Wednesday, May 11, 2011

It Had Huge Teeth, I Swear!

Well, as some of you may know, last week I had a little facebook rant about how Scott wasn't even good for taking out the trash or catching bugs, his only two jobs.  Well this post is meant to be a retraction...of sorts.  So last night I was having trouble falling asleep, thoughts of all the move stuff floating around in my head, and so I got up at about 11:30p.m. to get a drink of water.  So I get a cup out of the cupboard and set it down in front of the microwave and go to get the pitcher of water.  I flip the light switch on and walk back to pour the water in my cup.  As I'm pouring, I see.... the two little feelers of that same sewer bug/monster cockroach from last week, sticking out from underneath the microwave.  I'm pretty sure I woke Dennis up with my scream, but I was too busy to worry about that.  I put the water pitcher back in the fridge and moved my cup of water away from the monster, slowly as I could, so as not to evoke its anger.  Then I get under the sink to get the eco-friendly insect killer, except at this point I secretly don't care or what stands in my way to kill that thing.  Then I stand as far away from the microwave as I can, close my eyes and spray at that vile creature.... the poor microwave never knew what hit it!  At this point, the crocodile retreated and I didn't know if I'd killed it or not, so I went to go get the flashlight - the one in the bathroom because Moses knows that I wasn't about to root around for the one under the sink in the kitchen.  I hold my breath and turn on the flashlight, hardly daring to look under there, but I didn't see anything under the microwave except for an old cheerio.  Well, my lack of kitchen cleanliness aside, I now proceeded to freak out.  I knew I had to pull everything off the counter and hunt down that sucker if I wanted to have any sanity and carry on with my normal life.  But I just couldn't do it.  So I go to wake up Sleeping Beauty.

One of Scott's gifts is the ability to sleep through fireworks, plane crashes, train wrecks, ambulances and fire engines.  I go into our room and shine the flashlight into Scott's eyes.  Scott, the poor dear, was still asleep and proceeds to shield the manlies (because he thinks the only person to wake him mid slumber is his mother, apparently) and the polite version of what he said to me is "get the heck out of here, I want to sleep for five more minutes before school starts".  So then I turn on the light and he rolls back over and sees me, teeth shattering, flashlight in the right hand, insect spray in the left.  I told him "I need help".  He says "what is it now?"  I almost began to sob as I told him I really tried to take care of it myself, but that I couldn't just go back to sleep knowing that thing was out there.  I leave the room and go have a time out to decompress while he takes care of it.  *SLAM* from the kitchen.  I hear Scott jump back.  *THUMP*.  clomp clomp clomp.  He goes to the bathroom.  So I settle back in bed confident that justice has been done and I know now that I'll be able to sleep like a baby having just been through a traumatic experience.  Scott comes back in the room, and I said "you got him, right?"  He says "nope, I couldn't see it, you probably just imagined it".  At this point I'm seething mad.  I jump out of bed and say "fine, I'll take care of it myself.  See you in a few hours".  Scott clogs back after me in a few minutes to find me in the hallway before the kitchen, steeling myself because I could HEAR IT MOVING!  I was planning an attack strategy and now apparently Scott is furious at me because I'm forcing him to stay up.  I say "Scott, can't you hear that?"  he says "no.  If it's not this bug, there are plenty more out there, you know."  I say "yeah, but I have the right to feel safe in my own home."  *CLINK* I say "Did you hear that?" he says "no".  He pushes me out of the way and grabs the stuff from beside the microwave and then says "oh - there he is".  *Pfffffffffff* I shot from the room like a rocket, back to the covers, while Scott chuckles in the kitchen.  *SQUIRT SQUIRT SQUIRT* I hear from my room - this I presume, is Scott trying to drown the beast.  *POW PAM BOOM*.  He drops the bottle and grabs the broom from the wall.  *SLAM SLAM WHACK*.  He kills the monster with the broom.  *CLUNK POW VROOM SWISH SWISH CLUNK SLAM*.  He opens the back door, sweeps the creature out the back door and slams the door.  He comes back into the room, wipes the sweat off his forehead and I, who am trying to make myself feel better say "wow, did you kill 1 or 10? It sounded painful in there!"  But nonetheless, Scott is my hero and he was able to do what I can't handle!  Thank you Scotty!  :)

Sunday, April 17, 2011

The Woes of Potty Training and other Adventures...

I think I might really be the worst mother ever.  We've been trying to potty train Dennis for months now.  No such luck...  he doesn't ever want to break away from whatever he's doing to go and sit on the potty, no matter how much I try to convince, cajole, or coerce.  So I finally got the bright idea to buy him some actual underpants and I told him that he could wear these as long as he went and sat on the potty when I said it was time, and he was excited because they were Thomas the Tank Engine underwear.  I was thinking that he might not be so keen to sit in a puddle of his own urine and surely when that happened he would be more eager to come with me to bathroom.


 Well, shortly after these pictures were taken, he had peed all over the floor and Scott.  So I said, "come on Dennis, let's go sit on the potty!"  And he screamed bloody murder.  Well I don't think that forcing a toddler to sit on the potty is necessarily effective and will only lead to mutiny in the future, so needless to say that I cleaned up that mess with no apparent benefit and now he's back to diapers.  My life is just so busy right now that I can't give him the consistency that he needs to learn this new skill.  I'm hoping that when we move and get all settled and can give him more attention that he'll be more willing to learn, but as of right now, those diapers are eating up our precious moving money bit by bit! 


Meanwhile operation "lose weight" is still coming along very slowly, if at all.  I did a 5k on the elliptical in 40:15 minutes yesterday.  That may not seem very fast for you athletic types, but considering that I couldn't even do 3 miles in highschool, it's a great accomplishment for me.  Also I can fit into some of my pre-pregnancy clothes again!  Woo hoo!  So even though I still weigh about the same, I'm feeling better and hopefully looking better.

I'm all wrapped up in the move stuff.  I don't know how so many families move so often all the time.  It seems like there is so much to think about  and so much to do, not to mention that Bill (my boss) wants me to do about 60,000 things around the office and train my sister-in-law at the same time in the two and a half weeks that I have left before I stop working.  But the plus side is, since Bill wants me to overlap with Heather's schedule, it calls for an occasional afternoon shift, which I love, and so last week before work, I took Dennis on a picnic at Smucker's park with me and we absolutely loved it.


He usually runs straight to the playground, but this time he actually came up to me and wanted to snuggle and just watch the birds fly over us and he thought it was such a great time when the bugs crawled over our blanket.



So even though I'm incredibly busy, I still have time enough I suppose for the important things, even if potty-training is not on the top of our list right now.  Hopefully by the time Dennis is ready to learn the potty with full force, I will be too! 

Today I had 10 sunbeams.  10 three-year olds.  10 of them.  10 sunbeams who feed off of each other's energy.  10 little bundles of crazy.  10.  Poor Carrie, my team teacher, barely made it through her lesson with her sanity in tact, and I ended up doing bicep curls with Tiny the entire time to stop him from destroying the class.  I'm really lucky that he didn't break my glasses because they're on the verge of breaking already and they're the only ones I have and AHCCCS doesn't cover new ones!  He had such a fascination with them and randomly pulling them off my face when I wasn't expecting it.  I firmly believe the Lord protected them because I was performing my calling!  Haha..  Anyways, at the end of class he had an issue with Grant Claridge and a certain blue crayon.  There was some yelling and kicking and crying.  I took Tiny into the next room for a time out and heart to heart.  And this is how it goes:

Me:  "so talk to me Tiny, how come you hurt Grant?" 
Tiny:  "When someone kicks me, I kick them back.  And I kick HARD!" 
Me:  "Grant had that crayon first and I didn't see him kick you.. some kids are just playing with you, Tiny, and when you kick them, you mean to hurt them, and that's not very nice.  Is that what Jesus would do?"
Tiny:  "No".... he says softly
Me:  "You hurt Grant in there, do you think when we go back you can say sorry and give him a hug?"
Tiny: "Yeah, okay"  he jumps up and runs to the door.
Me:  I pull him back into his chair  "Tiny, I want you to know that you're one of my favorite Sunbeams and when I move next month, I will miss you a lot" and he's getting fussy again so I pull him up onto my lap for a huge hug.
Tiny:  "Will you still know where I live if you move?"
Me:  "Yes, I'll still know where you live when I move.  Thank you for trying to be so good in class.  Let's go say sorry to Grant"

When we get back to class, he goes right up to Grant who's still milking it for all it's worth, and says sorry and gives him a hug.  We didn't hear a peep from Tiny for the rest of class (which, granted, was only 10 more minutes, but that's still an achievement for him).  It amazes me - that receptiveness of their sweet little spirits.  Sure, I may leave that class FEELING like I just went to the gym, and my hair looks like I just fell in the pool and I have huge sweat stains underneath my arms and I go home and pass out on the bed, but I do love teaching them.  I'm grateful for this oppurtunity that I have to learn how to be a better teacher, friend, and Mom, and I'm especially thankful for the oppurtunity I have to learn from these precious children.  It's like they said at General Conference last week, the most difficult children are the ones who need us the most, and we need them the most too!  I want Tiny and all of my sunbeams to know that I really do love them and will miss them very much.

Thursday, March 31, 2011

Fair-ly Good Time

On Tuesday, we took Dennis to the Yuma County Fair because it was only $1.00 admission.  It was kinda crazy because half the city had the same idea.  We tried to take Dennis on the Merry-Go\-Round, but wouldn't let go of me when I tried to put him on a horse, so we ended up doing the ride on one of those little bench things.



There was also a little dinky Train Ride that we let Dennis ride all by himself.  At first he was a little unsure when I left him there by himself, but as the ride started to go, he was really enjoying himself.  We also went to look at all the animals they enter into the competitions every year,




 and there was also a cute little kids' center,



and then we bought him a cotton candy which he didn't really go for, and then we went home, and by that time we'd been there for three hours.  So all in all, it was a good family activity for under $20, which is always good.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Frustration

Okay for those of you who saw my post maybe a month and a half ago about my weight loss "journey".... here's an update.  So I've been getting up anywhere between 3:30a.m. and 4:30a.m. (depending on how long it takes me to come out of the grog) and going to the gym.  I've also been doing the slim-fast plan, which is two meal-replacement shakes and 500 calorie dinner, which makes for a 1200 calorie day.  I was doing like an hour a day on the elliptical and I was feeling really good about myself for a while, because I started to drop weight quickly and I had more energy.  Then I read in the slim-fast community about a girl who lost a lot of weight really quickly too and now has flabby, flappy skin all over the place and I don't want to be that way, when i lose weight I want to look GOOD!

So about three weeks ago, I nixed doing the (what I had then worked up to) 75 minute elliptical machine workout and started doing just 30 minutes on the elliptical and weight training for about 45 minutes.  Well, as most of you know, muscle weighs more than fat, so I started putting weight back on again and I was sore like crazy.  I started eating more protein to give my muscles what it needed and taking a vitamin too since I haven't really been eating much.  Today I haven't really come very far from where I was three weeks ago, and the scale still says I'm a fat lard.  I'm happy that I've managed to change my lifestyles and develop healthy habits in my life, and I'm glad that I'm able to exercise for so long now at a resistance level that I wouldn't have even thought about exercising at a year ago, but it just feels like I've plateaued out and I'm not going anywhere.  I mean, I can see my ankle bones again, my wedding ring just about falls off every time I'm in the shower, my insulin useage has dropped by more than half of what I used to be using, but I'm just not getting the results I was looking for.  I have to be at a semi-healthy weight before we can have another baby and at this rate, Dennis will be 35 before I'll be at he'll get a younger sibling.  Pfffffffffffffttttltpslfjstt.  I just feel like there's no hope for me.  But the good news is, I used to be a big time hatetoruner, and now because I'm probably in the best shape I've ever been in, muscle-wise, I feel like I can run a marathon!  Well, maybe not that long of a run, but a 5k or something.  I'm ready for it! 

In other news, we're moving the day after my birthday - our lease is up at the end of May, it's like $150 more to rent a truck at the end of the month, so that's why we're doing the week before.  If Scott can't find even a promise of a job by the time May rolls around, we'll be moving to Sierra Vista with my parents to be able to save on rent. 

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

A Stroll Down Memory Lane. . .

I happened upon these funny pictures from our wedding and thought I would share because HELLO they're hilarious!


 This is the lovely and beautiful Anna Chinen - what is she pointing at?  It's not really certain, but I'm pretty sure that you can't see where her eyes are going either.  I love this girl she makes my life fun!



How did Anna get in another picture?  Because she's squeezing the cheeks of the equally lovely and beautiful Richy Richwine!  This is the sort of picture that one does not keep to oneself.


Ahhh yes.  I had changed out of my wedding dress and was all about doing the YMCA, and judging by the position my mouth is in, I think I'm being totally obnoxious about it too.  In the background there is Laura (then a Harney) Bobak co-maid of honor and Katie Taylor, both of whom I love the heck out of! 


Now check out my face.... this is not a face one should be making at one's wedding reception, yet here I am making it.  But the funny part is yet to come...



Slightly different face, but who just popped up again, looking like a creepy stalker?  That's right!  Anna Chinen!  Maybe she's just mad that Scott married me before she did.... yeah, that's it.


Awww I love this one because it's my Co-Maid of Honor Melissa Stevens, who I miss so much and who was always there for me and is still there for me today!  This is what best friends are made of!  :)


Oh yes, we've just cut the cake.  Look at me giving Scott "the eye".  You see, I'm a little wary, because I did get him at the Yuma reception and I know he'd like nothing more than to get me back.  Stinker...


AAAAAAHHHHHHhhhh!  Anna used to do this to me at our dorm room in the middle of the night.  Used to creep me out because it was right after the Grudge movies came out and she's really good at it.  Why is she doing it at our wedding reception though? 


Okay enough with the wedding and on to something much more cuter.  If any of you have seen the exquisite Hollie Smith today, you wouldn't know that she used to be this adorable little pig-tailed girl.  SoooooOOOooo cute!

Hollie again


Little Hollie playing with her Daddy.
Awww here are two Megans!  This was my 14th birthday I think.  Megan McCuskey won't be a McCuskey for long!  She's getting married in a few days and I'm so happy for her!

This was another one from that same party, and these were some of my best buds, Chelsey Wolf and Megan McCuskey.  Look how cute they are!
Okay this one's not from my memory, but this is from Scott's mission!  Look how handsome he is! 

Thanks for strolling with me!

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Families are Forever!

Every so often I am lucky enough to be able to have a startlingly clear glimpse into what awaits us in the next life.  Last night was one of these lucky moments for me.  I was watching the "Spiderwick Chronicles" movie alone in my room since Scott is studying for his limited scope license, and for those of you who haven't seen the movie, Arthur Spiderwick, who was the author of the book this movie is centered on, was taken away by "fairies" and preserved in another kind of dimension where the passage of time was much slower than in the real world.  Upon his capture, he left behind a little daughter who couldn't have been older than 10, I think her name was Lucia.  Lucia said she spent her life waiting for her father to come walking back up the path, and finally after some time she gave up hope.  By the time Arthur Spiderwick was able to come back to see her, Lucia was an 86-year-old woman.  Arthur Spiderwick said he couldn't stay because all his years would come back to him at once and he would die.  So Lucia says "okay, then this time take me back with you."  So they hold hands, and Lucia is youthened to the exact age she was when her father first left her, and the movie shows them walking back the road to the other dimension, surrounded by fairies.


At this point, I was struck by such a powerful force that I immediately started sobbing.  I was hit with such a clarity that this was just like how it is with Heavenly Father's Plan of Salvation.  Lucia spent her whole life fatherless, but she was able to return to this sort of "paradise" where time essentially stands still to spend the rest of her days with her father, having the exact relationship as when he left her.  All of her earthly cares, sorrows, and struggles were lifted.  I knew that the same was true for me, and for anyone really, having lost a loved one, or who has become estranged from a family member, like a sibling or son/daughter or father/mother, or other similar circumstances.  I saw a vision where I was with all of my family together, not only the ones who came before me who I haven't even met, but also my posterity as well, all together, enjoying the same relationships we had or will have here on earth, living our lives for eternity in pure bliss under Heavenly Father's presence, and this revelation I had almost literally paralyzed me with happiness.  It was almost as if the Spirit had lifted the veil from my eyes for a few blissful seconds, and it is something I feel compelled to share with others.

I don't know why Heavenly Father chose to share this with me at this time, because I know I have been very undeserving.  My heart of late seems to have often been filled with anger, stress, and impatience.  I haven't been doing very well in doing the things that keep me close God, not to mention the things that will keep our family close to God.  I felt very undeserving, and yet my heart was overflowing with the love I felt from Heavenly Father.  I felt his forgiveness, understanding and acceptance of the things that I had been doing with my life, but I understood that he allowed me to see/understand this eternal truth because I needed this gentle reminder to get my life back on track.  How could I have forgotten that this life is the only time that I have to prepare to meet God?  I get caught up with the other things in life, like taking care of my family, chores, work, etc., which are all well and good, but when the Judgment day comes, is it going to matter who clean my house is?  This life is so short, and everything I do now will depend on the type of eternity my family and I have later, and I want to make sure that I am preparing myself to live in Heavenly Father's presence.  Once I prove myself, all of my sorrows will be lifted and I will be able to live the rest of eternity in happiness and peace.   

I am so grateful for Heavenly Father's love and wisdom.  I am grateful for his Plan of Happiness.  I am grateful to be able to be sealed to my family for time and eternity and I'm especially grateful for the knowledge and testimony I have of the gospel, for the comfort, peace, and joy it brings to my life.  I am eternally grateful for my Savior, for I know that without Him, the Plan of Salvation wouldn't be possible, and I know that because of Him I can repent from my sins and be relieved of my pain and suffering.  I am grateful also, for all of my many, many blessings.  In this time of unease where we hear of earthquakes, floods, fires, wars and rumors of wars, for surely we are in the last days, I realize that everything I have is a gift from God, and that includes my life, my family and every earthly possession.  I know that He is entitled to take any of these things away in an instant, but I am grateful that he allows me to have these things.  Who would have thought a silly movie like this would have opened my heart and allowed the Spirit to touch me?  God surely works in mysterious, but wondrous ways.   

Monday, February 14, 2011

21 Days to Make a Habit

Small update: I've just completed week 2 of my new life and I've lost about 10 pounds so far and I got my first compliment today.  It feels good to set a goal and accomplish it!  I told my Mom the other day that I was ready for my marathon any time now, because I feel so strong and empowered!  I've never had the determination I've needed to complete any one of my attempts - weight loss or any other thing in my life.  I feel uplifted to know that I can have the strength to achieve my goals after all.

Also, on this Valentine's Day, I want to express to my husband my love for him.  He may not be the most diplomatic, or the most attractive, or the most romantic, but he tries to show his love for me everyday and I appreciate that and love him back for it.  So Scott, even though our road may not have always been paved with............. well, paved period, and my heart may not have always been sure, I see in front of us a glittering gold road that leads to the most beautiful sunset you can imagine.  Continue to be patient with me as I try to develop myself, and I will do the same for you.  My world wouldn't know happiness if I didn't have you in it.  You're like a million m & m's to me! (And you know how I love my m&m's!) I love you Scotty!  Thank you for choosing me to be your eternal companion.

Friday, February 4, 2011

Time to Face the Facts

Okay it's time to be honest with myself - I'm no pixie!  Not now, nor will I ever be, but the fact remains that the 100 pounds extra that I gained when I had the baby remains on my body not because of him, but because I continued to keep up the crazy neurotic eating habits I had when I was "eating for two".  I've been struggling for two and a half years to lose the weight I put on by trying to exercise more and eating right, but the daily struggle I already had with finding enough time for working, performing my calling, visiting teaching, cleaning my house, chasing after Dennis etc., etc., was directly conflicting with the extra time and energy I needed to buy and make healthy food and getting up early to exercise.  Not only was it extremely difficult to keep up the motivation I needed to get up at like 3:30a.m. to do that stuff, but when I did work up the determination to do it, my efforts fizzled out after a week or two because I lost focus.  Then, because I'm a comfort eater, I suppose, I would have a lovely chocolate binge to make myself feel better and of course, that undid anything I managed to accomplish the previous weeks.

So I go to my endocrinologist about three and a half weeks ago and she tells me that my blood sugars have been terrible, and I agree and I told her I" don't check my sugars as often as I need to, and I get lost in my other daily routines."  She tells me I've gained 11 pounds since the last  visit.  I said "I'm shocked", but I wasn't really.  She tells me I need to step it up and she'll see me in three months.  I said "Obviously that isn't working for me.  I'm too much of a slacker.  I need to see you once a month for butt-chewing."  So I go back again on February 15, 2011.

Since then I have reinstated the proper diabetic habits, however, I was still having trouble losing weight! 
I realized that yes, I do eat to deal with the stress and emotional downs in my life and I knew that that needed to stop.  I realized that if I need to get up early to exercise and I was still having trouble, I could turn to the Lord for help.  I realized that part of my problem was I was only thinking short-term.  I was thinking "Okay I only need to lose 'x' amount of pounds to get to the point where I'm healthy again".  But now I know that this needs to be a long term commitment or it won't last, and that means changing my lifestyle, not just "dieting".  And changing your lifestyle is uncomfortable and up to that point I had not been willing to give up my comforts, Now it was easier for me to wrap my head around what I was doing and I have been successfully following a diet and exercise plan without losing focus or steam since last week, and once I get to my ideal weight, I plan to only moderately adjust that plan so that I can always maintain that weight.

Also, last Sunday a talk was given by Sister Workman (who by the way is an absolutely wonderful speaker - everytime she speaks the Spirit touches my heart).  Her whole talk was very inspiring, but she said a couple of things that were also very meaningful to me.  1) That we must always be moving to the Light of the Lord, or we are moving away from it, even if we don't consciously believe we are doing so.  She used the example of a slinky and an escalator.  She said that it was possible to walk up an escalator that was moving down, but the minute you stand still, the escalator moves you back down to the floor.  2) That we are not supposed to be at a certain "point" by the time we leave this life.  Everyone is different, has different circumstances, situations, trials and problems.  There is not some universal standard one has to meet in order to be able to live with God again.  For some reason, the second comment lifted this burden off of me.  I always compare myself to those Sisters who are more righteous than myself, to those who I could only wish in my wildest dreams to become, and it has always brought me down to know that I will never become like them, because it just doesn't seem possible for me.  I realized that I could give myself a break, as long as I was always trying to move up that escalator, spiritually, and (in the case of my weight loss struggle) physically.

I hope that I am able to follow through this time with my goals.  I hope that by making these goals public I will be more responsible because I am trying to make myself more accountable.  I just need everyone's encouragement, love and support.  And a side note to my grandmother, encouragement does not mean to continue telling me that I'm fat.  But it's okay, I know she does it in love! 

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Mourn with those that Mourn

Last night we attended a funeral/memorial for one of our dear friends.  We only met Betty Newhard in the beginning part of September, 2010 when we were attending the missionary discussions for her neice, Bertha Newhard, and at the time that we met her, her life was full of sorrow and regret and she was ready to turn her life over to the Lord.  I remember the day she was baptized... she arose out of the water and began sobbing.  She was so very happy to have found the truth in her life and to be washed clean from her sins.  Shortly after getting baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, she had to go to the hospital, due to liver and kidney failure and the doctors told her that she had only one or two days to live.  So we all prayed for her and she recieved a blessing of healing from the missionaries.  She miraculously left the hospital a few days later and went on to live 5-6 weeks longer, giving her to continue to touch the lives of her family with her newfound testimony, and giving her family the oppurtunity to say goodbye.  She died on November 28, 2010.  Though I only knew her for a few short months, her spirit touched my heart.  She was a fighter with a sassy personality, even up to the very end.  She was a great example to me of how easy it could be to drop the habits that you'd had all your life, if you had truly been converted to the Gospel.  The memorial last night was so sweet.  It was a celebration of her life, rather than a mourning of her death, although her sons and all of her family and friends were obviously so heartbroken that she was gone.  She was loved very much, and if I could, I would tell them that they will be able to see Betty Newhard again in the next life.  She is in fact, here with us now on the other side of the veil.  I firmly believe that she can see us, but we cannot see her.  I sang a song last night, talking about the things that Mothers do for the chidlren


and the third verse of the song says:

"She taught me to serve with a spirit that sings,
she taught me to seek after heavenly things,
and because of her love and her kindness and care,
because of the place that I hold in her prayers,
and because of her goodness I still believe,
God sent an angel,
God sent an angel to watch over me". 

I wanted to tell the family that I know she is still doing these things and will continue to do these things forever.  I wanted to tell the Newhard family that Betty would want them all to feel the things she discovered and to know the things that she knew to ensure that they would all live together as a family forever.  Betty's neice also has been baptized, and I know that she can continue to share with her family her testimony and continue the work that Betty started.  I want Bertha to know that no matter what happens in her life, to never forget the things that she's learned.  Remember that whatever happens, anything and everything can be healed through the Savior.  It seems unfair that we always drop everything on Him, but that is the gift He has given us.  He has suffered these things for our sake anyways, and if we don't take advantage of it, He will have suffered in vain.  My heart goes out to Bertha Newhard and her family at this time.  We love you, and I hope you will be comforted in knowing that you will see your dear Mother again.


Scott's impromptu speech, when the Bishop of Betty's ward did not make it to the funeral.


Betty's three sons: Josh, James & John

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Just some pictures...

This is a little late, but I just uploaded these pictures from my camera and I wanted to share! 




I know I'm no Buddy, but I enjoy kinda being creative with making cakes.  This one I made for Scott's birthday in December, and I think he enjoyed it.  Also, I happened to turn a movie on for Dennis and I went to the kitchen to do some dishes, and I came back and found him like this:


Seeing as how my son, whom I shall refer to as "Buzz" to protect his identity online rarely sits still long enough to do anything, to find him in this pose completely entranced was a photo oppurtunity I couldn't pass up!

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

A New Start for Me

Well I have a few friends who have blogs on this website and I absolutely love that you can share so many things with a blog, with your friends and family, so I decided to try it myself.  I'm sure my blog won't be as beautifully laid out as the ones which lit a spark of inspiration within me, but I wanted to try my hand at the blog world nevertheless. 

So where do I begin?  We begin all stories in my family the same way:  I was born a poor black boy. . . And so I was!  And they called me Megan.  


My childhood was happy and full of adventures.  My parents loved me and my brother and sister annoyed me (at least at first).  I was raised to be taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and the traditions of my family and the testimonies of those who loved me inspired me to learn the truth for myself, and my own knowledge of the truth has shaped who I am today.  Who am I?  Well, I'm a wife and mother, a legal secretary, an afghan-maker, a cookie-baker, a sunbeam teacher, a singer, a pianist, a giant, a diabetic, an occasional cryer, a daughter-in-law, a nintendo-player, a bed-maker, a diaper-changing booger-wiper, a daughter, a sister, a granddaughter, a Daughter of God.  Yeah, that pretty much sums it up, and today I become a blogger! 

Today I carry out my duties as wife and mother the best way I can while our young family struggles through times of questionable politics, economic uncertainty and natural disasters.  I work part-time as a legal secretary to help support the family while Scott attends school full-time.  He graduates in May, 2011 and we are so ready to be done with school and to begin next big adventure in our life.