Thankful

Today I feel thankful. Sometime I get so wrapped up in whats going around me (or not going on around me) that I forget how much I have been blessed with. I have done this before where I list what I am thankful for, and its really good for me to go back and look over it when I am having a not-so-thankful day.
1. Sam. He is so funny and sweet to me. Today he got off work early and brought me a drink because he knew I would want one. That makes me feel loved.
2. Our House. We are SO lucky to have our house. A lot of people are in danger of loosing their houses because of fires right now. I am so lucky that I am not fearful of that. I am so lucky that we can afford our office. Many other people have lost their homes because of the economy. I am so glad that we have not had to worry about that.
3. My family. I really have the sweetest best family ever. My parents are so sweet and show me the best example. They are good, honest, hard working people. Nowadays that is quite rare. My sisters are the best too! I am so blessed that my sisters are my best friends. We get a long and have had so many fun adventures. I am so blessed to be able to travel with them.
4. My job. Number one glad that I have a job. Number two so blessed that I have good job that I feel confident in, and that I can really excel in. Those are pretty hot commodities.
5. St. George. I am seriously so grateful for St. George. I know many people think its just some stupid small town between Vegas and Salt Lake, or a pit stop on the way to Zion, but to me its home. I love the weather, the area, the people, the atmosphere, the small/big town that it is. I can't imagine going anywhere for very long and leaving this place. It really is the greatest place on earth.
6. Friends. Its fun to see our friends and get together with them. Sam and I have been so lucky to find friends everywhere we go. We are so lucky that there are so many great people that we share interests with. Friends really are the best.
7. Gator. Gator is the best, and I am the only the slightest bit sad to admit that I am one of those weird dog people. He is so much fun and makes me and Sam both so happy. We just love our little Gatorlicious.
8. Traveling. I have been SO BLESSED to be able to travel. I love seeing new places and experiencing different cultures and areas. I feel like traveling makes me a better person. I love having trips to look forward to and having past trips to look back on. Traveling is really important to me and I am so lucky to have a husband that supports that, and sisters that feel the same way.
9. Exercise. After high school I started to get into working out, before that I really had no interest in it, that was one of the best choices I ever made. Exercise is important to me on so many levels. I like getting into shape and working on training for a marathon, but the emotional clarity I get from exercise is really the best part. There is something so amazing that happens after you exercise- my entire attitude and mood changes. I have more self confidence and I feel much more relaxed about life. Its amazing how that works.
10. Education. I have always been pretty into school and learning. I have pretty much always loved school. One thing I have come to learn as I get older is that education comes in LOTS of forms. Its not just a text book and lecture. I have come to learn that you can learn new things in so many different ways, you just have to look at it that way. I have learned SO MUCH through my work, through working with people, at church, from our friends and family, from Sam, from myself, from bad situations, from good situations, from failing, from being open to learning. I know I will be a perpetual student for my whole life- not necessarily because I want to go to school forever but because I want to learn from everything around me. Learning is power.

Its Our Anniversay {June 28, 2012}

Yup, today is our anniversary. As of today we have officially been married 4 years! That seems so crazy to think. In some ways it really has seemed like that long, and it other ways it doesn't seem like long at all. I feel really lucky to be married to Sam. Marriage has not been easy by any means, but we are both really blessed that we both keep trying every day. Since its our 4th anniversay I will give 4 pieces of wisdom I have learned in the past four years:
1. Every relationship is different. You can't compare your to anyone elses because they are not you and you are not married to their spouse. It seems so obvious but it can be a real issue.
2. Finding what works for you is not the battle- its keeping everyone else out of what works for you that is. Everyone has an opinion or a judgement or a suggestion about how your relationship should work.The only people that should have a say in your relationship is you, the other person, and your Heavenly Father. Thats it.
3. Laughing and joking with your spouse is the fastest way to get closer to them.
4. Don't take anything too seriously. (This one is the best one- but the one I struggle with the most). One thing I have really tried to do, and let me start off by saying that I know its weird, but I always think about if I would care about whatever I'm mad about if Sam were to be gone. Like if he died or we got divorced or something would that issue really matter? Would it really matter that he didn't take the trash out? Would it really matter that he left his clothes around the house? Or would that be somethig I would miss? Once I answer that question, most of the things that bother me, don't really bother me anymore. Weird- but it works for me! :)

Since I have been the picture stickler through most thing here are some pictures of us through the years:

Goodbye Gluten

Recently I have been having a lot of problems with my stomach. I get some of the WORST stomach aches and my stomach swells up making me look like I'm five months pregnant (and I'm not pregnant to clarify). I have had some problems in the past with my stomach and such, but it kind of went a way and we could never really figure out what was wrong.Well, turns out I am allergic (I guest intolerant is the better word) to gluten.
I have started  monitoring what I was eating, and  noticed that breads and grains caused me the worst problems. Instinctively I started cutting those things out, but I was still having some problems. It has been really hard for me to pin point what has gluten in it- turns out some of my favorites have gluten like  ranch, candy, chocolate. Basically anything really delicious and amazing has gluten. I really needed some help figuring out this stuff, so I turned to a good friend of mine that has the same problem. After talking to her I realized that becoming gluten free would be the death of me and nearly impossible (especially for me).

Despite my sweet tooth screaming at me, I have decided to really make an effort though to cut most of the gluten out of my life. I feel like it is going to be really difficult, but hopefully not as difficult as wanting to explode every time I eat gluten. My friend gave me some AMAZING advice on things to avoid and things to replace gluten with- which I am so grateful for. I have also found some other great sites with gluten free tips and recipes.

These seem like the best ones
The Gluten Free Goddess
Gluten Freely
Simply Gluten Free

I hope this works and that I can get things under control. Wish me luck.

Summer To Do's

It seems like every January and July I get the itch to start new projects, finish old ones, and set some good goals. I have always heard (and said) that you have to write things down or you will never accomplish it. So, here are my summer goals:

Better Homes and Gardens really gets me inspired

1. Finish landscaping our back yard

2. Get ready for the St. George Marathon. (and subsequently get in shape).

3. Try to save at least a dollar

4. Paint at least two rooms in my house this gray color.  I love this website for choosing paint colors. It seriously has such a good selection and shows what they really will look like on the walls. 

5. Go to the lake as much as possible

Sounds like a pretty good summer to me!

Bridal Shower Ideas {June 25, 2012}

My sister Kati just got engaged and the wedding planning has begun. So, that means my bridal shower planning is already well underway. I LOVE throwing showers. I think they are so fun. I LOVED throwing Brooke's shower earlier this year, and I hope it gave me enough practice to make this shower run a little smoother. Kati's style is different than Brooke's and I am excited to do something a little different. Kati is really simple and classic. She loves more bohemian and rustic things, so thats what her shower will be. Thank Heaven for Pinterest to give me lots of ideas. Here's some of the ideas I have found so far.

I found SO many amazing blogs to help me out with my rustic themed shower... here are my favorites:

Santa Barbara Chic
Simply Rosie
Hostess With The Mostess

I think there are few must haves for a rustic shower:

1. Mason Jars- they are so cute and versitile you can use them for drinking, serving, displays, and center pieces. The best part is-- they aren't too expensive and you can send them home with the guests as their part of their gift... double duty.
2. Burlap - Burlap is one of the cheapest fabrics you can buy- seriously. It comes in TONS of colors and you can use it for SO many things. The key to a good party is having items that can perform double or even triple duty.
3. Lots of white - White makes things clean and simple, nothing is more rustic than simple. For Kati's shower we will have all white linens, napkins, and flowers. Simple and no worrying about matching.
4. Twine - Twine is so cute and also really inexpensive. You can make almost anything rustic by adding a little burlap and twine. Quick and easy.
5. Wood-  I am in LOVE with the wood planter with the white flowers. I am hoping this can be one of my DIY's for the shower. I would love that to be the center pieces. All it is is four pieces of wood nailed together with glass jars down inside (in our case mason jars) with some gorgeous white flowers. Done and Done!

I think texture is going to be the key for her shower, not so much color. I am thinking alot of browns, tans, and whites. Nothing too crazy.
Since I have been known to string my self a little thin I am going to work off a to-do list. Man do I love to do lists. Nothing better than cross things off and seeing your list get smaller and smaller. So, here's my shower to do list:

1. Get a guest list
2. Find a location
3. Design and send invites
4. Get a menu (I'm thinking a lemonade drink, cupcakes/cake, fruit, veggies, and a pasta salad)
5. Order mason jars ( I think I can just pick these up at Walmart- but I need to price compare online)
6. Get tables and chairs
7. Pick up twine and burlap
8. Order flowers ( I always just order them from Costco, they seem to be have the best price)
9. Order cake and cupcakes ( My friend Shannon is my go to girl. Go here, here and here to see some of her AMAZING cakes!)
10. Find a take home gift (I'm thinking mason jars with some kind of treat inside)
11. Get linens
12. Order straws and other papergoods
13. Set up
14. Enjoy the shower ( I  have to put that one on the list, because sometimes I forget that part :) )

I'll keep you posted on my progress with the shower. I can't wait to see it all come together.

Bullying {June 21, 2012}

Like I always do, this morning I was watching the news while I was getting ready for work. Today was different though. Today there was a story about an older lady who is a bus aide for a middle school bus in New York. There is a video of her getting bullied for 14 minutes. It was AWFUL! My heart just broke for her. In one part is starts crying, and the kids just make fun of her for crying. I was literally crying. How ruthless can little kids be??

There seems to be a lot of stories lately about bullying and trying to raise awareness about it. Bullying is a really sensitive subject for me, because as a child I was bullied. I, however, am a success story of what can happen when people stand up and say NO! I was lucky enough to have an AMAZING best friend who stood up for me (even threatening to beat kids up if they didn't stop). She was amazing. I never realized just how special that was until you see literally HUNDREDS of kids who don't stand up and say no. I am really grateful to her for being my "body guard" as we use to say and protecting me. I can only imagine the additional amounts of pain I would have been forced to endure had she not been there for me. I am enternally grateful for her courage to protect me.

My heart goes out to this women, and the countless others that go unnoticed that suffer from bullying every day. I hope that there are conversations happening all over tonight between parents and children about bullying. I hope that kids realize just how damaging their words can be, and I hope bystanders realize just how powerful their words can be to stop it.

One thing that really struck me in the broadcast of that story was something that anchor man said. I just loved it. He said to the parents of those boys how disappointed he was in them and how he hopes that there are many teaching moments and A LOT of focus in their homes on how to treat others.  In the broadcast they mentioned that the boys could be charged criminally for the incident- I hope they are charged. I think that would be a great way to show just how seriously bullying is, and would send a message to all bullies out there that what they are doing is not only wrong- but illegal. I think that people need consequences and these boys choose to act this way and commit an crime- so they should be charged with a crime. I am sure that going through the criminal process would be a great lesson to those boys - and hopefully one that they would never forget. I am sure that poor old woman will never forget the incident- just like I have never forgotten mine.

St. Louis June 2012 {June 8, 2012}

For Ash's birthday we went to St. Louis. She picked the trip (we have all picked our birthday trips this year). We went to a Cardinals game, which was so much fun. We love baseball, and at least Ashlee has a goal to go to every major league baseball stadium in the US and Canada. The Card's lost the game we went to, but it was firework night so we were ok with the loss.

Everyone told us we had to go up in the arch-- so we did. The little bucket thing you ride up in was not my favorite part but it was cool to be up in side of the arch like that. We also went on a river boat ride on the Mississippi river, that was a little disappointing. I think a lot of the stuff we did so we could say we've done it-- well put a big old check mark on done on St. Louis, Mississippi River, and the Arch.

While we were there we also drove out to Nauvoo and Carthage. It was really neat to see all of those church sites and to really get an idea what it was like for the saints that lived there. I can imagine it would have been very difficult to leave such a beautiful place behind, knowing that mobs were just going to destroy it. Another interesting thought we had was about the river. That is the biggest river I have ever seen and I can only imagine how cold it must have gotten to freeze that thing over-- bitter for sure. It was interesting to think about how they crossed it and what a challenge that must have been. While we were in Nauvoo we toured some of the historical sites and one of my favorites was Brigham Young's home. They sister missionary explained that they had found old plates and cups in a storage cellar that most likely belonged to Brigham Young's family. They were all broken and shattered. A missionary came along and pieced them together and fired the dishes back together-- they looked PERFECT! It was incredible! The whole area was very beautiful.

When we were in Carthage we didn't have very much time because they were closing, but we did get a chance to go on a tour of the jail. That is such a spiritual place. There is a feeling there that you can't explain. As we went through each of the rooms you could really relieve the last 24 hours of Joseph Smith's life and see how it must have felt to be there with him. One thing one of the missionaries said that stuck out to me was that she thought the jailer and his family were very nice people. It was an interesting thought. I had never really considered the jailer. She told us that he had 7 children and his wife also living in the jail house. It is unclear whether or not the children were present when Joseph Smith was killed- but what an horrifying thought. I thought it was interesting that when everything happened- they were in the jailer's bedroom. He must have realized that Joseph was not a threat, because there were rooms he could have left him in very easily. Just some interesting things to think about.

We really enjoyed our time in St. Louis, but I think the best part of going is just having a chance to spend time with my sisters. It is so fun to be able to spend that much time with them and really get to bond with each other. We always spend a lot of time laughing and enjoying each other-- and surprisingly enough-- we don't really fight. You would like for how stressful situations can be and how tired we get sometimes we would be fighting all the time-- but we just don't. I am SO happy I can travel with them and have these awesome memories forever.