Just say no

A couple weeks ago me and Bryan were attending a ward Christmas Party. That day was full of surprises as I rushed around trying to accomplish all the things I needed to.
First was a trip out to the 4H Farm where I was taking pictures,
swiftly followed a 2 hour gift wrapping shift at Barnes and Noble for the Museum,
then I had to rush to Staples to get a few things printed,
run home and get my baby and husband dressed for a night of fun and parties,
rush to the church set up 6 nativities and put together 7 posters and hang them in the appropriate spot,
watch a couple people sing,
run to the museum to eat ham and other goodies,
run back to the church to mingle,
pack up my 6 nativities,
clean up after the party,
then finally get home around 10:30 to find out I had to teach the YW lesson the next afternoon.

I just can't say no when I'm asked to do things. I really love to do things too. So I'm not complaining. The problem is really my time management. Bryan is sick of living in a world I've created that always begins with "Oh, crap, bryan, I have to..." So he lectured me about saying no. I need to plan my days and say no to activities that are too crammed to fit in. After this long lecture that was right in the middle of my mingle time he promptly turned around to say "yes" to the one thing that I would have no problem saying no to. I wouldn't even hesitate to say no to singing in church. I love to sing in Choir but anything less than 10 people makes my stomach turn and I literally get sick. My voice gets high and squeaky but somehow still sounds flat, I lock my knees and pray that I will pass out. So now to make everything even greater we both have nasty colds which leads to a nasely high squeaky duet of Mary's Lullaby.

Merry Christmas

Christmas Stories

Well, it's Christmas time and I don't have any of my normal Christmas stuff because it is all still packed away in Idaho but I want to start some traditions in my family and do what I can with what we have. What I'm looking for is Christmas Stories so that we can read a story each night this Christmas season and get in the spirit. If you have a favorite Christmas story that you wouldn't mind sharing with us please e-mail it to me. Thank you so much.

Mormon Tabernacle Choir

In previous Inaugurations the Mormon Tabernacle Choir has sung and touched people's hearts and I think that is something that should happen at this inauguration. I believe it will show that Obama is willing to cross lines and talk with others whom he may not necessarily agree with. Having elected an African American president has proven to the world that the US is an amazing country that has crossed into a territory that was thought impossible a mere 40 years ago. I think that if that can happen then maybe gay people and Mormons can stand up and support the same president for the same reason; tolerance. Showing the world that we are a nation that supports freedom in everything and our great nation was founded on a belief that all men are made equal. Fighting for what we believe in is an essential part of this country and I hope that controversy never leaves. Whether it is fighting for life or it's fighting for choice be thankful that we are a country that can stand up for a choice and not live in fear.
I'd love to see the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sing at the Inauguration. If you would like to see them too then the best way to do it is to send a letter to Obama's campaign and let them know how you feel.

http://answercenter.barackobama.com/cgi-bin/barackobama.cfg/php/enduser/ask.php

Autumn in Connecticut

There are a few things in my life that I really love.
1. My Family
2. The LDS Church
3. Holiday
4. Autumn

All my life I have wanted to move to connecticut and live here during the fall. People come from all over the world to see the fall in New England and it's where I have always wanted to be. I have spents 20 autumns in Idaho and let me tell you it's stinks compared to New England. Now don't get all upset and offended. Let me tell you that Idaho is great and I loved it there but it has nothing on the fall in New England. My sister-in-law made me a quilt and the hillside looks just like it. All my favorite colors all wrapped up into one scenic beautiful hillside. It is better here than I had ever dreamed of. I can't even begin to describe the beauty that I am living in. I'm not a desert person, or a mountain person, I'm not a beach person, I am most definitely a hills and trees type person. I haven't felt claustrophobic like a lot of people when they first come out. I just feel like this is place I am suppose to be at this time. Like I said before it has always been my dream to live here in the fall and I'm livin' the dream.

Helping Dad

Oliver is fascinated with whatever Bryan is doing. From working on the computer to eating dinner. He watches his dad like Bryan's his greatest hero. I caught this picture of Oliver helping out. Unfortunately the only thing that I can do to grab Oliver's attention his pull out the camera.This is a picture of Oliver helping his Dad fix the vacuum. He's very concerned but luckily there was a spare belt in the vacuum and now it's working good as new.

Pumpkin Carving

On Monday we went to a pumpkin patch and picked our pumpkins, they were kind of the few sad last ones and had a few soft spots but luckily the didn't rot away before the big night. We carved our pumpkins for Bryan's lunch on Halloween.This is Oliver's Pumpkin, he didn't get too fancy. It was his first halloween, he has his whole life to carve a complicated pumpkin. He put his first tooth on it. He doesn't have his first tooth yet, that's just wishful thinking.
Bryan's pumpkin is the symbol of the rebel alliance from Star Wars. One of the children that came trick or treating to our house said "oh, that's from star wars." So I answered with a general yeah, I think it's the rebel group thing. . . which led to "Duh, it's the rebel alliance." and he told me all about it. Mine pumpkin is Mickey Mouse and by far the most complicated pumpkin I've ever carved. I used one of those fancy templates off the internet so I pretty much cheated. But I'm still dang proud of it. A group of kids stopped to take a picture with our pumpkins on our front porch. I'd like to think that they stopped because of our pumpkins awesomeness. Although chances are they do that with all the pumpkins on porches as they go collect candy from strangers.

Save the Sea Turtles

Our oceans are in peril from climate change, disease, pollution, and overfishing. There is a huge push for Coral Reef preservation and I want to join it. I have noticed lots of people, especially in our family blogs, are writing about their causes in their blogs. My cause is to save the sea turtles.
They are gorgeous creatures that are worth more to us alive than dead. The sea turtles fill an important ecological role by controlling prey species and themselves providing food to larger predators. Sea turtles are biological nutrient transporters. The energy contained inside turtle eggs comes from the food items that the turtles have found in the marine environment. They are a balanced and key part to the interaction of the ecosystems found in the ocean and dry land. Marine turtles are economically important to humans. Coastal communities in developing countries use sea turtles as a source for food. Sea turtles have become increasingly important as an ecotourism attraction. This has led to a rise in tourism operations that in turn provide jobs and income to seaside communities throughout the tropical and subtropical part of the world. Marine turtle watching increases people's interest in marine and coastal issues and inspires commitment to support conservation efforts. Marine turtles are flagship species that attract help to themselves as well as to the many species with which they co-exist.
Three objectives to help save the sea turtles are:
a. reduce the breaking down of sea turtle habitats through building and maintaining marine and beach preservations and through educating and ecotourism to create an interest and an awareness in sea turtles.
b. reduce the bycatch of sea turtles in large fishing nets through national and international agreements to use turtle friendly fishing practices such as turtle excluder devices in nets.
c. reducing illegal trade of turtle products by personally not buying anything using turtles products. Such as turtles shells and turtle meat and eggs.

One small thing I'm starting to do is to cut all the rings of my pop can rings so that they can't find their way into the ocean and end up around any animals neck (like in the movie "Happy Feet") and by slicing the bottom of my plastic grocery shopping bags so they aren't mistaken for jelly fish and swallowed or better yet just using paper bags then recycling them. (Although I do hope that non of my garbage will ever find it's way into the ocean.)

Got Milk?

Ska Music

I've been tagged

1 - My husband has never seen my natural hair color, except in my roots.
2 - I have a fear of stickiness
3 - I have been in 19 States this year (idaho, nevada, utah, arizona, montana, wyoming, south dakota, Minnesota, Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetes, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island )
4 - I have never had a cavitiy filled.
5 - I love to dance to ska music
6 - Indiana Jones was my first true love (n0t Harrison Ford)
7 - My favorite book is Angus, Thongs, and Full Frontal Snogging

I tag -
Casidy
Amanda
Paula
Anji
Traci
Ben and Catherine
Drew Ann

Organic Laundry Soap and the Sock

Every week I do my laundry at the local laundromat. Let me tell you how it goes. . . I load my 2 garbage bags and basket of laundry, Oliver, and my diaper bag (which is pretty big.) Then I get to the local Laundromat and unload my 2 garbage bags and basket of laundry, Oliver, my diaper bag and to make things easy I leave my laundry soap and dryer sheets in the trunk of my car.
Today started out just like normal, I loaded the car, I unloaded the car. Then I went to the trunk to retrieve my laundry soap. Let me tell you about my laundry soap. This is special laundry soap bought 2 weeks ago at Costco in bulk size. It is made for sensitive skin, eco-friendly, bio-safe, smells like spring, and comes in an easy to use container with a squirt nozel. When your a mother of a 5 month old this is a very beautiful thing and you start to appreciate the little things in life. But my laundry soap was not in the trunk of my car! So, I thought, maybe I took it upstairs to my apartment. I then loaded everything back into my car and raced home. It was not in my closet, in the coat closet, in oliver's bedroom, under the bed, in the cupboard or up on the shelf and the only thing left was that it was forgotten at the laundromat.
I tell you that sad story only to turn and tell you a very sweet one about a lost sock. . . Oliver's lost sock to be more specific. I went about doing my laundry with my non organic soap and loaded up my car. I pulled out and noticed a lady was waving furiously, yelling and pointing at me. I immediatley stopped, rolled down my window and pointed at myself with a bewildered look on my face. "Yes, you forgot this and I just had to give it back." She then handed me a tiny 1 inch long song with a blue toe and heel. "Thank you," I politely returned and stared at the sock as she walked away.
What made this little sock so important? This was the second time the sock had tried to escape at the laundromat and still it has found it's way back to Oliver's foot. What is the moral of this story? I'd say that it is tiny things are cared about a lot and big things that come in bulk are not. Not only in socks and laundry soap but in people as well. So let's all try to care for the little things as well as the big things because they are just as important.

The End

Blacker Family Visit - Day 7

The last day my family was here was sadly a bust. We went in to Hartford just to see the city and a few things that are in there. Hartford is about the size of Boise. We went to see the Mark Twain (Tom Sawyer (: ) House but the tour for 11:00 was full and the next one started at 12:30 but that was too late so my family just walked around the museum for a little bit. We decided to also hit the carousel. (My family likes carousels.) The website said that their fall hours were Tuesday through Sunday 11:00 - 6:00. We arrived at 12:30 and it was closed! They had a sign on the outside saying their fall hours were thursday through Sunday. So we didn't get to ride the carousel either. We dropped my family off at the airport and said goodbye. I really miss them already. They were so much fun to have around. It was nice to have people around who really knew us and loved us no matter what. We were really missing Idaho until we read the weather report. . .now we just miss the people in Idaho. Just to let you all know WE MISS YOU!!Katie and Ollie on the slide.Casidy getting ready to race me down the slide.Kent is playing Twinkle twinkle little star.Family picture in front of the close Carousel.Grandma and Oliver

Blacker Family Visit - Day 6

Today we searched for light houses. We drove to Rhode Island so that my family could see the Atlantic Ocean. We went to a beach with 2 light houses but my mom's back was hurting her so we couldn't walk to 15 min in sand to where the lighthouses were. We went back to Connecticut and went to the Lighthouse Museum. It was really cool to see pictures of all the lighthouses in the Long Island Sound (that's where all the sharks are.) I thought it was awesome to walk up into the top of the lighthouse. It was mine and my whole families first time inside a light house. It was blazing hot up in the actual light part. All glass and a sunny day makes it really warm. After we saw the lighthouse we went to Mystic to eat some sea food. Me and my sisters don't like sea food so we had chicken strips. But my Dad, Mom, and Kent really liked their sea food.The stairs to the top of the lighthouse were really steep.Oliver couldn't go all the way to the top because there was a ladder and he is too small to climb ladders.View from the top of the Lighthouse.Family Picture in front of the Lighthouse.Family picture at the Long Island Sound.All the Blacker children in the Atlantic Ocean.Oliver with his toesies in the Atlantic Ocean.Family Picture in the Atlantic Ocean.Katie eating chicken strips.Mom and Dad eating their seafood.

Blacker Family Visit - Day 5

Today we went to Yale. It was actually really cool. I'm not going to lie, I wasn't too excited for this day. But it ended up being really cool. We also drove around to some of my Dad's old mission sites. We saw where he lived in Naugatuck (not sure on the spelling and too lazy to look it up.) and the Cadbury Factory and all the other things he remembered about it. Then we looked for where he lived in Chesire but we couldn't find it so he just told us some stories about that town. He was really excited to share with us all his mission stories and I really enjoyed hearing them. They were very special and I'm glad that I was able to help my dad share them.This is our family picture at Yale. Just so you know, Oliver takes all our family pictures from his stroller, so that's why he's missing from quite a few. This is the library that Indiana Jones rode a motorcycle through in The Crystal Skull. (I love Indiana Jones.)The inside of one of the Colleges at Yale.This is New Haven's green. The green used to be a lot smaller and was surrounded by a few cemeteries. But when Yale started to grow they decided that it needed to be bigger so they knocked down the headstones and planted grass. So this whole area is bunch of unmarked graves. Creepy, huh?Mindy, I saw this and thought of you. This is their Breast Cancer Awareness ad for the month of October. I like it and thought it was very clever. Yale had little political statements all over the place. Mostly written on the sidewalk with chalk. That's something I really wish I had been able to experience but at BYU-I there isn't a lot of debate about morals or ethics or anything. . .
This is a monument that symbolizes the growth of women. On top it has a circle that has all the years since Yale opened. In bold are the dates that women were first accepted to Yale and the date when Women equaled the number of men at Yale.

Blacker Family Visit - Day 4

From Palmyra we drove to Sharon, VT to see the birthplace of Joseph Smith. There is an amazing story behind the monument and everyone should go look it up. The monument is beautiful especially placed against the autumn colors in Vermont. It was a good weekend to spend just learning about the life of Joseph Smith. It was amazing to put everything into perspective and I strongly recommend everyone should visit the church sites. You learn so much from just being there and seeing everything.Vermont hillside in the peak of autumn awesomeness.Blacker and Williams Family at the Joseph Smith birthplace.Joseph Smith Monument.Williams Family in front of Joseph Smith Monument. Dad, your picture won a spot on Blogger.Oliver likes to touch different textures. This is a very sweet photo of Oliver touching the statue of Joseph Smith's hand. Very precious and made me cry a little.Oliver and Opa Blacker. I think they look at lot alike. But I should have taken a picture of their toesies. They are exactly alike.