Strength

P broke my best (and only) paring knife.  :(

He was trying to cut a peach. 

Sad is the day that a peach can snap a metal knife in two. 

Farewell, favorite Cuisinart paring knife.

You served me well.

The Road to Recovery: Stuffitis

MONEY CAN'T BUY EVERYTHING

(from an old Music book of mine) 

Money can't buy everything

Money can't make you a king.

Money doesn't bring success.

Money can't buy happiness.

But the one thing I am sure

Money doesn't make you poor.

Money doesn't make you sad.

Money can't be all that bad.

(Don't know if I quite agree with it, but recalling the lyrics was sure fun!)

*via

According to Dave Ramsey

When asked, "What is the most important financial principle?" He answered:

“The Dave Ramsey Show” and my company, the Lampo Group, have become very well known for teaching people how to get out of debt, save money, and get on a budget. All of us on staff here are very thankful for the response we’ve had to these concepts, but another financial concept is the hinge on which the door of successful person finance swings. I have only begun to realize the full significance of this concept during the last year or so. When you understand this concept, all the other concepts work, and until you implement it, none of them will work. When you stick this concept deep into your soul, it becomes easy to save money and even have money to invest. Getting out of debt happens quickly once you learn how to apply this concept in your life. Budgeting is made easier, and your marriage or relationships regarding money are freed up and made smooth. This is the most important financial concept.

Contentment. That’s right, contentment. Contentment brings peace. Not apathy. Not the deadhead fog of Prozac or Valium. Only contentment brings peace. We live in the most marketing-focused society in the history of the world. The very essence of marketing is to disturb your peace. We say things to ourselves like, “I’ll be happy when I get that boat,” or “I’ll be happy when I get that china cabinet,” or “I’ll be happy when I get that house.” Or, or, or, or!!!

NOT TRUE. Happiness is sold to us as an event or a thing, and consequently, our finances have suffered. Fun can be bought with money; happiness cannot.

We live among a bunch of people who are deeply in debt and have no money saved because their emotions were tricked. Just like drug addicts, people have been conned into believing that happiness will come with the next purchase. So, Daddy works hundreds of overtime hours and Mommy works 40-plus hours a week…all in the name of STUFF. You probably think I am writing about someone else, but I’m not. I am writing about you. I know because I suffer from the same disease, but I am recovering and so are many of you. The human spirit was not created to attain peace, contentment or fulfillment by gathering more stuff.

You can get out of debt, save money, and get on a budget, but until your intellect forces your emotions and your spirit to accept that STUFF does not equal CONTENTMENT, your finances will always feel stressed. At our office we counsel every week with folks who are making $25,000 per year as well as folks making $250,000 per year. These people share a common problem: they all suffer from some level of “stuffitis,” the worship of stuff. Change your focus and change your life for the better.

Personally, I could use a little more a LOT more contentment in my life. It's a very freeing way of being.

I really appreciated what he said about buying the next thing being like a drug addict. You get the rush, but it leaves you wanting more. It’s how our culture has become, which is a sad, terrible thing. "Wants" have replaced "Needs", and it’s left us worse off than ever.

Special Delivery!

Bet you weren't as excited as I was
to get the mail today. (Thanks, Mama!)
The 4 bags to the left were why.
4 varieties of juicy, ripe cherries
Fresh from the homestead.

There is just something about receiving fresh
Washington produce in the mail.
Whether its been while I was living in ID, NH, ME, VT or  (now) UT;
Nothing compares to it in the slightest way.
 

I've said it once, and I'll say it again:

I LOVE BEING A FARMER'S DAUGHTER!!!

*Just thinking about them

makes my mouth water  (:

MMMMmmm!

It was INDEPENDENCE DAY!

Can you believe July is already almost over?!

 

I am so thankful to have a free country to live in.

Here is a photo log of some of the things we did/saw on this day,

The celebration of our Country's Independence.

Waiting in the park for the fireworks to start.

 Sunset in Huntsville, UT

If you look hard enough, you can see the moon (which was what I was trying to take a picture of in the first place).

The following is a demonstration of how not to show your patriotism:

 

Sporting the Red, White and Blue 

Ultimate FAIL

Check out whose smile is looking better and better every day! 

 That's right.

Results from P's retainers have finally made their appearance!

Anyway, I love that picture.

It reminds me why I am so glad we are 2 small-ish people.

We took this picture while lying in the same sleeping bag.

Believe it or not,

Together we fit quite comfortably in one bag.

It's awesome!

And something else we did not want to see on Independence day:

 

 Check out the large

Crack in the back

Note how Patriotism  fail was also included in the picture.

I don't think we could have picked a worse view...

BARF!

(We were all very glad when Patriotism moved

only a few minutes after this pic was taken, 

and Crack adjusted his shirt and shorts properly thereafter.

I wonder if they saw me taking pictures?

Or maybe they just heard us talking. 

Either way, we felt much less distracted after those events took place.

*insert sigh of relief here*) 

 I included this one, just to be cheesy.

Plus I liked the bow I had in my hair to show

some of my favorite colors

this holiday season

 Some of my favorite fireworks 

(wish I could have captured a more vibrant pic of them)

I am so thankful to have a free country to live in.

Please, please, please

Always

Cherish and Celebrate 

Your Freedom!

For Those Who Haven't Already Heard...

At last.

The time has come to announce our long awaited news.

 P is expecting!

At least, that is what Gerber and Enfamil told me about a week and a half ago.

All this mail was addressed specifically to him.

I still giggle every time I picture him prego...YIKES!

*random rant: I hate when

your info gets sold

and good paper

gets wasted on consumers

who will not consume

the product being marketed.

Good thing we have friends

that can use the $25 in coupons

and more

for their little ones!

A Little More Light

Huntsville 2011 Independence Day Celebration

If there is light in the soul, there will be beauty in the person.

If there is beauty in the person, there will be harmony in the house.

If there is harmony in the house, there will be order in the nation.

If there is order in the nation, there will be peace in the world.

Chinese Proverb

The Jitters

I realized an interesting inclination in myself just the other day. I always wake up with really strong "pre-marriage jitters" the morning of good friends' weddings. I do, I really truly do. It's as if I re-live the emotions from morning before I got married, but instead of having the feelings for myself, I have it for the couple getting married. It almost seems like I'm having some kind of strange sympathetic reflex. That happens to you too, right?

                              Maybe not...
                                             *awkward*

     Aaaaand we're moving on....

24 June 2011

This was definitely a wedding I am so glad I did not miss. Seeing my cousin get married to a really good friend of mine was a real treat!

 I am so in love with the background picture. 

Maybe it's the joy you can see in both their faces?

Maybe it's my cousin, Carmen, the blushing bride.

She is absolutely gorgeous,

and I am so happy for her!

I honestly think it's Allen's fist pump.

Gotta love that guy

(and his enthusiasm). 

:)

And, of course, 

going to a wedding at the same place that I got married 

to my best friend always brings those 

special memories to the front of my mind.

 And I wouldn't change that for anything.

Quite the awesome coincidence that my shirt
matched the wedding colors almost exactly.
I had no idea beforehand.
I promise! :)