Thanks cjane!

I love this sentence from cjane's blog today:

"I see something really fresh about getting a new age at the same time as a new year. "

And that's why I love having my birthday on December 31st!

Blogging Thoughts

This week I read this article about blogging and it got me thinking about why I blog. My first blog post lists the reasons I started a blog.

I like to think that my main reason for keeping a blog now is that it's a good way to record my and my family's life that is faster, easier and cheaper than scrapbooking. (Although I am still going to scrapbook Christmases, finish Michael's books and complete 2005-2007 in the family albums ~ my goal is to finish these before Michael graduates in May!)

But honestly, it has become more than that. It's kind of a journal of my feelings, insights and testimony. I do keep a handwritten journal every day as part of my "sacred grove" time. Sometimes I write a lot, sometimes I just record what scriptures I read that day. I like that I can post on my blog an essay about something I've been pondering on. It helps me to put it down in writing that hopefully makes sense to others and maybe my great-grandchildren will read it online someday and know me better.

I have to admit there is a little vanity involved. (Alan was right) I like to think that I have something important to say and that it might be impressive or helpful to others. But, I also agree with an article my Kieth Merrill, the Mormon filmaker (which, unfortunately I cannot find on Meridian Magazine's website, which is where I read it) where his response to people who say that Mormon artists are practicing priestcraft by selling religious arts, is that artists do not create with a profit in mind, but they create because the thing (writing, music, art, film) is IN them and it needs to come out. And so many some of my posts are about things inside of me for which my blog is an outlet.

And it touches my heart when sweet friends say they've missed my blog when I take a little break. (Thanks Clyda and Barbara!)

Labels

I didn't start out doing labels for my blog posts. I realized later that I wanted to and so during the last week I have labeled all 278 posts on my blog! I know it doesn't change anything for you, my dear readers, but I have done it nonetheless and I'm feeling good about that.

Google Reader and a Pet Peeve

I use and love Google Reader which allows you to see when there is a new post on a blog you follow so you don't have all the annoying bookmark checking.

But . . .

I really don't like it when people set it up on their blogs so that you can only start reading the post and can't finish without going to the actual blog. It's very irritating and frankly, I often just skip the post because I don't want to go to their blog - I just want to read the post. And if I want to comment, then I do go to their blog to comment.

Not that anyone really cares, but if you want me to read your post, please just allow the whole thing to show up on Google Reader.

Thank you very much.

By the way, if you don't know if you're a culprit of this evil practice, go to settings, then site feed, then allow blog feeds and choose: full.

Home Sweet Home and a Website

It's always good to come home.

I loved my trip to New York; the kids were darling and we made some great memories. Laura is such an amazing wife, mother, homemaker, friend, Primary president - I am just in awe of her and thankful I was able to keep her alive to become what she is. (I take no credit)

And now . . .

Introducing . . .

(drum roll please)

My dear husband's website!

It contains his blog and you can read his Mission President's Journal and a list of all our missionaries that they can update. I just had such fun reading about all the missionaries who've updated their info on the website. And my dear husband is a wonderful writer, so you don't want to miss his blog entries.

Enjoy!

99 Things Tag

The ones I've done are in bold 1. Started your own blog 2. Slept under the stars (at Lake Powell) 3. Played in a band 4. Visited Hawaii 5. Watched a meteor shower 6. Given more than you can afford to charity 7. Been to Disneyland 8. Climbed a mountain 9. Held a praying mantis 10. Sang a solo 11. Bungee jumped 12. Visited Paris 13. Watched a lightning storm at sea 14. Taught yourself an art from scratch 15. Adopted a child 16. Had food poisoning 17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty (twice, and once I was 5 months pregnant!) 18. Grown your own vegetables 19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France 20. Slept on an overnight train 21. Had a pillow fight 22. Hitch hiked 23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill 24. Built a snow fort 25. Held a lamb 26. Gone swimming in the ocean at night 27. Run a Marathon 28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice 29. Seen a total eclipse ( I wish) 30. Watched a sunrise or sunset 31. Hit a home run (are you kidding?) 32. Been on a cruise 33. Seen Niagara Falls in person 34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors 35. Seen an Amish community 36. Taught yourself a new language (doesn't have to be fluent, right?) 37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied 38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person 39. Gone rock climbing 40. Seen Michelangelo’s David 41. Sung karaoke 42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt 43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant 44. Visited Africa (Actually born there in Morocc0) 45. Walked on a beach by moonlight 46. Been transported in an ambulance 47. Had your portrait painted 48. Gone deep sea fishing 49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person 50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris (just seen it in person) 51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling 52. Kissed in the rain 53. Played in the mud 54. Gone to a drive-in theater 55. Been in a movie 56. Visited the Great Wall of China 57. Started a business 58. Taken a martial arts class 59. Visited Russia 60. Served at a soup kitchen 61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies (ate lots, does that count?) 62. Gone whale watching 63. Got flowers for no reason 64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma 65. Gone sky diving 66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp 67. Bounced a check 68. Flown in a helicopter 69. Saved a favorite childhood toy 70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial 71. Eaten Caviar 72. Pieced a quilt 73. Stood in Times Square 74. Toured the Everglades 75. Been fired from a job 76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London 77. Broken a bone 78. Been on a speeding motorcycle 79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person 80. Published a book 81. Visited the Vatican 82. Bought a brand new car 83. Walked in Jerusalem 84. Had your picture in the newspaper 86. Visited the White House 87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating 88. Had chickenpox 89. Saved someone’s life 90. Sat on a jury 91. Met someone famous 92. Joined a book club 93. Lost a loved one 94. Had a baby 95. Seen the Alamo in person 96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake 97. Been involved in a law suit 98. Owned a cell phone 99. Been stung by a bee

My total is 63 - I guess I have some more living to do!

Tagged, Again - A Repost

Kim tagged me to tell six quirky things about me, so I'm reposting a "tagged" I did back in October of last year. I actually wrote 9 things - I guess I'm kind of a quirky girl:

1. Everyday when I write in my journal I start with the date, written genealogy style: 9 Oct 2007, then I draw a box around it and color in the box according to what day it is:
Monday: Green for Go - it's always a busy get-going day
Tuesday: Blue because it's my favorite day and blue is my favorite color
Wednesday: Purple because it comes after blue in rainbow order
Thursday: Pink (same reason as purple)
Friday: Red because it's a happy - end of the week - day and I might get a date "put a red dress on"
Saturday: Orange (same reason as purple)
Sunday: Yellow because it's the Sabbath - a "Light" day

2. I like to write! Literally to write with a pen or pencil. My Mom says when I first learned to write I used up reams of paper. Now I just write words on my leg with my finger (weird, I know) just whatever words come into my head or I hear in the conversation. So if you see my finger moving, I'm writing words.

3. Whenever I'm listening to music, but especially sing hymns in church, I "conduct" the music with my toe.

4. I can only clean house seriously in my pajamas or exercise clothes, once I've showered for the day, I just don't want to do housework. So if you come by my house in the afternoon and I'm still in my pjs or walking clothes, you'll know that my house is really clean!

5. I make lists, I love lists, I think it's because once I've written something down then it's not in my head anymore and I can think about something else.
And sometimes I rewrite the list - see #2

6. When I'm eating a full plate of food I take bites of each food so that always have the same ratio of the different foods on my plate, except if there's something I don't really like, then I eat it all first to be done with it.

7. I really like to make beds and do the ironing, I like making something go from disorder to order, contrary to the laws of nature.

8. I'd rather clean than cook; I've ruined more than one meal because I start cooking and then get sidetracked by laundry or some other "cleaning up" task and burned the food.

9. I've always had a thing for even numbers, preferring them over odd numbers. For example always leaving the volume on the TV on an even number,etc. But recently I've noticed that the number three is everywhere in the scriptures and life and good design and so THREE is my favorite number, and yes, it is odd. Which has led to my newfound love of multiples of three. For example, I have three sons and three daughters and that makes SIX and three squared is NINE and the number NINE appears in my address, my home phone and my cell phone, so I had to have NINE weird things about me!

Which Disney Princess Are You?

I am Pocahontas! Free-spirited and wise. You have a strong passionate spirit that touches and changes all who know you. The wisdom and common sense that you have is really what guides you through life. Even so, you also have a very playful side that loves adventure and excitement.

Take the test for yourself!

Blogging Warms My Heart

I've just spent a few minutes (okay, more than a few) checking my usual blogs, I start with my daughters and move on from there. I just read two that really touched my heart with goodness and gladness. So, I recommend to you: Chelle's post today at Segullah and M&M's February 13th post. Happy reading!

I added the links but it didn't work. You can find M&M at: iammullingandmusing.blogspot.com and Chelle's post at: segullah.org/guest-post/let-it-be/

Scrapbooking and An Epiphany

For the first time in almost four years I sat down to scrapbook. I finished 12 pages - June 2004 - the last month of our mission. I'm now 3 years and 8 months behind. Unlike my daughter, Laura, and the scrapbook gurus of today, I'm still stuck on the notion of scrapbooking in chronological order.

I realized though, that my scrapbooking days are numbered. Now that I'm just two years from having all my children through high school I don't think that I need to continue scrapbooking our lives in the same way that I have been. I will, of course, keep Michael's books up to date through his mission. And I still need to scrapbook my life: birth - marriage. I will continue to scrapbook our Christmases since I have Christmas albums with each Christmas since 1976. But . . . I believe that starting with 2008 I will use my blog as a journaling/family history method. Then at the end of each year I will print my blog for that year and my scrapbooking is done!

I have enjoyed scrapbooking my family's life and I treasure the family history I have created. It's just the best whenever any of my children sit down with a scrapbook and take a little walk down memory lane - that makes it all worth it. Not to mention the convenience of just grabbing a scrapbook if I can't remember a date and having the information at my fingertips.

But I have to say that I am feeling good about the fact that there is an end in sight. I may even have to move on to real family history work (read: genealogy) and begin redeeming my dead.

Note: the picture is the final page of our mission, and I just couldn't get it to copy rotated, even though I got it rotated in iphoto. I guess if I'm going to be a serious blogger I better figure some of this stuff out!

Young Mothers

Ever since Laura and Mary began their blogs I have loved reading about their lives as young mothers. As I expanded and started reading the blogs of their friends and sisters-in-law as well, my life has been enriched. I want to say to all of you young mothers that the feelings that you have as mothers are universal. When I was a young mother I didn't have the blog format to record my feelings, the joys and frustrations of being a stay-at-home mother of little ones. So when I read your blog posts my heart is full as I can relate to all of your thoughts and I am reminded of the truly great mission you are all fulfilling to fill little lives with love and training and fun. I just want all the young mothers out there to know that I think you're amazing. You're doing the most mportant thing you could be doing at this time of your life. It is thankless and exhausting and exhilarating and sweet all at the same time. Keep up the good work!

Tagged!

Even though I've only been a blogger for 11 days, my brother mention in his blog after being "tagged" by his daughter that he was "tagging" anyone who read his blog so here I go with eight weird habits/things about me:

1. Everyday when I write in my journal I start with the date, written genealogy style: 9 Oct 2007, then I draw a box around it and color in the box according to what day it is:
Monday: Green for Go - it's always a busy get-going day
Tuesday: Blue because it's my favorite day and blue is my favorite color
Wednesday: Purple because it comes after blue in rainbow order
Thursday: Pink (same reason as purple)
Friday: Red because it's a happy - end of the week - day and I might get a date "put a red dress on"
Saturday: Orange (same reason as purple)
Sunday: Yellow because it's the Sabbath - a "Light" day
2. I like to write! Literally to write with a pen or pencil. My Mom says when I first learned to write I used up reams of paper. Now I just write words on my leg with my finger (weird, I know) just whatever words come into my head or I hear in the conversation. So if you see my finger moving, I'm writing words.
3. Whenever I'm listening to music, but especially sing hymns in church, I "conduct" the music with my toe.
4. I can only clean house seriously in my pajamas or exercise clothes, once I've showered for the day, I just don't want to do housework. So if you come by my house in the afternoon and I'm still in my pjs or walking clothes, you'll know that my house is really clean!
5. I make lists, I love lists, I think it's because once I've written something down then it's not in my head anymore and I can think about something else.
6. When I'm eating a full plate of food I take bites of each food so that always have the same ratio of the different foods on my plate, except if there's something I don't really like, then I eat it all first to be done with it.
7. I really like to make beds and do the ironing, I like making something go from disorder to order, contrary to the laws of nature.
8. I'd rather clean than cook; I've ruined more than one meal because I start cooking and then get sidetracked by laundry or some other "cleaning up" task and burned the food.
After reading Laura's I realized that I had to add one more:
9. I've always had a thing for even numbers, preferring them over odd numbers. For example always leaving the volume on the TV on an even number,etc. But recently I've noticed that the number three is everywhere in the scriptures and life and good design and so THREE is my favorite number, and yes, it is odd. Which has led to my newfound love of multiples of three. For example, I have three sons and three daughters and that makes SIX and three squared is NINE and the number NINE appears in my address, my home phone and my cell phone, so I had to have NINE weird things about me!

I'm tagging Laura, Mary, Jenny & Erica, and G & G. Let's hear what's weird about you!

Everybody's Doing It

Top ten reasons for starting a blog:
1. I love my daughters' blogs
2. I miss writing weekly journals on my mission
3. Even my parents and my brother have blogs
4. Alan says "vanity" is a reason - so I must be vain
5. I don't spend enough time sitting in front of a computer screen
6. I want to improve my typing skills
7. I have so many pictures in iphoto that I never print or scrapbook, I might as well post them on my blog
8. I can practice putting only one space after a period (when did they change that rule?!)
9. I can amuse/embarrass my husband and children, and eventually my grandchildren
10. Everybody's doing it! (If they were jumping off cliffs, would I do that, too?!)