Worshipping at the Red Bullseye!

TARGET PRACTICE

I guess I don't really need any "Target Practice," but I have to say it's lots of fun. After helping in my kids' school today and picking up Rilyn from preschool I ran to Target. I was looking for a big purse/bag/tote for my trip to Utah to Women's Conference later this week. I realized I do not want to check any luggage and so I will use my husbands carry on luggage but I need a big ol' bag too, that I can stuff under the seat. Anyway, I figured Target would be the perfect place.

First I found a big black one that was on clearance for $17.48 (half price) and then I found a brown mock crock one for $29.99 (it has more of the clean, crisp look). I could not decide which one to get. I called my sister but she wasn't home. I should have had a girlfriend with me to help me decide but instead I had my 2 regular sidekicks, Rilyn and Tyler.

They didn't help with the decision any. Well, Rilyn liked the mock crock one better and I admit, I am a sucker for mock crock, I LOVE it. But I wanted something maybe not quite so formal looking. Ahhh -- who would have thought this would be such a big deal. I ended up deciding on neither of them for now and ALMOST walked out of the store empty handed!

But then I remembered a few things I needed and ka-ching! $29 later I was out of the store!! I'm still having the same problem I last posted about in regards to spending!! I keep going through my mind, do I need the bag? Part of me says find something that you already have and the other part of me says you don't have anything like that because you rarely travel! This is my first trip away in 8 years other than my Grandma's funeral in February.

So, I think I've decided to check Ross and see what they have in the purse/bag/tote department. They usually have cute stuff. But it's getting to Ross when I have a gazillion other things to do as well!

Another day, Another dollar

ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER DOLLAR...
Spent THAT IS.

It seems like we spend $30 bucks here, and $40 there every single day. And that's when we don't have any groceries to buy or other needed stuff for around the house. I keep wondering how this miscellaneous stuff adds up so fast...

Today it was paying a doctor copay for me. I woke up with a UTI. Even though it's only the 4th UTI I think I've ever had, I knew it was bad because it started off painful, it didn't have to build into it. So I dropped the kids off at school and went directly to my doctor's office walk-in clinic. I love having the doctors office with convenient walk-in hours. Basically it's the convenience of an Urgent Care with the cost of a regular doctors office.

The nurse who started off helping me told me how I was the second patient she had seen this morning with a UTI. And this is not for the squeamish or faint of heart. She said the other gal brought her back a couple ounces of blood for her urine sample. I'm thinking no problem, that will not be the case with me. Guess what, it was! Although mine was just pink, but still. That is the first time I've ever had that lovely occurance.

I dropped off my prescription to be filled at the pharmacy. And my intention was to run to The Sports Authority to get Kyle his heart guard and batting glove for baseball and run back to pick up the prescription. Well when I got to the sporting goods place I couldn't find the heart guard. I wasn't even sure what I was looking for. There were no clerks to be found. Tyler was trying on all the batting helmets.

I hurriedly called Laren at his work on my cell phone. He described for me the smallish, diamond-shaped plastic piece that I should be looking for. I'll be darned if I could find it anywhere. So I asked a guy who was looking at a $159 bat if he knew. I figured if someone was looking at a bat that expensive that he must know something about baseball and heart guards. Well, he didn't.

Meanwhile, I lost Tyler. So I ran to the front of the store and told the clerk at the cash registers that my blonde haired 2 year old was missing and please not to let him run out of the store. The store was virtually empty. She said she wouldn't. I went back over to the baseball section with Rilyn and there we found Tyler throwing neon yellow baseballs across the floor.

I grabbed him up and took him to find a clerk to help. The clerk looked and said all of the heart guards were sold out but he could check another store. So while we purchased the licorice I bought for bribery, and the glove, and baseballs the man called around. He could not find another store that had any remaining. Finally, he found one in Superior. It's a ways from where I am but my son needs this tonight.

So I drive all the way over there, get it and head back. Because of the location of the pharmacy where my prescription is waiting, I take an unfamiliar way back and get lost for about 10 minutes before I manage to get my bearings straight.

We got back and the prescription that was supposed to be ready in 30 minutes, still isn't ready 2 hours later!! So we had to wait another 5-10 minutes for that. Thankfully we were at the drive-thru of Walgreens and the kids were asleep. We finally got home with about $38.44 less in my purse plus whatever my copay ends up costing (they will bill the insurance their part first), and whatever the cost of the gas I burned by driving 86 miles.

Why is it that we cannot seem to manage hardly a day without going through money like it is water? And the sad part is, the day is not done and so likely there will be something else we have to get! I think I'm going to go on a spending diet.

Getting the Word Out

Inflammatory Breast Cancer

I just want to get the word out there about this often undetected breast cancer. As I have mentioned, my Mom is in the process of being tested to see if she has this or not.

For now, we do not know for sure. But I have done quite a lot of research on this and have found out that because of lack of awareness women are not getting diagnosed and treated in time. I am surprised at this lack of awareness about this type of breast cancer and feel as though if more women knew, it could be detected sooner and their longevity increased.

Please spread the word about this to all the women you know. If you want to, you can post this information on your own blog as well. We need to save lives and this is one way we can make a difference.

You don’t have to have a lump in your breast to have breast cancer.

Inflammatory breast cancer or IBC is a very aggressive cancer. Inflammatory breast cancer usually grows in nests or sheets, rather than as a confined, solid tumor and therefore can be diffuse throughout the breast with no palpable mass. The cancer cells clog the lymphatic system just below the skin. Lymph node involvement is assumed.

One or more of the following are Typical Symptoms of IBC:
· Swelling, usually sudden, sometimes a cup size in a few days
· Itching
· Pink, red, or dark colored area (called erythema) sometimes with texture similar to the skin of an orange (called peau d'orange)
· Ridges and thickened areas of the skin
· What appears to be a bruise that does not go away
· Nipple retraction
· Nipple discharge, may or may not be bloody
· Breast is warm to the touch
· Breast pain (from a constant ache to stabbing pains)
· Change in color and texture of the areola


A surprising portion of young women with IBC had their first symptoms during pregnancy or lactation. The misconception that these young women are at lower risk for breast cancer and the fact that IBC is the most aggressive form of breast cancer may result in metastases when the diagnosis is made.

Some women who have inflammatory breast cancer may remain undiagnosed for long periods, even while seeing their doctor to learn the cause of her symptoms. The symptoms are similar to mastitis, a breast infection and some doctors, not recognizing IBC, will prescribe antibiotics. If a response to antibiotics is not apparent after a week, a biopsy should be performed or a referral to a breast specialist is warranted.

Whether my own Mom has this or not, I feel as women, we need to keep each other informed so that we might help each other overcome potential problems or diseases that affect us as women.

Hump Day

Wednesday

I've been kind of slacking with my blogging lately. I've had some more issues in dealing with my Mom and her symptoms that have been really bothersome. As it is turning out, she has about 6 or 7 of the 10 or so symptoms for inflammatory breast cancer. This is not the type of breast cancer that gives you a lump in your breast. So it is hard to detect and most doctors do not even know about it.

She is going in for a surgical biopsy next week and then it will probably take another week to get the results back. But she went in and had a nurse at a Breast Cancer Center examine her and told her it did not look good and she definitely needed the biopsy. So, pardon my absence, that has taken a great deal of my time and energy lately.

On Monday I, at the last minute, invited a friend over for lunch. She came over and brought her 2 kids as well as one she was babysitting. We all ate and had great conversation. It was lots of fun.

This particular friend recently found herself divorced, her husband left her for another woman a year or so ago, and so she is dating again. So she told me all about the ups and downs of that. We toured my house and I showed her all that we were working on around here. Anyway, it was just enjoyable to gab and catch up. She and I team teach our Sunbeam class and we seldom get a chance to do any catching up at church.

On Monday late afternoon it started raining.

The rainy day.

It was a downpour from then until sometime in the night last night. It was really a good, soaking rain. We don't get rain like that too often around here and so it was good to get. But since we have nothing but dirt in our yard (on all 4 sides), our yard is now mud!

Rilyn and Tyler looking out the sliding glass door, wishing they could go out.

The birds took up residence on our front porch and I could hear them chirping most of the day yesterday. That was sweet and enjoyable! Because it was rainy and kind of bleak out I made Chili for dinner and homemade bread. As I was taking the bread out of the oven, I kept thinking I should be sharing the bread with someone else too. Then when Laren called on his way home from work it donned on me that I should take it to our elderly neighbor, Wilbur, and his wife since she has been sick with Shingles.

Bread in the making. I forgot to get a picture of the loaves before they were devoured. Now they are all gone!

So Kyle, Alyssa, Rilyn and I set out in the rain with our umbrella's and hot bread to take to the neighbors. It was nice to finally meet Wilbur's wife (even though I have already forgotten her name!). They are a nice couple in their 80's or so. My kids loved them because they had a couple of candy dishes and they were so insistent that my kids have some!

We ended up having Family Home Evening last night since Kayla has running club on Mondays and Kyle has baseball. Laren made some whipping cream for the Angel Food Cake we had bought and I went up to our room to watch some TV so I would not have to be around during the dessert and be tempted! The homemade bread has already blown my calorie budget!!

This morning, after getting the kids off to school, Tyler and I went visiting teaching. The gal I visit is also going to Women's Conference next week, as am I and also my sister. But she is going with a friend and I'm flying over with my sister. It should be a fun weekend.

And yesterday, because it was so rainy I forgot to check my mail. So I went to my mailbox this morning and found this sweet surprise, "just because" from Jenny.

A GOOD MAIL package, "Just Because!" And it couldn't have come on a better day.

Some cute purple ribbon with pink flowers, some K sticky notes, a flower sticky note pad, and a stamp that says,

"of all possessions, a FRIEND is the MOST PRECIOUS."

what a great saying!

Thank you Jenny, I LOVE all of it!! And you really cheered me up on this difficult day!

Weekend Recap

The Weekend in Review

Our weekend turned into another busy one. On Saturday we had 2 Soccer games in the morning. It seems like we spent a good hour searching for first Kayla's jersey and then Rilyn's. We had told them last week that whatever was not picked up in their rooms would go in a bag--maybe to never be seen again. They did not care and neither did we, so we had Alyssa pick up all the excess clutter and put it in a trash bag. We told Kayla she could do the same for Alyssa's room if it wasn't picked up.

Well, the bag of miscellaneous clutter ended up out in the garage. We had long since forgotten about it and so had the girls, obviously! After praying about where the jersey's might be, I had the thought to check the bag. And after looking, yep, it was there!! Our feelings of celebrations were short-lived when each of their teams lost their games, and worse, they had to now come home and clean what they hadn't last week. They actually had to sort through the bag of clutter and put it away. Can we say weeping and wailing and knashing of teeth?

Laren spent most of the day working on the yard again. Now he has torn out even more of our fence and is digging a ditch to place a plastic pipe to funnel the water from our patio out of the backyard that slopes down our property line towards the street. It feels like this endless project will never end.

Here is what we have left to do: Finish digging the ditch, put the pipe in, bury the pipe, put fence posts back in, put fence panels back up, move landscape rock back into place, finish digging (with shovel) in the backyard by the utilities, bury electrical line deeper (don't know how we will accomplish that without getting electricuted!), dig trenches in back for sprinkler system, install sprinkler system in back.

Repair sprinkler system in front, mix topsoil in both front and back, sod or plant grass seed. AND...if we get that far we might just take a break before we put in a block retaining wall by our back fence and plant trees, shrubs, flowers, etc...

Although, it is killing me to not have a place to plant flowers yet. But I do plan on planting some in my pots in just a couple more weeks after I can be assured it will not freeze for the season. And I did buy a lilac bush at Costco which I desperately want planted but Laren stuck it in the garage and there it sits. I'm worried it is going to die, if it hasn't already, before we get a place good enough to plant it!!

Sunday we went to church. I taught the lesson and my team teacher didn't come again. She was feeling under the weather. All 8 Sunbeams were there. Who knew that 8 three year olds could be so well-behaved? Not me. They were excellent yesterday!! I'm hoping for some repeats of that for sure!

Then yesterday evening we had some friends over for dessert. They have 3 girls, each just one year older than each of my 3 girls. So it was great fun for them. Tyler tagged along with Rilyn and Sydney, and Kyle kind of hung by himself at the computer. He was bummed they had no boys for him to play with. We had a great visit, we will definitely do that again.

This morning it has been a slow start. Because of my late nights on the weekend, I was unable to fall asleep before about 12:30am last night. So then of course I didn't want to get up this morning. We were nearly late getting the kids to school again, this time because Kayla was working on some last minute poster for her report on bears this morning.

After getting Rilyn to preschool it was such a nice morning that Tyler and I set out on a Monday morning jog. Well, I didn't realize that the baby jogger had a flat tire until we were heading down our street. I thought about turning back but decided against it because I knew if I did that might be the end of my momentum. So I kept going, wishing most of the way I hadn't!

It was really hard to steer and I went a route that took us up a slight incline and the breeze was blowing against us too. I'm not sure how far we went, but I was unusually winded at the onset. I huffed and puffed the whole way and we only lasted 15 minutes. It's not a whole lot but I keep telling myself it's better than nothing!

I picked up my phone to make a phone call and my phone is down, darned Vonage! So I decided before I would try to fix it I must check my emails to see if I had any messages. And then of course once I got on to check my emails, I had to come over and blog a little!! (Anyone else get sucked into blogging like that?)

So, here's to a good week **:00:**

It's Not Everyday

IT'S NOT EVERYDAY

It's not everyday that you are getting ready to go to the store and you notice two neighbors outside working. One is helping the other wire a flatbed trailer. The irony is that one is a young, big black guy and another is an elderly white man in his eighties.

So before our trip to Kohl's we go meet the two neighbors, neither of which we had previously met. It turns out they are both very nice (just as I had figured). Wilbur says he is caring for his ailing wife. And in the course of conversation, Darius says he is a retired professional ball player. I ask what kind of ball. He tells me Football for the Denver Broncos. His last season was in '04. I ask him what brought him here to the neighborhood, he said he likes the country life and that this is what he likes as he grew up in New Mexico. Wilbur said he and his wife came here to escape the busy traffic in his old neighborhood. They had expanded the Boulder Turnpike and it was nearly in his yard, he said.

It's not everday you take your 4 and 2 year old to the store (Kohls and Michaels) and they are both good for you.

It's not everyday your husband calls and says he will come home early if I want to go to the temple.

It's not everyday you win a free book that you actually wanted.

It's not everyday Grandma sends this beautiful dress she made for her beautiful granddaughter just because she asked her for a new dress.

It's not everyday your Visiting Teacher surprises you with this.

It's not everyday you are given a free bed. The timing is especially important because you are having out of town guests in a few weeks and really needed someplace for them to sleep.

I love days like today, I feel so blessed!!

Threes

THREE'S.......



Both Jill and Jenny invited others to share their 3's. Here are mine.

I LOVE
My Husband
My Kids
Daisy's

I MISS
Living closer to mountains and pine trees.
Being a student.
Warm weather on a cold April Day, the kind of weather we had in Arizona this time of year.

I HATE
Cleaning up the same messes over and over again.
Insomnia.
Arrogant people.

People who make me Laugh
My friend Heidi L. (since I have like 4 friends named Heidi!)
My son Tyler.
My daughter Rilyn.

SCARE ME
Crazy drivers
Big Dogs (especially Rotweillers and Pitbulls)
Heights

On my Desk
My Computer CPU, thanks Laren!
Bills to be paid.
A pen.

I Want to Do in this Life
Exceed mediocrity, in all areas of my life!
Help others whenever I am able.
Teach my children all that they need to learn.

Things I CAN do
I can make others feel comfortable pretty easily.
Sew curtains.
Make good bread.

Things I CAN'T do
Drive a semi-truck.
Fly an airplane.
Live on little sleep for long.

Things I would like to Learn
To be more organized.
How to be more balanced in life.
Photography.

I REGRET
Not having someone else do my hair for my wedding.
Not being more confident in my younger years.
Not trying harder in my College Writing class.

Favorite Foods
Pizza
Fruit Salad made with various fresh fruits
Tacos

Favorite TV shows as a kid
Growing Pains
Little House on the Prairie
Jeopardy (I was a game show nut!)

WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR 3's??

SPT $100 virtual shopping

She photographs on Tuesdays

This challenge was to spend a virtual $100 on any one thing of my choosing to wear. And it had to be for me. Oh there have been so many thoughts that have went through my mind on what I could possibly get with that money. My first inclination was clothes, obviously! But I also thought of shoes. There are some really great shoes out there. I also love handbags. I don't really have more than 2 or so but I oogle at them all the time.

But speaking of clothes, I have had my eyes on some True Religion Jeans, but they are more than $100, in fact they are often times over $200.

Although I have seen them sometimes go for less than $100 on ebay and I did see some in Costco recently for around $78. So for something to wear for me I would choose these that are currently at around $71 on ebay but I'm sure the price will go up since there is still a day and a half on the auction.

Kohls is one of my very favorite stores to buy clothes. I also like Target. And since Target is closer, I took a trip there and looked around. Target is one of my favorite places to shop. Of course I always wish things were cheaper than they are.

Me at Target yesterday.

I know, kind of cheating here. But if I can't get my jeans, I will wear this! Or rather my house will wear this!! LOL

Front porch swing



I think it would look great here, on my front porch.

I have always wanted a porch swing for my front porch. Yet I had never really had a front porch or not one big enough until now in this house. I love front porches and porch swings. And with warm weather on it's way, this would be the perfect thing to spend the money on!

Thanks Lelly, for another fun challenge!!

Great Quote

"Every Accomplishment Starts with the Decision to Try!"

I love that quote and hopefully I will continue to stay motivated. I find it interesting how motivating words can be, at times!! So here's to a productive week!!

Positive Life Changes

Positive Life Changes:

I am slowly working on changing some things in my life for the better, I hope. And it helps me to journal about them. And since my blog has more or less taken over for my personal journal, I'm recording them here.

Since my big weight loss I have been able to maintain my weight so far. But lately, in the past 2-3 months I have not watched what I have eaten quite so well though I have done better with the exercise lately I'm still striving to do better since I'm training for the race next month.

So obviously, I'm working on diet. I'm surprised my weight hasn't really crept up as I've not been quite so strict with myself on eating. Though it has crept up about 2.5 pounds. I have managed to stay pretty steady at 108. And I'd rather be at 108 and eat what I want than to be at 106 and have to watch constantly. Those 2 pounds don't affect how my clothes fit and I'm still at a healthy weight for my frame so I can be okay with that weight.

And with exercise, I'm documenting my exercise for today only for me to have it for future reference to be able to compare it with when I documented it in my Wacky post last Friday. I also want to be able to compare it to future exercise I will do. Plus it seems as though I surpassed the number of calories I burned on Friday long before I ever hit the 32:33 seconds of exercise (the magic number I did the elliptical last week). So I want to investigate why that is since I did work out at a higher intensity for longer on Friday.

656 calories burned.
205 fat calories burned.
40:30 time I exercised on the elliptical.
Resistance: 9 for 11 minutes; 8 for 29:30

Also, we are trying to have people over more. We've been doing good with that, but we need to keep it up. This is not the easiest thing for us because it is not the way either of us grew up. And Laren just isn't a super social sort of guy. Although personally, I do prefer being social.

And finally my housework. I'm trying to keep that up as well. I'm still really lacking but at least I'm making more progress now than I did before.

Here are my Mom/housework goals for today:

*Laundry (1-2 loads only, washed, dried folded & put away)
*Pick up house (Do a 10 min tidy morning & evening)
*Vacuum
*Declutter Paper
*Clean Bathrooms
*Make VTing appts.
*Make well child Dr. appts. for Kayla and Kyle
*Make appt. for family and individual pictures
*Take Kayla to and from Running Club
*Take Kyle to Baseball practice.
*Make sure Laren gets our State Taxes out.
*Get my pics and stuff together for SPT Tuesday!
*Make dinner (leftovers!)
*Make sure my kids do their homework and chores.
*Spend time with my kids.

So far today,

-I've exercised for 40 minutes
-gotten all the kids off to school
-made arrangements for Kayla and 2 of her friends to practice their dance for -the school talent show tryouts tomorrow during lunch. The talent show tryouts are on Wednesday.
-called one of the friends' Mom to let her know they need the music on the mp3 player and they can feed it into the stereo in that way for their tryouts, and also that the girls need to bring a sack lunch as they will practice during lunch time and eat during recess time.

Nice Sunday.

Nice Sunday

It was another busy day. I don't know why life is so busy lately! Because we were having company over for dinner I had another Sunday of getting food prepared in the morning so it would be ready to go right after church.

About an hour before Church I got a call saying my team teaching companion for Sunbeams wouldn't be there and it was her turn to teach so she wanted me to do it for her. Yep, I can do that! It just added to my crazy busy morning, but really I'm happy she could get a weekend away and that I could help her out!!

Speaking of Sunbeams, the little rascals were actually quite well behaved today--at least considering how they usually are!! And there are 8 kids in the class and usually we average about 5 or so each week. Of course we had to have 7 of the 8 there today, which was great on the one hand but added some extra chaos on the other hand!!!

After church we raced home. I made a green salad and a fruit sald to go with our pork shoulder loin ribs and scalloped potatoes and baguette bread. It was a race to get it all done in time, plus get the house picked up and deal with 5 rowdy kids, but we did it! The only thing was the potatoes didn't quite get done in time. Now I remember why I never make scallop potatoes, they are too much work and then take forever to cook!!

Our neighbor, Hap, ended up getting called out on a train derailment right before they were supposed to come over for dinner. (He works for Amtrak.) So Amy and her infant daughter Jordan and her little guy Jack came over without him. I gave her a tour of our house while we waited for the potatoes to finish cooking. I left Laren in charge of the potatoes and they ended up getting a little overcooked. Oh well.

It was fun. They stayed for 3 hours and our kids were totally wound up by the time they left. We hurried and got our kids off to bed and I came in here to blog and relax. I have to have some "me time" to unwind after a really busy day.

Also, Nick came back as promised and finished moving all the dirt with the Bobcat. Actually there is some left, but it is too close to the utilities (electric and cable lines) to get any closer with the machine. Laren will have to hand dig the rest with the shovel. But Nick literally saved us hundreds of dollars (we didn't have to rent the Bobcat) and many hours and months worth of hand labor that Laren would have spent shoveling the dirt by hand.

Our neighbor Nick, finishing up moving the dirt.

The pork shoulder loin ribs that I bought at Albertson's sale for $1 a pound. Hey in case you didn't know, Albertson's is having a great sale on a few things this week including this meat and also Reese's puffs cereal, Cheerios, Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Lucky Charms for just $1 per box but you have to have the coupon on the box to get the deal. Otherwise they will charge you $1.50 per box, which is still a good deal!

Some of the fruit salad we had for dinner. I love fruit salad made from fresh fruit!

The Chocolate Mousse Tuxedo Cake. This was SO delish!! I'd never had it before, but it was sooo good!

The flowers that Amy brought when she came to dinner. Aren't they beautiful?! I LOVE them!! I makes me smile everytime I see them!!

Blogging my Blessings

BLOGGING MY BLESSINGS!

We just received a huge blessing today and I had to blog about it because I don't want to forget it. I will start off by saying this week has been a busy week. I know I mentioned a few days ago how the unfinished yard (both front and back) have gone by the wayside because Laren has worked extra, went to the temple and went to church meetings this week. We were supposed to get a huge snowstorm that was to drop 8-12 inches where we live, but it didn't materialize and all we got were flurries on Thursday and Friday.

Well, this morning Laren was out early with some of the kids helping him to do some shoveling around the edge of our dirt that will hopefully be lawn in the near future. I was busy hemming 2 pairs of sweat/yoga pants for Kayla and Rilyn for their soccer games this morning.

Then we had 2 soccer games. Kayla's team won and Rilyn's team lost. But both had a good experience. Sidenote: I talked to that girl who has been bullying Kayla. I asked her point blank if she was B. She said yes. I told her that she needs to stop bullying my daughter. She nodded her head. That was it. She was friendly to Kayla as the game wore on. I hope that is the end of that problem.

Anyway, fast forward to around noon. We had gotten home, had lunch and we were getting going on yardwork again. Laren and I were out in back surmising the daunting task. I noticed that Tylar and Jeanette, our neighbors, were also out. Since our fences are so high I climbed on one of our bistro chairs and said hello. They were very friendly and nice. Jeanette and I talked for awhile. In the course of the conversation she said that the neighbors on the other side of them had a Bobcat (machine) for the day so they could work in their backyard and they needed dirt, whereas we needed to get rid of dirt.

She encouraged me to get Laren to go and talk to Nick, the neighbor on the other side of Tylar and Jeanette to see if we could work out a trade. I said I would mention it. So I talked to Laren and he said no he didn't think it would work out because our yard is completely fenced, yada, yada, yada... Finally he agreed to go and talk to Nick and mention that if he wanted some dirt he could certainly get some from our front yard because we needed to get rid of some so we could have room for some topsoil and then grass on top of that.

So when Laren and I went over to talk to Nick he was busy working on his own backyard. When he saw us he immediately stopped what he was doing and came over to us. After we introduced ourselves, the first words he said were, "I know what you're going to say and the answer is yes!"

We were totally shocked. So Laren mentioned details. He followed us right over to our house in the Bobcat. He immediately cleared the front yard of the excess dirt. He ended up not needing our dirt because he was able to get what he needed from a vacant lot that has yet to be built on.

While Nick was removing excess dirt from our front yard, I convinced Laren to just ask Tylar if he would let us take the fence down (it is a shared fence) so we could get the Bobcat into our backyard to remove the dirt. It took me probably 10 minutes of talking but Laren finally agreed. We talked to Tylar, he came and looked and we discussed his concerns and details and time frame and he gave us the okay.

In the meantime I ran over to Hap and Amy's, some other neighbors to invite them for Sunday Dinner tomorrow. I had invited them earlier in the week but they didn't yet know their schedule. Anyway, they were happy to come and I ended up having another nice conversation with Amy.

I came back home to help Laren pull out some fence posts, move some landscape rocks and dig some dirt so we could make room for the Bobcat in our backyard. It took some doing and Tylar came over to help pull the fence posts and move some rocks. Also Alyssa, our 9 year old, was helping too. She was a hardworker today.

Alyssa helping Laren dig in the backyard today.

We finally got it all ready and made a ramp with the landscape rocks for the Bobcat. We were concerned about the Bobcat breaking our stamped concrete patio. But we got a decent ramp built up with dirt and rocks. Then Nick ended up spending almost 2 hours removing dirt from the back part of our backyard with the Bobcat today.

Nick hauling some dirt out of our yard today.

He got almost half way done and had to stop to go to a family party but said he would be back tomorrow. Laren and I both told him that was okay since tomorrow is Sunday, but that if he really wanted to he could but that we didn't expect him to do it then. He assured us it was no problem and he was happy to help!

In the meantime Nick's wife, Kristen, came over to introduce herself. She is blonde with a medium build and about our age or maybe a little bit younger. She came and said hello and told us if we ever needed anything they are just 2 doors down. I said, "Uh, you are already helping us tremendously by having your husband helping us move all of this dirt in the backyard." Laren had been hauling it out by the wheelbarrow full and it was a long and tedious process!

Anyway, Nick got done and we chatted and gave them a tour of our house and told them the story of how the previous owners had stolen half to two-thirds of the kitchen cabinets, all of the appliances, some doors, some door handles, the showerheads, and how they'd played paintball in the basement and family room, etc...

Nick and Kristen seem like the nicest couple. They both work at the same place, some refrigeration company here in Denver. They don't have any kids yet, but want to someday. They met at Mesa State College in Grand Junction, CO. He graduated with his degree in Business Management and she graduated with a degree in Public Relations. Anyway, as they left my heart was overpouring with gratitude!

I cannot help but think we got this wonderful blessing because Laren put the Temple and his Church calling as a priority this week. Not that he let the rest of his life go to do those things, but he just put them in the perspective they needed to be.

Earlier this week Laren made up this list of all that he wanted to get done in the next week or two. And then as we talked it through he remembered that Tuesday was Stake Temple Night and that he should probably go to that. I agreed, but groaned inwardly as I thought about how that meant the yard would slide another day and how I would not see him until late, late. Then he realized he had meetings for his calling on Wednesday night. So he thought about it and then put those 2 things at the top of his list.

Laren's list that has been sitting on our bathroom counter all week.

He did those 2 priorities and the rest of the week has somehow fallen into place. I don't think it's a coincidence that I just happened to lean over the fence and talk to the neighbors at just the right time. Or that it just happened that Tylar and Jeanette will be out of town this week and they will not be needing their fence up for their dogs. Or that it just happened to be the weekend that Nick's friend, Dustin, had offered to loan him his Bobcat for free.

Or that the FIRST time we ever met Nick he said, "I know what you're going to ask and the answer is yes." Or that the weather would be a beautiful and balmy 63 today, when earlier in the week we were expecting dreadfully snowy weather. There are just too many things that fell right into place for us.

I'm incredibly grateful! Hopefully this will mean getting our grass planted sooner than later so I don't have all of this dirt being tracked through my house constantly! Hopefully it will mean that we can have more time to help others out when they need us.

In the meantime, I went to the store and bought some cookies and some jerky for Nick. We also got some cash to pay him for his gas and a little extra. I just feel so spoiled to have neighbors this great! I don't know if I mentioned before but the rototiller we are using is our neighbors from the other side who offered to let us use it. That same neighbor has also helped Laren move some dirt from the backyard; one night when he saw Laren doing it with the wheelbarrow he came and just started pitching in too!

No more whining!

We need this Goal -

In the most recent General Conference Address I found this and loved it! Our family needs to adopt this and live by it!

One of Elder Holland's maxims for living—

"No misfortune is so bad that whining about it won't make it worse."

For some reason our kids think that by whining they will somehow get what it is they want and it will make everything all better. To me that is faulty reasoning, because when I hear whining they get nothing. But for some reason we keep having whining. I need to take that quote and frame it and put it in each of their bedrooms or something!

100 posts!

100 posts!

I wanted to blog about something spectacular for my 100th post. I have been thinking about it for a week or two now. What would be something remarkable and worthy to say on my 100th post. Surely there would be something especially fascinating. Well, whatever that might be I could never think of it. So instead I'm going to expose a part of me that I will probably regret ever sharing. It's not a big part of me, but it does rear it's ugly head from time to time. When this happens I do not always fight it off. Sometimes I just like to enjoy the unenviable.

What is that? LAZY. I admit it, I can be lazy. That is how it happens that clothes don't get washed on time, or my kids have to dig through the laundry baskets to find their clean but unfolded clothes, or other household chores don't get done. That is what causes last minute mad dashes to the school in the mornings and cereal nights for dinner.

This morning I have been lazy. I slept in, even though really I wasn't sleeping I was just laying there thanks to my 2 boys that were horseplaying around this morning starting at 6:53 am. I should have never looked at my alarm clock. Because once I open my eyes that is the end of my sleep. I was able to close my eyes again--surprise surprise!! But I was not able to fall back into that heavenly state we call sleep. So I just laid there. I laid there until 8:10 am when I had to get out of bed and get dressed and get my kids off to school.

Thankfully Alyssa, my 9 year old daughter, offered to dress Tyler to allow me that luxury! My kids make their own lunch in the morning and they all are capable of getting themselves ready for school and grabbing some cold cereal for breakfast. Usually I have to monitor them and get them to hurry along but I didn't this morning and thankfully they cooperated by getting themselves ready without my cojoling.

After taking them to school I really tried to fight myself into not exercising. You see usually it is a fight to get me to exercise but I had promised myself earlier this week to exercise no matter what. And I learned way back when I was in Young Women's that I could resist temptation by deciding in advance to make the right choice and then the choice would be easier when I was confronted with it because the choice would already be made in my mind.

In case there are any doubters of that philosophy out there, that is the best way to stick to a diet and exercise plan too. Decide ahead of time, get the healthy food, set aside time for priority exercise and then you will follow through because you have decided ahead of time. That has been one of my biggest secrets to losing weight. When I employ that method I am successful.

So in my laziness this morning I did get down to the basement to do my elliptical workout. I know that sounds like a contradictory statement but it's not. Here's why:

This is what I worked out in. Yes, those are the shoes I spent 32 minutes and 33 seconds in while doing the elliptical machine. And if those look a little like pajama pants? Well, they are. When I got dressed in my hurried state, I didn't actually get completely dressed.

I did put on my Enell sports bra and a sweat top of sorts, but I did not change out of my pajama pants. And I slipped those shoes on because I didn't have to tie the shoe strings and that's too much effort when you're lazy. When I realized that I was on the elliptical with the wrong shoes on I was a minute or so into my exercising and I did not want to go and change them for fear I would lose my momentum.

So I told myself I would just exercise for 20 minutes instead of 25 or 30 since my feet would be uncomfortable. I considered taking the shoes off completely and just exercising in my socks because I have done that before too and it was fine. And I pictured in my mind the poor Olympic Athletes from Africa who cannot afford shoes to run in and thought if they can do it, so can I. But I didn't, I opted to be lazy and not break the sweat I was quickly starting to build and just left those darned heeled shoes on.

About three and a half minutes into my workout I was getting unusually winded early on. I wondered what was going on. Finally I dismissed it as it being a result of my lazy start to the morning. I had set the resistance to a 6 as I usually do and told myself to keep it up until at least nine minutes then I could reduce it to 5. Well, nine minutes came and I told myself to wait until ten minutes had passed; because I usually set a goal for myself and then see if I can surpass it by just a little bit as if to prove I'm making more than just a minimal effort. Then eleven minutes passed and then twelve. Then surprisingly at just past thirteen minutes I set out to change my resistance.

Right at that point, something on the TV caught my attention and I forgot all about the huffing and puffing and uncomfortable movements my body was doing. Finally at nineteen minutes and forty-six seconds I looked down at my control panel to change my resistance and whoa--that resistance!! Could I be seeing it wrong? It wasn't a 6 at all instead it was a 9!! (GASP!!) NO WONDER I felt so worn out and winded even in those early minutes.

When I really did reduce the resistance I put it down to 6. Well, after riding it at a 9 for that long a 6 was way too easy. So I tried a 7, yep too easy. I set it at 8 and mentally convinced myself to ride for 28 minutes total. 8 minutes left, I could do it. The 8 minutes went by and then I told myself I must exceed it. So I then talked myself into keeping at it for 30 minutes. Well 30 minutes came and went and can you see the pattern here?

Yes, I had to keep going. Because this time I was watching my calorie counter and I had to burn at least 400 calories (at least according to the calorie counter on my elliptical control panel). So I burned 400 calories and then I was watching Fat Calories. I wanted to be able to burn at least 160 of those. Finally at 32 minutes and a few seconds I had reached and exceeded my goals and started to slow and got off.

In the end, I lasted 32 minutes and 33 seconds. I burned 415 calories and 162 fat calories. I do not really know what fat calories are but it sounds like a good thing to be burning! And I don't really believe that I burned 415 calories even though that is what the readout on the control panel said. I think it's just set to show an amount based upon an average person's weight and intensity. Obviously that will vary depending on who is riding it. So I had to get on the computer and figure out how many calories I actually did burn.

I came across this link that told me I burned about 252 calories for my weight and for the length of time I exercised. Of course the type of exercise is important too. Because some types of exercise burn more calories than others. I found this fun link that shows how many calories you can burn, even kissing or grocery shopping.

Lazy. Yes, that is what kind of morning I've had so far. And because of my laziness this morning I jumped on the computer after doing my exercise. So now I'm off to get my lazy self out of these lazy pajamas and shoes and into a nice warm shower!

Busy and Cold Life

Life has a way of keeping one busy. Just some general updates here today.

*So glad to get a break from family birthdays for the next couple of months now. Though I love to do it, it's lots of work and we didn't even have any "friend" birthday parties this year. We do those every other year. That is even more work.

*Our yard. Laren quit working on the interior stuff (except for that darned ceiling fan) to work out in the yard. He loves to be outside and will take any opportunity to get out there to be in the soil and the sun. But two things are preventing him from making any more progress, the weather which is turning snowy and cold and too many other things going on. He has worked extra, he went to the Temple to Stake Temple night on Tuesday and then last night he had Church Meetings.

*Soccer. Kayla is being bullied by a girl at soccer who is on her team. It is so frustrating. We finally had to call the coach last night and have a little chat. He is onboard with us and aware of this girls tendencies. In the meantime I gave Kayla a Pep talk and researched some solutions to dealing with those who bully and went over those with her. And still soccer but different issue, I think the weather is going to prevent Kayla and Rilyn from playing this weekend. We are expecting anywhere from 5-12 inches of snow tomorrow.

*Housework. I'm getting to where I need to be, but I'm having to spend less time online. Message boards and blogging will be taking a backseat to my husband, my kids, my house, my day to day life. That is hard for me because I love my online time!

*Exercise and Eating. After my insomnia post, I resolved to do better with both and have been successful for the most part. I have chosen to just keep up with the elliptical in my basement for now because of the dreary, cold weather outside. (Notice a pattern with the weather?)

*My Mom. She had an MRI and it did not show cancer. But it did show some abnormal striations in her breast tissue. The doctor attributed it to her being overweight. He told her to go home and eventually her body would clear things up on it's own. WHAT? You cannot tell me that all the swelling causing her breast (just on one side) to be almost double in size and swelling in her arm (on same side) and back are nothing to worry about and to just sit and let them go away.

She has had this swelling for months now and instead of getting better it is getting worse. I told her to get another opinion. I still worry about IBC (inflammatory breast cancer). I have done a lot of research and feel that she needs a surgical biopsy in addition to the MRI. The question is, whether she will push her doctors to get it done or not?

*My trip to Kohls. I scored some awesome deals on clothes for my husband and kids yesterday. I did not really even look for me. But they all need it much worse than me and usually I will buy what I want whenever I see it. We got some much needed pants. The kind that go to the ankle and a little beyond for growth. They are all either Candies, Union Bay, Chaps, etc... and I don't think we paid more than $8 per pair! So today we are clearing out all the pants that are too short. We also got some cute shirts and a dress and shrug for Rilyn.

I did pay more for the clothes for Laren ($20 for the pants instead of $40 and up). He was not with me so I felt I could take a few liberties to update his wardrobe and actually get some fashion going on for him. He would be totally content to stay wearing a pair of Levi's or khaki's and an old worn out shirt if it weren't for me. Thankfully he liked what I got him and even wore a couple of the shirts, layered to work today. But even with all the great deals, I still spent way too much money on clothes yesterday. It was needed, but still, we're supposed to be saving for our kitchen cabinets and so this really throws a wrench into those plans!!

Something Old something New...

SOMETHING OLD

something new

SOMETHING BORROWED

something blue!!

No, there are no weddings in my life. Thankfully I have been there and done that and marriage has been very good to me in that I have a wonderful husband of nearly 14 years!

This saying just happened to fit my life at the moment.



Something old.

My bowl of oatmeal this morning. I LOVE oatmeal and so I eat it around 4-5 mornings a week for breakfast. It is old, but still good!

Something New.

I had requests to see the New ceiling fan (finished product) that my husband risked his life to put in on the ceiling 18 feet high!

Something Borrowed:

I have been struggling with getting myself organized and getting my tasks done lately. Housework is SO mundane. So I asked and a friend helped me out by giving me this list to keep me on task, daily! (Thanks Michelle!)

MONDAY

*Laundry (1-2 loads only, washed, dried folded & put away)

*Pick up house (Do a 10 min tidy morning & evening)

*Vacuum

*Declutter Paper

*Clean Bathrooms

TUESDAY

*Laundry (1-2 loads only, washed, dried folded & put away)

*Pick up house (Do a 10 min tidy morning & evening)

*Sweep & Mop

*Wipe windows

*Clean carpets monthly

WEDNESDAY

*Change and Wash bedsheets

*Pick up house (Do a 10 min tidy morning & evening)

*Declutter Paper

*Pick up Basement - Have kids do this

THURSDAY

*Pick up house (Do a 10 min tidy morning & evening)

*Laundry (1-2 loads only, washed, dried folded & put away)

*Dust - kids can help with this!

FRIDAY

*Laundry (1-2 loads only, washed, dried folded & put away)

*Pick up house (Do a 10 min tidy morning & evening)

*Vacuum (so it's clean for the weekend)

*Clean Bathrooms (***Have kids do it after school or first thing Sat morning)

SATURDAY

*Wipe railing and baseboards - Have kids do this

*Wipe dirty handprints off walls and doors and anything else.

*Dust

SUNDAY

*Prepare Primary Lesson.

*Church, quiet family time, meetings!

(As a side note, my paper clutter is getting way out of hand! My kids each bring home a fistfull every day. The mailman is keeping it coming as well. I need it to STOP already. I hate to have this mess and because I hate to deal with it or I don't know exactly what to do with it sometimes (Laren's stuff), I pile it up. Anyone else with this problem?)

Something Blue.

See all the blue in this Kohl's ad? Do you also see that I got THIRTY percent off my entire purchase? Every few months Kohls sends out an ad and gives an opportunity (for their credit card holders) to get an extra 15,20, or 30 percent off if they use their Kohl's charge. This is my first time of ever getting that! (I usually get the 15% off.) I love Kohl's because it has a great variety of clothes for my whole family and great prices too. Their clearance is especially good!

Anyway, I have not always used my "extra savings". The reason is because I don't always need something from there. But this time it came at a good time because 4 out of 5 of my kids are outgrowing everything they own! Just in the last couple of months they have sprouted up and I'm tired of having to send them in jeans that are highwater and shirts that were once long enough have now turned into "belly" shirts!

I keep wishing that the seasons would hurry and change (hurry up, Spring!) so I could just wait and buy new warm clothes next Fall. But, I can tell that is not going to happen. The weatherman is saying 4-8 inches of snow for Denver on Friday and more again on Monday. Blech! I'm ready for warm weather, capri's, short-sleeve shirts, painted toenails I can see and wedge sandals on my feet!!

Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something New!

SPT - Easter 2007

EASTER

This Easter was a busy one.
Because of that I was not able to get
The "Matchy" pictures done!

But to Church we did go
And we ate lots of food
With our extended family and SO

There are lots of Good Memories
For this Easter SPT
But few pictures of our families!!

Easter Sunday was kind of crazy around here. I spent most of the morning working on my Primary lesson and doing some "last" minute things for dinner, like making frosting for the carrot cake.

I wanted to snap some pictures before we headed out to Church but there was no time and Laren had to give the opening prayer for Sacrament Meeting so we really needed to get there on time. Then when we came home I really thought we could just take a minute and pose before the camera lens, but before I knew it the kids had changed and I needed to get busy in the kitchen again.

But we got together with my Sister's family who had come down for Dinner and Conversation. It was lots of fun and food! (Too much food!!)

Kyle and me at the end of the day (getting our birthday shots, a day late)!!

Rilyn and her cousin Kassidy.

Tyler and his cousin, Dakota.

Tyler on his first egg hunt!

Ordinarily we like to have our Easter Egg hunts outside, but this year we had snow on the ground and it was in the Twenties. So, the kids hunted for eggs in their jammies inside where it was nice and warm.

Insomnia

INSOMNIA

I woke up around 3 am and was unable to go back to sleep. So I just laid in bed for a couple of hours tossing and turning and thinking about all the things I needed to get done, the changes I need to make in my life and mentally setting some new goals for the week ahead.

Finally, I could lay there no more! So I got up and put a load of laundry in and did a few things and came down to blog in the dark and quiet of the early morning hours. I know I will be paying for my sleepless night in a few more hours when I'm dragging and tired but my kids will be all awake and will need me and I won't be able to sleep.

So in my tossing and turning, I've resolved to eat better. I've been way off course this past week and it has to stop or I will have to buy a bigger sized wardrobe. I also need to get back to my running. The weather turned icky outside and so I was able to exercise inside on the elliptical, but I only did it 2 times this week and it is not quite the same as running. And since I am training for the Bolder Boulder 10k I really need to keep at the running.

I've also resolved to make scripture reading a priority over the computer. It amazes me how I can squeeze in time on here but not in the scriptures. Actually, I really hope to download the latest General Conference onto my mp3 player so I can listen to the talks while I clean, etc...

Weekend Recap

Laren spent much of the day Friday working on rototilling up the front yard. It used to have grass there but the previous owners let it die and it was beyond needing help so we made the decision to tear it up and start fresh.

It was cold outside, I think it only got to a high temperature of 24 degrees above zero both Friday and Saturday and we got some snow to go along with the cold too!

I had taken cupcakes in to Kyle's class on Friday for his birthday.

Kyle's Birthday Cupcakes


Also, here are the ones I took in to Kayla's class earlier in the week:

Kayla's birthday cupcakes



Saturday was Kyle's actual birthday.

Kyle blowing out his birthday candles.

Kyle opening his presents.

And then every year on my children's birthday I try and get a picture of me and that child together because it seems like if I don't get it done then I never have any pictures of me and my children, especially individual shots.

So here is Kyle and Me making funny faces in our pose together.

He is really into the funny face thing these days! Soo hilarious!!


On Saturday, Laren decided to put up this new ceiling fan we got. It was a major chore because it was to go in our family room where the ceiling is 2 stories high. I tried to talk him out of installing it himself and hiring it done so his life would not be the one at risk by climbing up so high to do the task but he would not hear of it.

The tables stacked.

We stacked our kitchen table on top of our dining room table and then he put the 7 foot step ladder on top of that.

Laren working at the ceiling, 18 feet high!!

Another of Laren installing the fan.


My kids dying Easter Eggs on Saturday night.

Me making my 5th cake of the week on Saturday night.

Kari and Tyler making Carrot Cake.

Tyler was fussy and he only wanted me. The problem was I had to get a few things made for our Easter dinner on Sunday!

GOOD MAIL!!

Jenny sent me this cute Thank You card.
Thanks for the Thank You, Jenny!! :)

My friend Jannet sent me this great book of mind puzzles/games and some Jr. Mints -- some of my very favorite!!
Thanks Jannet you made my whole day. The timing on this package could not have been any better.

And Kristi sent me this cute card that she made and the cutest little magnets!!





She sent it for JUST BECAUSE WEDNESDAY. Oh my goodness was I surprised to get this! (Yeah, I've moved 3 times this past 6 months and so my address is hard to come by!!)

Thank you for your thoughtfulness, Kristi!!

Now that the sun has risen and Laren has gotten up to get ready for work, I better get off the computer and get my kids up and make something of this new day and new week!!

**UPDATE** 8:48 am

I have now gotten all of my kids off to school, made sure they were fed, made their lunches, gotten dressed (or in Tyler's case, I did it all for him), did Rilyn's hair, etc... I have done 2 loads of laundry, folded yet another load, did the elliptical for 27:33 minutes, showered gotten dressed and put makeup on. (Though the elliptical is not running, at least it is exercising and is better than doing no running. Ordinarily it wouldn't matter, but since I'm supposed to be training for the Bolder Boulder race the running is preferred.)

The eating thing for me has really been a big deal, as I have noticed a drastic change in that I've noticed me eating for emotional reasons. That is typically unlike me. I have much empathy for others who have struggled with that as of late. When I'm talking my eating has to change, I ate 2.5 average size pieces of carrot cake yesterday, including a full dinner with ham, etc...

This past week I consumed one bag of these Hershey's egg thingy's. I'm not sure what they are called but they are in pastel colors with a hard shell and then chocolate inside. And I ate the better part of a bag of Starbursts (not a huge bag, it was a smaller bag thankfully). Not to mention various other sorts of Easter goodies from my kids' baskets, like jellybeans.

I also ate 1 cupcake and probably 3 pieces of birthday cake between Kayla's and Kyle's plus some chips. There I said it. Now, I have no more secrets regarding my food intake. Maintaining a weight loss is easier than losing but it still takes effort, self-discipline and perserverance.

Here's to doing better this week than last!