Thanksgiving Thank You Cards = Priceless

Two packages of "Thank You" cards from Target- $7.16



One package STABILO markers from Germany- €5.90


Letting family know you're grateful for them on Thanksgiving- PRICLESS


I decided this year to start a tradition of giving "Thank You" cards to family members (including Evan and his parents), because I thought it would be nice to let everyone know how grateful I am for them on Thanksgiving. It made me realize even more how blessed I am. I am excited to keep this tradition up in future years!

Country Faces Santa Shortage

Since I love all things German, I particularly thought this article about the shortage of Santa Clauses in Germany was funny. Santa Clauses make BANK in Germany: $75 an hour! Maybe I should give up teaching for a month, grow a beard, and become a Santa Claus. I guess I shouldn't quit my day job. Either way, here's the article: Country Faces Santa Shortage

Parenting & Father's Blessing

New Blog Post at Sarah's Scripture Study: Parenting & Father's Blessings

Food Bank Deliveries

Every year for, well MANY years, my aunt and cousin deliver Thanksgiving and Christmas meals to families in the area for one of the local food banks. This year I was able to accompany them for delivering food for Thanksgiving. It was an interesting experience, and one which I would like to repeat. This experience proved to be incredibly eye-opening. Sometimes we find ourselves knowing who someone is from just based on his style of dress and the way he combs his hair. It's easy to look at someone and think you know about him and where he comes from. You never know what someone is going through. You never know the hardships that people are experiencing.

Some of the people we delivered food to lived in nice condos. Some of them lived in rundown trailer parks. Some of them had phones disconnected. Some drove a stable vehicle. There were a wide range of people and living situations. Yet all of these people found themselves in the same boat this year at Thanksgiving... they did not have enough food to feed themselves or their families. It must be hard to break down and get help from perfect strangers.

All in all, it was a good learning experience. I definitely want to think twice before judging those around me.

Afternoon O' Fun!

I decided that since today was a half-day for school that I would spend time with my sister's kids. Initially, I had planned to make our usual venture to the library and the store for a treat. However, I saw a WONDERFUL idea for a Thanksgiving treat on my friend, Janelle's blog. (Please see her blog for MUCH BETTER pictures of what this Thanksgiving treat looked like.)I showed the kids the idea and they were SO excited! So excited, in fact, that we decided to make other treats and spent $25 at the store buying supplies for all of the treats we decided to make!

All in all it was a fun adventure with the kids. Afterwards, our hands and faces were marshmallow-sticky, melted-chocolately, and our tummies were full of sugar. Of course it took us MUCH longer than I anticipated. 5 hours from start to finish. If I were to do this all over again, I would not have been as zealous about doing so many treats. I think my sister is grateful that we have a lot of treats already done for Thanksgiving, though! We made turkeys, snow men, and fat, little reindeers with red scarves and "snow" (AKA coconut). (We also made a random concoction with the extra coconut, chocolate, and a few other ingredients I added on the fly. Those cookies turned out well!)

Here are a few pictures. They're not the best, but you get the idea.




(Yes, that's chocolate on my face.)




(You can see how tired I was getting by the end of all of this! My hair even started frizzing out.)

Gratitude Makes Us Happy

One of the chapters in the above-pictured book is entitled "Gratitude Makes Us Happy." Lately, I've been thinking about this topic.

My boyfriend's mom nannies for a family that had a terrible tragedy befall them recently. In June, Carol Decker went through some major complications from having strep pneumonia. The pneumonia went septic (all throughout her body) causing some major problems, which included first blood clots and then her body bleeding out. She was 7 months pregnant at the time, and had an emergency C-Section. Thankfully, the baby is fine and healthy! Carol, however, suffered some major trauma to her body, eventually causing the loss of her eyesight, her two legs from mid-calf down, her left arm from mid-forearm down, and two fingers on her right hand. Additionally, the skin on most of her body had to be treated like a burn victim, because of the complications of the strep pneumonia. She's had many PAINFUL skin grafts over almost her entire body excepting her face.

It's been a hard road for their entire family the past few months. I can't even begin to imagine what their family goes through on a daily basis. They are such strong people who are examples to all those around them. They have shown much gratitude throughout this tragedy and have been able to overcome many struggles. There are still more struggles down the road for them, but through their faith and perseverance they will be able to deal with them one by one. I can't even tell you how amazed I am at all they have overcome in such a short span of time.

All of this serves to remind me that I need to be more grateful RIGHT NOW for what I have. I have been blessed with so many seemingly small and inconsequential blessings. I have the gift of sight. I have 10 functional fingers and 10 functional toes. I am able to walk, run, skip, and jump. I can hear and speak. These things may seem less important than other blessings, but they aren't. To those who don't have them, they aren't. We need to be grateful for these things right now and utilize the blessings we've been given for they truly are miracles.

One chapter in Attitudes of Gratitude talks about how gratitude can become a positive habit in our life that can help to change our outlook on life. It says,

"In some ways, our attitudes determine everything, because they are the glasses through which we see the world. Is the world a wonderful place or a hellhole? All of us know that the answer to that question depends on any given day. Has the world changed? Most likely our thinking about it has. When we consciously cultivate positive attitudes, such as love, joy, and gratitude, we begin to 'remake' the world. We literally live in a different place because our attitudes about it have changed."

I only hope that I can live a little bit more grateful for what I've been given, rather than what I haven't.



Even though I started writing this post over two months ago, on September 18th, I think it's appropro to finish it this weekend before Thanksgiving. I'd like to take the time to recognize and be thankful for an eclectic mix (which is NOT all-inclusive) of blessings I have in my life:

*Evan
*Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and prayer
*Scriptures
*Kids and family (especially the kids IN our family)
*Sisters
*My only grandma
*FRIENDS both near and far
*Traveling
*Crunchy fall leaves
*German and Germany
*My eyesight
*My ability to hear, speak, and sing
*My legs
*Two working hands to type, play piano, and play games with kids
*I have my dream job.
*Education
*Mountains and ocean
*Music
*Words and BOOKS
*Respledent colors
*Water
*Love
*My ability to write and read
*My life

The Most Amazing Cake I've Ever Seen

I saw the following video on Cake Wrecks. It makes me so happy. (Partially for the entire car made from cake, but partially because I am a HUGE fan of "Sound of Music.") I hope it makes you happy too.

What this video leaves me wondering is who got to eat all that cake?

Find Joy in the Journey

Too many of us don't truly appreciate what we have until after it's gone. I know that there have been many instances in my life where this has been the case. The most extreme case is in my parents' deaths. Even though I was young, I could have done more to appreciate them than I did. Had I known of their imminent deaths, I would have acted differently. I can do nothing about that now. I can only look to the present and the future to better the relationships I still have.

I was reminded of that fact this week as I was at the Jason Mraz concert. While we were at the concert watching the opening act, Lisa Hannigan, I was somehow reminded of my mother. It's funny how memories crop up in places you don't expect to find them. But there I was, thinking about my mom. Perhaps it was Melissa's mention of the word "Mom" or the music I think my mother would have liked. Or maybe it was the lady singing and dancing with the long, swirling brown hair that conjured up feelings and thoughts of my mom. And made me miss her. I wonder what she would think of me. I wonder what she would say if she saw me and knew where I’ve been and what I’ve done with my life. I want to talk with her and ask her what her views are on the world and on music and get advice for my life. I long for that mother that I never really got the chance to know and never will during this lifetime.

Usually I’m fine when people talk about their moms. But, sometimes it hurts to want a mom to be a part of my life too. I wish I could call someone mom. I wish I had someone who knew all about me, who could tell me my heritage and who I look like and act like. It’s just not the same coming from a sibling. Mom remembers me as a baby. She knew what kind of child I was and knew the reason why I was the only child who was breast fed. There is so much I’d like to ask her, but never can. And that fact hurts. It hurts, even when it’s a dull ache, it hurts.

As I was reading the book Church of the Dog yesterday, I was confronted with a quote that I feel perfectly matches my feelings on death. The main character in the story was vacationing alone in the grand canyon. She met a stranger there who discussed his reason for coming to the grand canyon yearly on the anniversary of his brother's death:

"To me the grand canyon is like a giant wound formed from the natural cycles of life, and what I find comforting about being here is people's acceptance of it. No one sits here and tells the Earth that time will heal this wound, and no one calls the processes that created it 'tragic.' No one expects the Earth here to be like it was before the river cut the canyon. People just leave it alone and find beauty in it as it is" (McLaren 14).

Life is still beautiful in spite of all the tragedies that befall us. We need to learn to enjoy life as it is right now. Change, both good and bad, is going to come. As President Monson said in his recent conference address entitled "Finding Joy in The Journey," he quoted The Music Man when he said, “You pile up enough tomorrows, and you’ll find you’ve collected a lot of empty yesterdays.” Please appreciate the people you have in your life now. Appreciate the mom you sometimes fight with, and be grateful that you have a mom. Love your family more, say thank you to friends and coworkers more. Don't learn the hard way, like I did, that life is all too short and you can't go back and say the things you should have said once someone is gone. Be grateful. Now.

No Time to Waste

New Blog Post at Sarah's Scripture Study: No Time to Waste

A Gospel of Positive Change

New post at Sarah's Scripture Study: A Gospel of Positive Change

Jason Mraz Concert, 10/10

A few months ago, my friend, Melissa, asked me if I would like to go to a Jason Mraz concert with her in Canada because the show in Seattle was scheduled to be on Sunday. We were excited to take a trip up there to see the show and to spend time in Vancouver (I love that city!). Well, they actually opened up an acoustic show in Seattle for the Monday after his Sunday show and Melissa snatched up tickets for she and I to go. While I am not as big of a fan as Melissa is (Jason Mraz's music is the reason she learned to play the guitar), I have enjoyed his music for years.

His show last night was AWESOME! The amount of talent in that man astounds me. Yet, he's incredibly humble and down-to-earth. He walked out on stage barefoot, in jeans and a T-shirt, like he was playing guitar at his house for a group of friends. I love his humor too! Every time he talked, he made me laugh. Oh... and did I mention his dance moves? That boy has got rhythm and style!



Being at his show and witnessing his talents honestly reminded me that I need to work harder on cultivating my own talents and interests. Oftentimes, we got SO caught up in everyday life that it's easy to forget those things in which we have interest. Jason Mraz's music reminded me that I can improve myself and I can have fun doing all of those things that I enjoy doing! Thanks, Melissa for letting me come and thanks, Jason for a WONDERFUL show! :)

Hair Donor Extraordinaire

The last time I cut my hair was on April 9th, 2007 in preparation for a two-week trip to Hawaii to visit Evan. (This was obviously BEFORE I moved there.) 19 months is a long time to go without a hair cut, yet I've gone longer and been able to handle it well. This morning, however, I could wait no longer to cut my hair. My hair was absolutely driving me CRAZY!

As soon as I realized it was more than long enough to donate, I scheduled an appointment and drove over to get my hair cut. I honestly can't even tell you how freeing it was to get my hair cut and styled today. I was SO giddy! I felt like a new woman! All in all, I think I ended up cutting off about 14-15 inches of hair, although all of that isn't included in the hair I'm donating. I didn't tell Evan I was getting it cut, but told him I had a surprise for him. He was surprised, but thinks it looks great. Here are some before and after pictures today:

BEFORE (Let it be known that this is frizzy, unkempt morning hair and it not an accurate representation of what my hair normally looks like.)


The AFTER product:




Oh yeah, did I mention that Evan and his dad got a Hobie cat today? Yep, they did. They were both super excited about it! They got it home and already starting washing it and setting up the mast. Here is a picture of them working on it as it was getting dark:

A Change of Heart = True Conversion

New Blog Post at Sarah's Scripture Study: A Change of Heart = True Conversion

Elder Maxwell's Discussion of Our Times

I read the following quote on a friend's blog today and I felt it very appropriate to post. It seems a very fitting discussion of the times we now live in. You can read the full talk here.



"Make no mistake about it, brothers and sisters, in the months and years ahead, events are likely to require each member to decide whether or not he will follow the First Presidency. Members will find it more difficult to halt longer between two opinions. President Marion G. Romney said, many years ago, that he had 'never hesitated to follow the counsel of the Authorities of the Church even though it crossed my social, professional or political life.'

This is hard doctrine, but it is particularly vital doctrine in a society which is becoming more wicked. In short, brothers and sisters, not being ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ includes not being ashamed of the prophets of Jesus Christ. . . . Your discipleship may see the time when such religious convictions are discounted. . . . This new irreligious imperialism seeks to disallow certain opinions simply because those opinions grow out of religious convictions.

Resistance to abortion will be seen as primitive.. Concern over the institution of the family will be viewed as untrendy and unenlightened.... Before the ultimate victory of the forces of righteousness, some skirmishes will be lost. Even in these, however, let us leave a record so that the choices are clear, letting others do as they will in the face of prophetic counsel. There will also be times, happily, when a minor defeat seems probable, but others will step forward, having been rallied to rightness by what we do. We will know the joy, on occasion, of having awakened a slumbering majority of the decent people of all races and creeds which was, till then, unconscious of itself. Jesus said that when the fig trees put forth their leaves, 'summer is nigh.' Thus warned that summer is upon us, let us not then complain of the heat."

--- Elder Neal A. Maxwell

The 2008 Presidential Election

For weeks, I've been both wanting and dreading to post about the elections. I know that many people have been presenting their beliefs via their blog. I have abstained for various reasons, knowing full well I need to express my own beliefs without sounding redundant.

After my friend, Travis, posted a blog today about the elections, I realized it was time to voice my own opinion and concern for the election. Remember that this is my opinion and doesn't have to be yours.

Ever since January of this year, I have spent much time doing extensive research on the presidential candidates. Initially, it started out with an assignment I gave my seniors to research and find a candidate proving that according to criteria my students created, these candidates either were or were not good leaders. This assignment began as a starting point for me of in-depth research into the lives of the 2008 U.S. Presidential Candidates. Through this process, I've realized what is important to me in a President of the United States. Because of this, it is hard for me to vote. I know that none of the presidential candidates fits what I would call a good president. I have objections to all of the candidates.

However, seeing that it is my civic duty to choose one candidate, I have done so after much research, prayer, and thought.

My hope is that you have too.

I hope that you truly know WHO you're voting for. Does this person stand for beliefs and values that you hold dear? Does this person have the experience necessary to solve what YOU feel may be the toughest problems facing America today? I hope so.



For me, that person is John McCain. Believe me, I know that he is not perfect. He has his faults, just like every other candidate. I do feel that he is more honest and a safer choice than my other major party choice. Not only do Barack Obama and I differ on some of our values and beliefs, but I see his lack of political and military experience as a major problem. Recently, I heard one man say that he was voting for Barack Obama because, even though Barack lacks the experience necessary to be the president of the United States (Barack Obama even said this himself less than 2 months before deciding to run for president), this man felt that Barack Obama knows where to go to get the answers of how to lead our country. Do you see a problem with this? Because I do. (SEE MORE AT: Sad commentary on today's uninformed voter)

Additionally, our country was created as a democracy. Many of Barack Obama's ideas show me that he has a more socialistic view of the way our country should be. He himself used the term "Marxism" to refer to his own ideas. This also frightens me. If I wanted to live in a socialistic society, I would have moved out of country years ago. I want to maintain the freedoms currently inherent in our society. I don't believe that we should give something for nothing, but I do believe we should help out those around us in their times of need. Give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime. We need to teach people what work means and provide them with the sense of accomplishment associated with that. We should provide people with opportunities to improve themselves and their situation. One of my favorite books, Atlas Shrugged, which was written by a woman who lived in communist Russia, discusses the problems associated with socialism in our society.

Beware of getting something for nothing. It just means that you're paying for it in some other way.

Finally, whether or not our country is engaged in a war, the President of the United States acts as commander-in-chief of all sections of the United States armed forces. It's hard for me to believe that someone never affiliated with any branch of the armed forces and with so little political experience, could acceptably lead our nation as commander-in-chief. It's also hard for me to believe that Obama could take a stand for our country in times of war/crisis, when he voted 130 times as present. If he couldn't take a stand as a senator, how will he be able to take a stand as president?

There are a million OTHER reasons why I'm not voting for Barack Obama, but I won't go into all of them.

Who you vote for is your choice. But remember this... you are responsible for the choices you make. You will be responsible for those people you elect into power in our nation. Make sure that whoever you vote for, you've made the best choice according to your ability. Know who you vote for, know what they stand for, and how they will lead our country. Because if something negative happens to our country, you don't want to regret whom you chose.

Daylight Savings

Having light earlier in the morning today made me happy! I have been looking forward to Daylight Savings for a while now, not because it gets darker earlier, but because there will be more light in the morning. It's so hard to go to school somedays and it's still dark outside. It makes me feel like I'm up in the middle of the night! That's why, I was happy to see it light outside. THAT, and my inner body clock woke me up earlier than I needed to wake up and I got to "sleep in" a little bit. Such a good feeling!

I read an interesting article this morning, though, about Daylight Savings. It talks about the losses for parents because of Daylight Savings. It's available HERE if you want to check it out!