Spring Break Revisited: March 14-18, 2011

So, Spring Break is almost a month in the past....I still want to blog about it! In the past, I would've just skipped this post and gone on, but I got my first blog book published. I love it! And, it gives me a great desire to document even if I am behind. What a great family history and treasure!

For the first part of Spring Break, we were in St. Louis. Some of these pictures I already posted with my St. Louis post, but now I am documenting Spring Break!

Day 1 (March 14, 2011):

It snowed in St. Louis, so A's school was canceled. While CK went to work, the kids and I played:

It was fun and a little odd to go swimming inside, when it was snowing outside. :)

We got our family pictures done for our wedding announcements and after took the kids to dinner and a movie.

Day 2 (March 15, 2011):

This is the day that we drove home. Because it was Spring Break, I let the kids dictate where we would stop. They chose this Candy Factory first:
Then, we stopped by this Precious Moments chapel. It was a little way off of the main freeway, but soooooooooooooooooo worth it. The artist is amazing. He has truly spent his life sharing his faith with others. Now that he has made some money through his talent, he has donated time, land, and money to create this beautiful chapel. Very touching and very worth it.







Day 3 (March 16, 2011):

We planned on going to Putt-Putt, but a dear friend texted us that they were going to the park. Since we were going to do that later, we quickly switched days and headed out. It was PERFECT weather-which means the park was crowded, but still fun.

C played kickball.
K hung out with her friends. J was also around-playing with his friends. I got to sit and talk to mine. :) It was good for all of us.
Day 4 (March 17, 2011):

We got to go to Putt-Putt. It was so fun. K's best friend, E, joined us there.

Both K and C ended with quite a few tickets. K was happy to hit the jackpot on this game.
Day 5 (March 18, 2011):

I don't know why this is underlining...it is annoying. Day 5 was Yogurtland, as well as some final preparations for K to go to Camp G.

Change

I have a couple posts in drafts...waiting for me to finish.

Tonight, though, I feel the struggle of change.

Change is constant. Good changes. Bad changes. Expected changes. Unexpected changes. Changes that hurt. Changes that bring joy. Always changes.

Tonight is Monday so my kids are with their dad. I have been using this time to clean out some files out of my filing cabinet. So much sorrow fills my heart as I find old family pictures, XDH's valedictorian address from chiropractic school, budgets from 1999-2009, all the financial info that I had to gather for us to be approved for our business loan for the clinic, etc.. All of it evidence of our lives together-and the plans we had for the future-together.

Oh, how my heart aches! This is so not how it was supposed to be.

BUT, I am so filled with love for and from CK. I cannot wait to be his wife. The tide is changing. As I clean out these file folders, I am really fulfilling the old adage, "Out with the old, in with the new." I am ready for the future. I am so excited and ready for this new stage in my life that has already begun and will continue as we wed this summer. A loving God has known for the last three years how to succor me through all my heartache. He has provided me with a future husband that is better for me than I could have ever dreamed. This last weekend, he really proved to me (again!) how perfect he is for me. I am so lucky.

I guess this wasn't how it was supposed to be, but it is now how it is supposed to be. :) Still hurts, but soon those wounds will be only an old scar, no longer with a scab that can be pulled off once in a while. I am thankful for the healing power of my Savior, Jesus Christ.

2 DAYS!

General Conference is in two days! I cannot believe it is already time again! I have been trying to prepare myself to hear the words that I need to hear, to be ready to change what I need to change, and better myself through heeding their counsel. What a huge blessing to have prophets and apostle in the earth today!

I love this video I saw on the Church website. It makes my soul rejoice! I hope you enjoy it, too!

St. Louis recap: March 11 - March 14, 2011

The decision is made

I planned to get married in Dallas. I have planned that since the divorce was final. The Dallas Temple is where I went weekly for solace, direction, and comfort in the midst of my heartaches and pain. It wasn't even much of a question-not only is it "my" temple, Dallas is where my ward family is and my dear friends and angels are. No question. Dallas it was. CK agreed. His family was prepared to brave Texas heat in the summer to be here and support us.

Lately though, something just didn't feel quite right. As I opened my heart to listen to the answers, it was clear. I don't really know why it even matters, but, somehow for some reason, it does. So, we are getting married here:
This is the Idaho Falls, ID temple. There are a lot of good things about me getting married here and now that the decision is made and it feels sooooooooooooooooooooooooooo right, I am so excited and I see daily more and more reasons for this to be the place.

I am grateful that CK allowed me to come to this decision on my own. Now that I have decided (and never before), he told me that he wanted to get married in Idaho. He never pressured me. I honestly didn't even know that was what he wanted....even when we talked about it and I asked, he always said Dallas was great. What a man. I am so lucky and so blessed and the more that this becomes a reality, the happier I am. A new page has turned. I finally don't feel scared. I trust CK completely and I know we will be happy together-happier than I could have dreamed. Isn't God great? He takes tears of sorrow and heartache and turns them into tears of joy and happiness. I have always been taken care of by Him. The miracle is....He will take care of YOU that way, too! :)

Tagged. One of my dear friends tagged me...here goes

I was tagged by my friend M in this four by four meme that revels some little known facts about me.

1st ~four places I go

Church
Temple
Schools
St. Louis

2nd~ four favorite smells

tulips
baking bread
cinnamon-apple candles
CK

3rd~ four favorite TV shows or movies
Amazing Race
(I only watch one show....unless you count General Conference)

4th~four recommendations
Remember that life is not an emergency
Read the scriptures and pray every day
Live the life you love and love the life you live...you never get it back
Smile at everyone-we are all brothers and sisters, after all

I tag my sister, my niece, my sister-in-law, one of my best friends that is abandoning me and moving to Colorado (you know who you are!) or anyone else that wants to do this!

One Year

It has been a year today since CK and I first talked on the phone. In honor of that, my doorbell rang....SURPRISE! 2 dozen tulips...my favorite flower! (Update....after their 12-18 hours in their sleeves, I cut them today....I was wrong....there are 30 of them!!! VERY COOL!)

How I love this man. I am so blessed. I am excited as things fall into place for where we will be married. When is still up in the air as we await the opportunity to be sealed in the temple. It will definitely be a busy summer.



Thank you, CK. I love you, sweetheart!

She's off!

So much to post. So much to post. So much to post.

I have to post about:

• Trip to St. Louis
• New Family pictures
• Spring Break....Days 1-5

But, for now, I have to post that K is gone. She is attending a stay-away science camp in a neighboring state with her school. 50 6th graders got to go (chosen by grades and a science aptitude test). She is so excited. I am excited for her. I have felt very peaceful about her being gone, even the sleeping away part and, luckily, I still felt peaceful this morning when I dropped her off.
Neither of us cried. I did, however, feel as I drove her away a similar feeling to leaving her at school on her first day of Kindergarten. I just want her to be happy and successful and to enjoy life to its fullest! I know she will. I can't wait to see the pictures she takes while there. It will be a whole new post.

CK's Desk

CK will be working from home. I have a tiny house so his "office" will be in our room until we can upgrade to a new home. This week, however, I have been working on my quilts for my kids. I have now taken over the spot that will be his "office." So, for now....this is CK's desk......taken over by me.


Everything has been done for a while, except the quilting. We have had some hiccups there. 1) I have never really sewn let alone quilt. 2) my machine is the cheapest of the cheap and the feed dogs don't drop. 3) The machine I was borrowing always had the bobbin thread (tan) coming up onto the front (in this case, green).

So, finally, I was again with my good friend, G, trying to make this work. I decided to try clear thread in the bobbin to minimize the effect when it came up. (G is an amazing quilter and both of us together couldn't get the bobbin issue solved...we tried tension, she tried a bunch of other things...it just didn't help.) It seemed to work.....so I tried it on my quilt. My first time doing free motion.
It isn't great, but I am still pleased. Most of all, I just want to get these quilts done so my kids can use them! My goal was by Christmas 2009. Hmmmm.....still working on them. I NEED to finish them. New goal: before I get married this spring/summer.

Yogurtland Jar

For a little while, we have been saving our spare change...we call it the Yogurtland Jar...for that is what we intend to do with the money we save up. Now that I do a cash budget, I have more spare change. The kids also frequently add to the jar. It is nice to know exactly where to put money that I find just laying/lying around (I never remember which is correct!). We have used our Yogurtland fund for other things: donations, parking meters, fast offerings, etc., but, even so, it was finally full and we finally had time to go!
We took it to a Coinstar to be counted:


WOW! Almost $30...and that doesn't include the two dollar bills that were found in the jar as well.

So, we went to Yogurtland and everyone could get as much as they wanted. Total: $12.50. Guess we will get to go again!

It was sooooooooooo fun and it has taught the kids a lot about saving for what you want. We had a great time going Friday night!

Birthday in Review

My Birthday was Saturday, but really began with a birthday brunch Friday morning. This is our 2nd annual invasion of IHOP. This year.. 12 adults and 13 kiddos. They made us a huge table. It was fun. I just wish I could have sat by every single person that was there!

CK and A flew in Friday night. The unfortunate thing is that I got sick about 20 minutes before picking them up. I just had an extremely upset stomach....which means I didn't eat for much of my birthday. :(

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C had a basketball tournament Saturday. We spent 5+ hours there. K and A found ways to be entertained during halftime.

C played the best he has played all season. There really is nothing for him or his team to be disappointed in. They won game 1...on to round 2. They won Game 2...on to a Semi-Final game. They lost. They played hard, though, and I was really impressed with his coaches, teammates, and the other parents. I am happy to have my time back, but I will miss it, too.

The team after it was all over. It took a lot for some of these kids to put on a smile. Losing is a tough thing.

Team Hug:

We got to go home for a few minutes, relax a little and open presents. The kids were sooooooooooooooooooooo excited about the gifts. Thank-you, XDH, for helping them pick out things for me. They loved it.

CK gave me a new set of leather-bound scriptures. My others are falling apart...well-used.

After dropping the kids off with my sister, CK and I got to go to the temple. :) What a great place to go together on my birthday!

After the temple, I finally ate for the first time all day. I still felt kinda yucky, but I was hungry. CK doesn't like Chinese, but it was my birthday, so we stopped by Pei Wei. I love their lettuce wraps. YUMMY! I didn't enjoy them that much as I still felt sick....but I loved the leftovers on Monday!

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Finally, my sister is amazing! She and her work are what really ended my day on a super special note. When we came back, all the kids lined up on the stairs with posters they'd made for me and sung. That was awesome!

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Then, she pulled out dessert, complete with candles and all. They sang. I wished. I blew. It was great. :)

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But, did she stop there? Oh no, she did not. She had made a video with all the kids (as well as her) talking about why they loved me, funny stories about me, what they'd rate me on a scale of 1-10, etc. It is absolutely priceless and something I will treasure until the day I die and probably beyond! Even A contributed. I love her just as much as I do the children that were born to me. And, my sister...after watching the kids, feeding them dinner, posters, balloon, dessert, and video, she still gave me gifts! Crazy girl....she spoiled me. I am so lucky to have her as my sister! She is my best friend (second only to CK.....but that is different).

This is a very funny picture of me...but it is the only one I had at my sister's house. I think CK has more on his phone....I will have to beg him for them.

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So....HAPPY BIRTHDAY to me. 34 years young. The next 34 are going to be awesome! :)