If you don't like soccer...well you should.

Today for 27 Days of Thankful day #23 I am thankful for a Major League Soccer Championship! Woo Hoo! Yup my ReAL boys pulled off a 5-4 victory in a shoot-out following a 1-1 tie after overtime. If you're new here...I love me some ReAL soccer. I love going to the games, and I am so proud of our team!

This victory was over the star-studded Los Angeles Galaxy - yeah those guys who boast David Beckham on their team. We were not expected to take the championship...doesn't that make it all the more sweet?

I'll keep it brief since I know not everyone adores soccer as I do...just thought I'd leave you with a little eye-candy. And one parting thought...Chris Wingert is way hotter than David Beckham!

27 Days of Thankful #21 and #22

Boy do I have a lot to be thankful for today.

First for old friends and new. I recently got back in touch with "M" - he was my best friend for 3 years of Hell High School. Before now I hadn't seen him for almost 11 years...he came to my wedding, then he went on his mission. I saw him one more time after he returned home, he stopped by to visit and see our new baby. And then we sorta lost touch. Until now....AND I got a new friend out of it.

We went to M's home for dinner last night...and I got to meet his fabulous wife...she's "M" too! They're M&M...I can't believe I didn't say that to them last night! Anyway...M (her) and I really hit it off. We're kinda the same person. We have very similar views on so many things from how High School was stupid and people who want to go back are crazy...to our slightly psycho/paranoid approach to motherhood! Their 2 children are the same ages as our 2 youngest and they absolutely had a ball together! Oh and Hubby and M (him) got along great too. I am so thankful for an old friendship rekindled and a new friendship found!

Now for the news that I'm thrilled to share. Thank you all for your kind words, and your prayers for my friends K and S. I'm so happy to tell you all that S was released from the hospital yesterday. She still has a long road ahead of her to full recovery - but she gets to be home, where she belongs, with her husband and her babies. She is being treated for bacterial pneumonia right now, but she is able to walk with the assistance of a walker. I chatted with K on her last night in the hospital. He seemed so tired and worried. He didn't know she would be coming home the next day. His FB post that next morning was so overjoyed and relieved...even though I was home alone...it put a HUGE smile on my face. Today I am so thankful for the power of prayer. For I know that it was through the many prayers of people who know and love them, as well as people who had only heard about their situation, that S was able to make such an improvement.

Like I said. I have a lot to be thankful for today. Please head over to my friend Amanda's to experience more gratitude!

Guess. What. I'm. LISTENING TO?

Remember way back here when I had my best 80's rock band poll? And who won by a landslide?

That's right ladies....BON JOVI! I. love. Bon. Jovi. Like, love love LOVE Bon Jovi. I have every single album. Including the new one, Circle. Just downloaded it today.

Now I'm listenin' to it. Now I'm lovin' it.

Today I'm thankful that Bon Jovi is still making music. Love me some Jon Bon Jovi!

Head over to Amanda's for 27 Days of Thankful! Today is day #20!

Today my heart hurts....

I got some news last night that has really weighed heavily on my heart.

You see, there's this boy I've known since I was little. We'll call him "K". He was in my ward most of my life growing up, and was really good friends with my brother. He was my friend as well. Well I still consider him a friend. Our families were close. His parents and my parents were friends, we (the kids) were all friends, and although we've all gone different directions over the years since graduation, we're still in touch through FB, or my brother, who is still close with K.

K married a girl who also grew up with us. We'll call her "S". I didn't know her really, but I knew who she was because my brother had the biggest crush on her in elementary school! I have gotten to know her more since she married K and think she is one of the sweetest people I've ever met.

Last night I learned that S is in the ICU. The doctors believe she has Guillian Barres Syndrome caused by the H1N1 vaccine. I found this out through a post on her FB status made by her sister. I immediately called my brother. He informed me that he had been on the phone with K, and that S had her legs go numb and now she's got pain throughout her entire body. K and S just had a little baby not too long ago. K also just barely had hip surgery himself.

After I hung up the phone, I googled Guillian Barres Syndrome. I was horrified by what I read. You can look it up yourself if you want all the details. But basically the numbness that starts in the legs progresses through the body. In the most severe cases complete paralysis can occur. This leads to other complications such as lack of lung function and other vital operations. These complications are treated as they occur.

The relief is that almost everyone recovers from this condition, even in the most severe cases. But the recovery is long and hard. The symptoms progress until about 2 or 3 weeks in, when the person will be at their weakest. Then they remain in the condition of weakness from weeks, to months, to years (in the worst cases) before their body begins to recover. This is very emotionally and psychologically painful for the person. Thinking of this dear, sweet wife and mother in this condition just truly makes me ill.

I have seen people deal with hardships. I have watched people I love suffer and pass away from illness. I know Heavenly Father's great plan of happiness and it has always brought me comfort in times of sadness. But for some reason this situation has really hit me hard. Harder than anything has in a long time. Last night as I processed this information, and thought about my friend K and his beautiful wife, I just cried. Everyone else was asleep, and I just sat in front of my computer and cried. I am still sad today.

I checked in with S on her FB status today, and learned that she is not doing too well. She had a bronchoscopy today because the doctor was worried about how the CT scan looked on her lung. They suspect pneumonia, but believe there might be something more. S posted this information herself, and added that she was scared. And that she missed her babies. And that she's afraid her new baby will forget her. Again came my tears. I hurt for her, I hurt for her husband, and I hurt for his family whom I love so much. Also for her family whom I don't know at all. My heart just hurts for them all.

Today I am thankful for the health of my husband and children. But it is with a heavy heart, as I know this is not a blessing that everyone shares at this time.

First Graders and Dance.

Ack! I missed yesterday! And today is almost over! Today for 27 days of Thankful #17 and #18, I am thankful for first graders and dance.

Today I had the great pleasure of chaperoning Pixie's 1st grade class as they went downtown to watch the Reportory Dance Theater (RDT). RDT was founded in 1966 as a fully professional modern dance company. "It is the oldest and most successful company of it's kind, a living museum representing 100 years of dance history, preserving the largest and most significant collection of American Dance in the world." (rdtutah.org) I remember RDT coming to perform at my high school when I was a sophomore!

Needless to say, it was such a treat to take the kids. I arrived at the school, got my group of students assigned to me, and as they all gathered around me, one of them said to me "You look pretty". It totally made my day!

Then off to the theater we headed. The show was fabulous, and was created for children, so it was very age appropriate and fun, and quirky and amusing. Oh how it made me want to dance again!

After the show the dancers posed for a group shot with all the students! They were great, and so adorable with the kids. The 5 little girls in my group just sat entranced the entire time! Oh wait, maybe that was me too!


What are you thankful for today? Head over to my friend Amanda's to link up!

Bah, Humbug!

Hubby and I spent the evening attending the school musical. It was Bookworm's musical theatre debut! The production was Bah, Humbug! Scrooge's Christmas Carol. It was fabulous. It was a modern take on the story...Scrooge was a girl...a modern day working woman! It takes place in Salt Lake City....when the Ghost of Christmas Past takes Scrooge back to her younger days - it's the 80's! It is too cute.

I seriously got choked up multiple times during the performance. Not just with pride over my boy, but really the whole cast. These are kids from 11-14 years old...just babies! Yet here they were, in a professional theatre downtown (yeah this was NOT in any school gymnasium baby!), singing, and dancing, and acting their little hearts out in front of a theatre full of people.

Today, day #16 of 27 Days of Thankful, I am so thankful for for the director (also our school's Discovery co-coordinator), her sister the co-director (and former music teacher at our school), and all the adults who helped put on the show.

I am so grateful for people who truly care about helping children discover and foster their talents. And these ladies truly do. They wouldn't have put so much time and effort off the clock into making this show a reality if it wasn't important to them.

I NEVER thought I'd see the day when my son would be interested in musical theatre. I mean I can't even get him to sing in the church choir with his dad and sister! But he has learned so much and come so far over these past months and it is thanks to them that he has discovered this new interest. And he told me tonight that the practices weren't that fun, but onstage in front of an audience was a blast!

So thankyou so much Mrs. L and Mrs. B, thank you for caring so much about our children.

Here's Bookworm after the show, posing with the candybar bouquet I made for him. I thought he'd appreciate it a little more than flowers!

Yeah...I have a posse now...

And we hang at the Disco In.

For 27 days of thankful, #14 I am thankful for the Self Employed Wives' Club. Oh, what? You haven't heard of us? Well then boy are you missing out!

The Self Employed Wives' Club was born when Nancy and Heidi and I really started getting to know one another (we've known each other for years, but just recently became close). We really "get" each other. Nancy and Heidi live just up the street from me...they too are married to men who own and operate their own businesses, and we have really bonded over sharing our woeful tales of the stress of self-employment. Plus they're totally hilarious. Kristy is also one of the gang, though she is not a self-employed wife...we just love her! And she has our kind of sense of humor! So we have adopted her into our club.

Left to right: Nancy, yours truly, Heidi, Kristy.

Last night we had a little "outing on the cheap". We headed to McDonalds for a cheap dinner (when we went outside to take this pic, Heidi spotted the Disco(very) In), then headed to the dollar theatre to see "Love Happens". Yeah the movie wasn't too impressive...but we were fabulous. We were hilarious...you can jus ask us.

Before heading to the theatre, we stopped off at Target for a few. We're not sure where Heidi and Kristy disappeared to, but they missed out on posing for a pic with sparkly Santa hats.

On the way home we got to laughing so hard that I could hardly see the road to drive through my tears. I'm so grateful to have such a fabulous ward. These ladies are just a few of the amazing friends I have around me...we have the best neighborhood on earth. Truly.

Now for #15. Today I am so very grateful to be a mother. I don't appreciate it nearly enough. I started re-reading one of my favorite books after church today. It's called I Am A Mother by Jane Clayson Johnson. Yes of Good Morning America. It is a wonderful book. It's Janes story - the story of a successful woman on the brink of even greater success who walked away from it all to raise a family. It talks about the divinity, the sacredness, the power of motherhood. I love every word of it. It helps me remember that what I am doing is more important than any other single thing I could be doing with my life.

More often than not my kids can be heard fighting, yelling, or tattling on each other. But every once in a while I catch a moment like this:

Wanna get in on the gratitude? Head over to Amanda's and check it out!