Another year older...another year gone by!

 Today I am Grateful for...
True Love!

 I am grateful
that Tracy and I both made it to celebrate another birthday together 
and that both of us have our HEALTH!! 

I truly am the luckiest girl in the world...
 I'm married to the most amazing man who I LOVE to share and experience everything with!
What an absolute JOY it is to get to have birthdays to celebrate together as well! 

 Tracy and I are definitely an odd couple 
 as we both can't wait to see, show and tell each other about our day or any and everything in our life!  Tracy loves to email me links he finds on the Internet or take camera photos of magazine photos and he looks forward to discussing them when he gets home from work...whether it be a quote or frame-able wall art, a cute photo, food that looks yummy, a fun idea for a costume, trim work ideas for our house, tree-houses for kids, landscape ideas, backpacking ideas,  places that would be fun to travel to, etc...

I can't wait to show Tracy things I have experienced with my day...like showing him a new blog post I'm working on and asking his opinion, showing what creative thing I did, or what I cooked up in the kitchen, or, showing him a FUN blog post from my close friends...

There is NOT a moment in our days 
that we don't have each other on the mind
and even if we can't experience everything together, we share all about our day through thoughtful acts, photos, etc...

We make all of the decisions on our house together...
not a photo gets hung on the wall without deciding together.  

 Life is pure bliss, when you're married to your best friend 
and you want to experience everything you can together!!  

As is tradition for my birthday posts each year, I like to post random things about me, or things I have been thinking about.  This year I thought I would throw in some of my favorite quotes as well.

(This is my most favorite quote of all!!)

Here are some random things about Kimmie...

--I am a perfectionist to a fault!   I  have many good intentions, but many times I don’t do something if I can’t do it PERFECT and so there have been many a time I haven’t sent off that package, letter, or delivered a meal, because I couldn’t do it to the level I wanted it to be done.  Thank goodness for goals and having a husband that has helped me realize to:  

 "Do the best you can at the moment, 

even though it’s not perfect”!!   

This is definitely something that I am striving 

to do and be better at each day of my life!

--I LOVE getting cards, invitations, letters and packages in the mail!! As much as  I love technology for staying in touch, I always get exited for REAL mail. 

--I LOVE the art of preserving...I have never and probably never will make freezer jam. I LOVE my freezer for freezing berries, but to me bottled jams/preserves are SO much more yummy and can't be beat!! 

--Corn is my least favorite veggie! I would rather eat anything but corn AND I don’t want to waste space in my garden planting it. I would much rather plant another row of carrots and beets, than plant corn. HOWEVER, 

my kids LOVE corn and so I always try to buy some so they can enjoy it during harvest time.

--I LOVE my Chaco sandals!! 

It took me a few years to really love them as they always made my heels dry and cracked.  

NOW, I wear them daily (I don't think there was a day this summer/fall that I didn't wear them) and I'm sad that as I type this, snow has fallen on the ground and I have to put my sandals away until warmer weather.  
These truly are my VERY favorite shoes that I own!

(HOWEVER, I am looking forward to pulling out my sweaters, leggings and boots and bundling up in style for the winter months).

--If I’m eating Pringles chips I can only eat them if I put them in my mouth with the rounded part up, so it is the same shape as my mouth.

--I don’t like Cotton Candy!

--I don’t like Candy Corn, but I LOVE Candy Corn Taffy!

--I am not a fan of JELLO and it is pretty pathetic that the only time I have made JELLO in my life is when I was asked to bring “Jello Jigglers” to a scout activity and I actually had to ask someone how to make them as I didn’t have any experience in making this.   My kiddos are definitely Jello deprived and it’s funny when we go to ward potlucks, Ethan is a typical kid and always dishes some on this plate.

--I could eat squash every day and never tire of it! I LOVE, Banana, Hubbard, Zucchini, Summer, Sweet Meat and Butternut Squash and love them plain or love anything made with them!

 (hilarious observation: in the above photo

(taken near Lewis & Clark Caverns) Ethan is giving me a "tittie-twister")

--If I could think of one event in my life that I truly miss (other than the fact that I wish my kids would stop growing, Or, I miss the simpler times of Newlywed days), it would be that of having a sweet baby to nurse and feed! Nursing my kids was truly one of the favorite times in my life!

--I LOVE yams and sweet potatoes and I always have a few of these for us to enjoy. This is also something I could eat everyday and never tire of it.   Love them baked up and with just a tiny pat of butter and sprinkling of salt and pepper. My other favorite way it to cut them up, slice up an apple, top with pecans and bake them up. Sadly, I do NOT like them the way that most people do, smothered in butter and brown sugar and topped with marshmallows…YUCK!

--Butterflies…I absolutely LOVE butterflies and have many butterflies all over my house.  I have always loved them...even before they re-surged in popular home decor.    

To me they symbolize re-birth, renewal,  freedom...the confidence to be myself and not be stifled or held-back as I soar to new heights! 

--I like my fried eggs with completely cooked yolks. I do NOT like runny yolks at all. I’m the odd ball in my family as Tracy and the boys LOVE their fried eggs with runny yolks.

--I have learned that you should always feel GRATEFUL for each stage of life and that you'll look back and wish you looked a certain way. I have always been worried about my weight (not in a bad way...just always have wanted to be trim and in shape) and in these photos above, I was not the "skinny as a rail" Kimmie I used to be and so I was always working out, biking, walking, etc... NOW, I look back and would LOVE to be that skinny!!  Looking forward to working hard and losing the 10-15 pounds I have put on these past few years.   Tracy keeps telling me, that the same thing will happen again...in a few years, I'll look back at how I look now and WISH that I could look that good.

You need to SAVOR and ENJOY each season and moment in time to the fullest!

--I’m so efficient with things that I have measuring cups in many of my containers of staples. I have 1/3 measuring cup in our container of Steel Cut Oats  ½ measuring cup in my unbleached flour, ½ measuring cup in our rolled oats and 1/8 cup in our Morning Moos powdered milk.    That way when I’m baking I can just measure things out quickly and always have the right measuring cup available. Steel Cut Oats have 1/3 cup as you add in 1/3 cup of oats per one cup of water.  Powdered milk you use 1/8 cup milk per one cup of water and my flour and rolled oats I just like measuring things by ½ cup increments at a time.

--I struggle when the days are shorter and it’s still dark at 7:00 in the morning. I am VERY much a morning person and LOVE the long days of summer when the sun is starting to crest over the horizon at 5:30 in the morning.  Love morning twilight!

--I LOVE nice thick dishcloths that are black and beige. LOVE how nice and big they are and LOVE that they don’t get looking all stained up.  They always stay looking nice.

--My favorite comfort food is cheese. I buy pounds of cheese and freeze it so there is never a moment that we are not without some kind of cheese to add to our meals.

--I don't enjoy being called "Kim" and I'm always amazed how many people call me this, even though I always refer to myself and introduce myself as "Kimberly" or "Kimmie"!  Maybe one of these years, people will get it right.

--I have to have my towels folded a certain way…they have to be folded with the folded side edge along the LEFT side and put in the drawer or stacked on the shelf so that the FOLDED side is facing out. (raw edge is on the right and at the top)  While I very much appreciate when my family helps fold the laundry, it drives me crazy to look and see the edges on the wrong side.  It's moments like that, that I realize the things that truly matter in life and it's not how the towels are folded.

--I love altering recipes so I can make them without adding any kind of boxed mix to them. It’s kind of a passion of mine to tweak recipes so I can make them using just staple ingredients.  (ie…no pudding mixes, no cake mixes, no jello mixes, no boxed rice mixes, etc…)

--I LOVE this quote...

I truly believe with all of my heart, that the best thing in life is to just

BE your BEST self!!

--I can tell if someone has been in any room in our house.  I have a certain way that I leave things and I can always tell if someone has been around and moved things, or left crumbs, or feet prints on the freshly vacuumed carpet, spots on the faucet, etc… It drives my kids and hubby crazy when I ask them about something and they say…”How did you know I did that”, or “How did you know that I was in there”.   

--I am ALWAYS looking Upward!!  I can spot birds in trees everywhere we go. I absolutely LOVE birds.  I love looking upward and noticing the ever change sky and clouds. I love to notice if there are planes or birds flying in the sky.  I am a lover of nature and love to enjoy each and every part of it that I can…even when I’m driving in the car.

--I love the smell of rubber tires...I always like to linger when I'm in the tire store.

--I am a creature of habit…every morning without fail I listen to NPR on my way to work and the instant I get to the stop light at the South Rexburg Exit I have to see what the price of gas is.   I love to track the prices of everything.

--I am very much a creature of habit and when I find something I like, I stick with it. It makes my life SO much easier, to not have to keep for searching for the “perfect” whatever.

However, It was a sad year for me this year as my bra style, my Lipstick I use and the brand of jeans I wear were all discontinued and so I have had to go back to square one and find something else that will work for me. I’m still searching for the perfect bra, I finally found another lipstick option and YES, I found new jeans that are better than the last style I had.  (LEI Ashley, low rise, long, boot cut jeans).  Can’t wait to find a new bra option that is exactly what I want. My bras are looking pretty shabby and need replaced!

----My handwriting looks like "chicken scratch"...seriously I have some of the world's worst handwriting and try as I might, it doesn't really improve.  SO, cards/letters from me are ALWAYS typed up nicely and signed.

--My favorite place to be is anywhere in Nature...especially being up in the high country, where we have backpacked all day to get there!

--I am enthralled with small space living.  

I love finding ways to “scale down” and live and function in smaller spaces.  We love our home but it has much more space than we really need.  We hardly go in our "front room" and the large, unfinished basement just represents another potential bathroom to clean, unfilled bedrooms to clutter with more craft and sewing things and another unneeded family room to clean and heat, etc...  The only really useful space down there (to us) is our food storage and backpacking gear storage room.  I think it would be fun to dramatically scale down and be smart with the space.   

My dream home would be  

to build a home similar to the main section of our home, 

HOWEVER, it would end at the main bathroom with a wall at the end of the hall that would have a door that went outside to a porch that wrapped around from the side of our house to the front porch of our house).  It wouldn’t have 2 bathrooms, but rather one LARGE bathroom with the sink separate so someone could get ready while someone else is showering. (we have found that we never use our other bathroom). A half bath off the utility room would be nice. It wouldn’t have 3 bedrooms, instead it would have a sleeping loft in the main great room of our house with a room for the kids and a room for Tracy and I.  Where the living room is right now, this would be our TV room and it would have a “barn style” door to close and have it be conducive to watching movies. It wouldn’t have a full basement, rather more of a food cellar, large enough for our food storage, holiday storage, camping gear, etc...   

It would have a funky, modern exterior shape and have cool roof angles and be sided in natural materials.   And, as long as I'm dreaming, it would be set in a mountain town like Boulder, CO, Telluride,CO, Wilson, WY, or some other small town nestled in the midst of hiking trails and scenic beauty.

--I don’t really enjoy pasta.  However, my kids and hubby like pasta and so I try and make a pasta meal at least once a month so they don’t feel deprived.

--I don’t enjoy green bean casserole!!  It seems to be a big hit this time of the year, but, I can’t stomach the stuff.

--I LOVE to swing!!  I love to go to the park and swing and swing. I LOVE it and it makes me feel like a kid and makes me feel free.  Someday in the not-to distant future, we are going to have SWING in our backyard so I can enjoy this whenever I want!! (here to see what we are patterning our back yard retreat after...it will be complete with a TALL swing for us to enjoy!)

(some favorite photos through the years)

10-20-11 = Kimmie turned 41

10-22-11 = Tracy turned 43

Looking forward to another wonderful year together,

feeling grateful that I have a body that functions, that even though it is starting to show signs of aging, I can walk, run, talk, breathe, smile, cook, bake, snuggle on the couch with my kiddos and hubby, hug & kiss them each day, walk hand in hand with my sweetie as we go on walks around the block, or walks on our dates and most of all I have my health!
(looking forward to enjoying another 40 years of LOTS of health, happiness, romance & loving with my best friend and love of my life!)

I am truly grateful for all of the many simple pleasures in life that fill my life with much joy and love...

with the top of the list being Tracy, Jade & Ethan!

ABC's of Kimmie!

 
While I have been busy,
trying to get my thoughts, recipes and presentation together for our Relief Society Super Saturday on this coming Saturday November 20th, I came across an ABC list I had made last year!!

One of my sweet friends "Ann Marie" did a FUN post in June 2009 of ABC's about herself and she gave the challenge to post these about ourselves. I was really excited about this challenge and I created a word document of them, however, forgot about it and came across this past week as I was cleaning out my document folder.

I thought it would be fun 
 to post this for my journal. 
 

I tried to list things that weren't on my "Kimmies List" I posted last year and so here it goes...

Apples are one of my favorite foods to eat!

Balance….I try and have balance in life. Even though I eat healthy the majority of the time I enjoy splurging once in awhile on a decadent dessert, or enjoying a handful of french fries, or chips, from time to time.

Car doors are always locked. Even if I am just running into a store, I always lock them. It drives Tracy crazy! Speaking of locks…I ALWAYS have my house locked up as well. It is a subconscious gesture and I’m sure when people come over they get frustrated when they go to walk out the front door and the dead bolt is always clicked and locked.

Don’t speed. Always drive the speed limit. Would hate to waste money on a ticket I could have avoided getting.

Early…I have to be 10-15 minutes early to every appointment.

FUN!! I love to have FUN and try and make each day have something FUN about it.

Garbage…I don’t put anything gross in my garbage. Cans always get rinsed out, scraps go to the chickens, egg shells go on the garden. Any loose paper gets recycled.

Holidays!! I love to celebrate holidays, whether it’s the standard holidays, or Chinese New Year, or Cinco day Mayo, or National PIE Day, I love to do FUN out of the ordinary things to add a little enjoyment to life.

Ice…do NOT like ice in my water. In fact, I would rather drink room temperature water than have ice in it.

JOY in the Journey! One of my most favorite talks ever given was by President Thomas S. Monson on “Finding Joy in the Journey”. That one talk has had more effect on me than anything else...truly life changing! It has inspired me to find Joy each day of my life and was the inspiration for my banner at the top of my Blog. I never tire of listening to/reading these words! (here to view it)

Kiss! Love to kiss my hubby and give my kids kisses! I especially love my kids to see their parents kissing. I grew up in a home where my mother always said “Not in the front of the kids Scott” when my dad went to kiss her and that bothered me greatly and so I wanted to make sure my kids to see and know that their parents love and adore each other!

Listener…I really enjoy listening to other people. I find that after talking to people I always know more about them then they know about me because I am always asking questions about their lives and listening to problems, etc....

Menthol Eucalyptus cough drops are our “breath mints”. We’re a little crazy.

NOT Negative! My motto has been and always will be

 “Look on the bright side of life”

and I try my best to never be negative in anything I say or do.

Outside! Every chance I get I love to be outside, even if it is just sitting on the porch and eating dinner as a family, enjoying the crickets chirping, watching the birds fly, or the wind flutter through the trees watching a sunrise or sunset or just going for a walk around the block. I am the biggest lover of NATURE! It makes me HAPPY to spend time outside and I love to head to the mountains to go backpacking. One of my favorite quotes is:

“I go to nature to be soothed and healed

 and to have my senses put in order”.

PINK... I am a lover of the color pink...especially HOT Pink! I wear pink lipstick, pink blush and my toenails are only ever painted with shades PINK!

Quilts…I LOVE old quilts and love to incorporate them into my home, especially having pieced/handquilted quilts on our beds! (which are getting harder and harder to find..maybe one of these next yeas when my life gets more organized, I will have time to start making quilts of my own)

R I love to READ!! Whether it’s magazines or books, I enjoy spending part of my day enjoying some form of reading.

Sharp Cheese, Sweet Hot Mustard and crackers are a yummy snack to me. Also, I am a SOCK lover and unless I am wearing sandals, I have to always have SOCKS on my feet. DO NOT like to be barefoot.

Tonsils…I don’t have any and so I am always dumping menthol essential oil (aka Sunbreeze) down my throat and always sucking on Menthol cough drops to soothe my throat and to keep from getting a sore throat.

Umbrella…I love to be prepared and so my bag is always stocked with an umbrella so if it’s raining I am never caught off guard.

Vacuum…I love to vacuum and when I do vacuum I have to vacuum myself out of a room so the carpet is perfect and without vacuum marks.

Windex…(actually Glass Plus) I LOVE to have sparkling windows, mirrors, faucets and TV screens and so daily or at least every other day I pull out my window cleaner and make things shine!

X—EXTRA miler! I really like to go the extra mile in everything I do. Although, lately, due to the craziness of my life I have not been as good in this area. Can’t wait to get back to doing sweet and thoughtful things for family and friends.

Yeast! I love to cook with yeast and one of my favorite things to do is to BAKE bread or rolls for my family and friends. LOVE it!!

Zumiez and Hot Topic…I really enjoy going into these stores with my teenage son. While we rarely buy anything, it’s just fun to look at the extreme styles and I’m always amazed that people would actually wear them.

*****************************

(update)

YES, I am still alive...

we finally got the last coat of POLY on our floor Sunday after church.

Five coats later

(each time having to leave the house for a minimum of EIGHT hours at a time) we are finally DONE!!

It is absolutely gorgeous!

I have felt like a woman

without a home for the past 2 weeks.

I haven't been able to cook! When we have coated the floor and we have to leave, I can't work on any projects at home of any kind, respond to emails, be on the computer
(I'm a little jealous of Tracy's iPhone at the moment)
and on these coating days, we have slept in a trailer that Tracy's sister and brother-in-law brought over for us to use so we don't have to breathe the fumes

(a great lifesaver to us I might add and
my kids loved the adventure of sleeping in sleeping bags outside on a school night)

But,

there is finally LIGHT at the end of the tunnel and November 17th we get to start moving in furniture, (so excited for the transformation) I get my STOVE and Fridge back and I finally get to do what I love best...

COOK and BAKE!!

Oh and for the record,

I could go a year without shopping! We have walked the mall and every store in Idaho Falls SO much these past 2 weeks, that I am "Shopped out"!

I wished we could have gone and soaked in some HOT water at one our favorite soaking spots

"Heise Hot Springs",

but they are closed for maintenance until the day after Thanksgiving!

We have definitely put in many miles of walking these past few weeks and burned LOTS of calories. (which has been a good thing!)

My kids deserve medals

and I appreciate their non-stop patience through all of this! I can't wait to be a mom again as well...have missed snuggling and reading books with my Ethan Kip!



Happy week!!

Be in touch just as soon as I can!

A Ray of Sunshine...and Awards

(First off...Kimmie had a moment this week where she wasn't looking her most beautiful and of all days to have that happen, on the day when she would me a sweet Blogging friend. It was right after getting a haircut and I hadn't had time to "style my hair" so it was straight and not fixed the greatest. When I meet new people I get a "red face" and so I was looking AWFUL in the photos they took. I think I'm a pretty person until I am standing next to someone with nice olive complexion and dark long hair etc...So, YES, I'm totally aware that these aren't the most flattering photos of me, but these are the only photos I have).

When I started my Blog this year

I had no idea that I would make so many wonderful friends! Women who truly inspire me to want to be a better wife and mother and women who teach me so many wonderful things as well.

Friday...

I was able to meet someone who inspires me greatly and is such an enjoyable woman in the Blogging world. Cherie from Bakow Babble. She had come to visit her daughter Brittany and had called me and wanted to visit and get acquainted. It was like talking to a long lost friend!
I talked Tracy's ear off the rest of the night about how amazing, fun and easy to talk to Cherie and her daughter were! It was truly a highlight of my week!

She is SO NICE...she is the queen of niceness in the Blogging world and is the queen of niceness in real life...just as beautiful and sweet and kind on the inside as she is on the outside!

TALENTED is what her and her daughter are. They were making the most gorgeous wreaths out of Christmas balls they had bought at the dollar store and the finished product looked like something you would buy in the store for over $50.00 and they spend less than $10.00 on it.

One of the things I love about Cherie's Blog is the passion and love that she has for her family and it was SO much fun to see this in real life as well.
I just felt sad that Ethan had been dealing with a slight fever the night before as she had brought her son Trent with her and he would have LOVED to have someone to play with. Next time we will have to plan better and do something fun with the kiddos!
Cherie is an inspiration to me and I feel blessed to have been able to meet her and get to know her better. I just feel bad because we got talking and enjoying ourselves so much that I hope I didn't overstay my welcome. I all of a sudden realized it was after 5:00 and getting dark outside and we had been visiting for over 2 hours.
She gave me a late birthday gift of the most beautiful jar and I have filled it with my glass leaves for autumn and we are enjoying the Candy Cane Hershey's kisses she gave as well.
I am now officially part of the Big Lips Vampire Club thanks to her generosity in giving me my very own Wax Lips.
I just love you Cherie and Brittany!!

AWARDS!

Tauna from "The Garden of Egan" gave me an "Over the Top" award. She is SO funny and always gives me a good belly laugh when I visit her Blog. She and I also live in the same town and keep on running into each on Saturday nights at Winco.

With this award you are to list your answers to the questions shown below in one word. I did my best at that, but some of the answers are multi-words.
Hope that's okay.

1. Where is your cell phone? Don’t have one
2. Your hair? Short Highlighted Blonde
3. Your mother? Sweet
4. Your father? Generous
5. Your favorite food? Apples, Salmon, Sweet Potatoes
6. Your dream last night? None
7. Your favorite drink? Water
8. Your dream/goal? Running a Marathon
9. What room are you in? Den
10. Your hobby? Being Frugal
11. Your fear? Walking alone in the Dark
12. Where do you want to be in six years? Debt Free
13. Where were you last night? Cuddling with my 3 men on the Beanbag
14. Something you aren't? Organized
15. Muffins? Oat Bran
16. Wish list item? Shelves in my Craft Room
17. Where did you grow up? Utah
18. Last thing you did? Cleaned kitchen
19. What are you wearing? Jeans/t-shirt
20. TV? Off
21. Your pets? dog/chickens
22. Friends? Cherish
23. Your life? THE BEST
24. Your mood? Energized
25. Missing someone? No
26. Vehicle? Sentra
27. Something you're not wearing? Bra
28. Your favorite store? Barnes and Noble
29. Your favorite color? Hot Pink
30. When was the last time you laughed? 1 hour ago
31. When was the last time you cried? Last Sunday
32. Your best friend? Hubby Tracy
33. One place that you go to over and over? Nature
34. One person who emails me regularly? Britt
35. Favorite place to eat? Plum Loco

The next award was given to me by Sondra at "Happy Clean Living". Sondra is an amazing and inspiring woman and said SO many nice things about me! I love her honesty, cleaning tips, thrifty-ness and most of all the LOVE she has for her family!

With this award you are supposed to name 10 Honest things about me! Well, this is going to be a tough one because I just did a long detailed birthday list a few weeks ago and every time I post I tell some honest thing about myself, so hopefully, I can list more honest things about myself that most people don’t already know.

So here goes...

----I HATE getting my face wet! When I wash my hair in the shower I can’t put my face in the water and get it wet. I stand backwards and barely tilt my hair into the water and try not to let it run down my face. I would much rather backstroke when I’m swimming because of this. I’m a nerd about this and my hubby just doesn’t get or understand this quirkiness about me. Sometimes, I don’t either.

----When it’s cold out side I love turning up the heat in my car and putting my hand over the dashboard heaters in my car while I’m driving and getting really warm to the point of being hot. LOVE that!

----I am a very efficient person and so to avoid ever having to look for sunglasses, or stretch gloves, or gum I keep a pair of sunglasses in the house to wear out in the yard and all 4 of our cars has sunglasses in them. I keep chewing gum in every car so we can always have gum to chew and all 5 of my coats have stretch gloves in the pockets so I always have gloves to keep my hands warm.

----I have to have fresh air every day (and not just walking from the car into the store or the car into the house). I have to get out and go on a daily walk. Even if it’s Zero degrees outside, we bundle up (sometimes in multiple layers) and go out and embrace it. These daily walks of fresh air, sunshine and seeing the wonderful beauty where I live really feed my soul and are something I crave and need!
----Along with walks outside I get great joy in observing the clouds and the sky. I enjoy throughout the day seeing the cloud formations, the sun, the moon silhouette, the colors in the sky, light peaking through the clouds on a grey and cloudy day. It is something that I am always taking note of and I LOVE it!

----Anytime I close a Zip-loc bag I have to completely get all of the air out of it and if I see that someone’s put something in a Zip-loc bag that doesn’t have all of the air out of it, it drives me crazy until I can get it sealed correctly.

----I love to recycle, repurpose and reuse! I love putting an old item to use somewhere in my house, I enjoy recycling paper, cardboard and plastic containers. It’s become a quest of mine to see how far I can make something stretch as far as meals go. Frugality is in my blood and I don’t think it will ever go away!

----I LOVE learning new things and love reading! There are always books and magazines in my home that Tracy and I are always reading. If my home gets cluttered it is from books and magazines. In fact, my favorite place to go on our dates is to Barnes and Noble and read books/magazines together as well as enjoy great conversation together.

----If I’m going to cook I want to make one big mess so I only have to clean up once and so I will bake up bread, bake cookies and bake dinner all at once. My kitchen usually looks like a cyclone hit it by the time I’m done, but then I get it all cleaned up so it is nice and heavenly to enjoy family dinner when the kids and hubby get home!
----I really enjoy being creative and LOVE that I’m married to man who is creative as well. Our home is a creation of both of our personalities and talents. I enjoy decorating for the holidays and displaying photos showing the FUN things we have done in our lives. I also LOVE the creations my children make and can’t wait to finally have my wall finished in my house to display their creations in some nice black frames.

----I am a believer in PRAISE! It’s amazing the joy and excitement that comes from giving someone a word of praise or a genuine compliment. I love to see peoples faces light up. I try and make sure that every day I have given many compliments and praise.
----I LOVE MY FAMILY! My family is the most important thing in my life and if I were put on a desert island and didn’t have anyone else around me but my family I would be perfectly content. They are my everything and my greatest joy comes from seeing them succeed and being happy as well!

----Thank goodness for my positive hubby, because since we are both VERY positive and try our best to “look on the bright side of life”,

Our motto in life is…”It’s All Good”!

Summer, Fall, Winter Spring, vacations consisting of a cruise or a camping trip, wild flowers or flowers of any kind, greenery, bushes and trees of all kinds, sunshine, clouds, rain, snow, stars, the moon, High Caves, Mountains, low valleys, streams, rivers, water falls, the ocean. Historical sites, old buildings, new buildings, etc….Whatever it is I really try and enjoy it to the fullest!!
My Grandpa taught me a great lesson…
”Sometimes you aren’t able to change your situation, but you can always change the way you THINK about the situation.

The rules of these awards are to pass them along, but, I have decided long ago not to pass along awards because I really feel that everyone deserves them and it would be too hard to choose and so I gladly play along and will post them with honor.
So ladies...
"Thank you" for thinking of me!

Have a Happy Week!

Kimmie's List!

I found this quote a few years ago and LOVED it because it fits me perfectly! I am a person that likes to "march to the beat of my own drum" and I really would much rather sit on a pumpkin by myself than to be crowded on a velvet cushion!! It's a FUN week at our house this week as Tracy and I have birthdays that are just 2 days apart. Today I am sharing my list of unique things about me. These are my feelings and thoughts, likes and dislikes at this moment in my life, so that when I look back many years from now I can see what was important to me and how I felt about life. So, other than things you already know about me like how FAMILY is the number one thing in my life, I thrive on Frugality and being Thrifty, I LOVE nature, LOVE to cook and be healthy and LOVE taking photos and I'm a lover of quotes, LOVE backpacking and enjoying the outdoors and I LOVE to create memories... Here's a list of quirky, interesting, fun and unique things that make me... ME!

---I don’t have many dislikes in life but here are my Pet peeves…..cold butter on the plate when you have to spread it on bread or pancakes. When someone uses the last paper towel and they just set a roll of paper towels on the counter to use instead of just replacing it. Splatters of water and toothpaste all over the faucet, mirror and counter. Being called “Kim”! ---Favorite movies: "E.T.", Titanic, Calendar Girls, The Saint, Chocolat, The Fugitive, Miss Congeniality, Some Kind of Wonderful, How to lose a guy in 10 days”, Count of Monte Crisco, Bridges of Madison County, Shawshank Redemption, Joe Versus the Volcano ---I LOVE “Little House on the Prairie Series”, “The Sound of Music” and “Lawrence Welk”! (I know I have some diversity with my tastes and likes in movies/programs). ---Favorite treats…I LOVE any kind of berry or apple pie! Raisin oatmeal cookies and homemade bread. I love DARK chocolate Snickers bars and I’m sad it is a rare thing to find them anymore. I also enjoy Almond Joy, Mounds and Reese Sticks. Cinnamon bears and “Ju Ju Fruits” and my favorite of all BLACK licorice!!

(DO NOT like Skittles, Starbursts, Airheads or Sour Patch Kids candy).

---LOVE chewing gum! I enjoy popping it, blowing bubbles and just plain old chewing it! We have gum stocked in all of our cars and plenty in our food storage so we can make sure to always have gum to chew. ---I twirled baton when I was younger AND I also know how to juggle. I think because of these two things that is the reason that I am always tossing things into the air. (dusting polish, pens, balls, etc…) I even throw my dish towel in the air as I’m walking through the house. I enjoy tossing and catching things…it’s a subconscious act. ---I love getting into a bed with cold sheets and then pulling the covers over my head and hunkering to get warm.

---I can’t stand to be barefoot. I have to always have shoes on my feet. I wear Birkenstock slip on shoes around the house and shoes are the first thing (OTHER than lipstick) that I put on when I wake up in the morning. ---I LOVE morning time! I love being up early with just me, my thoughts and the cool morning air. I can accomplish more in 1 hour of the early morning than I can all afternoon. I never tire of my morning time.

I love COLOR!!

---My makeup is VERY colorful. I wear royal blue mascara, green eyeliner, I use my hot pink blush on my cheeks as well as my eyelids and I wear hot pink lipstick. I feel like I look “harsh” in black eyeliner and my pencil thin lips look washed out in just chapstick. ---Along with color I LOVE BOLD colors for my wardrobe…hot pink, bright orange, turquoise. I don't feel like pastels look good on me. ---I like sitting UP in my chair and I am always adjusting the seat in the car to sit me up completely straight! It drives Tracy crazy to sit in a chair or in the car after I have been there. ---I always walk FAST everywhere I go and I always park at the back of the parking lot, even if it’s bad weather, because I like to get as much exercise as I can everyday! Love the “Earth Gym” of getting daily exercise by doing things like brisk walking, pushing a lawn mower rather than riding one, etc…. ---I have the world's WORST handwriting! I quit writing in cursive shortly after graduating from High School and since I do so much typing during the day for my work, my handwriting suffers and now is just pretty pathetic to look at. So, as much as I LOVE sending heartfelt notes to friends and families, they are always typed, but SIGNED by me. (although my signature looks like a Doctors signature...pretty much unreadable as well).

(the ever famous..."light bulb with a dent in it" hairstyle that I had in High School---I can't belive that this style ever looked good to me).

---I LOVE to shift gears when I am driving a car. I have driven a standard car for so many years when I drive an automatic I feel like I’m going to get in a wreck.

---I really believe that LAUGHTER is the best medicine and when I am around Tracy his laugh is SO contagious and I always have a good belly laugh! ---I LOVE to read “vanity plates” and figure out what they say. For that matter, I just love WORDS in general and love to READ and love doing “Word Searches”! ---I love to take red or black licorice and tie it into knots and then eat it. ---I am a NON-padded bra kind of girl and can only wear a front clasp bra NON-padded bra! ---I haven’t bought a purse for 6 years. I just LOVE the purse that I have. It is practical, functional and it might not be the newest COLOR or STYLE, but I love it and hope I still have it many years from now! ---I like practical footwear and I don’t even own a pair of HEELS! For business casual I like my Doc Martens BUCKLE shoes, or my Keens. For summer I wear Birkenstocks and Chaco sandals and for every day life I wear my Merrill slip-ons. For church I have a pair of Brown and pair of Black 2 inch wide heels to wear with my church attire.

I am a LOVER of music!!

---I love to put on Black Eyed Peas, Ace of Base, The Killers, Depeche Mode, Def Leppard to DANCE and be energized or to enjoy while driving in the car. For easy listening I LOVE Ronan Hardiman, The Secret Garden, Enya, Yanni, Williams Classical Guitar. ---I LOVE Mormon Tabernacle Choir and I LOVE symphonic Orchestra concerts! ---I LOVE to listen to NPR on my morning commute to work. ---I LOVE to sing...Especially when no-one is around! ---My favorite “look” for my wardrobe, is a plain white shirt with a cute button or crocheted sweater, OR, sheer shirt over it. I jazz it up with a spunky necklace.

---6 years ago I found my dream pair of jeans and I have been buying them ever since. My jeans in my wardrobe consist of light and dark “Levis Strauss…low-rise boot-cut Stretch” jeans. I don’t have any other jeans other than this brand/style. It’s nice after so many years of trying to find pants to fit me to actually find something! ---I do NOT like to be late!! I have to be 10 to 15 minutes early to everything! ---I have pierced ears, but after having little babies and having my holes get enlarged I haven’t worn earrings for years. It’s kind of sad, because I have more earrings than anyone else I know.

---I very much am a HOPELESS Romantic! I love Romance and Love and I'm passionate about keeping the SPARK alive in our marriage. The first year we were married I bought a book “Have a Love Affair with your Husband” and I am always reading books to find out FUN ways to keep marriage EXCITING!! (My favorite books for this are: ”Light his Fire” and “How can we light a fire when the kids are driving us crazy”!) ---I LOVE crazy socks! Every pair of socks that I buy has some kind of color or colorful pattern to them. My kids have never had WHITE tube socks…their socks are all colorful!! ---The first time I bought my kids white socks is for Ethan to play soccer and Jade to have socks for his running shoes. Other than that…COLORFUL socks are what fill our drawers!

---I do not own a slip! I feel that by wearing our “Unmentionables”, bra, nylons, and a dress why do we need anymore layers. I threw away my slip when I went to college and my mom noticed and gave me a slip for my first anniversary of marriage. It got sent on as well! ---I do NOT like to spend money on meaningless things like crafts, etc….I used to do this, but the past few years of life changing experiences have made it where I don’t crave to go out and spend money. If I have something on my counter, table, etc…. I want it to be useful and functional as well as look pretty. Other than my curio and my entry shelf, everything else in my house serves a useful purpose. I don’t care HOW good of a DEAL it is---even if it’s free…if it won’t be useful than I won’t purchase it or bring it into my house. ---I LOVE people watching! I really enjoy going to malls or the store and just observing people!

---I’m finally starting to celebrate my thin straight hair. The older I get the more days I have a straight look to my hair, although I absolutely LOVE styling and curling my hair!! ---I LOVE my “A-line” style haircut and I can’t stand having my ears show and so I like have my hair shorter in the back and longer in the front, hence my LOVE for A-line/bobbed haircuts! (LOVE that "Roaring 20's" look!)

---I hate to spend money, especially on things that I could make for so much cheaper at home. I do NOT like getting my own entrée at a restaurant and Tracy and I always get something and split it. ---I also HATE to waste food. I get stressed out when I see food being wasted! Lots of starving people in the world and it makes me feel bad when I see people wasting.

---I am a LOVER of Art! I enjoy looking at paintings and photos of all kinds. I wish I was more artistic as I can’t even draw a stick figure. I LOVE that I am married to a creative person. He can doddle and draw, build and never ceases to amaze me with his talents! ---I’m thankful for Blogging because I love to be creative and Blogging has allowed me to be able to express my creativity through writing, photos and cooking. I love this outlet that I have in my life. ---I do NOT like nylons of any kind. If I have to wear something with my dresses I choose to wear tights or knee socks/boots. I have never bought a pair of “Nude” or tan nylons in my life. My tights consist of white, cream and black.

---I LOVE my old ’92 Nissan Sentra and I proudly drive it everywhere I go! We bought it brand new and I hope it keeps running for many more years! I have no desire to buy a new car until we are completely out of debt and we can pay cash for it. ---I am a very devoted friend and cherish friendships and it is an important aspect in my life to keep in touch with my friends. ---20 years ago I used to get comments all of the time on how white my teeth were. Now, since the age of “whitening products” that hasn’t happened.

---I don’t like contention at all and I try to avoid contention at all costs!! I am always quick to apologize and I am NOT a grudge holder! ---I really believe that life is an adventure it’s meant to be ENJOYED to the fullest. Grateful, for a family that lets us really enjoy life!

---My poor hands are the last thing on my body to ever get any attention! I have UGLY hands and my poor fingers are sausage fingers. HOWEVER, my feet make up for it. I love my feet and they get plenty of TLC….toenails always painted colorful, heels filed. I love everything about my feet! If it can be said, my feet are cute and sexy.

---I don’t own a cell phone and don’t really feel I need one. I drive 30 miles (round trip) to work and back and if I did have a car breakdown between work and home there are LOTS of nice people I could ask if I could borrow their phone to call Tracy. And after work I am home for the rest of the day and we have a phone at home and so I don’t see the need to have one.

---I am a versatile kind of gal….I LOVE to get all gussied up to head on a date with my hubby or head to work, or church, but, I LOVE to head to the hills and camp/hike and get dirty. I LOVE gardening and digging in the dirt. I’m never too good to get a little dirty. It’s all good!!

---I LOVE to get dressed up sexy and cute for my hubby! I love to surprise him with little outfits and I can tell you that I always spruce up my hair, put on fresh lipstick and a little body spray to greet him with a kiss at the door when he comes home from work.

I LOVE being Tracy’s wife!

---I am a VERY happy and cheerful person and I have never suffered from depression, of which I am SO grateful! “Always look on the bright side of life” is my motto and I try to be positive about most everything in life, especially things that you can’t change.

---I am actually kind of a SHY person and at parties I LOVE to sit and people watch and definitely don’t like to be the center of attention. ---Even though I am shy and not someone who likes to be the center of attention, I enjoy very much leading the music in Sacrament meeting each week and never get stage fright (there is kind of a “dichotomy” going on there).

(these photos are just after I had got done riding the SAMURAI at Lagoon...I was NOT feeling well!)

---I LOVE to befriend people who don’t have many friends. I enjoy it SO much and would much rather be on the sidelines with someone who genuinely cares then part of a crowd of people who don’t. ---Something that goes along with “being shy” is I LOVE to do things anonymously! I would much rather take a goodie to someone and leave it on their doorstep and brighten their day then to actually present it to them in person. (sometimes, even jars of money get left). I love to do sweet things in secret and don’t like to be given praise or attention.

---I’m always mixing up metaphors. My most embarrassing moment was when I went to ask a member of our Bishopric how things were going. (they had some stress in their home that week and I was trying to think should I ask him…“How are things going?”, OR,”Are you hanging in there okay?” What came out of my mouth is “How’s it hanging?” (it’s a good thing he had good sense of humor).

---I had 2 great accomplishments in 1988----I was listed in the National Achievement Academy award book for honors in Spanish AND I won “Miss Congeniality” in the Dairy Princess Pageant!

---I have a mild PHOBIA of phones. I had a situation at college that has stuck with me and everytime I hear a phone ring I stress out. It drives Tracy crazy! I actually don’t like to talk on the phone as well and always try and find a way to give the phone to Tracy to talk. Although, I really enjoy talking to close friends on the phone! ---I have little boxes of TREASURES! My boxes are full of love notes, letters, programs from concerts, trinkets, etc… and I love to pull them out and read them and look at them a few times each year.

---I have awesome memories from all 4 seasons—there is not a season that I love anymore than the next. I cherish each moment of time in each season that I get to enjoy with my family. ---I’m a nerd, but I LOVE my digital watch. I have a beautiful dressy watch that I wear with my dresses, but I LOVE my digital watch. I won’t be making one of the latest craze BEAD watches. Sorry. I'm just not a "frilly" person and like simple things and so I am happy with the functionality of my digital watch. ---$25.00 wedding band—I love my simple wedding band and I don’t long for anything else. It is a sterling silver band with Sego Lily cutouts around the band. I NEVER long for diamonds at all. SIMPLE is best and SIMPLE is ME! ---I ALWAYS get a red neck when I am nervous. YES, I could never lie or get away with anything, because anytime I get nervous or stressed out my neck gets all blotchy and it is a dead giveaway!

Favorite place to be (besides anywhere with Tracy)… sitting on the beanbag reading to my kids! (Nursing Ethan as we were hiking up to go through the Lewis and Clark Caverns)

---I LOVED nursing my kids! That is the thing I miss most about having little ones is nursing them. I LOVED every moment of it! There is just nothing more sweet than watching a baby suckle on his mommy! ---I am comfortable in my own skin and don’t have any body shame. I celebrate my body with flaws and all! I have a really bad surgical scar on my collarbone (that is 1/2" wide and about 5 inches long) from when I was 11 and have never felt a desire or need to cover it up, even though it’s not the prettiest sight to look at. It’s my body and I love it! I love the size of my chest and the size of my behind. I am really content with myself! Although, I definitely need to do some toning and be more active, but, nonetheless, life is good.

Besides, as a good friend once told me…you need to LOVE the body you have today…flaws and all. You can't live in yesterday's body or tomorrow's body. I have a body! What a privilege! And, nothing I do in the next 24 hours will significantly change my body anyway... so you have to just learn to love it how it is right now (that doesn't mean you can't have a desire to make it better in the future, but “self-loathing” doesn't help towards this end).

---I can drive a semi-truck and unload a grain truck!

---WATER is my drink of choice! Other than herbal tea, or homemade lemonade, I rarely drink anything else. (Besides, I don't want to waste my calories on liquid calories as I would much rather save my calories for something YUMMY for dessert!) ---Speaking of Calories, I actually always seem to be subconsciously counting calories and it is very rare for me to overeat. ---Have to always have LOTION and lipstick! I have lotion and lipstick in every car, my purse, kitchen drawer, my swim bag, etc....Cant ever be without these 2 things. ---I had a Sociology class in college and I just LOVED my professor (Hal Hunter). Often when he came to class he had just had a spirited, competitive game of racquetball with the love of his life Marilyn during his lunch hour. During the course as we came to the section on marriage and family, he discussed his relationship with Marilyn and made the statement: "When I married Marilyn, she wasn't just one more person added to my ever growing circle of friends... she BECAME my circle of friends"! (this doesn't mean that he doesn't have many good friends... he was simply emphasizing the singular importance he placed in his relationship with Marilyn). I am that exact same way. I want to experience the majority of my life with Tracy…I don’t want to do anything unless I can enjoy it with Tracy and so therefore, I don’t crave to go out with girl friends, neighbors, etc….

(We sure love this little tent trailer of ours and we have had LOTS of good times with it...We LOVE when we are on a trip and it's time to stop and make lunch!)

---I LOVE clean looks. A few years ago I took down all of my greenery and window valances and I just LOVE a nice clean look with just a few simple frames/ objects on a shelf wall, but DON”T like the messiness and dealing with dusting greenery. Love WOOD BLINDS on my windows because they can be cleaned easily and they aren’t dust collectors like fabric is.

---I don’t like change at all! I never get an inkling to rearrange my furniture at all. I have figured out what I like and I don’t want to change it. Old habits die hard! ---I don’t like to waste money and so when there is something at a restaurant that I know is good then I will keep on getting that rather then trying something new because I don’t want to spend money and then not have it turn out. HOWEVER, I do like to try NEW things and when we have gone on our cruises I only like to eat things that I have never tried before!! (I just don't like to spend my money on something that isn't "tried and true"). ---My eyes are sensitive to the sun and so anytime I am outside I have to be wearing SUNGLASSES!!

(these photos are SO funny...Ethan was scared of Santa)

---Whenever I hear music and my legs are crossed I will lead the music with my foot (Either 3/4 time, OR, 4/4 time, etc…). ---Love to have my toes popped! ---DON’T like ICE in my water. I would rather drink room temperature water...that way I can guzzle it! ---I really believe that it doesn’t matter how my hair looks, or what my clothes look like, but the most important thing a person can put on each day is a SMILE!!!

---Love the innocence of little kids and their honesty! It’s sad that somehow while growing up we learn to LIE for many aspects of life instead of being truthful like little kids. ---I don’t like to waste time watching meaningless TV….if I watch TV it is because we are watching a movie, OR, I’m watching my favorite programs….”LOST”, or, “The Office”. Other than that, you won’t find me sitting in front of the TV. ---I'm a multi-tasker hate to waste time! I love to be busy all of the time and I am a very efficient “Multi-tasker”. My drawers and closets may not be the most organized things in the world, but my TIME is very organized.

---The older I get the more “Round” my face gets. I sometimes find it challenging to think I look pretty when I look at photos of myself, or look in the mirror at my round, jowly face. ---I am a bird lover and I am always Looking UP to see if I can spot a bird flying, on a telephone pole or in a tree. ---I hate to shave my legs!! I can go for weeks in the winter without ever shaving my legs. (it’s a “time thing”…I am always hurrying in the shower to get ready in the morning and so my legs are the last thing to get attention). HOWEVER, the “Netherlands” and armpits, are always shaved weekly! (smile!) ---I will NOT buy cheap candy for Halloween or any holiday! I would rather spend $20.00 extra and give out good stuff than cheap candy. My motto is…."I will only buy for others what I would buy for my own children"!

After 39 wonderful years of life... it just doesn't get any better than this!