just what i needed

i got this book for christmas and i love it! i couldn't put it down. not because it was so gripping and i couldn't wait to find out what happened next...i already knew. i just love the way she tells their story and the amazing faith jon and kate have.

the gosselins are non-denominational christians, and they have so much faith in God. i am truly amazed by their story. i found myself to be somewhat similar to kate. we share some struggles. i also have pcos and am a major planner. i don't like when things don't go according to MY plan. it was very comforting to hear her story about the fairytale life she had planned out in her head, and how she dealt with it when things didn't go according to her plan. she had so much faith and trusted in God and his plan for them. she knew He had a plan for her and finally resolved herself to allow it to happen. i felt so much more at peace and ok that things maybe aren't working out how i thought they should. she quoted scriptures from the Bible and countless times attributed everything that has happened to God and His love for her. i have a lot to learn from her. she is an amazing, strong woman and a role model for me.

as my title says...this is exactly what i needed and quite possibly my favorite christmas gift (thanks jd!). i have been struggling with "why's" and "when's" for months and months. its hard to keep those thoughts from coming, especially when i thought i had everything planned out how it should be. i felt so much better after i read this. i feel like i can move on to other things, be happy, and trust in my Heavenly Father. He does have a plan for us and i need the faith to follow it. He has an even better plan that i am sure to understand when it happens.

until then, i will take comfort in the words of kate gosselin...

God is in control

God is gracious and strong

God can be trusted

God is love

God will provide

Give God the glory and praise

i keep on falling...

i had a realization today.

this is where it begins:

in 9th grade i fell while rollerblading at classic skating (i know, right?) and of course landed on my knee. that resulted in post traumatic medial patellar plica syndrome, a few cortisone injections that did not work, and eventually surgery to remove the plica tissue.

in 2004 (almost 5 years to the day of the rollerblading incident) i fell snowboarding and tore my mcl. ok, so it wasn't the actual snowboarding part so much as the getting off the lift. i fell when i tried to get off along with the 3 others with me and didn't want to get hit by the lift so i turned to my left and my board, only being attached to one foot, went to the right...twist. i think the ride down in the ski patrol sled might have been worse.

as i was walking into barnes & noble one day my heel got caught in the little ripped edge of my pants and caused a freak accident. not realizing what had happened when i got out of the car, i started walking. since my heel on my right leg was connected to my left pant leg when i took a step with the right, it automatically moved the left and then the right and so on. i think i lasted about 3 steps before i was flat on the ground. i couldn't even bring myself to go inside. i got in the car laughing and crying because i wasn't sure if it was more funny or sad.

i have also slipped and fallen on my knees numerous time since then....in the rain, in the grocery store, down the stairs or in my mom's driveway on the ice.

today was a whole different story...

i'm hurrying across the parking lot this morning for a 7am meeting. it's 6:58.i decide to cut across a planter in the parking lot to get me there 30 seconds quicker. there was one of those green sprinkler box things that i thought i would step on instead of getting my new shoes dirty in the bark and mud. it must have been a little frosty because the next thing i knew i was on the ground...in my skirt. awesome. always a good way to start the day! unfortunately i can't even remember how i landed, if i flashed everyone around, or how many people saw me. i quickly got up and pretended like nothing happened just as the lady in front of me asks, "are you ok?". yes, i'm a ok...just a little sore on the backside. and i punched in at 7:01. bummer.

gettin my stamp on

i joined a card group and this is what i made on thursday.

i just love the skunk!

i stink you're sweet!

i'm getting all sorts of creative. not that i can take credit for the creativity of this little number because i only copied the cute sample jordan made.

we'll see what i can come up with...i have some cute bird stamps comin my way.

like a fat kid loves cake

yesterday and today i went to my cake decorating class at carrie's cakes.
AMAZING. expensive, but worth it.

carrie is awesome and i so want to be her.

her entire basement is a kitchen and she has every tool, color, flower, and stand imaginable. she has 10 drawers just dedicated to ribbon (strange that i'm really fascinated by that, but i really love ribbon for some reason).

i learned so much from her in 2 days. wow.

let me know what you think....

this is the finished product. it is exactly how i pictured it.

there are roses that go on the top, but those take days to dry.

carrie and i

megan, rebecca, me and sheilah with our cakes.

i might be a little biased, but i think mine is the best.


i cant wait to make another cake....any takers?

merry christmas, happy new year, and everything else...

now that i've sort of recovered from the holidays and a nasty cold, here we are january 5th...

NEW YEARS

we kept it pretty chill for new years this year because i was sick. we went to the kitchen's for dinner and played lots of shaun white snowboarding on the wii. then, we went to my mom and rod's and played powergrid and watched some crazy guy jumping the arc de triumph in vegas.

new years day we went shopping, to lunch, drove around by ensign peak, played more wii and went to texas roadhouse.

we stopped and took these awesome pictures on the hill just below ensign peak.

CHRISTMAS EVE

we started out at grandma k's on christmas eve with homemade chicken noodle soup with the noodles i helped make! we received our highly anticipated and predictable toilet paper and hot chocolate gift. that may sound silly, but we love getting toilet paper every year!

we went to my mom and rod's opened our christmas eve presents and slept over.

jd playing his saxophone and jeremy singing along

the fam - my mom made all the girls cute aprons and gave the boys a bunch of $5 gift cards to restaurants for lunch

CHRISTMAS DAY

christmas day was especially busy. we started out at my mom and rod's, then went to the kitchen's, grandma and grandpa spencer's, my aunt sally's, and finally my dad's.

purse picture...just for ro

notice ashley and i have the same purse and the same pants, ha.

(WARNING: don't enlarge this picture to see, it terrible enough at the size its at)

jd posing with his new boots

they look especially sexy with the shorts, don't you think?

linc opening his presents

he's a crack up, once he opened diego it was over

his new trike

uncle adam riding linc's new bike

we finished out christmas day with seven pounds.

wow, it was sad. good, but sad.