Ash Wednesday

This week was the beginning of Lent, which is marked by Ash Wednesday. Lent ends on Easter Sunday, marking symbolically 40 days from start to finish. This is celebrated by many Catholics. I went to High School where the religion was predominantly Catholic. So many of my friends would participate in Lent giving some sort of sacrifice for the 40 days. Often it would be chocolate or soda and it seemed that though they started off with good intentions often they would not last through the whole 40 days without their loved chocolate, or what not.

Several years have passed by and I became a room mate of Elizabeth who the previous year had decided to celebrate Lent and give up something for 40 days. (She is LDS not Catholic) She liked the idea of sacrifice. Again that year she was going to celebrate Lent and give up sweets.

This year my parents have several co-workers at work who are all giving up something for Lent. They represent many different faiths but all with the common goal of sacrifice. My parents are giving up ice cream. I know it seems there is some sort of dessert thing going on here. But lets face it, everyone has a hard time saying no to the sweet stuff, it beckons to us, it calls our names, it really is like the devil in disguise.

I have finally chosen to join in with this as well, but I thought Ice cream did not seem like much of a sacrifice to me because I already know I can say no to that. I have gone months without it. Not on purpose, just because I didn't see the need, or more that I would not bring it home, so I wouldn't be able to just have it.

I wanted my sacrifice to be something that I have a hard time saying no to. So I chose personal television watching time.

When I am busy, I don't have time to watch tv or movies or anything, but when I have these random weeks off work where all of a sudden my schedule gets extremely free and I only have to go to an occasional class, I find myself trying to catch up on the TV shows I enjoy seeing, watching them online to catch everything I have missed. Well let me just say this time adds up when on a normal basis I can't watch TV. Then I waste tons of time and well, lets just say it is not good. I find myself wishing I had been more productive. And I find it harder and harder to say no to watching the television shows because I am entertaining myself to death as an Apostle once said.

So for Lent I am giving up the online television watching. Which is where I do most of my tv watching. I will not be giving up the occasional movie watching experience with friends, or family. Just my own personal television watching time which about 99% of my screen time.

Seasons of Texas

Texas Summer - 110 degrees
Texas Winter - (otherwise known as summer to everyone else) 92 degrees.




Yep it was 92 degrees yesterday in the great state of Texas in Austin. I found myself wishing I had brought my swim suit with me to work, because I had time to kill after work before I had any plans.

We also get random hours of coldness, which is a shocker because it will be beautiful and sunny and I won't take my hoodie to work, only to leave from work and ice is falling out of the sky and I am freezing. Luckily that is normally only for a couple of hours. But still a shock to the system, when it drops 50 plus degrees in a matter of a few hours.

As they say if you don't like the weather, wait a few minutes!

Reason for a big sister to be proud!

This is my extremely cool brother Seth. :) He was in a contest for Mr. and Ms. Del Valle (that is his school) This is his dancing scene. :) Enjoy!

Back to Childhood

So last week I was singing Karoake with friends. One of the songs that came on during karoake was Barbara Ann. Whenever I hear that song I automatically think of Surf Ninjas, which if you haven't seen it you are truly missing out! The clip above shows why I think of this movie. This is such a fun movie. Some of our favorite quotes of the night were:

Money can't buy knives!

"There is no grey area with you, either the glass is half full or, Your Dead!"

"What if I am a crowned prince?"

"What if the house blows up?" (House then blows up) "Huh"

"What if I lose this power, OH NO!"

"What if I could surf?"

Mi Familia

I have been fortunate to have one of the greatest families! They are smart, funny, adorable, goodlooking, loving, forgiving...name a quality and I am sure someone in my family has it. Don't worry we are full of weaknesses too. But that is why it is so great that we all have different qualities because it helps us to all fit together like a puzzle. 

My dad has a great sense of humor. He is often joking and 

of course teasing. :D One of the sayings I remember my father always saying and making us say whenever we were in a bad or

negative mood is, "I feel great, though the skies may be cloudy or grey, no matter what may come my way, I feel great!" Of course 

emphasis had to be added. If we did not say it with enough feeling and instead mumbled through it, he would make us repeat it, until we got the proper enthusiasm for such a phrase. :) Now I am often reminded of that when things are not going my way, and it brings a quick smile to my face. 

My mother is a woman who is always serving. I remember many mornings that she has woken up early to get things done before the day began for the rest of us, and many late nights she spent finishing things from the day. She taught me Seminary in early morning hours in our living room, and put up with me, even when I was tired and cranky. :) She has taught me many great lessons that have stuck with me and helped to form me in who I am today. She has a faith in Christ that is applied in her every day life. 

A quick blurb about me because after all I am a part of my family. I love being the oldest of all my brothers and sisters. I have had the amazing blessing to be there when each child came home from the hospital and have always been very protective of each of my brothers and sisters. As the oldest responsibilities came and as I was growing up I remember often thinking, ARG!!!! 

But with those responsibilities also comes many memories and of course great practice. It has always made me so sad to think that my brothers and sisters some day might say I have a big

 sister, but I don't really know her. After all of the joy, blood, love, sweat that I have experienced with them I am not going to let them say, "I don't really know my big sister." So I try to stay pretty close with each of them, checking in with my brothers about football, school, girls, and 

church. With my sisters it is making sure I do enough girly things with them and of course talking about boys and church. I have to admit I am more into the football than the make-up, but I think that has to do with being raised with brothers and then finally getting some sisters 

but late in the game. They ended up with the girly gene and I try to make do. 

Willie is taller than me and often people mistake him to be older than me, like height has anything to do with age. :) He has always been an example to me. While I was shy, he was never afraid to be who he is. He was not afraid to join up with people that he had 

never met and to even speak up. We both had the opportunity to 

go to the Sacred Grove with my brother Nathan as well. While in the Sacred Grove we had all separated to have our own personal moments. As he walked around he came upon a youth group that was having a testimony meeting. He stopped and joined them and even bore his testimony. He was in a state far away from anyone he knew, but it didn't matter. He had a testimony to be shared and he didn't let anything hold him back. For some reason he has always been very forgiving of me and my shortcomings. When he was young I was so very protective of him, calling out to my mom if he was in trouble. Or when in elementary school I heard that someone was messing with him at the back of the playground, I quickly ran to his 

rescue to make sure that no one messed with my brother. Now he has brought another beautiful sister into my life and maybe even nieces or nephews soon ;) oh, I might take a hit for that one later if Kami ever reads this. :) 

It is true I have some good looking brothers! And girls this one is still single!! And can I say he is "Awesome" (in a sing song voice). So my brothers are the greatest examples of the way a guy should treat a girl. Really I think guys could take lessons from them. Nathan is hilarious. He is always making you laugh. He has a personality that makes others want to hang around him. He is tons of fun to talk to and share stories with. Some of my favorite memories with him are after he returned from his mission and he lived in Austin for the few months before he took off to Idaho. There were many times we would stay up late as I was dropping him off at his apartment, and we would chat for hours about all sorts of things. In the early morning hours we would finally say good bye. He is the first one I remember being born in my family. We had a tradition that the baby would always bring a gift to their brothers and sisters when they were born. I was the luckiest because I got the most gifts. :) Nathan brought Willie and I little green army men. We 

even had a little home video of Willie and I playing with our army men when Nathan was first brought home. Good times!!

Seth is the first one I remember putting to bed. My mom was putting 

things away in a closet and I was taking care of my little brother. He fell asleep in my arms and then I put him down in his crib. I remember running to my mother and telling her excitedly that I had put him down in his crib. I also remember talking to him when he was a baby and coming up with a nickname for him. Bugaboo :) Now he is a Senior in High School and getting ready to go to college and play football for the college he chooses to attend. I am praying that he will choose to go to the school I attend because how much fun would that be! Though I know I am in competition with Nathan who wants him to come up to Idaho to hang out the year before he leaves on his mission. Seth is an awesome guy. He is also one with a personality that people like to gravitate towards. He is also a leader towards good. Anyone who spends time with him will want to be better because of his great example. And the cute girl in the picture with him is his girl friend, Jessica. Yeah my brothers tend to attract beautiful women, and not just beautiful but also amazing women. 

My sister Shannon is a girl who loves the camera, and of course the camera loves her! She was my very first sister. Born when I was 10 years old. I had always wanted a sister and then on a Sunday, while I was at church with family friends (the Allreds) my mother had my little sister. They called the church and bro. Allred came and got me out of my class and even complained a little when my parents wouldn't tell him if the baby was a boy or girl because they wanted me to be the first to know. :) This girl is funny, often she has something witty to say, and can keep you laughing. She has a flare for drama, which keeps things hopping ;) My baby doll is the nickname I called her.

My sweet sister Laura! Also very photogenic! She is the sunshine in anyone's day! One of the things that I really love about Laura is whenever you want someone to cuddle with she is right there for you! She is probably the nicest person you will ever meet. After Laura was born her crib would share a room with me. Man they grow up soooo quick. In young womens and playing the trumpet in the band. She is my little munchkin, which is the nickname I gave her when she was young. Laura is full of laughter and is always great to get you to laughing and having a good time. My favorite time with my family is around the dinner table because it is always full of laughter and stories from the day.

Benjamin is the caboose to our family. And he ties it together just so well. He is such a cutie, those girls are going to be chasing him down. My nickname for him is "baby." Often the youngest in the family hates being referred to as the baby, but I am the only one give complete permission to still call him that. I have let him know that I don't mean that he acts like a baby. It is just a personal nickname I gave him. It was so cute the first time I called him that he was standing on the other side of the living room just recently having learned how to walk without falling. I called to him and said, "Come here baby." he came running to me in his baby walk and called me Shelly. Previous to that he had always called me shell, just like all the rest of my brothers and sisters had because they couldn't say my full name at first. When I called him baby her heard the y at the end and added that to the end of my name. From then on I became Shelly. :) He also is a great young man, who is quickly following in all his brothers footsteps of playing football and other sports. I was the very first to know from my parents, other than the doctor of course, that I was going to have another little brother or sister. This to bring it to the number 7!

Having such a big family has been wonderful and funny all at the same time. Walking into a grocery store as one big group has often drawn attention, and I have watched people's eyes bug out when they find out how many brothers and sisters I have. But it has been great! Each has brought something into our family that was needed. Many times as I have been out with my younger brothers and sisters I have been mistaken for their mother, aye yi yi! Do I really look that old? :) They all seem to grow up so quickly. In fact on my birthday's I love them. But on their birthdays is when I feel that my age really starts to show. :) There is nothing like my 17 year old brother to call me old, or my 15 year old sister to laugh at me as she turns another year older. Or my 13 year old sister to comfort me saying 30 isn't really that old, even though I have not even hit that age yet. :) These I would call priceless moments!