a little bit of randomness...

For the last month, I've tried to change my thinking...and I've set some goals that I think will make me happier. I've never read the Book of Mormon cover to cover, so one of my goals was to start reading it. I didn't want to overwhelm myself, so I am starting out small, reading the Doctrine and Covenants sections first. So far...I'm happy to say, I've kept it up...and still reading. I'm very proud of myself (pat on the back to me :) For some reason, it's not an easy task to read my scriptures. Thanks to my Ryan...he keeps me on track. We read together and he helps me understand what I'm reading. Ryan loves church history and he knows his stuff. Honestly, he is like the smartest guy, and remembers everything he reads, unlike me. Anyways...he's rubbed off on me, and I love it too. We just went and saw this new movie:

....which, we loved. It's more historically correct, plus puts the timing of events more in perspective. I bawled my eyes out. I have always had lots of respect for Emma Smith, but through our families life events, I feel closer to her and understand some of the pain she went through. I just love her and hope to meet her one day.

Back in August, we drove up to Clarkston, to see the Martin Harris Pageant, "The Man who knew." At the time, I'd had just read in D&C about Martin Harris, which perfectly fell with the timing of the pageant.

Elle Belle just got her hair cut (back in August), and I loved her pink bandanna.....I tired so hard to get a cute picture of her. She wasn't cooperating. It's like when she sees me pull out my camera, she runs away and won't look at me. I have to bribe her with treats...and still then, she's a stinker. She's like her daddy... always runs away from me whenever I pull out the camera. Jeesh, can't they see I'm making memories here! :)

Gosh, I love her. She is our baby girl. She brings us so much joy.

Yum! Raspberry Jam!

Just add raspberries, some kool aid, some stuff to thicken (??), and LOTS and LOTS of sugar (8 cups a batch, which makes about 5 jars...no wonder I love it so much) and "Wah-la...."

lots of raspberry yuminess! Nothing is better than homemade jam.

We're moving up in the world!

Look at these beauties! So shiny and new! Over Labor day weekend, we got a front loader washer and dryer for a steal!! Not to mention...their Bosch, and we got the two pedestals their setting on for free! It was basically buy one get one free...oh and then we'll add in those pedestals to make it better! I'm just still so giddy about it! Back when I was young, I nver thought of the day when I'd be excited about a boring washer and dryer, man...I'm getting old.

We didn't really need a new washer and dryer, but we couldn't pass up such a sweet deal. So now we have two sets. We don't know what we plan to do with the old ones, maybe sell them? If ya need some, let me know :)

We got spoiled this last weekend....not only did we spoil ourselves, but our parents spoiled us as well. It's Christmas in September! We got a grill! The Arnolds decided to give us our gift early this year, so we could enjoy it a little before the cold comes. We're pretty excited about it, Ryan has been wanting one ever since we moved into our house. We are so thankful for our family, we love them so much.

And that's it for now, we are happy and counting our daily blessings...in all of it's randomness.