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Friday, November 21, 2008

TWILIGHT!

I'm sure this is the most common blog-subject today among all female-bloggers over the age of 15 so I guess I'll just hop on the bandwagon! A brief descrption of how our Twilight premier night came to be...

I knew I wanted to go to Twilight the moment I saw it advertised at good ol' Spanish 8 and called my mom and sisters immediately. Mom was all over it (for those who don't know her, she is the coolest, most hip and fun mom I know (myself, included)). Abbie later somewhat happily agreed, Alys finally said "OK" and April, after pondering how this would affect her schedule and whether she could stay up that late (she the super-planner, ultra-organized and not-so-sponteneous O'Brien girl- Love ya, Ape!) eventually said "I guess", so we got our tickets. The day before, I got a text from Abbie asking if I'm sure I want to go and April had her regrets as well and even I was doubting my ability to stay awake, but we stuck to our guns and went.

Sooooo....we get there and all of us are exhausted and wondering what we got ourselves into! We get our seats and because we were so early (it was about 11:20ish) started passing our goodies around. Mom and Ape had said they'd bring some candy so April tells us she brought 2 boxes to share and mom said she brought us each 1 mini Nestle Crunch. Are you kidding, mom?! We all were laughing so hard that she had this HUGE bag of candybars at home, and yet brought us each just 1! First she said it was because she was trying to watch what she ate (and apparently what WE ate, as well), then she said she could only fit that many in the pocket of her purse, then she finally admitted that she was pretty proud of herself for thinking to bring any at all and thought that 1 was quite generous. Well, the jokes started from there and continued until the end of the movie ("So if I take 1 tiny bite every 20 minutes, I might have enough to last me until the end of the movie!", and "hey everybody- I have Reeses Pieces- take some but only give mom 1." and so on and so forth. Maybe you had to be there, but we laughed up until the movie started (which wasn't until about 12:30, due to complications and a false fire alarm!).

Now about the movie- loved it! The actor/character choices were spot on, even though Edward, at times, was a little wierd and not as attractive as I had pictured (which surprisingly didn't bother me at all). There were a couple of cheesy parts, but a book about teenage vampires- what do you expect?! I also heard some say there were a few things done out of order, but I hadn't read the first one in a while and didn't notice or care. Definitely worth seeing and not at all a disappointment as far as books-made-into-movies go.

I think the best part of going out last night was being with 4 of my most favorite people in the world. As we were laughing so hard before the movie started, I looked down the row and thought "I love this!". I love the fact that my closest friends all live within 10 minutes of me and I get to see and talk to them every day. I love that we have a mom who is so much fun, taught us well and raised us to love eachother and enjoy being together. I love the way we all just indulge eachother in the ways we each, at times, need to be indulged (maybe "tolerated" is a better word). I love the way we make going to Walmart and everywhere else a "group effort" and actually have fun doing it (when kids aren't making fun IMPOSSIBLE!). I could go on and on.

So then I get home at 2:30, Jonathan wakes up and we talk for a minute, then just as we're about to go to sleep, Jace stumbles in, saying he had a bad dream. He climbs in bed and snuggles up to us, and tells us about dinosaurs, aliens, and other things I can't remember. He literally falls asleep mid-sentence and as I'm laughing to myself at my cute, sweet little boy, I once again think "I love this!". I love my kids and all the things that are unique and special about each one of them. I love my husband and the way he reads for hours to Brylee because he knows she loves it. I love my house (how could I leave this out!) and this wonderful area inside this wonderful country in which I live. I love that my sweet little girl has been healthy for almost a 5 month stretch now (a record for her!). I love that I have the Gospel, which brings me guidance, peace, hope, comfort, understanding, and purpose. So much to be thankful for and I feel so very aware of those things this Thanksgiving season.

Life is good- even if we do have to put up with Barrack Obama for the next 4 years (you should've known that was coming!).

PS Still needing a few of your email addresses (and also stalling from the challenge of figuring out how to actually "go private"!).

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

OK, people!

This is your LAST CHANCE to be included in my blog invitations- don't miss out! OK, I sound like an advertisement, but really, you'll be sorry! We discuss all sorts of fun things on this blog like politics and religion. OK, maybe those things aren't particularly fun, but you will see many pictures of my cute kids and hear about all of our exciting adventures- as well as the monotony of our everyday lives! Anyway, there are many of my own family members who haven't posted and if you think I have your email addresses and you're just guaranteed an invitation, I don't and you're not! And to anyone else who might read this post, I'm SUCH a blog-stalker and find myself reading about people I'll most likely never meet just because I liked their names- in fact I've probably read YOUR blogs and you don't even know it so please know that everyone is welcome!

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Better days

I have been so consumed with the election/candidates lately and after rereading what I posted regarding these two things, I'm realizing how dramatic I was about it all! Not that the future of our country isn't something I take seriously, but after reading a friends blog I'm reminded that we are a great nation and I truly believe that we will continue to be "OK". We are living in difficult times but we are so far from hopeless and I know we will get through this. I hope my passionate posts against our president-elect didn't offend anyone, I've just struggled being positive lately.

With that being said, I went to the temple this week hoping to find peace. Of course I did, as I always do, but as I did sealings there were some missionaries from the MTC also participating. Oh the memories that come flooding back! I remembered as a missionary being extremely happy. I truly loved everyone and never seemed to have a problem finding the good in people and circumstances. I welcomed that challenges I was sure to face everyday, was most always able to give others the benefit of the doubt, and truly loved serving with all my heart. Where did that girl go?! That was such a wonderful, life-changing experience that I'm so thankful I could have.

As if that wasn't enough, our sacrement meeting today consisted of parents in the ward who have missionaries serving now. Several of these parents read letters from their missionaries and their love for the people, scriptures, and the "work" of sharing the Gospel was felt by the entire congregation, I'm sure. Once again I was filled with memories and feelings I had as a missionary. All these reminders of that time of my life left me wondering what I'm supposed to learn from this. Although I don't quite have the answer for that yet, I do know that I want to be like the missionary I was 10+ years ago. I want to have an unconditional love for everyone and give them the benefit of the doubt. I want to be more tolerant. I want to be able to find the good in every situation and always be grateful- even in the midst of difficult trials. I want to serve others and not allow myself so often to be consumed by worldly distractions. I want to uplift and inspire others. I want to be more involed and make a difference in the world. So many things to work on!

Anyway, this was my "wake-up" call this week- to not be so consumed by things I can't change (election) and focus on the things I can. To stop worrying about what "could" happen and just enjoy this great life I have and be thankful for it. Be optimistic and stop acting like this is the end of the world. And last, but not least, stop insulting our next president (and those who voted for him) and pray for him that he will listen to the Spirit as he faces the trials that will be his as our next leader. God Bless America!

PS Going private and would love to add you all to my invite list- leave your email address. I don't mind blog-stalkers at all!

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Sad Day for the US

OK, although I'm sure you've heard enough of my political opinions, blogging, for me, is journaling so here are my thoughts this post election day. I'll try (kind of) not to offend.

I think it's a very sad day when a nation as great as ours, who has fought so hard and sacrificed so much for what we have, will very soon be in the hands of Barrack Obama. This man supports killing babies- not JUST abortion, but babies with all their parts and faculties and in a way that is sure to cause these little children great pain. If they survive this monstrocity, he has voted that hospitals are not allowed to give the poor, suffering babies medical treatment- to just let them die. He supports this and WE (as a country) support him- what does this say about our "great nation"?

Not only this but the man has terrorists as FRIENDS, belonged to an anti-white church, his wife wrote her college thesis on how evil the whites are, he hired the top guns of Countrywide and Fannie Mae as his campaign advisors (as you know, both companies are now bankrupt, costing this nation BILLIONS) and we have put him in charge? When has he ever used good judgement and what kind of media do we have that just brushed all of this under the rug as if it were irrelevant? What kind of people are those who knew the above stated facts and voted for the man anyway? FYI did you know that if you've ever known or associated in even a very insignificant way with a terrorist you can't even work for the Secret Service? Strange how we would be more particular about who protects a president than we would be about who becomes one.

Nothing you could find on McCain can even touch the dirt on Obama- not only that but the man has never done ANYTHING worth mentioning except be named the most liberal senator in Washington- good job America- apparently a smooth tongue and charm are the only requirements we have for our leaders. Feel free to let me know if there's anything more Obama has to offer...

I'm off my soap box now and promise to stay off of it for a while, I'm just having a really bad day and hope to never have such a negative, ornery post again!

PS Sorry for the lack of commenting lately- I've only had time to post.

Monday, November 3, 2008

Success!

OK, all my slacker blogger friends (and those of you that were sick, super busy, etc.) we had a blast on Saturday and enjoyed a really good turn out! Thanks to all of you who came and for those of you who missed- maybe next time!

PS I LOVE my house! It's so nice to be here, settled, and just plain old DONE with moving- well, almost...