Warm Fuzzies

Today Hudson and I were still both in our pajamas (well, Hudson was in underwear. It's been one of those days.) eating a lunch of Ramen noodles with mixed veggies and a pre-packaged cup of applesauce, Hudson said "You're a good cooker, Mommy!"

A few minutes later he said, "You're a hottie, Mommy!"

I love that kid.

Here's Your Sign

As I am frantically cleaning and decluttering my house today, I came across a Seagull Book ad. I can't throw ads away without quickly glancing through them so I opened it and in my hurry decided I wasn't going to read the opening words from the Vice-President and General Manager, Susan Condie. But I decided I deserved a quick little break and decided to sit down and read it. And I'm glad I did. I enjoyed it and thought I'd share:

"Dear Friends,

For nearly a decade I have been among the ranks of I-15 commuters. Each night after work, I usually find myself stopped by the red light of a busy intersection--one right turn and one left turn away from home. At least one or two nights a week--almost like clockwork--the driver waiting behind me will impatiently blast the horn, "encouraging" me to make the right turn. Each time this happens, I experience a certain amount of frustration; some nights I have my feelings hurt, and other nights--depending on my day-- I am just plain annoyed.

The other night as I sat waiting to turn right, a particularly angry driver waited behind me honking, yelling, and waving. As I looked in my rear-view mirror, I thought to myself, does he really think I wouldn't turn if I could? Then it suddenly occurred to me that none of the cars waiting behind me have ever known that as soon as I turn right, I have to quickly cross three lanes of oncoming traffic to turn left into my subdivision.

A smile crossed my face as I mused about the possibility of pushing a button to illuminate blinking lights around a sign in my back window: "I'm sorry. I'd really like to make this right turn. However, I am trying to make it to that subdivision across all three lanes of traffic." Almost as quickly as this thought came, another more sobering thought entered my mind. What if we all had a sign hanging around our necks explaining to those around us just what our particular circumstance was at the moment? "I'm not feeling well today." "I'm struggling with depression." "I'm worrying about a wayward child." "I was up all night with a crying baby." "I had my first chemotherapy treatment today." "I just lost my job." "I'm caring for an aging parent." "I'm feeling discouraged." "I'm lonely." The list could go on and on.

With this thought in mind, I began to think about how differently I might treat others if I could read their "sign." Sadly, I thought of times when I may have judged others unfairly or perhaps had not been entirely sensitive to another's needs or circumstances. I thought of the Savior--who knows the very depth of our pain and the eventual outcome for each of us as we endure our own "refiner's fire." I thought of a quote from Elder Russell M. Nelson that hangs on the wall of my office: "With celestial sight, trials impossible to change become possible to endure."

That night as I wrote in my journal, I commited earnestly to endeavor to treat others as the Savior would. To really try to see the "sign" another may be wearing. To remember daily the tender mercies so generously bestowed upon me. To live having perfect hope in the Savior Jesus Christ--knowing it is only He who knows our hearts and our trials from begining to end."

Our Trax Adventure

Yesterday we decided to be adventurous and ride UTA Trax up to the Gateway. And an adventure it was. We felt ridiculous because we had quite the time trying to figure out what we were doing as far as buying our tickets and getting on the train. It cost us $9 round trip to get from 90th South in Sandy to the Gateway and it took at least a half hour to get there. It would have been totally cheaper and faster to just drive, but we went for the experience and to let Hudson ride the "train". We were about 2 minutes too late for the train we wanted, but after the 15 minutes it took us to buy our tickets (crazy, I know), another one was there.
On our way north we chatted with a kid named Andrew from Boston who is going to school at the U. That was pretty interesting and he was a funny guy. He's only been here for 2 months and was worried about coming to live with all the crazy Mormons out in hick town, but says he really likes Utah now.
We had planned to take Hudson to the Discovery thing they have at the Gateway. We were about the 3rd people in line to buy tickets when an alarm went off saying there was an emergency in the building and we needed to evacuate. So we did. We went to a few other stores to kill some time. When we were about to go back in to Discovery, Hudson said he was hungry and it was dinner time, so we decided to hurry and eat first. By the time we were done eating, there were only about 2 hours left until it closed, and Hudson said his tummy hurt, so we decided it wasn't worth the $25 it would cost for only 2 hours, so we decided to bag it and do it another day.
Jeff and I weren't very exited about riding Trax back to our car but there wasn't anything we could do about it. Hudson fell asleep and Jeff almost did. I just enjoyed watching all the crazy people. And there were plenty of those. I must admit, Jeff and I were slightly scared by some of the passengers (ok. most. Afterwards, Jeff said he wished he would have been packin'.) , but I was also pleased to see a few unlikely people having conversations with each other.
Anyway, my advice is if you haven't ridden Trax and are up for an adventure, you should do it at least once. If you are looking for a faster or cheaper way to get to Salt Lake from Utah county, there isn't one. Just drive. If you are worried about paying for parking, save your Trax ticket money and use it for $5 or $6 dollar parking (which you can get validated with a purchase at Gateway).
Finally, all I can say is public transportation freaks me out. I don't know how people do it in big cities. I would get so lost and wouldn't know what the heck I was doing and I would be so scared all by myself. I was just glad I had Jeff with me.
***
I've been wanting to post a couple of funny things Hudson has said. It seems as though he is as obsessed with blogging as I am since he is now using the word "blog" in a lot of his conversations. A few days ago he was running around pretending to be Lightning McQueen (something he does all the time) and he pretended to crash and said "I just ran into a blog!" And today he was looking out the window at the mountains and said, " There's snow on the mountains. I see a blog up there."
***
Today at church, Jeff was tapping his fingers on Hudson's head. Hudson said, "There's a horse on my head!"

***
Sometimes when Hudson is blessing his food, he also prays to bless Oakley's (our dog) food to be good for his body. Isn't he thoughtful? :)

Blinkie Blunder

Anyone know how to post a blinkie? I want to put this one on (imagine the hippo running) because:

a) I really DO love Sassafras!
b) they are giving away free stuff to one person a week if you have one of their blinkies and I want to win!

I'm pretty sure they don't have a code. I didn't see one anyway. I'd appreciate any tips! Thanks!

Not Alone

This morning I was reading the first article in the March Ensign titled "Come unto Him in Prayer and Faith" by President Monson, and while I enjoyed the whole article, 2 little lines stood out to me. They weren't something new to me and something I believe in already but when you are going through trials, sometimes those kinds of things take on new meaning and importance. The 2 lines are:

Pray as though everything depended upon God.

Work as though everything depended upon you.

This advice, of course, applies to all trails in our life. Faith without works is dead. It came to me as a confirmation that, yes, we need to continue to pray to, rely on and have faith in our Heavenly Father that He knows what is best for our little family, and a baby will come to us when the time is right, according to His will.
But I also believe that we need to do our part, and if you're doing the first sentence, He will help you through the second sentence.
It's funny how He works. The other night I was flipping through channels and stopped just long enough to hear a woman talking about infertility. She was going through cancer treatments and was worried about preserving her fertility. Then, a few words showed up saying there was financial assistance available for infertility. I then went to the computer and did a search for infertility financial assistance. This brought me to a website which wasn't really so much about financial assistance as much as it was about finding out more about infertility and PCOS, which is the cause of my infertility. So I spent a good couple of hours reading and learning about what I need to be doing to getting healthy. This includes the 2 medical breakthroughs that seems to cure about everything, yet none of us want to do it:

Diet & Exercise

Seems like a simple solution, right? Easier said than done for me. PCOS is a result of insulin resistance, which means my "diet" (really what should be a lifestyle change) means no refined carbs, white sugar, flour, bread, potatoes, etc. Well, that eliminates everything I love and pretty much all I eat. As far as exercise goes, I hate it. The only analogy I could come up with to describe how much motivation I have when it comes to exercise was how exciting it would be to pull a dead cow out of a ditch....alone.
I also need to go back to taking my medication which I abandoned after all the tummy trouble it gave me. And frankly, after a few months, I just figured it wasn't going to work and gave up.
But after all my research, it confirmed the path that my doctor had me on over a year ago, and gave me the realization that I really do need to have some self control in my life. I need to grow up and eat like an adult instead of a 5 year old. I need to exercise. Not only to have babies but to prevent stroke, heart disease, and diabetes later in my life, all of which I'm at high risk for if I don't get this PCOS under control. Sometimes I think that maybe this trial of infertility is a blessing in disguise. I most likely wouldn't be worried about my health if I was able to have children easily, and that might greatly affect me down the road with major health problems.
I know some people may say, "If the Lord wants you to have a baby, you will have a baby no matter what". But I think God has blessed us with minds, science, medicine, and knowledge so we can USE them! And of course the diet and exercise thing is a part of the word of wisdom, something we should be following anyway. I know that just doing those things, whether it results in a baby or not, will help me be happier and healthier, a better wife and mom, and just a better me.
Anyway, I could go on and on and this turned out to be a lot longer than I intended, but I want to share my testimony that I know that as we go through trials, we can turn to our Heavenly Father and have faith that He will help us and know what is best for us. If we do this as well as doing all that we are capable of doing ourselves, we don't have to face our trials alone. And I find great comfort in that.

How Cool is This?

Hudson's Peeps

Dad * Mom * Hudson

I decided it was time Hudson started learning how to draw things instead of just scribbling, so the other day I guided him in drawing our family. I drew the circles for him (which he can do himself now but doesn't feel confident in doing so and always asks for Mommy or Daddy to do it), and he did the rest. I'm such a proud mom! Aren't they so cute? As he was drawing himself he said "lots of eyes", hence all the eyes. It reminded me of a Quentin Blake illustration:

25 Random Things Tag

I was tagged by my friend Tami.

Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you.

1. I already did this on Facebook, but I'm a sucker for tags, and I after I did it on Facebook, I kept thinking about all the stuff I should have put, and wanted to do it again but didn't want people to think I was lame for wanting to just continuously go on and on and on about random stuff about myself! (And of course now I can't think of any of the "defining" or "astounding" things about me that I wanted to post!)

2. I have to put my right leg up on the counter when putting on my makeup.

3. I am a bed hog. We went from a California king to a queen and it about killed me. I'm pretty used to our queen now, but Jeff gets about 4 inches of the bed and I sprawl out on the rest.

4. My favorite flowers are ranunculas.

5. Ok, This one is really weird. And oh, so random. I always wonder what someone would think of me if they went through my garbage. Like once I stuffed a sliced cheese wrapper in a candle jar and threw it away and I had 2 thoughts: 1. Has anyone else in the world ever thrown away a cheese wrapper in a candle? 2. If someone found this, what conclusions would they come to about the kind of life I live? ...........................Yeah. I told you it was weird. I think like this all the time.

6. I have a whole tub of stuff I've saved from my childhood: volanic rocks from Mt. St. Helens, seashells, stuffed animals, books, paper dolls, clothes, blankets...I can't get rid of it!

7. This probably isn't a shocker to anyone, but I'm terrified of socializing. I never know what to say, I don't know how to carry on a conversation, and I'm afraid that I might come across as being stuck up or boring or some other undesirable quality. This makes it hard for me to "hang with the girls" because I always feel like I'll just have to talk and laugh about everything, and I'm so not like that. I can talk alot once I get to know someone really really well, but I feel like by the time I get to know someone, they know me as quiet, shy, Nichole, so I don't want to shock or offend them with who I really am!

8. I have really bad table manners when there is no one to have manners in front of. Why are elbows on the table such a bad thing? I would love to live in a culture where you eat with your hands.

9. I am addicted to sugar. No, really. ADDICTED.

10. All of my 2 brothers and 4 sisters are half siblings (although we don't see it that way) and they range in age from 36, 35, me at 26, 18, 16, 14, 8. (I think those ages are right?)

11. When we had to disect a frog, baby shark, baby pig, etc. in school, I sat on a table of all boys, and I was the only one who would dare do the disecting...and I loved it!

12. I hate math. With a passion. The only F I ever got was in geometry. Yes, I got an F. I was also a 4.0 student for a big chunk of my educational career.

13. Although I hate(d) math, I still remember this mathematical equation although I have no idea how to use it or what it means: x= -b + or - the square root of b squared -4ac all over 2a.

14. I hate trying on clothes. I would rather buy clothes, try them on at home, and return or exchange them if they don't work. Jeff hates this.

15. I never thought I would like listening to financial talk radio. Specifically Dave Ramsey. Now I love listening to it and get mad if we are listening to it on the way home, get home, and Jeff turns the car off in the middle of a call. I make him turn it back on and sit in the garage until the call is over. We are also Financial Peace University graduates. Booyah.

16. Jobs I've had: pulling weeds for Cedar Hills, busser/server assistant at Fireside Pizzeria, physical therapist aide (where I met Jeff), pulling/processing orders for Love to Learn, making jewelry for Tres Jolie, decorating gumballs at Kencraft, Bath and Body Works, & cleaning a DHL warehouse.

17. I was a strict vegetarian for about 6 months when I was in highschool. I wouldn't even eat crumb donuts because one of the ingredients was beef lard. Now: Bring on the meat with a side of beef lard laden donuts.

18. If I could get free "work" done, I would get laser eye surgery, laser hair removal, laser teeth whitening and maybe get some veneers or something on my front teeth, and tummy lipo.

19. I'd rather deal with cavities than floss. And I hate the dentist.

20. I am in my pajamas and look ridiculous 90% of the day 90% of the time. And usually won't answer the door because of it.

21. Before I got married, I used to not even be able to shuffle a deck of cards, let alone play card games. Now I can shuffle and play and I love it! My latest favorite is challenging Jeff to a game of Nerts whenever we get a minute.

22. My stocking is my favorite thing on Christmas.

23. I like going through bins of pens and pencils and sharpening all the pencils to a needle-like point, and going through and scribbling with each pen to see which ones work and discarding the ones that don't. It's so rewarding!

24. I have to use Pantene for my hair or I cry.

25. I am nowhere near as organized as I would like to be and always get overwhelmed when I try to start.

I tag anyone who wants to do it!

Drum Roll....

So I know you've all been on pins and needles waiting to see if I've found a pair of shoes. Well, I did. And here they are. A pair of Rocket Dogs. A little more casual than I had in mind ( I found another pair I liked a little more, but they didn't have my size. Figures.), but I was so fed up I didn't care anymore. I found them on RocketDog. com, then went to Zappos.com (thanks Tami!) to see if they had them for cheaper. Since Zappos doesn't charge shipping, it did end up being cheaper through Zappos. I am now eagerly awaiting them to arrive on my doorstep!
I would also just like to send a little shout out to Jeff who took me shopping (again) ALL day Saturday to try to find a pair of shoes. Poor guy. He was a trooper. When we were at the mall he was watching all the girls' feet and said he felt so bad for us because we had to wear either really cute but uncomfortable shoes or just plain ugly shoes. He also said if he did see some cute shoes on a girl, he was going to go ask her where in the heck she got them! He's so funny and the best husband ever. I love you, babe.

And thus ends my search for a pair of shoes....for now.

Pay It Forward

Yay! I get something handmade from my friend Tami, and now it's my turn. I have no clue what I am going to make, but luckily it gives us a generous 365 days to think of something!

This is how it works...

The Rules

1. Be one of the first THREE bloggers to leave a comment on this post, which then entitles you to a handmade item from me.

2. Winners, you must post this challenge on your blog, meaning that you will Pay It Forward, creating a handmade gift for the first THREE bloggers who leave a comment on YOUR post about this giveaway!

3. The gift that you send to your Three Friends can be from any price range and you have 365 days to make/ship your item. This means you should be willing to maintain your blog at least until you receive your gift and have shipped your gifts. And, remember: It’s the Spirit and the Thought That Count!

4. When you receive your gift, please feel free to blog about it, sharing appropriate Linky Love! If you are not one of the Top Three Commenter's on this post, you can still play along. Please take the button and post it on your blog; start your own Pay It Forward chain, and encourage your blogging friends to do the same!

Shoes...ARGH!

Is it just me, or is it really hard to find a cute pair of just normal, everyday shoes these days? I have looked everywhere and I can't find anything I like! My shoes now are so dirty and old and they are starting to fall apart...a true sign that they have been loved...but they have paid their debt to my feet and it is time to move on.

I'm pretty picky about my footwear, but c'mon shoe designer people! Seriously? Nothing? There is some seriously hideous stuff out there and it seems like everyone is offering the same hideous stuff! Is this stuff selling? Am I just out of style or what?

SO, if you know of any secret shoe stores in UT county that might have a decent pair at a decent price, let me in on the secret. I'm dying here!

Thank goodness we're on the downhill slide to flip-flop season. I can't wait!

*Maybe I should send Hudson out shoe shopping for me. Then he could sing "Sir, I want to buy these shoes for my momma, please....these shoes are just her size."

Mooooooooooowahahahahahahaha! Try getting that out of your head today! >:)

Oooh! Gotta Get Me Some Sassafras!

K, this video will be totally lame if you're not into scrapbooking, it might still be lame to you even if you are into scrapbooking, but I love this stuff! I love the new stuff Sassafras has come out with, especially the "Vintage Yummy" line. I love the paper whimsies flowers, and the cards. Oh, and the stitched blossoms....oK, and pretty much all of it.
The sad thing is, I horde this stuff and then never use it. It's too cute to use! I LOVe paper and buy it just because it's so dang cute. I'm trying to be better at using what I love most, though, instead of saving it for that "special" page. And I want to buy those paper whimsies just so I can make these and use them to decorate my scrapbook room:




Aren't they so fuN? Anyway, kind of a lame post, but I love this stuff! Hooray for Sassafras!