Word of the Month...

I will share a few quotes I have found on PRAYER and then a story from my own personal life about PRAYER...

Never assume that you can make it alone. You need the help of the Lord. Never hesitate to get on your knees in some private place and speak with Him. What a marvelous and wonderful thing is prayer. Think of it. We can actually speak with our Father in Heaven. He will hear and respond, but we need to listen to that response. Nothing is too serious and nothing too unimportant to share with Him. He has said, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28). He continues, “For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matt. 11:30). ~Pres. Hinckley

Family prayer is the greatest deterrent to sin, and hence the most beneficent provider of joy and happiness. The old saying is yet true: “The family that prays together stays together.”
"Prayer is the provider of spiritual strength. Prayer is the passport to peace." ~Pres. Monson

At the end of February I couldn't find my driver's license and debit card (I actually remember the day because it was my Dad's birthday and I forgot to call him because you know how you get when your DL and DC go missing!) I like to put them in my jacket pockets so that I don't have to take my purse into the store since I already carry oxygen, so I went through all the pants and jackets I wear (all three of them!) and no cards, looked through my purse and on my desk, nothing. I didn't think they were stolen since I don't shop a lot if anything I thought maybe they got thrown away because sometimes I stick them in the bag with the receipt. I knew that I could pray for help in finding them since I've done it for numerous things before (cell phones, wallets, the dog, etc...) some answers (like the dog) are answered quicker than others, but the thing that was constant was that I felt peace about it, like it wasn't stolen so I didn't have to cancel them etc... but I really didn't want to go get a new DL! what a pain! plus J is never home when they are open so I would have to get a ride, well I kept praying and looking (remember we have to do our part) and praying and looking....finally after three weeks! I decide I will search yet again through all my pockets, it was actually the day I was going VT and my companion is so nice and takes me on errands afterwards but how can I run errands without a debit card? J was already gone so I couldn't use his. So I search, nope not in the pockets I have searched many times before, then I decide to check the skirt that I always wear VT (make the connection?) I FOUND THEM! I must not have used them since the last time I went VT!!!!! and that was way before I even noticed they were missing ( I don't go shopping much) so I never even thought to check my skirt! My prayer was answered and my companion was able to take me to the post office because again J is always gone during their hours of operation!

Just my little 'lost & found' prayer story, do you have one?

Taking a nap....

If someone is taking a nap the dogs are usually with that person and as the picture shows Chugs is usually closer than Texas.

Sick dog & muffin girl....

That's right a sick dog again (I swear I need to investigate dog insurance) it all started at 2am (why is it always at night?) Texas got out from under the covers and threw up on top of the blanket (at least both dogs always do that, guess they don't want to mess up where they sleep, I appreciate that too) cleaned that up and thought of all the moms that have to clean up after their kids do that and am grateful that I didn't have to change any sheets or calm a crying child, just the top blanket that can be washed in the morning, no big deal, go back to bed. I am snuggling Texas she is leaning on my body pillow and at 4am she throws up on my body pillow!!!!!!! YUCK!!!!!!! We also notice that her eye is getting puffing and her lips look a little swollen, we give her some Benedryl and try and go back to sleep but I just toss and turn and try to avoid the wet spot. We get up in the morning and she is still swollen, the other eye is looking swollen too, but at least she is walking around and trying to get some peanut butter! My husband takes her in (at least it's not emergency after hours right? it was still $62 for the consultation, I feel that is a rip off! plus everything else let's just say Texas spent exactly what our tax return was!!!!!! I should have done my post on that! Maybe I'll go change it!) She is back now, they gave her a cortizone shot and watched her for a few hours, Chugs missed her sister very much. They are together and we are going to go take a nap now.

As for the muffin girl story....the dogs went outside yesterday and when Chugs came back down to come inside the door was shut and we have a glass door so we could see her and she had something in her mouth, my husband went closer and it was half a muffin!!!!! He grabbed the camera but the battery was dead! It would have made such a great picture.... he tried to grab it but she ran away, I don't know where she got it, hopefully she didn't take it from some neighborhood kid!!!! So Chugs eats half a muffin and Texas gets sick? We still aren't sure what Texas had an allergic reaction too we are hoping it is one of her treats and we will never buy that one again, but who knows!

Sorry no pictures, use your imagination!

It's Refund Time!...

It's that time of year again! A second Christmas if you will, that's right, tax refund time!!!!! So if you see me driving around in a new truck.....

or the dogs sporting new collars....

you will know we got our refund!!!!!!!!!!!











(if you can't tell I am totally joking with our refund we will be lucky if we can afford this kind of truck....

and this cheap dog collar....)

I made them!

I finally made some sugar cookies! To tell you just how long it's been since I've made sugar cookies, I believe I got these cookie cutters when we got married 5 years ago and this is the first time I've used them! Also I don't own a rolling pin (as you can see in the picture, but a good glass cup works just as well) so that also means I don't bake alot.

I can't believe how good I got them, nice and thick...

And look: they actually turned out! I am always over baking cookies because I'll be watching them, watching them, watching them, then somehow boom! too long! But these turned out! Although the last batch was just one minute too long...

Another way to tell I don't bake much is I don't have any food coloring so the frosting is white!

Texas & Chugs...

Aren't they so cute?

Just a reminder: The little one on the left (Chugs) is a chihuahua/pug mix, the bigger one (Texas) is a pug/beagle mix they are both full grown and Chugs is actually older than Texas.
One minute she is snuggling me and being so nice.....


And when I go to the other room this is what she does! This seriously happens once if not twice a day!


This one likes to beg while you eat, here she is on my lap begging...


I like this one because she was kind of pawing at me...

Word of the Month...

March's word is: PRAYER

I have mixed my word of the month with my goals because I figure if I learn more about them and concentrate on them more than I will also be able to work on my goal or habit of them too. So PRAYER is something I need to work on and each week I will do a post about it.

Thomas S. Monson's talk: Three Goals to guide you given 2007

“Pray always, and I will pour out my Spirit upon you, and great shall be your blessing.” Doctrine and Covenants 19:38

Perhaps there has never been a time when we had greater need to pray and to teach our family members to pray. Prayer is a defense against temptation. It is through earnest and heartfelt prayer that we can receive the needed blessings and the support required to make our way in this sometimes difficult and challenging journey we call mortality.

From the Bible Dictionary:

"As soon as we learn the true relationship in which we stand toward God (namely, God is our Father, and we are his children), then at once prayer becomes natural and instinctive on our part (Matt. 7:7-11). Many of the so-called difficulties about prayer arise from forgetting this relationship."

#1 Husband....

I have the #1 husband in the whole world, maybe if there happens to be two #1's then you might have the other if not I swear to you I have the #1 husband. It may seem silly to you out there but this picture is of my cocoa pan and mug, my husband has been washing it every morning for me (if we didn't run the dishes, we don't dirty enough dishes to run it every day) before he goes to school which is before 7am!!!! What a sweetheart! I usually try and wash them during the day or before I go to bed because I really don't like to do it in the morning before I make breakfast, hey I'm hungry! Well the other day I didn't clean them and wasn't feeling good at all that night but mentioned as I went to bed that I hadn't cleaned my pan and mug, the next morning it was clean and every morning since then!!!!!!! Every single morning I see them clean I am so filled with gratitude for him, it is just the little things like this that mean so much to me, I mean he does tons of big things too, why else is he #1!!!!!! He takes such great care of me and is so understanding of my limitations right now and has never once complained of all he has to do, besides being in school all day and work he will always stop off on his way home to pick up some meds or at the grocery store even if it's just for one item (which a lot of times it is), he comes home late at night and does the dishes and laundry. I love this wonderful man and am so grateful he is mine for eternity.

Check this out...

YOU HAVE TO CHECK THIS OUT!!!!!!!! The perfect way to clean your computer screen.

I Love My Sister....

Look how similar their color is, amazing!

Oh you thought this was a post about MY sister???? Gotcha!

And in case you think they only love each other here are some 'Mom and Me' photos:




Oh, and I DO love my sister....

On an extremely sad side note I just figured out how to play with the text and make it big and small and different colors etc. Not too computer savy I guess.

Word of the Month...

I have a word of the month that I concentrate on and research about etc... well I thought I would post it and hopefully something each week in the month about my word. February's word was:

It's a pretty strong word, means a lot in our lives because everything is our choice! We choose everything. The biggest thing it means for me right now is that I choose what I do during the day, I choose what to watch on tv, I choose to be on the computer, to blog or not, to read blogs or conference talks. Sometimes it feels like I don't have a choice, I don't feel good and can't read or do anything else and therefore watch tv, but I still have a choice!

I think that every single day you have to fight Satan and make choices between good, better, and best, I think that if we aren't aware of this then we are agreeing with Satan because it's hard! Every single day you need to be aware of what you are choosing and if it is the BEST choice.

I am not saying this because I am good, I am really really bad at this, it's so so easy to be lazy and let the day fly by, that is Satan! he wants life to appear easy and fun, it's not! it's HARD!!!!

Hopefully this made a little sense, I don't know if it did, I am just more aware of my everyday decisions and that I am not making the BEST ones I could be. I love this talk by Elder Dallin H. Oaks from Oct. Conference '07 called Good, Better, Best...

These are some quotes from a talk by James E. Faust called Choices given in 2004.

Tomorrow’s blessings and opportunities depend on the choices we make today.

“When you have to make a choice and don’t make it, that in itself is a choice.”
William James, as quoted in Evan Esar, ed., 20,000 Quips and Quotes (1968), 132

“You are responsible for the choices you make. You should not blame your circumstances, your family, or your friends if you choose to disobey God’s commandments. You are a child of God with great strength. You have the ability to choose righteousness and happiness, no matter what your circumstances.”
For the Strength of Youth (2001), 5.

How do we make correct choices? A choice involves making a conscious decision....Making correct decisions involves prayer and inspiration.

March's word: PRAYER I'll post on it later.