Another Beautiful Day

2011-12-08T11:02:00.001-08:00

I haven't updated this blog in forever so maybe this is a time to up date.

Back on Nov. 6th Devin got Baptised into our Church. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Saints. It was a exciting and stressful day, but I'm happy it happened. Just makes you realize how old you are when your baby gets Baptised. It was awesome! Ron did a great job.

Things I learned for next time

1. Make sure you fill up the font for the Baptism before you're suppose to do the Baptism.
2. Don't stress about all the people that will be there.
3. Make cookies or something, not a whole meal.

Couponing

2011-08-23T13:17:00.000-07:00

I love to use coupons. I'm not really extreem, but I love it when I save a bunch of money. Its addicting and exciting to see what you've saved.

http://thekrazycouponlady.com This is my FAVORITE website, tells me what to use and when to use it. Its the best. Just so you know.

-Crystal

Another beautiful day

2011-08-18T14:41:00.001-07:00

I was thinking about deleting this blog the other day and I've thought about it an I will keep this. My little spot on the world wide web. Its Another Beautiful Day today because I kind of feel human today, I'm still coughing a bit, but I'm not laying on the couch like I was the past few days.

I wanted to share my hobby with you. I love to coupon! Its so much fun and it makes shopping a whole lot more exciting! This is my coupon binder, with a TON of coupons.

I mean its work keeping this thing up, but man its exciting, when you pay only 50cents for something that is like 3 or 4 dollars.

Its something I just do it my spare time. ;)

Almost

2011-01-24T11:00:00.000-08:00

Henry Is almost a one year old.

Why do babies have to age so fast and why does the time always fly by when you're having fun?

Its pretty amazing how life just flys by you. Henry is walking now. He's a little walking machine! Its pretty awesome and a whole lot of fun, I just wish sometimes it didn't have to go by so fast. I miss that little itty bitty baby. I'm also excited to watch him grow and see all the amazing things he will do.

New Year Goals...

2011-01-03T13:36:00.000-08:00

Well after a major brake on my weight loss campaign, I am back on it again starting TODAY!
I'm excited and then again, not so excited. I've started off good and I'm pretty sure it will continue, I think the hardest part for me now is really exercising. I love it, but I let my tiredness really get to me. I joined sparkpeople.com a long time ago, but I updated my account and I plan to keep track of things on there.
The goal to get healthy, by exercising and eating right.
That is my goal.
Family goal. Get out of debt. This is a hard one, but we made out a plan and it looks like it will happen.

Two goals, but a lot of work needs to go into these.

Christmas Time

2010-12-18T00:27:00.000-08:00

This is a picture of the tree outside our apartment. The leaves change colors within the past two weeks and now the wind and my boys knocked all the leaves off the tree. I wanted to take a good picture of the tree with the sun shinning in just the right spots, but every time I went to take a picture of the tree it was ugly outside, and now its raining. boo. So here is a okay picture of the pretty tree.

December is a hard month for me and I think its just a combination of a lot of things happening/happened that make me feel this way. I know to look on the bright side of things, but it just gets hard sometimes. My mom was in the hospital for a few days and we still don't really know what the causes are that put her in there. The weather has been very gloomy outside and my sinuses are KILLING me head.. boo to that too.

The best things about this month is watching Devin perform in his schools program, seeing my boys smile and being nice to each other. Hearing I love you for no reason at all... I love those moments.

Things to be thankful for...

2010-12-08T15:23:00.000-08:00

I am thankful for my life..

I am lucky to have Married the man of my dreams and I'm glad he's part of my reality.

This guy does it all. He takes care of the boys 7 nights a week and out of 2 of those nights I'm actually there to help. He cleans, changes diapers, gives the babes baths, takes Devin to cub scouts, buys things for the home, and takes care of a lot of things on the honey due list that is invisible. He is such an awesome friend and really cares for people. He's my husband, and I'm just so lucky to have met this guy. Almost 10 years ago in February. I can't believe its been that long ago. It seems like just yesterday we were jumping in rain puddles and playing around San Francisco. He still gives me butterflies when I think of him. Marriage is the hardest and most rewarding thing I'll ever do, but with this guy, I'll do this forever with him.

I'm thankful for my boys. I'm so lucky to have 3 special boys I can call my own.

Henry is starting to give kisses, Jonas says I love you out of the blue, and Devin kisses me and says I love you for no reason at all. They're all smart and it makes me so proud to be their Mom.

I'm thankful we have the church in our lives, and what a blessing it is to really have such a simple and wonderful Gospel in our lives..

Visit

http://www.mormon.com

Find out more about our church and you wont be disjointed.. Its truly amazing.

I'm thankful for my heavenly father. He's given me so much in this life, and its really hard sometimes want to follow the teaching, but I do, because I know I will receive the blessings I need for thee.

I'm thankful for the people I know and how they touch my life, and how your are an example to me, and might not even know it.

Thankful.

I really need to share these things. Its really turned my day around.

Have you thought of the things you're thankful for?

Pumpkins!

2010-11-09T11:57:00.000-08:00

Ron Made the coolest pumpkin!

Devin's Pumpkin!

Jonas's Pumpkin!

Mommy's Pumpkin

My little Rock Star and Dead Pirate!

Time to get candy! :D

Happy Hallobirthday!

2010-11-09T11:39:00.000-08:00

Rain Forrest Cafe for Devin's Birthday Lunch! He had a great time and really enjoyed himself.
Then Grandpa Ron came by and brought the boys presents. Devin got a really cool car from him and Gma T.

Sat. Night we went to Church's CRAZY Halloween Party. Here is our mismatched family. The boys got TONS of candy and it was a lot of fun and crazyness.

Family Party after church on his actually bday! He got some cool presents and has really enjoyed all of them.

Devin's Birthday CupCake! He didn't really like it. :( Oh-well. He didn't really try it though either. Too much cool stuff happening to actually want to eat.
Happy 7th Birthday Baby boy!

Just realized

2010-11-09T11:19:00.000-08:00

I'm an emotional eater. Yep. I eat sweets/food when I'm feeling very emotional. Now how do I over come this problem? Kill all the sweet stuff in the house and pray I don't buy any sweets while I'm at work? Boo sweets! Boo Emotional eating.. Booo!

Now that that is out of the way.

Dieting has been hard. I realized also that gaining weight is a lot easier then it is to lose the weight.
I gained a few pounds back that I lost and I feel really bad about it. I keep wanting to change, but I haven't. I need to start logging in my info in somewhere.

Here is log: #1
Starting Nov. 9th, pounds lost 0
Goal:50 pounds
Goal date: April 2011

Thank you . :o) (I've lost 15ish pounds so far, but I'm starting new again today)

Me.

2010-10-07T20:54:00.000-07:00

I am putting out this truth on the world wide web. I am changing my lifestyle. For the better. Healthy eating, exercising daily (mostly), and just a different outlook on life. I'm still craving all those goodies, but thinking about how many calories are in them, changes my mind. Maybe I'll put updates on here, on my progress, but then again, maybe not.. We'll see. Wish me luck. If you need some motivation, let me know and we'll talk.

Really..

2010-10-07T20:51:00.000-07:00

I can't do this blog. Oh it is so hard. I thought I'd do this all the time, but really... Where is the time? I have some down time, but blogging? So here is another go. Sometimes I get paranoid that someone maybe stocking me or something, but I'll try and go public again. So here I go again. I will try with the updates again. Maybe I'll post monthly, then weekly.

We shall see!

Amazing

2010-07-22T14:51:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to say I have an amazing family. My husband is the best, and he is the best because we work together very well and help out with the children when need. I love him. :)

A few Minutes while the babe sleeps

2010-07-02T11:29:00.000-07:00

So I'm taking a few minutes to actually do a new post. Some swimming videos of the boys in swimm class

Almost July

2010-06-23T11:40:00.001-07:00

June has been flying by and I've just been in a daze throughout this month. Maybe I'll have time tomorrow and I'll post some pictures and do some updates.

A Priesthood Blessing

2010-05-04T09:39:00.000-07:00

On Sunday Ron gave Henry his baby blessing. He gave Henry a name, and told him some things that would happen in his life if he were to follow the gospel. I like to think about how special these blessings are, a baby blessing, the laying on of hands to give the Holy Ghost blessing, a fathers blessing, a blessing to heal the sick. How special it is to be in this church and have our rightous men to be able to give these blessings.

I am just so lucky to have the Prisethood in my life, and I love feeling its security it gives me.

Jonas's Birthday

2010-04-01T14:03:00.000-07:00

Monday Jonas turned three years old. Time really goes by fast as you get older. My little blonde babe who has my coloring is three years old. He hasn't been potty trained yet, but he does know how to go potty. He mostly goes poo in there so I figure he'll soon want to do everything in the pottty. (Hopefully) He loves to sing the ABCs and to count to 15. He loves to read stories and knows a jist of them when he is reading. We got him a new bike for his birthday and he is doing great riding his bike. I feel like he is almost ready for preschool. Here are a few pictures of this little cutie..

Weekly Dinner Menus

2010-03-22T12:22:00.001-07:00

Having dinner is not a problem, but being organized about it is the problem I've had for a long time. So my goal before I go back to work is to have a menu ready for the following week and shopping done on Saturday morning. I started this March 13^th and cooked the menu last week. It worked out pretty well. So I'm going to keep it up and keep up the trend. Here is the menu for this week and the shopping list to go with it.

Menu March 21 – 27th

Sunday

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

Breakfast

Pancakes

Fruit

Cereal

fruit

Eggs

Fruit

Toast

Cereal

Fruit

Eggs

Fruit

Toast

Cereal

Fruit

Eggs

Toast

Fruit

Lunch

Frozen pizza

Fruit

Mac n cheese

Apple sauce

PB&J

Apples

Tuna

Apple sauce

PB&J

Fruit

Mac n cheese

Fruit

Tuna

fruit

Dinner

Steaks

Smash potatoes

Asparagus

Tacos

Spanish rice

Salad

Bbq chicken

Mash potatoes

Corn

Salad

Grilled cheese sandwich and potato fries

Salad

g.turkey meatballs

pasta

polenta bread

salad

Apricot pork chops

Mash potatoes

Green beans

Chicken stir fry

Shopping list

Produce

Dairy

Frozen

Meat

Dry

Fruit

Asparagus

Potatoes

3 Salad mix

Eggs

Milk

Yogurts

Cheese

Stir fry veggies

Green beans

4 g. turkey (they were $1.99 a package on sat, so I stocked up)

pork chops (they were $1.59pk enough chops for 2 dinners so another stock up)

Tuna

Bread

Puddings

Taco shells

Apricot jam

Spanish rice mix

Pickles

Beans

Corn

Lunches and breakfasts are up in the air most of the time and I didn't really include the packed lunch for Ron or Devin. I haven't gotten that organized yet, but soon I will. Plus I bought more items then what is on my list so I need to start adding a bit more. I just wanted to show you what I've been up to.

Growing already...

2010-03-09T09:07:00.000-08:00

This is little Henry today about a month old. Weighing 9pounds and 14oz. Its amazing how fast these little people grow.

Both Jonas and Devin are doing great holding him and helping take care of him. I'm such a proud mommy to have such great boys.

The only thing that I'm sad about is going back to work. Its good that when I do work Ron will take care for all the boys, but its still going to be hard. Hopefully not as hard as I'm making it out to be.

To be a mom of not just 2 boys, but 3 boys makes me really happy. I am glad to try and be able to raise good, righteous, faithful, smart, sweet, and just awesome boys. I hope I do the right things and teach them the right tools to become good guys later in life.

Welcome

2010-02-24T08:58:00.000-08:00

Henry Julien VanWart

Born Feburary 6, 2010

5:55PM

Time

2010-01-05T12:33:00.000-08:00

I guess its about time for a new blog. :)

I can finally breath for a few months since there will be no work while I'm waiting for the baby and then taking care of him.

I was thinking though... My biggest issues I have with customers at work.

1. Don't bring your pets into a grocery store. UNLESS its a seeing eye dog
I can't stand little fufu dogs in the grocery store and management not saying anything about it.
2. Say hi to the person helping you before spitting out your phone number.
3. If you have a problem with the price of an item, don't go in the express lane.
4. Cover your mouth to cough. No one else wants to get sick.
5. Cover your meat with a plastic bag PLEASE. Its gross having blood all over the place, and on my hands.
6. If you have something frozen and you don't want it, give it to an employee and DON'T put it with the magazines.

There are more issues I have, haha, but I can't think of anything now. I just can't believe sometimes how rude people are. To customer service works.

Its a BOY!!!

2009-09-17T10:25:00.001-07:00

Its a boy and I'm excited. I was really hoping for a girl, but you know I love my boys and this one will be a wonderful addition to the family. I keep saying if this wasn't a girl, this will be my hardest boy yet, because being preggy is just so hard.

My friends keep reminding me, that I'm like this everytime I'm pregnant, I just can't remember how bad it gets sometimes. Its probably good I don't remember how hard it gets because these headaches/ migraines are very hard to deal with.

Now for another boy name.... We're going to have to work on that one....

Fentons in Oakland

2009-08-20T09:24:00.000-07:00

A night out with friends...

This was outside of Fenton's and we went here with our friends after we went to the Temple distribution center. ( They're going through the Temple for the first time this Saturday and we're totally excited for them)

Ron and I shared this. OOOoooooh their fudge is soooooooo good. I think its the best fudge I've had so far... mmmmmm.

Jim and Kristin and their cookie ice cream Sundae.. Ohhh it was huge.

Devin got the rocky road kids ice cream.

Jonas got a strawberry kids ice cream. ( The kids size was huge as well)

Fenton's Creamery

Blackberries

2009-08-20T09:14:00.001-07:00

So we went blackberry picking a few weeks ago after church on a nice Sunday afternoon. The place we went picking the berries is an odd place. It was by the train tracks by our home. The pictures below are pictures of the blackberries we picked in 30 minutes time. Devin did pretty good, but he didn't want to get hurt, Jonas just picked a few and ate them and then decided picking them wasn't for him. I made a cobbler out of the blackberries and shared it with our friends. No one got sick, and it tasted good. So they are safe even if they're right next to the train tracks.

Monday

2009-08-03T10:29:00.000-07:00

Our family is doing great. Jonas is potty training, but I'm just letting it happen all by itself.
When Devin was learning how to go potty in the pot, it was a lot harder and took a very long time, but he was finally done, a few weeks before Jonas was born. Hopefully we can get Jonas done in time for this next little babe to be born. That would be great. I love one in diapers and one just out of diapers.

Right now I am 13 weeks and on Wednesday I'll 14 weeks. So far so good, no weight gain, but my pants are starting to get tighter. My doctor said I am only able to gain 15 pounds because I'm overweight. That is understandable. I'd rather gain nothing, since I've never really lost the weight I gained with Devin or Jonas.

A beautiful bay area type of day!

2009-07-02T08:44:00.000-07:00

I love it when its not cold, or hot, just nice and overcast. Hopefully the rest of the day stays like this. A little up date.

Devin Graduated Kindergarten. He will be entering 1st grade at the end of August, and he is really excited about it.

Another great up date, is I'm pregnant. Doctors thinks I'm 8 weeks this week, but Monday will be doing the ultrasound to see for sure when the due date is. We are excited. I'm feeling sick all day long. I cook dinner and I can't eat it because it smells soo gross. Nothing sounds good right now and I have to force myself to eat so I don't get any sicker.

With work and being sick it hard sometimes, because of the different smells that I scan. Ooooh goodness! No vomiting yet, and hopefully there wont be any, but we'll see.

I'm doing good other wise and the boys are too. :)

Beautiful Baby

2009-05-22T10:20:00.000-07:00

A very close friend had this beautiful baby girl.

Welcome to the world sweetheart.

If I ever want to smile and be happy I just need to look at these two pictures below.

These boys are so beautiful. :)

Seven

2009-05-18T09:24:00.000-07:00

Seven Years ago Today...

I married the man of my dreams.

Happy 7th Anniversary Loves! :o)

Forever more !

Just Thinking...

2009-04-29T08:50:00.000-07:00

I think I am starting to get a little scared about this Swine Flu Pandemic. I work at the store, and now I want to wear a face mask and gloves to work. Devin's School district said we should keep all sick kids home, Devin had a cough today, but no call so far.
How do people get it? I mean... a baby in Texas? A whole school shut down for a week? Is this just the beginning? ohh I should try thinking about something else..

Happy Birthday Jonas

2009-04-22T23:35:00.000-07:00

Here is my homemade cake for Jonas. How did I do? :)

Wow an Update?!?!?!?! ;o)

2009-04-09T15:58:00.001-07:00

Ron made green eggs! For St. Pattys Day, he's so creative! :)

Carolyn's Baby shower was a blast!

Picture of Me, Carolyn, and Kristin. Gotta love these girls! :)

Planning

2009-02-26T23:59:00.000-08:00

I think I’d just share with you the things that I will be planning for the future.

My friend Carolyn is having a baby girl and my other good friend Kristin and I are planning her baby shower. I’m really excited about planning her shower with Kristin. Carolyn wants a co-ed shower, which is cool, so I think we’ll have to get a little creative with the games.

Also Jonas will be turning two at the end of March. I think we’ll keep his Birthday party for just family only. Just because it’s the same weekend as Carolyn’s shower and plus it’d be less stress. I think maybe a pasta, cake, and ice cream. He’ll be happy with just having food around and everyone he loves.

I’m also planning the next “Cooking on a Budget” group. I thought it’d be fun to do the meeting about Easter Treats. I’m excited. I love chocolate and I will be planning to do a chocolate treat demo as well as inviting other people to bring their favorite Easter treats.

I think that is about it on planning. I do need ideas for more "Cooking on a Budget" groups. Soooo... Maybe if someone reads this they might have an idea for the group?? ;o)

A Dream...

2009-02-01T21:07:00.001-08:00

A little dream...

I'd love to be able to have my own home with a dark room to make black and white pictures all day.

I like these pictures....

2009-02-01T21:01:00.001-08:00

Friendship

2009-01-30T01:54:00.000-08:00

My friendships, and relationships with them. What makes a friend? What makes a best friend? What makes a good friend? Who decides what their friendship is? I’ll let you in on my friendship path.

My whole life, I wanted a best friend. I’ve had best friends when I was in elementary school, but after that, I got lost. My life changed and my friendships with people changed and new people around changed all that.

My bestfriend.I searched and searched for a best friend. I’ve had close friends, but long lasting bestfriends, I couldn’t find. So one day at a dance, I found the ultimate best friend. My husband. He covered all areas of friendship and only after 8 months he asked me to marry him. He is my best friend and it took so many years to find him.

My good friends. The people in my life that I consider like family are awesome. They are thoughtful, giving, loving, sharing, caring, helpful, understanding, and most importantly selfless. They care about others sometimes, not all the time, but sometimes, more then they care about themselves. They are great friends. I’m proud to say they are my friends and happy to think they are my friends.

My friends. These are the people in my life, I know well, maybe not well enough, but good enough to know that I love them just so. To be my friend I am glad you’re part of my life, in anyway you are. You brighten up my day just talking, smiling, and understand with me.
To all my friends, Thank you. Thank you for listening to me. Thank you for sharing your life with me.

For you to know, as my friends. Its been hard lately for us. Our circle of life is taken big steps, maybe for the better, maybe even for the worse, but as we’re going through this journey, it has been hard, is hard, and is going to be hard. Support from you is important, but not mandatory.
As friends I thought this tidbit might help.

Love,Crystal

They just make me smile. :-)

2009-01-26T14:32:00.001-08:00

Wedding Weekend

2009-01-05T13:12:00.000-08:00

This past weekend was way totally busy, but really awesome. Our friends Stacey and Tom got MARRIED!!! We were able to watch them get sealed in the Temple and how amazing they are for each other. You can really see the love in each of their eyes and it’s beautiful.
Ron and I were both part of their wedding party and we had a lot of fun.

Yesterday was Ron’s Birthday and we went to our friend Kristin and Jim’s Home and played rock band and Ron got to watch football while I talked with Kristin and Lindsey. We had a lot of fun and they got Ron a cute cake. Which was really yummy.

Updating

2008-12-30T14:55:00.000-08:00

(After we put up our christmas tree, after Thanksgiving)

I thought I'd give an update on everything starting a few weeks ago.

I went to work on Monday the 15, and received a write up for acting the way I did toward management. Yes I was in the wrong, but sometimes when you're in pain your emotions take into control. Since this was my second write up within 1 week period ( the first one was because I forgot to look at a lady's basket and there was something on the bottom of it and she was a secret shopper from another store and I got written up for missing that item) I was suspended for 3 work days. I think this is something I needed, was a little time off. I asked my Doctor for a Doctors note since my head was hurting still and I got the note till I was the head doctor on Monday the 21st.

I went to see him and he said it was a migraine and the nerves in the area could just be sensitive in that area because the pain was so intense, but he wanted me to get a CT scan just in case.

During the Christmas week, Devin, Jonas, and I were all sick with a cold. The boys cold got so bad that they both got ear infections. Jonas was a slug on Christmas and didn't really enjoy anything but the chair.

(this is how Jonas looked all day, didn't move or anything)

Friday I went to get the CT scan, but they told me it was going to cost $425.00. I was in shock, that was just way too much money. So I said I would hold off on it and talk to the doc. Oh I forgot to mention the doctor gave me these pain pills you take before bed, to manager pain. I thought they were working, because on Sunday the pain went away, but after work last night the pain was back. On the left side of my head. Could it have something to do with he lights at work that I'm getting this pain?

Hopefully the pain will go away for good.

Christmas was great, we had a really nice and relaxing day. I wish Jonas wasn't feeling yucky and would have been more excited, but hopefully next year will be different.

Migraine

2008-12-15T13:25:00.000-08:00

Migraine is a neurological syndrome characterized by altered bodily experiences, painful headaches, and nausea. It is a common condition which affects women more frequently than men. (Wikipedia)

For me this is a burden that has taken over my life for the past week. This pain on the left side of my head has complete control over me and I really don’t like it. I went to the doctor’s office last week and she has prescribed me 3 different medications. Then I went to the ER late Friday night because I was just in so much pain and I just wanted it to go away and I really didn’t care how I just wanted it gone. When I woke up on Saturday morning the pain was still there. Everyone says the most headaches are stress related and I need to calm down, but a warm compress on my head, or cold compress on my neck. I’ve tried it all. Maybe de-stressing is easier said than done.

Sunday we had our home teacher come over and help Ron with giving me a blessing, and I felt like it did take some of the pain after a while, but it was still there.
So I have a doctor appt. next week on Monday with the neurologist I hope it goes away before then or at least when I see him he’ll figure out what is wrong with me.
Before I went to the ER on Friday night, I was at work and I didn’t have my greatest moment. I was really stressed out and I emotional because of my head hurting. I guess I was talking loudly to my night manager and she didn’t like it very much, so I left early, just because I couldn’t handle working with my head hurting so bad.

So we shall see tonight what will happen since I left early and was rude to the manager. I am not proud of myself, more ashamed, because no one deserves to be treated like that. Even if they weren’t doing what they should have done.
Migraine is always there right now. Hopefully soon it will go away.

Crystal

I also want to mention...

2008-12-07T00:47:00.000-08:00

I'm still learning about this blogging site. There is a lot of extras to add on to your blog page. Hopefully I'll figure it out one day.

2008-12-07T00:30:00.000-08:00

Tonight we went to our church Christmas Party. I LOVED IT. We had a great time, the food was great, the company was great, the atmosphere was beautiful, and the little show they put on was awesome and very spiritual. I really enjoyed it and I met a few new people in the ward, which was nice. Below is a picture of everyone sitting and enjoying the manger scene. Ron and Jonas being cuties.
Devin and I looking good. ;)

Below is a picture of from Jonas. He likes to take pictures and I thought this one was a good one from an artist point of view. I really like the focus on the shoe. :)

My Thanksgiving Turkey haft eaten. I forgot to take a picture of my beautiful bird before we cut it. :(

Devin trying to figure out what he wanted to eat and Grandma in the background.

Jonas enjoying himself with some olives.

A little bit of the spread before more food got on the table.

I really wish I took more pictures of everything, but I was a little stressing on the turkey, because it was taking FOREVER to make. next time... I don't know about cooking the whole bird, maybe I'll buy the whole one and cut it up and just cook the breast meat, since that is all we eat. :)

Happy Thanksgiving Video

2008-11-27T09:48:00.000-08:00

Making Memories

2008-11-24T00:37:00.000-08:00

This is Stacey and Me and she is marrying one of my cloesest friend's Tom in on Jan 2!I'm so happy for them and to be getting married they are both very deserving of each other. Tom is the guy sitting next to me in the picture below.The picture of me and Stacey is at Stacey's Bridal Shower. She was so kind to invite me and also to have me in her wedding party. Out of all my friends that got married this year, this will actually be the only wedding Ron and I will both me in. So I'm kind of excited about this. Even though this is also a little different kind of wedding because these two lucky ducks will be getting married in the Temple! I'm so happy for them. They'll have each other forever when they get married and they won't have to wait.

Below is a picture of two of my Best friends from High School John and Anna. Instead and hanging out with the girls I'd always being hanging out with John. Anna and I got a lot closer after high school even though we were really good friends in High School. The relationship change in to a wonderful on after it. John is in the Navy now and really doing good. It was really nice to catch up with him over some Chinese food a few weeks ago. Anna is making bank (haha not really I just like to say that) working for a tech company in Area around here. :)
This little picture is of Devin and his future wife. I think they'd be cute, but I told him he can't marry anyone till after his mission and after he is in his 2nd year of med school. Then he told me he is going to be a race car driver. Hopefully I can work on him and he might change his mind one day about the race car driver thing.
Last two pictures is of Ron and I and we went to FONDUE!!! LOVED IT!!!! It was a lot of fun and too much food. ( A little too much money) But when you only go on a date once in a great while, you should make it worth it. We went to the melting pot, it was really nice and cozy, then like eight 13year old girls came and sat next to where we were and had a party so it got a little loud. It made is memorable. :) We had a great time and loved the food too.

A busy BIRTHDAY weekend!

2008-11-02T18:38:00.001-08:00

I must say this, time flys by way to fast.

My baby is 5 years old now. When we sang Happy Birthday to him in Primary last Sunday my eyes started to water. Just thinking how beautiful of a boy he is and how lucky I am to be his Mom. I hope I can teach him all the right things he needs to know. (I hope he listens to most of those things)

I helped out at his school on his Birthday a.k.a. Halloween. It was a lot of fun and I really think he liked me being there. He gave me a few hugs and kisses. I felt special that he came up to me and kissed me. Think of these moments make all the hard moments in life worth it.

Saturday was his Bday and he was such a great lil guy. He was a little tired and so he wasn't happy part of the time, but he had a lot of fun and made out with a lot of great presents!!! Thanks to everyone who gave him something special. :)

Oh and here is a picture of the transformer cake I made. :)

My Weekend Started... and now I'm home...

2008-10-19T22:47:00.000-07:00

Thursday:
I started a new Enrichment group with the ladies at church. Its with the idea of Cooking on a budget. Where we share recipes, enjoy each other's company, and talk about prices and how we can cook on a budget. We all had a really great time and I'm excited about our next meeting.
Thursday Night:
Ron, the kids, and I went up to Jim's home and enjoyed a family BBQ to start their wedding weekend. We had a great time and enjoyed everyone's time together.
Friday:
Ron went to work and I took the boys to my favorite candy store. The Jelly Belly Factory. It was nice, I haven't taken the boys on the tour yet, but maybe when they're a little older. I just love trying all the Jelly Bellys and then buying my favorites. Its like candy heaven!!! :) ( I should have taken a picture)
Afternoon:
Went to the church to help Jim and Kristin set up for their wedding. The hall looked beautiful and I wasn't to help too much, but I did the best I could.
Night: Was crazy!!! Hahaha But fun in the end with my roomies Kristin B and Carebear. :)
Saturday: The beautiful wedding. Lots of fun! Here are some pictures.

This is an exciting time..

2008-10-12T21:11:00.000-07:00

One of my bestest friends KIRSTIN S. is getting *****MARRIED***** to Jim G. (Ron's Friend and Boss ;) )We are very happy for them and we'll be excited for Kristin for marrying the Man of her dreams. :) On the 18th. Yay! Yesterday Ron went and played paint ball with the rest of the boys in the party and some family. I am so excited for Kristin, so deserves the best and I really think she will be happy. I love her as a great friend and I hope the best for them both.

Time

2008-10-01T18:50:00.000-07:00

This week has been really nice so far, I'm enjoying my family because I have this week off from work. Its a paid week off from work because we get a paid vaca, and I didn't request which week I wanted off, so this is the week that I get. So right now I'm having some self time and I wanted to share a picture with you...

I love the sky. Maybe if the phone wires weren't in the way it'd be an even better picture. Sun through the clouds always make me think of Heaven.

Yesterday

2008-09-28T16:36:00.000-07:00

This is my new baby niece Juliette. What a beautiful little girl. My brother is in a strange spot, but him and Kristy sure made a beautiful baby girl. I hope the best works out.

What at week...

2008-09-21T23:25:00.001-07:00

I think this has been a hard week for motherhood. It started with Devin getting a cold. Then last Sunday/Monday Devin woke up puking every couple of hours. Then Jonas got the cold, then on Wednesday Jonas got the puking. Nothing like a 1 1/2 year old puking their guts out. I couldn't control it and it just kept coming and I felt soo bad. I comforted him the best I could and I love him every minute I could, but it still killed me inside knowing I couldn't fix it. Then we all still have/had colds. I knew my time was to come to join the puking trend, and Friday night I just couldn't stay at work, I felt soo bad/sick and I knew it wasn't going to end up well. So I went home early and about an hour after I got home, yes the puking started. It wasn't as bad as it could have been, but it still wasn't fun.

Friday, I made a cake for one of my dearest friend Kristin's Bridal shower and I was going to decorate it on Saturday morning because her shower was that afternoon. Well I didn't think it'd be a good idea to bring a cake made by an infected person to feed a bunch of pretty ladies. So the cake went into the garbage. I didn't even go to the shower because I had such a rough night/morning. I spelt all day Saturday. I felt so bad that I didn't get to go to her party. But what can you do when you're sick.

This week was just hard because sickness is out of my control. I can't fix it, I can't change it. I can try to comfort my loves, but I can only do so much. Motherhood is hard, but so worth it. I just wish it didn't hurt so much sometimes.

This is a rant....

2008-09-05T08:49:00.001-07:00

Okay working at a Grocery store sometimes gets to me. It makes me think sometimes is my job really worth it?

This is my problem with some people...

People get EBT (Food asst. and Cash asst. from the Government.)

Last week, this man bought $50 in 2 liter sodas because they were on sale.
Yesterday a lady bought cigarettes with her ebt cash.

Isn't the food assistance and money assistance to help families with children to buy things for them and take care of them?

I don't have a problem with people who need the money and food asst. that really need it, but come on, $50 worth of soda???It happens all the time, and this drive me crazy. Makes me think, man why do people work if they can abuse to system and get food stamps? I want to not work and get food stamps.

I know I'm being a brat, but this drive me crazy every once in a while.

One time this lady came in to the store, and couldn't even speak English, had no clue how to use her EBT card, and was yelling at me in some language other then English, and I was suppose to help her figure out how to use her free food money. OOOooooh. It took 10 minutes to figure out what she wanted.

I know I shouldn't judge and I don't know every one's situation, but these things still drive me crazy. Hopefully typing this stuff out will ease my mind a little bit.

Thanks.

The Big Day

2008-08-25T08:59:00.000-07:00

The first day of School.
Lining up.
Mom you can go now!
Look I'm going to class.
Hmm. I'm here and so many things to do.

To my Good friend!

2008-08-22T12:50:00.001-07:00

Ariel was baptized into the church a few weeks ago. Our great friend Tomas baptized him and on Sunday Ron confirmed him a member of the church. It is an amazing feeling to know that the people we love in this world are going to have a better understand about what our world is about. YAY

About time...

2008-08-22T12:43:00.000-07:00

Devin asked a question one time that just made me laugh....

Mom!

Mom!!!!!!!!

Mom!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

yes?

What are you eating?

a bit of pie

Oh okay just checking.

Would you like some?

No, I just wanted to know what that was.

hellos

2008-07-20T16:34:00.001-07:00

I actually had a Friday Night off, so I found something family fun to do. We went to the De Young Museum and we had a lot of fun. We saw some beautiful blown glass art, made a clay leaf, Devin danced to some music, and saw some more art. It was a fun night. Then I also had Saturday night off so we had a few friends over and one brought doughnuts and little Man right here went right for the chocolate glazed sprinkle doughnut and then saw another one he just had to have. Isn't he the cutest?!?

Doing things

2008-07-03T01:41:00.000-07:00

I just thought I'd share with you is that I'm not an organized person. I like to do things sper of the moment, and I still haven't been able to figure out a monthly food plan and budget. It gets hard and I'll try and work on doing something that think will organize my life, and come to find out that an hour went by and I really only have done two things to really organize my life. MAYBE one day. :)

LA Trip

2008-06-20T14:49:00.000-07:00

So I thought maybe I’d blog about our Trip to LA.

Two of our very close friends Ariel and Carolyn got married on June 8th. We all have been waiting for this event since Carolyn got engaged and we were so excited that the time finally came to go to LA the week before their wedding to spend time with them and go to some places in LA.
Sunday we drove down to LA and we got there around 1:30 PM and just hung out at Carolyn’s Moms house.

Monday we went to Manhattan Beach. It was a beautiful day and the beach was actually prettier than our beach here in SF, but still yucky. (I love the ocean, beautiful to look at and maybe get in, but I get annoyed by the sand and the mess and the cold water. Maybe if we were in a warmer place and the water was warmer I’d like the beach…
Tuesday we went to Malibu Cannon and played in this beautiful and cold water hole. This place we went to was where MASH was filmed and it was a beautiful day. We had lots of fun and a nice walk to the swimming hole.
Wednesday was DISNEYLAND!!!! WooooWhooo We had a blast! We got to the park when it opened and we stayed there all day until closing. We went on only rides our family could go on and we ate dinner in the French Courters. The boys both did really good and we all really enjoyed seeing the parade.
Thursday Ron, Ariel, Tom, Ming, Casey, and Colby all went to go get their tuxes. Then later that day was the rehearsal and then dinner.
Friday we went to El Capitan to see the new Narnia. It was a really good movie and I really enjoyed the books.
Saturday we had Carolyn and Ariel’s Parties.
Sunday was the beautiful wedding. Devin did a great job being the ring bearer and Ron was a very handsome groomsmen. Carolyn and Ariel are really meant for each other and it was a beautiful wedding.

To be a mom...

2008-05-28T16:22:00.000-07:00

To be a mom ...

you need more energy then is possible. I just need a minute to vent here on the Internet. I am just tried. I looked in the mirror last night while I was at work and I noticed, I have dark bags under my eyes. I wasn't feeling really tired, until I saw the sign. The sign all women see, the sign of, maybe I'm doing too much? I have a lot on my mind and sleeping, doesn't fit into day the as well as I would like it to. Maybe one day the bags under my eyes will go away, or maybe I'll actually need to start wearing makeup to hide the sign of age and sleeplessness that I'm coming upon.

sleep... maybe one day, a day far from now, I'll get enough of it.

-Crystal

Girls Night

2008-05-10T13:52:00.000-07:00

So I have these two friends from high school. We get together a few times a year and its just really nice to be around them. They are a lot of fun. So I thought since we tried sushi together for our first time a long time ago back when we were in high school we'd try another something new.

So We went to El Monsour http://www.yelp.com/biz/el-mansour-san-francisco

It was awesome and we had great food and they had a beautiful belly dancer.

For a fun night out, I could recomend going there...

Food Budget

2008-04-25T09:24:00.000-07:00

I have been trying so make a dinner chart. But my goodness, Organizing is not my best attribute. I’m slowly getting there. My plan is to have a budget and actually following it. I have a money budget. I try to use it, but often I don’t follow it. So have a 4 week menu for the meals I will be making. My next step is to get all the ingredients together and a shopping list for each week and then one shopping list for the beginning of each 4 week period. I want to make things that aren’t too expensive, but also are tasty.
I work at a grocery store so I am always seeing new things I want to buy, so I think I need to set a budget that I just can’t get out of. Hopefully this will work. So here is my plan, hopefully I’ll have it done by this weekend. J

Its been a while...

2008-04-06T20:56:00.001-07:00

Tonight I would like to talk about my job.

Its a big part of my life, 5 nights a week I work at Safeway. Every night in the back of my mind I wonder if something interesting will happen, maybe even something scary. Then I hope that nothing scary happens. As much as I like thriller movies. I don't like scary in real life.

Maybe I made this up in my head, but this freaked me out this week. I know I'm not the most beautiful lady or skinniest lady. So its weird...

So this guy has come in. He's been in before in my line. He has always made some comment to me like, "You have a pretty smile", or "You look like this celebrity", or this week... freaky.... , as he was tucking his shirt into his pants like 10 times, "when at time do you get off work?". I said I don't know. He was like how do you not know, then I was like 1AM. He said oh, the whole time major smiling....

freaky though.... I don't like freaky.... Maybe it wasn't anything and I'm just over thinking it...

No it wasn't good. I think I have a good instinct in people, and I just didn't feel right about him. So I have the guys from work walk me outside to my car after I'm done working. Its just scary though...
Lets just hope I don't see him again for a long time.

Easter

2008-03-23T01:30:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter.

I love this Holiday. I love Jesus. To know he died for me. (and everyone else too) But he is my Savior. I'm thankful for this time to really think how Jesus has affected my life.

Roseola...

2008-03-14T09:09:00.000-07:00

I really dislike the boys being sick. Its been a hard week for these little guys.

Devin only went to school one day this week. Hopefully by next week he will be okay and I'll send him off to school. I hate keeping them both in the house, but I don't know what else to do.

Yesterday Jonas ended up getting a red rash all over his body. The Doctors office said its called Roseola. He looks so bad. There is nothing to do about this, it just happened.

Oh-well. :( Everything says the rash should go away after a day or two so I guess I'll just have to wait it out. :(

nothing changed...

2008-03-12T09:04:00.000-07:00

The Doctor just said its a bug and he'll feel better in a few days. This morning Devin said he was thirsty and wanted some water. So I have him some and he threw it up. I called my mom later and she said that water makes you throw up. I didn't know that....

Jonas is running a temp and the Doctor told me he has a little sore throat. So he is clinging.

I feel like the worst mom when my boys are sick.

The Doctor also said that if Devin throws up again tomorrow, then call her again. I just feel like its something else. Hopefully its just a bug and will go away.

Sick and worried...

2008-03-11T13:33:00.001-07:00

So the past two days with Devin and been bad. I'm not sure what is wrong with him. He isn't keeping any food down and when I thought he'd be okay... a whole 12 hours after the last vomiting experience, it happened again.

I hate it when my boys are sick, something inside me just hurts so bad for them and I can't do anything about it.

So I'll be taking him to the doctors in a few hours. I really hope they don't just send us home. I feel like something is wrong and he can't digest his food. Hopefully I'll get some answers.....

My boys…

2008-03-05T13:30:00.001-08:00

How I love them so. After we got home from the park I set Jonas down (still in his car seat) on the kitchen chair. As I fixed lunch I just left his little sleepyness just stay there and rest. Devin, the wonderful and loving big brother, got the car seat off the chair, and unbuckled Jonas so he could get out. Then Devin decided he wanted to eat lunch and watch tv. So Devin got his little batman chair and put it in front of Jonas’s high chair. I was thinking, ‘ that’s an interesting place to put your chair.’ Next thing I know Devin is picking Jonas up and trying to stand on his batman chair to put Jonas in his high chair so Jonas wouldn’t bother him while he ate his lunch in front of the tv. Jonas started crying as Devin was trying to stand holding Jonas on his batman just, so I went over and got Jonas from Devin and put him in his high chair.
It is nice to see how thoughtful Devin is (eventhough he was thinking about himself) he was still trying to help me. I just love my boys…

Can I say ouch?

2008-02-24T21:04:00.001-08:00

This weekend was a weekend of pain for me. Saturday our little family went to Wonder Con in San Francisco. It was alright, not really something I’d choose to go to, but Ron wanted to go. So while there I used the restroom and when I was entering the stall I wacked my arm on the metal part of the door that holds your purse and today I have this fat bruise on my arm and the pain goes down my to my hand.

Then today it was rainy outside and on my way to my car I slipped out of my dress shoes and down about 4 stairs. Ouchy! I didn’t go to church. I laid on the couch in pain. Put ice on my ankles and well my elbows, hands, ankles, and feet hurt. I feel all ouchy all over. Not very fun.

2008-02-16T01:31:00.001-08:00

So its late. About time for me to go to sleep.

But I have been thinking about Sunday. I'm in Primary and I teach CTR 6. I was supposed to have a sub this week, but my plans fell through with my friend and I'm really excited to teach my class on Sunday. I love the children I teach. They are just so amazing. I'm trying to make it a better class and here are some of my ideas I have come up with.

I assign seatting.

I have one child each week be my helper.

I have a star chart. At the beginning of class I put all the children's names on the chalk board. If they're good they get a max of two stars, and if they do something disruptive I take a star away, usually by the end of the class everyone made their two stars. Then For the next week I put it on a poster board so they can see how they're doing. Then when they get to a certain number of stars, I will bring in the prize box and let them bring a little prize with them.

The bestest thing I love is our Journal time. I have a little journal for each child and they draw a picture about the lesson we just learned in class. Then I'll write in it for them. I really like doing journal time. It takes up extra time after the lesson and it helps the children to think about the lesson they just learned.

I have to say I love teaching. I love the children and I love teaching the children I have taught before. The things that I teach about I know is true.

Good nite.

what was I thinking?

2008-02-13T14:38:00.001-08:00

So I thought since I can’t sleep right now I’ll type up a blog.
When I was 18 years old, I made an online journal. Where I just told the world what was going on in my life. But I forgot the password I used for that yahoo account. So the website is still up. Which is funny and I wondering if it will always be on the internet. So if you’re interested in looking at my past the site issssssss

http://www.geocities.con/sphere_babe

A long time ago, well actually it wasn’t really that long ago. I thought I was fat then. Man, I didn’t even know what being overweight was. Weight has been something I’ve always have had a problem with. When I was in JR High, I starved myself to lose weight and worked out every night and measured myself every night. It became habit. Then one day a good friend finally forced me to eat. I was 14 and I still thought I was fat….

I guess after few years I slowly gained the weight back. Then I had a baby gained more weight. Then I had another baby and gained more weight. Now here I am. Ready to lose the weight forever and be fit. Slowing changing my lifestyle.
Right now I’m trying to exercise everyday. So far I’m on day 3 and so far so good. I have a routine and I’m going stick to it. I need to be healthy. This time I have to take a better path to get where I want to go.

2008-01-06T19:54:00.001-08:00

I'm so not the biggest blogger. But I want to try better to blog this year.

Today is Sunday. The one day in the week, when we are all together at home just spending time together. We don't have to do anything except for maybe Ron has to hometeach. It has been a nice day spending time with the family.

But my favorite thing about today must have been teaching my new class. I'm excited for this year. I gave the kids each a journal to write in for when my teaching time is over we write/draw in our journals. The kids really seemed to like this idea. So it will be fun to see how they do. I did this last year with the kids and they really liked it too.

2007-12-17T14:22:00.001-08:00

Today marks 8 days untill Christmas. Yesterday we had a little get together with some of our really good friends and we did a gift exchange and I can't believe one of our friends gave us a digital camera and picture frame. I've wanted a digi camera for a while, so it was really awesome of them to get us that.

I'm so excited for Christmas I love the Savior and I'm so grateful that he was born to this earth to redeem us all.

2007-11-26T11:22:00.001-08:00

So the turkey turned out to be fantastic. It was the best turkey I've ever had. Brining it really made a huge difference. It was beautiful and I let it rest for one hour while I made the rest of the side dishes. I still can't forget the turkey. It was just so very yummy.

We joined 24 hour Fitness last Friday. On Saturday Ron showed me how to use most of the strength training machines. So starting tonight after work I'll go and work out. I'm pretty excited about the gym and since there will be one right next to my work in a few weeks I will have no excuse to not go.

YaY to a new me!

2007-11-22T01:14:00.001-08:00

The night before Thanksgiving…

Preparing for the best…

Putting the seasonings on the turkey…

Thanksgiving morning…

On your marks…

Get set…

Cook that turkey…

Hope for the Best

Happy THANKSGIVING!!!!

2007-11-20T13:16:00.001-08:00

Thanksgiving

I am so very excited about Thanksgiving. I will be making the Thanksgiving Dinner this year. I have done it before, but this year is different. I will be preparing everything. I will be brining the turkey the night before and cooking it Thanksgiving day. I found all most of the recipes I will be using from foodnetwork.com. So I hope they all turn out yummy.

I also I like to think about all the things I am thankful for. The number one thing I am most thankful for is my family. I am so grateful to have my husband and two sons in my life. The other day we went to Tahoe for the weekend and I had both boys on my lap and I thought about how I want more children and how special it is to have them in my life. Jonas and Devin are just two very wonderful and sweet boys.