This Is The Year

You know how this time of year is kinda blah?  I may have mentioned it a few (hundred) times. But the truth is, I actually have a lot to be excited about.  When I think about it I really do get giddy.  So I'm going to make a list.  A list to refer back to whenever I'm feeling particularly blah. I am excited.... That I get to meet 4 blogger friends, and reunite with one I have already met, in the upcoming months.  I'll blog more about it as I meet them. To be on the Design Committee for a float for the Days of '47 Parade this summer.  It is one of the oldest and the largest parades in the United States.  People actually camp out overnight to get a seat along the parade route! That our school is opening a new campus this fall.  Being part of the process all over again of starting a school from the ground up is a humbling and rewarding experience. For summer to get here. For the 40th birthday bash I am planning on throwing for hubby th...

Hola friends!  I've got such a treat for you today!  Especially if you love toes! Do feet gross you out?  They totally gross my son out, so I love to put my feet on him.  Also - my bestie told me once she doesn't love me enough to paint my toe nails for me when I'm pregnant and can't reach.  Isn't that just rude?  Feet totally don't gross me out.  I mean, GROSS feet gross me out.  But in general I'm not grossed out if someone happens to have bare feet, and they are near me, or like touching my leg.  My son freaks out if a bare foot touches any part of him. So, MiMi told me about a fun new meme (haha that's funny) called The Nail Files.  I thought I'd link up today, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed (or maybe my toes?), that it's okay to link up toenails too.  <------- That sounded sorta gross.  Like I pictured toe-nail clippings when I said that.  Ew. ANYWAY....I rarely paint my fingernails.  It seems to c...

So last night we went to Pixie's Celebration of Learning.  It's something we do at our school at the end of an expedition, where the students are able to present in a public forum the things which they have been learning about.  The format varies from one celebration to the next. Last night the students sang a couple of songs, and presented as an entire grade.  Then we broke off into groups of 3 students, and the visitors that had come to see them, in what is called writer's cafe, which is a method we use a lot in our school.  How writer's cafe works is each writer stands and reads their piece of writing aloud to their small group of peers.  At the end the peers use little sticky notes to give feedback.  Both positive feedback and suggestions for improving the piece.  For the final writer's cafe, where the students were presenting to parents and other visitors, we were asked to use the feedback sticky notes to give a piece of positive feedback to the...

Hello friends!  It's Tuesday again!  I have a winner to announce, 2 tags to fulfill and I'm linking it all up to my girls Shawn and IA at Talk to Us Tuesday!  They may have second thoughts about this "no rules" thing when I'm through!! First things first.  I need to announce the winner of the MyMemories Suite software giveaway:  Random.org selected SReed!  Congratulations!  Now SReed, there is no contact info on your profile, so I need you to comment here, or email me with an email address for you that I can send all the info to, so you can get your prize.  Sound good?  Please let me know before Friday, or I will have to select another winner. For those who didn't win - you can still get this awesome software at a great discount!  Just go here , and then use this code at checkout for $10 off:  STMMMS392. You'll seriously be glad you did.  Did you see the awesome subway art I made with it?  So go! Next on to the t...

I'm so proud of myself!  Up until now, my version of creating subway art was finding a free download online, printing it up and slapping it in a frame.  Please tell me that is how most of you do it too.  No?  Dang. I don't usually decorate for Valentine's Day.  I always see cute things online, and think that I will.  But then I never seem to get around to it.  This year I have seen a few things that I decided I will for sure do.  And I'm not going to let myself off the hook for it, because I think when I have some fun new elements to my decor, it really lifts my spirits.  And if you read my post from Saturday - you know I kind of have the blahs right now. Yesterday I was looking at my " printables" pin board , and as I looked at the different, cute Valentine's Day subway art printables, I thought, "Hey - I bet I could make this in MyMemories Suite. "  So I decided to give it a try.  Guess what?  I totally did it!!  I ...

It's freaking snowing.  I hoped and wished and prayed for a white Christmas.  I mean our state slogan is "The Greatest Snow on Earth".  With the greatest snow on earth, and some of the country's best skiing - you'd think that Mother Nature should feel obligated  to provide us a white Christmas, right? Nope.  Not her.  She ripped us off for the 2nd year in a row.  Now she decides to dump on us.  Here's my philosophy on snow:  It is fabulous the weeks leading up to Christmas (there's nothing quite so magical), but once the New Year has been rung in - well it's great to have in the mountains, for the skiers, and in order to have an adequate water supply through the summer - but after the holidays, snow in the valley is just a road hazard.  And I'm not a fan of hazards. So it's snowy.  And it's Saturday - but my husband is working all day and night.  So I'm blah.  Besides the dreary weather, I also had to get up at 7:00 a....

I'm not talking about Mexicans.  I'm talking about Utahns.  Although a lot of us are Mexicans.  And a lot of us are funny.  Not me, but still, there are a lot of funny people in my state!  Today I thought I'd share with you some funny crap that has come from my people (Utahns, not Mexicans - necessarily). It's time for the Crash the Super Bowl Doritos ad competition.  Last year 2 finalists came from Utah.  One of them won $1 million.  Now I think the other guys ad was funnier, but the voters spoke.  Tell me what you think: Winner's Ad: Pretty funny.  But not as funny as this one, in my opinion: Bahaha - it STILL makes me laugh!  Guy number 2 has another ad in the top five this year.  I don't think it's nearly as funny - but you can check it out here if you want to decide for yourself. Also, remember Kid History?  You know, where the kids tell the story and the adults act it out?  They are totally my people...

So I was feeling pretty depressed and loser-ish yesterday, about the fact that no one seemed interested in my awesome giveaway , among other things. MiMi tried to console me by trying to convince me it was because of the holiday, and not a reflection on my level of lameness. Hmmmf. I then went downstairs to the dungeon (AKA my unfinished basement) to put something away. MiMi has mentioned how she wishes her craft area weren't in the garage - but it's sorta like having it be in a dungeon. Yep that's where the magic happens at my house. A room in a dungeon with a table and a desk. I looked around my room and saw the disaster it had become. You see, Cowgirl had decided that finished or unfinished, she was done sharing a room with her sisters. After Christmas she moved all her stuff down to a room in the dungeon, we put a bed and dresser down there, and hung some sheets for walls (yes we are white trash extraordinaire), and that is her room. Only it HAD been the roo...

I'm so excited to share my giveaway greatness with you today!  It's gonna be so good! I was contacted by MyMemories.com and given the opportunity to review their fantastic digital scrapbooking software, My Memories Suite .  AND.....I get to give away this awesome product to one of my lucky readers!!  Pretty sweet, eh? Let me start out by saying that I used to scrapbook like crazy.  And it took sooooo much time and effort.  The cutting and gluing and journaling and arranging the layout.  I was always proud of my pages, but each one took so LONG to finish!  As my family grew, my scrapbooking efforts dwindled.  Poor Monkey doesn't even have 1 single page in her scrapbook that is finished!  Bring on the mom guilt. So you can imagine my excitement when I started playing around with MyMemories Suite , and realized that I could scrapbook again and not spend nearly the time I had before, but still end up with beautiful page layouts!  It to...

So, yesterday was pretty much the stupidest day ever.  Just one crappy thing after another, including slipping on the ice with injuries for both my husband and my daughter (Cowgirl).  Oh, and Pixie getting her hand slammed in the door.  I also had a million places to be from right after school, until past 9. The suckiness seemed never-ending.  Plus, I'm pretty sure I just woke up in a bad mood - so the rest just seemed that much worse.  I ended the night feeling like I just needed a good cry.  You know that feeling? But it's Friday.  The weekend starts here, and I'm determined to make it a fun weekend, and kick myself out of this crappy mood.  My guys are going to Scout camp.  Ice fishing.  Should be cold for them.  Nice and warm for the girls and I here at home though!  Hehe.  And maybe Bookworm will bring home some nice trout for dinner tomorrow like he did last year. I also have a bunch of baby bows to make today. ...

In no particular order: 1 - I'm thankful for a warm home to be in.  It was 16 degrees outside this morning when hubby took the kids to school. 2 - I'm thankful for the amazing school my children are able to attend.  I'm not rich or privileged, but thanks to school choice, I am able to choose a public school that fits my children and what I want for them and their education. 3 - I'm thankful to live in this amazing country.  A country where boys and girls have the opportunity to go to school.  Despite all our flaws, this is still the greatest country on earth. (no offense to any of my non-American friends! ) 4 - I'm thankful for a hard-working, dedicated husband.  I forget to tell him sometimes that I know I have it pretty good. 5 - I'm thankful for Maybelline Colossal Volum' Express mascara.  Still the best mascara I've ever used. 6 - I'm thankful for my Savior. 7 - I'm thankful for funny kids.  The other day on the way to pick up ...

Time for another edition of WWTK hosted by Mamarazzi , Queso , and Crazy Mama .  It's fun - you should totally do it! Here are the questions and my answers: {1} What is your most commonly used word or phrase when you are frustrated? I'm not sure if I have a single most common one.  I have a colorful variety of exclamations (not necessarily curse words though) that I use when I'm mad or frustrated!  I'm trying hard to quit swearing.  I mean, my swearing is mild compared to many, but I'm still trying to quit completely.  It's hard though. {2} What random question do you usually get from strangers or casual acquaintances? This is easy - I am always asked how to pronounce my name.  Multiple, multiple times a week.  I addressed that here .  I am then promptly asked where it is from (Armenia), then I am asked if I am Armenian (I'm not). 3} Did you ever correspond by mail with anyone, who? Do you still have the letters? Why yes I...

I'm talking about Swag Bucks .  Have you heard of it?  You probably have.  I'm always late to the game.  If you haven't though - you're missing out on getting free stuff. I actually signed up for Swag Bucks a few years back - but didn't really see the value, and didn't do much with my account. If you aren't familiar with Swag Bucks, it's basically a way to earn free stuff online.  Here's how it works:  You download the Swag Bucks toolbar, and then enjoy the different ways to earn swagbucks while you're online each day.  Swagbucks can be redeemed for all sorts of free crap!  Only it's not all crap! There are several different ways to earn the bucks.  The easiest way is simply by doing what you do online each day anyway.  Search for stuff!  Instead of using google, or whatever other search engine you use, you use the Swag Bucks search engine (which is powered by google, and is a pretty decent search engine), and they randomly ...

It's Monday, it's Monday!  Today I'm linking up with the awesome and fabulous Kenlie for Friend Makin' Monday ! This week's questions are some I have answered before but some new ones too, so bear with me!  Or skim.  Or completely choose not to read this post.  I'm a big girl, I can handle it. Here we go! 1)  What is one of your favorite ways to spend a Saturday? I usually spend my Saturdays going to a sports game for one of my kids.  I have a son who plays basketball, and a daughter who plays soccer.  Since I love sports, and I adore my kids, this is definitely a win-win.  Even when we lose.  Hehe.  So going to games is definitely a favorite way to spend my Saturday. 2)  List your top three favorite TV shows. Top 3 favorite TV shows would have to be 1) NCIS - I haven't missed a single episode in it's entire 9 season run.  Wow, that makes me sound sorta pathetic.  2) Blue Bloods.  I am a huge Tom Sellec...

Je parle un petit français.  Très petit. I had my first French lesson as an adult today!  I took French in Middle School for one year.  I loved it - sort of.  I loved the language, but the class could be somewhat tedious.  I remember very little from that 8th grade French class.  But I was surprised today at some of the stuff that came back to me from all those years ago. I have a sweet friend in my ward who speaks French.  She served a mission for our church in France, and has been a HS French teacher.  She recently retired, and it is perfect, because I would really like to learn to speak French again, and better, and she needs someone to teach!  Voila! I have a love/hate relationship with all things French.  I think the language is absolutely beautiful.  That's why I chose French as my foreign language class all those years ago.  Living in Utah, and being half Mexican, Spanish would probably have been the more logical c...

I've been a somewhat inconsistent blogger the past couple of years, and I realize that some of the friends/readers I have now are not the same people who were around when I first started blogging. Sometimes I start reading a new blog, and they will be talking about kids or family members who I'm not familiar with, but it is apparent that the other regular readers are, because they've been around for awhile.  So I thought it would be a good idea to re-introduce our family to you, you know just in case you've ever read a post and wondered who the heck I was talking about - or maybe you don't care - but I want to talk about my kids today - so this is what you get! I, of course, am Xazmin.  I'm 35 (yes, I am now closer to 40 than 30!), and I am married to Hubby (39 - way closer to 40 than me!).  We've been married for 16 years, despite what it says in my outdated profile over there.  We own a small carpet cleaning business, and I am a stay at home mom. Hubby ...

It's been a while since I've linked up to WWTK Wednesday - but I've read many of your posts over the weeks, even if I haven't always commented, and haven't linked up. But I'm playin' today!! So here are the questions from the fabulous  Mamarazzi : {1} What do you love about blogging? I love the friends I've made.  I love the inspiration and ideas I get for various, projects, crafts, organization, etc. from other, more clever bloggers.  I love the journal aspect of it, because I believe in journaling - I've just always been really bad at it.  Writing a blog seems to make it a little bit easier. {2} What is your favorite scent of candle/air freshener? I have a hard time with perfumed things.  Perfume gives me a headache.  However I do like the Scentsy-style candle warmers.  The right fragrances are something that makes me happy when I walk in the door!  I'm too cheap to buy Scentsy however, so I use the knock-off stuff from Walmart. ...