NaBloPoMo Take Two

Here we go again, something in my crazy little brain decided to try doing NaBloPoMo, yet again (even though we know how well I did last year). So here it is the first of November? Really, the first? This is just insane. I feel I haven't done anything this year I wanted to accomplish. I was so set on 2009 being MY year, and yet again it's turned into another everyone else year. Oh well, there's always 2010, 2011, 2012...etc. Ha! So here's to take 2 and hopefully a more interesting fun fact-filled blog about myself and my life! Happy November everyone!

Super Sabbath

What a great day! Douglas & I woke up in time to get ready, have breakfast, and walk to church. Sacrament service was excellent. A lot of the talks were on family unity - and I thought it was beautiful. I was asked to stay in the nursery which was enjoyable, lots of little kids and they were all so super adorable in their own little ways. This one little girl, Kit-Kat {adorable nick-name}, was drinking milk out of a sippy cup - no one knew where it had come from. When asked if it was hers this was her response, "Of course, cause it's tasty!" Ha! So cute, so stinkin' cute. Right after sacrament meeting the Relief Society President pulled me aside to ask if I would be willing to do the Relief Society newsletter - wow, that I think is more overwhelming than the primary pianist, which they let me know today that they really missed me, made me feel great - I loved it in there. So you are looking at the new newsletter designer. I really am strongly considering going to online school for graphic design/digital imaging. I really, really love it.

So back to the whole family unity thing. Ever since we've been married I have wanted to have a family mission statement and after reading a post on Simple Mom, I think I'm going to work this week on putting one together. After I get it done and Douglas and I 'edit' it I will use a fun font and have it printed 8x10 or maybe bigger then mat and frame it and hang it in our living room. I'm very excited for this. And even though we won't be able to do it in the 2-6 hours I'm sure we can get it done by August {that's my goal anyway}. This will be a short week as I leave for a family reunion on Thursday! I'm so excited! It will be a good opportunity to get some shots that I can edit and post. Have a wonderful week!

Am I Still Breathing?

We've been so busy lately it seems I need to remind myself to breathe. Since the beginning of May we have been actively searching for a home to purchase. Meeting with Lenders talking to Banks - looking at homes, peeking in windows, trying to fathom the crazy things people do to their homes and if we can fix it {or if it is worth fixing}. Saying our goodbyes to our ward, friends, and people we know in the area.

We were focusing on living somewhere in the Sierras but have decided on a cute little town here in Nor Cal, which we are excited about.

We are in our lease until the end of next February, so we have to figure out when our new move out day will be so our landlord can show the property to future tenants. I wish we could just give a 30 day notice - maybe we can. I would rather do that then set a date, say we give a formal 'lease breaking' letter saying we will be moving out August 1 - and we don't find anything or closing escrow by then, or end up not purchasing a home right now? Then where would we live? I know it will all work out it is just a new unknown process that is very exciting but equally frightening at the same time.

Douglas new shift hours are 7am - 7pm and he leaves at 6 and gets home at around 8 so I hardly see him but for a couple hours at night {don't get me wrong this is much better than not seeing him at all}. Our weekends have been jammed with Baseball games, house hunting, driving, and when we can laundry. So we are both completely exhausted all the time and hopefully when all this is said and done it will all be worth it. Considering after we move I will be changing my work hours {keep fingers crossed} from 5 eight hour days to 4 ten hour days and I will also be adding a new 2 hour drive to work and a 2 hour drive home... so I will be away from our new home from 5am - 7pm. But I will have 3 day weekends every weekend.

But we are around and we are alive... just very very busy - so I'm warning you now there probably will be very little updating for awhile at least until we find a new place or something major happens in our lives....

Schedule, Me? Really? Yes, Really.

One of those weeks, it's going to be I can just feel it {that sounded a little yoda-ish}! Minnie is running around the house like a mad-woman meowing for no reason... anyway. I've sketched out a new {more permanent} blog design, I've got to get to work on it. So it will be on it's way soon. The only thing I wanted to accomplish this weekend was writing in my planner my schedule, yes I do need to treat myself like a toddler in order to accomplish anything. So I figure if I post it for the whole world to see maybe {just maybe} I will be able to stick with it. So here it goes:

5:00am - Wake up, say prayers
5:10am - Stretch and Run for 30 mins
5:40am - Eat Breakfast, Get Ready
6:15am - Leave for Work

7:00am - Work
9:00am - Practice Piano for 15 min break
10:00am - Snack {Fruit/Cheese}
11:00am - Lunch {Fish/Chicken, Veggies}
1:00pm - Snack {Crackers/Cheese}
3:30pm - Leave Work

4:15pm - Chiropractor Appointment {Tuesdays/Thursdays}
5:00pm - Pilates for 40min
5:40pm - Clean according to daily schedule
6:00pm - Watch TV
7:30pm - Cook Dinner {Wednesday Nights Yoga for an 1.5 hours}
8:30pm - Watch Movie/Play Games with Husband
9:30pm - Read Book, Read Scriptures, Prayers, Bed
11:00pm - Bed Time

There is my rough schedule outline. I also need to cram in there some photo editing/photography class/blogging/picture taking time. Look for the new blog design by Sunday night! Have a great beginning of the week!

On My Mind

A lot has been on my mind lately in the sense of what can I do to clean up my life and help those around me? Christ was always in service to those around Him, how can I follow in that footstep? Be it small or big I want to give, my heart feels the need to give I just need to figure out how. Another blog I read, the author, has created a website which you can link to from the sidebar as well called HandsIn. This website is for all those mid-20 aged people who want to help or want to start. I think this is a great idea. As it has just started there aren't a lot of people but I am excited to follow this group and begin my life in service - even if it just means my husband, family, friends, or a stranger on the street. I want to help others.

Cleaning up my life? That's another topic. I watch a lot of TV, I'll admit it, I know it's not the best thing to do with my time but I do it and I enjoy it - I just need to tone it down a little. I haven't read in centuries and need to pick up a book and go to the park, go for a walk, organize a closet, things I haven't had time to do because I'm wasting it somewhere else. I came across a great talk from the 1993 Liahona by Elder Costa of the Seventy, "Fun and Happiness" here are a couple of excerpts that I love and have inspired me to do more of the things that bring happiness and fewer that are fun (I'm not completely giving up fun things - I just need a little less of them)

An old friend of mine came to me and asked what I had found so different there (LDS church). I answered, "I have found true happiness." To which he replied, "There is no such thing as true happiness-only happy moments". I understand that my good friend did not know the difference between fun and happiness. What he called "happy moments" were in fact the moments when he had fun. What he did not know then was that happiness is much more than just fun. Fun is just a fleeting moment, but happiness is a lasting thing.

In Luke, chapter 15, we find the parable of the prodigal son. In this parable, the younger son asks the father to give him his share of the inheritance. The father does so, and this young man goes out into the world, seeking what he believes to be true happiness. He starts to have fun, and for as long as he has money, he lives surrounded by many people who claim to be his friends. When his fortune is totally wasted with all the fun he has had with his so-called friends, all of them turn their backs on him, and he is left without a penny. He then goes through much suffering and disappointment. He starts working for a man feeding swine, and, starving, he tries to eat even the husks that the swine would eat. He thinks of his father's servants, who have enough bread to eat and to spare, and he does not have anything to eat. He decides to return home to his father and ask him for a job as one of his hired servants. He returns, repentant from all he has done, and his father, a righteous man, greets hime as a special son. He finally understands that true happiness is there, in that simple life with his family.

As we keep His commandments, we are blessed and come to know true happiness. We learn that happiness lies in doing small things that building us up, that increase our faith and testimony. Small things we do in our everyday lives, such as: Prayer, Feeling the Spirit, Being with Family. 2 Nephi 2:25

My favorite verse on this topic is Mosiah 2:41: "And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell wit God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; fro the Lord God hath spoken it."

What am I going to clean up?

Less TV time, more scripture time.
Less friend time, more husband time.
Less movie time, more piano time.
Less me time, more time for others.

What are you going to do to find the true happiness in your life?

Lo-Jack?

Yes I know this is the second post today but I really need to find some form of Lo-Jack that I can put on everything I MEAN EVERYTHING I own! So far today I have lost, lets see, my camera - my watch - 3 pair of earrings.... It's getting out of hand, have I always been like this?

If anyone knows where these items are please let me know.

New goal... stop losing things.

101 in 1001

My list of things to do in 1001 days.

Start February 1, 2009
End October 28, 2011

In Progress Finished

FOR MY HEALTH
001. Lose 120 pounds (112 to go)
002. Take a multivitamin daily
003. Workout 30 minutes a day at least 5 days a week
004. Start moisturizing daily
005. Drink 8 8oz glasses of water daily
006. Whiten teeth
007. Find a family doctor
008. Run a 5K
009. Find a family dentist
010. Sign up for a yoga class at studio

FOR MY LOVE/FAMILY:
011. Buy and play 5 PS3 games with the Hubs (3/5)
-Guitar Hero World Tour
-Guitar Hero Smash Hits
-Guitar Hero 5
012. Hold weekly family home evening (0/52)
013. See on new movie in the theater every month for a year (5/12)
014. Start a weekly game night
015. Go to a theme park
016. Have a couple's self portrait made
017. Tell someone I love them when I'm mad at them
018. Write 20 hand written letters to show I care (0/20)
019. Send flowers to 2 people just because (0/2)
020. Go camping
021. Have date night once a month for a year (1/12)
-October 21, 2009 Dinner and Bishops Storehouse
022. Give Hubs a foot rub
023. Go to a drive in movie
024. Bake Hubs Cheesecake for his birthday
025. Go to 3 NFL games (0/3)
026. Try a fondue restaurant
027. Spend a whole day in bed with the Hubs
028. Have monthly dinner/bowling night (0/12)
029. Visit family in NV at least twice a year (3/6)
- July 16th - 20th
- August 21st - 24th
- November 20th - 29th

FOR MY COMMUNITY:
030. Begin recycling
031. Volunteer for 50 hours (0/50)
032. Do a giveaway on my blog
033. Clean out my stuff and donate to DI once a month (6/12)
034. Buy a homeless person a meal
035. Compliment 20 people for no reason (0/20)
036. Adopt another cat
037. Get Paper Bags at the grocery store
038. Discover 30 new blogs (33/30)
- See Blogroll
039. Participate in town activities once a month (0/12)

BECAUSE I HAVE TO:
040. Buy a pair of Manolo Blahniks
041. Change Blog Header Monthly (3/12)
042. Buy new Bedroom Furniture Set
043. Become a Mom
044. Get a Smart Phone
045. Join a Gun Range
046. Sing Karaoke
047. Wash car once a month for 6 months (2/6)
048. Buy a flower and 'Eagles' decal for car
049. Transfer VHS's to DVD's
050. Get a current passport
051. Buy a motorcycle clothing
052. Buy an original painting for the living room
053. Clean whole house weekly (0/52)
054. Go to New York

FOR MY MIND/SANITY:
055. Join a book club
056. Read 200 books
057. Go back to school
058. Start a small flower/herb garden
059. Learn Spanish
060. Go to a museum
061. Go to a zoo
062. Take 3 spontaneous road trips (2/3)
*Los Angeles
*Nevada
063. Go one week without saying anything negative (0/7)
064. Keep a dream diary for one month (0/30)
065. Learn to knit
066. Learn to play the organ
067. Knit 10 things (0/10)
068. Read in the park once a week (0/52)
069. Begin a novel (write at least 50 pages) (1/50)
070. Unsubscribe and delete useless internet accounts

FOR MY WALLET:
071. Pay off credit card
072. Save $15,000 ($1900)
073. Make and stick to budget
074. Cut eating out to once a week
075. Only buy two cases of soda a week (Hubs and Mine)

FOR MY SOUL/SPIRIT:
076. Get a pedicure
077. Read scriptures daily
078. Write in journal weekly
079. Take the typical European tour
080. Make an actual cookbook of our recipes
081. Finish a scrapbook
082. Only watch 2 hours of TV per day
083. Take a candle lit bubble bath one a month for a year (0/12)
084. Go fishing
085. Take a ballroom dance class
086. Scan all photos into computer
087. Go to 5 Theater Plays (0/5)
088. Watch the sun set 10 times (0/10)
089. Have a girls' night once a month for a year (9/12)
090. Bake one thing a month for a year (0/12)
091. Go to 5 concerts (1/5)
- Jeff Dunham
092. Try 10 new random restaurants (0/10)
093. Cook dinner nightly for two weeks (3/14)
094. Hike to the top of a mountain
095. Discover 5 new bands/artists that I like (3/5)
1. Secondhand Serenade
2. Tokio Hotel
3. Plumb

096. Take a picture everyday for a month (0/30)
097. Attend church every Sunday for a year (40/52)
098. Attend Enrichment monthly (1/12)
099. Go to Temple monthly (4/12)
100. Do my visiting teaching monthly (5/12)
101. Learn to meditate and do it weekly (0/52)

My New Fascination

I'm know I'm not very good at this and don't have a very good camera for it, but I really enjoy taking pictures but mostly editing them. I'm still learning, but here are a couple of photos I have played with in my new little hobby.

Upcoming Year

What have I accomplished this year from the 'resolutions' I have set? As you can see, we really didn't accomplish anything on our lists. We did get better with family prayer but the others haven't happened. This year I have decided to focus on one thing personally and one thing as a family *as I have a HUGE tendency to overwhelm myself with the little things - til they get so piled up I just ignore them*. My personal thing that I have pondered and prayed about is to remove everything from my life *little by little* that doesn't uplift me, help me to become a better person, teach me, or doesn't invite the spirit to participate in. Douglas and I still haven't thought about our family goal for the year and his personal one, maybe that will be our FHE this evening. I'm looking forward to the New Year and believe that it will bring grand and wonderful changes into our lives. I have a Christmas post coming this evening (with video!) and re-designing it for the winter months.