Happy First Day of Autumn

I have been looking forward to this day since about December 26th. I adore autumn. I was part of a special treat this morning, on the way to ward counsel I came upon the most spectacular sight...The Sun!
Yes I have seen the sun before, but this was different. It was huge and bright and so shimmery orange. It was not too bright to look at; you could actually stare into it and not go blind. I was completely entranced. I pulled off the road to take some pictures, which do not do it justice, because it was so breathtaking. I am starting my grateful list early this year.

1. I am grateful for the beautiful sun.

Totally Random

At what point do adults lose their curiosity (BTW-I do mean everyone but Rich...that guy is curious all the time)I mean that inquisitive, what is it type mentality. Rylie was practicing her piano the other day and heard an airplane outside. She could not just accept "its an airplane" and move on. She had to see it. She had to think about where it was going. She had to wonder where it came from. She had to figure out what had been the last time she had been on a plane, and when she might anticipate the pleasure of doing it again. All these things just from hearing a sound.

I barely even noticed the sound.

When do we stop appreciating dirt under our finger nails from digging in the dirt in the empty field next door?

When does it stop being fun to take swimming lessons early on a Saturday morning?

When do you start worrying that one pigtail is higher than the other and stop rejoicing in the fact you can make pigtails all by your self?

When do we start being more worried about the mess it is making than enjoying the huge tent and surrounding campground area made by all the blankets and couch cushions in the house?

When do we stop being amazed when a seed grows into something?

When do we stop saying "Yes!" and giving our friend a high five when we get an answer right when asked a question?

When do we stop singing into a hair brush and dancing like nobody is watching?

When do we figure it out that you should't go around telling everyone they are your BFF?

When do we start being nervous to share the gospel with our neighbors?

When does it stop being fun to lay back in the tub with just your face sticking out of the water and singing to your self cause it sounds weird?

When do glow in the dark things stop being fascinating?

When does it stop being worth the effort to stop what you are doing and come down stairs to see the fuzzy bear caterpillar on the porch?

I am not sure when it happens, but sometimes I really wish it didn't.

One More Month

Wow! In January I had no idea where the year would lead. I decided that my theme for the year would be“This is the year…”. This year I turned 35 (gasp- ugh...) and since this is the oldest I have ever been, I did not like it one tiny bit. As a kid that always sounded old. Now that I am 35 I have changed the requirements for being old to 98. That suits me better.

Anyway, there were a lot of things that could have filled in the blank after “this is the year…” to get organized, to purge old things, to change old habits, to fine tune my personality, to use a budget, to be more kind and the big one, to get in shape.

So, On January 5th I started, I put in my old FIRM DVD and did it…or some of it anyway. Then I did it again the next day and on it went for an entire week, then for two weeks, and then, what do you know, the entire month! I loved it. I felt better and had more energy and bonus, I started loosing weight. That was not necessarily my goal in the beginning. I knew it would happen, and knew I needed too, but my intentions were simply to get in shape,to be healthy, to be a good example to my girls, and to show gratitude for this body I have been blessed with by taking better care of it.

One day I thought it would be great to be able to walk a 5K(3.1 miles). That seemed really lofty to me,but as I got into it I could walk that far pretty easily. So then the next logical thing was the half-marathon (13.1 miles). I am sure everyone has a meaningful reason for participating and probably a lot of us will have the same reason. For me it symbolizes so much more than just a walk. I feel like I have conquered something. I have achieved something that in January would have seemed impossible. I am definitely not the fastest and will definitely not be one of the first one hundred or even thousand across the finish line. But inside I will be celebrating something, a new lease on life, a new attitude, and I will have proof that when you make up your mind, ANYTHING is possible.

Only a month to go! Look out Kansas City- here I come.

What in the world is that?

When Rich walked in the door today he said "go see that weird cloud out front" this is what I saw from my front porch. Kinda creepy! Pictures do not do it justice. It looked like an upside down bowl with the contents churning and mixing. Exciting place, Omaha, Nebraska!

Autumn is in the Air

My friend Mia and I walk around Zorinsky lake on Saturday mornings. Yesterday was the first really chilly morning and it was foggy and beautiful. I am very excited about the idea of autumn coming. I find it magical!

I am totally captivated

So, here’s the thing, I don’t have a ton of extra time to sit leisurely reading some randomly chosen book from the library. I mean what if it wasn't great? I would have wasted an entire week or so of my limited reading time budget. So I am a strict "recommendation only" reader. I will only attempt to read books that come highly recommended by my friends. So, that being said, I have to tell you, Mia told me about these books very enthusiastically, only omitting one very important part…the plot. She said “They are so great, I have read them cover to cover in one day. I just cant put them down (Mia is a busy person, I know she doesn’t have much time in her “reading budget” either I'm thinking it must be really good!), but I wont tell you what they are about or you will think it is dumb and not read them” . She knows me to well. So I came home, and looked at Amazon and put them in my cart to buy later ‘cause I had some things for school to add. Clearly I had no idea the urgency I was dealing with here!


Apparently, I was the very last person to find out about them, because after that I noticed a buzz about them everywhere I would turn. One night Rich and I went to Barnes and Noble while on a date and I caved. I bought the book FULL PRICE (and it was worth every shiny penny, I did however, order the remaining two that night). I read that thing cover to cover in 11 hours. I don’t do that! EVER! I would feed my kidlets and run back to reading. I had to go to the grocery store; I have never bought groceries with less enthusiasm. I had dry blurry eyes and a headache, but nothing could stop me, nothing! I had to find out what happened to these unlikely friends. And then disaster stuck…the book ended. I had to wait for the next books to come from the man in brown. After all, it was $7.00 cheaper from Amazon I hadn’t lost complete sense (that’s a relief huh? I know some were wondering...). Who knew I was going to be in such a bad way…


I am a little less than half way through the last one and I have had to slow down now that we are full steam into school. It has been torture, but the worse thing is that Tori has the bug bad too! She has finished all three. She knows more than me and I can’t stand it! I should be reading right now, but I am not. I am writing and wishing I was reading, and then you know what will happen, I will have to make breakfast, and then guess what will happen…I will have to eat it, then do school and then go to the gym and on it will go until 10:00 tonight! But that’s okay, ‘cause at 10:01 I will be sitting in my comfy chair with a book in my hands reading about two star crossed loves…who cares that one is a VAMPIRE!

A friend is a gift we give ourselves

A couple days ago a dear friend brought me flowers to brighten my day. Some times I dont know why I am so lucky to be surrounded by such wonderful people. I just had to share~

I go out walkin' after midnight

I go out walking after midnight, out in the moonlight, just like we used to do....okay,its 6:00am which technically is after midnight,it definately was in the moonlight though...and yes, I love Patsy Cline~





Look out Charlotte theres a new spider in town

Here comes the rain again...

We have this nifty thing here in Omaha called "severe weather". This weather phenomenon is not for the faint of heart. It has been known to cause the tornado alarms to go off sending us all scurrying to the basement for safety (after removing the pie from the oven of course!). It has given us a new (well, it was new two years ago when we moved here, now it is getting pretty old...) thing to discuss on an hourly basis. Some of us have made a habit of checking out half of the tornado books each week when we go to the library. We then return those books in exchange for the other half...and so it goes week after week after week after, okay you get the idea. Heaven forbid some other child should check out a tornado book, (therefore depleting the supply) that pretty much ruins our week. Anyway, I digress…


Tonight is one of those nights; the weather radio has already gone off signaling us that there is a severe- thunderstorm watch in effect, which actually, is a joyous occasion in the Gilmore household. It means SLUMBER PARTY!!!! The girls gather all their gear (which is no small feat) and make a bed down stairs. We watch movies and eat popcorn and have a great time uneffected by the tumult around us. So, rage on weather, I have a party to attend~

I'm TRYING to study here!

As if it isn't hard enough with kidlets to find a few UNINTERRUPTED minutes to study my scriptures, I have the peanut gallery to contend with too!