Where does the Time Go?

Where does the time go? One minute I have 8 hours to do something and the next I have 10 minutes. Can someone please find my year? There are only 3.5 more weeks left in the year and I don't know what I did with the rest of it. Sure, there are a couple of big events that I remember...2 week vacation to Utah, and Arizona in the summer and a 2 week trip most recently to Alaska and Arizona. I guess I can fill in the rest with school, cleaning, and watching TV.
I thought once I got 3 kids into school life would be less busy. Boy was I wrong. My kids aren't even involved in sports or music lessons yet (this will come next year). I have found that the time I thought I would have has been spent trying to catch up on all the things I'm behind on. Which in turn puts me behind on the things I should be doing. Plus, I feel the need to volunteer at my children's school once a week, which takes a couple of hours. I started a crochet group that meets at my house once a week and that takes a couple of hours as well. At least when the afghan we are working on gets finished we can go to meeting once a month instead of 4 times.

Having 3 kids in school also means having to remember the due dates of all their projects. Fortunately my Kindergartner doesn't have any but my pre k student comes home with a "family project" once a month. Don't get me wrong it is fun to do but when I get it on Friday and it is due Monday I have to re-arrange the weekend schedule to add one more thing. Na is in the gifted and talented program at school. I'm so happy my child is "gifted and talented" but this means more work on her end which translates to more due dates to remember and more work on my end. Currently we are trying to make a 3-d replica of The Forest Spiral building. 

The guidelines for making it are as follows:

1. Bigger than a shoe box but still able to fit on a desk.
2. Make it from items you would find around your house = don't spend a lot of money.
3. Make it impressive.

I am more stressed about this project then she is. Just trying to determine what materials to make it out of stressed me out. Once the decision was made to make homemade clay I relaxed. However, we started piecing it together last night and this morning there are cracks galore as it is starting to dry. I'm sure once we get it all assemble we can hide the cracks with paint.  This replica is going to be very heavy. I can tell I will be the one carrying it in. At least we came up with the idea of putting the clay around hollow items so it isn't as heavy as it could be. I just hope and pray the clay will be dry by this weekend so we ( I mean she) can start painting it.
At least now I can check Write on Blog off of my list of things to do.

Surviving Black Friday

Black Friday has got to be the only day of the year I actually love to shop. I get a thrill from getting great deals and getting done with all my Christmas shopping in one day. What adds to my excitement is seeing how fast I can get in and out of a store. I typically try to go to just 3 stores, Lowes, Michaels, and Walmart. Lowes has the best deals for gifts for The Doctor. Michaels is of course for me. Then walmart I price match all the deals at the other stores plus take advantage of their deals. Here is how I survive Black Friday.

Thanksgiving day I lay out all the ads. I place the ones advertising items on my list in one pile and toss the others. Then I go through and see which store has the best prices on items. I will make a master list of the things I want, how much they are and at what store. When I go to Walmart I have all the ads with me and know which ad to price match for which item.

Once I know what I want I will coordinate with a buddy. Last year it was The Doctor and we had a blast. This year we will be with  more family so there will be more of us which should make things easier. We divide up who is responsible for getting which items and then we meet back at the front to check out.

I usually arrive to Walmart an hour before their sales begin. I grab a cart and place all the items I am price matching in the cart and then I stash the cart down some aisle, usually cosmetics or even bedding. I carry with me a big bag that I can carry on my shoulder. Trying to push a cart through the crowds on black Friday is insane so I just put my items in the bag. I can weave in and out of people much faster. As I am making my way through the store I seek out the "hot ticket" items on my list that are sure to go fast. I then station myself by the most wanted item but in a way I can grab and go to the next place as fast as possible. Meanwhile my partner is at the other side of the store doing the same thing.

While we usually have the cheap movies on our list we don't stress if we don't get them because they can be a time warp if we try and maneuver around the hoards of people digging through them. Typically we have everything we want with in 15 minutes and are checked out in another 15 minutes giving us plenty of time to get to the next stores before they open. The last 2 years I have been in and out of all my stores and home in 2 hours. This gives me plenty of time to stash the goods before the kids wake up.

Black Friday holds the excitement for me that Christmas morning did for me as a child. I get such a rush and I enjoy picking out all the gifts at most excellent prices. This year I may even get in on the cyber Monday action.

My Bucket List

I didn't think this would be hard but it was tricky after #50. I have lots of traveling to do.

1. Get Married in the Temple
2. Become a mom
3. travel to England
4. visit all 50 US states
5. swim with dolphins
6. visit a country south of Mexico
7. Scuba dive
8. visit the Great Barrier reef
9. Travel to New Zealand
10. Serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
11. Go on a cruise
12. Get a college degree
13. go to massage therapy school
14. go to cosmetology school
15. Go to culinary arts school
16. Go to China
17. attend the Olympic games (summer or winter)
18. Take a cake decorating class
19. knit socks
20. Go para sailing
21. Be on the Amazing Race with my husband
22. Take my children to Disney World
23. Drive from coast to coast in an RV
24. See the worlds largest ball of yarn.
25. Visit New York City at Christmas
26. Go on an African Safari
27. Have an apt 1 reunion
28. own a house on some land.
29. Visit Paris
30. write my life story
31. Visit Jerusalem
32. Visit Spain
33. Go on a week long vacation with hubby with out the kids
34. Take ballroom dance classes
35. Learn to clog or tap
36. Learn to water ski
37. Get my kicks on route 66
38. Visit Graceland
39. visit the Grand Ole Opry
40. Try Escargot
41. Visit Rome
42. go Back packing
43. Learn to crochet
44. Visit all the LDS Temples in Utah
45. Make a wedding cake
46. write/publish a children's book
47. see a performance on Broadway
48. attend a live performance of Les Miserables with my husband
49. Pet a tiger or lion (I love big Cats)
50. View a whale in the wild
51. visit Egypt
52. Ride a camel
53. Tour my husbands mission to Venezuela
54. Take a boat across the Panama canal
55. visit the Leaning Tower of Pisa
56. visit the Taj Mahal
57. Visit Stonehenge
58. Visit the Great wall of China
59. Visit Ground zero
60. climb to the top of the Statue of Liberty
61. Ride a Trolley in San Fransisco
62. Drive across the Golden Gait Bridge
63. Travel to Antarctica
64. Visit Machu Picchu
65. Tour the White House
66. Drive across the Brooklyn Bridge
67. Eat Belgium chocolates in Belgium
68. Drive a motorcycle
69. Dance in the rain
70. Go White Water rafting
71. Have at least 50 followers on my blog (almost there)
72. Own a purse that costs more than $10
73. Take a homeless person out to lunch or dinner to a place that doesn't serve fast food.
74. See Wicked
75. Go fishing in Alaska
76. Go deep sea fishing
77. Own a hot tub
78. Own an unpractical yet amazing pair of shoes.
79. Stop biting my finger nails
80. Camp at the Grand Canyon
81. Go Polar bear swimming
82. visit a rain forest
83. see Punxsutawney Phil
84. See the Eiffel tower
85. Witness a miracle
86. Visit Time's Square
87. Ice skate in Central Park
88. Go surfing
89. Bungee Jump
90. Attend the Nauvoo Temple
91. Knit an adult sweater
92. Go shopping on Rodeo drive
93. Own a cabin in the mountains
94. Own Snowmobiles
95. Own 4-wheelers
96. Get a dog
97. See Angel falls up close
98. Be debt free
99. Catch a shark
100. Write a bucket list

Fear

The only thing we have to fear is fear it'self - nameless, unreasoning, unjustified, terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance."---- FDR - First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1933

According to the Miriam Webster Dictionary Fear is defined as follows:

1 archaic : frighten
2
archaic : to feel fear in (oneself)
3 : to have a reverential awe of

4 : to be afraid of : expect with alarm intransitive
verb : to be afraid or apprehensive
— fear·er
noun

Often, when people feel/have fear they let it hold them back but, when
they finally face their fear and overcome it they become stronger. They
have more knowledge and don't fear the same thing as much. I have definitely felt some apprehension and fear in myself over the last several months with a project I have been working on.

I learned to knit almost a year ago. I have completely become obsessed with it. Last fall Bernat decided to host a Mystery Afghan knit along and I decided to participate. I had been wanting to make an afghan for some time but couldn't find a pattern I liked or felt I could make with my limited knitting skills. When I came across the opportunity I figured it would be a great adventure. I quickly enlisted my friend in the journey as well. She lives 4 hours away and we figured this would be a great way for us to work on something together even with the distance between us.

The first several mystery patterns were pretty basic and easy. Then the stitches starting getting a little more complicated. Lace patterns were the first hurtle I had to face. Then it was cables. Then the patterns called for cables and bobbles. Bobbles, that was an adventure. When I first looked at what I thought would be a difficult pattern I would post pone working on it because I was "afraid" I wouldn't be able to do it. Eventually though I would pull it out and really study the pattern, read what others had to say about it, and give it a try. I had to frog many rows but eventually I figured it out and completed block after block.

Finally the last clue came, the border. I postponed doing the border almost a month because I feared it was going to be too much. Looking at the pictures that demonstrated what to do scared me. But, the time came to face my fear. I could no longer put it off because the contest deadline was fast approaching. I sat down and studied all the instructions. I figured I just had to give it a try. Well, after the first 2 stitches I realized the fear was all with in myself. It really wasn't hard at all and 2 days later I was done. I did it. I completed my first afghan, learned new skills, and my confidence in my ability to knit has grown.

While this knitting fear of mine seems small (I'm sure I've faced bigger fears) it was fear nonetheless that held me back from completing the task faster. To any of you with a fear, I challenge you to face it head on and see how much you have grown when you reach the other side.

Eleanor Roosevelt:
You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do.

Counting Blessings

I have unfortunately been sick for the last several days. Yesterday my husband had to work a 30 hour shift which meant it was sick me vs 4 very healthy kids. I was at a low point yesterday, feeling a little woe is me when I decided I needed to get out of this funk. The best way to do that is by counting my blessings. So, that is what I did. These are not in any particular order but here are my favorite ones.

1. I have 4 healthy children whom I love very much.
   
2. I have 4 children who love me and think I'm am the most amazing person in the world. (at least that is how they make me feel)
   
3. I have a wonderful husband
   
4. My husband has a job
   
5. Because of my husband's job, I get to stay home and take care of my family.
   
6. I have use of my hands to knit beautiful baby gifts.
   
7. I have a house and 2 vehicles we use to get around in.
   
8. I have the Gospel of Jesus Christ
   
9. I live in the fullness of times.
   
10. I have a pantry full of food.
    
11. I can read great books.
    

These are just 11 of my many blessings. Suddenly life doesn't look so bad. I really have a pretty awesome life and if it takes an illness to make me count my blessings and be grateful, then I'm thankful for my illness too. Afterall, it gave me a chance to knit and read book 2 of The Work and the Glory series guilt free.

How to Avoid Junk -Email

I received an email with the following and thought it was excellent advice and rather than forward it on to people I'm sharing it here.

A friend who is a computer expert received the following directly from a system administrator for a corporate system. It is an excellent message that ABSOLUTELY applies to ALL of us who send emails. Please read the letter below, even if you're sure you already follow proper procedures. Do you really know how to forward emails? 50% of us do; 50% DO NOT. (I think more like 20%--80%). Do you wonder why you get viruses or junk mail? Do you hate it? Every time you forward an email, there is information left over from the people who got the message before you, namely their email addresses and names.. As the messages get forwarded along, the list of addresses builds, and builds, and builds, and all it takes is for some poor sap to get a virus, and his or her computer can send that virus to every email address that has come across his computer. Or, someone can take all of those addresses and sell them or send junk mail to them in the hopes that you will go to the site and he will make five cents for each hit. That's right, all of that inconvenience over a nickel. How do you stop it? Well, there are several easy steps. Try the following if you haven't done it before:

(1) When you forward an email, DELETE all of the other addresses that appear in the body of the message (at the top). That's right, DELETE them. Highlight them and delete them, backspace them, cut them, whatever it is you know how to do. It only takes a second. You MUST click the 'Forward' button first and then you will have full editing capabilities against the body and headers of the message. If you don't click on 'Forward' first, you won't be able to edit the message at all.

(2) Whenever you send an email to more than one person, DO NOT use the To: or Cc:fields for adding email addresses. Always use the BCC: (blind carbon copy) field for listing the email addresses. This way the people you send to will only see their own email address. If you don't see your BCC option, click on where it says To: and your address list will appear. Highlight the address and choose BCC: and that's it, it's that easy. When you send to BCC: your message will automatically say 'Undisclosed Recipients' or the principal addressee in the 'TO:' field of the people who receive it.

(3) Remove any 'FW:' in the subject line. You can re-name the subject if you wish or even fix spelling.

(4) ALWAYS hit your Forward button from the actual email you are reading. Ever get those emails that you have to open 10 pages to read the one page with the information on it? By forwarding from the actual page you wish someone to view, you stop them from having to open many e-mails just to see what you sent.

(5) Have you ever gotten an email that is a petition? It states a position and asks you to add your name and address and to forward it to 10 or 15 people or your entire address book. The email can be forwarded on and on and can collect thousands of names and email addresses.

A FACT: The completed petition is actually worth a couple of bucks to a professional spammer because of the wealth of valid names and email addresses contained therein. DO NOT put your email address on any petition. If you want to support the petition, send it as your own personal letter to the intended recipient. Your position will carry more weight as a personal letter than a laundry list of names and email address on a petition. (And don't believe the ones that say that the email is being traced, it just isn't so!) Some of the other emails to DELETE and NOT forward are:

1. The one that says something like, 'Send this email to 10 people and you will see something great run across your screen.' Or sometimes they'll just tease you by saying 'something really cute will happen. 'IT ISN'T GONNA HAPPEN!!!!! (We are still seeing some of the same emails that we waited on 10 years ago!)

2 Don't let the bad luck ones scare you either; delete them, they are trash.

3. Before you forward an 'Amber Alert', or a 'Virus Alert', or some of the other emails floating around nowadays, check them out. Most of them are junk mail that's been circling the net for YEARS! Just about everything you receive in an email that is in question can be checked out at Snopes. Just go to www.truthorfiction.com . It's really easy to find out if it's real or not. If it's not, please don't pass it on..

4. Before sending the email scroll down to the bottom and remove ALL the build up of 'Virus Protection Messages' and other advertising that get tacked on each time an email gets forwarded. So please, in the future, let's stop the junk mail and the viruses.

New Year New Resolutions

It's a new year so you have new resolutions right? Well, if you are me the only thing true about that statement is, it's a new year. My resolutions are still the same as they were last year. That is because I didn't quite achieve all of my resolutions. In fact, the only one I remember is my resolution to lose weight and that is because it is the same every year because I fail miserably every year. This year is going to be different I just know it. It is going to be a great year. I have two big milestones in my life to look forward too, I'm turning 30 and celebrating my ten year anniversary married to the love of my life. I wish the Black Eyed Peas would change the lyrics of their song I Gotta a Feelin to "this year is gonna be a good year". If you are like me you need some tips on having resolutions you can stick to so, here are a few tips for creating New Year Resolutions that you can keep.

The first thing you want to do is choose obtainable resolutions. If your resolution is to run a 5 minute mile and you are extremely overweight you probably won't be able to keep your resolution. A goal to run a mile is more realistic and can, with a lot of work be achieved with in a year.

Break down larger goals into little goals to help you achieve the big one. So, if you want to run a 5 minute mile make sure you can run a mile first.

Write your resolutions down and place them somewhere you can see them everyday as a reminder. If it is not written down it will be forgotten.

Work on your resolutions daily. Many resolutions are a "work in progress" like weight loss and getting organized. Do something daily to help you reach your end result.

Some resolutions are deeply personal but share the ones that are not with another person who can support you in your goal. Working towards a goal with someone who shares it also makes it easier.

It is never too late to start and if you break them start them up again.