The Break Up

I broke up with my blog.

But I can't seem to let it go completely.

During the day I find myself remembering the good times

and the bad.

I think of funny things I want to write

or things that are happening that I don't want to forget,

but then I remember that I broke up with you my dear blog.

I don't need you anymore.

I am doing fantastic.

I don't need the dream of thousands of people being interested in what I have to say.

I gave it up.

I grew content with the simple life that I have.

But then I remember all my friends who I miss.

Their comments brightened so many of my dark days.

I wonder how they are doing

because even though none of them were as public about it

they seem to have survived breakups of their own.

They no longer come to talk to me through the internet

because I think they grew content with their lives too.

I guess we are all getting older.

Or more feministic. 

That isn't a word.

 I love it when I make up words.

And then I chuckle thinking about another reason why I miss my blog.

The blog was a lot of things for me,

but the one thing I miss the most about it

was its ability to connect me with my friends.

My blog was a place for them to come and tell me

that they are right there with me.

They get me.

They were so happy that I dared admit things others wouldn't.

It was a place for me to laugh.
And cry.

And get my fingers moving

when I didn't want to write.

Now all I have is my i-phone

and even though it is a cool new boyfriend,

like the star quarterback kind

it's not the same.

I miss my lowly little homely blog.

He always got me.

He always made me smile.

And he always validated me.

But gosh darnet, I am with the star quarterback now,

I don't need validation.

Back to my couch to play some more words with friends

and forget about the fact that my creative outlet won't ever let me take him back.

If the new and improved me who is worthy of dating the star quarterback just wasn't counting calories 

maybe I could fill my temporary lonliness with oreos and milk tonight.

Alice, get it together. You are dating the star quarterback.

Have you noticed that I haven't even changed my masthead?

Psh.

But I am reading my scriptures every day.

Cultivating my relationship with my Savior.

Running three times a week.

Counting calories.

Occasionally posting on my other blog.

Working two nights a week.

And spending way too much time with my quarterback.

Therefore the deeper blog separation and the excuse for only reading one book so far all year.

I believe it is time for another break up.

2012 plus announcement

Man, 2011 was a great year for me.

I just got a job at  private alternative school that I am way excited about.
I am signing up to run a 5k tomorrow after I've trained diligently for 6 weeks.
My marriage is better than ever. (Trust me there were times that were really tough).
I have been reading my scriptures and saying my prayers consistently (almost daily).
I reached and surpassed my reading goal of 50 books.
I have been paid for book reviews this year.
Most of all, I have felt God's hand in my life.

I hate to sound all braggy, it's not really my style, but this year has been awesome for me, and I want to say thanks to all of you who have helped me in little and big ways. I really really deserved a good year. I've been through some really rough times over the past decade. Yes, decade.

2012 is looking like it will be even better.

The first thing you need to know is I started a new blog.
Come over and check it out.
I am super excited about the new challenge.

Ispyutah.com

My goals this year are:


FAMILY

1. Read scrips every day.
2. Do good every day.
3. Be quiet.

PERSONAL

1. Run four 5k's. (keep 3x wk)
2. Read 54 books.
3. Weigh 180 or under.
4. Attend temple monthly.
5. Plan a family camping experience.
7. Dailies. (scripture study, prayer, service)
8. Be still and quiet.
9. Go back to college.
10. Stay under budget.
11. Go to bed & wake up w LG.
12. Show love and compassion.
13. Bond with the girls.


How about you? What are your goals?

Holly Wreath Cookies

Thanks to Donna for doing a virtual cookie swap. How much fun is that?
Anyone can join including you, so go check it out.

I am honored to be her first feature
with a long-standing family tradition cookie called
Holly Wreath Cookies.

Oh the memories of buttered up hands and brothers grabbing all the red hots first.
I don't know how my mom put up with all of us.

Before I give you the recipe, let me direct you to Donna's funniest recent blog post about what not to ask black people. Donna is black just in case you were wondering what makes her the expert.

Here is the recipe for those of you who like your cookies made from dirty little fingers.

Holly Wreath Cookies

1 Cube Real Butter
1 Bag Large Marshmallows
1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
1/2 tsp Almond Extract
6 cups corn flakes
Lots of green food coloring
Red Hots if desired

First make sure you grease a few large pieces of wax paper prior to preparing cookies. We use Pam to spray the wax paper but mom always used butter or margarine.

In a large stock pot melt the butter. Add marshmallows, vanilla and almond extracts and stir until all marshmallows are melted. Be careful to not burn the mixture. Remove from heat and add green food coloring to bring mixture to a forest green color. It takes quite a bit but it definately looks better than avacado green when you use just a little.

When mixture is a good shade of green add the corn flakes. Fold the flakes into the mixture to avoid crushing the flakes. When flakes are sufficiently green scoop out approxiamtely 1 1/2 cups of flakes onto wax paper. Have kids rub their hands with butter and form the flakes into wreath shapes. Add red hots and let cool.

Another Holiday Give Away

Remember my friend Lori who won the half-tee and I asked her to give me something free.

Well, she is trying her hardest to oblige.
You're welcome everyone for putting the giveaway idea in her head.

This post is my 1 in 4 chance at winning one of her adorable and quite famous pillows.
I don't usually do this much work so that tells you how much I want one for FREEE!

Go here for your chance to win.

Hello? Anybody there?

I don't want to be manipulative. I have worked really hard at learning that people have their own choices to make and that I need to give them the space to for their own choices. Boy, that was a hard lesson to learn too. Especially when you grow up in a family where everyone is always up in everybody else's business.

But, I am curious. Does anyone even read this little blog anymore? I think I killed it to death. According to my stat counter, I know I get hits, but I was really really surprised that I just wrote a post giving away a free shirt with a value of $20 and I have not received one entry yet. Not one. Is it just that all of you don't want to go over to their website before leaving a comment? Or is it that I harped on the modesty thing too much? Or are you all like me and think you will never win anyway? Or is there really just no interest in the amazing halftee?

Anyway, I've been blogging a long time and lately this here little blog has been in a big 'ol drought in the comment department. I can't even get a comment on a giveaway. I believe it may be time to hang up the towel. I am not saying that to make you feel sorry for me, but I've been open with y'all during the whole journey and I feel like I should also be open at the end.

I don't blog solely for comments. I will always blog for my kids. I think they deserve their stories to be written and this here blog is the best place I have found for that to be done (with pictures to boot), but let's face it, if nobody is enjoying this thing I may as well slow down in the posting department. It's all good, I've got other ambitions and plenty of other avenues in the writing department. I have three books I have been too afraid to commit to and even if I am kidding myself with my writer's ambitions there is always my neglected good old fashioned journal.

I wonder if everyone isn't reading blogs anymore? Has facebook and twitter taken over? I know there are great popular blogs out there with large audiences so it can't be that blogging is no more. I have recently had time to reflect that mine will probably never be one of those of blogs. It's o.k! I think that it's time for me steer myself in another direction and trust God to a greater degree. I know He's got my back. It's not that those other bloggers are better than me, it's just that they found their callings in life, and I have not.

I have grown with this blog. It has been like the fertilizer to my roots, but I believe it may be time to not just bud, but flower. I need to flower in another direction. Toward the sun.

What is the definition of insanity? Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. I believe it's time for me to change. I believe it's time for me to let go. I believe it's time for me to grow some wings and fly away from the mediocrity of comfort.

This blog may not have the ending that I have wanted all these years, which is thousands of readers, but it's not because of lack of effort and that is such a comfort to me. It will end with a fundamental change in me. That change is I no longer need thousands of readers. What good are thousands of readers if you aren't doing what God wants you to do. I've given it all I've got. I've come to the conclusion that this blog is just not my calling in life, no matter how much I want it to be. I'm not saying that to get your sympathy. I just want to be honest with myself. I have prayed a lot about this very thing. What is my mission in life? I want to use the time I've got in the way God wants.

I have taken this blog to good places. I have gotten hundreds of thousands of hits. I have been recognized by other bloggers. Most of all I have made some wonderful blogging world friends. My greatest recognition has been the times when you, my friends, have laughed and cried along with me. It's been a great ride. A great ride. It's something that I am very proud of. I don't walk away with my head hung in shame, but I will walk away with a greater vision and more courage than ever before. It's time for Alice to let go of her desires and get more in tune with God's will.

Yes, it's time. No matter how much I want to fight it. I've given this blog almost a decade of my life and it's time to let it go. Thank you friends for helping me get to where I am, even if it was just vicariously by being my imaginary readers. I thank each of you for being my audience because I know that took a lot of patience on your part.

I have scheduled out some posts and I have a bunch of drafts I need to finish, but after that I believe I will post only the family stories that I can't bear to forget or things that God puts on my heart.

Wow, this is emotional for me, but it's also exciting. God is so good to me. He has waited to let me see the need for forfeit after He gave me the strength for it and the vision for something else. Thank you my loving Father in Heaven. Thank you. Thank you for the past. Thank you for the future. But most of all thank you for the present moment when I know you are here with me.

This blog will never be by the wayside. It has been my northern star.

HeroMom needs your help

I recently told you about my cousin DeAnne and how I nominated her for AllState's HeroMom of the year.
The recap is DeAnne is an amazing mom of 16 children. Most were adopted and many are special needs.

Well, we are competing against a bigger blogger to be able to surpass into first place and we are struggling.

However I never go down without a fight. I have been campaigning pretty heavily on facebook and at one point we got within 80 votes behind. They have now upped their game and we are straggling behind between 200-300 votes.

So what I am trying to say is I NEED you. I desperately need every single one of you to help me here.

Please go and vote for DeAnne. You can vote every day. What would help us the most is if you will get others to go and vote too. I know that is asking a lot, but I someday can return the favor.

Share this link where they can vote with anyone and everyone. Tell them to vote for DeAnne.

http://theblogfrog.com/p/allstate/default.aspx?replyid=1138066

Or promote the vote with the facebook event.

I love you my readers. Thanks for always being there for me. I love having my blogging friends who I know I can always be honest with, vent to, and beg for help from.



Thank you all so much.

Guest Post - Jenny - School Lunches

Hi everyone, I am Jenny Lynn from simply family and designing for home. Alice and I go way back to a time when we were goofy teens. In fact I spent many summer nights trying to Tee Pee her house, only to have her mom catch me in the act. Which meant I had to clean it up. Of course I was not alone in this act, it usually involved a Young Woman’s leader driving and a sleep over. We grew up in the same ward. It has been so fun to be in touch with her again.

The last four years I have been working in an elementary school. Part of my job besides being an aide includes working in the lunchroom as a guard. Really I spend my time doing mommy type things, like cleaning up spills, giving reminders about table manners, cleaning up their own mess when done and so much more. After spending so much time in the lunchroom I started to notice a few things, that maybe other moms would love to know. This year on my family blog I have started sharing my Lunchroom tips once a week. Alice has given me a chance to share with you a few of those tips.

1. Please put both the child’s name and the teacher’s name somewhere on the lunch box. When a lunch box is found, if it has the teachers name on it, it makes it easier to either place it in the right lunch bucket or get it to the right classroom.

2. Fruit, what to do to make them eat their fruit. Well, a little container of fruit dip goes a long way. Also make sure those apples are cut up. Little ones, first graders especially still have a hard time eating the skins of apples due to loose teeth. Recently I have seen some children with cut up peaches, which in turn other children are begging for just a small piece of. Bananas don’t get eaten as well as you would think. They seem to be the perfect fruit for a home lunch. Well, they don’t always look that appealing after sitting in a lunch box all morning. kind of warm, and bruised from being bonked around as the child swings that lunch box around. I think you get the picture. Bananas and apples are the most thrown out fruit I see each day.

3. Do they eat everything you pack? No! Even if they tell you that they do most likely they empty what they could not finish right into the trash. They are not always eating everything that gets packed. Decided with your child a head of time what they should do with the food they don’t feel like eating at lunch time. Most children don’t want to upset their mothers because of the expectation of having to eat everything. There are days when a snack is brought into the classroom and eaten before lunch time. Leaving them too full to eat everything you have lovingly packed. Keep this in mind on party days, those thanksgiving meals, or other special days, etc.

4. Look at the lunch menu to see what is being served ahead of time. Then plan what days your child will be eating at school or bringing a lunch. We do this at our house. My 6th grader has loved packing her own home lunch this year.

5. Which brings me to this, please involve your child in planning their home lunches. There are so many wonderful ideas out there on how to pack the perfect home lunch. This is a perfect time to build up those communication skills with your children. Although it seems like a small thing, talking about what they like is important. I have even been doing this more with my children, of whom I have 5

6. Trading does take place at lunch,. Hot trade items include Capri suns, goodies (of course), Gogurts and chips. There are times that my children have planned a day a head of time what they are going to be trading. I have let them do it.

7. Cutest thing I see is the love notes that are written in a merriment of different ways. Many times I will have a child show me his/hers mothers love. There are times I read it to them. It really does mean something to your child. It doesn’t need to be everyday. But once in a while it is a nice surprise for them.

I do have many other things I plan on sharing in the weeks to come on my own blog about the lunchroom. I am so grateful to Alice for giving me the chance to post here.

Where to Find Me

My friends know that the best place to get a hold of me is
through e-mail, facebook, or leaving a comment on my blog.
I have gone through 4 phones in the past 4 months,
so getting a hold of me cellularly (I love it when I make up words)
doesn't have the best track record.

I thought today my friends might like to know how else they can get a hold of me.
Apparently I am all over the place on google.
Here are the search words that will bring you directly to me.

white trash. Lots of people find me this way. I am so flattered. My time in Tennessee agrees with me.

Lyrics with Lessons

I recently really enjoyed this post by Cameron Smithson. Cameron used a great song to prove his point that if you want to be loved, you need to give love. You can love without being loved, but it sure does work better when it goes both ways.

If fashion can make me laugh: I'm in.

Fashion: I don't get it.
I have a friend who runs this fashion blog.
Every day it astounds me that people
actually put clothes on and take pictures of themselves.
Sometimes multiple shots from different angles.
I guess it's the wardrobe equivalent of me
blogging every detail about my life on this little thing we call the blog.

Well this morning Sheila turned me on to a post
that is funny and fashionable.
Go and check it out.
You will never look at your accessories the same.
Thanks Sheila.

Mommy wasn't giggling

When the toddling tornado wreaked havoc.

But apparently, other moms get it, so they featured one of Caroline's photos on their blog.

I love mommy giggles.

Go over and give them a photo that makes you chuckle.

You could win $25 every month.

And we all know, every mom needs two things:
more giggles, and more money?

Of course I wasn't going to say more kids.
We've got plenty of those.