Money Tree

I think I need a money tree. I mean, I think that it would be way easier to simply grow a money tree than to try and find all of the money I need to be able to get everyone the presents they need. I LOVE Christmas, but I hate that I am always looking for money in November and December to be able to buy the Christmas presents. I know! Maybe if the bank and the utility companies just got together and said, "Don't worry about paying your bills this month", then I would have the perfect amount of money to spend on Christmas.
It's not that I buy a lot of expensive presents, its just that I have a lot of people in my family and so that adds up. However, Anne is going to be doubly excited this year because I was able to get a FANTASTIC price on something that she has been begging for all year and so she is finally going to be able to get it for Christmas!!! She is going to be soooo excited!!!
Oh well, I always get like this right before Christmas. I think that this year it is worse because it is already after Thanksgiving and I haven't finished my shopping yet. . . . I know, most people aren't done their Christmas shopping by now, but I usually am so I am feeling the stress! I know that it will all work out though! So I will try to calm down.
The good news is that tonight is my cookie exchange and so I will have all of my Christmas baking done after tonight! YAY!!! I am so excited for that! It is one thing that is going to be crossed off of my list! Now . . . if only I could say that for the other 99 items on that list. . . . *sigh*

Happy American Thanksgiving!!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my American friends and family! I hope you have a wonderful day!

My Love Language

I feel loved when...

The Five Love Languages

My Primary Love Language is Quality Time

My Detailed Results:
Quality Time:	9
Acts of Service:	8
Words of Affirmation:	8
Receiving Gifts:	3
Physical Touch:	2

About this quiz

Unhappiness in relationships is often due to the fact that we speak different love languages. It can be helpful to know what language you speak and what language those around you speak.

Tag 3 people so they can find out what their love language is.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/search?ie=UTF8&keywords=Five%20Love%20Languages&tag=edified-20&index=blended&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325"> face="Trebuchet MS" size="-2">Check out the Book

Messiah

Well, it seems as though it is that time of year again. The time of year where I sing in Handel's Messiah. I have done this for 9 years now, but it seems as though every time I sing in the choir different parts of the Messiah touch me. This year I have really been touched by the part that we sing while Christ is going through the Atonement. This has been a really emotional part for me because the reality of Christ's Atonement has really hit home. I almost dread singing those songs because I know that it will stir up a whole schwack of emotions for me that I don't really want to deal with in front of 700 people.
I love music. Music has always been able to touch my heart the way that no other medium can. I also love Handel's Messiah because I feel as though I am privileged to be able to sing about the Savior's life for 3 hours every weekend. The scriptures in the oratorio have taught me things about the Savior that I probably wouldn't have realized by simply reading them. I don't know why music can make things so clear for me, but it can. I am in constant awe of the power that music has.
Every year, before we perform Messiah, we hold a testimony meeting with the choir before we begin and it really helps to bring the spirit into our performance. Last night, for some reason, I felt strongly that I should bare my testimony. I was shocked when I realized that I had stood up and gone to the front of the room. I really don't fell comfortable baring my soul to a bunch of people that I don't know, and I am still amazed that I managed to do it. The spirit was really strong during the testimony meeting, however when we were singing the Messiah and we got to the Atonement part where it says "Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world" and then continues through the Atonement, I was a mess! I had tears streaming down my face and I couldn't really see the words. Thank goodness I have sung in the choir for so many years that I pretty much have it memorized, but I really didn't think that I was going to get through it.
However, as I have found out many times before, just when we think that we can't do something, God opens a door and gives us the strength to go on. I was really thankful that He helped me so much last night because otherwise I think that I would have hid in the back corner of the choir seats and not finished singing the Messiah.
When the performance ended I felt so much happiness and peace and I was really glad that I had sung in it this year. This coming weekend we have our last two performances and I am only going to be able to make it to the Saturday performance so hopefully I will be able to make it through the oratorio without falling to pieces this weekend!

4 Things Tag

4 Things Tag

4 things I was doing 10 years ago:
1. Trying to adjust to life as a newlywed.
2. Getting mad at Otto for finding the huge bottle of pure maple syrup that I had bought him for Christmas (we were poor and it was a big deal okay?)
3. Making spring rolls all day with my cousin Amber
4. Working 3 part time jobs. . . Price Integrity Coordinator at Michaels (the brand new craft store), Chef at Silver Springs Golf Course and working at my mom's warehouse.

.4 things on my list to do today:
1. Go grocery shopping.
2. Go teach digital scrapbooking
3. Go to a crop
4. Call my sister-in-law Suzanne to dish about Survivor. . . .man I hope that she watched it last night!!

4 things i love about my husband:
1. He is HUGE! I really wanted to marry a big guy because I wanted to know that if there was ever a fire that he could go into my kids rooms, and pick them all up and carry them out of the house. . . . really! That is no joke!!! I also wanted to marry a big guy so that I could reassure my kids that they never had to worry about anyone threatening to hurt them or our family because their daddy is bigger than any other man (well to them anyways!).
2. I love his dimples! I always tell him that I married him for his HUGE dimples!
3. I love the way that our relationship is. Otto and I are very much a team. We do each have certain roles (like he is the bread winner and I do all of the food and run the house), but we have often switched roles when needed. We also tackle everything as a team. Whether it is raising our kids, cleaning the house, church callings, whatever I have to do he also helps and vice versa.
4. I love that he is the best dad ever!! My kids don't realize how lucky they are to have a daddy who has gone out and found a job that doesn't require him to work a ton of hours! He always makes sure that he is home in the evenings and he always makes a special point of spending time with the kids. Otto is also the one who gets up with the kids in the middle of the night, which I SINCERELY appreciate!!!
4 jobs I've had:
1. Cutting greens and planting trees at Elbow Springs Golf Club. In fact it is the reason that I am completely obsessed with having perfectly straight lines when cutting the grass!!!
2. Painting for Student Painters . . . I really enjoyed painting, however I didn't enjoy the fact that they ended up not paying me! But that was the summer that Otto and I were engaged and it seemed to rain a lot and we both had jobs that you couldn't do when it was raining so we got to spend a lot of time together. . . but we didn't earn much money!
3. Piano Teacher. I can't believe that I have been doing this for more than 10 years now!!! Where does the time go? I love teaching piano and teaching children how to love music! This is one of my most rewarding jobs!
4. Digital Scrapbooking Teacher and Camp Croppin' Coordinator. I got into scrapbooking as a way to be closer to my mom and that is also one of the reasons that I have been doing these two jobs. I really do love to get my photos into albums and digital scrapbooking makes things a TON faster! But the real reason I like these two jobs is because it lets me work with my mom and I really enjoy doing that. I feel as though it helps me bond to her. . . and it has taught me that I am more like her than I had previously thought.
4 Movies I have seen more than once:
1. Cool Runnings (my favorite movie!!!)
2. Titanic
3. Fried Green Tomatoes
4.Lord of the Rings
4 places I've lived:
1. My parent's house
2. The basement suite that Otto and I lived in when we first got married and he couldn't stand up straight in the kitchen.
3. Married Student Housing at the University
4. A couple of other places and now our beautiful home!
4 places I've been:
1. Texas
2. Mexico
3. Belize
4. Winnipeg (yes I had to put that on there because I think that I am still wondering why that place even exists! I was there in the wintertime for a craft show and it is a barren, ugly place!!!

4 T.V. shows I watch:
1. Survivor
2. Grey's Anatomy
3. The Office
4. Desperate Housewives

4 Things you don't know about me:
Hmmmm, since starting this blog I think that you have been able to find out pretty much everything about me, but I'll try!
1. I played barbies until I was 12
2. I would rather be helping at an event rather than attending it.
3. I am scared to death of mice!!! Really! It's kind of sad.
4. I used to pretend that my Aunt Christie was my older sister.

4 People I tag:
1. Jamie
2. Michelle
3. Emily
4. Christie

My Science Geek!

Today I got to spend the entire day with Anne on her field trip to the Calgary Science Centre. My Anne is such a science and math geek! You would never know it, but she craves math problems and science experiments. In fact, today we were talking about the type of Christmas tree that we are going to get for her room in a couple of years when she has her own room and she wanted a math and science tree. Ok. . . now where on earth am I going to find math and science decorations??? Lahni??? Got any to spare???
I had so much fun today with Anne's class. It was so cute because Anne was excited all day that she had me all to herself. She is in the most wonderful stage where she thinks that I am the coolest person in the whole wide world (and who am I to argue with that???). She kept telling her friends how cool I was and how I used to be a chef at a restaurant (apparently that's really cool) and how our group will have the most fun. Well, I think that we did have the most fun. The two boys in my group were. . . well. . . . boys and they wiggled the whole time, but it was so much fun! Anne and the other girl in my group were really good and we made sure that we touched and played with everything that we could possibly find in the Science Centre.
We finished off the day by watching an IMAX movie and I almost fell asleep (that's what happens when you put me in a nice warm room and turn off the lights).
My kids are growing up so fast and I realize that I don't have many years left before I go from being the coolest person to the most terrible person. I made it my goal when Abby started kindergarten that I would always volunteer for field trips because I know how much it means to my kids and it is lots of fun being able to spend that time with them.
So spending all day with Anne was a blast. I loved being at the Science Centre with my own little Science Geek. Hopefully I will get the chance to spend more time with her on her field trips before I become uncool. (Which we all know will NEVER happen right???)

Christmas, Christmas Time is here!

Well, at least it's here at my house anyways. I LOVE Chrismas! It's my favorite time of year. Iove having my house decorated and covered in nativity scenes. I love listening to beautiful Chrismas music (Josh Grobin and Celine Dion Christmas CD's are the BEST). I love how excited my kids get every Monday and Thursday when the flyers are delivered to our door and they get to see all of the toys that are on sale for Christmas.
There just seems to be a magical feeling at Christmas that I just can't deny. People seem to be nicer and I seem to not mind the cold as much. It almost feels as though there is magic in the air. Having children really makes Christmas a fun, exciting and magical time. There is nothing more wonderful to me than seeing Christmas through the eyes of my children.