I'm Sorry...Who's Bed Did You Think This Was???

The cat has decided that the dog bed is her bed...Nohhi just tries to keep the peace. At least for now...

and I forgot! I did take a picture on my birthday! What better than chocolate cake with fudge frosting!

Happy Thanksgiving! Merry Christmas! and other Salutations!

After sitting here beautifying my blog, I figured I should probably spend some time and play catch up! The holiday's always get so busy for me and my best laid plans and intentions always end up out the window!

Starting with Thanksgiving we were supposed to spend the holiday with Grandma and Grandpa but with unforseen illness we stayed home and I conquered my first Thanksgiving dinner. I had more fun buying everything for it than actually cooking it, but muscled my way through valiantly and have just recently enjoyed the fruits of my labors again with homemade turkey soup!

We can't forget fun temple lights with the nieces and nephews!

Christmas brought a visit from my Sissy, Nephew, and Brother in law, although he did get trapped in the snow and only got to hang out with us for a day... as well as Grandma and Grandpa making it out to us. We enjoyed zoo lights, lots of presents, and just being able to spend time together.

Waiting for the Merry go round with Nana...

Roughrrrrr....

I don't know who was more entertained by the tv...

Can't have Christmas without 2 drummer boys...

Next up, my birthday. Dave shuffled me off to Flagstaff for the evening to enjoy a change of scenery. I got to experience my first pazookie from Oregano's and some much needed R&R...thanks hubby!!! (I was too cold to take any pictures!) So this one is compliments of the world wide web...

First Hot Chocolate of the Season

Most of the things that I enjoy about Autumn and the cold, I don't really get to enjoy anymore because I live in the desert. Some of my favorite childhood memories that marked winter was coming was the smell of roasting green chili wafting in the air from the local farmer's market, the opportunity to rake leaves into piles and then jump in them and scatter them all over the yard again...(I doubt that I was doing much raking at that age, but the jumping and scattering part I was all over!) And of course the annual balloon fiesta. Every year we would have a gymnastics meet and the morning before the meet we would go down and FREEZE only to be warmed by the fire from the balloons, the smell of funnel cake, and the taste of hot chocolate. At least I still get to enjoy my hot chocolate on occasion and with the "cold front" this week I took the opportunity to take advantage and grabbed a cup of my favorite brew...QT hot chocolate with 4 shots of cinnamon hazelnut creamer...absolutely delightful!

Another Testament

So we all know how much I am in love with Reflections of Christ by Mark Mabry. Well, he has produced another masterful piece of artwork and once again am in complete Ah of his gift and talent as well as the incredible feelings that stirred within my heart and soul as I watched.

Christmas in July

Remember the conversation that Dave and I had about doing things in our lives that made us happy that we don't do any more? Well Dave's "thing" is playing sports. Sadly he realizes that he is getting older and unfortunately the joints just don't work quite like they used to and so as much as he would love to start playing softball again he has traded his cleats in for a different kind of cleat...golf! He also loves to play golf. Some of the guys from work go out on a regular basis and they invited him to join them. He has had so much fun. It is nice to see him getting out as well as seeing him get some "boy" time which he is always complaining that he doesn't get. This is where I make a confession of my own. As I look back on my life and not very often do I wish I had given my biological father more of a chance, but he was very much into bowling and golf and tried to teach my sister and I and we wouldn't have anything to do with it. I know hind sight is always 20/20 but I wish I had been more open to learning the game of golf as learning this sport and a desire to learn to play has popped up more than once in my life. Looking back I can appreciate the fact that he was trying to broaden our horizons outside of gymnastics and as I have grown up I wish that I had been more involved in other sports most especially in high school. Thank goodness we don't have to live in the past all the time and the Lord continually provides opportunities for us to keep on learning! Dave not only wants golf to be something that he does to make him happy but would like it to be something that we do together and I agree! So this is where Christmas in July comes in...we went and bought me some golf clubs so that I can start on my golfing journey finally! And what better time to learn to play than when it is 110 degrees outside and all the courses have cheaper rates! They call this golfing from hell...I'm hoping to just keep the reference to the heat and not my lack of abilities at the moment!

Love Hate Relationships

Everyone has them and for anyone that knows me and my music they understand this all too well. I am a perfectionist. I know I know, you would NEVER had guessed! :-) But it's true. So much so that I can seem very much like I don't follow through with things, that I quit a lot, or change my mind like the wind changes direction. Many of these things are realizations that I am just now making and am excited at the possibility of what I may be able to accomplish when I'm not allowing my perfectionism or what I used to think of as failures keep me from moving forward and enjoying the ride of life. So what does this have to do with the price of eggs? Dave and I have recently been talking about what we aren't doing in our lives that we used to that brought us joy. For me, this is my music and playing my bass. My Patriarchal Blessing out right tells me what a blessing improving my talent for music will be in my life and it is the one thing that I haven't touched in YEARS!!! So why should I deny myself joy any longer! It's silly really. I had an epiphany in church last Sunday. I asked myself why I cut myself off from Heavenly Father and the Savior. The answer was because I feel like a failure, so if I don't include them in my life, through daily prayer and scripture study, then I'm not really failing them. So false! During sacrament I found a bookmark that I had bought on my mission and the last part of it says, with the Lord speaking, "I will not forget thee, I will not fail thee." And it hit me like a ton of bricks! As long as I am striving (key word) to live the gospel and keep the commandments, then Christ can't fail me nor I Him, because the Plan of Salvation is perfect! It is perfect. I don't have to be, because it is. I just have to try and strive! Isn't it great! Since this little epiphany which has made such a huge difference in my life, I have found a string shop in Chandler that specializes in basses, I have a friend in Idaho that is arranging some hymns for me for bass, and I was able to get back into contact with my bass teacher that helped start me on this musical journey way back in 1988! It has been uplifting and an absolute delight to start bringing music back into my life.

The picture is sentimental as well, although not representative of the same bass. I used to go to the symphony all the time when we lived in Albuquerque. One because music was my life and two because my teacher played in it. Anyway, one of the members, Mark, had and still does from what I can tell, a five string bass and the scroll was carved as a lions head. It was one of the most beautiful things I had ever laid eyes on. Remember that string shop I was telling you about in Chandler...yep, they have one. It is a standard 4 string, but beautiful all the same! I am truly seeing how important it is to stay close to the spirit because the Lord communicates with us in so many different and sometimes very little ways...we just may miss something and miss out on pure joy!

What We've Been Up To

I am rediculously tired of cleaning and thought I would play catch up since...well it gives me a good reason to stop cleaning! About a month ago, Dave and I decided that we would try to refinance the house just to get a lower monthly payment. In the process we decided that some upgrades were necessary. We busted tail for three weeks putting off the appraiser. After a ton of hard work and late nights we are enjoying the fruits of our labor. The refi didn't happen thanks to the housing market and the amount of foreclosers in our area, but the house needed some TLC anyway! By the way, Dave refused to cut his hair until the job was done!

Other than that little dogs has been helping me lift weights...

And Kattin has been enjoying Daddy's clean desk.