Bringing Blessings to others

"Brothers and sisters, boys and girls, we can all be a little kinder,a little more patient, a little more helpful. We can all reach out to the very many who are in distress for any number of reasons. We can replace anger with love. We can put selfishness out of our lives. We can get on our knees and pray to the Father in the name of Jesus, and then stand on our feet and reach out to bless the destitute, the poor, the oppressed, and those in trouble. . . .

"May each of you have some selfless, long-to-be-remembered experience in bringing blessings to others."

-Gordon B. Hinckley

What a wonderful Christmas!

This Christmas was so wonderful... on top of all the thoughtful gifts I recieved, I loved every moment spent with my family and friends... and the sweet peace I felt in my heart as I pondered on the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. The following is what I received from my sweet husband:

1. Sony mp3 player (mine is pink) with an arm band. This will be PERFECT for when I go work out! I can also go running with Solomon (my little brother) who is training for football.
2. J. Lo Glow lotion
3. The most comfortable sweater from the Gap... light blue sherpa.
4. Pajama pants from American Eagle. (cute cute cute!!!) One is red plaid and the other is white with little penguins all over it. Love it!
5. Lots of cute earrings!
6. Neat little stocking stuffers...including facials, lotions and other little goodies

From my family:

1. Victoria Secret PJ's from my mother in law
2. A new knife set from my brothers (much needed)
3. Pots and Pans from Chelsea and Shawn (also much needed)
4. Beautiful sterling silver large hoop earrings from my mother and father
5. Cool software for my computer
6. A new Lexmark printer/scanner/copier from my parents. Woo hoo!
7. A Play With Your Food 2006 calander from Chelsea... a tradition.
8. Some money from my thoughtful Grandparents.
9. Other small things.... my mom thought it would be funny to put a pregnancy test in my stocking! Silly woman... she really wants us to have a baby.

It was such a happy Christmas for me and I am so thankful for my many blessings.

Merry Christmas!!!

I love this painting by Greg Olsen. I always have a sweet feeling in my heart as I think about Jesus Christ as a tiny baby... and I always wonder how it must have felt to be His mother. To me, this picture just portrays a beautiful feeling of peace and love. The look of adoration is on the faces of baby Jesus' parents. I am so grateful for the many blessings that have come to me through Jesus Christ and His Gospel. This Christmas, I just want to ponder on the miracle that happened long ago, when our Savior was born in a humble stable.

I haven't written anything in a few days... for obvious reasons considering the time of the year. But lots of fun and exciting things coming up!! Tonight my family will have a small get together, and then tomorrow I will (eek!) start and finish my Christmas shopping. In the evening we will go to Adam's parents house and open presnets and eat dinner. On Christmas Day, we will spend the day at my parents except for when Steven, Adam's brother, calls from Chicago. (he is a missionary there). I am very much enjoying the season although I wish that there was snow on the ground! It IS supposed to snow on Sunday, but we'll see... I have pretty much all of my shopping to do. I say this every year but next year I will try and get it all done early! Traffic in Lexington, KY is the worst. Seriously. I have bought all of Adam's stocking stuffers. I'm excited to open mine :^) I did convince him to give me a few of the things though... (I'm sneaky) He got me some earrings, a facial, and my favorite.... a small Franklin Covey monthly planner. I love it! He is so sweet... that little planner will help me out a ton!!!

My life

Explanations...

I don't even really want all of those things for Christmas, but they are just things that I've been wishing for for a long time. Most of all, I wish to see smiles on all my loved ones' faces, softened hearts, and a WHITE Christmas!

1. DVD Camcorder... I want to record things that go on in my life, special moments or just everyday moments.
2. Jeans from the Buckle... these BKE jeans are the best in the world and are so comfortable and fit me perfectly.
3. Jonathan Adler stationery from seejanework.com. I love cute stationery!
4. MP3 player... I love listening to music while I work out at the gym... I would love to have this so I don't have to borrow Adam's everytime.
5. THIS Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT 8.0-Megapixel SLR Digital Camera... I could FINALLY start fulfilling my dream to do photograhy!! I may have to save up myself for this one.
6. Silk Quilt from Anthropologie.
7. These red plaid pajamas from Victoria's Secret. SO soft!!
8. Jewelry from the Buckle.
9. Necklaces from smallthingsdesigns.com.

My Wish List This Year

A little lesson about chemistry

Okay... so I did something REALLY stupid just now... I'll explain. Adam had gone to the gym and I didn't really have much to do so I decided to clean up the place a little. I haven't had much time lately, so things at home were getting a little out of hand. I am a really clean person, and the mess was just driving me insane and making me in a bad mood. SO I decided to clean the bathtub. I decided to use some dishwashing liquid because I didn't have anything else and I had heard that it worked well for cleaning bathtubs. But I didn't have a lot, so my next thought was Cascade would work great! I mean, they both clean dishes, right? So I started scrubbing with the two soaps together and all of the sudden the fumes were overwhelming and my nose was tingling and my eyes stinging. I quickly got out of the bathroom and read the back of the Cascade and it says "CAUTION: DANGEROUS FUMES FORM WHEN MIXED WITH OTHER PRODUCTS. Do not mix with dishwashing liquids, ammonia...etc." So I did what most inexperienced newlyweds do... I called my mother. She had a few suggestions, but wasn't very sure either... so I called this poison hotline, and felt a little silly. But this really sweet lady named Mary reassured me that I wasn't going to die and helped me out and told me what to do (Open all the windows to air out the fumes and run the water to wash the soaps down the drain). She was so very sweet and understanding. After a while, everything was OK, and I finished cleaning the bathtub and it's cleaner than I've ever seen it. Mary even called me back later to make sure everything turned out OK! Sweet, huh? But I sure did learn a lesson... don't mix ANY chemicals, even the ones you thought were pretty much the same. :^P

Chronicles of Narnia and other happenings this weekend

Adam and I were supposed to go to a Christmas party at our church last Friday but decided against it because we had so much Christmas shopping and stuff to do. So we went to Target, one of my most favorite stores in the world, and bought eachother stocking stuffers. It was so much fun!! We just split up and went our separate ways and met eachother outside. After that we decided to go watch Chronicles of Narnia, which had just opened. What an impressive movie that is!! There were so many parallels to the Gospel... good and evil, and Christ's life. So it really made me think... when you're little, you don't think about stuff like that. You just think about the story and not the deeper things.

Then, on Saturday, we took a little trip to Louisville and went to the Cheescake Factory for lunch. Expensive, but delicious. I was in the mood for something a little home-cookedish (if that's a word), so I got the meat loaf with mashed potatoes and vegtables. It was a meal for THREE PEOPLE! I am NOT kidding! I ate about 1/8th of it and took the rest of it home. I had to leave room for desert... which was a combination of two favorites... Pumpkin Pie and Cheesecake! A Pumpkin Cheesecake! And I am telling you... it was to DIE for!!

One Cute Kid

My friend Kristi brought in her son for the last few minutes before she went home from work today. He is SUCH a cutie!!! I asked him what he wanted for Christmas and he said "Roses that I can give to my mommy" Then he pulled out a crumpled piece of paper from the back pocket of his overalls and handed it to me. He said "This is my wist" (list) Wanna know what was on the list? NOTHING!! It was just so cute. Then I told him he was really cute and asked him if I could have an autograph... but he said he didn't have one... what a cutie. This is a picture that Kristi took with her camera phone... I am sitting at my desk at work showing him some Hoops and Yoyo cartoons. You can see some roses peaking out from the corner... those are the roses that Adam brought for me!!

It's a Wonderful Life

Last night I had a girls night with my friends Amy and Sierra. We all went to Amy's house and watched "It's a Wonderful Life" Amy made us some quiche and corn casserole. Both were delicious considering Amy is a great cook and is in the midst of starting a catering business. We also had some hot chocolate and cookies. We had so much fun! The movie made me cry... of course, I am pretty emotional... but it's such a wonderfully made movie. I hope that they have this movie on DVD. I would love to own it. It's a movie I would watch over and over every year.

Beautiful stuff from Anthropologie

I didn't come into work today until 11:00 so I had some time to browse some of my favorite places online today... I found a bunch of things that I like at anthropologie.com. I love the lace cardigan and the two sweaters. The red one is especially beautiful. I love the necklace and the stocking is adorable!!! I bet I could make a stocking like that easily though.

I won!

Okay, so I didn't win the big screen TV... but I did win a manicure... and I really need one. So that's good. The guy who DID win the TV really deserved it... in fact he got a standing ovation. He's this little black man in his 50's who works in the pre-delivery department who is just the sweetest guy in the world. He is so friendly and sweet to everyone. In fact, he even hooks me up with hot chocolate when I am craving some! He always has a smile on his face, ALWAYS holds open the door for women, and ALWAYS says hi to me. He doesn't get paid much although he's been with the dealership for YEARS, and I know struggles financially... probably would have never bought himself a big screen TV. SO I'm actually happy for him that he won it, and no one would have deserved it more. I felt so good inside seeing him win it. That's really what Christmas is all about... seeing other people happy when they recieve a well-deserved gift. He sat by that TV after he won it like he was the happiest man alive... probably excited to show his wife, children and maybe grandchildren? I loved seeing him happy and so did not leave the party dissappointed that I didn't win anything. In fact, my ticket number wasn't even called out... I won the manicure because it was thrown to me by the General Manager. But I still won!

Hoops and Yoyo

I love Hoops and Yoyo!! A few months ago I discovered them while browsing Hallmark.com for some e-cards to send to friends. They know how to bring a smile to my face. Anyone reading this should definitely check out their personal website by clicking right here! If they don't at least make you smile, then you must be a very grumpy insensitive person!!On their website they have a bunch of cool stuff... like you can print out a cute checkerboard and cute little cards!

My sweet and thoughtful husband!

It just started out as a bad day today. I woke up on the wrong side of the bed I guess... I was impatient with Adam and I'm sure it didn't help him at all to be in a good mood. When I got to work and restarted my computer, there were 5 viruses on my computer!!! GRRRRRRR!!!! THe good thing was that Tim, our computer expert helped me fix all the glitches. But projects started getting piled on top of me... "Train this person, will ya?" and "Will you please do this for me? Oh... and also this..." and "You're so good at typing... will you type this up for me?"... and my computer WAS NOT WORKING TO DO THESE THINGS AND THINGS WERE JUST PILING UP!!! And THEN to make things worse, Adam wrote me an e-mail to tell me that the thing I wanted most for Christmas (this really cute jewelry holder from Pottery Barn) was no longer available. :^(. I was really sad... I tried my best to have a good attitude because I know my attitude is up to me, but it just didn't work. I must add that today is our Annual Company Christmas Party for all the employees. They always give away some great prizes including a big screen TV. Adam had written me an e-mail that said "I hope you win the big screen TV!!!" and I had replied "I doubt it by the way things are going today".Then I got this phone call from Adam. He wanted to know if my day had gotten any better. I told him no and he said some sweet things that made me a least want to try harder to have a better day. Then, if that wasn't enough, he asked if I had some time to come downstairs. "You're here?" I asked him, and he said he was! I put on my coat, ran downstairs and through the doors where he was waiting in the parking lot in his truck. I climbed in and noticed he was holding a dozen red roses for me!! He said "I know they're cheap... they're from Kroger, but it was the closest place to buy them. I just wanted to do something to cheer you up." I was so touched. And you know... it really helped me see the bright side of things.... like how I have a wonderful husband who loves me and wants me to be happy. As I got out of the car, I said to him.. "Maybe I'll win that TV afterall!" Afterall, I am now having a great day, and have a beautiful vase of red roses to look at and smell on my desk.

I'm really in the Christmas Spirit now!!

Some lovely things happened yesterday! First of all I got to spend some time with Autumn. My mom and I went to Bath and Body works and took her along... you wouldn't believe the attention I got! Out of the billions of people who were crowded into the little shop, I believe almost all of them wanted to see her. She fell asleep on my shoulder as I carried her through the store and I felt incredibly special. Of course, I had to tell everyone that she wasn't mine... which made me want one of my own... my time will come.

Second of all... we got a new couch from Adam's mother! It's a lovely thing and looks great in our very small living room. Beats the $100 Futon couch that we bought at Target. Adam is actually kind of sad that both won't fit. But I told him we didn't have to throw the futon away... we could store it at my parents until we got a bigger place. We loved pulling it out when we watched TV because it was like watching TV in bed! They don't go together though, and would have looked awful in the same room as far as I was concerned... me being the perfectionist that I am I wasn't going to have mis-matched furniture!!

Later in the evening we met my family at Bangkok House (Thai food... yum yum) and ate together. The owners love me and love to come speak Thai with me. It's so much fun, and I love the Thai people. Sweet people... and although I don't go eat there as much as I want to, (every few months) they always remember my name. I had my favorite massamun curry. I crave that stuff all of the time. The sad thing about going to a Thai restaurant and speaking Thai is that I realize I am getting really rusty. I need to practice speaking/reading/writing the language more. I need to add that to the list of things I would do if I had more time. Actually, I need to MAKE the time to do that.

After the delicious Thai food we went to the Christmas Collage Concert at UK... the best concert of the year (or so I've decided). My big little brother Seth (He is about 6'6") is in the UK choir and so he was part of the splendor. There was also a bell choir. I used to be in one of those when I was in elementary school!!! Brought back memories... Also part of the concert was a children't chorus, a steel band, a saxaphone quartet (which I really loved), a woodwind quartet, and others. It was a wonderful concert. It didn't put me to sleep. I stayed wide awake! Beautiful music. Nothing puts me in the mood more than music does. The last number was appropriate... they all sang Silent Night. As the song approached closing, the lights were dimmed to darkness and a few of the choir members held up lights. (either a candle or lighter) It made it look like stars twinkling in a dark sky and it made me think of the night so long ago when Christ was born. What a silent and holy night that must have been.

Pick a place...

My friend Amy at work was just telling me about a group of old ladies who go on a trip together once a year. How do they pick the place to go? They close their eyes, spin a globe of the world and stop it with their finger. Where their finger lands is where they go!! I thought that was so neat. They've been to places such as China and South Africa... this year they will go to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Neato. What a concept :^)

Cute Pics of my neice, Autumn

1. One of the first smiles seen by the world by my cute neice Autumn. 2. I guess Chelsea was having an extra bad day with Autumn and decided that she would punish her by putting her in a "little devil" outfit. CUTE! 3.The last one is when Autumn fell asleep while I was baby-sitting her. She looked like a little angel. I actually drew a picture of her.

Cool Clouds

This was a very interesting picture that I took using the camera on my cell phone. I've never seen the sky look like this before...
One half of the sky had no clouds and the other was JUST clouds. I wonder what causes that to happen? Interesting...

List of things to do with someone you love

I was going through some boxes the other day to try and find Christmas stuff when I found a box containing the letters that Adam and I wrote to eachother during my year and a half in Thailand. I of course pulled them out to read them and it filled me with so many memories. I loved getting letters from Adam. One of the things that we did was write out a list of all of the things that we wanted to do together when I got back from Thailand. I love that list and wanted to list some of my favorites here. Sadly, hardly any of these have been accomplished yet...

• Go to the Newport Aqarium
• Hike up to Natural Bridge
• Cuddle up by a fire and drink hot chocolate
• Ice skating (we did this on our first date)
• Cuddle up in the Kentucky Theater and watch a movie (they have stars lit up on the ceiling... very nice)
• GO to an observatory and look at "Marissa Lea" (A star that Adam named for me)
• Take walks in the Arboretum at UK
• Listen to Adam play the guitar (he has written me many songs)
• Go out into the country to look at stars
• Cuddle underneath the stars
• Take a walk in my parents' neighborhood park at sunset, sit on the edge of one of the bridges, watch the fireflies and listen to the bullfrogs.
• Have our infinity fights (I love you times infinity anything you say...)
• Go to a drive-in movie
• Work out together
• Go horseback riding
• Go back and read the letters that we wrote to eachother
• Plant a garden together
• Watch "Trading Spaces"
• Make eachother CD's
• Go to Thailand together, take tuk-tuk's and shop shop shop because everything is so inexpensive there!
• Hang out at the mall and shop (we actually do this a little too much...)
• Go to New Jersey, sit by the Ocean and watch the Sun Rise
• Take naps
• Decorate our Christmas Tree together (CHECK!! WE just did that one)
• Make a snowman and snowwoman
• Make ornaments together
• Have a snowball fight!
• Surprise eachother by visiting eachother at work
• Have cake fights on our Birthdays
• Sing a duet
• Write eachother love letters even though we are married and see eachother everyday
• Make lunches for eachother
• Have water fights
• Buy a kereoke machine and sing together
• Have a puppy
• Go window shopping
• Go to a fancy restaurant and dress up for it
• Ride in a Limo
• Go to a park and have a picnic and play frisbee
• Go to Kings Island (amusement park) adn ride in the front of all the roller coasters (Adam actually doesn't like roller coasters... although I did get him to like it one time we went and we DID ride the front of all the roller coasters... but now he doesn't like it again)
• Rent a cabin somewhere
• Have Adam teach me how to drive a stick shift (he did this last year! I can do it now! Yay!)
• Sing eachother to sleep
• Make eachother breakfast in bed
• Go to a zoo and feed the animals
• Go fishing
• Go to Oita Japan where I lived for 4 years
• Visit Italy (I have a lot of Italian in me)
• Go to California!
• Ride an elephant in Thailand
• Write a book together about out love story and give it to our children
• Football games
• When we have children, take our babies on walks
• Design our dream house together
• Drive around and look at the Autumn leaves
• Play in the leaves together
• Cook for eachother
• Go to my dad's softball games
• Read to eachother
• Go to Cumberland Falls together
• Learn to dance
• (This has always been one of Adam's dreams) Make me furniture
• Wrestle
• Go on an air balloon ride (although I think this would be very scary!)
• Take a horse-drawn carriage ride in downtown Louisville or Lexington
• Paint together
• Start a good collection a good books, DVD's and videos
• Go to Niagra Falls
• Go to Joseph Beth's and read books together (This is the coolest place! It's a bookstore/cafe/gift shop)
• Go backpacking or caving
• Go to Thunder Over Louisville (on of the biggest firework displays in the US?)
• Eat at the Burger Bar in Utah
• Camp in the mountains
• (Adam) Teach me to rollerblade
• Go rollerblading in a park and hold hands
• Go to Florida on Vacation (did this.... for our Honeymoon! we went to Longboat Key Island)
• Take care of each other when sick
• Wash our truck together
• Go on business trips together
• Play arcade games at Ghatti Town
• Make cookies together
• Get to know out neighbors wherever we live (haven't been good at this one)
• Pranks!
• Have pillow fights! (this has to be one of my most favorite things to do with Adam... I always lose of course, but I have never laughed harder!)
• Make time for great conversations
• Make a webpage together
• Go on a cruise
• Send eachother packages even though we live together
• Have a Christmas in July
• Buy a Love Sac (it's like a big bean bag)
• Go on bike rides together
• Make a picture book out of pictures that our children draw
• Go to Wal Mart at midnight in our P.J.'s
• Visit Gatlinburg TN in the fall
• Go on the Alpine Slide
• Go see a show on Broadway
• Make up our own secret language
• Give our mothers Thank you notes and Happy Mother's day cards on OUR birthdays
• Go feed the fish at Joseph Beth cafe
• Run through sprinklers
• Watch a meteor shower out in the country
• Go golfing together (learn how to golf first for me)
• Go-cart races
• Go to Disneyland
• Go to 4 corners and stand in 4 states all at the same time!
• Go visit a castle in france

Well, that is a long list, but those are only a few of my favorite from the real list. Of course, I could probably come up with a lot more now. Making lists are so much fun!!!!

Love is an amazing thing...

One of my friends from work has had a difficult time with her in-laws. This friend is Asian, and was adopted by a wonderful family from Texas when she was still a baby. She grew up in a very nice home with nice things to a prominent family. She is very well educated, sweet and not to mention beautiful. Yet for the 16 years that she knew her now husband, his parents have never been able to accept her because she is Asian... more specifically from Korea. It is ridiculous and stupid. Her husband is ALSO from a well-to-do, prominant family here in KY. You would think that educated people such as them would not be so stupid as to judge people because where they were born. Well, my friend and her husband got married a little over a year ago and his parents didn't even come to the wedding. I know it has been hard on both of them and they were broken hearted. But he loves her so much. So much that he was willing to give up family relationships to be with her.

For Thanksgiving, they were invited to go to Washington D.C. where his family was going to celebrate the holiday. They were shocked that they were even invited. My friend was so nervous she was getting sick. But they went... things weren't perfect but they definitely made a statement. His parents were there, and I believe that they were touched, if not influenced by their courage to come be with a family who doesn't accept them. I believe there was a small change of heart by the in-laws. A smalll step towards thier acceptance of their marriage.

That experience brought them closer together. My friend said that on the way home, there was a point in time that no words were exchanged, but the feeling of love felt for eachother was very well communicated in the air. We started talking about it, and how love was so amazing. I related to her my experiences with Adam... how sometimes we would be cuddling on the couch as we watched TV and my heart would just overflow with love for him. Not a romantic feeling even... just a sweet sense of appreciation and adoration for him. Then he would say to me, "DO you feel that?" and we would know that the feeling was mutual.

Love is something that is so hard to explain. What could be more of a declaration that there is a God? I don't believe that feelings like this could be brought upon by anything else. We were meant to share these relationships, and I don't see how anyone who has ever loved anyone could deny such power. When Love is strong enough, I believe it can conquer anything. And I do mean ANYTHING. I believe bonds of love are stronger than death, and will overcome death. I believe that love does not end here on earth but will continue forever and ever. Anyone who has experienced love in it's true form cannot deny this. I believe that love can overcome barriers of hate, like in my friends case. I feel so blessed.. and almost unworthy to have found love. I am undeserving sometimes of my sweet husband who puts up with so much none-sense from me. But you know what? I have it. And I look forward to finding out over and over again what love REALLY is.

Only in Japan...

My friend Amy Sent me an e-mail today that made me laugh. They were pictures of some unique creations by the Japanese people. Having lived in Japan, I can only say... I am not surprised. I love Japanese people for their imaginations and creativity when it comes to making life easier. At the same time... some of these are just plain SILLY!!! The Child mop thing... that is too cruel!!

Free time

I wish I had more free time on my hands to do the things I loved... I know that in order to appreciate life we need to make sacrifices but there are so many things I would love to do that I just feel I don't have enough time to do! I'm thinking that when I have children I will have more time to do those things that I love, but most people would probably think that I am naive in thinking that. As for now, I have to work so that Adam and I can pay our bills etc...

I would love to stay at home at write letters to my friends that I have not heard from in forever...
I would love to write in my journal more...
I would love to type up all the letters that Adam and I wrote to eachother when I was in Thailand...
I would love to be able to finish my Thailand scrapbook...
I would love to finish the 2 quilts that I started!
I would love to be out in the nature more and take more walks...
I would love to spend more time with my niece, Autumn...
I would love to spend more time with my Sister, Chelsea...
I would love to go out to lunch with my parents more...
I would love to support my brothers more in their separate endeavors...
I would love to be able to wake up in the morning and just sip on some hot chocolate and watch Martha Stewart, Clean Sweep, and a Baby Story...
I would love to be able to be in more control of what I eat...
I want to be more active!!!
I would love to be able to go to the library and check out all these wonderful books...
I would absolutely love to start taking some online classes!!!
I would love to curl up on the couch and actually finish a book for once...
I would love to be able to take out my art supplies and just have some fun...
I would love to be able to write some songs...
I would love to create my own website and update it every day...
I want to explore websites and blogs of interesting people...
I would love to find out more about my ancestors and learn about their lives...
I would love to be able to make my husband breakfast, lunch and dinner everyday... he SOOOOO deserves it!!
I want to be a better friend... and have time to go visit them and invite them over...

Oh, the things I would do if I had more time!! As for now, I just need to learn how to manage my time so that I can accomplish the MOST IMPORTANT things... which are to make sure my husband knows that I love him and that I do the things that my Heavenly Father would have me do.

One good thing is that I just found out that I won't have to work on Saturdays anymore! That's kind of exciting because then I actually might have time to do those things that I love! But when I am off, I just want to spend the whole day lounging around and enjoy time with Adam!!

I keep thinking though that when I have children and won't have to work anymore, I will get that chance to do those things that I want to do... am I being unrealistic???

Thank you!

It is now Christmas season!! I love this time of the year. Thanksgiving was great. We went to Adam's cousins house for Thanksgiving dinner. She is almost Martha Stewart like, and had the table all set pretty with little place cards on each plate. I want to have Thanksgiving dinners like that when I start having dinners at my house! The food was delicious as well. It was nice to spend the Thanksgiving with Adam's family. We also got to go over and spend some time with my family. Since they already had their dinner, we just sat around and talked and it was pretty fun. When we got home that day we decorated our Christmas tree! Chris, (one of my managers) gave us one of his old Christmas trees and we decorated it with blue lights, blue and silver bulbs, stars and snowflakes. It's so pretty! It's the best Christmas tree I've ever had!! It's been such a great Christmas season so far. I'm listening to Christmas music at work now and getting in the mood! It's been cold as well... yesterday it was down to 12 degrees!!! Today is a little warmer though... in the 50's. Today during my lunch break I am going to go to Michael's so that I can get some stuff to make stockings! I am excited about that.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...

Yesterday it snowed for the first time this Winter. I went to Atlanta Bread Company with my friend Jillian and as we sat inside sipping yummy soup, it started snowing outside!I love it because it means Christmas is coming and I love this time of the year. I love the Christmas music, the smells (cinnamon, pine, pumpkin pies, turkey) and all the things that it entails. I love cuddling under blankets and watching the snow fall and I love drinking hot chocolate with marshmallows!! I love seeing kids all excited to sit on Santa's lap and I most of all love being with my family and seeing smiles everywhere I go. It's supposed to snow some more today, but not too much. Yippee!

Little Monkey

These are a few of my favorite things and why:

• Mugs... I don't know... they are just cute. I always imagined having a collection of them in a hutch in my dining room or displayed in my kitchen somehow
• Elephants... I started loving them in Thailand. Elephants would walk around on the streets (with the cars) and had little lights attached to their tails so that cars would not run over them. You could feed them and they would do tricks for you. I bought a bunch of things there with elephants on it because they hold them sacred there. But I really think I started loving them most after Adam sent me a stuffed Elephant for Christmas that he stuffed himself at some teddy-bear shop they have in the mall. That little stuffed animal made me so happy and every time I would miss Adam I would just hug it at night.
• Anything little... Adam always makes fun of me because if I see anything miniature it is automatically 'cute'. This will explain a lot of my favorites
• Baby clothes... my friends used to make fun of me for this one because when we would go to the mall, I would always want to stop by Baby Gap and Gymboree instead of Abercrombie and Fitch and American Eagle which were some of my favorite stores when I was in High School. I actually even worked at Gymboree for quite some time. I still hold that up high as one of my most favorite jobs ever!! I would love it when the new lines would come out and I would be the first to see all the cute little outfits.
• Hearing someone say they love me
• When someone forgives me for something that I did
• Going to church and feeling all good inside
• Frozen Grapes... well any kind of frozen fruit for that matter. SOOO delicious and a healthy snack too!
• KENTUCKY!!! I love it here... the rolling hills, the seasons, the horses... it's beautiful here. When I was flying back from Utah after attending BYU for a while, I promised myself to never leave here again unless absolutely necessary after seeing the beautiful green horse farms from the air. (except when I am traveling of course!)
• Traveling... I love seeing new places and meeting new people.
• Road Trips
• Babies... this one is probably obvious because I am so obsessed with talking about my new niece! They are just precious gifts from Heavenly Father
• Snow... not so much playing in it although that is fun sometimes... I just like sitting next to a huge window and watching it fall so peacefully
• Big Windows that stretch from floor to ceiling.(I sit next to one where I work and hope I will have lots of these in my future dream house!)
• Fireplaces... one of the best dreams I ever had was when I was in Thailand. In my dream I was married to Adam and we had a little baby girl... probably about 1 year old. She had on a fuzzy white sweater, little blue jeans, little shoes and her short brown hair were in little pigtails. We were all playing together in front of a beautiful stone fireplace, smiling and laughing, next to a huge window while the snow was falling. I woke up so happy and content.
• hoops and yoyo... they are these characters on Hallmark.com that always make me smile
• Stickers... I have collected these for a long time now.
• Stationery... I have collected a lot over the years. Writing letters is something I love to do but hardly find time to do. But I love cute and creative stationery sets or note cards.
• Interior Design... when I was little I used to make floor plans and put furniture in them. It was my favorite thing to do.
• Nature Walks... there is nothing more peaceful than taking a walk through the woods and enjoying God's creations.
• Fall... everything about it. Sweaters, the falling leaves, the colorful trees, football games, Thanksgiving, pumpkin pies, cuddling, the smell, EVERYTHING!!! It's a VERY romantic time of the year.
• Spring... the flowers in bloom, the colorful trees here in Kentucky and the warm afternoon sun just help bring a smile to my face!
• Sunsets and Sunrises
• Martha Stewart magazines... they may not be all original ideas by Martha, but I love all the ideas! I have some of her kids, wedding and baby issues as well.
• The Ocean... nothing beats sitting at the edge of the water and hearing those waves crash to the shore... and collecting seashells and looking out to the horizon to see how small you are compared to the never ending ocean.
• Taking Pictures... one of my dreams is to become a photographer. I have always loved to take pictures
• Picture Albums and Picture frames... I love looking at pictures because for me they are such a good way of capturing a feeling or moment. So I take as many pictures as I can and stick them in picture frames and albums so I can look at them often
• Cardio Theatre... every morning when I go to the gym, this is where I go. It's so cook because I can get on my elliptical machine and it's dark... so no one has to see me sweat, and at the same time I have something to watch so time goes by quickly. Usually, I listen to home-made CD's as well.
• Eyes... they are the window to the soul and one of the most beautiful things God has created. I could study someone's eyes forever. They are SO interesting!
• Dashboard Confessionals... I love every kind of music that you can imagine, but no one has more talent than this group of guys right here!!! Their lyrics are so thought-provoking and full of emotion. You can relate to every song that they sing
• Smallville... hardly do I miss an episode. I think my favorite part about it is that it's Adam's favorite too so it's a for sure date for us to cuddle up on the couch together.
• Extreme Home Makeover... I would love to be a part of this show... not only do they get to help people in need, they get to buy lots of cool furniture and design some amazing rooms! I always cry... because the design team is so full of great and giving people
• Shopping... I don't care if you don't believe me, but it really does make me feel better!
• Joseph Beth Booksellers... you'll never know a neater bookstore. There are lots of places to cuddle on leather sofas not to mention a cute little cafe with the best steamed cows and cheesecake and the neatest little trinkets!
• Christmas Trees... Even now, I still love to fall asleep next to the Christmas tree and watch lights as they chase eachother around. To me, the feelings I get as I watch the tree symbolize the peace and happiness we feel during the Christmas Season
• Hot Chocolate with marshmallows... makes me feel all warm inside! I love coming to work with a mug of hot chocolate to start my cold winter days
• Glow in the dark stars
• Dove Chocolate... THE BEST
• Fire and Ice roses... the white ones with the red fringe, or the yellow ones with the red fringe. Adam used to bring me roses all the time when I worked at Lowe's. He would also bring a bottle of water for me to use as a vase. How sweet!
• pillow fights... I always lose to Adam but I've never laughed harder in my life!
• Kisses on the forehead from Adam... I can't explain how sweet this is...
• My mom's pumpkin pie
• First kisses... there's no feeling that can match this! I got to have two with Adam... one when we first met, and the second when I came back from my mission...
• Singing along to my favorite songs in the car... my favorite sing along song is "Stay" by Lisa Loeb and "Head Over Feet" by Alanis Morrisette
• Getting mail or packages from friends in the mail
• A long soak in the bathtub filled with bubbles with candles and soothing music... (I hardly EVER get to do this)
• Going Driving down pretty roads or looking at houses decorated with Christmas lights (a family favorite)
• Laying in bed under the covers listening to the rain outside
• Warm clothes out of the dryer on a cold day
• A good conversation
• Finding money in my pocket that I didn't know was there!
• Inside Jokes... Adam and I have so many... a lot of people would think we are weird but I love out inside jokes and sayings... they make me smile more than anything else!
• Girls night out!!
• Someone playing with my hair
• Wrapping presents for people and seeing them open them and loving the gift you gave!
• Making cookies and eating some cookie dough
• Hearing my husband play the guitar and singing me songs... especially the ones he wrote for me
• The feeling you get after a really good workout
• Hugs from Adam... I always feel so loved!
• Knowing what eachother is thinking just by a glance
• My family... our memories that we've shared and the memories to come
• Stories told by my mother about when I was young
• Watching Home Videos
• Catalogs... I order as many as I can and keep every single one of them (some of my favorites... Pottery Barn and West Elm)
• Christmas... the spirit of it... Almost everyone is in a good mood and are more thoughtful
• blankets... even when it's hot I love having a blanket
• Seeing a smile on my husband's face and knowing I did something that made him smile
• Playing with a puppy or kitten
• Finding something I love on sale
• Keeping a journal
• Drawing picture
• making lists... I made a lot of these on my mission
• Surfing the web and finding cool websites... I love Keri Smith and Sabrina Ward Harrison.
• Getting e-mails that have cute pictures in them
• Zebra pens... they write the best
• Making a goal and accomplishing that goal
• A Clean House (all the dishes are done, the floors are swept and everything is organized... it's such a good feeling!)
• Scrapbooking... (and looking at scrapbooking ideas online)
• Making homemade cards for Christmas, Birthdays etc...
• The smell of shampoo in my hair :^)
• A good movie
• Getting over a cold... (I appreciate my health so much more!)
• Scented Candles... TONS of them... lit all over the house with all the lights out.
• Christmas Songs
• Cool pens... any kind of pen that has a neat effect or color... my favorites are the Sakura pens
• Going Christmas Caroling... when I was younger (in AZ), the whole Bateman clan would climb on a trailer pulled by a tractor and we would sit on bales of hay and sing Christmas songs together. We would ride through a grove of orange trees until we got to a certain place where we would drink hot chocolate with marshmallows and we would also roast marshmallows and hotdogs and bananna boats. That was so much fun!
• Carriage rides. When I was in High School we would go to Louisville for either Choir or Beta club and that's one thing we would do at night when we had free time. Adam and I have also went for a ride in downtown Lexington. They give you a little tour of all the historic sites... it's so neat!
• Opal stones. They are so pretty. I could stare at one all day.
• Sappy love songs... Delila on 96.9 KISS FM

Happy Birthday Chelsea!

Yesterday we went to my parents house and celebrated Chelsea's birthday. We had a lot of fun! I got her these cute monkey socks (she loves monkeys) and Jack Johnson's Brushfire Fairytales cd. It was good to be with my family. We had a lot of fun yesterday. Of course Autumn was there and she was smiling like crazy! It was the cutest thing! Chelsea actually just called me this morning and said that she started giggling this morning for the first time. It is so exciting to see her grow like that and see that she is developing her cute little character. Soon she will be talking and walking!! We were all talking yesterday about how babies make everyone happy. Yesterday we were all happy watching her and passing her around. She is so precious!!

Just the two of us...

Today I am spending the day with Autumn. Chelsea had to start going back to work, and so I volunteered to watch her today. I've had a lot of fun with her. She is so precious. She fell asleep on my shoulder and it was the sweetest feeling. I love how innocent babies are and how everyone gets happy when there is one around. I took her over to my mother-in-law's house and she just went crazy for her. I have also realized that taking care of a small baby isn't as easy as it seems. I've babysat before many times, but never have I taken care of a baby so young (she is 7 weeks old). When she cries it breaks my heart even though that is her only way of communication right now. Nevertheless, I'm so grateful for the joy that babies bring into our lives.

Michael's is a wonderful place

I completely forgot!! I went to Michaels on my lunch break and got some art supplies! I was so excited. I got some watercolor paints that are just awesome. It comes in this small round case... there are 4 discs stacked on top of eachother, and there are 24 colors. I love it! I also got a journal/scrapbook. It is this large spiral notebook with thick pages so that I can paint in it and glue some stuff in it etc... I am so excited! I also got some Crayola markers... 50 count, some silver Sharpie pens, and a nice Writing pen. I guess I will get started on my journal tonight!!

May I help you with sales parts or service?

It's so fun working at a car dealership taking phone calls... I sure do love KY but some of these people are so... um... hilarious! Sierra took a few phone calls recently that prove the point. Yesterday she spoke to someone and asked them what their phone number was... he said "You want to know about my brother?" and then today she was taking a credit application over the phone and asked this guy what his wife's middle initial was. His reply was ... "I don't know... she doesn't have one of those. But her middle name is Marie!"

Elephants are cute!

I was just looking at a picture of my little niece, Autumn, in her little Halloween Costume. Poor babies... we just dress them up in these weird clothes and they don't have a say in anything!! But I don't care. I will still dress my children up really cute... especially during Halloween. My first child will definitely dress as an elephant. Elephants are just too cute!!!

"I certainly do not hope to alter the world, perhaps I can put it best by sayingI hope to alter my own vision of the world. I want to be more and more myself as ridiculous as that may sound" - Henry Miller 

My niece Autumn. Isn't she just SO cute? 

A new sweater! Yipee!

At work again... last night Adam took me shopping! There is a new Fossil store in the mall, and I love it!! I bought a new sweater that looks great on me! We also went to The Buckle, (Adam's favorite store and one of mine as well) and I bought a necklace. I don't care what people think or say, I really think shopping helps me be in a better mood. Spending money makes me happy! I do believe however I should control myself... it's just nice to buy myself something every once in a while. When we went to The Buckle, the cashier told us he had just got back from Iraq. He was sent home because his mother was really sick. He told us a few stories and I really felt proud. I imagined in my head what it must have been like and just had so much honor for him. I'd never really came face to face with someone who had fought for our country... at least in a war that has occured in my lifetime. I just really felt good inside.

"This is a wonderful time to be living here on earth. Our opportunities are limitless. While there are some things wrong in the world today, there are many things right, such as teachers who teach, ministers who minister, marriages that make it, parents who sacrifice, and friends who help."We can lift ourselves, and others as well, when we refuse to remain in the realm of negative thought and cultivate within our hearts an attitude of gratitude. If ingratitude be numbered among the serious sins, then gratitude takes its place among the noblest ofvirtues."

Still at work... still bored. Here is a really cool quote that I read today:

"Normal is getting dressed in clothes that you buy for work and driving through traffic in a car that you are still paying for - in order to get to the job you need to pay for the clothes and the car, and the house you leave vacant all day so you can afford to live in it." - Ellen Goodman

How true is that?? and... how SAD is that?? I'm glad I'm not "normal".

*Sabrina Ward Harrison* 

Inspirations

It's really cloudy outside today, but I feel it is beautiful. Every once in a while I need a cloudy to give myself an excuse to stay in and cuddle underneath some blankets, or lounge on the couch with my husband. Although I am at work right now (on my lunch break) I feel so calm... and I can't wait to go home so I can enjoy the day even more. Of course, I have a huge window next to my desk, so I always get a beautiful view of the sky, whether it be a clear sunny day, a gray day, or rainy day. Sometimes when I'm here at night, we'll get a lightning storm and I can see all of that too!!!

I've been in a real artsy mood lately. I want to once again get back into painting and drawing and making things. So I've gathered some inspiration from others and want to start! Some of my favorite inspirations have been Melanie Mauer (photographer... a friend of mine), Sabrina Ward Harrison and Keri Smith. They are all incredibly talented.

Anyway, here is a list of things to do by Kerri Smith that have inspired me lately:

1. Go for a walk. Draw or list things you find on the the sidewalk. 2. Write a letter to yourself in the future. 3. Buy something inexpensive as a symbol for your need to create, (new pen, a tea cup, journal). Use it everyday. 4. Draw your dinner. 5. Find a piece of poetry you respond to. Rewrite it and glue it into your journal. 6. Glue an envelope into your journal. For one week collect items you find on the street. 7. Expose yourself to a new artist, (go to a gallery, or in a book.) Write about what moves you about it. 8. Find a photo of a person you do not know. Write a brief bio about them. 9. Spend a day drawing only red things. 10. Draw your bike. 11. Make a list of everything you buy in the next week. 12. Make a map of everywhere you went in one day. 13. Draw a map of the creases on your hand, (knuckles, palm) 14. Trace your footsteps with chalk. 15. Record an overheard conversation. 16. Trace the path of the moon in relation to where you live. 17. Go to a paint store. Collect 'chips' of all your favorite colors. 18. Draw your favorite tree. 19. Take 15 minutes to eat an orange. 20. Write a haiku. 21. Hang upside down for five minutes. 22. Hang found objects from tree branches. 23. Make a puppet. 24. Create an outdoor room from things you find in nature. 25. Read a book in one day. 26. Illustrate your grocery list. 27. Read a story out loud to a friend. 28. Write a letter to someone you admire. 29. Study the face of someone you do not like. 30. Make a meal based on a color theme. (i.e. all white). 31. Creat a museum of very small things. 32. List the smells in your neighborhood. 33. List 100 uses for a tin can. 34. Fill an entire page in your jounral with small circles. Color them in. 35. Give away something you love. 36. Choose an object, draw the side you can't see. 37. List all of the places you've ever lived. 38. Describe your favourite room in detail. 39. Write about your relationship with your washing machine. 40. Draw all of the things in your purse/bag. 41. Make a mini book based on the theme, "my grocery list". 42. Create a character based on someone you know. Write a list of personality traits. 43. Recall your favorite childhood game. 44. Put postcards of art pieces/painting on the inside of your kitchen cupboard doors, so you can see them everyday (but not become deaf to them.) 45. Draw the same object every day for a week. 46. Write in your journal using a different medium (brush & ink, charcoal, old typewriter, crayons, fat markers. 47. Draw the individual items of your favorite outfit. 48. Make a useful item using only paper & tape. 49. Research a celebration or ritual from another culture. 50. Do a temporary art installation using a pad of post it notes & a pen. 51. Draw a map of your favorite sitting spots in your town/city. (photocopy it and give it to someone you like.) 52. Record all of the sounds you hear in the course of one hours. 53. Using a grid, collect various textures from magazine and play them off of each other. 54. Cut out all media for one day. Write about the effects. 55. Make pencil rubbings of six different surfaces. 56. Draw your garbage. 57. Do a morning collage. 58. List your ten most important things, (not including animals or people.) 59. List ten things you would like to do every day. 60. Glue a photo of yourself as a child into your journal. 61. Trasform some garbage. 62. Write an entry in your journal in really LARGE letters. 63. Collect some 'flat' things in nature (leaves, flowers). Glue or tape them into your journal. 64. Physically alter a page. (i.e. cut a hole, pour tea on it, burn it, fold it, etc.) 65. Find several color combinations you respond to in public. Document them using swatches, write where you found them. 66. Write a journal entry describing something "secret". Cut it up into several pieces and glue them back in scrambled. 67. Record descriptions or definitions of subjects or words you are interested in, found in encyclopedias or dictionaries. 68. Draw the outline of an object without looking at the page. (contour drawing). 69. What were you thinking just now? write it down. 70. Do nothing. 71. Write a list of ten things you could to do. Do the last thing on the list. 72. Create an image using dots. 73. Do 3 drawings at different speeds. 74. Put a small object in your left pocket (or in a bag), Put your left hand in the pocket. Draw it by feel. 75. Create a graph documenting or measuring something in your life. 76. Draw the sun. 77. Create instructions for a simple everyday task. 78. Make prints using food. (fruit and vegetables cut in half, fish, etc.) 79. Find a photo. Alter it by drawing over it. 80. Write a letter using an unconventional medium. 81. Draw one object for twenty minutes. 82. Combine two activities that have not been combined before. 83. Write about your day in an encyclopedic fashion. (i.e. organize by subject.) 84. Write a list of all the things you do to escape. 85. Cut a random shape out of several layers of a magazine. Make a collage out of the results. 86. Write an entry in code. 87. Make a painting using tools from the bathroom. 88. Work with a medium that is subtractive.