Signed the Papers!!

It is OFFICIAL!! We will be saying goodbye to our time here at Wymount. We have loved it! and it is really hard to leave all of our friends!
But, change will be good. We can move in May 14th. We are so so excited! I am going to feel spoiled the whole time we live here! The Summer will be a little rough living but oh so worth it.

We live right across the street from our really good friend The Robertson's (from our mission) Another great change, church time will be 11:00 a.m. instead of our current 8:30 a.m. time! How nice will that be!?!


Pictures to follow!.....

Savvy Moments--Bins and Cupboards....

This is the baby swing, but when Judah is not in it Savannah thinks it is her personal movie swing. She loves swinging in it!



Savannah LOVES climbing in bins and cupboards! We are getting ready to move and when I emptied it, she filled it back up!



This is her play bin. She loves playing with the toys inside, it makes it easier to reach all of them.

Easter

Today is Easter. Our church meeting today really was incredible. We had beautiful musical numbers and a talk that was given by a sister in our ward who had gone to Jerusalem and took a tour of the Savior's last five days. What a great opportunity to see what He saw and imagine what He might have felt.

I know some people believe that following the commandments was much easier for Jesus Christ than for us because He is God. But I know that He was also mortal, just like us, during His time here on Earth and He had the same temptations we have, He suffered and had trials, I know that He went through so much more than we can comprehend. He chose to follow Heavenly Father. And as He did that He became stronger, He was able to bear more burdens and handle more hardships. He grew and learned just as we need to. He is our example for how to live our lives so that we may be able to handle, with the Lord's help, more trials and more hardships to become better, to be prepared for our responsibilities in this world and the next. He taught us that no matter your circumstances you can choose to learn who the Lord is and choose to follow His teachings. You can become better. The Lord has a plan for you, if you are willing to follow it.

In Relief Society we had a sister talk about being in Europe for Easter and how bells start ringing all throughout the city on Friday and in the evening at the same time the Savior was crucified the bells stop. And no bells ring for three days. Sunday morning bursts with every bell ringing celebrating Jesus Christ's resurrection. What a beautiful symbolic tradition. I am grateful for Jesus Christ and His sacrifice for me. I am grateful for the hope I feel through repentance. I know that as I turn to the Lord and turn away from my sins that I can become more like Him. He will strengthen me through my trials and help me to learn and become the woman I hope to be. I testify these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

How To Live Happy--Live A Glass Half Full Life

My Fourth Challenge is more of a change of mind than an actual task. See the world HALF FULL! We all know that things are not that great in our lives ALL the time. But a lot of our happiness has to do with how we handle the hard times and the attitude we choose to have while we live. We will never have everything perfect, or have everything we need and/or want, we will never have a trouble free life. But the one thing we can have without anything else, is HAPPINESS. When we make the best of things and choose to be happy inspite of hardships or discomfort or even more serious trials we are able to enjoy life!
It is funny because while I had this idea set and the first couple sentances saved in my draft section, Glenn totally called me on this very subject, we are trying to move, maybe lol, and so I started packing, I have boxes covering my kitchen and living room and it looks like we may not move until the end of May and truthfully I did not automatically look at the glass half-full, I thought of how not fun it was going to be to live with half of our stuff packed and having boxes all over, I have to admit I was murmering a little and Glenn said to me "Is the glass half-full?" and I had not told him what my subject this week was going to be yet. What a way to realize that I need to work on this more than I even thought!!! So, perfect timing! I commit to having a Glass Half Full Life!

The feeling of wanting to be transferred....

The only way I can describe how I am feeling right now is the feeling a missionary gets when they are ready to be transferred. (and I don't mean trunky it is a different feeling entirely) I talked to Glenn and he is feeling the same way so WE ARE MOVING, most likely. yay! and boo!

I will start with the yay part, I don't have a washer, dryer, or dishwasher. I know it isn't a big deal but life would be a little easier for me if I did. Also yay for meeting new people and making more friends and it is a newish adventure!!
The boo part, I am going to miss my friends and this ward SOOOO much!! They really almost kept us here on their own, but then we both prayed about it and felt good about moving, so that is direction we are heading.

We found one condo that was seriously AMAZING! I LOVE LOVE LOVE it! The only drawback is that the living room might be too small for our couch. The best part about this place is the kitchen...picture.....new dark wood cupboards + teal walls!!! (it is darker than this color but you get the idea) =my favorite kitchen combo ever.
Apartment hunting we go! We will see how it turns out, I will let you know : )

Savannah's word a day....

Savannah has always been a talker but she is starting to actually use words now! : )
The thing is she will say something once or for a day and then NEVER AGAIN! I don't know if she is playing tricks on me or what...but it is still fun. Here is a list of words she has said, I have witnesses!

Please
Thank you
Up
OkieDokie
No
Ya
Ok Ya (this one happened when she was on her play phone)

She is really at a fun stage, minus the teething days haha.

How to Live Happy-Become Friends with Someone Different than You

Third Challenge BECOME FRIENDS WITH SOMEONE DIFFERENT THAN YOU I think when we make friends, we generally look for someone who is similar to us, or has similar likes...naturally......because when we find something we both like it is easier to talk to each other. But some of the best things I have learned in life have come from people completely opposite of myself. Here is a lesson from my life, don't be too disappointed, I was still learning and I know I don't come out looking all that great from this story, but I am really happy for this experience because it has changed me, which I will explain after... I used to work at a restaurant called Passages and I did the breakfast shift for a little while, we had hired a new girl named Alice. When she came she had really bright red/pink hair..with brown roots about two inches deep and bright red lipstick. We had music in the back and she listened to really weird Indie music and she read really corny teeny bopper books...I thought she was REALLY WEIRD... At the breakfast shift there was alot of downtime the day that we worked together. Over time I came to love that girl! It happened slowly as she would tell me what she liked and why she liked it, and as she told me funny stories. I came to love her corky opinions and more carefree and outgoing styles. The best lesson I learned from her was not to judge someone so quickly, not to decide we weren't going to get along because we were too different. I came to really appreciate the things she liked because SHE LIKED THEM, even if I didn't. I will always be grateful for Alice and the priceless lesson and friendship we had. I have been so open now to being EVERYONE's friend, knowing that I will learn from them and enjoy their friendship because of who they are. Also learning what they struggle with and what may be hard for them, has helped me to be more compassionate and really makes you realize that everyone has a hard time with certain things and not with other things but you end up feeling a love for them and hoping that their trial can be relieved in some way. And sometimes we have the ability to alleviate some of the pain they may be dealing with. I know that this challenge can be a little scary, reaching out to people who may have that same belief that,"we are not alike and would not get along" but I know that as you do, you can change hearts! Good luck!

Family Home Evening-Bowling

For Family Home Evening tonight we went BOWLING! Savannah was having so much fun! She was so cute and learned quickly to throw the ball at the pins. It was a fun activity!

This cracked me right up!! I don't know where she was going but she sure thinks she does!

How to Live Happy-Choose not to be offended

Second Challenge Choose Not To Be Offended. This challenge is a lot more difficult than the first one. But I have been thinking about it a lot, especially because of some circumstances in my life more recently. This lesson for me really started when I first got married, we had just moved into a ward and I had volunteered to do nursery for some activity. there were a couple other Sisters there and I tried to talk with them, but the main one talking made it clear she really wasn't interested in talking to me. A few weeks go by and our ward had its Christmas Party, when Glenn and I walked in, there were a lot of tables with places on them to sit. We had made some friends and I was looking forward to making more. But the far table had the most room on it and it just happened to have that girl at the table and what are the odds but that was where Glenn wanted to sit. I kind of groaned a little and asked if we could sit anywhere else, and I have never seen Glenn look at me so disappointed. And so I said we could go sit by her and we did. Afterward we talked about it and he did not believe me that she was rude to me. He said he was sure she didn't mean it on purpose or anything. And I KNEW she did. While we were discussing it, Glenn pretty much said "Why can't you just assume the best of people?" He taught me a lesson to CHOOSE not to think that someone was trying to slight you. Even if you KNOW that they were, just react and live like they didn't even if they DID mean to do what they did. Glenn really is my best example of this, he really never gets offended or hurt by others and he ALWAYS thinks the best of other people. It was a little bit of a tricky lesson to learn because all growing up girls realize that other girls are mean and we have had personal experience, so we watch carefully for the subtle ways in which other girls insult us. I have been trying really hard to not be offended about stuff that other people do to me or if I think someone did something wrong, unfair, or unkind to me and I feel so much happier because of it!! It is actually really nice to not waste my energy getting all riled up and just forgiving someone as soon if not before it even happens. Having that quick forgiveness has, I know it seems a funny way to explain it, but it has lightened my life a little bit. It took a little time, and I am sure it isn't a perfect attribute for me yet, but I am working on it and I can see the difference it has made so far! I hope I can continue to CHOOSE not to be offended in any situation that is placed in my life. and I think that our wards and our families would be so much better off if we were all trying to master this concept. Good Luck to those who will try this one, don't give up if it doesn't come easy!!! Elder Bednar said, "Through the strengthening power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, you and I can be blessed to avoid and triumph over offense." (CR Nov 2006) I know this to be true, if we exercise Charity towards others our feelings of hurt and anger can be washed away.

Judah 14 weeks

He is such a HAPPY little guy!

I kept trying to pull his arms out and he kept putting them back : )

He was having fun as long as I was playing with him, but he is not quite ready for alone time in this thing.

The dreaded subject of....

Emergency Preparedness..a topic of discussion for a very long time. Everyone's situation is a little different. I just happen to be in a situation where I can't do all of the food storage for a year, really I don't even have room or money for a three month supply. So I had to take a look at what is best for me to focus on right now for our family situation. I decided a one month food supply would be within my means. Also I want to be prepared in case we are out of power for up to a week. I went through my pantry and took two trips to Macey's to take advantage of their caselots, and I now have at least one month of food that we actually LIKE to eat!! I was so happy, now I just need to get face masks(they say that is one of the three most important quick things to grab for an earthquake. Water and Flashlight being the other two) and focus on power outage preparedness. I think there are little things that would be really helpful in an emergency, and I want to be useful if something happens.

Savvy Moments

I opened up Savannah's diaper and found my first surprise(hopefully my last..) she had swallowed and pooped out her little green hair clippy. And yes I let that one become a casualty of the toddler war.
*****
Savannah is getting some of her back molars, she is extra cranky : ) and slobbery and she has a runny nose...so we have been having the "wipe the nose" battle. The other morning she picked up a burp cloth and wiped her own nose! When I got all excited and told her what a good girl she was, she started bouncing up and down and threw her arms around my neck! I just love her so much!!!
*****
Last night Savannah comes around the corner and she is wet all around her face, and her hair...So I am searching around trying to figure out how she could have possibly gotten wet. Bathroom door closed? check. All bottles and sippies closed? check. No glasses or cups on the ground? check. So I ask Glenn if he picked up anything that would have held liquid or something? He said he had picked up the pitcher off of the kitchen floor... Glenn had left the pitcher of Apple Juice too close to the edge of the table and Savannah had pulled it down and poured it on her head. Lovely, Apple Juice Hair....bath time to follow! : )
*****
Judah is SO ticklesh EVERYWHERE!! He just giggles everytime I get at him! He is just the cutest little boy!!! The best part is everytime you smile at him, you will get the most heartmelting sweet smile back!

First Challenge-PLAN AN EVENT

For my first idea I decided to start with something a little intimidating for some people. But START SMALL...DON'T STRESS OUT, it is a lot SIMPLER than you think! Plan an event to do within the next two or three weeks! 1-Decide what you want to do -Eat Dessert and Talk -Get together and watch a fun show, like American Idol 2-Choose who you are going to invite -a few neighbors -some family members -some friends-a few people from church 3-Pick the day and send the invite -if you have emails then create a little invite -or make a paper one and mail it -or simply make a few phone calls -if you want to step out of the box a little more, make a creative corky name for your event...CHICK CHAT, AMERICAN IDOL NIGHT, NIGHT AT THE MOVIES...etc 4-Start making Preparations -whether it is making sure you have enough chairs or buying the groceries and making the dessert -make a list and figure out what day you need to do each thing 5-ENJOY THE NIGHT! 6-Comment on my blog and let me know what you are going to do and how it turned out! (also if you have any questions feel free to ask!) *Good Luck and HAVE FUN with the Challenge!

- - I have been able to gain a lot of new friends by doing this activity myself. and it has been so much fun for me, and Savannah thinks it is the best thing in the world when we have all the girls over! I have put together several activities for all of my neighbors, and the sisters in my ward and so many of them thank me for giving them an opportunity to get away and be able to have fun with other women!

Savannah, just turned one!

Savannah was not the most cooperative this time, had to use the phone to get these..: )

...and don't even think about taking it from her haha

She didn't really like sitting on the chair and if she moved it would rock, so it kind of helped keep her from getting off

Aunt Jean..this one's for you!!