New at this!

For some reason I lost every one's blog addresses. :( I was able to get most of them back but I'm sure I've left some out. Please let me know if yours is not on there. What a bummer! I guess I'm still new at figuring out the whole blog world. I'll get there!

Forgiveness

I had a thought today during Sunday school. Why is it so hard for some people to forgive and it seems easy for others to forgive? Isn't it true that all it does is hurt ourselves to carry around that anger and pain? Why can't we just let it go? Forgive and forget! You hear of stories when people forgive the unforgivable. I know a man in my ward who's father was murdered and he has forgiven the man who did it. I am amazed at that.
I am not one to hold grudges. My sister Annalisa once told me that when I get mad at her, she doesn't care that much because she knows I will forget about it soon. I think part of that has to do with my bad memory and part of it has to do with the fact that the small things really don't matter in the long run. I used to get really mad about the small stuff such as when someone cut me off while driving or when someone said something rude to me. In my old age I'm learning to not let those petty things get to me. I get upset at first but then let it go. Or at least I would like to think I do.
I read this book called 'A New Earth' which I recommend to anyone. Something that has really stuck with me is this: When someone offense you or has wrong you, let it go! Don't go 'vent' to someone and talk bad about that person. Just let it go. All venting does is hurt yourself. It creates more negative energy for you. Talking bad about that person and harping on it only hurts you in the end. It does nothing to the other person. This is something I've been working on.
I really admire people who forgive the unforgivable. How do they do it? How do you let the big stuff go? I would like to think that I'm getting better at this but I hope this is something I will be able to master my life time.

My mother in law

Let me tell you something about my mother in law. She is something else. She lives in Texas and flew out this week to help her son and his family move. She has been staying with us and I can't believe how much she has done. She doesn't even get paid, what?! She has left our house by 8 am every day and doesn't get home until 7 pm! Yikes! She has been working non stop during that time. Hasn't even complained about it. I don't know how she does it. I would probably go crazy. I go crazy just moving my own things. I couldn't imagine moving 4 other people! She must really love her kids.
Since she lives out of state we haven't seen her since our wedding. It's been fun having her stay with us. Thanks for all you do Laura and for being such a great mother in law!

Alan

I met Alan in January of 2007 when I was working as a nutrition and exercise consultant. He was my client. The first thing I noticed about him (besides how tall he was) was how confident he was. He really was so confident! He was also so easy going and laid back. It had me intrigued! I found myself really getting ready for work as apposed to pulling my hair back and grabbing the first thing I could find in my closet to wear. I would ask my roommate to help me pick something out to wear for the next day (the day he came in) and would actually do my hair that day. I would also block his appointments out for an hour which turned into an hour and a half.
We spent the first few appointments flirting and a lot of our time was spent getting to know each other. About a month in he decide to ask me out but wanted to make sure I was interested before he asked. So after his appointment one day he sent me a text that read 'I want chocolate cake. Help!' He wanted to see if I would respond. He didn't know me well enough to sense my sarcasm. I responded with a 'Go ahead and eat it! Get fat! See if I care.' No response. Apparently he thought I was being serious. So he ignored my text. As I was going to bed that night I sent him a text and asked if he knew I was kidding. He played it cooled and acted like he had gotten busy and forgot. We had a long conversation via text messaging. He asked me out and I said no. He was my client and I wanted to wait until he was done with his sessions (which would be in April). I was also scared. Scared because I some how knew he was the one and it scared me.
Apparently it didn't scare me that much because a week later after his appointment I asked him if he wanted to grab lunch since my next appointment had canceled. He was shocked but happily accepted. We went to subway and talked for about 2 hours! I decided I wanted April to come early. There was just something so different about him. I wanted to date him. So the next day we were instant messaging and I asked him to meet me for lunch. Then the following day was Valentine's Day and we went to a movie. Two days after we went on a double date. We had such a great time and really hit it off.
The next day he was off to Florida for business for almost a week. We talked on the phone for 3 plus hours a night. We talked about everything. I couldn't wait to talk to him every night after work.
We got serious fast! I met his family about a month later and his son about 6 weeks in. Alan is a very private person. He doesn't really introduce anyone to his family and I was the first he had introduced to his son. We started talking marriage in May and were married November 2nd.
I knew Alan was perfect for me for so many reasons! It just felt right. Our relationship was so easy! We got along so well and I knew early on he was the guy for me.
Some reason's why I love Alan so much:

1. He's really easy going. He lets most things just roll off his back.
2. He's very patient with me.
3. He knows how to calm me down when I'm mad and make me happy when I am sad.
4. He loves me on my good days AND my bad days.
5. He always puts my needs first which makes it so easy to put his needs first.
6. He really listens to me (except when watch sports) :)
7. He makes me laugh and he actually laughs at my jokes.
8. He's a great cook!
9. He appreciates me.
10. He's so smart and so hard working.
11. He makes me feel like I am the most important thing in his life.
12. He goes to see movies with me that I know he really doesn't want to see but does it because he know I really want to see it.
13. He really does treat me like gold (except when he's watching sports). I'm just kidding!
14. He's so easy to talk to. People that hardly know him tell him their secrets because he's that easy to talk to.
15. He's very loyal.
16. He would do anything for me and for those he loves. I know I can always count on him for anything I need.
17. He doesn't think I cry very much! The reason is because he doesn't make me cry.
18. He admits when he's wrong and works hard to fix it when he is.
19. He's a great dad.
20. He humor's me when I'm telling him something that I know he doesn't care about but pretends he cares anyway.
21. He puts the toilet seat down, most the time.
22. When we are driving, he patiently listens as I change the radio station 20 times a minute and I know it drives him crazy!
23. He listens to me when I complain that I feel fat and tells me I'm not, over and over and over again with out getting annoyed.
24. He speaks his mind. There is nothing fake about him.
25. He does things he doesn't want to do for me but does them because he knows they are important to me.
26. He really is a softy. He has a big heart and is so sweet. You wouldn't know that about him but he really is!
I could keep going and going about him! He really is such a wonderful husband and I am so lucky to be married to him! I love you Alan and look forward to many more years with you!

Justin

Justin is my step son. He is almost 5 years old. He is the sweetest boy. I met Justin a year and a half ago and from the day I met him, he has accepted me as his friend. I adore him so much! When I was dating Alan, Justin was always wanting me to hold his hand, sit by him, put him to bed, read him stories, etc... We really hit it off right when we met. At the time, Justin was living in Vegas with his mom and step dad. Alan and I drove down so I could meet him. We went to Circus Circus for the afternoon. Alan sat back and let Justin and I get acquainted and bond. We did just that. He held my hand none stop and we really bonded.
When Alan and I got married, Justin struggled a bit but tried really hard to get used to his dad being married. It was a tough adjustment for him but he's such a strong kid and has really adjusted well.
One of the sweetest, funniest things he has said was one night when Alan was putting him to bed he asked him if his mom could come sleep over some time. Alan told him to ask her and Justin said that he did. She had told Justin to ask Alan. What was Alan to say? His response? "Uh, sure!" We had a good laugh over that. I could tell from that he was wanting his two worlds to come together.
The things I love about Justin is that he has such a big heart. He has so much love for people. He loves to make people laugh, he's good at comforting you, and he's so smart! The boy really gets it! The moments I love the most are when out of the blue he comes and climbs on top of me, wraps his arms around me, bury his head in my chest and holds on to me for a good 5 minutes. One night he asked Alan if I would come lay in bed with him. He did just that and it meant so much to me. Our relationship is 100% on his terms. I never want to make him feel obligated to have a relationship with me. So when he initiate anything with me, I want to jump up and down for joy. Instead I play it cool and enjoy every second of it. I want to be the type of step mom that always makes Justin feel loved and welcome at our house and that is my goal!

Father's Day

This weekend we had Justin. He's is such a sweet kid! We had such a great time! This morning he woke me up and we snuck in the kitchen to make Alan breakfast in bed. We also wrote Alan a card. Here is what Justin wanted to me write for him:
Dad,
Good Morning! I love you a lot. I like to ride motorcycles with you. I like to wrestle with you. You are silly. Happy Father's Day.
Love,
Justin
P.s. You are special and I am too!
I had to laugh! It was so sweet and so heart felt. As I was cleaning the kitchen, I heard them playing football and Justin started to cry. Alan said "there is no crying in football!" Justin said "it's ok to cry when you get hurt!" Alan's response was "not in football! If you want to play football, you can't cry!" He stopped crying and started playing. Tough love! We also played twister ( Justin's first time.) We had a great weekend and I sure do love my boys!

BTW, the screen on my camera broke so I can't see pictures when I take them. Some are off center but you get the idea!

I'm finally here!

My sister's have been pushing me for months (ok, years!) now to start a blog. The last few weeks I've had so much fun reading every one's blogs. I finally came to the conclusion that I should have my own blog. So here I am! I've made it to the blog world and I'm really excited!