BAM! 2013

"IT'S 2013! TAKE THAT MAYANS!" -Stephen Colbert

WOW. *Catching Breath* 2013 has already had us on a marathon of adventure!

As of this week we have moved from our nice 3rd floor apartment to a rental HOUSE! Yes, you read correctly! One of the biggest timing issues for applications and move out days has already lead to a HUGE trial of Faith completed. Luckily my parents are in the area and let our homeless selves crash at their house for 3 days while we waited to hear if we got this rental property.

WE DID! We moved in Tuesday and are still unpacking. I had to work all week, so it has been going pretty slow. we are probably 95% done. Luckily I got some overtime that paid for the fridge we had to buy! Just the "misellaneous" boxes are left, really.

So now we have a garage, a yard, and the best yet? NO 2 FLIGHTS OF STAIRS!

This has already changed our grocery store shopping experiences for sure! We don't have to lug everything upstairs which is a real blessing.

In March Logan & Sadie will be moving in too! This is going to be a lot of fun! Rent will be super cheap. We'll have close friends to help keep us on track for FHE, scripture study, etc. I'm way excited. This house seems kinda big and lonely when they aren't here.

Everyone else has posted their goals, so here are some of mine:

1. Daily Family & Personal Study
2. Cooking- I really need to start cooking dinners at home more. This whole week has been pretty much fast food because of the whole fridge situation, so now I'm grateful I can keep food fresh and make it fresh!
3. PLAY. I realize sometimes I take myself WAY too seriously. I need to be better about getting on the floo, turning the TV off, and playing with Brooklyn. She is so fun and I need to devote more one on one time with her (especially since I am still working).
4. Figure out our family. We know we would like several children. Heavenly Father has let me in on a few glimpses of our family... I know there are more beautiful children waiting for us. I have been constantly wondering when the right time to consider getting pregnant again would be. I would LIKE to be pregnant by November (Brooklyn's 2nd birthday). Andrew is not so sure. But if the next child is like unto the story of Brooklyn, Heavenly Father pretty much tells us when the child is ready to come and for us to be ready. I feel this time is coming soon. Andrew... still in denial ;) We will see I guess!

I think this is all for now.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Sanders Out

Hunger Games Viewing Party

So! I finally did it. Finally got the chance to have a movie themed viewing party! I invited my brothers & parents & closest cousin Logan & his wife Sadie to Bryan's barn for a Hunger Games Viewing Party!

Here's some pictures:
(I am trying out the blogger app & it won't let me write captions. Anywho- enjoy!

We had themed food that during the different locations in the movie we would serve those foods :)

Life Comes at You Fast... Forgot my Helmet

I miss shows like 'Boy Meets World' and programs like "TGIF"... 2 hours of appropriate family fun television. Instead, now I enjoy 'Storage Wars' and sometimes the occasional 'Psych'.

Anyways.

Brooklyn will be 9 months old in about a week. She is just bursting with happy energy and can't stop moving. I laughed when I read a comment about her on Andrew's blog from Lindsey that said "What a happy little spaz" or something to that effect. She is absolutely nuts when it comes to moving. 3 hours at church are getting to be too much for her to handle (and us for that matter).

Right now I teach the CTR 5's. I'll tell you, going from teaching 14- 12 year olds, to teaching 8- 5 year olds... can't say that the chatter level is much different. However, they do keep me on my toes! They have funny little things to say ALWAYS. Like if they don't hear the question or don't know the answer - their answer will always be : "Because Jesus loves us".

So that keeps me busy for 2 hours on Sunday. It is good for me though, I know it. Because it just reminds me how much I have to look forward to as Brooklyn gets older. I have fun playing with her now, but how much more fun will it be when we can play board/card games together? Or she can tell me her favorite color and her thoughts on different things. I don't want any of those crack comments of "it's getting them to stop talking that is the trick" or "you just think you want that". I'm being straight-up serious. I feel like Brooklyn already has offered so much to our family, and since the day she was born I wanted to know what she was thinking behind those mysterious blue eyes. I can't help but feel like she really is here to teach me something (besides patience). I can't wait to see her flourish, and it's been fun seeing her progress so far.

I doubt she will be one of those kids that you have to push to motivate. Already she shows us that. Whenever she is "between phases")(i.e. rocking but not crawling, pulling up but not standing, walking around furniture but not walking) is the hardest times around our house. She gets so darn frustrated sometimes that her little body can't keep up with what  she wants to do. We have said from the start that we got the feeling that she doesn't want to be a baby. ( I mean what newborn lifts her head to stare into her mother's eyes for the first 2 hours of her life?) She wants to be a kid: to run and play and laugh and sing. And she gets frustrated sometimes that she can't do these things yet.

I mean, the kid is a freaking miracle in the first place. She was "technically" not supposed to be born... ever. But to come into the world perfect and healthy and happy and smart... that's a freakin' miracle! :) My brother Bryan, whenever he sees her, he says "Hello Little Miracle" or "Hello Beautiful Miracle". It's fun to see him interact with her. It took a little bit of time for her to warm up to my brothers, but she LOVES them now! When they walk in the door she gets all excited and won't quit bugging me till I pick her up and we go say hello.

I wish my sisters were here. It's so hard to not have them here. I see pictures of their kids playing together and it's strange to feel joy and sadness at the same time. I love seeing their beautiful families but then it makes me miss them more. I want Brooklyn to love them beyond the pictures she sees of them and to know them first hand. I'm just not sure how to get her there ;)

Work has been completely stressful. We moved locations temporarily and will be moving again in about 2-3 months. I had no idea what we were in for. Luckily day one of the new place is behind us and it can only get better from here.

There's a little bit... lotta bit about what's happening around here.

-Sanders Out

A Short List of Grate-fullness!

Okay- This new blogger is really strange.

I might just blame the mac for it though (Jab at Andrew-haha).

Just thought I should post a few things I am grateful for:

1.  Andrew Sanders. He is extremely patient with me, even when I am throwing a tantrum. Plus he is easy on the eyes ;)
2.  Brooklyn Sanders. Possibly the easiest baby alive. Only cries when she needs something- Smiles the other 98% of the time. Does well in the car. Has been sleeping through the night since month 2. She is extremely cute and it's hard to look away from her glowing face. She has brought SO much joy not only to our little family, but our extended as well. I actually start to miss her if her nap goes too long!
3. My Parents. "We'll be there for you"- (the Friends theme song) would be appropriate here. My mom helps me tremendously with Brooklyn, and my dad can just walk in the door and she lights up with a HUGE grin and giggle.
4. My Siblings. I love and miss my sisters in Arizona terribly. But they are so great to send pictures and little videos of their kids doing the darnedest things. I love getting their random updates. I can feel their love and support even from here! My brothers, keep it real. Lol.
5. My Sanders Family. Not only are they awesome bloggers to help me stay updated and feel like I'm there, they are extremely helpful and kind! They came all the way out here to Texas for Brooklyn's blessing even though for some it was ill-timed and other hardships presented themselves. Also, they are just PLAIN FUN! I love being around them and am very comfortable to just be me around them.
6. Chinese Food. I have been SEARCHING for my "food type". For the longest time I thought I was just the pickiest eater (which I am pretty picky). However, I believe I have found my "thing" in Chinese food! We went to this AWESOME buffet that is literally less than 5 minutes away from our home a couple of weeks ago, and I have thought about it literally EVERY day since then! It is awesome!
7. The fact that we have two working vehicles. Enough said. Just a short time ago Andrew's red focus' transmission was going out for the second time in 2 years. I was so fed up and ticked at the thought of fixing it. The Lord blessed us enough to help us find a newer vehicle that is bigger and fits the three of us better! And the payment was only about $20 more than our previous payment! AND it has no problems. YES! Roomy and reliable. Two adjectives you need for your personal transportation.
8. The Scriptures. They sit next to my head on my nightstand for good mojo. I need to show more gratitude by reading them more often.
9. Marvel Comics. One word: Thor. Totally clean flick that had a great story line, the casting could NOT have been better, no skanks, no swearing, and wasn't ridiculously long. It is a joy, and he is my favorite Marvel! (The movie also has great re-watchability. That's right- I made that word up!)
10. Books. Great pass time. Plan to look up Asgard and other Norse mythology out of love of the movie.
11. Music. Brooklyn loves it and it can be uplifting.

AND THAT, my FRIENDS, is a short list of things that I am grateful for. And, a little bit about us!

-Sanders Out

It's Been A Hard Days Night!

Pictured here is Brooklyn at her 4 month mark :) My sister April came to town and we had so much fun! Her kids were at good ages where it didn't take long for them to warm up to me! April pulled out her camera one day and took these awesome pictures of Brooklyn. Thank you April!

As of this past Monday, Brooklyn is now 5 months old! We have had one session of trying to feed her rice cereal! It went great! She was slurping like a pro! She is such a wonderful girl!

Pictured below is the start of our 3 month food supply! Who said canning had to be boring... or only grains? My mom made each of us kids a binder on ideas for starting our years supply of food. She challenged us to start getting at least a 3 month supply!
We have the more useful stuff like 30 lbs of beef done and 10 lbs of chicken. However, if we plan on really eating this stuff we decided to go a little crazy! So, we have 2 quarts of pecans, 2 quarts of almonds, one quart of sunflower seeds, 2 quarts of pistachios, and pints of candy! In the above picture it shows rolos, reeses pieces, mini reeses, hersheys drops, muddy buddies, and the classic m N m's! We also have 2 quarts of chex mix, and 2 quarts of chex mix "sweet n salty" variety! Woohoo!

Next group we have coming are beans, and soups! 3 month supply, here we come!


It feels good to start getting prepared!

We also just finished over General Conference weekend Brooklyn's 72 hour kit, and also updated Andrew and mine!

Check ya later!

-Sanders Out