My New Love

I have to admit, I have a new love. And it's name is Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. I doubted him from the start, but then he changed my world! I got a free sample in the mail, and then got a box of two for like 50 cents (oh Vons sales and coupons i love you too). So on Monday night, I tested him out. I got on my knees and started scrubbing the shower. If you were near you would hear me saying "holy crap [sorry mama] this thing works! oh my goodness! oh... wow!" I was in shock. The built up soap scum crap that wouldn't go away (and we even use a shower cleaner thingie that the awesome emily west got me) was disappearing before my eyes. And I did not even have to scrub very hard. Now I do not know the physics behind my magic eraser, but I love it! The tub now looks white, something that I thought was impossible!

Now the next question... do I try it on the toilet with the ring that won't disappear, no matter how hard I scrub? What we need to think about: that means putting my pretty little hand in the toilet. Is it worth it? Sound off in the comments, please!!

Also if you have not yet purchased a magic eraser, I highly recommend it. Great way to impress your parents when they come and visit.

Disney and the Bible

In Praxis we are going through the book of James. My wonderful husband wrote the study. I am not actually in a Bible study anymore, but doing it on my own, and doing a different study with Mel. I digress, last week I made a connection to a Disney movie. I was pretty excited about it. So I thought I would share it here.

James 2:1-4
1My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don't show favoritism. 2Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. 3If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, "Here's a good seat for you," but say to the poor man, "You stand there" or "Sit on the floor by my feet," 4have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?

Now, I want you to remember Beauty and the Beast. Do you remember the beginning scene? The history of the beast? Well there is a beautiful woman who comes by and he talks to her and blah blah. Then later, and old hag comes to his door asking for food and he rejects her, telling her to leave. Well that hag turns back into the beautiful maiden and curses Beast for his inability to see inside the person, for just judging by her looks. That's how he turns into the Beast (from a prince). This relates to the verses above, we are not supposed to show favoritism [or judge] people by outward appearances. We are supposed to love all equally. so next time you think about judging someone by the appearance, think about turning into a beast! haha But really, I thought this was a cool little representation of the Scripture. Thoughts?

Year One

Yesterday marked the one year point of Papa being with the big man upstairs. I know he is loving it, and just enjoying being in God's presence. But we all miss him down here. The day started with a text from my Daddy to pray for my mom, Dan, Katie, & mostly Mama. I had already started doing that, but I love that he cared enough to remind me (that shows how tight knit our family is). It still feels like it was just yesterday that I got the phone call from my Mom. I woke up at 6 am and had 2 missed calls from my Mom at about 3 am. I knew something was up. I also knew my Dad was flying to Italy that night, so I just knew it was either Papa or my Dad. Either thought was scary. And I remember just crying when she told me what happened. Thankfully Matt had spent the night at Kevin and Scott's, so he was only 2 doors away. He came right over and just sat with me. It was very surreal. I tried to remember the last time I had talked to Papa, I think it was when I called to tell him that we were engaged. He was so happy for us. The day continued with Mike announcing his engagement to Sarah. Such a bittersweet day. He had already laid his plans, and family members were where they needed to be, but it was still hard to do. I know Papa is happy that Sarah got to join our family too, though. Like Emily said, no one can replace Papa, but many wonderful things have happened since then.

It was weird at Thanksgiving, Christmas, and all three weddings that Papa was not there. I wanted him to see me walk down the aisle, and yet, he was not there. But what was also weird, was how semi-normal the holidays and events seemed too. Like Thanksgiving did not seem much different, until we hit a part of the day that had something which Papa always did. Like he always did the dishes with Uncle Warren, and it was weird that he was not there for that. And he always say next to Mike at the table, but he was not there this year. I was reflecting upon this yesterday. How much has happened since that day that he has missed out on. Three weddings, Alex, Jessica, & Josh all starting new schools. And me starting a new school too. And it is just weird that he is not around.

Mama, if you read this (which maybe you do if Dan prints it out for you). I am praying for you and I love you. You and Papa have both been such inspirations to both Matthew and I. Each time we talk about finances, we remember Papa and how he handled his finances. In one of my classes there is a guy who works with Teen Challenge, every time he talks about it, I think about those guys and how much they loved Papa. And how much he loved them too.

I do not know what else to say, except my Papa was an inspiration to us all. He was an inspiration to all of the people who came to the funeral, who could not even fit in the room. May his legacy of finding strength and power in Christ live on through us all. We love you Papa.

And yesterday,others in the family were feeling nostalgic too. But what's interesting is we each had a different thing to say:
Emily
Davis
Alex

Yucaipa Pumpkin Patch

On Saturday evening, after my very long day of class, Matt and I went to the pumpkin patch. It was nice to get out and enjoy each other's company. Plus, I am a huge fan of fall, so it was great to see some fallish things, plus I had a pumpkin spice latte that morning. I am also enjoying wearing sweaters and fall outfits. Oh how comfy! We didn't get any pumpkins, they are just too expensive, but we did get some cute fall decor. I found a little scarecrow thing (25% off) and a little basket-esque thing and leaves. Matt actually liked my finds, and they were all in the bargain bin. I did not expect to buy anything, because those places are usually so pricey, but I left with 3 new things for only $3.99. I wanted new decor because I opened up my fall basket and realized my "decorations" consisted of 3 things: a basket (red lining with embroidered leaves), a door hanger (happy harvest) and a little scarecrow guy for my desk at work. I had been so excited to get out the decorations, so I was a little depressed when I saw what they were! haha Now I just need to remember to go to CVS after the "fall rush" and get their stuff for really cheap! Next year, I will be prepared! Enjoy some pictures of our evening at the Pumpkin patch:

Matt and his new bluetooth!

Pumpkins or Christmas Trees? I was confused!

Adam and Sarah's Wedding

On Friday night, Adam and Sarah Belknap tied the knot, and Matt and I were blessed to share this occasion with them. It was a cold, but fun, night. Sarah looked stunning in her dress, and when her Mom said "her father and I" [give her away], there was not a dry eye in the house. See, her father passed away from cancer a few months ago. So it was a sad, but joyous occasion all in one. They served Chipotle for dinner and cupcakes for dessert. John supplied our table with drinks, ha. All in all, it was a fun night, and I got to see Julia too! Enjoy the pictures:

John with his "drinks" haha

Keeping warm by candle light (thankfully I grabbed a jacket on my way out, but some of the other girls were not so lucky, and very cold)

San Diego Wild Animal Park

As I said awhile back, the family went to the Zoo for Davis' Bday (kinda) in September.  And actually, not the zoo, but the Wild Animal Park. Anyways, I finally got pictures up for you all to enjoy!  We decided that the animal park was better than we expected, and we enjoyed our little tram ride around, our "safari." While expensive, the photo safari looks really cool, you can get right up next to the animals (rhinos, giraffes, etc).  The Hot Air Balloon looks like a $20 waste of money, but what can you expect?  It's America.  Looking for suckers at every corner.   We do recommend the free "Frequent Flyers" program, you get to see some birds soaring right over you!

I was worried that my macbook wouldn't rotate pictures, as it has had problems with that in the past, but everything looks great.  Enjoy!

Ah, motherly love.

We found some gorillas out of their exhibit, haha

How I compare to a gorilla.

This is the weirdest animal ever!  Don't even remember what it was!

A lion sleeping on top of a (reinforced) Jeep.  The one adult male in the park, I believe.

A mama and her cubs. There were 6 cubs born this summer.  The WAP and the SD Zoo have a cool program where they breed their animals with ones from other parks, so there is no chance of genetic damage from incest.  Pretty cool, who'd a thunk?

They're just too cute!  But look at how HUGE those bones are that they are snacking on.

That's a rhino, pooping, right in front of the Safari Jeep. What a great photo op. haha  Plus, the Jeep can't move while animals are that close, so they get to enjoy the sweet aroma, haha

Matt's photo skills for the day, after leaving the Frequent Flyers show

Happy Birthday Mom

Today you turn 50, aren't you sad there is no surprise party? haha (I only said 50 because it's an important one, I promise not to tell everyone when you turn 50 in 5 years) I remember the big bash that was your 40th birthday. That was so much fun. The Lakeview Club was the venue; we spent so many holidays there. There are so many memories of that place: Dan & Mari's wedding, you 40th, Mama's 60th (or 65th), Mothers Day (when we learned that Papa had cancer), the list goes on. Anyways, I have loved growing closer to you as each year passes. I know that when I become a mother it will only draw us closer together (but you will be 55 by then). Thank you for all of the talk and encouragement. I love you and hope you are enjoying your time in Hawaii, you deserve it!








Thanks to Krista for this idea! It's a great one! Davis, sorry I missed your bday, I didn't think about it til now. Love you bro

Dinners and Breakfast

Last night I got some baking done, and wrote a paper, now that's mutlitasking. I wanted to get some meals ready for the week, so I would not have to worry about it during school. I made my Mom's newest recipe for pork chops (covering them with a cola/ketchup/brown sugar marinade) and some risotto for dinner last night. There are still 3 chops left. I thought I overcooked them, but Matt said they were tasty. And with all of the bugs around the world today, I guess it is better to overcook them than to undercook them! I also made a variation on Bryan's Moms Baked Ziti (not pictured). I just kinda threw stuff in the pot to make the sauce and then added Rigatoni. It was really good. Does that make me a real chef, when I don't need to follow a recipe by heart, I can just go by guesssing? haha What I love about this recipe is it makes a LOT of pasta. So I have one casserole dish in the fridge, and one in the freezer. Plus 3 mini casseroles. Enough to last us quite awhile!

Mmm dinner! The glass of wine made it perfect! After this, it was back to studying!

This morning, Matt decided to make omelettes for us, actually, he did this yesterday too. i loved waking up to the scent of scrambled eggs and potatoes! This is definitely something I can get used to! haha He has put our toaster oven to use, that thing is his baby! I think he would be able to survive with the toaster oven, the foreman, and the magic bullet. haha Anyways, breakfast was delish! And as I sat down to eat, Matt said: "Don't worry, I already got pictures, just go ahead and enjoy your breakfast." Wow. He knows me well! Here are his pictures of a perfect Monday morning breakfast, definitely makes Mondays much better:





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Kmart was doubling coupons last week, and I went over on Thursday to see what I could get. While I spent more than I had planned, I scored some amazing deals! i spent around $56 and saved over $40. That's pretty good, right? Anyways, some of the items were actually free, like the tums and kids toothpaste. And some were just really cheap. but the boxes of cereal were really cheap, so I could not pass them up. I have been reading a guide to grocery shopping by Money Saving Mom, and one of her tips is to never spend more than $2 on a box of cereal. Each of those lovely boxes was under $2, amazing, I know. haha Anyways, here is a picture of my purchases. And I still have pictures of the Zoo Trip to put up!



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Free Stuff

I just love it! I have found all of these blogs where they advertise some of the best freebies. Matthew got the mail last night and guess how many freebies inside? 3! A little box of multi-grain cheerios (like the vacation size), an Oprah magazine, and a $5 gas card for Chevron! All for free! And I don't do any trials, where I have to cancel in x amount of months either. These were all no obligation. I think the best freebie I have gotten so far is the swiffer, tho. A whole starter set! That's huge!\

Do you have any good freebie stories?