Liquid GOLD!!!

    

This morning I paid $3.37 a gallon to fill up my car!!!  I know, for some of you (my friends in California) that may be a downright bargain.  After the shock of putting $50 in my tank, I went to the grocery store.  Don't even get me started on food prices!  We eat all but maybe one meal a week at home, I use coupons often and I really enjoy cooking, but WOW...everything has become so much more expensive.  Anyone else feeling the pinch?

Now we'll have no excuses...

When we moved to this area just over 2 years ago, it was with quite a lot of faith. It's a developing area, there wasn't much here and you never know who's building what & where. My cute Mother-in-Law even said something like, "Well, there's not much out there." Dan & I love it here, though we just endure the summer and our new neighborhood school has had some growing pains this year.  We feel like we hit the jackpot with a new Fry's grocery, LA Fitness, awesome new outdoor mall, Sprouts & Costco so close and all new since we've moved in.  But I couldn't believe our luck when President Monson announced this week that there will be a new temple built in Gilbert, just 1.3 miles from my front door!  Right now the building site is a huge green field and it's hard to imagine that there will be a beautiful LDS temple so close to us!

One-size-doesn't-fit-all Education...

My friend Suzi introduced me to the "Raising Small Souls" website a few years ago and I came across this amazing video about how schools are educating the creativity right out of our kids, especially those that are "busy." With Corey starting Kindergarten this August, I am holding my breath. He's such an active, energetic boy and I worry that school may be a challenge for him! He's been in preschool for 2 years, since he has a late birthday and his teacher thinks he'll do well. This video is about 15 minutes long, but well worth listening to:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=iG9CE55wbtY

Vampire mania?

         Unless you've been hiding in a cave or don't like to read, you've likely heard about the Twilight book series by Stephenie Meyer.  I read the first book about a year ago for Book Club, and quickly devoured it and the next book in the series, New Moon...all in about 2 1/2 days.  I was hooked!  The books made me feel happy and in love (with my husband, and a bit with Edward;-) and I was sick when I finished and had to wait a few months until Eclipse was released last August.  My parents and all my sisters loved them too (Sorry Dad...did I just embarass you?).

          I LOVE Stephenie Meyer's story, that she's LDS, and a Mom like me.  I admire that she took a dream and has turned it into such an appealing series that has got everyone reading!  Now that the "Twilight" movie is in production, I'm not so sure I'm going to feel the same about the movie.  Not sure Robert Pattinson fits my image of Edward Cullen. Am I wrong?  I even watched him as Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter recently, and was even more sure that he's not Edward. Anyone else agree?  I do think the actors for Carlisle, Esme, James, & Victoria seem well-cast.

          Last weekend, my sister-in-law Holly met "Pancho" Meyer, Stephenie Meyer's husband, as their boys are in the same baseball league.  Holly said he was really down-to-earth and said Stephenie was away on business for The Host, a new book which comes out May 6th.  

        Before then, I need to finish reading Fablehaven, A Room With a View (for Book Club) and The Historian, which is about, you guessed it...vampires!  

Welome back, Jim.....

            ...We've missed you!