FOUND!!!

The earrings have been found! Just as I thought, I put them in a little ring box for "safe keeping"... and proceeded to leave them in England at my mom's!! I'm so so relieved, I seriously shed tears over this episode!

In other news....we are home from our cruise! I have so much to post about, not to even mention that I haven't really touched on our Christmas vacay yet! I promise I will soon....

BUT, first things first. I have just spent the past 20 minutes or so watching Oprah and crying. Nothing about this is very unusual (for me, anyways)....except for the fact that I was watching mothers and children dying and suffering in Haiti. I feel such overwhelming sorrow for the people dealing with this tragic disaster. I cannot wrap my head around it, how did we get to be so blessed? The people of Haiti have a long history of struggle, and now this on top of everything. It must feel like the end of the world to them. I wish I could help, but really really help. Like be there to calm down the child who has just lost his whole family, or the mother holding her dead infant. I cannot stop crying!!! It makes me feel so lucky, and I have to say a bit selfish too. I am however, very very greatful for what I have in this life. I am loved and I love, and I have all of my most basic needs and then some met. Please take a moment everyone and say a prayer for those in Haiti.

Heart broken....

I have an AMAZING husband. He never ceases to surprise me every Christmas and Birthday with some kind of thoughtful and heartfelt gift. This year was no exception....2 days before we left for England it was my birthday. And he gave me these....
....gorgeous diamond hoops. I LOVE them....and so I wore them over there. Everyone who really knows me know that I love to accessorize, and so about a week into our holiday I took out my precious new hoops and jazzed up a different outfit with some cute chandalier style earrings...then I kept changing my earrings all holiday long with different ones. Now I am home. I am unpacking. And....I can't find them. Anywhere. Are they lost in my mom's apartment? She checked and can't find them yet. Were they stolen by the house cleaning staff in Spain? I DON'T KNOW. How can I have ALL of my other jewellery and not these??? And I have A LOT of jewellery. So where did they go??? I'm so depressed, I can't even write about our trip yet! But I will. Later. When we get back from our next trip...Mexican cruise, we get home next Tuesday. Wish me luck finding them, I am DYING!!!!!!!!

You gotta do what you gotta do....

So I have decided to make my blog private...not sure how many people actually read it but it's for peace of mind I guess! So anyone who wants send me your email address - even though I know how annoying it is to have to sign in all the time....thanks!!

Christmas Time...

In just 3 more days we will be HERE....

london & guildford, england

And then Christmas Eve until New Year's Eve we will be here....

lanzarote, canary islands, spain

I cannot wait, I am seriously sooooooooo excited! We will be spending Christmas with my mom and her husband, and don't come home until Jan. 6!! Yay!! It will be strange to be on a beach for Christmas, but we're so glad to be somewhere hot that we don't even care how non-traditional this holiday season will be for us!! London will be so much fun too, I know Bella will just love all the festively decorated streets and stores, they go all out over there! (okay okay, I will love it too...!!)

We decorated our house for Christmas just a little, just to get us in the spirit of things....

yes, I know there are 4 stockings and only 3 of us, but they all match
and I like symmetry ok?!!

can you believe I actually painted and sanded those??!
I know I can't!!

and yes, this is the famous advent calendar...
turned out better than I expected but was
kind of a pain to make!!

Merry Christmas to everyone, enjoy the holiday season and the chance to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. See ya in January!! :)

Fun night!

Tonight my little family and I were lucky enough to go to the theatre!! Well...not really...but it's close enough for me! Our ward put on a Christmas play called Ebenezer and Friends, and let me tell you it is awesome!! Such good actors amongst us and I didn't even know! And really good singers too, I just loved it! Bella loved it too, she was clapping and pointing and waving, especially when the little kids came out for the Nativity scene! Made me think about her in a few years from now, hopefully she'll get to do something like that too! My mom always tells me about the time I was 4 or 5 and I was Mary in a play...I guess I was really rough with the "baby Jesus" and would just plunk him into the cradle! She said it was hilarious, but that the teacher wasn't too impressed and would always scold "Be gentle!!"....haha, good thing I've changed since then!!

If you didn't see the play tonight, go tomorrow (Friday)....so much fun, great costumes and singing, delicious treats....lots to get you in the Christmas spirit!!

changes?

Not sure if everyone knows this yet, but I may as well spill the beans....
NO...I'm not pregnant!!!
We are trying to sell Beautiful Bride...and it's taking FOREVER...I had to make the decision a couple of months ago, when I found myself with no time for me or my family and literally feeling like Bella's childhood was slipping through my fingers. This business is all-consuming, it takes up 20 times more time than you think and it is a 24/7 365 days a year career....that I love. And so it was the most difficult decision I have ever had to make, and it wasn't without many tears. I have put my heart and soul into it, but I feel like it came at the wrong time for me. So I am trying to move on. Live and learn right??! There is a couple who is interested in it, and we are just waiting on them for a decision. The suspense is killing me! I can barely stand the anticpation of it. I just want to have time for me again...today I spent the morning babysitting cute little Sadie, and I invited darling little Kyla over too...it was so much fun, and I know that it was good for Bella to have some girls over that were her age to play with!! I want to do that more often, I feel like people that I know just know me as a busy business owner, too busy to do anything with anyone. I want that to change!! I want playdates and mall dates and mommy/daughter dates and friend dates and husband/wife dates!! I want to wake up and stay in my pj's all day if I want to!! I want to learn how to cook better, and bake fun things and make cool crafty stuff!!

AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!! I CAN'T STAND WAITING!!!

Digital Scrapbooking??

So, those who know me know I CANNOT scrapbook....I think if I had tons of time (and money!!) I could maybe be decent at it, but I just don't right now!! I want to make my mom (who lives in England and doesn't get to see us very often) a photo-book type thing of the past 2 years of her visits with Bella. But I want it to be CUTE. And relatively EASY. Oh and FAST, because we leave to see her in 3 weeks!!!

Any thoughts? Ideas? Thanks guys!!