Things I've Done

To participate just copy and paste in your own blog, and bold all of the things you have done. Happy discoveries!

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch-hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit (sort of ak)
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

This is fun! You guys should try it! I wanna see everybody's answers!

Thursday Three 11-13-08

Three places I would absolutely love to visit:

China: I mean, c'mon! Did anyone see the Olympics this year. My honey wants to see China (I think Jackie Chan inspires him?!) and I would love to visit an Asian country - there you have it. China it is.

Australia/New Zealand: I had a pen-pal from Australia that was interesting. He would write to tell me all about the beautiful and fun things he experienced in his homeland. Made me jealous. I still have green eyes! I think it would be a fantastic experience to see the sites, meet the people and see all the different animals of Aussie Land. New Zealand is also a fabulous place to visit as my friends from high school are living there and traveling around the country for a few years. Every picture they post takes my breath away.

The Caribbean: As stated before, we are in desperate need of a break. I think the first break I look forward to is a very relaxing one.. like a cruise to the Caribbean islands. Calgon take me awayyyyy..

Now doesn't that look so incredibly relaxing? Warm beach, cool drink, beautiful sites. Ahhhh.

Wordless Wednesday 11-12-08

The Birthday Girl at her finest:

Happy Birthday my Lil' Punkin!

I am glad to have such a sweet

girl to share part of my life with.

Tackling it Tuesday 11-11-08

All things thrown aside and I am starting anew. I've been bitten by the SAD bug. For those of you who do not live in Alaska, SAD is not only an emotion of distress but also an acronym for Seasonal Affective Disorder. It just means the sky is getting too dark too early for my butt and I have a hard time adjusting...so I have to use one of these lights ummmm but not for my butt (I bought it for much less at Costco a few years back) to try and clear the SADness up:

My idea is to hook it up to a timer switch and when it goes off before I wake up, I will get the needed light for my morning to be pleasant(er). Or maybe the thing has a timer. I can't remember. I forgot to use it all last winter. My husband threatened to take it back to Costco many times over. Thank goodness I held my ground. I definitely need it this winter.

So, while I crave the lovely pile-o-sweets from Halloween, have a hard time waking up in the morning, and feel down and tired on gray and gloomy days...I have a hard time coping and pushing myself to finish regular tasks like the dishes, laundry, etc.

So here is my list for the week:

Finish all laundry - including all the darn blankets, pillow covers, and rugs the children puked all over this weekend whilst they were fighting the flu. YUCK-O!

I finished the heap of dishes in the kitchen already today...yeah for me!

Compile the black hole of papers scattered about the house. Again. File, shred, just get rid of the darned piles.

Oust the books piled up to "sell.."

Vacuum out the car.

SANITIZE the bathrooms. Yeah - that one's a must as well - immediate must.

Dust house and wipe the windows down. I need all the light I can get.

That's about all I can fathom for now. What's your week looking like?

PS - can you send some sun our way? Or at least a little blanket of fresh snow to lighten things up around here. Snow fell and stuck here since Oct. 05 and it is starting to look a bit dirty and brown.

Menu-Planning Monday 11-10-08

Monday: One-Pot Chicken Dinner, dinner rolls, vegetable medley
Tuesday: Tortellini with Peas, salad, apple slushies
Wednesday: Little Princess' Birthday Dinner (AppleBee's)
Thursday: Broiled salmon, potato salad, cauliflower, berry juice
Friday: Pork fried rice, milk, pear and apple slices
Saturday: Golden Lentil Soup, rosemary bread, salad
Sunday: Chili, rice/Fritos, fruit plate, milk (company with kids over)

Family Friday - It's Been Another One of THOSE Weeks!

We had an interesting week. Yet again, Mom's overbooked herself with good things but things that require lots of energy. Energy taken away from things most important. In particular, calm and sweet family moments. Can I just say v-a-c-a-t-i-o-n? So desperately needed yet so far away. I am very glad Thanksgiving is coming soon. Our family needs the break.

We got together this week as a family to talk about being reverent during moments when we should be meditating. I remember as a young child visiting a neighbor girls house. Her mother had what they called a "meditation moment." Everyone in the house needed to contain themselves to a reasonable level of quietness. No one was allowed to knock on the door nor enter her bedroom during meditation moment. Whew do I need those - I am sure you who read this think the same about your own lives. Unless you take those moments for yourself already. In that case, I say congratulations you've received an incredible level of organization with your family and life.

I will soon post pictures of our family in costume and us in "meditation moments" HA! If I can get it on camera - we shall see!

Menu Planning Monday 11-03-08

Monday: Spaghetti with meatballs, garlic bread sticks, salad, chocolate milk
Tuesday: Chicks on Sticks (Hawaiian style), rice, mixed vegetable medley, juice
Wednesday: Fish Sticks (not for me though) with tarter sauce, potato salad, leftover veggies
Thursday: Helen's Ham in Cider, asparagus spears, egg salad, milk
Friday: Cheese quesadillas, leftovers, juice
Saturday: Tacos, spanish rice, beans, juice
Sunday: Family dinner night

Sunday Sampler 11-02-08

Ponder -

--verb (used without object) 1. to consider something deeply and thoroughly; meditate (often fol. by over or upon).

--verb (used with object) 2. to weigh carefully in the mind; consider thoughtfully: He pondered his next words thoroughly.

Pondering is important because it helps us to gain better insight to whatever we need. I ponder quite a bit since I get many people questioning my religious beliefs. This, in turn, blesses me with the chance to study scriptures, study church history and to strengthen my own testimony.

I know Joseph Smith was a prophet, I know the present President Monson is a true prophet. I know the church I belong to is the true church, I know the Bible is the best study guide for life's questions as well as the Book of Mormon. I know the Book of Mormon is a second witness of Jesus Christ and a companion volume of scripture to the Bible that records God’s dealings with the ancient inhabitants of the Americas. I know that the only way I can gain personal understanding of what God the Father and Jesus Christ want for me to do is to study, ponder and pray. I know many people are misguided by twisted information and choose to believe it regardless of my own personal revelations and testimony. I dislike arguing, therefore if someone seems to be on that path, I choose to pull back and just listen to what they have to say. Often I find their sources have guided them into confusion and misrepresents the facts. I am saddened these sources are available to people seeking the truth about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

I am so grateful for my family and the examples they show me in my life. I am grateful for my own opportunities to grow and learn to be a better example to them and others. I love my family, my church, my freedoms and my ability to understand. I love Christ and am ever grateful for His suffering and love for me. I love my Heavenly Father and His love for me and am ever grateful I can communicate with Him. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Silly Saturday Part II 11-01-08

Since Silly Saturday posted early by some fluke of an accident, I decided to also post this silliness so you can see something new:

The Human-Powered Ferris Wheel in India:

Silly Saturday 11-01-08 The Politically Savvy

Or so I should say here is one whom presents political issues with a spark of pizazz:

http://myglobofblog.blogspot.com/2008/10/yokel-thinks-she-knows-stuff.html


Cut through the crap and straight talk with us now, will you folks. I am tired of hearing mixed messages, run-around-it topic talking and outright lies from politicians. Not sure when it was okay to behave this way, and not sure why we let it happen. Something has gone wrong. Very wrong.


Media is another hot topic for me to dismantle. How many times have I heard the moral note of media is to weigh both sides of the issues when reporting. There is far too much moral wrong-doing out there. I try to listen to newscasts with a grain of salt. Usually they contain all sorts of misconstrued messages and issues weighed so far to one side its a miracle the reporters don't have kinked necks.

To end this report, I show you how I feel lately with all the mixed messages and hullabaloo: