Independence Day Traditions

I was looking through my drafts and look what I found!  This post!

It may be late but...

Happy Independence Day!

A tradition for every holiday, that my family has, is trying to spend time with as much of the family as we can.  Growing up I had two Easters, two Thanksgivings and two Christmas' and now that the grandchildren (my generation) have grown and most are married, many with kids, we sometimes have holidays three times.

Independence Day is rarely celebrated twice each year in my family but we do try to get all the family in one place.  Since my grandma died in 2005, we spend more holidays with my grandpa, especially since he now lives at a ranch.  4th of July and New Years Eve are ideal at his ranch since we don't have to worry about city limits and there is a little pond where we always shoot off the fireworks.  My mother's side of the family tries to attend those "firework holidays" at my grandpa's ranch also, again, trying to get as much family together as we can.

Family has always been important to us.  Our heritage demands it.  To start, my family line comes from Mexico.  Mexicans are BIG on family.  Mothers raising children and feeding the family.  Men barbecuing and sitting around outside.  Or in the living room watching football.  That football part might be Texan thing.  That leads me to being Texan.  More about family.  That Southern Comfort that says family is everything and you do everything for family.  Gathering around and taking the family to your local high school football game on Friday nights and grabbing some Whataburger after.  Then also, I am a Mormon.  Family gathering is what so much of it is all about.  Families together forever.  Family ties made from the beginning to the end.  My whole life, it's always surrounded me; FAMILY.

I think that is what tradition is all about:

FAMILY.

Why I Chose the Erin Condren Life Planner

I started planning, using a planner, when I was in 5th grade.  My parents started me on one because I couldn't always remember when I had homework, and even worse, what my homework was.

I have used a pocket sized and a Day One by FranklinCovey.  I've used a binder size and a simple 5x7 size.  I have always used the horizontal format until my sister in law showed me an awesome planner called "Mothers Who Know."  I love this planner!  If you are LDS (Mormon),  which I am, then this is so nice to have.  It has those little extras (FHE plans, visiting teaching info and more) that are so convenient but yet I only used them the first few months then it became wasted space.

Last year, in 2014, I was going to order my Mothers Who Know planner.  I usually don't use the same planner each year, so I looked up different planner reviews to see if anything else caught my eye.  I saw many different kinds; big, little, and odd, but the Erin Condren Life Planner really stuck with me because of the changeable covers.  I looked at all the different covers that were available and they all looked so pretty!  Then I looked inside, well as much inside as the website allowed, and I liked it.  It was very similar to what I planned on reordering which made me believe that I would enjoy using it.  I use academic planners, meaning that my year starts in August.  Erin's didn't allow for that, so...I reordered my "Mothers Who Know" planner without another thought.  I used the extras even less in this planner the second time around!

When June 2015 was coming, I looked at planners again, mainly the Erin Condren Life Planner.  This time you can chose your format; horizontal or vertical.  I was so excited!

As I had said, my year starts in August.  This is when the school year starts.  Even when I was no longer in school and before Evelyn or Tom was back in school, I preferred using an academic planner.  Erin Condren also gives you the option of adding in the remaining months of the year, making it my academic planner.

Even though I liked all of those things, there was still one thing I lacked; the money to pay for it.  So I looked on.  I bought a planner at Target.  Mint with gold embossed lettering and was a horizontal format.  Back to the old format that I so missed.  Or so I thought.  Though that planner was quite flattering, and under $20, it didn't function the way I wanted it to.  The format was all wrong.

I am a lister and I didn't realize how much easier a vertical format made my listing.  I have gotten better at my own "short hand," so having a clean long place to list was ideal as I had discovered.

The search was on for a new planner yet again (much by the way of Pinterest) and then...

I fell in love.

With this.

Harry Potter Subway Art Cover Set for your Erin Condren Life Planner

I am not a Potter Head.  Honestly, I am not.  Well, to those who truly are, I truly am not, but to those who have only seen the movies, I really seem to be.  A cousin of mine stared at me blankly when I spoke to her, assuming she'd read the books.  That was when I realized that I really seem like a geek to some people.  That just means I'm "in" right now.  Yay!  I haven't bought anything that screams Harry Potter since before the movies came out (the first movie came out in '01...I was in eight grade).  I was a little sad that Gryffindor was the only house, no Hufflepuff (I am a Hufflepuff indeed).  When I saw this cover; I knew this was the somewhat subtle Potter fandom that I wanted.  

Needed.

Okay, now I'm sounding like a fangirl.

I had looked at the Erin Condren planners for about a year by that time.

Decisions needed to be made.

I took the plunge.

Into a deep well of planner bliss!

Well, so far it looks that way looking from my jumping point, but that will be a later post.

Why I chose an Erin Condren Life Planner

1 They give you options on your planner format; horizontal or vertical

2 You can add the remaining months of the year (for just an extra $5)

3 You can personalize it or get it ready to ship

4 The covers are interchangeable!

5 The inside didn't look like it was "trying too hard" (What I mean is that it didn't look like its purpose was to be sold a lot but to be loved a lot.  This was based on looking online.)

6 It didn't seem like I would waste pages that were in the planner; I would be able to use all of it regularly

7  I would also want to use this (based on what was seen online)

8 I really wanted the Harry Potter subway art cover

*This post was written before even receiving my Life Planner.  This is just why I chose to even purchase one.  Posts on receiving my planner and use of it will follow.

My Summer Reading List

I don't usually make a reading list for myself but this summer I did.

I want to read certain books this summer.  This list below are just the ones I for sure want to read this summer.  Not to say that these are the only ones that I will be reading.

I know that I am so late on this one but I never finished.  I started reading the series just before Goblet of Fire came out, but after the fifth book, I gave up on Harry.  He annoyed me so much.  I didn't watch movies Six and Seven since I didn't read the books.  I forced myself to read Half-Blood Prince then I watched the movie.  Book is always better.  I want to read the last one since I know that is finally when Ron and Hermione get together and I have been wanting them to get together since she stayed with him after he played wizards chess as the knight.

The Three Sisters Trilogy.  I bought all these on my Nook quite a while back, when we flew to Washington, and I have finished the first two very quickly.  I needed to finish the third book.  Which I have now.  Just about two days ago.

I bought the first of this series when I bought the Three Sisters Island Trilogy on my Nook as well.  I read it in one night and now I so badly want the other brothers to find love!

A young adult classic I'd say; Percy Jackson and the Olympians.  I never started them and not for any particular reason either.  I don't feel I have to finish the whole series this summer but I'd like to get through at least the first two.

This is another trilogy that I bought just before flying to Washington.  I didn't start them at all and I don't even know what they are about.  Upon recommendation from my sister in law, I just bought a whole bunch of Nora Roberts books to have on the plane.  

I found a summer reading list on Pinterest and this was on it.  It sounds so good and I am looking forward to reading it.

In finding What Alice Forgot, I found more from Liane Moriarty and so my summer reading list grew.

This Moriarty was added.

As well as this one.

This is the reading list I plan to complete by Evelyn's first day of school.

Good luck to me in reading with a preschooler and baby at home!

Making Love Should Be Like Ordering Dinner

This will not be graphic.  I want to say that at the very start.

I was thinking about things on the way home the other night and for some reason I thought of this.  Being intimate with your partner should be like ordering dinner.  Let me explain.
When you have sex with your spouse, you need to be verbal.
I'm not talking about dirty talk.  I mean real speaking.  

Communication!

Imagine if you went out to dinner, you dressed up, you have been waiting for this dinner.  It is time to order and you know what you want, the waiter comes and you are silent.  Now this waiter has a job to do.  He is going to bring you food.  He knows you might not say anything but he will still bring you food because that is his job as your waiter.  He beings with bringing you soup.  You like soup.  You really do!  Not this soup though.  This soup is a broth and you much prefer a cream soup.  Maybe a nice potato soup.  Warm, creamy with potato chunks cooked with perfect seasonings mmmm...but this is a warm chicken broth with noodles, fresh veggies and herbs mmm...but it's not what you really wanted, but still, you taste a few spoonfuls as to not embarrass the waiter or to make him feel he's doing wrong.  Next comes lamb chops.  You don't like lamb chops.  "Lamb Chop's play a long where kids come to play along and fun things is all we ever...do..." and tears are welling up because you think of other times when you think of lamb chops.  Not good.  You didn't even want to look at it but the waiter thought you might still want it so it stays in front of you for a good five minutes before he takes it away.  Now, by this point you think that you should just end this dinner here and now but the waiter is counting on this.  He needs this table and you want this dinner.  You had expectation for this dinner, so the meal continues.  Dessert comes.  This waiter is no dumby so he brought you a no fail dessert.  It is chocolate cake.  Five layers.  Homemade icing.  Moist, from scratch, cake.  Oh so tasty!  Oh so tasty to some one who likes chocolate.  Sadly that does not include you.  Too sweet and leaves a taste in your mouth that you just can't explain.  Most people love chocolate and even more so when it's in cake form but you are one of the few who do not.  Not a satisfying dinner by any stretch.  This waiter was good and did his job as best he could working with what you gave him.  He met his ends and you...well, you left hungry.  Why?  Because you didn't tell him what you wanted.

"I would like potato soup."  Doesn't seem hard right?  Of course not.  Not in a restaurant, but in the bedroom?  It shouldn't be!  Why?  The person you are having sex with is your spouse, a person that knows you.  This person should make you feel comfortable when you are around them all the time.  Okay, maybe not all the time.  No marriage is perfect.  It's not meant to be.  Marriages take work, dedication and the ability to be able to over come ones pride and put another before themselves.  May seem like I am going off topic but NO!  You should feel comfortable with your spouse when you are having sex which means that you should be able to talk to them!

Tell Your Partner What You Want During Sex

• Use simple words; up, down, slower, faster, not so hard.  This is to start.  You can change the way you talk to each other as you become more comfortable about talking.
• Talk about your sex outside of sex.  Take some time to talk to each other about what each of you like or don't like.  This would also be the time to talk about things you would like to try.  This doesn't need to happen all in one session.  Take five or ten minutes to talk about what y'all both liked or didn't like last night.
• Be positive when you speak, not negative.  There are some words you should not use; bad, not, never mind, those negative words.  Also, not any words that reference to past relationships whether or not they were sexual ones.  This shouldn't need to be said but as humans we can forget the simplest things.
• Remember that you can laugh during sex, as long as you aren't laughing at each other in a mocking way.  Laughing about a fart noise y'all made or getting stuck in a move isn't a bad thing and that is something to talk about before sex to help each other.  
• Sex isn't a chore.  It doesn't have to be loaded with heated passion either.  Its to be enjoyed.  Simple.  

As a parent of two girls now, I know it can be hard to find time for sex but just like anything important in your life, you need to make time for it.  Schedule it if you need to.  If you have the money to, once a month, get a hotel room.  Doing this also means you don't have to clean up after.  You can shower and not worry about the laundry or even making the bed.  It become a micro vacation.  Something parents always need.  Why not?  If you can't afford to do that, get the kids out of the house!  If you have little ones, take them to a friend of yours' house to have them baby sit.  If you have older ones, send them to a friend's house over the weekend.  No matter how you do it, just do it!  And don't let too much time go by between each time you take with each other and remember to communicate all the time.