I {heart} Christmas Music

My question with this post is to find out what kind of Christmas music you like. I love Christmas Music. I dont listen to it year round, but I do love it when Christmas is near. I am so darn excited for Christmas . I have had a great year and hope you did too, my dear reader. Please enjoy the music videos that I have posted below. Listen to your favorites, dont listen to ones that you won't love. But PLEASE vote on the poll to the left you can vote for 2.

MERRY CHRISTMAS FRIENDS.

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I want to express my appreciation for my country today since it is Veterans day. I am so proud to be American. I am thankful to live in a free country where I can worship how I choose, educate myself, and have the ability to vote. The are such a privilege, and many people around the world do not share these same privileges. How thankful I am for my freedom and my rights.

I remember going to Freedom Friday when I was in first grade. I don't remember why we had it but I remember one of my friends dads was in the military and during the program we ( the kids of the school district) sang patriotic songs. This song

"I'm proud to be an American" is one of the songs that we sang and I always think of that day when I hear it. I wish I had the video of that day to share with you.

I am grateful for the men and women who sacrifice so much, even their own lives, so that we can have these freedoms.

REMEMBER FREEDOM ISNT FREE!

Did you notice that more than one of those cities with crazy names are from the Great Uintah Basin? Enjoy!

Tribute to Utah

Several of these cities are in the great Uintah Basin.

wendy I did it!

I had wondered how to arrange multiple pictures together and then to post them to a blog or facebook and my cousin told me how to do it but until today I had not tried. I used Microsoft Publisher and uploaded images of the baby elephant and then selected them all (using control and click )then right clicked and selected save as Picture. This saves them all together. Here is a sampling.

To get the purple edge around it I just inserted a rectangle and made it purple and then put it behind the pictures. Clicked them all (as above) and then saved as picture. :)

October 4th

Yesterday was my dad's birthday. I was home watching conference with no internet, so this is delayed a day. I was not very happy to not be able to go home to spend the day with him but I did call to wish him a happy birthday. I seriously have the best dad ever. I hope he knows how much I love him. He is so great. If you want to read more about what i think of my wonderful dad you can read an earlier post by clicking here.

Here are some of his absolutely admirable qualities: he is a great teacher, he is funny and tells great jokes, he is honest, he is a good fisherman and hard working, he is giving, he is kind, he is silly. I love you dad! I missed seeing you on your birthday. Hope you had a great day! Here is a picture of my dad doing what he likes best - fishing :) well atleast he is in the boat getting ready to fish!

Yesterday was also my nephew Peyton's birthday. He turned 4 years old! He is such the cutest boy! I love him because: he is funny, he is so adorably cute, he is so smart, he is very handsome. He is a great boy! I think he will be an amazing missionary. Peyton I love you buddy! Here is a picture of him with my brother Preston.

Wordless Wednesday

Thoughtful Thursday er Friday

My thoughtful Thursday post ended up on my quotes blog. Check it out here. Please read it!

Wordless Wednesday

Thoughtful Thursday

Since yesterday was Wordless Wednesday today has to be Thoughtful Thursday, right? I have had lots of random thoughts going on in this brain of mine today but one of them has been about change. I hate change!

I could just tell you about all of the changes that have happened / will be happing / hope to have happen but that would totally bore you. Instead I decided to share with you a few quotes about change. Speaking of quotes I started a new blog dedicated solely to just quotes. Please check it out here - http://karensfavoritequotes.blogspot.com/

I believe that we have all heard the quote by François de la Rochefoucauld who said
“The only thing constant in life is change.” But there are several other quote that maybe you have not heard.

“If there is no struggle, there is no progress.”
Fredrick Douglass

“If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude.”
Maya Angelou

“If we don't change, we don't grow. If we don't grow, we aren't really living.”
Gail Sheehyc

And finally one of my favorites out of those that I read that is by C.S. Lewis who I absolutely love. I love this quote for many reasons but mostly because it shows that there is a choice. You can choose to be A or B. Where your life is at right now, it can change. I met many people as a missionary and so many of them did not think that change was A) Possible and B) Worth it. Change is possible and positive changes are always worth it! Now for the quote –

“It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad.”
C.S. Lewis

Just one last quote (I told you I like quotes) from President Thomas S. Monson, the prophet. He said this at last general conference.
“I begin by mentioning one of the most inevitable aspects of our lives here upon the earth, and that is change. At one time or another we’ve all heard some form of the familiar adage: “Nothing is as constant as change.” Throughout our lives, we must deal with change. Some changes are welcome, some are not. There are changes in our lives which are sudden, such as the unexpected passing of a loved one, an unforeseen illness, the loss of a possession we treasure. But most of the changes take place subtly and slowly.”

I love how President Monson says that most changes take place slowly, hmmm, interesting. I think back and I would have to say that I agree. I think that this is true of my life and the changes that have happened to make me into the person that I am. I am thankful for those changes and look forward to more positive changes. It is OK with me if the not-so-positive changes stay away, just kidding (kinda)

Wordless Wednesday

I love the Zoo!

My mon being the excellent mon that she is bought a seasons pass "Grandma Pass" to the zoo this year. I had not been during the summer so we decided to go on Labor Day weekend. My brother Sterling and his family met my mom and dad at the Utah Hogle Zoo. My nephews Miles, Parker, and Jonah came along for the fun.



Sorry that my pictures are out of order - I wish blogging were more like Microsoft Word... oh well. We went on the train at the end of our trip. It was super fun, and super fast. We did see a few cool animals though.

Miles and Parker had to have their picture taken by the Gorilla.

Miles getting an Icee - that cost $5.00 and was gone in minutes... what a rip off, but we were so thirtsy becuase it was SO hot. The bad thing was that a refill was $2.50. Should have bought just one and drank it, refilled it, and so on. :)

The darn gorilla kept hiding from us. Other people would say oh he is back and then he would run away. I wonder what those animals think sometimes. :)

I am happy to report that my hand is not bigger than a gorillas. haha

Parker is the size of the Juvenile Gorilla. Miles is the size of an adult female gorilla. Karen is the size of the adult male gorilla. I had to get my picture taken by this becuase I do it every year. Don't make fun of how stupid I look.

THE CAROUSEL was one of my favorite parts of the zoo. We were the second group waiting in line and I was talking about how I wanted to get the elephant. My mom heard these teenage girls behind us saying that they were going to run as fast as they could to get the elephant. Well I was in front of them and ... needless to say I got to the elephant first {without even pushing anybody over like Sterling told me not to do} and enjoyed the ride. I love carousels! I collected them. I love them.

Now back to our zoo day {sorry that everything is out of order GRRRH!}

Here are some of the fun funky animals at the zoo - Tina the Turtle (who was very large and cute) Sammy the Snow Leopard (who was also hiding, it was a hot day I do not blame him to want to be in the shade) Molly the Monkey (Kinda looks like she is sticking her tounge out at you!) And of course Casey the Camel (Who looks so very uncomfortable, but such is the life of a camel) What do you think is the weirdest looking animal? I think that camels are very weird/different/kinda cute in a weird way animal.

Jonah decided not to smile but he really was happy Did I tell you it was hot? It was. Nice picture huh. haha

Giraffes!

Here is a cute little baby giraffe. Babies are so cute, even at the zoo. Abby loved the giraffes. She kept turning around to look at them. We watched the zookeeper feed the giraffes some food. WARNING: THE GIRAFFE HOUSE STINKS! They are cute {kinda weird looking} but man does their house stink! ;)

Zebras

another animal that all we saw was their bums. Here is my Mon with my nephews. oh the kid to the left is not my nephew, sorry.

here is a picture fo Abby and the cute little monkey. SO cute! Abby is such a cute girl!

What would a trip to the zoo be without a picture of the kiddos with the Lion drinking fountain. {I never realized as kid that there are two of these, I think I saw two Anywho}

Miles {silly smile} and the turkey. I hope you are on my plate at Thanksgiving Mr. Turkey.

Now... I must write the sad story of the elephant at the zoo. Can I first tell you a few things.

1. I LOVE ELPHANTS!

2. I went to the zoo mainly to see the baby elephant that was born a few weeks ago.

3. My idea of a perfect zoo is a place with tosn of elephants! I would be perfectly happy with seeing elephants, and only elephants. I had planned on spending hours looking at and talking to the wonderful animal.

4. I LOVE ELPHANTS

Well I totally thought that the baby {no name yet but you can vote on it until Sunday} would be out for me to see but I was very saddened when I found out that both baby and mom were still not out. :( Of course they have to make their debute but I wanted it to be when I was there SO SAD! Anyways, we got to see one elephant. She is super cute and we did get to see her but she had her bum facing us, which is cute but I wanted to see her face too. I am sure she was just as sad as me :( funny.

The group picture! Yeah Marx Family!

Hope that you enjoyed a relaxing Labor Day.

Childhood Cancer Awareness Month

Every year, about 12,400 children and teens under the age of 20 are diagnosed with cancer - that is one in every 330 children. The average age of diagnosis is 5. Although cure rates are steadily increasing, 35% of children will die from a diagnosis of cancer.

Cancer remains the number one disease killer of children; more than genetic anomalies, cystic fibrosis, and AIDS combined.

This month is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month! I did not know this until I read this blog
http://littlewonders-heather.blogspot.com/ (which by the way I love) You just have to go and read about this family's fight. I was especially impressed with her words about childhood cancer. PLEASE CLICK ON THE LINK AND READ THE POST!


If you know me very well at all you know that I am CANCER SURVIVOR! I was diagnosed with brain cancer when I was 10. I am so happy to be a survivor but can I tell you that not a day goes by that I do not think about cancer. Everytime I take my medicine (not every day mon, I will be better), everytime I see a bald child, everytime I hear the word "cancer" I think about my struggle with cancer. I am so grateful to be a survivor. I am thankful to the people, namely my family, which includes grandmas and grandpas, aunts and uncles, cousins, siblings, and my wonderful parents who assisted me down my "cancer chapter" of my life.

I am feeling much like Zoey's mother who wants to make a difference! I wish I knew the best way to do that I would love to volunteer and help kids going through cancer, work at a cancer facility, or something cool like that. This year I donated some $$$ to the Children’s Miracle Network Telethon but it does not seem like enough. I need to think of a great idea of something to do to help. If you have any ideas please let me know. :) I know that there are children suffering as I did, many who lose their very lives to this fight. Please stand with me and make a difference! :)

Because we have all been touched by cancer - if not personally then through family or friends here is a reminder of

What Cancer Cannot Do

by: Unknown

Cancer is so limited...

It cannot cripple love.

It cannot shatter hope.

It cannot corrode faith.

It cannot eat away peace.

It cannot destroy confidence.

It cannot kill friendship.

It cannot shut out memories.

It cannot silence courage.

It cannot reduce eternal life.

It cannot quench the Spirit.

BECAUSE KIDS CAN'T FIGHT CANCER ALONE!

I thought these 2 videos were great if you have a minute - watch them :)

Shoe Drama

I have been wanting to get some brown work shoes for quite a while. Can I tell you about my shoe drama? Oh thanks! I HATE shopping for shoes. I wear a size 12 Wide sheos. Let me tell you that I love shoes, but because I have big feet I do not enjoy shopping for shoes. If you do not have Wide feet I doubt that you understand the frustration that comes with having wide feet. It is so much harder to find shoes. There are many shoe stores that do not have any wide shoes with is a huge bummer. Another frustration with shoe shopping is that I am 5'11". I do not need 2 inch heels - they hurt. I usually try to wear flats because they are more comfortable and if I wear heels people ask me "are you trying to make yourself taller?" I HATE IT! I usually respond with something like "No, just trying to find shoes that fit my big fat feet!"

I see cute shoes in the store that look like this in size 7 8 9 10 11 but when you get to size 12 the shoes are huge!

[ Sorry I did not take time to crop the picture! I was lazy. ]

I usually shop for shoes at Payless but lately I had not been having luck. I looked online and saw cute things like this:



Each of these shoes is about $26.00, which is a great price for shoes. I like shopping online with Payless because they ship them to the store for free, and you can return anything that once you try on and you do not like. The only problem with this is the waiting.

So here is my story - I tried to order these three pair of shoes in my size to have them shipped to my local friendly Payless Shoe Source Store. I got an e-mail the next day saying that my order had an error and I would have to replace the order. I was so mad!

When I placed the order I threw away my old brown shoes, which were cute in their day but had been way overworn and smelt... badly. So during this time I was wearing brown skirts and black shoes - a big no no, right? Don't even try to tell me that it is okay to wear brown and black together.

Anyways -the story continues - I went to Provo last weekend to meet up with my Mon and we went shoe shopping for her. She needed some cute little size 10 shoes to wear to school. We went to the mall and had no luck so we arrived at the Sister Missionary Mall in search of shoes. We walked in the door and there was a shoe display of Propet shoes that were on Sale for $20 My Mon started looking through the shoes and found a few pairs (3) that worked for what she was wanting. My sister Melissa was also with us and she looked for shoes in her little size 9 - and there were no size 9 that worked. HAHA! {Love you sister but I thought that was funny.} Here is the good part - keep reading - On this table display there was one pair of size 12 shoes and they were brown! I tried them on, they fit, we fell in love and now I have a pair of brown work shoes. I WAS SO HAPPY!

I am glad that my order did not go trough with Payless becuase now I have a pair of brown, beautiful shoes for only $20 - well Mon bought them for me so they were free but I will pay her back. :)

If the shoe fits, it must be a size 12 wide.