Day 28

My favorite movie(s):

I guess if I had to pick an overall favorite movie it would have to be Braveheart. I saw this movie 6 times while it was in the theatre. I LOVE war movies and this one is full of history, action, and a great love story. This was before Mel Gibson was crazy and is one of my all time favorite actors. He is in almost every favorite movie of mine. I also love We Were Soldiers & The Patriot. Other movies on my list would be A Beautiful Mind, Gone with the Wind, My Big Fat Greek Wedding and the classic, Dumb and Dumber.

Day 27

A picture of me one year ago and now:









One year ago

Today

So? Have I changed much? Maybe a few more fine lines.

Day 26

A picture of somewhere I've been:










Bill and I went to Kauai on our honeymoon a hundred years ago. Someday I'd love to go back and do more. We pretty much just hung out. We loved to drive around the tiny island and just take it all in. Everything there is so lush and green. It's a little piece of heaven.

One of my more recent adventures. Last year and this year we were able to go to Disneyland. I love everything about it (well, except the prices & crowds)! Nowhere else on earth can a grown man get away with wearing Mickey ears without getting his butt kicked. For me it is one of the happiest places on earth! Next year??? I hope.

Day 25

What's in my purse???

The question should be what isn't in my purse!

Isn't it cute? The kids gave it to me for Christmas. I love it!

Here it is. All my dirty secrets. I have about 5 lipglosses, lotion, tissues, sanitizing wipes, hair things, wallet (w/o money), brush, pens, a notebook, gum, IBuprofin, and a redbox movie.

Catching Up

We did a little fishing at East Canyon. We even caught 8 or 9 fish!
Celebrated my Grandma Olsen's 80th birthday. This is a book that my mom and Emily put together. Aren't they the cutest old people ever! 4 Generations
We got a new driveway poured.
Stella's dance recital up Big Cottonwood Canyon. Cold, but fun!
The chair dance was adoreable!
A little backyard campout on a Friday night! My kind of camping. Full utilities and cheap.
Telling ghost stories before bed. Does it count as a ghost story if it starts with "Once upon a time..."?

Spent the day at Antelope Island. Did a little hiking. Played on the beach. Beautiful.
First grade field trip to The Museum of Ancient Life.
2 More weeks of school until summer! Yea!!!

Day 24

A photo of something that means a lot to me:

These pictures for me go hand in hand. My home and the temple. I think home truely is where the heart is. I want my home to always be a safe place where my children look forward to being. This is where we have built most of our memories together and spend our days. Even though I don't have the biggest, best furnished home, it is a place that I love and I'm grateful to call my own.



The temple is where we became a forever family. That is something that is most important to me. One thing that has been a blessing of adopting our children (among so many!) is the opportunity we had to kneel across the alter from one another and have our beautiful children sealed to us. Those are my most precious memories! This picture represents what we believe in and strive toward. It's always an ongoing process, but something worth working toward, I think.

Day 23

15 Facts About Me:

I am skipping day 22. I am suppose to write a letter to someone who has recently hurt me and I just can't think of anything I would dare write on my blog! You know who you are and you know what you have done and you should be ashamed of yourself. If you are feeling guilty right know then you know it's you I'm talking to. Totally kidding! Nobody has hurt me lately and I am glad for that!

All about ME!

1. I have been married to the man I love for 11 1/2 years and love him more than I did back then!

2. I couldn't have created 2 sweeter, more beautiful children if I tried. I love being a mom.

3. I want to go to Italy. I have wanted to for as long as I can remember and someday I WILL go! And I want to know the language when I do go!

4. I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up.

5. I love the movies! I consider it a hobby. I love to go to them. I love to rent them. I even love the previews. And I love to eat funnel cake fries while I'm watching them.

6. I'm crued. And I wish I was sorry about it.

7. I want to do humanitarian work in Africa. Someday I'll do that too.

8. I want to have a hobby that I'm really good at! I have several that I'm OK at but nothing that I'm GREAT at.

9. I'm messy. But not to the extent as when I was a teenager. Just ask my sister.

10. I'm addicted to sugar and diet coke. But you know that from a previous post.

11. I love the outdoors. I love camping, 4-wheeling, going to the beach, sitting by a campfire. Pretty much just taking in the magnificence of it all. It's amazing to me sometimes!

12. I like to make people laugh. It makes me happy!

13. I'm also a magazine junkie. I use to buy them all them time but now I've discovered checking them out at the library. That has helped me broaden my variety of reading and save tons of money. I would rather read a magazine any day over a book. I don't have the time or patience to read a book lately!

14. Christmas Eve is my favorite day of the year. I love the anticipation of Christmas. Wrapping presents while drinking hot chocolate and watching A Christmas Story for the 50th time. Having dinner with my family. It's the best!

15. I often let my fears of the unknown hold me back and I wish I didn't. I'm not one of those people who think "that will never happen to me". I'm in fact the exact opposite! I don't know why but I am.

There. Random thoughts. That was actually really hard for me! It's hard to narrow down 15 things to share about yourself.

Day 21

A photo of something that makes me happy:



These 2 faces are what make me happy (90% of the time). Some people wonder if they are ready to have kids and how they could ever stand being home with them day after day. I love my job as a full-time mom! It's what I have always wanted and better than I ever expected. That's not to say that I don't have my challenging days - because I do. Every parent does! But I am grateful that I have the opportunity to stay home with them, teach them, watch them grow to become the little people they are today! I love these kids and I never grow tired of them!

Day 20

The meaning behind my blog name:

Lame. Duff Stuff. Not too hard to read into. Not much rhymes with Duffin except muffin so hence 'Duff Stuff'. Let it soak in people.

Day 19

Another photo of myself:



Me and my cute husband at Universal Studios. Fun stuff!

Day 18

Chocolate & Diet Coke. My two greatest loves and what I crave the most. My day is not complete without these two things. Preferably dark chocolate. Not a huge fan of white chocolate tho. Too sweet.

Sometimes you can't make it on your own

I have a lot of catching up to do! It's been a fun, exhausting, tremendously sad, emotional couple of weeks. The funnest thing I have done (since Disneyland, of course) is the U2 concert. Emily and I bought tickets almost a year and a half ago. The last time we saw them in concert we had to wait something like 10 months to see them. So when we bought tickets last year we were suppose to wait only 4 months. Well, Bono had to go and have back surgery. Whatever! Needless to say it was totally worth the wait! They Fray opened up for them. We saw them a few years ago and I really like them so I was glad it wasn't some lame group I didn't know. U2 was FABULOUS!!! They are so amazing in concert. This is the 3rd time I've seen them and I will continue to see them when they come to Utah. They are my favorite group and I have grown up listening to them. They opened up with and sang a lot of their older songs. They sang 24 songs total. It was so much fun and even more fun when you are actually sitting next to your bf! Thx for being my date Em!





The day after the concert I found out that my friend, my heavenly sister Amberly had passed away after a long, hard fight of cancer. This girl had faith like no other and I admired her for always believing in miracles even when things got tough. She was a fighter and tried everything she could to buy more time and hopefully cure her disease. Unfortunately she couldn't do more aggressive treatments like Chemo or radiation to help rid herself of this disgusting thing. But she had 4 beautiful boys, a loving husband, and the most amazing family ever to fight for. Amberly will be greatly missed by all who knew her. And like Dellany told me, you didn't even have to meet her more than once to know how wonderful she is! We just clicked the first time we met and have followed each other's lives for the past 7 years. My heart breaks for those she has left behind and hope their hearts can heal and move forward with all of the wonderful memories she has left them with.



I have this song playing on my blog, but I think the words are appropriate for Amberly & her family right now. R.I.P. Am.

Life is beautiful
We love until we die

When you run into my arms,
We steal a perfect moment.
Let the monsters see you smile,
Let them see you smiling.

Do I hold you too tightly?
When will the hurt kick in?

Life is beautiful, but it's complicated.
We barely make it.
We don't need to understand,
There are miracles, miracles.

Yeah, life is beautiful.
Our hearts, they beat and break.

When you run away from harm,
Will you run back into my arms,
Like you did when you were young?
Will you come back to me?

I will hold you tightly
When the hurting kicks in.

Life is beautiful, but it's complicated,
we barely make it.
We don't need to understand,
There are miracles, miracles.

Stand where you are.
We let all these moments pass us by.

It's amazing where I'm standing,
There's a lot that we can give.
This is ours just for a moment.
There's a lot that we can give.






The funeral was down in Ephraim so we decided to stay at the cabin while we were down there. Bill unfortunately had to work, but the kids & I stayed with his parents and Jason's kids for the weekend. The kids loved it. They had fun riding 4-wheelers, watching movies, catching lizards, and playing with their cousins. I was pretty emotionally drained after Saturday so it was kind of nice to just unwind and relax for a few. Monday my parents came over for a BBQ which was a good way to end Memorial weekend.