Past the Parking Lot

A few weeks ago in sacrament meeting, one of the counselors in our bishopric talked about a phrase his mother used to use: "Take it past the parking lot." 

We often go to church, firesides, activities, conferences and hear wonderful things that make us want to change.  We may even take notes, and write down quotes that we like.  We make goals while listening to wonderful speakers and have every intention of going home and improving ourselves, but for some reason it all disappears as soon as we get to the parking lot.

I've been thinking about this a lot lately and have realized just how guilty of this I am.  I get so much inspiration at church, but as soon as I get back to my weekly schedule I forget about all those things that I wanted to do or change.

This week we had an awesome Stake/Regional conference, and general conference is just around the corner.  I am really going to try to make a conscious effort to take what I learn "past the parking lot".

Coupons

I am sucker for good deals.  So, I've started to get into using coupons a lot this past year, and I have recently had a few awesome deals.  A few days ago Matt and I went to Target to get a little shopping done, and I printed a bunch of Target coupons from my computer at work.  The awesome thing about Target is that you can use one Target coupon and one manufacturer's coupon on the same item.  So we got these yummy chocolates for FREEEEE! (They were priced at $2.99)

We got the dark chocolate ones!

Another deal I got a while ago also as Target was the game Battleship.  I got it for a Easter gift for Matt since we love playing games.  I used 2 coupons on it too and got it for $4! It was originally $19.99.  I'd say that's a steal.

Don't worry, I'm not going to become one of those crazy coupon ladies.. but it does feel awesome to get good deals like these.

Summer Reading

Three of my favorite things about being a teacher: June, July and August.  This summer I has quite a bit of time to do one of my favorite leisure actives... READ!

Here's what some of my summer reading list looked like..

 

Princess Academy was an adorable story about a girl who finds out who she really is.

Insurgent! If you haven't read the divergent series get started.. the final book of the trilogy comes out this spring.

 

June Bug and One, Two, Buckle my Shoe were both great mysteries.  I am really starting to love mystery novels.

 

The Secret Garden may have made my top 20 books list.  I absolutely LOVED it and the morals in it.

The Mysterious Benedict Society was also an awesome children's adventure!

I also finished off the Books of Bayern.  The Goose Girl and River Secrets were by far the best fairytales I've read, but the other two were quite slow and a little redundant.

I read a few more, but these are the ones I'd recommend to anyone.  Right now I'm reading The Poisonwood Bible which is HILARIOUS!! I can't wait to get back to reading it.  And I'm also currently reading Manhunt which is a history book about John Wilkes Booth.  It's fascinating and really makes me want to visit Washington D.C. so I can check out Ford's Theatre and all these places I'm reading about.

As Mark Twain once said, "The man who doesn't read has no advantage over the man who can't read."  So get Reading!

Summer Project #2

 Another Cricut project!

I love organization. And I love file folders.  And I love doing projects with vinyl.  So this was a natural idea from my organizing brain.

So nice for coupons!

And this one for all my kitchen appliance manuals, electronics manuals, and even warranties.

I also just got another blue file (target dollar section!!) that I will use for receipts. Now all I have to decide is what color to make the letters....

Goodbye Boise

Last weekend was our last one together in Boise.  We went out with a bang.  Friday was Matt's birthday, but since there was a ward campout we decided to celebrate on Thursday.  We went to Tucano's for dinner which is always fun, and then came home for cake.  Do you recognize it?

Matt didn't at first and he thought I was crazy, but when I reminded him it looked exactly like Harry Potter's cake..... he loved it!  I think I did a pretty good job making it look like the original.

cake from the movie

Friday was the ward campout.  We were semi-in-charge of it and it turned out super fun! I LOVE sitting around the campfire making smore's and singing songs, but I hate sleeping on the ground. As expected I had a sore neck in the morning, but it was worth it.

love our bishop

smore's

The next morning was swimming and boating.  Matt found a new hobby.. lake surfing! It's pretty cool looking.  You're supposed to let go of the rope and just ride the wake like you would a wave in the ocean.  Matt was pretty good for his first time, but never quite got there.

swimming



wakebording

And surfing...

What a way to say goodbye to Boise.  It's been fun Idaho, and I hope we see you again someday!

The Find-A-Wife Diet

Yesterday at church we have a fabulous lesson by our Relief Society president Kristen Price.  One part of her lesson really stuck to me, and made me think about my life and the relationship I have with my Savior.  She told a story about how her brother wanted to go on a Find-A-Wife diet to get himself in the shape he wanted.  He bought a book by a famous athlete (sorry I don't know what the book is) and got to reading on how he could get in his best shape.  Two great pieces of advice were given in this book.

1.  Choose good teammates.
This means don't work out alone.  Do it with a friend or family member who will encourage you and push you to do more.

2. Create a home-court advantage.
Don't have things in your house that you don't want yourself to eat.. like Oreos.  Instead surround yourself with lots of fruit and veggies for when you want a snack.


These are great pieces of advice if you want to lose weight or get in better shape, but let's think about this spiritually.  I call it the Find-Your-Savior diet.  These are also great ideas so get in better shape spiritually and come closer to the Savior.

1.  Choose good teammates. 
Surround yourself with people who uplift you.  Spend time with your family, and participate in ward meetings and activities.  It's much easier to live righteously if you are not doing so alone.

2.  Create a home-court advantage.
We can choose what goes into our home and into our lives.  We can make sure that there are not things in our lives that take us away from the spirit.  What kind of television and how much do we watch?  What kind of attitude so we have towards those we live with?  Make sure your home is a place where you will come out the winner and grow closer to Christ.

Science!

This weekend Matt and I went to the science museum here in Boise. We spend a little over 4 hours there, and had a blast.  Here's a little bit about our adventure.

 If you look closely, you can see my eyes on either side!

Mirror Tricks!

 Shadow Box

Practicing our levitating skills

TORNADO! 

I am a much better bubble blower that Matt

 Chair lift

Matt loved reading the descriptions and trying to figure out how everything worked.  Me? Nope. I like believing that it was all magic :)   But while we were there, I did realize what an awesome father Matt will be someday.  He wanted to teach me how everything worked and even helped some little kids out with some of the exhibits.  I'm glad he's mine!