I've Been Tagged!

I've been tagged by my good friend, Megan Eddie. She is an amazing woman and so talented! If you need help with any home decorating, refinishing furniture or cooking (and pretty much anything else) she is the one to ask!

The rules:
1. Post the rules
2. Answer the six "8" items
3. Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving them a comment.


8 Favorite Shows
1. The Office
2. CSI
3. CSI - Miami
4. Law & Order
5. Law & Order - SVU
6. American Idol
7. The Biggest Loser
8. Sesame Street


8 Things I Did Yesterday
1. Visiting Teaching
2. Bonneville Craft Show
3. Had lunch at Johnny Carino's
4. Worked on Scentsy stuff
5. Went to dinner with John and some friends
6. Put Braxton to bed three times... :)
7. Read Primary Lesson for Sunday
8. Finished November's Book Club Book


8 Favorite Restaurants
1. Johnny Carino's
2. TGI Fridays
3. Texas Roadhouse
4. P.F. Changs
5. Jakers
6. Garcia's
7. Sol Rio
8. Mrs. Powell's


8 Things I'm Looking Forward To
1. Thanksgiving Dinner with my family
2. Going to Billings to see John's extended family
3. Christmas lights
4. Christmas with Braxton
5. Card exchange
6. Getting a treadmill
7. Reading the scriptures as a family
8. Bed


8 Things On My Wish List
1. Braxton would still take naps
2. To have my entire house clean all at the same time
3. Braxton will grow up to be a clean, honorable and humble man
4. I would always be happy and kind
5. A good memory
6. My 'To Do' List to be completely done
7. My own laptop computer
8. Dream house


8 People I Tag
1. Christi Billquist
2. Natalie Billquist
3. Angie Hansen
4. Jenny Vance
5. Korrie Davis
6. Jacob Davis
7. Pam Davis
8. Angey Lybbert

Book Club

October's book club was so good! When it was first announced what we would be reading I wasn't super excited. But after reading the book, and then going to book club... I thought it was one of the best books I have read in a long time!

The book we read is Same Kind of Different as Me, by Ron Hall and Denver Moore. This book could possibly be life changing...

I loved the blurb that was on the website (so I just copied it on over to here... but go to the website to read more about this amazing book!)

"It begins outside a burning plantation hut in Louisiana... and an East Texas honky-tonk... and, without a doubt, in the heart of God. It unfolds in a Hollywood hacienda... an upscale New York Gallery... a downtown dumpster... a Texas ranch. Gritty with pain and betrayal and brutality, it also shines with an unexpected, life-changing love."

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The book switches back and forth between the two authors lives.

Denver Moore is a black man who grew up in Louisiana and raised under plantation-style slavery in the 1960s. That fact absolutely amazed me... when was slavery supposed to end - wasn't it 1865? Anyway, Denver ends up hopping onto a train and heads to Texas - a man that has never learned to read and has no skills other than cotton-picking. Denver doesn't have a lot of options for jobs. So Denver ends up homeless and then in prison and then again homeless.

Enter Deborah Hall in 1998 - an amazing woman with a very good heart. She is married to Ron Hall, a very successful international art seller who began his career in 1971. Ron loves the money, the job, the prestige... Deborah finds it all a little too much and manages to keep Ron on the ground with it all. Eventually they start working at a homeless shelter....

And then you have to read the book! I don't want to ruin it by telling to much, but it is a great book. The beginning started out a little slow, but after three or four chapters I couldn't put it down! Also, you may need some tissues for the the last 1/4 of it. I did!

Card Exchange

I haven't posted cards from my last two card exchanges! Yikes!

In September, we made Halloween cards. It was hard to pick out my favorite ones, but I finally narrowed it down.

This one was made with a Cricut... isn't it adorable? It makes me really want to get a Cricut now!

John said this one didn't make any sense to him, but I thought it was cute. It's just Halloween-y!

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This month we had a free-for-all and you could make any theme of card you wanted. My favorites this month were just generic friend ones. I thought they were all so cute though!

The card I made was for a baby boy. I thought it turned out pretty well considering I used the same pattern for Jenny's baby shower invitations. I will post that one after I host Jenny's baby shower in November.

Cinnamon Cider & Snowflakes

I love getting packages!

Being a new consultant for Scentsy, I have signed up to receive the "scent and warmer of the month" combo... and I just got my first one today. So even though I knew it was coming, I was still pleasantly surprised!

For November, it is the cutest warmer! I received the blue one, and it is so pretty! It will go perfectly with my Christmas and January decorations!

I already have a few orders for the white one... so if any one else wants one of these darling warmers, they are on sale for $27.00 this month - Just let me know!

Now for the yummy scent - it's Cinnamon Cider and I think it smells so good! I can't wait to start melting it.... I will have samples to smell and I have received a few extra things for give-aways. So, if you want to host a party.... or know someone who will, I'll be happy to give you something in exchange! :)

Scentsy

I've been feeling a little adventurous these days... (which may or may not be a good thing!) and so have decided to try my hand at working from home. Luckily, I have an awesome husband who is willing to support me in my ideas....

I am going to be a consultant for Scentsy! If you have never heard of Scentsy - I can promise that you are going to love it! Scentsy products are so safe and affordable! I have a Scentsy warmer and just purchased the Spiced Orange Harvest bar. It smells so good!

The thing I love about this line is that it is safe. I have been wary to burn candles or even use a candle warmer with a little busy boy running around - I'm so afraid he'll find it and burn himself! But with Scentsy there is no wick, and the warmers are designed to melt wax at a lower temperature so there is never any danger of a child (or yourself!) being burned.

They have lots of cute warmers that will go with any decor and they now have new warmers that you plug in directly to the outlet. They are perfect for small spaces, or where there is no counter space!

The Scentsy line of products include:

Car Candles

Room sprays

Warmers

Plug-In Warmers

Bars and Bricks

I even have my own website: www.scentsy.com/LBillquist. So check it out and let me know if you would like to do a party or just place an order!

A Girl Named Zippy

Someday I'm going to get my life together again so that I can keep my blog updated! It just seems like I am constantly moving, and I feel so tired all the time! I'm sure most of it is due to a very sweet and handsome little boy who loves to play and run and the other part is probably my obsessive need for clean.
I got ambitious on Tuesday and rearranged the kitchen decorations. I decided I'm done with apples. I've had them for 9 1/2 years - wow! Anyway, I also decided I was sick of the grimy dust on my blinds. So I took the living room and kitchen blinds down, and washed them in the bathtub. And of course, I couldn't just do that... I had to clean the windows too. I AM A NUT!
And all I know is that sleep is going to come easy tonight! I am exhausted, but I keep putting off my blog and it's already been a month since my last entry.
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For our September book club we read A Girl Named Zippy: Growing Up Small in Mooreland, Indiana by Haven Kimmel. It is a memoir about her childhood in a little town of 300 people.

"Nicknamed 'Zippy' for the way she would bolt around the house, this small girl was possessed of big eyes and even bigger ears. In this witty and lovingly told memoir, Kimmel takes readers back to a time when small-town America was caught in the amber of the innocent postwar period–people helped their neighbors, went to church on Sunday, and kept barnyard animals in their backyards."
-courtesy of ReadingGroupGuides.com


I thought this book was hilarious! I just kept laughing while I was reading. It was a quick read, and was well-written. I would recommend it for a good light-hearted read.

Anne of Green Gables

My book club went really well! I was expecting 2 or 3 girls to show up... but I was pleasantly surprised with 11! Book club was kinda short comparatively (only 2 hours), but it was fun.

The food... well, it was interesting. Remember how excited I was about finding the Anne of Green Gables Cookbook? I won't be recommending it to anyone for new recipes... It's only good for being cute!
The gingersnaps were a definite YUCK! They left a really gross aftertaste, and just weren't very flavorful. The raspberry cordial was really thick - it was like drinking watered down raspberry jam. It was good, just thick. And the plum pudding was good too, but the caramel sauce was thin and not very "caramel-ly."
I think the girls appreciated the effort though. No one really comes to eat anyway - and I didn't have hardly anything left over (which was my goal - I hate having lots of leftovers from things like that.).
Anyway...

Anne of Green Gables, by Lucy Maud Montgomery, has to be one of my most favorite books. It was pure, simple and just plain funny. I had a smile on my face after reading it, and I giggled through most of it. I wish I would have found this book earlier in my life!

I did a little research on the author and the book. I found most of my information from this website: Anne 2008

These were my favorite things we talked about:

Would you rather be divinely beautiful, dazzlingly clever or angelically good? We couldn't decide which one we wanted to be.. just like Matthew and Anne!

Anne symbolizes : a modern woman competing alongside boys for scholarships and working hard to ear her way to college; hope, optimism and the power of faith. She is determined to succeed despite all the obstacles! And finally, Anne represents the universality of the quest for all things we wish for in life - friendship, love, acceptance and a home.

Anne of Green Gables was published in 1908 - this year marks the 100th anniversary of it being published. Today, over 50 millions copies are in print in over 35 languages. There are 7 more books in the series, written by Montgomery.

Anne of Avonlea, Anne of the Island, Anne of Windy Poplars, Anne's House of Dreams, Anne of Ingleside, Rainbow Valley, Rilla of Ingleside

There is also a prequel, Before Green Gables, written by Budge Wilson and published in 2008.

I have checked all of these books out from the library, and so will be happily continuing my adventures with Anne for a while!

About the Author:

Lucy Maud Montgomery was born in 1874 on Prince Edward Island. Her mother died when she was only 21 months old. Her maternal grandparents took over her care, and her father moved to western Canada.

Maud (as she was called) found companionship in nature, books, her imagination and writing. At the age of 9 she started writing poetry and keeping a journal. Her first poem was published in a newspaper when she was 16. She went to school in Cavendish, and then attended Prince of Wales College where she studied for a teacher's license. She completed the two-year course in one year and graduated with honors.

In 1899, she was earning $96.88 for her writings (poems, short stories and serials). By 1903 her earnings had increased to $500.

Montgomery wrote her first novel, Anne of Green Gables, in 1905 and sent it in to several publishers who all sent her rejections! In 1907 she tried again, and finally it was accepted and became an immediate best-seller, selling over 19,000 copies in the first 5 months.

Montgomery married Reverend Ewan Macdonald in 1911. They had secretly been engaged for 5 years! After their marriage, they moved to Ontario. Along with being a mother, Montgomery assisted her husband in his pastoral duties, ran their home, and continued to write best-selling novels, as well as writing short stories and poems. She was faithful in recording entries in her journals.

Montgomery died in 1942, and returned to Prince Edward Island to be buried in the Cavendish cemetary - close to the site of her old home.

Thank You Card Exchange

I went to this month's card exchange this morning. It was so fun! There were so many cute cards... and so I've decided that I will only pick a couple of cards each month to post on my blog.

Thanks again to Christi for the idea on my card...

I love this card! It is just pieces of ribbon sewn around into a heart... how clever!

Anne of Green Gables

Tomorrow night is book club - hosted by me! I'm a little nervous, but hopefully it will go well. I chose the book Anne of Green Gables, by Lucy Maud Montgomery. My friend, Megan actually suggested the book to me. I had never read it before (or seen the movie!). Apparently it is quite a popular book for young girls... I guess I never was in the "in" crowd though!

Hosting book club basically means that I have to lead the discussion and serve treats afterwards. So I've been doing some research. And I discovered that Anne of Green Gables was first published in 1908 - that's right! It's the 100th year! How lucky of me to choose this book at this time!

I thought it would be fun for the treats to see if I could find some recipes for some of the food talked about in the book. And can you believe it? There is an Anne of Green Gables Cookbook. It was written by home economist and food stylist, Kate McDonald. Kate is also L.M.M's granddaughter!
It has quite a few recipes in it, and is an adorable cookbook. It is meant for younger cooks, or maybe even very inexperienced cooks so everything is pretty basic. It has quotes from the Anne books which really helped me decide what to make!

See if you can guess which things I'm going to make from these quotes:

"You'll put down the old brown tea set. But you can open the little yellow crock of cherry preserves. It' time it was being used anyhow - I believe it's beginning to work. And you can cut some fruit-cake and have some of the cookies and snaps." ANNE OF GREEN GABLES, XVI

Of course, I'm making the Maritime Gingersnaps.
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"But it isn't good manners to tell your company what you are going to give them to eat, so I won't tell you what she said we could have to drink. Only that it begins with an r and a c and it's a bright red color. I love bright red drinks, don't you? They taste twice as good as any other color." ANNE OF GREEN GABLES, XVI

And, naturally this is Diana Barry's Favourite Raspberry Cordial (you'll be relieved to know that there will be no mix-ups with it!).
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"Everything went right until I saw Marilla coming with the plum pudding in one hand the the pitcher of pudding sauce, warmed up, in the other. Diana, that was a terrible moment. I remembered everything and I just stood up in my place and shrieked out, 'Marilla, you mustn't use that pudding sauce. There was a mouse drowned in it. I forgot to tell you before.' Oh, Diana, I shall never forget that awful moment if I live to be a hundred." ANNE OF GREEN GABLES, XVI

And what kind of book club would it be without Marilla's Plum Pudding with Caramel Pudding Sauce (without the mouse of course!)?
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Just reading these quotes gives me the giggles. I loved the book, and I am so excited for tomorrow!

Personalized Pottery

A few weekends ago I went to an Art Show with my mom. Most of it was the usual - stuff I would buy, but it's not in the budget; stuff I would buy, but I'm too cheap; and stuff I wouldn't buy for anyone on this planet, and of course, the usual unusual people.

At one of the booths, was some really unique pottery. My mom absolutely loves pottery, and has managed to collect quite a bit - so, of course, I'm always on the lookout for a gift for her. I also enjoy pottery, but have never really collected any.

The reason this pottery so unique was that it was personalized! The artists had several plates on display with different names and dates and occasions - births, birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, retirements - it was very unique! These are just a few of the pieces...

If you are interested in looking at more, check out their website: Personalized Pottery

Thank You!

When I went to AZ in February, Christi's house smelled absolutely amazing. So I asked her the secret... when she told me it was Exotic Coconut Wallflower from Bath & Body Works, I thought she had to be kidding! I detest the flavor and texture of coconut.... but apparently, B&BW knows how to get a great aroma out of it!
I decided that I was going to need some of these for my house I purchased a couple. And then I found out that they discontinued the scent. What is up with that? Actually, I know - it's because I found it and loved it... it's just one of those things.... (sigh)

Anyway, so I've been on the prowl for them... When I went to Florida in June I was able to score 12 of them on clearance...(mind you they are not the refill pack with 2, just the starter kit with 1). Well, yesterday, I get home from planning a camping trip, and John has discovered a box on our porch...

Inside was black licorice, along with a very handsome tie for my hubbie (she always picks out the best ties!), a new truck for Braxton, some soap, and my very favorite and hard to find Exotic Coconut Wallflower refill! So a very big thank you hug to my awesome sis-in-law! Now I won't have to ration out my remaining stock so much... :)

Speaking of thank you's... take a look at this adorable one Christi sent in the package!

I LOVE IT! and am seriously considering copying the idea for my card exchange in August....

Card Exchange

Yesterday I had my card exchange with a few girls in my ward. I was able to start this little group up with some encouragement and tips from my sis-in-law, Christi - she also does this in her ward in AZ, and she has gotten some very cute cards out of it. Anyway, I decided that if I was going to do this, that I would use the supplies that I have and not buy anything new. So far it has worked out - then again, we've only done it two times. It is a great way for me to use up all of my stuff, including the scraps!

We had it at Becky's house and she showed us her system of doing things. This girl has got it together! She exchanges supplies with her sister-in-law or friends, so that she always has what she needs without having to buy a lot. She also had some great tips:
1) Buy plain gold brads at Wal-mart (100 for $1) and then use fingernail polish to paint the tops the colors you want!
2) Put coordinating items in ziploc bags, then you don't have to search so much!
3) She uses every scrap of everything - paper, cardboard, slides.... etc. It was amazing!


It is always so fun to see what they come up with! I thought I would post a few of the cards that I received....

The card I made is the one with the Kool-Aid packet. I got this super cute idea from Christi, my awesome and very creative sister-in-law. She is so nice to let me copy her idea!

Our theme for this exchange was "summer/4th of July." I love that we all have slightly different styles of doing things... that's what makes this so great!

Next month, our theme is "thank you" cards. I am excited to start looking for some great ideas so I can get started!

Nursery Woes

Braxton is now 18-months old, which means he can officially go into nursery at church. Well, I never was that excited about it - and apparently neither is he! John has been taking him for a while, trying to get him to get used to it. It hasn't worked. Braxton starts crying the instant he sees the nursery door!
Today, the primary secretary taught my class so I could go into nursery and help out (they only had one leader and 12 kids). So, I did. Can I just say that no wonder he doesn't really like it? I didn't like it either!
It was very chaotic with that many kids! And, a few of the kids are quite naughty - constantly hitting and kicking the other kids, and taking away toys from other kids.... Before today, I was telling myself that nursery may be optional, but it could be good for him. Now I'm thinking - I'm glad nursery is optional, because there is no way this can be good for him! And since I have such a hard time keeping my opinions to myself, I decided to talk to the Primary President about it. So, I asked her if she knew what was going on in Nursery (she also has a daughter in there). When she told me she didn't really know, but was starting to wonder since her daughter didn't like it anymore, I went ahead and filled her in on what I thought.

Maybe I have a crazy idea of what nursery is supposed to be - a safe, comfortable environment where the kids learn and play together, where they are taught basic principles and doctrines of the church. However, the nursery I went to today was more like a poorly run day-care. The kids played for an hour, if not more, with the toys - I'm not even sure I should say "played" since 1/2 of the time the kids were fighting and arguing and stealing toys. I try to have a reasonable expectation about how they should act and behave based on their ages, but they were absolutely out of control!
So, after that they had snacks. Now, I realize that I am borderline Nazi about what Braxton eats, so this may need to be taken with a grain of salt and a big sigh - but this is really what they feed them? Sugared cereal, cheese Nips, and maybe 5 raisins. Mind you, this all comes in their own little baggie - which is way too much for many of the kids. I thought it was "snack" time, not "meal" time. I just know there are so many better things to have the kids eat... is no one else worried about childhood obesity? This is the time to teach kids how yummy fruits and vegetables are, and how good they are for you. But instead, they are getting filled up with crap food. I am not opposed to treats (I love them myself!), but when they become the main dish I have an issue.
When I talked to my friend Megan, (who also has a daughter in there) she said "It's only once a week, so I don't care that much." Perhaps I need to spend some more time with her, so she can help me get over to the "sane" side of things! Megan is an amazing mom, and I often ask her advice on things. She is a great resource for me, and always puts things into perspective. She is also my nicest, politest friend ever - and so if I ever need some advice on how to say something and NOT be rude, she is the one I go to!

Anyway, back to the issue at hand:
Now, I'm not accusing the leader that was in there of being a bad leader. She was the doing the best she could with what she was given. But really - when she has her own two children in there that are on the needier side (I can say that because Braxton is extremely needy!), she can't really focus on the rest of the children, especially when there is that many!
Anyway, she did teach a lesson (which I missed due to Braxton's meltdown) and had a singing time. The kids loved it - they sang, they danced, they laughed and they were even nice to each other! This made me think that perhaps the kids need more activities to do like this, and less play time with the toys. The kids were having fun and they were learning.

Am I being unreasonable? I want the honest truth - I can take it!

The History of Love

This month for book club we are reading The History of Love, written by Nicole Krauss. It is one of the craziest books I have ever read. It was good... it just was wierd, and my head is still spinning thinking about it and trying to figure it out. I don't have bookclub until the end of this month... but I thought I'd try for some feedback from ya before I go to it.

The summary (courtesy of Wikipedia):

The History of Love is a novel in the form of a homage to things lost, as well as to unsolved mysteries. The novel within the novel, also named The History of Love is the basis for all these questions.
Leo Gursky is an old locksmith who feels as though he is disappearing. He tries at all costs to draw attention to himself, but he still feels he has a void in his life. Eventually, he goes on a quest to find his long-lost son and the novel that he wrote as a young man, now published in Chile under the name of Zvi Litvinoff. Alma Singer is a teenage girl who is trying to keep her family together after the loss of her father. Named after the heroine of The History of Love, Alma tries to console her widowed mother (who has recently been requested to translate the novel from Spanish) as well as keep her younger brother Bird (who believes he is a lamed vovnik) from becoming a social pariah.


Anyway, give it a try and see what you think!

The Scarlet Letter

I had book club tonight. It was fantastic - and can I send a great big thank-you! to my sweet sister, who would come over to my house and sit with a sleeping baby and two hairy dogs so I could go. I'm so lucky to have Jenny!

Anyway, the book - The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Now, I read this book in high school, and I'm certain that I hated every minute of it. It is written in 1850 wording, so it takes a little time to get the brain in the right mode. However, reading it this time (as a much more mature adult) was different - I actually enjoyed it!
I'm still an idiot and miss out on a lot of the symbolism that English teachers love to point out, but at least this time I liked reading it! I have never been good at picking up on symbolism. And I have to admit that as a teen I would get so annoyed 1) for not getting it, and 2) for having to pick books apart, instead of just enjoying them. I remember just wanting to argue that we have no idea what the author was intending, so why did we have to figure it out? Good thing I've matured a little....
The lady who hosted this month's book club, is in fact, an English teacher. She did a great job of pointing out important themes and symbols throughout the book. And I guess since I didn't have to write an essay on it, I was less intimidated (and less irritated) by all the theories and symbolism that it has. In fact, I enjoyed it and it really made the book much more interesting to me.

A quick synopsis (courtesy of Wikipedia):
"The Scarlet Letter, published in 1850 is an American novel Set in Puritan Boston in the seventeenth century, it tells the story of Hester Prynne, who gives birth after committing adultery, refuses to name the father, and struggles to create a new life of repentance and dignity. Throughout the novel, Hawthorne explores the issues of grace, legalism, sin, and guilt.

I would recommend this book to those who like to read the classics. But if you are looking for a thriller, this is not the book for you!

Pope Joan

Okay, so I realize that I am the ultimate blog-slacker! I just haven't been able to squeeze everything into my days... my sweet little Braxton who has figured out how to get into EVERYTHING, my need for cleanliness, and of course, my need for sleep keeps me pretty busy!

However, I did go to book club in May, and it was a really good book. We read Pope Joan, by Donna Woolfolk Cross. It is a historical fiction, and is based on controversial history. It is a great combination of history, heroes, love, violence and secrets.

Here is the synopsis (courtesy of the Pope Joan website):

"As its title reveals, the novel is based on the life of one of the most fascinating, extraordinary women in Western history--Pope Joan, a controversial figure of historical record who, disguised as a man, rose to rule Christianity in the 9th century as the first and only woman to sit on the throne of St. Peter.
Brilliant and talented, young Joan rebels against the medieval social strictures forbidding women to learn to read and write. When her older brother is killed during a Viking attack, Joan takes up his cloak and identity, goes to the monastery of Fulda, and is initiated into the brotherhood in his place. As Brother John Anglicus, Joan distinguishes herself as a great Christian scholar. Eventually she is drawn to Rome, where she becomes enmeshed in a dangerous web of love, passion, and politics. Triumphing over appalling odds, she finally attains the highest throne in Christendom.
Pope Joan is a sweeping historical drama set against the turbulent events of the 9th century -- the Saracen sack of St. Peter's, the famous fire in the Borgo that destroyed over three-quarters of the Vatican, the Battle of Fontenoy, arguably the bloodiest and most terrible of medieval conflicts. The novel is a fascinating vivid record of what life was really like during the so-called Dark Ages, as masterwork of suspense and passion that has as its center an unforgettable woman, reminiscent of Jean Auel's Ayla, Jane Austen's Emma, and other heroines who struggle against restrictions their souls will not accept."

This book made me realize how blessed I am to be living now, instead of then! The poor women of that time (the Dark Ages) were so repressed! The women were treated as perpetual minors, with no legal or property rights. By law, they could be beaten by their husbands - the only rule being the size of the club they could be beaten with! They were not allowed to learn (it was believed that a woman's brain and her uterus were connected - so if a woman were to be educated, her uterus would shrink, thus resulting in her being barren. Of course, if this were true, I should be super smart! :)

The Thirteenth Tale

For March/April book club (we are behind a month due to Spring Break) we read The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. It is categorized as a gothic suspense novel.
And I LOVED it!

A quick summary (courtesty of Wikipedia.com):

"Vida Winter, allegedly the most famous novelist in England, and quite possibly the world, has never been forthcoming when it comes to her past. Her entire life is a secret, and for fifty years reporters and biographers have attempted to discover the truth. With her health quickly fading, Ms. Winter hires an unknown, bookish biographer, Margaret Lea, to bear witness to the tragic story of the Angelfield family, their eccentric beginnings as well as their demise. Margaret, who has family secrets of her own, must unravel the mysteries of the past in order to reconcile not only Ms. Winter with her ghosts, but also Margaret with hers."

I have never read a book like it. It was such a page turner for me that I couldn't even put it down to go to sleep - believe me, I tried! It is a story in a story in a story.... It had so many twists and turns that I couldn't quit thinking about it, and so I had to read the next chapter and then the next and then the next...

Everyone in my book club also stated that they loved the book and it was also a page-turner for them. A few of the ladies in my book club figured out the ending, but most of us didn't. And, we still had a lot of things that we were figuring out at out meeting. It was so fun to see what the other women thought was going on in the book... We all decided that we wanted to read the book again, (now that we had figured a few things out) and see if we could pick up on anything that we had missed the first time through.

I will warn you that there is an icky part that has to do with incest, but it doesn't go into too much detail (thank goodness!). It's at the beginning of the book, but just keep reading - You'll love it!

Getting Back on Track

It seems that I am having a hard time cramming everything into my days! Which basically means that my blogs have been neglected. Hopefully, now that I've got another task marked off my list, I can be better about that!

We decided to move the office downstairs, so that we could actually use it while Braxton was sleeping. And, of course, I have the great idea that I need to wash the walls, paint and get everything all situated before we can move it down there.
I was thinking this would be an easy task and wouldn't take very long... however, I did not take into account that I have a little 15-month old helper.... or the fact that I tend to sign up for more than I realize. I decided it would be really fun to have it be more of an old world style, so I did Venetian Plaster. It looks really cool, but it took forever! So needless to say, three weeks after I started, the new office is finally painted. It also didn't help that we went on vacation for a few days. It always seems to take me a little bit to get back on track with my chores..

This last weekend I did manage to get the desk and computer moved down, but now comes the great task of organizing everything.... hopefully I can accomplish that a lot quicker.

I wanted to post a picture of our nice new office, but I really don't want everyone to see the big mess that it is right now. So, when I get it all organized, I will post a picture for ya all to see!

Sunday Blood

I have a pretty good life - I probably don't have my fair share of really bad days. I am hoping that yesterday is not the beginning of a new trend.
Yesterday was probably one of the worst days ever for me! I am currently a Primary teacher for the CTR 5 class. They are 4 and 5 years old. There were 14 kids in the class, and they finally split the class last week so I only have 7. I absolutely love teaching this age (and I love it even more now that the class size is manageable) - they always say the most hilarious things...
Anyway, I only had 4 kids yesterday - you would think it would have been an easy day for me! As it turns out, it wasn't. I think the time change put the kids off their regular schedules so they were a little crazy!
My class consisted of 1 girl and 3 boys. The little girl, Kennedy, needed a "handkerchief" so I took her to the bathroom (which is right next to our classroom) to get a tissue for her nose. In the 15 seconds I was gone, disaster struck! I come out of the bathroom with Kennedy and all 3 boys are standing outside with panic stricken faces, and one of the boys - Thomas - has blood on his fingers from the back of his head - I know I was gone for less than 1 minute! I could hardly believe this was happening!
Anyway, so I make them all go back into the classroom while I take Thomas to find the primary secretary. While she went to find his mom, I got a wet paper towel and started to wipe the blood off of his fingers and neck. I asked him how this happened -

Thomas (in his adorable 4 year old voice): "Well, I was trying to pick up Eliot."
Me (in my trying not to cry voice): "Do you think that was a good choice?"
Thomas: "No."

Then Thomas' mom came and asked him what happened. Luckily, Thomas is her 3rd boy and she is a pretty relaxed mom. She asked him the same questions I did (which made me feel good considering my state of emotions!). I told her I was sorry that this had happened and explained that I was gone for less than a minute. She was very good about it and took Thomas to finish cleaning him up.

After church I had a little cry session with John about it. He is such a wonderful husband and always manages to put things into perspective - "They are boys!" I guess I was thinking that they would be fine for a few seconds... but I forgot about the "boy" factor! I still felt bad, but have made sure to put a pack of tissues in my primary bag so I don't have to leave the room.

I called Thomas later to make sure that he was still okay - which he was, thankfully! It was just a little scratch. Can I just say how lucky I am that it was this child it happened to? His parents are very easy-going and laughed about the incident. They told me that Thomas is their "head-injury child." Apparently, he is constantly getting bumps and bruises on his head and this was no surprise to them. And his mom said they had a long talk about being reverent and not picking other people up at church! Perhaps this incident will turn out to be a little blessing in helping him be more reverent - and then again, maybe not!

How to Shower

I got this email from my friend, Megan Keller. I thought it was funny enough to pass along....

Part 1 - HOW TO SHOWER LIKE A WOMAN:
Take off clothing and place it in sectioned laundry hamper according to lights and darks.
Walk to bathroom wearing long dressing gown...
If you see husband along the way, cover up any exposed areas.
Look at your womanly physique in the mirror, make mental note to do more sit-ups/leg-lifts, etc.
Get in the shower.
Use face cloth, arm cloth, leg cloth, long loofah, wide loofah and pumice stone.
Wash your hair once with cucumber and sage shampoo with 43 added vitamins.
Wash your hair again to make sure it's clean.
Condition your hair with grapefruit mint conditioner.
Wash your face with crushed apricot facial scrub for 10 minutes until red.
Wash entire rest of body with ginger nut and jaffa cake body wash.
Rinse conditioner off hair.
Shave armpits and legs.
Turn off shower.
Squeegee off all wet surfaces in shower and spray mold spots with Tilex.
Get out of shower.
Dry with towel the size of a small country.
Wrap hair in super absorbent towel.
Return to bedroom wearing long dressing gown and towel on head.
If you see husband along the way, cover up any exposed areas.

Part 2 - HOW TO SHOWER LIKE A MAN:
Take off clothes while sitting on the edge of the bed and leave them in a pile.
Walk naked to the bathroom.
If you see wife along the way, shake wiener at her while making the woo-woo sound.
Look at your manly physique in the mirror.
Admire the size of your wiener and scratch your butt.
Get in the shower.
Wash your face. Wash your armpits. Blow your nose in your hands and let the water rinse the snot off.
Fart and laugh at how loud it sounds in the shower...
Spend majority of time washing privates.
Wash your hair. Make a shampoo Mohawk.
Pee.
Rinse off and get out of shower.
Partially dry off.
Fail to notice water on floor because curtain was hanging out of tub the whole time.
Admire wiener size in mirror again.
Leave shower curtain open, wet mat on floor, light and fan on.
Return to bedroom with towel around waist.
If you pass wife, pull off towel, shake wiener at her and make the woo-woo sound again.
Throw wet towel on her pillow.

Have a great day! Oh, and... woo-woo!!!

Time Out for Women

This last weekend, I had the wonderful opportunity to go to Time Out for Women with my mother-in-law, Connie, my sister-in-law, Brenda, and my friend, Miriah Peterson. It was such a wonderful experience, and my spirit felt so uplifted. The theme for this year was Joyful Life. The scripture that they chose was Acts 2:28 - "Thou hast made known to me the WAYS OF LIFE; thou shalt make me FULL OF JOY..." Some of the other scriptures that were associated with the theme are: Psalms 98:4, Acts 8:8, Alma 26:16, and Hebrews 12:12. Friday night and Saturday we had the opportunity to listen to some of our very best....

A lot of the music on Friday night, and some of it on Saturday was provided by Mercy River. They are a new group, who sing contemporary-inspirational music. All three members of the group live in Utah, and their self-titled debut album will be released this spring. I, however, already own a copy (thanks to my wonderful, ever-giving mother-in-law), and I love it!

Our first speaker on Friday night was Wendy Watson Nelson. She was a professor and counselor for marriage and family therapy for 25 years. She is now married to Elder Russell M. Nelson (they were married in April 2006). She spoke to us about the power of questions - either for good or for bad. She said that often times asking a question will help the message linger longer - such as "Do you know how much I love you?". She also talked about how questions can give us new views on old problems. I really appreciated her comments about how we are each writing our own story - we can choose to be the victim, the survivor or the hero. And really, don't we all want to be the hero? She also talked about our need to "bury our weapons of war." Those weapons are our thoughts, feelings and/or actions that are preventing us from becoming closer to someone. Unfortunately, I have a few "weapons" that I need to work on burying - but Sister Nelson gave me hope and encouragement that I can do it!

We also had music from Jenny Oaks Baker. She plays the violin exceptionally well. I'm not a huge fan of the violin either, but her touch was amazing! I do have to say that she is a better violin player than speaker. I couldn't understand half of the songs she said that she was going to play for us. But overall, she had a funny and sweet personality!

We also got to hear from every one's favorite, Sheri Dew - finally! Everyone just really wanted to hear from her, and we were all a little disappointed when she told us that she would have to cut her talk short so that we wouldn't be there all night (I think most of us would have stayed all night just for her!). But, of course, she did beautifully and it didn't even seem like she had to skip anything. I really admired her ability to do still make a smooth flowing talk, even when she had to cut some out! Anyway, Sheri talked to us about our "Influence as Latter-day Women of God." She talked about how we need to be careful who we are choosing to be our role models - and that we should be choosing Eve and Mary as our role models. She made an excellent point that the Plan of Salvation depended upon these two women fulfilling their fore-ordained callings.

Sheri also talked about a few of the well-known women of the world, and that even though they may be doing great and wonderful things, we need to be careful about taking their counsel. We have a Prophet of God to lead and guide us in building up the Kingdom of God - these women are possibly more concerned about building up their own kingdom. I thought this was a great point, as Satan is a very cunning guy! He knows that he has to start out small and quiet so that not too many people will put up a fuss.. and then, he slowly moves in and before we know it we are completely off track! Anyway, her talk was fantastic (of course!).

Most of the music on Saturday was provided by Kenneth Cope. He is so amazing! He has a wonderful voice, and in his little blurb, it says that he is also the bishop of his ward right now! I bet he is a wonderful bishop. His songs are so inspiring, and he seems so humble and kind. It was awesome - I need to check and see what songs I am missing of his and purchase the rest!

Then we heard from Emily Watts about "Mother Guilt." It was a great way to start the day, as she had us all laughing about ourselves. Mother guilt is the guilt that we put on ourselves when things aren't perfect. Emily points out that we really need to remember that if we can't control it, it isn't something to feel guilty about! She talks about the scripture in 2 Nephi 10:23, that talks about free agency. We all love the idea of free agency - until we remember that it also applies to our children! They have a right to choose to be naughty and embarrassing, and it's just the way Heavenly Father set it up! But we CAN choose how we react to them. The one thing I really needed to hear was about our homes. She talked about how our homes may not be perfectly clean and organized, and sometimes it's a little chaotic. But our goal should be to make our home a safe place where the Spirit can abide. That's what really matters.

Then we heard from the great S. Michael Wilcox. I could have listened to him speak all day! He was amazing (as usual)! He has such a great way of applying the scriptures to our lives and making me feel like I understand them! He discussed the "Accents of Wonder" in our lives: creation, healing power of His temples, mercy and forgiveness, wonder of self, the power of His words and His love, and finally, womanhood. He compared women to the Queen in a game of chess. As a boy, Mike said he loved the knights, and would always lead with them - and he always lost. Many years later, he realized that the most powerful piece on the board was the Queen. She can go anywhere and in all directions, and when he started leading with her, he would win. He compared the world using the knights, castles, pawns and the bishops to lead and fight. But the Lord, he leads with his Queens - and He wins every time. Doesn't that just make you shiver?

Saturday afternoon we heard from Chris Stewart, who spoke on the purpose of our life on earth, and the purpose of our being. I loved when he said that the problems we have in this life were specifically chosen for us - it wasn't a random drawing. Heavenly Father knew what would make us grow.

Next we heard from Jason Wright. He wrote Christmas Jars and his newest book is The Wednesday Letters. He spoke about the power of the handwritten letter and how much more meaningful it is than an email or a text message.

Finally we heard from Sharon Larsen. She is the sister of Ardeth Kapp. She had a really great sense of humor and said quite a few things to make us giggle. She talked to us about four things that she had found allowed her to have a heart full of joy: forgiveness, trusting the Lord, letting go of competition and keeping covenants. It was a great talk to remind us of the important things!

A Bed of Red Flowers

I had book club again on Wednesday night. There was only a few of us there, but it was a pretty good discussion. The book we read this month was A Bed of Red Flowers: In Search of My Afghanistan, written by Nelofer Pazira.
It is an auto-biography about her life in Afghanistan. She was born in 1973, when Afghanistan declares itself to be a republic. In 1979, the Soviets invade Afghanistan. At this point, Afghanistan turns into a war zone between the Soviets and some anti-government groups. That's when the United States steps in and starts funding some of the anti-government groups. Nelofer and her family escape in 1989 to Pakistan, and eventually to Canada. Eventually, the Soviets pull out, and the Taliban takes over. The Taliban somehow turns Islam into an oppressive cult that forbids women to work, attend school or even leave the house without a male escort, and of course, the women now have to be covered from head to toe, with only their eyes showing.

I was surprised at how much I liked the book. I was apprehensive about reading another biography (sometimes they can be quite dull!), but I really enjoyed this one. There are a lot of names of people and places that I could never pronounce (eventually the names all started looking the same) but once I got past that it was really a fast read.
Nelofer really personalizes this book, and it is almost possible for one to feel like they are in living her life - from the terror of living in a war zone, to the miles and miles of walking to escape Afghanistan. She uses a lot of personal stories, and includes intimate stories from the people in her life.
I would recommend reading this book - the only part I didn't like was at the end when she lets loose with a few anti-American sentiments, blaming the United States for allowing the Taliban to take over. This story does make me want to read other books about Afghanistan's tragic history and perhaps get another point of view.

The Great Deception...

Some of you may know my husband, John, who will eat anything and everything - unless it has the word healthy attached to it. He's actually a lot better than when we first got married, but still likes to put up a good fight about vegetables and fungus.

I however, grew up in a household where salt and sugar were usually left out of recipes. We were not given a choice on whether to eat the peas - you ate them whether you liked them or not. My older brother was diagnosed with diabetes when he was 3 years old (I was 1), and my mom, who takes her mom duties seriously, cut out a lot of things from our diet (and in reality, I think I have her to be grateful to for me not being seriously overweight) - no sugared cereals, no stashes of goodies; we even had sugar-free candy for Easter... everything was low-fat, low-cholesterol... it was the complete works!

And even though I rebelled to this as a youngin', time would prove that I actually enjoy eating healthy, and my body tends not to do to well when I eat stuff loaded with fat and sugar and salt. In college I found that I really enjoyed my nutrition class, and I ended up graduating with a BS in Dietetics! Is anyone seeing the irony in my marriage yet?

So, over the years (almost 9 of them) I have tried hard to get John to eat healthier...and he has rebelled almost as hard! So, I started being a little sneaky... by chopping things up really small, or telling him it was something else...anything to get some sort of nutrients into him!

I've been worried about how Braxton will see this, and worried he will decide he doesn't like to eat vegetables either...but then this cookbook came out....

And it really helped me get over the guilt of deceiving...and it has even helped me do it! I have posted the latest recipe that was successfully deceiving on my recipe blog. It is super yummy, and I feel good about getting a few good vitamins and minerals into my slightly stubborn husband! :)

My Very Own Recipe Blog!

I really love to cook and try new recipes... so, I thought since I've been taking advantage of everyone else's recipe blogs, I would create my own and share the wealth -
Laura Jean's Favorite Yummy Things!

Check it out for some of my tried and true yummiest of recipes...

Braxton is 13 months old today!

My sweet baby boy is officially 13 months old today. I think that Braxton is more than ready for me to call him my big boy, but I don't want him to be one yet! However, this week he has proved just how big he is!

On Wednesday, we spent a long day in airports and airplanes trying to get to Phoenix to visit Christi. I was nervous in the first place about him being confined in a little tiny airplane and the ear pressure issues... since he can't really chew gum with 4 1/2 teeth!

Anyway, when we got to the airport at 7:00am on Wednesday, I was told the airport was closed and that they had no idea when we would be flying out (our flight was supposed to leave at 8:10am). So, striving to be the calm mom that I want to be, I went ahead and sat down with Braxton for a wait. And we waited until after 11am to leave. And Braxton was an angel - he just munched on some yogurt and Cheerios... oh, and mauled the other people waiting for their flights. Luckily, Braxton is super cute...

So, the next hurdle was the flight. And again, Braxton pulled through wonderfully. He didn't even fuss, in fact I think he really enjoyed the take off. He also really enjoyed the passenger next to us - a very nice man named Brian who works for the Sheriff Department. Braxton practically leapt into his arms and started playing with the zipper on his coat, and chatted happily with Brian. I was slightly embarrassed, but Brian was very sweet about all of it, and talked about his own 18 month baby boy. Other than a slight emabarrassment, it was successful.

We land in SLC around 12:30pm and find out that we missed our connecting flight (which was at 11:15am), and that they have saved us a seat on the 9:15 PM flight. And that there are no available seats on any flights leaving before then. But, I am 6th on the standby list for the 2:55pm flight. So, at this point, I have to admit that calm, collected mom was starting to break down - I almost burst into tears right there. Luckily, I was able to keep my composure for Braxton's sake. I then decided that the best thing for us to do was to have some greasy airport food - which we did (I have the pimples to prove it). I also had two tall glasses of cold Coca-Cola (which I desperately needed to help ease my growing headache).

So with full tummies, a prayer in my heart, and determination to cry if necessary we went to the ticket counter and asked to see if there was any way possible to get on the 2:55pm flight. And this amazing girl just did it. She gave us a confirmed seat and she didn't even make me beg or cry for it! I was feeling pretty awesome about the whole situation - even when I found out that the flight was actually delayed until 4:25pm (it's still better than 9PM!). Braxton managed to take a nap in my arms at the airport (which, first of all, he has never fallen asleep in my arms, and secondly, he even slept in a public place, which he usually never does!) I was so glad that he did, as it gave me a little bit to watch all of the other children screaming and crying - and so I counted my many blessings and looked at my sweet baby boy in my arms.

The next great thing is that we actually got to board the plane and fly out ahead of the delayed schedule, so we got to Phoenix around 5:30pm. And again, Braxton did amazing! He charmed all the people around us with his sweet smile, and great little giggle. And everyone commented on how good of a baby he was. However, he did try to get his little paws on the alcoholic beverage the guy next to us was drinking... but luckily, was unsuccessful.

When we finally landed and got our baggage (which amazingly arrived!), Christi took us out to dinner for my 25th birthday (not my 30th, as some are determined to believe). Braxton did have a little bit of a meltdown at dinner, but still not as bad as I was expecting! I just know I have the best little boy ever and I am so grateful for him!

Tired of Telemarketers and Junk Mail?

If there is anything that I dislike more, it's telemarketers calling at all times of the day trying to sell me things I don't need, or wanting me to donate money to some cause I've never even heard of!
The National Do Not Call Registry is a great place to start in getting rid of those unwanted calls. You can register your home or mobile phone for free. And this website also allows you to file a complaint if you are still receiving calls after being on the registry for 31 days.
OptOutPrescreen.com is the official Consumer Credit Reporting Industry website to help get rid of those super annoying credit card and insurance offers. It allows you to either opt-in (like anyone really needs more junk mail!) or opt-out. You can opt-out through the website for a five-year term, or mail in a "Permanent Opt-Out Election" form to be done with it forever! This is also free.
Another website that is good for eliminating some of that junkmail in the form of unwanted catalogs is CatalogChoice.org. This is also a free service, and just think of how environmentally friendly you'll be! :)

Amazing Grace

After Braxton was born, I was so excited to be a mom that I kind of let everything else go by the wayside.... but I have since realized that this is not good for Braxton, or myself (especially in the sanity department!). And one of the things I love to do is read -- so re-joining myself to a book club has been one step in the right direction for me!

For January we read the book Amazing Grace: William Wilberforce and the Heroic Campaign to End Slavery by Eric Metaxas. It's a biography about William Wilberforce (1759-1833), who I had never heard of (and to make myself feel better, neither had some of the other women in my book club). However, he turns out to be quite an extraordinary man who works tirelessly to end the slave trade within the British Empire, and eventually he even accomplishes the abolition of slavery there. He also worked with James Madison (who I have heard of!) in working towards the abolishment of slavery in the United States, which came much later.

Anyway, this man is just amazing! It took him 25 years to have complete success in his endeavors - but he kept on working tirelessly for all those years! And to top it off, he had poor health! He did have lots of good people helping him with this cause, but it gives one some hope on what we can do with enough determination - no matter our circumstances!

I would recommend reading the book. It wasn't the greatest book I've ever read, but it does give one inspiration on how to truly live like a Christian. The hardest thing about the book was that there are so many details and people with similar names that I started getting them confused. However, there is also a movie out, which I haven't seen yet, but supposedly will really help in reading the book.

As part of our discussion last night, Emily (the one who chose the book and led the discussion) brought up how our society is similar to what the British Empire was like during Wilberforce's time. There was little regard for the poor; religion was a social thing; and basically everyone lived for themselves.

It may not be quite that bad in our society today, and her main concern that she brought up was the increasing availabilty of pornography, and the ease in accessing it, and the ability it has in ruining lives. We discussed how a lot of sexual predators started looking at pornography, and how it becomes so addictive that people quit living their lives. Emily mentioned 4 different lives/familes that she personally knows falling apart because of an addiction to pornography. One of the people Emily mentioned was a college student who flunked out of school because he was so addicted!

We talked about how we wished the government would take action against the pornography companies like they did the tobacco companies. It was mentioned that for some odd reason, most people view pornography as the "norm" and are not recognizing it as an addictive habit.

After leaving book club, I wanted to throw up from hearing all the statistics and disgusting things that this industry is causing. And then I wanted to take Braxton and find some way to make him stay my little baby boy forever so that he never has to deal with this! However, we all know he will grow up, and if this trend continues it will only become more and more available to him. Emily has 8 boys that she is worried about, along with 2 girls who she wants to see marry good men!

I had to leave book club early so I don't know what they decided to start doing, but I know it's time for me to do some research. We have got to put an end to it. It will probably always exist in some form - it has for a long time. But seriously, does it have to be a click away for some poor unsuspecting person - especially our children?

Emily just emailed me the link to Townhall.com with an article about just simply enforcing the laws against pornography. The article is called Hard-Core Pornography Isn't "Free Speech". It's a great read that will get you fired up!