5.28.2010

Grateful


I want to express my gratitude for all those who have served or are currently serving our country in the military. I am extremely grateful for the freedoms and opportunities I have because of the armed forces. Thank you, from the bottom of my red, white a blue heart.
p.s- I love you, Dad

5.24.2010

hoooottt


My friends and I did a skit for a talent show on Friday Night... don't I look fabulous?!?! Click here to see the original.

visitors from the garden state

I love it when family visits! It was fun to see how Nora & Rachel have grown. I can't wait until the next time we get to see Natalie and her family.







5.20.2010

Good decision


We usually have the missionaries come for dinner twice a month. This month, the only two days we were available was yesterday and today. Crazy??? No way! I only have to clean the house for them once! I think this is brilliance in the making...

5.18.2010

My dream house


I'm not sure if it's a good thing that "Say Yes to the Dress" is on Netflix instant streaming...

5.17.2010

For the sake of successful scrapbooking...

I need to post these pictures:
New necklace for my birthday!


Our hotel room... so cozy- except for the creepy porcelain dolls.

Giant strawberry and giant pile of vintage candy

5.15.2010

ahhh....

I don't usually like to post experiences like this on my blog. I like to keep it light and fun... but I lost my journal. I can't find it anywhere and I need to write this down because it was such a sweet experience for me and I want to remember it.

I worked hard all day on a huge catering event. My feet hurt. I look terrible. But we are going out of town tomorrow and I needed gas. I was debating on whether or not to get gas tonight or tomorrow morning. After working so hard, I thought that Heavenly Father would understand if I went home to bed instead and bought gas on the Sabbath. You see, as part of our religion, we choose to be with family, study scriptures and not shop on Sundays, to keep the Sabbath day holy. In some circumstances, I feel that God understands that we tried our best. Example?: medicine or emergency room, during travel and things of similar nature.

I was well on my way to drive the easy way home (small amount of signals, lots of highway), when I felt a small twinge that I should just bite the bullet and go through town to get gas. In the back of my mind, I felt like it was good to be obedient even when you're exhausted. After getting gas, I took some time to wash my windows. As I was just finishing the rear window, when a car with two young women pulled up to ask for directions after being unsuccessful with two other customers at the gas station. I happily gave them directions and was ready to go home. When I turned away from their car, I noticed that they seemed a little confused by my directions. I was thinking, 'it's so easy... just take a left and a left and you're well on your way. Heck, it's on my way home!' hmm... duh! I offered for the girls to follow me onto the long road up valley since it was on my way home anyway. They seemed grateful and follwed me on their journey. Hopefully they got to where they were going safely.

Now, I know that this experience is simple. But for me it was profound. The car literally felt filled with a strong spirit of peace while I was driving home. I felt that those girls could have prayed to find help- but even if they didn't, a loving God helped them find their way. I feel like in life, we sometimes get a little off the path and need help getting pointed in the right direction. In some instances, we are prayerful in finding our way back, but in others, He just leads us. He puts people in our path to get us heading in the right direction. I have so many dear friends and family that are like little lights on my path (picture the aisle lights in a movie theater). How grateful I am to a loving Heavenly father that grants me small moments that seem so nearly insignificant, but really punch a hole in my heart and make it soft. I love it when I am blessed for being obedient. I love it when the Lord uses me to help and serve others. My favorite thing to do is serve- food, cleaning, teaching- you name it. I get such abundant joy from helping and doing. I know that I am not the best at everything (terrible at writing thank you cards- terr-i-ble!). But I have such gratitude for the talents I have been blessed with.

How wonderful it feels to have small moments in time that are pivotal to a facet of my testimony. I love them and I love to remember them! Gosh, now I am kind of grateful I didn't find my journal, because this would have been terrible to write out long hand, huh?

5.12.2010

Fieldtrip


Now if she could just make that into some cheese,
we'd be in business.

p.s.- I'm really not trying to look like Mr. T in this pic...

I pity da fool

5.10.2010

Happy Birthday, Jimmy!

It is Jimmy's birthday today (as the title states) and I wanted to say a few things about Jimmy that will make him want to hide under the table. However, Mr. Graham does not read my blog unless I'm lording over him to read the funniest post ever. I guarantee you that he never agrees. It will be your job, dear readers, to tell him all about what you read on this here blog the next time you see him. That way, all these praises that make him blush will not be in vain.

Anyway, Jimmy my sweet darling husband of nearly nine years has been a stellar example of patience (with me) and hard work. He puts up with my many antics. Most of which are my own fault. That man still has major skill in keeping a straight face when I insist that, "it wasn't my fault!"
I cannot get over the way he amazes me everyday with his strength of character.
I am so proud of all that he has accomplished. My darling has a youtube station that been very successful- I am so proud! Jimmy has always been such a hard worker that I am grateful it is really paying off. And, he's doing what he loves. Because of his persistence, Jimmy has been able to test video games, go to gaming conferences and get some great connections in the industry. It used to be that I was embarrassed to say Jimmy wanted to work in the video game industry, but now I couldn't be happier. I have really looked up to him going after his dreams.

I love that Jimmy's testimony of the gospel strengthens our family. That to write a talk, all I need is Jimmy in the room because he knows every reference and cross reference in the scriptures. It makes me so happy that he shares all the scripture stories with Kaitlin and has given her a love of the scriptures.

My poor husband also suffers through severe poison oak every time he mows the lawn. But he still does it.

That man has also suffered through the numerous pranks I play. It takes a real man to have an ice cold glass of water poured on them in the shower and not scream like a girl.

I am so grateful to being going through this life journey with my best friend. He's kept me laughing the whole time. What's life if you can't laugh, right?

5.09.2010

Mother's Day Gift Checklist

The most amazing bollywood movie soundtrack- check
Kaitlin singing the sweetest song ever- check
Special cards from around the nation- check
Reoccurring bout of strep throat- check

Yeah... I must need to be humbled in some way. Because I got strep on my birthday and now on Mother's day. Literally the day after I finished antibiotics, the symptoms started again. I had a phone appointment with the doctor on Friday evening. He told me to get a prescription before the pharmacy closed on Friday evening so that I could start antibiotics over the weekend and not have to wait until Monday for the clinic to open. Jimmy drove like the dickens down there to get my medication. The doctor's other instructions were to wait until the symptoms got worse and to call an advice nurse before starting the medicine. Well folks, the symptoms got worse. I called the advice nurse. He insinuated through his lisp that I am an antibiotic fiend and refused to let me start taking anything to curb these symptoms. Because it is Sunday, our clinic in Napa is not open, so we have to drive to Vallejo for any treatment. Question: why in the world would I continue calling for an antibiotic that's side effects are yeast infections, diarrhea and stomach cramping? So, I will be spending the day (the national breakfast-in-bed, homemade card, sloppy kid kisses day) driving to Vallejo waiting in a very full urgent care room to get a throat culture- just so they can tell me to take the medication I have been sitting on since Friday. Niiiice...

* Update: Crisis averted! I talked to a doctor right before going into church (and then on to urgent care) and he basically called out the advice nurse for giving bad advice. The dear doc told me to take the antibiotics and hop my way into church to have a wonderful mother's day. Yay! You should never trust anyone with a lisp that thinks you're an antibiotic junkie.

5.07.2010

I'll have it for FIVE years!

My license expired this year on my birthday, so I had to renew it before then.
Upon arrival to the DMV, I learned that I would need a new picture. (I am sure you can tell where it's going from here...) I just received my license in the mail. Ouch.
Funny thing: I specifically asked the man taking my picture, "How's my hair?"
He grunted.
My mistake? I assumed that a grunt was a positive thing.

5.04.2010

Somebody get a firehose

I was reading to Kaitlin one night when my shirt came up a little and a sliver of my stomach was visible.
Kaitlin made mention and I pulled it down saying, "That's right, Kaitlin, modest is hottest."
She responded, "No mom, hottest is when a boy doesn't have a shirt on."
ARGH!!! Help! She is six!years!old!