He Knows

Chase knows me so well; he knows when to leave me alone and he knows when to just hug me and he knows what makes me smile. He knows I like to put the groceries away by myself but have him talk to me while I do it. He knows when I need ice cream. He knows when I just need to sleep a little bit longer. He knows I like little surprises. He knows that I don't like to come home to a dark house. He knows I don't like to be wrong. He knows when he needs to chat me at work to make sure I'm okay. He just knows me, and that makes me happy. :)

I wish I had a little girl...

So I could do this! How nifty is that! And it always seems like there's old, broken down entertainment centers at the DI. This is definitely a "someday" project.

That's not the only reason I want a little girl.. but yeah.

I don't particulary care for Mondays....

BUT I am glad there are new episodes of Gilmore Girls on Fancast every Monday. Yay!

Quotes

I like quotes and I found this today... from here.

A friend at work gave me this one awhile back too, and it just makes you feel good!

“Our Father in Heaven needs us as we are, as we are growing to become. He has intentionally made us different from one another so that even with our imperfections we can fulfill his purposes. My greatest misery comes when I feel I have to fit what others are doing, or what I think others expect of me. I am most happy when I am comfortable being me and trying to do what my Father in Heaven and I expect me to be.

For many years I tried to measure the oft times quiet, reflective, thoughtful Pat Holland against the robust, bubbly, talkative, and energetic Jeff Holland and others with like qualities. I have learned through several fatiguing failures that you can’t have joy in being bubbly if you are not a bubbly person. It is a contradiction in terms. I have given up seeing myself as a flawed person because my energy level is lower than Jeff’s, and I don’t talk as much as he does, nor as fast. Giving this up has freed me to embrace and rejoice in my own manner and personality in the measure of my creation. Ironically, that has allowed me to admire and enjoy Jeff’s ebullience even more.

Somewhere, somehow the Lord “blipped the message onto my screen” that my personality was created to fit precisely the mission and talents he gave me. For example, the quieter, calmer talent of playing the piano reveals much about the real Pat Holland. I would never have learned to play the piano if I hadn’t enjoyed the long hours of solitude required for its development. This same principle applies to my love of writing, reading, meditation, and especially teaching and talking with my children. Miraculously, I have found that I have untold abundant sources of energy to be myself. But the moment I indulge in imitation of my neighbor, I feel fractured and fatigued and find myself forever swimming upstream. When we frustrate God’s plan for us, we deprive this world and God’s kingdom of our unique contributions and a serious schism settles in our soul. God never gave us any task beyond our ability to accomplish it. We just have to be willing to do it our own way. We will always have enough resources for being who we are and what we can become.”

(Portraits of Eve: God’s Promises of Personal Identity, Patricia T. Holland, LDS Women’s treasury: Insights and Inspiration for Today’s Woman {Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1997}, 97-98.)

Taco Soup

I am excited today that I get to go home and eat leftover taco soup from yesterday's dinner. It's one of my favorite kinds of soup... and it takes like 15 minutes to make! And Chase really likes it too which is always a plus...


Taco Soup Recipe

1lb ground beef, cooked
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1 can or 1 quart tomatoes
1 can kidney, black or pinto beans, drained
1 can corn, don't drain
2 1/2ish cups of water (yeah I never measure)
1/2 packet of taco seasoning
salt and pepper to taste

Just put it all in a big pot and heat through! (I usually put in the onions first with the beef and cook them together then add everything else. And last night I added black beans and only 1/2 a lb of beef.)

Top with grated cheese, sour cream and tortilla chips.

This is pretty forgiving, you pretty much can put in whatever you want and it still tastes good.

I REALLY like this site!

One of the most favorite parts of my day is reading Young House Love. I just like how it looks, the ideas and most of all, the before-and-after pictures. I LOVE before-and-after pictures.

Although it makes me want to wield a paintbrush really, really bad....

Thanks to Heather for posting it on her blog and letting me find it!

Snow to Sun

Today I was glad that the weather turned from a miserable, snowy day into a slightly WARM and sunny day!

The First Week

We made it through the first week of this semester. Thankfully it shouldn't be nearly as hard as the last one!

One of the things I'm excited for this semester is actually one of Chase's classes. He and some of his other married buddies decided to take a curling class. Yeah curling of all things. I'm kind of intrigued. Hopefully they'll let us wives in to observe (and laugh).


Work has been LOTS better. Thankfully some complaints were passed up to the head boss and things have changed for now, hopefully they'll stay that way! It's amazing how not being so stressed and grumpy at work makes the rest of the day so much nicer!

I'm trying to start the hunt for a "real" job. Ya know one of those grown-up ones that you're supposed to be able to get when you have a degree? Yeah not sure how to find one of those. We've always been pretty blessed to find ones that work so nice with our schedules and have just worked out for us. I'm kind of nervous though that I'm supposed to be qualified in the health field and I just don't feel like I am, or that I am adult enough to handle an eight-hour-day job with non-student responsibilities. So if anyone has any ideas or know of any openings for a Public health educator, any help would be great!

Free time is amazing! Our schedules aren't so packed every minute that we feel like we actually have a little time to breathe and do some fun things. I actually got to read a book!

Chase's classes shouldn't be too bad. He's taking discrete math and an english one which should be different that his usual load.

We started going to the Date Night institute class which is alot of fun. Nothing like a good lesson and then being fed!

Imagine my surprise!

When I started heading to work, glanced at my schedule and realized that I had two more hours before I had to be there! I love it when I randomly have free time to kill!

Okay, that's just weird.

I came across this in my internet browsing today...

"This grey and black tissue dispenser has an elastic band around the back to hold securely to a shallow box of tissue. The tissue is dispensed through the nose of the tiki's face. It won't stand up on its own, as it is slightly "face-heavy"."

Courtesy of Craigslist

I laughed. Who would ever want one of these?

My Last First Day

Today I am so happy, kind of, that this is my last first day of school. I remember thinking when I turned 12 and started young women's that I was so grown-up but not even half-way done with my education. Now I feel like a 12 year-old and I am almost done with my education. Go figure. :)

Relief Society

Today I was glad that I sat by a nice girl in Relief Society and she remembered my name after 5 months of being in the ward!

What I learned from that: Take the time to learn people's names. It makes them feel like they're actually important and worth remembering.

I had an idea...

I had an idea tonight. After reading around others' blogs and thinking about things that I want to do this new year, I decided that I need to take the time to be more happy and grateful about the little things. So even though I might not get around to posting it everyday, I hope to at find at least one thing everyday that makes me happy or that I am grateful for. So here's to the first day...

We watched the movie Life is Beautiful tonight and I really like it and it makes me laugh. If you've never seen this movie I highly recommend it. This is one of the things that made me happy today. :)

Loving the Break

I am having a hard time thinking about getting ready for a new semester next week. This last month has been so nice.

But it will be my last semester and then who knows what life will bring?!