The past few days

I know, I know, I've been a slacker in the blogging department.  I am 4 days behind, but last weekend was crazy with Adi's 4th Birthday and then now Christmas just being 1 day away I haven't had a second to myself in awhile.  So I am just going to go ahead and catch up on all 4 days and go ahead and do the last day because that's tomorrow, Christmas Eve, and I can guarantee my evening will be spent with family and other Christmas festivities until late.  So here we go, bare with me.
Day 26: If you had $1,000,000.00 how would you spend it?
  I would pay off all debt, buy a new house with a basement and 5 bedrooms, with a nice big kitchen and a huge master bathroom with a big bathtub.  I would then do some traveling and save the rest.

Day 27:  A problem you have or have had in the past
  Right now my biggest problem is lack of sleep.  I want sleep, one night of uninterrupted sleep would be fabulous.  I can't say that enough, I WANT MORE SLEEP.
Other than this, all my problems are not worth sharing right now because they are typical, stupid problems I think we all have and they are honestly pretty boring.

Day 28:  Something that you miss
  See Day 27 :)
I also miss my life before having kids.  Don't get me wrong, I love having my kids, but there are days I would love to go back and be just us again.

Day 29:  List 10 people dead or alive you would invite to dinner and include the menu
  Oh gosh, I don't know, I do know I would have the hubs make his famous Filipino dish Pina A Po Minok, translated into the sitting chicken.  This is made with a whole chicken simmered in garlic, ginger, onion and sprite for 2-3 hours.  Mmm, it is so delicious.  I don't think I would invite anyone other than family and friends mainly because I'm shy when it comes to new people.  As nice as it would be to have someone famous over for dinner, it would also be very stressful and awkward for me. So let's just stick with my closest friends and family for this one.

Day 30:  My goals for the next 30 days
  I would honestly like to continue this blog the best I can.  I don't know if my topics will be as interesting because I don't have something to go off of, but I'll give it a try.  I would also like to start being healthier, I don't know why this is so hard for me, but it always has been and hopefully one day it sticks.  I would also like to just keep us all healthy and happy, pretty basic and simple, but that's where we are for the next 30 days.

My challenge is over, and I am kinda sad, but hopefully there will be another one out there in the future for everyone to enjoy with me.

Until then MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Someone who fascinates me

I hate to say it but these topics seem to be getting harder for me.  There are a lot of people who fascinate me and inspire me.  I think my biggest one would be by hubby.  He is a hard worker, he works crazy, long hours, his work is hard and strenuous and sometimes he doesn't see us for more than a few hours each week.  But most days he comes home with a positive attitude and a big smile on his face.  It's very rare for him to come home unhappy, and when that does happen, it sucks.  But that's not the case here.  He leaves work where it needs to be, out of the home.  His family time is strictly that and I love that.  My job may not be what his is, but I let it get to me and it affects my mood.  I'm always tired and I admit I let him know it all the time.
I think we can all learn a lot from him to just live your life and love it.

Favorite Movie

Today I'm supposed to tell you about my favorite movie.  I have many favorites and really can't think of which one is my absolute all time favorite, so we'll just go through a few of them because that's how I role.

Earlier in my 15 facts about me post I said that I love anything with Audrey Hepburn in it, which is true.  But my favorite Audrey Hepburn movie is Breakfast at Tiffany's.

My sister in law introduced this to me years ago and that's where I fell in love with classic old movies.  This is my go to movie when Bryce goes away for an overnight camping trip and I put the kids to bed and sit with some ice cream.

This is my favorite comedy.  I can never get sick of this movie.  I know all the jokes and punch lines and just about every line at that, but it still makes me laugh just like I am watching it for the first time.  

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST:

The all time classic Pride and Prejudice.  If I have a weekend, which never happens anymore, I pull out the full 6 hour version which I absolutely love.  But the newer version is just as good and Mr. Darcy is just handsome.  

There you have it, I love movies, don't get to see them as much as I'd like to anymore.  Kids have limited our date nights drastically and so I just stick to what we've got and I'm not gonna complain. 

Famous People I find attractive

Okay, okay, I know it's supposed to be 5 famous people I find attractive and I have more than that, but there is a reason.  As I was thinking about this I decided to ask the hubs who I found attractive, besides him of course.  His first answer was Robert Downey Jr.  Score for the hubs, but then he said Jessica Alba, which also is correct.  Yes, she's female, but I would still consider her attractive.  Women are pretty, and I'm allowed to think that, so then I kept coming up with a longer list and decided to list my top 5 women I find pretty and then the guys I find just plain attractive :)

Ladies First:

 #5 Jennifer Lawrence

She is gorgeous, and her attitude about people trying to change her is right on.  She is a great role model and any chick that can shoot a bow like she can is okay in my book.

#4 Carrie Underwood

She reminds me of one of my best friends from my past.  Great voice, gorgeous, girl next door and she seems like a friend everyone would love to have. 

#3 Zooey Deschanel 

Um, can you say cute?  She is unique in many ways and I love that about her.  She's her own person and her voice is killer.

#2 Jessica Alba

Not my #1 but pretty darn close.  She's beautiful and I'll admit she's my girl crush.  

#1 Audrey Hepburn

Classy and beautiful in so many ways.  This is who I would want to be if I could be one famous woman.  

BRING ON THE MEN! :)

#5 Jude Law

I have a thing for accents but then he's also handsome and that makes him great.

#4 Gerard Butler

Again, he has an accent, a very attractive accent.  I did fall in love with his voice first though.  I never knew who he was until Phantom of the Opera and then I was hooked.  He isn't bad on the eyes either.

#3 Robert Downy Jr.

My ultimate old man crush.  I really don't know what it is about him, but he's awesome.  And then he was Iron Man, and he became even more awesome.  Yep, I like him 

#2 Jake Owen

For those that know me well will be surprised that he is only #2 on my list.  No, it's not because he chopped off his gorgeous hair, but he's not my #1.  I love his voice, he's my #1 favorite country singer or singer for that matter.  He is extremely good looking and I will see him in concert before I die.

#1 Ian Somerhalder

Um, yeah!

How I've changed in the past 2 years

I honestly don't have a lot to say about this sadly.  I don't feel like i've changed a whole lot other than I now have 3 kids, I am auntie to 3 very handsome boys and 1 adorable little girl.  I am 28 not 26 and sadly I could lose a few pounds to get back to 2 years ago weight.  I do feel like I am a happier person, I don't worry about everything anymore and I rarely have anxiety which 2 years ago was awful.  So I'm sorry if you were hoping for some awesome tidbits tonight, I really am the same old me but there really isn't anything wrong with that.

Favorite TV shows

I'm sorry for those that are anxiously awaiting reading my post for today, but it's been a long day and it's really late, and I'm really tired.  So I'm going to just upload pictures of a few of my favorite TV shows.  And heck, I'll try to add a little comment if I can and if I can make everything sound half way normal.

Zooey Deschanel has always been one of my favorites and then you add some other people that I have learned to love and bam, you have a good comedy.

Bryce and I started watching this one night and the rest is history.  Another great comedy to help us kick back and relax.

Hot men, hot men, oh wait, did I mention hot men?  I am obsessed, well up until this current season.  I haven't had a chance to watch it and heard it's gone down hill sadly.  I'll just stick to the first 5 seasons that I know I love 

Importance of Education

How important do I feel education is?  Well, let me tell you :)  At first when I read this my first thought was that I felt it was very important.  But then, as I started thinking a little more about it, I don't feel as strongly about it being very important in a certain aspect.  Yes, I believe everyone should have an education and go through the required amount of schooling (High School Education) because you really can't do a whole lot without that diploma.  But after that, it's more up to you.  Let me explain my reasoning behind this before I offend anyone.

I know plenty of people of people that have been incredibly successful without an education and only a handful that have gone on to doing whatever they went to school and being successful in that career.  I have some examples of both, so bare with me, because I feel it is important to explain both sides.  

Bryce's sister has been in school as long as I've ever known her until recently.  So about 8 years she was in school to become a nurse.  She stuck with it and graduated and is now doing the job she's always dreamed of and is very successful.  She is happy, and is making something of her education.  I know a man, who I wish not to name at this time, who went to school for years, worked hard, got his degree, and now has nothing to show for that degree.  He isn't even working in anything that his degree was for.  He's not happy and all that education went to waste.  Yes, he did try and wasn't able to be successful in that career choice he wanted.

Now, for those people I know that didn't get an education past high school and deserve this acknowledgement.  My number one man, the love of my life.  He is going to school for plumbing, but that wasn't his first choice in life.  He is doing it because he was successful in being great at plumbing and decided to go to school for it to be able to go further.  He would still be successful and has been.  He's amazing, he's smart and really the schooling he's doing is to get a piece of paper to let him do what he loves.  He isn't learning anything new than what he already knows. 

My amazing mother, she just recently called me and told me that she received her annual raise and she is now making almost as much as someone that has a degree and has worked so hard at their job.  She has no college education, just high school, and she is one of the smartest people I know.  She has started from the very bottom as secretary and is now an incredibly successful worker.  (sorry mom, I don't know your exact job title)  I am so incredibly proud of her and she was so proud of herself for accomplishing this major thing in her life.  The blood, sweat and many tears was all worth it.  

So yes, education is important, but you can still be incredibly successful without it.  

Biggest Regret

This is a hard topic for me.  I know they say have no regrets just learning experiences, but there are things in my life that really weren't learning experiences just plain regrets.  The biggest one I can think of is one that I have never talked about or told anyone, until now.  It's not some big huge secret, but I have always felt that if I were to tell anyone they would think it was lame, and in all honesty not really that big of a deal.  So i've kept it in, and since this is my place to let it all out and say what I want, here it goes.
My biggest regret has to do with my angel baby.  Now, before I get to the regret part, I want to share a little about this sweet little baby because I haven't been able to in a long time and I have it all written down in a book, but I won't go into as much detail is in that.  I feel people need to hear it, it's special to me and lately I've just wanted to talk about it but felt like no one would care because it's in the past and I have so much more to be thankful for and talking about.
Last April we had decided it was time to have another baby, I got pregnant quickly and was so excited.  I went to the doctor, he did an ultrasound and he saw two little dots on the screen.  My first thought, wow, twins, crazy.  He said one could just be debris but it seemed to early to tell so we scheduled for me to come back in two weeks.  I went back, and not much had changed, I did some blood work, but they were worried this wouldn't be a viable pregnancy.  We went back for another ultrasound and after a lot of confusion and seeing the ungrowing speck where it shouldn't have been in the first place, we were told it was not viable and if we didn't do something now it could do a lot of harm to me because it was in my tubes.  An eptopic pregnancy, or tubal pregnancy is what I had.  The fertilized egg, my baby, didn't make it to where it needed to go to be able to grow properly.
I got a horrible shot into both side of my bum, and a few days later after a painful, emotionally and physically, painful few days, it was over.  My baby was gone, just like that.  I never got to see a heartbeat, I never got to get a picture, and I'll never know if there was actually one that we saw on that first ultrasound and it should have been twins, but the one never made it and I had to terminate both.
Deep down, I feel it was just one, but my biggest regret is not asking for a picture of the final ultrasound.  I only have memories and I wish I had a little picture, as dumb as that may sound, it would have meant more to me than anything.  I love that baby, and I know I will meet that sweet angel some day.  I feel like this baby was a sweet little girl, she has come to me several times in my dreams and she is beautiful.  She has long, curly blonde hair and the most beautiful smile.  She smiles at me and tells me everything is fine and she's so happy and she loves me and then I wake up.  These dreams are my favorite.
She will forever be in my heart and in my dreams and I until I meet her in heaven, that's where we'll have our special moments together.

Favorite Book

This is another one of those short posts tonight.  I love to read, but honestly since having kids I haven't read as much I'd like to.  So I really don't have a favorite book as of now.  I like romance novels and the easy reader type stuff.  The most recent book I've read other than elementary books was probably the Divergent series and I loved it.  I don't know that I would go and read them over and over again, but I liked it.  So if anyone has any good recommendations send them my way and I'll try to get around to reading them.

A year of highs, and trying to just forget about the lows

Today's post is supposed to be on my highs and lows of the year.  I know I've had lows, and I don't care to go down that road at this time.  I've put them in the past, and they are there for a reason.  If I were to go and bring them back it may end in me being crazy, zombie, I hate everything Cammi.  It took me almost 2 years to figure out how to get over them, and this year I did, that is a high, they are gone, buried for good reason, and now we're getting off that topic.

I have a lot of highs, just about every day has it's share of highs.  My biggest high of this year is having my little Jack Jack.

This little man brings me so much happiness every single day.  He is my little buddy and I'm so glad he's in our family.  

Due to him coming to us, our family became complete.  I would post a picture, but we don't have our pictures back yet from our photographer, AKA Bryce's awesome sister.  

Another huge high that is still in the works per say is some awesome news we got about Bryce's job and where we are going with it.  I don't want to say too much on this just yet because there is still a bunch to get done with it, but it's a huge thing for our family and I can't wait for it all to fall into place and we can start our new adventure together.  

We have had family trips, time together and lots of laughs and memories.  I can't wait to see what the next year brings for us, I can only see good things headed our way. 

My opinion on Mainstream Music

This is going to be short because it's late and I really don't have a whole lot to say on this topic.  I don't listen to the radio all that much except in the morning when I take Kaydince to school and that's because the morning show I like is on.  So i'm really listening to the show more than the music.  So i'm not the best person to be judging this but I'd say I tend to not like mainstream music as much as I used to.  I have my set likes and dislikes and listen to what I like when I want to.  I like some new and in the "now" music but I really couldn't tell you any titles of any "popular" songs right now.
That's my two cents on that, sorry for the lame post, hopefully tomorrow I'll get back in the groove.

15 Interesting Facts About Me

This one is weirdly kind of hard for me.  What I think is interesting really may not be all that interesting to others.  I even asked the sweet hubby what's interesting about me and he gave me a couple of things, so I will be adding them into my list.  So here we go.
1.  My purple hair makes me more me than my natural color hair.  It brings out my uniqueness and I absolutely love it.
2.  I broke my leg when I was 1 years old trying to crawl up the stairs by myself and had to wear 3 different casts because I kept crawling out of them.
3.  I am left handed and the only left handed person in my family except now Adison is looking like she might be a south paw just like me :)
4.  I live in Utah and have never been skiing or snowboarding.
5.  I am 28 and married with 3 kids.  When I was young by this age I thought that maybe I would have been married with one child.  I had different goals back then.
6.  I am a sucker for any Audrey Hepburn movie.
7.  I love when I get to get all dressed up for an event.  It's very rare so when I get the chance I take it.
8.  I really do actually like to clean, but hate doing laundry.
9.  I don't really enjoy shopping.  I go for what I need and get in and get out.  It just starts to get really boring after 20 minutes.
10.  I used to have a pet rat and loved her and wish I could get another one but having a dog makes that not possible.
11.  I am a night owl, I could get so much more done if I didn't have to sleep.  But sleep is what makes me sane, so sleep always wins.
12.  I love to hang out with my in-laws.  Not a whole lot of people can say this but my in-laws are pretty much amazing and I could spend every day with them and never get bored.
13.  I love to go fishing, not fly fishing (sorry honey) but the sit on the shore and wait around all day for something to bite.  It's relaxing and I don't get to do it nearly as often as I would like.
14.  I have a black and pink bow and pink arrows and am pretty darn good at shooting it.  I haven't shot it for quite awhile, but this is on my top 5 things to do outside list.  One day I will shoot a turkey with it.
15.  I am allergic to all things with fur and many different grasses and trees.  It's amazing I haven't killed over yet.   My allergies have gotten a little better over time, but there are certain things that trigger it and when it does it's miserable.

So there's a little more about me, I hope you learned something new or if not at least enjoyed the time reading it.

Earliest Memory

I have a lot of early memories from way back in my young days so I'm not sure which one is my earliest so I'll just list a couple and one of them is the earliest :)

I remember as as a child during nap time I would rarely take a nap when my mom would put me down.  I would sit in my room and sneak out of bed and get all of my books and read them under my covers.  If mom would happen to come up, I was already in bed and so it was easy to pretend I was sleeping, but she rarely had to check on me so I just hung out and read, well looked at the pictures.  After I thought it had been long enough I would put the books back, mess up my hair a little to make it look like I had actually slept and head down stairs.  I thought I was so clever.

Another thing I remember is in the mornings I would sit down on the couch with my mom while she put on her makeup and watched the news.  I would snuggle up in my blanket and usually eat some toast while she got ready for work.  I specifically remember one morning taking my piece of bread and breaking it up like it was the sacrament bread and putting it in my blanket and pretending to go around giving it to everyone.  Wow, the things kids come up with huh?

The last one I'll mention is being at my best friend's house while a thunderstorm rolled through.  We were terrified and we sat on her living room floor with her mom reading stories to try and calm us down.

All of these memories are before I was 5 because that's when we moved out of my first house.  I loved that house, it was small, but I was just a small child and I had a pink carebear room.  I have a lot of memories there and when I've driven past it recently it's run down and looks like people have just trashed it.  It makes me sad, I want to buy it and save it, but I'm afraid to see what has happened to the inside.  At least I have my memories of the pretty house it used to be and that's how I should keep it.

Where I'd like to live/visit

Day 13 of this challenge is to tell where I'd like to live or visit, so i decided to do both because why not? :)

My dream is to live in Midway, Utah.  Bryce and I have always wanted to live there since even before we were engaged.  In that short time of dating we one day played hookie from work and went for a drive.  We didn't have a plan other than head up a canyon and keep driving until we were done.  We ended up in Midway and instantly fell in love.  We both decided that one day we wanted to and would end up there even though it is expensive but we said we would do it.  We still have this goal and though we're still far from that goal, it's still there and we will continue to work towards it.

I would love to visit a lot of places and my all time #1 place would be Switzerland.  I got to visit there when I was 16 for a short time and fell in love.  I want to go back and spend more time there exploring and enjoying the gorgeous mountains and small little towns.  They had amazing food, and the people were all so generous and I honestly miss it there.

One place I have never been that I would like to visit is Cambria, California for obvious reasons.  I hear it is gorgeous there.  The name means pines by the sea and that's just where it's located.  It's in the mountains but by the ocean and I hope to one day be able to go there.

A day in the life of, ME

I kind of wish that this day was a week day because I've always wanted to let people know about what the life of a wife of a plumber is, but that will be another day for sure.  You get me on a crazy Saturday full of lots of stuff and fun so here it is.

Saturday, December 6th, 2014
1:35 a.m. - Jack wakes up, I feed him, and back to bed.
4:30 a.m. - Jack is back up, he eats, I fall asleep in the rocking chair with him.
4:50 a.m. - head back to my bed.
6:45 a.m. - Jack is up again, mommy snuggles aren't enough, so he eats and again, back to bed.
7:15 a.m. - alarm goes off, I hit snooze.
7:20 a.m. - alarm goes off again, I turn it off.
7:30 a.m. - Bryce brings Jack into bed.
7:45 a.m. - wake up to start the day, Jack is grumpy and hungry again, gosh he eats a lot in the morning.
8:00 a.m. - get ready for the day
8:40 a.m. - get Jack dressed
8:45 a.m. - breakfast
9:05 a.m. - leave to pick up girls from grandparent's house.
10:00 a.m. - Sophia's baptism, it took longer than planned because whoever was in charge of opening the church was late.
12:00 p.m. - yummy luncheon with great friends.
1:00 p.m. - kids are tired and we head home
1:30 p.m. - get home, change, feed Jack.
2:00 p.m. - try to get some organizing done
2:20 p.m. - Jack is fussy and only wants mommy, being organized is overrated anyway.
3:00 p.m. - go get our real tree :)
4:00 p.m. - get the tree inside with minimal cuss words and arguing
4:15 p.m. - run to the store for bread, and something for dinner.
5:00 p.m. - feed Jack
5:15 p.m. - put the lights on the tree.
6:00 p.m. - start to make dinner, and it takes longer than planned.
6:45 p.m. - finally sit down for dinner, cheddar broccoli soup in bread bowls, mmm, it was worth it.
7:15 p.m. - get kids in jammies and clean up kid's rooms.
8:00 p.m. - put ornaments on tree while keeping a tired fussy baby happy, not an easy thing
8:45 p.m. - go put Jack to bed.
9:00 p.m. finish watching Toy Story with the girls.
9:45 p.m. - girls still up and i'm blogging, I really should put them to bed.

That's as far as I got for today, I'm sure nothing else is going to happen but putting the girls to bed and passing out on the couch or in bed.  I did want to start wrapping Christmas presents, but that's definitely not happening tonight with letting them stay up this late.

My playlist on Shuffle, first 10 songs

I can't wait to see what this has to bring, I have such a huge variety of music.  Music is awesome, it makes me happy and has a way to speak to me in a sense.  So let's get started:
1. Find Your Way Home by Trans-Siberia Orchestra.  So fitting for Christmas time :)
2. Summer Love by Justin Timberlake, I prefer I'm bringing Sexy Back, but hey, I love me some Justin.
3. I'm not in the Mood by Shania Twain.  Taking it back to the older country
4. Xscape by Michael Jackson.  Anything by him is awesome, and you can't help but want to dance.
5. Betty's Being Bad by Sawyer Brown, this reminds me of being a kid singing in the back seat with my mommy
6. Genesis by Sponge Cola.  Filipino band, mine and hubby's song, doesn't get much better than this.
7. True Love by Pink.  She speaks my mind on the crappy days
8. Bye Bye Bye by NSYNC.  Taking it back to my teeny bopper days in High School
9. Beachin' by Jake Owen.  Oh gosh, he's hot, great voice, enough said
10. Supermasive Black Hole by MUSE, thanks to the hubs, I love me some MUSE and so far nobody can beat the concert they put on for me.

YAY for music!!!

Guilty Pleasure(s)

I have so many weird guilty pleasures, but I'll narrow it down to my newest and favorite few.
Right now I love to have a glass of chocolate milk or hot chocolate while I blog.  It's like my thinking drink or something :)  If it's chocolate milk though it has to be the Hershey syrup in the milk kind, not the store bought stuff.  It's what I grew up on and it's the best.  Hot chocolate must have vanilla creamer in it, or it's a no go for me.
CROCHET, I love to crochet, it's so relaxing and I haven't gotten to do it nearly enough since having Jack.  I used to spend hours creating dresses, hats, leg warmers, you name it, I think I've spent a total of 5 hours since he was born crocheting :(  I will get back to where I was when we're getting a little more sleep and he's not so clingy.
On that note bow making,

especially my princess clips, see the cute picture :)  I would make these all day, every day if you would let me.  They are my most favorite thing to create and they're just so darn cute.  I am most looking forward to spending late, sleepless nights making these because that's what I used to do and I was so incredibly happy with it.  I would turn on chick flicks in my craft room and go to town.  One day soon hopefully.
The last thing I'll mention is selling stuff.  I have become kind of crazy with this lately.  I am selling old baby stuff and odds and ends around the house we don't need anymore and it's kind of become a hobby and challenge for me.  I set a goal for myself for this past week to earn enough money to pay for pizza and to get the kids pictures done just because i'm that awesome and that goal was complete in just 3 days :) YAY, pathetic, yes, but I still love it and will continue to do it until I have nothing left to sell.

Dream Job

I feel like I have the dream job being a mom full time.  I am lucky, I get to take care of my kids for a living and even though it's rough a lot of the days, it's amazing and I love it.  I know a lot of people who wish they could stay home with their kids and right now just isn't the right time for them.  I've been there, I know, I had to work for the first year of Kaydince's life.  It sucked, I hated it, I missed everything and then one day I got fired, and I wasn't even sad.  We decided to take it a day at a time and here we are 5 1/2 years later and still going strong.

If I wasn't staying home with my kids my dream job would be to own my own business.  I want to create something and be my own boss.  I've always thought this would be so much fun and hopefully one day in the future I can make this dream come true.  I do plan on returning to school when my kids are older and I will return to the work force, I just hope it can be doing what I would love to do and I can feel like I've succeeded with this dream.

A moment I felt the most satisfied with my life

I have so many moments that I felt satisfied with my life, but there is one that stands out the most.

This moment, right here, is the most satisfied I ever have felt with my life.  The day my family became complete and that I was able to bring Jack into this world naturally.
I had planned to have a natural birth, no medication and all me.  A lot of people were hesitant and told me I was crazy, but I did it, and I rocked it.  I would do it again in a heartbeat if you asked me.
I love my little family, I wouldn't trade them for anything in the world.  We thought our family was good after having Adison, but then only 5 months after she was born we both knew there was another baby waiting for us.
I did lose a sweet little angel a year and a half ago, and she will always be with me, she is my baby, I cant wait to meet her in heaven and I have to give her credit where credit is due.  5 months after our loss, we found out we were expecting again.  Jack Jack has made us whole, my heart is whole and I feel like nothing is missing.
I love being a mom and a wife, my life is beautiful.

Favorite Childhood Toys

Memories are flooding back to me as I go back to my childhood and my favorite toys I had.  I loved being a kid and all of my toys, but a few stick out more than others.

Like most girls I loved Barbie.  I had so many dolls, clothes, shoes and accessories.  I was even lucky enough to have a convertible.  I loved being able to dress and create a new story each and every time I got my huge box of Barbies out and now I get to do it all again with my girls.  They're even lucky enough to have a lot of my Barbies that I kept and are surprisingly still in good condition.

LITTLE PEOPLE!!!  I loved the little people back in the day, they were the bomb dot com.  I had the house, the swimming pool and the school.  I wish I still had these today because the little people now are way different and the old ones are worth a pretty penny.  These were my go to toy when I was bored, easy to set up, clean up and hours of fun. 

The Fisher Price kitchen from the 80s.  I had this toy the longest of all my toys.  It was awesome, it had food complete with sponge toast, pots, pans, a fold out table, a chalkboard, a clock you could change the time.  I could keep going on about how cool this was.  Granted the toy kitchens these days are even cooler, but I loved mine and playing pretend was a great thing for me.  

This is the new, clean version of my favorite teddy bear I had.  It glowed in the dark and was so soft and perfect.  I named mine fluffy, and I still have her to this day.  She is dirty and old, and her hat has been sewed on more times than I can count, but she was my buddy, my lovey and she now hangs out in my kids stash of stuffed animals.  I'm just too much of a softy to let it go. 

Taurus, the Bull

My zodiac sign is Taurus.  Some traits of a Taurus are: 

Patient and reliable

warmhearted and loving

persistent and determined

placid and security loving

Some negative traits are:

Jealous and possessive

resentful and inflexible

self-indulgent and greedy

I feel like I fit 100% into my sign.  I have all of these traits the good and the bad.  Another trait is that Taurus' are that we will never allow someone to drive us, but we will willingly follow a leader we trust.  I am definitely more of a follower than a leader and I'm okay with that.  I don't want to be in charge, but I am more than willing to help out when needed but I also want the credit for it.  That's what's so great about us, we are very strong headed and want lots of glory and compliments :)  (insert sarcasm)

We are hard workers but very stubborn.  We are very loyal to our friends, but are very careful with trusting others.  We love to be wined and dined and have luxurious things.  We love art, but only secretly :) We like stability, being attracted, things natural, time to ponder and comfort and pleasure.

This is all me, I really can't explain it more than how it's put.  

Comfort Food

Day 5, this is one of the easier posts in the challenge for me.  I am a food lover through and through and love all sorts of foods, but the ones I seem to go to in times of need are the following:

Pinoy Food, or Filipino food.

Bryce went to the Philippines on his mission and brought back his love for the food.  One of my favorite meals is one that he makes called Pino a po minok, translated into the sitting chicken.  It's a whole chicken cooked in sprite with onions, garlic and ginger.  It takes 3-5 hours to make depending on the day and you eat it over a bed of rice.  Our tradition is to eat it like they do in the Philippines, without utencils and just your hands.  We love it.  The picture is of our new found favorite Filipino food truck.  He is parked just 15 minutes away and we go there just about once a week if not more :)  The food is so good and on a long day it's nice to just run over there and have a little chat with our food truck man and bring home our favorite food.

Swig

This has become my mommy addiction.  Again I am here at least once a week but usually and more and the top picture is basically what my order looks like.  A Raspberry Dream for me, sugar cookie and chocolate chip cookie to share with the kids.  It's yummy and the perfect treat on the long days and really make me feel happy that I have this little guilty pleasure just down the street.

Chocolate

This was and always has been my number one comfort food.  I love chocolate, all kinds of chocolate and if I don't have any in my house, it's a problem for me.  I used to eat a lot more of it, but lately I'm good with a little bit after the kids go to bed as my little treat as I sit down for two seconds for myself.  

Yes, my food is not the healthiest foods by all means, but comfort food doesn't have to be.  I try hard the rest of the time to do better with my eating, but with three kids and me still trying to figure out how to be a mom of 3 these things are definitely a helpful thing that make me a little more sane.  

My view on religion

I started this post early in the day and I probably won't get it completed until late tonight.  I have a lot to say concerning religion and I don't want to just sit down for 15 minutes to try and put it all out there and not say it the wrong way.  So i'll take it a little at a time and hopefully it all comes out the way I want it to and I can say all that I want to.
I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, I have been for my whole life.  Not necessarily very active my whole life, but a member non-the-less.  I believe in the values taught in the church.  I believe in God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost.  I believe that when I die there is life after death where I will be with my family as long as I live the way I need to be living, which I could really step up on that a little bit.  I believe that Jesus Christ died for me and that he loves me more than I could ever know.  I believe in the power of the priesthood, I have seen it do so much good personally and couldn't imagine not being able to have it in my life.  On that note I also believe that women and men each have their own roles in the church.  I am not thrilled with the woman thinking they're not being treated equally.  When in reality, we are.  We just have different responsibilities than men and the power of the priesthood is so strong and sacred, it's an honor to have it for any man, they work for it and when it's earned it's a great experience.  I honestly don't know that I would want that responsibility with how great of a power it is.  I'm a mom, that's my big, great, grand responsibility given to me from God, and that's all I need.  Let me take care of the worldly things I can and let my husband be able to take care of the rest for us.
Now, as far as other religions go, I have nothing against them, and I will always treat others the way I would hope they would treat me in this matter.  I have family from all sorts of religious backgrounds and I love them all because of who they are, not the religion, or no religion, that they are.  One of my best friends is not of my same faith, I honestly couldn't tell you what religion she is, but she is AMAZING.  She is the most loving, giving, charitable woman I know.  She puts others first, believes in God, and is just all-in-all absolutely pleasant to be around.  She doesn't attend her church weekly, but she does go occasionally, and that's her choice, but to me, that doesn't make her a bad person.
I have a cousin who I am really close to and she has grown up not liking the LDS faith because of the reputation some members have given off.  She thinks members of the LDS church are all stuck up, and only want to convert those that aren't of the faith.  Yes, in a sense converting others is true, but I don't push it.  I'm one to only tell you if you ask, other than that, I leave it alone because I don't want to offend you if you're just not interested.
Too often I feel like because somebody isn't of our faith we are too quick to judge.  I'm not okay with this, if you drink, smoke, shop on Sunday, are a little different than me, but treat me and my family they way we deserve to be treated, like normal human beings, than we will all get along just fine.
We just had a lesson one Sunday about helping spread the word of our church and all great things came out of that lesson, but I also feel like we shouldn't be pushing people.  Everyone is at their own level in life, and even at their own level with the LDS faith.  My brother is no longer active due to people being too pushy with him when all he really needed was people to love him for him and stop the judging.  I have been taught that I should be talking to him often and bringing it up frequently with him, but I know the way the conversation will go, and I value my relationship with him too much to let one little session of trying to teach him something put that to crap.
So to really sum it up yes, I believe in God, I love my church, but I also love that I don't have to be 100% in attendance to feel like i'm doing okay.

Top 5 Pet Peeves

I am getting to this 20 minutes late due to my crazy obsession with Black Friday shopping, but we'll talk about that another day :)  This topic is weirdly kind of a hard one for me.  I know I have pet peeves but I honestly can't think of a whole lot right off the top of my head so I'm going to do my best and i'm sure later down the road I'll talk about a lot of things that really irk me.  

1.  Crazy, mean, aggressive drivers.  Oh gosh, I found one :)  I hate the ones that cut me off, ride my tail and are just plain stupid drivers.  I really hate when I'm the passenger in one of the cars that it happens to and the driver gets mad and starts driving aggressively.  I truly believe this is a huge possibility that this is how i'm going to die.  Weird, yes, but some of things that my husband, I mean, people I am a passenger with, do to make someone realize they "wronged" them make me crazy.   

2.  Rude customers.  I don't work anymore but after working in Customer Service I realized how mean people can be.  They complain about the dumbest things and sometimes are just whining just to whine.  I make a huge effort to be nice as a customer and only make a deal of something when necessary which is usually hardly ever. 

3.  Flakes.  I have known too many flakes in my life to not put this on my list.  I hate making plans and then all of a sudden it falls through.  Now let me clarify a little, there are times when this is okay and I don't get bugged like sickness, emergencies and things like that.  But just because you don't want to or I find out you blew me or my kids off to go do something different with another friend will put you on my not so awesome friend list.  I try my hardest to make plans and keep them, I really honestly expect you to do the same for me.

4.  The term "In-Laws" (said in the roll your eyes tone of voice).  I absolutely love my other family AKA my hubby's family and Brother's wife.  From day 1 Bryce and I have always said we didn't want to feel like, ugh, we have to go to the in-laws, but to love them and hopefully get that love and respect in return.  I feel like I've belonged to my other family forever now that i'm in it.  Yes, we did have our struggles at first but those are a distant past we don't need to think about because now I have 3 awesome sisters and 2 brothers gained from that family.  I can't leave out Caryn, she's my sister period.  I call her with everything you would call your sister with from the good the bad and the ugly.  She has listened to many struggles and sat with me so I could just vent and helped me through some hard times.  I am so grateful for these awesome inherited siblings, and parents I get to call my family. 

5.  People telling me how to live my life.  I'll make this short and sweet, I know what i'm doing, this is my life, i'm doing what I feel is best for me and my family, so move along.  If I want your opinion i'll ask for it.  

Whew, now that I've got started I could keep going but I won't, I should probably get to bed before Jack Jack wakes up so get some mommy snuggles and eat.

Where I'd like to be in 10 years

This is a great thing to contemplate for me right now as we are about to step into a new chapter/adventure in our life.  In 10 years I would like to be in our forever home, somewhere in Heber or Midway, Utah.  I see us still with only the 3 kids but owning our own business.  We will be successful because Bryce is already so great at what he does and he can only get bigger and better from here.  I'd like to have gone back to school and gotten a degrees to be able to help out where needed with the business.
Kaydince will be 16, ugh, driving, dating and hopefully being a good example to her friends and siblings.  I hope she still loves school and is doing as great as she is now.
Adison will be almost 14, a weird and hard age for any child.  I hope being the way she is now she will be able to cope with whatever comes her way and that she will grow into a strong young woman and be a great friend to everyone.
Jack Jack, my little baby will be 10, I want the same things for him as his sisters, to be a great example, to be smart, to love school and even though he may be the youngest, I hope that he will be a protective brother to his sisters and love them.
It's weird to think that far down the road, but I feel like the future has a lot of good things in store for us and I can't wait to see how it all plays out.

30 day challenge

Here I go, my first "real" blog experience.  Let's give this a go and learn some more about me.

Okay, so Day 1: my current relationship - HAPPILY MARRIED :)

Yes, I shout this loud and proud.  No doubt we have our moments and I have found myself wondering what my life would be like if I had gone a different direction with my choice of husband but it all ends up with me being completely happy.  I love our story, so here you go, enjoy.  Bryce Clayton Hale and I met in High School Seminary on the first day of my junior year, his senior year. I was already in the classroom sitting at a desk checking out everyone that walked in hoping to have a friend walk in or even a really cute guy ;).  Well, this kid, dressed all in black, with crazy spiky hair and the ugliest twine necklace with a fish charm hanging off of it walked in and my first thought was, wow, this kid does not belong here.  He sat down in a seat by me and I decided to pick up my things and move to another seat.  Yes, I was that girl, anyway, as luck would have it the teacher had an assigned seating chart and wouldn't you know, we got to sit next to each other.  

So we went through many days and he would talk to me and I decided to be nice because he actually was really nice so I guess you could say we kind of became friends.  Although back then I wouldn't admit it.  After a couple of months I actually transferred out of that class due to class schedule conflicts and Bryce and I would see each other in the hall here and there and say hey and that's about it.  One moment I realized he was a really great friend was after I had taken my driving test and I had failed.  I was so upset and just set off on my way to class as fast as I could so no one could see me or talk to me because I was on the verge of bursting out with all emotion.  Of course, who would I run into but him, he asked how my day was and I let it out.  That was when I got my first Bryce hug, (the best hugs EVER, FYI) and I knew I had a good friend.  

One day my best friend, who at the time had a little crush on him, asked me to ask him if he would ask her on a date.  With no hesitation I walked up to him and said, hey, you should take her out.  He replied with, "no, she's not my type, but i'll take you out"  I was speechless, in the not so great way.  I wish I could see the expression on my face.  After him asking again another day down the road I finally agreed as long as it was a group date, not just one-on-one because my mom wouldn't let me go without a group, which is true.  I went home and told my mom about it and told her how I really didn't want to go but didn't have the heart to tell him no.  So she told me to just tell him that she said I couldn't go because I had other obligations.  He called me to set up a time to pick me up and I gave him my little lie about not being able to go because my mom said I had other things I had to do.  

The next day I was not looking forward to seeing him, but when I did he had his normal Bryce smile for me and hug and then let me know that I missed out on a great night out.  He was going to take me out to dinner and then shopping at the mall.  Again, I wish I could have seen my face, he was really wanting to take me out and treat me like a girl deserves to be treated.  

The rest of the year went on and at the end of the year we signed each other's yearbooks.  He also made me promise that when he got his mission call I would go to his farewell.  I said yes, gave him my number and really just kind of forgot about it.  

We didn't talk at all through the summer, but he held up his end of the promise and I got a call from him one day.  He told me he had got his call and he was going to the Philippines and gave me the date of his farewell.  My heart stopped, something hit me and I realized, wow, I don't want him to go, I like this kid, why didn't I do something before now.  Now he's going to leave for 2 years, he doesn't know how I feel, heck, I just realized how I really feel about him.  I went to his farewell, cried through half of it, and then stupid me didn't go to the luncheon after even though I wanted to but my friend didn't want to and I didn't want to intrude on family time.  

The next day he asked if I would come over to get the address to where he would be so I could write to him.  We sat and talked for a minute and then as I was leaving I went to shake his hand because that's what missionaries do right?  He laughed and gave me one of his famous hugs.  I didn't want that hug to end.  

We wrote for the 2 years he was gone, I dated other guys, not to say i'm happy with those choices, but I always talked about Bryce and my missionary in the Philippines.  Little did we know that while he was out he was telling people I was his girlfriend and I was saying he was my boyfriend, I thought that was a fun little random piece of info :)  

When he came home, I was so excited, beyond excited.  He tried to come visit me but I missed him :(  He left an invitation on my door to his homecoming, but I was leaving out of town.  I was so bummed and almost didn't leave.  I called him and explained what was going on, and cute little Bryce said, "that's okay, but we should go out soon".  YAY, we went out on a little outing to a corn maze with his sisters 2 days later :) and from that day on we were inseparable.  We got engaged December 5th, 2005, about a month and a half after he got home.  We were married May 4th, 2006 and here we are 8 1/2 years and 3 beautiful kids later.  It's been a crazy journey but we're in it together and ready to take on whatever comes our way.  

The beginning of a new adventure

Well, here it goes, I've been wanting to start writing for years now and I've had many tell me to start blogging.  I haven't started because I didn't know where to start but then I saw a friend's blog and how she was able to just let everything out and I thought, hmm, that's what I want.  So here I am, embarking on this new adventure and hoping to make something of it.  My mind is full of random information and now I have a place to put it all.  Whether or not anyone reads this is not the issue, it's mainly for me and if someone happens to read it great, sorry if you get bored, I've just got a lot jumbled up in my head and I'll just start spilling everything on any random topic at any given moment.  There is a blog challenge out there that I think I am going to start as well because it seems fun to me. So here's to my new and exciting adventure, I'm looking forward to it and hope to make something of myself one day because of it.