I'm not one to believe this kind of stuff, and I'm pretty skeptical when it comes to practicing these things, but lately I have really enjoyed the Secret. We were first introduced to the Secret from my sister Liz and her husband David. I remember watching it on dvd a few years ago. I didn't reallly believe in it but kept an open mind and tried to be positive about it. The main gist of it all is the power of positive thinking. You are your thoughts basically. So time went by and I didn't really pay much attention to it until John brought home the cd's. Then I really started getting into it because I could listen to it while driving around in my car. One day I thought to myself, "I'm really going to try to see if this works." We were in the market for finding a new car so I did like the Secret says and imagined up exactly what I wanted- Yukon XL Denali, white with tan interior. A couple weeks went by and my car finally arrived. We went up to Salt Lake to test drive it and I found to my amazement it was exactly the car I imagined in my mind and it even had tan interior. We got it for a screaming deal from a friend of a friend of a friend. It just sort of fell into our hands!
I decided to put the Secret to the test again by saying out loud, "I want new carpet for our house." In my mind I thought that the only way that could happen is that John would have to get another teaching job. He called me later that day and told me that BYU offered him another course. I said, "It's because of the Secret." Needless to say we didn't get new carpet, instead we got new leather furniture, two coffe tables, a tv stand, a rug, two night stands, and a 52 inch plasma flatscreen tv which was all John's doing. He used the Secret to get all that instead of carpet. But what I'm trying to say is that it works!
I loved at this last conference how President Monson mentioned that you will be extremely blessed if you just remember to give thanks for what you already have and always have gratitude. Gratitude is one of the leading ways to get what you want from the Secret as well. First you give thanks and then you will be blessed. It is amazing to me how it all works and we have been blessed from it.
I'm excited to use the Secret for my weight loss from having a baby as well. They tell you to not weigh yourself and just imagine you are already at your goal weight. Wow! I'm 120 pounds, I'm 120 pounds, I'm 120 pounds, and even when I eat this Chocolate cake I'm 120 pounds. But it will work and I will prove it to you all! So go out and get the Secret, it is awesome!
Last night was my "laundry"night. I usually do around nine loads a week, I know rediculous. My strategy is to just fold everything all at once. So during the week I wash it all and leave it in baskets. Then I rent or buy a really good movie and fold laundry in my theater room. That way it never gets boring! You can see why I get addicted to tv series on dvd. I'm looking forward to catching up on Grey's Anatomy, Smallville, and the Office. Lately though, I have been feeling quite overwhel
med as my laundry piles up and I can't find time to do it. As I sit in a chair and rock Rachel I think of all the things I need to get done around the house. Laundry is usually the last on my list. So last night I finally decided to catch up. I watched "Pushing Daisies" with the kids. It's very Tim Burton like, which I don't think he's involved, but love it! So here are some pics of the before and after of my laundry. I even decided to include a picture of the basket of socks. I will match 
them another day!
Here's a couple pics of Rachel Elizabeth in her blessing dress that my sister Becky made. It is so beautiful. I tried to get a picture of the whole thing but it was too long. Rachel wasn't in the best of moods that night either. So at least I got a couple that you can see. I'm having such a fun time dressing her up and taking pictures of her. She is so sweet. Those late nights are hard but I keep in mind that it won't last forever and I'm trying to enjoy her every breath.
This past conference weekend, my brother Daniel and his beautiful wife Sadie and their little Tommy were down here visiting from Rexburg. Also, my sister Becky, her awesome husband Wes and their three cute kiddies were down here from Honeyville. We decided to have a hayday with my camera and take a couple glamour shots. Here are some pics we took. Anybody need family pictures for Christmas, you know who to call. You can buy me dinner and I'll take the pictures for free. Deal?
This last weekend we blessed Rachel in our ward. John gave a beautiful blessing and my mom wrote it down for me in my journal. I'm very blessed to have a priesthood holder in my home so that we can always ask for blessings. This is a group picture of all of us who were at the blessing. A day before we were able to see my brother Sam who came to visit for a couple hours. He was in town for a concert and staying up in Park City with some friends. You can check out a picture of us on that day on Liz's blog. After the church meeting, we all came to our house for a dinner: ham, potatoes, fresh veggies, homemade rolls, fruit salad, real oreos, and peanut butter brownies. Thank you all for donating food. I am glad you all found our church. Ingrid and Martin drove around to four different churches before they found ours. Sorry guys! What a wonderful day! It was also my brother Andy's twenty-first birthday, which we celebrated on Saturday. Happy Birthday Andy! Rachel was blessed in a dress that my sister Becky made her. It is so gorgeous. I will post some close ups of her in it later. We missed all of you who couldn't come, but are glad that we are all family! I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful family. Grandma Fossum (who will be 97 this year) also came. That meant so much to us. Thank you!
