"CLAIR" and/or "SHAMELESS" GIVEAWAY!!!!!

I have been waiting many days for this post. Do you know why? Because it is post 55!!!! Five is my favorite number. I think I have mentioned this before. So that makes 55 even more super amazing. In honor of this 55th post I am going to tell you 55 things about me you may not know. AND I am hosting a give-away.:) I have thought long and hard about what to giveaway,and I have decided....not to tell you until I pick the winner on September 5th(because I still haven't quite decided, to tell you the truth.:) To have a chance at winning the amazing giveaway leave a comment at the end of this post saying something you love about me. Whahahahaha, how conceited is that?! Well, everyone needs an ego boost every now and then, don't you think? Especially when one is so tired and overwhelmed with three babies, school, hubby's school, cleaning, etc. Now that you feel awful for thinking me conceited, and now that you are feeling very sorry for me, go ahead and leave me a message. Each lovely thought counts as one entry for the giveaway, go crazy. I really don't mind.;)

55 things you may or may not know about CLAIR:
1.I have a sleeping beauty complex. I can never decide whether pink or blue is my favorite color.
2.I love doing the dishes during my children's nap time. I HATE doing dishes right after I have eaten.
3.One of my all time favorite movies and books is ENCHANTED APRIL.
4.CONVERSE Chuck Taylors and flip flops are my favorite types of footwear.
5.Besides my favorite FAVORITE pair of shoes that are chocolate brown suede, 40's retro heels. Guhguhguh.
6.BJ is my spiritual twin. Babies can be born as twins in this world of course. Before we came to this world I believe we were born spiritually. So IF there is such thing as SPIRITUAL TWINS. Then BJ is my spiritual twin for sure.
7.Pizza is my favorite food lately. Pretty much ANYTHING Italian is my favorite food.
8.And chocolate.
9.And raspberry yogurt covered pretzels(I just ate some)
10.Anthropologie is my FAVORITE STORE IN THE WHOLE WORLD!!!
11.I don't regret having three babies in three years, but I also wouldn't recommend PLANNING it that way. I ABSOLUTELY recommend following Heavenly Father's plan for your own family.:) Having three babies is HARD but it is EQUALLY rewarding.
12.I miss BYU. I miss college. I miss taking classes on campus. I miss the experiences I had while I was in college. I miss that atmosphere. I don't miss not being married while I was in college. I do wish to be back in Provo in that academic life.
13.I am an academic. I LOVE learning for the sake of learning. It brakes my heart that Liberal Arts is a fading major, and that people go to college to get a job, not just to learn and help create themselves. I am constantly reading and learning new things and expanding my knowledge of the world around me. I find it very rewarding.
14.I love herbs. I love healing through nutrition. I love learning about how bodies function and how amazingly wonderful they are at healing themselves when given the proper tools.
15.I love gardening, I love being out of doors. I love green, living things.
16.I hate snakes and spiders and scorpions.
17.I love camping in Belfair, WA at Zion's Camp. I have never camped outside of WA, but we are planning on camping in CA next summer. I am excited.:)
18.I have never traveled outside of the USA(except to Canada a few times). I feel this is a detriment to me and my outlook on the world.
19.I love baking bread. I love kneading it.
20.I love BJ more than I love anyone else in this world. Then I love my children, then my Mum and then the rest of my family and dearest friends. I can't help it, that is the order.
21.I love to create things. I feel very close to heaven when I am creating things. I feel like Heavenly Father must be so happy when He creates. It gives a whole new perspective to the Bible when it talks about Heavenly Father saying "and He saw that it was good" when He was creating the world.
22.I think grammar and spelling is important, but not worth degrading and embarrassing people in public about it. As long as we are communicating, that should be the main bit. Good grammar won't get you into heaven, but showing people love and compassion will.
23.I love my siblings SO MUCH. But I am super sucky at letting them know. It either comes out cheesy, or lame. I am really proud of the good choices they make in their lives.
24.I think birthdays are about YOU BEING BORN INTO THE WORLD. Not HOW OLD YOU ARE. It is SOOOO wonderful to think about yourself being born into the world and the good you have done. I think about people like my friend April who has helped bring hundreds of babies into the world, that is millions of lives she has affected! Go ahead and have a George Bailey moment on your birthday instead of whining about how old you are. It is much more fun, and fulfilling.
25.I love the ocean. I am hardly ever as relaxed as I am at the beach. I am definitely a water element.
26.I am deathly afraid of sharks. This is lame since I love the ocean. I have had terrifying nightmares about them since forever.
27.I am afraid of the dark. I get the heebie geebie meemies very easily in the dark!
28.I love shock value.
29.I love slapstick.
30.I love the Marx brothers, don't really fancy the Three Stooges at all.
31.I try not to hate things or dislike things unless they are actually BAD. In my VERY opinionated youth I found that people don't like people who HATE EVERYTHING.:)
32.I love to dance. I love all kinds of dancing. I feel sooo eighty million happy when I am dancing.
33.I love to exercise. It is weird, but I love it. I love that working hard feeling. I hate being too tired to exercise.
34.I have not been myself for the last four years. I am not sure who I have been, but it has not been Clair. People call this the "Lost Woman Syndrome." I call it not being me, and not realizing it. I don't like not being me, it is uncomfortable. I am excited to be more me from now on. George Bernard Shaw said,"Life is not about finding yourself, it is about creating yourself." I absolutely believe that.
35.I LOVE sparkly things. I LOVE THEM.
36.I love to go shopping. This is very strange to me. I was never this way as a youth, but have recently found out that a Clair can spend a A WHOLE HECKOF AMOUNT OF MONEY pretty much in any store she wanders into. This is bad, but really fun.:)
37.I don't love having too many things though either. This is confusing and leads to sometimes a lot of purchasing and purging. I LOVE TO PURGE. MY HOUSE. :)
38.I love teaching people things. I don't think I know very much about any one subject, but love of teaching goes with love of learning. Let's learn together!
40.I don't believe in abusing animals just because we can talk and they can't. I believe they are in our stewardship, and that they are for our use, but that we should also take care of them.
41.I love the idea of recycling clothes, and am excited to learn how to do that. Taking something and making it into something else is AWESOME.
42.I believe in personal revelation, and think it is the most precious of all gifts Heavenly Father has given us.
43.I want to live in a place BJ and I call BEARHAVEN someday before I am not too old to enjoy it.:) I want cashmere goats and SouthdownBabydoll Sheep, and a few horses, and a pack of dogs. I want an orchard with a beautiful ballroom in the middle of it to host super lovely balls annually. I want lot of other things about BearHaven, but BearHaven is a special dream for me and BJ so I don't want to talk about it a lot.
44.I am a planner. I LOVE to make plans and goals. Planning is most of the fun for me. I think you can make any plan work IF you get a good enough plan.
45.I love cloth diapering....with BUMGENIUS diapers. Come to find out I really do not like prefold cloth diapers. I guess I like them better than disposables, but not by much.
46.I love healthy food and unhealthy food.
47.I love painting daisies on my toenails.
48.I LOVE DISNEYLAND. People who poohdidoo it don't really understand me at all.
49.I love people. I think they are fascinating. I love talking to people, and learning about why they do what they do. I LOVE books about people who do amazing things.
50.I have lived in Las Vegas for four years and never once been on the strip. I don't like it, it makes me uncomfortable. I hate the naked pix everywhere and I hate how many families have been ruined by the things it provides so easily.
51.BJ is my hero. He does more and accomplishes more in one day than anyone I know. He is FREAKING AMAZING.
52.If someone wanted to read a book to understand me better they would have to read ANNE OF GREEN GABLES and GIFTS FROM THE SEA. That is me to a tea.
53.I love wearing blue mascara.
54.Someday BJ and I are going to own a swing club and call it either:
Converse and Cufflinks
The Tower Club(after the Eiffel Tower)
Kalamazoo
Mairzy Dotes
55.The way I feel the most love is when people share their life with me, and let me share my life with them. The people who I hold closest to my heart are the people who do this.

Are you soooo totally over me yet?!?! 55 things about yourself is hard! Anyways, it was an interesting exercise. I have been thinking a lot about who I am lately. I am not sure how to end this post.
In the words of many famous people....THE END.


PS.Please forgive the grammar and spelling mistakes, I was in a hurry.:)

"I ain't got noBODY..."

While Changing Jane's Diaper....

Jane:What are you doing?
Dad:Cleaning your bottom.
Jane:That's right; it's mine!
Dad:Yup, it's yours.
Jane:We all got a bottom.

OHMYGATOR, I nearly peed my pants!

"We were never being BORING"-Pet Shop Boys OH YEAH

So yesterday BJ was being unnecessarily chipper. Whistling, singing...moving about. So I said, "BJ could you please stop."(It wasn't a question, but I did say it super nicely) And then I said, "BJ you are always telling me that one of the main reasons you chose me was because I am the only woman who has ever kept your attention. Because I am fascinating. I am always fascinating, and today I need to take a brake and be boring. Can you be boring too? I am really tired." He laughed heckof hard, and stopped whistling.:)

(I laughed too;).

On another note, this weekend I have been thinking about some of the things my Mum has taught me that has become an integral part of who I am.
Here are a few of them.

Sometimes being a responsible, mature adult means doing things you don't want to do. I totally believe that, and I think about it lots during my day. I don't always want to do the laundry, or clean out the sink. I hate yucky chores, but they need to be done. And that is OK. I will survive these things, and the truth is, if I don't make a big deal out of doing them, then they are quickly finished, and IT ISN'T A BIG DEAL AFTER ALL.:)

It is important to be a hard worker.This philosophy has helped me over and over again. It has made me a super valuable employee(It feels really good to know it takes a few people to replace you when you leave a job:). Working hard has also taught me a love for working hard and a job well done. I love that feeling of accomplishment, but there is so much more that you feel. It is hard to put into words unless you have felt it too.

Enjoy the time you have with your children and sweetie. My Mum and Pop went out every weekend that I can remember. And they often went out for the weekend, even if it was just at the local motel 6. I totally have a testimony of the importance of date nights with your spouse and keeping that strong relationship through activities and time together, NOT just watching TV, or things like that. But talking and interacting together. And family time was always a priority as well. We went on lots of family vacations and hikes and outings. My Mum has always taught me to take time to enjoy my sweet babies while they are small, while I still have them at home before they grow up and have their own families. This has been so important to me when things seem overwhelming. When I have the good times I really try to soak them in and enjoy them. It doesn't necessarily make the hard times loads easier, but it BALANCES my life out in a way I NEED.

Be generous and the Lord will always bless you. I remember my Mum remarking lots of times how she believed she found good babysitters to watch her kids because she was a good babysitter as a teenager. I have thought of that lots in my life and really applied it and seen the benefit. It feels good to be generous, and that is blessing enough from Heavenly Father.:) My Mum is very generous with her time and energy. And HER SMILE. She smiles all the time, and I think that is such a beautiful gift to the people who see it. Smiles can lift what words can't. She is a really good friend to everyone. I don't think I know one person who knows my Mum and doesn't love her. I think that is testimony to the kind of person and friend she is.

The last thing I will mention(I have learned too much from my Mum, it would take to long to tell you all the things!)is something my Mum has said to me millions of times, and I think about it, and it buoys me up every time..."Clair, you aren't going to starve." :)I am NOT a good poor person. I starve HORRIBLY. One time in our marriage BJ and I pretty much were starving, and I found that I become QUITE stingy with food when there is hardly any in the home. But my Mum is right, I will never starve because she will make sure we at least have some food. This has taught me a few things. First, that it is important to look out for each other and take care of each other. To be generous and to have that compassion for each other, as the Savior has compassion for us. Also, it has taught me that it is good to have faith that things will be alright. There is a long time in eternity. Keep perspective. You CAN get through ANYTHING.

My Mum is amazing. She is one of the MOST beautiful people I know. I hope my life exemplifies what she has taught me.

"MORE THAN WORDS"

For those of you who know me REALLY REALLY well you will know how much the following sentence means to me.

JANE SAID "OHMYGATOR" FOR THE FIRST TIME TODAY.

Oh that I could have had it recorded and played over and over!(Luckily two year olds repeat everything a million times, especially when you give them a good reaction.:)

Oh that I was blessed enough to live to see this day.:)
Ohmygator.:)

"I know Heavenly Father loves me..."

Ohmygator. It is 12:45 in the afternoon and all three of my children are in bed. Alice is asleep for sure, and Jane and Denny are on their merry ways. OHMYGATOR.


...And I baked bread this morning.

Yup. Heavenly Father loves me for sure. I am going to go get me some well needed rest while cuddling up with a great book.:) Cheers!

My friend Annjilla is doing a giveaway for our friend Jenny.Jenny has a fabulous etsy shop dedicated to help preschoolers learn shapes, numbers, and words in fun colorful inventive ways. All her products are sold in electronic form and emailed to you so you never pay shipping!



To go to Jenny's etsy shop click HERE:






To enter the giveaway and the chance to receive a free shape sorter game from Jenny and two free black and white korker bows from Annjilla click HERE to get to Annjilla's blog and follow the instructions on the post. (More pictures of the exciting prizes are posted on Annjilla's blog.)

"Darling Je Vous Aime Beaucoup..."

I just finished reading Julia Child's MY LIFE IN FRANCE, and I gotta tell you it was absolutely lovely. She has such a joy for life and good things. I had a lot of aha moments for my own life, and I just really loved it. So funny to find a kindred sister in Julia Child.:)

"And a hey nonny nonny..."

OHMYGATOR. OHMYGATOR. I just watched Kenneth Branaugh's AS YOU LIKE IT, and it was AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVED IT! Granted, this is one of the plays I haven't read or seen before, but I loved it. You should go watch it. Rent it, or get it from netflix like we did. Did I mention we have joined the netflix cult revolution?:) Anyways, it was awesome. I loved it. Also, there is a version of THE TAMING OF THE SHREW with John Cleese that is also most excellent. It is an older movie, not very cinematical, but very choice.
Go bananas.
me:)

"It's Been a Hard Day's Night!"

Ohmygator. Did you know busy people get more stuff done?! Its true. Come over and see how clean my house has been compared to the last two years.:)
XO
C.

"Step by Step...ooOOooh Baby!" NKOTB oh yeah

So my friend Maren is AMAZING. I met her when I was an EFY counselor back in 2003 I believe. We were roommates the first two weeks of camp. I was totally wowwed by her from the first. She is GORGEOUS, so beautiful. She is a returned missionary, and sings like a lark. I totally looked up to her, and still do.:) I started making my bed everyday because of her example(she never told me to, she just inspired me to start:). Anyways, she is now a lovely mother of two and on her blog a while back she wrote about this crazy challenge she was undertaking called 101 in 1001. What you do is write down 101 tasks to finish in 1001 days and do them!
I thought this was a FANTASTIC idea for me to do too since I LOVE goals and projects and challenges. So here is my blog post officially announcing my start with this challenge(even though I started it a few weeks ago.)

Here is the website and the rules to the challenge:
http://www.dayzeroproject.com/

I started my challenge on July 7 2009 and will finish on April 2 2012

Here is my list!

Health:
1.-Make a plan for me getting healthy, check/revise every week or so for a year
2.-balance my intestinal flora/fight Candida craziness
3.-get down to ideal weight (110-120) by the end of 2010
4.-get rid of excess mucus in my body so I can laugh hard for at least 30 minutes
5.-don't get pregnant for at least two years:)
6.-make and stick to family health check plan for a year
7.-get to bed before 10pm every night for a week
8.-track ovulation for 6 months

Nutrition:
9.-Consistently sprout for one month
10.-learn how to grow wheat grass mold free, and do so for one month consistently
11.-make bread regularly for three months
12.-drink half my body weight in ounces of water/herbal tea everyday for one month
13.-make lunch and dinner every week day for a month
14.-make nutrition/immunity plan for family, stick to it for 6 months
15.-build a food repertoire plan for up to two months/four seasons
16.-maintain an 80% whole foods diet by 2011

Exercise:
17.-run the 5k during lavender days with BJ
18.-exercise 5x's a week, for at least 30 minutes, for a year

Home Projects:
19.-paint small bathroom
20.-re-grout bathroom showers
21.help BJ organize the garage
22.learn the secrets of composting and start doing it!
23.Get house painted outside
24.-finish landscaping the outside

25.-get first aid kit organized for home
26.-get first aid kit organized for Mum's house
27.-get three month food storage in order
28.-get enough savings established to survive for three months

29.-organize scrapbooking stuff
30.organize computer stuff and add friends on bloglist
31.get house organized in a binder, make a system and follow for one year
32.establish a morning routine and do it for one month
33.-go to bed with clean kitchen/dining room/ living room for one month
34.-update pix in house once a year
35.-get family pix/videos organized
36.-start a recycling system
37.-organize books
38.-put together "Sunday" bag

39.-get Christmas card list organized
40.-get Christmas cards out by the end of November
41.-get Christmas boxes sent by Thanksgiving
42.-plan a spiritual and special Christmas at home with BJ and kids

43.-get Alice announcements out
44.-throw myself the awesomest nesting party!

Crafts:
45.-finish sewing Alice's blessing dress
46.-finish making Christmas stockings
47.-finish friendship quilt
48.-make my vaccination book
49.-make 100 herb quilt
50.-refashion one outfit from recycled clothes
51.-make an outfit from a pattern I designed
52.-for one year make/refashion/etc. one article of clothing/accessory every other week (26 pieces)
53.Learn to crochet
54.-empty out my projects/mending baskets (by finishing the projects;)
55.-make reverent books for kids
56.-repaint tea caddy
57.Learn to knit
58.Use up all the fabric I have now in my craft room(or atleast get it down to two or three boxes)
Kids and Family:
59.-get baby books updated to two years old
60.-thoroughly research home school for Jane
61.-nurse Baby Alice for one year
62.-potty train Jane
63.-potty train Denny
64.-potty train Alice
65.-write in kids journals every fast Sunday for a year
66.-get on an activity schedule for the kids and follow for a season
67.-write family as a family every Sunday for a year
68.-get Denny and Jane on a sleeping schedule
69.-copy the kids’ blessings and put in baby books

Personal Growth and Misc.:
70.-start teaching a birthing class at WRM
71.-graduate from SNH
72.-volunteer once a month for a year
73.-read my scriptures 5x's a week for a month
74.-read scriptures daily for 2 months
75.-for one week really pay attention to not being prideful and judgmental
76.-for one week really try to focus on positive thinking and positive communication
77.-go to the temple once a month for a year
78.-kneel to pray for personal prayers every night for the whole project
79.-fill out BFW keepsake journal
80.-20 minute meditation daily for 5 weeks
81.-work on one fear a day for 5 weeks
82.-take adult swimming lessons
83.-run 5 miles at least once
84.-sing "Glitter and Be Gay" at one of Reggie's recitals
85.-learn how to cut BJ and Denny's hair
86.-go to Mt. Charleston
87.-pay off credit cards
88.-pay off school debt
89.-pay back Ben and Bobby Jean
90.-throw someone a surprise party
91.-make sure BJ is "back to work" by 6 weeks post partum
92.-make sure BJ is back to fulltime work by September 2009
93.-go Christmas caroling to the neighbors

BJ and Me:
94.-plan a romantic trip for me and BJ in La Jolla and GO!
95.-take Argentine Tango lessons with BJ
96.-wake up early with BJ and do yoga at least once:)
97.-go out with BJ once a week for a year
98.-learn balboa with BJ
99.-dress up to the nines and go to the opera with-BJ
100.-go horseback riding with Bj
101.-Get some gorgeous pix of me taken for my Beloved

I've already finished #'s 43, 44, 45, 68, and 91!!!!
PS.Since I love goals and projects and am constantly revising my life plans, I feel it is ok to replace one of my listed goals with a new one.

"There is beauty all around..." no really there IS!

Today the coveting bug bit me. Isn't that horrible? It wasn't so much a material object that I coveted, more like a position in life. I wish we were at a point where we were settled down. We have a long haul yet. I am happy in our life choices, and feel like we have been led by Heavenly Father in making the choices we have(which is good since He is WAY smarter than us:), but still inside me resides this coveting bug who wishes BJ was out of school and we were settled in our beautiful BearHaven, and I was back to good health(probably still having babies, but in really good health;)....anyways, complaining and whining are SUPER annoying to me. So while I was coveting today at church, I also thought about all the things I have that people might covet. Like I am very happily married to my best friend BJ. I have three gorgeous children with the most beautiful countenances. I have so many friends. Amazing friends that constantly inspire me. I have a house that enabled me to bear two of my sweet babies at home. BJ is working a grown-up job and supporting our family while going through school. We have a minivan in which to travel around in. Most of all I still have a testimony of Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father and their plan for us and our family. I know that my Heavenly Father loves me and my family and is watching out for us and leading us on the perfect path. It may take a while longer then some of my friends, but it is the PERFECT path for US! And when I take the time to stop comparing and start LIVING and paying attention to my own life, I realize how wonderful my life IS! I love my life! I lvoe where we are right now. I love all the wonderful plans we have yet to accomplish in the next few years. I like the pace we are at. I wish we were going a bit faster sometimes, but really I just wish the set backs would go away.:) We are doing just fine, and we are doing it! We are making it!
May we all realize everyday how very blessed we are!

"Oh life is grand! It's VERY interesting...."

Life is crazy.
I miss blogging.
I am sooo busy!
Three kids is a crazy thing.
I love so many things right now.
I feel so inspired by so many things right now.
I could blogg about lots of things right now.
I am tired.
I reallyt don't want to get my wisdom teeth out in a few weeks.
Maybe tomorrow I will try and post some more recent pix.
I just watched NORTHANGER ABBEY for the first time.
...if you want me to post a real post soon leave a message, and let me know you are waiting!
xo
Me:)