Water Fest

I've been trying to eat healthier, exercise, etc. I'm trying to make my life better. In doing so, I've realized that I need to increase my water in-take. I do drink a lot of water at work but I know it's not nearly as much as I should be drinking. I found an idea on pinterest on how to make sure I get a good amount of water. To guarentee I get at least 2 liters of water while at work, I have a 1 liter water bottle (I purchased this years ago I think at Target or Shopko or Harmons) that I marked times I should be done drinking certain amounts of water.

As you can see, this first side shows how much water I should drink by 9 a.m., 10 a.m., 11 a.m. and I should be done with the bottle by noon.

On the other side, it shows how much I should be done by 2 p.m., 3 p.m., 4 p.m. and finish the bottle by 5 p.m.

This is the first day I've done this and I already feel the difference; and not just from the amount of times I've used the restroom. :) I'm more alert, have more energy and I'm not snacking as much as before. I think this water thing is going to be a good thing.

Fun Visitor

Today I had some fun visitors come to my office for lunch! Hutch and Agent P stopped by. Since there are only three of us in my office now, P had a lot of fun running throughout the empty offices.

Here he is drawing on the white board in one of the offices.

He found the "Twinkie Box". He loved to take the lid on and off. He acted surprised the first few times he opened it, then it became "peek-a-boo" with the treats.

He wanted to look out the window so he found a spot where he could lay down and watch the cars.

Answering phones...

doing my work...he's hired!!!

It's always fun to play with Hutch and Agent P, even if it's only for an hour on my lunch break.

Mothers

I'm currently reading a book called "We're Just Like You Only Prettier: Confessions of a Tarnished Southern Belle." It's hilarious! I'm laughing out loud through the whole book. Then I hit a chapter about mothers day. She (the author-Celia Rivenbark) talks about making her mother an ashtray in school for mother's day, then the next year making a piece of art out of a paper plate and macaroni. She talks about how as an adult she is usually rushing at the last minute to get gifts for her mother and mother-in-law and she sees her 4 year old daughter spend weeks working on an art project made out of rocks, feathers and colored paper that she puts her heart into. She talks about how she needs to go back to the macaroni magic. She states,

"So the macaroni magic will not be craft induced for me. Maybe not for you either. It can be simply sitting and talking under the sycamore tree in the backyard of the home you grew up in.
On day, it will be my daughter who will be scowling in line at the gift-wrap counter, and she will have long forgotten a sunny May afternoon when she was four and so excited about her Mother's Day project that she couldn't even sleep the night before.
That's life. I know it. And I know something more: that on those long days when we in the sandwich generation feel squeezed and spent and are tempted to grouse about being either mother or daughter, we should be fall-on-our-knees grateful for both.
Because the trush is simple. Our time is fleeting and dear. As a good friend explained it, one day it is our mother who is buying us the Chatty Cathy that we begged for; the next, or so it seems, we find ourselves taking a baby doll as a gift to a mother in the nursing home. It has always struck me that women in nursing home beds almost always have baby dolls in their rooms. I suspect it is because they remind them of the happiest time of their lives. I know it is mine.
One day, in a hospital room somewhere, you will hold a hand that you can't even recognize anymore. It may be thin and dry and tiny, the rings way too big even with the guards you bought for her at the jewelry store.
Look closer and you'll recognize the hand that pushed you in the swing, the one that felt your burning forehead when you were sick, the one that stroked your hair the first time you had your heart broken and cried for a solid three hours.
For all of you mothers, for all of you who want to be mothers, for all of you "other mothers" who nurture children not your own, may you have a lifetime of Mother's Days filled with your own brand of macaroni magic. I plan to."

I sit here with tears streaming down my cheeks thinking about all of the mothers I've had in my life. I'm so grateful for each and everyone of them. They have made me who I am today. I'm most especially grateful for my own mother. She has spent the last 32 years telling me I'm beauitful, I'm talented and I'm loved over and over again. And even though there are times when I don't believe it or feel I deserve it, I love hearing it from her because I know she truely means it. Mom, I love you with all my heart and words can't express how much you mean to me and how thankful I am to our Heavenly Father that I have you. I hope that you never forget that and that you never forget that I'm always here for you with any help you may need; no matter how small or large. You are my first best friend, my first confidate, my first example. I'm truely who I am today because of you. I hope to bring the macaroni magic back into your life.

Easter, Apple Sauce and Artwork

Since I have been so busy with our stake musical I haven't blogged much. I missed sending Easter pictures and other activities we had done. We were able to spend the day up in Logan with my brother and sister-in-law and I haven't written about that yet either. I will dedicate a blog to that day soon.

Easter was a fun day at our house. P got hot wheels in his basket and you'd thought we'd given him a million dollars. He was so excited and impatient while we opened the package for him. We also hid plastic Easter eggs with Hersey kisses in them throughout our back yard. Sadly, I was silly and didn't take pictures or film it. You'll just have to take my word that it was a lot of fun. Once we showed Agent P that there was chocolate in the eggs, he was determined to find them all and had a lot of fun finding them. Before church we tried to get a family picture taken. Here are the best two we could get.

P was done with photos shortly after taking only a few. He wanted to play instead.

A few months ago my parents, sisters and I got together and made homemade apple sauce and canned them. It's really good if I do say so myself. Agent P also really likes it. Last night we gave him some with his dinner and he went all out trying to eat every last drop. It got all over the place. All over his face, hair, chair, hands, clothes, everywhere! When the spoon didn't work for him, he just picked it up and tried to drink it, when that didn't work he just scooped it out with his hands. Where there's a will, there's a way.

Last night Hutch and I were reminded why we must pay attention to sounds that P makes or doesn't make. Hutch and I were in the living room sitting on the couch talking about our day when we realized we hadn't heard P for a while. I walked into the hallway and he was standing there with a pencil and a really big smile. He then showed me his artwork.

That would be the wall in the hallway. He was so proud of it. I tried to get him to stand next to it so I could take a picture of him with it, but he wouldn't. We are sooooooo thankful that it was a pencil so it will be easy to clean off. We are still trying to get him to understand that we draw on paper, not walls. Silly kid!

Bucket List

Wow! Three blogs in one day! Something must be wrong with me. Or I'm bored. Or I'm just in a sharing mood. My three blog readers should feel lucky, wait, am I up to four now?

I have a bucket list. I've never actually seen the movie. I've heard it's good so does that count? But I have a small list of things I'd like to accomplish before I die. They are:

A. Visit all of the Presidential Libraries - I've visited one (so I'm a step further than some people)
B. Cook my way through a cookbook - I don't which one yet. I haven't picked it yet. I do love Paula Deen but not sure how it would affect my waistline. I also like Mark Bitman so it might be one of his.
C. Play my Top 5 Roles (at least top 4 - number 5 changes) - they are: 1. Maria in "The Sound of Music", 2. Narrator in "Joseph...", 3. Bakers Wife in "Into the Woods", Jo in "Little Women". The number 5 slot that changes a lot are: Eponine in "Les Miserables", Elphaba in "Wicked", Mother in "Ragime" and Donna in "Momma Mia".
D. Sing "Glitter and be Gay" from Candide
E. Sing "O Mio Babbino Caro" by Puccini

That is my list so far. I felt dumb the other day when someone asked me what was on my bucket list and I couldn't remember. Mind you I was running on little sleep and my brain had expoded about 5 times that day, but I should remember what I want to do before I die. So I'm blogging about it so I always have it saved. What's on your bucket list?

For Cherie

My friend Cherie told me that I need to blog more often because it helps her get through the day. No pressure or anything. So this blog post is for.

Cherie is the process of losing her mind. Not this kind of losing her mind:

I think if Michael Ball was going to lose his mind over me, I'd be ok with that. She's more losing her mind over something like this:

Cherie's son is getting married on Friday. A presentation like the video won't be happening (even though I wouldn't put it past Brandon) the craziness and stress will be there. Cherie, everything is going to turn out beautifully! The worst thing that could happen is their wedding cake melting...oops...too soon? heehee!! The couple is going to look beautiful, the church is going to look beautiful and most importantly, you're going to look beautifiul (with or without high heals). I love you very much! You're a wonderful mom and I know your son appreciates everything you are doing.

Now, to lighten the mood, this video is for you:
(In a Bill Cosby mood)

Clarify

In my previous post I had mentioned how things happen for a reason but I don't know if I ever expanded on that. Me being cast as Elsa was a good thing. If I hadn't been I wouldn't have been able to block the show. I wouldn't have been involved in each scene getting to know each person and the character they played. I wouldn't have meet and have gotten to know the amazing people in the show. I wouldn't have been as close to the production team as I was. To learn from their amazing talents each and every day. So this show was a complete blessing to me. I might not have seen it at the begining but in the end it made sense. And that's a lesson too.