Pack it up, boys!

AJ and I are moving!! We are still going to live in Liberty but we're moving into a basement apartment of someone's house in our ward from church.  The kind people we are moving in with have been painting and getting everything ready for us to move in.  I am overwhelmed at how kind they have been to us from the moment we met them.  We've tried so hard to stay in the ward we are currently in but we didn't feel comfortable with the apartment complex selection.  Today Eliza and I are packing, (I put it in the box and she pulls it back out.  It's adorable and worth the time.), running errands, preparing for our Omaha trip, feeding the missionaries, and going to help paint the apartment!  I love days like this when you're just ready to get things done. Not to mention, get in a blog post. 

Words can hardly explain how excited I am to have our own place where we can make it a goal to have the Spirit in our home and make it a temple!  We are currently living at my dad's house in the upstairs bedroom.  A couple months after we moved in, we found out that my cousin from AZ was moving in as well.  The upstairs bathroom is broken so we've all been sharing the downstairs bathroom and MAN, has it been a full house! In the little over a year that AJ and I had our own place, it will be nice to finally go back to our own peaceful little family.

Well, Eliza is starting to climb up the stairs and is giving me a mischievous grin so I better jet!  Pictures to come!

Our Latest Project

So, I decided to be thrifty and organized. As it turns out, I feel like I spent a bunch of money and made a huge mess! Anyways, hopefully the chaos will pay off and save us time and money in the future. I'm premaking baking mixes, soups, and sides and organizing them into containers. Once I taste the recipes I'll let y'all know which mixes are worth it! AJ is excited for the brownies/Texas sheet cake mix!

Feel Like Blogging with Nothing to Say

I got on my blog tonight expecting to write something funny, brag-worthy, or inspiring but this is what I ended up with:

The past month or so has been so trying and I am just happy to be getting by each day.  Everyday there is a short moment where I wish I can just fast forward to when we live in our own home, we're finished with school, and we do not have to go to the oncologist anymore.  Then I snap back to reality and remember how beautiful each day I get to spend time with my beautiful baby girl and hopefully be humbled throughout the whole experience.

Speaking of the baby, she's developed object permanence. I am happy she's developing, but WOW, she can really throw a fit when we take things away from her.  I love her determination and free spirit.  She rocks my world!

School's going well and we're starting to take tests and really get into the swing of things.  I just love the college energy.  Everyone is learning and constantly progressing.  It's refreshing. 

I'm finishing my prerequisites for the RN program and currently taking a CNA class.  AJ is finishing his prerequisites (only 2 more to go this summer) for medical school and preparing for the MCAT and application process.  

AND, the best news of all:  we have Whitney and Ryan's wedding to look forward to in 1 month and then Disney World in 6 months.  :)  It's so nice having exciting things to look forward to to keep you motivated and pushing along. 

The plan of salvation is the ultimate motivator, but there's joy in the here and now if we know where to look.

Hey, Mom! Look what I can do!

Our weekend has actually been pretty eventful! On Saturday morning we went to a baptism for our friend, Greg, who AJ had been teaching with the missionaries. We are so excited for him. He was almost radiating the spirit. It was such a nice experience.

After the baptism we went to play soccer with a big group of friends. I hadn't had that much fun in a while. We ended up plating for nearly 4 hours. My body was thanking me afterwards.

Sunday was ward conference and then we ate lunch with Aunt B before Lynn and Margaret showed up from AZ.

Today, Eliza climbed the entire stairwell herself and then crawled over the kitchen and learned how to open the cabinets.

The pictures are of the soccer, the first snow of the season, Eliza climbing the stairs today, and Eliza getting herself stuck in the stairs this past week.

Our Future of Fighting Cancer

AJ and I have decided to change AJ's diet. . . Okay, okay, I confess! I have decided AJ needs a change in diet to help his body combat cancer and reduce the likelihood of a relapse. He is happy about the changes and is gladly sacrificing. We are in no ways experts on cancer-fighting diets, but with good suggestions from our cousin Monica and our uncle Jeff, we have at least set a starting point.

The diet requires 80 percent fresh produce. AJ is so happy about this. He says he remembers how his mom almost always had fresh produce on the counter and he loved picking up an orange or an apple whenever he pleased.

Other changes that we are gradually working in are almost no added sugars or desserts and no pork or beef. We are trying to cut back on the dairy but I think this will be our hardest challenge... Aside from the sugars, as we both have a big sweet tooth.

So, for the first night my lovely cousin Lynn (who currently lives with us) made vegetable enchiladas with no cheese.

Then the next days for lunch I made veggie stir fry and salad. Okay, so there is some sausage in it but we are also extremely frugal so I had to not let the sausage go to waste. It's a gradual process... Gradual!

Enough of that jibber-jabber! The Kansas City temple now has dates for the open house!

Dresser Makeover

So, the other day AJ and I were just driving around and I was showing him where different people in our ward lived.  As it turned out, it was the night before mega trash day (not sure what it is really called) and we spotted a beat up little dresser.  Two of the top drawers were busted and one of the bottom handles was missing.  The color was a maple-syrupy and there were quite a few nicks and scratches on the top. I had always wanted to re-purpose something and I thought "ooooh, free! Let's take it!"  So we snatched it up and took it home.  My dad and grandparents laughed at me and couldn't think of how I could possibly fix it.  I thought and thought and thought and finally came up with this:

This picture was taken from my iPod so it isn't quite clear.  The dresser is a light grey with black over bronze handles and blackish/brownish baskets.  I am planning to use this in our future living room to hide the clutter.  (For example, I always put my electronics in one small basket, diapers in another, and wipes in another.  I am planning on putting some dishtowels, throws, and table cloths in the big drawers.)   

Tot Ziens! (Dutch for "Good Bye" - - Pronounced Tult Zeenz)

Bright Side

"My life is a gift. My life has a plan.  My life has a purpose, in heaven it began.  My choice was to come to this lovely home on Earth to seek for God's light to direct me from birth."  

(I think those are the right lyrics...this is from a song in the Children's Hymn book.  I currently serve in the church as the Primary Music Leader so the sweet lyrics are constantly running through my mind.)

E, a couple months ago before her two bottom teeth came in :)  Is she really my offspring!?  She is adorable and looks just like her handsome daddy.