Our Week in Pictures

Tyler and Lisa's baby shower Tyler, Beka, Me, Trevor & Amy - Some of my favorite people from high school.

Clara fixing her "new" chair

I've been wanting a little table and chair for Clara, but decided to be responsible and pay the bills instead of get one. I came home from work last Friday and lo and behold, there's a table and two chairs sitting in my neighbor's yard with a FREE sign on it. It was like manna had just fallen from the sky. It needs some work, but it was free and it is made of sturdy materials so it has lots of potential. I have something fun in mind. Now to find the time, energy and tools I need.

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts (another freebie)

Clara's first Krispy Kreme and our dozen was free (how? we did this and it was totally worth it). It sure was great timing since I haven't purchased Krispy Kremes since they reopened and I've really been wanting some.

Scottsdale Train Park with Beka, Rachel and kids

Filling the CD player up with hair rubber bands.

Perfect... Really

My ritual of mentally preparing for work at night or during Clara's afternoon naps includes allowing myself a little time to read the blogs I subscribe to. I bribe myself. I have to, otherwise I wouldn't get anything done because I'm lazy like that. I have many, many other important things to blog about (I live a high profile, very important life, you know), but on one of the blogs I read, I saw this drawing from Misprinted Type and couldn't stop staring at it.I never even knew someone was on assignment to draw a picture portraying my life as of late. But apparently they were. And I love it. It's perfect.

Sometimes we feel like we're drowning and then instead of finding stable ground, it starts to rain. But through it all, we know everything will be just fine. Doesn't it make you want to shout for joy?

Short as mine...

It's been over three months since my last hair cut. Upon seeing the end product of the previous hair chopping, Jason's only comment was: Next time, tell her not to cut it as short as mine. Okay, can do. Clearly, Jason isn't fond of the new "Short Hair" chapter in my life. I like it, it's a fun change in my sometimes boring, unchanging life. But me being the obedient wife I am, I passed the message on to my lovely hair stylist last night and told her to do whatever made her happy with that restriction. So here we go, much shorter than last time but still not as short as Jason's. See, I grant him his wishes. I'm nice like that. I think his comment when I walked in the door last night was, Did you get it butched again? Obviously this means only one thing: He was very, very happy with my new haircut. Good thing we've been married almost five years so I can read him like a book. Otherwise I might have thought he was unhappy with the new look.

PS Every time I get my hair cut, the girl asks me if she can cut bangs. I'm not that exciting. Last night she didn't ask, but she cut the layer closest to my face awfully short. I'm pretty sure she's slowly but surely breaking me in...

PPS Hair doesn't look like this picture today. Maybe someday I'll learn how to use a flat iron so I can do a better job of styling my hair like it gets styled after it gets cut.

Churchy

Since I don't have to work tomorrow, I can be irresponsible and stay up all night with my computer doing things that waste time like blog, play Tetris, play Text Twist and sit for minutes trying to think of something I can google.

But for now, let's talk about Church today. It's a New Year. It feels good. Except for the fact that our Church time has been moved to 2:30pm. I've been dreading this since last year when it dawned on me that come 2009, we'd be the lucky Ward with the last meeting time. There were many reasons I didn't want this day to come: it's during nap time, we eat dinner at my mom's at 5 and couldn't get there until 6 (I know, Heaven forbid), the day seems much shorter since it's nearly bedtime when you get out and finally, who wants to get out of church when it's dark?

However, we put Clara down for an early nap. She didn't get a real nap on Sunday in 2008 unless we didn't go to our regularly scheduled time, so this was good. She behaved very well in Sacrament Meeting and then she was so excited to go to Nursery she tried to walk away without me. I do Singing Time in Nursery and after I did it with her class (we have two Nurseries), I told her I had to go do singing in the other class and she gave me a kiss and walked away to her chair. Six months she's been in Nursery and it's the first time she's seen me go without screaming. In fact, she didn't shed a single tear today. This is progress at it's finest. I was so proud. And not hating our new meeting time quite as much.

It almost seemed like Clara knew she was in a different room and knew that she is supposed to be a big girl now. She is in the "older" class now with the other kids that will be Sunbeams next year. Yup, in a year she'll be an itty bitty Sunbeam. She'll be three years and two weeks when she gets put into Primary. She's growing up, I'm getting old and the world is still spinning. Imagine that.

PS Since I don't have to work much the rest of the week either, I'll have more time for pointless blogs. You can hardly wait. I know it.

FOF - Random Happies

Five random things that make me happy (seriously):

Wearing all black.

Binder clips.

Sharpies.

Adding numbers.

Writing the number 9 (I told you it's gonna be a good year).

Can you tell someone worked four days this week and spent a bit too much time in an office? :)

Party Animal

I went to two parties in the last week. Woah! I know, I know, a little more excitement than I'm used to.

Party 1: Last weekend we had another get together with my high school friends. We just had a simple dinner at my house and then played Scattergories. I swear, the instructions could be a short book and certain people (ahem, Rob) would still try to convince everyone that their answers are right. Too bad everyone doesn't live in AZ anymore, but we're glad they come visit.

Tyler, Lisa, Amy, Heather, Rob, Adam, Beka, Danny, Yours Truly, Jason

Party 2: I've long been saying New Year's Eve is a pretty boring holiday if you don't drink. However, I still manage to get excited for it and stay up until Midnight year after year. While I still agree with my original statement, our celebration this year panned out to be a pretty great time. Amy and Steven hosted and Amy always makes lots and lots (and lots) of good food. Karen taught us a new game (Silly Hat) which was quite a bit of fun and then we played Loaded Questions. It definitely solicited much laughter, deep from our guts. To top it off, we didn't leave Amy's until almost 3am. What can I say, sometimes I live on the edge.

Steven, Amy, Anna, Jason, Danny (the glowing angel), Beka, Karen... Tyler and Lisa escaped unphotographed

Happy 2009 blogosphere. I am pretty sure this is going to be a good year. Hooray!

Having a gratitude attitude...

Lately, the topic of gratitude has been on my mind A LOT. On Monday, my heart was full of gratitude. So full, in fact, that it just pushed the tears up and right out of my eyes. So full because I was overwhelmed with a special little Christmas package I received with the most perfect collection of cozy gifts for me (I guess Jason too, if I have to share) and lots of fun (and cute) things for Clara. Overwhelmed because I had another moment where I knew, without a doubt, that the Lord is aware of me and was reminding me through the acts of someone else.

Later that night, something unexpected came up and I was thinking of how I'd just say a little prayer and ask for some help to make it through. Then I decided that despite the fact that I really needed help to manage this unexpected surprises (no one said all surprises are good), I had so much to be grateful for. After all, the more help we need, the more help we get and therefore, the more we have to be thankful for.

Since then, I've been thinking about all the many reasons it's important to be grateful. One thing I've never considered before is that when I take the time to recognize the blessings in my life and express gratitude for all that I have, I spend less time complaining. Complaining is the antithesis of expressing gratitude. As our minds become more and more occupied with the things we have to be grateful for, the less room there is to think of the things that we would otherwise complain about.

So there, Anna's deep (or not so deep... I'm a little slow) thought for the week.

Picture from here.

Reasons to Rejoice

Christmas lights and live music at the Temple with family on Christmas Eve Random shots from he who hath taken my camera (Hey Anna, have you had a chance to look at the pictures I took? Can't imagine which ones Clint was so anxious for me to see).

Donuts, hot chocolate and Santa hats at Grandma's after the lights

{From Clara} Taking my PJ's off and holding them up proudly for Mom to see when she came in Christmas morning, my new harmonica (when I saw it, I ran into the corner to play it so no one would take it), treats and toys in my stocking, Christmas!

Stormy skies, rain and lady bugs that look like Clara

Neighbors with yards that make you wonder if you're still in Arizona

Hanging out with my mom and sisters

People (name to remain anonymous) who pull their pants up past their belly buttons. And leave them hiked up to push Elsa on the swing.

Clara using the stethoscope on the dog

All is merry and bright

I was thinking, isn't it amazing how widely celebrated Christmas is? And that it's been celebrated for so long? Christmas will always be a celebration. That's how significant the birth of the Savior was. In a world that is always changing, that will be constant. I've had a most pleasant Christmas Eve and Christmas day. Merry Christmas!

Cycles, Emotions & WD-40

Life is full of cycles. Quite often, it seems my life is a never-ending, yet reoccurring emotional cycle (no, not that one). Each time, I go full circle. Glide along, struggle, struggle more, feel hopelessness, adjust attitude, feel hopeful, see the light, glide along. Repeated, indefinitely. It often makes me feel like an emotional wreck, although I admittedly learn and grow along the way.

Yesterday, for good reason might I add, I entered the "feel hopelessness" phase of my current cycle. Sometimes that phase is longer than desired. Fortunately, today I am already in the "feel hopeful" phase. And I'm very hopeful that someday soon my window in Heaven will be sprayed with some WD-40 so it can open just a bit more. :)

Meanwhile, I have one awesome kid to keep me laughing.