Children

I apologize in advance for the length of this post, but sometimes (most of the time) I have a lot to say. So, one thing that really struck me this year during Christmas is how important children are. Watching my Aiden and Regan play Joseph and Mary, sitting in front of the baby Jesus so reverently reminded me how close little children are to the spirit, how recently they have been with our Heavenly Father. Every chance I get to spend with my nieces and nephews is precious to me. My baby nieces, Avery and Hailey, are just so sweet and so fun to be with. I love being here to watch them grow up and experience new things. I loved having Aiden and Regan here from California. I had the chance to be there with them through so much over the past couple of years and miss them so much. I enjoy being back in Spencer and Monika's lives, to be here while they are starting the fun (??) teenage years. I love each of them separately, and hope that in some way I can have an influence in their lives, but this year my desire and yearning to have children of my own that I can teach, influence, love, help, and raise has just grown so much. Then, tonight, I went to lds.org and came across the most amazing article that just went along perfectly with my feelings. Our wonderful prophet is reminding us of the preciousness of children and our great responsibility to love and nurture them, to teach them the truth, to help them to know who they are so they have wonderful lives and become who it is that the Lord has in plan for them. Again, I was reminded of how important children are and how vital it is to have a family and live your life in a way that will help the children around us. http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=f318118dd536c010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=0f6920da30286110VgnVCM100000176f620a____&hideNav=true

Many of you may ask if we want children, why we haven't had any yet. Well, we have been told that it will be very hard for me to get pregnant. Ben and I feel very strongly that we will have our own children, but it's hard to have such a strong desire for something and really have no control over it. We trust the Lord and know He wants us to have a family as well and trust in His timing. We feel good about starting the adoption process with LDS Family Services in March (our 2 year anniversary) and are looking forward to that. Maybe this is too much information, but a huge part of my life and me is this desire and hope to have a family, and I figure this blog is kind of like a journal, so sorry if you are learning too much about me. Anyway, I am so excited for the chance to have one of Heavenly Father's children placed in my home and to have the chance to share the gospel with them, and to learn from them. I can't wait! Hopefully, we won't have to wait too long, but if we do, we will just continue to love the children in our lives to the fullest!

I want to blog too...

Friends, Romans, Countrymen... I just wanted to drop a quick line. Why? Because I saw Carmen was having fun writing on our blog, so here I am writing a blog entry and finding out that it's not really what I thought it was going to be. In fact, it's not very exciting at all.
So what do you talk about? Carmen seems to center her topics around Archie our lovely dog. She even thought it appropriate to put a picture up for Archie in front of a tree! I'm not even close to being that creative. Some of you may be thinking that there is a serious undertone of sarcasm with this particular blog post, well you're right. Anyway, I just wanted to experience the act of blogging, which interestingly enough rhymes with jogging and logging, and boxing.
Well Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night. Christmas. Why is it that people have to be so politically correct these days?? I understand that it shows respect to all those living here in big, beautiful america but where can we take a stand say; Merry Christmas? Am I extending my belief in Christ to you in such an offensive way that there are grounds for violence? By saying Merry Christmas, have I offended you, your family and all those in your lineage? Here I'm not trying to be sarcastic. I mean, I am a firm believer of being respectful and open to others who do not share the same belief as I do, but is it really that bad to express my happiness for the Man who, as a friend, sacrificed Himself for the benefit of all mankind through a simple phrase? I wish to end my blog and say with utmost respect for all diverse races, peoples and cultures, as an expression of my love for the greatest example of friendship and selflessness, Merry Christmas.

Just a quick picture of my Christmas tree, so you can see what it is that is making me so happy! Archie helps too, isn't he adorable?!

Home Sweet Home!

I love Christmas time. I didn't know it until this year, but it really is the best time of the year. My favorite part of the day is late at night when all of the lights in my house are off except the ones on the Christmas tree. They light up the whole room and just bring a warmth with them. I also love driving up to the house and seeing the Christmas lights Ben put up. It was the coldest, snowiest day of the year and he was out there, up on the ladder, putting up those lights. What a man! This year is the first time we have had our own Christmas tree, our own Christmas lights, even better our own house! Wow, things have changed a lot. Last year, we were living in a tiny 1 bedroom apartment with bars on the windows, surrounded by parking lots and cement. This year...our own house, with our own yard, neighbors and family nearby! It's no wonder I love Christmas, WE ARE HOME!

I feel loved!

Well, I have to say, I think I am already addicted! I do have an addictive personality, but I didn't know that would apply to blogging! I actually thought today about what I was going to say in my next blog post. WOW! Then, when I did get a chance to get on my here, I found a bunch of comments from all my friends. Yep, that just fed the addiction, now I am never going to leave.
So, what I thought about writing about today was the major mood swings that I go through. Haha, some people might want to get off right now if they don't want to know these things about me. But, honestly, I am so moody! I had a really hard weekend, I was feeling so overwhelmed and stressed out and poor and frustrated and felt like eveything was wrong! Well, today was just the opposite. I had a great day at work. We are celebrating "Festivus" (google it if you dont know, I didn't either). After work, I went to Costco and spent a bunch of money ("bunch" is relative) buying Christmas presents for my husband and as I was leaving I just felt like all was right in the world! It kind of makes me laugh. I love the roller coaster of my life, but sometimes I feel quite bad for the people on the ride with me. I think they weren't really aware of what they were signing up for. This is especially true for my husband. I have to say though, he is the perfect partner! He just sits back and lets me go and enjoys the ride! Thats true love.
I just have one other thing to say about feeling loved. Yes, I have a wonderful husband. I also have the BEST friends in the entire world. Me, and my three best friends from college (and since) get together in Arizona for our "girls weekend" at least once a year (this is the 3rd year running). Well, we all decided we want to plan the trip for February 2008. I wasn't sure where I was going to come up with the money for the plane ticket, but i desperately wanted to go. That was just adding to my stress. Then, in the middle of my VERY low point this weekend, I opened my hotmail, and there found 3 Southwest gift cards from my girls. I started to cry... not just one or two tears, I was bawling! This may sound ridiculous, but my friends knew I was having a hard time, and they did exactly the right thing at the right time and that made me cry. Again, I felt loved!

Hi there!

I guess I have decided to join the up-and-coming world of blogging. I actually started this blog back in August when we moved from LA to Utah, thus the title "The Simple Life". Obviously, that was all I did...start it. Back then I thought I would write about the whole moving experience, the great things about being back in Utah, being back home, being near family and just living the "simple life". That turned out to be not so simple, things got busy, and I got distracted, the blog forgotten. But, after encouragement from everybody and their dog, here I am! Honestly, I think this is a great way to write about life, keep people updated and to get a chance to just vent! Sometimes, that is exactly what I need at the end of a long day! So, if you get bored, sorry, just move on to someone else's, more exciting blog! There are plenty to choose from.
I have recently had a few experiences that have made me realize that I am a true "dog lover". Yes I know that you all know I have a dog, but having a dog, and loving dogs are two totally different things. A few days ago, I was on my way to work, running a little late. As I pulled around a corner, I saw a big black thing laying in the snow on the side of the road. I realized as I passed it that it was a dog. For a moment, I thought it was dead, but then I saw that he was licking his paw. Relieved, I drove on by. A few seconds later, a little nagging thought popped into my head "maybe he was hurt, if you leave him there he might die..freeze to death, and you could have helped.." I know, kind of morbid, but that's just how I think. So, I flipped my car around just to make sure. As I pulled up next to the dog, I tapped my horn a little bit to see what he would do. Obviously if he didn't move, he was hurt. Well, he jumped up and started walking towards my car. Happily, and much more peacefully, I drove away, feeling like I had done my good deed for the day (cause you only have to do one, ya know, ha). So, today...again, on my way to work, running late, I had another similar experience. I was pulling out of my driveway and down my street when I saw our neighbor's dog, Brutus, trotting down the middle of the street. He is a big brown Boxer. He is never out of his kennel or house, so I was especially surprised to see him running down the middle of the street. I pulled the car over, even though I was running late, and called Brutus over to me. To my surprise, he came right to me. We walked up to the door together and rang the doorbell. We waited..and waited, I rang again, nothing! I wasn't sure what to do...should I take him home, put him back in his kennel and hope they woud come home, what? I couldn't just leave him out, he could get lost..or hurt..Eventually, the owner popped her head out the door. Again, I was able to drive to work, happy and satisfied that the neighborhood dogs were safe and sound. I love dogs, mine and it seems, everyone else's. Also, another thing you will note from this story, I am a worrier, someone that gets nagging thoughts in her head and can't move on until I take care of them. I just figure, sometimes it's hard to tell the difference between the spirit nudging you to do something and just little nagging thoughts. My philosophy is, if you follow all the little thoughts you have, you won't miss the important ones.
This may seem like a strange way to introduce myself to blogging, but this is just a little about me and my life. I am sure I will be back to share more.