Bountiful Basket!!

I was doing my trade at The Apple the other day and the girls were all talking about Bountiful Basket. I inquired about it and consequently spent all week dreaming about it. It you would like more info go to http://www.bountifulbaskets.org/

Here's what I did: You can only order online starting at 12:00 Noon on Monday. The baskets are a limited quantity and so you need to get on right away and make your order ASAP. The baskets are sold out by 12:30-12:45 usually so you need to order quick! FYI...There are so many people on the website that it goes really slow. You purchase the basket online and then on Saturday you go to the assigned place where you ordered your basket to pick up your goods! The local areas that do it are Idaho Falls, Pocatello, Iona, Rexburg and Rigby. It is in other states and areas too. It does request that you volunteer some time but it is not a requirement. I will help out sometime when I can. Today I just wanted to "try" it and check out what it was all about.

Thanks to my sister-in-law that wanted to do it too, she got online while I was working and ordered our baskets Monday. Today I hauled my two little ones with me because I was warned that it was a lot of food so I would need some reinforcements. I took 4 recycled grocery bags and filled all four of them with produce! (2 for me and 2 for my SIL)It was so much fun! It is random produce each week. You get what you get...and that is part of the fun. We have been living off of our food storage since Jeff got laid off and so I have missed fresh produce especially. I am so excited to have a stocked fridge with fresh fruits and veggies! Oh! I forgot the best part. It is $15.00!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Probably $40-50 worth for $15! There is a one time 3.00 fee when you first sign up-but worth every penny! I don't think we can eat all of it in one week-but I will definitely be going back in a couple of weeks!

Included in my bountiful basket:

2 bunches of asparagus

tub of strawberries

2 tubs of blueberries

9 mini cucumbers

7 zuchinni

head of cabbage

2 bunches of bananas

15 Mandarin oranges

10 apples

5 pears

2 bunches of spinach

HUGE bunch of lettuce

Nelson Christmas...a little late

I know that this a little late, but I haven't posted our Christmas with the Nelson's yet. Here's a few of our exciting events...

From my terrible memory and a few photos that I have, we gathered together as a family after Christmas. It was nice to have another Christmas after we had already celebrated. It was fun to have Alex and Anna and Ryan and Becca and their family here visiting. It is always fun to have everyone around. The kids always have so much fun! We all get together and Quenalee always does such a good job putting Christmas together for all of us with thoughtful gifts for everyone! My favorite were the SNUGGIES that the boyz got. It was fun one night...she usually does the "greedy game" where we all fight over some really fun or funny gifts as a game-but instead this year, she gave us each an envelope with a photo and some money. The photo was a picture of a child who was an orphan. Andy has a really good friend who has gone to volunteer at this orphanage and she sent Quenalee all of the photos. There was a description of the child and their talents and personalities. We could choose whether we wanted to keep the money or to give it away to the orphanage. It was neat to hear about it and to watch all of the family give their money. The kids were cute about it too. It was nice to do something that was giving back. What a special idea.

After we had that night, we had a riveting arm wrestling match and leg wrestling match which both Calli and Mack got into. It was hard not to when they have a very competitive aunt Anna who got into it much more than they did.

Anger

We had a Relief Society dinner the other night and while we were there, we had a guest speaker that came and spoke to us about Family Relationships. A topic that all of us need some lessons on-I am sure. He mentioned a few things that I really felt that I have been benefit ting from since he spoke that night. The first thing that he talked about that I appreciated was a story that he told about a tree in an isolated area where a tribe of people wanted to remove the tree from close to their homes. They were creative in their method because they didn’t have advanced heavy duty equipment to remove the tree. They believed that if they woke up every morning and gathered around the tree and yelled as loudly as they could at the tree, the tree would die. Eventually, the trees roots broke down and it fell. He spoke about how sometimes we do this with our loved ones. I especially thought of my children. This morning, for instance, I managed to yell at each one of them before they left our home. I yelled at Mack because he continues to try to escape the house in the morning with his new vest on and it is too cold to JUST wear a vest. I am not sure why he continues to try to get away with it without me noticing… Calli asked me if I had a baby picture of her to take to school 2 minutes after she should have already been out the door. Quentin was playing solitaire this morning when I reminded him it was his morning to do the dishes and he continued to play numerous games before I finally had to raise my voice to get him to come and do what I asked (highly unusual for him-but happening more and more now that he is a teenager!) So I have not perfected this practice-but I do understand that if I continually yelled at my children like that everyday-all day, their roots would crumble and their spirits would die. I am definitely going to work on this. I got angry at all three of my children this morning, but after they left, I thought about exactly what triggered my anger. Another thing that this gentleman spoke about was that anger is an emotion that never stands alone! It was interesting for me to hear from him that anger is always brought on first by another emotion. Fear, sadness, frustration, and exhaustion, are just a few examples that he gave. The times that I have been angry since I heard him speak, I have stopped and wondered what brought on my anger. It has been an interesting exercise for me to do. I have been able to pinpoint the other emotion really quickly and nipped that emotion in the bud instead of continuing to be angry and lashing out at someone. This morning, I was first disappointed in one of the kids and then it just snowballed from there. I was also in a hurry because I was trying to get out of the door as well to get to my sub job. This afternoon when I get home, I am making an assertive effort to complement each on of my children at least three times to try to repair the roots I may have damaged with my angry that was brought on by my rushed disappointment.

Valentine's Day

Okay...I have a confession to make. I consider myself a romantic at heart. However, I have to tell you that I do not like Valentine's Day. One reason is that I believe that you shouldn't have to have a day set apart to celebrate your love for someone in some grandiose way. I believe that it should be celebrated everyday in small and simple acts of love. Second, I believe that it does more damage than good for you and/or your loved one. I think it is another way set people up for failure. Have you ever been to a store the night of February 13th? The lines are snaked all the way to the back of the store with guys who are purchasing large teddy bears, boxes of chocolates, half withered flowers, and other random gifts that they should have put more thought into before the 11th hour!

This week while I was subbing at the middle school, on their "mock news" report that they have in the morning, they reported a tidbit about Korean Valentine's Day. I believe they have a better way to celebrate "LOVE" in a holiday. I came home and found a little more info on the topic and this is what I found. On February 14th, it is traditional for women to give a man that they love some chocolate, usually a piece of chocolate that is homemade. Symbolizing originality, "the only one". On March 14th, they have another holiday named "White Day". On this day, the men who received from the women reciprocate the affection offered the prior month and give back. They usually give candy as well, but the gift is usually something greater than what the girl gave him. They try to "one up" them. Following in April there is an informal holiday that is celebrated in Korea surrounding this idea of love and affection. On April 14th they have a day called "Black Day". This is a day where singles gather together and commiserate their single life by eating white Korean noodles with black bean sauce (black noodles).

However you celebrate your Valentine's Day, I hope you have a good one!

Oxygen Mask

You know the part in the safety instructions on the airplane when they talk about the oxygen masks? They tell you that when the masks come down you first put on YOUR mask and then you can help those around you to put theirs on. That includes small children who really can't do things like that on their own. I have heard it many times. I have been on a lot of planes. However, it wasn't until recently that I have learned exactly why they say that. Our visiting teaching message this month is about self-reliance and it was a hard one for me to swallow at first because at this time in my life there are parts where I feel completely prepared and self reliant and then there are other areas where I have had to humble myself and ask for help. However, while I was giving the message to one of my dear sisters this week, I read a part of the message that talks about being self-reliant spiritually, physically, socially, financially, emotionally, the list could keep going. I thought of something that I have been trying to incorporate in my life upon much coaxing from some around me that know what they're talking about and that is, if I am going to take care of my family and help them and others around me, I must first take care of myself. Much like the oxygen mask comparison, if you yourself are not breathing in the amount of oxygen that you need, how can you help others get theirs? To be self-reliant in areas of our lives that will aid us in taking care of ourselves is very important. As mothers, I think that we especially think of this as an awfully selfish act to do things for our own health, social life, emotional well-being, etc. However, if we don't, we are risking the opportunity to take care of others around us as well as we can. I have appreciated this advice and have tried really hard to incorporate it so that I can better take care of others around me. If that means finding extra time to read my scriptures even if my house doesn't get dusted, or spending time with my mom instead of always being home when my kids get home from school, or a night out with the "girls" instead of staying home and watching one more guy movie with Jeff it will help me be a better mom and better wife and just a better person able to take care of myself and find happiness to share with others and to serve through that happiness. Put on your own oxygen mask first!

Thirty-Something Acne

One thing I have learned a lot about lately is Acne. I am not going to bore you with the facts that I have learned but unfortunately the main fact that I have learned from personal experience is that just because you are no longer a teenager, that doesn't mean that you are immune to acne. Actually, some people are "late bloomers" when it comes to acne and I just happen to be one of them! Oh I love being thirty something...but I don't love being thirty-something with acne! This brings me to share something with you that I have learned recently that I didn't know before. If you did-I am mad at you for not sharing it with me! The other day I was watching the Today Show and they had some make-up tips on a segment on their show and they were talking about blush brushes. An interesting fact; you need to wash your blush brush! Who knew? You take a little warm water and a mild soap and wash your brush. If you don't, it could cause transfer of dirt into your pores. Which in turn, you guessed it, could cause unwanted acne! What did I do that day? I washed my brushes. Has my acne decreased in the past few weeks since the cleaning? Yes. Unfortunately, I had just purchased at the same time a trial for Proactive in the kiosk in the mall and so I am unsure if the clean brushes are the cause to a clearer skin or if it's the Proactive?

Anyhow, lesson learned, Clean your blush brush every 2-3 weeks.

Lessons Learned 2010

I loved posting my blessings last year. It was fun to look for things that were blessings and to notice things that I may not have otherwise. I am truly blessed! I am humbled by how blessed I am and how especially blessed I have been recently to have received so many blessings from my Heavenly Father. I am going to try hard to always try to recognize each day the blessings that I have in my life. However, there is something else that I have been thinking a lot about in my life and that is learning. I have a confession to make. I am not someone that thrives on learning. I did okay in school and I graduated from college. I have a degree and I am proud of it. However, once I was done...I was done. I could have gone on to teach-but raising our family became my priority and I don't regret that decision for one minute. I have loved every minute of being home with our children and taking care of them-and Jeff. I have learned a little about this and that mostly to do with my jobs at home. I love constantly learning about the gospel so I have continually participated in that, but anything else...not so much. The other day in Relief Society, the teacher was asking us about teachers in our lives that influenced our life for good and the first teacher that came to mind was my dad. He was a seminary teacher, I even had him for my early morning class in high school. He was a great teacher in the classroom-but he was even more incredible in our home. He is someone that was always learning!! When I say always-I mean always. His first love was religion of coarse. He always had a clipboard, a copy of one of the standard works, and a red pencil and a pen during the day at home while I was growing up. It was his job-so he put in the hours by studying. He loved all subjects though. On any given day I would catch him reading any random book-but never novels! They were always instructional books or biographies, autobiographies, etc. He soaked up as much information as he possibly could in his life here on earth. He even taught himself how to write Hebrew, sign simple sign language, play the guitar and piano, sing harmony in a choir, recognize the flowers of Yellowstone, etc. etc. One of my favorite things to do in his later years was to sit and listen to he and Jeff talk about some topic in history that they both knew the most random facts about. He had amazing retention of information and an incredible drive to learn. My favorite however are the simple things that he taught me through his testimony of the gospel. He was great at lectures-don't get me wrong-but my favorite learning experiences were when he would help us learn things by his example or his simple explanations of things of gospel truths. On more than one occasion, I remember him stopping in mid sentence and telling us that the spirit was there and just to listen and recognize it there. He helped me recognize and be excited about the spirit and how it can testify to you and to others of the truthfulness of the gospel and our Savior Jesus Christ. I don't necessarily love to pick up a book and learn about something-but I know that that is something that is required of us to do while we are in mortality. So...this year I have been pondering blogging about things I have learned. They could be spiritual things, or random facts, or things that I have learned about life, or myself. Whatever it is, it would be something that interested me for a while so much that I would want to share it with someone else. Here's to Lessons Leaned in 2010.