Achoo.

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So yeah, I haven't been blogging.

Because allergies have been kicking. my. hiney.

(We don't say "butt" at our house.)

Anyway, I'll be back when the cursed plants quit their pollinating. Stinkin' plant reproduction.

All That the Future Holds

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"All that the future holds in store for each sacred child of God will be shaped by his or her parents, family, friends, and teachers. Thus, our faith now becomes part of our posterity's faith later."

-Russell M. Nelson

Five Friends. And Their Blogs.

So I've been wanting to introduce some of my bloggy friends for awhile. I've really struggled with what to say about each of them, because I could say so much. So I've limited myself to two sentences each. But I want you to know that all of these people and their blogs are awesome.

I purposely picked a variety of bloggers*: one that's related to me, one I haven't met face-to-face, one that's a dude, one that's my oldest friend, and one that's a more recent friend (and lives up the street). Here we go!

1. Kaylyn is my younger sister, and she's way awesomer and cooler-er than I'll probably ever be. She writes at Daily Love Letters, where she posts pictures that she's taken for Project 365.

2. Melissa is one of my oldest and best friends, which means she's pretty awesome for putting up with me for so long. She blogs at Finding Life's Joy, where she shares home-preschooling ideas that she's done with her little girls.

3. Aunt Lolo is a friend that I've never met in person, but we've been bloggy friends for...um...I actually don't know. Anyway, she writes about her adorable Eurasian family at The Lolo Life.

4. Mike was in my freshman ward at BYU, and he's one of the funniest and best people that I know. He writes about his crazy life at My Life--Or Something Like It.

5. Jen and I are a lot alike, though I'm not sure you could tell that from our blogs. She (like Kaylyn) posts photos for Project 365 at The Shigley Post.

*I apologize to the friends that I wasn't able to include--mostly for variety's sake, but some of you...just don't blog very often. I'm going to do another post like this soon, so get bloggin'!

Between a Boy and His Dad

"There is no other relationship quite like that which can and should exist between a boy and his dad. It can be one of the most nurturing, joyful relationships in life, one that can have a profound impact on who boys become and also on who dads become."

-M. Russell Ballard

I Think They Can Dance

So You Think You Can Dance just started up again. Guys, I loooove this show. I've blogged about it before--head over here to read about why I like it so much and how the show works.

The first few episodes of the season aren't usually that great. I guess it takes awhile for the dancers to settle in. But since the skill level of the contestants has been getting better every year, and this is season 8, this week's opening show was actually...pretty good.

So here are my two favorite dances from this week--one fun dance, and one more serious dance.

Here's the fun one:

And here's the pretty one. This clip has all the blabbing included, so skip to about the 2:00 mark if you just want to see the dance:

Did I mention that I love this show?!

Quote of the Day

Little Boy [to me]: "What are you giggling about, you giggle-stinker?"

He Chose

"He could have known how to succor us simply by revelation, but He chose to learn by His own personal experience."

-Henry B. Eyring

An Elephant's Faithful 100%

So I've liked elephants for...I dunno, forever. Actually, when I was little I was into cats, so who knows what happened there.

Anyway, I had a little birthday money left over from my birthday a couple months ago, when I found this while I was browsing Etsy one day:

Ta-da! Something to spend my birthday money on. It's an elephant locket with a bitty bit of sea glass inside.

Here's one nice thing about shopping on Etsy--the shop owners are really nice. (Yes, I just said "nice" twice. And then I rhymed.) The owner of the shop where I got my elephant pendant packed it in this shiny little box:

And she sent a little free gift:

And it all arrived in the mail right on time.

So yeah, I highly recommend SAMISEAGLASS on Etsy. She has beautiful jewelry, and she'll treat you right.

Blooming!

When Isaac quit his job last summer, one of his co-workers gave him an orchid as a going-away gift. It was gorgeous, and we kept it until all its blossoms fell off.

And then I read on the internet that if you're very patient, and if you keep the orchid in a sunny window (...and water it...), it will bloom again the next year. So I did.

And then, a month or so ago, I noticed that it wasn't looking so hot. We kept it in one of those half-circle windows above the windows in our dining area, so I couldn't really see it very well.

So I got it down, figuring that I was kind of tired of watering it, if it was dying anyway...and noticed that it was NOT dying.

It was creating new life! I think the leaves were a bit wilted because it was using its energy to produce buds. It's bloomed a bit since I took this picture, and guess what? Still gorgeous.

Oops.

So I realized today that I've been neglecting my homeschooling blog for the last three weeks. There's a new post up now. Come on over!

*Whew*

So between the giveaway and Little Boy having a fever last week, I didn't get much normal blogging done.

...Or any normal blogging done. Heh.

But we're back to business now. So--

look out!

We Have A Winner!

First off, thanks to everyone who entered the My Memories Suite giveaway. I used Random.org to choose a winner, and it came up with #15, who is...

Tena!

Congratulations, Tena! I've e-mailed your winning promo code to you.

Now, for those of you who didn't win, but who really liked what you saw at MyMemories.com, you can still get My Memories Suite at 25% off. The discount code is still good through Monday, June 6th. Use this code:

STMMMS86818

for $10 off My Memories Suite v.2. Pretty sweet deal.