Sean's Mothers Day Date for Me :)

Sean is the best husband ever. No arguments we already voted and it has been decided. If you don't like it you can bring it up with the council. You will lose though because I'm the council. The evening began with going to dinner at one of my favorite restaurants, Red Robin! It was delicious.

Next we went to the movies and saw "Something Borrowed". We decided it was an ok movie. It had a good story line in the sense that we weren't sure what was going to happen next. It also had that actor guy from "The Office" I can't remember his name but he played Jim. He pretty much made the movie, because he brought the comic relief. The problem with the movie Sean said is from his words "They took something that was true but then tagged on a bunch of false things to it make them seem ok" The main couple both cheat on each other and they make it seem like its not a bad thing because they were in love with the people they cheated with. So after the questionable movie we went to home depot to get some home magazines for the next part of our date. We also stopped by walmart and got some delicious ben & jerry's ice cream. We got home and started our craft part of the date. Sean pays attention when I talk because he planned this date all by himself and he picked this as our activity. We cut out pictures from the magazines and pieced together our dream home. I had never done this before but if you read my previous post about dating it was on the list. I wanted to do it since I wrote that list 3 years ago. Let me tell you, it was just as fun as I had imagined it would be. Sean is a great date :) He made me laugh the whole night. Here is our project:

The materials

The outcome

Also as a gift Sean gave me a pretty plant. He knows I don't like flowers because they just die in a week or two maybe if you're lucky.

Mothers Day Eve

On this day, the eve of mothers day, my lovely parents came over and surprised me with a gift. They had to bring Andrea some paper work for her to sell her broken car and since they were here they dropped off my present.

Beautiful Pink Rose and a Card

Inside the card they wrote a touching note. I may have teared up a bit... Ok I cried. It was just so sweet and unexpected that they gave me a mothers day card.

3rd Trimester

Guess who is in the 3rd Trimester?! Yep Me! Only 3 more months until Mr. Noah makes his grand entrance into this world! We are so thrilled. The house is almost baby proof and we have most of the stuff ready for him. We just need some of the simple things that we will hopefully get from the baby shower. Also I have gone on a clean freak streak. I was on my hands and knees scrubbing the kitchen floor just this morning. Sean is great at keeping the house clean and not letting dishes be in the sink. I am very grateful for a hard working husband that helps out in everything. He still talks to Noah every night which we can tell Noah loves. He moves around so much now. This is what I have read about Noah's development for this week. "This week, your baby weighs almost 2 pounds (like a head of cauliflower) and is about 14 1/2 inches long with his legs extended. (My uterus is about 10 1/2 inches, tight squeeze in there) With more brain tissue developing, your baby's brain is very active now. He's sleeping and waking at regular intervals, opening and closing his eyes." This is the fun part. Before this week his eyelids were fused and they remain that way until about 27 to 28 weeks of pregnancy. His retina are now developed fully and he can see. Next week we start our birth class. Sean and I are both really looking forward to that!

27 Weeks!

Impromptu Date Night

The plans we had originally had for tonight were cancelled last minute so we just decided on the whim what to do with our evening. We were supposed to go to the Temple to see the Joseph Smith video with the missionaries and some investigators but their baby got sick today so we rescheduled for next week. We had already driven over to their apartment so we decided to just go walk around the Temple anyway. We were driving on Main Street and came to a road block. Turns out part of the street was closed off for the "Motorcycles on Main- Bike Night". Bikers came and parked their bikes along both sides of the street to show them off. There was live bands and vendors too. Sean and I walked up and down looking at the bikes eating the yummy shaved ice we bought. Here are some pictures.

Bikes Galore!!!

Us with our shaved ice

This one was my favorite. Yellow, Small & Cute

This was Sean's Favorite. His reason: It looks cool.

A family bike. Room for Dad, Mom and baby in a car seat on the side, haha

 After we saw all there was to see at bike night we made our way to the Temple. We walked around a bit and then went into the visitors center because I really had to pee. haha. That's the life of a preggie woman. That's what Sean calls me. There was an exhibit of canvas painting depicting Book of Mormon stories. We really enjoyed reading the captions on the side and the art was well done. We got some great pictures of the Temple tonight as well. We sat on the bench outside the entrance to the Temple and read some scripture. Then we talked about our wedding day and the things we remembered from the Sealing. It was lovely sitting there looking back at our past as well as looking forward to the future. Both are bound together through the Temple :) I love date night.

Props to me for taking this picture. I love how the Temple glows and the reflection pool is amazing. 

Now we are just hanging out at home with the roomies, Andrea and Brittany. They are awesome girls.

Money is like a carpenter's saw

"Money is like a carpenter’s saw. It can build you the most beautiful financial castle or it can cut you up in a thousand financial pieces. You must learn to use it wisely in order to benefit from it." -Steve Albrecht

This is a great analogy for money. I have a love/hate relationship with money. Or rather instead of love I'd say its more of an appreciation for.  I appreciate it because I see the good it can bring ie. food, clothing, a house, church buildings, entertainment. Also I have seen the bad it can bring, ie, selfishness, wickedness, pride, fear. So how do we keep on the good side of money? The answer is right above, use it wisely.  If a man or woman doesn't know how to manage money properly they can destroy their family. Sounds pretty serious, I know. But it's true. Many divorces can be attributed to fights over money. Poor money management can cause fear, anxiety, hurt feelings and low self esteem in any individual. So how do we avoid the pitfalls of bad money management? Simply follow the counsel given to us by church leaders, business practices, and many personal experiences of others. I have done some research and complied a list of advice given by others. You can take this advice to heart because its not mine. Trust me I wouldn't listen to a 23 year old who has never had more than $2000 saved up at a time either. haha. But someday I hope to be more financially savvy and stable and I have hope that will happen because I am going to follow the advice I am now relaying to you.

1. Pay an honest tithe- This is a commandment that if we obey, we are promised that we will “prosper in the land.” This prosperity might not always or ever be in the money department but we will receive blessings from it. I personally know this to be true. I have never by any means been rich but I have always been able to provide for my needs. Also learning to diligently pay our tithing will teach us to sacrifice, be better planners and make us accountable for our money. 

2. Live on less than you earn- This speaks for itself. If you spend more than you make you end up with negative money. 

3. Learn to distinguish between needs and wants- This is a hard one because it has to do with… dun dun dun.. Self-discipline. Ok maybe you all might not have a hard time with this one but I admit it is one of my weaknesses. Sean is great with this. He could be a hermit if he needed to. This is mostly due to the fact that he doesn’t have very many wants. He is pretty content with his needs being met, mainly food, clothing (that he doesn’t even care too much about), shelter and itunes. Ok itunes isn’t a need but it is the one want that he consistently asks for haha. I however have a gray area when it comes between need and want. Realistically I know the difference but I do a lot of justification so that my wants seem more like needs so I feel ok about buying it. This is something I am currently working on. It becomes easy to think that you must have every convenience available. 

4. Develop and live with in a budget- There are three types of budgets everyone should have in place: Monthly, Yearly, Long- Term. The long term is for major purchases like buying a home, car, education etc. The short term monthly and yearly budgets are for everyday spending. Make sure that within your budget you are setting aside money for emergency funds (in case you are ever out of work), and regular savings.

5. Stay away from dept- Self-explanatory. Un needed dept only cause headaches and trouble. It has been said by many wise men that for things like education, modest home and a modest car dept is ok.

6. Teach Family Members the Importance of Work and Managing Money- Children are rarely educated on money management. Children need to understand the financial pressures on a family. They need to know why they can’t have everything they want. They should also be taught the importance of saving money and where it comes from. I remember as a young child believe money just came from the bank and you could go get it whenever you wanted. My dad squashed that belief early on though and I am happy about that knowledge he gave me. I saw that he was a hard worker and that is where the money came from. Also I saw the work my mom did to ensure that we saved for the things we needed. 

 So there you have it. Lessons on money management complied together by Deana Howell. I don't take credit for thinking of these tips only looking them up and putting them together. Sean and I both came from modest upbringings. That's the polite, politically correct way of saying, poor. We both saw the work it took for our parents to provide us with what we had. I think for me I am just now realizing how much work it really was. Being the second youngest I thought for many years that I just got what I wanted because my wants weren't asking much. Looking back now I do realize that the reason I got what I wanted was because my parents sacrificed greatly so that I could have those things. I never had a cell phone or went on expensive trips or had expensive clothing but I did have many things most people in other parts of the world only dream of. Sean and I were both blessed with good parents that couldn't give us everything in the world materially but they did give us greater things. They taught us through their words and actions that though money is desirable there are things more important.

Dating after Marriage

Remember those days before you got married (or if you aren't married yet remember those days like last week) when you had a date with a new guy/girl and you were so excited and nervous about how it would go. And how elated you were when you walked up to the door to pick her up or waited on the other side of the door waiting for him to knock. I sometimes think back to when Sean and I first started dating and how I would get ready for the date and I just felt the jitters the whole time, anxious for him to get there already so our splendid time together could start. Then those moments, or rather hours, it took to say goodbye at the end of the night because you just couldn't stand the thought of leaving each other. As soon as you close the door wishing it was the next day already so you could be together again. Remember all the time you put into planning and deciding what to do on the date. Dating was thrilling, exciting, scary even,because you didn't know what was or could happen next, it was new. These feelings can still carry on into dating after marriage. Well not the scared part because luckily you are fortunate to already know whats going to happen: You get to spend forever with that person! yay! So one thing that causes difficulty in dating after marriage is you have to make time for it. With all the other things going on its easy to forget to date your spouse. Courtship shouldn't end after you capture your true love. President David O. McKay said "I should like to urge continued courtship, and apply this to grown people. Too many couples have come to the altar of marriage looking upon the marriage ceremony as the end of courtship instead of the beginning of an eternal courtship." But I admit Sean and I occasionally to forget to date. We see each other everyday and spend the night with each other but that doesn't count as a date. Websters Dictionary defines a date as:

a : an appointment to meet at a specified time; especially : a social engagement between two persons that often has a romantic character b : a person with whom one has a usually romantic date

See clearly it takes a bit more thought than just spending time together. A date however does not need to cost a lot of mula $$ in fact a date doesn't need to cost anything. As the song goes "my love don't cost a thing" haha I had to put that. So here is a list of dates that cost $0 to a little bit. Of course if you have the money to spend then feel free to take a helicopter ride, go to a fancy dinner, Broadway play etc. For those of you that are .... well lets say, financially challenged pick one of these lovely dates.

Awesomely Cheap Dates for the Financially Challenged Couple:

• Ping Pong or Pool at a local institute building
• Put a large puzzle together.
• Stay fit together- Go work out, Go on a walk or run
• Do a service project for someone. Help with yard work, clean the house of a new mother (they are super busy and dont have time for such things sometimes)
• Make a delicious dinner at home
• Go to the AZ Science Center on the 1st Friday of every month, its free!
• Play Frisbee
• Take a trip to the library and read love poems to each other (cheesy I know but it sounds so sweet too, you know it does)
• Go to a sporting event (This one could be cheap or expensive, depends on what time of event it is. High School, Church, College, Professional)
• Have a night with each others family
• Play a board game, or two or three! I love board games
• Fly a kite *Disclaimer- Wind is needed for this activity
• Be a kid, Get some crayons and some coloring books and Color!
• Take pictures of anything and everything. Then make a collage of art
• Have a Scavenger hunt. May need more people for this, or not, you decide
• Have a bonfire.
• Find a pool and go swimming
• Baby sit for someone
• Gather up a bunch of magazines, Make a story complete with captions with the pictures
• Watch the Spanish channel and make your own dialogue
• Check out Astronomy books from the library, Find constellations and planets
• Cut out Pictures of houses. Now play cut and paste to create your Dream Home
• Go on a walk down Main Street, stop at each statue and make up a story
• Go to a local school play or performance
• Go to Open Houses and pretend you have money to buy it, just to have a look around
• Get a movie, get a lap top, pack snacks, go to the desert, lay out a blanket (or sit in the back of a truck bed) and watch the movie in the beautiful outdoors
• Look at childhood pictures and tell stories of how you grew up, memories, anything that comes to mind
• Go to garage sales and find treasures
• Go to hobby lobby (or a store similar) get some model cars, put them together
• Have a mini road trip. Drive out to the desert, find a neat restaurant, eat, drive back home
• Go to see a play. Broadway Palms is pretty inexpensive and serves dinner
• Throw your own Prom
• Invite friends to come over dressed up fancy in big dresses, tux or nice suit, and have a fancy pot luck dinner.
• Be a hero and Save lives! Donate blood together, then go replenish yourself with dinner
• As you wish- paint your own pottery store
• Go to a park, play music, finger paint
• On a hot summer day, wash the car together, with the intent of splashing each other with water
• Make a movie. Be creative. Use puppets, paper dolls, really dolls, figurines, what ever you have around the house.
• Watch youtube video's and critique them. 
• Create mad libs, write poems, or a short story
• Take a free tour of a local factory. Available tours range from candy factories to a motorcycle manufacturing plant. To find free tours in your area Click Here
• Have a candlelight picnic in the back yard
• Who said date night can only last one night? Go on a camp out

There you go. You have a huge list to chose from. Now you have no excuses. And if you aren't married these are still wonderful ideas. So go out and have fun. Court your spouse, fall in love again, and again and again. If you aren't married then go out, date, court, and fall in love for the first time. Then when you get married continue to do so.

Saturday of Awesomeness

Pretty much Saturday was a wonderful day. I've decided to just post pictures to show the wonderfulness that took place.

Kirby and Justin and I went to the library. The books to the left are Kirby's, Mine are in the middle, Justin's are to the right.

 After the library we lounged around the house for a couple hours. Andrea partook of the lounging as well. We heard the ice cream man music and Andrea jumped up like a daisy in the spring time and ran out to the street to stop the guy. We were so very excited to get some ice cream. We all felt like little kids again. As I was buying an ice cream for Sean to eat when he got home he came driving down our street. He got off early!!!! This made my day :)

Our ice cream.

Justin reading his book. One of the few moments he was quite. haha. It was actually fun hanging out with him all day.

Tim consulting with Kirby about what he thinks Kirby should order for dinner. He was very serious.

Our dinner party at Denny's. Tim and Adriana joined us for our day of awesomeness. It was great hanging out with them.

Feast!!! This was all the food I ordered. Just kidding, The toast was for everyone else to share. Or maybe not. Maybe I just had the sample platter and the salad. But I wish I had eaten everything else on the table because it looks delicious.