Two Men that I love

I am so excited!! I got Scott to set up the Skype and whola…I had a conversation with Tanner today in person. Well almost. It was so awesome and I felt like he was right here. I am amazed by the technology that we have today. Never would I have imagined that I could see and speak to my son who is thousands of miles away from me in real time just as if he was right here talking to me. We all had fun as a family talking to him, oh, did I say it was really awesome yet? I can’t wait to see his face every week now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Really, I am so excited with this technology. 

This is Tanner and Scott talking on Skype!  Who else has skype that I can talk to??

Today is my dad’s birthday. He is a wonderful person and I love him very much. I wish I could be there in person to give him a hug and tell him how much he means to me and that he was my first love. Don’t all little girls love their dads?? He has taught me many things in life but I think one of the most important is the principle of repentance and that the atonement really has meaning and can save us all. Thank you Dad for a life time of memories and I hope you have at least 62 more good years left in you!

My Dad is a goofball.  He is where I get my goofiness from!

I am grateful for my Dad. I have never doubted you loved me ever!

Lists

The girls have decided that they are going to explore the world together and accomplish some crazy things for their birthdays. They started to write a list of all the things they want to do on their birthdays. It reminds me of a show I have watched a couple of times called The Buried List it is on MTV and is about 4 guys who made a list of 100 things they want to accomplish before they die. It really makes me think….what would  I like to do before I die. I am not even sure if I have some specific things I want to do or accomplish before I die. I have always wanted to go on a mission so I think before I die I hope Scott and I can serve a mission together. Other than that, I guess I would like to have the opportunity to travel around the world exploring different places and cultures. However, if I do not get that chance I will still die happy :)

I am grateful for a clean house.

What a wonderful day!

Today was a great day! No school and Scott got back from a long week away from us. I feel so blessed to have this day go into my memory. Elle had a piano recital that was nice; one because it was short and the other because she is really improving in her piano skills. But the really good news is...dumb de dumb dumb...I have just begun to take piano lessons!!!...Thursday was my first lesson and I am so flipping excited to learn to play the piano. I have always wanted to learn (does everyone say that??) but never had the opportunity but I ask myself why not do it now?? I can continue to say I always wanted to do that or I can just do it. I am just a baby beginner because I don't even know how to read notes but no longer...I know what a "c" note looks like and I can find it on the piano!! I am so proud of myself.

Elle learned her piano piece in 2 weeks!

After the recital we went out to dinner with the Buman's and the Stucki's and that was lots of fun. I found out way to much info about how all the Buman's and Stucki's want their bodies to be handled after they die but I guess you are not really friends unless you know how to handle a friend’s death. I promise to attend the funeral of Carol, I will be making jewelry out of Josh's ashes, I will make sure Val has a bell she can ring when she comes back from the dead and Ron I will be honored to make sure we all wear Vikings hats to your funeral! To all you that are my friends and I hope that is all of my fans otherwise you probably wouldn't be reading this...I just want a nice Mormon funeral with lots of crying, no black attire, and you can just make it a party afterwards because I am happy to be going where I am going!

Me and Valeri two very proud moms at the piano recital :)

Emma and Elle after the piano recital

I am grateful for my husbands safe return to me.

The early morning seminary shuttle starts....again!

Well I have almost made it through the week and Scott returns tomorrow!  I have had a few bumps to over come this week and wished he were here just to give me an extra hug and cuddle.  I had the pleasure of driving Emma to seminary this morning because things aren't working out with the car pool so I am going to start to take Emma every day.  I haven't done this since Tanner was a sophomore two years ago!  I forgot that I can get my scripture reading out of the way and have time to just ponder and think about my day in the quite hour of the morning when I am waiting for Emma to get out of seminary.  The only difference this time around is that in Minnesota you can't do this all in your car...it is -23 degrees with wind-chill and in Albuquerque it probably got as cold as 30 degrees!  A big difference!  Oh, well whether it is in the quiet of the car or the couch in the church it is all the same.  Today is my last computer class.  I have really enjoyed attending these classes this week.  I have been making power points all week!!  I made an awesome one for Scott telling him how much I miss him and Elle saw it and wanted me to make her one.  So now I am working on one for her.  I am going to crawl back to bed now that all the kids are gone back to school for an hour before I have to be up and ready to go volunteer at the middle school this morning.  I have a feeling that I will be crawling back to bed many mornings after my new early morning seminaary job!

I am grateful for quiet moments of scripture study in the morning.

Where did 3 hours go last night?

Today is Wednesday that means only 2 more days until Scott gets home! So I made a really cute PowerPoint for Scott last night so I could practice what I learned yesterday. I spent about 3 hours on it while I watched the office last night. One of my favorite episodes is when Micheal does a training on how depression is a dangerous side effect of working in an office it is hilarious! Okay back to my PowerPoint, I got side tracked. After I completed it and emailed it to myself and Scott I realized that it didn't work :( so I sent my teacher an attachment and asked him to help me get it to work...well he said it worked perfectly for him and he gave me an A+ on it :) good for him but still bad for me because I still can't get it to work. He told me to bring it to class and he would see what the problem is. After spending 3 hours on that sucker last night I am bound and determined to get it to work for me! I loved making it and found it very relaxing until I realized how much time I had spent on it. But I guess what else do I have to do on a Tuesday night when Scott is gone but to make a PowerPoint about Scott!

I am grateful that January is almost over!

What can I learn this week?? Do I have enough patients??

I have been taking a computer class this week that I have just been loving. It is intended to help me brush up on skills I already have and learn some really cool short cuts. Yesterday we went over Microsoft Word today was PowerPoint tomorrow will be Excel and Thursday is Publisher. I am inspired to make a power point project now that I have skills (like Napoleon). Just wait to see what I do!!! I love learning new things and it makes me feel so good about myself.
Both my girls are PMSing this week and it is beginning to get old. I don't think I can handle much more of their bickering with one another and with me. I hope I wake up tomorrow with much more patience to handle their cute teenage personalities!! Oh I love, love, love attitude!! Someday I hope they both have cute girls just like them

I am grateful for American Idol...it is very entertaining.

The praying begins

So this morning Elle came and snuggled with me in bed and we had a really great conversation. I love her. She is asking if I will allow her to home school. I have done this in the past and have mixed emotions about it. It is something I am going to consider seriously again though. I think both my girls would love to be home schooled again and there is something to be said about not having the girls sit through classes that are being disturbed by kids who could care less about learning. I love the homeschooling flex ability and lifestyle and think there is so much learning that can be done when you aren't dealing with a bunch of bone headed kids. The only draw back for me is I get frustrated when the girls start looking at me as their mom and begin arguing with me instead of thinking of me as their teacher and being respectful in that way as if they were dealing with a real teacher not just their mom. I love being around the girls a lot though and it is something I will pray about and have a serious discussion with their father about.

I am thankful for personal revelation.

Missing Two Men in My Life

Today was a really great day. The only thing missing was Scott! I hope to get through this coming week quickly and soon be snuggling with Scott once again. I did learn something today...that is is okay to be content and that is exactly what I needed to hear. I do feel very content and life is great. For some reason I found myself crying for Tanner today. That hasn't happened in a while and I am not sure why I felt sad except I think Sundays are the hardest day for me because I miss having our great religious discussions and sitting with Tanner in church. But I did get to talk to him on the phone today and it is always wonderful to hear his voice and know he is good and enjoying his life. So even though today was a wonderful Sabbath I do miss both my men and hope they are safe, happy and missing me!

I am grateful for church.

Missing Scott

Scott left me...well he didn't leave me...he went to Dubai for business but I do feel rather sad about it. I really dislike it when he has to travel because I miss him so much. Some day I will travel with him every where he goes, it will be like he has a groupie following him around from place to place! That will be awesome!! But until then I will just stay home and take care of the home front and wait for my prince to return. Hurry home Scott!

I am grateful for warm snugly pajamas!

Concert

I wanted to tell the story of the Rock Concert with pictures but I forgot to grab my camera out of the car and once I realized it I was to far away (only 30ft) to go back and get it. You wonder why 30 feet would be to far away, you wonder what could cause me not want to go back for it...well let me back up the story a little and then you might agree with me.

We (all Rochester and southeast Minnesotans and Wisconsinites) are experiencing a bit of dumb weather right now. It is not cold enough to snow but it is raining and then once it gets below 30 degrees all that rain is turning to ice making it very dangerous to drive, walk or do anything on the streets and sidewalks in town. This was no different in Lacrosse Wisconsin were the concert was.
We arrived in Lacrosse just as it was beginning to rain which by looking at my thermometer it wasn't going to be long before it was just ice. The girls were very anxious and a bit grouchy (understatement) that I wouldn't just drop them off at the venue while I went and checked into the hotel and parked (the hotel was only a block away from the concert). I told them no that we were all going together so we went to the hotel I got us checked in and then we just left everything in the car and started walking over to the concert on a sheet of ice!!!!! After 5 steps Elle fell flat on her butt. She was so angry that she wouldn't let anyone help her. Emma was mad too (we never were sure why) but Valeri and I weren't about to let the girls ruin our concert night dang it! The walk was very dangerous as we started out we could have used a pair of ice skates instead of shoes. It was not long before I realized that I had left the camera in the car I didn't dare tell the girls that I wanted to walk back the 30 feet to grab it nor did Valeri think it was safe to do so. We were very lucky to have gotten as far as we did without all 4 of us falling on our rear ends. (I have a huge fear of falling on my but ever since I fell 2 years ago in the shower and broke my tailbone).
Well we managed to arrive safely after walking like we were 90 year old women Valeri and I clinging to one another the whole time (really it was me clutching onto her she didn't have an option). As we went in I knew I was a little fish out of water because I didn't sport any tattoos or have a black t-shirt on instead I was wearing a really pretty blue shirt that matched my eyes...what was I thinking?
We will skip ahead to the concert...you all know I am a huge people watching fan! I loved it! The energy of all these crazy young kids and even some old people was incredible. I loved listening to the bands but my favorite part was watching Elle rock out to this crazy music. I think she is now officially hooked on concerts. The good thing about the concert is it put the girls back in a good mood as we all laughed on our walk back to the hotel and made fun of Elle falling on her butt on the trip to the concert (something we couldn't do before because she was so mad).

Once we got back to the hotel we decided to go out and grab a bite to eat as we were attempting to leave the parking lot in the car we just slid across the whole thing going sideways it was on a bit of a incline. We finally managed to get out of the parking lot and found a burger king not far away. We brought the food back to the hotel and had fun talking about the things that we are really afraid of. Valeri is terrified of spiders, Elle is afraid of dying by drowning, Emma is afraid of the ocean and I am afraid of heights. How about that for fears.

Overall the trip was great even though it started out rough it ended on a great note. I am so glad I had my friend Valeri to keep me company and that she can over look two teenage girls being teenage girls. It was a great bonding experience with the girls and I even enjoyed Elle's music. What more can a mom ask for?

I am grateful for good memories.

Girls day, night and day out!!

Well today is a big day. I am going to a concert with the girls Breaking Benjamin and 3 Days Grace. The girls got this gift in their Christmas stockings and now it is time to cash in on that gift!! The girls are way excited to see two of their favorite bands and I am excited to see them watch two of their favorite bands. I don't know the bands very well but I know my girls and I wouldn't miss this for the world! I can't wait to have some fun with two of the greatest people in the world. I will share pictures with you tomorrow :)

I am grateful for two wonderful intelligent daughters who I love to spend time with!!

And...what is your job?

goofballs Jackson and Alex ejoying some coookies.

beautiful frost on my bush this morning.

Well the cat is out of the bag...I admit I am a stay at home mom. Why do I even have to admit it?? I was asked that question yesterday when I was at a meeting selling raffle tickets for Emma's trip. When the lady who was sitting by me in a group of 5 asked me what I did and when I replied back that I was a stay at home mom she didn't know what to say. It made me feel slightly uncomfortable for about 1.2 seconds and then I realized that I didn't care what this woman felt about my career choice because what is important is how I feel about my career choice. Yes it is a choice for me (I understand some don't have a choice). I won't worry about society and what they think about a woman who wants to stay home and make cookies for her kids and the whole neighborhood or give rides to 4 kids who need to be at 10 different places during the day or make a dinner that nobody will eat or help with homework or if I am incapable of helping with homework hire a tutor that will be able to help her 10th grader pass chemistry or wash cups for the umpteenth time in a week or care for sick children even when I am myself sick or be a professional fundraiser or professional party planner or a psychologist when my kids are suicidal or just had their heart broke or teach my kids to be loving and caring and show compassion to others because it is the right thing to do or be a hairdresser every morning for my 6th grader or teach my girls how to apply makeup or babysit for dear friends of mine or clean my kitchen floor because everyone has tracked mud in the house again or be a Girl Scout and Boy Scout leader for a total of 4 years or class mom or volunteer endless amounts of time on school councils and committees because you want your kids to have a good education or home school them because they aren't getting a good education or be a nurse when they wipe out on on their bike and you have to hold them down to pour hydrogen peroxide over the million little rocks stuck in their knee so it won't become infected or let them cry on your shoulder while you tell them you are moving to another state and they will have to start all over again in making best friends knowing that the ones they leave behind are priceless or pack a boyscout back pack for the first time wondering if your son will survive being away from you for a night out in the woods or helping to find homework that you saw being completed the night before but has mysteriously disappeared in the morning or getting up at 5am to drive your 14 year old to early morning seminary for his freshman and sophomore years of school or watching your child loss his sight in his eyes because he will not wear contacts to help correct the problem or just be there for your family because they need you!

I love being a stay at home mom, I would not trade anything in the world for the experiences I have had being a stay at home mom. This job has stretched me beyond what I thought I was capable of and I am a better person for it.

I am grateful to be a mom.

What Can I do to be a better Citizen?

I have been thinking a lot about an article written by my son Tanner. In this article he talks about what is the greatest danger facing the United States. He feels there are two things that will effect the safety of our nation. One being the lack of interest in it citizens to be educated and participate in the election process and become engaged in volunteering in various causes. It is a interesting idea that I feel is right on. I encourage all of you to go to his blog and read the article for yourself. I agree with him fully on all points he made. After you read it you may feel differently about your role as a citizen of this great United States and about our politicians that are suppose to represent the people not the elite of this nation.

The article is called America's Greatest Challenge--and Danger

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I am grateful for my son Tanner who always makes me think.

If you haven't had a massage yet you don't know what you are missing!

Lets see...what shall I embarrass myself about today?? Scott hopes nothing! Actually I had a pretty normal bland day. Except I just remembered....I got a massage this morning! I love massages and I am so blessed to have a friend who will give them to me. It was so wonderful. If I had a million dollars I would pay to get a massage every day. That would be my splurge. Ann will you let me pay you to be on retainer?

I am grateful for a sweet husband that bought pizza for dinner tonight.

Knock Knock..who's there? PP

As you all know I have been sick. This has caused a secondary problem. I have mentioned that I have had a cough like no other I have ever had...well maybe that is an exaggeration but nonetheless it has caused me some very sever side effects. Sadly I must say that since I have been coughing up both my lungs this week I have at the same time been peeing my pants! No matter how hard I try to control my bladder each time I have a coughing fit (which has been ever 5 minutes or so) I find myself uncontrollably leaking a little bit of urine from my body!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't tell you enough how much this bothers me. What is a 40 year old woman to do? My girls have suggested that I go buy a diaper as they laugh at my predicament. I told them it is called Depends when you are 40 not a diaper. I don't seem to get any sympathy from Scott which I am not sure I understand. I would be very worried if my husband told me that each time he coughed or sneezed he had a little trouble keeping his pee inside his body. I think that I have coughed so hard this week that I have blown a gasket on my bladder. Once again what am I suppose to do??? I welcome suggestions from anyone that has found themselves changing their undergarments multiple times a day.

I am grateful for Scott because he still loves me so much even though I pee my pants!

I call shotgun!

Last night I took the girls to Shopko to get a movie and when we were walking back to the car the girls started to fight about who was going to sit in the front seat. They ran to the car and were pushing each other trying to get the front door open. I realized that they were at the wrong car. I kept walking until I reach my car all the while listening to the girls argue over the front seat of the wrong car. I got in the car and then rolled down the window and yelled out to them asking them if they were going to fight over the front seat of the wrong car any more! Much to their embarrassment (as many people were in the parking lot watching them and laughing) they ran over to the correct car and hopped in. It was so funny!!!!!!!!!!!! I guess you had to be there! (BTW Emma got the front seat!)

I am thankful for Scott who was extra kind to me this week when I was sick, he did a great job taking care of things around the house. I love him.

getting better :)

Today is the first day in a week that I haven't woke up with a headache!!! I am starting to finally feel almost normal. It has been a hard week because as I have mentioned in the past I hate to be sick. I have now had the flu twice in less then 10 months. I have gone years in the past without getting the flu and now 2 times in a year! Oh well I guess that is how the cookie crumbles. Speaking of cookies I feel like making a batch, I guess the mom is back!!

I am grateful that people cared enough this week to help me do my mom duties...thanks for helping with carpooling, getting Emma to work, and bringing in dinner!!! I love you all.

Update on my goals

I have done quite well in keeping my new years resolutions so far!! I am so proud of myself. It gets easier and easier every day to blog. I have done pretty good with the reading scriptures and praying daily. I have only missed a couple of days in the last 2 weeks! That is very good for me. I do think there is a strong correlation with reading my scriptures and praying though. On the days when I haven't read they are the same days when I haven't prayed. My advise to myself....read everyday! I love to read the scriptures actually and it makes me feel so much better throughout the day when I have read I am not so sure why I skip days (except I have been very sick this week, but I found the strength to write my blog so that is no excuse) I will strive this week to read every day and pray every day without fail! This brings me peace so why not make my life more peaceful? I will report back in one week :)

Today I am grateful for friends I have been blessed to have many!

I am blessed

My thoughts today bring me to realize how blessed my life truly is. I am saddened and heartbroken about the earthquake that has devastated Haiti. I can't even begin to comprehend the chaos and desperation that the people of that country must be enduring. We live a very blessed life as citizens of the United States. If disaster strikes we have to capabilities to overcome the challenges that we would face. We have faced many disasters in the last few years, Hurricane Katrina, wild fires in Ca., floods along the Mississippi, tornado's, acts of war and others and while some were more devastating then others the people of this country put their hearts into action to help relieve the suffering of those in need just as they do for millions of people around the world when they are in need. We can all do our part by trying to be better prepared ourselves and responsible for our own families then when others around us are in need we are better able to help our neighbors whether they live next door or even perhaps our neighbors in Haiti. After all aren't we all neighbors?

I am grateful that I live in this great country.

I want my Daddy

My dad with Emma

I told Scott last night that all I wanted was to be rocked and patted because I am still sick. He looked at me and thought I was crazy. I guess I revert back to the days of my childhood when I am sick. I was often sick as a child usually with strep throat and earaches. My care taker was my dad. I know my mom also took care of me but I just don't have memories of her staying up with me late into the night as I have of my dad. He would hold me (no matter what age I was, I remember being very sick as a 14 year old and he still held me) and rock me until I could fall asleep and then he would continue to hold me so I wouldn't wake up. Whenever I have been sick even as an adult I always want my dad! He is compassionate, strong and gentle all rolled into one man.

I am grateful for my father! I love you Dad.

P.S. Elle is home sick today with the same symptoms I have...oh fun now I get to rock and snuggle with her! Thanks for teaching me how it is done dad!

To be 12 again!

My 12 year old daughter Elle doing one of her favorite things!

Well I am still sick. Not so achy anymore but my ears are now ringing and my throat hurts so badly as well as the cough and headache that just seems to never go away :( But even with this Elle just seems to need her mom to help her in the morning. Today was very important because her and her friend wanted to get to school extra early so they could have the opportunity to talk to a certain boy before school started! It is not even my carpool day and I ended up driving two 12 year old boy crazy girls to school just so their hearts could go pitter patter and they could walk on air all day after I am sure what will be a very quick hello with lots of giggling and blushing much to this boys confusion. Oh to be 12 again!! How could I deny this to Elle even though I am sick? I remember being 12 it wasn't that long ago! I can't wait to hear Elle's version of what happened after school today! Well back to bed for me!

I am grateful that I still remember what it is like to be young and boy crazy!

A Day of Rest...in bed!

I am feeling quite ill today and every time I cough I feel like I have a lung that is making its way up my throat. I hate to miss church but I am sure Heavenly Father will understand and not want me to share my germs with the rest of the ward :)

I am grateful for a tv in my room that I can watch while I am sick.

Grateful

This morning I am off to babysit for a good friend of mine who is in a pinch. I am going to be way to busy today to have an opportunity to write anything so I thought I better just be thankful this morning that I got up early enough to put this much down :)

Today I am grateful that I have two girls that will help me babysit!

a little bit of winter in Minnesota :)

This is what my hair looks like all winter long after having a hat on 50 times a day. I had just got done shoveling the driveway when Elle took this picture.

Elle and I spend some time talking about all the drama of 12 year old girls each day while we wait for Emma to get out of school. Usually we can solve the problems of the world during this 15 minute time :)

Which of these objects doesn't belong?....Emma's feet get hot at work and so she wears her flip flops out in the -16* so she is not uncomfortable at work :)

I went out to get my mail yesterday and I thought I would share with all those that don't live in Minnesota what our mail boxes look like here in the frozen world of winter.

I am grateful for a kind, funny, smart, wonderful, beautiful, clever, stuborn, compassionate daughter Elle!

Snap Shot of What a Day in the Life of Krystine Looks Like!

Sister Shakespear, Sister Harris and ME (yes I am in my PJ's)

Sister Shakespear working hard to scrub the shower...I love Sister Shakespear!

Emma's new brown hair :)

Yesterday I had a great day of serving others! Started my morning by having the wonderful sister missionaries over to help me take my Christmas stuff down and then we had lunch. After lunch we choose someone in our ward that we thought could use a special treat and we went to their house and cleaned the bathroom, kitchen and front entry way. It was great to clean with the missionaries and the person we picked to do it for was very surprised and grateful. After that I came home and started my personal taxi service for the girls activities after school then I ran home and made 6 dozen cookies, took dinner to a friend who hurt her back, ran 5 dozen cookies around to people that I needed to thank for giving service in RS, made dinner for my family then took Elle and Emma to Barnes and Nobles picked Scott up from work, came home and colored Emma's hair brown. Do you think I had a productive day (By The Way...I did all this in my PJ's!!!! No kidding!!!) I crawled into bed after a hot shower at 11pm to find Scott snoring away! Now I am going to start all over today...I wonder who gets to have some service from Krystine today???? I think today I will get dressed before I start my service :)

I am thankful for hot running water...that shower was wonderful :)

It Is As Easy As 1,2,3,4

Today I woke up to 21 cups that needed hand washing (our dishwasher is stupid and I decided to start hand washing the glasses a few months ago). The problem with this is that I have asked my kids to use ONE glass a day instead of a bazillion! You would think that this is a simple request...1.get a glass out 2. use it 3. rinse it out 4. place it in a special spot so you can use this same glass again the next time you want a drink! My kids (each and everyone of them!! Jackson, Hannah, Emma and Elle) seem to get lost after step number 2! They are constantly doing step 1 and 2 but seem to be retarded as to step 3 and 4. What is a mother to do? I just made a new sign pleading with them to follow all 4 steps and then I decided to assign them all a special spot for their glasses to be when they are not using them. I will report back in a week and let you know if my kids are still retarded!

I am thankful for able hands and good health that allows me to wash dishes!

My Wish for Today

Oh how I wish I could just stay in my warm bed this morning and sleep just like Sandy! It is soooo cold outside and I don't want to go out there into the bugger freezing weather. But alas I am a mom and there is no such thing as staying in bed (at least today) when there have been many commitments made on my part I must endure and brave the cold. (Besides it is garbage day and someone has to take out the Christmas garbage)

I am thankful for my warm house, a warm coat, warm gloves, warm (and cute) hat, and warm boots.

P.S. Sandy has a 6th sense to know when his picture is about to be taken and he is deathly afraid of it. Please imagine for a moment if you will our little white poodle all cuddled up in my comforter dreaming away because the second I got my camera out and turned it on he jumped out of bed and ran away!! Way to ruin a great picture that would have gone with my blog this morning Sandy! Sandy is dumb :)

Can anyone guess who these toes belong too?

I believe these toenails have been used as weapons! Would the mother of this child please get some some clippers and teach this child to trim her weaponry :)

Another Years Goals...I can do it!

My Goals For 2010!

1. Read from the scriptures EVERY DAY! If I can find 5 minutes to watch TV during the day then I surely can find 5 minutes to read the word of God :)

2. Pray EVERY DAY! I am not very good at daily prayer and boy do I need to stay in contact with Heavenly Father....I need Him every hour!

3. Blog EVERY DAY! I want to keep it simple most of the time and mostly if I don't have any stories to tell I am going to be journaling about what I am grateful for. I would like this to be my year of GRATITUDE. Because I have so much to be grateful for and I don't think I express it often enough. It also helps me to notice the small things in life that I take for granted.

4. Do a KIND DEED DAILY! I think I serve others because I have to...this year I want to serve because I want to! I will find someone each and every day and purposefully do a kind deed for them it could be a stranger or someone that I know. I am very excited about this goal.

Well there you have it. I want to keep it simple and I will be reporting back weekly on how I have done on my goals for the week. I hope to become a better person by achieving these goals and grow closer to my Heavenly Father. Wish me luck and perseverance!

I am so grateful... that school starts today!! :)

We All Are Strangers To Someone

Our ride up to the airport yesterday. Tanner is sleeping, not knowing what lies ahead in trying to get him a ride to school....read below for details!!

So we sent Tanner off yesterday (sad) to an island called I don't know what (I just call it Hawaii, the one with BYUHawaii on it, usually my many Mormon friends know what I am talking about) without a way to get him from the airport to the school!

Not a good idea you say....what you say is correct! I thought Scott had it all under control, being the under control guy that he is. But the thing is if you don't reserve a spot on the school shuttle like I am guessing probably a month in advance (best thing to do is once your ticket is purchased you should immediately call the shuttle and reserve a spot on it for the correct time of arrival) but noooooooo not us that would be way to easy for the Greers we like to do things the interesting way!

I do have to say that the shuttle stops running at 9:30pm and Tanners flight didn't get in until 9:45pm so even if we had tried to reserve a spot for him in an appropriate time frame (a month ago) he still most probably would not have been able to get on (this is the logic Scott uses, I am sure I would have been able to sweet talk them into waiting for my only son that is thousands of miles away from me at the moment).

So to make a very long and frustrating story short....at 11:30pm our time we still didn't know how we were going to get Tanner to school once he landed on that great island of Hawaii. Tanners plane would be landing at 1:30am Minnesota cold time (in two short hours!!) Well I had just signed on to the computer and wanted to check my emails for the last time because I had been gone all day and just hadn't had the chance to do that earlier. When to my surprise I had received an invitation (from FB) to a party for a missionary who had served here in Rochester (Sister Lamb to all those who know her). I clicked on the face book link and to my surprise Brooklyn Lamb was on face book at that very moment. You are all wondering so what! What does this have to do with your poor story of Tanner being stranded at the airport all night long without a ride to school (lame parents he has!)

My heart began to race because to my great luck at that moment I knew the only person who could possibly help me at that moment was a one Sister Lamb!!! She had just returned from 6 months of working and much playing on the same island as Tanner was now getting ready to land on! I asked her with much begging and pleading as I could muster (which wasn't difficult at all because the fact was I was desperate!) if she could help me out and find Tanner a ride from the airport to school. And.......to my great relief she said she would try!

A half hour later she called me and said that she had contacted her singles ward RS Pres. (have I ever told you only saints get called to RS President) and this Saint had agreed to go pick up this strange boy she didn't know all because Sister Lamb had asked her to do it! I love the networking abilities in the church!! So just a half hour before Tanner was to land far, far away from me we had arranged a ride!

I wish I could tell you that it was a fairytale ending after that but no, alas Tanners luggage is lost and he doesn't have a toothbrush to use today or any of his nice Christmas presents he got from Santa but he did have a ride to school dangit!

I hope that there is a lesson learned here....we may all get something different out of this story, perhaps one lesson is don't procrastinate (Scott), or perhaps do things yourself instead of leaving them to your husband to do (Krystine) but the best lesson I learned is that there are caring people out there in the world who are willing to do nice things for total strangers because they are followers of Christ. This I have started to rely on that while my kids are far away from me their Heavenly Father is watching out for them and taking care of their needs by using angels on earth to do that. Don't forget that you may be some mothers angel by doing a kind deed for some random stranger! Lets all be kind and help those in need!

Today I am thankful for Brooklyn and her friend Amy who helped me out in a real pinch! Thank you and may Heavenly Father bless you as you blessed my family!

My Heart Has a Crack In It and I Am Thankful For...

Tanner is leaving today to go back to Hawaii. I am sad. I wonder if my heart will ever feel the same again. It literally feels like it hurts. I hope Tanner achieves all his goals maybe that will help heal my heart knowing that he is doing what he loves most...learning about the world and other people. I love you Tanner! I am thankful that Tanner is not afraid and isn't homesick (really).

What Winter Means In Minnesota To Me!

I am getting ready to go out and do my grocery shopping...in -1 degree weather! I love Minnesota! (I am grateful that I have money to buy my family food there are many that don't)

Elle just had her last day as a paper girl!! She is so happy! She no longer has to worry about dying in -40 degree weather! (I am grateful that Elle is happy, it makes my life much easier)

What winter means in Minnesota....a thousand pairs of shoes by the back door! (I am grateful that I have so many pairs of shoes to choose from)

Happy New Year! We made it :) I am very excited to see what 2010 will bring into my life. I am sure we will have some ups and downs but I will hope for many more ups then downs. I wanted to share with you a few pictures of what life in Minnesota is like in the winter. I love Minnesota and even find ways to enjoy the winter.

This year I am going to blog about what I am thankful for. So where there is a gray cloud I am going to try to see the silver lining. Minnesota winters mean I get to spend more time with my kids because they don't go out with there friends as much because if we can avoid being outside we avoid it! That's why I am thankful for Minnesota Winters!!!