Serenity

Thanks to Amie, I was able to go to the temple yesterday and have peace and serenity. It was so refreshing and relaxing. Our Visting Teaching message this month mentioned something about having faith and serenity is knowing that we are daughters of God. I personally had never given it any thought. In my day to day goings I don't feel, 'I am serene and at peace because I am a daughter of God.' But being in the Lord's house did make me feel closer to him.
Also, the mountains behind our house are so beautiful and awesome during the monsoon sunsets. All the majestic cloud colors reflect off the rocks and cactus in a beautiful pink and purple display. For me, those mountains are ugly as the dickens when you get up close, but from here they can be gorgeous. I think I just love the play of shadows across the surface. It makes me want to whip out my water colors and get to work! That gives me serenity too...

playing

Here is the fruit of my labor. One Jedi robe. (I'm a 'phase' kind of girl and this would be phase one of the Jedi costumes.) Friday night I dyed the fabric and Saturday morning I made up the pattern, cut and sewed this masterpiece. I should have had a double batch of dye to make it darker, but it will be OK at night. No, it doesn't fit Alex, but that doesn't stop him! I thought I would only make one, but I don't think the boys will even consider letting me get off so easy.

Have you been to McD's lately? They have Star Wars toys. I can't beleive I spent $8.50 last night on two Happy meals just to get two more toys. Ugh! Alex wants the whole collection, but he'll have to use his allowance if he wants anymore. I can't afford that on the food budget! Here are the boys playing with the packaging remains from my new vacuum.

Yes, I needed a new vacuum. I have had the same GE model for 6 years without a hitch. I've learned (from online reviews) that that is a long lifetime for a cheap vacuum. So, I do all this research head off to my local Big Box stores and find they do not carry the ones I want. I have 2 boys in tow, so I just pick one off the shelf. I get home check the reviews (Amazon reviews are the best) and I managed to get a 2 star jewel. Perfect. I quickly check the reviews again, check the availability and head back to the store to exchange my 45 minute old purchase. Yes, I felt like an idiot, but the cashier was very kind. I haven't got to use it yet, but I'm excited. Key features of the Hoover Elite: cord rewind button (yes!), never needs replacement filters (some cleaning required), bagless, attachment with roller brush, and finally, the canister empties from the bottom (not the top like my old GE).
And the highlight of my day! While sitting at the computer (researching for the vacuum) digesting that I'm a moron, Dan comes trooping in from working at the church (printing those blasted bulletins!) with a dozen roses. Who is this? My husband bought me flowers! I guess I should be grateful for the once a year occasion because what if he brought me flowers every week? I would not surprised or nearly as excited. Dan has been sick this week, and he has been very busy with work (and he took the whole morning to do fantasy football), and I have to tote these two munchkins to church by myself for the 2nd week in a row, so yeah, I deserved flowers!

Boo!

I love Halloween! I lived one Halloween in a place called Independence, KS. There they had a Neewollah festival. It was so awesome! I have always loved dressing up and now I love to make the boys' costumes.
This is the year of Star Wars. I was planning to make an R2D2 costume for Ryan. He said, 'No robot. Me Jedi!' May the force be with me as I make two Jedi costumes. Alex asked if I was going to make the lightsabers. Did you see the post where they both got lightsabers? Why on earth would I have to make a lightsaber. Because, 'Mom, Anakin has a blue lightsaber. I need a blue one.' I told him he would have to wrap the one he has because I am not buying nor making ANOTHER (stinkin') lightsaber.

Update

Ryan and I are starting to get into a groove. We are staying busy longer and watching less and less TV. Actually, we have reduced Alex's 'want to watch' to almost nothing. They are playing better after school. Alex is on his first week of homework and I forgot for the last two days! (He gets the assignment on Friday and is due the next Friday.)
Dan said something the other day that made me think, 'Oh, I won't be sitting at home for the next 20 years!'; when we have all our little ones off to school (supposing we have more) I'll be expected to go back to work. I was a little offended (only because stay-at-home moms are a little touchy about their usefulness) but then realized, duh, I went to school for 5 VERY long, hard years, and don't I want to get out there and conquer the world?! Which got me thinking about what sort of work I'll try for when the time comes.
Mostly, it made me realize, YIKES! I better get it together. I have a limited amount of time to spend my way. (Maybe I should read double the books.... OK, probably not!) So, I am at a goal setting time. Hmm, what do I really want to accomplish while I'm still master of my universe. OK, I'm being dramatic, but honestly, I look at life with teenagers, home management, and a part/full time as a very demanding life. Carpe diem! I should relish this time now! So, I have urgency to get stuff done. I wonder how long this will keep up.

Europe

I have so much I could say about my experience in Europe that I'll just give the skeleton of my trip and give installments on my adventures periodically. I studied architecture in college. Part of my education was a semester abroad. I lived in Rome for 4 months. On the way there I spent a week in London (New Year's 2001). On the way home I spent 10 days in Greece.

Cities I visited: Berlin, Geneva (just for shopping), Paris (alas, only the subway and train depot!), Venice, Milan, Florence, Naples, Pompeii!, Bologna, Sienna, Athens, Sparta, and Olympia. I stayed on an island named Naxos for 5 days. It is one of my favorite memories. This was the ultimate girl trip. The 4 of us had a wonderful time!

No, I didn't go to Pisa. No, I never went in the colliseum. No, I didn't think the food great (especially the pizza!). Yes, I gained 15 pounds from walking 4 miles a day (at least), pasta, bread, and gelato. Yes, gelato is amazing! I would eat it every day, sometimes twice (it was only 1500 lira which was about $0.75.) I did attend LDS services. It was an adventure just getting to church. Yes, I could speak some Italian (I was the only one in my class that even bothered. It helped mostly when we were in other countries like Greece.) And yes, I saw the Pope (Papa Giovanni)

Mostly I ate gelato, traveled, dated (not Italians, a boy from Penn State and a boy from BYU), shopped and sketched. My apartment was around the corner from Trevi Fountain (pictured above.)

Olympics

Hooray! I have loved the Olympics since the first one I watched as a school kid. I wanted to be a track star! I barely exercise now, let alone run at top speed. My favorite events are the Men's platform dive, rings, 100m sprint, and freestyle swim. I hope my boys have a love for them too. We get a chance every few years to be proud to be American!

Now, I also love the Olympics because I have been to Olympia, Greece. It is a beautiful place. I spent 2 days there. I wish it could have been longer. It was a VERY long bus ride to get there. The first morning I woke up and went to find breakfast. When I stepped outside it smelled so fresh and clean (it reminded me of camping). Pam and I lined up on the original track and field starting line. And the museum had a beautiful statue of Nike. The picture in my sidebar is the torch being lit. I didn't realize until I was there that the torch is lit from the original spot and then carried around the world. Greece was a crazy place. Everyone should go to Greece! But... be prepared. You have to have a spirit of adventure to go there.

Frist day of school

Yesterday was Alex's first day of kindergarten. He is in Mrs. O'Brien's class. He has one friend in class from church. His name is also Alex. Our boys are so used to calling each other by their first and last names that I think everyone else will pick up on it. At the end of the day Ryan and I went for a cookie social and I heard the teach call Alex W. up. I guess she was planning to use initials. What is funny, is that I for the most part call my Alex 'Alex Black.'As you can see here, he went in and sat down and got to work. You can't see his tongue, but it is sticking out. That is the best colored picture we have from him. He was very serious! This morning he was up at 6:05 ready to go to school! So, I guess the first day went very well from his point of view. On the way home he said that school was cooler than watching TV or playing or playing video games. Now THAT is saying something!

Ryan had the hardest day yesterday. I was ready for Alex to go; he was ready and he is in safe hands. However, Ryan was very sad. He wanted us to go get Alex. He worked himself up so much that once we finally got Alex, he napped for a couple of hours. Now we have to figure out what we are going to do during the days!

Breaking Dawn

If you have read this, go to my goodreads link on the side and comment about it. There is so much to say and I don't want to spoil it here. I would like to say, it was really only a 3 star book for me, but I give 4 stars to books I'll read again. And I'll read it again. (Just because I love Edward and once I start the series over again I know I won't be able to leave him yet!)