For All The Readers Out There....

My friend turned me on to this cool website. It's a place where you can let your friends know what you're reading and you can rate and review the books that you've already read. If , like me, you are always looking for a good book to read, this is a great place to find one. Here's the address:

http://www.goodreads.com

Make sure to add me as a friend... you can search by e-mail. Mine is natashasoares4563@msn.com

ABC Tag.....

A- Attached or single: Attached to my sweetie
B- Best Friend: I have lots... Leashie, Britt, Brooke, Jill, and Karyn
C-Cake or Pie: Definitely cake, unless it's this fresh peach pie that my mom makes. Mmmmm my mouth waters just thinking about it!
D-Day of Choice: Sunday, it's usually a day of relaxing followed by dinner at my Mom's
E- Essential Item: Hands down, a Blue's Clue's DVD
F- Favorite Color: Pink and Brown
G- Gummi Bears or Worms: Worms
H- Hometown: S. Ogden, UT
I- Indulgence(s): A long, hot bath with a good book
J- January or July:  January..... I love the way the world looks with snow. Plus July is so freakin' hot it makes me want to lay around with no clothes on, which really isn't good for anyone!
K-Kids: One little cutie
L-Life is incomplete without: I couldn't live without Family and Friends
M- Marriage Date: September 7, 2002
N- Number of Siblings: 2: Alicia and Jesse
O- Oranges or Apples: Apples
P- Phobias or Fears: My fear of spiders is infamous... I also hate heights but not flying.. weird.
Q- Quote(s): People in glass houses don't have much of a sex life.
R- Reason To Smile: Seeing Logan do something new and cute. Seeing Luke and Logan asleep on the couch together. Random acts of kindness.
S- Season: Winter. I love to wake up in the morning and see every surface covered in snow. I love how everything sounds muffled when you're outside in a snow storm. I just think snow is really beautiful, can't you tell??? :-)
T- Tag Three: Alicia, Britt, Brooke, Jill... I know that's four but I'm a rebel
U- Unknown Fact About Me: I like to prance naked through fields of sunflowers
V- Vegetarian or Oppressor of Animal: Oppressor of Animal... except the pig. I don't really like pork.
W- Worst Habit: Being too critical of myself
X- X-Rays or Ultrasounds: This is a weird question.... X-rays. They are easier for a layman to read. Plus it's cool to look at!
Y- Your Favorite Food: A nice tender Filet Minion 
Z-Zimbabwee or New Zealand: Also odd.... Both, I would love to travel the world!

LUKE.....

I saw this on Alicia's blog and I thought it was a good way for everyone to get to know my wonderful hubby better!

1-How long have you been married? Almost 5 1/2 years

2-How long did you date? About 3 years... we met when I was 18 and he was 16. I'm a cougar! In my defense, Luke was (and is) really mature for his age.

3-Who eats more sweets? Luke.... I'm more of a carb girl 

4-Who said 'I love you' first? It was a long time ago.... I'm pretty sure it was Luke

5-How old is he? 25

6-Who is taller? Luke.. by an inch or so unless I'm in heels

7-Who is smarter?

 Definitely Luke... sometimes his knowledge astounds me!

8-Who can sing better? I can... Luke is pretty much tone deaf... although he can definitely dance better than me!

9-Who does laundry? I do mine and Logan's and Luke does his.... unless I get tired of the GIANT pile of clothes in the corner of our bedroom, then I have to step in and do it for him because I just can't stand looking at it another day! 

10-Who pays bills? Me.... I'm a total control freak when it comes to our checking account!

11-Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? I do.. it's my spot

12-Who mows the lawn? Luke does... My domain is inside, his is outside

13-Who cooks dinner? We try to trade off but I usually end up doing it

14-Who drives? Luke usually... he doesn't like the way I drive! How Rude!!

15-Who kissed who first? Luke kissed me in my parent's driveway after we had seen "The Haunting" at the drive-in on our first date. That's right.. I gave it up on the first date!

16-Who is more stubborn? That's totally me.... Luke is really easy-going

17-Who asked who out? Luke asked me out

18-Who proposed? No one really. He had given me a promise ring a year before and then one day we just decided to set a date!

19-Who has more siblings? Well... technically he does... three half-sisters. I have one brother and one sister

For all the Moms out there......

I happened to read this story on Alicia's friends blog on a day that I was feeling a bit sorry for myself. It really helped put being a Mom is perspective.

Kathy Vest - mother of triplet, six year old, boys! said...

I'm invisible. It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be
taken to the store. Inside I'm thinking, 'Can't you see I'm on the phone?'

Obviously not. No one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all. I'm invisible.

Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this? Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, 'What time is it?' I'm a satellite guide to answer, 'What number is the Disney Channel?' I'm a car to order, 'Right around 5:30, please.'

I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history and the mind that graduated summa cum laude - but now they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again.

She's going, she's going, she's gone!

One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England. She had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself as I looked down at my out-of-style dress; it was the only thing I could find that was clean. My unwashed hair was pulled up in a banana clip and I was afraid I could actually smell peanut butter in it. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when she turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, 'I brought you this.'

It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe. I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I read her inscription: 'To my friend, with admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.'

In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work: No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of their names. These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished. They made great sacrifices and expected no credit. The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.

A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, 'Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof? No one will ever see it.' And the workman replied, 'Because God sees.'

I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, 'I see you. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does. No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become.'

At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a disease that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn pride. I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on. The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.

When I really think about it, I don't want my child to tell friends that they bring home from college for Thanksgiving, "My mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for three hours and presses all the linens for the table." That would mean I'd built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, to add, 'You're gonna love it there.'

As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we're doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women.

The Best Movie....

Luke and I went to see Juno the other night. It was soooo cute! It had the dry, witty humor that always makes me laugh and it was surprisingly sweet in moments. I actually teared up near the end. It also made me really want to have another baby!! If you get a chance, go see this movie!!

A New Baby in the Family.....

Congrats to my cousin, Randy (is it with a "y" or "ie", I can't remember??) and her family on the addition of a new baby boy. I hear he was born last Saturday night and I'm a little disappointed Luke and I didn't have time to stop in Cedar on our way home from Mesquite so we could see the little guy. Anyway, I don't think she reads this but Debbie does.... so congrats Debbie on your new grand-baby! 

Let it Snow!!!

Logan's first experience with snow. He loved it! He thought that throwing snow on me and Luke was about the funniest thing in the world.