Make it more spiritual

With all the time we spend on the internet these days, we lose sight of what's really important. For me, the internet provides a way to escape the pain of everyday, literally. So, why don't we try to make our activities, blogs, facebooks, etc. more spiritual.... It's worth a shot. That way, we don't forget what we're here for and end up losing sight of the spiritual side of ourselves... I tend to do that too much. So, here's a quote....

“Testimony isn’t something that you have today and you keep always. Testimony is either going to grow and grow to the brightness of certainty, or it is going to diminish to nothingness, depending upon what we do about it. I say, the testimony that we recapture day by day is the thing that saves us from the pitfalls of the adversary.”

--President Harold B. Lee

Our Kourtney Bear

What a Daddy's girl she is... She runs around the house, always looking for Daddy, yelling, "Daddy, Daddy, Dada, Dada, Papa,....." how funny she is!

She is so lovey, and so stubborn (like both of her parents). We love this little bundle of joy. She loves climbing into laundry baskets, being naked, climbing up and down the stairs, being naked, riding in her little car, being naked, talking to herself (and giving herself kisses) in the mirror, being naked, destroying Mommy's artsy things, playing with the camera... and did I mention being NAKED!!! She is so funny and oh so smart. She uses so many words! She knows a lot that she doesn't use on a regular basis. Here are some Kourtney words:

-Daddy, Dada, Papa (all for Daddy)

-Mama (she hardly ever uses this one)

-Juice

-Baba (bottle)

-Hello

-Bye bye

-peek-a-boo

-NO (HER ABSOLUTE FAVORITE)

-yes (very extremely rare to hear her say this one)

-cookie

-cracker

-polar bear (i know, Daddy was reading her a book and she copied off of him... pretty impressive, she did it a couple times)

-go (she likes that one, it's her term for dog)

-Zelda (my parents' dog)

-Come here (she used to say this one a lot, it's a bit more rare now)

My goodness, there's more but I can't think of all of them. She is so sweet, not perfect by any means, but we're very lucky to have her! She is very happy! She is very much like her daddy and very much like her mommy at the same time! Oh, and her little temper is absolutely hilarious! Every time I have to punish her, I leave the room afterwards so that I can get all of the giggles out, she's just soooo funny!!!

oh why...

Oh immune system, why must you hate me???

I try so hard to give you what you need,

yet never do I go two weeks without having some illness.

Swine flu, common cold, seasonal flu, common cold,

bad cold, very bad cold, some sort of virus, some other sort of virus....

etc., etc., etc.....

No matter what I do,

no matter what I eat,

no matter what what what.....

you never protect.

True, immune system,

you do fight the infections off (not in record time might I add).

However, you never prevent.

Do you like the fight...

the rush you get when the battle is at its toughest?

do you? do you?

Well.... I DON'T!!!

Oh immune system, immune system....

Why do you hate me so?

a ROCKIN' good time

Rock band... thank you Shaun for getting me addicted. I love unplanned, random, fun nights with friends! Saturday, we were just sitting around wondering what to do, and we decided we'd just invite some people over. (we don't like to be hermits,
we love company) And it turned out to be super fun!!! I love when that happens.... The guys ended up stuck on video games all night, and the ladies played phase 10, talked about whatever they wanted, joked, and had a laughing good time.... It rocked my socks!!!

Venting....

So, not a lot of people follow this. Actually, technically, only one does. But I know that several people follow unofficially. However, I know that some don't care to. Which is fine with me, that drains out the whiners.... I don't like whiners. I like that I can say and do whatever I want on this blog. Oh no!... It's public???? whatever will i do??? *sarcasm* I like that sometimes.....

Anyhoo.... I really don't like it, and I try not to do it. But, you know, there are just some people that I absolutely cannot stand!!! No lie, I am not one of those people that "loves everyone". Don't get me wrong, there are few people that I don't like... I think. But, let's face it, no one likes everyone!!! What bugs me the most is when people pretend to like/love everyone!!! That's not real to me.... I also don't like when people pretend that their life is perfect. They try so hard to let everyone know that their life is top of the line, wort

h envying, never gets better, kind of stuff.... not me. Trust me, my life = totally not perfect... but I love it! What would I learn if it was perfect? Nada! In my opinion, the people who try so hard to put off the image of a "perfect life", really don't like

their life. It's sad, but I've noticed that's how it works most of the time.....

Hmmmm..... Freedom on my blog.... I'm liking this

. Angie, you're my one devoted reader.... Thanks lo

ve. You make me feel adored... :)

Would You....

Would you read this? I am looking for opinions and constructive criticism. I have the idea in my head for a whole novel.... I just want some opinions based on this first little part. I know that it's not much but it's what I've got right now.

"My name is Lea. I describe myself in many ways; I am a daughter and a sister. Singing is my escape, blue skies and sunshine bring me joy. I cry when life is lost, and then when new life begins. Flowers, in my eyes, are a tiny miracle from heaven. What best describes me.... First and foremost, I am a wife, and I am a mother. And...... I am dead."

I know, crazy. But trust me, it'll be good.

CrEaTe

I love to create! It could be anything! My favorite creation, of course, is Kourtney! She's gorgeous! I like to create through scrapbooks, or cards, or poems, or painting (which I'm not very good at, but I still like it) cooking, reading and using my imagination..... wow, there are tons of ways to create. I've noticed that my creating comes and goes in cycles. One week I will have crazy scrapbooking frenzies. The next week it will be cards... the next cooking, and so on. Lately, it has been GLUTEN FREE cooking! Yes, gluten free. It's amazing how much healthier, and more vibrant my body feels after eliminating gluten from my diet. This is the story:

My husband's niece was diagnosed with Celiac disease a few months ago. His grandmother had it and eventually died because of the illnesses that it eventually brought on. Well, turns out, a lot of his family has it! So, his mother comes to visit and she decides that he needs to go on the diet and, what the heck, I've been sick so long, might as well throw me on that wagon too, right? Well, she was right! That was a month and a half ago and I feel wonderful!!! Now, let me clarify.... my wonderful would still probably be the average person's "pretty sick". No joke. But at least I'm not lying on the couch in pain ALL DAY LONG! No, now it comes and goes. Some days I feel like I'm on top of the world... on those days I cook and clean and play with Kourtney, make myself pretty etc etc.... And that is what I call an amazing accomplishment......

Some people want to be able to run marathons..... I just want to be able to clean my house :)

Be...

Be grateful for the things that you have.

Do not covet what others have....

You never know.... they could think that you have it all....

Silly Resolutions....

Or maybe not so silly...

This is last year..... PASS? FAIL?

STEPHANIE
(Jordan grades them)

1. Lose weight: goal.... 123 lbs. PASS I now weigh 109. no, it was not my goal, it just kept coming off
2. Be a better mom and wife. According to Jordan, PASS! I love him. I really have tried, and I'm definitely not perfect but I know that I've come a long way
3. Be more patient: PASS and fail.. where I am more patient than I used to be, it's still not as patient as I'd like to be.... so Jordan says pass and I say fail
4. Better cook: this is tough, I've been so sick this year that it's been really hard to cook. it was only last night that I felt I was really getting somewhere. This gluten free cooking is definitely tougher than I thought. Here's to hoping that this year I won't be so sick and I can work on perfecting this area a bit more. I have learned new things so Jordan says I pass (i'm beginning to wonder if he's not just being reeaallly nice about this)
5. learn to sew: well, I made a blanket, and that's where this story ends
6. better scrapbooker: here, I feel that I must say PASS PASS PASS! I've really learned a lot this year about my capability to create! and I absolutely love it love it love it! I have much farther to go though!
7. better poet: I am coming along with this one!

YAY! I PASSED JUST ABOUT EVERY ONE!!!

JORDAN
(Stephanie gets to grade)

1. Good grades: I must say that his grades were much better this year... PASS
2. Better Daddy: He is sooo fantastic with Kourtney. He completely blows my mothering skills out of the water, and that's no joke! PASS PASS PASS and pass again!!!
3. Beat FF Xll.....yeah, he didn't do that. FAIL (and yes, that was a REAL resolution of his)
4. No procrastination: he has had to cook, clean, take care of Kourtney, work, and take care of me this year! I can't imagine what life would have been like if he really did procrastinate this year. He is so amazing and I am forever lucky to have him!!!
5. Better Husband: PASS he gets better everyday! if that's possible

JORDAN PASSED ALMOST ALL OF HIS TOO!!!! YAY FOR HIM!

KOURTNEY BEAR
(Mommy and Daddy get to grade)

1. Her's were simple goals.... Learn to walk...... ACCOMPLISHED!
2. learn to eat cereal.....DING DING DING WE HAVE A WINNER!

KOURTNEY PASSED ALL OF HER'S!!!! SHE ROCKS MY SOCKS!!!

THIS YEAR'S GOALS.....

hmmmmm.....

what shall we say....

Me: get my body ready to have another baby (I want to maybe get pregnant in 2010 but not have a baby in 2010) this entails, exercise, getting my back and neck fixed, eating better, and proving to myself that I can get back on track with things like housework, sleeping, and not being in sooo much pain. this is my only resolution this year, of course there are more but I don't want to get overwhelmed here.

Jordan: help Stephanie get her body ready (yes, i'm not kidding, this is what he said lol) and beat FF Xll :) and move out west to start his career!!!! and make his short movie (he wrote a script and it's really good) listen to stephanie better (no, I didn't make him say that) how sweet he is.

Kourtney: Learn manners (she's on her way with that one) (and to stop being sick so that Mommy doesn't have to have more snotty nose/dirty face pics of her baby!)

Family: pray together more, help others, read scriptures together regularly (instead of Jack Bauer if we have to), go to the temple more

There we have it! Good luck in 2010!