What I've Learned...

This past weekend was my birthday. I am now realizing that my time-lines never work out just the way I think. Oh well. You live, you learn. Thus the reason I am posting today. I been contemplating about how much I've learned throughout this year. This has honestly been one of the most different years of my life. I have been pregnant, had a appendectomy, moved to a new state with a new climate, and had a baby and gone on six(!) trips this year. It's been very eventful in some ways and almost mundane in others. I know for sure this is a year I will never forget. Thankfully, along the way I have learned some valuable lessons. I may have learned some of them already and had to re-learn them, and I may have to remember them again. I thought I'd share them so perhaps (hopefully) I'll just remember.

1. Do not allow what you think other's think of you to stop or stifle your development.

2. It's not fair to others for me to be unforgiving or have preconcieved notions of what others can or can't acheive or what or who they are as a person.

3. It doesn't pay to avoid learning experiences that may be difficult. That is what gives us the highest sense of acheivement.

4. Life is short and precious, you never know when someone is going to leave; embrace them as well as each moment you've been given.

5. Family is everything--Let them know how you feel--use loving phrases as much as possible. It never hurts to show love; it only hurts to withhold love.

6. Even if you do not agree with others and/or their behaviors, the most important this is that you love them and encourage them to be their personal best.

7. Disagreeing is human; forgiveness is divine.

8. We were put on earth to become masters of ourselves.

9. Take time for physical and spiritual development each day; exercise and read scriptures daily for true strength.

10. Emotions are important. Be aware of them. Express them. It is important to recogize that they are emotions though and only a small glimpse of reality. Do not let them rule you by giving them too much stock.

I may later write a blog about each item if I get in the mood to explain myself.

Will it ever end?

WARNING: Personal venting session ahead

I am about to go absolutely CRAZY! We have yet to hear back on the job we're the most excited about and I feel so frustrated. I know Jared is frustrated too but at least he has job to help keep his mind off of things. It doesn't help that I'm sooo lonely for female friends down here in the hot place. If I didn't have kids to worry about I seriously would consider some wrist slashing. I really feel like my life is at a dead-end and I've been damned. I am such a planner with nothing long-term to plan for I feel insane. Two weeks of waiting may seem small but to my limited perspective it seems endless.

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Happy Feet

Of all of the things I don’t prefer about myself.  I love my feet.  My feet are consistently the best looking things I’ve got.  The only time in my life that they have hurt my appearance was when they got swollen while I was pregnant with #2.

One reason why I love my feet is that they are pretty easy to maintain.  All you have to do is keep them clean, take care of nail length now and then and they look great.  I never think “man, these toes have got to shed a few pounds or they’ll never squeeze into my shoes again”. 

On the contrary, they pretty much stay a consistent size as apposed to my hips and thighs (which by the way are still slightly too big to fit into my regular clothes).  This is why I love my feet.  And because I love my feet, I show them I love them by “putting a little paint on the old barn” so to say.

 

I love having my toenails painted.  I personally think that painting one’s toenails is one of the most easy pick-me-ups available to woman-kind.  You can pick any color you like plus a little patience and magically you can have flirty, fun toenails that make you feel young and pretty all for the price of a bottle. 

Of course you can pay for someone to give you a  pedicure.  That is an indulgence on a whole other level.  I have never felt so pampered than the one time I got my toenails done by a professional.  It was a valentines gift from my sweetie.  I actually went in feeling really silly and vain about the whole thing but I left feeling so fabulous about myself.  Seriously, it seems a little silly but the thing that makes me feel pretty faster than anything else is a little paint on the old toenails.

Since having Vivian, I’ve tried to always keep my nails painted…I only have to do it every other week or so and it makes me feel special…even if my feet aren’t always showing…I know that there is something cute in hiding…even if it’s not my thighs.

Quick Bite!

Okay, so I have a problem with feeding myself....it's not that I don't like to eat. I do (that's a different problem I have). The biggest vice I have to eating healthy is that most days I'm so busy feeding everyone else around me that I leave me for last. By that time, I'm so dang hungry or desperate for a quick bite that I eat whatever is closest at hand which can be anything from Christian's half eaten sandwhich, to tortillia chips in the pantry, or yes, I have to admit the semi-sweet chocolate chips in the bag stashed out of Christian's reach.

I really do have every intention to eat something healthy and have a great breakfast in the mornings but by mid-day my resolve needs a little bit more shove.

Today I came home famished after taking the kids to the park and then on an errand. I had fed them at the park but to be honest pb&j is the thing I eat if I want to gain weight so I waited until I got home. Both kids went down for naps and I felt almost dizzy with hunger (I wonder if this happens to anyone else or if I just have a blood sugar problem). Anyway, I opened the fridge and was debating on eating totillia chips that were out or pb&j. Then I realized that in my fridge, smiling up at me was a bag of pre-washed ready to eat spinach. I grabbed a bowl and poured in a little spinach, pre-cooked bacon, feta, and some chickpeas. Ta da. A healthy lunch that was faster than any pb&j!

Lesson learned: keep your produce close to eye level in fridge!

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Limbo Land

Jared is finally graduated! I'm so relieved. Being in school has seem to take forever but in retrospect it seems to have flown.

Now all we need is a job to go to. Jared has been looking in SLC but openings are scarce because nobody really wants to move from UT. He has applied in upstate NY, Southern Oregon, Maine, and AZ. We've been researching the locations and if we can't be in UT, Oregon sounds the most appealing to me The crime rate is low the housing market is reasonable, there are 216 growing days, it hardly freezes....sounds like paradise!

Now all we have to do is wait. Jared has a phone interview with Maine today so we'll see how that goes. I hate not knowing where we'll be. I'm such a planner, if we knew then I could start house-hunting, looking for preschools, and figure out transfering my licensure.

Ahhh! Please everyone pray for us. That's pretty much all I can do right now. I just hope that we can be in a good place to raise our kids....at least for the next five years or so.
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Something healthy, easy and delicious…

I’ve been meaning to post this recipe for a while as it is one of my favorites and is really healthy.  When we lived with the 93-year-old woman who’s son and DIL were on their mission, part of the deal was that we have Sunday dinner together every week and then have the same thing for Monday night and then have a weekly game of scrabble.  She made the salads which was really great because I honestly hate to chop.  It has something to do with being a klutz and needing my fingers intact to play the violin…  So anyway, she introduced us to some very interesting, some very boring and some delicious recipes in the 18 months we lived there.  This recipe is by far my favorite one that she shared (I honestly am addicted).   I changed it around a little (as I do almost everything I cook).  What I really like to do with this is double it and have it for dinner and then for lunch the next day.  For those of you on diets, this is full of protein, fiber and good oils.  Bon appétit. 

 

White Bean Tuna Salad

2-3 Servings

-1 can white beans rinsed and drained well (or you can use dried that you’ve soaked overnight and boiled for at least an hour though I usually do two).

-1 can tuna  (Preferably Italian in Olive oil)

-1 cup of parsley, fresh, chopped (or to taste I usually only do about 1/4 cup)

-1/4 cup finely diced red onion (green onions are good too and then you only need 1-2 chopped)

Dressing:

-3 Tbs olive oil

-2 Tbs lemon juice

-salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Rinse beans in colander until no foam appears.  Let drain, pat dry  with paper towels.

2. Drain oil from tuna and discard; put tuna in mixing bowl.

3. Add beans chopped parsley, onion, and gently combine.

4. In small bowl, whisk olive oil and lemon juice.  Gently mix dressing into salad.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.

5.  Will stay good in refrigerator for a day or two.

Fright Night...

Last night was one of the most frightning of my life. I woke to a woman screaming from the alley behind our apartment that separates us from another complex! As I woke I realized that she was begging someone to "GIVE ME BACK MY PURSE!!!" I ran to the window and looked out into a foggy blackness and realized I couldn't see much (I had forgotten my glasses in my haste to see...ridiculous I know). I saw the shadow of a truck or SUV racing away as I woke Jared and asked him to look. I gropped around in the dark for my phone. In the vehecil's hast to leave the hit an on-coming car and left the scene like a coward.
The man who was hit jumped out of the car and was trying to talk to the screaming woman who was yelping and wouldn't say anything but that she was scared. Another man came out of one of the apartments and said the police were coming. I placed my phone back down and continued my silent vigil as the woman cried and the men stood around her begging for information.
The police finally came and put my mind to ease somewhat but I couldn't stop shaking.
For the next couple of hours I checked on Christian a few times and felt the need to pray a lot.
It's moments like these when I'm reminded how fragile life is and how vulnerable we all are. How important our families are to us and how much we fear for their safety. It makes me thankful for the power of prayer. Today as I sung "Sweet Is The Peace the Gosple Brings" in church, I couldn't agree more.

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