Getting Sprung On Spring

Spring has sprung and although this spring weather is less than warm enough in my eyes, I am excited that summer is just around the corner. In the meantime, I have some fun activities lined up to help keep me occupied during these windy rainy months. In May, I am going to the Taste Of Home cooking school with my mom and sister. This is something we have been wanting to do for years, but the tickets always sold out fast. This year we bought them the first day and are ready to go. Next up, I plan on taking a cake decorating class, finally! This is also something I have wanted to do for over a year now, but have not had time and too many of the classes have been during the day when I work. This week I am going to sign up and hope to fit one of the classes into my schedule. I can't wait! The last thing I want to do this spring is start volunteering somewhere. I am thinking possibly at the Pregnancy Center, but we'll see. I have a passion for babies and parenting and although I am not a parent, I think 4 years of Psychology (including child developement and infant classes), working at 2 seperate child care centers, and working at a psychiatric hospital for children and then working with adults in that same hospital (many whom were parents) has given me a good idea of the affects of certain behaviors and actions on children. I have a strong desire to help educate people, especially young parents, on how to be the best parent they can be for this new life they created. A baby is born with all the potential in the world and it breaks my heart when this is destroyed by someones selfishness or lack of resources to better their life. Being a parent is the most important job in the world and I want others to see it that way too. Who wouldn't want a better life for their child than they had? Being the best parent you can be is where that starts. So, we'll see if that's what I end up doing. For now, I pray I can be a positive influence in someway somewhere. Send some prayers my way if you think about :) As for me and Jeremiah, we plan to go hiking at Multnomah Falls sometime soon (I know hiking?), to get on some more home improvements, and our first rodeo (Jeremiah runs the sound for his dad who is the announcer - no bull riding for us thank you very much) is in May as well. Did I mention we have 2 babies due in our family within the next month? Exciting! Well, that's it for now. Next up: Summertime Fun! My FAVORITE!

Bye Bye Winter... Hello Fun In The Sun!

The beginning of March has been a blast for the Atkins! What a way to end winter! Disney World, Greenville, SC and Atlanta! Since Jeremiah travels frequently to Greenville, and this was interfering with our plans for a winter vacation, we decided to go to Florida and take advantage of all the South has to offer! This also meant I (Angie) would actually get to see good old Greenville for a few days before heading home and letting my Jeremiah get to work. We are so thankful to God for this opportunity! It has allowed us a vacation and to be apart for less time. God is AMAZING ! Some of the highlights of our trip included:
- Getting a beautiful pearl from an oyster in Japan at the Showcase of The Worlds, EPCOT and buying candy from many of the countries as well. However, Turkish Delight = Not so delightful.
- Riding Test Track, Angie's favorite roller coaster!
- Seeing Illuminations: Reflections of Earth fireworks show and giant moving globe on the lake at EPCOT!
- Tower of Terror at Hollywood Studios! I thought it would never stop shooting us up and down! Intense for sure!
- The integration of video games and rides at the Magic Kingdom on the Toy Story and Buzz Light Year rides! Jeremiah's fave!
- Angie hitting the 200,000 bonus point target on the Buzz Light Year ride! High score suckas!
- Riding Splash Mountain and Thunder Moutain at night and posing silly for the ride pictures.
- Jeremiah getting a crazy picture of Angie on Space Mountain with his iPhone!
- SpectroMagic! The COOLEST lighted parade I ever saw at the Magic Kingdom followed by an amazing fireworks display complete with a lighted up glowing Tinker Bell flying over the crowd from a zipline at the top of Cinderella's Castle! I knew something cool was to happen with that barely visible line I saw coming from the top!
- Extra magic hours at all parks means getting to parks early and staying til midnight at some! Best part of staying at a Disney Resort!
- Seeing the piano Uncle Jesse played at for Aunt Becky at the Grand Floridian! Too bad the Coral reef where they ate at was booked up solid and I didn't get to eat there... Guess I'll just have to come back!
- 60 and 70 degree sunny weather!
- Going on a safari at the Animal Kingdom and surviving the backwards Yeti coaster, Expedition Everest!
- Giant smoked Turkey legs! YUM!
- Seeing the world's largest aqaurium with the 2nd largest viewing window at the Georgia Aquarium!
- Petting a Sting Ray and Shark!
- Shopping at the best outlet mall outside Atlanta!
- Realizing how small Seattle really is after seeing Atlanta.
- Reedy River Falls in Greenville, SC. So pretty!
- Eating at Zaxby's (delicious wings), Longhorn, and Cracker Barrel. Not too mention all the delicious fried food I tried like hushpuppies and cajun fries!
- God's protection and safety for us as it was my first time flying alone and Jeremiah left for the trip with a tooth infection. What would we do without the Big Man upstairs?!
- Getting to spend a few days exploring Greenville with my hubby before I headed home and he stayed to work for 12 more days! Can't wait for March 26th!

The Tree Of Life at The Animal Kingdom

Germany at EPCOT

Tower Of Terror at Hollywood Studios

Cinderella's Castle at The Magic Kingdom

The monkeys at Animal Kingdom

Legoland Downtown Disney

Petting a sting ray and shark at the world's largest aquarium in Atlanta, GA

Reedy River and Falls in Greenville, SC

2010 One Word Challenge

The first month of the new year has come and gone and with it many resolutions. I'm not typically a resolution maker, but this year I made 3, call them "resolutions" if you will, that I have really been trying to stick to. I am not going to say what they are, but I put a lot of thought into them and am going to work at them regardless of how often I fail. I have also decided to aim low with my resolutions. Time is a key factor for many resolutions and I just don't have it. Therefore, yearly resolutions aren't always my thing and I figured if I am going to make some this year, I better be realistic. I hate disappointing myself. It kills my motivation and hurts my self-esteem. If I aim low I am less likely to fail and can build motivation off my small successess. I am truly excited to keep at my 2010 resolutions, learn from my mistakes, and move on.

In the midst of trying to better myself for me, I heard of a really cool "challenge" K-LOVE was sending out to its listeners one morning called "My One Word." It basically challenges people to put to rest the typical self serving resolutions they make, and often don't hold to, and seek out who God wants them to be. What you do is pick one word (maybe a trait or characteristic) that you want to embody and filter all your behaviors and decisions through it. Want to be more gentle? Read scripture on what a gentle person is like, pray about it, listen to songs about it, and really try to see what it entails to be more gentle. Then apply it to your daily interactions with others and your decision making. What I love about this challenge is it affects others positively and not just the resolution maker. Yes, it is great to grow and change for yourself, but just think of the impact on others and your relationship with God that can take place when you seek out how to live up to this one word? Obviously, you need to pray about this word and put thought into it... but I think it could be more life changing than "drink more water" and definitely more worthwhile! K-LOVE even has a search where you can find songs and scripture pertaining to your word. I have included the link below, so you can read more about "My One Word" and in better words than I can put it into. So, check it out if you're struggling with your resolutions, haven't made one, or are totally awesome and just want to add to your resolutions you have already made! Welcome 2010 friends and God bless!
http://myoneword.org/choose

Deep Thoughts By Jack Handy

Below is a quote a friend of mine had posted as her Facebook status last week. I had actually been thinking along the same lines the night before and thought it was an awesome way to put what I had been thinking about. So, I decided to share it:
You can tell more about a person by what he says about others, than you can by what others say about him. ~Leo Aikman

Makes you think about the types of people you have in your life and especially about the message you send to others in how you speak and act yourself.

Have a great day!

"The Best Way To Spread Christmas Cheer Is Singing Loud For All To Hear"

What a fabulous Thanksgiving we had! I met Sarah Palin twice (without
having to spend the night in a line), went Black Friday shopping with
my sis and got great deals without getting up at the crack of dawn,
ate delicious large amounts of food at 3 Thanksgivings, and was
blessed beyond belief by all the memories and time spent
with family. And now, it is officially the Christmas season, despite
all the overly eager decorators out there who were confused about
which Holiday came first and put everything up before Thanksgiving.
Now we can all decorate without fear of looking like we are in a race
of who can put their decor up first and rush Christmas the fastest. I
am currently in the midst of decorating my house and boy is it hard to
find the time. My plan is to be done before Friday so we can get
our tree up and decorated and then relax under all the glowing beauty the lights have to offer.

There are so many things I love about Christmas! I hope I can find the
time to enjoy them all! Some of my favorite traditions include: Christmas music on several radio stations 24 hours a day, seasonal drinks like Eggnog Lattes, Starbucks Red Holiday cups, non stop decorating my house, picking out a new ornament with Jeremiah every year (usually some
crazy cool interactive type one), going to all the tree lots and
stores to find the best tree, only to end up going back to tried and
true Fred Meyer, watching all the Christmas shows I own on TV just
because everyone else knows they are on and might be watching too, how
I always tell someone their present on accident (already been my
mom this year), looking at the Christmas section of every store
every time I go (makes for some really long trips to the store), the
scent of pine and peppermint, candy cane shakes from Burger Ranch,
seeing my niece and nephews all excited about lights and presents, of
course the baking, especially Rich Almond Snow Drops, Peanut Butter Cups, and
Honey Cookies and how I try every year to make them, but they never
come close to my moms, cuddling up with cocoa filled with marshmallows to watch Elf, Christmas Vacation, A Christmas Story marathon, Charlie Brown, and Surviving Christmas, SNOW, looking at Christmas lights on all the houses, sending and receiving Christmas cards, seeing the UPS truck out all the time and hoping it stops at my house, the joy of giving, the fact that I know the true meaning of
Christmas and it doesn't compare to all the lights and gifts the world
can offer! Merry Christmas!!!

'Tis The Season To Give Thanks

"Thanksgiving... thanks and giving. What do these two words mean? Giving . . . the . . . the act of imparting or bestowing. Now, putting these two words back together . . . we have . . . we have . . . Thanksgiving. The . . . the bestowal of gratitude. . . and . . . and looking around I see that we . . . we have so much to be grateful for. Just the fact of . . . of being together is . . . is something to be grateful for." -Perfect Strangers Thanksgiving Episode, where they think a turkey ate Jennifer's ring and crash the neighbor's family Thanksgiving to find it. The quote sounds so serious... but if you have seen the episode you know it was anything but... and hilarious!

But onto a more serious note, there is so much to be thankful for everyday in life! Unfortunately, I tend to fall into the trap of comparing myself to others and their things, instead of looking at the abundance of what I have and being grateful. Often I find myself easily stressed out and focusing on the negatives more than I like, but when I stop and think about it... I have so much to be thankful for and do not deserve all the blessings God has bestowed upon me. So, at this time of year I am taking a moment to stop my madness and take note of all I have to be thankful to God for.

What I am thankful for: My handsome husband who will do anything for me, my loving and fun family and all the beautiful new editions we welcomed this year, having the opportunity to spend quality time with my niece and nephew who crack me up and are so smart, in-laws who I love, a new job that provides for my needs and doesn't leave me emotionally exhausted anymore, my husband's job and all the good things he does for Fluor (even thought he has to travel sometimes), a beautiful home with a yard and deck in a great location and just blocks from the river, a warm delicious meal every night (even if it means being lazy and eating out), my car I bought this year, vacations, being able to do home improvements, my new photography hobby, my H1N1 vaccine, the opportunity to get a college education, and most importantly God's grace and peace when I don't deserve it! Thank you Lord!

Smile

During a long day at work this week, I was recalling back to myself some of the funny things my 2.5 year old nephew Eli has said to make the day a little easier. Man that kid has a great sense of humor! Anyway, I wanted to share them and hopefully put a smile on your face like I know he did mine.

The funny things my E says:

The other day I was having him say lines from "Elf," he loves that movie, and I told him "E say 'Buddy the elf, what's your favorite color?" and E says "Buddy the elf... uh orange!"

Another day, while playing with my iPhone, he clicked on the Myspace app my cousin put on it and asked me what it was. I told him it was Myspace and E said "You space? Mimi, I gonna play with you space."

While hanging out with his mom one day, they were looking at a map or something, E pointed to Utah and asked what it was. So, Holly said "That's Utah," to which my nephew replied "My tah?"

While hanging out one summer night, a commercial for some online college came on that started out with a lady asking "Do you hate your job?" Eli looked at my mom and asked "Hey Gram, you hate you job?"

There are many, many, more funny things he has said, but those were the most recent things that I am still laughing about! What blessing he is!