A Rundown of Life

Life is one crazy thing after another and this last month was no exception. We celebrated America's Birthday as well as Brecken's 2nd birthday on the same day this month. Paparazzi Accessories has kept me busy and then just plain life and kids keep the days moving quickly.

I was called up to jury duty this month. I had the ability to postpone it for 3 months but then when I looked at the calendar, it will messed with the Paparazzi crazy schedule of the holidays. That was a no go, so July here we come. In the county that I live in, we  report for an entire month. It was so long and I am glad that I am officially over with that. I had to call in after 5pm every single day to see if a selection was scheduled for the next day. Mid month, my number was actually called and I reported the next day. The entire process was so interesting. The trial was a criminal one and the defendant was right there in the room. I had no idea it was like that. There were lots of us, but what they did was call 12 random numbers to sit in the juror box and then call another 35 random numbers to be in the active juror selection process. The others were just extras in the peanut gallery for the time being. I was not initially called into any of the positions. As the process went on and people were excused for one legitimate reason or another (people try really hard to get out of being on a jury), I was called into a jury position and got to sit on the jury stand for extended questioning with all of the others from both the prosecution and defense. The trial was going to be held the next day and was scheduled to be over and done with that one day. I was really hoping I would have been picked. I had the time the next day and would have loved to see how it works from that perspective. The defendant was accused of sexual battery on a minor under the age of 18. From what I gathered, the girl was around 16 or 17 years old. It would have been interesting. This entire month, I was so nervous about jury duty and when it would strike because I have been scheduled to have a Paparazzi booth with two other team members of mine at the county fair in town. I would have felt so bad if they had to take on the bulk of the work because I was tied up in some trial. I have a feeling I would have been able to plead my case to the judge given that the fair is something that I have committed and paid for months in advance. I made my last phone call into the jury commission today with no trial scheduled for tomorrow and it feels so good. Next month I have two fairs to do and don't have the time to worry about jury selection.

So on to the fair. The county fair here is 4 days long with set up the day before. There were 3 of us going in together to make it happen. We split up everything 3 ways...inventory, contacts, money, and schedule.  It took us 5 hours to set up and 3.5 hours to tear down. We had a little over 1500 items here.  It was a lot of fun and a lot of work. Worth it though. Thursday afternoon I took the kiddos around the fair before I had to work at night. Friday Jeff came with the boys and had more fun. I'm just glad that is over and look forward to setting up for the next 4 day fair and then preparing for a 10 day state fair! After that September keeps moving forward with a couple events, a vacation, not to mention Gunnar is in full school mode at this point. Then the rest of the year gets fun busy with the holidays and Paparazzi. I always forget that I really am a working mom. The best part is that I get to pick my own schedule and decide when I want to work for the most part. Best job ever! Wanna join my team? Let me know... haha

 My kids are nutso. Brecken is full on 2 year old. Gunnar didn't go through his naughty stage until he was about 3. He was an awesome, calm two year old. Brecken not so much. Part of it is that he has to constantly defend himself against Gunnar and picks up on so many of the not so great things Gunnar teaches him. Brecken really is a fun little guy and really his tantrums are hilarious because he is just a 2 year old. He is mostly happy, seriously hilarious, incredibly laid back...like Hawaiian style laid back, he tans with the best of us, is still a solid little guy, LOVES music, is such a great eater and loves his cousin "caw" (Cami). Like really loves her, like asks about her everyday and wakes up so happy on the days that I watch her each week. Oh, and he loves babies. Anybody's baby. Just loves them. He is also scared of the neighbors lawnmower when they are mowing. He is not a fan of many people like his doctor or the dentist, which stinks because it makes those visits miserable. He is still my cuddly boy but very busy.

One morning I was in the office doing something and Brecken walked in with a full bowl of rice Chex. I thought Gunnar got them for him and thought he new not to put so many in there. Lots of minutes went by and eventually I went into the dining room and found a huge mess! Brecken got up on the table, got the box down himself, ripped open the packaging and filled the bowl himself. He was so proud and I was not a fan of the mess. However, I was SO glad that he decided not to try and pour milk in that bowl himself. We just love this boy to pieces.

Gunnar on the other hand is seriously a miserable 6 year old most days. He is driving me crazy and summer can not get over soon enough. He needs school and something to keep him completely occupied. He is in this stage where he is bossy and does mean things to Brecken for no reason at all. He gets so bent out of shape so quickly. He tests boundaries like the best of them. He is still a very funny kid and can be really sweet but the other Gunnar usually takes over. He is in a stinker stage and I am so over it. Thankfully, I have friends that have 6 year olds too and they are working through the exact same stuff we are.  So we swap stories and pretty much laugh at it all.

It's getting late, I am tired and still recovering from the fair and hungry. Looking at those Chex on the table are making me hungry for them...

2012 Goals

I always have intentions of writing out my list of goals at the beginning of the year. It never happens until this year. I need to do it. I need to focus on a few things and really strive to achieve them. The longer I do them, the hopes is that it becomes habit right?

Today I was reading yesterdays paper and it had snippets from local people about new year's resolutions. One of the local, elected people said, "If I made a New Year's resolution, which I don't, I would not tell anyone due to the likely event of failure to follow through. I wish everyone a very happy new year and good luck with your resolution." Seriously!? That just rubbed me completely the wrong way for some reason. What a loser is what keeps going through my mind. His response was almost in a mocking way too. Does he realize that making goals is good. In fact our church leaders and most likely very successful people will say that making goals is key to progression and improvement with oneself. Plus, writing them down and/or making them known to someone increases the likelihood of actually achieving that goal. That other person or persons helps keep you accountable. It would also make me more aware of my goals. It would solidify what I really want to work on by writing them down. I like how he used the work "likely". Sounds like he never follows through on anything. Interesting to know when he is one of our elected officials in our town. And his last line is the best..."and good luck with your resolution". Totally making fun of everyone that has made goals for themselves. Anyway, it all just hit me completely wrong today.

So with that being said. I made goals! I made goals for myself and for my business. Last year I didn't really make any so I have no gauge for my progress. This year is a fresh start with a new perspective on where I want to be by the end. I broke them down by Daily Life Goals and Spiritual goals.

-I want to read my scriptures daily. It just needs to happen. My life moves more smoothly by doing so.

-I need to act on promptings sooner. You know when you get that prompting that you should just call someone up, or take them cookies, or go up and talk to them. Yep, I get those and usually don't do a darn thing. My life would be so much fuller and richer if I did it. I just know I will be blessed by doing so. You never know where those promptings lead or who they will in turn bless.

-I want to have someone new over for dinner or drop off treats to someone once per month. My awesome friend last month makes cinnamon rolls and gives them out to friends for Christmas gifts. She mentioned how she wished she could give them to everyone and had to whittle down the list. It got me thinking about giving. Why couldn't we make treats throughout the year and give them away for no reason really except we were thinking about that family. That is what I want to do.

-Go to bed by 10:30pm at night and wake up at 6am every morning. I have been going to bed way too late and waking up way late and then kicking myself every morning about my choices. It frustrates me that I don't eagerly wake up at 6am like I did before Gunnar started school.

-Continue to purge the stuff. We've been pretty good with this. Just one of those things we can always be better at. Gunnar heads back to school tomorrow which means I can get rid of those things that need to be gone when he is not around.

-Tidy up the house every night. Makes morning worth waking up to if it is clean and easier to do if I don't let it get out of control.

-Keep the kitchen table cleared every day. Do you know how hard that is? At least it is at our house. The table tends to be the dumping ground sometimes. Keeping it clear is freeing to the soul I think.

-Coupon more. I've fallen off the bandwagon and really need to jump back on. I know the potential to save and how nice it is to have food built up. Our stockpile is getting low and I am sick of paying too much for basic items I should have downstairs already.

-Pay off unnecessary credit card debt. This stuff has to go. I think we can all agree. And by couponing, I can shift my money saved towards paying off debt. That is the plan anyway.

So this is the 2012 plan. I am excited about these goals. I think they are attainable. They feel attainable anyway and that is what you want right? Why would you set a bunch of goals so far fetched that you end up failing.

I do have my Paparazzi goals too which I am excited about. I would hate to bore you with them but I am excited and the company is absolutely exploding with growth. 2012 is the year to join!

Here's to 2012. I'm feeling it will be a great year!

Ringing in the New Year

I was planning on writing a list of things that happened last year and things to come for this year at the beginning of the month but couldn't bring myself to do it. I couldn't get passed the few things that I did remember from last year like our trip to Bend Oregon (super fun) and the birth of Brecken (the most important one) to the birth of my newest niece (a close second) but that is all I could remember because I seriously could not get passed the crappy things that all happened at once. Such as our car that has been broken for 2 months, the furnace that decided to break at the same time, followed by a possible job change that would have benefitted our family greatly that didn't happen, to our one computer (that has important things that I need from it) that decided to contract something bad, to our truck having issues as well (fixed thankfully). That is how we ended our year. I then thought the new year would be better but our car that we thought was fixed decided to unfix itself shortly before 2011. So I figured forget it, I am not in the mood to think too far ahead and write a blog post. Who knows what this new year will bring us. I am hoping to really sit down and hammer out a goal here or there. Something attainable and doable. Something that will benefit the entire family and self in the long term. I feel like I am in this cloud of I don't know and I have very little motivation to move forward. I attribute a ton of it to a huge lack of sleep.. I have always needed my sleep but at this time in life, I get little and that is how it goes. It also doesn't help that I have a highly energetic 4 year old that drives me bonkers most days and wears me out. Once I get my goals on paper, I really need to put them on here to hold myself accountable to them. The ones that I have in mind would change the way that I feel a lot. I think this weather also doesn't help. I have always gotten slightly down during the winter months and it drives me bonkers. I can't stand having shorter days and it rarely is sunny. I can't wait until spring comes along and my mood will hopefully lighten.

I've Discovered

...that my baby is way huge and heavy.
...that I eat far more now than when I was pregnant because of nursing. Joke is I eat more than a teenage boy. I am always hungry.
...that babies sneeze when they have a cold so that they can clear their noses.
...that I have no problems sucking the stuff out. The more the better even if he cries.
...that baby crying never bothers me. I stay pretty mellow.
...that it feels like I rarely get to take a shower. Can't trust a 4 year old with a newborn.
...that Gunnar has an awesome memory.
...that Gunnar is obsessed with our "meetings" aka Family Home Evenings.
...that I am nesting but not pregnant or spring cleaning but it is not spring.
...that you do not tell 4 years about his special events unless you want to hear about it foever.
...that I love 20 packages of FREE cheese because of coupons.
...that Gunnar does not want to marry a girl because he says, "girls have special powers and will turn me into a girl." He is very adament.
...that he will marry Brecken instead.
...that Jeff and I are very busy people.
...that we have a goofy, spaz dog that we love.
...that Diesel can chew an entire rawhide bone in one night.
...that Gunnar is overly obsessed about his brother in a good way.
...that he is so proud to be a big brother.
...that I hate the new emissions testing in our county. We failed = $ for repairs.
...that I really enjoy sewing easy little projects here and there.
...that Gunnar keeps us on the right track with prayers and scripture reading.
...that our house requires a leaf blower. Ours broke and we were lost without one.
...that, like 5 seconds ago, my babies thumb was in his mouth. Oh no he doesn't.
...that life is ever changing and pretty exciting...

Today

What did today consist of:
-A super happy 4 year old. Over the top happy. Weird happy. He went to bed at 6:30pm Sunday and never woke up until 7:00am. He apparently needed his sleep. Experiencing World War 3 at church must make one really tired.
-We had to run an errand in Boise. We were almost there on the freeway and Gunnar thought that it would be a fun idea to switch which belt was buckled into one of the buckles so he unbuckled the one that held Brecken's carseat down. I wasn't very happy with that.
-On the way home from said errand, Gunnar was talking about the lock on the car door and how it locks all by itself. He then decided to open the door as I was driving 70 mph in a construction zone where I couldn't pull over. He pulled on the handle just enough where it unlocked the door and was open but not fully open and still latched a little. Does that make sense. I pulled over on the next exit and shut the door. Upon arriving home, I immediately turned the child lock thingy on the door so it will never happen again.
-Gunnar was truly really good the entire day and was a great helper. I was able to get 10 packets of gum for free with coupons and 5 boxes of canning jar lids for free with coupons too. I was happy about that.
-Brecken slept through all of these fun times.

Two Rivers Salon and Spa

On Saturday, with 6 of us from hula, we headed to a local salon and spa to receive these:


For some reason, the week before, I was looking on the website of this place and saw a spot where they were pretty adament about no children. I told Heidi to inform auntie, who would be making the reservations to ask about that, because I had to bring Brecken with me. We assumed everything was good to go because we didn't hear back from auntie. Heidi and I arrived and on the sign outside of the salon I again saw "NO CHILDREN". Yes it was in all caps. Tasha informed us that this place was snooty so we were prepared. Heidi, Mindy and I found auntie and we sat and waited for the other three girls.
All of a sudden a front desk girl appeared in front of us and informed us that they did not allow any children in the place. I told her he was 2 and a half weeks old and i have to have him with me. He is a baby. I certainly could have brought my 4 year old...Anyway, I have never seen 3 people jump on that lady so fast. Auntie and Heidi and Mindy started explaining that he nurses and I had to have him with me. The girl proceeds to ask if there was anyone that could come pick him up. What!? She was totally missing the point. We were all ticked. Auntie offered to sit outside with him but had her appointment in a half hour. Then what were we supposed to do, leave him in the hall. I was ready to leave. I was done with that place. It was the owners policy I guess...to be pretty unflexible that is. So we asked for our money back. We can't give money back the girl said. We had 6 people already prepaid so we were ticked. Heidi and Mindy were ready to leave with me. We didn't want to support a business like that. The place only had 8 spots for pedicures and manicures so our group alone took up more than half. Even if Brecken made a peep, who would it disturb...our own group. Brother. We asked to arrange for another time to come but miraculously she was able to change things up and let us in. They just stuck me in the furthest spot by the wall. Really was it that hard to make this happen. I intentionally fed him before we got there knowing that he would sleep the entire time. She just asked that I take him out if he cries. Common sense to me. She was young and I was pretty sure she doesn't have kids. The technicians loved him and didn't have a problem with him at all. The majority had their own kids. The lady doing Mindy's nails asked how we managed that one. Four people yelling at her and 6 prepaid people for manis and pedis at a really expensive place probably did it.

Pregnant People Should Not Get Sick...

...we have enough to worry about. Yesterday I became violently ill. It was aweful and it came on suddenly in the morning. I would have to go the bathroom (in a bad way) and then about 10 minutes later I knew that the throw up would come. I did that about 5 times throughout the morning. I ended up calling the Dr's office to find out if there was anything that I can take or what they suggest I do. The good news was that baby would be fine, the bad news was that there was nothing I could take to make it stop. The nurse recommended an all clear liquid diet until 1pm at least. I needed to stay hydrated and get this stuff to stop, especially throwing up. Finally later last night, I tried eating a little bit of ramen and then oatmeal with bad results this morning but I was starving! Jeff was awesome and took the day off yesterday. It was bad and there was no way that I was going to be able to handle Gunnar and his energy. The funny thing was that he would randomly say that he too was sick and ended up taking a nap on the family room floor near me for 3 hours! The weekend must have finally caught up with him. It was rather nice. Jeff took Gunnar to the school twice, one time with the dog. He did tons of laundry and installed a much needed door knob on the bathroom door. Not to mention the trip to the store for Gatorade and everything else that I needed. It was great having him around.

This morning I was able to get 4 hours of really good sleep while Gunnar went to work with Heidi. It was great and much needed. I am feeling a ton better now. The baby has been moving around like crazy since yesterday. Constantly almost. The nurse said that it probably was because my bowels are moving around like crazy. It has actually been pretty fun but weird at the same time knowing that other things are moving like crazy down there. I definately don't wish this upon anyone, especially pregnant people.

I have so much that needs to be caught up on here. I hope to get pre-Easter and Easter stuff posted as well as Gunnar's birthday party that we had Saturday. My sweet little baby turns 4 years old today!

Flower & Garden Show 2010

It has been about 5 years we figured that my mom and I have been to the Flower & Garden Show in Boise. It is all about flowers and your garden (go figure) with vendors and seminars and beautiful displays. We love it until this year. It's been a while and it showed. We pawned Gunnar off on my dad and went on the first day, Friday. We've always gone on Friday. I used to take the day off of work to go then with my mom.

It stunk. The show was not as great as years past. Some of the plant nursery vendors used to have elaborate displays for their booths. They weren't that big and great. Plus, to us, it felt like there weren't as many vendors. The seminars were very dissappointing. We went to one and, now that I think about it, it was from a vendor that essentially was plugging her product as the way to organic garden. The process behind it totally made sense but it was all about what her organic product could do to aid that process. The next seminar after that was about raising chickens and we weren't interested and we didn't want to stay and wait for the others to start an hour or so away. Usually the vendor and display part fills your time so you are still around but without a lot of that, we were done. The area that I do like looking at is the Bonzai area. The little plants are incredible. Everything is the big version but in little format. Incredible!

Afterwards we walked across the street to PF Changs and had the best lunch. It was so good. I ordered the Mongolian Beef, normal dinner size, and ate the entire thing. The worst part was that I didn't even feel full after that. Wow, this baby is taking over. Normally I eat very average portions.
One the way home, we ran into Walmart so I could buy Mindy the Toy Story movies super cheap. I owed her money and this is what she wanted in return. I had a great time with my mom. I had intentions to get more pictures of her and I but forgot at lunch time. I guess that is what happens when the food is so stinkin' good!

12 weeks and counting...

We rarely surprise people in our family. Miraculously we pulled off my dad's 50th birthday party in November. That was a feat in itself. However we pulled off another before the end of the year.

Jeff and I give our parent's calendars every year. What a great opportunity to announce this...


And get the most perfect reaction like this...

It was perfect and totally out of the blue for them. My siblings/spouses/boyfriends were already in on it. Heidi and Mindy found out by accident on my birthday, November 28th. I had my suspicions shortly before than too. All 8 of us somehow kept this secret completely from my parent's. None of Jeff's family had any idea. It was classic.

So now this completely explains my complete tiredness throughout this Christmas season. I had all of those projects to do with no energy at all. I had a hard time explaining to my mom why I was so exhausted out shopping with her and wanted to be done. She would tell me to stop complaining and that I love doing it. She also asked me the day that I had my first appointment (but she didn't know) if I was sad that I did not have another baby. I told her no. She then told me that maybe I needed to go to the doctor to get checked out. I got out of there and laughed about it on the way home.

Thankfully energy is about the only major problem that I have. Apparently I don't get morning sickness. Didn't with Gunnar either. My mom said she never did either. Heidi also said the 9 weeks that she was pregnant, she didn't either. I sure hope Mindy is as lucky as we are. If I feel slightly sick, I eat and I am good to go. I do get migraines and one hit the day that I had to get a wedding album out to a client. I was pushing the deadline and it needed mailed. It was so aweful. I had no Tylenol in the house and couldn't leave until the album was done. That is how close I cut it. With the tail end of the 1st trimester over, I hope to gain some of this energy back.

I was reading a friend's blog shortly after christmas and she mentioned that she was 11 weeks pregnant. I thought to myself. "I'm 11 weeks pregnant, I am curious to know when she is due." Sure enough she is due 1 day after me. We both have to have c-sections, so it will be fun to see what the real birthdays end up being.

Oh ya, I will be having another c-section. I would have it no other way and felt relieved when my doctor thought it best to go this route again. My mom felt bad that she wouldn't be able to help like she did before, but I told her that she could take Gunnar here and there and that doing so would be a huge help. Jeff, I think, is also planning on taking some time off because of that.

I am excited to see what this baby is and what it will look like. My dad told me yesterday that he hopes it is a girl. Why? He just wants to see what I would do with a girl. Apparently he can't picture it.

Gunnar wants a baby really bad in his tummy. Him and Heidi had this conversation last week before we really started talking about it around him. He cried all the way home because he wanted a baby in his tummy so bad. We are constantly explaining to him that only mommies have babies in their tummies but he can help take care of it. He seemed fine with that answer for a while. This should be really fun with him around at 4 years old.

How Stupid Can I Be

Apparently I can be quite stupid. This last Sunday I was asked to give a talk. My topic was Finding Strength in Adversity. I did such an awesome job if I say so myself. I did so much studying and reading to prepare the talk. Luckily the Fathers and Sons campout was the same weekend so Jeff and Gunnar were gone. Perfect opportunity to get it written out.

Anyway, the talk was great, I felt really proud of it and looked good in my new skirt. I picked up a new skirt that week at Ross. I just bought it not because of my talk. Really because it was cute and long enough. Not long to the ground but between my knees and my ankles. Skirts are usually long or too short for me.

Sunday rolls around and I thought that I would try on my skirt to see if that is really what I wanted to wear. I paired it with a cute black top and decided yes, this is the look.

Remember I gave a talk with my back to the Bishopric and others on the stand, attended Sunday school where we sit in the second row from the front, and attend Relief Society where I usually sit near the center aisle in the center row. As I was walking the hall looking for Jeff, I felt something near the center of my back. YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME! It was the tags to the skirt. The price tag, the brand tag...like 4 tags! When I tried on the skirt, I wasn't sure if I really wanted to where it so I kept the tags on. They were flipped to the outside so when I decided to keep it on, I didn't feel them. I immediately felt for my shirt to see how long it was. When standing it covered them well, but sitting it just had to have exposed the tags... to everyone! I can be so stupid sometimes. Jeff had a good laugh.

Where have I been?

I have been home, creating away, as fast as I can. I need to get all of this done within the next two weeks and thinking of some of it has just put me over the edge. I thought that my advent calendars would pretty much be done yesterday, yet I received two orders yesterday. I have made about 20 of these cute little things and sold all of them. This includes the orders on Etsy, the ones in the boutique in southeastern Idaho and private sales. I am thrilled with the outcome and they are actually really fun to make. Each one turns out completely different keeping them interesting. I just have one custom order album left to do and a wedding gift that comes with us to California. Oh ya, I have the calendars to finish for christmas gifts. I actually managed to finish my nursery gifts. They turned out really cute and I hope to take and post pictures soon.

So what has happened other than this craft frenzy. We obviously celebrated Thanksgiving last week. We spent it with Jeff's family at our house, which turned out actually fun. It was the first time we cook a turkey. I have pictures of that entire ordeal but I left the memory card in my coat pocket which is in the car that Jeff took to work. The day after Thanksgiving was my 28th birthday. I celebrated my 28th birthday on the 28th. Isn't there something like that is my golden birthday. Heidi and I went shopping in the morning. We always usually go to just Fred Meyer for socks every year. Jeff had this entire scheme going for my birthday and i had no idea so when I get that memory card and time I will post more about it later.

We discovered last week that we have a mouse or an entire family in a cupboard where we keep our cooking oil/venigar. We got the poisen and set it out and I know that things are eating on it. Well today after lunch and right after Jeff left for work, I wanted to see if more of the poisen has been eaten. I always open it just a crack just in case a mouse is in there. There never is...until today. I saw that thing shimmy up this electric box thing. Eeeww!

This morning I woke up to an email that stated that I won a body slimmer on Ebay because I used Buy it Now, that I paid for it and that it would be shipped today. What!? I didn't do that. I immediately sent emails to the seller, changed all passwords on the site and jumped onto Ebay Live Chat. Let me tell you, those people are so nice and chatting back and forth instantly like that was so helpful. I was on there for an hour almost exactly trying to get this thing cleared up. Sure enough a third party initiated the sale. Ebay was able to get rid of it completely and get it taken care of. We reset the passwords again and that was that.

While brushing my hair today, I noticed a gray hair. My first one ever! My hair was straightened so maybe that was the difference and why I just noticed it.

Oh ya, on Saturday it totally dawned on me that I had yet to receive the prints from John W. Golden for my brother in law's birthday. I emailed the Etsy seller and he saw that sure enough the order had not shipped for some reason. He totally rememberd talking to me. He offered a free print along with it and shipped it yesterday. I ended up getting 3 prints for the price of one when this was all said and done. This last weekend I also received this really cute business card case that I ordered. Is that not the cutest fabric. I love it and the seller was fantastic to work with.

I think that all of this pretty much sums up these past few weeks. I hope to post pictures soon. And I just remembered, we got all of our Christmas stuff up this weekend. Everything is still a bit of a disaster but our tree and outside lights look great and it was fun

All About Me

I have been tagged by my good friend Brittney.

How to play this game of tag: Post these rules on your blog. List: 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 goals, 3 current obsessions/collections, 3 random surprising facts about yourself. Tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

3 Joys
My family gives me the great joy. I just love them to pieces. Gunnar is just the cutest thing and for a 2 year old he really is a pretty good boy overall. I couldn't ask for better. Jeff is the most supportive, caring person. He always is thinking of others and that includes me.

Right now it is my garden. I am having so much fun going out there everyday and checking out the plants and what I get to pick that day. I am amazed at how well it is doing without very little effort. I thank Jeff for just going for it and arranging it with my dad to till up the grass. I was reluctant to change the yard because that is just how I am.

I love to sell the things that I create. It makes me happy. Not only do I have the skill to make scrapbook things for my own family but people actually want to buy them too. That amazes me.

3 Fears
I fear all of the time that someone I really care about will get in a bad accident or someone will die suddenly. It happened to Jeff's dad and it makes me really sad as we miss them a lot. I don't want that to happen to anyone else.

I really fear knives. I touch them and cut with them but overall I don't really like them. They freak me out. Then I start thinking about getting cut with them or stabbed and that really gets me going.

Spiders still get to me. When I was a kid, I used to put a jar or can over the spider on the ground that I found in my room. I couldn't and still can't bring myself to smashing it. Just the feeling of crushing it creeps me out. So my theory with the jar was that eventually it would lose oxygen in there and die. It works and the jar would be there for a long time until I decided to check it.

3 Goals
I would love to consistantly sell my things on Etsy. I really like that site and working with all of the great buyers on there.

Too find a great deal on a small front tine rototiller for my garden. When I set my mind to buying something, I do so much research and become a little obsessed with it until I find a great deal on what I am looking for. Right now it is the rototiller.

To raise a righteous young man and future children. This parenting thing can be hard but very rewarding too.

3 Current Obsessions/Collections
Digital scrapbooking would have to be on the top of the list. Thanks to my friend Amber, she had to introduce me to it and pique my curiosity. I love the fact that you can find most anything for free, create a page, and still have it printed for less than it would cost for a sticker sheet. And then to think about how the same things to make that one page can be used over and over again makes me happy.

Okay, so maybe the rototiller up top should have been an obssession because it sure has become both. Oh, and my garden proabably should have been down here too.

Right now I am preparing for a Craft Boutique in Idaho Falls. I don't physically have to be there but my stuff sure needs to be. I was approached through Etsy about this boutique and decided to give it a try. She told me what she liked out of the things that I make and some of the trends that they have noticed from years past and I took it from there. I have to have all things done by the middle of this week. The lady told me that most people end up getting about 20 additional sales after the fair. I really hope that happens to me. So anyway, I have collections of burp cloths, wooden frames and band aid tins all over my craft room. Jeff is working on granite trivets and coasters. Maybe one of my fears right now is that nothing really sells. I should have put that up there. The fair is August 9th, so we will have to wait and see how things go. I am really excited about it though.

3 Random Surprising Facts About Myself

I do not really like the mountains. I would much rather be found on a beach somewhere.

I love to weed. Growing up sometimes we would have a choice to weed or clean the house. Heidi was always found in the house and I would rather be in the garden weeding.

For a summer in high school I worked for a local plant nursery. I loved that job and the people I worked for were the nicest. I became so good at knowing the botanical names of the plants that even my mom was quite impressed.

Now I get to tag 5 people:
really whoever wants to do this. It was quite fun as we rarely get to really talk about ourselves.