Friday, May 14, 2010

Happy Mother's Day?

I found my camera right after I posted my blog last night. It was in my craft room under my table. Oops!!!

So last Friday I called Jared to see if he was on his way home yet. And when he answered I heard a ton of background noise. He said he was on his way home and I was not satisfied with his answer. I felt he was up to something but I wasn't sure what.

He got home a little later than I anticipated. Jared came straight to me and gave me a kiss and said, "I'm not stupid!" I sat there thinking oh crude what did I do... he continued, "Nor am I suicidal. The question is do you want your Mother's Day present now or on Sunday?" I was a little dumbfounded and surprised. I responded, " I told you you didn't have to get me anything for Mother's day." Again he said, "I'm not stupid!"

We walked out to the Jetta and Jared had me open the trunk. There was a big beautiful Fuchsia plant. I love Fuchsias! I used to love popping them before they bloomed when I was little. But I now appreciate the beauty of their bloom much more.
Below are some shots of my gorgeous flowers. I absolutely love the color and how they open.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

I want to blog!!!

I'm in the mood to blog or do something. But I can't find my camera with my recent photos or to take photos of a few things I want to blog about. Poohey!! and a double Poohey!!

We had the most amazing BBQ tonight. We were watching the Food Network last night about a BBQ competition and it made me crave some good BBQ. So on the way home today I made the decision that we were going to try the BBQ place in Monroe. We sampled some on the way home which just made me salivate (even thinking about it and writing this is making me salivate). It was amazing!!! Jared said probably the best he has ever had in his life. So a new favorite now.

We have our garden planted which is what I want to blog about. We got that done this weekend. And one of my home teacher's came over yesterday and mowed my super tall lawn. Almost 3 feet in some spots. Now it's trimmed and I can work to maintain it again with my push mower. :) Maybe that will put me into labor along with weeding and planting flowers this weekend. Though actually I'm honestly thinking about hiring a few girls to weed my yard this weekend. They could use the money and I can save myself on the back pain.

I also made some cute cards this weekend that are also on my camera. "Oh where is my camera! Oh where is my camera! Oh where oh where oh where oh where oh where!!!! Is my camera!!"

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

38 Weeks...time for a Pool!

My due date is fast approaching. It's 2 weeks away from today. Can you believe it? My little boy will be here soon!!!
Shall we do a pool of sorts?
No money involved...just for fun. If you win you get gloater's rights and maybe a small prize. I will think of something fun.
Pool's:
Day Born
Weight & Height
Time Born

And just to be fair to everyone here is some information about myself and Jared...
  1. I was 11lbs and 11ounces when born.
  2. Jared was between 6-7 lbs according to his mom.
  3. I was a month late when I was born. What can I say I take my time!
  4. Jared was also born late about 2 weeks.
  5. I had contractions that lasted a minute and were about 5 seconds apart a week ago tomorrow. They lasted for about 15-20 minutes and then I forced myself to sleep.
  6. I was dilated to a 2 two weeks ago tomorrow.
  7. I feel pretty good overall, I have some minor pains but moving along just fine.

Rules for pool's...

  1. You can enter yourself in for all 3 or whichever one you want by just posting a comment. If you don't have an account to post a comment try to do it by being anonymous and just put your name so I know who did it.
  2. If you are right on you win! If there's a tie you all win!
  3. If no one is right on then the person the closet without going over wins!

Let the guessing begin! Good luck to everyone!

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Gospel Topic Tuesday: Motherhood

My thoughts are currently on Motherhood. Hmm I wonder why?! Could it be that we just celebrated mother's day? Or is it the fact that I could be a mother any day now? Whatever the reason motherhood is a noble calling that I've studied in the last year especially due to a personal progress experience. I was to study at least 2-3 articles about motherhood but I couldn't just pick 2 or 3 so I think I wound up reading about 5 or 6. They were all amazing articles and touched me deeply. I read them even before I was pregnant about a year or so ago. I've always known that I would be a mother. It's something I've longed for for many years. I remember when I was young I wanted to be different things when I grew up but somewhere in my teenage years I realized what I really wanted to be...a Mother! My plans for an education and a future career are catered around being a mother. I want to teach music lessons from my home when my children are little so I can help to bring in money but so most importantly I am available to my children in these tender years. And when they are all off to school my plans are to further my education and either teach more lessons out of the home or be a music teacher at a school. Regardless of how things go my main priority in life or goal is to be a mother.

I was really excited to read and study about the nobility of being a mother because while I wasn't yet able to have children of my own I knew that the time should be spent preparing myself to be a mother some day. I know I've been preparing myself my whole life and a lot of times without even realizing it but studying these articles really touched my heart.

I will share a few of my favorite quotes from some of the articles I read.

"A worthy woman personifies the truly noble and worthwhile attributes of life. A faithful woman can become a devoted daughter of God—more concerned with being righteous than with being selfish, more anxious to exercise compassion than to exercise dominion, more committed to integrity than to notoriety. And she knows of her own infinite worth." ~Russell M. Nelson, “Woman—Of Infinite Worth,” Ensign, Nov 1989

"Loving parent. What a noble title! There are no greater roles in life for a man than those of husband and father. Likewise, there are no greater roles for a woman than those of wife and mother." ~ Russell M. Nelson, “Woman—Of Infinite Worth,” Ensign, Nov 1989

"A woman is a master communicator. And she communicates best in humble prayer. How many of us first learned to pray beside the bended knees of our mothers? Surely she knows that her children can walk alone only when they have found their pathway to Father in Heaven through prayer.

Certainly, a woman is a teacher. Someone said, “When you teach a boy, you teach an individual, but when you teach a girl, you teach a whole generation.”" ~Russell M. Nelson, “Woman—Of Infinite Worth,” Ensign, Nov 1989

"A woman’s richest rewards will come as she rises to fulfill her destiny as a devoted daughter of God." ~Russell M. Nelson, “Woman—Of Infinite Worth,” Ensign, Nov 1989

I of course can't find my other articles that I had printed off maybe because I'm trying to be good and throw things away. But there are many articles out on lds.org that are all about Motherhood and how it's a divine calling that we have been entrusted with as women. And how we should prepare ourselves for it and turn to the Lord for the help needed. I know I will be turning to the Lord often for help and direction in how to nurture and teach my children of his ways.

I'm grateful for my mother and her example to me on how to be a mother. She is an amazing woman full of patience, love, guidance and lives her life in a way to be guided by the spirit.

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

37 Weeks!

Today marks 37 weeks! I am so excited. It could really happen any time now. So crazy! I still have moments where I can't believe it's happening. And maybe my mind frame will change once I hold my little one finally.
I put in my notice on Monday! It felt so good to quit! I am parting ways with my current employer but I'm not necessarily parting ways with Microsoft. Time will tell what happens there. My last day is the 21st unless I go into labor sooner.

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Gospel Topic Tuesday

So one of my YW on her blog wrote last week about how she wanted to study more gospel topics. I started thinking about it and the idea won't leave me so maybe it's something I should do...I am going to try and do a post each Tuesday about a gospel topic with my thoughts on it. This is to help encourage me to study more on my own. :) It will be Gospel Topic Tuesday.

I've been reading a book called "65 Signs of the Times Leading Up to the Second Coming" by David J. Ridges. My sister in law Tausha was talking about how great it was when I was in Idaho. I'm not very far into the book yet but I must agree it's a great book so far. It's very insightful and helpful.

My favorite part so far is how it's calling out that getting worried and stressed out about the signs that are happening around us is not how we should be feeling/thinking. Below are a few quotes that come from the Prophets that is counsel to us about the times we live in and how joyful we should be.

Below is a quote by our current Prophet Thomas S. Monson from his talk titled "Be of Good Cheer".

"It would be easy to become discouraged and cynical about the future—or even fearful of what might come—if we allowed ourselves to dwell only on that which is wrong in the world and in our lives. Today, however, I’d like us to turn our thoughts and our attitudes away from the troubles around us and to focus instead on our blessings as members of the Church. The Apostle Paul declared, “God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”

None of us makes it through this life without problems and challenges—and sometimes tragedies and misfortunes. After all, in large part we are here to learn and grow from such events in our lives. We know that there are times when we will suffer, when we will grieve, and when we will be saddened. However, we are told, “Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy.”"

We are that we might have joy! We need to focus on the blessings we have. The world is dark and it's easy to get pulled into its doom and gloom but we need to resist that. Satan wants us to be miserable and insecure at these last days. The time is winding down and he will do all he can to bring us down with him. I know how real Satan is and I know how real my Savior is and that it is a time to be happy. He is coming again!

What a joyful time to be on the earth! It won't be easy but if we do what is right and stay close to the church, follow the counsel of our Prophet, study the scriptures, say our prayers and listen to the promptings of the Holy Ghost we will be prepared. We will be able to recognize the signs and not be afraid. I will admit that I have moments where I get nervous but when I read that quote by Thomas S. Monson I feel joy again.

There's one more quote I would like to share from our last Prophet Gordon B. Hinkley from his talk entitled, "Living in the Fulness of Times".

"I do not know what we did in the preexistence to merit the wonderful blessings we enjoy. We have come to earth in this great season in the long history of mankind. It is a marvelous age, the best of all. As we reflect on the plodding course of mankind, from the time of our first parents, we cannot help feeling grateful."

I'm grateful for our Prophet and past prophets and the apostles that give guidance and direction. If we heed their words and counsel then we have nothing to fear.

Monday, May 3, 2010

The Nursery is Almost Done

Saturday was a great day! We accomplished a lot in the nursery. We borrowed the carpet cleaner from Jacki & Terence (Thank You!) and Jared cleaned the carpet while I cleaned the kitchen. We then left to go shopping for a mattress for the crib and a few other things. When we got home Jared put the crib together while I cleaned more in the kitchen (side note...I love my Scunci steam cleaner...I was able to get spots off the walls from spaghetti and other dishes splattering on the walls.). We then worked together to make the bed with the Winnie the Pooh bed set I got awhile back. We brought in the keyboard which we thought would fit nicely in here to play lullabies. We also brought up my rocking chair that was my parents used for us kids. I polished it up a bit. And later we went out shopping again for a small bookshelf to put in the corner by the rocking chair. All we need now is a changing table, a lamp and our son!

Check out the fabulous border. My friend Nichole came over and helped me do it! She is very talented and pretty darn funny. She has a sense of humor kind of like Jared's.