Comfort Zone of Fluff

I was fortunate enough to attend the General Primary Leadership Training at Temple Square last night. It was such a great meeting and I feel so blessed to have been there. They didn't talk about anything new or grand, but it really clarified where my focus should be. The thing that stood out the most was getting away from the "fluff" and focusing on bringing the kids closer to Christ. The fluff has always been the most fun and what I have spent a lot of time on, but I'm excited to jump in feet first and really focus on gospel principles and helping them feel the Holy Ghost. It seems overwhelming to plan a sharing time without creating my "comfort zone of fluff". I have a lot of studying and praying to do because it's going to be much harder than my normal routine of making cute handouts and fun visual aids, but I'm excited for the challenge!

It's Only Taken 30 Years to Figure Out...

IT'S OKAY TO BE AN INTROVERT!

I honestly can't believe it's taken me 30 years to figure that out. The other day a Facebook friend posted something about how they love being an introvert. That concept hasn't ever occured to me because it's been such a negative thing in my eyes. I've always known that I have a very introverted personality, but I've never stopped to think that it's okay. I am an introvert and I'm ready to embrace it. I'm done trying to "fix" it.

I don't think many people really understand me. I think introverts in general are viewed as lacking social skills, shy, quiet, rude, grumpy, and snotty. For the people who have really taken the time to get to know me, they will know that isn't me at all.

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I'm so excited to read and learn more about why I am the way I am.

Hooray for new discoveries!

Monday Morning Ramble

I'm trying to keep this blog updated so I'm going to try to post something every couple of days. My apologies to all 3 of you that read this that you have to listen to me ramble.

We had a good weekend together. It's so nice that Derek has Friday's off. We don't see much of him Monday-Thursday, but being able to spend the entire day together on Friday makes it worth it. Cooper has been begging for weeks to go bowling so we decided to go Friday afternoon. We had a fantastic time together. In the 9 years we've been married, it was the first time I have ever beat him. I even got a turkey. I'm normally a terrible bowler and I know it will never happen again, so I really enjoyed giving him a hard time about it.

My weeknights were really hectic last week. I had campaign town hall meetings and a baby shower that kept me out most nights. Derek was so great and didn't complain about being home alone with the kids all week. Saturday night rolled around and we hadn't really done anything all day so I loaded them all up in the car and we went out for Chinese food. It wasn't anything exciting, but it was exactly what our family needed.

I've been feeling extra grateful for Derek this weekend. He is such a wonderful husband and father and is so perfect for me. He makes up for all my weaknesses and provides balance in my life. Just like everyone else, there are times when I feel down, but he's never the reason. I always know he'll listen and make me feel better. I'm so grateful to have someone I can always count on. I honestly don't know what I would do without him.

Well, that's all the rambling I'll do for now. On to the exciting tasks of laundry, cleaning, data entry, making a treat to take Visiting Teaching, and taking care of my little guys. Sounds like a great day to me!

Kitchen Nightmare

Last December when I went into our crawl space to pull our out Christmas tree, I was greeted with a large puddle of water and a steady drip coming through the ceiling. At first I thought we had a broken pipe that needed to get fixed, but we quickly learned the problem was much worse than that. We had installed a new dishwasher about 6 months previous and we discovered that it has been leaking the entire time. So instead of setting up our tree and enjoying the holidays, we had to tear our kitchen and living room apart for a month. It was a challenging time to take care of kids without a kitchen, but we survived.

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This is what the kitchen looked like when we first bought the house.

(Minus the stenciled ivy that we immediately painted over!)

A couple of years ago we we adventurous and decided to paint the cabinets white and added granite counter tops.

This is what our kitchen looks like now.

I love how it turned out and I hope that we NEVER have to go through the nightmare of a flood again!

Mr. Jack

I love this picture of Jack. It totally describes his personality. He's not content unless he's getting into something.

I can't get enough of his cute smile!

Loving The Journey!

Wow! It's been a very long time since I've updated this blog. I'm not really sure why, but I guess I've just been having too much fun with my boys.

Seriously, I love my boys! They make me so happy, and I love being with them. Of course there are days when I'm ready to pull my hair out, but then there are the moments when Cooper tells me I'm the best mom in the world, or when Jack let's me cuddle him (a rare treat!). I'm so blessed to have the 3 most amazing boys in the world and I cherish every second with them.

We haven't been up to anything too exciting lately. Derek is still working for the Tax Commission. I'm pretty sure he's very tired of driving to Salt Lake everyday. We feel very lucky that he has such a secure job, so the peace of mind that his job gives us makes up for the distance he has to drive. He is very ready for the weather to get warmer so he can go golfing. There have been several times over the winter that he'll get out his golf clubs just to clean them. The poor guy needs golf to survive! I kidnapped him on Valentines Day and dropped him and Cooper off at the golf course as his gift. It was way too nice of a day to let the opportunity pass him by. Thank goodness it's starting to get warmer. I used to get very annoyed and frustrated with how much he goes golfing, but now I love it. I love it, because I know he loves it. It is the best experience for him and Cooper to go together. I hope it's something they will do together for many, many, more years.

Derek's has a couple of church callings right now. He's the "Prayer and Reverence Child Coordinator" Yeah, pretty sweet calling if you ask me. He's also a Stake Auditor which means he has to go and audit half of the wards in our stake twice a year. He seems to enjoy it, and it's nice that he doesn't have a busy Sunday calling. The church is finally finished behind our house and we feel so blessed to be able to have a church right outside our window. It's wonderful to be in a nice, new building.

Cooper is still a sweet, crazy, and energetic little guy. He's almost done with preschool and so excited to start Kindergarten in the fall. I'm in total denial that my baby is old enough to go to elementary school, but I know he is going to do great. He's going to love every second of it. It helps that the school is right across the street so at least he won't be very far away. Most of all, I'm just going to miss him. It's going to be way too quiet around our house while he is at school. He's also looking forward to summer. He loves to play outside, go to the park, play golf, and mow lawns with us. He can't wait for his birthday in August and is always coming up with a new ideas for his next birthday party. He is such a sweet kid who always draws me pictures and tells me how much he loves me. I'm sad that he's growing up so fast, but I love the boy that he's becoming. I'm so proud of him and I'm so lucky to be his mom.

My little guy Jack, isn't so little anymore! He's 16 months now and so much fun! He is such a mama's and daddy's boy. He loves to be with us (which is nice to be loved, but gets old when we try to do anything else). More than anything in the world, he loves to play with Cooper. They play and play and play and play. Cooper is such a great big brother and helper. I can always count on him to help with Jack while I am trying to get other things done. I hope Jack grows up to be like his brother. Everyone told me how different #2 would be, but I didn't really believe them until I had Jack. He couldn't be more different than Coop. He's not one to be cuddled, I'm lucky to get one kiss a week, and he is oh so very stubborn. But I love that all about him. It makes every cuddle and kiss so much more special. He goes to nursery in a couple of months which will make church much more pleasant. He doesn't talk very much but loves the word "EAT" and will get giddy with excitement anytime he hears it. It's hard to imagine what our family was like without him. The transition from 1 to 2 kids was seamless, and I love being a mom to both of them.

I'm still staying busy as ever. My job with the campaign keeps me very busy, but for some strange reason, I love it. It's the perfect job for me and I'm very blessed to have it. I've been doing everything from data entry, event planning, designing mailers, working with printers, organizing volunteers, setting up meetings, sending out campaign emails, and just about anything else that needs to be done. I've been able to learn so many new skills and I've loved the opportunity to be involved with politics.

My church calling has been a new experience as well. I'm the 2nd counselor in our Primary and I've really enjoyed it. I'm not exactly comfortable being in front of people, so sharing time and conducting has taken some getting used to. I love working with the ladies in our ward and the kids are so much fun. I'm over Cub Scouts which has proven to be a very interesting adventure. It was very overwhelming at first, but I'm finally starting to figure it all out. There have been a few ups and downs, but the leaders in our Primary and Cub Scouts make my calling easy. I've gotten to know several people that I wouldn't have ever known and I'm thankful for the new friendships I've formed.

I finally gave in and purchased a gym membership and it's been so much fun. I've discovered Zumba and had so much fun going with my friends. It's nice to dance again (even though I'm terrible at it!). It's the best feeling to come home after a great workout. Maybe if I could stop eating ice cream and cookies, I might actually lose some weight. Oh well, one battle at a time, right! : )

We celebrated our 9th anniversary in February and Derek was so sweet to take me to Salt Lake for the night. We went shopping and to the Jazz game and had a great time being together. My fantastic husband also gave me the best Christmas present ever this year. He watched the kids for a weekend while I went to Vegas with some friends a couple weeks ago. We had so much fun! I missed my family like crazy, but it was so nice to get away from everything and not feel stressed about getting anything done. We did a lot of shopping, walking, and eating and it couldn't have been more perfect.

Overall, life is good! I'm crazy busy, insanely happy, and loving the adventure I'm on! Thanks to all of you for being a part of my amazing journey!

Cooper is 5!

I'm not sure how 5 years have gone by since I held my little (5 lb. 12 oz.) baby in my arms. Time has gone by so quickly and Cooper has grown up to be such a great kid. This year was the first time we have let him have a party with friends. He picked to have it at Chuck-E-Cheese's and with only boys. It was very chaotic and crazy, but tons of fun.

I am so glad I get to be his mom!

My Journey

So I'm having "one of those days"...(Scratch that, and make it "one of those WEEKS") where I've let something really insignificant and silly get me down. Because this specific situation is something that continually seems to occur, I have decided that I am done letting it get to me. I have let myself get distracted by something that continually makes me sad, but really shouldn't matter. I have been given two wonderful kids and a fantastic husband who make me so happy. They are my joy, and I'm done stressing over insignificant things (and/or people) that make me feel inadequate. This is my favorite quote and it's definitely something I need to read often to keep things in perspective.

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"... Don't get distracted with a lot of things that have no meaning for you or your family. Don't dwell on your failures, but think about your successes. Have joy in your home. Have joy in your children. Have joy in your husband. Be grateful for the journey."

-Marjorie Pay Hinckley

A few months ago...

A few months ago I set a goal.

I worked really, really hard.

And...

I DID IT!

Crossing the finish line was the best feeling ever!

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This was not about being fast. I didn't care about my time and expected to be close to 40 minutes. I was shocked when the clock said 32.43. My only goal was to keep running the entire race and I accomplished it!

I learned a lot about myself doing this. I learned that I can do hard things that I never thought possible. In the past, I couldn't even run a few yards without being tired, so running a 5k seemed so overwhelming.. I'm so excited to keep working at it and run another one in September. Maybe someday I'll get brave and try a 10k.... but not anytime soon. : )

Wipe-out Zone

Cooper is a little (well actually, a LOT) obsessed with the show "Wipe-Out". He watches it and laughs harder than I thought a little boy could laugh. I love listening him and Derek as they watch it together. The other day when I walked into our laundry room, this is what I found. At first I thought it was some sort of food castle, but after further questioning, Cooper explained that it was a wipe-out zone for little people to do. He had it all mapped out where they start and end. It is amazing if we go a day without our family room couch cushions being turned into a wipe-out zone, but I never thought our food would become one.

Fiesta Days 2010

We love living in Spanish Fork! Fiesta Day's is always a great time to spend some time with our families. These pictures are from the parade. After being in so many parades for the campaign, it is always so nice to be able to sit and watch the parade.

I love my Cooper!

Cooper is going to make a girl very happy someday. I am one lucky lady to get all the flowers he gives to me. : )

Water Party!

The beginning of the summer I received a new calling as a counselor in the Primary. I have absolutely loved it! One of the first things I was able to help with was a water party for all of the kids. We kept it simple and my group played "duck, duck, goose" with a spray bottle. Everyone seemed to have fun, and I loved watching Cooper play with all of the other kids.

Six Flags!

Earlier this summer, we went out to visit Derek's brother and his family who had just moved to Denver. We really loved it out there. It seems like a great place to live. One of the days we were there, we went to Elitch Gardens (previously a Six Flags) and had a fantastic time together. It was a really great day with my family.

This was Jack's first amusement park ride. He must be my child, because he seemed to really enjoy everything at the park.

Baseball Lessons

Cooper has done a lot of fun things this summer. He took a 2 week art class, baseball lessons, and swimming lessons. (Although the swimming lessons were cancelled after the first day...) It was a great opportunity for Derek and Cooper to spend some fun time together. He learned all of the basics and provided some great entertainment while they attempted to play a t-ball game.