Oh the fall. How I have missed you!!

Welp, it's that awesome time of year again! Zee fall harvest is finally upon us and I, for one, am thrilled! I get sick in the heat of summer, the cold in winter just plain sucks and spring is nice until the bugs swarm you like a bog down south so fall is definatly my favorite season of choice!

My sister in law Shayna is helping me make my very first Halloween costume this year along with Aarons. I'm gonna be Sally-The Nightmare Before Christmas' Jack Skellingtons love interest and Scott is(of course!) going to be Jack. Aaron, despite my fear of 8 legged creatures, wants to be a SPIDER!!!!! I was completely floored when he said that. But, I've been trying to look at them with a better perspective and only kill them once I look at them for about 10 seconds to try to not be so scared of such a small thing. Nonetheless I haven't won that battle yet but I am still letting Aaron be one for Halloween. We bought some of the items to make a cute spider costume so I think I'll be okay for one night:) Will says he wants to be Bumblebee transformer again but we want him to be a Lightening McQueen guy so i'm gonna try and see what I can scrounge up for that. I've never made my own costume before so I'm super excited about it! Feeling a Suzy homemaker and what not:))

My other reason for loving Autumn is my birthday. I'll be 27 this year and I am trying to not be like so many people out there who hate getting older. Of course, your body doesn't work and/or probably look as good as it did when you were younger but we all knew it would happen so I'm trying to see the glass has half full as I age...hopefully gracefully:)) I told Scott all I wanted for my birthday was to have a clean(er) house so I can feel the Spirit more abundantly when in it. There's nothing more amazing than being able to come home after a long day of work and feeling welcomed by a delightful Scentsy warmer burning your fav fragrance and the dishes done, the floors cleaned and just relaxing a bit before going about the rest of the day.

As a member of the church I am so grateful for knowing who I really am(daughter of God-holla!:)) and that I have the opportunity to partake of the blessings of Heaven if I want them. Which means, doing the 'seminary things.' Reading your scriptures. Saying your prayers. Loving one another as He does. It still shocks me how much love I feel and inspiration for my own life whenever I do these things. I don't mean to make this a preachy blog but for those of you who are having a rough go at life-remember WHO YOU ARE! A child of God and as such, amazing:) Keep your chin up and I promise to do my best too:)

Mmkay I will post pics soon of the funnest ahead! Love all you guys!

Valentines Day Surprise!

It's two days away from Valentines Day and I can't wait till Scott's present gets here!!! Every year, Scott and I switch places as to whom is in charge of Vday(surprises and such) and this was my year and I kept getting 'brain farts.' Nothing was coming to me until I thought about my loverly friend Shauna(noted from the last blog) told me about digital scrapbooking and it peeked my interest. A couple of days later, as I was searching for Valentines presents and came across a website- www.mixbook.com where you can make calendars, scrapbooks and.....wait for it......digital memory books!! It's a little pricer than some of the other websites but I looked on those and they just didn't have as many options in making the books as I would have liked. I'm hoping it will get here either today or Monday in time for Vday. I'm just sooooo excited to see how Scott will like it!

PS-The pic is of Scott and I on our honeymoon...many moons ago:)

It's digital scrapbookin time!

So I'm purdy excited to do some scrap-booking!!! I always hated doing it with paper so I never really got into it. I do, however, love making cards by hand. Tis alot of fun and calms me down a bit when I'm feeling stressed out. My bestie from before time, Shauna(holla!!!) has shown me a great site to use. I'll be using www.scrapbookingez.com and can't wait to get started!!!

Welp, that's all I really had today so have a good one!!

Pennsylvania

Dear my beloved friends of the blogging community-

As I always say, I'm sorry I don't update my bloggy blog more often!! I do love you guys and love to read your blogs! Forgive me my lovelies! Okay, with that said, here is the best thing that Scott has ever surprised me with and I'm forever in his debt...

I was born in Doylestown, PA. As a kid, we lived there till I was five and we moved around quite a bit all over the Midwest. But we did visit the family every 4-5 years when we could. When I married Scott, we moved about 3 times in our first year of marriage. We finally ended up in Champaign Ill and still had many financial issues for three years. We knew that we needed a new start and so, we moved in with his parents. They're so wonderful and we've had a few rough times with them but overall, it's been a pretty good experience. Scott doesn't apply for loans anymore because we don't want to go into debt too much with school so he now just goes for the grants. With the last loan we did get, he did something that blessed me greatly.

The last time I saw my extended family was when I was 18. It had been 8 years and I wished they could meet my awesome hubster and 2 baby boys(who aren't actual babies anymore but they will always be that way in my heart:)) With my CNA job, we all have to work a holiday, whether it be Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve or Christmas day and New Years Eve. I tried asking if it would be possible that I could have both Christmas Eve and Christmas day off but, to my dismay, I was let down. But, I figured maybe if we save up enough, we could go in the summer.

Scott, with is brilliant mind, had an idea. He actually went and talked to my boss, asking her if there was any way I could have those days off. He wanted to surprise me and told her how long it had been since I saw my family. And do you know what she said?!?!?!

" You know what? I'll have one of the college girls fill her in. Just make sure it's a surprise okay?"

So, it was my birthday and my buddies came to just chillax and eat some yummy cake. I was totally oblivious to the fact that Scott and my bro-in-law Tim were finding the cheapest airline tickets online to get to PA.

As I sat visiting with my buds, Scott came over and handed me a card. It smelled of fresh permanent marker and I laughed cuz I figured he just forgot to write in it(he's never been prepared with cards). I opened and said thank you and gave him a lil crap for just writing it when he said "Look inside." I figured there was jewelry or something in it but it was a lil note. I opened it and had to re-read what it said..."You're going to Pennsylvania for Christmas." I started bawling and asked how he did it. He told me and I think I hugged him so hard I gave his back a lil crack. My husband and kids were finally able to meet my family and I can finally say I love you to all of them.

Most of you have seen my pics on Facebook but I'll repost some of them for my blogger buddies how haven't. Miracles do happen. And when they do, never forget them and the powers that made them happen.

Excersising my butt off(literally)!

I have tried and failed at working off my baby weight. I am sad to report that, whilest being preggers, I gained 50 lbs with Aaron and William and after they were born, lost some and gained about 20 more lbs back. Seriously, I digust myself with how big I am. Sooo, for about 5 months or so, I have been trying different things when, about a month ago, I discovered a sweet lil treat on webmd.com. You can get a personal diet and excersise weight loss goal-designed just for you! It was an eye opener for me because it said if I wanted to get back to my 190 lb body like in high school in 3 months, all I would have to do is(of course) eat healthy and work out for 3 days or more a week, as long as it was cardio or pilates. I am challenging myself to it and found this Biggest Loser DVD and thought-"If people bigger than me can lose 50, 80, or even 100 lbs or more, so can I!!!" I worked out today, last Moday, Saturday and Friday. I skipped Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday cuz I had a nasty migraine and am working on getting out a head cold from me body. But I can't wait to see how well this one works out for me!! I can feel my body getting stronger evey time I work out....rock on!!!
Anywhooooo-this is the goal-lose weight and feel great! Not to mention look hot as well:)
Luvs!

Ohhhh yes..it's offically school time!

I know it's not Autumn quite yet but I thought I'd celebrate the new awesome cooler weather anyways with a new Autumn background! Today, it only was as hot as 73 degrees!!! It was loverly to say the least. Did I mention the slight breeze and clear blue skies?!?!? *Ahhhhh...

Anywhoooo-college life is back on track for Scott and I. Since our amazing babysitter is in college herself, we needed a better plan to take care of our offspring. So we came up with this idea...(and we hope it works!) Scott will be going to school Monday, Wednesday and Friday whilest I go to school Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday while working Tuesday and Thursday nights and every other weekend. We'll each be watching them on our off days so so far, so good and I think this just might work! We even have a new venture in life-Aaron is in preschool!!! He'll be going Tuesday-Friday from 9-2pm. He is so excited! His first day was supposed to be this last Tuesday but due to the damage of the flood we had earlier this summer, they are putting in new carpeting in their building. Hopefully, Aaron can enjoy going to Preschool next week.
Here's the bloggy blog for now. Tootles till next time! (Heeeey-I new phrase! lol)

I really to update this bad boy more often...:)

Old Stuff:

Scott and I are both going to school right now-Scott is going into psychology and I'm going into education/music.
We are still living in his parents basement and probably will be for awhile.... (blarg):/
Aaron is 4 now(wow! Still can't believe that one) and Will is 2(that one either!) While me and the hubsters are in school, we have a great nanny who watches them for us until we come home in the afternoon.
I'm still working at the nursing home and even though I get REALLY tired after work, I wouldn't trade helping the residents for anything!

And....

New stuff....

My branch called me as the new Camp director!!!!! Oh the craziness of camp. I'm uber excited and scared all at once cuz I really am a princess when it comes to where I sleep but I'm doing it for the youth!
My parents and all but one of my brothers(Jared) moved to PA this past March where my dad finally was able to snag a great job. I'm so happy for them but my selfish side misses being only 2 1/2 hours away from them. (sigh) But my grandma isn't doing so hot and now they are 2 1/2 hours away from her so that gives me great comfort, knowing they are out there helping my gram gram.

I hope everyone has a great week and know you are loved by me <3>