30

Yep. I'm thirty. I feel old. My body is a little more achy, my curves are a little more round and I have a few more wrinkles. Let's face it. I'm an old lady now. Okay, so maybe not an old lady, but I do feel older. It's weird how going from 29 to 30 can make you feel so much older. Anyways, every year on (or around) my birthday I like to do a post about me. Stuff I like, stuff I don't like, opinions I have, etc.

1. I'm obsessed with The Vampire Diaries. My close friends and family can attest to this. I'm especially fond of one vampire in particular, Damon Salvator. Oh my goodness, that's all I'll say.
2. I'm still working. I originally stated that I'd work for one year, but lets face it, we all knew that it would turn into a lot longer. Things never go as planned, right? I've been working now for 16 months. I like my job. It's really physical and I feel like a tough chick working where I do. I run huge machines. I can fix them (for the most part) when they're broke and I'm super good at my job. I'm the only girl on my crew which has it's goods and bads. There's less drama, but lots of sports talk (which I'm not too shabby at joining in on) AND lot's of sex talk. Hmmmm. I've kind of become immune to this sort of talk. Not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. I have seniority on my shift, so when my boss is gone, I'm in charge. I know, it's pretty cool. I get to tell all the boys what to do. I'm nice, but I'm not afraid to tell people what to do and I can hold my own. People respect me, because I'm a HARD worker. I give the young guys a run for their money. I'm super tiny compared to them and yet my supervisor told me that I'm the hardest worker in my area. Made me feel good. I can see myself working there for along time. I can see myself being a boss, sooner than later. BUT, the big question is, is that what I want? There's a lot to think about. We'll probably buy a house this summer and then the question will have to be answered. Continue working where I'm at and move up the chain and an amazing company, or quit and open my daycare. To be continued...
3. Going along with the above, number 2 and I think I talked about this last year too. Here it goes. If you're struggling financially or want to get ahead in life, it's on you. I do believe there are certain situations that may need financial assistance, but for the most part people are irresponsible and lazy. Simple as that. If you don't have the money, don't spend it. If you owe money, YOU need to pay it back. If you rely on the government and/or church to pay your bills, get off your butt and figure it out. (Like I said before there are SOME situations that I completely agree it's okay to rely on the government/church.) Don't take the easy way out like so many people do. It's not fair. The church wants us to be stay at home moms, BUT they never said they would pay your bills for the duration of your children's childhood so you can stay at home. The fact of the matter is, in a perfect world I would do just that, stay at home. With my husbands income, I will always have to do some form of work. Inside the home or outside the home. That's okay with me. I like to contribute. It's so frustrating when I'm working my ass off to be self sufficient and so many other people are relying on other people to pay their bills/taking the east way out. I could go on for hours, but my rant ends here.
4. We're 99.9% sure that we're done having babies. Eeeeeeek. This makes me kind of sad. I've been getting rid of all my baby stuff. My baby is 2 1/2 and I am trying to enjoy every single phase with her, because she is my last:(
5. I'm a home body. Tim likes to always be going and doing and gets kind of depressed when he's stuck at home. He calls it being a, "Cooped up duck!" I on the other hand am perfectly happy being a hermit at home. I enjoy cleaning my house, organizing stuff and watching my shows. Don't get me wrong, I love to be social too, but there's nothing like chillin' at home.
6. My favorite thing to do is interior design. I LOVE LoVe love it! I often find myself daydreaming about my dream house and everything it would entail. People always ask me to help them, which makes me nervous, because I know what I like, but I'm not sure they will like it. I love to paint furniture most of all. I hate that my husband has such an opinion on house stuff. I wish he would just give me full reigns and let me do whatever. He's never sure of what I do. It makes me mad. I tell him that I know what looks good! LOL! I tell him that his passion is sports and my passion is home stuff! We'll see how it goes when we buy our new house. Wish me luck!
7. I hate that the world has become so attached to their phones and internet. It make me even more mad that I'm one of them. I don't even have internet on my phone and I still find away to be on Facebook or Pinterest or Draw Something or my blog. GAH! They need AA for these kinds of people. By the way, have you noticed that blogging isn't as popular as it used to be. Like 3-4 years ago everybody was blogging all the time. I notice that less and less people are blogging now.
8. I want to get healthy. That's the number two reason I want to quit my job. I feel like I have no time to be healthy working graves. First of all I get very little sleep. I eat horribly, because my eating schedule is so messed up. I don't have time to exercise. Yeah, it's pretty bad. Can't wait to be healthy again.

Well that's it for this year. Stay tuned for next years list!

AUGUST IN REVIEW

August is over and we're halfway into September! Even though I'm super busy, I feel the need to keep up with my blogging. Even if it's a recap of each month.

~I took the girls to an Orem Owlz game thanks to USSynthetic. Tim would have come, but Kendall had pink eye, so I got to go with Addi and Hally. They had an opportunity to get their picture taken with the Owl and the Owlette, but both chickened out. I guess giant owls are scary.

~Tim and I celebrated 8 years of marriage! My mom watched the kids over night and we went to dinner at PF Changs and saw the movie, "Crazy, Stupid, Love", which was a fun movie. This picture is kinda blurry, but it's a picture of us right before he proposed. The plan was to propose at Eagle's Landing at Zion National Park, but my knees would not allow me to make it to the top. I had a feeling he was going to propose, so I kept willing myself on. We could both hear my knees grinding and finally decided that I shouldn't go further. I was kind of disappointed and I'm sure Tim was too. We headed back down to the

bottom and I thought I'd missed my opportunity to get engaged. At the bottom of the trail, as the sun was setting, Tim proposed on a bridge. It was perfect and the rest is history. Tim, I love you so much!

~Addi started soccer. This is her first time playing soccer. She's had her ups and downs, but has kind of decided she doesn't really like it, however the whining and complaining has ceased somewhat now that we're 3/4 of the way into the season. I was never very athletic, so I wanted my kids to be sort of good at sports. I'm not so sure that's going to happen though. We might have to stick with gymnastics and music. Maybe I'll sign her up next year though and we'll practice lots on the off season so it will build her confidence and her skills and her aggressiveness. We'll see.

~First day of 1st grade!!!! It's back to school time! Addi's lovin' school so far. She's had fun seeing all of her school friends from last year and making new friends. She's also enjoyed eating lunch at school. Sometimes she takes a lunch from home and sometimes she eats school lunch. Once again, it looks like she's a model student. I ran into her teacher, Ms. Taylor at Walmart and she went on and on about what a great student she is and how cute she dresses. Her teacher also said she was blown away by her reading abilities and is going to move her to a 2nd or 3rd grade reading level. Smarty pants!

~Hally Bear is in KINDERGARTEN! Wow, my kids are growing up and I'm getting OLD! She was SO excited! Of course, mom was a little nervous for her little girl to start school and had to wear sunglasses to drop her off;) The principal was passing out kleenex's to all the moms. So far so good. We love her sweet teacher Mrs. Rigby and she seems to be doing well, liking it and making some new friends. GO Hally!

~Last of all, I wanted to give an update of me working. It's been almost 9 months and it's going great! We've already been able to accomplish some of our goals! I like what I do and the people I work with. I quit daycare a couple of weeks ago, because once school started again it was too much and too stressful and too busy. It feels so weird not having any daycare kids after five years of having them. It's for the best though. Many people say to me that I'm crazy for working full-time graves and it's something they would/could never do. Really, the decision was a simple one. We could have stayed in our same position and struggled financially for the rest of our lives, or I could go to work for 1 to 11/2 years and get into a situation where we could move forward in our lives. So yes, let me work my butt off like many other women do to accomplish a goal and make a better life for my family. Simple as that. I hope that people can be supportive, tell me to "keep it up" or "you can do it" and let me be to do what I need to do. I never want to feel like this choice I've made is the wrong one, or I'm a bad person or suffering spiritually because of it. I may not be the social, outgoing, bubbly person that I was before I started this schedule. BUT, don't worry, it's just cause I'm tired basically all the time and any extra energy I do have is directed towards my family. It's been really exciting to see the progress we've made thus far!

Thanks for all of your support! A special thanks to Tim for picking up where I leave off when he gets home so I can go to bed and for never complaining!

Any questions?? Please ask!

WOW...

So apparently I offended someone so bad because of this post that I was blocked from their blog and removed and blocked as a friend on facebook. The post wasn't even directed at her. It was just directed at people in general. I stick by what I say and just wanted to add a few things. If you're negative all the time, people will start to lose sympathy for you. No one likes a Debby Downer. YOU ultimately decide if you're going to be happy in life. No matter what life gives you it's YOUR choice. Even though depression is a serious disease, do you still think you have a choice to be happy if you're depressed? This is open for discussion people. Does depression take away your accountability? Your choice to be happy? Please discuss. No matter what trials life gives you, even the worst trials imaginable, do your trials give you a right to be negative all the time? To complain about every little thing every chance you get?

The BIG 29!!!

For my birthday, Tim made me a cake as usual. He's so sweet. I also got some way cute capri's (can't wait till it's warm enough to wear them). Addi picked out and bought me some cute earrings with her own money. Hally borrowed some money from her dad to buy me a cute bracelet. I have the cutest family ever! I love them so much!

I can't believe I've reached the last year in my twenties. I feel old. My life is passing me by. At work, I'm the second oldest person there. It's hard to wrap my head around it. I take six years off of work, besides daycare, and all the sudden I'm the oldest one. In my mind I'm still young, like all of my coworkers. There's about twenty other people in my department at work and they're all in their early twenties. Even my boss is only 21. Go figure. It's crazy having to answer to a 21 year old. I feel kind of like a mentor to all the youngin's I work with. All I have to say is, "They've got a lot to learn." About life that is. Here are a few random things I wanted to make note of:

• I've learned to operate gigantic machines. I'm a mechanic. I'm stronger than I thought. I feel tough and empowered in a way. My job is stinkin' hard and I work hard and try my best.
• I'm not opposed to cosmetic surgery. Especially after having three kids.
• I went on a cruise and it was awesome.
• I have a love/hate relationship with books. Once I start one, I can't put it down, but I hate how they take me away from the things I "should" be doing. You know, like cleaning, etc. I wish I was well read. I'm ashamed to say the grand total of books I've read in my lifetime is pretty sad and pathetic that I won't even give you the number.
• I lost two grandparents. One of which I was extremely close to and was privileged to speak at her funeral. The other one, I wasn't as close to, but I am extremely thankful to for always treating me so wonderful.
• I need to strengthen my testimony on life after death. It seems like if I did this, it wouldn't hurt so bad to lose someone I love. I know it will always hurt, but I worry. Worry about where they're going and if I'll see them again. Even though I've been taught my whole life about "The Plan", I still worry. I dislike death, strongly.
• I now have a 1 year old, 4 year old and 6 year old. I'm 99% sure that we're done having kids. My kids are growing up too fast and I hate it. I wish I could slow the process down.
• I'm bad at finding good deals. When I go to Target I usually end up buying the cute new stuff, rather than what's on clearance. Half the time I don't even check the clearance rack. *cringe* Most everyone I know loves to find good deals. I guess I do too, but only if I happen upon it. Having said that, I don't spend lots of money on stuff. I shop at cheap stores like Walmart and Target.
• People that complain about living in Utah drive me nuts. If you dislike it here so much then MOVE. If you're being kept here against your will, then be thankful for what you have and GET OVER IT.
• I made the switch from Dr. Pepper to Diet Dr. Pepper to Diet Coke. Some people may say that diet is bad for you, but lets face it. Soda is general is bad for you. I would rather save those calories for food anyways. I actually only drink it a few times a week.
• Here it goes, I'm getting on my high horse and I'm going to complain for a minute. Some of you may be offended, sorry. If you're struggling financially, figure out a way to solve it, by yourself. I'm going to guess that about 80% of people using government/church money to help them financially, don't really need it. It drives me nuts. If I need more money, then I'll find a way to get it myself. The church really encourages mothers to be at home. I completely agree with this. However, I don't think the church has ever said that they will pay your bills in order for you to do so. Please correct me if I'm wrong. When Tim got laid off a couple years ago, he didn't wait around for the perfect job to come, he took the first job that was offered. He hated it severely. But it was a job. No unemployment here. There ARE jobs out there, you just have to be willing to do them. I decided to do daycare from my house to supplement our income. Things eventually got stretched so thin that it was either, get a job or ask for money. That's why I got a job and I'm proud of it. It's temporary, but it's what I have to do in order to be self-sufficient. Believe me, I know there are times when church/government money is needed. I just wish people would try a little harder to cut things out/get a second job, etc. before they start relying on other people's money. If there's something you can do to become self-sufficient then do it. Go work a graveyard shift, then come home and do daycare. You have to do it to get to where you want to be in life. It seems like people are getting lazier and lazier. Okay, I'm done. Please forgive.
• I filled out my first bracket at work and I'm in second place out of 15 other GUYS. I feel pretty cool.
• I LOVE The Vampire Diaries. Watch it through season 2 and you'll see why.
• Favorites right now: Pei Wei, Subway, Rod Wroks, damask, sleeping, Diet Coke, Vampire Diaries, Modern Family, expensive jeans (they really do feel and look better, see for yourself), big purses, big earrings, big bracelets, American Eagle, Downeast, Target, painted wood furniture, BYU basketball, not excited about the Jazz so much anymore:(, 5 hour energy, Linkin Park, that's all I can think of at the moment. The End.

Tired...

Is the best word to describe how I feel at the moment.

The 411: I started working a full-time graveyard shift at the same company Tim works for. Yes, I'm still doing daycare. Yes, I get a little bit of sleep. My day starts, well actually it doesn't really have an end or a start anymore, it feels like one continuous day. So anyways, I get off work at 7:30AM and make it home by 8AM for my first daycare kid to arrive. I wake Addi and Hally up and we do the normal before school routine. Then off to school they go. Then I come home and my other daycare kid comes. Next we play in the basement while mommy dozes on and off on the couch. Before we know it the kids are home from school and it's lunch time, reading time and homework time. Addi and Hally are begging for a friend to come over, which I generally allow, but only one at a time. Nap time for the little ones is at 1 pm. I have a nap while they're napping. About 2 hours long. Then it's up from nap, snacks, diaper changes, more playing and if I have time I start dinner. Daycare kids leave between 5 & 5:30. I jump in the shower and hit the hay by 6pm. Then I sleep till 10pm, get up and head to work, which starts at 11:00pm. See what I mean about continuous?

WHY?: This job is temporary. We would like to save, save, save for a bigger house/pay off some debt and GET AHEAD. Please tell me you know what I'm talking about when I say it would be nice to get ahead. My plan is to expand my daycare and I need a bigger house to do so. I feel like I could really do well with it. Ideally I'd like to find a house with a finished walkout basement. Daycare would be in the basement and the kids could just walk right outside to play. Then the upstairs would remain untouched. The daycare that I imagine in my head is so fun and beautiful!! :) So anyways, off to work I go so I can hopefully make this vision a reality!

What I'm doing: It's a manual labor job. I'm lifting and operating giant machines all night. It's actually kind of cool. I feel cool anyways. I'm the only girl in my area, which is a little intimidating, but I'm handling it. The whole graveyard thing actually isn't as bad as it seems and the pay is pretty good.

What I've learned: -It's tough to be a full-time work outside the home mom. Kudos to all those who do it. All the time I used to have for everything fun, is now gone. I keep telling myself this is temporary and I can do it!!! -I've also learned how to use calipers AND it's nearly impossible to get 2, small, curiously, insanely, strong, magnets apart. They're dangerous buggers and caused me multiple blood blisters. I'm tougher than I thought and I kind of like working where I do. If I can't preform all of the tasks I will be moved to another area. I totally want to learn how to use the huge and scary looking machines. I want to be the cool girl that can run the machines! :) -I look so hot in safety glasses! *sarcasm* :D

What I'm thankful for: -TIM. He tried to talk me out of it, but I'm a stubborn one and wanted to work graveyards anyways. He's been such a good help to hurry me off to bed when he gets home. He makes dinner for himself and the kids, then puts them to bed when it's time. He always has the house tidy when I wake up. He's perfect! Love him! This working mom business is a serious sacrifice for EVERYONE in our house. Not just myself! -I am also thankful for Beyonce. For some reason her CD (I know, I'm probably the only one out of everyone reading this that still listens to CD's) helps to keep me awake on the way to and from work. -5 hour energy. Half a bottle of this stuff gives me a good boost to finish my early morning at work. -My kids have been really sweet and understanding. Love them so much! Addi said on my first night at work, "Mom, you don't need to work, I like our house and want to stay here. We don't need a bigger house." She also told me several times to drive safely. She was very concerned about me.

Goodnight all. I better catch up on some sleep while I can.

***I always proof read my posts like 3 times, but I don't have time tonight so please excuse any errors.***

ITEMS OF NOTE

• Addi lost her 1st tooth and the Tooth Fairy could only find $5 to put under her pillow. What an expensive tooth!! It had been loose for awhile and she finally just pulled it out all by herself one morning. Way to go Addi!! We watched the movie Tooth Fairy to celebrate, which was surprisingly a pretty entertaining and enjoyable movie!

• BUNK BEDS! We have been needing bunk beds for quite awhile now. With the tiny bedrooms in our house, bunk beds seemed like the best option. Kendall was sleeping in the playpen in our room for 7 months, Hally was still in the converted crib (our crib converts into a toddler bed), and Addi was still in her room in a twin bed. Lucky us, while I was in Seattle TIM FOUND A FREE BUNK BED!!! It was meant to be! He was taking Addi to school and on the side of the road was a bunk bed with a sign that said, "Free Bunk Bed." So he sent me a picture of it on my phone and rounded it up. It took him a few trips to get all of the pieces in our little car. Then it sat in our living room for a good month. Then I started painting it, which was a LONG process, but I am SO HAPPY with the outcome. A few trips to Home Depot and one REALLY late night later and we have some pretty AWESOME and ONE OF A KIND bunk beds for Addi and Hally!

Here is the before picture. I was actually so happy that we found something that I could paint, because I love the look of painted wood and this one had cool rod iron detail.

Here are a few after pictures. Don't you love the bed spreads too? I am SO into damask right now, which is trendy I know, but I think it's cute.

I really wanted to paint the walls a tan color, because I am OVER the purple with the stencil, but I was tired of painting and ready to get the beds put together and everyone situated in their new rooms. The tan will have to wait till we someday get a new house, or till I decide I can't stand it anymore and start painting it.

Do you love this shabby chic chandelier that I found at IKEA? I love chandeliers lately, don't you? Thanks to my man for being handy and installing it for me!

• I GOT A NEW CAR - I am no longer stuck at home, which my not necessarily be a good thing, but I love it! I have never had a car that I actually wanted and now I do. We no longer have to cram all three kids in the back of our compact Elantra. Let the long road trips begin! :)

ECLIPSE PARTY

Last month I helped my friend, Emily, host an Eclipse party to celebrate the new movie coming out. We had Twilight inspired food, decorations and party favors. We also had some fun Twilight trivia and watched, New Moon. It was such a fun night! I highly recommend throwing a Twilight party!

From left to right: Beth, Tiffany, Becca, Valerie, Amber, Laura & April. I didn't even get a picture with Emily, I feel really bad about that.

Me with EDWARD!!!!!!! :)

Pictured below are some pictures of our decor. ENJOY.

(This picture is before all of the food had been set out.)

Water bottle labels.

Cupcakes with quotes from the movie and black forks, get it? He he!

More fun decor.

My favorite thing was the floating apple centerpiece.

ME PICTURES

After the last post I was feeling sorry for myself, because I am not in many pictures, so here are some I found with me in them.

Kendall at 10 days old.

Trying to take a pic. of myself for our craft blog. Addi and Hally being funny! :)

ME

Chillin' with my Chillins!

I ❤ my girls!

❤ NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS ❤

I generally don't make New Year's Resolutions, but there are quite a few things that I would like to work on and I feel that I will have a better chance of accomplishing these goals if I actually post them. Although my list is a mile long with things I'd like to work on, I decided to keep it minimal so I may have a better shot at actually following through with the things I do decide to work on.

1. Family Home Evening - This is something that I have always wanted to do, but have never really stayed faithful with. Even though Tim works most Monday nights, that is no excuse, the girls and I will still have FHE.
2. Read the entire Book of Mormon - So I am going to read 2 pages of The Book of Mormon everyday. My friend is doing this and says it should only take about 6 month to finish. Two pages everyday is doable!!
3. Plan a Menu - Okay, so I am not a terrible cook, but I am terrible at deciding what to cook. I am going to print off a calendar and using new and old recipes, plan in advance a weekly dinner menu. I feel this way when I go to the grocery store I will have a better chance of sticking to what's on my list AND I am sure Tim's stomach will be a lot happier too.
4. Avoid the "C foods" - Chips, Chocolate, Cola (Dr. Pepper), Cookies, Cake and Candy, but mainly the first three. These are my food weaknesses. My goal is to only drink Diet soda when I absolutely need a soda and to stay away from chips and chocolate the best that I can, ya know, don't keep them on hand. Okay, but I'm not starting till tomorrow on this one because I have to finish the Queso first! :)

There ya have it and don't be afraid to ask me how I'm doing with it either! Keep me in check! Keep me on track! Come on Steff you can do it!!!

❤ I CAN'T BELIEVE IT'S ALMOST HERE ❤

On Tuesday morning at 7:15 AM I will be a mom of three! This pregnancy has been by far the hardest out of all of them. My body is so done being pregnant..... I can't wait to be able to breathe again, walk again, sleep again (okay, so maybe I still won't get much sleep with a newborn), bend over again, tie my shoes again, get rid of the Tums, not have every inch of my body ache again, etc.

But...

Mostly I just can't wait to meet HER. (She doesn't have a name yet, I will let you know.) Addi and Hally are pretty self sufficient, so it will be an adjustment getting back into the newborn phase, but I'm excited and I know that all of the pregnancy woes will be forgotten after she is here.

I am ready! I have been nesting like crazy. Every closet is clean and organized, we have taken tons of stuff to the D.I., baby's clothes are washed in Dreft and put away. I am a little nervous as usual to have a c-section and nervous for the unknown, but I pray that everything will go exceedingly well! I will post pictures as soon as possible!

❤ 6 THINGS YOU SHOULD NEVER SAY OR DO TO A PREGNANT LADY ❤

1. "Wow! Are you having twins?"
2. "You must be due any day now." (No, I still have 7 weeks left in fact!)
3. "Holy cow, you're huge!" (Thank you!)
4. Never touch a pregnant ladies belly if you have no idea who the pregnant lady is.
5. My husband: "We're going to have another one right after this one." Me: "I don't even want to think about having another one at this point. I'm tellin' the doctor to tie me up! If only you could experience being pregnant!" :)
6. "You look miserable!" (Yes, thank you for the compliment!)

❤ I HAVE BEEN FORGIVEN!! ❤

I got a letter in the mail today from my student loan company. I have been making payments on this loan for 6 years and it's sad because I went to school for 4 semesters and have no degree to show for all of this money spent. The letter stated, 

"Dear Steffani Stubbs, We're pleased to inform you that the remaining balance of your student loan ($507.03) has been forgiven as a way of thanking you for taking care of your loan obligation in a diligent manner."

Wahoo!!! This is the best news I've heard in months!! Has anyone ever had this happen to them before?

❤ PREGNANCY CRAVINGS ❤

❤ NOT A LOT GOING ON ❤

I feel like I haven't posted in awhile, I guess there's just not a lot to blog about lately. I will just mention a few things.

1.) Please, everyone give a hip hip hooray to Hally! She is potty trained!! It wasn't as easy to potty train Hally as it was Addi. Addi was potty trained in one weekend before she turned two. All kids are different though, right? We bought Hally some potty training charts and every time she went potty she got to put a sticker on the chart. It took her a month and a half to fill up her chart with 25 stickers. Then we went and let her pick out a prize. Then we got a new chart out and she filled it up within three days! She rocks! She looks so cute in her "pony panies," I might take a picture of her in them and post it. 

2.) I got this picture off of my friends blog. Doesn't Edward look really, really GOOD in this picture? I am really excited about the New Moon movie coming out in November. Also, the Twilight movie came out on DVD, and NO I don't have my copy yet. Don't worry though, I will have it soon enough. I know I have some readers that have not read the Twilight Series because of the simple fact that EVERYONE has read it. Well, I think it's about time to put that pride aside and see what all of the hype is about. It's time for you to be bitten! :)

3.) We are ready for warm weather!! It can get really depressing living in a seemingly endless winter. I miss you sun. Please come out and play. Shine down on me and warm my soul and make my garden grow all day. Well, I might not being saying that when I'm.....

4.) 6 months pregnant during the summer and complaining of the blazing heat.

YES! I am pregnant! I am due in November. We're really excited and are thinking "boy thoughts" because this will more than likely be our last little one and we'd LOVE a boy, although I can also see myself with three little girls. As long as the baby's healthy, right? This is the first time that my sister and I are both pregnant at the same time and due within a month of each other. So exciting!

PANTRY SECRETS BREAD CLASS

Last night I went to the most amazing class! It was a bread making class at a ladies house in Pleasant Grove. This lady and her daughter teach the class three times a week. You would me amazed at what they can do. Generally I am the type of person that would just rather buy it to save time, but I think I have changed my mind. They made it look so EASY! The only thing is, now I want a Bosch mixer. The bread recipe makes four loaves of bread, the same one recipe can be used for pizza crusts, rolls, breadsticks, braids (my personal favorite), tortillas, scones, etc., etc. The list goes on and on. Their bread recipe only takes a total of one hour to make from start to finish, this includes the raising time and cooking time!! You can save SO much money by doing this. They also teach some great tips on food storage. The class is $20 and they demonstrate how to make several different things, then you get to pick something to make yourself and take home. I would recommend this class to anyone! I also bought their DVD that shows you how to make everything. Their website is www.pantrysecrets.net and I wouldn't mind going to the class again if anyone wants to go. I went with my friend Shari (middle), Shari's mom (not pictured) and her friend Becky (front).

I DID IT!

Today was my talk and I am so glad that it's over and done with. It actually went better than I thought, but I hope I don't have to do it again for a long, long time. Thank you everyone for your wonderful comments on how to give a talk. They really did help me. My favorite was from my friends Annie, and although I didn't use her idea, it sure did make me laugh. She said that she always likes to start her talks with, "Whenever I speak my mouth gets dry and my feet sweat, so if I start drinking from my shoe, it's just cause I'm thirsty." She said that she doesn't really use that when she speaks, but I think it would definitely get people's attention if she did.

HELP!

I need your help. This Sunday I have to speak in church and honestly, I haven't a clue how to do it. I haven't spoken in church since I was in young women's nearly 10 years ago. My topic is Mosiah 18, it's on baptism, so if you have any pointers or ideas, please, please let me know. How do you start a talk? How do you make it interesting? Any thoughts on the covenants you made when you were baptized? Any cool baptism stories? Better yet, does anyone just want to write my talk for me? (Price will be negotiated.):) I know there are a lot of professional, amazing speakers out there.... you know who you are.... come on, let me in on the secret to delivering a wonderful talk!!

THE ECLECTIC CRAFTER

The Nester is hosting a Handmade Holiday's Party, complete with Mr. Linky! Now is your chance to help support your fellow moms/bloggers/crafters. Just click here and you can do your holiday shopping from hundreds of different blogs, Etsy shops, etc.

Here are a few crafts of my own, just a little of this and a little of that. If you're interested in anything, just shoot me an email steffanisue@yahoo.com. Happy Shopping! :)

Antique window with dried flowers!

Distressed and crackled clock with vinyl lettering, custom name and established year. Also available in antique white and black!

Custom made flannel baby blanket measuring 40" x 34". Available in any two colors of your choice!

Perfect for a baby shower present!

BUNCO

Last night was our first night of Bunco and it was so much fun! I was a little worried that people would not show up or not have fun, but it was a HOOT! I made Cafe Rio style pork salad for everyone and gave away the cutest prizes! I hope everyone had as much fun as I did! I was going to get pictures, but completely forgot, so I will get some pics. next month for sure. If you would like to be on the sub-list just let me know and I'll add ya.

TAG

3 Joys:

1. My children.
2. The temple.
3. Going on vacation.

3 Fears:

1. Something bad happening to a loved one.
2. Failure.
3. Potatoes, click here to find out why.

3 Obsessions/Collections:

1. Twilight books (I didn't want to admit this, but it's the first thing that came to my mind.)
2. I watch too much television: The Hills, The Office, Deadliest Catch, So You Think You Can Dance, American Idol, Friday Night Light, just to name a few;)
3. Celebrity gossip. (Grimace)

3 Surprising Facts:

1. I have never met my biological father, but I am really close with his mom and brothers.
2. If I could have any talent I would: a) be an amazing singer (I can't carry a tune) b) be a super fast runner. When I would watch the Olympics and see how fast some of the people could run, I was just amazed, it must feel so exhilarating to run that fast.
3. I wore braces for eight years, had major jaw surgery on both upper and lower jaws, had over 15 oral surgeries and had more than three sets of teeth, including 8 wisdom teeth (don't worry, they didn't all come in at once, they were just up in my gums). It's a long, long story. Ask me about it sometime.
4. I have to add a number four, sorry. I am a devoted Utah Jazz fan. My husband isn't the only one, he can't take all of the "biggest fan" credit. I answer the daily trivia questions too. I'm no "fare weather" fan, I am a fan through and through. In good times and bad. I hoop and holler when they do good and I throw things at the T.V. when they do bad. The season starts in October and although our wallets will be a bit lighter due to all the games Tim will finagle his way into, I am super excited! Go Jazz!

3 People I Tag:

1. Desi Mauerman
2. Kelly Stubbs
3. Sarah Sutherland