see we had a blast.

I kept forgetting to hit the timer button before taking the picture and we had some arranging issues with the position of everyone on the couch. I thought these pictures were too funny not to post. Notice Erin sleeping in the first pic., the giggles in the second, and the interesting leg positioning in the third.
Not only did we all wear green but all the decorations were green and all the food was green. There was: green fruit tray with a green cream cheese dip (by me), cookies with frosting and green candies (by Angie), green cheesecake with white chocolate topping (by Cece), green pasta with pesto (by Shawna), green cupcakes (by Shawna), green mint chocolate chip ice cream (by Rachel), and green drinks.

We finally got some cute pictures of us and the books...

I loved this green-themed party and want to have a color theme for every party:-) Is that weird?

Today's the day!

2010-03-19T11:49:00.000-07:00

Tonight is opening night of the Musical that I have been directing for the past 6 weeks. Yes, that's right, we have only had 6 weeks to put it together but it really is a top quality show! I am so proud of the cast for learning all the music and lines so fast. I also have the most talented set designer and painter. She did the whole thing in no time at all and it looks better then I could have imagined. She actually does room murals if anyone is looking to ad some super cute art to their nursery or any room really check out her website! I would highly recommend her. I also had a really talented writer write our narration. She has a fun blog- check it out!

So, we have worked really hard on this show and I am hoping to get a good turn out to see it. If you don't have any plans tonight or Saturday night at 7pm come out and see it! It will be worth it to see Aaron in his costume ;-)

Anaheim Stake Center
440 N. Loara St. Anaheim, CA
7pm
Admission fee- canned good donation

Hair party!

2010-03-13T09:35:00.000-08:00

Last night a bunch of girls and I met at Erin's place to have a hair party. It was so much fun and there was so many cute headbands and clips that it was really hard to choose. At one point I probably had 10 headbands and clips in my hands:-) This hair party was a really great idea for a girls night out. If you want to have a party with your friends or just want to order some cute accessories check out this website.

A new favorite of mine

2010-03-10T10:05:00.000-08:00

Those of you that were at the "Favorites Party" at Karen's house know that one of my favorite things is my Apple cutter.

That may seem like a silly thing to be one of my favorites but it is. I love apples however, I don't really like eating them whole(it's messy and the skin bothers me sometimes). But with my great apple slicer it cuts it into nice little slices for me:-)

One of my favorite fruits is mango. I really love them and apparently have loved them since I was a baby and my mom would give me the pit from the mango, that she had frozen, to chew on while I was teething. However, yet again it is kind of a hassle and mess to cut a mango successfully. With that in mind, you can imagine how excited I was when I saw this and then my loving husband bought it for me!

I was a little nervous that it wouldn't work well or that it wouldn't fit the mango right and waste a lot the fruit or something like that. But it didn't! It is my new favorite and since the mangos have been on sale a lot lately we have been enjoying a lot of fresh mangos in our home. I would highly recommend it. So, if invited to another "Favorites Party" expect to be getting one of these:-)

So, now it is sitting on my shelf right next to my apple slicer and a couple of my other favorite things in the kitchen- this and this. The next thing on my list is this :-)

Why have I not been posting a lot?

2010-03-06T10:02:00.000-08:00

This is why...

The Anaheim stake is putting on a production of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and guess who got put in charge? Yup, you guessed it! So, any spare time I have has been dedicated to putting together this musical. I was given only 6 weeks to put it together but I have been blessed with a really talented cast that has learned and memorized everything in record time.

Aaron is also busy at rehearsals as he has been cast as Gideon (one of the brothers).

So, there is only 2 weeks left till the performance and I am officially going crazy with Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. I have been having weird dreams for the last few nights about it:-)

All of you that are in the area should come out to see it!

Friday, March 19, 2010 at 7:00pm
Saturday, March 20th at 7:00pm
Location:	Anaheim Stake Center
Street:	440 N. Loara St.
City/Town:	Anaheim, CA

The show is going to be really great! We are not asking for any admission fee but we are asking for a canned good donation that will go to Halcyon House (who help the homeless in the area).

I hope to see you there!

Introducing Luke!

2010-02-24T14:12:00.000-08:00

Last night Aaron and I were able to bring home Luke. He is our new little Maltese. He is 7 months old and weighs about 6 lbs. He is doing so well adjusting to our home! I took a video and some pictures of him last night and wanted to share.

Marly's edible arrangements

2010-02-22T10:09:00.000-08:00

For the "February birthdays" party at the Christensens' I decided to make something for the birthday people. So, I bought a bunch of fruit, chocolate for melting, candy bars, and had my good friend Cece over. We spent the night melting, dipping, baking, frosting and sampling.

One of our favorite things that we made was our apple pops. I used my melon-baller to cut apple balls, then we dipped them in caramel and/or chocolate, then rolled them in chopped-up candy bars. They turned out like mini-caramel apples and were the perfect size!

The chocolate dipped pineapple turned out to be the trickiest part. The chocolate just did not want to stick! Anyone know how Edible Arrangements does it? Well, maybe I'll perfect it next time.

The next morning I put everything together into arrangements. I think they turned out really cute!

The best part was when I got a call from Dad Christensen the next day saying that he just loved it and thought it was really yummy:-) I had so much fun making them I think I might make them again for the March birthdays.

Happy Groundhog Day!

2010-02-02T10:12:00.000-08:00

Phil Says Six More Weeks!

Phil's official forecast as read February 2nd, 2010 at sunrise at Gobbler's Knob:

Hear Ye Hear Ye Hear Ye

On Gobbler's Knob on this glorious Groundhog Day, February 2nd, 2010, Punxsutawney Phil, Seer of Seers, Prognosticator of all Prognosticators awoke to the call of President Bill Deeley and greeted his handlers, John Griffiths and Ben Hughes.

After casting a joyful eye towards thousands of his faithful followers, Phil proclaimed, "If you want to know next, you must read my text. As the sky shines bright above me, my shadow I see beside me. So six more weeks of winter it will be."

Happy Groundhog Day everyone! What's your favorite Groundhog's day quote?

We've been tagged!

2010-01-27T09:23:00.000-08:00

We were tagged by my good friend in Ohio Valerie to join in the Happy 101. How it works is you list 10 things that make you happy and then tag some people to pass it on to. Then they HAVE to list ten things that make them happy. Okay so here it goes...

10.Joe's Italian Ice (vanilla soft serve dipped in banana shell and then rolled in rainbow sprinkles-to be specific:-)
9. Christmas time
8. Cafe Rio pork salad
7. A freshly vacuumed home
6. Trips to Arrowhead
5. Going to Church and book club (okay, I know that is two things but the book club is with my church girl friends so I think it's okay)
4. Music- especially when I get to sing with my husband
3. Date night
2. Dancing
1. My Husband

Once I get started thinking about what makes me happy it was kind of hard to just narrow it down to 10! A LOT of things make me happy and I'm grateful for all of them in my life.

Okay, now this is who I am tagging...

Stories from Apartment Managers (because I think it will be fun to see what makes an apartment manager happy:)
Braden * Jodee * Brighton
Abe & Holly

Happy In Love

The peterson's

Have fun!

The flood of 2010

2010-01-23T09:58:00.000-08:00

We had 5 days of rain storms. It is amazing to me how Southern California is not prepared for rain. So, the streets were flooded and I had two roof leaks at my property but Aaron and I LOVED IT! Aaron lucked out and only had to work two days this last week so he could stay home and enjoy it with me.

Check out this beautiful rainbow Aaron recorded on his drive home yesterday.

We don't have to run the sprinklers for like a month now! Anyone else secretly love these storms?

I know all of you Midwest and East coasters are probably laughing at us out here:-) It has been like a normal spring time week in the Midwest and East coast. Give us a break, we are delicate over here.

Chop Chop!

2010-01-21T10:13:00.000-08:00

When we were doing our wedding registry we registered for a set of knives. Our criteria for picking them out consisted of "well, those will match our color scheme". Four years later this is what my knives looked like...

Ewwww, gross! And really embarrassing when we have dinner parties. I really tried to fix them by scrubbing them, soaking /cleaning them with CLR (which just ended up making them worse). When one day my wonderful husband said "Okay, we are going to buy you new knives TODAY."

So, we headed out to Target (because we had a $50 gift card for Target from one of my great residents) later that day and came home home with these.

I don't really enjoy spending money (even if I have a gift card) so Aaron had to do his best sales pitch, but we decided to just spend a little extra for a good set so we don't have to repeat this in another 3 years.

Out with the old! And in with the new!

Next on the list.... New pans. Anyone have a good suggestion for pans that you love? Otherwise, I'm going to just end up going with the "well, those will match our color scheme" method. And we all know how well that works ;-)

Two exciting things this week...

2010-01-13T10:55:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we were down in Newport Beach for an appointment and so we decided to take a little trip for lunch and went here...

Oh sooooo good! They had "I would sell my soul for a pork salad" painted on the wall, well, yes the pork salad IS that good. We were surprised that we didn't see anyone we know there. However, we did feel like we were temporarily transported to somewhere in Utah. The LDS members were everywhere:-) Love it when I can get caffeine free, diet coke at a restaurant!

The next exciting thing is that Aaron started up a new semester teaching at USC today. He wore the new outfit I bought him for Christmas (all UCLA colors) for his first class. I bought it specifically with his teaching at USC in mind. We are UCLA fans in this home:-) He does such a good job and his students love him. I love to see how happy this job makes him.

Other than that and me being sick AGAIN( why is it that Aaron will get a "tickle" in his throat and then be better and a few days later I will get a "tickle" in my throat and then be full on sick for days!?) there is nothing else going on around here.

Ringing in the New Year Medieval Style

2010-01-02T16:21:00.000-08:00

"What are we going to do for New Year's Eve?"
"What do YOU want to do for New Year's Eve?"
"I want to do something fun for New Year's Eve; what can we do?"

I swear we start saying those thing to each other in October. About 1 week till the big night (still with no plans) I got an email from my favorite travel website with some deals, and I saw that Medieval Times was having a New Year's Eve Extravaganza. They were offering $20 off each ticket, and the deal sounded good. For $50 per person we got 2 tickets into the show, 2 tickets into the Museum of Torture, hors d'oeuvres before the show, 4 course dinner, a celebration package for the countdown (noise makers, commemorative cup, champagne/sparkling cider), a dance w/DJ after the show, balloon drop with the countdown, and a continental breakfast after that. Compared to everything else I found to do it was a great deal. Now, we were a little worried that it was going to be too juvenile, but we were pleasantly surprised. Actually, we kind of liked that it was a little more family-friendly.

When we arrived we were welcomed by friendly staff, and the courtyard was beautiful.

Next we went through the Museum of Torture. It was crazy! Yes, this is a chastity belt...

After we had hors d'oeuvres we were seated and the show started. We were on the green team which happened to be the bad guy's team. But we had fun cheering for the villain:-)

While we watched the show we were served a 4-course dinner that was really yummy (it surpassed our expectations). Eating with our hands turned out to be fun!

The show ended at 11:30pm, and then we headed to the dance floor and danced while we waited for the countdown.

Then there was a bunch of kissing, toasting, noise, and balloons!

We took a few pictures with the stars...

...and paid a visit to the horses. They were so beautiful!

Then we danced some more, and, finally, we enjoyed our continental breakfast.

Overall it was a wonderful night. I would recommend it for anyone--even those of you with kids. There were plenty of kids there and they were having a ball!

2009 was a great year for us, a step in the right direction. We are excited to see what the Lord has in store for us in 2010. We hope you had a great night and that you have a fantastic 2010!

P.S. I can't really think of any clever saying for 2010 (like "Feeling fine in 2009" etc.) Nothing really rhymes with 2010. Can you think of anything?

Happy 5th Birthday Katie!

2009-12-29T12:30:00.001-08:00

We were so excited to get a call from the Danleys inviting us to celebrate Katies 5th birthday on Monday night with them at Downtown Disney. We weren't able to meet up at Disney so we invited them over for cake and ice cream after dinner. We had a great time and Katie got some great gifts!

I baked a cake. I have never claimed to be a baker. For some reason I just don't think I have enough patience for it. I can never seem to wait for the cake to cool before I frost it. I always try to have good presentation for the food I make but this was the best I could do.

Little Piper got in on the balloon fun.

Katie got a really cool digital camera from Mom and Dad and it was a HUGE hit! The rest of the night consisted of "photo ops." for Katie:-)

There was special gifts for Katie hidden in the balloons so there was some poppin' going on for a while:-) Jake was so gracious to help.

(you will hear a little confusion at the end of the video for what birthday we are celebrating. Ooops!)

Happy Birthday Katie!

Christmas lights to music

2009-12-28T13:49:00.000-08:00

There is a house a little bit down Brookhurst from us that we drive by all the time. Every time we drive by we say something like "that house is crazy" "what were they thinking with those lights?" or "That house is going to make someone have a seizure". Then the other night we drove by and Aaron made a quick u-turn and we checked the house out. There was a sign in front that said "tune to 93.1" so we did and that is when every thing started to make sense. The whole house and lights were choreographed to the music! So now we think it is really cool and we wanted to share it with you!

Aaron and Marly sing you a Christmas Song

2009-12-23T14:19:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Where the magic all started.

2009-12-21T23:05:00.000-08:00

Every year we celebrate the anniversary of our first date (5 years ago!) by repeating the date. I remember when Aaron asked me to go out on a date with him and I was so excited. Well, every year I get just as excited as that first time to go have dinner at Hof's Hut and then go look at Christmas lights in Torrance. Because of our busy schedules this year we postponed this date later than usual. Usually the neighborhood is pretty busy, but this year it was incredible! From the brass bands to Mr. and Mrs. Clause to the Churro stand we had a blast. Here are some pictures of the highlights.

First we had dinner at Huf's Hut then off to see the lights...

We were welcomed by a brass band playing Christmas carols.

Next we saw Mr. And Mrs. Clause greeting all the children on the streets.

There is nothing like a warm Churro on a cool night :-) (Aaron took this picture b/c he liked the Rams lamp).

Aaron posing with some Poinsettia plants (Pronunciation of that word is still under debate in our family).

This was just one of the hundreds of vehicles driving around the neighborhood. It was a huge party.

I broke out the Santa hat to be festive:-)

Not only is EVERY house decorated but EVERY tree lining the street is decorated. It is really hard to capture how beautiful it is in a picture but we tried.

No words needed :-) lol!

This is our favorite house. This was our 6th time going to visit. I secretly hope that in about 10 years it goes up for sale so we can buy it (that's probably when we could afford it).

Who knew that first date would lead to this happy married couple?
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(Okay, I did)

Aaron and Marly

Whom will Dane look like?

40 weeks! and not much to report

January Book Club

A Muppets Baby Shower

Dane and Roan...

When will baby Dane arrive?

Project 52 wrap up

Making and executing 52 goals sounded pretty much impossible around this time last year. I am really glad that I made the goals and realized just having them written down helped me stay focused on accomplishing them. So here is what I got done with some thoughts...

Project 52 Goals

37 weeks. A full term baby!

Merry Christmas to me!

35 Weeks

We got a new camera...

30 weeks, maternity pics, and belly pics.

Happy Halloween!

25 Weeks

Half way there, Somersaults, baby bump, & advice please.

Our little baby boy

Being Pregnant is crazy! (and belly pics)

Expecting!

Project 52 Update

Want to win a free photo session...

Easter Sunday

April so far has been exciting

It's My Birthday!

Shawna's Tea Time Baby Shower

Project 52 update

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I'm going. Want to join me?

How We Roll

I'm crazy...

Four letter words in our home

February Book club

Project 52 update

You should go check this out...

Christmas through New years

Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior

Project 52

We are in a couple upcoming concerts

My Thanksgiving morning

Black Friday.

Sneak Peak

No boys allowed?

Out trip, the cliff's notes version.

Today is the last day!

Do you like John Grisham?

Fun Fact Friday!

Fun Fact Friday

I got a haircut!

Fun Fact Friday

You can make the pathway bright

‎"You have had those days, weeks, months, or years too. You have had those times where you just didn't know how you would make it through. And then, the Spirit whispers exactly what God wants to teach you. My lesson was this..."

Save The Date! October 15th and 16th

Yes, this did happen...

One picture One word Labor Day

A beautiful blog post...

Summer, Summer, Summer Time!

The Invisible Man and Married Women

Forgiveness: My Burden Was Made Light

I Love to See the Temple

Great Craft Blog

Don't mess with these guys...

Little Penelope Lane Party & Recipes

Hair party! Come one, come all!

Did you know...

Craft night skirts

"Come out and play?"

Busy week!

Team Edward

Okay, I'm probably to excited about this...

And the winner is....

An Addition to the Give Away!

home-n-family copy of sheet music for Stand Upand Be Counted that's on the CD!

Shine On GIVEAWAY!

The new ab work out

Go Lakers!

Women of Note

Laker Love

Coronado Island Love

home-n-family copy of sheet music for Stand Up
and Be Counted that's on the CD!