Affinity for Poodles

Originally I was going to write about a burial I had this morning with my boys for a worm Talin had stepped on. But it ended up with me talking about my love of animals and how Talin seems to have that same love. He insisted on giving the worm a burial, so I scraped off the worms remains from the bottom of his shoe and we dug a little hole with a stick. The worm is buried, and I’m still reminiscing about how many times I have loved and lost animal friends in my life.
The first love I had was a little poodle named Shadow. I couldn’t have been more than four years old, but I still remember sitting in the room they have at pet shops with my father and this little black fur ball of a puppy jumping around like crazy. After playing with him he snuggled up on my fathers lap and slept. My father is a sucker for animals as well, and that sealed the deal. He was purchased and given to my mother for Christmas, who was not thrilled. I remember later on that day Cyndee told me that Shadow could be mine. I was thrilled, and considered him my dog from that time on. He was a pure bred silver toy poodle and I fell in love with him. He grew up with me and when I was sixteen years old it was decided that he should go live with some elderly neighbors who loved him and would respect his old age more than we would. I never said good bye to him and cried a good deal because of that. It was a bitter goodbye on my end, or lack of goodbye.
Mourning the loss of my best friend and companion, I moped around and begged my father for a new puppy. He’s a sucker for animals and it was decided that we would go and look at some silver toy poodles at a breeder’s home. It was love at first site. Seth was brought home that night, and proved to be quite the spaz. During his short life he had a lot of adventures. Once while camping he jumped out the window while I was driving along a dirt road. Turning around and realizing that my puppy was gone; I turned the car around and went to find him. A quarter of a mile back, and there he was, running down the middle of the road on three legs, the fourth one dangling uselessly. $1,000 later, out of my own pocket, the leg was fixed. Geesh, I loved that dog! He was a little dog who lived like a big dog, which was the cause of his death later on. Kicked by one of our horses his little life ended quickly. My father was there, and my mother told me that he was so upset that he threw all the furniture off the back porch and into the yard, then went and sat on my bed and cried. When I was brought home to my lifeless dog, I held his little body on our back porch and sobbed. My siblings sat with me and mourned, and Tyler built a coffin to lay him in. It was a sad goodbye.
After the loss of Seth, I was married a few months later. Tom and I were smitten with one another. One day in a pet store, looking at some white poodles, I was unimpressed. I wanted a silver poodle; I had to have a silver poodle in my life. We were ready to walk out the door when she pranced in from the back room, full of energy and life. I was in love once again, my next puppy, Oriana. Being a smitten husband, Tom was easily convinced to pay six hundred dollars for her. She came home with us that day and awhile later we had Talin and decided to move to Flagstaff for school. Dogs were not allowed on our new campus shoebox we were to call home, so I had to give her up. I sobbed and sobbed when someone bought her. It was painful. But I said goodbye and moved on, only to call her new owners a few years later to see how she was doing, and to my surprised they offered her back to me. Too much energy I guess. I didn’t hesitate, we had a new pet friendly apartment, and I took her back. Having her in my life the second time was bittersweet. She remembered me and we loved each other once again, but I had a baby now and I was ready to deliver another baby in a few months. My time and attention were not devoted entirely to her like she remembered. She needed more from me than what I could give at that time, and the bitterness began. She began to do naughty things on purpose, and me with my short fuse and big belly couldn’t keep up. I sold her. It was a sigh of relief when I said goodbye, and it was the last time I owned a poodle in my life.
It seems that for the first time in my life I don’t need to have a puppy to fill any voids. I will always love animals, and still dream of owning a ranch someday with lots of animals roaming it. But the next puppy can wait awhile. I’m just thrilled to have a little boy who has a tender heart and reminds me of myself at that age.

Hospital Visit

We went to the doctor’s today for Collin. It was a two hour drive to Iowa City, but worth it to see a pediatric urologist for my baby. Overall I would say that the appointment was a success. Dr. Austin was a very soft spoken man, and I had to use every ounce of energy to concentrate on what he was saying when he spoke, but I prefer a humble doctor as opposed to some cocky over-assured man. Anyway, after he took a look at Collin’s plumbing (I have no idea how to write that less crudely), he told us that he would not have to do an in-depth surgery. Big sigh of relief! Instead, all he needed to do was a meatoplasty which means surgery to correct the opening of the urethra, by doing a meatotomy which is a small incision that is made in the opening of the urethra. We were then given the option to both schedule the surgery at another date and have him put under anesthesia, or to attempt the procedure today in his office with some numbing cream. We opted to do it today. Collin was great, they put the cream on him and let it sit for forty-five minutes, and then the doctor came back and brought a nurse with him to entertain Collin. Of course Collin hit it off with the nurse and was so distracted by her that he never flinched or moved once during the procedure. Dr. Austin on the other hand had a little trouble calming his adrenaline rush. I didn’t want to watch, but glancing over I saw the doctor leaning over Collin with a scalpel in his shaking, unsteady hand. He took a deep breath, and sat down apologizing for his nerves. Geesh, should I stand up now, grab my baby and run? No, I opted to have this fixed once and for all and prayed for Dr. Austin to have a steady hand. He didn’t, but the Lord was looking out for Collin, and everything went smoothly. Now we’re home, Collin is happy and looking forward to being able to pee standing up, and has not complained too much about pain. And Tom and I are glad to be home and done with the hospital.

Spring is Here

I would like to officially announce the arrival of spring in the Des Moines area. I am sitting here wearing some lovely shorts and enjoying the warm weather. It seems like it happened overnight. As of yesterday I was astounded to see that the grass is green and the trees are budding with new life. Thank goodness! I'm so grateful to have survived my first Iowa winter, now I have to muster up the strength to survive an Iowa summer. Yes, they are terrible. I would honestly prefer the Arizona heat to the wet, muggy, stickiness they call a summer here. I've never sweated in my life, and I grew up in Arizona, yet here in Iowa I seem to be continually sweaty and wet. I now see how important deodorant can be in a girl’s life. Now just so you're not confused, I am grateful for the warmth and the outdoor fun that can now commence. And for any family members who happen to be reading this and are wondering why they would ever come for a visit when the summers are sticky and the winters frigid, let me tell you how glorious the fall is. Cool, perfect weather, no humidity, and beautiful colors. Now if you start planning immediately, you can be here for Thanksgiving!

Beware of Pride

This talk was a real eye opener for me. I hope you take a few minutes to read it yourself. I was shocked and sorrowful at seeing myself in so many of the descriptions of pride that are in this talk. Something in the talk that really caught my eye was this line, “If we love God, do His will, and fear His judgment more than men’s, we will have self-esteem.” I’ve never thought that my lack of self-esteem was actually my pride, but reading through this talk I realize how much it is! I don’t want to compare myself anymore, I want to love and not judge, I want to be happy for those that excel above me and are better than me at things, for this is the pure love of Christ, and I’m finally starting to open my eyes to it. It’s damning, yet refreshing, because now I know what I need to work on and fix to be a better person. I hope in reading this talk it gives you the encouragement and hope to work on coming unto the Lord in your own life.

Beware of Pride
President Ezra Taft Benson
My beloved brethren and sisters, I rejoice to be with you in another glorious general conference of the Church. How grateful I am for the love, prayers, and service of the devoted members of the Church throughout the world.
May I commend you faithful Saints who are striving to flood the earth and your lives with the Book of Mormon. Not only must we move forward in a monumental manner more copies of the Book of Mormon, but we must move boldly forward into our own lives and throughout the earth more of its marvelous messages.
This sacred volume was written for us—for our day. Its scriptures are to be likened unto ourselves. (See 1 Ne. 19:23.)
The Doctrine and Covenants tells us that the Book of Mormon is the “record of a fallen people.” (D&C 20:9.) Why did they fall? This is one of the major messages of the Book of Mormon. Mormon gives the answer in the closing chapters of the book in these words: “Behold, the pride of this nation, or the people of the Nephites, hath proven their destruction.” (Moro. 8:27.) And then, lest we miss that momentous Book of Mormon message from that fallen people, the Lord warns us in the Doctrine and Covenants, “Beware of pride, lest ye become as the Nephites of old.” (D&C 38:39.)
I earnestly seek an interest in your faith and prayers as I strive to bring forth light on this Book of Mormon message—the sin of pride. This message has been weighing heavily on my soul for some time. I know the Lord wants this message delivered now.
In the premortal council, it was pride that felled Lucifer, “a son of the morning.” (2 Ne. 24:12–15; see also D&C 76:25–27; Moses 4:3.) At the end of this world, when God cleanses the earth by fire, the proud will be burned as stubble and the meek shall inherit the earth. (See 3 Ne. 12:5, 3 Ne. 25:1; D&C 29:9; JS—H 1:37; Mal. 4:1.)
Three times in the Doctrine and Covenants the Lord uses the phrase “beware of pride,” including a warning to the second elder of the Church, Oliver Cowdery, and to Emma Smith, the wife of the Prophet. (D&C 23:1; see also D&C 25:14; D&C 38:39.)
Pride is a very misunderstood sin, and many are sinning in ignorance. (See Mosiah 3:11; 3 Ne. 6:18.) In the scriptures there is no such thing as righteous pride—it is always considered a sin. Therefore, no matter how the world uses the term, we must understand how God uses the term so we can understand the language of holy writ and profit thereby. (See 2 Ne. 4:15; Mosiah 1:3–7; Alma 5:61.)
Most of us think of pride as self-centeredness, conceit, boastfulness, arrogance, or haughtiness. All of these are elements of the sin, but the heart, or core, is still missing.
The central feature of pride is enmity—enmity toward God and enmity toward our fellowmen. Enmity means “hatred toward, hostility to, or a state of opposition.” It is the power by which Satan wishes to reign over us.
Pride is essentially competitive in nature. We pit our will against God’s. When we direct our pride toward God, it is in the spirit of “my will and not thine be done.” As Paul said, they “seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ’s.” (Philip. 2:21.)
Our will in competition to God’s will allows desires, appetites, and passions to go unbridled. (See Alma 38:12; 3 Ne. 12:30.)
The proud cannot accept the authority of God giving direction to their lives. (See Hel. 12:6.) They pit their perceptions of truth against God’s great knowledge, their abilities versus God’s priesthood power, their accomplishments against His mighty works.
Our enmity toward God takes on many labels, such as rebellion, hard-heartedness, stiff-neckedness, unrepentant, puffed up, easily offended, and sign seekers. The proud wish God would agree with them. They aren’t interested in changing their opinions to agree with God’s.
Another major portion of this very prevalent sin of pride is enmity toward our fellowmen. We are tempted daily to elevate ourselves above others and diminish them. (See Hel. 6:17; D&C 58:41.)
The proud make every man their adversary by pitting their intellects, opinions, works, wealth, talents, or any other worldly measuring device against others. In the words of C. S. Lewis: “Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next man. … It is the comparison that makes you proud: the pleasure of being above the rest. Once the element of competition has gone, pride has gone.” (Mere Christianity, New York: Macmillan, 1952, pp. 109–10.)
In the pre-earthly council, Lucifer placed his proposal in competition with the Father’s plan as advocated by Jesus Christ. (See Moses 4:1–3.) He wished to be honored above all others. (See 2 Ne. 24:13.) In short, his prideful desire was to dethrone God. (See D&C 29:36; D&C 76:28.)
The scriptures abound with evidences of the severe consequences of the sin of pride to individuals, groups, cities, and nations. “Pride goeth before destruction.” (Prov. 16:18.) It destroyed the Nephite nation and the city of Sodom. (See Moro. 8:27; Ezek. 16:49–50.)
It was through pride that Christ was crucified. The Pharisees were wroth because Jesus claimed to be the Son of God, which was a threat to their position, and so they plotted His death. (See John 11:53.)
Saul became an enemy to David through pride. He was jealous because the crowds of Israelite women were singing that “Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands.” (1 Sam. 18:6–8.)
The proud stand more in fear of men’s judgment than of God’s judgment. (See D&C 3:6–7; D&C 30:1–2; D&C 60:2.) “What will men think of me?” weighs heavier than “What will God think of me?”
King Noah was about to free the prophet Abinadi, but an appeal to his pride by his wicked priests sent Abinadi to the flames. (See Mosiah 17:11–12.) Herod sorrowed at the request of his wife to behead John the Baptist. But his prideful desire to look good to “them which sat with him at meat” caused him to kill John. (Matt. 14:9; see also Mark 6:26.)
Fear of men’s judgment manifests itself in competition for men’s approval. The proud love “the praise of men more than the praise of God.” (John 12:42–43.) Our motives for the things we do are where the sin is manifest. Jesus said He did “always those things” that pleased God. (John 8:29.) Would we not do well to have the pleasing of God as our motive rather than to try to elevate ourselves above our brother and outdo another?
Some prideful people are not so concerned as to whether their wages meet their needs as they are that their wages are more than someone else’s. Their reward is being a cut above the rest. This is the enmity of pride.
When pride has a hold on our hearts, we lose our independence of the world and deliver our freedoms to the bondage of men’s judgment. The world shouts louder than the whisperings of the Holy Ghost. The reasoning of men overrides the revelations of God, and the proud let go of the iron rod. (See 1 Ne. 8:19–28; 1 Ne. 11:25; 1 Ne. 15:23–24.)
Pride is a sin that can readily be seen in others but is rarely admitted in ourselves. Most of us consider pride to be a sin of those on the top, such as the rich and the learned, looking down at the rest of us. (See 2 Ne. 9:42.) There is, however, a far more common ailment among us—and that is pride from the bottom looking up. It is manifest in so many ways, such as faultfinding, gossiping, backbiting, murmuring, living beyond our means, envying, coveting, withholding gratitude and praise that might lift another, and being unforgiving and jealous.
Disobedience is essentially a prideful power struggle against someone in authority over us. It can be a parent, a priesthood leader, a teacher, or ultimately God. A proud person hates the fact that someone is above him. He thinks this lowers his position.
Selfishness is one of the more common faces of pride. “How everything affects me” is the center of all that matters—self-conceit, self-pity, worldly self-fulfillment, self-gratification, and self-seeking.
Pride results in secret combinations which are built up to get power, gain, and glory of the world. (See Hel. 7:5; Ether 8:9, 16, 22–23; Moses 5:31.) This fruit of the sin of pride, namely secret combinations, brought down both the Jaredite and the Nephite civilizations and has been and will yet be the cause of the fall of many nations. (See Ether 8:18–25.)
Another face of pride is contention. Arguments, fights, unrighteous dominion, generation gaps, divorces, spouse abuse, riots, and disturbances all fall into this category of pride.
Contention in our families drives the Spirit of the Lord away. It also drives many of our family members away. Contention ranges from a hostile spoken word to worldwide conflicts. The scriptures tell us that “only by pride cometh contention.” (Prov. 13:10; see also Prov. 28:25.)
The scriptures testify that the proud are easily offended and hold grudges. (See 1 Ne. 16:1–3.) They withhold forgiveness to keep another in their debt and to justify their injured feelings.
The proud do not receive counsel or correction easily. (See Prov. 15:10; Amos 5:10.) Defensiveness is used by them to justify and rationalize their frailties and failures. (See Matt. 3:9; John 6:30–59.)
The proud depend upon the world to tell them whether they have value or not. Their self-esteem is determined by where they are judged to be on the ladders of worldly success. They feel worthwhile as individuals if the numbers beneath them in achievement, talent, beauty, or intellect are large enough. Pride is ugly. It says, “If you succeed, I am a failure.”
If we love God, do His will, and fear His judgment more than men’s, we will have self-esteem.
Pride is a damning sin in the true sense of that word. It limits or stops progression. (See Alma 12:10–11.) The proud are not easily taught. (See 1 Ne. 15:3, 7–11.) They won’t change their minds to accept truths, because to do so implies they have been wrong.
Pride adversely affects all our relationships—our relationship with God and His servants, between husband and wife, parent and child, employer and employee, teacher and student, and all mankind. Our degree of pride determines how we treat our God and our brothers and sisters. Christ wants to lift us to where He is. Do we desire to do the same for others?
Pride fades our feelings of sonship to God and brotherhood to man. It separates and divides us by “ranks,” according to our “riches” and our “chances for learning.” (3 Ne. 6:12.) Unity is impossible for a proud people, and unless we are one we are not the Lord’s. (See Mosiah 18:21; D&C 38:27; D&C 105:2–4; Moses 7:18.)
Think of what pride has cost us in the past and what it is now costing us in our own lives, our families, and the Church.
Think of the repentance that could take place with lives changed, marriages preserved, and homes strengthened, if pride did not keep us from confessing our sins and forsaking them. (See D&C 58:43.)
Think of the many who are less active members of the Church because they were offended and their pride will not allow them to forgive or fully sup at the Lord’s table.
Think of the tens of thousands of additional young men and couples who could be on missions except for the pride that keeps them from yielding their hearts unto God. (See Alma 10:6; Hel. 3:34–35.)
Think how temple work would increase if the time spent in this godly service were more important than the many prideful pursuits that compete for our time.
Pride affects all of us at various times and in various degrees. Now you can see why the building in Lehi’s dream that represents the pride of the world was large and spacious and great was the multitude that did enter into it. (See 1 Ne. 8:26, 33; 1 Ne. 11:35–36.)
Pride is the universal sin, the great vice. Yes, pride is the universal sin, the great vice.
The antidote for pride is humility—meekness, submissiveness. (See Alma 7:23.) It is the broken heart and contrite spirit. (See 3 Ne. 9:20; 3 Ne. 12:19; D&C 20:37; D&C 59:8; Ps. 34:18; Isa. 57:15; Isa. 66:2.) As Rudyard Kipling put it so well:
The tumult and the shouting dies; The captains and the kings depart. Still stands thine ancient sacrifice, An humble and a contrite heart. Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet, Lest we forget, lest we forget. (Hymns, 1985, no. 80.)
God will have a humble people. Either we can choose to be humble or we can be compelled to be humble. Alma said, “Blessed are they who humble themselves without being compelled to be humble.” (Alma 32:16.)
Let us choose to be humble.
We can choose to humble ourselves by conquering enmity toward our brothers and sisters, esteeming them as ourselves, and lifting them as high or higher than we are. (See D&C 38:24; D&C 81:5; D&C 84:106.)
We can choose to humble ourselves by receiving counsel and chastisement. (See Jacob 4:10; Hel. 15:3; D&C 63:55; D&C 101:4–5; D&C 108:1; D&C 124:61, 84; D&C 136:31; Prov. 9:8.)
We can choose to humble ourselves by forgiving those who have offended us. (See 3 Ne. 13:11, 14; D&C 64:10.)
We can choose to humble ourselves by rendering selfless service. (See Mosiah 2:16–17.)
We can choose to humble ourselves by going on missions and preaching the word that can humble others. (See Alma 4:19; Alma 31:5; Alma 48:20.)
We can choose to humble ourselves by getting to the temple more frequently.
We can choose to humble ourselves by confessing and forsaking our sins and being born of God. (See D&C 58:43; Mosiah 27:25–26; Alma 5:7–14, 49.)
We can choose to humble ourselves by loving God, submitting our will to His, and putting Him first in our lives. (See 3 Ne. 11:11; 3 Ne. 13:33; Moro. 10:32.)
Let us choose to be humble. We can do it. I know we can.
My dear brethren and sisters, we must prepare to redeem Zion. It was essentially the sin of pride that kept us from establishing Zion in the days of the Prophet Joseph Smith. It was the same sin of pride that brought consecration to an end among the Nephites. (See 4 Ne. 1:24–25.)
Pride is the great stumbling block to Zion. I repeat: Pride is the great stumbling block to Zion.
We must cleanse the inner vessel by conquering pride. (See Alma 6:2–4; Matt. 23:25–26.)
We must yield “to the enticings of the Holy Spirit,” put off the prideful “natural man,” become “a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord,” and become “as a child, submissive, meek, humble.” (Mosiah 3:19; see also Alma 13:28.)
That we may do so and go on to fulfill our divine destiny is my fervent prayer in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

The Zoo

We took the boys to the zoo today and had a great time. Our zoo is only three miles away from us so Tom and I decided to get a year membership. It's also the tiniest zoo I've ever been to in my life. We were seriously only there for about an hour and a half, and that was with feeding the fish, going through their amphibian exhibit twice and stopping to play on the playground for a bit. They are going to try to expand it, but it probably won't get done until we move. Just our luck eh? Don't worry, there is glass separating Collin from the crocodile.
Me and the boys.

It was a lovely day too, the high was in the 50's, but when there is no wind it makes for wonderful weather.

My curious Talin trying to see the birds hiding in the bushes.

Collin and his dad checking out the starfish.

Talin and Collin.

I seriously could not get a better picture out of them than this, they were being so weird. But the jellyfish in the background were really cool, if only I would have turned my flash off!

My cut and Tom's new joy

Okay, while I was in Minnesota I decided to get my hair cut at the Mall of America. I love extreme styles and will usually do just about anything to my hair. So here is what I decided on, short and long, a little bit of both worlds. I love this haircut, and I love the idea of it, but I'm not sure about it on me. Tom does not love it, so maybe that's why I have my doubts. Am I getting too old to do funky styles like this? I don't know, feel free to tell me. Here are my side views. My back view wasn't good because I had been leaning on it the whole drive home when Tom took the picture, so I didn't post it. But you can imagine what the back looks like from these pictures. And the front was a terrible picture, I seriously look stoned. How do I manage that look so well and so consistently? But it didn't get posted either. And on another note, this is Tom's new baby. For some reason he had a 401K from his last job in Flagstaff that they put money in it for him. Odd huh? I knew they really liked him, but I didn't realize they liked him that much! So anyway, we got a letter saying that it was under $1000, so he either needed to cash it out or lose all the money. So of course we cashed it out and he got around $450, can't remember the exact amount. Well what does he decide to do with his new funds? Pay bills? Put it towards student loans? Of course not! We bought a kitchen aid! And it's beautiful and I love it and he of course loves it, and I'm super excited to put it to use. It's a gorgeous color too, don't you think? And here is a picture of Tom with his new kitchen aid, he refused to turn around for the picture, knowing I would post it. But he was just so cute. We got home from our trip yesterday and our kitchen aid had arrived, so he immediately opens it up and decides to make cupcakes with it. Cracks me up!

Minnesota

This weekend we decided to drive up to Minnesota and stay for a few days. Tom served his mission there and loves to go for a visit now that we live only a few hours away. And I was happy to get out of Des Moines for awhile.

Here are some pictures of the trip. We went to the capitol and saw St. Paul's cathedral and spent a day at the Mall of America. It was all a lot of fun and we felt very lucky and blessed to have the means to get away for a bit. And the best part about it is that I still get my husband for the rest of the week since it's spring break. Yeah!! Talin spent most of the drive to Minnesota looking out his window and taking pictures. He had no film, but he didn't know that.

We stopped at Cabella's, forty minutes out of Minneapolis. Tom loves to look around at all the camping and hunting stuff. And I love to reminisce around all the guns, animals and tents. Here is Talin taking more pictures. Of fishing lures? We put film in his camera the next day, but I don't know if it will be worth the money to develop it!

My boys at Cabella's. You can't see it very well, but they are standing in front of a stuffed cape buffalo. Cabella's has hundreds of mounted animals in their store, it makes it fun to walk around and see them all.

This is the view of St. Paul's cathedral, standing on the steps of the capital. It was a very cold day and we didn't stay long, the capital was closed and the boys were freezing. So I snapped a few shots and we were gone!

We spent all day Monday at the mall of America, the boys were super excited to be at the park and it was empty at 9:30 in the morning, so we wandered around until the rides started up at 10:00. And looking at this picture I'm realizing how tight my shirt is and how big my boobs are! Geesh, I don't think I'll wear it out in public again.

Just arrived at the park, and dad is buying tickets, they look bored, but they were humming with anticipation.

Talin and Collin brimming with excitement as they watch one of the rides and await their turn.

A picture of the park from atop the ferris wheel.

I'm glad to be back and catch up on the blogging world. Being gone a few days and you miss out on a lot! I know that today is Portrait Tuesday, and it's on what you consider your lucky charm. I don't have a lucky charm, and I don't really believe in luck. I think you make your own choices and your own luck. If I did beleive in a lucky charm I would consider my babies to be my dose of good luck each day, it might sound cliche, but it's my boys, all three, that make my life lucky.

Talin

Here are Talin's school pictures, are they not so cute? I let him pick out his own outfit that day, which might have been a mistake, but it does give him personality. This is one of his favorite combinations, his bright green pin striped shirt paired with a red tie he got for Christmas. He's so cute! I'll have to send out wallet pictures to all the family.

The Fly

I hear blood curdling cries and think someone must be dying in the other room. I run in to find my boys hysterically crying. What’s wrong? What’s wrong? Is someone bleeding or has an eye been poked out and I just haven’t noticed it yet? Was some strange man climbing up our balcony and scared them? No, it was a fly. A small, harmless fly and my children are in hysterics. Wow.
“Kill that baby fly, mom! Kill it!” Collin, who is most upset, keeps screaming this.
I really do want to raise my little boys to be strong men, but this has been a major set back today, I mean a fly? Come on!

My Little Worrier

Driving in the car the other day, Talin from the back seat says, "Mom, I've been worrying a lot." My response, "Why are you worrying sweety?" Talin says, "I just worry about you mom, you seem to forget things a lot."
Thanks for the reminder.

Self-Portrait Tuesday

Okay, my picture didn’t turn out how I wanted it to for self-portrait Tuesday. I think my big mistake was just not planning for it. It was totally improvised while I was going on a walk with my friend Betsy today. We found ourselves on top of a hill and I saw part of downtown in the skyline, really just the largest building was poking up through the background. But I thought it might be good enough for a backdrop and that it might represent downtown Des Moines a bit. So I asked Betsy to take the picture and hoped it turned out well enough because it was too sunny to see its results on my camera. Once I got home I took another look at it indoors, only to realize that I was covering up my one big building I was hoping to get in the shot, otherwise it’s just me standing on a hill. Oh well, she must not have understood the shot I was going for, so this is the result.

I really should have tried for something a lot more fun, like Des Moines has a beautiful capital building. It’s historic and fun to take tours through. Iowa is also known for being home to Madison County, and yes that is where The Bridges of Madison County was filmed with Meryl Streep. And it’s also the birth place of John Wayne, which I didn’t previously know until now. And I also just googled it and realized that it’s only a thirty-five minute drive from Des Moines. Which makes me realize that I’ll have to go visit sometime, because it looks beautiful, and they also have a covered bridge festival in October, I mean how fun does that sound? So here are my stolen pictures of our capital and Madison county, if I were any good at Photoshop I would have pasted my picture in there, but I’m not, so I guess you’ll have to use your imagination.

Corn Juice and The Future Doctor

Last night I found myself enjoying dinner while two very rambunctious little boys, surprisingly not mine, were fighting over who got to drink the corn juice. Oh my sickness!! Who fights over drinking corn juice? You know when you have corn from a can and all the juice gets poured into the pan to cook it? Well these little boys were fighting over who got to drink that left over juice. I’ve never witnessed something so gag worthy while eating dinner. Yuck. I guess you need some background. We were invited over to dinner by a man in our ward, he’s a single dad and has the two rowdiest boys in church, they are eight and eleven years old, the majority of the evening was watching them beat the crap out of each other and kick one another in the junk. It was definitely cringe worthy to witness. Overall the evening was nice, the man in our ward is one of the nicest guys ever, and I felt a little sorry for him though having to deal with such rowdiness. Very interesting evening to say the least.

On another note Tom and I have been playing a lot of doctor lately. Not the kind your thinking, trust me. He’s been practicing for his spals (not sure on the spelling), I think it stand for student, patient, something, lab, or something. I know that was pathetic! Anyway, he has to do all the pre diagnosis stuff on a patient, and it takes like a half hour to work through and take all the different pulses and eye tests and check the nose and the mouth and the ears and a ton of other things. So I’ve had the joy of being his patient to practice on. I’m not a very patient person, so it’s been a little agonizing for him, I have a hard time holding still and I don’t like people, even my husband, looking up my nose or in my mouth or in my ears, it creeps me out. I’m hoping he does a good job on his test today, he looked so cute all dressed up with his lab coat. How strange to think he’ll really be a doctor someday.

Daylight Savings

I do not approve of daylight savings. Why did I need to lose an hour of sleep last night? I'm tired and I don't approve.

Height Issues

I was blessed with height. I'm 5'8", therefore I always vowed to marry a man who was six feet or over. It didn't happen. But I loved the boy so much that I married him anyway, even though he fell two inches short of my criteria. 5'10" isn't so bad, I mean I can wear flats and appear shorter and when I do wear heels it won't be that big of a difference, right? Right. But I love big four inch heels. I can't help it, despite the height difference, I will wear the heels. Recently I found out that my husband's height was a sham. He hasn't been 5'10" afterall, he's 5'9 1/2". He found out and didn't tell me. I've forgiven him his half an inch, but my goodness, old age shrinkage is just not an option, and he must keep up supreme posture at all times! Am I being shallow? Maybe, but look at these lovely shoes being modeled by my children. I love them, and I'm an amazon next to my husband when I do wear them, but I really love them.

It's Coming!

Here is a picture outside my back porch. It's a gloomy day today, but I have nothing to complain about because the high is going to be a fabulous 48 degrees. Yeah! And tomorrow we are suppose to get into the 50's and the beginning of next week we should be in the 60's! Holy crap it's like summer! I'm so excited to have it start warming up. I even hear birds outside today, Birds singing! It's coming, beautiful, wonderful, glorious spring, is coming!
"If there comes a little thaw, Still the air is chill and raw, Here and there a patch of snow, Dirtier than the ground below, Dribbles down a marshy flood; Ankle-deep you stick in mud In the meadows while you sing, "This is Spring." ~ Christopher Pearce Cranch

The Doughnut

I’ve been struggling with my weakness lately. And I didn’t realize it was a weakness until lately! Vanilla frosted doughnuts. Yum!! When I was little I was often Cyndee’s grocery shopping companion, and a stop by the bakery was inevitable for a doughnut each time. I loved it, and it’s a fond memory. Now I find myself alone quite frequently with Collin, and it has slowly become a habit to stop by the bakery to pick out a doughnut for him. Bad idea. I don’t remember my Cyndee ever buying herself a doughnut, so why should I, now in the mother role, feel I need one while buying my baby one? And how unhealthy are doughnuts? I’ve been trying to eat better, but the doughnuts have totally thrown me for a loop. I need to stop. And to top it off today, I bought an extra doughnut for Talin, who is at preschool. Do you think the doughnut has lasted even fifteen minutes in my presence? Um no. Sorry Talin, mom ate your doughnut. Not that he ever has to know that he had a doughnut, but for sure Collin won’t let me get away with this.

A Birthday and A Portrait

First of all it's my Grandma Jones' birthday and I wanted to wish her a fabulous b-day.
She's 82 today, and I have so many fond memories of her while growing up. I often was allowed to stay up at our cabin with her and she always took care of me, if you ever needed anything, Grandma would search the cabin to find it, whether it was coloring books, crafts or rice crispy treats. She was the best! I love you Grandma! Happy Birthday, wish I could be there to celebrate!



Now on another note, I took the portrait challenge that so many bloggers have been doing. I haven't done it previously because I haven't felt fully apart of the blogging circle that participates, but Amy informed me that I should. So here it is, my self-portrait and the challenge given for it:

"take a picture of yourself in the mirror. any mirror will do. now, take a really good look at yourself. try to see your image as others around you see it. bring to mind something kind or unusual that a friend has noticed about you recently. can you see what they see? will you tell us about it??"
When I look at this picture I try to push away all the negative thoughts, like I just woke up thirty minutes ago, didn't want to get out of bed, spent the majority of the night listening to Collin cough, and dread the oncoming day where I'll be taking care of a sickie. But let me push those thoughts aside. Looking at this I know that people have been seeing me differently lately, or maybe just seeing me for the first time. I have been changing my spirit in a sense and striving for perfection through Christ. I think others have started to notice, my exterior has started to thaw with my interior. I've always come across as stuck up or snobby, when I've really just been insecure. Now I want others to see right into me and I want to shake off the shield I've been wearing my whole life. I want to be an open book in a sense and not turn away friendships and outreaching hands the way I have in the past, in fact I now want to be that outreaching hand to others and to invite them to look inside themselves and see what needs to change for true happiness to come about. This picture might not show it, but the one thing that has been kindly said about me lately is my appearance of happiness. I've been smiling more than I ever have. Thomas said to me the other day that he loves to come home to see me because of the smile I'm wearing all the time. That was the sweetest thing I've been told in a long time, and it made me realize that I don't want to waste another day not being happy.

Talin has wanted to learn how to read. In fact he’s been asking me to teach him for the past month or so, I just have been overwhelmed with how to go about it. So last weekend we bought Bob Books. They are books that come in sets and each set has 12 books in them. They start you out slowly, learning four to two letters at a time, sounding out the letters to make words. Talin has been so excited and very enthusiastic. We’ve been through the first two books and he can read them through, sounding out the letters and all. He is so proud, and so am I. I’ve never known of a child that is so dedicated and can sit and concentrate so long on something like reading. He begs me several times to sit down and teach him how to read throughout the day, and I’m flat out exhausted. I love to sit with him, but I can only do this so many times a day, and his little mind is like a sponge. It amazes me. I need to learn patience, as well as letting things go to take the time with him. But I’m happy that he already has such a passion and a love for learning. His teachers praise him and I can see why, he’s such a smart little boy. I just had to take a minute and brag about my baby, or I should say my big boy as he prefers to be called.
And my lovely Collin is as crazy as ever. Helping out at Talin’s school today during lunch, Collin managed to get himself into quite a bit of trouble. Making faces at the other children, being an absolute comedian, and managing to rile up fifteen four year-olds. I don’t think I’ll be asked to help out again. I’m raising a scholar and a clown, how can two boys be brothers and yet be so different? I love it though, our family has the boy who puts us in our place in all things, and the boy that puts on a show so we’re always entertained. Good times at the Chambers.

(And yes, that is a snake Collin is holding. It's our pet snake, Bongo.)

Oh and a note about yesterday. I managed to stay happy throughout my terrible day, but I never found my keys or my food card as of yet. And to top off the day the missionaries were an hour late for dinner. We had cold steaks, cold potatoes, cold rolls, and a very angry Thomas. For anyone who knows Tom, that's a hard thing to achieve, but he was in a rare mood of anger. So I had to step up the charm to cover for his foul mood. It was quite amusing, he's usually much more the cordial host than me. It made me laugh. For some reason his bad moods amuse me, probably because they are so rare.

Stars are stacked against Me!

The stars are stacked against me today, maybe I should just crawl back into bed. First of all we are feeding the missionaries tonight; they’ve been in a threesome for awhile, so I have three to feed. Tom is ward mission leader assistant, so he sees the missionaries all the time, and for the past month they have been begging him to have them over for steak. Well, I’m a nice girl, so I had Tom invite them for some steak. So I have my morning planned out and ready to go out the door, but wait, where are my keys?? Can’t find them anywhere, so Tom has to run home to give me the spare. Thank you Tom. Next I look in my wallet for my food card, not there. Hmmm….must be somewhere. No, it’s not anywhere!!! I have steaks to buy, dessert ingredients, salad stuff, and no food card! Ahhh!!! Okay, I’ve calmed myself and decided to do without the food card for the day and put it on the Visa. Problem solved. New problem arises of course. Collin decides to have a day from hell. Huge fit at the gym this morning, monstrous fit at the grocery store, screaming bloody murder at the top of his lungs, people were staring, and even bigger fit at Talin’s school as I picked him up. I had to carry him to the car wiggling and kicking and screaming. It was terrible, but I’m proud to say I kept my cool. I think I was calmer about the incident than the poor witnesses to it were. Once home I felt okay and ready to be happy, except for one incident. Collin was whining about something, and I turned to him and said in a terrifying voice, “Don’t talk to Satan today!”, he said I scared him, so I’ve given up the satan voice. I’m ready to be nice, marinate my meat, make my bread, bake my dessert, today is what I make it. And it’s nothing a little Janis Joplin can’t get me through.

My Jumbled Thoughts

I have a lot of random thoughts to write down today, so here they go.
1. First of all, I’m sad to say that my oldest baby, Talin, is growing up. He lost two lower teeth last night. We found ourselves at the laundry mat because the laundry machines in our apartment complex had flooded. So we packed up the clothes, the kids and went to the laundry mat. While the clothes were drying we went next door to a Chinese buffet for dinner and that’s where Talin lost his first tooth. Not sure where it went though, maybe he swallowed it? I think we decided that he probably swallowed it. Folding the laundry after dinner in the laundry mat, he managed to wiggle out the second one himself. He was very proud. He keeps asking me if he’ll -be a grown-up when he gets his big teeth in, and is very disappointed when my response is not just yet. And of course the tooth fairy came last night and left him a dollar. By the way, anyone know what the going rate is on your first tooth?
2. I’ve been concerned lately that I’m a bit white trash. This concern became much bigger last night after the laundry mat. We were hauling our baskets full of clean clothes up two flights of stairs, we live on the third floor, and Tom tells me not to breathe deeply. What is that smell??? Yes, someone was smoking a little maryjane last night, and it permeated the stairwell. How was I not to breathe too deeply while I carried a basketful of clothes up two flights of stairs??? Needless to say I was a bit lightheaded the rest of the evening. And for the first time in forever, the boys went to bed immediately after being tucked in, could I possibly attribute that to them inhaling too deeply in the stairwell? Who knows, but it felt very white trashy.
3. I heard something quite terrifying from a friend recently. We went out with two other couples Friday night for dinner at Fudruckers. Well, while we were there they asked if we had heard what’s been going on in Chicago lately. No, what?? Well, I guess they have had terrible weather as well and a lot of ice storms. Now that things are starting to melt they have chunks of ice falling off of the skyscrapers and killing people that are walking on the sidewalk. Can you believe that?? I’ve never heard anything like it. I guess everyone has suggested that the cars park on the sidewalk and the people walk in the street. Not sure if it’s been implemented, but the whole thing rings like some kind of a movie plot. How odd.
4. Lastly I find myself becoming one of those obnoxious, regular testimony bearers that you can expect to hear from every month. Well, I hope I’m not too obnoxious, but I can’t sit down when there is this burning prompting that tells me I should be up there. Never given into it before, but now I feel as though it would be very ungrateful of me if I didn’t stand up and publicly thank the Lord, especially after all he’s done for me as of late. And I’m wondering if I’ve found all of those regular testimony bearing people to be obnoxious because I was guilty of not bearing mine, or what. Who knows, all I know is that it felt good, and I didn’t shake nearly as much this time.
Well I hope everyone has a lovely Sabbath. I want to share a scripture that is important to me. I was reminded of this when I was going through some old letters and ran across one from Tyler that he sent me while in the MTC. He told me that his favorite scripture was Ether 12:27, well it’s mine too. I won’t write it out, grab your Book of Mormon and look it up yourself!

Our Blizzard

I've been a bit disappointed by our expected blizzard that has been in the forecast this week. It was suppose to start yesterday at 9 am. Grocery stores were packed to stock up on basic goods, generators purchased by some and Tom's university even shut down campus at 1:30 that afternoon. Yet nothing seemed to really happen. Tom and I finally got restless and went to Target at 4:00, just to wander and of course end up with several useless purchases. When we went out to the car at 5:00 the wind had definitely picked up and snow was falling, but it wasn't the worst conditions I've ever been in, and I didn't feel that it warranted a blizzard warning and radio interruptions on what to do if you're stuck in it. Hmmm....I'm starting to think that Iowans are a bunch of wimps when it comes to weather. 50 MPH winds have been expected, but I don't think they're coming. I'm still waiting for something big, the warning doesn't end until 6 this evening. Maybe I'll be satisfied that it's a true blizzard if I lose power and can't leave my home for days. Tom did have school this morning though, which made me sad because I was so expecting to have him around, I had visions of breakfast and bacon being cooked when he got up. No, he just showered and went to school. And I made him drive the suburban, because you never know, a 50 MPH gust of wind might come along and blow his little transam right off the road. So now I'm carless as well as blizzardless. Oh well, I guess I'll continue to pray for Spring to come soon!