NaBloPoMo #30

I cannot wait for this movie to come out!! The books were fantastic and I can't wait to see them interpreted in film. Oh and also because it stars my secret lover :) (Daniel, not Rooney - though she is pretty kick ass herself)

NaBloPoMo #29

I've picked up my swapping lately. It really inspires me to actually get projects done and also try new things. I just finished up a Christmas mug rug swap and this is the amazing package I received....isn't it fantastic??? I sent my package off to my partner yesterday and I'll post pics as soon as it arrives. I don't want to spoil the surprise if she's lurking on my blog:) We both love HIMYM so the suit up quilt is an homage to Barney Stinson. She has a little HIMYM surprise in her package too :)

NaBloPoMo #28

My first picture of my Daddy as a missionary!!

My Dad and Step-Mom made it safe and sound to the area where they will be serving – Labasa, Fiji – after about three days of travel. It was a LONG plane ride, an overnight ferry trip and a long car ride to finally make it from Henderson, Nevada to Labasa, Fiji. OH yeah – my dad’s the white guy on the right J

 

 

NaBloPoMo #27

Some more Christmas crafting. A crocheted washcloth and a knit hat. The hat is for my one year old niece, Ruby. She will be darling with the little teddy bear ears!!!!!

NaBloPoMo #26

A little Christmas crafting... Vintage scrabble tiles, jingle bells and some ribbon. These are for an ornament swap I'm participating in however I made a few extras that might be arriving in mail boxes across the country. Just maybe - if you promise you've been good.

NaBloPoMo #25

Miss S and I are heading to the movies today to see Breaking Dawn. She is so excited and wore one of her vampire tshirts for the occasion. We love Jacob but we are both Team Edward:)

NaBloPoMo #24

Happy happy thanksgiving to my dear friends and loved ones!!!!

NaBloPoMo #23

My Week of Gratitude:

I am thankful for my talents. To my Granny for teaching me to crochet, to my Mama for teaching me to sew, for Sister Eads and Sister Wright for teaching me to play the piano and especially for the love, support and encouragement from friends and family to strengthen and expand my talents.



I crocheted this darling little ear muff while watching Flying Wild Alaska with Hubby a few nights ago. It's going to be a Christmas present but I had to model it first:)

NaBloPoMo #22

Week of Gratitude:

I am so thankful for music - hymns, country, rock and roll, folk, broadway, classical. But I'm especially thankful for my boys, The Beatles. Kind of odd to be grateful for them you think? All the good things in my life have an associated Beatles song, so whenever I listen to their music I have happy memories.

NoBloPoMo #21

Week of gratitude:

I am so thankful for my home. A warm cozy place to rest my head and to store all my crap. In March we will celebrate 12 years in our home and next month I celebrate 25 years of being in Albuquerque. I have grown to love the Land of Enchantment. It took several years of longing for my hometown in Washington before I finally fell in love with the desert. The clear blue skies. The subtle greens hidden in the brown. The laid back attitude. Being a minority in the ethnic soup here. I love it.

(Have you seen the new Starbucks city mugs?? LOVE them!!!! So far I have New Mexico and Las Vegas. I need a Seattle one - anyone want to send me one and I'll send money?)

NaBloPoMo #20

Week of gratitude:

Today I am grateful for abundance. Always enough food, shelter, clothing. I have never wanted for anything in my life and I am so blessed for that. I know for so many just meeting their everyday needs is a struggle. Not only do I have an abundance but I always have choices. And whether that choice is to eat a big green leafy salad with low fat ranch or to eat red chile cheese fries and a chile relleno hot dog (like I did last night) I am grateful to have choices. With always having an abundance also comes the responsibility to share that abundance. This holiday season I will focus more on sharing my abundance and spreading my blessings to others. Will you join me?

(And yep - this is a pic of my supremely delicious dinner last night.)

NaBloPoMo #19 Take Two

My sista rightly pointed out that I'd already posted that pic of Miss S and Hubby:) so here's one of Miss S from when I joined her for thanksgiving lunch at school.

NaBloPoMo #19

My week of gratitude:

Absolutely tops on my list is my family. I am so grateful for the love and support these two give me. My sweet Miss S and my handsome Hubby.

NaBloPoMo #18

I heard on the radio today that only 27% of women are happy when they look in the mirror. I can completely understand that. Women are so hypercritical of themselves, me included. I look in the mirror and sometimes see a pretty woman. Other times I see a tired and worn out woman. Other times I see every flaw too clearly. But sometimes when I smile I see my inner and outer beauty aligning and that makes me happy.

NaBloPoMo #17

I joined Miss S at school today for Thanksgiving lunch. It's always a fun time and yummy food. And it's always nice to spend some time during the work day with my darling daughter.

NaBloPoMo #16

I can't believe I forgot to post yesterday! Grrrr that makes me angry! (not really but I was doing so well).

SO... Happy birthday to my darling Mr. Fu Manchu today. He's two years old today and is an absolute angel baby. We love you Mr. Fu!!!

NaBloPoMo #14

My two sweeties.

NaBloPoMo #13

Spent the morning on a spiritual high at Dad and Jan's ward for their missionary farewell and setting apart. Now chilling with the fam getting ready for an early Christmas gift exchange:)

NaBloPoMo #12

Giddy up. Miss S got to saddle up recently for a little tethered horse ride. She loved it!!!!!

NaBloPoMo #11

Oh yeah baby. Heading to Vegas today!!!!! Happy happy Veterans Day to those who serve our country!! We love you and a special shout out to Rick and Ian my two handsome brothers in the Navy and the Army.

NaBloPoMo #10

Got in a little accident yesterday at Miss S's school. Another parent pulled out from the curb and smashed right in to me. Youch!!!! My poor beloved Subaru. No injuries other than adding an extra dose of stress to my already stressful week!!!!! Hopefully I'll have no problem getting her all fixed up and back to good as new.

NaBloPoMo #9

My day in a nutshell. Yep this day is utterly crappy and it's only 11:00 am!!!!!

NaBloPoMo #8

Clutter....love it or hate it....it's taking over my house!!!! It's my number one resolution every year and I continue to fail miserably every year. This year I've been trying to take baby steps and get rid of some of the stuff that I know I will never use or is just taking up space. It's slow going and it's hard to see any progress yet but if I keep working on baby steps I will get there. I've been reading the blog 365 Less Things for the last little while and it is a great motivator. Colleen posts Mini Mission Mondays that contain little tiny goals for each day of the week with the ultimate goal of eliminating 365 things from your home every year.

This week's Mini Mission Mondays are:

Monday – Be realistic ~ Declutter an item of clothing today that no longer fits, is probably never coming back into fashion or really never suited you.

Tuesday – Be courageous ~ Declutter and item that someone else gave you that you are only keeping out of fear they may notice it gone.

Wednesday – Be generous ~ Donate something today that you are considering selling. It is quicker to donate anyway.

Thursday – Be impulsive ~ Declutter an item today that you have never really considered for decluttering before. Go on - there is bound to be something you haven’t noticed that really is excess to your needs.

Friday – Be decisive ~ Find an object you have been procrastinating over decluttering for some time and get it out of there.

Saturday – Be brave ~ Declutter and item that you are keeping because “you may need it some day”. Take a chance that someday will never come, lets face it, it hasn’t come for years already.

Sunday – Be inquisitive ~ Take a look in a place that you haven't paid any attention to for a while and declutter one of the items in there that you obviously care so little about.

And one more word of advice ~ Behave yourself in the future and be discerning about what you bring into your home because what doesn’t come in won’t become clutter later on.

This week I decluttered my Thanksgiving decorations. I ended up donating about 10 things to Goodwill. A small start but a good one nonetheless. One thing that has really helped me is keeping a bag or box in the master bedroom so that anytime any of us come across something to donate it goes right in that box. Then almost once a week I drop the box off at Goodwill - it's right on my way home and super easy to just drop stuff off constantly. I find that the longer the box sits in my house the likelier one of us is to take something OUT of the box:) So if you accept this Mini Mission Monday my addition is to then take that box or bag to the thrift store first thing the following Monday:) Let me know how you do.

NaBloPoMo #7

Daily Prompt: Making family time is important to me. How do you balance your children, relationship, and work life?

I struggle with this constantly. As a full time working mother there are many days when Hubby and Miss S take a back seat, or I have a stressful day at work and they have to listen to me gripe. With Hubby still in school full time AND working full time that just adds an additional dimension to stressful days. We spend most of our time catching up with each other on the weekends. For example, this weekend Hubby had a class group meeting ALL day on Saturday. But as soon as he got home we went out for date night. Then Sunday I stayed home from church just to spend the day with him. Miss S and I spend a lot of time together and I really try to make sure that some of that time is "fun" time for us. During each school year we try to develop a couple rituals that are just for the two of us. This semester it's McDonald's Thursdays. Hubby has class until 9:30 p.m. on Thursday night so after I pick her up from her after school program we drive through McDonald's for $1.49 Happy Meals and head home to watch a movie and eat together.

NaBloPoMo #6

I made blackberry pancakes for breakfast this morning and was instantly transported back to my childhood in Silverdale, Washington. We spent every summer picking wild blackberries and making every sort of blackberry treat imaginable - pie, cobbler, muffins, pancakes. It's hard to find good blackberries in the desert but these cuties from California weren't bad.

NaBloPoMo #5

Do you love Mickey Mouse? I do....on my bucket list is visiting Disneyland during Halloween and during Christmas. Seeing the park all done up for those holidays must be SO awesome:) For now I get my fill from occasional pics from my mom who is a season pass holder and from my bestie's husband's blog - DisFanReview. Check it out - he's got an awesome Song of the South event coming up. And tell him Raesha sent you :)

NaBloPoMo #4

Daily NaBloPoMo Writing Prompt: When you are writing, do you prefer to use a pen or a computer?

I completely prefer to use a computer. I am so much faster at typing than writing - especially when my thoughts are coming really fast. I use a computer all day at work and typing has just become second nature to me. However, there are few things that I love more than getting a long handwritten letter in the mail. My BFF Tammy loves to send me long handwritten letters and I usually get a couple a year from her which I absolutely cherish. I should make it a goal to write one handwritten letter a month to someone I love - what do you think? Wanna join me in that challenge????

NaBloPoMo #3

Airing my dirty laundry....actually this is my clean laundry - almost two weeks worth. Can you tell what my most despised chore is? Yep, folding laundry. I hate it. The only thing that makes it bearable is piling it all on my bed and treating myself to some Law & Order: Criminal Intent while I fold clothes. Who knows I may even be inspired and actually put them away. That's my second most despised chore.

NaBloPoMo #2

One of my guilty pleasures.....manzana verde soda. For you gringos that's green apple soda. Tastes just like fizzy green apple jolly ranchers. Used to be I could only find this at the Mexican market about 45 minutes from my house. But a brand new Mexican market opened only 5 minutes from my house...and they have it!!! Woohoo!!!! Now I'll get this luscious treat all the time instead of only a couple times a year:)

NaBloPoMo #1

Welcome to National Blog Posting Month!!! I'm going for it this year....posting everyday in November! Woohoo!!!

You're in for lots of....recipes, crafts, quotes, random thoughts...it will be fun!!
Occassionally I'll be following the prompts listed on the NaBloPoMo site - today's prompt is -
What is your favourite part about writing?

Ok - first of all I LOVE that they used the English spelling of favorite. My favorite part of writing is getting all those thoughts out of my head. My mind is spinning constantly and it's rare that I have a still quiet moment. In fact, most nights I take a sleeping aid because I just cannot get my brain to turn off. Writing really helps - I can get those thoughts down on paper and clear up some of the clutter in my mind. I know most of what I have to say is of no great profound interest but my writing is about ME and my family and my loves and my life. So it's important to me. At times I treat this blog just like a journal - sharing my hopes and fears. Other times it's just a fun place where I can share a cool song, quote or craft that I found. I'm not writing for fame or fortune (though that would be nice) - I'm writing for myself. And I guess in a round about way that IS my favorite part of writing. Putting a little bit of myself out there for others to see.