My Favorite Time of the Year!

I love Fall. It's so cozy, warm and happy. I love the colors of the trees. I love eating pumpkin everything. I love baking and being able to eat hot food again. I love that I celebrate my birthday and get to watch General Conference while enjoying home made cinnamon rolls in PJ's.  I love that feeling of a new beginning as everyone heads back to school and focus more on work than play. Most of all, I love the rain!

This year I love the fact that Fall brings me a new job! I have something to do again and it's wonderful! I have been working for about a month now and I love just about every moment of it. There are times of course, like today, that I wonder why I'm putting myself through this. Then there are moments immediately following that remind me of how blessed I am to spend my days with precious little kids!

Today for the first time, I had to put my 3 year old friend in time out. She was in tears and I was close to shedding one for her. She has been getting comfortable with the word "NO" lately and I've been trying to set it aside assuming she's just tired or she's just adjusting to all the changes or worst of all  thinking every kid says no, who really wants to put their toys away.

It's a good thing I get to nanny so many children. By time I have my own I'll have some great experience! Today I learned that time out followed by a big hug and quick chat result in glorious outcomes. She went from telling me yelling "NO" to saying "ok" or her other acceptable responses I taught her "one minute please" or "ok but can you help me".  Being polite and respectful became a fun thing!

It's ok, I know what your thinking. I understand that every child has their own quirks. I know that what works for my little buddies now won't necessarily work with my own kids but see... this too has been shown to me as I get to work with unique children.

I can't wait to see what else I have in store to learn as I continue to watch my 3 and 1 year old friends.

Wow! Holy Changes!

Gary and I are moving soon. Whether it be a few blocks from where we are now, in Arvada... we don't know! Heck, we don't even know if we'll be moving next week or in 6 months. Fun, huh?

Ugh! So now I need a car AND I don't know where I'll be living in 2 weeks. I work 2 blocks from where we currently live and I love that. I hope I can get a car soon. That would make life easier.

This has been by far the toughest month of my life! We've had our fair share of trials but it's sad yet comforting to know that millions of other people are struggling just as hard if not harder with this recession.

There are some good things to be learned from it all though. Here is my list of optimism and things I have learned:

• We can live off of $100 in groceries a month!
• ATT doesn't assess late fees!
• I've learned how to use chop sticks due to boredom!
• Walking is not only a great way to stay fit but it also results in a great tan!
• King Soopers is only a mile away! Easy walk!
• I've found great ways to earn Amazon gift cards so I can still do some fun shopping!
• Olive Garden offers all you can eat soup, salad and bread sticks and are kind enough to box up extras of it all for leftovers! All for $5!
• It'll only get better from here!

See, even when times are tough financially you can still be 100% happy, healthy and have fun! Life is good.

The Best 2 Years

This Sunday is our second anniversary. Since we're having such a tough month financially and we don't have a car, we're celebrating it simply this year.

With our hardest month yet, Gary and I have certainly grown closer this past month than any other. It's been hard but in the end I will have learned so much about him, me and us as a couple. I already have learned a new depth of love and I know that we have even tougher challenges to come.

I'm so thankful for Gary and all he does for me and our family. He is always praying for guidance in what's best for our family and I appreciate that. I'm grateful for his deep faith that everything will always be okay.

This week I had a break down. I was mad, stressed, depressed and felt hopeless. Gary kept telling me everything will be okay and I just kept pushing him away telling him he needs to stop with all the "happy ever after fluffy stuff". I later learned that he is just as stressed as I am but puts on his happy face to keep me calm and at peace. I'm so thankful for that because he's right, his happy face does keep me calm.

I am grateful that he is so gifted in his entrepreneurial ways. He can make money doing what he loves and that is a blessing and a gift. I love that he can be home with me every day and provide for us too.

I love how happy that boy is. He has such an innocent, childlike happiness and I LOVE it! I love how much he loves me and I get weepy every time I think about how deeply he loves me. My favorite quote from him is "If you knew how amazing you are you wouldn't doubt how much I love you".

 I'm in love with that boy and I'm extremely grateful that we get to spend the rest of eternity together!! I'm so blessed!

Healthy!

Gary loves telling people about the first three months we were married. He brags that I made a new meal every day, never repeating a dish. Well, that was good but the side effects were a bit more than he expected. In the first year he gained about 30 pounds. Ouch! I have held on to my weight a little better but still gained about 7 pounds since our wedding.

We saved up our money and bought a treadmill in May. Gary said it was what he wanted for his birthday but we all know he was just making that up because he knew I wanted one. He does that a lot. Anyway, he convinced me that's what he really wanted for his birthday and that's what he got!

We've made a rule. If you want to watch Hulu, you need to be walking on the treadmill. It's been great! Gary walks about 2 miles a day and I average 1.5 jogging/speed walking. 

On top of that, summer is hot. We don't cook or have a desire to eat warm foods since it's so stinkin' hot! As a result we've found beauty in eating a practically vegetarian diet! When we do eat meat it's turkey burger rather than beef. We have also found that black beans, seasoned like taco meat, is just as good as hamburger. We've substituted our Orange Julius' with fruit smoothies, holding the sugar and adding a bit of spinach.  It's been so fun and it feels great!!!

Results:

Gary has lost 20 pounds!

I have lost 7.5 lbs

  I haven't lost much, but I now weigh less than I have since I was about 12. 

And we still enjoy treats when we feel like it!

GO US!

Before.... After!

I've been stuck in the house all summer (minus my very lovely 2 week vacation to Idaho and Utah). I just sit here, clean and do nothing. The highlight of my week is usually grocery shopping. Sad right?

So I made a bit of a stick about it. Gary was so sweet and decided we'd make Saturday special. 

We went to the Cheery Creek farmers market. It was fun to walk through and see all the silly vendors. Gary knows I LOVE shopping so he took me into the Cheery Creek mall after and pulled me into stores to look at things. It was so cool of him! He hates shopping but he just sucked it up and had fun with me! It was so incredibly sweet. Part of the deal was that he'd get a special drink as a reward, an Orange Julius or something. Well we forgot. We were almost home and turned around to go head to Sonic for a drink. We ordered one of their Cream Slushes and a Cream Chiller, both strawberry. We were headed home and I reminded him that we were going to go to Home Depot to look at gravel for the fish tanks. He asked if I wanted to turn around. I said "I don't care but if I think we're going somewhere and you take me home, I get disappointed". So he did a little U turn and....

BANG CRASH CRASH. In slow motion I saw a truck hit us, our bumper and other parts our my precious beautiful car fly around in the street.  UGH! Are you kidding me!?

I was horrible. I was the worst wife in the whole planet. My sweet husband had done everything he could to make my day special and perfect and I yelled at him. "What on Earth were you thinking? Why wont you just pay attention when you drive? I am so TICKED at you right now." I was mean. I was so mean. I would do anything to take that back and just hug him instead. I'd tell him "I'm so sorry!" it's not like he wanted to or meant to get in an accident and I knew that.

I was mad almost all day. He kept saying "What can I do for you? I'll do anything. I'll go get a second job and buy you a new car. I'll get a bus pass. I'll walk the 3 miles and back to the store for you". I just replied "I just want my car".

Well it's amazing how Heavenly Father works. A little knock came from the front door. Surprise! It was the missionaries. They were in the area and wanted to stop by. I grabbed them ice water and Popsicles thinking they needed refreshing.I later realized that they didn't come for themselves. They came to talk to me. 

They didn't know we had been in an accident that day, they didn't know that I was angry. They didn't know that I was upset and frustrated that Heavenly Father would let something bad happen to us after we've been doing everything right.

The new missionary asked if he could share a thought with us.  He went on to tell us a story of a member in his last area who went in for a meeting with the Steak President. The President asked "what commandment are you struggling with the most?" at which the man replied "happiness". The missionary then told us that you are always being worked on by either the Lord, or Satan. Obviously if your unhappy, Satan is winning. If you are happy, Heavenly Father is winning. Heavenly Father knows when trials come upon you and all he asks is that you have faith and stay happy.

I knew as he was speaking he was inspired to stop by and share that message with me. It was great. They left and I changed my attitude. I hugged Gary, sobbed and told him how sorry I am that I was mean to him. I told him sorry that he got in an accident and that I knew he didn't mean to. I know it'll be ok. I don't know how we'll get to church or go shopping. I don't know how we'll ever afford to get our car fixed but I know it'll work out. I just need to stay happy and have faith. 

I'm so grateful that we are safe and healthy. I am the luckiest girl in the whole world to have a sweet husband who made yesterday special for me. He's the love of my life and I'm so thankful for all that he does for me!

Before:

After: