Marcia Lynn McClure

So I have to do a blog entry all dedicated to my most favorite author in the whole world. Yes I have read all the classics, and I do love to snuggle down with a blanket and read some Charles Dickens on occasion. But these books by Marcia are amazing!!! I have all of her print books and I cherish each and everyone. I have read each one at least four or five times and each time it is just as good. I really haven't read that many books where you can just read them over and over again. Well if you haven't read one of hers, you really should. She is an LDS author who was tired of the smutty romance novels floating around out there. And if you are like me, and love a good romance, then you will love her books. She says on her website that the kiss is the most romantic part about a relationship and after reading her books I have to agree. My mother-in-law introduced her to me and I have been grateful every since.

The other amazing thing is if you shoot her an email that you can get from her website she will email you back herself. I have sent her a couple and each time I get one back always with the information I need. That is a personal touch that you just have to admit is pretty darn neat. The only bad thing is you can't find these books locally. You have to usually order from her website. Which I am a frequent user of. So check her out and give one of her books a try.

http://marcialynnmcclure.com

Ah ha moment

Don't you love it when you are reading or thinking and you realize something that has been said to you numerous times? My husband always points out my aw ha moments and says "I have been saying that." I finally got my ah ha moment today and I was in desperate need of it. I think being a woman is enough pressure in itself. You are expected to look a certain way and act a certain way for you to be accepted. Even in my church where things like this shouldn't matter, it is the one point most women decide to hang over and talk about over and over again. I am constantly feeling the pressure to look that awesome fabulous and to be more attractive than I was before my last baby. Not that taking care of your body and eating right are the wrong way to go, I am not saying that. But the obsession over our bodies is getting just down right annoying if you ask me.

So what am I going to do about it? Well I am not going to obsess about everything I eat. I am going to try and eat healthy and make good choices. Not because I want to squeeze in my size four pants, but because it will make my body strong. I will not over exercise and feel like I need to show off to my friends saying, "Oh I went to the gym four times today and ran 8 miles." But I will continue to do the things I love and be active to keep my heart healthy. I think we need to realize that there is more to us than our pants size and how we look on the outside. I have more work to do on the inside then the outside. But it seems no one obsesses about that.

I also read the article in last months Ensign talking about dressing morally. I have to admit some of my bathing suits could be considered risque, and I have put on a bikini a few times. But after reading this article, which was directed not only to the youth, but the women of the church, it made me realize I need to take a closer look at how I dress and what I want to present to people. And more importantly what I want my little girls to think about me and how I dress. I want them to emulate me and dress appropriately. So I did go through my dresser and revamped. Not that I am going to wear cardigans and full length skirts for the rest of my life. As my sister in law Sally has shown me, you can dress in fashion and still dress to our morals.

Please don't think I am aiming this post to anyone in particular, this is just how I was feeling about myself and my surroundings. Now I hope to work on more important things like faith, patience and making sure my children know how important the gospel is in our lives and the role it should play.

Going Once, Going Twice...SOLD

So we did it!!! We sold our house. With it only being on the market two and a half weeks. I feel so truly blessed for this. I know that Lord is truly looking after us and our needs at this time. We even negotiated and got a better deal than we thought we were going to get. We even close the weekend before we planned on leaving anyways. So everything has worked out perfect. Now I have to start getting this house cleaned out and packed up tight. I am thinking a garage sale is in order. I was also thinking maybe we could do a combined one if anyone else has stuff they need to sell. That way we could offer more. But I have to get through cleaning first...ugg. We are just beyond excited.

It Is Official.....

That is right, Corey has officially been offered a job with Hilti up in Frederick Maryland. He has accepted and we are now really scrambling to get everything ready. If we could just get our house sold, things would be a lot easier to plan. Corey will probably start work September 1st, or right after Labor Day. So we have just a month and a half to get this house sold. The company is paying for us to fly up to Maryland next month and check things out and find a place. It will be a nice little break for us and a time for us to get to know our surroundings. We will only be 30 minutes from DC and so there will be lots of stuff for us to see. Corey is so excited to finally get this move up. This is only a temporary position so we know we will only be there between 12 and 24 months. Then he will try and get his own warehouse. So we plan on renting during our stay there. I will try to keep everyone updated as to how things are going.

I really am excited about moving to a new place. What I am not looking forward to is the snow and cold during the winter. But I think the kids will love it. Wish us luck.

Corey Equals Feeling Crappy

So even though the cartoon I thought was pretty funny, my worry for Corey is not. Last week he got a really bad flu and he went to the Dr. and they gave him a bunch of meds. He never really felt 100 percent and then Monday his fever came back and he hasn't been able to eat or drink in two days. He has already missed too much work, so he drags himself out of bed in the morning and goes to work to come home and plop on the couch. He has no energy and can hardly move. He is already on antibiotics so we know it is not a bacterial infection. Viral, probably, but how long will this last? I worry about how pale he looks all the time and he is going to bed around 9pm which is so early for him. I just want him better, and he refuses to go back to the Dr. again. Lets hope that his body can kick this. Although my mom seems to think it is stress related....but how do you get rid of all the stresses of life?

Branson Day 2

Day two at Branson was by far the favorite for me. We got up and went to Silver Dollar City (an amusement park there) and we had a blast. The rides were so cool, and Logan was tall enough to ride every single one. Even the biggest, scariest roller coaster there. Corey and I had to laugh because he would scream and look terrified during the ride and then after claim it was no big deal. Gabe was still too short for most of the huge rides. But he did make the requirement on a ride called the powder keg. I LOVED this roller coaster. You start at zero and it blast you out of it super fast. Gabe really freaked out and I ended up having to carry him off the ride. He cried for a little while. But I loved how excited the kids were the whole time. There was also this really cool cave that you can go into. It was HUGE. It took about an hour and a half to go through the whole thing. I think this was my favorite part of the park. Well worth the time and energy. But poor Corey had to carry Hailey the whole time. He was a good sport and didn't complain too much. I tried to take some pictures, but it was just too dark for most to turn out.

Mom and I next to a 7 foot tall guy who worked there. When I first spotted him I thought he was on stilts, but nope those are his real legs. Pretty dang tall huh?

This is my favorite picture, I was trying to take a picture of the opening of the cave where we came down and mom jumped up right at the perfect moment. We giggled for a long time after seeing how she timed it.

Look how long this is. It starts on the floor and goes up. It was pretty amazing.

After Silver Dollar City we went back to our hotels and got all cleaned up. Then we went to Dixie Stampede. I love this place. We went as a family a couple of times in Myrtle Beach, but it was so fun to see the kids enjoy it. They put on this huge show in an arena and you eat dinner while you watch. We were not allowed to take pictures inside the arena, so we got some waiting to go inside at the pre-show. The food was excellent.

Trying to act all coy with the camera.

This is me looking excited to deal with a fussy Hailey during the show. I didn't get to enjoy it as much as I would have liked, but hey that is how life is with an infant.

Boys acting silly before the show started.

The last day we were there we went to the Titanic Museum there. I love the story of the Titanic and I think I always have. I have read so many books about it. This was an incredible place to see so much history and facts. I love to look at old things that have seen so many amazing things. It was ok with the kids. They were crazy and wild. I would have enjoyed it more if I wasn't constantly telling the kids to behave. And the fact that there were so many stinkin people there. But I loved it all the same.

After the tour it was time to go home. We stopped for lunch at this little Mexican place and we stuffed ourselves one last time. I had such a great time and I hope that the kids will remember this vacation and love it as much as I did.

Branson Day One

To celebrate the 4th of July, we went to Branson MO, with my parents on vacation. We had so much fun. This was our first real vacation sleeping in a hotel and doing lots of exciting things. The kids just kept saying, "This is the best day of my life." I wish we could do fun stuff like this more often, but our piggy bank just won't allow it. On Friday we got up early and headed out at 8am. We knew that there was a McDonalds that is built over the turnpike, so we decided to stop there for breakfast. The kids thought it was so cool that the cars were going right under us as we ate.

You can't really see the cars behind them, but we were up pretty high.

Then we continued onto Branson. It took us about three hours and the kids were just so excited to finally get there. We parked at our hotel and walked across the street to get some pizza. It was really affordable and that surprised us. Plus it was pretty tasty.

Stuffing our faces with pizza.Truck outside the pizza place, they were so cute.

Then we continued on to our first real tour. Our hotel was centrally located so we could just walk. It was Ride the Ducks.

Ride the Ducks are a military vehicle that they used to use. It can go on land and then drive right into the water. The kids didn't know what they were in for. Gabe looked a little worried when the guide said we were going to drive into the lake. He was by the window and tried to quietly switch places with Lexie. His face was hilarious when we actually drove in. Then once we were on the water, the kids got a chance to steer the duck.

They also got these annoying quackers that we used while on the tour. The kids kept blowing them the whole time. I still hear them.

After the tour we rode down to the outside mall called Branson landing. They had so much to look at. We walked up and down, ate dinner and got the kids a balloon. They didn't last that long, they were all popped by the next day. But the kids really had a blast.

Logan picked a machine gun.

Lexie got a pink poodle.

Gabe got a laser gun with a holster.

Kids taking a little ride together.

To be continued with Day Two.....