Always and Never

I know, I know--"never say never." But I'm not talking about things like "I've never broken a finger." I'm talking about more or less day-to-day activities and habits. Have you ever noticed that there are things you do (and don't do) habitually? I decided to make a list--an action-type list, not one of emotions (not "I always love to..." or "I never enjoy..."). Unfortunately, many things don't cut the list at this time. I'd love to say I never yell at my adorable preschooler or that I always have a plan for dinner. And there are many things that I almost always do or almost never do that just don't quite make it.

I always:
- Wear a seatbelt. Even if I'm dropping things off around the neighborhood.
- Brush my teeth night and day and floss each evening.
- Say a prayer before I sleep at night.
- Eat breakfast.
- Pay a full tithing.
- Give people the benefit of a doubt.
- Pay my credit and charge cards off in full each month (we only use them for the cash back rewards and store discounts, anyway).
- Shop the clearance racks first when shopping for clothes.
- Order just water to drink at restaurants.

I never:
- Drink alcohol. Or coffee. Or energy drinks.
- Smoke.
- Shop at Walmart.
- Remember to say a prayer before I get out of bed in the morning.
- Wear pajamas all day.
- Have purchased an app for my iPhone or iPad for personal use.**
- Pay for or watch TV/Cable/TiVo/netflix/etc in our home.
- Go more than 2 days without exercise (unless I'm sick).

**Note: this is not any kind of commitment; I reserve the right to move any item on or off the lists. :)


I'm kind of surprised how short the lists are. For the creatures of habit we are, these are the only things I can think of that I am 100% consistent. There are many things that are almost there. One day I hope to expound both lists with positive things--specifically in regard to parenting.

3 Generations: Alive and Well

One year ago today, my mom suffered a severe ischemic stroke. Unbeknownst to her or any of her physicians, my mom had PFO (basically, the "hole" in the heart that closes when an infant takes its first breath wasn't truly "closed" and so a blood clot went to her brain). About 12 hours after a minor back surgery, she had the stroke at home.

Thankfully, my step-dad was right by her, recognized the signs, and called 911 immediately. The stroke left lasting damage, however, my mom has recovered excellently. She struggles a little with speech, spelling, and numbers, but she's able to do virtually all she could do before. However, due to the nature of her job and the extent of the damage, she was unable to return to work (which, ironically, was in heart disease and stroke prevention with the State Health Department). She's always wanted to stay home to spend more time with grandchildren and sewing, but none of us expected it to happen because of a stroke.

The stroke shook up my whole family in multiple ways. I know I realized, once again, how precious life is, and how quickly things can change. We witnessed many miracles in her quick recovery--many prayers were answered.

At the time, I was just discovering I was pregnant with Baby Belle. I didn't know officially at the time, but I knew (you know?). I am so grateful to still have my mom.



Fun little fact: when my mom was my age, she was pregnant with her fifth (5th! At age 28!) child and only girl.

4 Months Old

Baby Belle is growing all too quickly, according to my preferences. But what do you do? I guess I'll keep nibbling on these chubby cheeks.

She weighed in at 14 lbs 6 oz, and measures 25 1/2 inches. 

I keep thinking she's a lot bigger than Winston ever was, but when I looked back on his measurements, he was the same length and only about 1 1/2 pounds less. 

At 4 months, she's not sleeping through the night; in fact, she's up 2-3 times a night all through January. But in December every single night she only woke up once. {big sigh} Oh well. She's cute. And little. So she can get away with virtually anything.

Living on Less: Joy of Less Conclusion

About a year ago, I starting blogging about minimalist, clutter-free living. I believe there were 7 parts to my commentary on the book, and this post will be my final post about The Joy of Less.

Perhaps some of you have resolutions to become more organized or clutter-free or to simplify life. I know our little Joy of Less journey has done all of that for us. Here's a summary of all we did (that I can remember) to become more clutter-free.

First of all, I went through nearly every room and closet and PURGED stuff. And I realized that it was just STUFF. Some things we kept because they were meaningful. Some things were necessary or super useful. Some things were just plain ol' fun. But many, many things were just taking up space. Space I wanted to prepare for our new baby girl. Space I wanted to have empty so my house felt more open and not squished.

We purged a LOT. These were all sold on KSL:
- my cracked iPod touch
- TV stand
- a shelf for cube boxes/baskets
- a small cedar-type chest
- my old financial calculator used in college courses
- my old TI83 calculator from high school math classes
- extra un-used throw pillows
- couch cover
- an old SLR film camera (awesome camera....but it's FILM...)
- a formal pooffy dress slip
- 2 chests of drawers (we found room for those clothes in our closet...no need for the extra furniture)
- a small pantry cupboard
- a metal towel rack/shelf
- a large baker's rack

We made just over $400 selling this unnecessary stuff. Much was just stowed away in closets or in the garage. It was, at one point in the past, useful. However, it was no longer needed or used by us.

Some of the items we got purged. I didn't get
photos of everything over the course of the year.

In addition, I donated over 9-10 boxes of clothing and random objects to thrift stores and other charities. We also got rid of a large computer desk (well, actually, we just moved it to Sam's work for his use there...but it's out of the house, so it counts).

To maximize space we purchased some items, including hanging closet organizers (I couldn't believe how much space was not being used in the closests!), a cabinet over the fridge and a cabinet for our computer printer and office supplies.

In part to our hard work at decluttering, in part for Christmas gift to ourselves, and in part for reaching other goals, we got rid of a HUGE mitsubishi 50-inch big screen TV (the old big screen TVs that were about 15 inches thick...can't complain, though, because we got it for free) and purchased a nice, sleek (and thin!) Samsung HD 46" LED 1080p 120 hz BYOB 24/7 ASAP and mounted it above our fireplace. Talk about open space!

As recommended by the author of Joy of Less, I scheduled a yearly declutter weekend to happen over Martin Luther King Jr. weekend. Our mind is already racing with where to start and what to sift through. I've definitely re-discovered that living on less has so many benefits.

“That’s the beauty of minimalist living—being satisfied with what’s enough to meet our needs, rather than wasting our time, money, and energy to fulfill lofty or unrealistic expectations...When we’re content with “enough,” life becomes infinitely easier, more pleasant, and less harried.

It’s very liberating.” (Joy of Less pg. 258)

It's been a fun journey. I appreciate the idea the author details of "gatekeeping"--basically being constantly aware of what you allow to stay in your home. It's amazing how easily "stuff" enters our home and sticks around if we're not careful.


To re-cap ideas from Joy of Less and my own two cents, see these posts:
Part 1: Declutter Bug
Part 2: Space
Part 3: Decluttering How-To
Part 4: Tough Stuff 
Part 5: Where to Put What You Keep
Part 6: Gatekeeping
Part 7: Gifts and Heirlooms

Christmas Recap in Photos

December was so busy that I'm surprised we even got photos!

Winston was very proud of his gingerbread man decorated at preschool.
It stayed on our kitchen table for weeks--each day he nibbled on it.

I've seen better Santas, but Winston didn't mind.

I was born in December and the hospital sent me home in a stocking.
My mom brought it to our Christmas Eve breakfast and Baby Belle fit in it.

Christmas morning!

I love how they have the same look on their face.

So precious. (and very untypical, cute, cuddly sibling pose)

Excited about one of his gifts.

Our little Elf.

More typical don't-kiss-me sibling pose.

Building a Train

I came home to this last night. Winston was so proud of his "train."

I love how he picked items off the table, out of the Christmas decor, from his room, kitchen items, etc., and carefully grouped them together.

He has been so funny lately. Sam will hide his monkeys, and Winston thinks he can reach it with a chair.

Winston turned 3 1/2 a couple of weeks ago. I can't believe how much bigger he is than he was at the beginning of the year. Time flies! He is a lot of fun and he can be really stubborn, too, which means there are lots of struggles. Some days are better than others, but it seems we don't get through a day without one screaming fit on his end (and, unfortunately, on my end at times, too). I thought his pre-terrible-twos were bad when he started with tantrums around 18 months. A few of my friends said 2 wasn't bad for them, but 3 years old was the hardest for them. Here's to hoping these 2-year-long terrible-twos are on their way to our past. 

Our Baby Girl's Name

Sapphire Belle

Belle is a name I grew to love when I was a teenager. I often thought about names for my future children, but nothing really stayed on my list for long. One day while doing baptisms for the dead, I discovered Belle. From then on, I always thought it would make a beautiful middle name.

It also is the name of the main character in my all-time favorite movie/broadway show: Disney's Beauty and the Beast. I love that Belle is a get-to-it kind of princess who is also intelligent, not shallow, and sticks up for herself. In addition, while looking through my family history book, I remembered that my maternal grandfather's mother's maiden name is Bell. Unfortunately, due to the popularity (famous or infamous, whichever way you look at it) of the Twilight book and movie series, the name "Bella" is becoming much more common.

Because we couldn't come up with anything else, I just about decided to go with the name Belle as a first name, when I came across Sapphire. I saw a discussion thread on facebook asking for favorite girl names. At least one person commented "Sapphire" and it caused me to pause. I asked Sam about it, and he suggested "Safira," which happened to be the dragon's name in the book he was reading. I didn't really care for Safira, so we continued in our search.

A little while later, while skimming through the Baby Name Wizard book, I came across Sapphire again. I happened to be with my mom and asked what she thought. She loved it. My sister-in-law commented that it was September's birthstone. I thought it would be a neat coincidence if we chose that name and she was actually born in September (she was 14 hours and 14 minutes too late for that). After our can't-find-a-name post, my sister-in-law sent me a website with a relatively short list of interesting names on it. Sapphire was listed.

I'm not sure why, but I have a really hard time actually calling an unborn child by a name, and that's why I like the baby to be born before we officially name it. Plus, it gives another element of surprise, and I like surprises. Sam is the same way. But, we both agreed we liked it, and in the end we chose Sapphire Belle.

Winston still called the baby "Baby Alligator" until the moment he saw her for the first time. I asked who the baby was, and he said, "Baby Sapphire." "Baby Alligator?" I asked. "No. Baby Sapphire," he responded. He's never referred to her as Baby Alligator since.

We almost always call her Sapphire, but we also have a whole assortment of nicknames for her, including:

• Baby Belle
• Sassafras
• Blue Belle
• Fire Ball (Winston lets us know each time he hears it that he doesn't like this one)
• Saffy-Laffy-Taffy
• Others have referred to her as a "little gem," though I'm unsure if the pun was intended.

It's always fun to hear and see people's reaction to the name. As with the name Winston, you can tell whether or not people like it.

Both my mom and my grandmother wore sapphire jewelry to Sapphire's blessing in her honor; my mom has spoken her desire to bequeath her sapphires to Sapphire. Our doctor said he's never had a patient with this name before and really likes it; he hopes she has sapphire-colored eyes.