Sweet Giggles

I wanted to blog today about my nieces & nephews. I think they're adorable! I love them all MUCH!!! Yes, of course they can be stinkers little angels, but that's why I love them right? Right!

As I was cooking & cleaning in my kitchen this afternoon after church, I just stood their taking pictures of the kiddos jumping on their trampoline! (BTW..my sister lives right next door to me!) They are so happy, and full of

life! I love them!!!

Happy Birthday Richard

Well...you are now officially 30 years old! How does it feel? Of course it doesn't actually feel different...but it does at the same time!

30 years ago, you were born into this world, and I am so thankful to your parents for bringing you into this world. I thank my lucky stars(and of course my Heavenly Father), for allowing me to spend my life with you.

You are my very best friend, and my most favorite person in the world. You make me smile, you make me feel loved and I am so ETERNALLY thankful that I get to spend Eternity with you.

I only hope that the next 30 years of your life are filled with as much joy, love and fabulous memories that the first 30 years were made of.

Love you always & forever
Mindy
xoxo

Birthday Fun...

What is it you may ask? That's easy...it's Richard!

On Saturday Richard turns the big 30!!! We are 6 months apart, so I look forward to his birthday because we will be the same age again! lol.(He will never let me live that one down!)


He is the bestest thing that has ever happened to me! I love this man, more and more each year...and I am so thankful to call him mine!


Things have been good here, just busy as can be! But that's a good thing right? Right!

The wind has been so crazy here, that most of the snow we got 1 1/2 weeks ago is melting away. This has been such a strange winter, I must say, but I'll take it!

Wow, I'm pretty boring eh? Oh ya! So here's a funny story for ya...hopefully you'll laugh, because EVERY TIME I think about it, it cracks me up!

So at work...(we work on the phones...) I played a prank on my mom. p.s. I get to work with my mom and Richard!

I sent my mom a message to call a lady named " Iwana Tinkle". So you would think that just by reading this, she would get that it's a joke right?? WRONG! She called the number that I put on the message(which was just a friends number)...and asked for Iwana Tinkle...my friend pretended to not understand, so she asked for this person 2-3 times! It was so funny, we were all laughing!

Oh, another good one....

When we bought our 3d tv last year, we had my parents over to check it out. We told my mom to try out our cool remote for the tv, and told her that it was voice activating! Did she believe us?? OH YA! She started to talk to the remote-telling it to turn off the tv...well wouldn't you believe that the tv went off?? Then she told it to turn it back on...and it TURNED BACK ON! What are the chances right? Then we told her afterwards that it doesn't really have such special powders, lol...and we all had a great laugh!!!

later sk8er!

But I want it!!!!

Well here it is, 3 times of blogging this week....aren't you SOOO proud of me??? lol . So as I was just doing my make-up and my hair and while doing this of course I'm thinking of a gazillion things!
On the weekends when I get ready, it may sound silly, but it gives me time to just think to myself, and reflect on some of the things that I want....or think I need. Some of the things may be realistic, and reasonable to want, and of course some are not.

For example,

-I want a bigger home....
-I want to have NO debt(I know...this may be a bit unrealistic, lol)
-I want to be healthy, as much as I can be-both in mind and in spirit(and of body of course)
-I don't want to have to worry about money...because I HATE money!(especially if you don't have it,lol)

and of course, the one thing I want probably more than anything....is to have children.

YES, I said it, I want children. Everyone knows this, but it's like the forbidden topic because of the sensitivity of the situation. We have been trying to have a family...for a little over 7 years now...and it's so incredibly frustrating to not be able to have one.
Why you may ask? I don't know-there are no reasons that are related to health issues....so WHO KNOWS??? (Heavenly Father does)

I think about this topic....ALL of the time! I wonder...why not us? I know that we would be amazing parents...having children is something that I've dreamed of since I was like 12 years old...I just love the idea of being a mom...and taking care of my family.
Now for some people this would make them think....is their a God? If so, why would He do this to someone who has such righteous desires?

Of course, I know that God lives, and that he loves us, all individually. I know that because there have been too many instances in my life to say any different. This is where faith comes in as well, because to get through these " I want, but can't have"(at least for the time being), things you just have to believe that what is happening to you right now, is what was meant to be.

I know that life isn't easy, it's downright miserable sometimes, but if I can just hold on to the fact that I know that my Heavenly Father loves me, and STOP to think that maybe, just maybe He has a plan in store(and I already know that He does), then that should get me through the difficult things that I just cannot control.

So their you have it people, life isn't easy, but there's a reason for everything, you just have to try and have FAITH that things will work out, because they will. I know this, totally and completely.

Off to get dressed for Church now....and to be Spiritually Fed:)

Favorite Weekend Things....

(and NO, these are not our feet! lol)


1)I love sleeping in! Yes, yes I do. I got up at 10:30 today...and it was fabulous!

2)Cleaning the house when it's still bright and sunny outside...while BLASTING music!!!

3)Taking my time getting ready, and again while singing my HEART AWAY to music.....

4)Spending some good quality time with my sweet heart.

5)Being outside...enjoying the sunshine

6)Having the chance to see my nephews & nieces

7)Playin' with our kitties

8)*Going to Church and to be spiritually rejuvenated*

9)The ability to do NOTHING if that's what I want to do!!!

10)Sitting around in my cozy p.j.'s & Bathrobe...

That's all I could think of for now, but let me tell ya, I love my weekends.

p.s. The above 10 listed things are in no particular order.

Today, Richard(who is still currently sleeping)and I are going to get some groceries, maybe go see a movie & veg. We are starting to eat all of the recipes that we got from our
"Biggest Loser Cookbook" and I'm SUPER excited because they are so yummy and healthy!

Have a beautiful weekend all!)

p.s. Is there anything that ya'll want to hear about on our blog?? If so, let me know!)

New Beginnings...

Wow, how silly I feel! It has been SEVEN MONTHS!!! Sorry! It's funny because so much has happened in the last 7 months! Last year was a year full of MUCH stress...and business! I don't know why, but I just really wasn't in the blogging mood. But I am now!

Last May Richards brother Matt was put in the hospital and almost died, BUT he is totally fine now and is happily married! It was a really great year, as far as being able to travel to Idaho and visit family their!

The holidays were fantastic! It was so much fun having Ione(Richards mom:) here, to spend Christmas with us. It was a blessing to have her with us.

This year is going to be a good one for Richard and I, I just feel it! We have set so many awesome goals as a couple, and personal goals as well. This year is a year for us to accomplish them and to grow together. We're both super excited.

I am also SO EXCITED because March 30th, is my Mission Reunion in Utah! I have been home from my Mission this month...for 8 YEARS! Do you know how OLD that makes me feel???!! I am so excited to see my Mission President, and all of the other Missionaries that I served with, it is going to be an AMAZING experience! We will also be able to stop through Idaho on our way and way back home to visit family their, so all in all it's going to be great.

Our Renos have been put on hold totally. Not just because of lack of $$$, but also we have other priorities that come first...so that's the update their.

Believe it or not, we just got snow 2 days ago! It was been such a mild winter so far(besides the horrid wind), so it's been a treat.

I am thankful to my Heavenly Father for blessing me with another year with my sweet heart. I am thankful to Heavenly Father for all of the blessing that he gives me, all of the time. We have a nice home, a roof over our heads and we are so blessed with good families and health. I am grateful for my Savior, and hope that through this new year, I can allow the Light of Christ to shine from me, and be able to serve and help all of my brothers & sisters as he would have us do.

I have a new calling in Church-I'm the Relief Society Chorister, and Richards calling is the Assistant Financial Clerk. He's good at it! Me? I have insecurities. Last Sunday was my first Sunday leading the music, and I felt a TOTAL DORK! But it'll get better....crossing fingers!)

Life is good, we're happy and healthy...and working on becoming even healthier. I promise to start updating the blog weekly at least with fun and exciting things that we are doing.

later sk8er!

Thirty, flirty & thriving!!!

Well...here we are June 12, 2011! I totally bypassed May all together!!! May was a really crazy busy month, so I have an excuse...promise!!

On May 18th, we received a call from Jenny...Richards Sister. She was the first one to tell us that Richards brother Matt, has been hospitalized. He wasn't breathing on his own, and he was hooked up to life support and was in a coma , and the entire family didn't think he was going to make it....WOW! That was a shocker! You're never ready to receive that kind of news. So we dropped everything and drove down to Idaho.

It was really touch and go for a while, not knowing what direction Matts recovery was taking, but with weeks into everything, miraculously he's awake now, still in much pain, but he's awake! He's breathing on his own, and everyone can now stop worrying about "what might happen". He's going to make it!!!!

It's unfortunate that Richard and I's first time going back to Idaho together since we moved back up here was for such awful circumstances, but I must say I'm so thankful we were able to go. It was so wonderful being able to spend time with the family. Being back in Idaho just brought back so many wonderful memories, I truly love Idaho.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again, that if I was able to move my family down to Idaho, I'd do it in a heart beat. I love the city, the people and the feeling that being their brings. But, that's not logical, and so I just try to enjoy the visits that we are blessed with.

Richard and I are doing well. Summer seems to be poking it's head out of the corner. It's been really rainy here, but for the last 3-4 days, it's been really nice out. We purchased a fun gazebo (I'll take some pics) so that we can enjoy being outside this summer, without worrying about being eaten alive by all of the nasty mosquitoes! We'll fancy it up as we have the $$$$ to do so! We can't forget about our reno's in the house as well, because things have sorta been put on hold for now.

In order to continue with our reno's on the inside, we need to buy our hardwood floors for the living room, and we don't have the $$$ to do this. But it's all good, we'll try to use it as an excuse to focus on some other things in our lives, and it gives us a break!

Well, I suppose I should go now! Oh...I am now 30....suck!!!! Ok, so it's really not as bad as I thought it would be, but I don't like the idea of being 30...or in my 30's. I feel old, lol! j/k. I'm really not THAT MUCH of a drama queen(even though Richard may highly disagree!!). I remember the line from the movie" 13 going on 30"..."thirty, flirty & thriving...I'll try to focus on that aspect of now being in my 30's...:)

Ok, later sk8er!!!

wassup??

I must say that I am soooooo totally excited for Summer! It feels like it's never actually going to happen, but I'm still anticipating it!!

So ya! How r u? I hope fantastico!!! Things have been super busy as always here! Last weekend Richard took a trip down to Utah/Idaho as I mentioned in my last post, and so I had a fun weekend with my Mom! We watched Ryan & Ace on Friday nite, and then had a girls day with Hayley!

So we are now on a time crunch(wish is a FANTASTIC) thing! Ione, Jenny & Anea are coming up here on May Long weekend. We're super excited to see them. But this means that we have to pick up the pace to get our house liveable again for company! I love having this excuse to make things go faster. It's so easy when doing renos to just find any excuse to "take a break", lol! As much as I'm sick of living in a mad house that is TOTALLY huge mess and things thrown everywhere, I get so tired of working all of the time too!

But anyhow, I'm really excited to see them! I can't believe it's almost been 1 year since they were up here last, it's crazy! Time flies so fast!

Nothing too exciting for me to report today, just wanted to write something. Things are going good for us, and we're super happy and healthy up here in good ole Canada! Hope ya'll are doing great!!

My Guy

For this long weekend, Richard wen't to Utah & Idaho Falls for a family reunion. Unfortunately, I don't have a passport(which is in the works), so I couldn't go with him! OH MY GOODNES.... I am such a sissy! The last few days have been totally miserable!

I am so thankful for my husband. I mean, my life has been so blah the last few days, and it feels like apart of me is missing. So I will stop being such a drama queen, and just say that I'm so thankful that he's coming home to me tonight!

A little bit of "elbow grease"!

WOW! I want to be FINISHED RENO'S!!! lol So ya, I know I'm going to TOTALLY and COMPLETELY love the end result, but I tell ya, the middle part...sucks!!!

I hate having our home such a ginormous mess! But, it comes with the territory right?!

So I just wanted to post a few pictures from our renos so far. Yest. we tore down the old sheet rock, put up the vapor barrier and tore out all of our old cupboards!

The next step is to get our tile flooring down so that we can have it finished before putting in the new cabinets!

So here are some pics...

I know you're all probably thinking...where are you Mindy??? Yes, believe it or not I am working SUPER HARD TOO!!! lol I just happen to be the one that's taking the pictures!

He's so cute!!!
We just got a 3d tv...yes you heard me correct....a 3d TV !!!!!

It so SOOOOO SA-WEET!!

Who needs a theatre when you've got one in the comfort of your own home, lol!

Night all!!

wake up call !

So we've had a really busy weekend. As a lot of you know we've started doing reno's in our home, and will be doing them for probably the next 2-3 months. It's really great, and exciting....but here's comes the BIG but!!!

Tonight, as I was attending a baptism, I had this total wake-up call. If I don't have the gospel, I don't have anything. Yes, I already knew this, but I don't think that I have been completely appreciating all of my blessings.

As I sat their, with Richard arm around me, it took me back to my Mission. What an amazing experience it was.

*I miss bearing my testimony daily

*I miss feeling the spirit 24/7

*I miss having these powerful spiritual experiences every day

*I miss seing the look on people's faces when they "get it"

*I miss watching people enter into the covenant of baptism


Of course there's SO MANY more things that I miss, but the bottom line it was like a smack in the face!

DUH Melinda....you can't be set apart to serve the Lord for another 1 1/2 years, but I can serve Him in other ways.

So I will. Bottom line, I will. It was this wake up call...reminding me why we're here, and what we're supposed to be doing.

So as great and lovely of having our home look beautiful and updated...does it matter truly in the end?? No, it doesn't.

What matters is that I have a husband that loves me, that we're living our lives the best we can, and by doing this we have been promised Eternal Life.

I think we got a pretty good end deal...don't you?!!

You need to oil that thing!!!

The above pictures if of my niece...Ryan! She is such a hoot. She has the most sickest sense of humor, it's just great! A few weekends ago as she was walking out of my house and down the porch stairs...she stops...turns around and looks back at me and says " you need to oil that thing"
That "thing" she's refering to is our screen door...because it has a tendancy to stick!
That makes me laugh EVERY TIME I read it! "you need to oil that thing"-I asked Miranda(her mom/my sis) how she would know that and Mir says she has NO IDEA!
I guess she's just that smart!

It's like...WOW!

WOW...what a busy few weeks!

We're in the process of buying our first home, so it's been really crazy busy for us. It seems like we've been livin' at the bank with how many times we've had to run back and forth...not to mention all of the other craziness that comes a long with it!

But, tomorrow should be the final day! We're signing everything off, and should get everything finalized, so we're really EXCITED!!!

We were able to get a little bit of extra $$$$ , so we're paying off all of our debt, and then we'll have a little bit left afterwards to start doing reno's on our place.

It's going to be FANTASTIC! Here are some of the things we're going to do in our house...

*tear out the walls and put up new sheet rock

*put in new flooring - some of the house will have tile and the other part of it will have hardwood floors

*putting in new kitchen/bathroom cabinets

*new kitchen/bathroom countertops

*new "tap it" kitchen faucet...SOOO STOKED FOR THIS!!!

...and lots of other little things. Our goal is to have it all done before the summer, so that during the nice weather we can build our new deck outside and put new siding on the place.

We have a lot to do as you can see, but it's a great feeling knowing that this is going to finally be our place!

So...

this past week I also was super busy with making some things for Young Womens.
I was put in charge of decorating our Youth Bulletin Board...and this is how it turned out...(pretty darn cute if I do say so myself!)



I also made invitations for our New Beginnings next Month. They took a ton of time, but it was worth every second. I'm really pleased with how they turned out.

Last but not least, yest. my mom and I wen't to Cat Walk...a super fancy Hair Salon/ Spa to get our hair done...here's the turn out picture. They may be a bit more $$$ but it's worth every penny!

Well, that's all for now. This is turning out to be such a great year so far...and it's ONLY February!!!

Our fantastic " Love Day "

So this year Valentines Day was my responsibility. Richard and I try to take turns-one of us does Valentines Day and the other plans our Anniversary.

Anyhow, I had a lot of fun planning Valentines day this year. It was super fun.

I got most of my ideas from a new website that I'm TOTALLY LOVIN'!(datingdivas.com)

So I started the nite off with a fun scavenger hunt! Each envelope that he opened, there was something that we had to do before he could read his next clue...here's a few pics...



We had to paint a portrait of something that we love about eachother...Richard painted my Makeup on his, and I painted that I love his lips and his eyes!



We had to feed eachother Chocolate Dipped Strawberries....


We had to dance to "our song" ...for the entire song...

The last clue lead to a bubble bath for Richard to relax in while I finished getting our supper ready!)

Here's our Yummy Supper...a yummy pear salad with a fabulous(if I do say so myself) pasta I made.

After supper we watched our favorite Valentines movie...The Notebook. We just love this movie. It really is a great movie that shows what true love is, and can mean.

It was a great night! It's so much fun to do something that's different. I sure love my sweetheart, and I am thankful for him every second, of every minute of every hour of every day!

You are my Brother...best friends forever!

So today's post really is about MY brother...Con. The above video is a clip from an American Idol episode a few years ago...and this guy sings about "brothers". Although it really has nothing to do with my brother, I think it's fun!

Last night he had a gig at an event in Lethbridge, where his band played two different segments. The name of their band is called the clapping Monkey's. My brother is the lead guitarist. I must tell you, that that boy has some talent! I mean, to put it that way wouldn't even come close to how talented he really is. As I watched the band play, of course I mainly focused on Con. He is so talented! I mean, his fingers moved SO FAST! The songs that he wrote are beautiful, all very unique and nothing alike.

I just sat their, almost in tears as I watched, feeling so proud to be his sister. I've always known that he was GOOD but it was really neat last night to see him in his glory.

Love u Conny.... YOU ROCK!!!!!

but I don't wanna...

How often do you use that excuse? Maybe you don't say it out loud...but seriously how often do you think it? Come on....YOU KNOW YOU SAY/THINK IT!

I can plead guilty to that one! I think it, ALL of the time! I tell ya, it's kinda pathetic. I get home from work on a good night between 6:30-7:00 and so that leaves me 2 1/2 hours before we start to get ready for bed. (going to bed between 9:30-10:00 is another story). So by the time we have supper and clean up it's like 8:00 some nights...that leaves me 1 1/2 hours...I said 1 1/2 hours! That's not a lot of time...so what do I do with this time???? Let's just say it's not what I should be doing with it. I should be getting more done around the house, more cards made, more cleaning, more practicing the piano and the list goes on and on and on!

So I'm going to start saying(or thinking)
the oposite and try to get more accomplished. I feel like on a night where I just sit around watching tv(which is what I do love to do), I go to bed feeling Blah because I haven't accomplished anything.

So, I'm going to go make a few cards before going to bed, and try to change things. Keeping fingers crossed

happy birthday to my man...

Happy Birthday Richard!

Wow...THE BIG 29 lol! We are now the same age for SIX MONTHS!

So as I sit here, on the couch with the streamers/balloons up, pancakes and bacon cooked(Richards favorite b-day breakfast), while Richard is still snoring away I can't help but think of how grateful I am for today.

BECAUSE OF TODAY....

* We were able to meet on my Mission

* We have been been "together" for 8 years

* We have been married for 7 1/2 years

* my life is compelte

* our "someday" children will have the BESTEST FATHER EVER!

* my life has been changed forever!!


I love Richard, so much that it's nutso ...LOVELY!

There have been so many GREAT THINGS happening right now in our lives, and I'm so excited for 2011 because I get to spend another year with Richard!

Happy Birthday You!

simple things amuse small minds?

Ok, so as we sit and try to relax before heading to bed, Richard and I watch our cat Bella, playing with her favorite toy....A BOTTLE CAP! She goes nutso when she sees us opening up a water bottle...or anything that has some kind of lid. I wish that I could be entertained on something as simple as a bottle cap!

a little CRAZY??? maybe so!

So a few minor things have gone on over the last week. First off, after working out our budget, we've been able to set plans to travel down to Idaho in August. It's not as soon as we had wanted, but it's the soonest time that we can go down due to finances. We're SO EXCITED to go back...it's been WAY too long!) We plan on going down in the middle of the month. We have a lot that we have to accomplish by then, but we're super excited. We hope to spend a lot of quality time with friends and family.

SO...I have to say that I am REALLY EXCITED for next Christmas. YES...I am fully aware that it is pretty much ONE YEAR away but Jenny...Anea and Ione are going to be here....YEAH. It's going to be a blast. We're already planning it out. We're excited to be able to spend Christmas this year with them.

Ok, so it's been a little over a week since we've started our new life style, and I have to say I'm totally proud of us. We've been eating salads for lunch every day, we're having a lot of veggies EVERY night for supper, and having 2 healthy snacks during the day. It was a bit hard last week because of course we were HUNGRY, but I'm not feeling as hungry this week. I can feel a difference already in my body and I know that I've lost weight, and Richard feels the same way. I didn't weigh myself prior...because I don't want to FOCUS on the "number", I want to focus on getting HEALTHY. That's the goal, and we're sticking to it!

Richard and I LOVE to watch the Biggest Loser and 3 seasons ago we found our favorite contestant. Now, he had more weight to loose of course than Richard and I but he inspires us, so here's to Michael...we want to get healthy, just like he has.

Cheers everyone, and have a GREAT NITE!!

Excited for a new year

So for Richard and I, this year feels like we're just starting our lives, in so many ways. Now that his Canadian paperwork is done, we don't feel like we're having this huge thing hanging over us, and limiting us on what we can and cannot do with our lives.
We've set a lot of goals for this year and I'm REALLY excited to start accomplishing them. Some of the goals that I've set for myself are:

*Practicing Piano EVERY day for 30 minutes
*Be able to play every song in the Church Hymn Book by the end of the year
*Work out Daily
*Write in my journal Daily

Of course I have more, but those are some of the ones that are less personal to share. I really feel that this is going to be our year. That it's the start of something GREAT! So, with an excited attitude I'm really going to give it my all, because as they say " you get out of life what you put into it"