Things I love that start with the letter "L"

This is a fun game my sister passed along that was a good opportunity for me to think hard about things I appreciate and value. Activities like this are good for me to do once in awhile just to remind myself who I am and what blessings I have in my life. It also helps me realize that there's really no reason for me to be as grumpy as I am sometimes. :)

1- Latin Ballroom - Anyone who know me knows I love to dance, and have spent most of my life doing some form of it. In college I fell in love with Latin ballroom, and it was even how I met Seth. Anyway, I am a particuar fan of rumba and cha-cha. But I love other forms of ballroom as well. One of the big reasons we moved from Ridgecrest was because there were no real opportunities for dancing there and I couldn't take it anymore!
As a side note, I have actually been doing Argentine tango since June and I even work for the tango instructor, who is a former international tango champion. It has been such a blessing for me to have this opportunity. We couldn't afford to take dance classes continuously, and now Seth and I get free classes and a few extra bucks a week by taking care of the spreadsheets. I work with great people and my schedule is so flexible. It has been a lot of fun and I'm thankful this opportunity fell right into my lap when I really wanted it!

2- Lawrence Welk - if you don't know who this is, you're missing out. This old-timer's tv show was where I learned to love ballroom dancing. It's the number one reason I wish we got local channels on tv. One of my fondest childhood memories is taking our Saturday night bath and then getting our hair tied in rag curlers and dancing around the living room while we watched Lawrence Welk on tv. Ahhhh. Love it.

3- Love - I'm thankful for all kinds of love: the love I have with my husband, with my kids, with my family, with friends and neighbors. I'm also of course thankful for the love our Heavenly Father has for us. He knows us so well and loves us so much, and we can always feel it when we need to. I'm also grateful that at Christmas time, you can feel this love all over, all the time! It's such a miracle to me.

4- Lists - It seems to me that most people like making lists for the satisfaction of crossing things off when they're done. Not me. I don't particularly care about accomplishing things. I love lists for the sake of the lists themselves. I like things organized.

5- Life - Yes, I like living, but the life I mean is the life all around us in the world. We have recently enjoyed watching the Planet Earth series and it's so fascinating and beautiful seeing the variety of life that has been placed on the earth for us to enjoy. I really do appreciate it.

6- Libraries - I love to read and I'm thankful to have libraries (and I'm thankful that those libraries are free!) I'm also thankful for the wonderful resources our libraries are for our children. It's such a great way for them to discover and explore their interests, and it's so fun to experience storytimes and various activities with them.

7- Long Hair - I wish I could grow it. My hair never looks the same for more than one haircut because the texture is so awful I just cannot find a good way to do it. If I could, I would have long, silky hair with loose, soft curls. Maybe in the next life!

8- Lightning - I love to watch lightning storms, as long as I know I'm safe. It kind of puts me in awe of the power of nature, and of course, the Omnipotent power that governs all nature!

9- Little Hands - My favorite thing about babies and my littel children are their tiny, soft, dimpled hands. I think they are so precious. Other super cute hands can be found on bats, lizards, and frogs. They are so stinking cute!

10- Light Touch Massage - I am a tactile person and I LOVE backscratches and massages, and my favorite is the technique of lightly dragging the back of the fingertips on my skin. Nothing makes me feel better faster!

Anyone else need a letter?

Halloween Pictures

I know I am late and lazy. But these are pretty cute. For Halloween we took the kids Trick-or-Treating at Sea World (a couple of times!) and they loved it. I should probably explain the kids' costumes. Joshua says he was a "green henchtable" (vegetable), but then on Halloween when Frenchman-daddy had a mustache, he wanted one too, so that day he looked more like a little elf or something. Hannah's first costume was a "ballerina Indian" (she came up with that on her own) and then she feminized her Tigger costume by wrapping a bow around her ear. They are so cute!

Another Teeny Tiny Favor...

This is for all of you friends out there (and I know there are several....) who have done hypnobirthing before. I took the class before Joshua was born, and ever since then Seth and I have used the Rainbow Relaxation to go to sleep (because I always fell asleep practicing, and I never slept better!)

Anyway, we used the copy recorded by Jessica Porter (the extra one they used to give you; the one that came in the book was Marie Mongan's recording), and my copy got SCRATCHED! And I can't use it any more! And for months we have been substituting with MM's version but I just can't stand it any longer. I hate that one!

So Seth tried to get another copy of the one I like online, and found that they don't make it anymore! And I am soooooo sad.

So...my question is...is there anyone out there who has a copy of the Jessica Porter one that wouldn't mind making a copy for me? PLEASE! I will pay for the shipping...I will send you a candy bar...I will do almost anything! I miss my sleep aid!

THANK YOU!!!!

Teeny Tiny Favor

Hi friends,

My sister Tiff is a finalist for winning a free night's stay at the Anniversary Inn! Just go to http://anniversaryinn.com/blog and scroll down until you find the story called "A blushing bride and a flushing groom"; then leave a brief comment (which counts as a vote). BUT HURRY! Conest ends Nov. 15!

Thanks!

In The Friend

Remember when you were little and thought it would be the coolest thing to be one of the Friends in the News? Well, this isn't quite that cool, but check page 13 of your Friend magazines this month to see a picture of Hannah at her first Primary activity! That's us, the San Diego 6th ward...and that's Hannah, the only girl with buzzed hair, grinning at "the camera" off to the side somewhere. So fun!

The Search

Today we went searching for a new couch. I know, we just got our futon a few months ago, but I like to change things around. A lot. And anyway, we decided a futon is no good. We just need a real couch with a good bed, so it's comfy to sit on as well as sleep on (the futon is not either of those things, for an extended period of time). As a side note, the kids have actually been sharing their room again for several months and doing great. They are good sleepers, but when Joshua goes through a "transition", it is major and takes a loooong time to iron out. So once we got him back on track Hannah moved back into their room.

Anyway, we of course began our search at our favorite playground store, IKEA. As you can see in the pictures, the kids made themselves right at home, trying out all the sleeper sofas and couches, anything they could climb into. Unfortunately, Hannah felt so much at home, she took her shoes off to get into bed and didn't put them back on, and the shoes have now been sucked into the black hole of IKEA. We spent awhile down at Lost&Found and Customer Service, but no luck. By this time, it was too late for me to drop the family off at home to go to my massage, so they all came with me, missed their naps, and we continued our sofa-search all afternoon with two tired kids, one of them shoeless. I'd be surprised if her tights don't have holes in them by now. But the kids were troopers. We were proud of them. (By the way, continuing our search was pointless, because we of course liked our IKEA pick best. now we just have to wait for our "extra" paycheck to come in so we can buy it. I love this time of year!)

Mommy, Wow! I'm a Big Girl Now

I am now officially an adult. Last night I filled the car with gas all by myself! No, this is not a joke. I think I have done this maybe twice in my life before now, and someone else was there with me guiding me through it both times. In fact, one of my more humiliating moments in life was going to the gas station, by myself, to fill the car and then leaving again without any gas because I couldn't figure it out and I was too embarrassed to ask for help. (As a result, I almost ran out of gas on the highway on my way home later that day, which was definitely one of the most panicky moments in my life! And yes, this was after I was grown up and married, I am ashamed to admit. I was almost 21 by this time.)

So anyway, be proud of me :) I did it, not because I wanted to, but because I forgot to make Seth do it earlier and I had no choice. But I made it all the way through without even a phone call to Seth, and I was only a little paranoid, looking over my shoulder to make sure no one was watching and could tell I didn't know what I was doing. Which goes to show that we really can do hard things when there's no way out of it!