Changes......

Change is good right? I always have thought that as hard as it can be sometimes, change is necessary to keep life from becoming stagnate. So, with that, I am looking at the new President of our country with hope that his version of change is what we need. I was on the treadmill at the gym yesterday watching the inauguration on the TV above me and for the first time in my 37 year old life, I was struck by just how huge this transition is. I have never watched an inauguration before. Never cared about it really. I know that sounds horrible but I just never felt the need to watch it I guess. But, as I watched I was made aware of all of the tradition that surrounds the event.... I never knew that the new president goes to the church before hand as a matter of tradition. The old president leaves a letter in the oval office on his way out.....the procession and who sits where in the limousine all has significance..... So, I guess that even though I did not vote for Barrack Obama, his winning of the election has somehow caused me to become a little more educated and a little more appreciative of the transition. I was quite disappointed to hear that people....adults....actually had the nerve to Boo President Bush. Come on people, show some maturity. The whole world was watching you act like little children....you should be ashamed of yourselves really and it doesn't say much for Obama supporters and your intelligence level. I really hope that he (President Obama) lives up to his promises. I hope that he helps our country pull itself out of the muck that it is in right now..... I hope that this change is good.

On a more personal level, we had a big change or transition ourselves this week at our house. Our boys who are just 18 months apart are now in their own rooms. They have either shared a bed or a room for their "whole lives"....as Ian so dramatically put it.... So, we have a guest room that is too small for the queen sized bed that is in it. Considering the fact that we really don't have guests all that often and Alec is getting to the point where he isn't spending much time at our house anymore, I decided to give that room to Evan. I took apart their bunk beds and put Evans half in this "guest" room and then took the queen bed from that room and gave it to Ian since the boys shared room is the biggest room in the house. I then took Ian's half of the bunk bed and put it upstairs in Addison's room for her to sleep on. If/when we have guests, they can have Ian's room with the queen bed..... What this means now is that we are adjusting to sleep habits. Addison still sleeps with us so now I am trying to transition her to her own bed....so far 3 hours is as long as she has lasted in her new bed. We have to get her to sleep first and then put her in the bed. At some point she gets up and comes to our bed. Hopefully this will end eventually. Evan has had to adjust to sleeping without Ian in the room. This has been hard for him so we leave his light on until he is asleep.....but Oh how happy he is that he has his own room! I think it has shown him how much his brother means to him too. That is the best part about change, it helps you see the good in things that maybe you didn't appreciate before..... I suspect that Americans will eventually be able to recognize the good in President Bush as Obama makes his own mistakes. Rest assured he will....they all do.

Misc Stuff......

This weekend was General Conference for our church. What a perfect weekend for it too with all the rain! I guess it wasnt much fun for the people who actually traveled downtown to watch it in person....but for the rest, it was an even better excuse to stay in. Unfortunately it is difficult to watch conference in a home with little kids. I am not one to make them watch it either and so thank heavens for DVR machines! Ian asked me today though why we werent watching it....oops.... I told him I recorded it to watch later and he asked if he could watch it with me. Wow. Didnt see that coming! I did watch a talk or two today and was excited to see my aunt and uncle standing right next to each other in the choir! That made it easy to find them while they were singing.....
We decorated the house for Halloween this weekend. Thats always fun. I added a couple of new things this year much to kids excitement. I figure by the time they are teenagers I will have enough stuff to make the house look really cool......and then they probably wont give a hoot about it. Oh well.... I love the smell of Fall. Especially after a good rain storm..... it is such a nostalgic time of year for me. Of course we were left with snow in the mountains.....Winter is not far away.

This is our neighbors cat Conan.....this cat is so cool. I love kittys but Ian is so allergic the we cant have one so I decided I am adopting this one. He spends most of his time in our yard anyway....much to Denvers dismay. He is such a cuddly cat and loves attention which is odd for a cat. Addison loves her "neow"...... The cat is nearly as big as she is but he lets her maul him and that is what I love to watch.....

After my choir rehearsal last night, I came home to find that one of Evan's front teeth had been pulled. Im not sure how Denver managed it other than Evan did promise me he would let dad pull it.....the other one is coming out tonight so Evan will have both front teeth missing. That should be fun! Ian's came out one at a time and one had grown back before the other came out so this will be a first with one of our kids missing both of them....I wonder if he will talk funny? I took a picture of him this morning with the one missing....I'll put another up when we pull the 2nd one.

Chained to My House.....

You know things are pretty bad when you decide not to take a simple drive around town in order to conserve gas. We have 2 vehicles....a minivan and a mid-size car. The car is driven by Denver and only to work and back. The minivan is self explanatory and our main source of transportation. Denver has been driving the van to work the past few days however due to the fact that his car was out of gas and the van still had some in it. So, yesterday we went to the gas station and paid $3.99 for gas. Some may think that is a good deal by comparison. However, I felt like throwing up. We only put $45 in each vehicle.....$90 for gas! And it didnt even give us 3/4 of a tank! It is outrageous. Something has to be done. I dont consider myself a politically knowledgable person. I simply dont have time to sit and read about all of that. I make my decision (for voting) based on some knowledge but mostly a gut feeling (shudder...I know) but lately I have been trying to read up on things because I dont really have a good feeling about either candidate. I feel like all politicians are liars and crooks at some level so I just have a hard time looking at any of them objectively as people let alone as our future President. All I know is that the gas problem is out of control and as un-important a problem as it may seem to some, considering that there are men and women dying in the name of freedom right now, in my world it is the MAIN problem and one that is hurting worse every day. I feel like a prisoner in my own home...unable to go anywhere for fear of wasting gas. And they wonder why the economy sucks so bad and why people arent out shopping and spending money....they are saving that money to put in their cars! Ok, Im done. I know everyone feels the same way.....I miss the days when $12 filled up my car.

Another thought....

Did anyone watch the Kentucky Derby yesterday? Is anyone else as upset as I am over the fate of Eight Belles....the 2nd place horse? It has made me physically ill and I cannot stop thinking about it. I even had a dream about it last night (this morning tecnically). Denver is wanting me to be more rational about it considering the horse was bred to race but I just find it so brutal and unfair. I know that those horses are WELL taken care of.....but it still doesnt feel right. Obviously if both of her ankles broke, she shouldnt have been racing. She was a 3 year old Filly and from what I have been reading her bones were still technically developing so the stress of this "great race" literally killed her. They euthanized the poor horse right there on the track! She fell right after she crossed the finish line. She completed her task and then collapsed. Ugh. Well, I dont want to open a can of worms but I dont feel good about horse racing as a sport. Money always becomes the motivator for men, who then in turn push their animals to perform. Yeah, its not dog fighting, or cock fighting, but it is still making animals work hard so that men can get paid. I dont know...... sad stuff.

The Green Thing....

So, I am watching an episode of Oprah yesterday....which I admit was only because I saw that Julia Roberts was on it, I know...shallow. Anyway, I had actually DVR'd it a week ago and it was the "Earth Day" episode so it was all about living Green. Now you know this is like the "in" thing to be.....green, right? I am not one of these types that gets all gung-ho into anything really, except blogging (haha). Really though, I am concientious of the environment. I truly want to make the world better and healthier, the problem is how do people afford it. Let me back up. The first segment of the show talked about how horrible our food is and how we should buy organic everything. Great. I would love to, can you lend me an extra 'grand' every month so that I can afford it? Most average parents out there would love to feed their children organic foods free of pesticides and growth hormones. I have a son who is allergic to peanuts and suffers from really bad allergies and asthma. I firmly believe that eating healthier foods would help that situation for him but when I compare eggs for instance.....$1.35 for regular eggs, $3.25 for free range, brown, organic eggs....well, there just isnt any way for me to justify that. Chicken and Beef too.....an extra $3 minimum for the better meat. It really is unfair. I could go into my whole conspiracy theory about the FDA and Government trying to keep Americans fat and unhealthy but I wont get on that soap box today. In defense of the wealthy "guests" on Oprahs show, they did give a cool recipe for a veggie wash that rids your "non-organic" veggies of most of the pesticide residue. I plan on trying it.....

So, the next thing on the show.... grocery shopping bags. Plastic or Paper? Apparently neither. I wholeheartedly agree with the plastics issue. I watched a show that was about where plastic ends up and it really disgusted me. There is this place in the ocean....somewhere in the Pacific around Hawaii I think, that all the currents kindof come together there. It is hundreds of miles of plastic bottle wasteland. You have never seen anything so gross. Of course the marine life end up ingesting it and you get the picture. Also a beach in Hawaii that doesnt make the tourist mag's happens to be where a lot of this oceanic plastic washes up. It is miles long and the sand is basically plastic chips. It is horrible. When I watched that, I decided that day to never buy bottled water again. We used to buy cases of it because I hate tap water but we havent bought a case since. I have occasionaly bought a bottle of water for work....mostly because I cant keep my re-usable water bottle at my desk. But, we have not purchased bottled water since that show. Our fridge has filtered water and the next place we live I will buy a filtration device for my tap. So, back to grocery bags. Your supposed to say no to paper too because of all the trees that are butchered to make the bags. So what do you do? You use re-usable bags. You know the kind you can buy at the grocery store? Here the problem I have with that. When we grocery shop, we have to use 2 carts to fit everything in. How the heck am I supposed to do re-usable bags? I would have to bring like 50 of them in order to fit everything! Ridiculous. So, I guess I will just have to continue the way I am and feel guilty for the dead trees or the plastic wasteland.

This really isnt a rant, I really do believe that we should take steps to be more aware of the environment and do our best to help clean it up. We recycle.....I try to remember to throw anything in our big blue bin that is recycleable. We dont use plastic water bottles. I have replaced a lot of my light bulbs with the those swirly ones that dont emit that stuff that is bad for the air....(you can see how well versed I am in the green terminology) So, I feel like I am contributing. Would I consider myself green? No. Turquoise maybe.....I'm working on it. When I hit the lottery, then I will replace my vehicles, get solar panels on my home, buy a compost machine, and buy only the best, organic foods for my family.

Living Under a Rock.....

You know, I realize that living in Utah can sometimes feel like a protective glove. Even though bad things happen here too, it still feels minor compared to some of the stuff you hear about in the news. Today Im feeling really upset about an article I read on People.com of all places. Apparently Ive been under a rock because Ellen Degeneres claims that this story sent shockwaves around the nation. As I read the story I felt sick to my stomach. Homosexuality is a very sensitive subject. One that is hard for me to speak about because I feel strongly about it in both directions. One thing that I am completely certain of though is that NO person on this planet deserves to be treated with hate and disgust no matter what orientation, religion, race, sex....etc. Human beings have a right to live as they choose. We were given free agency for the express purpose of living and learning and making choices. As a parent, I read this story with heartfelt tears for the parents of this young boy. For any of you that havent read this story or have not heard about it, a young boy gave a Valentine to another boy....asking him to be his Valentine. The boy was 15 and he was shot in the head by the 14 year old boy that he had a crush on. Is that unbelievable? It breaks my heart. It scares me. It makes me really really angry. That is really all I want to say about it. Here is the video on Ellen if you want to watch it. Make sure you pause my music player at the bottom of my blog so you can hear her speak. and here is the link to the New York Times story about it.....

My View on The Candidates.....

****Warning....this is a political joke, if you are quick to be offended over such things, quit reading now*****

Presidential candidates Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and John McCain were flying to a convention. Barack looked at Hillary, chuckled and said, 'I could throw $1000 bill out of the window right now and make somebody very happy'.

Hillary shrugged her shoulders and replied, 'I could throw ten $ 100 bills out of the window and make 10 people very happy'.

John added, 'That being the case, I could throw one hundred $10 bills out of the window and make 100 people very happy.'

Hearing their exchange, the pilot rolled his eyes and said to his co-pilot, 'Such big-shots back there. I could throw all of them out of the window and make 156 million people very happy'.

No more Romney....

Well, so much for my poll. Today Mitt dropped out of the race for President. I must say I was a bit dissappointed. Although I hadnt decided for sure who I was going to vote for, if he were on the ballot, I would have probably voted for him. I trust him the most. I dont always agree with him but almost always. I really dont like McCain at all so I may be voting democrat for the first time.....we'll see. Anyway, Im removing my little poll since half the people that visited my blog today didnt bother voting anyway.....:)

I got sad news today about my cousin. Johnny passed away last night and he was just 30....he has had a difficult life for sure but always had such a big heart. He always wanted to be everybodys buddy and even though sometimes it was obnoxious, you couldnt help but love him back. When we moved to Arizona a few years ago, I was left alone to unpack our UHaul because Denver had to go back to Utah for a couple of weeks. Johnny was going to help me unload the heavy stuff but first I had to go to the bank because I wanted to pay him a little for helping me out. When I got back from the bank, Johnny had unloaded the ENTIRE uhaul by himself and was sitting on my couch watching TV when I got back. He petitioned the neighbor to help him with the heavy things. I couldnt believe it. I was so grateful to him for that because I had 2 little boys to deal with by myself and it just made my day. So, thanks Cousin, for being so kind to me and I hope you are at peace.

I just got done unloading and putting away a massive amount of groceries......I think Im going to look into home delivery! Anybody out there utilize home delivery service? If so, leave me a comment as to how it works out for you. I would love to know if you feel it is worth it. My problem is that I shop at Super Walmart for groceries. I really hate going there but we seriously save SO MUCH money. I just cant justify going anywhere else. Which is why I dont know if home delivery would even be an option for us. Anyway....just some thoughts for today.

President Gordon B. Hinkley.....

While I was a work last night, I heard through water cooler chatter that President Hinkley had passed away. I found it very difficult to concentrate the remainder of my shift as my thoughts drifted to this man and the life that he led. A few years ago, I read his biography....thick as it was... and was so touched to learn about the full and unselfish life that he has lived. He is truly the definition of servant even though he held the highest of positions in my church. Every person growing up has a particular Prophet that they relate to and consider "their prophet".. President Hinkley was mine. He was kind and witty and dedicated to making the world a better place. He was loved by so many people....members of our church and non-members. Few who have met him can say anything bad about him. I havent heard a single story of someone meeting him and not instantly loving him. I know and understand that he is in a better place with his sweet wife but I cant help but feel sad knowing that there will be no more talks from him in my lifetime. I am so grateful to have known him in the small way that I did and for the influence he has been on my life. More than that, I am grateful for the church that I belong to and know without any doubt that I am in the right place.

Is is Spring yet?.....

Ok. I love the snow. Dont get me wrong, it is beautiful.....but is it ever going to stop? I cant remember the last time Utah has seen so much snow. It has been bitter cold for the past few days so I guess one good thing about the snow is that it brings a bit warmer temperatures....temporarily. I got off of work last night at 4:30 (this morning actually) and it was snow snow snow! That is the bad thing about the shift I work.....I have to drive in the worst of the winter storms. It was so slick that I barely missed being in an accident twice on the way home. There were cars everywhere off the side of the highway. Yikes. Im thankful that I got home safe and sound. So now, Denver is out shoveling the 7 inch deep snow off of our driveway. I dont feel sorry for him though because I have been telling him for weeks to get out the snow blower that comes with this house. It would make his life so much easier and he would never pick up the shovel again. But, he makes all kinds of excuses of why he isnt going to bother with the machine and then spends an hour shoveling......good exercise though! Honestly though, I wouldnt trade it. I love having all 4 seasons and living under these beautiful mountains. Im looking forward to enjoying them more this coming year. Every city has its good and bad but out of all the cities I have lived, Salt Lake has the most good.....even with all this SNOW!

The kids are progressing in their piano lessons. They will have a recital in April....that should be fun :) Their teacher is this little old lady in our church. She only charges us $7 per lesson which is a slammin deal. She pulled me aside last week and said she needed to buy a more difficult book for Ian because he is moving so fast. It is hard because we dont want Evan to feel like he isnt just as great. Evan is moving at a perfectly normal pace its just that Ian is a very quick learner and usually above average in just about everything he does. She was nice to pull me aside and speak quietly so Evan would not hear. Evan has beautiful piano fingers. They are long and thin and as he learns, he will probably end up being a better piano player than Ian. The one thing that Evan has over Ian is passion. He is a very sensitive and artistic little boy and I believe he feels the music more than Ian. Ian is methodical and deliberate and does it well but I think in the end he will probably get bored and move on to something else. That is probably the most difficult part of parenting our 2 boys. They are so close in age that no matter what we do, Evan probably feels that people compare him to Ian. That is the 2nd child syndrome, right? But when they are so close in age it is even worse because Evan thinks he should be just like Ian and when he falls short, it must hurt. I read a great article in Time magazine yesterday about "expectations". In a nutshell it said that we should adjust our expectations to meet the child. Everyone creates expectations. It is how the human mind is able to wrap itself around this world. But sometimes the expectations dont fit the circumstances which always leads to disappointment. If we adjust out expectations to fit the individual child, then the child doesnt feel like he/she is falling short or disappointing people. Ok....so how do you do that? I am going to find a book to help me with that. I dont want Evan to ever feel that he is falling short of anything. I relate to Ian more because our personalities are so similar and I sometimes worry that I am not giving Evan everything he needs. Anyway.....Im rambling.

Can I just say that I hate politics. They are just ugly no matter how you look at them. Ive been reviewing the candidates a little bit at a time although I dont believe in really studying them until the ACTUAL candidates are chosen for each party. I dont have time for that. Of course I have a somewhat personal interest in this one because of the "mormon" candidate. Mitt Romney. At this point I cant say that I know a whole lot about any of them other than the glaringly obvious ones.....woman, black, mormon,....etc etc. Sadly these are probably the premises on which a lot of people will base their vote. Do I lean toward Romney because he is a mormon? Well, yes, of course. I understand his belief system and agree with it so of course that will make a difference for me. Am I going to vote for him? I just dont know yet. What I dont want to do is defend my reasons for voting for someone. I dont think anyone should have to defend that decision. It is our right as Americans to vote for whom we see fit. There is no clause in the constitution that says after we choose we have to say WHY. So, I avoid political discussions at all costs. Politics and Religion.....I hate discussing both of them and ironically they are so intertwined in this upcoming election. No matter how we look at it, this will be an election to remember. It will be in the history books at some point I am sure of it.

Ok......well, I guess Im off to start my job as housewife/mother/maid/chef/comforter.......I hope the week is a good one for everyone.