My Food Pyramid

The more I thought about the concept of my food pyramid the more I realized it really isn't a pyramid, it's more a wiggly rectangle that changes based on my mood or current goals. But there are some things that are definitely always on my "pyramid" and here they are:

• Chocolate - I love it in all forms (milk, dark, white) and even when trying to eat better I find ways to work it into my day
• Breads - I can live without bread but life is not as happy as when it is in my life; again, not picky about the type of bread except I'm not a fan of rye
• Salads - this item is a favorite if someone else has done the work; although I still will make my own, I much prefer the salad bar approach with lots of options
• Pasta - plain, with sauce (although prefer pink to red), with veggies, with meat, and although technically not pasta, spaghetti squash is a nice stand in
• Food - I know, that's what this list is all about; it's hard to narrow it down to just a few things because I love food :)

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Lists, lists, and well, lists

It's been a busy week and I'm behind on my lists (well the ones I want to do - I did skip one I think). So here they are.

I ask for help when...

• I'm told to (yes, there are times I've been told to)
• When it is something I can hand off with very little explanation
• When I'm trying to teach someone how to do it
• I physically can't do it myself

Qualities I admire in others...

• Honesty
• Good listener
• Compassionate
• Good singer
• Creative
• Hard worker
• Dependable
• Animal lover

Comforting me this week...

• The hounds - there's nothing like snuggling with them
• Chocolate - lots of it
• Checking things off my to-do list (not as many as I would like, but still happening)
• Singing at the top of my lungs in the car and a little seat dancing too
• Knowing I can sleep in on Saturday

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Favorite Things About My Home

There's nothing like being home - it's comfortable, peaceful, and full of things I love. As far as the physical aspects, my favorite things are:

• My bedroom is huge so I can rearrange the furniture whenever I want
• The gas fireplace - flip a switch and instant fire
• The wood floors make it easy to clean (their relatively new)
• The basement is finished so we can have people upstairs and down when there's a large group
• Lots of shelves - plenty of room to display things, especially at Christmas
• Speaking of Christmas, room for five trees (four full size and one skinny Alpine tree), plus the village and nativities

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Things only a dog lover would understand

I picked dog lover, but I'm pretty sure any pet lover could be inserted in here and it would work. But since dogs of the hound variety are afoot in our house, dog lover it is.

• Replacing a chewed remote control five times
• Sleeping in one third of the bed so they can stretch out
• A pantry of dog treats that rivals the human pantry
• Buying a squeeky toy because it has a unique sound when there's a whole basket of them at home
• Holding a 58 pound "pup" on your lap while they sleep because it's your "baby"
• Throwing the favorite toy over and over and over until your arm feels like it will fall off, in a game of fetch

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In My Junk Drawer

I have a personal junk drawer - the one beside my bed, but there is also one in the kitchen. That one is beyond hope and so I'll focus on my side table drawer. It really isn't a junk drawer as much as a catch all. There's a lot in this drawer, so I'll just give a few highlights :)

• Glasses case, plus cloth and spray for cleaning my glasses
• Nail file and clippers
• Unisom
• Digital photography list
• Foot cream
• Pens and pencils - a variety
• Cough drops

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Weekend Essentials

These are the things that I would love to have happen on the weekend. Some of them do, others do but not every weekend. Regardless, I love my weekends.

• Sleeping in on Saturday
• Grocery shopping
• Watching TV (often catching up on what was DVRed) or a movie
• Going to church

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Favorite Things About This Month

I honestly don't know that September is one of my favorite months. It isn't a bad month, just not a favorite. But there are a few things that I really like about September:

• The weather cools down
• The leaves start changing color
• This year, I like September because I'm not traveling for work; last year by this point I just wanted to stay home

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Things My Family Taught Me

Growing up tends to teach you a lot, no matter what type of family you have. So what did I learn? Here you go:

• How to fish - not that I did it much as a teenager, but we did a lot when I was younger
• How to create a shopping list - plus I loved to go grocery shopping so I did it all the time
• How to play softball - even if I wasn't very good
• The love of football - hard to not love sports when you grow up with all brothers
• The love of baking - we went to Grandma's every year to spend a day baking

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Weird Things that Make Me Cry

I'm the first to admit that I cry easily - sometimes more than others. But there are a few things that get me every time. Some may think that's weird in and of itself. But that's me :)

• Other people crying - whether they are happy or sad tears when others cry and feel the need to join in
• The Purina commercial "I Can be Great" - seriously one of the best commercials!
• Most touching movies like Return to Me or Les Miserables or Brother Bear or Sense and Sensibility or...I could go on but you get the idea
• When I'm mad or right after a very stressful moment - I can keep it together in the moment but once it is over I am a basket case

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Chore Time

It seems there is always work to do around the house. Some I don't mind, other's I would happily pay someone to do for me.

Chores I don't mind:

• Vacuuming - there's something so fulfilling about seeing a nicely vacuumed floor
• Mopping - same concept; it looks amazing when it is done
• Mowing the lawn - I can lose myself in music while I mow and again, it looks great when I'm finished (I think I'm starting to see a theme here!)

Things I'd pay someone else to do:

• Clean the bathroom - yuck, just yuck!
• Fold clothes - I don't see much use in doing this when I know I'm going to turn around and wear them
• Weed wacking - first of all, I'm horrible at it-I tend to create bald spot, and second, it kicks up all kinds of stuff on my legs

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Today I saw...

Some weeks Saturday can't come soon enough and that is the case this week. I'm grateful for a change of pace and scenery. Today I saw...

• Synchronized dog sleeping (both hounds were laying in the same position - on their backs, paws folded over, with legs stretched out; they had their heads touching)
• Tons of BYU blue t-shirts at Costco and the grocery stores
• The movie Nicholas Nickleby - great movie, lots of actors/actresses I knew
• Lightening, lots of it with black clouds and rain drops (and of course thunder)
• Christmas stuff at Costco (so exciting) and Halloween costumes at Walmart (as it should be)

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Rules to Break

It's funny, I've never really thought of myself as a rule breaker. And honestly, figuring out what rules I break was quite a struggle. Here's what I came up with - a little lame, but a list none the less.

• Early to bed, early to rise
• No dessert until you finish dinner
• Don't swim for 30 minutes after you eat

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Time Wasters

Time wasters. We all have them. The things we do to avoid doing what we're supposed to be doing. And yes I have them. Several of them. Really good ones that I'm pretty sure others have too.

• Facebook - I'm just catching up on everyone's day :)
• Candy Crush Saga - I stayed away from this for months, but once I succumbed I was hooked
• Pinterest - Amazing how a few minutes there turns into an hour
• Movies I've seen a thousand times - I can quote lines from them, but must see how it ends, even if it means staying up late
• Organizing emails - putting them in folders even though it could wait until another time

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Younger Me

Have you ever written a letter to your future self? I haven't, although I did create a list of my kids names (all 12 of them). But what would the younger me like about the current me? Good question. These are the things that popped into my mind:

• Making things and crafting are a major part of my life
• I have dogs, really cute ones :)
• I still act like a kid some times
• I've traveled to lots of cool places

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Projects I'm currently working on

I'm notorious for starting projects and not finishing them. Unless of course there's a deadline attached to it. This list includes projects that have no definitive deadline thus they are still in progress.

• Knitting a scarf (actually two - I started one and then wanted to try a different pattern and started a second)
• Organizing/decorating my craft room
• Doodling class
• Inspiration SMASH book
• My blog :)

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What's new so far this year?

Hard to believe today is September 1. So what's new so far this year?

• I turned 50 and survived; the party was fun and the food delightful (I learned that 200 cupcakes is a lot to make)
• Sweet Mabel passed away; she had been having problems getting around and life each day was less enjoyable for her so the time came to let her move on to happier places
• Life with the editorial team has been great - lots of creativity; plus I had two projects published in the Sept/Oct 2013 Paper Crafts issue
• The puppies turned two in August and with that came new freedoms - sleeping at night wherever they want; our home decor has taken on a minimalist look because of this change

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