12 Things About Kristen

1. She loves Jay from the British boy band, The Wanted because he's a vegetarian and British.

2. She loves mustaches.

3. She loves crackle nail polish.

4. She loves turtles.

5. She loves shades of blue.

6. She loves music--dancing, listen to, guitar, etc.

7. She loves being a vegetarian--still. It's been 14 1/2 months and she's still going strong.

8. She loves to shop--especially if she gets to buy things.

9. She is a night owl and hates mornings.

10. She loves to read magazines--especially about her favorite celebrities.

11. She loves action, adventure, and fantasy books and movies.

12. She loves warm weather and hanging out with her friends.

HAPPY 12th BIRTHDAY KRISTEN!!!

12 year old Kristen!

 Kristen's 12th birthday was yesterday. It's so crazy to think that she's 12. One year until a teen; starting Jr. High; going into Young Women (which she did yesterday for the first time); etc.

Popping balloons to get the clues to find her gifts.

Opening gifts

The Wanted hoodie

We woke up to rain and then day ended with snow (brrr). We opened gifts after church and had one of her favorite lunches--cheese quesadillas with Doritos and fruits and veggies. She was a little embarrassed by a few of her gifts--she got a "The Wanted" (British boy band) hoodie

Mustache Ring (glittered)

and cd (we had to have them shipped from England); a mustache ring (she's obsessed with mustaches lately);

Moon Shoes. Wow--look at her jump!

a magazine with posters; a few little things (candy, gum, iTunes gift card, noise putty, glow in the dark stars, etc), and moon shoes. They're like trampolines for your feet. She's been DYING for them.
 We had Cafe Rio salad with cilantro lime rice for dinner (her FAVE) and then the cake. Oh. My. Gosh!! That cake was to die for. It was a triple chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting and lined with mini Reese's peanut butter cups and then it had some of those chopped up on top.

The inside of that EVIL cake. :)

She sure chose a great cake and seemed very happy about it!

YUM!!!! Wow. She seemed very happy with her gifts and her day. Phew! You never know with teens (or pre-teens). :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! We sure do love you, Krissy Cat!!!

5 Secrets to a Happy Marriage

We just had Stake Conference and I LOVED a message that one of the Seventy shared with us. The whole Saturday evening adult session revolved around marriage and this man shared the 5 secrets to a happy marriage. He said something that shocked me at first, but then as I thought about it, I realized it's true. He said ALL divorces happen because either the husband or the wife (or both) are selfish. It's really true. Anyway...here are the 5 secrets:

1) Happy marriages are possible but they require acts of love and affection
2) Happy Marriages require selflessness
3) Happy Marriages require tolerance, patience and forgiveness
4) Happy Marriages require time
5) Happy Marriages require righteous living

He then told us a quote by President Monson: Choose your love; Love your choice.

Reflections

My dad's brother's wife (my aunt) passed away last week from an unidentifiable bone marrow disease, possibly cancer. She was 54 years old. The funeral today made me reflect on life and how fragile it is. It was also fitting that during our scripture study this morning, we read Alma 34 and about how this life is the time to prepare to meet God. This life is for us to work on perfecting ourselves and we shouldn't procrastinate it and that the attitudes we have now, we'll take with us in the next life. It was kind of funny, in a way: I was walking over to the school to pick Jenna and her friend up and as I looked around at all the people--teens getting out of high school and middle school, kids coming home from the elementary school, all the parents, etc--I thought, "Someday, every single one of these people will die." Yes, it happens to all of us at some time or another, so it's good to be doing our very best every day and if we mess up, we hope there's another tomorrow to work at being better again.

Weekly Menu

I've been doing Bountiful Baskets for over 9 months now and love the variety of fresh fruits and veggies. It was around that time that I committed to eating healthier. I feel like I get in a rut with food, so I'm hoping by posting menus, I'll remember some of the things I've tried. I discovered some food blogs yesterday with yummy sounding things--hopefully the family will all eat them!! I'm still doing my challenge for another week and two days, so I do have to adjust things a little for me.

Monday: extra lean meatloaf, Dijon roasted butter potatoes, brussel sprouts, and fresh pineapple
Tuesday: cheesy potato soup, green salad with cucumbers, and homemade soft bread bowls
Wednesday: lemon chicken, stir fry veggies (with extra broccoli) with rice noodles, and egg rolls
Thursday: fajitas with all the trimmings and some kind of pasta--probably macaroni
Friday: lentil soup with sweet potato and spinach with corn bread and mango (kinda weird combo, I know)
Saturday: omelets, cantaloupe, and broccoli
Sunday: butter chicken, roasted garlic mashed potatoes, and green salad

For snacks/treats this week, I want to try this cookie dough dip with apple slices and graham crackers, homemade pretzel bites, and avalanche bars (a twist on rice crispy treats).

Quick Update

Just a quick update:

Jarren is doing much better with his worrying. Phew! The kids were all out of school last Friday and Jon took the younger two to visit our parents. I stayed busy with the older two--reading, shopping at the mall, playing basketball, movies, etc.

I want to blog more and sometimes can't think of anything to write about, so....I'm going to do some food things and maybe books. I don't want this to be a food blog or book blog, but once in awhile I'll post something along those lines.

*Smile*

So...it's now the 3rd week of February and there are only a few days left. Have I even blogged once this month? Nope!! Things here have been a little....crazy. All I can do is smile, because it's either that or cry.

*Jon's job has been a little (or a lot) stressful and that leaks over to the whole family.

*I have been doing a new fitness/health challenge and it's KILLING me!!! You wouldn't think that implementing these things into your life would be that hard and when I talk about it, it seems silly to be so overwhelmed with it all, but to actually do it is TOUGH! Basically, I get to eat 5 meals a day and they are portion controlled. They have to be 2-4 hours apart--no more, no less. There is absolutely NO snacking allowed at all. Even 1/2 a bite of a carrot is a 10 point deduction. The only allowed snacks are celery and cucumbers. No butter; no fried or processed foods; no white flour; NO sugar. I have to drink 2-3 liters of water a day; sleep for 6-9 hours; exercise for at least 20 minutes every day; work on a new habit to develop; work on breaking a bad habit; and work towards either a weight loss or a fitness goal. The things that kill me are occasionally, we have some type of pasta that I can't find whole grain. Or I am starving and having a hypoglycemic attack and I can't eat. Or I am dying for some chocolate and can't have any. I get one free meal a week, where I can eat anything we want, and one free day a week, where anything goes. There are also 100 free calories a day, but try making that stretch into satisfying a craving. I find myself thinking, "WHY am I doing this?!" I really don't need to lose weight, but I would like to become healthier. Just because I weigh a certain amount doesn't mean I eat all that great.

*Kendall has been a typical teen, always pushing limits, yet being such a great kid at the same time. Science Fair was due, along with a couple of other projects and he had the end of his basketball season. It's been a busy time of year for him.

*Kristen had to go over to the middle school this month and we had to get her registered for next year. That's been crazy, trying to decide on electives and mentally preparing ourselves for all this change. She goes to Young Women in 3 weeks and 6 days! No, we're not counting. :)

*Jarren has become a hypochondriac. He's been playing a lot of tetherball. A lot. I'm pretty sure this all stemmed from a pulled or strained muscle. He thought his heart was hurting. He swears he's having a heart attack. Then the pain moves. His lungs are hurting and he can't breathe. Then his heart is burning. His skin might peel off, because he got a blister on his hand. His leg hurts; his foot hurts; his arm hurts; his head hurts; his heart hurts; his stomach hurts; etc etc etc. He's had days where he'll call home 3 or 4 times to tell me he's dying. And now he's obsessed with blood clots. He swears he's developing a blood clot because he got a bruise. He'll start crying and beg us to slap his arm because it might be numb and then he'll constantly compare his arms and legs and swear that one or the other is turning purple or green. He's constantly checking his pulse and then he'll start panicking that it's beating too slow or too fast. He's scared to shower because he might get a blood clot, faint, and die and no one will know. He's scared to sleep because he might die while he's asleep. He's been sleeping in Jenna's room for 10 days now. All the reassurance and patience (or trying to be) is sooooooo wearing!!! Imagine our shock when every day, he manages to wake up! :) Okay, I'll quit being sarcastic.

*Jenna still doesn't like to go to bed, but since Jarren's been in there and he gets so tired and goes to sleep early, she does too. He also gets up early, so she does too. Her reading is still astounding! They have a language immersion program at our school that starts in 1st grade, so I'm going to a meeting about it this week to see about getting her into it.

Sorry for the extremely long post, but that's pretty much our February in a nutshell. I'm really going to try and be better about posting in the future. Wish me luck!!!