Grocery Deals - week of Jan 30

Albertsons

$1.88/lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts or tenders
$2.99/lb Beef petite sirloin steak
$2.99/lb Pork loin baby back ribs
5/$12 Coca-cola 12 packs
4/$12 Pepsi 12 packs
2/$5 Frito Lay Tostitos chips, salsa or picante sauce (plus get $5 back instantly when you buy 4 Pepsi packs and 4 Frito products)
$3.99/lb Village Market cooked and peeled shrimp (with in ad coupon)
$2.99/lb Tyson hot wings (with in ad coupon)
10/$10 Daisy 16oz sour cream

Smith's

$1.79/lb extra lean ground beef
$1.79/lb whole pork loin
4/$5 Campbell's soups or chili
5/$10 Post or Quaker cereals

Glenn Beck on the passing of President Gordon B. Hinckley

If you have just 5 minutes this is a very tender and touching tribute to our dear Prophet, Gordon B. Hinckley. Just turn off my music box on the right side of my blog so you can listen to Glen's clip. Have a great day.

XOXOX

I learned something new at Kindergarten this week lol. Just goes to show that you can learn something new everyday and sometimes in the least likely of places. When I showed up to help in Centers in Savannah's class yesterday, the kids were gathered on the rug for story time and Mrs. Merkley was telling them a story. One of the things she told them in the story was what the X and O stood for when someone signs a letter with XOXOX. She said that the X was for kisses and the O was for hugs. I asked her if this were really so because all of my life I have thought it was the other way around. She said that it was the way that she had always known it and the other mom that was helping also had always known it the way the book stated. Goodness!!! I think it is funny when I am wrong on something like this. Anyway... just for fun I did a search on the net and found the following trivia on the subject:

Q: How did X's and O's become hugs and kisses when writing notes? What stands for what?

A: Because X is... supposedly like the shape your mouth makes puckered up and kissing, and O is the shape of your arms around someone.

A: This tradition started with the Medieval practice of allowing those who could not write to sign documents with an "X". This was done before witnesses, and the signer placed a kiss upon the "X" to show sincerity. This is how the kiss came to be synonymous with the letter "X", and how the "X" came to be commonly used at the end of letters as kiss symbols.

A: The X represent two people kissing. Each side represents a person, like > and < Put them together and you get the symbol for kiss, X.

Now be honest with me please lol. Where any of you wrong on what the X and O stand for or am I the only one? Guess that's what happens when you get your education in Malad lol.

President Hinckley

I awoke to the newspaper on the counter with the lead story about the death of our beloved Prophet, Gordon B. Hinckley. Tears sprang to my eyes immediately. What a love I have for this wonderful man. I will miss hearing his distinctive voice, Seeing that sparkle in his eye and his sweet smile. I will miss his fun personality. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is a true prophet of God. I know that he served honorably and never wavered in his faith. What an amazing example to us all.

My other feelings as I read the headlines were of the joyful reunion that must have occurred as he was reunited with his wife. I loved seeing them together and hearing them speak of each other. What a strong bond of love they shared. Yet another example. I am so grateful for my knowledge that families can be together forever.

I now look forward to the ever onward growth of the church with President Thomas S. Monson as our new prophet. He too holds a special place in my heart. I love his sweet stories and his happy spirit. I know that I will come to love him just as much as I loved President Hinckley.

A bit Random

Rexburg Temple Open House

Our family was able to attend the open house on Wednesday, Jan. 23. What a wonderful experience for our children. Savannah was enraptured with the beautiful chandeliers and all the wonderful details. In the Celestial room she bent down and traced the pattern of the flowers that was embossed in the carpeting, she looked in the eternal mirrors, and stood in awe. My children loved seeing the baptismal font where their Grandparents will be working. Clayne's parents are in charge of the Baptistery when the temple opens. They have been so busy but are such wonderful examples to us all of serving the Lord. What a blessing. Everything about the temple was so breathtakingly beautiful and I look forward to attending a session now and then in this gorgeous temple.

I was getting my hi lites yesterday at the hair dressers so I had a bit of time to look as my surroundings as well as through a magazine. She had an awesome tile plaque with a saying by President Hinkley that I want to remember so I am posting it here...

"Remembering who you are, changes what you do."

Isn't that cool? A simple statement but very profound. I love our Prophet and all his wisdom and love.

Now for the fun tidbits I found in the magazine LDS Living. I just may end up getting a subscription to this little gem. I have looked at it before, but yesterday I really liked it. I asked Susan if I could borrow it for the weekend and I am really enjoying it's contents.

A Plug for Blogging!

Did you know that Elder M. Russell Ballard has urged members to participate in Blogs? I was excited to know that I am doing something that I enjoy and following the council of the brethren at the same time lol. It was mostly in response to an increased interest in the Mormon religion with Mitt Romney's presidential campaign. Elder Ballard encouraged students to share their views on blogs to respond to news stories about the Church and to share the gospel in clear simple terms. While not every post on my blog is of a spiritual nature, I do often share things that clearly represent my religious preference. So let's hear it for blogging!!

Spiritual Downloads

I have often visited http://www.lds.org/ as well as http://www.byubroadcasting.org/ to search for information for a talk or lesson or to listen to a conference address or talk but I must admit that I wasn't aware of some of the other resources that were available there.

Did you know that at lds.org free downloads of the following are available:

• The Standard Works


• Ensign, Friend, and New Era magazines from 2004 to the present


• Jesus the Christ by James E. Talmage


• General conference talks from 2003 to the present


• Songs from the Children's Songbook, Hymns, and other specialty music


• Select leadership broadcasts


• Select CES firesides

At byu boadcasting you can find:

• Classic devotional speeches given between 1949 and 1999


• Select Women's Conference broadcasts


• Select Education Week presentations from 1996 to the present


• David M. Kennedy Center for International Studies lectures

Anyway... I just thought it was interesting. Sometimes I actually will have a broadcast playing in a window while I surf the net in another. Makes me feel like I am not being overly idle while I surf lol.

A Recipe I want to try.

Bacon-wrapped Pork Tenderloin

• 1 pork tenderloin, cleaned and trimmed


• 3 slices of bacon


• 1 tbsp garlic powder


• 1 tsp seasoned salt


• 1/2 tsp oregano


• black pepper


• olive oil

Combine seasonings to make a rub for the meat. Rub seasoning on the meat. Wrap the tenderloin with bacon, using toothpicks to hold the bacon in place. Coat the meat well with olive oil. Place in a pan and bake uncovered in a 375-400 degree oven for 45-60 minute, or until pork reaches 155 degrees. Make sure the bacon is completely cooked. When the meat is done, remove from the dish and wrap in aluminum foil. Let stand for 10 minutes.

National Pancake Day

Yep there is such a thing lol. I think that there is a day for just about everything. Anyway it is on February 5. I think I will plan to serve breakfast for dinner that night in honor of the event. Another interesting tid-bit is that IHOP will be honoring it on the 12th of Feb. (they are doing it a week late because of Super Tuesday- which has to do with the presidential primaries) On that day you can go between 7-10 pm for a free stack of pancakes. They ask that you contribute the money you would have spent on the pancakes to a local children's hospital or another worthy cause.

Keeping Marriage Magical

There were tons of great ideas for dates because the focus was on Marriage with Valentine's Day around the corner. There were ideas for dates that cost nothing like...

• Walk through a crowded area and make up stories about other people's lives. Be creative! Be funny!


• Go to Costco and eat the free samples and then watch a DVD on your laptop in your car facing the sunset.


• Take your iPod or boom box to a remote parking lot and dance together in the beams of your car's headlights.

Some of these are a little corny but I do think we'd have a fun time doing them anyway lol. I want to try those listed above this summer.

Here are a few more ideas for creative dating...

• wishing date - Find a fountain that donates its proceeds to a good cause, and take a roll of pennies to throw into it. Take turns wishing with the pennies and talk abut what you wished for. If you want to, you can bring a picnic style dessert, or just pop into a nearby cafe.


• stargazing date - Find a planetarium or observatory in your city and go watch the stars move through the universe. Afterwards, look at the sky outside and look for any of the constellations that you learned about.


• tourist date - Find a tourist map of your city and see the sights. Go through the map with your date and decide which things interest you most.


• book date - Go to a bookstore and look at books together. Talk about books that interest you, things you've read, and things you want to read. Find a book on questions for couples and ask each other questions while you have dessert at a cafe.


• dining date - Go downtown where there are lots of restaurants close together and have appetizers, dinner, and dessert at different places, walking from one restaurant to the next.

I know this was a long post so thanks for reading and I hope you found some fun ideas too.

Valentine's Project

Hey thanks for checking in. Here is the project I promised to share. I thought it would be fun to make my kids their own valentine cards to pass out to their classmates this year. It was so easy and I love how they turned out. I am going to print them as wallet size. Thanks for looking! I realized that I forgot the apostrophe on Cheyenne's and will have to go back and change it before printing. Morgan has also requested that I use a different picture of him on his so I may need to do a little editing there too.

Layout Shares

Just wanted to show a few of my recent layouts. These are made with Angela's kit Winter Frolic Tomorrow I'll show you another fun project I made so come back and see. Hope you have a great day!

Grocery Deals - week of Jan 23

Some great deals this week so stock up my friends!

Albertsons

$1.88/lb Extra lean ground beef
$1.88/lb Beef round rump roast
39 cents Yoplait yogurt
10/$10 Skippy peanut butter, Ragu spaghetti or alfredo sauce
$4 instant savings when you buy $20 of coca-cola products

Lots of coupons on the back page of the add that if you use one to purchase the indicated products, you will get free butter or eggs.

For 80 cents each with use of an in store coupon you can get three 3 packs of Orville R. micro popcorn and a 2 ltr. Pepsi

Smith's

$1.89/lb boneless skinless chicken breasts
$2.99/lb petite sirloin steak
$1.49/lb assorted pork chops
$1.99/lb pork loin or rib chops
$1.29/lb pork butt roast

4/$5 Campbell's soup or chili
10/$10 dole garden salad bags
$4.99 large packs or northern tp or brawny paper towels
8/$10 General Mills cereal or betty crocker fruit snacks
$1.88 Doritos, fritos or lays potato chips

A Fun Contest at Digital Candy

The Digi-Scrap Masquerade is coming to Digital Candy

Digital Candy is sponsoring a very special contest in February! One winner will receive:
ONE MONTH OF FREE DOWNLOADS from Digital Candy(does not include commercial use products)

Just purchase the GORGEOUS kit Have A Heart (all proceeds from this kit will be donated to Animal Rescue Foundation) complete the enrollment form and send it in! It's that easy!!The first challenge will be announced on February 1! To read more about the competition and rules, please visit the Digi-Scrap Masquerade Forum

Double Whammy

As you read, Tuesday was a rough day for me. I couldn't believe it when a second whammy hit me that day. I didn't want to overwhelm any blog readers by putting it all out there in one day and so I saved this one to share today.

I posted that I couldn't even be home when Clayne came home to get Sophie to take her to the vet on Tuesday and so I decided to go and visit a friend who happens to live up in Quail Ridge. (which is up on a hill) When it was time to go home so I could get Savannah fed and on the bus for school, I thought my steering felt tight but figured that I would just get home and then be sure to have Clayne look at it later. I got down 21st street about half way and there were some Qwest trucks doing some work on the side of the road. They were a bit in my lane and so I needed to go over a bit into the oncoming lane. As you know the roads are not well maintained on the outskirts of town (heck even sometimes in town.) The roads had deep ruts of ice and packed snow which when I tried to move over made it impossible for me to control my van. I slid and couldn't correct it with my steering problem. I did a 180 degree turn and found myself lodged into the snowbank on the other side of the road. I was only a few feet from a telephone pole and was so glad that I didn't hit it, a fence, or any other vehicles. If anyone had been coming in my path just then, I would have certainly hit them. It was very scary.

I got out on my shaking knees and was looking quite forlorn I'm sure. A nice man stopped and helped me. He was so prepared. He had a shovel which he used to dig some of the snow away and then he hitched a chain that he had with him to my van and pulled me back up onto the road. I then drove the van to the shoulder of the road. It was soooo hard to turn the wheel. I could hardly even steer it. He took a look under the van and said that a belt was dragging and said that he'd be happy to give me and Savannah a ride home. When we got into his truck, I found that he had his little 1 year old baby with him this whole time he was helping me. Heavenly Father certainly was looking out for me to send this super nice guy along to help me. I feel bad that in my state of mind I did not get his name so that I could take him a loaf of bread or something. I did thank him, but somehow that doesn't seem like enough.

I was able to hold it together until I got Savannah on the bus and then I just sat down and had a good cry for about an hour. I am not the kind of person who cried easily or often so this was a major break down for me. I just was so overwhelmed with the grief of loosing our dog and then the trauma of the accident.

Later Clayne towed me in the van to the shop. As I said, there was not any body damage to the van for which I am so grateful. Now I do not think or speak like a mechanic but it was something like a tension pulley that held the steering belt on that had given way and then the belt fell off. This could have been so much worse if it had happened somewhere else. I am counting this as one of Heavenly Father's tender mercies in my life. The repair was only $140 and we already have the van back.

Later when Savannah overheard me say what a hard day I had just had she simply said, "A perfect day depends on you." That is word for word what she said. There is such wisdom in that and it astounds me that a 5 year old would say that. Out of the mouths of babes. She certainly is wise and very old for her age. I will carry that quote in my heart for always because it is true. Even when life is hard, it is what you do with it that counts. It is up to you to make a day be a good one. So here's to perfect days. Thanks for a listening ear... again.

Letting Go

After 13 years of having Sophie as our pet, we had the tough situation of having to let her go yesterday. She had been less and less active over the past year as would be expected of a dog her age. About a week ago she seemed to have had a stroke or something because she was dragging one of her back legs and not getting around very well. When I got up to go to the gym on Monday morning, I couldn't find her anywhere. I worried that maybe she had gone off somewhere in the yard and died. I told Clayne that he had to find her. We found her in the window well. She had fallen in there sometime in the night. After we got her out she was no longer able to walk. It was like she was paralyzed from her mid back down. It broke my heart to see her unable to move around and to be in pain. Clayne had to do all the arrangements with the vet and had to take her in and dispose of her belongings I just couldn't do it. In fact I couldn't even stand the thought of being here when he came to pick her up and take her to the vet.

I didn't think it would be so hard. Many of you know that I had spoke of the need to be done with the pet thing at our house for the past few years. Sometimes it just becomes hard to have a pet when the kids no longer take much interest in caring for them and when she would constantly get under my feet in the garage when I would have my arms full of groceries and she did trip me more than once. I would find myself thinking, "I'll be glad when she's gone." Now I feel so guilty for those thoughts. She was such a good little dog. She was always happy to see us and was a peaceful and quiet dog. Many people/neighbors commented at times that they didn't even know we had a dog. She just wasn't a barker. She kept quiet and didn't bother anyone.

I cried so much yesterday that I just couldn't blog about it. I thought I would be able to do this today without crying but I can barely see the screen as I am typing. I am sooo sad!! I can't believe the heartache this is. Over the past years I have thought that I had become less attached to her. I thought when the day came to say goodbye that I would be able to do it easily. I know that it was what we had to do but it didn't make it easy at all.

I found myself looking at her usual spot in the garage every time I went out there yesterday. I know that it will be several months before I get used to the fact that she won't be there.

We didn't tell the kids that we were putting her down before hand and I just hope that as time passes they won't regret the fact that we didn't let them say "goodbye." I just couldn't bear seeing them go through it. We waited until family prayer last night and told them so that we could get it out in just one time. Instead of having to tell them each individually. Clayne had to do all the talking as I just sat there and fell apart - again. The kids took it better than I expected, which I am so thankful for. I think that in the coming days as they have time to consider and ponder that she is gone there will be some sad times and questions but it will all be okay.

Sophie came into our lives at a time when we were experiencing infertility before we adopted Cheyenne. I had such a void in my life and wanted a baby so bad but no matter what I did, I could not change Heavenly Father's time table. No Sophie did not completely fill that void. That void was only completely filled when Cheyenne was placed in my arms. Having a pet to love however took the sting off the edges while I waited. I will always be grateful for the part she played in my life while I waited to become a mother and for the part of our lives she took in being a playmate for our children when she was younger and in her later years as she remained a cheerful companion. Now if you made it through this post, I want to say thanks for bearing with me. I had to write this more for myself than anything else.

Now I have to think of the good things. She is no longer in pain. We don't have to pay for those $40 groomings anymore. We don't have to find someone to look in on her when we are out of town and we don't have to scoop poop anymore. There that's looking on the bright side.

Goodbye my faithful friend. You will be missed.

Grocery Deals - week of Jan 16

Smith's

10/$10 Nabisco snack saks or goldfish crackers, sour cream, pretzel flipz, oscar mayer luncheon ham, 1 lb. peeled mini carrots, Ragu pasta sauce

$1.89/lb Pork loin chops
$4.49/lb New york steak or holiday style roast
$1.59/lb John morrell spiral sliced half ham
$1.88 doritos

Albertsons

$1.79/lb 7 bone chuck roast or steak
$1.49/lb beef round rump roast

$3.77/24 pack dasani water (with in ad coupon)
$1.79/lb village market boneless, skinless chicken breasts or tenders (with in ad coupon)
99cents/5 lb bag russet potatoes (with in ad coupon)

10/$15 when you buy 10 after a $5 instant rebate
Kellog's cereal, keebler right bites, special K snack bites or bliss bars, kellog's nutri-grain bars, kellog's pop tarts

All about Digital

I have to tell you that I am loving digital scrapbooking. I know that this is not news to many of you. I have always loved scrapbooking but digital is my newest and most enjoyable hobby. I love that there is no mess to clean up. I don't think I'll ever go back to paper, scissors and all that "stuff" again. I am going to be sorting through it all so that I can sell what I can to recoup any money I can for all the $$ I have put into it all these years. I think it will be awesome to never have to try and organize and store it again. My scrap room is always a mess and organizing it all has been an ongoing project. Just when I think I am getting somewhere with it I decide there is a better way. Well, I think this is the best way yet... just get rid of it and let my new way be on the computer. With that said....

Digital Scrapbook Links

I want to draw your attention to the new listing I have added to the side column on my blog. It is all for digital scrapbooking links. I decided to give them their own place on my blog so that you can always find them for easy reference. Let me tell you a little about these links. I love collecting free digital downloads off the internet and here are some fun links for you to check out if you want to get some freebies too.


http://digifree.blogspot.com/ This is the main one that I use but it has a lot and so if it is too overwhelming just look at the next one
http://www.ikeagoddess.blogspot.com/ This one has a smaller listing but usually they are all ones that interest me, she is big on using templates and I like them too. http://ameliescrap.com/blog/index.php/ Not as user friendly but often has a few that the others miss.
http://digiscrapdepot.com/ This is one that I found most recently and love the idea that I can find things there according to category at any time.

My Layout Gallery

There is also a link for my scrapbook layouts in the gallery at Digital Candy. You can click there to see many of my layouts and that way I won't feel the "need" to post them all on my blog - although I will still share some of them here too because I just can't help myself lol. You can click on each layout at the gallery to see credits (where I got the stuff to make the layout) and other information about the layout. Hope you'll enjoy looking.


Fun News

I have been anxious to share this news for a while but needed to wait until the Creative Team was announced officially. I was asked by Angela Niehaus to be on her team.

I just can't seem to stay away from working in the scrapbook field lol. I have only been at it for about a week but I am really enjoying it so far. Here are two layouts I have completed so far using her kit Smitten.

Grocery Deals - week of Jan 9

Albertsons

It's the big Quaker sale - plus
Buy 10 for $20 and get an instant rebate of $5 - makes it 10/$15

Aunt Jemima syrup and pancake mixes
Quaker oatmeal breakfast or muffin bars
Quaker oatmeal to go
Quaker granola bites
Quaker granola bars
Quaker sweet & salty bars
Quaker life cereal
Quaker oats
Quaker breakfast cookies
Quaker Cap'n crunch cereal
Quaker simple harvest hot cereal

Several cuts of meat, roasts, steaks, chicken breasts, etc. are buy one get one free.

Smith's

$1.39/lb. Bone in country style pork ribs or pork roast
$1.89/lb. chuck roast or steak
99cents/lb. Cooks ham
$2.79/gal. milk
10/$10 Progresso soup
$1.88 Dorito chips

Happy Birthday Clayne

He's the double 4 now. He's the calm to my crazy and the relax to my stress. He makes me a better person just by having him in my life. I'm so lucky that he's mine. He is a wonderful father to our children and a very hard worker. No he doesn't write poetry or sing but he lets me know he loves me every day by his actions and words.

A Layout for Today, plus one

I wanted to work on some digi scrapping all day but made myself finish all my "work" that HAD to be done first and then when I finally got to where I could do some scrapping it came together SLOW. I like it when scrapping just clicks and it comes together quick. Oh well. Still happy with the layout and will hope that the creative juices flow next time I sit to scrap!!

Now here is a layout that is probably my favorite one I've made so far. This is one wasn't made to day. It was a day where the ideas just flowed and it came together beautifully. You might recognize the photo from a layout I made when I was first trying out the digi scrapping. This time I tweaked it to make it sepia tone and think that it is SOOO pretty. Yep, I'm praising my own work lol. You can too if you want. Have a great day.

A word on Resolutions - SMART

Had a good laugh at this little comic. Hope you will too. Seriously though I do have just one little word to suggest you keep in mind while setting your goals for the new year... SMART. S is for Specific, M is for Measurable, A is for Attainable, R is for Realistic and T is for Timely. I heard this on the radio and thought this was pretty clever.

And last of all do you need some motivation for the New Year? Check out these monthly motivators at I Need More Time

http://www.ineedmoretime.com/checklist.htm

Have a great day!

Grocery Deals - week of Jan. 2

Albertsons

$1.69/lb Extra lean ground beef
99cents/lb Assorted pork loin chops
$3.77 Albertsons soft choice tp 24 single rolls or 12 double rolls

Smith's

99cents/doz large eggs
8/$10 General mills cereals or Betty Crocker fruit snacks when you buy 8
50% off Jennie-O Turkey Store products or Tyson fresh chicken packages
$1.88 Doritos, Fritos or Cheetos

A New Year

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Do you all like the holiday of New Years? I love the party and the hope of a new year, but sometimes I don't really like the goal setting or resolution part of it. I was talking to Clayne about it last night and told him that it is just sometimes downright depressing. I think this comes from my over-achiever personality. I want to do more than is reasonable and then wonder why I can't do it. Oh well! With that said:

I would like to be able to tell you that in the past year I...

• Got back down to my dream weight


• Ran in a marathon


• Got my house organized


• Went on a dream vacation


• Kept up with my Sunday School scripture reading


• Kept a journal faithfully

Instead, I have to tell you that in the past year I...

• Wear the same jeans I did last year (but hey at least they still fit lol)


• Only ran a 5K and then my planter fasceitis (sp?) said, "no more!"


• Only cleaned when and what I had to to keep up the appearance of clean


• Our vacations this year consisted of Midway UT, Bear Lake UT, and a camp out in St. Anthony ID


• Ok... well I didn't read more than about 2 weeks worth of the assignments


• I started yet another paper & pen journal but only wrote a few meager pages

However, in the past year I also...

• Attended the gym faithfully for 6 a.m. classes


• Gave my feet a rest and am grateful to be able to walk pain free and gain a greater appreciation for my health


• Spent more of my time with family and developing talents instead of cleaning


• Enjoyed the small vacations because they were with people I love


• Read the scriptures nightly with my children 90% of the year


• Started keeping a blog which has been a joyful journey for me as well as learning to scrapbook digitally

In the next year, I am hoping to...

• Become more in control of my words and their impact


• Seek the spirit's guidance to be aware of how to serve others


• Strive to be worthy of the trust that Heavenly Father has placed in me


• Put my trust my Heavenly Father in both trials and blessings


• Keep up my exercise regime but add healthier eating too


• Learn from my mistakes and accept myself