Thanksgiving morning.

As I sit here- kinda a mess, I have to remember that I am so blessed. Sometimes its hard to remember when I feel so powerless to the chaos of life. The chaos I feel is all lovingly placed by a caring Father for my benefit. Again, hard to remember. My struggles are not left to my own devices. I know my Father is aware of me, and here to help me through the hardest of days. (and the wonderful ones too.)

So if anyone one else is kinda a mess, and needed the reminder- there it is. I am thankful today for my life, my children, my home, my husband, my job, and my eternal family.

Happy Thanksgiving to me!

A lesson I can appreciate this time of year.

I am the Chorister in the Primary. I LOVE doing this and feel bad for everyone else who does not. It is an amazing thing to get to sing, teach children beautiful songs, and teach the simple gospel principals while worshiping in this sweet and pure way. With small stints MAYBE, BARELY, being 5 months in the last 14 years I have NOT been in primary in whatever ward I have been in. So to attend adult classes has come few and far between. At times I wonder if I miss the adult classes. I wonder if the sweet controlled chaos would be missed. My answerin my heart is always- Yes yes YES YES YES!!!!

However, every so often when we visit a family member on a Sunday, I enjoy my adult classes and try to take advantage of it. I am sure I am not alone in this little savoring of being taught without have to teach.

Our Bishop must know that little feeling. He must know that we need the little dose of teaching, and has arranged for us in the Primary to attend the 5th Sunday lessons the few times a year they come- only we go on the fourth Sunday while our ward- mates take our classes so we can attend. It was truly inspired to do this for us. I appreciate it so.

This Sunday was one of those weeks. We had a wonderful message, and training. I sat there with such a sense of gratitude for the opportunity to serve the young children in my area. To share my love of the Savior with them, and to feel theirs. Knowing that I have some part in the Lord's plan to show children his love for them, and in helping them find a way to put all of their faith in Him fills me deeply with humility for His grand design. How He must know that the faith of a child can move mountains and change the lives of the adults around them. It was really a beautiful lesson and I was happy to be a part of it.

We spoke of the way Christ taught. He always taught with love, by example, to the level of the people he served, and with sincerity. If I could only emulate Him in all that I do. We spoke of the His sheep. How its easy to help the ninety and nine. They are safe- with the Shepard. While the one who wanders is the one in trouble, the one we must help, must serve,

It made me think of my Sunday school teacher when I was Nicole's age. On our first Sunday in his class he told us that if we ALL came to church every single week from January to August, he would take us all to Lagoon. I remember how excited we all were. We thought it would be a piece of cake. Little did we know that we would have to leave church OFTEN to drag people out of bed so that we would ALL be there. How it made us work together to get everyone there. The day came when he had to take us all to Lagoon. How annoyed his wife must have been when he took 10 teenagers to Lagoon on their dime! It must have cost a fortune. But as we lived up to our part of the deal, he did also. We had a fabulous time. (well... Most of it was wonderful-) I never understood at the time what he gave us that day. But I do now. He gave us co-stewardship over his Sunday School Class flock, and we owned it. Inspired.

How can I be so inspiring to those whom I teach? How can I live up to what my Father in Heaven expects out of me? How can I serve with the light and love of Christ? these are questions that I must keep in my prayers so that I too can be inspired to teach the lessons the Lord wants me to teach. I have much to aspire to, and I am willing to take the challenge.

Time is going by so fast and I am wondering how I can slow it down. I can barely breathe today from the the time whooshing past me. I really need to get a handle on it before I suffocate.

Seriously not sure if I can handle the next two months without major breakdown...the small ones I think can be handled. too afraid of anything else.

/sigh

And I ask myself... How did I get here???

Oh migraine. How can I express my love for the migraine? Its been a doozy too. It has made for a fun two days. I had my triggers all worked out and my dealing with the migraines too...then I went from June until April with not even a slight headache. But ever since I became pregnant- they are back...a few a month- and they did not go away with the loss of the baby. UGH. Really tho- this has been the worst. So don't ask- last night and today has been ugly.Sad that it has been today!

My sweetness Nicole turned 14 today. Nicole on her 14th birthday- in her new Elmo PJS!

I have no idea how time has gone so quickly. I have a 14 year old. Its crazy. Even more crazy- is how she drives me! Batty! This amazing daughter is so much like me- it makes me want to lose my mind. How we grate on each other's nerves. I realize at some point she will think I am as super amazing as I am...(or not) but I just have to bide my time until then. I love her so much. She is a fantastic daughter...except for those flaws where she acts just like me. LOL I love my beautiful girl. She brings light to my world, and a spring to my step. How 14 years has ever passed- I can't comprehend...but it feels like she has been part of me since forever.
Happy Birthday Baby!

Love my redneck candles... I forgot to buy some! They burned so fast- we had to sing Happy Birthday in fast forward! Nicole and Natalie... having her birthday sloppy joes and chocolate cake!

Ode to Jenn

Can I just brag on my friend Jenn for just a second? She is just a doll. She even gave me a blog award- which is comical to me- because I usually read her blog for laughs, giggles, and inspiration! But WHEW! Did she threw the most amazing party the other night! We had our book club anniversary party- where she went ALL out and threw the most delightful dinner party! Jenn is a wonderful person inside out, and I am lucky to call her a friend. Delicious Cranberry orange ciderJenn's attention to detail.MY seat, with my mint truffle in the pretty little box!MY place cardThe Book club peeps!
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As part of the blog award- Jenn requested the answers to these questions.
1. Where is your cell phone? ummm at the cell phone store.
2. Your hair? wild
3. Your mother? is strange
4. Your father? goofy
5. Your favorite food? sushi
6. Your dream last night? one that involved Dave undoing my seatbelt and swerving in hopes I flew out of the car. I know- Its weird.
7. Your favorite drink? yummy pomegranate mocktails at Jenn's
8. Your dream/goal? See Europe and The Van Gogh Museum
9. What room are you in? Family room
10. Your hobby? um... oh! Reading
11. Your fear? losing people I love
12. Where do you want to be in six years? The beach
13. Where were you last night? At The Breezers
14. Something you aren’t? Rich
15. Muffins? ok?
16. Wish list item? A bedroom set
17. Where did you grow up? Where ever my Daddy's job took us
18. Last thing you did? Threw a party!
19. What are you wearing? My dress from church and red slippers
20. TV? Hulu.com baby!
21. Your pets? Bauer
22. Your friends? are beautiful people
23. Your life? is sweet
24. Your mood? tired!
25. Missing someone? yep. I miss him.
26. Vehicle? LOL my piece of junk van.
27. Something you’re not wearing? contacts
29. Your favorite color? Purple
30. When was the last time you laughed? My sister's just left...when do you think???
31. When was the last time you cried? Ew. Too recently
32. Your best friend? David
33. One place that you go over and over? The ocean
34. One person who e-mails me regularly? Lorelei
35. Favorite place to eat? hmmm. Maryann's and Roosters

So much on my plate!

I have been so crazy busy! Its almost obnoxious! I swear it was so slow leading up to my non-Mexican Cruise, but since then time has been FLYING!
Halloween came and went. I have to say- Halloween is such a bitter sweet for me. I LOVE the dressing up, carving pumpkins, and family who knows my neighborhood ROCKS for trick or treating, and my yummy homemade doughnuts, but then there is all the candy, the calories, and the mess! Oh the candy wrappers everywhere...how you annoy me!
I have been busy at work- trying to find the balance of which kid is on which level has finally been settled, but now the intense work has begun! I usually come home pooped and need a nap- like when I was pregnant! (But I am not- all you naysayers can breathe a sigh of relief.) Then my social commitments are crazy too! A girls night here, a relief society there, a book club to the left, and baby showers, birthday parties, and Temple nights to the left. I have not had a second to catch my breath!
Oh but wait! Its getting better! Nicole's birthday week is starting tomorrow! Family dinner with 29 people coming tomorrow, a birthday cake on Tuesday to celebrate the real deal, and then she is having 19 friends here on Friday! (I might faint.) You would think I could relax after that... but then Thanksgiving is the next week then a race off to Christmas and New Year! We are going to arrive at the DREADED January in no time. That I can't even think about. Its way too hard.

I am wondering if I can hire a maid service and a cook for the next two months. If I could forget about the dirty house and the growling stomachs, it may be feasible to survive! Oh! And the first person to suggest MY CHILDREN is going to get beat with a stick! They clean about as well as a pig. Pushing stuff around with their snouts picking out the things that appeal to them, and leaving the rest. YAH ... not gonna help! Please send your pet pigs if you want to help...at least the floors would be vacuumed by someone else. Us before school on "character day" Dave- SCARYTimm in his TERRIFYING non-costumeAlison- the gothic zombieThe incredible Hulk..I mean AndrewTinkerSamKira as HermioneSamantha the Fairy after some candy Kira, Sam, Eli, and AndrewJACK -a -lopewitchy women The whole gang before departure.Lorelei the pirate HolleeBauer the Rabbit.

The Rest

To wrap up the crazy cruise to the Mexican Riviera that never was, I want to share some of the personal parts of it. Then you can be spared of the travel log boredness coma you must be in. I am grateful that I will have my memories recorded, and all my beautiful pictures tho. then I can move on to the fun Halloween madness we had over the weekend! First the good year blimp. Am I a total dork that I thought the blimp circling our ship was hysterical??? The message even said something about getting tires after our cruise. I did not know that we were nearly as special as a NFL game where the blimp makes an appearance. But I must say- it was very funny to me! Our Cabin steward Ronnie arranged my Mother-in-law's robe on the first night. It kinda made me giggle and was worth a picture. We met some really neat people. 2 of which was Robert and Darlene. They live in southern California and took the crazy tour of California in stride. I appreciated their company especially the night I had dinner alone. So i was not REALLY alone. (in case you are wondering- I pooped out my Mother-in-law at the zoo that day!) On our first formal night we dressed up. while I do not look wonderful- my dress was a $70 dress marked down to $6.99. Yes- I am that good. Sad to say- I looked better than I have in 6 months on our second formal night- but no picture to prove it. Every breakfast we met fun and interesting people. I wish I had remembered every single person's names- but I know these people were from Texas. On our first formal night, I bought Mom this beautiful corsage. It was a fun surprise for her- and she really loves red. These two fellows from Florida were a hoot. We spent a lively breakfast talking politics, movies, and fry sauce. They had been mixing fry sauce for years and were sure they could make a fortune if they could sell the idea to Heinz. I told them its the thing in Utah- and yes, you can get it at Wendy's here too. Funny thing is- I ran into them every single night. with 5000 other people on the ship- it was funny to keep running into them. Yes- the picture is kinda pathetic- I told them to "pose quick while we go under the Golden Gate bridge!!!" I spent a fun evening with these two ladies. With a bunch of alone time- I had to mingle and make friends. These two girls have been childhood friends and were so much fun- we giggled over a second lunch one night- making me late for a meeting. So worth it. With the disappointing diversion of our ship- the huge highlight for me was the zoo. My mother-in-law was not too keen on that, but I really really REALLY wanted to go. She was awesome and off we went. It was so much fun, and I will never forget it! She really was so much fun to go with, and I hope she had fun with me too. Going on this cruise was something important and good for me to look forward to after such a rotten summer. It made a huge difference for me and helped a bunch. Thanks Mom for a fantastic time! Loves!