Happy Anniversary

My Mom and Dad are celebrating their 40th anniversary this weekend and since I haven't blogged a thing in months I thought I would post it. Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad and thanks for having a lot of kids so I could be born (I'm 6 of 8)

The whole reason why they got married...that's right, me. Wasn't I such a cute baby?

It's a New Year 2011

Wow, a new year already! I can't believe but boy am I ready for it:) Here is a review of my goals from last year and my new goals for this year.

2010 Goals and Review
Spritual Study at least once a day: I did pretty good with this one and it helped me to be able to use other resources along with scripture study and has devloped into a morning devotional. I give myself a B since I wasn't consistent the whole year but I was able to get a new routine by the end of the year.
Buy a Sewing Machine: I got one on sale the begining of the year as kind of a birthday present. It is nice not to have to borrow from friends and be able to use it whenever I want. I get an A+
Make a Twin Quilt: Well, you can't win them all I get a big F for this one since funds were low and I wasn't able to buy any material for it. I do still hope to do this in the future but now isn't the time.
Make a baby quilt: I get an A++ for this one since I made several and figured out my signature recieving blanket that I like to make. I made many this past year making it hard to achieve my previous goal so I get brownie points on this one.
Make a Crib Sheet: I lost count on just how many of these I made. The are so cute and easy and are a perfect gift so I really mastered this one. I get an A++ again.


New Goals for 2011
Morning Daily Devotionals including scripture study: I heard of a friend doing this with her family and thought it was a great idea and it has been going well but it is still in the works. My goal is to polish the routine to ensure that I get my daily dose of spirituality every day.
Combine a Recipe Book: As you know I do freezer meals often for me and my family and this year I would like to finally finish a menu and combine all our favorite recipes into a book. Wish me luck this one can be the most daunting of all my goals this year.
Create a Diet and Exercise Plan and follow through with it: Well, I have gained a good 20 lbs the last half of 2010 and would like to get my diet and exercise plan back on track this I plan to do by joining WW again and to get a realistic and doable exercise plan of my own.
Attend a Girl's night out once a month: This one is the fun one to balance out the difficulty of the other goals. I will do this by either attending RS meetings(Church woman's group), going out with a few friends or hosting a girls night. I need this as a goal so I can remember to take time out for myself.

Blessings and a Curse

Well, really we aren't cursed but we do have very bad luck. Our car was in the shop again due to an unexpected run in to a median. Everything is fine now and because of some unexpected Christmas money we aren't really going to be behind financially at all. Thanks to all who were involved in that, we really appreciate you:)

I have to admit the older I get the harder Christmas is for me, but I am learning to focus on the true meaning of Christmas and let the little things go. Presents are becoming less and less important and good quality family time is what I look forward to the most. I am very grateful to the Savior and for his birth and his sacrifice. I often feel like I know better and that I can handle everything but if I just "let go and let God" so to speak then I know things work out and that His timing is so much better than my own. I must learn to enjoy my journey with all its twists, turns, and bumps in the road.

I hope we can remember this season that our blessing are many and our burdens few as long as we have the right point of view. Let us all count our many blessings.

I can't write anything spiritual without thinking of the LDS mission I served in West Virginia so in that spirit let me say let's "keep on keepin' on"

Hello Stranger;)

I know, I know, it has been way too long since I've posted but honestly as far as my personal life goes not much has happened. I had an amazing Thanksgiving and my Christmas Season is going well but I just haven't done that much for Just Me.

I thought I would entertain you with a few of my ideas for the future. I am still going to make a twin quilt though it didn't happen this year and I'm already thinking on my new year resolutions but I am one of those selfish people that REALLY look forward to their Birthday and mine is coming up in a little over a month. I want to do something fun but nothing too much since my funds are a bit low so I came across this idea and I think I can make it happen.

A Hot CHOCOLATE Bar! For those that know me best you know three things about me that haven't and won't change, I LOVE pigs, my favorite color is purple, and I LOVE Hot Chocolate! So this seems to fit my personality. We will see how it comes together but I'm excited for it. I'll keep you posted:)

Grocery Bag Holder

I've been wanting to buy or make something for a while that would hold our plastic grocery bags. We don't get nearly as many as we used to since I switched to reusable grocery sacks probably over a year ago but we still need them and get them from time to time. We used to just have them under the sink but then for our ward Super Saturday we were going to make them and I realized I had almost everything to make my own already so I asked for the tutorial and made it before Super Saturday since knowing me I will spend all my time chatting instead of doing a craft. The bag turned out HUGE! A lot bigger than I thought but it works great and I love it. Next time though I would have made one a little smaller like 16" by 20" instead of 20" by 25".

New York City

I got a great opportunity to go to NYC for a pretty inexpensive trip. It was really fun and I went with three fun girls from my ward who have all been before so I was in good hands. We had a blast and it was the fastest, and most exhausting 36 hours of my life!

Early morning train:) The train was really great to ride

View from the Ferry

Me on the ferry

My first cab ride:)

My first real Broadway show! Mary Poppins was awesome!

Yummy food at an awesome restaurant in Brooklyn

Our NYC tour guides

Dinner was amazing! My friend was friends with the cook and she spoiled us with yummy Thai food.

24 layer chocolate cake! Thanks Catherine for finding this gem for us:)

We walked across the Brooklyn Bridge on our way back to the hotel at the end of the night

Grand Central Station

Central Park



Ground zero in the works

The view from our Hotel room, it was so awesome at night too! It was the 32nd floor

The toy store was unbelievable and I took a million pictures.

Finally!

Something for me to wear! I made my first skirt using this tutorial and it turned out great! I had some issues along the way but not near as many as I expected since I've never done something like this before. The zipper was a learning curve but I got it in and it actually looks decent. (thank goodness for this tutorial) I am for sure going to be doing more projects like this in the future since I LOVE the way it turned out.