My Week

Here's what I've been up to over the last week:

• Took pictures of some of the things in our house from the list that I posted here

The Welcome mat at our Front Door

The "Headboard" Curtains that I made
for our bedroom

Bedside table redo to match
the new headboard

with red on the inside!

Toilet Paper Roll Art  

for our bedroom wall

 Sorry about the terrible pictures of it.  You can't really tell, but it is painted a dark purple, to tie in with the curtains.

• Started the Couch 2 5K program (again) using this program.  Completed Day 1 and 2 of Week 1.  (missed Day 3...oops!)
  
  
  
  
• Went to a couple Deep Water Jog classes at the pool.  Love it!

• Created a General Conference Jeopardy game for a Young Woman's activity.  You can download the questions and answers here and the power point here

• Watched "Survivor."  We are in a pool with some of Nathan's co-workers.  We have Jenna and Cochran.  Jenna was a Fan that was voted off a few weeks ago.  Cochran is a our Favorite who is still going strong!  

  

  Cochran wins Immunity!  Loved his celebration dance!

• Worked at Sylvan Learning Center

• Continued reading Jane Austin's "Emma" on my Kobo Reader

• Made a trip to Calgary to see my cousins new baby.  I also made an "I Am a Child of God" print for the little guy.  Check out this post to see what I'm talking about!  

• Attended "Time Out For Woman" here in Lethbridge.  It was a great weekend.  Lots of uplifting and enlightening speakers and some amazing musical talent!  Also great company.  Got to hang out with my Mom, Sister and an Aunt.  I also saw many old friends that I haven't seen in a long time.

• Played Rook with some friends

• Attended Church.  If you are interested in what I believe, check out this post and these websites: mormon.org and lds.org

• Ate a great dinner with friends, and relearned how to play Chinese Checkers (which I won, by the way!)

• Watched some "24" aka "Bauer Hour" on Netflix.  We are almost done season 3.

And just for fun, here's the view from my front door this morning!

So glad it's Spring!

What did you do this week?

I'm Back!

So I'm ready to try blogging again, but with no guarantee of super regular posts.  Baby steps. Baby steps.

First off, I've been MIA for the last year because I had a temporary teaching contract.  It wasn't quite full-time, but when you are teaching subjects for the first time (Math 7, Science 8, Science 10, Physics 20, Physics 30) especially when they are not your major, it becomes more than full-time!  And then add the hour commute each way! It kept me crazy busy!  Just ask my husband!  For a while there, I actually ended up mostly moving in with my parents (to cut down on the commute) and only came home one night a week, plus the weekends.  Looking back now, I wonder how we ever did it.  I never want to go back to only seeing Nathan on the weekends.  But over all, the whole thing was a great experience and I learned and grew so much as a teacher.  

Now that I'm not teaching full-time, I have way more time, but I'm finding that I'm not always good with using it wisely.  I hope that as I try to regularly blog again, I may be more motivated to be more productive, giving me something to blog about!  

In this post, I mentioned things we need for our house.  Looking back I'm actually quite impressed with how many of those things can be crossed off!  (And I should hope so, considering how long ago that was.)

• A welcome mat for our doorstep
• A mat for our shoes in the entry
• A garbage can for the main floor half bath
• An ironing board
• A sofa table for the living room
• End tables to match the sofa table for the living room
• Drawer shelves for the kitchen
• A headboard for our bedroom
• Possibly curtains for the living room and our bedroom

And here are some things that have since been added to (and crossed off) that list:

• Clock wall
• Redo bedside tables
• Coat rack
• Toilet paper roll art
• Vinyl wall quote for kitchen
• Develop basement

Over the next few days I'll share pictures of those things that have been crossed off.  

I also will share other things that I have accomplished, or hope to accomplish with you.  And, because I know I left you hanging on the 30 Day Getting To Know You Challenge, I'll toss in some more of those posts.  

Stay tuned!  You will definitely be hearing from me again soon!

I Don't Think it's Funny

Hey there!
We had a wonderful holiday, mostly because we were able to spend so much time with lots of family!
I am really excited about the New Year and looking forward to what 2012 will bring for us!

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In case you want to catch up: day 1, day 2, day 3, day 4, day 5, day 6, day 7, day 8, day 9, day 10, day 11/day 12, day 13, day 14

Day Fifteen: Five Funny Fears

So I've had lots of time to think about this, but I couldn't come up with five.

So here are Three Funny Fears, in no particular order:

1. Walking in Front of Shopping Carts.  I have a fear of my feet getting hit/run over by the shopping cart!  I make a conscious effort to walk beside or way ahead of a shopping cart if I'm not the one pushing it.

2. Passing People while Walking on the Sidewalk Alone.  I always get a little nervous when I'm walking alone and come across other people walking.  Especially when I walk to my car at night after work.  I always make sure to look down the sidewalk both ways, and as soon as I get in my car I lock the doors.

3. Showering When I'm the Only One Home.  I feel very vulnerable in the shower or bath tub when I'm the only one home.  I try to remember to make sure the house is locked before I shower.  Weird, I know!

There.  Now you know a few of my crazy fears.  Do you have any?  Or am I the only one?

Where in the World?

Click to Learn More About This Challenge

In case you want to catch up: day 1, day 2, day 3, day 4, day 5, day 6, day 7, day 8, day 9, day 10, day 11/day 12, day 13

It's Day Fourteen: A Vacation You Would Like to Take

Oh goodness!  There are so many places I'd love to go!
A dream destination for me is the trip that I almost went on in high school (it was cancelled weeks before we were to go). I've always wanted to see London, England!  Not sure why, exactly, but it's always been at the top of my list!

I want to see Big Ben

Click for Source File

I want to see the Changing of the Guard

Click for the Source File

I want to see Platform 9 3/4 at King's Cross Station

Click for Source File

And the list goes on and on!

That being said, I don't see a trip to London in the near future :(
But there are other places I'd love to go to that are more likely.

We are hoping to visit family on the East Coast sometime next year:

New York City

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Boston

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I'd love to go back to Orlando!

And any Cruise would be okay with me!

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What is your dream vacation?

Does That Make Me Strange?

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In case you want to catch up: day 1, day 2, day 3, day 4, day 5, day 6, day 7, day 8, day 9, day 10, day 11/day 12

Day Thirteen: Five Strange Facts About You

With some help from my husband, sister and my best friend, here are 5 strange things about me, in no particular order.

1. I'd like to give a shout out to my Mom for this one!  I have 5 capital letters in my first, middle and last names - JaCobi D-Ann Smigel.  This is definitely not normal, but I love it!

2. I don't like peanut butter in anything!  Peanut butter and jam sandwiches, Peanut butter cookies, Reese's peanut butter cups, peanut butter fudge - don't like any of it!  Now you may think that is strange in and of itself, but the strange part, is that sometimes I find myself taking a spoon to the peanut butter jar!  And I thoroughly enjoy it straight from the jar!  Just not in or with anything else!  Strange . . . I know!

3. Belching makes me want to vomit!  Hearing other people burp and belch honestly gives me a queasy, sick feeling in my stomach. Probably my biggest pet peeve!  And I guess it makes me a bit strange too.

4. Another thing that makes me sick is waiting for trains.  Now I don't mean standing there, waiting for the train to come, but more like sitting in my car, stopped at the train tracks, waiting for the train to go by.  I actually have to close my eyes or look away, because watching the train going by so fast makes me sick! Now that I think about it, I get the same feeling in automatic car washes.  There was one time that I actually sat on the sidewalk while my mom drove through the car wash!

5.  Elevators also make me feel weird.  It's less that they make me sick to my stomach, but they mess with my mind.  It always takes a few minutes after being on an elevator (no matter how long I was on it for) to feel normal again.  

What is strange about you?

Skip, Skip, Skip to my Lou!

Ok, so I know I should be done this crazy 30 day getting to know you challenge by now, but I'm not even half done because I'm such a slacker.  So I've decided to skip some days and just share the ones I want.  And I might even do more than one each post to get through it quicker.

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In case you want to catch up: day 1, day 2, day 3, day 4, day 5, day 6, day 7, day 8, day 9, day 10

Day Eleven: A Photo Taken of You Recently - SKIPPED!

I was looking through my iPhoto library and the most recent picture was from about 4 months ago and it was a bad one, so I have no desire to share it and am therefore Skipping day 11!

Day Twelve: A Song You Played At Your Wedding

This one is easy!  At least I thought it was going to be until I searched YouTube for our Wedding "First Dance" Song and it wasn't there!  So I decided to make my own YouTube video of our song!  Here's "JALS" by Colors

But I can't just stop there, because I have to include OUR song.  Here's "Love Story" by Taylor Swift

What songs did you play at your wedding?

Taking a Break for some Scrappy Goodness!

I have something that I really want to share with you!  Which means I'll be back with the 30 Day Getting To Know You Challenge next time.  For now I want to share some digital scrapbooking goodness with you!

Hanging in my sister-in-law's room is a super cute cross stich, which was the inspiration for this project.  Nathan actually pointed it out to me and said "You could make something like that on the computer!"  So I did!  I made a few for friends and family as baby gifts.  I didn't want to actually share the information for each child that I made them for though, so I just put in what info goes where.  I hope you get the drift!

Each picture is then just printed off as an 8x10 (some are 11x14) photo print and framed.  Each of these were made with the particular child and nursery decor in mind.  I love how individual they are!

I think this is such a beautiful addition to a child's room, and a great reminder about who they really are!

Day Ten - Blast From the Past

It's day ten of my 30 Day Getting To Know You Challenge

Click to Learn More!

Day Ten: A Photo of You Taken Over Ten Years Ago

Oh my goodness!  I'm so stinkin' cute!!

Catch up by checking out my previous posts:

• Day 1
• Day 2
• Day 3
• Day 4
• Day 5
• Day 6
• Day 7
• Day 8
• Day 9

Day Nine - Worth A Thousand Words

Wow!  I'm actually posting two days in a row!  I'm so on task!

Click to Learn More About this Challenge

Day Nine: A Photo You Have Taken

Short and sweet today!  Here's one of the many pictures I took of the fireworks behind Cinderella's Castle at Disney World on our Honeymoon.

This is one of the best ones I took that night.  That doesn't say much for my photography skills, I know!

Catch up by checking out:

• Day 1
• Day 2
• Day 3
• Day 4
• Day 5
• Day 6
• Day 7
• Day 8

Day Eight...Because I Knew You

So I'm only a little behind.  Here's my problem: I've known for a week that I should write this post, but I've been stumped.  I thought this 30 day challenge was supposed to make blogging easier!  This is a tough one, and I've been procrastinating it like crazy.

But here I am, ready for Day Eight: A Thank You Letter to Someone Who Has Changed Your Life

Click to find out what I'm talking about!

One of the biggest challenges was deciding who to write my thank you letter to.  There are so many people that have made an impact on my life.  And maybe one day thank you letters will be written to each of them, but today I have decided to focus on my Wonderful Mother!

Dear Mom,

Thank you so much for all you have taught me, through your words and actions

You have taught me how to serve others without thinking about myself

You have taught me what it means to be a true friend

You have taught me how to be creative and crafty

You have taught me the importance of family relationships and how important sisters are

You have taught me that patience is a virtue - and I need to get it

You have taught me that complaining about it doesn't change anything

You have taught me about sacrifice

You have taught me the importance of praying, even if it's just to find something

You have taught me that those prayers are always answered

You have taught me about the importance of regularly attending the temple and making it a priority

You have taught me how to cook and bake

You have taught me how to have fun, even when doing my chores

You have taught me how to be a good wife

You have taught me how to (one day) be the best Mom

You have taught me the Gospel of Jesus Christ

You have taught me how to Live the Gospel of Jesus Christ

You have taught me all of this and more!

"Because I Knew You, I Have Been Changed for Good!"


I love you Mom!

If you have missed anything, you can catch up here

• Day 1
• Day 2
• Day 3
• Day 4
• Day 5
• Day 6
• Day 7

Your turn.  Who has changed your life?  Have you thanked them lately?