Birthday Girl

Happy 32nd Birthday Jen

Today I wanted to wish Jenny a very happy day. I couldn't ask for a better friend and could list way more than 32 things I love or know about her, but I'll keep with blogger tradition and post just 32 of them.

1. Our morning walks are a must.

2. She loves being a mom and is great at it.

3. She doesn't mind being a bit silly with me.

4. Her love for Chuy's is almost as great as mine.

5. She gives way more than is ever expected or asked of her.

6. She is my "where are we going today" friend.

7. She is super outgoing and has forced me to push a little of my shyness aside and has made me more outgoing.

8. I finally got her to switch to Diet Coke and she loves it ALMOST as much as me.

9. She never runs errands without calling to see if I have had my Diet Coke fix and brings me one if I haven't.

10. She was my Room Mom partner and did way more than I did.

11. Is NOT a procrastinator.

12. She loves to clean and organize things. She might just have a job when we are packing and unpacking after we move.

14. She loves to go to the Temple.

15. She rarely misses her Visiting Teaching.

16. Our girlfriend getaway weekend will be a yearly tradition.

17. We like most of the same things. You can look at our wardrobes, shoes, cars, etc. and see that.

18. She always is willing to share a meal with me.

19. We are often mistaken for each other and referred to as sisters, twins, and even mother and daughter once. Even people at church get us confused, as well as Greg and Doug.

20. She loves and supports Doug completely.

21. She loves to get pedicures with me.

22. Jenny and I have the same middle name, just different spelling. Ann & Anne

23. She always knows when I need a little pick me up, phone call, break from the kids and is willing to help me out always.

24. She watches or has my kids over to play at her house more than she should.

25. She NEVER forgets to write and send thank you cards. Me on the other hand not so good at keeping up.

26. She loves to shop.

27. We both got makeovers for the first time from MAC. Why we waited so long, I have no idea.

28. She convinced me to dress up for Halloween, something I haven't done in years!

29. She is a convert to our church and has a strong testimony.

30. She eats Chips Ahoy cookies and milk every night and stays skinny!

31. We connected as soon as we met and I'm sure I will be lost without her next year.

32. She is a special friend that will remain that way always.

I hope you have a fabulous day full of love, laughter, smiles, and great memories. Love Ya Tons!

I'll see you in a week. I'll miss you.

Wish Jenny a happy birthday here.

07/07/07

Some may call this day a lucky one. Since seven is supposedly a lucky number, and seeing how the month, day, and year were all sevens, I heard much talk about today being a lucky day. There were a more than normal number of weddings planned for this day. Not to mention the very publicized(maybe this was only in San Antonio) Eva and Tony's wedding that took place in Paris. I'm not real sure why so many people were relying on a lucky number to determine their wedding day, the amount of love they shared or didn't share, to make getting married on any other day just as good or special of a day as another. Hopefully these couples are enough in love and have their priorities in order that their love, marriages, and lives together will last forever.

Even though as a younger individual, I claimed the number seven as my very own lucky number, I don't really consider myself to think about having luck, or not having it. I do find myself a person who is extremely blessed. Others may categorize some of my blessings as luck, but I like to label them blessings. So today, on this "blessed" day I thought I would list seven things I call my greatest blessings.

1~The knowledge that I am a daughter of God. My belief in Him and my Savior Jesus Christ. My simple, but strong testimony of the Gospel. The knowledge of The Atonement of Jesus Christ and the opportunity I have to right my wrong choices and be more like Him. The blessing and knowledge of giving service to others. The opportunities I am given to share the things I have been blessed with, with others. The Gospel is a most cherished blessing.

2~Parents and family that helped me learn right from wrong and helped me become the person I am today. They taught me the Gospel and the importance of a Temple marriage. They taught me to be caring and to give service to others. They taught me how to build relationships and how to play and have fun. They taught me about love and how to love. My parents and family are surely a blessing in my life.

3~Faith and Joy. I have sometimes struggled with having faith and finding joy in things that I, or someone I love, is faced with. I am realizing more and more that to truly find joy in all things I must gain stonger faith. I have to know that things happen or don't happen for reasons beyond my control. At sometimes things are the way they are so that we can become a stronger and better person. I feel blessed to have faith in all things. I feel blessed to know I can find joy and happiness in all things as well.

4~I feel blessed to have shelter, food, clothing, and other needs. I feel blessed, that all of those needs are met without too much difficulty. I feel blessed that not only are my needs met, but a lot of my wants and desires are made possible, too. I feel blessed that my husband has a job that brings home a paycheck so we can sustain our family's needs and wants.

5~Health. I, as well as my family, are blessed with good health. Other than the common colds, coughs, and aches we all face, we are a pretty much a healthy bunch. We are able to run, jump, and play. We all have the stenghth and ability to sustain us each day during our various activities. I consider mine and my family's health to be a great blessing.

6~Three beautiful girls that are all unique in their own way. One being super sensitive, shy, but finding she has an outgoing side. She is a helper, and loves when I give her things to do. Another being, funny, adventurous, and a talker. She laughs, wants learn, and loves chores. And another trying to still be our baby while growing oh too fast. She still enjoys snuggles, sippy cups, and does her fair share of whining, all the while competing for talk time, riding her bike and having us all in giggles every day. How different they each are but how beautiful and special they are in my eyes. I am truly blessed to call myself a mother. No greater job or calling is there than that of a Mom.


7~A wonderful man that has blessed my life more than I ever thought possible. He is dedicated to his family and is our provider. He loves the Gospel and honors his Priesthood. He loves the scriptures and quotes them on a daily basis. He loves his career and can't wait to start caring for his own patients and seeing the blessings in their lives. He is caring, honest, loving, and giving. He is understanding, positive, thoughtful, and intelligent. He's hardworking, selfless, funny, optimistic, and a friend to everyone. He is determined, has great integrity, and renders service to others constantly. He is truly an example of the person I hope to be. I am truly blessed to have him as my partner, friend, and husband, forever. Greg, my special blessing.


I'm not sure how lucky I am, but after doing this post I again realized what a blessed person I am.

Our 4th of July

Since it has been raining daily here in SA for the month, I wasn't surprised that as I lay in bed on the eve of the 4th, that it was thunderstorming. Our ward pancake breakfast and fun run was scheduled for 730 am and I admit I wasn't thrilled about rising early to go. I knew I wanted to get my exercise in early but after my sweet, precious, little three year old woke me several times between 1230 (the time I headed to bed) and 630 when my alarm went off I found myself hoping to here the sounds of thunder, sprinkles, downpours, or something that would allow me to stay in bed. I drug myself out of bed, and peered through our bedroom blinds to find it already had rained and didn't look like it would rain in the next hour or so. We headed out to do the 5K run/walk. Greg ran with some of the guys in the ward, while I pushed Maryn in the jogger trying to jog at least half of the course. Mackenzi and Maci even joined in on the fun and ran half of the race with me. We had breakfast, well I didn't, pancakes aren't my favorite so I mostly socialized.

Me & Maryn finishing our 3 miles

After the breakfast Greg went to study and the girls and I came home. Not long after we were home it started to rain. My girls are so bored as it is, seeing how the Clouse kids are miles away enjoying sunshine, swimming, and scorching temperatures, and we have been enjoying alot of indoor activites. They asked what we were doing the rest of the day and I had no plans or even options for them. So I loaded them up and we went to the gym. I could workout again and they could play with other kids and be occupied for awhile. It was a win/win situation.

The girls & I waiting for the fireworks and what later would be rain.

The gang doing sparklers.

Since we hadn't made big plans for a bbq at home we did the next best thing(or in my eyes a better thing) and went to Rudy's for dinner. We met up with two other families from our ward there. After dinner we drove to Boerne, a small town about 15 miles away, and watched fireworks and let the kids do some sparklers and a few other minor "fireworks". It then decided to rain on our fun once again. We got out the umbrellas, and continued to enjoy the fireworks (through a big tree) until they were done. We had a fun time even though Maci and Maryn opted to sit inside the truck because it was too loud for them. Iy turned out to be an okay holiday even without much planning and with the weather issues we encountered.

John & Greg trying to stay dry

Me & Ellice watching mostly rain and not many fireworks

Brad, Tilane, and some of the kids taking shelter in their van from the rain.

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