Vacation

"Up's"?

I'm a sucker of a wife...

Finishing out the summer strong...

Family reunion skit, adoption update, give blood and go to Lagoon, and other happenings...

Roth IRA's...a hate-hate relationship

Contacts- Question Mark?

Adoption Fee's!

My sister-in-law Jen has had great reception to her blog, and has met about 1/4 of the fees that they will have to pay for the adoption. Thank you to all of you who have taken time to read and share their story, and to those of you who have made even the smallest donation on behalf of these kids! All of your thoughts & donations are SO appreciated -thank you! If you haven't read the Campbell's blog and would like to do so, or would like to share it, please, feel free! 

www.cadecampbellclan.blogspot.com

Fighting for a family...

My sister-in-law needs your help to make her family a permanent forever family by adopting their nephew and two nieces. They have been such a great example to me and have the sweetest story which you can read about by clicking on her blog below. Every little bit of money raised will help these three kids become a permanent part of this family and give them the stability and consistency they need and so much deserve! Please share this with your friends and families. It may feel like it won't make much of a difference, but I guarantee it will to Kelly, Tajia, and Colby. 

www.cadecampbellclan.blogspot.com

Time to get real....

"Surprise Party"!

St. George Getaway...

Another year...

Women's Conference

I was so glad I was able to make it to Women's Conference at BYU this year with my mother and sister-in-laws.  It was so uplifting, and a great way to spend my birthday day.   

The theme of the conference was "And they were armed with righteousness and with the power of God in great glory."  -1 Nephi 14:14

I wanted to just share a few of my favorite things from the notes I jotted down. 

"Never apologize for having your first priority be to raising your children and being in the home."

"Be kind to everyone you meet for they are fighting a great battle."

"It will be alright in the end, if it's not alright yet, it's not the end."

"Until you are grateful for the things you have, you will never get what you want."

"...certainly I will be with thee..." -Exodus 3:12 "It's not our capability, but our availability."

Wrestle before God:  The process of working through our own will to ensure it is aligned with the Lord's will.

"We must work to be protected and strengthened and avoid entitlement.  We cannot wait around for someone else to solve our problems."

"Don't ever give up on teaching, edifying or supporting your family, even if you feel like you are failing.  You can do it!"

"As hope endures, faith increases."

"Forgiveness is a gift we give ourselves."

"Let us be the people Christ would want to claim as His, let us love Him more."

"You can either be right all the time, or be happily married."

"Whether or not a Priesthood Holder is exhaulted depends on the Woman who stands by his side and the relationship you have established, and vice versa.  In other words how we treat each other determines our own character and eternal salvation."

"The closer each spouse is to their Heavenly Father, the closer they will be to each other."

"Learn to value, not just about values"  ...We need to teach children to understand and to live gospel principles, not just know about them.  "Children need and want strong parents....

"Nurture flowers, and not the weeds in our children."

A Celebration of Marriage

I can't believe I've already had two great years with Jarom.  Time goes by so fast.  Jarom and I decided not to do anything super crazy for our Anniversary this year because we've been saving up for a little something else, and quite frankly we can't find the time to even get away for more than a night with Jarom's crazy work/school schedule. Jarom's gift is still on it's way, so I'll post some pictures soon once it arrives!  They say it's important to try new things that interest your spouse so that you can learn to enjoy each others hobbies together. So far every hobby of Jarom's that I've tried, I've ended up enjoying (i.e. shooting guns, flying, riding dirt bikes, motorcycling...all of which have been very new to me) so we're giving it a shot.  Jarom and I were both scheduled to work on our Anniversary, and Jarom had math class that night, so we didn't do anything too fancy. I ended up being called of, so I made a nice meal at home, and we went and saw Hunger Games that night after Jarom got out of math class, and enjoyed some Snickers cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory for dessert. It was delic.

Jarom was sweet, and ordered an Edible Arrangement

for me and had it sent to the house.  It was so fun to have
something delivered just for me.  It was such a surprise, and so thoughtful. He sure knows the way to my heart, chocolate covered fruit. I loved it!  I'm a lucky woman, that's for sure.

And finally, this post wouldn't be completed without an expression of love for pinterest.  I found this idea for a date jar off of pinterest.  Jarom and I are always so indecisive when it comes to making choices about where to eat out or what to do on date nights, so I made this "dates for a year" jar for Jarom as part of his Anniversary gift. I'm actually kind of excited about it.  I came up with a bunch of things we've been wanting to do for awhile now, and threw them in the jar, in hopes that we'll actually follow through, try a few new restaurants, and make some time to get away.... I got the idea from here: http://www.lifeinthegreenhouse.com/2012/02/date-night-in-jar.html in case any of you struggle, or are as indecisive as we are when it comes to going out or deciding what to do when we stay in. I  realize while the chances may be high that this may be another one of my failed attempts at a super girly project made to strengthen our marriage from pinterest that I'm constantly throwing at Jarom, it may just turn out to be amazing, and he was sure sweet about it  If he didn't like it, at least he pretended too. Husband points.  Thanks for not making me feel lame babe....

I love the quote from Grey's Anatomy that says "I made a choice, and I keep making it everyday, that's what marriage is." I'm so grateful I chose Jarom.

Happy Anniversary love, I love you.

I love the month of April...

The other day, Jarom brought to my attention that April happens to be a great month for me, although I was already aware of what a great month April is for me (easter, anniversary, and birthday), I responded by saying it's not so bad for him either. (easter, anniversay, and the end of the semester) :)

Jarom and I were able to finally sneak a trip down to Hurricane for Easter weekend to spend some time with Jarom's family.  It was so nice to get away for the weekend and not have to worry about work and school.  It's always fun to help the kiddos with the Easter Egg Hunt that Terri puts together. You may remember the "Easter Basket" Jarom put together for me last year...

a.k.a. GIANT eggs....Which I loved. I tried to be equally as clever this year by buying Jarom his own giant eggs.  Jarom said it ended up being so expensive and that he had to spend so much money on candy last year to even come near filling these eggs, so I decided I would be super cool and fill Jaroms eggs with lame things that he needed like a new white shirt for church, and a belt.  Yeah, I'm that awesome.  Wife points.  lol Sorry honey. He however was a good sport, and I managed to squeeze in a few of his favorite things. I can't belive I didn't take a single picture. I went shooting with Jarom and the guys.  I love my 22. It's so fun to shoot. Who knew, I'd love having my own gun. We also went over to the annual Hurricane Car Show.  I would love to someday own an old vintage car.  How cool are they...? Right?

I love Easter.  I'm so grateful that I know and have a testimony of the Plan of Salvation, of my Savior Jesus Christ, and of the Resurection.  I can't imagine not knowing or believing in life after death, or the opportunity we have to be with our families forever. 

The Blessing of Repentance

Jarom and I taught a lesson in our 12-13 year old Sunday School class today that was on the blessings of Repentance.  I came across this story while preparing the lesson and liked it so much I thought I would share...

"A well-known speaker started off his seminar by holding up a $20 bill. In the room of 200, he asked, "Who would like this $20 bill? Hands started going up. He said, "I am going to give this $20 bill to one of you but first, let me do this." He proceeded to crumple the dollar bill up.  He then asked "Who still wants it?" Still the hands were up in the air. "Well," he replied, "what if I do this?" and he dropped it on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe. He picked it up, now all crumpled and dirty. "Now who still wants it?" Still the hands went into the air. "My friends, you have all learned a very valuable lesson.  No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value.  It was still worth $20.  Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way.  We feel as though we are worthless.  But no matter what has happened or what will happen, you will never lose your value in God's eyes.  To Him, dirty or clean, crumpled or finely creased, you are still priceless to Him. In other words, the worth of our lives comes not in what we do or who we are, but WHOSE we are.  We never lose our worth!

I am so grateful for the Atonement, and the opportunity we all have to repent of our sins, and draw closer to the Savior and our Heavenly Father.  I love having this calling to teach with Jarom.  This year we are studying "Preparing for Exaltation." Sometimes I think we learn more than our kids do, but it has been a good learning experience for us and a great reminder of the things we need to be doing in our daily lives to remain true to the covenants we've made so we can be worthy to live with our Heavenly Father again someday.

The Church is True.

And now a few random pictures for good measure...

 Real Salt Lake game...

And this one, just because it is so precious.... 

Celebrating Jacie's 17th Birthday with some Wingers Asphalt Pie...
I can't believe my baby sister is 17 years old!

And last but not least, my kid brother, because I miss him,
even though he steals my sunglasses...

This past week, was Jaroms "spring break" so he didn't have his night math class at all this week.  It was so nice to have him "back" again.  :)   Since the weather has been so amazing, we had a picnic in the park, and last night we were able to go to a Real Soccer game at Rio Tinto Stadium and had a bon fire with our friends Welcker and Mare.  I even did some spring cleaning this week thanks to some suggestions found on pinterest....

And in case anyone needs a good laugh, this video is hillarious....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jouORmNWu1Y

Cheers.

I hate when people take advantage...

One of my current annoyances is that people have been hiring more and more people part time, with no benefits, no time off,  no nothing, but require them to work just shy of, if not actual full time hours, just because they can and they know people are hurting for work. Jarom loves his job working out at the airport, but lately he's been asked to take on the role of a supervisor, (of course with no raise or added bonus to him, just the fall out and responsibility should something go wrong) extra shifts, double shifts...in addition to already working every weekend. It's getting ridiculous. I know I speak for us both when I say I can't wait for Jarom to be done with school! Jarom and I have saved up for a vacation, and we can't even scrounge up a day or two let alone a week to getaway because of his inability to get time off and his wierd work schedule.  Alright, no more complaining fom me, my husband is just a busy man, but I'm so proud of him.

Jarom's been great about making time to sneak in a few date nights.  Last week Jarom and I went to a Jazz game, which was really fun. We even won that one! Later that week we played some miniature croquet at the Beach Resort in Provo, had dinner at Shoots, and went hot tubbing with some of our good friends, Welcker and Mare.  This week we flew some of our 3-D airplane kites (thanks Costco), worked on Jarom's bike, and hit up our favorite Texas Roadhouse.  I'm so glad it's finally warming up! I can't wait to go for a ride on Jarom's motorcycle.

Because Jarom has been so busy, I've been trying to stay busy myself so I can let him get his homework done, and avoid going stir crazy myself. This past month I've been working on a professional development award through work, and was able to do some educating and teaching for our yearly RN and CNA skills labs. Also, Timpanogos just opened a brand new, state of the art level III NICU, which is amazing.  They have been extremely busy, so aside from working in pediatrics, I've been able to do some crosstraining and have floated and picked up a few extra shifts working down there. I love feeding, cuddling and caring for the precious premie babies.  I really do have the best job ever! I have been given so many opportunities at Timp, which has allowed me to work in so many different capacities.  I can't help but smile when people ask what area of nursing I work in, because I've done a little bit of almost everything.

This week Jarom and I were able to watch our cute little nephew Bridger. It was so fun to have a little person to hang out with while Jarom was at class.  Bridger is growing up so fast, and did so great hanging out with us.  We don't get to see him or Jarom's family very much, so I'm glad he took right to us and wasn't shy.  Right now at work, there are like 10+ nurses who are expecting.  It has become a joke that there must be something in the water, or that it must be contagious. I hope I catch it soon...! ;-)

Fell in love all over again today...

Today I fell in love for the second time With the website www.mint.com. If you have never heard or it, you should seriously check it out. It's changed my life in just one night. It's a site that allows you to view all of your checking accounts, credit cards, savings accounts, property, car loans, student loans, investment accounts, and anything else you can think of, all in one place as a read only file. Although it's a read only snapshot of your finances, I love being able to look at everything from one screen. And its not because our finances look fantastic, because if you know us at all you know we have massive amounts of student loan debt, but looking at it, and facing the truth head on and doing something about it feels so much better than hiding behind it hoping it will go away or will be dealt with later...which I am also guilty of doing.
The site also offers financial advice, allows you to set a budget, reminds you of upcoming payments, and so much more. I spent hours today going over our finances. For fun! I'm such a nut, my poor husband has had to listen to this all day long....but it feels so good to set and reach goals.

About a year ago I wrote a post about Suze Orman's book "The Money Class" I've referenced it a lot the past year and finally got some retirement accounts going for Jarom and I. Although I consider myself conservative, I love spending money. But what Suze says is true...the pleasure of saving CAN be equal to the pleasure of spending. It took some convincing, but it's true...it is possible to live below your means no matter how much you make. It's all about how you choose to spend your money.

So, thank you Suze Orman...cheers to that  :)

And now I must get to bed because I have to be up for work in 4 1/2 hours.  Awesome!

Valentines Day

One of the hardest things when I first became engaged and was married to Jarom, was feeling guilty for being so happy and in love, when my sweet Mom, who next to Jarom is my best and closest friend and confidant, was hurting, and feeling so alone because of the choices her once sweetheart chose to make.

As time has passed, our hearts have slowly been able to heal.  Days like Valentine's Day, or Anniversaries have become a little less hard, but what my Jarom did yesterday, and what he does everyday, brings me more joy and means more to me than he'll ever know. 
Although Jarom knows he is my important person, he realizes and understands that my Mom is one of my important persons too.  Jarom is the reason I have been able to survive and cope with feeling the void of my Father, feelings of anger, abandonment, confusion, and dissappointment, a hurting mother, and all of the concern and worry on behalf of my family.

This Valentine's Day was a special one to me, and it wasn't because the husband and I both had the day off of work to spend a lot of time together...because we both worked long days and late, and it wasn't because it was very expensive or grand, because we are trying to save our pennies, and it wasn't because of the flowers Jarom bought me, or the delicious meal he made, or the chocolate covered strawberries he dipped for dessert, the candy and treats, or the rose petal flowers he put on our bed (although I did love all of those things, thanks hunny!), it was because he showed me how to love and serve others and reminded me what was most important.  He made what was important to me, important to him. 

We worry about loved ones for many different reasons, but we especially worry about them being hurt, sad, in pain, or discouraged.  So not only did Jarom make me feel loved, and important yesterday, but he thought about my sweet Mom, and made her feel important as well.  He wasn't overly concerned about making sure our dinner was full of romance, but of chivalry and unselfishness.  He chatted with my Mom to make sure her day was going ok, and was there for her when I was stuck working late at work.  He bought her flowers, and her favorite chocolates, to let her know he was thinking about her, and that he appreciates her, and he invited her to dinner that he had ready for me when I got home from work.  It was a perfect day in my eyes.

I realize I am a lucky woman when I say that I have the pleasure of hearing "I love you" from my sweet husband more than a dozen times each and every day.  The way Jarom says it, helps me to know that it's not just a word that is thrown around or used casually, but a word full of meaning and trust.

I always thought Valentine's Day was supposed to be this great day, full of love, and romance (just like you see in the movies), but I was reminded and shown that we don't need a specific day to have those things.  I'm grateful that Jarom made it a great day. I'm grateful for what he did for my cute Mom, and that he has been so supportive of our decision to move closer to home and to be here for our family.  I'm grateful to him for putting up Christmas lights, repairing the family vehicles, moving the lawn, fixing sinks and light bulbs, and for stepping up since we've been married to help my Mom and to make sure that she and my family are taken care of.

And I'm grateful that Jarom makes me feel loved and special everyday, and not just on Valentine's Day.

And don't you worry, there was some romance for the two of us...  ;)

Hope everyone had a happy Valentine's Day with those they love!

"When I get home I'm gonna scrub this place like it's a crime scene, which it is because you murdered joy"

I don't even know where to begin....I'm so behind, so here's a quick catch up.

• Christmas was slightly lame.  I was sick with the flu and in bed most of the day. I did make it to church (which was my favorite part, I loved having church on Christmas Day) and through most of opening presents before throwing up, and my husband took good care of me.  Turns out my family was able to have a fun time without me. Who knew....Just Dance 3 anyone?

 Isn't my Mom the best...she would kill me if she knew I put this on here!
"Oh I just ripped my shirt off...!"  ha ha, makes me laugh everytime.

• Jayden left for his mission to Canada and has been in Canada for about 3 weeks now. Side note: Jarom had to work so he wasn't able to do the drive by drop off at the MTC, therefore he is not in any of the pictures.  Jayden says it rains every day, he's met a hoarder, true TLC style. Bathrooms are called washrooms, and tator tots are called potatoe puffs.  Oh Canada....

• Jarom bought me my very first legitimate phone, and I'm proud to say I'm officially an iphone owner.  I heart my iphone.  It's changed my life.
• Jarom turned 27.
• Jarom also spoiled me with my first gun, a 22 Ruger Pistol.  I love it. 

• I joined pinterest.  I have since been dying to redo our master bedroom, which I have started.  I also have become addicted to cooking and baking and have been trying new recipies at least several days a week.  My husband isn't complaining. Who knew cooking could be fun!
• Jarom was sick on New Years Eve, we both were in bed by 8 o'clock.  Sleeping. Nothing exciting there.
• For Christmas we asked for Emergency Prepardness stuff, so I'm working on putting together some 72 hour kits, first aid kits, and we are working on our food storage. 
• Jarom was called to be the Young Men's secretary. We are still teaching the 12-13 year old sunday school class together.  
• We took a few trips to Hurricane as often as we could.  Kelly was baptized, and Bridger and Calum had their 1st birthdays!

• Went to the gun show last weekend. Bought some new sheets for our Master bedroom makeover while we were there...random.  I know.
• I had an eye appointment because I thought I might need surgery on my eye, but turns out not yet...we will wait and see.  In the mean time I'm going to try contacts.
• I've been thinking about going back to school for my Masters...but I've done just that and only that...thought about it. If only school wasn't so expensive.
• Jacie had Jr. Prom ( I loved her dress, it was so different than mine) and State Drill. (Isn't Jacie's face awesome....front. row, right side)

• We had a date night at Nickel Mania with some friends and had so much fun, we've already been back again.  I never knew I was so good at video games.  The Men weren't as thrilled as I was about my new found talent.  I feel bad now, because I made fun of the people who went there frequently, but it's cheap, insanely fun, and those prizes are legit.  I will judge no more.

And that's all I have for now...stay classy.