Let them be little for goodness sakes!!!

You want to know what makes me crazy? Let me tell you! 

I get really annoyed when people dress their young children like teenagers or adults. 

 

Children are not miniature sized adults.

They are not dress up dolls or toys.

They are not here for you to be amused with how "cute" they look.

Parents who want their children to be an extension of themselves and feel that their kids should dress in the same "fashion" as they do are ridiculous. 

Is there any logical reason why children should be "stylish" or "fashionable"?

They are children. Kids, for heavens sake.

Don't force them to grow up.

Believe me, when they are like 11 years old and are interested in things that 17 year olds should be interested in, you will regret that you encouraged them to grow up so fast. 

Let them dress themselves in mismatched crazy outfits. 

Give them a pair of Oshkosh overalls and leave them alone.

Okay, I'm done now. Thanks for listening. 

Day 12: I believe in being real

I minored in Marriage & Family Studies. It's a major for people who go on to be marriage & family councilors. 

I started taking classes from this discipline because I felt that I was inadequate as a newlywed from a divorced family. 

In my very first marriage class my teacher said something that I will never forget. 

"There will come a time in every marriage when you will think about getting a divorce."

I was shocked!

It was that tiny word 'every' that floored me. 

You see, I had thought that there were two types of marriages: good ones and bad ones. 

I thought that I had seen bad marriages.

I could picture certain people from church who had good ones. 

This was a pivotal moment for me. 

Like I said, I was a newlywed and had yet to experience the "divorce thoughts" that come after a big fight.

I truly know that had I not learned that 'every'one had those thoughts, I would have gotten into some big fight with Jordan, probably over whether or not 1% or 2% milk was better (no, really.) and I would have thought 'divorce'. 

Then I would have thought "oh. my. gosh. my marriage is a bad one. there is no point in trying to make it work. I should cut my losses and get the divorce over with so I can move on and try to find "a good one."

You might be thinking to yourself "Isabelle must be really dumb, cause no body is that ignorant about marriage relationships and issues." 

*Note: I was always that kids in class who wasn't afraid to raise my hand and ask for further explanation because I knew that if I was confused then chances were good that I wasn't the only one. 

I realize now, that there is no such thing as good or bad marriages. 

They are all good and bad. 

The secret is to stick through the bad and then you have some good. 

And then stick through the bad and then you have some good. 

Repeat for 50 or 60 or 70 years.

................................

I have this friend. We are better friends in the blog/facebook world then in the real world.

She is really inspiring.
She is always really honest about her feelings about her body, her home and her life in general.
She is the kind of gal that other woman look up to.
She is super fun and has a great sense of humor.
Not to mention a great husband, 4 cutie-patootie boys and is an absolute knock-out.
She has this confidence about her that draws me to her. (this sounds weird but I mean it in the most normal way possible.)

Anyway....
She started this new blog about trying to become better.
She set some goals.
and they are beautiful goals.
they are real goals.

I feel like she is every woman who had ever tried to be a little better.
They are goals about the home and fitness and about being a great mom and wife.

...........

So today on 30 day blogger challenge is "what you believe".

Well I believe in a lot. I don't believe in a lot too. 

But I firmly believe that if we (especially woman) would be real about the issues we are facing and not try to hide them and act like we have perfect lives, then other people would realize that they are normal.

“Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: 

"What! You too? I thought I was the only one.” 

                                                                                                                      ― C.S. Lewis

We are all normal.

We are not good ones or bad ones.

We don't have good marriages or bad marriages. 

We just have marriages. 

We aren't good mothers or bad mothers.

We are just mothers. 

We all deal with the same issues. We all feel the same way. We just try to hide it and then we all walk around like "man, i have all these issues and no one else does." 

No. 

We all just pretends like we don't have the same issues that we all have. 

.....................

My friend inspired me with her goals. 

She inspired me with her realness. 

She inspired me by not hiding her issues, but by sharing them openly so that we all could say 

"you too? I thought I was the only one."

....................

At the end of her post, she encourages her readers to write their own list of goals and to join her on this 6 months to awesome challenge. 

"entry one: affirmation statement.write down what you want. who you want to be. the goals you want to make. it can be as long, or short as you want. it's totally up to you." 

Here are mine:

I want to scream less at my children.
I want to play more with them. Actually pretend with them and play on the floor with them.
I want to wake up before 10 in the morning.
I want to be comfortable in my body.
I want to feed my family something other then cereal for dinner.
I want to remember to brush my children's teeth daily. Daily.
I want to smile and laugh more often.
I want to dance more.
I want to enjoy the seemingly mundane of life.
I want to study the scriptures daily.
I want to worship at the temple once a month.

I want to read more books.

I want to stop caring about the mess and start caring about enjoying myself and my family.

I want to be less stressed in general.

It's a start.

...................

I don't know that all this rambling makes sense to anyone but me. (It will make sense to my sisters, they can follow my train of thought.)

But for everyone else,
I hope that you understood that I believe in not making other people feel like their normal life is a "bad one", by pretending like your normal life is a "good one".

Lets all just agree that our lives are filled with both good and bad.

They are all just normal ones.

Day 11: Favorite Shows

Besides Wheel of Fortune (Wheel, as we wheel-watchers call it) and Jeopardy, the only show that I was ever hooked on was Lost.

I wasn't hooked, I was obsessed. I am still obsessed. Sad, I know.

My mom told me about this cool new show that she thought I would like. She had watched the first episode when it aired. When they re-aired the pilot before the second episode I was tuned in with her on my Granny's couch in the front room. That was in 2004. I watched every week after that. 

When Jordan & I got married, he hadn't seen it yet. That didn't last for long. We had to catch him up on seasons 1-3, so we watched old episodes constantly. We watched on New Years Eve 2006 in a motel room in Pendleton, Oregon when we were driving to Rexburg to start school. We finished catching Jordan up in our first apartment. We didn't have a couch. We made a bed on the living room floor and although, we would say "only 1 episode tonight" it was usually more like 4.

Those where the days. Sigh. 

Jordan's niece, Becky, came to visit us in Rexburg in spring of 2007. She was deciding if she wanted to attend BYU-I. We didn't have cable. Becky had never seen Lost. We bonded watching seasons 1-3 in our itty-bitty apartment.

Becky graduated from BYU-I this last April. Way to go Becky!!!

Later, in 2008 when we were living with my in-laws they hadn't seen Lost so I re-watched seasons 1-4 with them while I was anxiously waiting for season 5.

This was a dark time in TV history known as "the writers strike." We had to wait forever for the new season!

In 2009 I was in a medical study for 10 days or 2 weeks and I re-watched a bunch of seasons with this kid who was also obsessed. We hashed out different theories and talked about which characters we hated.

I love Eko. I hate Anna Lucia. 

When my sister, Laura, finally decided that she should watch and see what all the fuss was about, it was 2009. I spent another New Years Eve watching episodes with her in our apartment in Tacoma as she got caught up with seasons 1-5.

We stopped at midnight to bang pots and pans and then resumed watching. 

The point here is that Lost is so amazing that I would gladly watch the same seasons ^that many times! 

But it really is the best TV show ever made. 

We considered naming our children after the different characters. We really did. But not seriously. 

But Laura is going to- right Laura?

If you haven't seen it, you can borrow any of the seasons from me. 

You won't be disappointed. 

Day 10: Fear. & GIVEAWAY WINNER ANNOUNCED!!!!

I am afraid of heights. I am afraid of driving over bridges. I am afraid of bees. 

I am afraid of getting Alzheimer's.

 I think that would be terrifying. 

To not remember anyone or anything.

My mother-in-law pointed out that it wouldn't be that scary cause you wouldn't know that you didn't know people and that you didn't remember things.  

But it still scares me. 

I guess that's why I try to document important things. I am really bad at journaling. 

When I was a teenager I was awesome about writing in my journal- but really, I feel that those are pointless now when I re-read them. I mean, who cares who I had a crush on or why I was fighting with my friends! oh well. They are good for a laugh anyway.

But I try to write about important events.

I take pictures. 

Hopefully, by keeping some sort of records, I won't forget the important things.

Besides, I tell myself that I won't get Alzheimer's because I heard once that if you 

read, 

do crossword puzzled and 

dance 

that you are less likely to get it. 

I love doing all those things so I'm safe.


What are you afraid of?

Thanks to everyone who participated in my 1st (but not last!) giveaway!

WINNER: April Bishop!!! 

April- email me your address (button is over >>>>> at the bottom)!

Day 9: Meet Rachel Haagen

This is Rachel Haagen 

You have to call her by her full name around these parts since my sisters name is also Rachel. 

When D. calls her Rachel Haagen it's real cute!

She is my oldest friend.

 I've known her since 3rd grade at Mann Elementary school.

Rachel is a twin. 

She loves animals. 

She has an awesome boy friend. 

She is just about the funnest person I know. 

She is one of the smartest too. 

She has a great vocabulary. 

She has a cabin in the woods.

Her old house was haunted. Really.

She can rap Ghetto Cowboy better then anyone. 

She loves diet coke and carmel macchiatos. 

She is beautiful. 

She loves Dawson's Creek and Paris Hilton. 

She's always up for an adventure.  

Almost all of my fond memories from growing up include her. 

I love her a ton. 

Four Words that Changed My Life. A Giveaway!

China Glaze: Pool Party. 

Nail Polish.

Yes, this color will change your life.

My sister-friend Saychelle introduced me to this polish over the past weekend. I am loving her for that! 

This color is great for a couple of reasons:

1. Hot pink screams summer - even when its rainy and gray outside.

2. The matte finish is really in right now. Not that I know what's in.

3. It makes you look tan even when you're as white as a ghost and just returned home from sunny California. I swear I just can't get a tan anymore.

4. It will make you feel young, funky and fun. At least that's how I feel when I am wearing it. 

This is my first giveaway. I am really excited about it. 

I know it's just a bottle of nail polish but winning anything is exciting right? And since I don't have many followers the odds are better for you! 

All you have to do to enter is 

1. Be a follower of my blog.

2. Leave a comment telling me what you're looking forward to this summer.

Additional entries:

1. Comment on Facebook with a link to the blog.

2. Mention my blog (with a link) in your blog.

I will announce the winner Thursday Evening. 

Good Luck!

P.S. I will mail it to you if you live out of the area. 

I know, I am going all out for this giveaway. 

*I am not sponsored by China Glaze. I just really love this color. 

(I have wanted to say that, like Ree does, ever since I started reading her blog)

Day 8: a place i've traveled

Back in August 2010 my momma, sisters, baby P. & I headed on a road trip from Washington to Texas. After we picked up my sister, Laura, in Rexburg, Idaho we followed the Mormon Trail backward to Nauvoo, Illinois hitting historical sights along the way. Besides all the squabbling we did :) it was a really amazing trip.    

Our first stop was the Martin's Cove Visitors Center.
This is where the Martin & Willie handcart companies were finally rescued.
Wyoming is so beautiful.

Devils Gate at Martin's Cove

P. was the best baby the entire trip!! Look at that cute bald head!!

Here we are standing in some actual Wagon Wheel Ruts that can be found at numerous places along the trail. 

Stretching their legs at a rest stop. 

Beautiful Winter Quarters Temple in Nebraska

This is at the Winter Quarters visitors center- my favorite VC.

Dancing in the corn in Nebraska. Yeah. we're cool.

My beautiful Momma!

The Kainsville Tabernacle, in Iowa, where the Prophet Brigham Young was sustained by the church.

Best traveler ever!

We kept seeing these signs when we were in Nebraska & Iowa. Rachel wanted to see some Amish people so bad!

This is at the actual location where Come, Come Ye Saints was written. It was down this crazy little dirt road.
Yes, we sang it there and the hymn has not been the same to me since.

On our way down that little dirt road we found an Amish community. Rachel was so excited!! It really was fun seeing men, women, and children all dressed just like you see them in the movies. The men all had beards too. But they looked liked they lived in regular houses and even had tractors, lawnmowers and other modern conveniences. One house even had a giant big toy!

Our toes in the Mississippi River. 

We finally made it!

Me and P. in the Red Brick Store. This is the room where the Relief Society was organized. The spirit was strong in this room and I could just picture the meeting there nearly 170 years earlier.

The Prophet Joseph Smith's grave. Buried with his brother Hyrum and his wife Emma.

One of my favorite places in Nauvoo was this beautiful sculpture garden. There were close to 15 sculpture with a corresponding scripture. All of the statues had to do with womanhood.

Here is Laura with her favorite statue. She had been recently engaged!

We took an authentic ox pulled wagon ride. The wagons were a lot narrower then I would've thought and the oxen were way slower then I pictured!

Beautiful Nauvoo Temple

This is looking across the Mississippi River from Montrose, Iowa. This is would've been the last view they had of their beloved city and the beautiful temple.

Feeding P.
The Carthage Jail is the brick building behind me.  Being able to stand in such historical places is very facinating. It brings things to life. It make stories we've only heard about real.

Us at Adam-ondi-Ahman.
Simply one of the most beautiful places on earth. Pictures don't do it justice.

This is a recreation of the actual Liberty Jail. It was so interesting and the story of how they have the actual measurements of the jail is unbelievable. 

We also were able to tour The Community of Christs' (formally the Reorganized Church) temple in Missouri. That was interesting. 

And our last stop before Texas was at the Oklahoma City Bombing memorial. If you ever have a chance to go, go.

We traveled through 11 states (Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas) and practically killed each other along the way. But following the path of my spiritual ancestors was such an unforgettable experience. 

It was awesome.