Want a bargain?

Big sale at children's place this weekend: all clearance is $2.99.

I bought 6 shirts and 1 pair of pants there for $22.

interesting conversation

friend: I really need to go jeans shopping soon.
me: Awesome! I'll go with you. I'm always looking for the perfect pair of jeans.
friend: They don't exist. Just like the perfect man. It's a myth. We search.
me: And search and search and search....

thank goodness for a locksmith (oh and Happy birthday, Ems!)

So since I'm super tired to write a very interesting story tonight, I'll let the title of this post keep you in suspense...

missed 2 days.

ahhhhh...didn't think this would happen so soon. I think I've missed a few days on my blog. I'm going to blame it on the non-stop rain. the power went out at times and so I had no internet, so my regular updating my blog routine got messed up...

NY & Co.

Last day: Buy 2, get 1 free. Ends tonight.

Let's go WAAAAAAAY back.....

So I went to the Poly/Prep game yesterday since my brother plays basketball for Prep. I totally thought that I would cheer for Prep (even though I went to Poly), but when I got there, my dad had saved us seats by the Poly cheerleaders - on purpose. He wanted me to remember....when I was once a cheerleader. I cannot believe that I am posting this on my blog, but since it's been 10 years now, it's kind of funny to think that I was a cheerleader! What?? ok, whatever. So it was sort of fun and we got sweaters with our names on them. :) So I actually talked to some of the cheerleaders and my old cheer coach (who, btw, still looks the same). She's on FB, so I'm going to look her up. Anyways, at first the cheerleaders were kind of annoying because they were banging their megaphones on the ground, but I used to love doing that during games. (haha) So I dug up some old pictures (I know, you can totally laugh - I did!) - to go way back, I'm talking 10 years back.......here we go:

I think this picture was at a CIF game. We won

the state championship during the years

that I cheered.

Can you find me??

Maybe at cheer camp? Notice the cute guy

(with the super short shorts)

in the background writing something down.

He must have been a coach since his uniform

was "USA."

Notice this cute guy in the picture too. No wonder

cheer camp was so fun! :)

Good times!

p.s. Guess who won the game yesterday?? Prep. :(

In-n-Out, 4 minutes to spare, Guess? jeans

What an interesting and great day it has been! I went to take my computer to get fixed. My appointment was at 10:15 and I had to fill out some paperwork to leave it there. So I was done at about 10:30 and as I was walking back to the car, I noticed that the Guess? store was having an extra 50% off the clearance. I was trying to hurry to get to the temple, but I was really tempted to walk into the store. I absolutely love sales and good deals, so I was too tempted and walked in. I was concerned about the time because I really wanted to make the 11:30 session and driving from Pasadena to Santa Monica might not get me there in time and I didn't want to wait for another hour just b/c I missed it by 5 minutes. Anyways, I went into the store, browsed quickly to make sure that I wasn't missing any amazing deals and quickly sorted through the racks of jeans. One was marked $29.95 (from $89), then 50% off. I debated really quickly in my head: was it worth it to try them on, should I just buy them, then try them on later? I ended up trying them on really quick, all the while thinking about the clock ticking away. They actually fit me pretty well, so I rushed to buy them (I mean, can you beat $14.98 on Guess? jeans, esp. at the Guess? store?) and hurried into the car. Fortunately, the car was right outside the store. The clock was 10:41. Then I debated about not going until the 12:30 session and just running into the Gap to return something. ( I know, I am the queen of returns - I have learned to save all of my receipts) However, I decided to try and make it to the temple. Something just told me that I needed to go right then. As I got on the 210, I noticed a car getting pulled over, probably for a speeding ticket. That was a warning to me to slow down and try to make it to the temple and not speed. As I crossed the 210 to the 118 to the 405 S., I remembered last time when I missed the session by 5 minutes because of traffic on the 405. So I was praying really hard that there was no traffic, and my prayers were answered. The slowest I went was 60, and fortunately hit enough green lights on Santa Monica Blvd. to turn into the temple at 11:24. I grabbed my bag, leaving my purse and everything else and ran in. I was literally breathless when I asked the man if I could make the 11:30 session. He said that I had 4 minutes to spare! I was so grateful that I made it just in the nick of time! I feel that it's such a privilege to go to the temple and I was so thankful that I was safe on the way over and coming back.

What a great way to end my afternoon with a big juicy cheeseburger and vanilla milk shake from In n Out!

I feel so blessed every day of my life. I should never take my blessings for granted and always thank Heavenly Father for what I have.

p.s. Guess (no pun intended) what pants I'm wearing right now...

Ems

I love Emma! The more she grows, the more I love her. She is saying tons of words now, like Elmo, Mike (from Monster's Inc), apple, juice, orange, Barney, P (for uncle P), Mimi (for her grandma), Oj (for Rog, her grandpa), up, red, yellow (she loves Big Bird), one, two, tree (for three), treat (she LOVES treats! but I'm trying to limit them), blue, green.

She's changed me the last 2 years. I so realize the importance of having children and the great joy that they bring can bring to life. I am so thankful for her and hope that I can always teach her how to live righteously and make good decisions.

LOVE YOU, EMS <3

Staying grounded

Here are my thoughts for today: I have been thinking a lot today about how to stay grounded in the gospel. It's so easy to say that temptations are easy to withstand when there's not many around. However, when you're placed in front of temptation, that is the hard part. I feel that I have been confronted with many temptations lately. I have been trying to come up with a way to resist temptation. For me, the best way is to pray to Heavenly Father about how much I love the gospel and how much I want to keep the commandments. I truly believe that he will honor my prayers if I am trying to resist temptation as much as possible. I think of the scripture, our weaknesses can become strengths, and I really think this is possible. However, sometimes I feel like I may have gotten to the point where I have overcome my weaknesses and Satan can never tempt me anymore. NOT TRUE! This is when he works double time on me. I think that I've got it made and can withstand anything, so he works super hard to undo it all. Satan - please stop working overtime on me and move on to someone else! What's so special about me? Choose someone else, please. Would be greatly appreciated!!

Colors

I have two ideas in mind to write about tonight. I don't mean to dwell on the spiritual stuff a lot, but there are just so many things along those lines that I have been thinking about lately. Last night at FHE, the spiritual thought was about how we can be close to Heavenly Father. When asked for any comments, one of my friends mentioned how he had had a hard moment(s) on his mission and he felt that the only person that he could turn to was Heavenly Father and he said that he has been able to carry that feeling of closeness with Him since his mission. (I think he's maybe 31 or 32 now? hopefully he doesn't ever read this....b/c I probably got his age wrong). I think that even if we don't have great turning points in our lives where we feel His closeness, we can learn it through other ways. I know that what my friend was saying is true because I could feel the Spirit so strongly and it was as if I had no peripheral vision for a minute. All I could see was him and hear the truth that he was speaking. I felt so blessed to be in the room at that moment.

On another note, I started reading a book and this quote caught my attention: "People observe the colors of a day only at its beginnings and ends, but to me it's quite clear that a day merges through a multitude of shades and intonations, with each passing moment. A single hour can consist of thousands of different colors. Waxy yellows, cloud-spat blues. Murky darknesses." How interesting that we always talk about sunrises and sunsets, but what about the "in-betweens." The "in-betweens" make up the sunrises and sunsets, don't you think? There could be no sunrise or sunset without that in-between. All the small things make up the great things.

p.s. prize for anyone who guesses the book of the quote

Be Prepared

Since I plan on writing on my blog every day, I don't really have a certain theme in mind. I just want to reflect back upon the day and feelings that I may have felt. Today, I title my topic, "be prepared." An incident occurred today in which I didn't have a diaper for Emma (I know this may sound a little trivial, but hear me out) and I had to leave for an hour, then come back to get her. I had a small prompting in the back of my mind that Emma may need a diaper and wipes, but since I was just driving up the street, I dismissed it and thought, "if there's a real emergency, I will be called and I can be there in 1 minute." Well, she did end up having a messy diaper and a diaper was found for her, but there were no wipes. When I picked her up 45 minutes later, she was crying and had a raw bottom. I felt so bad and put her in the bathtub at home, thinking that would relieve the redness. However, she kept crying and crying and I kept thinking, "if I had only left a diaper and wipes!" Because of my unpreparedness, my daughter was in pain. Although this is a minute incident and Emma was ok after a few hours, I thought, "maybe this is a warning sign for the future when something bigger comes up and I'm not 1 minute away." I need to be prepared to the best of my ability and ALWAYS listen to any promptings, no matter how small. This small experience reminds of a bigger experience in which we need to be prepared to meet our Savior. Because we know not when He will come. What if He comes in 5 days? Will we be prepared to look Him in the eye and tell Him that we've done everything we could to live with Him in the celestial kingdom? I wouldn't be prepared, so I hope that He doesn't come in 5 days, but I need to have this mindset because there will come a day when He does come in 5 days.

Till Death Do Us Part

I went to a wedding yesterday for one of my friends from high school. The wedding was perfect- from the flowers to the readings to the bridesmaids' dresses to the music, except for one thing: the priestess said they would be married "until death do you part." I tried to imagine how I would feel if I was the bride and heard that during the ceremony. I think that I may feel very sad - that I would lose my best friend when I died. I tried to think about feeling the Spirit in the ceremony, but it just wasn't there. There wasn't any animosity in the room (I would hope not during a wedding ceremony), but the overall feeling was one of happiness, yet bitterness. An image of the couple at death was one where the two were floating apart forever and ever and could not come back to each other. Then I imagined what the feelings would be like if the couple was getting married in the temple. How the Spirit and the love of Heavenly Father would be present. I can't describe in words how thankful I am for the blessings and covenants that we receive/make in the temple! Even though the path of my life has taken a different unplanned course during the last few years, I have never been more thankful for the temple and the promises that we can receive if we are faithful!

I even thought it was interesting that a woman was performing the ceremony; however, I did not think it that odd as I was thinking of certain experiences in the temple. I have gained a deeper understanding of the importance of temple work and how I need to be going as often as I can and to make it a priority. Don't we all want to end up with glory sitting next to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ in the celestial kingdom? What greater way to do achieve this than by going to the temple and truly understanding what the true love of Christ means. I hope that I never take these temple blessings for granted (I'm sure that I have and that I do) and that I can always have the desire to attend the temple.