Gotta love those bloggers...

The SPT challenge this month is to highlight one thing per week that you have been inspired to do "because of a blogger." maybe it is a blogger you know (an old friend, a neighbor). maybe it is a blogger who is on your RSS feed. or maybe your creativity was sparked by a "drive-by" - a link to a link to a link. (wherever you found your inspiration, please try to give a nod to the appropriate blogger.)
Lelly has broken the month into 5 "categories."

tuesday, september 2 home decor/tabletop
tuesday, september 9 entertaining/parties
tuesday, september 16 arts and crafts
tuesday, september 23 in the kitchen
tuesday, september 30 personal growth

*********************************************
What a fun SPT! Y'all know how much I love my fellow bloggers. This is a great way to highlight some of the ways that others have helped to improve my life.
I have to admit that I feel a little inept to do this challenge because I have no idea how to post links with the cute little 'click here' and whatnot so I'll have to simply post the entire blog address when referring to those I love. Perhaps someday a fellow blogger will teach me how to properly post a link as well (hint, hint).

Now on to my post. While reading over the subjects in this challenge I continually had the same blog come to mind: nie nie dialogues ~ nie nie dialogues~ nie nie dialogues!
She has inspired me in all of these areas and so many more. I love her. But because there are also many others who have inspired me, I'll try to refer to them throughout the month as well.
For today's challenge though, home decor/ tabletop, it is nie nie all the way at: http://www.nieniedialogues.blogspot.com/

I could go on and on and on about her decor and cute tabletops. Reading her blog gives me warm fuzzies. It reminds me of the days when I used to do cute, crafty, creative things all of the time. I showed Rick her blog and said, "do you remember when I used to do things like this?" He said yes and then asked what had happened to me. Why I had stopped. I couldn't answer that, but I do know that I miss it~ a lot.
Not only has nie nie's blog inspired me to get back to my authentic self, but it has also given me the desire to strive for domestic greatness.

As I mentioned before, she has some amazing tabletops pictured on her blog, but the pictures that really got me thinking were those of her yummy treats displayed beautifully on cute cake plates. I'm telling you I am itching for a collection of cake plates now! Her attention to detail reminds me that there is an art to homemaking. An art that I want so badly to perfect.

While thinking of how this attention to detail can show our families how much we love them I was reminded of how when my older children were little we had a fun fish shaped bowl that I would fill with a snack each day after school. The kids would get home and run to see what was in the fishy bowl. It was a cute little tradition and one that they still think of with fondness. Nie nie's blog helped me to remember this and it inspired me to start doing it again.

Because the fishy bowl has gone on to fish bowl heaven, I decided to take nie nie's so cute idea and have the kids' after school snack waiting for them on a covered cake plate. I also made a welcome home sign because I love it when my kids come home from school and I wanted them to know that.

My younger girls got home first and they were so excited to see the table. It was a fun surprise and a perfect time to sit and visit about their day.

When my older girls got home they were as equally pleased and Paige said, "Mom you are really getting good at organizing and stuff."

Isn't that what life is about? Improving, growing, getting better everyday?

Thank you fellow bloggers for helping me along this road of growth and change.

And thank you nie nie for your great example of womanhood. My prayers are continually with you and your dear Mr. Nielson. May you both recover soon.

LABOR DAY

A lazy morning with my hubby
Playtime at the park with kids
Obstacle course competition fun
A trip to Lakeside
A family BBQ
Their home renovations are looking great
A game of "Oh heck"
And guess what~ I won
A drive home filled with awesome tunes
A nap
Then a walk
With kids and dogs
Dinner
A movie
yummy popcorn~
And an oh so adorable...

lost front tooth.

Daily livin'...

Do your kids use a different cup
every time they get a drink?

Mine sure seem to.

...not one of those perfect, magical moments I referred to earlier.

Dirty dishes = MUNDANE... not so pretty.

...But A CHOCOLATE MILK 'STACHE

ON A THREE YEAR OLD FACE?

Oh so deliciously

PERFECT.

LAUGHING...

I read my sis-in-laws comment about my last post and laughed myself silly, tears and all. She said:
I love the post, especially the flower vine coming out the side of your head...
*****
Love that girl! She is so funny.
Now anyone who has tried to take a picture of themselves without a tripod knows how very difficult it is. One's features can look quite out of proportion and you can never tell exactly what is in the frame with you or if something will show up, say, growing out the side of your face or whatnot.
So after many failed attempts, I finally chose the picture I did because my forehead was disproportionately large by only about a foot or so and my nose looked only a few inches too long. The flower vine growing out the side of my head was unfortunate, but I decided I could live with it. And I'm so glad I did because I love a good laugh! Thanks Cameo~ you're the best!

Here's to a fabulous future...

The SPT challenge for the month of August is a great one and I'm sorry that I haven't been able to participate until now, but August has been busy, busy. In recognition of the summer Olympics the challenge for August focused on the ideals of the Olympic motto:
citius, altius, fortius[faster, higher, stronger]. Love that motto!

Yesterday I went to my friend's fabulous smelling house and loved it so much that I stopped at the store on my way home and bought a yummy smelling candle of my own. She inspired me with her wonderfulness and it doesn't matter if her home always smells like that or not (even though I'm pretty sure it does) at that moment I was moved by its loveliness and now my home is blessed because of it. Friends can do that for you. Which is exactly why I love blogging so much. I don't care if by only sharing happy, blessed, and treasured moments people appear to be perfect. I am still made better for it. I don't care if the dinner table pictured beautifully set with fine china, flickering candles and family love notes can normally be found with paper plates, mac-n-cheese or take-out~ if the perfectly pictured baked goods only get made once a year~ or if the happy family playing in the yard together were just grouchy with each other moments before. I am still motivated and inspired by these stories. Knowing that the mundane have-t0-do's and the not so pretty times in life can continually be transformed, and made better through these magic, perfect moments is what makes life exciting to me. I love that each new day promises the opportunity for me to grow faster, higher and stronger and I love how other bloggers help to motivate me through their examples as they strive for the same things. I recently came across the blog of a domestic goddess and oh how excited I was to implement some of her genius into my life, but as I continued to read my inspiration turned to intimidation with her description of the fresh flowers placed on the table each night. Well I have a hard enough time getting dinner on the table each night let alone fresh flowers. I felt discouraged. "I can never be that good." I thought. But then I remembered one of the sayings on my inspirational poster...

"Oh, yes I can!"

I can do anything I put my mind to. So I marched outside and...

Cut some fresh flowers for my table. So take that, little doubting voice in the back of my head.

And that is why I say my life is bliss. Not because it's perfect, but because it is filled with perfect moments that only continue to get better as I work to make myself better. I love the Olympic motto: citius, altius, fortius. I'm adopting it as my own this year. This is a special year for me because I recently turned 39 and I am ridiculously excited about being on the road to 40. I can't wait to be 40 and I want to use this year for personal growth in all areas of my life so I'll reach 40 feeling faster, higher, and stronger than I ever have before. So keep being fabulous you fellow bloggers you. Your stories bless my life and I thank you for it.

Bubble bath anyone?

This is what happens when you let your kids take a bath in your jacuzzi tub, a bottle of shampoo within reach, while you sit in the adjoining bedroom and visit with your hubby. Did you know that when you add shampoo the jacuzzi jets make really awesome bubbles? A lot of really awesome bubbles. Almost flowing over the rim of the tub awesome bubbles. Looks pretty inviting. Maybe I should kick the kids out and hop in.
***********
Anyone who really knows me will know that in reality I would never do this. Fact 100 and whatever about me is that I hate to take baths. Always have, always will. I'm a shower girl all the way. There's nothing better than a long hot shower.

Something interesting...

Well something interesting has already happened with my inspirational poster. I put this picture of a lady dreaming on there because I love having dreams with meaning and I also love having dreams that help me with my writing (I love the butterfly over her head. It conjures up images of magic and fantasy and makes me feel excited about what might be waiting to break free from this crazy brain of mine). So yesterday I focused on this part of my poster several times and said how much I would love to have a dream to help me with one of the stories I'm currently working on. Well at about 1:00 this morning Paige came into our room and woke us up to report that the bathroom sink was leaking. Rick went to help her and I flopped down to go back to sleep when suddenly my mind was filled with a perfect recollection of the dream that I'd been having. I saw a crystal clear image of a character for my story. I saw every detail of how she is supposed to look, her name, interests, role in the story and everything. It was awesome especially because I hadn't even thought of her before. She is completely new to the story and a very welcome addition. I'm very excited about her and her relationship with the main character.

So I guess there really is something to this whole visualization business. Try it out and see what interesting things unfold.

How inspiring...

Take some old magazines, scissors, poster board, glue and a bunch of kids~ mix them all together on the living room floor and yippee! Fun times for all!
For our YW activity Wednesday night we made posters using magazine cutouts. I ended up with extra supplies and of course my younger kids were all over that. They've been having the best time creating posters. It's been a great way to keep them entertained for the past two days.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I also got into the act and created an inspirational poster of my own. It's surprising how much fun it was. I filled it with inspiring phrases and images that I hope will help me jump start each new day and strive to be the best me I can be. In the center of the poster I put a picture of the Savior lifting open the blanket shelter of a beggar. This has always been one of my favorite paintings because the beggar in the picture is me. Below the picture I put the caption "waste not thy gifts" and beside that a picture of a wrapped present. With this I hope to remind myself never to waste the priceless gifts that my Savior has given me.
I also added several items to help inspire me in my writing and overall success in life. I especially like the opened bird cage with the soaring bird in the upper left corner because often times in life we feel as if we are locked in a cage, unable to do things, but the truth is that we hold the key in our own pocket the whole time and can unlock the door whenever we want. I'm ready to unlock my cages. I'm ready to soar high. I'm ready to live the best life possible.
Wow I feel so inspired. My poster must be working.
You should make one. It's fun.

Finally finished...

Well I'm finally done with the Twilight saga. I finished Breaking Dawn last night and there is much I would like to say on the subject, but I know there are many who haven't finished it yet so I'll keep it to myself. I had a harder time staying in the "fictional dream" with this one, too many little things that bugged me, but overall I'd have to say that this was a great series to read. It must have been because it's not everyday that I take that much time out of my schedule to read. Although now I am quite hooked on reading and I've already begun searching around for my next book. Maybe I'll get back to my Jane Austen collection. Hmm, I just don't know. Any suggestions?

Where were you when....?

Yesterday we took a day trip to Flagstaff and visited one of our favorite places, the Riordan mansion. It's a mansion that was built in 1904, in the Arts and Crafts style, by Tim and Mike Riordan. Tim and Mike were brothers who married sisters (Caroline and Elizabeth Metz) and apparently they all got along very well because they decided to build their homes side by side with a common gathering room connecting the middle. The home was donated by the Riordan posterity and is now a state historic park. We love going there and taking a walk into history. It's fun to see how people lived in 1904, especially rich people who had all of the modern conveniences of the time. It's also interesting to see the birth of the Arts and Crafts style of architecture.
Our tour guide is an avid historian so she was fascinating to listen too. One thing she shared that really struck me was that the wives in the Riordan family don't have much written about them. They didn't keep journals so there is no way to learn what they were thinking, feeling and experiencing at the time. Our guide said it is very frustrating to her as a historian because she so badly wants to study and learn more about them.
So I had an Ah-ha moment of the importance of keeping journals. I think of all of the history that I have already lost, cute things my kids have said and done, places we've gone, people we've met, thoughts and feelings, lessons learned along the way. Priceless treasures lost forever because I didn't take the time to write them down. I'm going to try to do better because when I fade into history I want my posterity to know all about this fascinating life experience that I've been blessed with. I love this life.
*******************************
And another thing I love is teaching. I got to teach the Mia maids at church today and I always experience a euphoric high that lasts all day when I get to teach and testify of my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and their fabulous plan for us. It also helps that I am so in love with our young women. They are an amazing group of girls!

To stage or not to stage...

I received word that the house I recently staged sold in only 6 weeks. Hooray! I'm so happy for them and humbled that she credits it all to my work (I know there were other factors that helped as well, but it's sweet that she thinks I'm so wonderful). Now her realtor wants me to stage a home for another one of her clients because she says their home is a hodge podge of furniture and needs help. She's going to approach them with the idea so I may or may not be getting a call soon.
So here's a question. Should I get into the staging business? Should I go for it all the way with business cards, signs and all (I'm in good with a sign maker and have ways of getting special favors from him)
Should I use my growing list of credentials and become a stager extraordinaire? Or should I just stick to my favorite job as a full time mom and not complicate my life? I just don't know. I'll have to ponder this one for awhile.

**************************************************

And speaking of staging, or decorating...


I finally got to the point where I could no longer tolerate my striped and floral couches. If I had to enter my house and be greeted by my "old Victorian woman" nightmare of a living room one more time I was going to lose it! So I took advantage of the fact that I have my very strong sister living with me and made her help me move furniture around for an entire day. I recently bought this leather couch and recliner (pictured above) from a very nice couple for only $150. (a steal) but because they don't provide a lot of seating I originally put them up in my loft, but now I've decided that I don't care if there's not enough seating. People can drag chairs in from the kitchen if they have to. I'm not an old Victorian woman and I just couldn't continue to live that lie. So now the loft is graced with the lovely striped and floral furniture, but that doesn't upset me as much because I don't spend a lot of time in there. I also removed the old Victorian woman mirror from the back of the old dresser in the living room and I like it soooo much better. I now have Rick's grandmother's clock on display and I love to listen to it chime throughout the day. So lovely. Now all is well in the world, except for the paint color. I still don't like the sterile butter cream walls, but one manic moment at a time... I'll take care of those later.
I know this picture isn't the greatest with the sun shining through the windows, but it'll give you an idea of how things look now. Happy, happy.

Back to school...

Our first day back to school started out early. Very early. At 3:15 this morning a group of Senior girls came and kidnapped a new Freshman, our own lovely Marlee. One came dressed as a monkey, others in flowing nightgowns and such, and made quite a ruckus as they dragged Marlee out of bed and carried her downstairs and out the door. After breakfast and this lovely makeover pictured above, they brought her back home at about 5:30. It was cute and fun, but by this evening we were all soooo tired. The monkey made such a ruckus that Jamie woke up and asked, "What the heck is going on down there?" I told her that a monkey had kidnapped Marlee. She said, "Oh, I knew I heard a monkey." Then went back to bed. I guess sisters being kidnapped by monkeys is normal in her world.


Here are my High school kids. Landon's finishing up just as Marlee is beginning, but at least she has one year of big bro looking out for her.

Paige is on her own at the junior high now, but with all of the fun things she'll be involved in this year, I think she can handle it.

And here are our elementary girls. Jamie's in all day school this year and she is so excited about it. She wouldn't even let me walk her to class today. I said, "Are you sure you don't want me to walk you in?" And she told me no. So I said, "But I want to walk you in." And she said, "I'm sorry mom, but you just can't this time." Talk about role reversal. I'm so proud of her. She is really growing up. Easton had a great day too. She thrives on education and was so happy to get back to it.

Here's to the best school year ever! Woo-Hoo!

*************************************************

DON'T HATE ME BECAUSE I'M BEAUTIFUL!!!

Today was also my happy birthday and what a lovely day it was too. I spoiled myself this morning by sitting on my rear and reading Breaking Dawn. Then my sis-in-law Mindy, sister Laurann, and good friend Cedar took me out to lunch. So sweet and so fun (we missed Holly and Cameo though). Rick brought home dinner so I wouldn't have to cook then we all headed across the street to our neighbor's house for a neighborhood birthday bash because it turns out that our neighbor directly to the north of us shares my birthday, our neighbor directly to the south of us shares my birthday, and our neighbor directly to the west of us just celebrated her birthday yesterday. How weird is that?! If I believed in Astrology I'd have to say that there was something in the stars that brought us all here, but I don't, so I'll leave it as a strange coincidence. Anyway we played some really fun games and by the end of the party all of us birthday kids ended up looking like this. It's a good look for me dontcha think?!

Forever Fit...

My Sis-in-law or brother (I don't know which because they log in with the same user) left a comment about the fact that the crunch-o-meter on my sidebar appears to be broken. Sadly it did break. For some reason it seems to only work when I'm working and well I've been on summer vacation what more can I say. But plans are already underway for my big comeback. As soon as the kids return to school I will have structure, I will have schedules-- drive and determination will be a part of my life once again. So keep your eye on that crunch-o-meter, it will be moving again soon.
Because when I grow up I want to look like this....

The woman on the left, in the blue suit is 72 years old in this picture and her daughter standing next to her is 44.
72~ are you kidding me!

Cute...

Waylon has joined the ranks of computer playing kids. He can now navigate the mouse with ease and play "real" games. I have to admit that it's been quite convenient especially when I'm working in the kitchen, but more than that I think it is oh so cute!

Here he is typing his name--which looks something like "jjsdkafxedas"--CUTE!

But as cute as that is, it's still the old fashioned playing with his "guys" that really melts my heart. Is there anything cuter than little boys?

I scream, you scream....

July 29 ~ ICE CREAM

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Today was a morning of firsts. It was the first time that I went to visit teach a new lady that I've been assigned to and the first time that I have ever gone visiting teaching in a convenience store. Visiting teaching is a program in our church where a woman is assigned a companion and the two of them are given the names of ladies to befriend and get to know better through monthly visits. It's a wonderful program because it gives women a network of people that they can count on. We are much more likely to accept help in times of need from people that we have already built a relationship with. And it's so inspired. A new visiting teacher, a spiritual rock that I learn from each month, was assigned to me at a time when I was languishing and really needed that strength and help. And it's so fun to make new friends. Today not only did I get to visit with and get to know this new woman I was assigned to, but I also got to know my new companion and I instantly fell in love with them both. The woman that we visited works managing this convenience store everyday and she was kind enough to set some time aside to talk with us.

As we visited I glanced over at the adjoining business and thought of today's SPT because the convenience store shares space with....

Yummy Dairy Queen! But sadly, it wasn't opened yet so I had to go home empty handed. Shortly after that I had to take my sister to work and with DQ still closed, the kids and I hit the drive-through at those lovely Golden Arches (good for ice cream but not much else) for some vanilla cones and french fries.

Hooray for Ice Cream!!!

Because I prefer ice cream with ooey, gooey, chunky, crunchy stuff in it, I normally don't get a cone for myself. Besides who needs a cone of their own when they get to be the drip lick monitor. Lucky me...