Day 6- 20 of My Favorite Things

Today is Day 6 of my blog a day challenge, the topic is "20 of my Favorite Things".

How lucky are you to be invited to Jessica's Favorite Things!!!???

However unlike Oprah, I am unable to give my favorite things away.

Sorry.

But I hope you still enjoy reading about some of the things in my life that put a smile on my face.

1- my e-mealz subscription- seriously life changing!

2- new books from the library

3- gift cards

4- big toothless baby smiles

5- my new short hair

6- phone calls with my mom

7- Wheel of Fortune! I will be on that show someday

8- freshly painted toe nails

9- going overboard on Holidays- gifts, decor, food, I love it all!!

10- getting packages in the mail

11- Window shopping at places we can't afford and picking out things for when we have a house "some day"

12- scrapbook paper

13- Mac and Cheese- it's my favorite food and I am always looking for the best

14- this song

15- a great couponing trip to CVS

16- my Canon Rebel

17- Netflix

18- Skype- a lifesaver when you don't live by a single family member and you have a scrumptious baby to show off.

19- Modern Family

20- reading stories with my little bug

I could seriously go on and on but those are a few of the many things that came to mind. I guess I am pretty lucky to have so many things in my life that make me happy.

Day 5 My Favorite Quote

Today is Day 5 of my blog a day challenge, the topic for today is "My Favorite Quote".

Like most people I enjoy a good quote, but I don't really have favorite quotes that I know off the top of my head. I did think about a quote that I had taped by my light switch during high school and college.

"Be believing, be happy, don't get discouraged. Things will work out."
— Gordon B. Hinckley

It is simple and sweet and what I need to hear a lot. Things do seem to work themselves out even if it is not how I envisioned it. I also like that it says to be believing and happy and if you are those things it is pretty hard to get discouraged.

Day 4- My Favorite Book

Today is day 4 of my blog a day challenge. The topic is, "My Favorite Book."

This one is kind of tough but also kind of easy for me.

It's tough because I adore reading. In fact, I have read 3 books just this week. It is one of my favorite pastimes. There is nothing like picking up a book, unsure of what wonders lie on those delicious smelling pages, and being hooked from chapter one. I have spent many nights up much later than a rational person should be, kept company by the dim glow of my book light, silently turning pages so I don't wake Justin who has already been asleep for hours. When I am sucked into a great read I can't help myself, I just dive right in and don't come up for air until I absolutely must (to perform such mundane tasks like eating, bathing, and using the ladies room, none of which are near as interesting as my books). So in this sense, it is hard to pick just one book out of all the books I have read. I have so many that I love, that have made me laugh and cry. There are many that have touched my heart, taught me, frightened me, and changed me.

But on the other hand there is just one book that I have read more than 3 times. It is a book that is often referenced when people have to name that one "favorite" book. It should come as no surprise that my choice would be, "To Kill a Mockingbird."

It is in my opinion, one of the greatest books of all time. I even secretly wanted to name my daughter Scout, but Justin would never let me, and I don't know if I really could name a little girl that. Atticus Finch is one of my favorite characters in any book I have ever read, I so wish that I could meet him in real life. I have read it at many different stages of my life, and each time I take a different lesson away from it. So here's to Harper Lee, thank you for giving the world such a treasure. Your story will always have a special spot on my bookshelf.

Day 3- My favorite teacher

Today is day 3 of my post a day challenge. The topic for today is "My favorite teacher."

In elementary school I always loved my teachers, maybe a little too much. I was such a teachers pet! I was always called on to help pass things out, clean things, etc... I wrote them notes and admired them and I always knew I was going to be teacher some day. I actually started at USU majoring in Elementary Ed. My path did change but my love of teachers never has.

I had some great teachers growing up but my favorite teacher was Mrs. Hageman. She was my 6th grade teacher and I just adored her. I know this is nerdy but we actually kept in touch a little bit over the years. After I moved on to middle school, my older brother worked as a janitor at the elementary school (and so did my crush at the time but I always pretended I would actually be visiting my brother) and when I would visit I always stopped by Mrs. Hageman's classroom and we would chat. After we moved away I would sometimes write her letters and I even had one of her little official school pictures (I am sure I asked her for it), and I still have it in my keepsake box somewhere. She even sent me a nice card when I got married.

So writing this makes me feel like a total lame-o for writing letters to my teacher and keeping pictures of her, but I truly loved her and admired her and she was and still is my favorite teacher. I hope she is still teaching because the world needs great teachers like her.

Day 2- My definition of Success

Today is day 2 of the blog a day challenge. The topic is "My definition of Success."

At different times in my life success has meant different things to me. When I was a little girl it was getting to be the mommy when my friends and I played house, getting the best barbie to play with, or the big kahuna... getting something special that my siblings didn't get and showing it off to them. As I got a little older it was good grades, passing my drivers test on the 3rd try (so embarrassing), getting asked out on dates, and getting out of being grounded by some form of manipulation against my parents.
In my current stage of life as a new mom and adjusting to being at home most of the time, I would measure success as a shower before 2 in the afternoon, clean laundry (with a lot of help from Justin), home cooked meals, and on real fancy occasions, wearing jeans.

Today was a very successful day for me, so this post seems very fitting. Okay so I didn't get a shower but not only did the laundry get done but we had a delicious homemade dinner, Avery took some good naps, I wore makeup and jeans, I left the house to attend a class I have been excited about, and I even worked on a sample card for a class I am going to teach.

Our dinner tonight was pork chops, warm applesauce that was made from scratch, and spinach salad. It was a success and I was proud (cooking is not a strength of mine)

And seriously, looking at this girls face makes me feel like something's going right!

Day 1- Your biggest accomplishment

So here it is, day one of the post a day challenge! Today the challenge is to post about your greatest accomplishment. That's easy! It was when I won a medal in my "Math Counts" math club in the 8th grade. It had a calculator on it.

Okay totally kidding. I mean that did actually happen but it is not even close to my greatest accomplishment. My greatest accomplishment would be these two...

I am still in wedded bliss with my best friend, it will be 4 years in about 2 weeks. We were sealed for all eternity in the this Temple. We recently brought into this world a perfect and beautiful baby girl. When I see these two together it makes me complete.

I am a wife to a husband I adore and a mother to tiny bundle of pure heaven and that is my greatest accomplishment.

Resurrecting this blog with a post a day challenge!

Hey there, it's been a while.

Life has been crazy, but all the more reason to blog right! We were gone for an entire month from mid december to mid January. We had lots of fun family time and Justin went on a two week trip to Istanbul, Turkey on an International Studies trip for his MBA. It is so great to be back home though, and back to our normal life. I really want to be a better blogger this year and I saw my friend Emma do a post a day challenge. I thought it looked great but being away for half of January I just didn't get around to doing it. I am going to try my best to do it in February! So stay tuned for a post a day, and if anyone wants to join me, here is the list.

Day 1 - your biggest accomplishment

Day 2 - your definition of success
Day 3 - Your favorite teacher
Day 4 - your favorite book
Day 5 - your favorite quote
Day 6 - 20 of my favorite things
Day 7 - a photo that makes your heart melt
Day 8 - a photo that makes you angry/sad
Day 9 - a photo you took
Day 10 - a photo taken over 10 years ago of you
Day 11 - a photo of you recently
Day 12 - something you are OCD about
Day 13 - a fictional book
Day 14 - a non-fictional book
Day 15 - your role model
Day 16 - a song that makes you cry (or nearly)
Day 17 - an art piece (drawing, sculpture, painting, etc)
Day 18 - my wedding/future wedding/past wedding
Day 19 - a talent of yours
Day 20 - a hobby of yours
Day 21 - a recipe
Day 22 - a website
Day 23 - a youtube video
Day 24 - where I live- in detail, what makes it special?
Day 25 - guilty pleasure
Day 26 - your week, in great detail
Day 27 - my worst habit
Day 28 - whats in my handbag/purse
Day 29 - hopes,dreams and plans for the next 365 days
Day 30 - car you drive ( and past cars too!)

I am also aware that February only has 28 days and there are 30 challenges, so I will just combine a few.

I am excited! If anyone wants to join in the fun let me know so I can check out your daily posts too!