"Things that amaze me" Quiz

These are pictures of a few things that just amaze me.

Can you guess what it is about them that amazes me?

I'm pretty easily amazed.

#1

#2

#3

#4

This last one you need to turn your heads to the right (I SO wish I could be a fly on the wall watching you right now, haha).

Did you figure out the quiz?

#1 - My husband's new truck (Toyota Tacoma) has a BACK up camera ON the rear view mirror! AMAZING! I still turn around to look though, just in case...

#2 - There appear to mini earthquakes ALL over town! Don't worry, it is just frost heaves in the road. What is that you ask? Well here in the cold north the ground freezes and stays frozen for SO long but when spring comes the roads literally ERRUPT over night when the roads thaw! I was so amazed to see this, and for Family Home Evening we drove around finding them all over town and each time I was AMAZED at how damaging they look! This picture isn't that great but you can't even drive over them, the road is all warped and it's just crazy!

#3 - Packages ACTUALLY show up broken from some dumb mail man who chucked it onto the truck, then it fell out, then he ran over it and then it arrived at my house "jingling" inside. (not my mail man though, he was ready to go buy me new snowglobes, it was definitely the mailmen before him). Amazing that people can't take care of a package, I mean it was from GRANDMA to her granddaughter people!  They should have known that!
#4 - Last...there are a few things in this one.  Kind of like "Where's Waldo?". Okay, not really. 

1st, my daffodils have bloomed and are crazy beautiful and smell so springy!  I bought 30 stems for the American Cancer Society fundraiser at the high school and over night...these babies blossomed AND are SO beautiful!! AMAZING.

2nd, did you know you should drink FOUR of these size of water bottles a day to get the right amount of water per day!  Sheesh, I feel like I'm drowning drinking that much, but it really isn't that terrible.  So drink up folks, I've set a goal to drink more water. 

 And lastly...you see those pictures behind the vase?  That's my family and they AMAZE me!  I just love them so much!  My big brothers and their wives and sweet kids are just amazing.  My sis and her hubs are so awesome and I love how me and her are so much closer now that we are all mature and married! It's so fun and...amazing.  And of course my parents are just amazing and thoughtful, I love being around them and miss that a ton now that we are in ND! My little bros are seriously the BOMB!  Abe will be home from his mission in July this year and I can't believe how awesome he is as a missionary, his letters get better and better and so does he!  And little bro Noah is getting older and more mature by the minute, I love our little conversations on the phone when we chat about Math homework!  He has the best laugh! And of course Grandpa Bryce...he is the best, he calls me and I call him and I LOVE talking to him on the phone about my life, the weather and the traffic and I love how much he cares to actually hear about it!

LAST but not least, my sweet Husband and Daughter!

They sure do love me and gosh I'm a lucky girl to have these two amazing people in my life!

I used to love this song:  AMAZED by Lonestar.  I like to think that's how my husband thinks about me, but really I feel the same way! 

And for you, the reader...have an AMAZING day!

"I'm going to sit right down and write myself a letter..."

This song reminds me of New York City in the fall.  Have you ever seen the movie "You've Got Mail".  I just love that movie, in fact, I highly recommend the soundtrack to it OR just type in Michael Buble to your pandora mix and you will most likely get all the songs from the soundtrack.
SO...I thought it would be fun to sit right down and write myself a letter.  Remember doing this when we were 16 or something in English class and we were supposed to write it to ourselves in the past or future or something.  Okay, so maybe we didn't do this in English class, but we probably should have, that would be an interesting letter.  I believe there is a cute country song by Brad Paisley (LOVE his songs) that he talks about writing a letter to himself and sending it back to himself at 17.  Hmmm.  I think that is the theme of this letter now.  A letter to me...sent back to me at 17.

Dear myself,

You are going to be graduating high school soon....wonder what the next chapter in your life is like?  Well, let me tell you, it is fabulous!  Just fabulous...but learn now, patience is a virture.  Don't just say that because you want to believe it...say it because it is true, it will be hard, but you will be happy you learned patience now. 
Don't procrastinate your homework, but even though I've told you that, you probably still will.  Just don't give up...that one I can assure you will stick to. 
Stick to your standards and your morals, you will need to shine to those around you and it will be much easier when you have your standards set high.
I bet you are thinking you will be engaged by Christmas since you are going to BYU and all, but don't be discouraged, you may have to go through a few princes before you find the right one. 
Don't hesitate to call and talk to Grandma every chance you get, she loves hearing your stories. Don't forget about Grandpa though, he loves them almost as much!
Remember that having tear ducts is not a defect, it is hereditary and you might get made fun of for crying, but don't feel bad...cry cry away.  It feels good sometimes. In fact I suggest it at least once a month. 
Don't forget to call mom, she knows when you are in trouble or when you are in a ditch.  I know you know that. Remember that incident when you slid into the ditch on Deer Flat road and the cell phone rang and mom asked, "Where are you??" and you and Jazz giggled nervously and said, "...in a ditch."  Yup, she still knows (that's because she prays like crazy for you...don't forget that).
Don't speed, you never do, but don't think that if you get pulled over ever that you'll get out of the ticket, that's for the girls that cry for the cops...even though you do cry, it won't work on these cops.
Say yes to callings you get, for those callings will shape your life.  They aren't just callings, they are opportunities to serve and to learn to serve again in the future. 
Experience life, don't wait for it to begin. 
If you think it or dream it, do it.  You'll be so excited you did and it will benefit you so much down the road because someday, you won't be 17 anymore and you'll be looking into the eyes of young women that are 17 and think "I used to be her". But at the very same time, they will be looking into your eyes thinking that they will be you someday, I sure hope they like what they see. 
Remember that shining bright business?  You'll be shining, but you will worry if your shining the brightest that you can.  That's a good sign.  See, if you don't even think that others are watching you, then they probably are and they are probably watching something they don't want to watch, BUT if you are concerned about how you act, they will still watch you and they will see something magnificent.
Learn to listen...that listening ear will be a tool that you will use for a long time.  If the ear were a muscle...yours will be buff!
Remember...you aren't Jazz's mom.  Mom is her mom.  Be Jazz's sister.  She loves you as a sister, not as a mom.
Don't be afraid to take leaps, mostly leaps of faith, I wouldn't suggest going bungee jumping or anything.
Make friends that are the kind of friends that when you pick up the phone to talk to them after months of not talking, it's like you never skipped a beat.  Like you are right back in that moment sitting on your bed in your dorm room.  Those are the friends that last forever.  You WILL move away and time will slip by, but they won't be mad at you for not calling, they will be glad that you called no matter how long it took!
You know how you are going to college and you want an education, but you secretly just want to get married (even if that means not finishing college) and have lots of babies and be a stay at home mom...don't lose track of that dream, it is a wonderful dream, but do remember that life is never how we imagine it, its always better.  We just have to learn that our definition of better changes over time. 
Congratulations on making it through the first chapter of life and on graduating high school!  Good luck on the next one (p.s. I've read chapter two...it's a doozy...but a good doozy!!  Enjoy!!)

Love,
Me

This is me at about 17 or 19 with my best friend...you know the ones you can call after not talking for months!

KONY 2012...I donated, wonderful cause, Hope I can help

I don't usually watch things like this that are posted on Facebook or on Youtube, but when I saw my very own sister had bought the "Action Kit", I thought, this must be something serious.

It IS.

Please Watch this, and share this and do whatever we can to help this cause.

Thank you.

Please go here

Invisible Children Website

to purchase your kit.

I just spent 37 dollars for my Action Kit, to donate and to help spread the word.

Think about it, what do you spend 37 dollars on? A movie and a cheap dinner?  Why not this?

 

Love/hate

I hate couponing!! Hate it. Sure I might have saved some money but I loathe the annoyingness of buying the exact right amount in ONE transaction.... Blah blah blah. See how many dang receipts I have. Ya. Last time I do that. And yes...I know some of you do this and love it and are good at it...but I have to say it is not one of my strong points and I'm okay with that!  It seriously drives me bonkers!

On a "love" note... I started my high school/college tshirt quilt!! It's looking so good so far. I've sewn one side. On to the back side. I'm doing it a little different: one side is high school the other side is post high school. Hope it looks good when it's done.
 

This BFF shirt is one I made long before high school (probably 2nd grade) and yes Kasey and I are stil the best of friends!! I can't believe I still have it!

The day made up by Hallmark

Happy Valentine's Day

This was Autumn's hair that day!

This is me modeling Autumn's Valentine's treats!

They were pretty fun!

Wade says that Valentine's Day was invented by Hallmark to increase their after holiday sales.

I don't care who invented it, I really love it.  I love how much people get all excited to show their love!

I got an awesome gift from my hubby, a Food Processor!

Don't worry, I was THRILLED!  I love it..I'm a sucker for Kitchen appliances.

We also ate some yummy steak and potatoes made at home.

It was lovely and my brownie treats were a hit.  Only half turned out because I accidentally sat one of the pans on the stove (with a burner still on) and burnt them right through the pan.  Yuck.  I was so mad! But we managed to get two hearts with Raspberry buttercream frosting in between them.  They were delish!

Oh and I got what I wanted: a foot rub!  Any day is a good day with a foot rub!

Feel the Love!

Sweet Treats

So I made this Deep Dish Cookie Pie and tried to trick my husband into thinking it was a sugary dessert that he would love. Well I tricked my daughter, she gobbled it up and Wade politely ate half and said he was full.  Hahah.  I love him! 
He loves Sugar and he knows when a dessert isn't a "real" dessert. He also can taste 1/8 teaspoon of salt...he asks me to omit the salt all the time.
This puppy is gluten free and vegan.  Pretty darn healthy with only 1 1/2 cups of Brown sugar to sweeten it up (with chocolate chips of course).

(looks good huh?)

Anyway....I took it to work to try it out on my coworkers...two likes, 1 dislike. 
 I have yet to get the results from anyone else.  I just put it in the break room.

I think that it tastes better the next day.
Let it sit about 12 hours,
You don't taste the "healthy" ingredient as much that way.

But for tomorrow, Valentine's day, I'm doing the real deal dessert.

This one: Fudgy brownie hearts 



mmmm, this is the real deal sugary delicious kind.

I'm excited. I'll let you know how it is.

Happy LOVE day tomorrow!

And since my sweetheart wakes up at 4:30am for work (and that would mean I'd have to wake up at like 3:30am to make him breakfast...) I think we'll whip these Cinnamon rolls up tonight so he can have them in the morning.

So...have you kept up your resolutions?

I shouldn't have set so many...they DO make you feel guilty when you break them! Dang it.
So I'm approaching this a little different.  If something is going to make me happy...I am going to do it.  That could be dangerous, but for now it is working nicely.
Let me review these goals:

1. Climb Mount Everest

Still working on it...haven't taken the elevator UP anywhere! Yes, I'm rocking the stairs.

In two weeks I've climbed 112 Flights which is 1042 Feet! But in order to reach Everest I have to climb 3111 Flights.  Almost there! haha

2. Eat less processed sugary foods (like little debbie's snacks)

Well, I was doing good but my sweet heart of a hubby went grocery shopping last night and of course that never ends well...it ends with Sugary SNACKS! But when him and Autumn were looking at the Be My Valentine Snack Cakes...they said which one would Lex like..unanimously "Chocolate" so they got it for me specifically, then they decided they needed one for them and got the "Pink" ones for them. I had one last night and it was delightful! (just one won't cause hurt, it made me HAPPY, so I did it)

Love those two Sweethearts!!!
Also love these Treats! They ARE my weakness, but I have had the bag for two weeks and haven't finished.  That's called CONTROL baby!

3. Grow my hair long and NOT get annoyed and cut it

I'm doing so good at this.  I Love my long hair..getting longer

4. Pay off student loans

Yup...getting there.  And my extra money I make doing hair now will get the job done! Seriously doing hair in this town is where it's at.  People HAVE to get their hair done, it's a fact.

5. STOP biting my nails

Well, we watched Abduction (with Jacob, you know? I so thought he would turn into a warewolf, but he didn't!) So yeah, no nails after that movie.  Then we watched Moneyball, lost them after that movie too.  Even watching Princess Diaries 2 I was biting them! What is wrong with me!? I have been painting them so that helps.

6. Pass off Personal Progress goals with my YW this year

Yup, doing this, passed one off this week, we did a service for a girl that was in the hospital

Good Works #3

7. Sew stuff (blanket, dress, skirt)

I have started! I took two of Autumn's old shirts/dresses that were too short and turned them into skirts! I definitely winged it on them, but I think Autumn likes them. AND I got my interfacing in the mail so NOW I can iron it on the backs of my tshirts and begin sewing my quilt! I'm so excited!

8. Bake my hubby a Costco Cake for his bday, yeah, wish me luck (I think Everest will be easier)

Knocked this one out of the park! Although I wished I would have discoverd the "How to Frost a Cake" tutorial from Pinterest earlier, I still made a yummy cake..even if the crumbs were showing through my frosting!

It was quite the process and MESS, but it tasted DELISH!

9. Stop drinking Soda

This one made me angry.  Sometimes you just need a Diet Pepsi (I would say Coke but my hubby works for Pepsi and I have to keep my allegiance with Pepsi, sorry Coke girls) So we went to Minot and ate at an All you can eat Pizza Ranch.  Loved the food. And I wanted a Diet (coke was all they had) and so I had it. And it made me Happy.

I did the same thing Monday with a client, she had coffee and I wanted a Diet Pepsi. So I did

and it made me happy.

It's not like I drink 5 a day or anything...if I did then I would be more strict about this. But 2 a month? That has NEVER hurt anyone, I'm positive!

10. Be nice to my family (not like I'm mean or anything, but I've learned the true meaning of "irritable")

I'm doing better.  I have learned the importance of the RIGHT tone to use with a child. It's amazing what a difference you can make with your tone, not necessarily your words, but your tone!

So there ya have it.  I'm not doing too bad! 6 are doing good and 3 I goofed up on.  My odds are in the positives so all is well!

How are your's going? Hope you are doing what makes you happy!

P.S. it's National Wear Red Day for the American Heart Association.

If you didn't wear Red today, wear it tomorrow or tonight!

I wore it yesterday and Today!

(see my hair...it's getting so long!)