Lovin Life

I have the greatest husband in the entire world! Brandon got up again today at 5, and went off to work.  Today is his first of three, 13+ hour days this week.  He is scheduled for 52 hours this week just at the studio with another 10 or so at the restaurant.  When I asked if he was going to be okay, he grinned and said, "It's no busier than last week, I'm just not taking Monday off." He is so proud of himself, I can see it on his face.   And I love being married to someone who is proud to support our family.  He is my favorite. 

Britain was so happy to see her daddy all day yesterday, the princess definitely misses him while he works so much.  

We were talking about her vocabulary yesterday, and I think she has pretty close to doubled it in the last month.  It is kind of amazing. Of course most of it is just repeating me or Brandon, but she loves anything with the word "go" in it. For example:

"Let's go"

"Ready, Set, Go!"

Also, yesterday she was sitting on the toilet and I asked "Did you go potty yet?" and then I checked and she hadn't so I said "say, 'No, not really.'" She repeated that one perfectly. It was so cute. 

Her favorite word is probably "cookie"  because I'm a sucker and I can't really say no when she pronounces it so well. It seems like she is practicing that one a lot. Silly girl.

Probably my favorite thing that she says/does right now is her "no, no, no" I don't have any idea where she learned it, but she wags her finger back and forth when she says it, and she says it all high pitched like the way I used to talk to my dolls.  It is the funniest thing ever! Last night when she put her foot up on the table, Brandon told her to put it down and we got to watch as she wagged her finger at her toes and scolded it with her "no, no, no"  

It made the whole day worth it.

I sure love my life. 

Anticipation!

I am getting a little excited to flee everyday life.  I am excited to trap my Brandon in the car with me for 8 solid hours! Bwahahahaha! He will get lots of questions that I've been wanting to ask, but have missed asking because he has been working so hard lately!
Miss Britain will be so excited to have a new playground to explore.  Our little apartment is really crampy when we spend days at a time inside without so much as running an errand.  We are both going to love having lots of room to lay on the floor and play.
I am trying frantically to get all my homework under control today and tonight so that I can relax and not spend hours at a time on the computer. Good luck to me :)
This is how Britain plays, methodically, for long periods of time, as long as she thinks she is playing with something she isn't allowed to have.. :)

With Mommy's buttons.

And, back into the bag :) Good Girl!

 Really fast, before I end this post, I wanted to share our fun adventure of late night snacking on the kitchen floor.  High class, I know ;)

Favorite snack!!! She even knows
what the carton looks like in the fridge!

Yummy, happy baby!

Checking In

I've been horrible about blogging recently.  And it makes me feel bad! But I've been working really hard in my classes, and they are somewhat demanding, so at least I'm not just being a bum all day.  I've also been making a new blog called my "Book of Remembrance" for my family history class. It has actually been really fun.  It's a semester long process, so most of it is undone, just set up for now, otherwise I would encourage you to look at it.  But I will show you what I made last night for a banner for it :)  I scrapbooked it and Brandon photo shopped it to look all professional. (Thanks Brandon!)  He even stayed up til 11pm working on it for me, and then woke up at 4 am for work. What a great husband!

Original Attempt

My Second Favorite

The Chosen One!

Not gunna lie, I think it turned out way stinking cute, and my favorite part-it represents me really well.  I got to do my favorite thing-scrapbook- for my second favorite thing-blogging!  It was truly cool, and made even more awesome by my best friend staying up so late just to help me.  FYI: The pictures above are not the finished project, Brandon's work is represented on the blog, these are just the pictures I took before he photo-shopped it! Thanks for caring Brandon!

Now on to the fun stuff you all care about! :) Pictures of Britain! Some of you already know this because I tell pretty much everyone I come in contact with-but my child is developing a very real personality! It is cute-and frustrating at times... So here she is in action:

Britain loves to read... Especially
mommy's books that are about to
fall apart... AGGGHHHH!

Britain doesn't get to  play with daddy
as much as she would like, but when
they do play- you can hardly
 tell who has more fun!

My favorite mini-me! Britain has found
my makeup, and this is the concentration
face she makes while she puts it on!

So Funny Stories (at least I think they're funny)

#1.  My downstairs neighbors had their baby, very recently... And I am so happy for them.  And weirdly enough I love hearing the little newborn cry that this child keeps making. It makes me smile, I hope baby's parents are fairing well and not getting overwhelmed.  I'm not smiling because the baby is crying, I smile because I love to sounds of brand-spankin'-new life.  It is precious.  So the funny part, is that I now have to carry my baby monitor everywhere because I hear the newborn crying and my instant thought is always that Britain is crying... Never mind the fact that she hasn't made that sweet cry in over a year... On top of this, I wake up at least once in the night when the baby wakes up.  I love that I can wake up to someone else's baby crying and just feel so happy (and a tad bit jealous).  Knowing that the child is so tiny makes me super happy, but I'm not sleeping very well because when I wake up to hear the baby crying, I tend to reminisce over my itty bitty Britain baby for about an hour. I find it humorous that I'm sleep deprived because I want the crying baby to be mine.  Yes, I'm ridiculous. 

#2.  My online classes started yesterday, and I was so excited that I think I did all the homework for one of the classes already.  I started on the other class after Britain went to bed last night and that was fun, but today I got really excited to work on more homework, but my iLearn isn't working.  That's where all my course work is.  The fact that this blog is working proves that school is out to get me. I thought it was hilarious that Facebook was working, but not any of my school links.  I think it's a weird sign telling me to pace myself or I'll lose steam fast this semester. 

#3.  One of my neighbors made something delicious for lunch.. I can smell it... More correctly I can smell the grilled onions... MY FAVORITE! I want to knock on doors and ask for the recipe when I find the right house. Yummy... Does this make me weird? Possibly.


#4.  Britain officially knows the word "bubble" and I officially know that she knows a lot more words than she lets on.  She is a stubborn goof.  She will only use the word if we play totally dumb and make our act believable. If she can tell that I'm pretending to not understand her pointing, then she throws a massive fit.  If she believes me, then she starts chanting "bub-bows, bub-bows" which I'm trying to get her to say without a fight.  She needs to use her words... Apparently I've been too lax about making her talk. 

This is Britain with her baby "Mo Mo" I don't know why
but it is one word she will say for me.

#5.  This story is only funny because of my intense enthusiasm for it.  Last night we bought all the potty training supplies that we hope to need.  I am so excited to start potty training-but I don't really know why... We were going to start this week, but then I decided (and Brandon agreed) that we should wait until we get back from Wyoming because we don't want her to regress, we don't want accidents in the car, we don't want accidents at Grandmas house and I don't want to stop too many times while driving...  But January 22nd! Here we come! Britain sat on her seat last night and loved it. She would grab toilet paper, and blow her nose, which was hilarious because you could tell she totally thought she was acting so big and doing everything just like mom, but she really had no clue what the point of sitting there was.  But she sure loves her big girl panties.  I am excited to get her out of diapers! No more fighting the diaper rashes! WAHOO! 

A Saturday

If you were to walk into my house right now you would think that something exploded...So, please don't walk in right now... haha! My house looks like I have done nothing today, but in truth I have actually done a lot.  I pulled everything out of Britain's closet and reorganized it.  2 years of baby supplies were re-boxed so that I can actually stack it all in the same place instead of having it in fifty million places all over my house.  My kitchen is still undone from breakfast, but that's okay... I have boxes all over my living room ready to be taken to the trash, I'm getting DI donations all ready for Monday. But most importantly, I got to quietly observe Britain creating a make believe world all around her.  She played in so many cute ways by herself and with her baby doll all morning. She rocked it, cuddled it, poked the nose, accidentally dropped/stepped on it.  But she was so cute with that pretend baby.  Britain is the sweetest person I have ever met. she is working on becoming well behaved.  :) She occasionally screams like a Pterodactyl (at least my imagination of the flying dinosaur... Maybe they don't scream at all...), but that's okay too.  It has been a really busy morning, and I am very content with it.  I hope that I can find ways to make every day productive and relaxing at the same time. 

I have officially been a stay at home mom for one week.  I don't miss working at all.  This is exactly what I want and exactly what we need. Thank you to everyone who supports me and blesses me daily.  You are not unnoticed. I appreciate all the sacrifices from everyone, that have led me back home to my Britain. This is the perfect life.  

Britain's Christmas 2012

I don't have much to say today, but here are some of my favorite pictures from the past month or so. We had a lot of fun this year with Britain getting excited and all the many blessings we enjoyed. What a great way to end 2012. And the last thing is a short video of Britain while she dances...and stays sitting...It's pretty awesome. Enjoy!

Getting the tree ready

In her Pretty dress

Stacking with Bucky

Christmas morning with Mom

Christmas morning with Dad :)

We got spoiled!

Adorable, enjoying new presents

All ready to leave, little grown up with her purse

Sydney, Brandon, Brady, Mom, Grandma VanWagenen & Natalie
Playing ticket to ride 

Long time :)

TA-DA

I'm back.  You missed me right? :) haha... Basically the past three weeks have been insane.  And I decided halfway through it that I was missing the Christmas season for really silly things.  So I slowed myself down, which basically meant that I put a lot of things on the back burner for a while, this blog ended up in the "slow down pile" 

 I'm really excited though because today was a really fun day at work.. That was great because tomorrow is my very last day working for Deseret Book and it was great to feel like I can leave feeling like it was a good place to work.  I love ending things on happy notes. 

I am so excited to stay at home with Britain again. 

I am so excited to be a homemaker and a wife and a mother before anything else. Because nothing else is that important to me.  I think I will be much happier knowing that my priorities are where I want them to be.  I need this, Britain needs this and Brandon needs this.  I love that the Lord is helping us get to the place we need to be.

Britain was adorable on Christmas. I left my camera at my parents house or else I would post pictures of her.  Maybe I'll do a post for Christmas pictures. It was the Best! 

Ok... While I've been writing this my child has started eating her jumbo sized crayons... So this is the end so I can save the rest of them! BYE!

Love you Jewls

I am officially a Jones.
I want to help others in their time of need, through... wait for it......

food.

Now, don't get me wrong... I love food.

But I have never felt like feeding other people

especially when they are sad...

or even when I am sad.

Basically I feel like Granny Jewls did everything she could just to make other people comfortable, and that is a form of service.. I want to make people comfortable too so I'm doing it in the best way that I can think of...

deviled eggs...

I want to honor her life.

because she influenced the person that my mother is,

and I owe her an awful lot for that.

She has a beautiful spirit and I am so glad she

can be with my uncle Joe now. 

I miss you both more than I can express.  Rob and Joe, I think

about you all the time. I hope that you both got the opportunity to 

run to Granny Jewls and hug her and welcome her to heaven.

I'm feeling really weird right now..

Sad but peaceful.

Anxious to help.

Basically I've got to start cooking if

anything will get done.  

Extremes

Today was a beautiful day, and a devastating day.  I don't really know where to start...

Today one of my co-workers left work early and delivered a perfect baby.  What an amazing moment in time, new life.  I wanted to cry with excitement.

Last night my moms step mother had a catastrophic aneurysm as soon as she got to my mothers house after a ten hour drive from her California trip.  Her name is Julie.  I love her.  My mommy loves her even more than I do.  She has a lot of people who love her.  She is the kind of person who changes people simply by being their friend.  She is the least judgmental person I have ever met, she is 100% loving and encouraging. 

The doctors have given her a very grim survival rate. 

My mommy held the phone to her ear, and I had the chance to say goodbye.  

I cried because it hurt.  

It hurts that life ends.  

It hurts that I have to see my mom and my family suffer.

While at work today someone told me about the Connecticut shooting.  I felt sick to my stomach.  My mind was whirling. Innocent children? How can those parents ever heal? I did cry.  I cried for the families, for the trauma that the innocent children went through.  I cried for the devastation of so many young lives being taken from the Earth in such a violent way.  My heart breaks for those families who did not get to envelope their children after the event.  I sobbed for the mothers who lost their babies in so cruel a way.

I cried. and my pain was small.

I hope those families know that they will see their babies again someday. 

I hope they can feel the healing power of the Atonement.

Beautiful Day!

Okay, to be completely honest, I have no idea what kind of a day it is because I have not even opened my blinds today.  I wrote my final paper for my Book of Mormon class yesterday.  I turned it in online today, I don't feel like it is the best paper I've ever done, but I do feel like I worked hard to come up with a topic, and to research talks and scriptures that would strengthen my paper.  It was a good experience and it helped to build up my confidence in my ability to learn just a little bit more.
I love my daughter.  I love my husband.  I hope that I am strong enough to beat my anxiety someday.  I hope that I have learned a lot this year... I certainly feel like I have learned and grown a ton.  I am excited for the next chapter of our life to start up so that we can move forward and put the past behind us.  I love my Heavenly Father and I am so grateful for all of the wonderful mercies that have been shown to me recently and throughout the year.
I'm starting to think about New Year Resolutions again... I think that it will be great to have a plan and take steps to better myself, because we all need a lot of work to be nice and polished by the time we get to return home to our Heavenly Father.  I am no exception... I can think of thirty things that I should work on, but again, patience will get me there.  :) I love you all

Sometimes

Sometimes I forget how lucky I am, how loved I am and how flawless life really is. It's amazing.

I have the most beautiful child.
The most tenderhearted husband.
The most breathtaking wedding ring.
I have a three foot Christmas tree decorated in hope and memories.
I have friends who are always mine to keep.
My parents love me more than words describe.
My siblings excite me and make me excited for their futures.
I have a warm home and bed.
I have peace.
I am where I belong, with exactly the right people.

I love the concept that life is flawless. You don't have to agree with it, it just helps me understand my creator.  It's what describes my understanding. Nothing will happen that God won't know about, nothing can happen that he does not anticipate. Even when trials are huge, or blessing are great, or both, I can know within my heart that my life is flawless, because I am meant to be, my family is meant to be, my history is meant to be. I am loved. I love deeply in return. I am learning patience. I am developing strength. I am striving for perfection, and falling short, and that is beautiful, because my Savior picks me up and carries me the remaining distance every time.
I thank my Heavenly Father for my two most treasured possessions, my husband and my daughter.
Sometimes it's amazing to sit and feel my miracles standing by to help me through.
Sometimes I want nothing more than to memorize this moment.

Just a blurb

This week went by so fast! Brandon worked a 14 hour day Monday, spent Tuesday getting signed up for UVU classes and Wednesday worked another 9 hours, Thursday he worked 4 hours, volunteered at BYU's fantasy magazine for 2 hours and I spent 4 hours attending class.  Today we both worked til 3 and now Brandon is waiting tables at Old Towne Grill. What a long/fast week! Britain was babysat a LOT this week.  Thanks to my grandparents and both sets of parents we are somehow making this insanity work.  I am so glad that this is not a long term set up.  I would probably just implode because it is such a demanding schedule.  I'm definitely looking forward to some changes happening in the near future.  Everyone needs a little change every once in a while, right?
Really fast, I wanted to share that thanks to Angela, from my pathway class I learned about an acceleration path in my program.  Essentially, in pathway we take 5 credits a semester for 3 semesters.  That is a full year and it is called Academic Start. The classes we take are not up for discussion, it is all spelled out.  But since I got an A in my first class they might let me sign up for an extra class for winter semester. I filled out the application today and requested a random online course that would help me meet my science requirements.  I am super excited to find out if I qualify for the extra class.  My fingers are crossed!
P.S.
I am totally prepared to ask for a 3 credit course for my birthday :) Weird? Maybe, but still so cool!

Thanksgiving Recap

Happy Britain with Aunt Chelsea

Playing with Uncle Stevie

Brandon did her hair on Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving.  We got to spend time with my Dad and his family first, then we moved on to my grandmother (my mom's mom) and saw a bunch of cousins and aunts and uncles and then we drove to Santaquin where Brandon's family was hanging out.  It was really great to see so many people.  My favorite part of the week was probably seeing Chelsea, Brandon's sister who lives far far away in North Carolina.  I was so happy that she got to stay at our house last night and that she got to go to church with us today.
My Gratitude List:

Britain being happy for Daddy

-I am grateful for a husband who shares my same values and a love for our family.
-I am grateful for a child who loves unconditionally and is so happy and resilient.
-I am grateful for the gospel, specifically the law of tithing that grants us so many blessings.
-I am grateful for a Heavenly Father and his son Jesus Christ and the Atonement that heals me.
-I am so grateful for the support system that I have through my family and friends.
-I am grateful for the jobs that Brandon and I have, I'm so glad we have the ability to work hard.
-I am grateful for the peace that the Lord grants me when I feel so much fear.
That is a small sampling of all the wonderful things I have to be grateful for.

On Friday night we went to Temple Square.  It was really cool because one of Brandon's uncles works there and he got to show us where he works and some other really neat stuff.  I loved seeing Temple Square like that. Plus, its a perfect kick off to Christmas!

Britain and Grandpa being cold!

Brit and Grandma seeing the Pretties!

Brit and Uncle Josh at Temple Square

Last night Chelsea ended up dying my hair (Thank you Sheralyn for the dye and Chelsea for the dying of the hair).  It was really funny because last night I was thinking "that's weird, it looks kinda like my roots are glowing..." This morning everyone tried to be nice about it and I didn't want to be the first to say anything because Chelsea and Sheralyn were so nice for dying it for me... But my hair was orange. It was funny.  By about an hour into church both my dear sister in laws were mentioning that it was kind of glowing orange and would I mind if they fixed it by re-dying it?
It was funny... moral of the story.  I have dark hair now that isn't glowing orange at the roots. It is much better. I am really excited that my hair is dark.

All us girls taking a nap before dinner

Tonight Chelsea left for the airport.  I cleaned up my house that was trashed from having so many people and so many things we did all week.  I miss Chelsea already.  I hope we get to see her at Christmas.

Scary pasta Baby

Brandon made pasta.  Britain got it all over her face. It was pretty awesome.  She got a bath, which she does not like doing until she gets to splash around.  At that point she gets mad when I make her get out of the tub.  Bathtime is a no-win situation.

Sorry guys, I know this is a super random post, but I mostly just wanted to post anything to get back in the swing of things since I didn't post for so many days! Love you all.

Water Colors

paint away!

Tonight Britain learned how to paint :) As far as I know, this was her first time using any kind of paints.  It was a lot of fun.  She ended up being more fascinated by dipping the brush in the water than anything else.  A close second favorite was dipping the wet brush in the paint... She had almost no interest in the paper once she got going. But it was still super cute to watch.
Also, Britain learned how to chew gum today.  She found Brandon's pack and successfully chewed three pieces without spitting them out or making a mess for two hours! It was hilarious... She didn't even try to swallow it. She is one happy mint baby! Getting her to spit it out before bed was tricky, but eventually she did without a fight.  I love my happy camper.
I got a cold today, so I will not be taking her snow playing anytime soon. :( I really can't afford to be sick right now...But what can I do about it? Brandon is officially job hunting like a mad man so keep your fingers crossed for us. It's been a long year, but we are hoping to start the Christmas season off on the right foot.  Like a preview for a fresh new year. :) I'm so grateful to be married to the strong man that I am married to. He is the best person for me and I appreciate everything he does.
Another thing that I am just super excited about is my super duper awesome Christmas-with-no-money skills! I have successfully come up with Christmas present ideas for all of my sisters that will be totally from my heart, even though we are broke.  It is turning out to be really fun to think hard about that stuff rather than  just spending hundreds of dollars with no real thought.  I love my family.  I hope they have the best Christmas season ever, I sure feel like this will be my best Christmas season yet :)
Love you all.

ME

I am a strong woman.

I am a good mother.

I am a good wife.

I have the potential to be amazing.

I can reach my potential.

I will reach my potential.

I will never stop trying.

I am a beautiful daughter of God.

I am loved by many people including myself.

I make hard decisions.

I follow the spirit.

I am brave.

I am happy.

I am me.

List :)

Tonight I have things to do and zero motivation to get them done... Soooo, that means I need to make a list.  Nothing motivates me quite like a list motivates me.

LIST:
1. Start load of laundry
2. Pick up bedroom
3. Pick up living room
4. Get Brandon from work
5. Get Britain back to bed
6. Rotate laundry 
7. Unload Dishwasher
8. Load dishwasher
9. Read Scriptures 
10. Hit the sack!

Alright, I figure I have 2 hours to get this going.  Good luck to me :) Sorry I've been bad at the pictures of Britain.  Life has been a little insane the past two weeks.  Britain got Uncle Brady's hand me down snow pants today. Now she has a winter coat, snow pants, gloves and a hat and boots so soon we should be tromping around out there in the winter wonderland we call Provo.  I'll make sure to get pictures when that adventure happens :) love to you all!

Words

Today was fun.  Britain got her first coat.  :) Thank you TJ Maxx.  We went to three stores and tried on four coats.  Britain kinda threw a fit by the end, she was really sick of the phrase: "Britain, Arm!"  As I'm sure my dad could have guessed, we ended up buying the first one we tried on.  It is truly not my favorite... but that's okay, it was pretty obvious that it was Britain's favorite.  I love that my beautiful daughter is learning how to communicate and express her preferences.

After getting the coat we went over to Deseret Book to browse around and check out some Shadow Mountain titles from the in store employee library.  Brandon and I are going to read Fablehaven :) (Brandon is wanting to watch that publishing company for internships, but that is not the story that I am trying to tell.) 

Aaaaanyway...

Britain was being super cute while we window shopped.  She started poking her tummy and each time she poked she said be-be.  I finally recognized what she was saying! She learned that she is my Baby! It was so fun! She said it for about five minutes over and over but it never got old. 

Then when she finished practicing that word Brandon said "Britain, say Britain!" and she tried really hard.  It sounded a lot closer to "Ti-Tin" but it was super cute too.  She is finally learning to talk!  

When we got home Brandon sat down and said "Britain, can you get me the x-box controller?" and she said, "no."  That was my favorite moment!!! (Just kidding, but still funny.)

She is learning so much.  Yesterday she put herself to bed by making the "tired" sign and walking into her bedroom while she did it. Then she got really excited when we knew what she wanted.  It was awesome.  And super cute.  I didn't think she would even remember that sign because we only practiced it for two days a few weeks ago, before we decided she wasn't understanding it.  It was neat to realize that my baby is so receptive to knowledge, she is such a sponge.  I am so grateful for her mind and her ability to learn.  I get so much joy from watching her grow.  

Sorry for the lack of pictures.  I'll get some up soon when we make it outside to play in the snow, we didn't play outside today because she had no coat.  :) Now we won't have any excuses so we will share our fun times soon.  Love you all.

Moving Forward

Life stinks sometimes

...the end...

***********

HAHA just kidding, I'm not leaving my thoughts to that!  :) But really sometimes life does stink.  Like when your hair poofs in the morning... Or when BYU looses to Utah... Or when the president isn't the guys you hoped/voted for.  But guess what.  It happened (actually all of those things happened to be exact...) and I'm moving forward.  I hope you can too.  I really appreciate all you lovely people who chose to read my Election Results post.  Somehow, hearing from so many people telling me that they read it, made me feel like my vote and my voice really was heard... Even if it was heard after the event.  

I am still working on getting politically educated.  I feel like I am totally lost in everything, so much garbage to sort through before we actually learn the facts, but that's okay :) making the effort to learn about the issues is important.  Anyway, I just wanted to make sure that I thanked everyone for giving me the chance to be heard.  It meant a lot to me. 

About the Jones Family:

I feel like I've left my family out of this jonesy blog a little too long, so here is some fun information about our upcoming life plans in chronological order (I hope).

Turkey friend

November 21: Brandon's sister is flying to Utah for Thanksgiving, and his parents are driving in.(And Steve?)  

Thanksgiving (22nd): 

-We are eating Dinner with my family (Johnson's) around 1pm

-Next we are eating pie and hanging out with my Smith's around 5pm

 -Hopefully we'll see our Jones's before bed around 7pm.

(Just so everyone knows, these were all tentative plans and are in no means written in stone... only in blog... which is totally changeable. I just wanted to write down how I see it going, so I can be corrected before the day if needed :) )

From the Festival of Trees

Another weekend that is exciting is the first weekend in December:

Friday: Festival of Trees at the Sandy Expo Center :) :) :)

Saturday: Michael McLean's Forgotten Christmas Carols

Basically that wasn't a lot of information, but it was a lot of stuff that I am so ridiculously excited about.  I absolutely love the holiday season and I am thrilled to be Christmas shopping at all :) even if it is really really small this year.  I just appreciate the season and the love that fills the air :) 

Dealing with Election Results

      Last night was really exciting.  Then really nerve-wracking. Ultimately it was devastating for me.  I am scared.  I was counting on America to elect Mitt Romney for President.  And I was just sure that it was the best thing for us.  I sincerely appreciate every minute of time that the Romney's put into this campaign.  I sincerely appreciate the integrity that he held onto for this entire campaign.  I wish that Obama supporters could be more humane towards these people.  I just spent a good 30 minutes on Ann and Mitt's Facebook pages, and there are so many cruel comments about them.  I do not think our nation can afford to pick on each other.  I think that we need to recognize that America needs people who are looking out for each other.  

      Let me just say my thoughts because I think they are worth mentioning.  I totally get that people voted for issues like abortion, or gay rights.  I get that those are big issues, but ultimately, I don't feel like either of those issues outweighed the financial issues that we are facing as a nation.  I do not understand how Americans can be uneducated about the national debt.  I am very under educated, I'll be the first to admit it, but I do know that if something doesn't change fast, we are headed for a huge crisis. 

      I guess the root of my anger about last nights results stems from fear.  I am terrified of the future of our nation.  I am scared of a lot of things.  I am afraid of raising my children in a nation with family morals that have been completely undermined and ultimately destroyed.  I am devastated to think that abortion is something that parts of our country find perfectly acceptable. I am terrified about what will happen to us as a nation when we can't borrow any more money.  What will we do when the dollar just crumbles? Will we have disasters like Greece? Will we be able to maintain any form of democracy? Will our military just collapse leaving us defenseless? Will we end up with wars on American soil? Will my babies be safe? Will I be safe? Will my job be enough to pay my bills with inflation still going nuts? What is our future going to be?

      I know some of those questions are not very smart.  I know that a lot of them are legitimate reasons to be afraid.   

      I sincerely hope that Barack Obama succeeds.  His success or his failure is directly tied to our success or failure as a nation.  I wanted so badly for those results to be inaccurate last night.  But they were not.  Nothing we do or say will change what happened last night.  I cried, literally.  Sobbing.  But my tears don't fix anything. I hope that I am able to take this frustration and fear that I have and direct it toward making a difference.  Toward getting educated and then getting involved.  We have to be smart about the next four years or our nation and each of us will suffer. 

      The Lord is in charge.  He knew the outcome of this election before we ever started voting.  He loves each of us.  Including me.  He wants what is best for each of us.  I don't think these next four years will be easy.  But life goes on, the Lord is on our side even if it doesn't feel like it sometimes.  I hope we can all do our part to help this nation before healing is no longer an option.  I hope that we don't waste any time trying to fix the things that we can fix.  I love my Heavenly Father and my Savior.  I know that I can find peace in what has happened through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.  I love that I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  I am so proud of all that Mitt Romney did for me, he got me interested in politics and helped me understand how important it is for me to be involved.  I appreciate the freedoms I have here and I'm so grateful for good people in the world who want to make things better.  Good luck guys.  I hope we succeed together, regardless of our party affiliations. 

God Bless you, Mitt Romney

Election Day!

I wasn't super excited to vote... Until like two days ago... Suddenly it got really exciting... So...

I VOTED

I'll be honest.  I was planning to vote.. In fact this was the first time I've ever voted.  And I'm going to be totally honest.  I am one hundred percent for Mitt Romney.  I hope so badly that he wins. I've prayed and fasted for him.  I know he would make a huge difference in our country.  Well that's all I've got for you guys.. Britain doesn't care about the election... She is tired and hungry again, so I've got to go..

GOOD LUCK MITT!!!!