Winner Winner Pumpkin Dinner

Okay I just had to have that as the title I thought it was absolutely hilarious!! 

On to the announcement of today's winners. It's super exciting. I decided instead of one winner I would do two winners. I am just so so excited for Spring, now that the official day of Spring has come I just hope this will help the sun to start shining :) 

Today's Winners are.... 

Rebekah Whiteman and Tara Belle

Congrats girls! I am really excited. Everyone's comments of their reasonings for liking and being exciting for Spring were awesome. I hope you all are as excited as I am for the weather to start shaping up and the sun to start shining more. 

Hopes

Have you ever had something to get your hopes up so much it's all you can think about?? That's how I feel today. My mind is like a tornado with a billion thoughts swimming around, but a few specific things have spiked my hopes and interest.


Keep posting for my Spring Giveaway. I have a couple of great comments so far and I am eager and excited to read more. 

SPRING GIVEAWAY!!!

Yup, you read it right!! I am going to do a Spring Giveaway!!! 

I decided this morning, since a. I have posted 100 posts on my blog I want to celebrate, b. spring is in the air and c. next week is spring break. Wahoo!! Who else needs a reason to celebrate?? There is always a reason. 

Your job with this weeks giveaway is to comment your favorite thing about Spring. What make Spring so wonderful to you??? 

We all know why I love it, so I want to hear why you love it. Post a comment or two below, by next Monday March 21st. The winner will receive a beautiful pair or Spring Inspired Earrings :) 

100!!

Woohoo!!! I have now posted 100 with in 21 months (i think)... I feel like this is a pretty big thing.

Well, today I have had a lot on my mind. It's been quite the day. We did a little family fast today, and though it was short I felt that I received a lot of peace today, and the lessons at church today were wonderful. We were able to spend time with family and enjoy an after noon of crafts (which I am horrible at), and played some balderdash. It was great to have some family time. Also spent time talking with my parents on the phone. I have some goals that we talked about that I want to make happen with in the next month or so, now is the time for me to do it, so I am. Nathan and I were able to take a great walk tonight, the weather is just so wonderful. I love that the sun was shining, and that the temperature is creeping up and giving me the warmth I need.

Though it's been a great day, I can't help but feel completely misplaced. I feel very distant from my own world. It's almost like I feel lost with in my own life. I am not a huge fan of this. I know that this is to prepare us for what we have ahead of us, but this is not a feeling that I'd like to have around much longer. I'd like that nudge, or direction to where we are going this fall. I know it will be great, and that I will love it, but it's like that great surprise present your parents have for you, but you never know when you are going to get it. The anticipation is just so intense. I know all that I have head of me is for my own good, but I don't like feeling lost in my own life. I'd like to feel good about what I am doing, and be happy with the life I am living. Now is the time for enjoying and being happy. Life is for enjoying and loving, I want to get out of this fog today and be happy with how each day is lived.

Have you been lost in your own world before? What was it like, and what did you do to get out of it?

Progress

It's been a couple of months since I decided to grow out my hair. On my birthday I gave myself a challenge to not cut my hair for an entire year. It has been three and a half months and I am still going strong. Although my hair seems to not be getting very far. It's really hard to tell with curly hair. I just feel like my hair is getting bigger rather than longer.

The way I can tell is that last fall I could barely fit my hair into a pony tail, I had to use a billion bobby pins, BUT now I can put it in a pony tail with only one!! That's huge. I can actually put it in a pony tail with out any, but I prefer to have one for the whispy fly aways that like to hang out occasionally.

February 2011

December 2010

I had said that I was going to try to not straighten my hair very often, to help my hair grow healthy and stay really curly. Not going to lie, it's really hard trying not to straighten it. The only thing keeping me from straightening it is that Nathan really doesn't like it when I do. So I haven't. Except back in February he went to Texas for his interview for four days. I took advantage of him being gone. The day he flew out it was straight as I could get it. I loved it!! That was over a month ago, but I took a picture to share. It's just taken me a while to post it.

It's hard to see the difference but, it is longer. In the back it is past my shoulders. I can't wait to see how it looks in a couple of more months. Hopefully there will be more of a growth.

I found my old high school id's and showed Nathan my long hair. After finding them it made me really excited to get long. That excitement will hopefully last another 9 months plus.

I hope you are having a great weekend. It certainly was beautiful today, though it was cloudy it was pretty warm. I am so excited for spring. What's your favorite thing about spring coming??

Cool Kid

I'm getting a smart phone this weekend. I am SO excited. I haven't always had the cool phone. There was once that my parents bought me a cool phone for Christmas three years ago, but I only had it for a few short months before switching to be on Verizon with Nathan.

I started out with the free white flip phone, so basic that I was a champ at knowing how to do everything it was so simple, but once it started breaking down I upgraded to a brown a little nicer version flip phone. Yet again it was so simple and boring. This was when all the cool keyboard, slide, and Chocolate phones were coming out, and blackberries were huge. I was definitely NOT the cool kid. Then for Christmas my parent surprised me with a cool phone. It was white with light blue, and had a sliding keyboard. Oh man did I learn to text. I loved it! Though no games, or apps or widgets like now, but man was it pretty. I loved it. I felt so special!

My parents really spoiled me that day. The worst part is, as I was opening the package I dropped the phone. It started from day one. I have been the worst I dropping my phones. I am surprised my current flip phone still works. I have dropped it so many times. I often have it in my lap then when I go stand up I have forgotten and it falls onto the ground. My phone is sad, it turns off all the time, it's just so tired I think.

But I am so so so SO excited. I am getting a smartphone!!! Oh my goodness! I can't believe it! Nathan got his Droid Incredible last month, and plays with it all the time, if he isn't playing with it I am. I was really jealous when he got his phone, but it's now my turn to get a new one and I am getting one different from his. This way we won't have the same phone. Yay! I wish it was coming today, but it probably won't come until Tuesday of next week. But that's okay. It's coming.

I love getting something like this, something I've never had, thats fun and useful. Wow, I can't believe I am actually going to be a cool kid!!! This is just so awesome! No more flip phone for Linnley. Yeah!

Anyways, it's Friday. I am so happy it's Friday. It means I don't have to entertain Nathan ;)... I can do my own thing, which means going to bed at 9! Oh how I love the weekend! I hope it's a great weekend for everyone!

Being Smart

Sooo.... Last night I did something really stupid and I paid for it dearly. Over the weekend I had to watch a few documentaries (King Corn, and Food Matters), and write up about them. I thought they were very interesting, and informative movies. What I didn't take into consideration was researching some of the things they had said and double checking the outcomes. 


In Food Matters, there are several doctors, raw food enthusiasts and such discussing food and why it matters. Explaining for over an hour that you are what you eat, but they went into a lot of detail.One of the doctors is a vitamin geek, he thinks that vitamins can cure everything. Which I am sure they can help, but getting them from your diet is where you should be getting them not from bottles and bottles of supplements. Last semester I took a Nutrition class about this kind of stuff, you think I would have been more responsible and done the research after finding what he talked about interesting. 


He said that he had a patient with severe depression, he put her on Niacin (Vit B12) and it helped her a lot, she had been in therapy for years and on all sorts of medications and nothing helped, but once she tried his way it helped. It got me thinking. I have been really down these last couple of weeks, all sorts of stress building up. I swear I have a breakdown everyday with Nathan it's always the same thing. I just keep getting super emotional. Yesterday at work it was a real downer day, everyone talking about layoffs, then it was raining all day I wasn't prepared for it. Then before you know it, it's snowing horribly and there are 2 feet of snow on the ground. To sum it up, I had had it. I am done with this crappy weather so, I thought I'll go get some Niacin and start taking it. 


The dose they put the lady on was a lot, so I took about half of what they had her on. About 20 minutes later my skin is on fire, I'm swelling up like a red umpalumpa. It was kinda funny because for once I didn't look like a scary white ghost, I actually had color. After it not going away we read on the bottle that skin flushing may occur if you are sensitive to it. Well, what do you know I am just a little too sensitive to everything at this point. 


I go lay down on the couch hoping it will go away, then I realize I had to go to the bathroom. Just to skimp on lots of horrible details. I will just say that I was in a ton of pain, my stomach hurt, I wanted to throw up but I couldn't. All I could do was lay on the bathroom floor asking Nathan to take my pain away. We were worried about what was happening to me, thankfully Nathan called my mom, she helped us figure out what happened and what we can do. I had overdosed on Niacin. 


It was the most painful, horrible night ever. To say the least it felt as though I was giving birth. That how painful it felt like last night. It was awful. I don't know how women do it with out drugs. 


Luckily after a couple of hours the pain subsided and I just felt really weak, and still sick to my stomach. The Niacin had left my system, but really left an imprint on me last night. 


My message to you, is to be smart. If you are going to try something new RESEARCH IT. Find out the facts, the side effects, what it does to your body before trying it. I usually do, but I don't know why I didn't with this. I CAN tell you though, it that I will NEVER to anything like that with out RESEARCHING it FIRST. 


I have learned my lesson, And I hope you have learned from ME. DO NOT do anything like that ever. Get your vitamins and such from your diet not from supplements. It's easier and better to improve your diet than to remember to take pills all the time. Be smart and research it out. 


Today is going to be a better day. I just hope to get rid of my stomach ache. 

Meditation

I enjoy a good meditation session. I don't know about you, but I like the time to think, sort my problems out, and even day dream a bit. For most people their meditation is yoga or something like that, for me mine is a good run. 


Friday I had the day off to get a few things done, and to spend time in the temple with Nathan. In the afternoon while I was waiting for Nathan to get finished in the lab, I decided to go for a long run. I picked a location to run too, and it was my old neighborhood, I was able to visit Bob and Joy Ligget for a while, and run home. It was a large chunk of my day, but it was fabulous. With everything going on in our lives it's so wonderful to have an escape for a while. Running is such a great escape for me, I just love it. I ran a total of 14 wonderful miles. I am so proud of myself, and I felt so wonderful. 


Friday was a great day, I was able to spend most of my day meditating and relaxing to help relieve my stress a little, and spent time with friends from High School. Such an interesting night, but it was great. 


I can not tell you how wonderful meditation is. I suggest for everyone to find your meditation and enjoy it often. I have high hope for this week. It's going to be wonderful. I am excited to see how it unfolds. I hope the rest of you have a wonderful week. :)

On the Road Again

I can't help but think of the song in Shrek where Donkey is singing about them, "on the road again, can't wait to get back on the road again."...While he is singing Shrek is frustrated and trying to get him to shut up. Well I feel like Shrek today. I am back on the hunt for a new job, not my choice, especially since we are going to be moving in a couple of months. But I need to search for a job, got a heads up at work yesterday to start looking. It's not even been 24 hours and I'm getting frustrated. No one is emailing me back. I've sent my resume to several people yesterday after noon, and nothing. I know I know I need to be patient and give it time, but time is something I don't really have right now. I'd rather get started now with a new job so that I can stick with it for 4 months rather than 3 or less.

There is A LOT of waiting happening right now. There has got to be several lessons I should be learning from this but it's taking A LOT for me to learn anything. If anything I am just learning to clean out our shower drain more with all the hair that's falling out (stress tends to do that to me).

Happy March

Happy March Everyone!! I love those morning when you wake up and the sun is shining through your windows. That's when you know the day is going to be great! I can not tell you how happy the sun makes me. It helps me think that soon enough it will be warm outside, and THAT I am SO excited for!!

This morning, I decided to sleep in, skip my work out and just run during my lunch break. Though usually when I do that I tend to be frustrated with myself and in an angry rush to get out the door. This morning I was happy, and patient, and I even got to work on time. I think it's because of the sun shining.

I am so excited that it's March. This means first off that there are only 10 weeks left of the semester (one of those weeks is spring break). It's just a happy month, spring is coming, things can only get better from here.

Also, I feel like this is the month we've been waiting for to hear back from school. There is so much of our future up in the air that I've been pulling my hair out not knowing, but today I woke up with new found hope that things will be good, that I can worry, but I don't have to, because whatever happens it will be for the best for our family. Only good can come from the decisions that are made.

I spent a long time last night on my knees praying, and I almost felt like I was getting close to begging, but towards the end I just stopped and asked for comfort, and peace to know it will work out. That's exactly what I feel today. It's amazing what the Lord will do for us when we stop think and ask sincerely. I am so so so so happy to have the knowledge I have, and to be able to express my desires to my Heavenly Father, and know that he will understand me and what I want, but he will do what will be best for us. It's so crazy putting our future in the hands of people we don't know, but that's where is power of the spirit comes into play. We've done our part, in preparing working hard, and getting everything finished for this point, now is when we need faith, and I fell like I woke up this morning refreshed and with more faith than I've had all year.

There are so many exciting things happening in our Families, many getting married, applying for schools, and making big moves for our future, it's a very exciting year. <3