Happy Birthday To America....and to ME!

I have, like, the COOLEST birthday ever. I celebrate mine on the same day as our marvelous country. I get parades, barbeques, fireworks....seriously. It's awesome.

I started my day out with a lovely breakfast made by Michael....apple cinnamon puffy pancakes, bacon and orange juice. The perrrfect start to my day!

Then I opened my present from him....a tri-pod for my camera! YESSSS! And guess what...
it works! *SAY CHEEESE!*



Then we were off to the parade in downtown Alamosa with my family....

The firetrucks were too loud for Whitney...



And I could not stop laughing at this float! HILARIOUS!!! I think we live a little too close to area 51 if you know what I mean. Even the aliens are happy it's America's birthday. And my birthday. But mostly America because I'm sure they enjoy all of our fireworks from the far reaches of space.



Then my mom took me into JCPenneys for a little shopping...I found some shorts and capris! Thanks, Mom! (It is so stinking hot this summer! *GAG*)

Then we went home and I took a 2 hour nap. Can you say HEAVEN??? I can. And it is spelled N.A.P.

Then we went to my parents house for dinner. They made my favorite shish-ka-bobs (I don't know how it's really spelled...)

(Awwww, my Daddy. I love him!!!)



Then I opened my presents. Lots and LOTS of Chocolate. And a dandelion digger thing so I don't have to keep using the butcher knife. Maybe I'm scaring our neighbors? :)



F.Y.I....yes, she is. Just wait...it gets better.

My mom made a BEAUTIFUL cheesecake for me! Don't you wish you were there? I think there is still a piece in the fridge...first come, first serve! (Helloooo 700 calories per slice! Come to Mama!)



Then, my brothers put on a lovely fireworks show. It really was the perfect ending to the perfect birthday! Thanks to all who made it so special!

And most importantly,

GOD BLESS AMERICA,

LAND THAT I LOVE!!!

I am so lucky to get to share my birthday with the greatest country on Earth. I couldn't stop thinking about all of the miracles and sacrifices that have made our country free. Happy Birthday, America! And me. But, mostly America. :)

My Marriage Miracle

WOW! I am completely blown away at the support and encouragement I've received after my last post! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOUUUU! It was so nice to know I'm not alone!

I spent the past week at Girls Camp with the Young Women from church, and it was a WONDERFUL, much needed break. I feel so refreshed! And I was SOOOO ready to come home to my little family, I could hardly stand it!

The funny thing is, my husband stayed home to take care of the kids while I was gone. In my mind I was secretly hoping he would see how hard being a mom was. I was expecting to come home to a torn up house, messy kids, a totally cranky husband and an empty fridge. To my surprise, when I walked into the front door, the house was ABSOLUTELY CLEAN. It was quiet. There was food in the fridge. I was like, "What on earth!?!" He was out with the kids on a bike ride! He even went out and bought one of those bike trailers to pull Kate behind him in. The kids were dressed and clean, and Kate's hair was in little pigtails. I was completely blown away! Not only this, but he had gotten up every morning and made the kids breakfast. Like...pancakes and french toast and bacon and eggs! He had even trained the kids to put their dishes into the dishwasher when they're done eating (why hadn't I thought of that!?!) I'm not kidding, this man is a better mom than I am.

My life has changed SO much in the past month or so. My marriage was falling apart and I didn't know how we were going to fix it. We've tried counseling before, but it didn't help and was pretty much a big waste of time and money. Do you want to know what has been the miracle in our marriage? THIS BOOK.


Did you know that people show and need love in different ways? It's like two people speaking different languages. Sure, two people who speak different languages can talk to eachother, but will they know what the heck the other one is saying??? Not really. One of our BIGGEST problems in our marriage is that our love languages are different and we had no idea! There is a quiz that you take to help you figure out which love language is the one you speak/need. The 5 love languages are PHYSICAL TOUCH, ACTS OF SERVICE, WORDS OF AFFIRMATION, GIVING/GETTING GIFTS, and QUALITY TIME.

The test has 30 multiple choice questions, answered A B C or D. Then, you tally up your answes to see which things are most important to you and helps you to figure out which love languages you and your spouse speak/understand. Then, there are different chapters on each love language and how to speak it. The first love language I need/understand is acts of service. This means that the things that mean the most to me are things like him doing dishes...he shows me he loves me by the things he does for me. My second love language is quality time. I need to spend time with him, whether it's taking a sunset stroll or playing a video game together, it doesn't matter. I need that one on one time. This is how he "fills my love tank". People are like cars, if their tank is empty, they can't go. His love language is Physical Touch, (as are most men's first love language...hahah!). But, if my love tank is empty because he hasn't done anything to fill it, I am a lot less likely to feel like being intimate, and if I'm not filling his tank, he won't want to do things to help me or spend time with me. Get my drift? It has really been AMAAAZING to see the change in my husband. He had NOOO idea that helping around the house and spending a little one on one time with me each day would mean so much to me. Now, his second love language is also acts of service. I found out that the most important things to him are coming home to a clean house, having dinner ready at least a half an hour after he comes home (he's usually starrrrrving), and silly little things like putting my shoes in the closet! I had no idea how important those things were to him, either. SO, now I focus more attention to making sure I do a "turbo clean sweep" of the house before he comes home and making sure he has dinner soon after he gets home. I make the bed and put away my shoes...such easy little things! And we have both been SOOO much happier! Both of our tanks are being filled, thus we have fuel to give to the other. I highly recommend this book, it has worked wonders.

Annnnd, that's your reading assignment for this week. :) Even if your marriage is peachy keen, it's still fun to discover more about you and your spouse. And, if I were Queen, I'd make everyone who is even THINKING about getting married read this book so they know what their love languages are so their relationship stays going in the right direction.

AND THEY LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER. THE END.

I've Got Some Exshhhplaining To Do...

Hey everyone! So....I've been getting asked why I've dropped off the planet. Here's the scoop... *deep breath*

First off, after the American Crafter competition I was just sort of drained. Just the thought of a can of spray paint made my head start to throb. (I know, SO sad, huh.) So...I haven't even seen my glue gun in a month...and sadly I don't miss it yet. Hopefully I can re-kindle my love for crafts soon. But, I've got a lot of other things going on in life right now...I need to get those fixed before I can work on anything else. Hence the no posts...I figured you'd rather just not hear anything from me than hear me whine. ;)

I'm usually not a whiner...the problem is that I just hold everything in until I explode. Truth be told, I've just been having a hard time with life. I know how horrible this sounds....but do you ever just get tired of your life??? Lately, I have been. It's the same thing, day after day. Being a Mom is hard. We don't get to come home from work, put up our feet and turn on the TV to watch a game and relax. No, our job is 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Day shift AND night shift. Give. Give. Give. It's all we do, all day long. "Mom, I need this. Mom, Aaron hit me. Mom, do cows pee milk? Mom, I'm hungry. Mom, I'm bored. Mom, I think Kate is poopy and she's stinking up the house. Mom, this dinner is gross. I don't want to eat it. Mom, where are my shoes? Mom, what is a million trillion plus a zillion? Mom, Kate wiped a booger on me! Mom, I need such and such." Then, in between all of the "Mom, I...." there is the cleaning, and the cooking, and the cleaning up AFTER the cooking, and the laundry, and the shopping (remember the Shopping Trip of Horrors Post??? YEAH.), and the doing things for our church callings and civic duties and everything else we have to do. (Like trying to keep the husband happy. SIGH) And the saddest part? Everything we do is erased by the end of the day. I have nothing to show for all I've done by the time my husband comes home from work other than the appearance that I have been a total lazy slob. The kids have destroyed the clean house. My freshly mopped floor is sticky with spilled juice and graham crackers are smashed into the just vacuumed carpet. The bed I made this morning has been torn apart by three little monkeys jumping on the bed. The dinner I made is gone and all that is left are dishes for ME to clean up. The laundry I washed and folded and put away, somehow it's all dirty again. (And someone PLEASE tell me why boys can't seem to pee INTO the toilet bowl and not down the friggin sides of the toilet!?!) All the little things just start to build and build...and I just feel like I'm losing my mind! Sometimes I wish someone would just take care of me for a day, ya know? "Honey, why don't you go take a hot bath and relax, let me do the dishes." I feel like I have to do everything on my own. Probably because I do.

Then, there is my constant struggle with my weight. It's such a roller coaster! I've put on about ten pounds in the past month. I've just completely fallen off of the wagon. I stress eat and it is HORRIBLE. Why can't I stress eat celery or carrots? Seriously. Today I ate an entire bag of Lays Salt and Vinegar Kettle Chips and a bag of Nutter Butter Bites. Sigh. That probably took care of my entire calorie allotment for the week! :(

The saddest part is that I'm already on anti-depressants. I've been on them for about a year now. (Hellooo Zoloft) So, I shouldn't be feeling so down. I've already upped my dosage to help me deal...but it's just not working. I feel like a crazy person because I'm on them...I hate knowing that I need them just to get through a day. It's embarrassing. But what else can I do? I remember what life was like when I wasn't on them, and it's not a place I want to go back to. But then, at the same time...I wonder if I'm sad because life is hard? Or am I sad because I'm chemically imbalanced? It's like asking which came first, the chicken or the egg.

Well, that's definitely enough whining for the day. If you made it through this whole post give yourself a big pat on the back! :) Hopefully I'll be back soon in full force. Thanks for all who checked in on me, I have such great blog BFF's! :)

Buisness Time and Racist Dragons. FOR REALS.

Oh my gosh, have you seen these youtube videos of the Flight of the Conchords!?! You HAVE to watch them...I can't stop laughing! Enjoy!

!!!Little Man Mustache Baby Shower!!!

OH.MY. GOSH. You HAVE to check out this baby shower my friend Emily threw! It is the CUTEST little boy shower I have ever seen! She keeps coming up with the most amazing parties! WOW.

Click HERE to see the whole party! UH-MA-ZING!

A Happy Bummer

Well, I didn't make it through to finals. I'm kinda bummed...and kind of relieved at the same time. It was a lot of pressure and so many things got neglected while I was trying to get my projects finished. I'm excited to have made it as far as I did and all the new blog friends I made! And I got lots of great things made! Like, Whitney's desk...cute lawn chairs...and an AWESOME suitcase! Well, now I'm of to go catch up on all of the things I neglected! :) Laundry and housework, here I come!

I Heart Actions and Presets!

This weekend my ADORABLE niece, Jenna had a ballet recital! I got to do her hair and makeup and even got to take some pictures of her after the recital. Isn't she adorable!?! I have been having a lot of fun playing around with my new Photoshop. There are so many fun actions and stuff out there! Two of my favorite places to find actions and presets so far are the Coffeeshop Blog, and the Pioneer Woman blog. They are UH-MA-ZING!!! What kind of resources have you guys used to learn photography??? Do share! :)