Happy Mother's Day Gift

I made this with my editing program for my mom and my mom in law. What do you think?? (Click on the photo to see the entirety of it.)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALEXIS!!

As of March 27th Alexis is officially 1 year old! Oh my how time does fly. My little girl is growing up so fast. She has 4 teeth now. She is such a little tease. I will ask her to say mama and she looks me square in the eye and says dada, and then she grins so big. What am I to do with her? She is still not walking yet. I believe that she figures that there is no need for walking since she can crawl everywhere she needs to be. I will just be patient and let her grow up in her own time.

We celebrated Alexis' birthday at her aunt Stephanie's house. Where our close friends and family got together to wish her a good birthday. Stephanie and I slaved all day long on a pink castle cake. I also rushed to make a princess cake for Alexis to have herself. She was spoiled with lots of fun gifts; a singing bear, a singing purse, new clothes, blocks, a Tinkerbell doll, a push toy, a puppy(plush), coloring books, crayons, a bubble machine, stickers, a potty chair, and sippy cups. She already loves her new toys although she's not a huge fan of the potty yet. LOL! I am starting to get rid of her bottles and switch to sippy cups. Easier said than done. I never realized how much of a comfort item the bottle is to Alexis. She will get it eventually.

Happy Birthday Alexis!!

Ouch!

Today Alexis had her first injury. She was walking aroung the coffee table, lost her balance, and smacked her mouth on the table. I picked her up to comfort her and Luther told me she was bleeding. Her bottom teeth cut the roof of her mouth. Ouch. I gave her a cold rag to suck on and she's fine. I was just hoping the first injury would be later rather than sooner. I still feel bad for my little girl. It's strange how much empathy you have for your children.

First my medical insurance and now my car insurance!!

So I am a little agitated with insurance companies. I was looking at my bank statement and noticed that my car insurance company in Utah took money out of my account. I told the guy that my new policy started on the 5th like 2 weeks ago and he forgot to cancel my policy. Eww! I am just so sick and tired of people being lazy and not doing their jobs. So now I get to play the waiting game to see when I get my money back. Grr!!

By the way I LOVE my new insurance agent!! She is awesome and helpful and she is a financial consultant. Luther and I are planning on getting a house out here and would really appreciate her advice.

Photo Editing

So a couple days ago I stumbled across a free photo editing program and so far I am hooked. Here are a few things I have learned how to do. I hope to do much more intricate things later. I will share more when I get better. Here are my first pieces.

This one is the first one I did, the black and white is a little flat but other than that I like it.

This is one where I brightened up Alexis' face, darkened the background, and added text.

In this one I cropped the picture and whitened my teeth. They look fake I'll need to play with that a little. LOL!

One that I did for a contest, the theme was happy. I think the sepia tone works better than the black & white.

My first digiscrap page. :)

Here is one where I filled in the background using another picture. Just for fun!!

Here's one where I blurred the background and made Alexis sepia toned.

I hope you enjoyed!

Angry

This is ironic because this blog is almost the exact opposite of yesterday's blog. I am ticked and I need to vent!!

So today I went out to get the mail and was SOO excited because I got Heather's wedding announcement. (Which is adorable by the way...) But then my mood changed to curiosity when I saw a bill from St. Mark's. I opened it and the became very confused!! I had paid St. Mark's in FULL in December. I shouldn't owe them a dime. So I call because I need to know why I still owe $126 and some change. I get on the phone and am put on hold forever because the girl can't find the problem. Oh and did I mention she claimed I owe $318 and change? No, well now you know. Anyway she gets back on the line and says that our insurance company took back their old payment and made a new one. Meaning I have to owe money. I already did what I was supposed and I paid my bill! Why do I have to be punished for some insurance company's mistake? I told the lady I was frustrated with this whole this and she treated me like I was some kind of idiot. Like, "don't you know that insurance companies have to check their balances and correct mistakes all the time?" Of course I know that they have to balance their books but if they made a mistake THEY should pay for it!! Am I wrong?? Urg! I know that everyone is taking a hit by this economic crisis but why do big corporations have to pick on the little guy? I feel like I have been taken advantage of and there is nothing I can do but pay my bill. I am so lost. I want to scream, cry, and punch something all at the same time.

Thanks for letting me vent and if you have any suggestions or have dealt with this before let me know.

Thoughts

After reading a friend's blog today I realized that life is too short to be continually negative. Most of my life I have had a pretty positive outlook but sometimes I feel like my world is surrounded by negative people. I hurts me to think that there are people out there who are rarely happy. I am almost constantly happy about something. There are so many things in this world to be grateful for. I hope that more people could learn to count their blessings. My life is far from perfect but I am still loving every moment of it. It isn't exciting or anything just enjoyable. Maybe I am one of the lucky few who can see the world through rose colored glasses. I don't know. But here are somethings I am grateful for right now!

1. My family!
I love my husband with all my heart and thank my Heavenly Father EVERY day to be blessed with such an amazing man.
My daughter is so fun to raise and is a joyful addition to my life. She is a happy girl with so much curiosity and zeal for life. I love my Alexis.
My parents: they love me so much and they taught me to be the person I am today.
My brother and sisters: they are a crazy bunch but they are my crazy bunch. I can tell my sisters anything and my brother can always put a smile on my face.
My cute in laws... thank you for accepting me in your family with wide open arms. :)
The rest of my family that supports me and loves me no matter what!

2. Being able to stay home to raise Alexis. In today's economy this is a rare commodity and I am so grateful for this. My baby will be taught what I want her to learn and won't have to fight for my attention.

3. My dad making the proactive choice to quit smoking. Part of me wishes he could have done it sooner... but later is much better than never. He is on his 7th month without a cigarette, 5th month without nicotine. Go Dad!!

4. My wonderful friends! We all know that at times I can say stupid things. But I somehow always gain your forgiveness. Thank you for all of the love you've given you are awesome!

5. Music is such a mood setter and I can put on an upbeat song and feel happiness all day long. I love the Hymns. They are an inspiration and a perfect way to worship the Lord.

6. Disneyland!!! I am so excited my family and I are going in 64 days! Hooray!!

7. I am so glad to have the gospel in my life. There are so many times I have felt alone and the Lord has guided me back to the fold. The spirit gives me peace and a knowledge that there is more to life than being the best or having the most money. Life is about serving others and loving your neighbor and sharing the light of Christ. I know that I have a loving Heavenly Father who knows me and wants the best for me and that's why he blesses me daily.

8. The internet.. I'm glad that I can stay connect to those I love and care about.

9. The awesome ladies in my ward. Who have welcomed me and are just such sweet people.

10. The wonderful world we live in. It is just beautiful. The beaches, the mountains, the clouds, the deserts, the snow, the rain, all of the wildlife, we do live in wonderful world.