Our Family Page

New Style

2012-01-07T23:40:00.000-05:00

I had a major Oops this week. Well, not too major, but I'll let you decide.

In an attempt to steam clean my couch, I made a paste of Oxyclean and attacked. The arms were horrible. And when they dried they were worse. Why? Because the Oxyclean really cleaned up that ten years of grime. But only in spots.

That was Thursday. Nathan tried to fix it on Friday. Saturday I went shopping for new couches because we had a huge party planned for Sunday night. Pride may be a bad thing, but we were planning to buy new couches in February anyway.

Then I found the perfect couches.
On clearance.
Floor model.
A price I couldn't walk away from.
So I bought them.

Then I waited for Nathan to get home from the basketball game. We finally went to pick up the new couches, and after wandering the entire store--just to make sure of course--Nathan agreed they were perfect.

We also decided they wouldn't look right with our current color scheme. So we stopped by Lowes.

Here are the old colors--which we LOVED.

And the new walls with the new couches.

Kiah plays Viola

2011-12-05T16:10:00.000-05:00

Thanks to my good friend Laura for recording part of this for me. ;)

Kiah played her viola at the Nativity Festival over the weekend. She did really well and didn't look nervous at all!

Halloween Pics

2011-11-05T17:57:00.001-04:00

Here are some pics from Halloween.

And, as you can see, Nanowrimo is in full swing. One week in and I'm on track for word count. The story has been a lot of fun so far and it will be neat to see where it goes. This year I'm writing YA Urban Fantasy. All that means is:

Teen Main Character
Our world, today time period
Faeries. But their not really, cause, well, that's been done.

Here's what I wrote for the back jacket of the book.

Everything you've ever heard about faeries is a lie.
Lies they told to keep us from learning the truth.
The truth? They live among us, sentenced to watch over and nurture their greatest mistake.
Us.
Ryanne never believed in faerie tales, and yet all the eyes of the Fae are watching her.
And they hope she will be the one to set them free.

You can read a sneak peak HERE.

Rocktober Fest AKA my insanity

2011-10-22T17:00:00.000-04:00

I did something a bit crazy today. My good friend Laura and I had started training to run a full marathon in November. We were doing really good too. And then I went on the cruise and came back lazy. Laura continued to train and I wallowed in self pity that I had to come back home. :) Not really, but maybe just a little.

Mornings are my favorite time to run, and it doesn't happen now that seminary has started. I already get up at 4:40am. Then kid drop offs for school stretch from 7am-9am. By then I'm ready for a nap and the last thing I want to do is run. Yeah, I know I'm making excuses.

Anyway, Laura signed us up for a half marathon. We ran it this morning. She did awesome! I'm so proud of her for sticking to the training and pushing herself to reach her goal. I ran/walked today. You should know that in the last month I've only been running once. And that was just 2 miles. I don't recommend running a 1/2 marathon with so little preparation.

You want to hear the saddest part? I was only 20 minutes slower than my PR from the year I trained really well. Here are some pictures.

Our cheering squad.

Go Laura!

The kids and Laura came to help me keep moving the last little bit.

I took my shoes off for the last mile because of a blister between my toes, so I was bending down to register my chip.

We did it!

Cole's Bday

2011-10-22T16:05:00.000-04:00

He wanted a lego cake, but I used left over fondant and it ended up with a "Baby Shower" feel to it. Good thing he's only 5 and didn't care.

Look at that face. It says, "Gimme My Presents!"

Nathan and Kiah realized they matched.

Traditional Happy Happy Hang Over Your Head

He was happy with everything.

He looks so serious!

Link from Zelda

2011-10-01T20:53:00.000-04:00

For my birthday I pooled some money from various places and bought myself a new sewing machine. :) It's great having one again. My old one broke about three years ago and I kept saying I was going to get it fixed. Oma and Opa sent some money and I sold some cakes. That's when I decided it was way easier to just buy a new sewing machine, and probably as cheap.

As soon as I had unpacked it and threaded it, projects piled up. I love being able to do these things though.

First up was a Halloween costume for Kiah. She came up with the idea and I did the sewing. (She needed it early for a youth activity.) She bought most of the stuff at Goodwill, including two green pillow cases that I used to make the tunic and hat. I think it turned out awesome!

Ashlee also needed a costume, but she's not much of a planner. At least she figured something out at 6pm the night of the activity. We forked out the cash because we didn't have time to sew anything.

Finally, Kiah dressed up for geek day at school. I didn't get the sweater tied on like a cape, but a friend at seminary totally did. When I asked, he said, "She's a super geek." Followed by the look that said, "Duh!"

Birthday Catch Up

2011-10-01T20:42:00.000-04:00

I just noticed that I never posted pictures of Adam's bday. We've now had Ashlee's and Kiah's bdays as well. Here are some highlights.

Adam helped decorate his own cake. He wanted a Bey Blade Arena. It had a specific name, but I can't remember it now.

Ashlee doesn't like cake. Yeah, how weird is that in THIS house? Anyway, she asked for a cookie cake. I found a great recipe by Emeril. It was yummy! She then covered it in icing herself.

Kiah said she wanted chocolate cake with chocolate icing. That was the only specifications so that's easy enough. This cake was so yummy. Death by chocolate!

Next week is Cole's b-day. I'll try and get his pictures up before Christmas. :)

Anniversary Cruise

2011-09-11T19:09:00.000-04:00

We finally did something other than school, work, laundry, church, same old same old stuff that is worth blogging about. Enjoy, I know I did. The best part was having Nathan to myself for a whole week, no work, and no one needed anything from us. What a wonderful week!

LDS Writer Blogfest: LDS Women Are Incredible!

2011-04-12T02:42:00.001-04:00

Today is a special blogfest of sorts. I participate in a lot of them over on my writing blog, but this one bears repeating over here. Another LDS writer is hosting her second annual blogfest where Latter-Day Saint bloggers can share their beliefs with their followers. This year we picked a talk from the April General Conference to share. This is what I posted on my blog.

Over the years I have been asked by many people about my faith in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The questions vary but some are reoccurring. One such question is:

How can you believe in a church that denies women the priesthood? They expect you to stay home and take care of the kids as if women's rights had never become available.

Yes, I hear that often.

First of all, I have NEVER, I repeat NEVER felt as if I have been denied anything in my life or faith because I am a woman. In fact, it is more likely that I feel like there is no way to live up to the position on the pedestal women are placed in this church.

And that is why I chose Quentin L Cook's talk from the Saturday morning session of General Conference. I knew from the moment he started talking that I would share this talk.

Our women are not incredible because they have managed to avoid the difficulties of life—quite the opposite. They are incredible because of the way they face the trials of life. Despite the challenges and tests life has to offer—from marriage or lack of marriage, children’s choices, poor health, lack of opportunities, and many other problems—they remain remarkably strong and immovable and true to the faith. Our sisters throughout the Church consistently “succor the weak, lift up the hands which hang down, and strengthen the feeble knees.”¹¹

One Relief Society president who acknowledged this extraordinary service said, “Even when the sisters serve, they are thinking,‘If only I could have done more!’” Though they are not perfect and all face individual struggles, their faith in a loving Father in Heaven and the assurance of the atoning sacrifice of the Savior permeates their lives.

This is so true! That's why I get so tired. I always feel like I could have, SHOULD have done more. Not because someone is telling me I should, but because I feel like I should be able to help everyone.

Ok, now that I've given you a quote from the end of the talk, let's go back to the beginning.

Author and historian Wallace Stegner wrote about the Mormon migration and gathering to the Salt Lake Valley. He did not accept our faith and in many ways was critical; nevertheless, he was impressed with the devotion and heroism of our early Church members, especially the women. He stated, “Their women were incredible.”¹I echo that sentiment today. Our Latter-day Saint women are incredible!

God placed within women divine qualities of strength, virtue, love, and the willingness to sacrifice to raise future generations of His spirit children.

Elder Cook goes on to talk about the faith of pioneer women, how they sacrificed their homes to trek across this country to find peace with their families in the West. Many lost their families along the way, but found strength in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

I often think how grateful I am that we do not suffer the same persecutions as those in the early days of the truth. Would I have been faithful enough to leave my home? Would I have stayed strong in the face of death after death of loved ones?

I believe the women of the Church today...are every bit as strong and faithful. The priesthood leadership of this Church at all levels gratefully acknowledges the service, sacrifice, commitment, and contribution of the sisters.

Much of what we accomplish in the Church is due to the selfless service of women. Whether in the Church or in the home, it is a beautiful thing to see the priesthood and the Relief Society (our women's organization) work in perfect harmony. Such a relationship is like a well-tuned orchestra, and the resulting symphony inspires all of us.

The blessings of the priesthood are available to men and women equally in our church. As a woman I do not exercise the right to bestow those blessings. This is the point that has bothered friends over the years, but not me. I like to think of it this way--my responsibility is to love and nurture my children and others around me. This generally comes naturally to women. We are all about relationships.

Men, not so much. I mean they want relationships, they are important to them, but it is on a different level. They can sit in a room watching THE GAME not speaking to each other and be perfectly happy. True? True. So in my mind, Heavenly Father knew that men needed something to encourage them to reach out to others. He gave them the priesthood. They can only use this power to bless others, never themselves. See, it brings the men up to our level. *insert wicked grin*

Recently a delightful and very capable woman on a newspaper editorial board asked for a description of the role of women in the Church. It was explained that all of the leaders in our congregations are unpaid. She interrupted to say her interest had diminished significantly. She said, “I don’t believe women need any more unpaid jobs.”

We pointed out that the most important organization on earth is the family, where “fathers and mothers are … equal partners.”⁸Neither one is financially compensated, but the blessings are beyond description. We of course told her about the Relief Society, Young Women, and Primary organizations that are guided by women presidents. We noted that from our earliest history both men and women pray, perform the music, give the sermons, and sing in the choir, even in sacrament meeting, our most sacred meeting.

Elder Cook talked more about the role of women in the church and within families, but because this post is getting long I'll encourage you to go read the whole article. There is even a neat button on the right side for audio so you can listen! (it is 16 minutes long)

I want to answer my opening question. How can I believe in a church that denies women the priesthood?

It's easy when you understand how men and women work together under priesthood direction. I am not denied any blessing, and goodness knows I participate in my church. I play the piano (poorly, but the need is greater than my inadequacy), I have given talks in our sacrament meeting (comparable to when the preacher gives his sermon in other churches), I have served as President of the children's organization and the women's organization, been teacher to men, women, and children. Currently I teach our high school aged youth the scriptures at 6 am Monday through Friday.

In all of my service I have learned how to love, pray, and feel the guidance of the spirit. I know that my savior Jesus Christ lives, that my Heavenly Father loves me and all of His children on earth. I hope and pray every day that those around me can feel His love for them by my kindness.

And now, if you are interested in hearing about some other talks from the conference, here are the links to those participating.

Annette Lyon: “Desire”
Annie Cechini: “The Spirit of Revelation”
Ben Spendlove: “The Atonement Covers All Pain”
Chantele Sedgwick: “LDS Women Are Incredible!”
Charity Bradford: “LDS Women Are Incredible!”
Jackee Alston: “The Eternal Blessings of Marriage”
Jenilyn Tolley: “What Manner of Men and Women Ought Ye to Be?”
Jennifer McFadden: “Establishing a Christ-Centered Home”
Jessie Oliveros: “Establishing a Christ-Centered Home”
Jolene Perry: “It’s Conference Once Again”
Jordan McCollum: “What Manner of Men and Women Ought Ye to Be?”
Kasey Tross: “Guided by the Holy Spirit”
Kayeleen Hamblin: “Become as a Little Child”
Kelly Bryson: “The Atonement Covers All Pain”
Krista Van Dolzer: “Opportunities to Do Good”
Melanie Stanford: “What Manner of Men and Women Ought Ye to Be?”
Michelle Merrill: “The Eternal Blessings of Marriage”
Myrna Foster: “Opportunities to Do Good”
Nisa Swineford: “Desire”
Sallee Mathews: “The Eternal Blessings of Marriage”
Sierra Gardner: “The Atonement Covers All Pain”
The Writing Lair: “Waiting on the Road to Damascus”

Just Dance!

2011-03-24T15:03:00.002-04:00

Ok, this is our new favorite thing to do as a family. It may not be pretty, and it won't make us famous, but it sure is a lot of fun. We rented Just Dance 2 and played for eight hours straight. That was proof that we needed to buy it. So I finally did. It's part of my new "get in shape" program.

The Myrtle Beach 1/2 Marathon

2011-03-19T14:57:00.000-04:00

Sorry that I haven't posted since Christmas. We've been busy with the same old same old. I still post three times a week on my writing blog. That's become my social outlet of sorts. The writing has slowed considerably, but that's ok for now. I'm letting things "stew" so that when I'm ready to write things will hopefully move quickly.

In February Nathan and I ran a half marathon in Myrtle Beach. It was beautiful and we did surprisingly well considering how little we trained. In fact, our longest run before the half (which is 13 miles) was 6 miles. Luckily the course was flat, interesting, and the weather was perfect. Here are some pictures from the trip.

The night before on the beach. It was cold!

Sleepy-eyed early morning.

As we approached the starting line, the moon was setting and the sun was rising. I missed being in a crowd of people pumped to run.

The last few miles we had glimpses of the ocean between the hotels.

The finish line! Finally!

The medals are probably my favorite so far. We're thinking of running a half there this fall to get the surfboard medals.

End of Year Family Letter

2010-12-14T11:04:00.000-05:00

We've mailed our Christmas cards and I know I missed a lot of people that I wanted to send one too. Addresses may have changed or I just haven't heard from you in a while, but no worries, I'm posting the letter here in the hopes some of you may find it.

2010 flew by! It has been a busy year in the Bradford house. Here’s a look at our year:

Nathan and I ran the Country Music half marathon in April for the third year in a row. Nathan improved his time by fifteen minutes! He still works for Bank of America as a Leadership Development Consultant, but now does most of it online from home, which is wonderful! He hopes to move into a HR manger role in January. He still serves as Bishop of our ward, which keeps him pretty busy.

My race time was within a minute of the previous two years. At least I’m consistent! I worked on my book a lot this year. Ask my family, I’m sure they’re sick of it. In September I sent out a few query letters to agents and received some positive feedback. I participated in National Novel Writing Month in November once again serving as Municipal Liaison. I love encouraging others to meet their writing goals.

Kiah (13) is now in her last year of middle school. She got braces in February and has had a great time picking new colors each month to coordinate with holidays. She is enjoying young women’s and went to camp for the first time this year, but had to leave early due to pneumonia. She has been improving her piano playing.

Ashlee (11) started middle school, and as far as I can tell is in heaven. She is our social butterfly extraordinaire! She completed her Faith in God Award. She is a great helper to us around the house, and Cole loves his big sister. Both girls have been singing in choir at church.

Adam (8) turned eight and was baptized. Many of the older women in the ward call him little Bishop because he is so attentive to everyone and looks sharp in his suit. He also started cub scouts and loves it!

Cole (4) rules the house. He loves his trucks and plays Bob the Builder outside for hours on end. He doesn’t need anyone to play with him as long as he is working on his road or “pouring cement”. He loves going to IKEA to play in the play area.

Goals for 2011:
Nathan—run a 1/2 marathon in February and a full marathon in April. Do something interesting enough to put in our Christmas letter next year.

Charity—run a ½ marathon in February and a full marathon in April. Continue querying to get an agent.

Kiah—survive the 8th grade and make it to High School where she can take orchestra again.

Ashlee—make the school basketball team.

Adam—start running 5k races.

Cole—keep building his roads and start pre-school.

It's Nano Time Again

2010-11-07T07:43:00.000-05:00

Which means so many things. For the first time this year I'm wondering if it's worth it. I love it, don't get me wrong, but this year something is different. I'm not feeling any story well enough to just write like crazy. I even plotted the whole book out. So I'm wondering if I boxed up my muse by planning. There's no excitement to write because I already know what happens.

I guess that's what happens when a pantser decides to plot. (For definitions on what that means check out this blog post.) So, one week in and I'm 6,000 words behind on my word count with the measly 5400 I've pulled out.

Granted, I'm trying to actually do my part on the Community Nativity Festival planning committee this year. Which takes place on Dec 2-4th. I'm also trying to help my mom create and write a cooking curiculum for homeschool students. Deadline for that? November 11th. Yeah, 4 days to go and I have 3 standards still to come up with lesson plans for. And there's seminary (which I also LOVE).

That's enough to make my head explode, but my biggest concern is my family. I'm so tired and agitated all the time that I'm creating an angry vortex that is swirling through my home. Is it worth it? Right now I'm thinking no.

And, and...I want to work on revisions. There I said what's really eating me. I have a critique partner that has given me some very definite things to work on. Plus, I received word back from one of the small publishing companies with some feedback. It was a no, and I'm fine with that. She said the story felt rushed (Becky I believe you said the same thing), and I agree. So now my mind is working on ways to slow it down (just a bit, not too much) and expand my world building. It's hard to think of new story when your head is still in the old one.

In other news, I have two short stories out for submission to paying magazines. It could be months before I hear an answer. Until then I think I'm going to work on a few more shorts. That's about all my brain can handle right now. I'll keep you posted.

Pumpkin carving fun

2010-10-29T11:03:00.002-04:00

Ward Camp Out--mid October

2010-10-29T10:59:00.000-04:00

We gave camping another try mid October. This time it was close, so if it rained we could pack up and head home easier. Luckily, it didn't rain, and we enjoyed a nice evening with other families from church. There was Tent or Treating for the young ones, and lots of fun socializing around the campfire for the rest of us.

The following morning we played our own "minute to win it" games. Here are some pictures of our family in action.

Ash lifting the M&Ms on a pencil

Nathan trying to stack and unstack for the record.

Cole eating anything he could find.

Kiah stacking.

Nathan and the M&Ms

The 4 year old gang.

Ash's turn.

Horse rides

2010-10-29T10:29:00.000-04:00

There was a day early in October when we went to a health carnival hosted by our dentist. Cole finally had his first pony ride.

Cole's Birthday

2010-10-29T10:26:00.000-04:00

Still trying to get caught up and I'm a month behind. Cole's b-day was a week after Kiah's. Here are some highlights.

Happy Happy Hang over your head.

BumbleBee is his favorite Transformer.

He still loves all things Bob aka construction.

His sad little BumbleBee cake. My poor kids get the quick thrown together cakes. It doesn't seem fair does it?

Kiah's Birthday

2010-10-17T16:30:00.000-04:00

She wanted to decorate her own cake.

Happy happy hang over your head!

They just keep growing up!

The rest of August, a month late.

2010-09-21T13:57:00.001-04:00

Now that September is almost gone, I guess I should finish off the events of August. Immediately after Ashlee's b-day was mine. The day started with the first seminary inservice meeting of the year. It ran a little longer than most of the monthly meetings and included soup and salad from Olive Garden. I'd say that's a great start!

Then we hung out at the pool for four or five hours. It was wonderful not to have to do anything but relax. After the pool, we went home, cleaned up and went out for Chineese food. Lovely!

Nathan put this together for me. Doesn't it look yummy! Angel food cake is fat free, did you know that? Lots of sugar here, but no fat.

Traditional "happy, happy, hang over your head." I got a nice bag to carry my laptop in for my frequent trips to the library, and a cordless mouse. Perfect!

Then we got silly with the balloons! I think this picture is just too much!

Two days later, Nathan and I celebrated our 14th wedding anniversary. Here is a little slide show of the beginning of our story. I had hoped to add more pictures, but never got around to it. All that searching, scanning, cropping, removing ink stains slowed me down.

The rest of August was devoted to getting the kids back in school and me out of bed in time for seminary each morning. I guess I'm a really bad parent, because I didn't take any "first day of school" photos this year. I should have. A1 joined K at the middle school.

Ash's B-day

2010-08-15T14:23:00.000-04:00

Ash turned 11 this year. The best thing was she asked for stuff we could actually get her, for the most part. She did not get an I Touch, but she did get a few gag gifts.

Being silly

Happy happy hang over your head.

A flat iron

You took this out of my room.

It has a broken leg!

A pull up?

Let's get on with this.

Oh yeah!

A new cd player, clock and radio.

Girls Camp 2010

2010-08-12T22:49:00.000-04:00

August has already been busy. I'm not sure I got caught up on my July stuff, but I'm going to share some of the fun of girl's camp. I was lucky enough to go again this year with Kiah. We headed up Sunday night with our Stake leaders to help them get ready. All of my pictures were taken on the day the girls arrived, and then my camera quit!

So, join me on our journey to OZ.

Day 1: Arrive and prepare for the first influx of girls and leaders. A lot of up and down stairs! I wish I had taken a picture of the hill and kazillion steps we had to walk up to the Mess hall.

Day 2: The first group of girls arrive. These are the YCL's or Youth Camp Leaders and the Camp Director for each of the groups coming. We do some training, learn the new dance, send the girls off to have fun while we do more work. Oh, and we blobbed each other on this day.

Sorry, I don't have a picture of me. Wish I did, but here is another leader getting blobbed. That was our new phrase for the week. "Will you blob me?" "I got blobbed by Pres. C!" "You so blobbed her!"

Our wonderful Emerald City Poster. Isn't it great.

Day 3: All the other girls arrive. here I am manning the Level 2 desk. These were my girls from last year. I was so glad to be with the same ones this year. Everyone got a shirt with a rainbow on the front and the year. On the back was a swirling yellow brick road with our scripture them in it. Doctrine &Covenants 25:2 "…and if thou art faithful and walk in the paths of virtue before me, I will preserve thy life, and thou shalt receive an inheritance in Zion." Isn't that a beautiful promise?

We show the girls around, help them get settled, meet the camp owner for some rules, and then the craziness begins!

Another candid, don't remember what I was thinking here.

Oh, wait, here we are being crazy still waiting for everyone to show up. :) Dancing on the stage. It doesn't get any cheesier or better than this folks! That's me in the middle in the lighter Capris.

There was a little skit welcoming everyone to camp. I work with some totally awesome women! I was in charge of holding up the "Applause" and "Ward Chant" signs. (Each ward had a cheer or chant for roll call.)

Then everyone danced! Isn't this an amazing outdoor gym? It was wonderful when it rained. We could still get together and party all in one place!

Later that night we had introductions. All the leaders had to dance our way onto the stage and then when our group was out, we struck a pose. For a social person, I'm surprisingly self conscious in times like this. This year, I said, "Who cares! Have fun!" and I had a great time looking as stupid as I could. :D

Day 4: Things really get rolling. My group is in charge of the flag raising and lowering everyday. We have some ups and downs. LOL, sorry couldn't resist. The flag pole was missing the thing you tie the rope to after you raise the flag. We had to have some quit lessons on knots in front of the whole camp. Breakfast, DEAR time (drop everything and read!) yep, awesome camp. Then it was time to work on certification stuff. Hiking safety, locating the north star, identifying clouds and poisonous plants. That sort of thing.

Next came electives. We had some amazing ones this year: riflery (sp?), archery, crafts, basketball, volleyball, tennis, rock climbing, canoeing, choir, some spiritual classes, mountain biking and hiking. I was in charge of the hike and we learned to identify lots of trees in our area. I enjoyed it, I hope they did too.

Finally, it's time for lunch! Then the band aid fair. I helped man an air popcorn machine and hand out cotton candy while the girls learned first aid skills. It was a blast!

Free time was next! This is when I left for the Urgent Care with K, so we missed the rest of the night (dinner, evening program, Super Dessert Bar). Turned out she had pneumonia and had to go home. For an account of that night and how it played out--go HERE.
I crawled into bed at 12:30am.

Day 5: Start the same thing all over, minus one daughter. I stayed to help with the big certification challenge, which if a huge storm had not hit, would have been amazing. When the storm did hit, I packed up and headed home at about 3pm. Sad to leave, but glad to be going home to my family.

Day 6: Would have been the skits--always a huge hit and tons of fun. Here is a picture of my ward after their skit.

Gotta love Facebook. Thanks for the pic! Oh, I wish I had a picture of my in my crazy socks. I did wear them one day, but it was too hot after that.

This is also the day the girls have their testimony meeting. I'm really sorry K and I missed this part. It amazes me how strong our youth are today. They have values, the believe in things that make them strong. Things that help them make good choices in this crazy world. I am very privileged to spend so much time with these stalwart youth.

Day 7: Awards, pack up and head home. Sleep all afternoon, post pics on facebook and start planning for next year.

Sweet Sixteen Cake

2010-08-01T07:36:00.000-04:00

Kiah and I are off to Girls Camp this week. I'm taking the camera and I'm sure I'll have lots to post about when I return. Until then, here is the cake I did this weekend. We also painted half the inside of someone's house and did everything needed to get ready for camp. Busy, busy!

Bottom tier--dummy

Middle tier--chocolate, vanilla, chocolate with Mascarpone Mousse

Top tier--vanilla, chocolate, vanilla with Raspberry filling

July at the Zoo

2010-07-22T18:22:00.000-04:00

July has been HOT! Yeah, you know it. Nathan and I drove to TN for the 4th to pick up the kids from my mom's. On the way home we stopped at the Knoxville Zoo. Here are a few pics.

It was really hot. The best part of the trip was the air conditioned building with exploration stations for the kids.

Here is our newest piece of furniture, and Nathan's deal of the century at Goodwill.

Happy 4th of July!

2010-07-04T00:41:00.003-04:00

To my little big brother, from your big little sister...
and all the other men and women who work so hard to protect our freedom...

Happy Independence Day

Thank You!

We love you and think of you every day.

More June catch up

2010-07-01T13:49:00.000-04:00

Adam went to cub scout camp this year. I don't have any pictures, but he loved it. Canoeing, fishing, archery, BB guns, knots, crafts, soccer, volleyball, and tons of other stuff. I loved his comment after the first day.

A: I got a bullseye today, but it was on someone else's target.

On Wednesday he brought home the targets from the BB guns. He is a natural! I was shocked to see how good my 8 year old is at shooting. When did he learn that?

The same week Adam was at camp, I made a wedding cake and team taught a class with Nathan at Youth conference. The class was on dating. It was really nice to do that together.

Here is a picture of the finished bride's cake and groom's cake.

And yes, I cut out the Duke devil myself.

Adam's Baptism

2010-06-23T11:49:00.001-04:00

Adam's baptism day was lovely. We enjoyed the morning with grandparents, and then spent all afternoon at the pool. He looked pretty happy all day long.

5th Grade Graduation

2010-06-21T18:19:00.001-04:00

Ashlee graduated from elementary school this year. I still don't know why that is a big deal, but I guess it is. (I know I'm a horrible person) Anyway, I had one picture of a blue blur crossing the stage. She also sang in the 5th grade choir this year, so here is a picture of that.

So much to catch up on!

2010-06-20T18:10:00.000-04:00

June has been very busy. Last night I downloaded 80+ pictures from the camera to my computer. I'll try and give you a few updates this week.

First up? Adam's birthday. He turned 8 this year.

Cole really got into the "Happy happy hang over your head" this year.

I forgot to hold out some white icing for the teeth, so SpongeBob looks like an old man!

Next post: Ashlee's 5th grade graduation and Adam's Baptism

Flash Fiction!

2010-06-05T09:33:00.000-04:00

I just received an email that read as follows:

Your story has been accepted for web publication by 365 Tomorrows. It will appear on the www.365tomorrows.com front page and will be archived within the site under the name you submitted with it. Thank you for your submission, and we hope that you contribute to 365 again in the future.

I am so excited!!! I submitted this four months ago and had given up hope of hearing back. It doesn't pay anything, but that is alright. This site has a forum and other readers critique each piece that is published. It may be painful because I don't know anyone so there is no reason for them to hold back their punches. I can't wait! I know it is a great opportunity to see what people really think and make improvements.

Now, if only that other piece I submitted comes through. That one is to a paid magazine. How validating will that be??? *keeps fingers crossed*

Shhhh, I'm sleeping

2010-05-14T13:43:00.000-04:00

I think it's all catching up to me. I fall asleep at some point almost every day. I'm cranky (sorry everyone!). My house keeping has slipped. The meals are less than spectacular. I haven't called or visited with anyone in at least 2 weeks. I forget everything.

Only two more weeks of seminary, and then I can sleep in an extra 2 1/2 hours before getting the kids up for school!

Country Music 1/2 Marathon 2010

2010-04-26T09:41:00.000-04:00

Saturday was the day. My hubby, his sister and I ran the Country Music 1/2 Marathon in Nashville. We trained, and we prayed the rain would wait until we finished running. Actually, by mile 10 I was thinking a little rain would feel pretty good. It was the predicted lightening I wanted to hold off. I would like to say I am thrilled with the outcome, but I'm a little disappointed. However, in an effort to be more positive I will say this. I AM CONSISTENT.

We have run this race three years in a row. My times? 2:34, 2:33 and 2:34. I still enjoyed every minute of the experience and this year I can still walk up and down stairs! The first year I could barely walk the next day, last year it was just stairs that gave me problems. So, I guess I should look at the bright side. I may not be any faster, but my body is stronger. Here are some pictures from the day.

Flash Fiction

2010-03-30T17:18:00.000-04:00

Just a note to let you know we are alive and well and enjoying the beautiful weather. Nathan and I are training for the CM 1/2 Marathon at the end of April and doing well. I don't think our heart is in it this year, so we are just hoping to finish and enjoy it.

On another note, I've been posting a lot on my Writing Blog. More than I should, I'm sure, but I'm learning so much and meeting lots of nice writers out there in Blog World. I've been participating in writing challenges that hopefully are improving my skills. One challenge was to submit some flash fiction for publication. Flash fiction is short stand alone stories up to 1000 words--usually around 500-600.

I have now submitted two pieces. One to 365 Tomorrows (do not get paid for this one so I sent the one that needs a lot more work) and one to Flash Fiction Online (pay $50 if chosen). Both reply emails state that the turn around is three to four months. I'm learning that the publishing world does not move quickly. Agents, publishers, magazines, everyone has a huge pile of submissions and query letters to sift through. This knowledge really makes me want to send my novel query into the world as soon as possible, but I am being good and waiting until I think it is ready. And it isn't quite there, but I think it is oh so close!

*sighs* Now we wait and keep working on new stuff in the meantime.

FHE Funnies

2010-03-22T21:02:00.001-04:00

Here is a quote from our Family Home Evening lesson tonight.

Nathan: So, what can Mom do to return to live with Heavenly Father?
Adam: Listen to her husband!

True story.

The Miracle notes from Sister Hoole

2010-03-22T21:00:00.000-04:00

Sorry it took me so long to post this. I'm not sure all of it will make sense because I take notes weird, and it has been long enough that I don't remember what I was thinking when I wrote things down. It will read kind of like a list, but maybe it will spark something in you to help bring order to your home. I still think Sister Hoole's choice of words or attitude or both are the miracle formula.

As I said before, she didn't say anything that I had never heard, but for some reason her approach stuck with me and worked with my children. I have been able to concentrate on preparing lessons (I am lucky enough to teach seminary for the last two months of school) and working on my writing thanks to a perpetually clean house. I never thought it would last this long, but children calling, "NO MEALS ON WHEELS!" down the halls has worked miracles.

Without further ado, my short notes:

Notes from Sister Hoole’s Segment of Stake Women’s Conference Spring 2010 Conquering Enemies of Homemaking

Enemies:
1. Too much stuff
2. Making two jobs out of one
3. Flitting—hitting and missing—Everything started and nothing finished
4. Not delegating

What is the BIG reason for having ORDER? Elder Oaks—“It is important to have a house of order so the spirit of God can dwell there.”

Cures of C.H.A.O.S.--Cant Have Anyone Over Syndrome
1. Dejunk—learn to throw things away. Keep nothing in your home that is not useful or that you believe to be beautiful. It is a matter of self respect. You might need a clutter buddy to help you let things go.
2. Everything has a home/place and that is where it needs to be. This way you do not lose valuable time looking for things. You know where it is.
3. Pick up is part of play—even young children can learn and repeat this. Pick up is part of play.
4. Work smart not hard.
5. No flitting tips: Be aware and it is half solved. Make a plan, follow it. Make a list—top # and stick to it. Wear something with big pockets—or have a basket so you don’t get distracted taking items to another room. Simply put them in your pocket or the basket to go downstairs/upstairs to be taken care of later. Prioritize—Love the Lord, love yourself, love others.

“It is not the mountain you have to climb, but the sand in your shoes that bog you down.”

6. All hands on deck or mother will sink. We tend to underestimate their intelligence and over estimate their experience.
7. Avoid management by crisis. Be specific in assignments, tell them the expectations, be flexible, fun, rewarding. Set them up for success. Be positive—catch them doing it RIGHT not wrong.
8. Don’t make work for others.

Sister Hoole then shared a story from Bishop Burton (Conference talk “More Holiness Give Me”)

It isn’t an either or situation. Just because your child is a good student, moral, etc, does not mean it is alright for someone to clean up after them. Teach your children that assuming responsibility is about habit, not time. Life has meaning beyond their own happiness.

Teach the idea that we are all a Work In Progress.
Do not give people excuses to be weak, but reasons to be strong.
Faith is the reward of the righteous. Be high yield and low maintenance.

A Trailer for Every Academy Award Winning Movie

2010-03-11T14:37:00.002-05:00

This is one of the funniest things I have ever seen.

A Trailer for Every Academy Award Winning Movie Ever -- powered by Cracked.com

Sorry it is too big for my layout.

Bradford Update

2010-03-10T11:01:00.001-05:00

Goodness, what can I post about? We have been very busy the last month and some great things are happening in our home. I think it would take too much time to go into detail about everything, but here are some highlights.

February--We posted our family rules on the fridge and our children started to be more obedient! Miracle #1. We have done this many times in the past in different forms--chore charts, sticker charts for good behavior, etc. This time I simply posted 3 rules and their consequences to the third offense along with a definition of priviledges. Our bedtime routine is also in one corner. For some reason this format worked. Maybe it is because I talked to each child individually and had them sign that they agreed to these rules and consequences.

Our only three rules are: Respect mom and dad's personal space by staying out of their room. Obey the first time. I will speak softly and with respect to those in our home.

March--This actually started the last weekend in February, but...I attended our Stake Relief Society Women's conference and the next component of a happy home fell into place. Sister Hoole flew in to speak to us about home management, and although there was nothing new in the discussion, her phrasing seemed to be the magic trick. I have now enjoyed a clean house for 1 1/2 weeks with very little effort on my part. Miracle #2.

Everyone does their part to keep things picked up, and I have not had to nag anyone to do it. Here are the three phrases that have been working their magic--No meals on wheels (food stays at the kitchen table). Leave every area better than you found it (don't walk over it, pick it up and put it away). Don't make work for someone else (clean up after yourself).

See? Nothing new, but once again my ranting and raving that "If you don't make the mess you don't have to clean it up!" did not work, but these phrases do. The kids have been great and our house feels so much nicer now.

We also had another fall of snow. Three in one year! At least this one did not keep the kids home from school.

Now that I have all this extra time NOT spent cleaning, I have been working daily on my novel. Revisions are moving along and I'm starting to think it might be possible to call it finished this year. That is on the good days, others days I still fear it is trash, but keep plugging along anyway.

Valentine's and Braces

2010-02-17T22:47:00.000-05:00

We are staying busy, but it seems to be with normal day to day stuff. I have been writing, blogging, cleaning house and driving in my van. If you missed it, check out my writing blog for the Valentine's Day piece I wrote for Blogfest. There are also new recipes going up this week on the Food Blog. My sweet hubby helped me pick out an awesome new laptop to help me squeeze in more writing during my day. Ok, now some pictures from the last week or so.

I just love this picture from our second freak snowstorm of the year. We need to get some bird seed.

Ok, now on to Valentine's Day.

I added a little red food coloring to the couscous.

Kiah was so excited to get the first stage of her braces. Just the top for the first 6 months. I don't remember any one being excited about braces, but I'm glad she is happy.

Kiah also painted her room over the weekend, but I'll have to post pictures on another day.

Rolling with it

2010-02-11T08:52:00.003-05:00

Life is so busy! Do you ever feel like your life is spent driving around town? What is it I'm trying to accomplish again?

In other news, Kiah will be getting her braces next Wednesday. I'll try and remember to take a before and after picture for you. She is excited since most of her friends have braces or will be getting them in the next month or so. I imagine she will have a rainbow of colors in her teeth.

January Snow Photos

2010-02-02T14:26:00.006-05:00

Here are some pictures from our snow day. My favorites are the penguins. You will know them when you see them.

I don't like this picture. :)Wow, those trees are coming fast!That was close!

January Fire Pit

2010-01-20T13:44:00.004-05:00

Saturday we cleaned our yard. The kids gathered all the sticks and branches that have fallen over the last 2 months and we decided to roast marshmallows. Well, then hot dogs sounded good, so we had dinner outside in January. I love living in the south! It did start to rain as we were finishing up, but we enjoyed the fire for a while first.

Another installment of Christmas Pics

2010-01-12T08:39:00.007-05:00

After opening presents we had our traditional Cocoa and Biscuits for breakfast.

Our Christmas table set for guests and the ham, mashed potatoes and Fresh Orange cake.

Homemade yeast rolls, cornbread dressing and baked mac and cheese.Some of Nathan's Christmas presents made great centerpieces.
Christmas dinner--I'm being nice and not commenting on myself.
Christmas at Granny's
Christmas at Papa and Nana's

I'm still here...

2010-01-06T13:36:00.004-05:00

I know it seems like I have disappeared...no posts and all that, but I am still here. We enjoyed a nice week in TN after Christmas and this week has been dedicated to getting back into a scheduled groove. I feel like I have been busy, but I don't know what I've done. Mmmm... anyway.

I have wanted to post lots of pictures in a slide show, but for some reason my computer crashes every time I try. So, over the next few days I will post several of the best from the end of the year and Christmas. Here are some other things going on right now.

I started another blog:Charity Writes.
Our family has started training for the CM 1/2 Marathon in April. Nathan and I have already signed up, and if the girls train with us up to the 10 mile point we will sign them up too.
I do have recipes lined up to post in the next week or so on the Food Blog.
The kids are back in school! Yay!
I've started "pre-school" with Cole (he actually sits for 30 minutes at a time!)
I start revising my book again next week.

See it doesn't look like much, but I feel busy. Ok, here is a batch of photos in random order.

Painting the week before Christmas

Playing in the icy rain. Notice Ashlee's gangsta pose?

While I was teaching my last cooking class, Cole made a mess and then fell asleep.

Kiah uptown Charlotte. We went to see the lights and the singing bears in the B of A Corporate Building.

Yet another gangsta pose. What is up with that?

Lots of Christmas Pictures!

2009-12-25T17:55:00.007-05:00

Let's start with Christmas Eve and the traditional PJ's. The kids also get to open one gift from a sibling(that is to explain the SpongeBob).
And on to Christmas Morning...These are their favorites.

2009 Christmas/End of Year Letter

2009-12-24T20:19:00.005-05:00

Hello All,

I never got around to mailing my Christmas cards this year. So while I'm waiting for the kids to get tired enough to go to sleep, I thought I would post the letter for those of you online to read.

2009 was a great year for our family. We stayed busy and had lots of fun as well as growing experiences. Here is a brief recap.

Nathan says “work is busy, church is busy, and that’s my life.” I think he needs a hobby, what about you?

Charity—I started teaching cooking lessons to home school children in the fall and love it. It is very fulfilling to share something I love with youth who are excited to learn. I also made great progress on my novel and hope to take it to the next level in 2010. My most thrilling accomplishment this year was Suanna’s wedding cake.

Kiah turned 12 this year and started Young Women’s and is now two inches taller than me. She started the year playing the viola but switched to the flute when her school dropped the orchestra program. Now she knows that she prefers the viola and is dropping band and the flute in favor of drama. Oh the drama! She continues to love reading and photography.

Ashlee turned 10 and decided that we are out to ruin her life and make sure that she never has any fun. Always the social one, she has to be hanging out with her friends. She made the 5th grade chorus and also started singing in the ward choir. Technically she is supposed to be 11 for that, but she has a great voice and takes it seriously so our choir director made an exception.
Adam turned 7 and is growing taller all the time. He has boycotted belts and so is constantly holding his pants on or pulling them back up. His legs are long and his waist is small! His reading has improved so much this year. He is still our tender hearted gentleman, polite and helpful wherever he goes. Several women at church call him “little bishop” because of his kind deeds and black suit.

Cole is our 3 year old tornado. He thinks he is as big as Adam and has no fear—thus the two trips to the Urgent care this year. He is always surprising us with his vocabulary. For instance, at 2 ½ he would ask, “Mom, is this inappropriate?” followed by an action that required me to answer “Yes” (Note: this was during potty training over the summer.) This brings me to the best news for Cole—No More Diapers in our house!

The Bradford's

School Holiday Program

2009-12-10T23:02:00.002-05:00

It is late, I'm tired and I have a headache so I know I will not be able to find the right words to express my disappointment. Tonight we went to the school to watch Ashlee sing in the 5th grade chorus concert. The kids were great, but the little holiday skits were a big let down. The idea was a good one, but the whole thing was so overly politically correct that I was sick.

The idea: Three friends are talking about their plans for the holiday season. One celebrates Kwanzaa, one Hanukkah, and one Christmas. The children describe what the holiday celebrates to their friends in an effort to help them understand and appreciate the tradition.

The delivery: Short. Since I don't know a lot about the other holidays I don't know how much they left out, but they mentioned the basics that I already knew. Christmas however left me brooding. They talked about Christmas being a time to give gifts and be with family. All good and true, but not one mention of the Savior's birth. Yeah, I know it is the public school and you can't talk religion, blah blah blah. Hello?!

It is just sad that in an effort not to offend anyone we can no longer publicly express our most precious beliefs.

yWriter

2009-12-09T11:59:00.004-05:00

A month or so ago I fell in love with a lovely little writing program called Scrivener . Unfortunately, it is only available for use on Macs and I have a PC. Now, my first computer that I bought with my very own money was an Apple, and I loved it. However, when I married my dear husband we switched back to the PC life. I'm not going to get into the whole Mac vs. PC discussion here because I can see positive things about both (that is just my nature!), but I've been pining over this program. So I have looked at Mac laptops for a month trying to convince myself that I could justify the cost of one so I could use Scrivener to become a famous author. *sigh*

I did not quite succeed. Cool tools will not write my book for me or make it entertaining enough to make me famous. The work will be all mine to do regardless of how pretty a program I run on my computer. However, I keep losing my old style index cards, which means I can't keep track of the secrets that I have already revealed, who knows about it and when did I do that? That may not make sense, but I know my story inside out and I have to know where the characters learned certain things in order to keep the story flowing properly. I've also moved things around so many times in my document that it is very easy for me to get lost in its 200+ pages. I liked using the index cards to keep track of the scenes and goals because I could move them around to find the best places for them in my story. Now, back to the cool programs...

Scrivener has this visual cork board that works in the same way as my index cards. Each card corresponds to a chapter or scene in the book, and here is the cool part...when you move the cards around on the board, it moves the scene in your book for you! No more cut and paste and oops, now that scene is in their twice! Just typing about it makes me excited. Anyway, I do need a laptop, or at least I want one desperately, but I can afford a PC long before a Mac. So, in an effort to let go of my desire for the lovely visually pleasing Scrivener---I downloaded the free yWriter program--My heart was not fully behind this little experiment, but I knew that I needed to get better organized to finish the final revisions of Sendek, and that is where my heart is right now. So, I've been playing with this program and plugging in the scenes of my book. It does all the same things that Scrivener does, but it is the stripped down all business version...and I like it. It keeps track of who is in each scene, timelines, POVs, word counts, whether it is action or reaction scenes, goal for the section, location, items of importance in the scene, etc. I can still move things around and I think I can print the whole book from here as well. Still need to play with that.

Of course I've also been a wreck wondering if I've just set my computer up to be hacked or my story stolen. Yes, the last may seem like a silly worry, but I have years invested in this story and it means a lot to me. There were lots of good reviews online for the program, but how do I know if those reviews are legit? The only review from a source I recognized can be found at PCmag-- Click Here .

I'll keep you posted!

November Lessons

2009-12-01T10:11:00.006-05:00

Yay! My family survived another month of NaNoWriMo and I think everyone is glad it is over. My eyes are more than a little strained from so many late nights staring at my computer screen in a dark room. Yeah, I know better, but it is a design flaw in our house. My desk is in the boys bedroom/family room and the best time to write was when everyone was asleep.

I am also very proud of my fellow Nano friends. Out of the 48 who posted regularly on our forums, 25 of them met the 50K goal! I'm sure there were many others that did it all on their own.

There were several really good moments and scenes in this year's writing challenge for me. And a lot of mediocre blah writing that makes me cringe. About week three I lost total interest in the story and all I wanted to do was return to my other book and continue revisions, but I was a good girl and pressed on! My main goal with this book was to get to know my antagonist. For those of you who have read Sendek, be prepared for some nice revisions in the next month or so! Now that I know their complete history, I was able to find ways to show how wicked and scary they could be. That was lacking in the first book, but now I can go back and fix that. A little more grit and tension will be a good thing. Because of this, I feel like I had a triple success this year. I made it to 50,050 words in a month, finished a story line (even if I am going to trash it) and learned what I needed to know about another group of my characters. It feels good do get my little winners badge. Anyone want to join me next year?

We also had a great Thanksgiving. I enjoyed cooking our meal and I've posted about it on the food blog, you can see my menu HERE. Mmm, what else have I forgotten to blog about? I can't remember since my brain is still fried from November as a whole.

Oh, we have started decorating for Christmas and the kids took their "under the tree" picture. I don't know why they love this so much, but they do.

Is this too gruesome?

2009-11-23T11:09:00.003-05:00

Ok, my brain hurts and I'm stalling instead of writing. So I thought I would post another excerpt from this year's Nano project. Here is a section that I actually like even if it is still a first draft with room for improvement.

As Qatja envisioned her hands around the man’s neck, Qualz jumped up from his seat and leapt across the space separating him from the council member who had just spoken. She let her body relax and she channeled the feel of the skin beneath Qualz’s hands as he choked the life out of the man. Other members of the council began to scream, some tried to pry Qualz off of their peer but found themselves the next victim of his anger.

One of the guards began firing his weapon at the three Draguman. It was a primitive projectile style weapon that was strong enough to knock Qualz off of his feet bruising the muscles under the tough scales, but not strong enough to penetrate and leave lasting damage. Quyl quickly killed the guard and tossed his weapon to the ground. He too had missed the feel of battle. There were ten more Nibiru in the room and he decided to enjoy himself.

Qatja went for the woman first. Her smugness had irritated her and she relished the fear in her eyes as she grabbed a hold of her. Qatja was crueler than Qualz or Quyl. She did not kill the woman quickly with a quick twist of the neck, instead she ran her taloned fingers down the length of her arms until the skin spit open and the blood flowed freely. She inhaled deeply and let the blood flow over her hands. The warm wetness had a sweet smell beneath the tanginess of iron. Qatja brought her fingers to her lips and tasted the blood. It was surprisingly good, and although she would not really eat another sentient being, she found great pleasure in allowing the woman to think that she would. The counsel woman screamed as Qatja ripped her arm out of its socket. She began to cry as it hung limply by her side, held on only by the skin.

“Does it hurt? Oh, I’m so sorry about that. I promise to make it stop soon.” Qatja wanted to relish the feel of the warm blood pumping under the thin skin of the woman’s neck. She had wrapped her hands around the slender neck and she could feel the pulse beating quickly against her thumbs. She began to squeeze slowly and steadily so that she could feel each beat as it struggled to keep moving beneath her until she could feel the windpipe as well. She paused long enough to see the terror building in her victims eyes.

“Qatja don’t play with it that is cruel.” Quyl stood beside her waiting for her to finish.

“Oh, all right.” Closing her eyes she applied enough pressure to close off the air flow and she held it until the pulse stopped.

To view my monthly progress report Click Here.

Writing through the month

2009-11-21T21:53:00.002-05:00

This month has really had its ups and downs with my new story. It started so well and then I hit a point where I really did not like my story very much. Now, you may ask, "If you don't like your story, why keep writing?" My answer? I didn't like last year's story at one point either because Nano gives me the opportunity to get the bones on the paper. This means a lot of telling, a lot of listing of events, and a lot of fast dialogue. When I glance at what I've written I cringe because it lacks good character development, good descriptions and depth of emotion to pulls me into the story. I have to keep telling myself that the story line is still good, the plot ideas are good. I simply need to get everything down so that I can come back and fill in the gaps.

Tonight I went to another write in. There were five of us sitting around a table and typing furiously for two hours. Nothing compares to the sound of imaginations clicking away and that creative energy swells and envelops you. The last few days of drudging through scenes faded away and I found myself once again moving through the plot. In two hours I invaded a planet, fought some major battles, committed genocide through blind rage and the desire for revenge and then discovered that I was on the wrong planet! Oh the guilt at all those deaths! My main character fell into a deep depression leaving himself open to the influence of the manipulative woman that had been trying to pull his strings all along. Does it make me an awful person to say that I am enjoying the story more now that they have started on a destructive rampage through space?

Another plus to write ins is that I managed almost 3000 words! That is really amazing for me and it makes me wonder what else I could accomplish in two hours with no kids crawling all over me and asking for things. So, today's word count reached 37,004. I am back on track, and just a little bit ahead of where I need to be. The best part is that I am now engaged in the story again so I am looking forward to writing tomorrow.

What I did today...

2009-11-16T14:04:00.005-05:00

I have this crawl space that I have intentionally pretended did not exist. It is one side of the bonus room (which is now the boys bedroom) and it is the black hole of our house. Whenever someone cleans and they come across something that they don't know where it goes, they open the door and toss it in. Yes, toss it in. They don't put it in there in an organized manner, they TOSS stuff in and hope that no one will ever need to look for it. Perhaps every house needs a black hole, but this hole happened to contain all of my fabric and sewing equipment. I haven't sewn anything in a long time and this is why.Would you go in there to find your sewing machine or the fabric you wanted for a project? Me either. Well, I decided that I needed to grow up and face my fears. It was time to brave the black hole and whatever might be living in there and find my hobbies again.
Look how roomy it is empty! I swept it out really good because everything was covered in dirt and debris from the roofers banging all over everything earlier this year. I was glad that I only found 1 spider in all that mess, and no mouse droppings.I moved everything out into the boys room (which was already a horrible mess) and started sorting. I got rid of a lot of stuff. I figured if no one needed it over the last three years we didn't need to keep it. I also found 3 boxes of old school work left by the previous owner of our house. Three large boxes of papers. I dumped all the paper in the recycle bin, which unfortunately had already been emptied for the day, and kept the binders which were in nice shape. I also reused the plastic totes they were in for my stuff. Doesn't that look nice? Now when Adam gets home from school I just have to stand and tell them how to clean their room. If I don't it all gets shoved under a bed or thrown into the black hole...wait, we no longer have a black hole. What will they do now? Perhaps they can finally learn where their dirty clothes and trash really belong. Here's to hoping.

Crossing THE MIDDLE (duh duh duuuhh!)

2009-11-13T11:58:00.003-05:00

I finally got around to reading my week two pep talk from Maureen Johnson and I found that her advice for writing can apply to many other areas of my life. She begins by talking about Australia and how it is about the same size of the United States, but everyone lives along the coast. This means that there is about 2000 miles of nothing in "the Middle" and that is where all the things that can kill you live.

"Here’s the thing, though...if you're doing NaNoWriMo, you are a reader, because all writers are readers. Which means that you must admire many authors. Your shelves are lined with the works of your heroes and sheroes. Every single one of them has crossed the wild country where you are now. Every single one of them has been a resident of The Middle. The ground you're treading is full of the remains of their old campsites. And somewhere around you, just out of sight, current authors you admire are making their own way across The Middle. What's nice about NaNoWriMo is that you are traveling with a posse of thousands, all of you making your way over the mountains, through the valleys, across the creeks. You are fighting off the beasties.

And once you've crossed The Middle once or twice and you're lounging on the other side, you'll find you miss it. You'll realize you long to be out there again, under the sky and the stars. The weather changes a lot in the middle. Some days, the skies are dark and it's hard to find your way forward. Those days are long and little progress is made. Some days, it's strangely bright and clear, and suddenly you can see the horizon ahead, and dozens of possible paths present themselves to you. But every day is different, and every day there is a new way to go and a new thing to see."

Well, I am definitely entering the MIDDLE of my book and progress has slowed dramatically...duh duh duuuhhn, but hopefully it will not ground to a complete stop. This is the part of the book where everything happens and you would think that would be easier to write, but for some reason it isn't. I keep finding myself asking more questions (which is good) and turning back on the path I've chosen to try a different one. There are so many choices to make that it can be paralyzing.

I think we all cross the Middle several times in our lives, even if you are not trying to write a novel. I am now 35, definitely in the MIDDLE of this so called life. My kids are not grown, but they are not babies--the MIDDLE. We finally make enough money to pay the bills, but not enough to save very much each paycheck--please say this is the MIDDLE! And so on...but I love knowing that I have good friends all around me who are crossing the MIDDLE at the same time. Even on days when I hide at home and cannot see the progress, I know they are out their trudging through the sand dunes (or mud here in Charlotte), cutting past the vines of the jungles (poison ivy anyone?) and doing their best just like I am trying to do my best. Isn't it good to know that each day is filled with such wonderful opportunities?

For my fellow wrimos, see you when we make it to the beach!

Week 2 Pep Talk

2009-11-12T12:22:00.000-05:00

First, yesterday was an awful writing day for me. I was super busy and did not get a chance to sit down at the computer until 9:30pm and of course then I spent 1/2 an hour catching up on emails. Blah! I really wanted to write something but I was so frazzled from my long day that I really could not focus my mind. I gave up, shut my computer off, and headed to bed. When I entered my room, my plans were thwarted once again. My hubby was taking a shower and so I could not change or brush my teeth and therefore I could not go to sleep.

I sat at my husband’s desk and just stared at the wall. Finally, I grabbed my trusty yellow notebook and my favorite pen. I did not want to type on the computer, but I realized that I did want to write. I love how the words flow from my pen. I would probably be a much better writer if I always wrote with pen instead of the computer, but who wants to sit and decipher the artistic script when it is all said and done? I write small, cramped and often half-formed cursive that requires the intelligence of a detective to read. I decided a few pages of written word would be worth sludging through if it moved my word count up for the day.

With pen poised, I thought of where my typed manuscript left off. Even though I knew where I was and where I needed to go, that part of the story shyly eluded me, but another part jumped up and down screaming for my attention. At the kick off party someone asked if those of us present wrote in chronological order or skipped around. Until this week, I was a chronological kind of gal. Last night I veered off and wrote the last few paragraphs of my story. I’m very excited about them and now I have a beginning to my story and the end. Now I just have to write all that middle stuff.

I just finished typing last nights work and am proud to report that I managed 15K before midnight on Monday. Isn’t that what Chris Baty and crew were aiming for last night? So, when you get stuck, don’t give up, try something new just to keep you moving!

Nano Week 1 Pep Talk

2009-11-10T13:25:00.005-05:00

I know I have not been great about blogging lately, but I have been writing tons of stuff. I figure I might as well share some of it with you. Here is last week's pep talk that I wrote for my fellow Charlotte Nanowrimos. I am finding that I really enjoy getting to encourage other people to try their best and keep writing for the sheer enjoyment of it. Do you remember my post on "Our Greatest Fear?" I feel like I have let some of my fear go for the moment and I am finding a new freedom and ease with my writing. There have even been a few shining moments that I can't wait to share!

Anyway, if you ever think about writing any kind of book, I hope this will help you in your journey.

"We are now five days into Nanowrimo, how are you feeling? Have you entered the slump or are the words still flowing freely from your fingertips? No matter where you are at the current moment, we will all experience some ups and downs over the next three weeks. I for one did not sleep at all last night. I kept thinking about my current Nano novel, last year’s novel which is in final revisions, and some strange new ideas that kept screaming for my attention. I finally got out of bed and started writing the non-related ideas down to shut them up for a while.

I was also thinking about how I could help keep you motivated when I am nearing a critical point in my story. Two things kept parading around my mind that I want to share with you. These two things help me keep a steady word count throughout the month, even when I am completely baffled about what should happen next.

1. Always end your writing on a high note. By this, I simply mean stop writing at a point when you have a good idea what is going to happen next. If you end when you are blocked, you will dread starting again because mentally you will prepare yourself to continue being stumped. However, if you end at a point in your story where you know what comes next you will be eager to start writing on the next day.

For example, Tuesday I wrote a scene where Elvin asks his father permission to marry Della, his step-sister (no blood relation) and is refused on the premise that she has been promised to another in order to settle a debt. Elvin does not take no for an answer and when the two are being chased by several men from the village Della is injured. Elvin is so angered that he draws upon his talents as an apprentice Mage and almost kills the men. He is stopped by his best friend who happens to be a dragon. Jenska, the dragon, carries the two humans back to Elvin’s mentor. My last line for the day was as follows:

“When they flew into view of the cottage, they could see Olec standing in the yard waiting for them.”

This was a perfect place to stop because all I had to do was re-read that sentence and my imagination could just go with the ensuing dialogue. So if you are experiencing writer’s block, how do you get out of it so you can stop writing for the day?

2. Use Pacing and Questioning. When I find that I have written myself into a corner and I can not find my way out, I set my main character to pacing. I just write about him/her wandering somewhere confused. Then I start the character monologing asking, “How did I get here? This is not where I planned to be, but now that I’m here, how do I get out of this situation?”

I simply write every idea that my character can think of until I hit upon the right path for him. You will not usually need many words to get yourself moving again. If you feel this is “cheating” you can always delete that section after you “find your way”, but when I started revising last year’s novel I found some of the rambling questions invaluable to making my story better.

I hope this will help you keep writing. Just remember to lock away that inner editor (mine has already reared her ugly head and I had to smack her around a bit to get her back in the cage), and just enjoy creating something that only you can create."

Smoked Buddha

2009-11-09T09:45:00.002-05:00

So, I decided I need to write some of the funny things my kids say so I don't forget them. The problem is they say them at times when I am no where near the computer or a notebook to write them down and so I forget them anyway. However, yesterday on the way home from church, there was a very funny conversation that went something like this:

Ashlee: Mom, what are we having for dinner?
Me: I don't know, we will just have to see what we have when we get home.
Kiah: Do we have any smoked Buddha?
A pause...
Me: No...why would we have smoked Buddha?
Kiah: Isn't that the cheese you bought for the macaroni and cheese?
laughter...
Me: Do you mean smoked Gouda?
Kiah: Oh, yeah that sounds right. What's smoked Buddha?
Me: Buddha was the leader of a religious movement.
Kiah: Oh yeah the fat baby that you rub the belly?
Me: Something like that.
more laughter...

It doesn't look as funny written down, but it sure made the drive home interesting.

The opening to my next noveling adventure.

2009-11-02T22:11:00.002-05:00

Just remember that the goal of Nanowrimo is to write furiously with no editing or revising until December, so there will probably be lots of things in here that don't work. That will be the work of the next year. :) Oh, set up...this will be the sequel/prequel to "Sendek" and will chronicle the creation, exile and space travels of the Draguman (who were the invading enemy in the first book.) It will start as a fantasy feeling book and then progress to science fiction. The blending of the two genres seemed to work for me with the last book.

Draguman

A small shaft of suns light drifted into the mountain crevice exposing a glittering rock. Elvin’s sharp eyes saw the sparkle and decided that he wanted that rock for Della. The sunlight made it sparkle the way her eyes did when she grew excited about something. Using his toes to find good purchase, he scaled down the rock face into the crevice. Kneeling by the stone he noticed how strange it was, and how different from the other rocks around it. The oval stone was about thirteen to fifteen inches long and perfectly smooth. Elvin worked his fingers under the rock and picked it up.

Although it was heavy, it was not as heavy as he thought it should have been. The sun had warmed it and as soon as he touched the smooth surface, he felt the electricity he associated with living things coming from within the stone.

“It must be an egg, but what animal lays such a large egg?” He was bewildered and excited all at the same time. Elvin looked around and could see no sign of a nest or any animal tracks. His curiosity was peeked, and he now turned to thought of how to get this egg home without his step mother seeing it. First, he needed to find a way to climb out of the crevice and carry the egg. Looking around did not offer an easy way to accomplish that task, so Elvin decided to place the egg back in the shaft of suns light until he could return with a sack. The egg wanted to roll a bit so he carefully secured it with some of the smaller rocks, then turned and climbed back out of the crevice. Elvin ran home as fast as he could. He was about to slip up to his room above the stable when his father came around the backside of the stable.

“Where have you been boy? The horses are standing in their own filth.” He tossed a pitch fork to Elvin before continuing, “get in there and get to work. I’ve never seen a more useless boy in my life.”

“Yes Sir.” Elvin ducked passed the man glaring at him and entered the cool darkness of the stable. He loved the smell of the horse’s warm bodies. The musty hay and wood mingled with the manure and made him want to sneeze. He actually enjoyed the hard work, but as his muscles bent, lifted and moved the filth out of the stalls, his mind was in the mountains thinking about the egg. He knew he would not be able to get it before nightfall and he hoped it would not hatch before he could retrieve it.

Later that evening after eating his small dinner, he finally managed to get up to his room. He did not own much, but it was all in the loft above the horses. Their bodies helped warm the stable and the hay made a nice place to sleep. He looked at the threadbare quilt that his mother had made for him the year she died. The colors were faded, but he could still feel her lingering warmth and love whenever he ran his fingers over the threads. His other possessions consisted of a bird’s nest, the skin shed by a snake, some leaves pinned on the wall and a red knapsack that Della had given him for his fourteenth birthday last year. He kept it hidden for fear that his stepmother would take it away from him for her own use if she ever saw it.

Della was only a year younger than Elvin and the only reason Elvin had not run away from home. She was his stepmother’s daughter from her first marriage, and the most beautiful and kind person he had ever met. He did not mind moving into the barn so she could sleep in his old room. Whenever his stepmother complained about him, Della was the one to stick up for him even though it should have been his father to do that. He had never been able to give Della anything to show his appreciation for her kindness to him and that is why he had wanted the sparkling stone. Now he was just as determined to retrieve the egg and see what would hatch. Maybe it would make a great pet for Della.

He picked up the red knapsack and hung it over his shoulder before climbing back down the ladder. It was dark outside but Elvin did not need a light to find his way through the forest to the edge of the mountain range. His bare feet could feel the path that he had traveled so many times. His father was trying to make a farmer out of him, but his heart and soul was in the forests and mountains learning all he could about the creatures that lived on Sendek. One day he would find a way to live on his knowledge and then he would ask Della to marry him. He just had to be patient and keep his eyes open for the right opportunity.

Most boys his age might have been afraid to be alone in the wild in the darkness, but Elvin was not like any other boy around. He loved his time alone with nature; it was what made him feel complete. The rocks of the mountains were still warm from the suns’ light. They felt nice on his cold toes as he began climbing. The first of three moons rose before he reached the crevice, followed shortly by the other two. They were very close together at this time of the year and once they were all up, it was almost as bright as day. He did not have any trouble finding the crevice with the egg hidden in it.

Once again he climbed down into the dark whole and easily found the egg by it’s warmth. He placed it carefully in the knapsack and turned it so that it rested on his back before beginning the climb back up. The egg grew heavier, but it also kept him warm now that the air had turned colder. When he reached the top of the crevice, he felt the egg move a little in the knapsack. His heart fluttered excitedly with that small movement. Whatever it was, it was alive and he hoped it would not be long before it hatched.

As he took his time walking home, Elvin thought of all the hiding places near his home. He would need to find a warm place to hide the egg, somewhere safe from the other forest animals and close enough for him to reach quickly. He would also need to find a way to know when it was hatching. Several times in the past, Elvin had concentrated on an animal while looking at it and thinking of what he wanted. When he walked away, he had still been able to feel the animal’s presence in his mind. He decided to try this with the egg when he hid it. <

At the base of the mountain trail was a large boulder. Years ago, Elvin had hollowed out a basin in the top to collect water. He decided that would be a good place to put the egg. Most creatures that could damage the egg would be unable to see or reach it and the suns light would still be able to warm it. The rainy season was over so after he splashed the water out it would not fill back up for a while. After clearing out the water, he took the egg out of his knapsack and placed it in the basin.

It was just as beautiful in the moons’ light as it was in the suns’ light. He placed his hands on the sides of the egg and let the warmth flow through his fingers. Concentrating on the life energy he could feel coming through the hard shell, he let his mind drift until he could almost see the energy. He focused his thoughts into the shell searching for the brightest spark of the energy. He was not sure if that spark was the brain or heart, but he knew that if he could find that place he would be able to form a connection with the creature growing inside. When he found the brightest point of light, he wrapped his mind around it, sent some of his energy to that spot, and was surprised to feel the creature reach back into his own mind. This being was intelligent and had magical abilities of its own. Elvin only knew of one creature that would lay an egg this large and be as sentient as what he was feeling—a dragon. He had found a dragon egg!

Elvin’s mind raced with the possibilities. If he could raise the dragon, he could take it on tour and earn a living by showing it to people in the villages. He would make a fortune and then Della would marry him for sure, but he must keep it safe until then. He carefully covered the egg with his knapsack and hurried home for a few hours of sleep before his father put him to work again.

Suanna's Wedding and other missed pictures

2009-11-02T21:56:00.005-05:00

I posted several pictures of the finished cake on the other two blogs, but here is one for this site.And a few more pictures from the wedding. I think Adam looks like a mortician in all that black. Kiah is showing off her artistic flair with her scarf.

Last week we had a cold rainy day that the kids decided to make the best of. They played and jumped and by some miracle didn't get sick after playing in the cold rain. Sometimes I really miss being a kid and not worrying about things like getting sick. I wish I had joined them! The same day they caught a crayfish in our back stream. It was a pretty good size!

Our Deepest Fear

2009-10-25T14:18:00.003-04:00

Last night I was able to enjoy a wonderful evening session of Stake Conference for the adults. Our ward choir provided the music, my children stayed home, I sat with my dear husband, and I was spiritually fed. I enjoyed each topic and speaker, but Sister Crowely's talk was my favorite. She speaks on my level, stories and life examples that I can relate to.

I was especially touched by a quote that she read by Marianne Williamson from her book A Return To Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracle (also used in the movie Akeelah and the Bee and incorrectly credited to *Nelson Mandela's Inauguration speech in 1994).

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?

"Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do.

"We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others. by Marianne Williamson

How many times in our lives do we begin to hope for something, begin to believe that we can accomplish a goal or task that seemed unattainable, and then decide to be "realistic", convincing ourselves that we are too average to really do what we wish? We dream of making a difference in the world, or producing something that we can leave behind with our name on it, but fall prey to the whisperings of inadequacy. It is so easy to do, and we all do it in some form daily.

What if we could truly believe in the light that fills our souls as children of a loving Heavenly Father who wants us to accomplish great things? What if when someone asks you, "You are a writer?" (or photographer, singer, dancer, pianist, poet, runner, swimmer, whatever you dream of doing) you can say "Yes I am!" proudly without embarrassment or fear of them discovering that you are simply a want-to-be?

We need to let our lights shine brightly, and use that light to show others that it is alright for them to shine as well. If we are confident in ourselves, we will not feel the need to belittle or demean others in order to feel better about ourselves. We can be strong, intelligent, creative, talented and fabulous and allow others to do the same!

Now I'm off to be brilliant, and I can't wait to see all the lights starting to burn in my friends and family around me. Trust me, I have some amazing friends who really do shine!

*Link to Nelson Mandela's Inauguration Speech .

Walk for Autism

2009-10-21T22:09:00.001-04:00

I just found this in my drafts folder. We did this a couple of weeks ago with a family in our ward who has an autistic son. It was a really fun event. The kids thought it was neat to be walking around the speedway. We walked a lap and then I ran one while they played on all the bouncy things.

Date Night

2009-10-21T09:15:00.003-04:00

Two weeks ago, Nathan and I actually got out for a date that was not church related. I love church, but it was wonderful to do something with just the two of us for a change. Although October was well under way, I still had my birthday gift card (from August!) to use at a local pottery place. We also had a buy one get one free coupon for the same store. Nathan and I took close to 30 minutes to decided what we wanted to do before we even started. For the next hour and a half we sat in near silence concentrating on our projects.

I had to laugh because the girl working the store probably thought it was one of the worst dates she had ever witnessed. (She has asked if we were on a date when we came in.) I wanted to tell her that we had four kids at home and so were enjoying the peace and quiet of the shop. Plus, how often do we get to zone everything out and concentrate on a project without one of our kids crawling all over us, asking for something, or fighting with the other kids? It was wonderful and I put it on my Christmas list that I wanted another date just like this one.

Here are our finished pieces.

My Thanksgiving plate

Nathan's Halloween candy jar

Ward Temple Trip

2009-10-17T21:34:00.004-04:00

Today was Kiah's first youth temple trip. It was also our ward's temple day. The whole ward was invited to drive down, enjoy the spirit of the temple and then eat lunch together. The day started rainy and cold. It didn't warm up but at least the rain stopped. The primary children had some fun activities at the park next to the temple while they waited for the parents and youth to finish at the temple. The primary kids also went on a little tour around the temple grounds.

After lunch our family went to a swampy state park nearby. It was amazing! We walked about 6 miles (guessing, but we walked 3 hours without stopping very much). Here are some of my favorite pics from the day. You will notice that Ashlee opted out of the swamp and went home with a friend instead.
Don't you want to just stay here forever? My first thought was, "I want to run here every day." To bad it would be a four hour round trip just to run.

Words that mean the world to me...

2009-10-15T14:29:00.004-04:00

Nathan finally read and completed my book today. I've been on pins and needles ever since he started because his is the opinion that means the most to me. I want to post what he wrote to his family on our myfamily site. Now, even if nothing ever happens, and I'm never published, I will still be happy.

" I just wanted to brag a little on Charity. As many of you know she has been writing a book for a while now. Well she finished it not long ago, and so I started reading it so I could provide feedback. I just finished reading it today during my lunch break. I always knew Charity was super talented, but this book is really quite amazing.

"I am a picky reader (meaning, you better get me in the first few chapters or I don't keep reading), I found that I was totally into the story from beginning to end and sometimes would stop myself and think "my wife wrote this"--I didn't know what to expect when I started reading it, but it did not feel like an amateur book, but something that was really good that people would enjoy reading. It was even a sci-fi book (which I never read) and still found it to be awesome. I even like that she left part of it open for a second book (so that after we become super wealthy from the first book, we can become even more super wealthy from the second book :)

Anyway, I am just really, really impressed and wanted to brag a little about her. Hopefully after she does some more edits and revisions you will all get the chance to read it. Great job hun!!!!!!"

Cole's Birthday

2009-10-07T20:39:00.005-04:00

Here are the pictures from Cole's birthday. He got lots of fwire fwighter things since that is what he wants to be when he grows up.
We didn't have a #3 candle, so it is 9 - 4 = 5 - 2 = 3! We are such an educationally minded family. :p

My College Roommate--Ellen!

2009-10-06T08:53:00.003-04:00

My Freshman college roomy, from my Helaman Halls days, has entered a modeling contest for e.l.f (eyes lips face). This contest allows you to go and vote for your favorites from now until some time in December. One vote per day. This is my beautiful friend Ellen.

Let me tell you that Ellen is just as much fun as she is beautiful! Here is her personal statement for the contest.

Personal Statement:
I believe that all women are beautiful, regardless of age, size, or ethnic background. I am also an advocate of finding products that will help accentuate the beauty that is already there. I'm a real woman living a busy life, and E.L.F. products help make my life easier--at extremely affordable prices. I would love to have the amazing opportunity to help women realize their true beauty through E.L.F.

To vote for Ellen simply click HERE.

The Blog is 2 Years Old!

2009-10-04T07:00:00.000-04:00

Today is Cole's birthday and it is the birthday of my little blog. Cole is three (pictures of his big day to come later in the evening) and the Blog is two! This is probably the longest that I have stuck to something so closely related to journaling in my life, so the internet can be useful.

Here are some more pictures from last weekend's events. The rock climbing and then some from today's rocket launch.

And the proof!

The end of September

2009-10-01T07:09:00.000-04:00

A week in pictures.

One day we went for a two mile walk and Cole rode on his scooter. This meant that I ended up carrying it most of the time. When we got home he grabbed his bear, lay down on the couch and went to sleep in 2 minutes. No, really, it only took 2 minutes from walking through the door to him being OUT! Unfortunately, 10 minutes later I had to wake him up to go get the kids from school.

This is what happens when you forget that you are not a superhero. We decided to rearrange the upstairs last weekend and I thought the plan was to put the couch in our bedroom until we could decide what to do with it. I managed to get it out of the bonus room, up 2 steps, and down the hall by myself. Sometimes I can be very impatient and I wanted to surprise Nathan by getting it done. Well, this is as far as I got. It was physically impossible to get the couch through the door, but by this point I was too tired to put it back in the bonus room. The kids and I just crawled over it until Nathan got home to help me. (and yes, our walls are that dirty! Cole has decorated all of them and I have decided it isn't worth painting again until I am certain he won't do it again. There are currently four different colors and patterns on this upstairs wall.)

I got to run a race this weekend! Yay for me, I now have a new shirt. I ran a 7k with my friend Laura (4.6 miles). We ran the whole time and it was a great run. We finished in 46 minutes which made us very happy. (Pictures from the carnival afterward to come in another post)

Kiah had a project due.

And a birthday.

Nathan made this great space themed cake for Kiah, because I was too busy! The rice crispy space ship has landed on the moon amid the ice stars. How do you like our stick 1?

Sountrack for my book

2009-09-16T09:48:00.002-04:00

I really wanted to post some of the songs that really pack some of the emotional inspiration for parts of my book. I did not however want to turn off my current playlist, so I posted the soundtrack on my food/running blog.

If you are curious, just go Here to read up on it and listen to some lovely love songs. And no, my book is not strictly a romance, but there is a thread running throughout that these five songs really fit well with.

I'm currently looking for some good rockin' tunes to listen to while I rework the battles and chases. If you have any ideas for good suspenseful, fear invoking, driving songs, please send them my way. This part of my book needs the most work and I could use some emotional inspiration to help get me in the right frame of mind. (I guess my life is too good to write about certain kinds of pain.)

Answers to life from a Writer's Perspective

2009-09-14T19:53:00.002-04:00

Recently, I asked blogger/writer Kristi how she finds the time to write. Here is part of her reply--which I totally loved and took to heart. Ask my husband, I have spent hours writing almost everyday since Kristi wrote this post. And the best part? I'm making progress and my hubby helps clean the kitchen!

"The short answer. I don't. I make time. Which means I sacrifice lots of other things. Writing about life and experiencing it don't always go hand in hand. I wish I could tell you this isn't true. I wish I could say that all writers live in grey shingled beach houses, write bestselling novels in a weekend after the muse strikes, then spend the rest of their time gardening, buying used books, and falling in love in Italy.

If you know successful writers who live this life, please share. Because I really want this to be true.

In my world writing happens in ten minute segments stolen from very, long, overworked days. My writing happens with a four year old on my lap. A cat bawling under my window. The answering machine recording ten plus messages a day and a dozen people demanding that I need to do something for them right now! (Ok, so this helped me decide that it is alright if I don't answer the phone every time it rings. So if you call me and I don't answer, but for some reason you are sitting in my drive like a stalker and can see that I'm home because my van is there, please know that I am not avoiding you in particular. I've just decided to block out 9am-11am as my writing time and I am avoiding everyone. Leave a message and I'll get back to you...beep.)

I recently read an article where a very successful male author said the best way to write was to get in the zone. "Eliminate all distractions and pound out that book as fast as you can." I wonder if he's ever had to write a kissing scene while his four years screams from the bathroom "Can you wipe my bum?!?"

Yeah. That's my reality: laundry, bills, weeds and a whole lot of butt wiping. (Can you hear me laughing? This is so my life as well right now, except I ignore the weeds.)

The article goes on to say the best time to write is in the morning. "Get up early before everyone else in the house is awake." I already wake at five-thirty. It's not possible for me to rise any earlier since I teach night classes and am not home before 10 p.m. Which also eliminates writing late at night. (I'm lucky that I actually get more time to write at night as well as during the day--usually between 9pm-10:30 then I'm a good girl and go to bed so I can get up early and run in the morning.)

I'm not feeling sorry for myself here. (Okay, maybe just a little.) I'm just trying to be truthful. If you are a mother and a writer then you have to make the time to write everyday. Because nobody is going to give it to you. I guarantee it. That means a lot of other things in your life have to go. (Isn't that the truth about so many things in life?!)

For a lot of my writer friends, it's housework, lunch with the friends, or sunlight and showers. Just cast out the glamourous image of the writers life right now. Writing is a job. You can love it. You can need it. But until you treat it as a serious profession you have to do every single day you'll never "find" the time."

11 mile bike ride

2009-09-11T10:12:00.003-04:00

Last Saturday we went on a family bike ride. We put down all the seats in the van and loaded it with our bikes and headed to the Greenway. The kids rode in the car while Nathan drove the van ahead to start unloading. It was a beautiful day and we could not have asked for nicer weather.

We just kept going and ended up with 11 miles total. We were all very tired by the time we finished, but Cole was the only one lucky enough to catch a nap. He is getting to big for the trailer, but not quite big enough to ride his own bike yet.
Nathan's bike broke around mile 9. And by broken I mean severed metal requiring a welder to fix. How does that happen? Luckily he only paid $25 for the bike at Goodwill. Now we have to get him a new one. Kiah and Adam are also due new bikes. Guess what everyone is getting for Christmas!

Photo Update

2009-09-03T22:03:00.007-04:00

It seems that life is just moving along too fast! I keep thinking, tomorrow I will take the time to write an awesome blog post and get everyone up to date on our busy lives. And it just doesn't happen. Then I forget and that is really sad. I want to remember all the funny wonderful things that are speeding by.

I just realized that I didn't even take pictures of my kids on the first day of school. Aaahhh! I've never forgotten that before. I have however managed to fill my days with so many other things that maybe they will forgive me. Here are some random pictures that were on the camera to update you a little on the last two weeks--not in chronological order.

A little cake. That crazy errant vine is killing me! Read more HERE.This is one of my students. Look at how proud he is of the waffles he helped make! This is why this will be the perfect job for me. I love seeing how excited the kids get when they realized they can do it.

The wall behind the dryer. Our dryer has not worked very well for the last three years, but it worked well enough...until the last month. I would have to run a load of clothes through at least three times to get them dry. Last week that didn't even work. So, after several conversations with friends and neighbors I decided I needed to really clean out the vent pipes. One neighbor had this nifty thing that was 12 feet long and you attached it to your drill to clean the exhaust hose that runs from the dryer to the outside vent. I borrowed it and went to work. At one point I was having problems and asked Nathan to come help me. This is an example of how men and women's brains just work differently--at one point Nathan reversed the drill to pull the length of plastic cord out. I never would have thought to do that! However, when he did that it unscrewed one of the three foot lengths. It was left, with the brush on it, somewhere in the bowels of our house. We finally decided to make a bigger hole in the wall and I was able to reach in my arm (up to the top of my shoulder) and grab the plastic rod and pull it out.

Nathan later patched it up better than it was before. Funny thing, it didn't help the dryer at all! I finally unhooked the hose and tried running a load. It worked perfectly, so there is definitely something gumming up the hose. I'm just glad we don't need to buy a new dryer.

Our DS addicted child. This is how he fell asleep several days in a row. Now it has disappeared and none of the kids know where it is. (Sorry Mom! They are trying to find it)

Cole really wanted to paint. He has been so sad with the kids gone all day that I finally gave in. And don't think that you could have resisted him either! His little voice coming from the back seat after dropping the kids off at school saying, "I miss them" all teary sounding would melt any one's resolve.

It started out so nicely......oh well. He is still awfully cute!

What's up with the Bus Stop?

2009-08-28T09:15:00.003-04:00

Things have felt crazy around here. The kids are now safely back in school. Although I'm not quite sure how safe they are anymore. I think the Mecklenburg School Council is working without their brains, or at least without any common sense. Upon returning from school the first day, my children informed me that they had a new drop off bus stop as well as a new morning pick up stop. I knew about the morning change and didn't worry because we never make it to the bus stop, and I end up taking them to school anyway. I did not however know about the new drop off site. For the past 3 years, my children have been dropped off at the top of the road (which even though is out of my site, I did not worry about much because all of their homeschool friends are always out waiting for them. I figured it would be pretty hard for someone to steal all 11 children). But this year they are now dropped off three stop signs away!!

I began calling the school on day two to find out what the deal was. The county is trying to save money by cutting down on bus stops...for our elementary kids! There is currently a mile and some tenths between the stops closest to my house. Now, if you live somewhere in the middle, they are nice enough to give you the choice as to which stop your kids get off. What? Why do I pay tax money to put my children in danger? To get home they have to walk and cross streets that high school kids are currently driving home on. Have you watched how well some of them stop at stop signs?!?

Yes, I know what you are thinking. I tried to tell myself the same thing. My kids are old enough to stick together and walk home safely. But kids are kids. If they are mad at each other they run off, and sometimes they forget that you don't walk down the middle of the street with all your friends. So even though I know I need to let them grow up, I still wonder if I am being irresponsible as a parent. And...at what point am I just over reacting? Then we get this weeks breaking news about the woman found who was kidnapped from her bus stop 18 years ago. This girl's step father saw it happen and tried to chase the abductors down on a bike.

So, for days two and three, I drove up the the stop (because it is still really hot here) and waited for about 30 minutes both days for the bus to show up. In all it is taking them 45 minutes to get home from a school that is less than 2 miles away. Once again, my tax dollars at work? I don't have that much time to sit around, so this morning I signed them up for car pick up. It will save all of us time. I have filled out a request for a new bus stop and voiced my opinion in this matter. What are the poor kindergartners to do? Not every parent can be at the bus stop to wait for their children. I am still flabbergasted that someone thought cutting out bus stops was a good idea. Do they even have children?

2 Birthdays, 1 Anniversary, and an 80's Dance

2009-08-23T18:36:00.005-04:00

Wow! We have been very busy since coming home from the beach. Ashlee and I had birthdays, Nathan and I celebrated 13 married years, and we had an 80's Dance at church. There were a few other things in the last two weeks as well, but these are the most blog worthy.

First, Ashlee's birthday!
She helped make and decorate this cake with one of her friends from school. It was super yummy, and massively huge! She also got a much asked for (think begging, pleading and tantrum throwing for almost a year) new bike.

My birthday!

I had a great birthday. First, I went to a friends house and enjoyed a couple of hours of Girls Night Out. When I returned home, my family was waiting with this great cake that they made for me. (Way too much cake during this week by the way!) Part of it is sugar cookie and part cake. It was very yummy. My family bought me some more "ME" time at a local pottery place. I can't wait to go use that time. Another dear friend made me this sweet new apron. I love the fabric! It is sooo me. I am saving it for my first day of cooking class. If you want to check out some of her other aprons, bags, and home goods you can visit her Etsy shop Calicobirdie.

I don't have any pictures from our anniversary, but Nathan and I went to eat at one of my new favorite restaurants. I've only been there twice, but it is oh so good! Maddie's Southern Bistro at Birkdale Village. (I would add a link, but for some reason my browser won't let me open it) They have these amazing fried green tomatoes, and this last visit I tried their mac and cheese. Did you know that macaroni and cheese could be heavenly?! I didn't! It was so smooth and creamy with a spicy kick.

After dinner we finally went to see Harry Potter. I'm still not sure how I feel about the movie. Since I am very much a book person, I am often disappointed in the movie versions. After I watch the movie a couple of times I can decide whether or not I like it as a movie, totally unrelated to the book. I'm not at that point yet. :)

Oh, I got so busy trying to figure out why my spyware program won't let me open Maddie's site that I almost forgot the 80's dance. You know how much Nathan and I like to dance, and even though we prefer swing or ballroom, this was loads of fun. We just can't fast dance to save our lives! Anyway, we attempted to get dressed up for the occasion but didn't have a lot of luck finding what we were looking for. This is as close as we could get to 80's wear. My "wing" skills are seriously lacking. Granted I haven't used that much hairspray in a long time! I also don't think I've ever worn that much make up. You can't even tell in this picture how big I did get my hair. Oh well! Better luck next time. Wonder if the ward would go for a good ole southern cotillion? That would be cool, but probably only to me and Nathan.

Reflections on the beach

2009-08-11T10:40:00.003-04:00

There is something therapeutic in a visit to the ocean. The feel of the warm sand in your toes, the way your leg muscles have to work harder for each step forces you to slow down and take a deep breath. Salty breezes with that faint seaweed and fishiness to it that wakes you up and brings things back into focus. The sound of the waves stumbling over each other in their dance up the sand and back out to see, punctuated by the cries of the sea birds is the only soundtrack you need.

Something about jumping into the waves and coming up to taste the salt on your lips makes you feel young again. And when the wave breaks earlier than you thought it would, taking you by surprise and knocking you over, you can't help but laugh right along with your children. Yes, therapy is sitting on the beach with your feet in the surf, letting the wind, sand and water scour away your troubles and wash them out to sea.

Family Vacation Pictures

2009-08-09T10:59:00.001-04:00

We had a wonderful three days at the coast, 2 days on the beach (the third day found everyone too scared to go in the water after watching 3 hours of Shark Week on Discovery channel late the night before). I'll write more about it later, till then enjoy the photos.

Back to School Tip #1

2009-08-04T10:05:00.001-04:00

For many of us it is getting close to that time again. Time for the kids to go back to school. If you are like me you are looking forward to it as much as you dread it. We've had a great summer, watching movies late at night, sleeping in, swimming at the pool, hanging out with friends, visiting the library and just taking it easy in general. I love the time with my kids and I love the relaxed schedule.

We have a couple of last weeks here, but I know many schools are starting up within the next week or so. In honor of that, and as a reminder to myself, I'm going to put up a few posts to help us get ready for another successful school year.

Healthy AM & PM Routines
Starting the Day--Getting your children ready to learn means placing an emphasis on nourishment, morning hygiene, and even skin safety.

1. Eat a healthy breakfast--breakfast sets the stage for your children to meet their true potential by giving them the nourishment and energy they need to succeed. (healthy breakfast ideas coming later in the week)

2. Brush their teeth

3. Apply sun screen--your child is likely spending time outdoors during the school day. Protect them while you can.

Getting Adequate Sleep
Your children have likely gotten spoiled over the summer (I know mine have!) by getting the chance to stay up late, but the days of early morning awakenings are coming. Some ideas to help ensure your children get enough sleep each night include:

1. Establish (and keep) a set bed time. Children need anywhere from 9-11 hours of sleep nightly in order to be at their best.

2. Start turning electronics and lights down about an hour before bedtime. Exciting video games, TV shows, or loud music do not set the stage for falling asleep easily. (We like to play a game as a family, then read our scriptures and have family prayer before they head up to brush their teeth. They have time to wind down from the day and we get to spend good quality time with our children.) Soft music can prepare your little ones (and big ones) for sleep, and playing music at a set time establishes a nightly ritual that can be enjoyable, even comforting, for the entire family.

3. Don't wait--one week before school starts, have the children start going to bed early as if they were attending school in the morning. Letting your children stay up late until the day before school makes it unlikely they'll be rested for the first few days of school. (Even though we don't start until the 25th, we are already starting to work back into our routine.)

4. Be a good role model--if you're staying up late, grumbling in the morning trying to wake, and complaining of being tired all the time, what kind of message does that send to your children? Go to bed at a set time each night to ensure you will get at least 7 hours of sleep. (This is another good reason to get your children in bed earlier in the evening. Once they are asleep you can enjoy some down time, visit with your spouse, and prepare for a good nights sleep. I've really missed this over the summer. Once I get in bed by 10 or 10:30 again I will be able to wake at 6 for my morning run! Yay! Soon...)

(from the Harris Teeter your wellness Back to School)

Print this off for your hubby!

2009-07-31T22:44:00.002-04:00

Ok, if you have been married for any number of years, I think you will be able to appreciate this article. Nathan and I have a certain "talk" on a semi-regular basis and I can never figure out how to explain what I'm talking about. Well, here it is girls! I've highlighted certain phrases for my hubby *wink*. And just so you don't think I'm giving him a hard time in front of the whole world, Nathan is a great husband and does most of these things. However, life does get busy and he forgets or gets preoccupied with other things sometimes. And as women we know that it is really all about us, so I have to remind him. *that was kind of a joke* ;) This is most of the article, but here is the Link just in case.

Many a man has questioned, "What exactly do women want?" We're not playing coy here, we know we're complex creatures. And, true, we operate on a different wavelength than men.

But women aren't exactly the great mystery that men often make us out to be. The proof? We polled the YourTango staff and compiled a list of 9 simple things women want.

Another adventure...let's get started!

2009-07-30T14:05:00.000-04:00

I know I have been really quiet lately, sorry. July has had me thinking very seriously about what is in my future. I still feel the need to do something other than my daily routine. Plus, I needed to find a way to fund my running habit *insert big smiley face* Ideas have been floating around in my head for quite a while, but as I've started working on them they have become clearer and more defined.

So...now I can present you with what has been keeping me busy, my newest website to advertise and organize my new home business:

Learn To Cook

I still need to tweak things so that it contains all the information someone may need, as well as looking professional. Check it out and then leave a comment on this blog as to how I can improve it, or any questions you would have as a potential client that are not yet answered. Thanks!

Last day to vote!

2009-07-26T10:07:00.001-04:00

Today is the last day to vote in the cupcake crawl. Just go to Gourmet Girl Magazine.com and vote for one or both of my cupcake creations. To refresh your memory, they were the Chocolate Orange and the Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcake.

Thanks!

Here is a comment left on the site about my cupcake. Elaine is making all of the cupcakes so her boss will know which one to vote for. This made me feel so good!

TheGourmetGirl said...: Today I made For Love of Food's Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes.
I loved the consistency of her batter, it was so smooth. Give them a try, you won't be disappointed.
Stay tuned as I continue to work my way through the list!
Elaine; July 24, 2009 3:16 PM

Day on the lake and whatever else has passed us by.

2009-07-22T16:42:00.008-04:00

Sorry I don't have time to write much, but here are more photos from our summer. First, I don't remember if I told you about the Sunday Bake off between me and Nathan? I wrote about it on my food blog. You can read about it HERE. Anyway, when we all sat down to taste our creations, Nathan was teasing in his normal way and said, "I'm sorry Cole, you don't get any." This was Cole's broken hearted reaction. And then Nathan trying to comfort him afterward. Cole was really tired and just didn't realize it was a joke.
Second, we have some pictures from our day on the lake. Some friends from church invited us along. Adam spent the day with one of his friends so he didn't come. The girls and I tried wake boarding for the first time. We didn't quite make it all the way up, maybe next time.

Ashlee waiting to try wake boarding.
Kiah getting ready to give it a try.

Nathan didn't have any problems.

There they go! Kiah and Ashlee

Half way there! This was me.

Cole loved it! He kept saying, "faster, faster!"

Updates and Pics

2009-07-13T10:29:00.004-04:00

I know that I haven't been posting any great news or thoughts lately. I've just been busy all day and then too tired at night to write anything. So, I'll try to give a brief update.

It has been three weeks since Girl's Camp (2 in my house) and we have managed to keep the house clean. It feels like the fighting and arguing has been better, but yesterday there was a resurgence that we need to get back under control. The house feels better though. Clean, a tiny bit quieter and not quite as much contention. The girls even seem to enjoy being in the same room although one or the other is always saying, "I'm switching back!" I think they feel that is a safe threat because they have been told that will not happen under any circumstance.

Cole is in big boy undies all the time now. Even at night. He goes before crawling in bed and then I take him again before I go to bed. If I ever wake early in the morning I take him again, just to make sure. I have to wash his bed clothes half of the mornings, but it is a start. He is telling me more often now and has even run to sit on the potty himself when I wasn't around. Yay! That is about $30 of savings a month (I buy cheap diapers).

Here are the few pictures that turned out on the night of the 4th. The first one makes me think of Harry Potter. Kiah's wand has chosen her! Next is a bearded Cole. The smoke looks like a beard to me and it is so funny. This was the first year that he got to hold the sparklers himself. Which may not have been good since you can see him chasing Ashlee in the next picture.

I made bread several times last week in an effort to not buy any. Here is a picture of how lovely they turned out.
Nathan and I also had a little bake off last night. You can read the full story about it HERE. I posted it all on my food blog as an entry in the GourmetGirlMagazine's Cupcake Crawl. They are chocolate peanut butter cupcakes made from scratch.

July Fun

2009-07-04T20:30:00.006-04:00

Every year our neighborhood has a bike parade. I think it gets bigger every year. Kiah wasn't feeling well today, but the other three enjoyed it. This was Cole's first year riding in it.

Yesterday the kids pulled out the slip and slide. It was fun to watch them spin and slide. It took awhile for them to get all of the gum balls out from under the slide though.

And this...was a slice of chocolate heaven. It is a recipe created for Stephanie Nielsen from the NieNie Dialogues. If you want to learn more about it, you need to go check out my food blog.

Random Pictures from June

2009-07-02T17:54:00.004-04:00

Here are some of the pictures that I didn't have time to blog about until now. Some are from our zoo trip and some are the boys just playing around. Enjoy!

Progress Update

2009-07-01T21:12:00.002-04:00

My last post really got some good comments. I really enjoyed reading every one's thoughts and input. I thought I would post a little update on how things are going in our home this week.

Things have been wonderful! Every morning we get up and all the chores have to be done before we can watch TV or go to the pool. The nice thing is that they cleaned on Monday and have kept things mostly clean. So, Tuesday and today it only took about 10 minutes and everything was done. Not fighting or micromanaging their cleaning has given me extra energy to keep the kitchen clean. (Well it is actually a mess right now because I had a late night chocolate craving and baked something yummy and messy!)

Between the pool and playing with the neighborhood kids, my kids have not had time to fight with each other. At least not very much. :) I haven't even put any "plan" into action. I have noticed that when I tell them something my voice sounds different. Maybe they can just tell that I am serious this time. It has been really nice. Now, the test is to see if I can make it last.

Oh, and Lindsey, I regularly record Ashlee throwing her tantrums and make her watch them. I'm always threatening to post them on this blog. I hope you never get to see one, but now that I am following through with all my "threats" you just might get the chance. I really hope not!

Camp Epiphany

2009-06-29T11:16:00.004-04:00

Ok, so I'm having one of those days. It doesn't help that my allergies have been knocking me down for almost a week now. I have had a very busy two weeks in which I have come to realize many things about myself. Now I have to figure out what I'm going to do with this new information and I'm so worn out tired that I don't even know where to start. But if I don't start today I will lose the motivation to do anything about it, so I'm going to ramble on this blog for a bit. :)

I enjoyed two wonderful kid free weekends with my hubby. The house was clean, quiet, peaceful. Nathan and I could actually have a conversation without kids screaming, fighting, spilling, breaking, slamming, crying, or any other nerve shattering noise. It was blissfully wonderful. A tiny and I do mean tiny part of me felt guilty for not missing my children, but in my defense I was very busy at camp and had 20 something girls to mother so there wasn't time to miss them.

At camp I realized a very important truth about my relationship with my children. My epiphany came on a night when several girls were angry with me for a simple mistake. I had the first level girls and many of them were very homesick. At our camp the girls slept in cabins with their levels not wards, and so many sisters were split up. Some had a VERY hard time with this. One girl would sit in our cabin as late as possible crying every night and begging me to let her stay with her sister. I wanted to let her, but we did not have any extra beds and the rules were they needed to stay in their own cabins to sleep. There are lots of good reasons for this, but I didn't even think about them until Friday, and this is why.

During the week a leader told me that on Friday nights, the last night of camp, the girls could switch cabins and sleep with their friends. So each night that I had to separate the two sisters I would say, "it is just a few more nights until Friday, hang in there" or something similar. Friday night came and these sisters and a few friends took their things and went to another cabin. I knew where they were so I didn't think much about it until it was time for lights out. I had 2 cabins of girls (don't worry their were lots of other leaders helping) and I had gone to the other cabin to say goodnight. One of the leaders mentioned that the one girl was missing and would I please walk her over. I told her where she was and learned that I had been misinformed as to the Friday "tradition" of switching cabins.

Well, I felt horrible and slightly terrified because now I had to fix it and I am not good at being firm when it comes to things like this. I was smart enough to ask this other leader to come with me because I knew my weakness. These girls were really defiant and rude when we found them and told them what needed to happen. I felt horrible and tried to explain that I had the wrong information and apologized but that is not what they wanted to hear. They were very angry with me and it hurt my feelings because I really wanted them to be happy and have a good time at camp. I had also gone out of my way to try and be friends with the first level girl and give her hope that it would all be worth it. I also just hate it when people are mad at me, always have been and always will be.

The same thing happens in my home with my children. I love them so much and want them to be happy and have the things they want. They know this, and they know how to take advantage of it. They love and respect me, but they do not respect my authority as the parent. They do not believe me when I say "no" because they know if they throw a tantrum I will eventually give in. They can go for hours and it wears me down! Plus, I can clean it faster and better anyway, right?

The problem is that they get away with it, don't learn anything, and I wear myself out trying to keep everyone happy. But, I'm not happy. So I need to be a better parent when it comes to "This is the family rule, end of discussion" Do you know what I mean? Maybe it is because I read that Parenting with Love and Logic book so long ago. I'm always trying to explain why I said what I said and what the consequences are so they can make a good choice. Unfortunately, it seems to be a waste of time. They are kids and all they need to know is that it is the way it is Because I Said So. My kids talk to me in ways that I never would have dreamed of talking to my parents. I would have been smacked into next week.

So what am I going to do about it? Any ideas? I'm making a detailed daily schedule in the hopes that getting organized with our time will help. I'm also going to print out our family rules so that no one can say they "forgot" or just "didn't know". But what are my consequences? We don't do sleep overs so I can't take that away. We have put a lock on the TV so they can't watch it anyway. They have very few toys and they seem to like being "sent to their room". The only thing left is to take away the Wii, which I do every time they fight over it anyway. I'm at a loss as to how to make the change be affective. There has to be consequences, but what? No pool? I'll die! Please post any suggestions you might have.

I thought that I could start a positive reinforcement that I am borrowing from camp--Her majesty of the day--what the girls fondly called the commode award. I'll have to call it something else since I have boys too. But you can earn this by getting all your chores done without complaining and by being obedient. You then get to ask each member of the family to do something for you--such as clear your plate for you after dinner, bring something to you, pick the show of the night, etc. I can see my kids really getting into that so we will have to have a whole set of rules just for that. Any thoughts?

Happy Father's Day! and other stuff...

2009-06-21T21:01:00.005-04:00

What a nice day today was, although it was a little sad too. My kids are still in TN with their Granny and so they were not here for Father's Day. That is the sad part. When the primary children sang at church I was sad because they were not here for Nathan, but there were still bright moments for him today. He got to sleep in late and since I didn't have to worry about getting four other people ready for church I made him a nice breakfast. (Egg and cheese croissants with fruit and dip.) After church we had a nice quiet dinner without anyone complaining about the food. So, I guess what I'm getting at is that we haven't missed them too much yet. :) The house has been clean for the whole week, spotless in fact, and very quiet. I think we both needed that. In fact, Nathan has been working hard all week on a project for the girls.

Adam and Ashlee have been sharing a room, but we feel they are too old to continue doing that. In order to help the girls get along better in their room, we have tried to make it nice for them. There are no before pictures because the room was completely trashed. Embarrassingly icky! I don't think there was a surface that had not been written on by someone (and not Cole). Nathan patched holes and painted the room. Then he took down the bunk beds so that each girl has her own "side". Eventually, we will accessorize and make them some duvet covers that won't clash with the walls, but here is where we are now.Isn't Nathan awesome! He did all of that while I was at girl's camp. I helped moved personal items back and forth tonight so that it will almost be done when the kids come home.

So, today I really got to enjoy being with my hubby and thinking about all the things that I love about him. I've known him for so long that it is very easy to take some things for granted. He has always been this amazing person. I remember when we were youth thinking that he was the kind of boy I wanted to grow up and marry. He kept high standards and values, was fun to hang out with (he could always make me laugh and still can), and he had this talent for making you feel like you were the most important person in the room. As a teen he was very busy. He was in lots of clubs, swim team, student government, plus all of the church activities. Because of that I never realized that he was shy until after we were married. As time went by, I found myself hoping that not only would I marry someone like Nathan, but that I would marry Nathan himself. He had been my standard, or ruler for so long that it finally hit me to stop comparing and keep the ruler. :)
As the years have gone by and our lives continue to change with the addition of children, moves across country, school, jobs, church callings, etc, I have come to love and respect him even more. He works so hard to provide for our family and still manages to come home and play games with our children. They love him so much! He has never avoided church responsibilities which has greatly blessed our whole family. We have been able to grow our testimonies together over the years thanks to his willingness to serve. You may wonder what his favorite calling is? Primary pianist. Yep, he loves being in with the kids and listening to their sweet voices.

My favorite thing about my hubby? He is an awesome dancer and kisser. Oh, and he helps me clean regularly! You don't get any more Prince Charming than that!

Sutherlands Exteriors--AKA our new roof

2009-06-10T08:02:00.004-04:00

ATTENTION: This is going to be an advertisement. *wink* Just so you know and can choose whether or not to read it. With all the talk of trying to live more providently, I thought I would take the chance and use the resources that I have and take advantage of a money making opportunity.

And now...the WEBFOMERCIAL--
It looks like we had our little party just in time! This morning the guy showed up to drop off our shingles. I thought it would be a few more days before they actually started on the roof, but 15 minutes later a crew showed up. I am excited to get all of the work done. We had some hail damage (and our roof is 16 years through a 20 year life span anyway) so our insurance company is covering the majority of the job.

Sutherlands Exteriors was coming through our neighborhood and giving free quotes. The guy was very nice, easy to talk to, and coming from some one who works off of "how things feel", felt very honest and up front about everything. He walked us through the process so that it was easy and painless. We have a $1000 deductible, but the company "bought" $250 worth of advertising from us--meaning we put a sign in our yard for the last month. Easiest $250 I think we have ever made. If you live in the Concord, Charlotte, or Huntersville area (and probably a little more out from there) and you need a new roof, now is the time to have it looked at. There are lots of assessors in town and they are aware of the hail damage. They've seen so much of it that they know it is in town. Anyway, if you call Sutherlands at 704-784-0043 and tell them that we (Nathan Bradford) referred you, and then you actually use them to replace your roof, I get $100. They will offer you the same referral plan and you can refer people and earn money as well. I've already referred two people; Christmas money!

Sutherlands uses CertainTeed 25 or 30 year shingles. We are getting the black XT 25 year shingles. It is all black with a little sparkle to it. You know how we love the bling!

UPDATE: They did an excellent job! They finished the whole roof in one day and I watched them walk around several times picking up the nails. It has now been a month and I still have not found any stray nails in my yard. I am very happy with the service they provided. Quick, easy, painless to the end.

Let me know if you called them and how it goes. That way I can keep on them to print my checks *wink*

It's not my birthday!

2009-06-09T18:34:00.005-04:00

So, a couple of months ago I found this great little book of party ideas. I wanted to have one more lunch party with some of my girlfriends before the kids got out of school for the summer. I browsed through the book and really liked the idea of an Un-birthday party. The whole idea boiled down to having a celebration that it wasn't our birthday and we were not a year older, but still get presents and cake. I decorated with streamers and made a big not a birthday cake. (It was actually a practice session for Suanna's wedding cake coming up in October)

I invited some friends (if you didn't get an invite, I'm sorry! I could only fit so many people, but I want to do it again in a few months and invite totally different people. There were so many people that I WANTED to invite.) and asked them to bring a white elephant gift. Then I planned lunch. We had an oriental theme with teriyaki chicken and fried rice and a cabbage noodle salad. I really enjoyed myself and I hope my friends did too. Here's to starting the summer off right!

I think the top layer looked awful, but the middle and bottom layer turned out pretty good. It was supposed to be a topsy turvy style cake. The top layer didn't have a steep enough slope so it just looked like it has sunk a little and was sliding off the cake. The stripes didn't work either. But I learned a lot doing it so next time it will be easier and look better. That's what practice is all about!
We had some pop rocks candy because that was something that reminded me of being young. I also had cute little key chains for everyone, but forgot to tell them to take one! I'll save them for next time.
So, Suanna, I will practice some more, buy the tools I need and you will have an awesome cake in October! This cake is a lot smaller than what yours will actually be. Each tier will be at least three layers or cake, this one only has 2 layers and the bottom is only 1 layer. I didn't need that much cake! :) And I will probably make yours four tiers as well.

A weekend of Cakes

2009-06-06T14:21:00.004-04:00

It has been a busy weekend. My son Adam had a birthday and so did one of my neighbors. I made both cakes. It was good to be baking again. It has been a long time. There were some...complications...along the way. I don't know if it was my cake recipe or the 24 hours of rain that affected things, but it all came out well in the end.

Friday--Adam's cake (the race car) is finished. The duck's were made as well as the pond.

Look how cute the little duckie is!

By 9pm he had lost his head! Oh, no!

Saturday--Duckie #2 is on the pond and duckie #3 is cooling.

My hands just couldn't take a fourth star job, so the toddlers cake is just "fluffy"

Close up of Adam's car. I made chocolate butter-cream for the black. Starting with chocolate made it easier to get a true black for the tires. Below is Adam blowing out his candles even though Cole has already started eating on his cake.

One more cake adventures coming up on Monday.

Happy Birthday Adam!

2009-06-05T20:08:00.004-04:00

Today was Adam's birthday. He wanted a race car cake and that is what he got. Luckily he saw it finished before Cole started eating it. Yeah, before we could put candles in it and sing Happy Birthday, Cole decided he was tired of waiting to eat the cake. I was NOT happy, but Adam was so easy going. He just said, "It was still an awesome cake, Mom."

It was also field day at school today. That is why his nose is black, some kind of face painting.

Before Cole

After Cole

Stupid Hollywood

2009-06-02T10:55:00.002-04:00

Ok, I admit it, I was suckered into watching the New Moon Movie Trailer. And I am not happy! The whole last scene in the trailer doesn't even exist in the book. I hate when Hollywood feels the need to mess with the story line. That's all I'm going to say!

Changes and Giveaways

2009-05-29T09:46:00.002-04:00

Well, this week I started making changes on my Food Blog. All the details are over there, but in a nutshell I am moving my focus to my running. I really need something to get me motivated to keep running. There will still be new recipes, but I want to take more time to find really good healthy recipes. This means I need to spend more time doing research to educate myself, so the recipes will be spread out more than they have been in the past.

I am also doing my first Give Away on the new Running Blog. It isn't much, but I have to start somewhere. :) So, head on over and take a look, sign up for the exercise activity log. While you are at it, do me a favor and click on one of the ads to the right if there is one that sounds interesting. You don't have to buy anything, but I get 7 cents for each click. :) Hey, gotta try something. ;)

Memorial Day Fun

2009-05-25T21:15:00.005-04:00

Well, the kids actually had school today. It was a make up snow day, but we decided to let them stay home anyway. We all slept in and then I got a run in before Nathan took the three older kids on a bike ride. Cole was sad to not go, but we still need one more bike and a carrier before we can all go. So, Cole and I went to the store to buy some items for homemade play dough and slime.

It rained off and on all day, so we never made it to the pool. That was ok though, because the kids played with the play dough for a long time. Later in the evening we just got silly playing statue and tickle fights. Here are some of the best pictures.

Everyone helped mix in the colors Kiah mixing the slime.

Nathan, Ashlee, Kiah with slimey faces.

1930 Wife--How do you stack up!

2009-05-24T19:09:00.003-04:00

This was a funny test. I have way to many "it depends on the day" kind of answers. :)

As a 1930s wife, I am
Very Superior

Take the test!

Mother's Day report

2009-05-19T13:45:00.000-04:00

I had a lovely Mother's Day. I got to sleep in--almost 9am! Then while I was getting my shower, my family made a delicious breakfast for us with eggs, biscuits, bacon and sausage. It was a great way to start. How do you like the towel on my head? Not a decent picture for the whole day! :)Then Cole actually sat nicely all through sacrament meeting at church! That was probably the best gift all day. And then for the last hour of church, all the women got to eat a lovely snack in the gym. It was so nice to just relax and visit with the other women at church.

For Mother's Day I got a new bike.
We will get Nathan a bike for Father's Day, in the meantime we will be looking for something to put Cole in so we can all go on bike rides. Until last night, I thought that would be the biggest challenge. If only! I went on my first bike ride last night and found that it isn't as simple as just buying a bike. Oh my heavens!

I have not been on a bike since my teen years, I've never owned one with more than one speed, and we live in a very hilly neighborhood. Can I just say sore? You use totally different muscles riding a bike than running. I would rather run up a hill any day than ride up one. Holy Cow! Now I feel bad that I teased my kids when they rode their bikes and I ran. I had no idea. Isn't it funny how stupid we can become as adults? I hope my legs get stronger quickly so I don't have to feel like such a baby. *wink* Now I just want to get stronger before Nathan gets his bike. I can't look like a wimp in front of my husband! LOL. I tell you what, after last night's ride I'm really looking forward to my run today. That is going to be a piece of cake...mmm, cake...

What have I been doing?

2009-05-18T12:39:00.002-04:00

Well, I want to post about Mother's Day, but I am waiting to get a good picture with my present. Hopefully I'll get that up soon.

In other news, I've been potty training Cole. Last week was very much an up and down roller coaster. Monday and Tuesday he refused to go at all. He would cry because he had to go, but he did not want to sit on the potty or go in his underwear. He would finally just go, but not in the potty once either day. Wednesday I was ready to give up, but thought I would give it just one more day. Something happened and he just woke up wanting to sit on the potty. He actually used it 2 out of 3 times. I was so relieved and started to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Unfortunately, I decided to get out on Thursday and it messed him all up again. I thought it would be fine because I went to a friend's house who was also potty training. Our thought was our kids could work on it together. It didn't work for Cole. Then Friday through Sunday was a non-stop run here and there and I just could not even think about potty training. So, I thought I was done and I would wait a bit before trying again.

Then, last night about 10:00pm, Cole woke up and did not want to go back to sleep. This was awful because I was exhausted and just wanted to sleep myself. At one point he got out of bed by saying, "I want to sit on the potty!" My first impulse was, "what??" Then I thought, "oh, why not?" And he actually went!

After the success of last night, I decided to go ahead and continue putting big boy underpants on him today. So far he has used the potty twice, with no accidents! I am still shocked. Granted the first time he went, he came to me crying and saying, "I need a diaper on!" I knew that this meant he had to go so I convinced him to sit on the potty instead. He loves getting to flush afterward and wash his hands. I don't know what changed, but I hope it keeps working.

Staying on the Run

2009-05-09T11:16:00.008-04:00

Lots of pictures for you today! This is how I decided to make sure I keep running now that the Country Music 1/2 is over. I signed up for a local 5k and the kids also ran a free 1k. It was a lot of fun for all of us. Here we are before the fun started. Being sillyIt was realy crowded at the beginning and hard to get started. You can see Laura if you look for red shorts, blue shirt and green hat. We were trying to get through the crowd. I'm right behind her and you can just see my head.Making a pyramid to cheer people on.Getting ready by stretching. The kids fun run start.Kiah was the first girl to finish.Ashlee coming in.Here comes Adam.Even Cole ran and he was amazing! He ran half way down and then fell so we waited for everyone to come back by us on the return trip. He was feeling better by then and ran all the way to the finish line.

Everyone got medals to boot!

The boys camping trip

2009-05-04T16:10:00.003-04:00

Nathan informed me that they don't call it the Father Son Camp-out anymore, but it is the Aaronic Priesthood Commemorative Camp-out. Whatever you call it, the boys had a great time. This was Cole's first year and his first camping trip. Nathan had not planned on taking Cole, but he kept climbing into the car while they were packing and saying, "I go too, Daddy?" His perseverance paid off when Nathan came in and said he HAD to take him. I'm glad they all had a great time.

2009 Country Music 1/2 Marathon

2009-04-27T11:18:00.002-04:00

It was another great year at the CM 1/2 Marathon. This year we had two more family members join us. They made some changes to the course which added more up-hill in my mind, and it was about 15 degrees warmer than last year. We also had to make pit stops this year from all the drinking we did to keep hydrated, but in spite of these things we are still happy with the outcome. It was wonderful to accomplish our goal and finish once again.

This year Nathan and I actually finished together which was really nice. We both started strong and were on track for our goals of 2:15 and 2:20, but around 11 miles we both hit the wall. I don't know if it was the heat or not enough training or just an off running day. Officially we finished in 2:34:18, but we are both taking 6 minutes off for the potty line. :) That leaves us with 2:28 which still makes us both very happy.

Who wants to join us next year?

2 Days and Counting!

2009-04-23T16:53:00.002-04:00

I bought some new running gear this week. I've seen the running skirts but never gave them much thought until my shorts started giving me problems. I have unfortunately put on about 10 lbs since I bought my shorts a year ago. That is why I am NOT GOING to STOP running after the 1/2 marathon this year. (I am finally in a downward weight trend again and I don't want to mess that up.) Anyway...my shorts were riding up and rubbing my thighs in an uncomfortable way. I decided that I could not run the half with them doing that the whole time. So I went and purchased a running skort.
I ran in it last night and I have to say I loved it. Why did I wait so long to give it a try? I did still wear my compression shorts under it even though it has built in shorts. I didn't want to be self conscience about how short they felt. It was much better than my old shorts and now I feel like I am ready to go! Of course the tiny little bit of fashion in me says that I now need a shirt to match because it has a pale pink and a red stripe down the side. It doesn't match my bright yellow shirt. :) I couldn't find a skirt with a yellow stripe.

There will be a live webcast of the race on Saturday, April 25. You can watch it Here. I've tried to describe how amazing this race feels to some of my friends and have never quite succeeded. There is just something about running with so many people and having the whole course lined with people cheering you on. Check it out starting at 8am US-Eastern time. Last year it was an hour after the gun before we even crossed the starting line. That's how many people there are!

Thank you Guitar Hero!

2009-04-20T12:46:00.005-04:00

This cute moment in time is brought to you courtesy of Guitar Hero. I believe this is every young child's favorite song from that game. My kids play and sing this one over and over and Cole has picked it up.

Easter Pics

2009-04-16T09:27:00.004-04:00

I'm finally getting around to putting these on the computer so I can post some of them. First, on Saturday, Nathan took Ashlee, Adam and Cole up to the clubhouse for our neighborhood egg hunt. They had face painting, crafts and goodies for the kids.

All happy before the start.
The stampede of kids scared him a bit.
Happy again with his finds.
Decorating the eggs. Kiah is tired of the camera, and Ashlee was being funny wearing a bib.Cole couldn't believe we were letting him do it on his own! Sunday morning getting ready to search for their baskets.