Crazy kid

How my son feels about oral hygiene

Cleaning and the Twos

Honestly, I like cleaning. It's true. (I promise, family!) I'm definitley my mother's daughter and that's just one place where it totally shows. I was house-sitting for a friend last week and I was excited to clean her house. I've been living in a place where people clean for me and I was excited to do it myself! Weird, I know. But for some reason, I find a WAY greater joy in cleaning someone else's house or cleaning for company than I do just cleaning for the day to day. I mean, does my 2-year-old son REALLY care if there is a little sticky yogurt on his bib from that morning? No. Will it get sticky again? Yes. Is it worth it to clean 5 times a day? You be the judge. But if I'm cleaning for someone else, I'm totally a perfectionist (well, as perfectionist as I get). The smallest speck totally bugs me. When we were leaving our last house I got all crazy over a few specks of dirt we left on the rug. Hmmm... and I always thought my husband was the OCD one...

On another note, the terrible twos have reared their ugly head. My son makes me so happy and I love to kiss his soft, plump cheeks, but sometimes there is nothing that annoys me more than his little sweet face!!! AH! He's learning how to be independent and defy his parents' orders, the stinker. I'm totally becoming "that mom" with the kid in church who doesn't leave or even flinch when her son screams cause she's become so accustomed to the sound. Ah....kids these days... What d'ya do?

The boy acting all sweet and innocent with his cute little girly friend

Dad teaching him how to chew and spit sunflower seeds. An essential male skill. 

It's in the good stuff

Hi. Ok, I'm a genious. I just figured out how to post from my phone. Sweet. My blog has seen better days cause my computer and Internet are without my reach for a while. Don't ask. My life is crazier than you're thinking.

So I'm pretty positive the movie, Girls Just Want to Have Fun, was my all time favorite growing up. It even beat out the likes of Newsies and Indiana Jones (although they were very strong competitors). There was just something about the dancing, the young love, and the rebellion that put a fire in my blood. I couldn't help but make up my own dance routines and sweet outfits during the closing credits. Even now when I hear Cindy Lauper's shrill voice singing that familiar song I can't help but get psyched up and ready to face the world!

Its crazy how music and memories do that to us. Kind of the same way country music always makes me want to open my windows and do a little spring cleaning. Oh where would my home be without a little bit of that lovin'?!

Everything from long runs to lonely nights to spring dance parties got a good kick from life's little gems. All I can say is thank goodness for the good stuff like that!

Life of late has been pretty crazy. I've found that sleep is often more restless and non-relaxing than vegging in front of the TV because of everything on my mind. I guess that's life though, right? 

I've decided to dedicate this post to one of my followers who inspires me. In fact, I think I'll be doing this quite often, so if you're following this blog it could be YOU! 

The person who inspires me to be a better person and be proactive is my sister Tracie! Tracie's birthday was yesterday so I've been thinking about what an amazing person she is. She basically has the patience of Job and is the best peacemaker I've ever met. I honestly don't ever remember fighting with her in my entire life (and believe me, that's got nothing to do with me!). She always remembers birthdays, anniversaries or anything else special in someone's life. She has made several baby blankets for family members, which is an arduous feat given that she can sometimes be quite the perfectionist. She is always looking on the positive side of any situation and very very rarely gets discouraged. She is not afraid to try new things and she doesn't judge by what's on the outside. She doesn't compare herself to other people - only to herself and in how she can become better. All of these things (plus about a million more) are reasons why my sister Tracie inspires me. 

Thanks for everything, Tra! I can't wait to play this summer! 

Do it.

I wanted to make this post really interesting cause I haven't posted in a while. I knew I'd need some good photos to entertain those weary of reading big blobs of words. After doing a quick search of my old photos, this is what I found:


Yes, this is me on the right while serving a mission for the LDS church in Brazil sometime in 2005 (I think...). And that is a chicken foot about to enter my mouth. It entered, I chewed, swallowed, and vowed to never do it again. :)

Moral of the story and a lesson taught me by my dear friend, Holly, "If nothing else, do it for the memory!"

Amen, Holly. Amen.

30 by 30

I turned 27 today. I think I'm getting used to this old thing. I thought 26 was hard cause it was edging a little too far into the "late twenties" for my taste. It also doesn't help that my husband is younger than I. But, I think I'm beginning to finally accept the inevitable and just move on. 

So in honor of my birthday and accepting oldness, I've created a list of 30 things I will do before I'm 30. Here goes (not order specific):

1. Compete in at least one triathlon a year

2. Take a photography class

3. Master Photoshop

4. Become a professional photographer

5. Buy a house

6. Grow a garden

7. Get a six-pack (abs)

8. Successfully endure my husband's deployment

9. Home school (? - still up for debate)

10. Start a business (possibly, but not necessarily, related to #4)

11. Be a good church-goer (always have a temple recommend)

12. Master the art of entertaining (with no stress)

13. Read more (join a local book club)

14. Take fun family vacations

15. Go horseback riding (I love it and never do it)

16. Pick up a new hobby

17. Sew something for my baby girl (this is a challenge, friends)

18. Learn some home decorating skills

19. Build up a significant food storage (more than just MREs)

20. Go to the temple monthly

21. Family Home Evening weekly

22. Scripture study daily

23. Remember family and friend's birthdays

24. Send b-day cards (now THAT'S getting my act together!)

25. Start writing in a journal at least monthly (gotta start slow, here)

26. Keep up my blogs!!

27. Learn to love laundry and dishes (hmmm...)

28. Start cutting coupons (I love saving money)

29. Remember not to prioritize myself out of the picture

30. Have fun!

OK, that's a good start! Here's to being young! 

It's getting HOT in here!

From some of the comments made on my earlier posts, I felt a need to really clarify why I'm here and what this blog is all about. Maybe I'm taking a different angle since the blog's birth, but I'd like to think this is what I intended all along. 

First of all, girls don't sweat. Don't you hate it when people (MEN) actually think that? Or even some girls themselves claim they don't really sweat? But that's when you need to examine the REALLY in the sentence and determine its worth. So, girls don't sweat, except when we do. A lot. That's the truth, am I wrong? I think not. 

Continuing...  What makes us sweat? Me? Running. Biking. My two-year-old. Cooking. Standing with my pregnant body. Etc. A LOT of things make me sweat. What makes you sweat? Biking? Gardening? Baking? Writing? Whatever it is, it's exciting and it means you are OUT there being happy and productive (I'm pretty sure those two words go hand in hand for me). 

So this blog is dedicated to motivating you (and ME) not to be afraid of a little sweat. I happen to love running and biking. But there's certainly NOTHING wrong with you if you don't. Just cause your big thing is baking a MEAN chocolate chip cookie doesn't make you unwelcome to this site. No, ma'am. Welcome one, welcome all. (And you can bet I'd be more than happy to eat that mean chocolate chip cookie any day.)

So, girls (and a few straggling boys out there), let's get motivated together! Let's do something and get down and get dirty. Don't be afraid to sweat in your nice clothes. It's worth it. What's a little sweat stain got on you? 

Cause c'mon, everyone knows girls don't sweat, except when we do. A lot.  

The Unveiling

Keep your pants on. I'm not going to let all that anticipation go for naught! My post last night had to be short and sweet cause I have a life and it keeps me busy. :) (Even if that life does entail watching 2 hours of HGTV every night...)

So here is the illustrious and much coveted prize won by the lucky Jacque:

These stay-put headbands have yet to do me wrong. Thank you, Bonnie, for first introducing me to the wonders of a headband with built-in traction. Who knew my head was so slippery (or pointy, but I prefer to think of it as slippery)? And what better a prize than one to keep hair out of your sweat? Very appropriate, if I dare say. 

So enjoy, Jacque! And continue coveting, the rest of you (you can buy them for a couple bucks at Wal-Mart if you're really diggin' it).