Day 8: Sun

SUN

Day 8: Sun

This is a gloomy winter day in Utah. It's not bitter cold, the ground is not covered in old, dirty, frozen snow, the wind is not blowing. It could be worse. It's not a terrible day, but the sun is not shining, so I decided to use a picture of my favorite sun...Hawaiian sun!

This photo was taken at the top of Haleakala in Maui last February. I wish I was there now. Watching the sun rise over the top of the clouds in the early morning hours, just before riding bicycles down the mountain, was absolutely breath taking! God's creations are so beautiful. I am grateful I have had the opportunities I have to enjoy so many of them. I have so much love in my heart for God and all things beautiful! I love the sun. I love the heat of the sun beating down on my back. I am more than excited for summer to come!!!

Day 7: Button

Button

*I realize you don't want to see this, but it's what you get.

Today's blog post item is "Button". In an effort to make this project meaningful in some way and tie it all in to Love, I decided on this button. Yes, I did. It will make sense, just keep reading...

Wait! Don't go away yet...let me explain! The picture above is pre-baby, teenage belly button. An inny. I was so proud of it that this is the photo taken just minutes before I paid some stranger to jam a rod through it...I had it pierced.

Since this photo, I have gained (and then lost) 40 pounds three times. I have 3 beautiful children who are my entire life! No, that's not true, but they come second only to my husband. After each baby I worked my "belly" off to get it looking similar to it did back in the day. So here is the button today:

Ok, not today, but last summer. (Yes, that's a bikini. Shhh, don't tell.) And what is that?! An outy? How did that happen to the perfectly shaped inny I used to have? I can only assume it was all the baby-growing I did over the years that pushed something out. I used to hate it, but now I see it as the mark left on my body by those beautiful children of mine (along with the stretch marks that the lighting of this photo so conveniently hides). I love my children. I am so blessed to be a mother, and their mother at that. That's what this post is really about, the love I have for them, for who they are, and for who they have made me. The sacrifices we all make for each other make us love each other so much more.

Yes, I realize this is a belly button, a silly thing to care about. In all reality, I don't care about the way my belly button looks. I do find it interesting, however, that it changed from an inny to an outy after having babies.

Has anyone else ever had this happen?

There you have it...my button post. I hope it wasn't too offensive.

Dy 6: Dinner

Dinner

French Dip Au Jus with steamed veggies and salad. That's what's for dinner. We used up some left over home made rolls and roast beef from the Super Bowl party last night, melted a little cheese over the veggies served with a tall glass of ice water. It was delicious! That was dinner for the Selcho family tonight.

Day 5: 10 am

Day 5: 10 am

Today at 10 am I was at church, just wrapping up testimony meeting. I didn't think it would be appropriate to take a picture of the speaker, so I grabbed a shot of Syd taking notes of what she was learning about. She loves to take notes, it helps her understand what the speaker is talking about.

Today was a big day at the Selcho house. It's fast Sunday, and it's February, and Syd turns 8 on Saturday. She wanted to get a practice run of fasting in before her birthday. Syd fasted today without a single complaint! It helps tremendously that we have 9 am church, so she just stayed upstairs until it was time to leave. She said, "I don't even want to see food!" once she made the decision to fast. I was very proud of her for deciding to do it on her own, and for not complaining a single bit. I can see her little testimony starting to bud, and it's beautiful.

*Since I am also working on my month of Love, I wanted to note that today I felt an amazing amount of love from God. And for Him. I am so grateful for His hand in my life and for the peace I feel because of His love.

Day 4: Stranger

Day 4: Stranger

Stranger. We are surrounded by strangers. Everywhere I go, there are strangers. This assignment today was to take a picture of one of them, but how was I to choose a stranger that was meaningful to me somehow?

I thought about this quite a bit today as I was cleaning the house, catching up on my reading, watching my beautiful daughter sing, playing duets on the piano with my daughters, and as I headed out on a date with my husband. He and I were sitting at dinner discussing this, and then it hit me. We were going to drop off a desk at Deseret Industries (DI) after dinner, and I decided to take a photo of the man who helped us unload the desk from the van. He was volunteering his time at DI, and what shows more love than that?

I have donated my fair share of items to the DI, and I know that some of those things have blessed the lives of those whose homes they went into. What a beautiful program, a great way to help those in need, a way for people to get the things they need at a very discounted price. I was happy to donate a very useful item in great condition...only in need of a paint job.

To be honest, I was very sad to see this desk go. I got this when I was in high school, and we have used it for years! We finally upgraded to a Secretary style desk that actually looks nice in the house, but I was still sad to see the old one go. So here is the photo of the day...my old desk, and the man who so lovingly posed for a picture with it!

Goodbye old friend.

Hands

Day 3: Hands

Just as I got the camera out to take a picture for today's "hand" photo, Andy grabbed my hand and put my ring on my finger. I had left it upstairs and he brought it to me. This photo was taken as he was doing this for real, it was not posed. This captures the love we share and just how thoughtful and amazing my husband really is. His hands are my favorite.

Photo A Day Challenge

I totally stole this post from here. I think it is a great idea, and I have always wanted to do some sort of a photo journal...so here I am, stealing the idea for this Photo A Day in February from my friend Chelsea. :) Thanks Chels! Here we go with another new goal! This is in addition to my extra acts of love each day in February. I find it interesting that back in October I didn't have a singe goal, as you can read about in this post, yet today I have more goals than I know how to keep up with! It's amazing what a change of focus can do for a woman!

Day 1: Your view today

I am a day behind to start, so I took a photo of what my view was for part of the day yesterday:

I was blogging yesterday about LOVE. If you didn't get a chance to read that post, you can read it here.

Day 2: Words

These words (scriptures in general) are what have helped changed my focus and helped me begin to find myself. The scriptures are the words of God. They tell me the things that God needs me to hear at just the right time, and in just the right way. I have a much closer relationship with Christ these days, reading about Him has helped that tremendously.

These words are my lifeline back to God. These words are very special to me. I love reading them on a daily basis, they make me happy!

Month of Love!

It’s February, the month of love. I have decided to make a goal to do something loving every day this month.

As a mother and a wife, I do loving things constantly in the every day tasks, but perhaps with the wrong attitude. Things such as packing lunch for my girls, making breakfast for the kids before school, cooking dinner for the family, taking Kayman to McDonalds for lunch (way to often), keeping the house in decent order most of the time (definitely not “clean” or perfect, but generally de-cluttered), and things of the like. This month, my focus will be to do more of these things, and all of them with a smile on my face, in the spirit of LOVE!

BUT . . . This month I want to do something above and beyond each day for someone, or multiple someone’s. I’m not planning to spend a whole bunch of money, nor do I plan to do things that are not generally part of my nature, I will just be more aware of the needs of those around me and show love as much as I can.

Today I have done a lot of things to show love, and I feel that love coming back to me immediately:

*I spoke on the phone to a friend I haven’t talked to in a while who is struggling with a few things and needed someone to talk to.

*I spent some time with my husband this morning - loving him.

*I met my husband for lunch to spend some extra time together since I will be with the Young Women of my ward tonight.

*Loving myself by exercising and reading my book.

*And one of the hardest things I have done to show love today is let the dog in the house to warm up for a while. He LOVES to be around us and feels so sad when he has to be outside and just watch us from the cold. He is lying at my feet, happy as can be, but oh man, does he need a bath! Pee you!!

Love is the way to happiness. Whenever I have felt unhappy, frustrated, or anything negative, I can not feel love at the same time. If I focus on the love I can feel for everyone, I have much more ability to be happy and spread that happiness to everyone around me. Let's do this together!

What are some of the things you plan to do to show love to those around you?

A Blog About Love

I found a new blog.

My latest addiction.

It is written by a beautiful couple living in New York who were put through many trials over the last few years. They were each married previously and those marriages both ended in divorce. The two of them found each other through a mutual friend and they fell in love through email.

Their story is incredibly romantic.

Their love is very deep and real.

Their advice is priceless.

They have a story to tell, and it will be well worth your time to head over to www.ablogaboutlove.com and read up. They are simply lovely, both of them, though I only know one of them personally. I went to high school with Danny, but we were never more than locker buddies. Somehow we always had our lockers close together. He was always very happy and kind and ALWAYS had a smile on his face. To be honest, I was a little intimidated by his radiance and kept my distance because I was nervous. He’s one of those people who everybody wants to know. His wife seems to be very much the same way, she’s electric!

Closer Every Day

In December, my ward’s Relief Society passed out this packet called 21 Days Closer to Christ. We were challenged to do the daily reading assignments for the 21 days in an effort to gain a stronger testimony of our Savior. This challenge would end on Christmas day, and I knew I was in desperate need of a closer relationship with Christ, so I took it!

I came home from church, and after a lovely family dinner at my parents house, I sat down with my packet and read through the challenge for Day 1. It got me thinking about all of the different things I had in my life that keep me from doing the things I know I should. The distractions. Some were good things, some were bad. Some things were simply a waste of time, others were deliberately pulling me away from God.

I was thinking about my testimony, how I had left it by the wayside recently, and what I was going to do about it. I committed right then and there to change. I decided to become the person I am meant to be. The person God knows I can become. I decided to work daily on becoming a better mother, wife, and daughter of God. I felt very motivated that I would keep up with this challenge, the daily reading, the writing of my thoughts, and the growing closer to Christ, no matter what it took.

The Lord works in mysterious ways, we all have seen this a time or two in our individual lives. The Lord has been working on me for a long time. I look back at the last year of my life and see the times when He has carried me along, the times I pushed Him away, and the times I wished He was with me. I realized as I started this challenge that I had been pushing Him away, and it was time for me to let Him back into my life. I had some changes to make.

I continued to read the scriptures and think about the things each daily challenge told me to, and I wrote each day my experience with it. My testimony has grown more in the last month than it ever has. I am close with my Savior. I have a much better understanding of the Atonement than I ever did in the past. I am re-committed to the Lord. I have turned my life over to Him in a way that I never have before, and He is carrying me along. He is blessing me. I have never been happier in my life. My marriage has never been better. My heart has never been so content. I love my Savior.

Date with Syd

Today was my day to take Syd out on a little date with mom. It was very simple, we went to the Library, the "Up" house, and then to the gas station for a treat. We have not been to the library in far too long, and she has wanted some Cam Jensen books for quite a while. We got her a few of them and then headed to the "Up" house. It is awesome!

Syd was excited to find the secret room upstairs. They did a fabulous job decorating the place to look just like the house in the movie. There was a little girls room in there that was so beautifully decorated, I pointed out to Syd how nice it was all clean and clutter-free. She loved it. I think I have her motivated to get her room all nice again. She wants to make it cute but not like a "little girl" as she put it. She is feeling more grown up and ready for a change. Maybe we can do that for her birthday, she'd love it!

She loves going to get a treat at the gas station. Usually I just grab a drink and the kids don't get anything, I'm mean like that, so for her to choose something was quite a big deal for her. She loved it! We had a good time together. I love my Syd!

My baby's birthday

Kayman turned 4!!! He has been so excited to be 4 years old. He asked me about a week before his birthday if he was still 3, he didn't want to have missed anything. He loves being able to ride in a booster seat now instead of his big bulky car seat. I feel old now, no more car seats in the ole minivan! It's a good change, but it still makes me feel old.

We had a little party for Kayman on Thanksgiving with Nana and Papa since they were headed out to Hawaii and would not be around to celebrate with us on his birthday. Lucky them, in Hawaii! He got a tool kit and outfit from them. He has been going around the house with his screw driver "fixing" everything. It's so cute!

Then on the night before his birthday we had the rest of the family out to celebrate. My parents, Jaycie, and Andy's sister and her family made it out for the party! It was a lot of fun. We love having so much family so close and so supportive of our children.

Kayman had a great time spitting --errr, blowing out his candles.

He got a Nerf gun! He loves that! He also got a Marshmallow gun, which he loves even more. He shoots out the marshmallows, then picks them up and eats them. He got train stuff and matchbox cars as well. Lots of new toys!!!
Syd and Jess both made him a special gift. Syd made a K with a paper plate and smarties. Jess made Felix the Cat on a paper plate with smarties. They thought of this themselves and figured out how to do it. Very sweet.

Kayman about to shoot me with the Nerf gun!

Kayman with his daddy. He loves his daddy so much. When Andy gets home from work, Kayman runs up to him and immediately starts wrestling with him.
He was a little hyper from all the cake and ice cream and excitement of the night, and he wasn't too interested in being serious for a picture with mom.
I stole a birthday kiss anyway.
And then I tickled him relentlessly, until he said, "Pause!"
Happy birthday Man. I love you! You are the highlight of my days now that we get to spend all day together, just you and me. We have a lot of fun playing with your trains, your books, watching movies, going shopping, and going out to lunch to McDonalds. You are such a sweet and loving boy. I love you so much!

Thanksgiving 2011

I know it is so cliche to write a Thanksgiving post about all I am thankful for, but this year I just cant stop myself. I have so much in my life that I don't deserve, but that I am very grateful to have been blessed with. Here are a few things:

My dear husband: Andy is the most loving man I have ever met. He is so gentle, thoughtful, caring and kind. He is my best friend. I have always known how amazing he is, but in this last month I have developed an all new appreciation for who he truly is. He loves me. He accepts me with all my craziness. He is the best father for our children. No, he is not perfect, as none of us are, but he is perfect for me. He knows me and my needs, and he does his best to meet them. He works countless hours to provide well for our family, then he comes home and serves us all. I do my best to make sure the home he comes home to is one he wants to return to for the rest of his days. We love him so much and are so grateful for all he is.

My children: I have three of the funniest, most energetic, lovable children I could have asked for. They all make me laugh every day. They love each other, play together, help out around the house, and our family would not be complete without each of them. I love the energy they bring to our house, even though I complain about it a lot. It is not always easy to deal with on days when I don't have a lot of patience, but I love how happy they all are and how much joy they bring to my life.

Family: My parents and siblings all live here in Salt Lake and it's wonderful! We get together fairly often, and we were able to have Thanksgiving all together. It was so much fun! We are also lucky enough to have Andy's parents and one of his sisters here. We see them quite often as well. I love getting together with family. For me, there is nothing better than spending time with those you love and who you know love you, talking, laughing, and making memories. Everyone gets along beautifully and I couldn't have asked for a better family! I know that sounds cheesy and unrealistic, but it really is true. We are all different and have our little quirks, but we can see past the differences and we all have great relationships.

Here we all are on Thanksgiving Day. My cute parents who do so much for each of us kids, my adorable husband who sacrifices every day for our family, my adorable kids and their bright smiling faces, my brother, his darling wife and their adorable little boy, and my sister with her husband and her soon to be baby boy. She is due Dec. 18, isn't she so cute pregnant?! I sure love all these people. They are amazing!

There are many other things I am grateful for, but family is the most important to me. Family and God. My relationship with God has been needing some improvement for a while, and I am finally getting myself closer to where I want to be. It takes a lot of work, but I am slowly getting stronger and more diligent in doing all that is required of me. I have so much to be thankful for, and I try to remember that every day.

Locks of Love

Sydney has been growing her hair for years. She loves long hair, she loves to brush it, braid it, and create new and inventive ways to style it. I mentioned a few months ago that her hair was nearly long enough to donate to Locks of Love, and she had mixed emotions of wanting to help others, but not wanting to give up her hair. We didn't talk about it for a while, then she mentioned she needed a trim the other day. I told her that if she wants to donate it, now would be a good time. Immediately she smiled and said she wanted to do it. "Can we go now?" she asked. I sent her to the shower to wash it one last time, and we were off to chop her locks.

Here is one last look at her long golden hair.

Isn't she just adorable?! She loves her new do and doesn't even miss her hair. It is a little frustrating for her that she can't pull it into a ponytail, but it will grow fast. She feels so good knowing that she did something good for someone else. Her hair will go toward making a beautiful wig for someone who needs it.

My little girl is growing up so fast.

One year older and wiser, too!

Andy just had his birthday!!! We were so excited to celebrate with him this year. I had a fun project I worked very hard on for him, the girls made very thoughtful gifts for him, and Kayman, well, he watched us. :) The girls helped me frost the cake and decorated it with 32 candles and not quite as many cinnamon bears.

After work we picked him up and took him to dinner where his family was waiting for us! That was his first surprise. He didn't know they would be there. That was fun, and really good food! We went to Goodwood BBQ. Yum! After dinner, we headed home where he got to blow out the torch of a cake. Nevermind the fact that this thing ended up covered in wax. The girls were still excited about all the candles, and he was happy for the effort we put into it for him.
Then came the second surprise. The girls threw him a "Cinnamon Bear Party!" They spent so much time drawing and painting this huge cinnamon bear (all by themselves, their idea, their work) and cutting out tiny cinnamon bears that they taped all over the walls. We also spread a huge bag of cinnamon bears all over the table around the cake. They were so excited! Obviously, Andy loves cinnamon bears. He loved his surprise.
We are headed on a vacation in a few months, so Andy's real gift was to get certified for scuba so he can come diving with me when we go to Aruba! Wahoo!!! Happy Birthday babe! We love you!

Halloween Party!

Happy Halloween! The girls got to dress up in their costumes for school. Jess was Tiana from Princess and the Frog, and Syd was Ariel from The Little Mermaid. Aren't they beautiful?!

They were s excited to put glitter on their lips! So pretty!

Syd was the most beautiful Ariel I have ever seen! We sprayed her hair red with temporary hair coloring, loaded her up with eye make up, and she suddenly looked like a teenager! She is looking much older than just 7 years old these days.

Jessica was a beautiful Tiana! She is the perfect princess. She plays the part so well with her delicate mannerisms and little princess accent.
Kayman was the perfect SWAT guy. He has been hand cuffing people and tying people up for weeks now. He's a natural. I keep finding random things around the house tied up or cuffed. The other day I found my drum stool tied to the living room chair with a jump rope. There were some pretty good knots in there. He also cuffed the refrigerator door to a kitchen chair. This kid, such a nut.
Halloween night we made home made root beer! This was a tradition I had as a kid, it was so fun to start it with my own kids. They loved it. It was really fun to make, and even better to drink! It was delicious...and I don't even like root beer!
We had my parents, Andy's parents, and Andy's sister and her family out for dinner on Halloween. It's tradition that we have Frito Pie (Chili with fritos, cheese, tomatoes, sour cream and corn) and cornbread with honey butter. It was super yummy with the addition of the home made root beer! We had quite the crowd. After dinner we headed out trick or treating and loaded up on a TON of candy. It was nice and warm and Andy and I even dressed up this year. It was a great Halloween with family!
I hope you all had an equally enjoyable evening!

Goals

As of this moment, I have no goals. No short term goals, that is. I admire this in others, but lack the skill to think of new and meaningful things to set as goals for myself.

I realized that I don’t have a single goal yesterday when my sister in law revealed to me that she is going to write a novel. A 50,000 word novel. By the end of November. That is quite the goal! I thought to myself...”the only goal I have is to get the laundry done and the dishes washed before the next day starts.” While that is a necessary task in my home, it’s definitely not a goal I ought to strive to keep to better myself.

I have the typical goals floating around in the back of my mind. Daily scripture study and prayer, regular Temple attendance, teaching my children right from wrong, and a few more vague goals. But I don’t have something concrete, something with an end result to work for. Short term goals.

I have been pondering this all day. The more I think about it, the more lost and useless I feel. I have been trying to think of goals I could set for myself, but to no avail. There is always the goal of “exercising X number of days a week” or “eating healthy” or “keeping the house clean”, but these are all day in and day out goals that are never ending. I need something with an end date. Something that will motivate me to reach the goal I set for myself. But, alas, I am at a loss.

Let’s be honest here, there is no way I could write a 50,000 word novel by the end of November. Probably not even by the end of my lifetime. I have nothing in my head to go on. No story to start writing.

So, I am very curious...what are your goals? May I steal one of yours? I desperately need some ideas. I need some goals to help me feel better about life in general, and to give me some purpose. Please help!

Halloween Party!

Daphne and Shaggy, more commonly known as Steph and Andy, attended the most spectacular Halloween party we have ever been to! My friend Tya and her husband Brandon throw a Halloween party every year, and this is the first year we have been able to make it. They sure know how to throw a party! From the costume contest, to the brain jello, to the finger shaped green breadsticks, to the spider cake, to the many different treats shaped like gross stuff, to the hired Magician! This was an amazing party!!!

Andy and I rarely dress up for Halloween, but this party motivated us. We decided Daphne and Shaggy suited us well. :) We considered bringing Dallas along as Scooby, but didn't think that would be appreciated to much, so he stayed home. It was a great night out with my man, and a fun time mingling with old friends. Happy Halloween!

Marathon Hair

My friend is a nut and runs marathons. All the time. And she has very long hair, so that can cause problems when running for 4 hours. She has tried everything from ponytails, to braids, to buns, and nothing holds up throughout the entire run. So she came to me to see what I could do for her because she knows I love to fix long beautiful hair, and I have a few tricks up my sleeve for securing it the way she needed. She came over the morning before the race, and this is what I did for her...

Her hair is halfway down her back, and we got it all secured up like this. She slept on it, woke up and raced with it, and it looked just as beautiful when she was finished. Yay! So, if you happen to be running a marathon and need my hair services, come on over!

Caught in the Groove

I am a drummer. I have played the drums since I was 14. I took a 12 year hiatus when I moved away to college, but I have recently picked up the sticks. We call ourselves Caught in the Groove, and we love to make music. It feels so good to play again. I love being back behind the drums, it is s beautiful stress reliever!

We got band photos taken, and here you go:

Patrick, Laura, Steph, Gary

And my solo picture. How ya like me now?!

Shooting

Andy and I went out shooting for the first time in a long time. Two years for me, though he goes more frequently. About a year ago, he went to an intense training course at Front Site Firearms Training where he learned how to use the AK47 with great precision. He took me out West of Utah Lake to test it out.

Andy with his AK

I prefer to shoot the M44. That thing has some kick! And the bayonet is pretty bad-a.
This is the awesome target Andy made so we can see how precise we are. After each round of shots we cover the holes with tape, that way we can tell who is getting the kill shots. It's usually not me, but I did get the guy right in the face! Never mind the fact that I was aiming for the chest. He would be dead nonetheless. Yeah, so I need to work on my accuracy. We'll be heading to Front Site soon enough for some classes. Don't mess!

Cowabunga Baby!

We spent many many days at Cowabunga Bay this summer. We got season passes and went there at least once a week. The kids had a great time on all the waterslides and in the lazy river, and I would either read my book or chat with friends. It was a lot of fun for all of us! We had a terrific summer!!!

Back to School...

The girls started back to school! They love their Charter school and that they get to wear uniforms. We all love that. It makes getting dressed in the mornings a no brainer. The girls both got wonderful teachers and were so excited for their first day of school!

Even though it was a warm day, they insisted on wearing their boots and leg warmers. The were hot by the end of the day, but they sure looked cute.
We are grateful they are in the school they are. They have both done very well so far. They love the new friends they are making, and their favorite thing to do after school is come home and tell me what they did nice for somebody else that day. Jess is usually finding someone on the playground who needs a friend, and then goes to them and asks them to play with her. Syd is wonderful at helping her friends clean up their messes, or helping someone pick up something they dropped. Both have made some great friends and love their teachers. So far so good!

Garden Bounty

This was a great harvest day in the garden, especially considering I have hardly done a thing this year to take care of it. I have not had the intense desire to be in the yard this summer. I planted the seeds, they grew, and here is my produce.

Even Dallas loves the tomatoes. He was stealing them out of my bowl.

Precious

My children are so sweet. I was getting some house work done and when I came into the kitchen, I saw this bowl full of tomatoes with this note attached. The kids had gone out to the garden and picked all the tomatoes for me. Then they wrote me this sweet love note to go with it. Being a stay at home mom is the most under appreciated job, in my opinion, but these precious moments make it all worth it.

Jerks

I just want to make some delicious grape juice, don't ruin it!