Being an Example- Lisa

Last night, we were at Lisa's YW New Beginnings activity called, "Miss Latter-day Saint" to welcome in two new girls. This year's theme is about being an example to others. They acted like pageant contestants representing the different values in different colors. They even changed to dresses! It was so fun and hilarious seeing the girls be total hams while trying to look sophisticated! :-)

It was also great how all the other girls nominated Lisa to be Miss Knowledge and asked her to show up in her GREEN Academic Decathlon T-shirt. It is also funny to me how they nominated her Miss Knowledge. My daughter is a smart cookie no doubt, but there are a lot she can learn about herself; 90% of her day is spent in school. Sometimes in all that pile of homework, Mutual doesn't get included in the priorities of the week which our bishop lovingly reminded us parents that our daughters need to build their testimonies on.

Back to the "being an example" bit. Lisa is a great example of sticking to her academic and moral guns. She has a rainbow of friends because she tries to relate to most people without sacrificing her religious beliefs. I just love that about her. Is she perfect at it? No, (who is) but the fact that she tries is more than half the battle.

We love her personal rule of "NO CHEATING" it doesn't matter if it was a friend or an acquaintance that asked. She doesn't want cheating associated with her name, so she's quick to let her friends know that she'll help them understand the lesson but not give them the answers. Lisa has friends that are cheerleaders, band members, emo, dancers, athletes, other eggheads and those of other "in" crowds at school. It amazes me to no end, because I was a wall flower myself but I love that she can easily make friends and that she earns respect her way...

Being an example, it's a personal choice... And Lisa, is a great example of academic integrity, modesty and being a friend. So, in our eyes, she is "MISS LATTER-DAY SAINT"...

Love Dare Challenge- Day 10

The internet conked out for twelve hours so I'm late doing this, but nonetheless, it is time for what's next. Yesterday was easy enough to do..

Day 10
Love is Unconditional
"But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners Christ died for us." —Romans 5:8 KJV

DARE:
Do something out of the ordinary today for your spouse—something that proves (to you and to them) that your love is based on your choice and nothing else. Wash her car. Clean the kitchen. Buy his favorite dessert. Fold the laundry. Demonstrate love to them for the sheer joy of being their partner in marriage.

What I Did:
I made sure to best clean his otherwise grimy and greasy work clothes that normally turn me off because of the icky smell by using Tide and OxyClean. I tell you those two combined is pure genius!


I'm at Day 10, 30 more days to go! Hope life doesn't get in the way like today that I have to miss a day...

My First Ever Thankful Thursday!

I found this at Jan's blog, so here goes nothing... I think it's so much fun!

• I'm THANKFUL for my internet back after 12 hours.
• I'm THANKFUL that my children are safe back home from school.
• I'm THANKFUL that I was kept safe walking to and from the store today.
• I'm THANKFUL that I have a great next door neighbor, Annette.
• I'm THANKFUL that I'm almost done with school.
• I'm THANKFUL that we have ice cream to pacify the kiddos.
• And lastly, I'm THANKFUL that I get to enjoy my dishes and add more with my uber clearance finds!

What are you THANKFUL for today?

Time for some Feng Shui tips again and this time, we want our lucks to change for the better!

ROOM BY ROOM

Enjoy reading it from my other blog, so click on the above link and see how things improve in these areas...

Love Dare Challenge- Day 9

Well Day 8 went well, but my tired body and mind had a little mishap; I broke my blender and almost burnt dinner! Yes, my household gets this crazy!

Day 9:

Love Makes Good Impressions

"Greet ye one another with a kiss of charity. Peace be with you all that are in Christ Jesus. Amen."

1 Peter 5:14 KJV

DARE:

Think of a specific way you’d like to greet your spouse today. Do it with a smile and with enthusiasm. Then determine to change your greeting to reflect your love for them.

What I Did:

I kept telling him that I missed and gave him kisses "just because". He totally loved it!

I love how this dare is making me feel; my husband and I truly love each other, but life certainly gets in the way often than not...

3/2: FHE- Togetherness Pasta

Sorry, I should've posted about this on Monday, but... things were a little stretched. So what's new, right?

Lisa asked if she can tutor Daniel on Monday night and since he really needed help, we agreed. If you've visited my tablescaping blog, you would've read that Charlie and I grabbed some truly sweet deal at Albertson's on 31/40 shrimp- B1G2FREE! I basically saved $50 for 6lbs. of shrimp!

Anyway, so we had an informal FHE. I chose to focus everything on the dinner by making a great pasta dish using the shrimp thawed in the fridge. It turned out delicious, but the other driving force was the fact that the kids were having the TAKS test today and we needed to make sure that breakfast, lunch, dinner, and breakfast were packed with good nutrients and vitamins for their testing brains. This test is offered to 3rd to 12th graders here in Texas and all must take it to pass on to the next grade.

To continue, I needed to make sure that I made a menu that everyone will eat up so this is what I came up with:

Linguine with Shrimp and Spinach
Minute Maid Blueberry Pomegranate or as my kids call it, "Brain" juice
Ice Water
Cooky Blue Smoothie

All had seconds and the conversations were centered around families eating together. Daniel told me that his mom is somewhat jealous of me because we eat together and he likes coming over because we eat together. And then he said that my cooking might have something to do with it, too... Smart boy! :-)

We had a great time! Lisa loved telling Daniel that "people like to eat my (meaning her) food"! Ian said that eating together is great because we laugh and we talk. Jasmine said that it was the best pasta she's ever tasted and Charlie kept saying, "shrimp me, shrimp me!" We even talked of cultural dining, mainly Filipinos, mostly my family.

In my childhood home, when my dad would be home from his long work assignments, he would sit at the same one end of the table, facing the whole house. His back would be to the window and he made sure that we were seated at our assigned seats and no one was to deviate. My stepmom sat at the other end and the maid waited or ate in the kitchen. His water glass was always the most filled and conversations started with him asking us questions. We rarely said grace but we were expected to respect the food by trying everything once and keeping the food on the plate. My mom taught me that I was not to eat unless my husband takes his first spoonful. Or that I should serve him his plate and not let him serve himself. Oh, boy! (One rule I kept failing at- gladly, lol!)

Ok, for letting me share our great FHE with you, I'll show you what the dinner looked like and I'll also share the smoothie recipe.

Cooky Blue Smoothie
(my recipe)
2 pkgs of freshly washed ripe blueberries
5 scoops of cookies & cream ice cream or frozen yogurt
2 cups of Silk soymilk (regular)

In a blender, start to puree the blueberries; add ice cream then the soymilk. Mix until dark lavender color and no more chunks. It's delicious and healthy as you're not using extra sugar or too much ice cream. Blueberries are known to help with memory retention.

Here's what our dinner looked like:

"SS Linguine"
It looks as good as it tasted! The plate I used was my birthday gift from Charlie and the kids- "Snowfall Splendor Gold" by Target's Holiday 'O8 collection.

How was your Monday?

Love Dare Challenge- Day 8

Yesterday was mixed for me; I didn't realize how Day 6 would affect me, but telling him one great thing about him helped a lot.

Day 8
Love is not Jealous
"Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame."
Song of Solomon 8:6 KJV

The Dare:
Determine to become your spouse's biggest fan and to reject any thoughts of jealousy. To help you set your heart on your spouse and focus on their achievements, Take yesterday's list of negative attributes and discreetly burn it. Then share with your spouse how glad you are about a success he or she recently enjoyed.

What I Did:
I ignored the negative list I created mentally and we talked about how kind he is that helps him get along with everyone at work.

I hope that this crossroad propel me to keep going. I don't do well with challenges, but he's very much worth it. I'm glad I'm doing this for fun, it's easier when you have a good marriage to begin with. :-D

Love Dare Challenge- Day 7

Day 6 was tough but I made it. I think I'll like this one next...

Day 7
"Love believes the best"
"[Charity] Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things".
1 Corinthians 13:7 KJV

Dare:
Get two sheets of paper. On the first, write out positive things about your spouse. Then do the same with negative things on the second. Place both sheets in a secret place. At some point during the remainder of the day, pick a positive attribute from the first list and thank your spouse for having this characteristic.

What I Did:
I made the list and told him why I chose this positive attribute from this sweet memory.
I know there are still 33 days left to this dare, but I can't wait to see how I do!

Sabbath Gratitude

So like lately, I was plagued with insomnia. Which meant, I didn't doze off until 5:30 this morning! Aaaaaahhhh!!!

Anyway, it was a struggle to stay awake for the two little ones that are super energetic from abundance of rest and having a quiet day. It was a struggle to get up and do anything that required standing up in fear of falling over from feeling sleepy!

Now that you get the picture of how tired I am... Let's move on to the positives- instances that made me want to cry from overwhelming gratitude. (Sundays do have that tendency if you take the time to see, hear and listen)

First, the kids let me sleep in though I couldn't. (It maybe because they put up a tent in the living room which took up all the space...)

Next, they cleaned it all up and made me a bed on the couch plus some awesome snacks (we're talking chocolate here people!)

Then, Ian told me a great joke:
Ian: Mommy pretend you're my teacher and ask me to spell VACUUM

Me: Ian, please spell VACUUM

Ian: VACUUM, V-A-C-W-M. VACUUM.

Me: That is wrong. There are two U's.

Ian: I know, I said W because there are two U's. Get it? Double U.

Of course, there's Pandora (dot com) that you can pick your own songs according to what you like only. For Sundays, choose Kenneth Cope. The best part, it's FREE!!!

I really love my tablescaping blog and the love from the comments are just so overwhelmingly wonderful that I truly wish that I can meet all these wonderful women. Most are grandmothers, but I think, I'll fit in just fine...

Plus there are the awards that above mentioned women bestow each other in the name of blogging friendships. So cool!

Then, you all know that Lisa's Academic Decathlon Team made State and off they went to Houston. Throughout, she texted and called. Most were just today's and she's missing my cooking. How awesome is that?

Our Sundays are not always perfect, reverent or quiet, but it certainly is the day that we always find reasons to be grateful for what we have.

How is your Sunday so far?

Love Dare Challenge- Day 6

Day 5 was a little hard to do and swallow... But I know I needed and wanted to do it. It also showed me that even with a happy marriage, there's always room for improvement. Let's see what's next...

Day 6
Love Is Not Irritable
"He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city." Proverbs 16:32 KJV

Dare:
Choose today to react to tough circumstances in your marriage in loving ways instead of with irritation.
What I Did:
I listened, swallowed and told myself that this is for our eternal marriage
I guess just like in the movies, I'll have to apply Day 1 to accomplish this one...