30 on the 30th

I hate to admit it, but here goes...I am 30 today. I think that means it is my golden birthday or something? I am still having a little trouble believing I am no longer in the 20's. But here are some things I have learned about turning 30:

I can no longer sleep through the night without having to get up and go to the potty.

I can no longer go to bed at night without taking an antacid.

I have noticed quite a few new lines on my face, especially around my eyes and a little around my mouth. But, no gray hairs yet - unlike my younger sister who does have gray hair!

I was thinking about having a little pity party for myself and eating the whole birthday cake (I made for myself) by myself. TJ is never home anymore and it hasn't been fun being a single mom lately, so I thought I would have a pity party. Then I got these beautiful flowers delivered to my home from a friend and countless friends and family have called wishing me happy birthday. And I got some beautiful cards in the mail too - thanks guys!! You saved me from eating all those calories :) I like to pretend I can decorate cakes like my sister Steph, obviously from the picture I cannot decorate very good, but I like to try. And here is a picture of the pretty necklace and earrings my parents gave me, but I couldn't get a picture of the earrings, so you can just see the necklace. I just got back from young women's and my girls made it special too with presents, cards, brownies, cupcakes and lots of hugs. Thanks everyone for making it a special birthday! I am hoping to get to see my husband tonight ;o)

Very sad

I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Gordon B. Hinckley, the prophet, passed away last night. He was 97 years old. I loved President Hinckley. I will never forget the opportunity I had to be in the celestial room with him of the Vernal, UT, Temple as he was dedicating it. I will never forget the spirit I felt there and from him as I sat a few rows away from him. He had a wonderful sense of humor and I will miss hearing him speak. I know without a shadow of a doubt that he was called to be a Prophet of God in these days, just as there were prophets of old in the Bible. I am grateful I was alive during Pres Hinckley's days. I am grateful for the knowledge I have that he is rejoicing right now at seeing his dear wife and other family members who have already passed on. One of the greatest blessings of my life is being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and the peace and happiness it brings into my life. I have had lots of tears, but I know that we will have another Prophet, called by God, to guide and lead us. When I told Tyler President Hinckley had died, he said "Oh no, now I can't go on a mission?" Such a sweetie. I told him that yes, when he turns 19 he will still be able to go on a mission.

Simple pleasures of life

I had thought because I had a girl, she would be potty trained at 18 months. Usually I am put in my place when I think things like this, and this was no exception. Brena REFUSED, kicking and screaming any attempt to get her to put on pretty princess panties, go anywhere near the toilet, etc. So I just hadn't thought about it in awhile. I was looking at how much I was spending on diapers and wipes the other day and about died. So, I decided to try again. Yesterday I put her in her panties, she didn't have a fit! I put her on the toilet and she was fine with it! So every 15 minutes we were going potty. She was doing so well. She got a peanut m&m if she went potty. So we were going to stake conference last night and I had gotten a babysitter. I couldn't decide what to do, if I should burden the babysitter with taking her to the potty every 15 minutes or just put her in a diaper and forget about it. I finally decided to let the babysitter take over the potty training. The entire night I was worried Brena would poop in her pants for the poor babysitter. We got home about 10:30 and I asked how it went. It went well, no accidents! I said I was so worried she would poop for you. The babysitter said she did - in the toilet!!! I missed her first poop in the toilet! I was so excited. I am sure the babysitter thought I was a little nuts, but it is so exciting! So we have gone 1 1/2 days now with no accidents. I even took her to church this morning in panties! I hope it all continues to go well and I never have to buy a pack of diapers again - ever! Update: just as I was typing this I heard her run down the hall and I followed her. She took off her pants and got on the toilet and went poop!!! I was jumping up and down, so I finally got to see her go :) Can you tell I am excited??!!

It's SO cold!

Well, it is about 56 degrees, but I am FREEZING! Now, you would think a Colorado girl would think that was pretty nice, but no, I am so cold! It doesn't help that the sun isn't out either. So on nice cold days like this the perfect thing to eat is beef stew and homemade rolls - yummy! I got this beef stew recipe from a church event about 8 or so years ago. We love it and eat it a lot in the winter. I just thought I would share the recipe.

1 lb stew meat (I like to cut it up into smaller pieces)
1 TBS oil to brown stew meat in
3 cups boiling water
2 beef bouillon cubes
4 cloves garlic
2 bay leaves
1 TBS salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp paprika
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp sugar
6 carrots chopped
4 potatoes cubed
1 onion chopped

Brown meat in pot with oil. Stir in water, onion, bouillon cubes, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, bay leaves, salt, pepper, lemon juice, paprika, allspice and sugar. Bring to a boil; reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 1 1/4 hours or until meat is tender. Keep an eye on it that all the water doesn't evaporate out - that happened to me one time! Stir in potatoes and carrots. Bring to boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer about 30 minutes more or until veggies are tender. Discard bay leaves and enjoy! If you like a more watered down stew, add more water in the beginning, this stew is very thick.

My brain is blue??

Silly stuff, but I have fun reading all about other peoples personalities, brain color, elf name, etc.

Your Brain is Blue

Of all the brain types, yours is the most mellow.You tend to be in a meditative state most of the time. You don't try to think away your troubles.Your thoughts are realistic, fresh, and honest. You truly see things as how they are. You tend to spend a lot of time thinking about your friends, your surroundings, and your life.

http://www.blogthings.com/whatcolorisyourbrainquiz/">What Color Is Your Brain?

Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day!

Tyler didn't have school today and there was a parade downtown (the parades here are amazing) so I was brave and took the kids by myself down to the parade (TJ had to study, oh and I have some interesting, if not scary facts to share about that in a minute). They had a blast. It is just crazy to me how much stuff they throw out at the parades, and they have parades all the time, for everything! Here are some pictures of the day. It is really hard to judge the depth of the candy pile, I think, from this picture. Just know that I now have more candy after a parade than I did after Halloween! Oh and a TON of moon pies - what are moon pies???!!! I had my first one today and I LOVE them!!

As for the statistics that TJ gave me, here they are: of 6,000 applicants a year to flight school (military) only 2,000 are accepted. Of that 2,000 only about 1,200 to 1,500 actually finish the program and get their wings. If you are married with kids (that's us!) you only have about a 1 in 5 shot of making it! EEEKKK!! That is what they told him the beginning of school last week. I said "how many married with kids people are in your class?" He said "5." So only 1 of them will make it?? He has his first test tomorrow, I will let you all know how he does :)

Purple Patch

I told myself my next quilt had to be a different pattern, since I keep making the same one I thought I should expand my horizons. I decided to try this one. I thought it looked cute in the book and it was a good size to hang on my wall next to all the family pictures and it used all scraps. I spent a few hours cutting out all the little pieces and started putting some of the blocks up to see what it would look like. I started sewing one block together (upper left corner one) and it doesn't fit together! I don't know what the problem is, I double checked my sizes of all my pieces and they are all right. So I am mad at that quilt and decided to move on. I will probably take this and the pattern into my quilt teacher and see if she can tell me what the problem is here.

I really like the M'Liss Rae Hawley books I have and this pinwheel pattern says it is the easiest pattern, so I think I will try it. I already cut out all my material, cut it in half and sewed it to the white. I am going to call it Purple Patch. I hope it works out!

Girls Night Out!

Last night I got to go on Girls Night Out. It was so needed! TJ has started another part of school and is never home, he goes to school from 6-3 or so, then he has to study for about 5 hours after that, so he is really gone all day, and this will be for 6 weeks (1 week down, 5 to go!). I am pretty spoiled in that TJ is the best dad ever and is such a help with the kids, he helps me so much that I feel like when he is gone, I am a wreck! I am getting more into the groove of things now, but it isn't fun. Ok, back to my story. So I had to get a babysitter for a couple of hours, but I met the girls and we went to dinner and a movie. We saw P.S. I love you. It was a little different, but I liked it ok. It probably won't be one I buy on DVD when it comes out, but it was a cute idea of what her husband did for her. I can't imagine loosing my husband, we have been inseparable (except when the NAVY takes him away) for about 16 years now (wow - more than half my life!) and I love him more than I can put into words. Sorry to be so sappy, but the movie just makes you think about that!

New Dress

I was at Jo Ann's a couple of weeks ago and found this adorable corduroy fabric with little apples in teal and brown and just had to buy it. I decided to make a little jumper for Brena. I think it is pretty cute. I can't seem to get a very good picture of it because the model isn't very cooperative! Also, I really, really need a new camera, ours is horrible. A new camera is the next thing on "the list" of things to get. Anyway, her dress has cute buttons at the top and little pockets on the front. I had a meeting before church today and so TJ dressed her, but he put it on backwards, so during church I was trying to flip it around and Brena thought I was taking her dress off, so that caused a little commotion until I explained to her I was just trying to get her pockets in the front. With the buttons I think the total cost of the dress was about $5! And it only took a couple of hours to make. I had to have some help with the pockets and around the arm sleeves, but it was pretty easy to do. I think I will have to make her another summer one for when it gets really hot! If you click on the picture, you can see the dress a little bit better.

Happy Birthday Kim!

My little sister, Kim, turns 28 today! I told TJ all I wanted for my birthday is to see my sister, but unfortunately she lives in a place with lots and lots of snow and it is not possible to get to a place to get on an airplane at this time of year, sigh, I will have to wait to see her. She is the bestest sister ever, we talk multiple times a day and I don't know what I'd do without her. When we were little I was scared of the dark (still am) and she would go down the dark hall first and turn on the light for me (I am two years older than her). I would also go climb in bed with her when I was scared at night. She always makes me feel better. The only reason I would ever have another baby would be to give Brenalee a sister, but there is no guarantee I can give her a sister vs. a brother and what if they didn't even like each other? So, Brena will have to be bestest cousins with Kim's little girl, Kayleigh. They are only 6 weeks apart, and Kayleigh won't be getting a sister either, so hopefully Brena and Kayleigh can be close. Happy Birthday Kim!

Yipppeee!!!!!!!!!!!!

I hate to brag (most people won't care about this anyway) but I just got the coolest new sewing machine!! TJ says that it is my Christmas, Birthday, Anniversary and Mother's Day present for this year (we will see about that!). It is a Janome 6600. I have been so in love with quilting since I started in September and I have been trying really hard to do my best on my little beginner Kenmore sewing machine, but it just wasn't doing the job. So I begged and begged and I got this one. I can't even begin to describe all the amazing things it does! It has a separate bobbin winder, a large space from side to side and top to bottom that I can easily fit a big quilt into, auto start stop, auto threader, auto scissors! And like 200 stitches (which I will probably not ever use all of them) and I haven't figured out what else yet, but it is cool! And it quilts like none else, it is a DREAM! I don't know how I was even quilting with my other little machine. Now, let's just hope I can figure out how to thread the thing! Oh, and that was my other Christmas present, a huge quilt table, the other side on the right folds out too, but I just have the one side out. I can't wait to finish my quilting and start a new one! Happy quilting :)

2007 memories

I was feeling a bit nostalgic last night as I realized 2007 was really over. I am amazed every day at how fast time is flying by. I started thinking about all that happened this past year. In March we found out we were really moving and the movers came and packed up our home in San Diego. It was very strange seeing our home empty. It was hard leaving, but I really never felt like I was really moving - it was strange. We left our home of nearly 10 years on March 11, and drove to New Mexico. We stopped in at the Carlsbad Caverns and saw that. It was pretty neat. Then we drove to San Antonio and saw the Alamo and everything in downtown San Antonio. I loved the Riverwalk and the food there. We arrived in Pensacola on March 15, and had to live in a hotel until March 22, when our things were able to be delivered to our new home. Then came the process of unpacking everything and getting a new life started. On March 26, we celebrated Tyler's 4th birthday. In April we got to go over to AL and pick the best strawberries ever. We had so many strawberries to freeze, can and eat! In May, TJ's mom got to come visit and we celebrated our 10-year anniversary! We spent the night at a hotel over in Destin while grandma stayed with the kids. In June my entire family (except Pat) got to come down and visit. We had fun with all the cousins! And the blueberry picking in June here is amazing, I had 33 lbs of blueberries in my freezer that we were eating, canning, making into jam, etc. In July I took the kids and myself back to CO for a visit and to attend the Stampin' Up! Convention in Denver. My sister, Kim, had her third baby on July 26. Samuel Fisher is a cutie and I have only got to see him once, right after he was born. We had to fly home in August, and Brenalee celebrated her 2nd birthday! Tyler started VPK and has been learning so much and enjoying going to school everyday. We have enjoyed our time so far in FL, but we miss all our friends and family terribly. I never realized how far away FL is from everyone! But, we won't be here forever and who knows where we will go to next. Happy New Year to everyone!