General Conference is coming!!

This weekend, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and people all around the world have the opportunity to listen to modern day apostles and prophets. We will hear instruction specifically for our day and time. As part of an effort to better prepare myself, I found this video on youtube that is basically highlights from the last conference in April. It is about 10 minutes long, but totally worth it if you have a bit of extra time. I was reminded of all the wonderful counsel that was given to me, and how I need to be better. I'm so excited to participate in conference this weekend and challenge everyone else to do so as well. Happy Conference Weekend!

Just for fun

Hey Mom Garner- Check this out....AGAIN!

I have a friend here who recently learned how to can from her grandma and she invited to teach me a little. So I bought a bunch of peaches and pears from an old farmer sitting on the back of his truck. The picture couldn't have been more perfect. He was wearing blue and white striped overalls, a cap, had some teeth missing and was nice enough to teach me how to can! Anyway, I spent the better part of the day over at Angie's house and canned me a bunch of peaches!! Wahoo! The pears aren't quite ready, so we'll be doing those later. I just felt so homemaker-ish! Fall is in the air, I'm canning...I don't know.

We are pretty creative about where we put our food storage, but we do have more room in this apartment, so I reorganized some things so that in a few months here when mice start coming into our apartment (eek!) they won't get our food. We have some long plastic bins under our bed with extra stuff we buy from the store, we have boxes of food storage that we bought from a company called "Daily Bread" and they are all pre-maid meals and have a shelf life of forever and we keep them between our washer and dryer, and then I started utilizing a card table for the rest of this delicious-ness. Go me!


As for Mr. Miles:

He likes long walks on asphalt trails near potato and grain fields, climbing up EVERYTHING including the toilet, the opening theme song to ANY show, (It will leave him completely mesmerized, so it's a good time to wipe his nose), and screaming like his parents are beating him when they change his diaper. He seeks a woman who can keep him on his schedule, has nice hair to play with, and plays peek-a-boo when he wakes up from a nap. (Unfortunately, this position has already been filled by his mommy. :) )

Hey Mom Garner- Check this out!

A few months ago, Richie's mom brought up all of the pictures that were his that he never got around to scrapbooking while he lived at home. Probably because he hated, excuse me, loathed it. So to help keep my busy, she got me a bunch of scrapbooking supplies and away I went. For the last couple of months, any spare second I've had has gone into this gigantic scrapbook. See how huge this thing is? I didn't even include all the pictures, and Richie has a few more of these size scrapbooks that he did himself! Anyway, this blog is me doing a little victory dance for being finished. WAHOO!





In response to the last post: It seems we stay at home moms have a lot of pent up aggression. Call me, we'll go get ice cream. :)
Oh and for those of you who read the comments and couldn't sense the sarcasm in what my bro Russ said....Richie is usually the one who tries to alleviate my tension and anger, not add to it. In fact, he came home with flowers yesterday. Awhh presh!

Here's my 2 cents

Ok- I normally try not to be the one who sees the glass as half empty and I try really hard to be a more uplifting person on a frequent basis. However, that does not mean I don't have my gripes and need to be a whiner for a time. Well, right now is one of those times. I'll say what I have to whine about, then I'll get off my soapbox, promise.

What is it with people that think just because I'm not some multi-millionaire, CEO, iPod touch screen addict, wearing a power suit woman that my time isn't valuable? Why do people think that because I'm a stay-at-home mom that I have nothing better to do with my time than cater to you?? I guess those people have never been a stay-at-home mom and don't realize that those few precious hours when your babies are napping is the only time you have to get done the majority of your list that day, or (gasp) even shower! (what a luxury, right?) I just get sick of people wasting MY time because they think THEIR time is more important, and giving me "chores" to do because they probably think I sit around and eat bon bons all day.

Can I get an "AMEN"?!

Miles is sure growing up! He can't fluidly crawl yet, but is sure getting around. The other day I left him in the living room for a second and when I came back in, he was head first into his toy bucket with his little, chubby legs sticking out and kicking like crazy. I tried to take a picture, but he got upset. Man, that was funny.


Anyway, Jenn, here is that soup recipe I was talking about the other day. Anyone interested in a fairly quick, cheap and yummy meal here is the recipe for:

Italian Vegetable Soup

Sweet Basil
Garlic Powder
Oregano
Parmesan
Parsley
Marjoram
Rosemary
Thyme

Tomato Soup- family size can
Stewed Tomatoes - 2 cans drained
Potatoes - 1-2 cut into bite sized chunks
Carrots- sliced
Celery-sliced
Zucchini- sliced, then cut slices in half
S&P
Small Shell Pasta

Dump the tomato soup into a large pot. Add 1 can water- add more if needed ( up to half a can). Stir on medium heat. Cut veggies and add to soup, in this order: Potatoes, carrots, celery, zucchini and tomatoes. Add spices; season to taste. Spices are listed in the order of the largest amount to the smallest. Use a lot of 1st 4 and small amounts of the last 4. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cook until veggies are almost done, then add shell pasta.

I don't follow this recipe exactly, but either way it will turn out yummy. I don't like stewed tomatoes, so I add diced. I usually do small shell pasta also and FYI, you usually only need to use half a bag of pasta. I always make breadsticks to go with it. YUMMY!

Are you from Dixie? Yes I'm from Dixie!

If you've never heard that old song, then the title of this post probably makes no sense, but this labor day weekend, Richie, Miles and I made a surprise visit to St. George! It was so great. Richie and I both got work extra work off so decided, "What the heck?! Let's drive 8 hours and totally interrupt our family's plans for the weekend!" Luckily, they love us (or should I say, Miles) enough that they dismissed our lack of notice and provided us with a fantastic break from the daily grind. And as an added bonus, Richie's sister Makenna and her husband Ian heard we were coming down, and they braved a long traffic filled drive to meet us there and hang out. While there we of course went to Honolulu Grill, saw our new baby niece Josephine, went on a hike to "Smoke Detector Rock", visited with old friends, went shopping, stopped at Cove Fort and ate good food. Thanks everyone again for the great weekend!

Woah! Check out those muscles!

Woah! Check out those faces! :)

These two are buds

Jenna, Rach and Sam. It had been too long. So good to see and talk with old friends.

It was so great to be reminded of my incredible heritage and introduce it to Miles!