moving on

I hate to say it, but I'm moving on with my blogs. I will be merging from shelly'sbelly and barlow bits. That blog -- fromshelly'sbelly -- will be for family and more personal updates. I may cut it out entirely... that's to be determined later.

I have a NEW blog for my NEW shop(s). It's very exciting. I'm in the process of building and designing it, so be on the lookout for the grand opening!! YAY!

halloween cosutmes

Well, I made their costumes, however, I just bought new re-chargeable batteries and didn't realize you had to pre-charge them before use. They really should put that on the packaging. So, I only got a few lame pictures of their costumes. I say lame because they weren't very clear, or their costume was all helter skelter because of tugging. The rest of the night they did wonderfully with them. They were just adorable! Benji was a wolf and Jenee' a lamb. Benji totally got into trick or treating. He would hold up his bucket and then say thank you over and over again and then good-bye. He ran from car to car excited about all the candy. Now that's all he wants to eat, candy. I also made Kendall's costume - who you see in the pics with Benj.



She's half stuffed because she just got too hot - so she's not as poofy as she was designed to be. She was still the cutest little lamb I ever beheld.

just some pictures

just after Jenee' got her ears pierced. She was hysterical when they cleaned her ears and then put the dot on. She got them done and then saw a stuffed bear and didn't even remember whas was wrong! They are cute little pink flowers; love it!

Benji standing under the dining table at Nana's house. He was making faces at her for the camera! Too funny. Nick didn't want me to put this picture as our desktop wallpaper - I guess he doesn't like to laugh.

Jenee' eating one of the best cookies ever - Oreos! I think that's even the good cool mint ones! Ohhhh boy! I can eat a whole package by myself in about a half hour!

miracle

Our van is up and working! B.eau.ti.ful.ly.

We thought it was going to be a $2000 repair! No! It was $175 - much much less!

Hip-hip hooray for answered prayers! Everyday I wake up with a smile knowing that we don't have to worry about our van! We are so blessed by Heavenly Father to have our "purple bullet" back in action. She needs a bath big time!

Thank you for thinking and praying for us, that's one thing you can take off your list!

vote people!

I know, I know it's not that exciting for you, but it is to me! look at the poll to the right or I just may do something like post something really long and boring and whiny!

I'm going to be selling my goods (very exciting, i know!) and I'm wondering about my shop name. From Shelly's Belly - I do like Snap Dragon! I like too. I say it all the time (if you know me IRL you already know that). I don't want it to be confusing however my blog titled FSB and my shop something else.

think about it, and report back to me!

who knew?

microwave your toothbrush once a week to kill germs! Interesting!

Proposition 8

Watch this video - it certainly makes you think about how else it could effect people. Another reason to homeschool, I say.

a question answered

This will be a long post.

As you know, we just moved to Utah and boy was it a hard trip. I'll get to what happened after I answer a question that was asked of me.

As you know, we were in Houston when hurricane Ike hit us. We were very fortunate that the "worst" thing that happened to us was to not have power for 20 hours. That's it. So we didn't suffer at all!

My uncle and grandparents stayed at our house during the hurricane because they were 5 minutes from the ocean.

My uncle and I were driving back from checking on my step-grandmother (is that really something you label someone?), E, who is 93 years old. As we were driving around we saw a lot of damage from the hurricane. My uncle asked me, "why does God let hurricanes happen?" (or something to that affect). I really don't think he was looking for a deep profound answer, or maybe he was. I replied, "so we can appreciate the good times." (or something like that - I do believe I gave a more indepth response, but I can't remember it all right now).

I've thought on that conversation for some time now and have gone over and over in my head what I wish I had said. I've decided I'm going to now to the best of my current knowledge.

We are here (on earth) to experience joy. We are also here to grow and learn and become a stronger and better person. Everything has its opposite. Light and dark; good and bad; health and sickness; and pleasure and pain. In order for us to feel happiness we must know what it feels like to be without it. The same for all the others. When we go through these things it's not because He wants to torture us and doesn't care for us. We experience these things because they can make us stronger. We experience these things because they teach us and we can learn from them. We are then better able to help and comfort those around us going through things we've been through. We are less judgemental.

Think of a forest fire. It is devastating to the animals who lose their homes and even lives. It is devastating to all around it, mostly the forest! However, when new trees and vegetation begin to grow they are stronger, healthier, and full of nutrients. That land is a better plot of land! It is so when my uncle pointed to a tree and said, "I don't think that tree thinks this is a good thing." Amen! Of course you may not be thinking, hey I like this hard stuff - bring it on! When you are that tree bent in half, roots sticking up out of the ground it's lousy. But when that tree is replanted and secured upright it will become stronger.

Recently general conference happened for my church, and it was so uplifting and enlightening. Elder Wirthlin spoke of learning to laugh when things get tough, staying optimistic.

Amidst the turmoil I seem to be feeling lately - politically, economically, and our own personal financial situation I tend to think - hey! wait a tick! This is too hard, too overwhelming, and too frightening. There is hope, there is a way to laugh and be optimistic, and this will be for my good in the end.

It couldn't have come at a better time.

We had some delays in our travels. We were supposed to have left sunday/monday for utah. We didn't get out of there until thursday night due to some things we couldn't control. Nick's dad came down to drive our things up and we followed behind him in our van.

First, Chad (nick's dad) ran over a deer (he's in an 18 wheeler), and we drove over that same deer.

Then we pulled over because our tire sounded flat. After not finding anything wrong we continued on. Then it got worse, so we pulled over again and alas there was a screw in our tire. Chad and his friend, Heath, said oh- it'll be fine. We kept driving for 10 more minutes until our tire went completely flat. We changed the to our spare, and filled that up with air - this whole process took several hours. Meanwhile we have 2 kids in the car that aren't happy at all! We drove to a hotel and stayed the night.

The next morning Chad and Heath fixed our flat (we had a screw and a nail in it). So off we went. We were filling up with gas when Chad said he smelt antifreeze. So we pulled into a walmart to tarp up the load (rain was coming) and also to fill our car up with antifreeze. we got the load all tarped (2 hours later) and then started to fill the car up when the antifreeze was just gushing out of the car. There was a leak! Chad and Heath worked on the car for a long time when they said our Head was cracked and that it would probably cost $2000 (yes 2 thousand) to fix it, but we weren't going to be able to drive to utah at this time. So they looked for a rental car, but they don't rent one way from Lubbock to Utah. So we booked a moving truck and trailer to haul the van for the next day. There was a texas tech game the next day so all the hotels were charging outrageous fees, with barely any availabilities. We finally found an old motel to stay in and we ordered pizza. Nick and I were so sad and stressed. Where in the world are we going to find $2000??

So, we got started the next day. Heath drove the truck that hauled the van and Chad drove Nick, myself, and the kiddos in the 18-wheeler. It was pretty comfortable in there! The rest of the way was easy easy! I didn't have to stay awake or drive! The night we stopped and just slept in the cab - there are 2 (twin) beds in the truck. Nick and I slept in one bed, Benji and Chad slept in the other and Jenee' slept in her car seat. That sleeping arrangement lasted 2 minutes. Jenee' came in and slept on top of me. Well, I don't think she ever really fell asleep. She was climbing and crawling and crying all over me. Benji was crying and finally he came down and slept on top of nick (remember this is a twin bed). we were freezing with 2 baby blankets covering us. Chad had a towel. It was so incredibly uncomfortable. I slept 20 minutes total. We finally arrived to utah at 9 am on sunday.

Throughout the whole ordeal (and it still isn't over - we need to get a car so nick can get a job) I felt optomistic

turning off the computer

well, this is my last look at the internet for a few days. we're shutting down the computer so it can go into the back of our van. We are officially on our way in a few hours. YAY! Wish us luck with the kiddos for a 24 hour drive - not including stops. they are already cranky today, so it's not looking good. they're probably stressed about all the stuff moving out from around them. We're so excited! See ya Tejas!

changing your heart

I do love the song "1234" by Feist. I feel like it's my theme song for right now. Well, I say that only knowing half of the lyrics. Ha ha. I'll get back to you on that if I find out it means something totally different!

Lots of things are swarming around in my head right now. We're moving to Utah either the 5th or 6th of October. We're trying to get Nick admitted into school, a new job, a new home. We're trying to get things taken care of here, there and yonder. I'm excited for the new prospects that await us there. Schooling, work, family, and new undertakings. I don't want to say, but I do want to say exactly what. I've got so many ideas of what I can do to help support our little family so that Nick might not have to work so much while he's going to school.

It's times like these when I'm feeling bogged down with responsibility and urgency that music really speaks to me. I'm not that big on music. I know for most people they walk around with Ipods plugged into their ears constantly. When I drive, I keep the music off. When I clean, there's no music. When I sew (or whatever) there's no music. Throughout the day the only noises I hear are the laughter or cries of my children. I can almost go half of a day without talking. That is until Nick comes home and then I jabber his head off. No wonder my son doesn't talk, neither does his mother.
Anyway, right now I've got a list of 5 songs that rotate through my head all day long, so I just decided to play them on my computer, and now they rotate through the air waves in my house all day long. Until I get sick of them. Maybe I should put in different music, to lift me from the fog of overwhelm. I will tomorrow maybe. Right now I'm rolling around in it.

Never you fret, I am not in the depths of despair right now. I'm just overwhelmed and overstressed and overtempered (just keeping with the theme of the sentence).

We're getting our family pictures taken in a few weeks just when I'm feeling mega chubby. At this point I was supposed to be much smaller, however I have let my cravings take over my proper brain functions and now I am not smaller. I've got 2 weeks.

Just fine

Hey, I mentioned I was a bit stressed earlier. I'm fine now. I'm eating a cookie.

Hurricane

Hurricane, go away, come again another day (or not); little children, little children, little children want to play.

well, things are a bit crazy here in Houston. Hurricane Ike is headed our way, so we're hunkered down for now, waiting for the power to go out.

Will update everyone on how we're doing as we're able.

Grandmama, Grandpapa, and Kenneth are with us as well, so if you can't reach them on their cell phones, try our house phone.

Check out my poll

It's over on the right underneath "where else you can find me."

When I talk about the 2 blogs I mean this one, and From Shelly's Belly

Thanks!

moving. again?

moving.

yup, you read it right.

we're moving, again.

where?

Utah. Somewhere from SLC to Provo - in either of those cities or between them. That all depends on what school Nick will go to.

When?

October-ish. Sometime in the month of october, but there are some factors that will determine it.

If this is the first you're hearing of the move, you're not alone. I think besides 4 other people, everyone else is finding out through this blog (that is if they even read it, if not they'll find out another way).

service auction

I just came back from enrichment night for my church and it was so much fun! We had a service auction night. You came to the activity with things you could auction off. For example, free babysitting, weed your garden, tech support, sew things, dinner, dessert, gift cards, thank you cards, etc. You fill out a questionnare at the beginning to determine how many points you get. For example, did you say your morning prayers? did you serve a mission? did you ever own a new kids on the block tape? have you been married for 20 years? and there were points assigned to each thing. I had 300 points to bid with. It was so much fun! I won a photo session for my family with the pictures on a CD! How awesome! I'm so excited, Lisa W. is doing it, and I just love her to death! It has been so long since we've had pictures together as a family. I really wanted to win a babysitting one as well, but alas, so did everyone else! Ha ha! I donated some sewing things and a dessert. I love to sew things for other people more than myself, so I'm excited to get to sewing! I think the service auction would be a fun thing for a family home evening type thing when we have more kids and they're older... or for christmas gifts or something. I don't think you could auction your christmas gifts though, but a really awesome service could be given as a gift. Not like those "coupons" you give your mother for mother's day that you never redeem, but real ones!

Sherrie had a good idea that I should go to gift boutiques and try to see if they'd want to sell some of my creations there. I think it's a good idea, but also scary. What if they look at my things and say - lame! ? Oh well, I'll have to get to thinking about it and brainstorming about things I'd want to sell. I'd try it there, and then sometime in the next year I'd like to set up an etsy store. I need to find a fabric store close by that has higher quality fabrics though. Or just pay for shipping.

Donate to Nie Nie

I've seen this around a few blogs recently and never looked at it, until this morning. I am bawling right now about a family I don't even know. Three people were in a plane crash and one, Doug, died. Stephanie and Christian, husband and wife, have survived, but are in critical condition. Christian has 30% of his body burned and Stephanie has 80% of hers burned. They have 4 small children that are being taken care of by Stephanie's sister. If you go to the button on the sidebar you can donate and also see exactly who Stephanie (nie) is. Then you can go to her sister's blog to get updates and to really see how not only the neilsons (stephanie and christian) are, but their whole extended family. I am so grateful and happy to see the outpouring of love for this family. Heavenly Father is truly hearing the many thousands of prayers offered for them every minute. I hope that you'll take the time to look and remember this sweet family as you go about your life. If you have the means, of course, please donate what you can - their hospital bills will be in the millions. There are several blogs holding silent auctions I know one of my favorites, grosgrain, is and she has links to others as well.

cell phone

I am posting this on both blogs, because I don't know who reads what (if at all). For those of you who have my phone number pay attention, for those of you who only know me in blog-land, you can ignore this post.

I just found my phone yesterday, after letting Benji play with it (how stupid of me) and he stuck it in some random little hole. I haven't had it for a little over a month and so I have surely missed countless calls. I found it, charged it and am now accepting phone calls! Just thought you should know.

play time

having a blast down here in Texas. We were playing under sheets last night - you know you throw them in the air and they float/fall down - they kids went wild over it!

memories misty watercolored memories..

from the corners of my mind... (I really don't know the words, only the blurb from naked gun 22 1/2) oh.. I love that movie! (I wish I could remember my favorite quote from that movie better, I'll share it when I have a moment to watch it)

I was feeling a bit sentimental today and thought I'd post these pictures of Nick and I right before we moved to Tejas. I usually don't share these photos just because I'm looking quite rotund. Well, these don't showcase so much of the fat that they're illegal, so I'll post 'em.

swirl this car around!

yesterday was a bit of a braindead day for me. I'm not quite sure what was going on, but Nick told me several times that I should go back to bed. When he didn't say that he just looked at me funny. I had a great time! For instance, when we were leaving for church I was backing out of the garage to do a K-turn. Well, I didn't turn the wheel enough as I was going forward so I had to reverse again before I hit the flowerbed. Anyway, I exclaimed, "oh! I didn't swirl the car enough, sorry!" Swirl the car? you mean turn it?? yep. so all day I kept saying Nick you'd better behave or I'll swirl this car around! Yeah, I'm that cool. I think it's going to be my new saying.

What else... I continually got words mixed up and couldn't think of things. I blurted out random things that had no connection to anything else. Here's an example from our first year of marriage (because I honestly can't remember what I said yesterday): I was cleaning up the living room and was not wanting to pick up after Nick so I said, "is that your fork?" while pointing to a pen on the floor. Nick walked into the room as I repeated the question and he just burst out laughing. I think that instance keeps getting brought up at least once a month when I do something similar. I think it's early onset alzheimers. I really hope not. I say it's children - I guess it'd probably be dangerous if I had too many children there's no way to tell what would happen to me. I wish I could remember what else I did and said, all I know was I was singing a lot, talking a lot, and laughing a TON!