paint me please

This cute little thing of a table was practically talking to me when I stumbled upon it at a yard sale. It said kindly, "Please take me home and paint me, please?" 

The table was $10. All wood, heavy, and wobbly.


hmmmmm


I decided to respond, "ok, ok little table...I mean at one time you were pretty awesome with your cool circle design thingy on top, but time and probably children have really taken a toll on you. Your legs are a little wobbly and trust me, I know how it feels to want nice legs again...but then again, those casters are pretty hot...don't see those every day...alright, I'll take you home."

so with a little love...I tightened some screws, sanded, primed, sanded, primed, sanded again (especially the top) and then painted that little table with several light coats of bright white. Then funny enough, I distressed it. That table must have been so confused. "What on earth is she doing to me?" After a perfect paint job I then rough it up with sandpaper??? Oh the things we do sometimes. 


Then my friend POLY came into the final scene. Several light coats of polyurethane with of course more sanding here and there...and finally the little table is happy and complete... 

with nice legs and all.


I loved how this table turned out. 

  

32 things of April

Yesterday I turned 32. So, why not update the personal life history...let the posterity know a little more of what that great great great grandma April was all about anyway- mostly irrelevant facts about me but was sort of fun for me to write...

32 things of April

1. If I could live life over I would be a dancer. A Contemporary Dance Theatre dancer is probably the direction I would go because any type of music goes and FEELING is involved. Only Chay and my close friends know how much I love to dance. I go crazy with a good beat. But I can't live life over again so Kenzie, Ju-Ju, and I will just have to continue our mid-day kitchen dance parties for now.

2. I love to improve things. Anything- I like to take something and see how it could be better- this could be a gift or a vice.

3. Too much planning of anything stresses me out. Not a fan of being busy. I am the most happy when I'm surrounded by people I know and love in a place that I know and love. Sitting on a dock with my feet in the water and laughing and telling stories with a bunch of friends or family for a couple hours sounds 100 times better than some exotic trip to a foreign country.

4. I hate being misunderstood. I don't take certain criticism very well. You tell me to "work harder" I feel not good enough. You tell me "You are doing great" I accomplish more than I originally imagined and feel on top of the world.

5. I can't fake "having a good time" any longer than 30 minutes. Past that, I get a headache.

6. Mom never let me grow my hair out as a little girl. So basically I looked like a little boy. I was mistaken for a boy several times when I was little. I would come home every day and put a t-shirt on my head and pretend I had long beautiful hair. So childhood scars??? I think so, because I have no intention of EVER cutting my hair super short until it is gray, straggly, and falling out of my head.

7. I am passionate about health and proper nutrition. I have learned a lot about my body and the personal journey has been rewarding.

8. On that note, my favorite candy is Almond Joy and Louck's Sesame Snaps.

9. Best decision ever: GIVING UP COUPONING. I ended up spending money on things my family DOES NOT need. An occasional coupon for something necessary like soap, yes,....but I hated the time it took and how I could never catch on to a system without getting stressed out. Scratch. NO GUILT. FREEDOM!

10. I lied in an eye exam in the 6th grade so I could get glasses. That didn't work out too well. 32 years old and still 20/20. What a blessing.

11. I am so so so grateful I was raised in a home with a Mom who believed and taught me all about Jesus Christ. Who knows where I'd be without that knowledge in my life.

12. Least favorite Holiday: HALLOWEEN. I'm sure I just lost more than half of my friends. I still love you.

13. I love passionate people. They are by far the easiest to become best friends with. It's a breath of fresh air when I hear someone say "oh I just love...." Or "I am so happy because...." or "I just feel that..." or "man, that makes me so mad" or jumps up and down with excitement or belts out a big hearty laugh...love the passion- ok maybe not all the time 24/7 but you know what I mean.

14. scored 22 points in a HS basketball game and the coach still didn't set up the last play for me to score- she picked someone else with 30 seconds left in the game. She doubted me. The girl she picked missed the shot. We lost by one point. I would have won that game. I still have dreams about that game 12 years ago.

15. Super Pheromones. Every guy I have dated says I have a distinct smell-- a smell I guess that is irresistible. I was a wallflower at dances and didn't have guys falling at my feet, but once the few I dated got a whiff, they were hooked :)

16. I love color...but green will always be my favorite.

17. I think I have a lot of really good ideas.

18. I go into a deep depression before I start my period. I've noticed that diet helps a ton.

19. The books piled up by my bedside: Total Money Makeover, the Scriptures, The Parenting Breakthrough, Have A New Kid by Friday, pH miracle Food for Health, Teach Ye Diligently, Mere Christianity and Eliminate Chaos In Your Home. You can learn a lot about a person by the stacks of books on their nightstand. As you can see, I've got to improve in almost every area of my life :)

20. I have been without a cell phone for about a year and a half. I love it and hate it. I love it because I am present in my kids lives. The park, the store, driving to school-- my kids have all of me. I watched a huge eye opener experience at the park one day involving a little girl, a mother, and a cell phone and I vowed to stay off the phone as much as possible when I'm with my kids after seeing what I saw. But again, I miss having a phone terribly...we will see how long this lasts.

21. We do not have TV either. BLESSING! Our nights are not spent watching TV but spent doing other useless things :) No, we have found other things to do as a family and it has been wonderful not to feel glued to a favorite show- but again, there is always late night Hulu.

22. I always always wear a bra. I hate going bra-less. Even at night, I can't fall asleep until my girls are tucked in and protected :)

23. I love the elderly. They inspire me. Well the nice cute ones that is- 

24. I have several songs I have composed on the piano and guitar but can never come up with any words...well some words but I can never finish a whole song. I have a silly wish to publish songs I have written. I love to sing. I really do. Just a weird part of my life that I don't know what to do with.

25. Late at night while trying to fall asleep I lay in bed and almost always think of my children.

26. I have about 5 unfinished children's books I have started to write...

27. Growing up I had a horse named Charlie, a lamb named Dr. Pepper, and another horse named Sharm. We had pigs, cows, and chickens also. I remember learning to change irrigation pipes at a very young age. Butcher day would scare me to death. I would hear the gunshot and I would run and hide in my bedroom. 1 hour later there was a 5 gallon bucket sitting next to the back door with a huge cow tongue and liver buried in ice. I would look out toward the barn and there was one of the heifers I had just fed the night before, hanging upside down and gutted.

28. I need 100% organization and function or I'm completely lost and I don't even know where to start. If I walk into the laundry room and it looks like a tornado went through there, I will walk out, shut the door, and try again another day.

29. I paint furniture. I have painted almost a dozen pieces so I can officially say "I paint furniture".

30. Chay says he sort of likes it when I get mad or excited because my eyes get huge.

31. Growing up I had a wild imagination. Mom said I was the easiest child because I could entertain myself for hours. I was a lost indian living off the land, I won the Olympics on my trampoline, I had 20 sisters and we all had to share a room, I was an Eskimo who was crossing the great Antarctica in my saucer sled--at least I had that team of dogs to help. I also crossed the ocean on my brother's waterbed. I remember the day I stopped pretending. I was 13. Yes, 13. I was home sick and Mom was gone. I pretended to be a nurse who was helping a wounded soldier during WW2...and suddenly I felt really really stupid and embarrassed and I started to laugh and I stopped. Just like that. Stopped. Never went back. Kind of sad I'd say...especially now that I have children.

32. and one of my favorite quotes by Elder James. E. Faust:

"Each of us needs to reach down into the innermost recesses of our souls to find the divinity that is deep within us and to earnestly petition the Lord for an endowment of special wisdom and inspiration. Only when we so profoundly reach the depths of our beings we can discover our true identity, our self worth, and our purpose in life...Only as we seek to be purged of selfishness and of concern for recognition and wealth can we find some sweet relief from anxieties, hurts, pains, miseries, and concerns of this world...God can not only help us find a sublime and everlasting joy and contentment, but he will change us so that we can become heirs of the kingdom of God. This is really the recovery of the sacred within us." April 1995


and well, there you go.

a boy

Having a boy is an entirely new experience.
I Love it.
I think it's funny.
I hate going to the store now.

Xander's heightened sense of curiosity makes for "a bad mommy" scene at places that require children to stay still for long periods of time. He either screams his head off or he is knocking 20 bottles of ketchup off the shelf.

My girls would never leave my side no matter how mobile they had become.

I love the "warned about" energy that comes with the boy package...
But the messes in the house have escalated to a whole new level.

This boy is into EVERYTHING!

He is fascinated with large quantaties of small items hidden in secret places--like feminine products for instance. I'm still finding random tampons in the weirdest places all over the house...lovely.



However, Xander is by far my easiest baby when it comes to understanding his specific needs. He knows what he wants and does whatever it takes to get it--like his Daddy!...or is that a male specie generality? If so? Love it.



But I wouldn't be quick to say boys are less emotional than girls...not at this age anyway. That boy stereotype does NOT align well with Xander. He loves to express every emotion besides happiness with screaming and tears...and sometimes it drives me up the wall. But then he looks at me and my heart melts..."why are you so out-of-control adorable?"

As soon as he started to recognize other objects in the world besides my face and boobs, Xander was instantly drawn to cars, balls, trucks, guns and motorcycles. Really? I thought on some level that maybe all that boy stuff was a learned behavior. It IS NOT. He is already humming and shifting gears when he pushes his toy truck around the floor. Fascinating.

So what about in the olden days? Before cars and anything motorized? Did little boys make gun shot and horse whinny sounds? Cowboys and Indians? Well it sure isn't PC to play that anymore :)

Although Daddy might be really cool...

Mommy is the most sought after special thing in the world to Xander. It's like he can't get enough of me. I'm his number one girl--what can I say? I've had mommies with little boys inform me of this obsession...



and I'm more than willing to deal with it. 
Love my boy.

spinach for the soul

ok, some of you have read my blog for awhile and have heard me talk about or write about eating alkaline.

What is eating alkaline you might ask? I really don't want to explain it all. But there is a link at the bottom of this post if you're interested. But basically it's a really weird way of eating...especially in our American culture. You know, like eating kale and collard greens for breakfast. Really weird.

But what I do know is that eating this way works wonders on this precious body of mine. It is a theory that I feel is the correct way for me to eat. Whenever I eat this way I feel on top of the world. I have tons of energy, bounce in my step, clear mind, lose weight, and I'm less irritable. :)

Ok, so yesterday I decided to do something really weird. My b-day is in 9 days. 100% alkaline foods besides oily fish (neutral) and cut out all acidic foods until I am the lovely age of 32.

Can I do it??? Yes I can. Yesterday I woke up with this new crazy idea.

It will be my gift to myself. It will be hard.

Yesterday I was craving sugar and bread all day. I ate mostly almonds, cucumbers, peas, green beans, salmon (neutral), tomatoes, celery, almond butter. I even felt a little sick from changing my diet suddenly. I peed a lot from the green drink.

 But this morning I woke up feeling great. I still want to eat those yummy granola bars in the pantry...but day 2 is almost gone. I even made homemade rolls and didn't eat one! I love the challenge. In about a week the cravings should be gone.

HERE is an awesome reference of what and what NOT to eat while following an alkaline regimen.

and HERE is a great explanation of what this whole shin dig crazy diet is all about.

spiritually fed

This weekend I was spiritually fed. I was reminded of God's love for me and for my dear almost always sweet family. We watched General Conference as a family.

I feel peaceful. Calm. Comfort. Assurance. Loved. Safe.

We were directed to keep believing, keep trusting, and keep relying on God despite the trials, the heartaches, the evil in the world, and the loneliness that find us too often in this life journey.

The great feelings I felt during the conference were that of truth.

I belong to something great.
I know God will take care of His people.
The Savior LIVES. He is present in our lives.
God the Father lives.
Satan wants to destroy families
The heavens are not CLOSED.
God talks to man. Just like he talked to Moses, Noah, Samuel, Peter, Paul. He still calls prophets to lead and direct his people. Why wouldn't he in these last days before Christ's second coming? Why would he close the heavens and let us feign for ourselves? He never did in biblical times. He wouldn't today. He wouldn't. He doesn't.

This I know.



Mom always loved conference. She loved the choir. When the choir sang this song at conference I couldn't help but tear up knowing Mom would have teared up if she were still here and knowing Joette, 800 miles away, probably was tearing up at the same time. Families are FOREVER.



So besides the challenge of watching 8 hours of conference with a 5, 4, and 1 year old, we still did pretty awesome as a family. My girls could sense the importance of the weekend and they listened better than I thought. Xander? Thank goodness for NAP TIME.