10 years!!!!

(December, 2000) We are sooooo young-

April 3rd 2001 I was married to my best friend..... Today it has been 10 years....... I am feeling so blessed as I think back on our marriage, we have had MANY trials and many great times and blessings...... Marriage is not easy but it is so worth it- (here is a few things I am sharing for journal purposes:

I met Nate when I was 15 a sophmore at Northridge High and he was a senior, I still remember the first time we hung and I was instantly hooked on him I had such strong feelings at such a young age and we began hanging out all the time, then we began dating...... Our first Date was to a "fake Beatles concert" Yes the impersonater beatles, It was so much fun and I was so excited to go he came to my door with a rose for me and my Dad stood there as I walked out the door..... Now as you know I was young and we ended up going different ways I was still needing to find myself and experience life and Nate had decided after Graduation he was going to serve a mission. I went down a path that was not the one I should have been on but in the end it made me stronger and where I need to be.

When he returned from his mission I was working at Cracker Barrel and going to the singles ward and just having a good time being single, I had just broke off an engagement and was in no hurry to jump into another relationship, Until the day Nate came in to my work to see me.... He had been dating quite a bit when he got home and had heard I was married so he never called me and then a few months later he kept getting a feeling to come by and see me and he was nervous for the fact that he still thought I might be married well he finally came by and I was thrilled and so was he that I was not married that is... LOL I ran up to him and gave him the biggest hug ever, and then I asked him out, Yep I didnt even hesitate or wait for him to do it.

And I dont think he would have because just that day he talked with his bishp and told him he was sick of dating girls and that he was done asking them out and he would not go on a date until a girl asked him out and it just so happens that was me....,

We went out on that date and we were unseperable from that point on, after a week he said I think I am going to marry you and I admit was a tad freaked out by this but in my heart I have always loved him since High school he was always on my mind and I never stopped thinking about him and I couldn't help wonder if this is why I never got married to this other guy because I had always known Nate was the one!

We got Married April 3rd 2001 and it was the best day ever, We had a very Rocky first year of marriage in fact I am surprised we made it through, I was the youngest and had no clue about bills or money, I was so used to getting everything or shopping whenever I wanted that when we bought a house a month into marriage and started getting bills I was in Shock.... I didn't even know you had pay for water.

This caused a lot of hard times for us but we made it through and at 11 months of marriage I got Prego with Twins, Yes another HUGE shock and another couple of years of the Happiest and Hardest times ever.... Now we are 10 years strong and 3 kids later and have been through more trials than I could have even imagined most of those Trails just the last 2 years but we are so in love with each other and Happy it is Disgusting ....... So here is to another 10 years with my best friend!!!!!! xoxoxo

7 months prego with the Twins....... Yes I was Huge!

9 months prego with Forde!

And here we are today :) One happy family!

did not forget.....

I know I am slacking yet again and I have more of my Orginazrtion pics which I will add later this week, right now I need some advice from all of you out there.......

I am trying to decide about school and what to do I thought I knew what I wanted to do but now not so sure.... I mean Social Work still an option but the amount of school/time it is going to take me to get there is over whelming to say the least and with Forde starting preschool this fall I want to get a jump on the college thing so when he is in school full time I have a career type job I can do while my kiddos are gone all day.....

I dont know if any of you have gone to the DATC or not? I have been looking into that a lot and the different Programs they offer.... I would love love love to do Culinary arts BUT there is not a ton of career paths that could lead me down so I am looking into CNA or Pharmacy Technician or Radiolgy Practical Tech or dental assintance just a few ideas I have run accross......

I really am not set on just one because what I really want to do just seems to much for me to get there so I am opting for something different...... Thoughts? ideas? Anyone? I am just so confused on what to do...... So what I am really asking is decide for me everyone :)

LOL just kidding but any advice would greatly appreciated!

Day #7 Pantry Organization

It took me 3 days to do the pantry... Mainly because my little guy was super sick and he was so clingy and would hardly let me get anything done..... But I finally did it and I am going to be honest I hated this challenge..... It was more work than I bargained for and I could still use a little more help but I need to get more storage baskets/bins so until then I did the best I could!

Pictures speak for themselves!

As you can see for these before pic's I was putting stuff where ever I could find a spot and it was impossible for me to find something I needed to cook/bake with!

Yes I am embarrassed!

HELP....... That is how I felt after I unloaded all my food from the pantry...... I was very overwhelmed and did not know where to begin.... But I started with putting food in categories such as soups, cake mixes, cereal ect......

After I got it all cleared out I swept, Mopped wiped down shelves and got it ready to be stocked back up

My little helper :)

Day #6 - Dresser Drawers

Day 6 I did more dresser drawers.... My girls share a closet and dresser and it is not very big room but there closet is a decent size so there dresser is in there Closet and so I ended up doing the dresser drawers and closet.... what a Project but I threw so much away and got a huge bag for the DI and I am one happy Camper right now!

and yes organized by each child in the drawers and sizes ect. and because I rearranged things in there a bit I have room for there clothes hamper to be in there as well!

now I am super embarrassed by the before pic's... Like I said Laundry and dressers are not my strong point and I usually ask the girls to put there own clothes away after all they are 8 and should certainly be able to do it Right? Wrong... you will see why in the picture below!!!

Ahhhhhhh..... Scary!

Again I can not blame this all on the girls I should have checked in there closet more often but I always check to make sure beds are made and that is usually about it!

"sigh" And so help me if they put one item of clothing on that floor after the amount of time it took me to get it looking this nice Well let's just say it wont be pretty ;)

Day # 5 challenge.... Dresser Drawers!

( Yes he has a Mac on his dresser.... LOL he watches movies in there while he play, I don't think there is one room in our house that doesn't have some kind of Mac in it weather it is a computer, or Ipod to apple tv.....) -you would never guess what my husband does-

Day number 5 challenge was supposed to be under kitchen sink but under my sink was already organized and very very clean, so I decided to take 2 days and do dresser drawers, between mine and kids it was messy and a ton of work so I did Forde's first and I will do the rest today.....

His dresser was so bad, it was Chaos, I could never find socks that matched or anything I was looking for, and Occasionally I would pull out things that didn't fit him anymore (yep I am guilty of keeping clothes to long for the fact I have no time to go through them or so I say)

He had so many Pajamas and really we do not need that many so I cleared out half of those and got a full bag of stuff that did not fit, and guess what? I found matches to socks and put those together and organized drawers from T shirts and pants and shorts and summer stuff to hanging all his button up clothes up ect.

It felt good going in to get him dressed this morning :)

Yes his clothes were really all jumbled in his drawers because I Hate doing laundry and especially putting it away but I find that when I have it all organized it is easy to fold it and put it right where it goes!

There.... all better, Now on to the girl's closet and dresser!

Day #4 Challenge.. Craft area!

Day 4 challenge is the Linen Closet and I seriously don't have a Linen closet :( So all my Towels are in my Laundry room and blankets and stuff in our closets so as I get to those areas I will work on that as well... So I chose my own area and I also did 2 challenges on Saturday because Sunday's are to busy for me with Church and kids and our Family dinners!

Anyways in our house we love doing Crafts.... My kids and I are always doing some kind of craft we have craft book idea's or come up with our own idea's and really this has made for one messy Craft area scattered all over our home we had 2 boxes in my Laundry room with stuff in it, things in kids rooms, and a Huge basket in my closet in the kitchen close to our table where most of these are made.

So I knew this was something I had to get a hold of, and I had my Daughter help with this one because after all they help make the messes they can help get it cleaned up and we actually had so much fun doing this we found a lot of stuff we didn't even remember we had.... I have not labeled them yet but I will get to that Monday so for now we started by really throwing away things that should have been thrown away forever ago.... Dried up paints/markers..... Old papers used.... Just odd's and end's here and there of things that were of no use so we Chucked a ton of stuff and it felt good!

Then I went to Walmart again and found a plastic filing Cabinet type thing for $9.00, and I organized from top to bottom putting all things together in Categories such as coloring books/paper/notebook's on the bottom and on up with Scissors/glue/ tape things of this sort, this is going to make a huge difference when we need to find all of our crafting items as well, Then I took all of my kid's learning tools, Flash cards with math, letters, states and shapes and other things as well and put them in a container and put it right on top of the filing cabinet so everyday we can just grab the bin sit at the table and do our stuff and then put it away and back where it goes! Life is getting better and better the more Organized I get!

Before pictures!

after picture!

This is the filing cabinet I got for just $9.00 at Walmart.... and let me tell you I am so glad I went with something like this for kids Craft stuff mainly because it has easy to see in Drawers and it has wheels so I can wheel it back into the closet and wheel it out right over to the table or where ever we are doing Crafts so we are not back and forth!

Day #3 Organizing those messy tupperware cabinets!

Well it was Day 3 on my Journey to get more Organized and it was a good one.... The dreaded Tupperware space.... We all have them and we have at one time or another had them all nice and neat and put with the size's and lids were where they should be,, and then this also happens we start using them and washing them and then throwing under the counter or losing lid's or sticking them all over the place.... And if this has not happened to you well then you are AMAZING!

My Tupperware is where some of my baking things are as well my bread pans and cake pans ect.... so I started by clearing it all out wiping down the shelves getting a couple Storage plastic bins from Walmart for .97 cents..... Yes you can get these things very cheap at good old Walmart, and I sorted through my stuff finding lids and putting sizes where they should be and the bins I put all of cookie cutters and small items in those! This makes it easier to label it and to find all of the things with out dreading to open the cupboard and search all around for 20 minutes for one item!

My before pic...........

My after Picture.... They don't look that different the before and after but trust me once I started pulling everything it was a lot worse than it seemed and looked! Now I will be able to open my cupboard and be happy to have to find something because I know exactly where it is!

Adventure's in Ice Cream-

Well our house is always exciting Saturday nights, It usually consists of Movie's with the kids, Dinner and almost alway's desert... Tonight was no different. We started off by having Pizza for dinner then watched the Ninja Turtle Movie AGAIN.... ( Lundyn's pick tonight) "surprise" "surprise"! Then it was time for desert now I was good with giving the kid's a Chips Ahoy tonight but Nope the wanted to get there Ice Cream maker out and make an even better desert... This was a birthday gift to my girl's from there Aunt Cyd and it was one of the best things they could have ever gotten because they seriously love it, Now we also have an easy bake oven and I am just gonna be honest I know they love doing these things but sometimes it is more work than is worth it. (in my opinion) But I went along and got it all set up and made there Ice Cream and just the smile and laughter from my kids as I squirted Ice Cream all over the table made it all worth the effort... Yep I should win Mother of the Year award!

Oh and it was also Temple day for Nate and I and even though there were a lot of obstacles this morning for us trying to get there we ended going anyways and it was well worth it =)

The finished Product... Now don't let this picture fool you these are not as big as they look here in fact they are about 2 spoons full of Ice Cream and yep thats about it.... Hahaha But the kids like it and Hey this way I don't have to worry about them over doing it on the sweet's!

Challenge #2 - Your computer desk

Today's Challenge was also a pretty easy one... I am just really grateful for these ones since I know the harder ones that will involve more work are to come! And that is ok it is all about baby steps here people... Getting Organized will not happen all in one day.

The computer desk was not to bad because I don't have a huge desk and I tend to throw things out weekly so mainly things get put on the desk that just don't belong like a Sock puppet and little knick knacks here and there! and it was very Dusty and my computer screen had finger prints all over it.... (kids)

So it was nice to clear everything off and wipe it all down and go through some old bill's!

visit the 21 day challenge to the left for more details on day #2......

I am already feeling a huge weight lifted and it is only day 2 so I am so excited to keep going with this challenge :)

- Before pictures -

- After Picture's -

Day #1 Challenge (Organizing the "junk" drawer)

First challenge "The junk drawer" We all have them at least one and if your like me mine is in the Kitchen.... The most used room in the house.... If you click on the link to the side of my blog where it say's the 21 day challenge and it will go into more detail on how to get started and which area your focussing on everyday!

This one was pretty easy but as you can see my drawer was a bit out of hand I could barely open it let alone find anything in it at all..... and come to find out after I cleaned it out half of the stuff was either garbage old receipts or things that I had been looking for that simply went somewhere else. So you can see why this was the first day challenge and a much needed one!

-before picture-

-After picture-

21 day Challenge!

I got this Idea from My Friend (maria) and she got this idea from the Blog....

abowlfulloflemons.blogspot.com- I Love this Blog so much that I even joined the weekly challenges to do as well, It keeps me wanting to better myself/ my home and my life.

I have yet to start so I am beginning tomorrow.

Basically what this 21 day challenge is every day you will get a new task or area to Organize some day's they are small areas others not so much but you do 1 area everyday for 21 days, and hey let's face it who doesn't want to be more Organized...... This is a weakness of mine I am not very good in this area, and Nate is a very organized person almost to Organized so we tend to clash when it comes to this stuff and I get very Overwhelmed when I go to find something and it is not where it should be! So I am very excited to get started on this, She started this challenge at the beginning of this year but you can really join and do this anytime you are ready and today is that day so I will posting daily about what area I did for that day and post before and after pic's....

Some of the before's are going to be a little scary but this is what life is about a little chaos and the option to change some of that Chaos! Wish me luck =)

Valentines!!!

Yes we love any Holiday at our home.... Kids make the Holiday's so much more fun and all the fun idea's and things you get to do for them! This year was the first Valentines Nate and I have ever spent apart so it was weird but really we never go out on the actual day anyways we do something with the kids so it was ok and we video recorded ourselves doing our V Day Dinner and sent it to him!

And yes sometimes I go over board but my Mom always did fun things for us so I get it all from her and I just love doing stuff like this!

Now as most of you know I Hate Flowers I would seriously rather have a Cheese burger from McDonalds or a huge bag of Candy or Hey even a good pair of shoes but no Flowers so every year I see all these people buying Flowers and giving them to people and it is good to know I will not come home to any :)

I love and am so grateful for my Husband and our 3 Crazy awesome kids life would not be complete with out each and every one of them! And of course all my friends as well!

Forde holding some of his Valentine surprises from Cupid aka Mom :)

Lundyn going through all her Valentines from school!

Ky showing me her name Valentine from Mrs. Olsen....... Love her teacher!

Yep he is a stud!

My beautiful Ky

My little Angel!

Heart Pizza (tradition)

and some of this Yummy goodness!

I have alot more pic's but there are to many to post so I will leave it as is.... and just say that I had the 3 best dates a girl could ask for Valentines :)