$300 dilema

So we received $300 for Christmas this year and we are having a dilema on what to do with it. Here are our options

1. Save it
2. Buy a storm door for the front door
3. Buy a sweet leather sectional from the neighbors that are moving to Hawaii...


We are really leaning towards the couch, its a sweet deal, we have always wanted a leather sectional because we don't have much seating when people come over and our old couch needs to go....What would you do??

Merry Christmas

Dearest Friends & Family,
The Larson household has been a very busy one this past year. We spent the beginning of the year getting accommodated to having to take care of a puppy. Monster, our pit bull, joined our family just three days after Christmas last year. He has fit in well with Den & I. He is spoiled rotten and has such a great personality.
I have continued in my calling working with the Young Women at church. Dennis has worked with the cub scouts and is currently reliving some experiences from his youth. We welcomed a few nieces and nephews into the family and took trips to visit them.
Dennis started working for Guardian Pest Defense in April and continues to wow his customers with his vast pest control knowledge. I ran my first 5K in May, it only took me 45 minutes and a hurt ankle to finish it out, but it was a great accomplishment. I finished out my year teaching kindergarten at Kensington and occupied my summer as a nanny for a 6 and 9 year old. I spent the summer living it up, hanging by the pool, visiting the zoo, and catching up with girlfriends while we had play dates at the park. Really it was tough! I was also able to domesticate myself with all of my free time. I beautified my front yard with flowers, got better at my quilting and sewing skills by creating curtains, blankets, pillows and many other things. In July, I was given the opportunity to see LeAnn Rimes in a private intimate concert in Chicago. I was about 2 feet from the stage and even got her autograph. That same month, I attended Girls Camp for church in Michigan as the Camp Leader for a week. It was the spiritual highlight of my year as we bonded and grew closer as a “family”. Dennis got his business up and running at the latter part of this year. He found a company to bottle his sauce and sold his first batch within 3 weeks. He is currently working on getting his business license and website up and running.
I got caught up in the Twilight frenzy and started to read more this summer, that is until I started 2 jobs in August. I started at The Education Cove, a new teacher store just 1 minute from home as a tutor/Asst. Manager. A day later, I was hired as an Intervention Specialist at a school just a few miles from home. I spend most of my day working one on one with students who are struggling in math & reading. It is a great experience and I am learning a lot.
We celebrated our Third anniversary in September. Dennis won over the hearts of the women I work with by sending me 2 dozen roses at work. Of course he earned double brownie points with me. In October, I started volunteering as a leader of a Rainbows group. It is a group where children meet together whose families have suffered life altering events such as divorce or death and learn how to talk about it and cope with it. It has been a huge blessing in my life and I have worked with my group of second graders and have been given the opportunity to help them deal with their pain. In just a few weeks I will start up with The Big Brothers Big Sisters Program. I am excited to become part of a child’s life as a positive role model and one that she will be able to look up to.
Monster continues to be the best dog anyone would ask for. He spends most of his time curled up on the guest bed watching over the neighborhood, scaling dads back as they play tug o war, cuddling with mom and hanging with his neighborhood friends. He continues to amaze us every day with the things that he does and he brings so much laughter to our home.
No new news on the adoption process yet. We are just trying to get things more prepared before we officially turn in our application. We still have Faith that our Father in Heaven will bless us with a precious spirit of our own that we will be privileged to raise. We will keep everyone posted as more things happen.
We have been grateful for all of the blessings that Heavenly Father has given us this year and look forward to many more in 2009. We wish you and your family a Merry Christmas and an exciting & happy New Year!
Love,
The Larsons

There's no place like a snow day on the day before break!

That's right... yesturday was supposed to be the last day of school before break but we got out a day early due to a snow/ice storm. Pictures to follow abit later. Dennis woke up to get ready for work and spent over an hour getting about an inch and a half of ice off of his truck, needless to say, it was a snow day for him too. It was so bad that you could walk on top of the snow....Monster went outside and ended up collapsing some of the ice and it was hilarious to watch him freak out about it. It was like we were walking on a frozen river... kinda scary to think about! The association workers spent over 12 hours in our neighborhood trying to get the ice off of everything and get it plowed away. Of course, I wasted away they day by doing nothing at all, hey I have 2 full weeks to get my long to do list done!

SNOW SNOW and more SNOW but it's ok my tires ROCK!!

So usually when the first major snowfall of the year hits, I am less than thrilled because that means I get to spend a very long time driving in it and sliding all over the place.I am the type of person that is scared to death to drive in the snow, NOT TODAY!!! By the time school got out, we had about 5 inches on
the ground and it was smooth sailing non slipping driving. Why you might ask? Well last week, my loving husband bought me the best snow tires in the entire world!!!! I was able to do about 35-40 the whole way home, I take all back roads and there was light traffic ..... no slippage, no sliddage, no stickage.....It was so great that when I pulled into our unplowed neighborhood I turned the corner with ease and sailed all the way down the road without getting stuck at all...picked Dennis up and took a trip to the post office to show him what they can do.....THEY ROCK!!! I highly recommended them to anyone who feels nervous drving in the snow or slides all over the place. They are general altimax arctics.....check them out...

10 Years

After 10 years of not seeing or speaking to my sisters, I have finally established contact. My sister Cassie emailed me Friday and updated me on her life. There is a long family history story behind all of this that I would rather not get into right now. I am just greatful that she reached out and sent that email and we are now able to begin to build a relationship.

Here is a picture of Cassie, Angel & Breanna

Young Women in Excellence

I know this post is really late considering we had YWIE almost a month ago but I was looking at a friends blog and realized that I never posted about this wonderful experience. Our theme was Like the Stars. The girls did a skit that was so hilarious, they named the hollywood stars after values and talked about a new movie they had coming out. The leaders sang "Someone Needs You Star" to the girls and then the end was the grand spiritual finale. With the stage lite up and shining stars in the background their spirit engulfed the entire room when the girls sang, "Like The Stars". I don't think there was a dry eye anywhere. The girls that we work with are so amazing. They carry the spirit with them always and are such good examples, even to myself at time! They are great characters of value and hold true to their standards. I am really blessed to get to work with them.

Thankful Thursday

This week I am thankful for girlfriends. One inparticular......Jodie Borg, thanks again for lastnight. It was nice to get together and chat over fondue. It's always nice when you have girlfriends who care and are there to listen :)

Oh yes....I did!!!

I have had the same hairstyle since the beginning of time. I remember when I was 12 i actually cut it to the bottom of my chin and I looked like a boy. Since then I have just left my hair long, dull and boring. I went to get just a trim lastnight and ended up getting 5 inches cut off. I am in love with my new hairstyle. I have gotten so many compliments today, from it looks way cute to it makes you look older (which is kinda what I was going for). It took me 10 minutes to talk Dennis into letting me do it.... he said if that's that will make you happy and you want to do it then go ahead....so I did! Here are a few pics to hold you over for now.

Happy 26th Birthday Denny!

Yesterday Dennis turned 26- he's getting old! Since we went out of town to see my family, I wanted to do something nice for Den's birthday. So.... Saturday night we stayed at my grandparents and I planned for the whole family to come over in the morning for brunch and a surprise cake. Saturday night I gave Dennis is card and his gift, a new pair of sunglasses, he was totally caught off guard and wondered how I got the stuff without him knowing. After our brunch on Sunday, we drove home early, just for him to be surprised by a whole house full of family waiting to surprise Dennis with dinner and a cake! SURPRISE!! He was totally shocked. So honey, in honor of your 26th birthday..here are 26 things I love about you

1. You always make me laugh
2. You always put others first
3. You can strike up a conversation with anyone
4. You can fix ANYTHING, it's amazing
5. You are a loyal friend
6. You are strong in the Gospel
7. You have a desire to make yourself successful
8. You are determined
9. You're HOT!
10.Your eyes are GORGEOUS
11.You are the owner of That's Barbeque
12.You care about everyone
13.You always want to solve everyone's problems
14.You are a great missionary..even after your mission
15.You are great with our nieces and nephews,I know you will make a great dad one day
16.You're a great cuddler
17.You know random facts of information
18.You're older than me :)
19.You're strong willed
20.You still take care of your mom
21.You're a good brother
22.You give good massages
23.You laugh at my jokes, even when they aren't that funny
24.You take care of me when I am sick
25.You put up with me when I am ridiculous
26.You are You!

Thankful Thursday

Today I am thankful for many things but most importantly I am thankful for my husband. He loves me unconditionally no matter how crazy or silly I get. He accepts me for me and he always does his best to make me laugh and provide for our family. He is a great role model and an honest person. I am always thankful for Monster. He is always cuddly with his mommy and he always makes me smile.

Crafts

I have been busy crafting and here are a few things I have been up to.....






Here's a run down of the projects.
1. I made blocks for both of my sisters and their husbands with their last names
2. A family plate that I have put in our dining room, I should have taken a pic there
3.family blocks I made for the fireplace
4. The front of a quilt that I started back in May, I hope to have it finished by the end of the year. (I still need to sew the blocks together!)

Twilight

Den & I went to see Twilight tonight and I must say I liked the movie better than I thought I was going to. Bella's house was just the way I pictured it and they did a good job at picking Emmett's character. They did not do a good job at the chemistry between Bella and Edward, while reading the book, you get this build up of chemistry between the two and I was disappointed at the movie from that angle. Bella didn't have the heart throbing display when Edward touched her like she did in the book. There was also alot of humor as well. I missed some of the part where Bella goes to the Cullens, I had to pee so bad!!!!! The scene where Edward took Bella out of his window and up a tree was awesome. I was a little disappointed because they left out alot of detail but I know the movie was already 2 hours long. I can't wait until the next movie comes out, I heard a rumor that it is going to be New Moon and Eclipse combined..... we'll just have to wait and see.

In honor of tomorrow night.......

Take the Quiz and Share Your Results!

Thankful Thursday

This week, I am thankful for snow pants, gloves and hats! It is flippin freezing here!

Thankful Thursday

Got this idea off of a friends blog (thanks Erica). I am going to post something I am thankful for every Thursday. So this week I am thankful for my job and being able to work in such a great place with such awesome people!

Numbness

So I stayed home from work today because I just haven't been feeling like myself or been feeling 100%. I have had alot of stuff going on and I just feel numb. I guess it's because I have held everything inside and haven't talked to anyone about anything because that's just the type of person I am. Yesturday afternoon and tonight I received 2 phone calls from two women who serve in YW with me. They were calling to check on me because apparently I haven't been acting myself lately and they were just concerned. i just nudgeed it off as I was fine just dealing with a lot of stuff and wasn't feeling well. How come I get someone who I could possibly start talking to about my issues and I just try to play it off as I am fine. Am I ever going to be just fine? Am I ever going to stop feeling so numb about the fact that Dennis and I can't have children of our own? I am tired of feeling like I am not worthy enough or that I'm not good enough or I did something wrong to deserve this. Why would God make me a person who loves children a person who would make an awesome mom and then not give me that opportunity when there are people out there neglecting this great gift from God, people hurting even killing their children. It's just too hard to grasp and actually comprehend. So for now I will just go about life pretending that everything is o.k.

Nine days... and I have tickets!!!

Twilight comes out in 9 more days and I bought my tix off of Fandango.com three days ago! I am really excited for the movie to come out. I even talked Dennis into going to see it with me.

Weekend with Joey

Grandma & Grandpa got Den and I camies for our birthdays. I am also wearing a bday cake hat that my soon to be bro in law gave to me.

Needless to say, I hogged him all weekend

Doesn't he look like a natural?

Joey chilllin on his new blankie

Joey & I did alot of this over the weekend. I loved laying him on my chest and falling asleep. He is so cuddly and a very sleepy little boy.

It was a great weekend. There was some drama (of course). We laid around being lazy and visited with each other. We had Tiff's baby shower on Saturday and then went out for a family dinner. We drove up to ISU Sunday to pick up Joseph and visit with Andrea, barely making it in the door before midnight. Needless to say, I am exhausted and really looking forward to my birthday tomorrow and being able to do whatever I want!!!

A new do

Updated fall look....

the hair is back to being straight again and I have added some blonde and very subtle

red highlights. I think I am going to go darker on the red next time. This isn't the best picture either but that's all ya get.

This weather sucks

Yes, ladies and gents, those are snow clouds and yes it snowed here today. I really hate it when it snows BEFORE my birthday ugh!