Long hair?

I'm considering growing my hair out long again. It's pretty short right now, but I think it would be a good change. Or maybe going back to the same? I haven't decided...

So I know the last one isn't me, but that's who I was told I look like when my hair was long. So, maybe?

A Fabulous Day of Housework. Yes, housework. And yes, fabulous.

All because of these which now belong to me. (Well, us, but let's be real...me).

I now have my own washer and dryer in our unfinished basement. There were no hook-ups so when we moved here, we gave away the ones we had in our trailer with the idea that I would just use the motel's laundry rooms. This seemed fine because they are huge and can hold a lot, but quickly turned into annoying. I could never do laundry in the middle of the day because the maids were here washing the sheets and towels. That meant I could only do laundry in the evening when things were busy for me. That's when people are checking in and I'm making dinner and doing family time and bath/bed time. It was such a project that I would put it off until the very last second and then would have to spend the entire evening folding massive amounts of laundry all at once. It was for surely a nuisance.

Well, Not No More!

Corey's two cousins (brothers of the owner) build the pedestal and put in the water hook-ups (they're right below the kitchen sink so it was pretty easy, considering). They also had to put in a dryer vent (they drilled a hole right through the brick!) Then we had a furnace guy come in and do a gas line splitter from the furnace to the dryer. The past two days have been wonderful to do laundry at my leisure. AND they work WONDERFUL! They are a little high-tech for me. I really needed to think about all the buttons to push.

I LOVE THEM!

If you are a Mother...

...and are feeling down and inadequate, please read.

I drove home from Loveland
Saturday,
I always leave there with a heavy heart.
I hate leaving Dean.
Dean is my special-needs son

whose needs exceed my ability,
so he lives in a host-home in Loveland, Colorado
two hours from us.
I physically ache when I pull out of his driveway.
I'm only whole when he's in my home.
I wonder often why this is part of the Plan
for our family?

As I continued to drive,
the highway melted into my thoughts
and all I could think of
was

Why can't I just be ENOUGH for all of my children?

As much as I want to be all, do all
for them,
I just can't.

This thought stayed with me
all day Saturday
when I had a moment to myself
there it stood,
that lone thought:
"As much as I want to be a Perfect Mother to my children,
how come I am not?"
The weight of that brought tears, frankly.

Sunday afternoon,
I awoke from a nap
and there was that thought
again,
"Why can't I be enough?"
A tender mercy
whispered from Heaven
soothed my heart:

"You were never meant to be
everything to everyone in your family.
If you were,
Why would they need Me?
It is in the void of their lives,
that noone else can fill,
that they turn to Me.
This is why you cannot be everything
to them, nor ever be enough
that they never want.
This is the Plan.
You are their Mother,
I am their God."

----

The Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe has nothing on this Momza of Seven, mil to two, and recently crowned "Granma" to a Ninja-Baby who has stolen her heart with his toothless grin. Dawn is a Midwife Assistant/Doula, Home Stager, Writer, and Convert to the LDS faith--living the dream in the Colorado Rockies! She blogs at Momza's House.

Bountiful Baskets

I am so excited about this. My friend, Shayla, posted about this and I had to try it out. Turns out, it rocks!

The site is bountifulbaskets.org. You pay $15.00 for a basket of fresh fruits and vegetables. I'm talking basket as in a laundry basket, cooler, or big box. Because you bring home a lot. There are certain sites all over and specific pick up times about every other Saturday.

Your basket contains 50% fruit and 50% vegetables. Check it out...

3# bag of pears

1# pkg of strawberries

8 apples

3 mangos

7 oranges

6 bananas

8 red onions

1 spaghetti squash

4 tomatoes

1 orange pepper

1 head of broccoli

1 head of lettuce (the nice leafy green kind)

5# bag of potatoes

I already used a red onion, 2 tomatoes, the orange pepper (which I'd never bought before because they were always much more expensive. It had a fantastic flavor), and the spaghetti squash (which I'd also never purchased before and likewise had never cooked before. It wasn't as juicy and yummy as Mom's and Grandma's used to be, but sufficed for my first time. Even though I like cooking, I am still in training) for dinner tonight. My whole family is already loving it. Well, technically Nathan could care less. But, Corey and I are way excited.

You should look into this and see if there is a pickup location near you. They are in Utah, Arizona, Idaho, and Washington.

Just think about the money you'd be saving and they are FRESH. Not frozen.

Grandma Anderson

Look at this beautiful picture! This was at my Grandma Anderson's birthday party on Dec 28th. We had fun at the Little America. It was fun to see so much family. Just forget that fact that Nathan was still sick, but we braved it anyway, and then he threw up during dinner.

2010

2010 Thus Far...

1. I turned 24, no wait 23, no I was right. 24. And Daddy and Nathan gave me these.

2. We threatened to take someone to court if they didn't pay the motel the charges they owed by 'x' date at 'x' time.

3. Above mentioned has still not come in and I must do something I really don't want to do. I'm just going to see what the process is before I really decide.

4. I gave out a Book of Mormon for the first time since high school.

5. It is suspected that said Book of Mormon receiver stole numerous items from the motel when he checked out the next morning.

6. Check out this snow pile at the motel. Corey is standing on top and Jon is in the tractor.

6. I started wearing weighted gloves when I do my TurboKick/TurboSport class at the gym. Good results have followed.

7. I wore my new workout/running shoes for the first time and am extremely excited to wear such beauties on my feet.

8. Corey the Hair Ball was the beastliest man I have ever been married to. And I received the greatest birthday present of all...he shaved it all off. Just for me. I told him it would be the best birthday gift ever and he said, "Ok." See the various stages below.

Now I can finally kiss the very smooth face I fell in love with.

One last thing, I'm really excited for school to start on Monday, and Corey to go back to school on Monday, so that I can get back to this...