What Are You Thankful For?

That is the question that went around the dinner table this Thanksgiving. You would think that this would be an easy thing to share among family but, sometimes, my family has a hard time being serious. I have to say I was very impressed with Austin's answer when it was his turn. Without even hesitating he said he was thankful for, "Mom, Dad and Jesus!" That made me proud! This year I am very thankful for the freedom I am allowed to enjoy. I am thankful for the jobs that both Spencer and I have. I am also thankful for the roof over my head and the food I freely eat.

This Thanksgiving we went to my Mom & Bill's house. My brother Derek and his wife Lisa also joined us along with my step-sister, Robin, and her husband, Jeff. Robin's two girls, Kyleigh & Baylei, were also there with their dad, Jerrod. The meal was the traditional Thanksgiving dinner with lots of pumpkin pie afterwards. I enjoyed spending the holiday with my side of the family. Holidays are such a hard time for me. I struggle because I wish I could be with all the people I love, but it's impossible. I have family in Utah, Seattle, and home. It is so hard trying to decide where to go for the holiday, when I want to be everywhere!

Most of Spencer's siblings were in town this year for Thanksgiving, and over the course of the weekend, we were able to spend some good quality time with them. The ladies did a lot of shopping together, and the kids got to go bowling and hang out all weekend. I can hardly believe that November has already come and gone. I am definitely in the Christmas mood now and can hardly wait to go cut down a tree tomorrow for family night.

Cameron's first trip to the Dentist

Today was Cameron's first interaction with a Dentist. I forgot to pre-warn him, and so when he woke up first thing this morning, he got the news. I tried to make the news uplifting, but he wasn't buying it. He cried, and said he didn't want to get a shot. I assured him that all was going to be okay and that there was nothing to be afraid of. It kind of worked. He walked into the dental room just fine, but he was not about to lay down in "the chair." Instead he agreed to straddle me and laid his head on the dentist's lap. After some convincing, he let her peek into his mouth and the census was he has great, healthy teeth. Yay! Cameron enjoyed playing with the office mascot, Mr. Lion. Mr. Lion comes complete with a large set of teeth and a very cool over sized toothbrush for the kids to play. It was very entertaining.

Working Away...

Three months ago I would have laughed at the idea of me becoming a 'somewhat' professional Event Planner. I'm really not the most organized person, alright let me clarify that, I have no organization skills whatsoever. I usually procrastinate, forget important things, and stress out really bad when I am left to put something together. Well truth be told, I have become one, and with lots of hard work, I am actually doing really well at it. I do have to give credit where credit is due, and that goes to my friend, Shelley, for guiding me in the beginning and holding me accountable. She has been a great teacher. I also have to give big props to the Apple I-phone. With that handy tool, I am always aware of upcoming events on the calendar. I stay on top of emails, and it has helped me become more organized. I highly recommend one if anyone else struggles with disorganization like I did.

My job is a two part position. I plan seminars, and then I market to all those I would like to attend our seminar. The entire goal of why we hold seminars is to let others know about our company and to convince them to use our services. The planning stage is fairly easy. I invite a Title Rep to join in the process, in which I promise them free advertising. That is obviously good for them, but it also helps us tremendously because they reserve a conference room and pay for it. In the beginning, I was worried about getting Title Reps to want to work with me. I have never been in a sales position before, and it's unnerving trying to sell yourself if you haven't. But I was proven wrong, it has been really easy. Our original vision was to hold 2 seminars a month, but as it turns out, we are slammed, doing sometimes 2 seminars a week. Marketing for the seminars is fun. I spend an entire day driving from office to office with Shelley passing out invitations to the event. Most of the people I interact with are really nice. The most work is usually the day before a seminar when we have to do food preparations. We feed the attendees lunch and it's my job to plan and coordinate that small detail. I am definitely more busy then I thought I would be, but our success rate has sky rocketed. I really do believe in the company I work for and I am just really grateful that I got in during the early stages.

Here is a picture of our team. Starting from left to right is; Myself, Greg, Shelley, Andrew and JB. Andrew is our President and I recently found out he is LDS as well. He and JB started the company not quite a year ago. Andrew is also our speaker at most of the seminars. He is truly a great speaker, maybe church has helped him in that area? Next to me is Greg. We call him a Mini-JB. We are still trying to pin down exactly what his role will be. Shelley has taken on the role of Business Manager. She is the one who really got us where we are today. I think her best attribute has been keeping the communication between all of us open. JB, our Vice President, is phenomenal at working one on one with clients. He is the best at making you feel of value and is so good at expressing his thanks. I feel lucky that I work with such a great team. The time we all spend together is fun, it almost doesn't feel like work.

New Family Photos

I feel like a little kid at Christmas time waiting in anticipation for a new display of family photos to arrive. A few weeks ago, I met my friend Lorna http://carmanphoto.wordpress.com/ out at her studio and had her take some new family photos. I really needed updated photos of our family and I was anxious to give Lorna a try. I was impressed! Cameron is a very difficult subject to work with. He shy's away from the camera so much that we literally had to walk out of The Picture People furious because he would not cooperate. I warned her beforehand and she was so great to hire one of the young women to help her. She said that we, as parents, should just sit back and enjoy and let her and Tiffany take care of the little ones. That was so nice! I was so amazed at how well she worked with my boys, especially Cameron and got him to listen. The studio shots were fun and turned out good, but we both were looking for more candid, outdoor shots of the boys. A week ago I met her at a park nearby and let her do her magic. I love the way they turned out. I highly recommend using Lorna for any type of photo you may need. She was fabulous, and I can't wait to get the prints. Here are a few of my favorite shots.

Twilight - Opening Weekend

This weekend I was finally able to go see on screen what I'd been anticipating all summer long ... Twilight, the movie! Even though I was extremely excited about it, I was very nervous as well. My biggest fear was being disappointed because in my mind I wanted it to be great. I decided a couple of days beforehand to listen to some reviews of the movie, so I could prepare myself in case it tanked. The reviews were not good, which led me to disappointment. I had such high hopes that the movie would do well.

Well to my surprise, I did not agree with any of the reviews. I really liked it! Friday night I went with some of my girlfriends to see it. During the course of the movie I found myself leaning over to Jenn and saying, what were people thinking? I really like this! Of course it in no way compares to the book, which is a given. How can it? Were there a few cheesy parts, sure, but not enough to ruin the movie for me. I think they did a great job trying to squeeze in all the emotions that they could for a two hour long movie.

I was able to go see the movie a second time tonight with Spencer. We also took our friends, Shelley and JB, who knew practically nothing about the book. I was anxious to get their feedback as well as Spencer's. I was delighted when all three of them said it was great! Yay! Watching it a second time also was a lot more enjoyable. Instead of constantly watching the movie, criticizing it, I was there to just enjoy, and I actually came away from it not just liking it, but loving it. Cheesy parts that I picked out the first night didn't bother me at all the second.

I loved seeing all the scenes of my town in the movie. Of course, only those from around here would recognize those details. I was also pleasantly surprised by the humor in the movie. Bella's dad snapping his gun when getting ready to meet Edward was hilarious. Thinking about all my favorite parts makes me really anxious for them to shoot New Moon. It's always fun to have something to look forward to, and I am definitely looking forward to it!

Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow

I stole this from my sister, Brittany's, blog.

20 years ago....
1. I was living in Sandy, Utah
2. My parents were divorced
3. I played house, doctor and barbies with my friends
4. I had a crush on a neighbor boy named Brian
5. I had 3 best friends; Lisa, Marianne & Hailey

10 years ago...
1. I was still living at home with my parents
2. I worked as a checker at a grocery store, QFC
3. I gained a testimony of the gospel
4. Each weekend I went dancing at various church dances around the Seattle area. I loved those dances!
5. I bought my first car, a 1997 Plymouth Laser, same car as a Mitsubishi Eclipse. My old car caught on fire.

5 years ago...
1. I celebrated my 3rd wedding anniversary
2. I had my first baby
3. We bought our first home
4. I was working as a legal secretary in the DA's office
5. I taught the 16-18 year old girls in church, and they were the best group of girls. We are still good friends to this day

3 years ago...
1. I gave birth to my second baby boy
2. Spencer started working for the county
3. I did daycare in the house so I could stay home, and disliked every minute of it
4. I was a Pampered Chef consultant
5. We went on a really fun camping trip with Dan's family to Forks, WA (the setting for Twilight)

1 year ago...
1. I gave birth to yet another baby boy
2. I worked 2 days a week at the DA's office and officially quit for good
3. We got rid of TV, and started using bunny ears, I feel like our family has spent more time together since
4. We thought we were going to build a house, but as it turns out, I am glad we aren't right now
5. I attended my 10 year high school reunion

This year so far...
1. I started working from home as a Marketing Representative, and have enjoyed it very much
2. I had my first blog book published
3. I have read more books then I have in my entire lifetime thus far
4. We painted our house and I am thrilled with the results
5. We were able to participate in the Pioneer Trek, something I will always remember

Yesterday...
1. I attended Super Saturday and made some adorable Christmas gifts
2. Spencer returned from 4 days of hunting and I was happy to see him again
3. Megan babysat so Spencer and I could go out together
4. We went winter coat shopping for me
5. We rented and watched "Get Smart"

Today...
1. I stayed home from church so I could rest, I feel run-down
2. I slept and read most of the day
3. I am re-reading Twilight, in anticipation for the movie
4. I finally took a shower at 5:00 p.m.
5. I want to watch the ending of "Get Smart" because I fell asleep

Tomorrow...
1. I want to clean my bathrooms
2. I want to balance my checkbook
3. I am looking forward to dinner and FHE with friends
4. I am working
5. I am going to exercise

In the next year...
1. I will turn 30 years old!
2. I will get my spending habits under control
3. I will keep in contact better with my extended family
4. I will celebrate my 9 year wedding anniversary
5. I will do more of the things I love, like dancing, snowboarding, and scrapbooking

Finding Joy in the Journey

I have really been reflecting lately on President Monson's talk last conference, "Finding Joy in the Journey." The basis of his talk is about relishing in the today. He tells us, "This is our one and only chance at mortal life - here and now. The longer we live, the greater is our realization that it is brief. Opportunities come, and then they are gone." He further says, "My brothers and sisters, there is no tomorrow to remember if we don't do something today." "Let us relish life as we live it, find joy in the journey, and share our love with friends and family. One day each of us will run out of tomorrows." What I have been pondering the most about his talk, is the fact that I do find myself always thinking about tomorrow. I'll be happy when my debt is paid off... I'll be happy when the sun finally comes out... I'll be happy when... Why do we do that? Why do I do that? That is the question I have been wondering about so much. Why is it so hard to live each day to it's fullest without looking forward to tomorrow?

I think the main reason that I do it, is so I don't have to think about the stress I am feeling right then. I look forward to the day when that stress is gone, and it is always tomorrow. But the matter of the fact is, stress is a natural part of life. It will never really be gone. I don't want to pile up enough of tomorrows, to find I've collected a lot of empty yesterdays. I know I want to change my attitude so that I can really enjoy each day, but I'm not quite sure how? I often feel that I am just barely keeping my head above water as it is.

This talk gives me something to ponder. I want to live my life enjoying each day, even the tough ones. I appreciate this talk from President Monson and I will take his advice to try harder at not putting off happiness, and live each day fully.

Sewing ... Just Isn't My Talent!

A couple months ago my Mom and Bill stayed the weekend with us, just for the fun of it. One of the goals that my Mom and I had while she was here, was to have her teach me how to sew. In college my Mom's dream was to be a clothes designer, but plans changed, and reality hit, once she started a family. I think she would have loved to pass that passion on to me, but sewing is one area that I never had any interest in. I'd rather just pay someone to make it for me! Anyway, while shopping at a fabric store one day with her, I found some nice fabric that I thought would make an adorable skirt. I decided to go ahead and give it a good ol' college try and bought all the supplies I needed to make a skirt. Directions on patterns are like foreign languages to me. I don't understand them at all! So I had to wait until my Mom could translate in order for me to start the project. Eventually, my dining room table was transformed into a sewing room and off we went, and .... I hated every minute of it!! I know to some people, sewing is truly the most simplistic thing to do, but to me it is the most time consuming, complicated hobby around. I did in fact create a skirt, but it did not turn out to be even close to a length I could wear. I guess I thought we were making a longer length skirt, but that just was not the case. My poor Mom was a good teacher, but I realized through the process, I don't enjoy it. It's just not one of my talents. Maybe how I feel about sewing, someone else feels about snowboarding (my passion). Who knows!?

Celebrating 4 Generations Young!

Today is Baby Andrew's First Birthday! A few weeks ago, I started contemplating what to do for Andrew's first birthday. An idea came to me when I realized his Great-Grandpa was turning 90 around the same time. I knew I had to throw a big birthday bash to celebrate. After pitching the idea to our family, I went ahead and reserved the gym at our church and started planning. We decided to "borrow" our friend, Kelly's, heritage, and have a Luau party in November. The party was held last Saturday, November 1st.
We had a private family party at 5:00 p.m. in the gym, where we ate Hawaiian food. We served BBQ chicken, pulled pork, macaroni salad and rice; and then sang Happy Birthday to Andrew and Great-Grandpa. At 6:00 p.m., the doors were opened to all who wanted to come. Uncle James put an add in the local paper for those who knew Grandpa in the community. The turn out was great! I very much appreciated all the support from our friends who were able to make it. I was also grateful for all the support Grandpa received. I know it made his day. It is not everyday a man turns 90, and your baby turns 1, so I really wanted to make it special. Hopefully, Andrew will think it's neat when he's older. Thank you to everyone who helped make this a fun and special night!

Halloween 2008

Halloween has always been a holiday that I really look forward to, especially when it isn't raining! Growing up my friends and I were always on a mission to see who could get the most candy. We used pillow cases and literally ran from house to house to maximize our efforts. Sadly, I found that competitive nature in me manifest itself when Austin was old enough to go trick-or-treating. I drug him all over town, down each row at trunk-or-treat, and then hit some more homes in our neighborhood afterwards. He used to say, "Mom, I'm tired!" and I was like come on, just a few more houses. Poor kid! Well this year, I am proud to say, I didn't care at all. What ever the kids wanted to do was fine with me. Austin was pretty gung-ho about making the rounds at trunk-or-treat, but Cameron was content to sit on the bumper of our Tahoe and eat candy. He had no interest in collecting any. I'm not sure what it was that frightened him, but he was not excited about Halloween at all. We got home fairly early from trunk-or-treat, and Austin said he wanted to do some more trick-or-treating, so we made a loop through our neighborhood. To my surprise, Cameron decided that he wanted to do that as well, so the boys and I went out with Shelley and Nicholas, while Spencer and JB stayed back and passed out candy. The weather was wonderful. It was probably the warmest Halloween that we've had in a long time, and with no rain. Good weather and happy kids is always a good combination on Halloween. So here is a break down of what we all dressed up as; Spencer, an Inmate (borrowed from the county jail); Me, Raggedy Ann; Austin, a Clone Trooper; Cameron, Obi-Wan Kenobi; Andrew, a Pirate.