Backlogged

Okay, so I knew this was a lofty goal, but I didn't realize some of what November would throw at me!! Difficult decisions, promising adventures, and not enough time to do all I planned. I've done some post-dating and will continue on my list because I do have innumerable things to be grateful for. Thanks to those of you who have stopped by and left your comments ... it means so much to know that you still come by to check on me after I've been such a wayward blogger the past few months!! My goal was to post every day, but I've posted more this month so far than I have in a long time and it feels GOOD!!! Hopefully I can keep it up. I will have a complete list of 30 things I am grateful for by the end of the month - I may just be posting 2 or 3 at a time now in order to catch up :)

Online Shopping

As much as I love Target, I can't help but love online shopping! I'm not a "try on" kind of girl most of the time - I'd much rather purchase, bring home, try on, and return what I don't care for. Perhaps that has something to do with the fact that I usually have at least one child with me any time I go shopping. It doesn't help that my closest mall is about 20 minutes away and the "good" malls / shops are closer to 45 minutes away! I suppose if I was a fashionista I would love the idea and experience of "real" shopping more, but I am not. I digress ....

The online experience is much more "user friendly" to me - you have WAY more options than what is available in any one store, you can easily price compare for the best value, many sites offer FREE shipping and returns which is *perfect* for my "anti-try on" personality, and I have access to shops that I don't have locally - or that are 45 minutes away (which, let's be honest, is completely inconvenient) *HA*

Online shopping saves me time, money, and my sanity - who would not be grateful for that?!?

Music

I'll admit that I'm pretty well out of the "cool" music scene these days. I can't tell you how long it's been since I listened to the actual RADIO and recognized anything being sung ... unless it's been used on TV ;) Our car and iPod were taken over a while ago with the hottest in "tween" music - Hannah Montana, Miley Cyrus, Jonas Brothers, Taylor Swift, Aly & AJ, Demi Lovato - you get the picture. Yet there is something magical about these tunes. They have taught my girls to *LOVE* music ... even it it's "teeny bopper" music. Sweet Kendyl literally lives her life in a musical and sings her way through everything. I love hearing her figure out the lyrics to a new song that she's heard. All of the girls are so cute in the car as they sing along to the latest one hit wonder!! Cougar is even starting to join them in his own extremely time delayed, one word way :) And the dancing along? Don't even get me started on the fun dance parties!!

I believe there are very few things that can evoke emotion in me the way that music can. Pictures can take me back to a certain time but hearing the music of that time makes me FEEL like I'm right back there! My college days were filled with awesome memories of roommates and music - blaring our radio or CD player, laughing, and being crazy. Rob Base (It Takes Two) will forever make me laugh hysterically and make me think of Deb and Kasey ... and we ALL still know every word!!

It's not just the "fun" music that makes me wanna get up and dance, either, that I'm grateful for. I find such power in the Hymns of the church. They bear such powerful witness through their messages. Other songs of faith strengthen and clam me. The tinklings of my girls as they learn to play the piano brings me joy. Buying a new ringtone makes me smile (currently "I Gotta Feeling" from the Black Eyed Peas ... and the BYU Fight Song for Steve). Finding a great song that motivates me to run a little harder is always needed. I am grateful for music and the role it has played throughout my life!

Disney/Pixar Movies

I'm pretty much a sucker for Disney movies ... we've been through our phases, of course. We own just about every princess movie made and have worn most of them out. Now that we've got Cougar around and the girls are getting older we seem to be moving on to a new phase. We have purchased most of the Disney/Pixar movies as they have come out ... Finding Nemo, Cars, Monsters, Inc., etc., and the girls have enjoyed them. Cougar *LOVES* them!!!! I have gotten to hear/watch Cars, The Incredibles, and Monsters Inc., more times than I could count! Oh, and Toy Story ... don't get me started on Toy Story!! Their newest film, Up, came out on DVD today and I went to Target very first thing to pick it up. We actually saw it in the theater and I absolutely loved it!! I am not an emotional movie watcher (or person, for that matter) and almost had to get out my kleenex. We curled up on the couch as a family to watch it today and sweet Kendyl had tears streaming down her cheeks!! I am grateful to the brains behind Disney/Pixar for telling such amazing stories and helping me and my kiddos enjoy more time together.

Target

I find it impossible to believe there is anyone reading this that would say that Target is NOT on the list of things they are grateful for!! Where would I find the perfect shirt (for under $15) when I need a little pick-me-up? Where would I find the latest in treat offerings? Where would I wander the aisles aimlessly without children just basking in the wonders that I behold? There are few places where I could easily drop $20+ ... in the dollar spot ;) I *heart* Target!!!

Church Callings

I have been lucky in my life to serve in many different church callings - all of which have taught me things about myself. It is always hard to be released and left to feel like you could have / should have done more, done things differently, etc. I've had a hard time adjusting to the idea that I am no longer in the stake YW presidency. I loved that calling!! I love working with the youth and the women I had the opportunity to serve with are amazing ... I learned SO MUCH from each of them and am a better person for having had that time to serve with them!!! That being said, it has been hard to be without a calling for almost a month now. There is something about knowing you have a job to fulfill rather than just coming to church. I honestly had no idea where I might end up serving and have been anxious about it after having had such a wonderful most recent calling. Well, today I was called to the scout committee ... completely out of my comfort zone and realm of experience!!!! The closest thing I have to scouting is a 2 1/2 year old boy and a husband who is an Eagle Scout! To say the idea is frightening would be an understatement. Having my husband be the one to extend the call to me was plain WEIRD, too!

Lucky for me they just called a new committee chair last week and she is awesome - totally organized and ready to make our scout troop something to be proud of!! We already started talking grand plans for our ward scout camp that we are in charge of this year (um ... glad that I got to help plan girls camp last year) and are so excited about some of the ideas we have. They certainly won't regret putting two women in charge :)

Today I am grateful for church callings because I am reminded of the opportunity that they give us to share our talents, learn new skills, grow in the gospel in ways we might not otherwise, and challenge ourselves to put our trust in the Lord and do what he asks of us - knowing the blessings that lie in store when we obey.

WOW - that's a lot of "churchy" posts in the past few days!!! Don't worry ... I'll be grateful for something totally frivolous tomorrow - I'm pretty sure I already know what it is :)

Temples

Today (yes, I'm post dating for Saturday) I am grateful for Temples. We have a monthly goal to attend the temple and while we're not perfect, we have done very well this year. What a blessing it is in our lives!! There is something about just walking onto the temple grounds - no matter which temple you are at - that changes the way you think, the way you look at things, and the way you "hear" things. There is no question that the temples sit on sacred ground and that walking into them is walking into the House of the Lord. I was once again reminded of this tonight as a new temple president shared his experiences of his first week being in the temple all day, every day.

I am grateful for the opportunity I had to take some of my cyberfriends to see the Salt Lake City Temple while we were in Utah for the Digital Scrapbook Experience. Several of them commented on what a peaceful place it was and how beautiful the grounds were. I could not agree more. The photo is one I took from the top of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building on that visit ... I love the views of the temple from there!!

I am grateful for the work that goes on in the temples - binding families together for eternity. I am blessed to be sealed to my husband and know that if we are faithful and remain worthy that we will have that blessing for our own family. We have been fortunate the last few times we have been to take names through for my brother-in-law to help the work of his family progress and look forward to doing more.

If you are not of my faith and are curious to learn more about temples please visit www.lds.org/temples.

ScrapMatters DSD Blog Train!!

For my "regular" readers, this in NOT my gratitude post for today - you'll have to check back later for that :) Welcome to the second stop on the ScrapMatters DSD Blog Train!! I hope you are enjoying all of the sales and happenings on this weekend where we celebrate digital scrapbooking. I know ScrapMatters is having a fantastic sale, games, speed scraps, and more ... here are the details:The designers have put together a gorgeous kit called "A Slice of Life" that you will receive *FREE* with any single $15 purchase from November 6th - 9th. There is also a hybrid card/template pack to go along with it - 6 printable cards and 6 matching templates for $5 but on sale through the weekend!! I can't begin to tell you how many A*MAZ*ING grab bags the gals at SM have put together ... and they are a STEAL!!!!! I've seen what's inside all of them and you WILL NOT be disappointed! I have one brand new product in my shop this week - wanna see? Here you go! I love the way it turned out :)Now onto your freebie ... I created a printable purse card complete with assembly instructions!! It also includes a pocket to hold a note or gift card inside. This freebie will only be available until Thursday, Nov. 12th and will then go into the shop (compiled with the other blog train goodies) for purchase.*link has been disabled*

Thanks for stopping by!! You should have come from Andrea's blog and you are now headed to Wendy's blog. If you happen to get derailed or lost along your way, you can head back to the SM team blog to find the complete list of stops - there are 45 of them and you don't want to miss a single one!!

Date Night

It's a night we look forward to every week (except the week that we babysit) ... date night! Over 2 years ago we were invited to be part of a babysitting group with 3 other couples. We rotate homes on Friday nights so each couple babysits once every 4 weeks ... that's 3 weeks of FREE babysitting in exchange for 1 completely WILD night with 15 kids running around my house!!! Drop off is at 6 P.M. and pick up is at 10:30 P.M. so we have 4 1/2 hours all to ourselves almost every Friday night - it is BLISS!! We certainly can't afford to do something fancy every week, but even if we grab a quick bite to eat and head home to watch a movie or T.V. (or clean/gut the playroom - yes, we have done that on date night) it is our uninterrupted time and I am beyond grateful for the time that we set aside to spend together ... just us. Tonight was a game of Settlers of Catan with friends, sushi for dinner, followed by gelato - perfect!

P.S. Pardon the less than stellar photo - it was a low light setting taken with my camera phone and overdone flash!!! You get the idea, right?

Forgiveness

Unfortunately I have to ask for it too often ... from my husband, my kids, my friends, myself, and my Savior. How grateful I am to know that I can be forgiven by others for my shortcomings and mistakes! More importantly, how blessed I am to know that I was not put here to fail, but given the opportunity to repent and be forgiven through the atonement of Jesus Christ. There is no real way to express my gratitude for that.

DVR

I have wondered MANY times how I could stand to watch TV before we got our DVR. I am utterly in *LOVE* with the ability to choose WHAT I want to watch WHEN I want to watch it!! I only have to watch the commercials if I choose to (which I don't unless I'm not really paying attention and let them run). Need a babysitter for an hour so you can take a shower? Keep a few extra recordings of Diego on the DVR and you've got a FREE babysitter - on demand :) The new episode of Wizards of Waverly Place starts after bedtime? It will be waiting for the girls when they wake up Saturday morning. Don't have time to watch The Biggest Loser on Tuesday night? No problem!! I'll catch it when I'm cleaning the kitchen later in the week :) Can't stand to watch just one episode of Leverage because you can't get enough? Record the whole season and watch it in 3 days (we just finished last week and are SO excited it is coming back in January!)!! Forgot The Rachel Zoe Project was starting this week (It's not ... that's just an example of one that I would have missed)? The DVR has you covered! Once you choose the shows you like you can program it to record only new episodes ... and it remembers when a new season starts!

Steve and I actually have a standing DVR night now - Wednesday night. After yesterday's post it seems I have a bit of a "standing appointment" issue, doesn't it? I guess if I don't set aside the time I miss out on these little gems of time that I love ;) It works out perfectly for us because he has either Young Men's or Bishopric visits on Wednesday until about 9 P.M. Then we fire up the DVR to catch up on the shows we enjoy (I even make him watch Project Runway sometimes) and spend a few hours just being together, relaxing. We usually stay up until at least midnight or 1 A.M. since he has Thursdays off.

I am grateful for the wonder of DVR and the opportunity it affords me to watch ONLY what I want to when it fits into my schedule ... which can be hectic at times :) Some may think it's silly to show gratitude for something so trivial but it has changed our lives and we are grateful for the FREEDOM it gives us!!

Tuesday Lunch Dates

Last year my dear friend Beth (yes, she's been called that in the past) and I decided to "celebrate" the kids going back to school with a lunch date. It was me, Beth, and our kiddos who were still at home (Kendyl, Cougar, and Alex). The following week, Steve asked if we were going to lunch. I said, "Not that I know of." His reply was, "Oh, I thought you had a standing lunch date!" So what's a girl to do?!? Schedule a standing lunch date, of course!! So, for the past year+ we have had a lunch date almost every week during the school year (summers are a bit tough with Beth's travel schedule *giggle*). We've had to switch the day of the week a few times, but this school year it is scheduled for Tuesday and I look forward to it every week! We don't branch out much ... in fact we can usually be found at one of three places - Paradise Bakery (75% of the time), Einstein's Bagels, or Chipotle (no chicken nuggets for us!!). Mmmmm ... my mouth waters just thinking about it!! In fact I still have cookies downstairs from our visit today :) Others are always welcome and sometimes join us, but we rarely miss a week. It is the perfect escape from a hectic week to catch up on our lives. I am so incredibly grateful for the time I have each week to share an hour or two with my closest friend!This pic was taken by Kendyl at one of her last lunch dates with us before starting Kindergarten. She ALWAYS kept track of which restaurant we were going to (last year we alternated between Paradise and Einstein's and she NEVER forgot where we had been the week before!) and still asks each week about our lunch date :)

Online Communities

I'm sure a lot of people would think this is strange, but I am extremely grateful for online communities! They have literally changed my life and brought me in contact with dear friends that I may never have known without the powers of the cyberworld.

When I started my digital scrapbooking journey at jessicasprague.com I never imagined that 2 years later I would have made 2 trips to visit my cyberfriends who feel more like sisters to me now. My trip to Chicago last summer was actually made possible by one of my dear Spraguemates who offered her airline miles just to get me there ... for a total of 30 hours from departing Phoenix to my return home. I could never express the love I have for the people there and to Jessica for giving us a "home" on the web :)
I also never dreamed that I would start doing creative team work for ScrapMatters, but with a little nudge from another dear cyberfriend (that I met at JS.com) I took the plunge to apply for the team. Now over a year later I am a designer for their shop and am the team leader for the hybrid creative team AND the hybrid design team! The community is wonderful and I have met even more dear friends from around the country and the world.

I think the thing that makes these communities unique is that we are all there to share our stories through our scrapbook pages and to share our knowledge as we help each other to learn new skills to improve our process. Our pages tell a lot about us and our lives, our celebrations and our challenges. These are the things that bind people together. These are the reasons I am grateful for online communities ... they help me to learn, grow, challenge myself, and expand my circle of friends to places I only dreamed of!

On that note, I have to put in a plug for Jessica Sprague ... she is offering another FREE online class that will be perfect for ANYONE! You don't need to be a digital scrapbooker ;) Check out her website for more information and REGISTER - you won't regret it!!!

Also, ScrapMatters is celebrating Digital Scrapbooking Day on November 7th with a storewide sale, a fabulous kit that will be FREE with a $15 purchase, games, speed scraps, and a fabulous blog train with over 40 stops!!! You won't want to miss it!

Grateful

I figured since it had been another month since I posted it was about time to get around to it again. Our October flew by and I'm rather glad it's over! While we had lots of fun it also seemed to be a month filled with chaos - THAT I can do without!

After doing my photo a day last December I loved that I had just a bit recorded for every day of the month. This year I wanted to focus on November because I really do have SO MUCH to be grateful for! My goal, which is VERY lofty considering my current blogging behavior, is to record a little snippet each day of just a few of the things I'm grateful for. I won't necessarily have a photo each day (my go-to lens on my camera is broken) but I am hoping to write down just a bit of the gratitude that I have.

Today I'll start with the obvious ... my family. I made this scrapbook page this past week for a speed scrap I was hosting and I just love the way it came out. The photo is one that I took on our first trip to the beach as a family this past month. No, I didn't have Steve and the girls posed for this shot - that is part of what I love about it!! It shows the natural instinct for them to hold onto him, knowing that he will keep them safe in uncertain times (the ocean was all new to them). It shows the wonder of a little boy playing in sand for the first time (exploring and learning new things). What a blessing it is to have these people in my life ... to call them mine. I am forever grateful for the opportunity to have such a wonderful family :)