Charities

During x-mas a lot of people give to Charities. Some people even give to charities instead of giving gifts. I did this with my friends one year. We took the money we would have spent on each other and gave it to a worthy cause. My neighbor works at the women's shelter in our area. They receive enough donations during Christmas to last them the whole year. The women's shelter relies on these donations and consider themselves very lucky to receive them. With this in mind I was talking to a few ladies the other day and asked them: if some one wanted to donate to charity as your Christmas present, what charity would you want them to donate to on your behalf? what charity is your favorite? We all have a favorite. And there are so many out there.
one said operation smile
the other said the Utah Food and Care Coalition
I thought about this myself. what is my favorite charity?
Andy said his was the Perpetual Education Fund this gives education loans to people in poverty to help them end the poverty cycle. Since Andy served an LDS mission to Brazil, he knows how important a program like this can be in a person's life.
I've been involved in a number of things through out my life. I currently donate a small amount to the American Field Service (AFS) Student Exchange Programs every year. This is the program that I went to Belgium with my Senior year of high school. They gave me a big scholarship to go and I owe it to them to pay it back.
Every Christmas Andy and I give what we can to the Food and Care Coalition. We usually give a gift card to a local grocery store so that people in need can get produce and other things a Food Bank just isn't stocked with. This year I also gave a tiny amount, really only a membership fee, to Amnesty International. Issues they deal with truly sadden me-- I am very disturbed by what goes on in the world, in my own country.
I had a Teacher Assistant at BYU who is currently an activist for Burma. I read her blog and send emails to the UN etc. when US Campaign for Burma requests it.
So what is my favorite? I don't know. This is something I definitely want to find out.

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ahem....

It's come to my attention that Andy is less interested in blogging than I am. Or at least I am going to finally admit this out loud. He doesn't blog unless I bug him about it a couple of times, so I feel like I have "TAKEN OVER" our blog. It's ok, he is always welcome to post when ever he wants.

In the news: Andy's little sister is getting married!!! That entails a lot. Andy has been having to take hours off work so much, a blessing here, a baptism there, and he just can't take off work for all of the festivities. It's ok he'll be there for the important part. One important part being the family photo (which he wont have to take work off for)--- The ENTIRE Laurel and Ben Bean Family have not ALL been together in a while... so of course we are taking the opportunity to have a professional family picture done. I am a little worried about the stress of getting 5 small grand children to cooperate. I'll hope for the best and try to post a pic when we get one.

Of course during all this Andy says, "thanks for putting up with my crazy family." Which frankly I don't mind at all. I LOVE Andy's family. Especailly all the little grandkids and for the most part we DON'T have drama. I think moving would be harder for me than for Andy. I just don't know if I would want to let go to all the family that is around my side and his side. Oh, but we arn't moving, that I know of yet.

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Big Butt Bike

My Grandma got andy this bike for chirstmas (it's a little early, but who cares.)  We think it is soo fun.  

You can see out little patio in the other pic.  it was the patio that sold us on our little condo.  It is so nice to have a little private out door space.  

Tonight we are:

         eddie: trying to do ed psych homework     Andy: playing banjo with his little christmas band 

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where is cascade springs??

well to answer marie's question it's in the middle of no where between American Fork and Heber unless you were headed there you would probably never stumble across it.

View Larger Map

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Cascade Springs- Sept. 28

Not all of these pictures are that great, but I posted each one for a specific reason. Whether it be to show the world what Andy is really like or to show the beautiful scenery, each photo is interesting, at least to me :) Jordash, the name we call Ashley and Jordan, decided to go to Cascade Springs at the end of September because that is when the leaves start to change in the mountains. I had never been to Cascade Springs before, but I thought it was a lot of fun! The water is naturally warm. I am very interested in learning more about the science behind all this, especially since one day I'll be an elementary school teacher and need to be able to explain it to my students.

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Currently

Currently we are:
eddie: in semester 1 of 4 of the elementary education major.
andy: working maintenance at the mall and looking for a BETTER job
lula: anxious with all these noises
frostbite: asleep, no sound wakes me up

Currently we feel:
eddie: bored... waiting for class to start
andy: tired... 40 hour a week, manual labor jobs cause that sort of feeling
lula: like going on a walk
frostbite: like NOT getting a bath

Currently we wish:
eddie: that the walls would paint themselves
andy: that I had my career already
lula: for more attention
frostbite: for a yummy pig's ear

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YEA for Birthday!

Camping Aug 22-24. WE had SOOO MUCH fun with Andy's Cousins.


The little girl in the photo is Andy's cousin's little girl. She is adorable. Andy and I went to Tucano's for his birthday on the 30th.

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Wedding

My aunt was married aug. 1 . My family drove up from California to be here for it! In this picture you see my sister,me, andy and my brother. My aunt was married in the bountiful temple and she did a luchen at the Joseph Smith Memorial building after ward.





in this blurry picture from left to right is my dad, my uncle Paul, my grandfather, my aunt Miriam, my new uncle Ernie, my aunt Kathryn, and some of people my aunts and uncles grew up with. Not pictures here are my grandmother and my uncle eric.

I had a wonderful time meeting some extended family and hearing about who looks like who. I've never met my Dad's cousins or uncles before.

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4th

we celebrated by going to see the hot air balloons take off early in the morning. Then we went to a BBQ at our friends. We ended the night at the "culda sac of fire." at th end of Andy's parents street they put ona little fireworks show.

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Currently...

Currently we are:
eddie: in summer classes and working at the UVSC testing center
andy: looking for a GOOD job and taking a Lithography class at BYU
lula: at home on her mom and dad's bed
frostbite: looking out the back window waiting for some action

Currently we feel:
eddie: excited for the 3 day weekend
andy: in love with his lithography class and liking print making more and more
lula: like hearding a bunch of sheep
frostbite: like going to the park

Currently we wish:
eddie: that I had a wonderful idea for Andy's Birthday (Aug. 30)
andy: that we would go camping and hiking more
lula: that I was an "only dog"
frostbite: that Lula would play with me

I'll try and get some pictures up soon....

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The Great Outdoors

With the Summer comes the Great out Doors. I love being in the Mountains with friends and family. My Dad , Tom and I went on the first fishing trip of the season last month. We went to the Gran/Kane Reservoir and the Lower Bowns Reservoir in the Escalante area. We each caught a few and Tom and both caught a few with our bare hands.

Tom was happy to be back in the wilderness .

Eddie and I went on our first hike of the season along the Bonneville Shoreline trail it goes along the east side of the Wasatch Mountains and provides great views of the valley and the mountains. It is also a pretty level hike making it great for out-of-shape hikers like us.

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Memorial Day

“…it commemorates U.S. men and women who perished while in military service to their country. First enacted to honor Union soldiers of the American Civil War, it was expanded after World War I to include American casualties of any war or military action…”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorial_dayretrieved: May 29, 2008

Best of all it's a US federal Holiday, which meant no work for Kirsten. Memorial Day also usually means a BBQ of sorts somewhere unless it's raining, which it was.

In Orem, and other places in Utah Valley, Boy Scouts go around and put American Flags in the yards of people who have donated to them. We had one in our yard this year. I actually really like the effect this has. First off b/c it looks cool. Second b/c it makes me wonder why we put flags up on that day and then i go and read about it in wikipedia. I'll have to take a picture of the effect next time they put the flags up so you can see what I mean.

Kirsten spent memorial day doing homework. And then we went to a BBQ at the Escobars. It was a fun time with friends and a great holiday.

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PLANT!

Andy and I have wanted to have a plant HANGING in our home for a while now. We have the pleasure of living in a condo build in the 70's so there are already hooks in our celling to make this possible. So finally on Sat we did it, we bought a hanging plant thing and a plant to go with it. I don't know why I think it is sooo cool but I do. I just love plants.

Horizontal space is so precious. It seems like you can never have enough of it. I already have 5 year round inside plants, not to mention 3 winter inside plants that take up horizontal space. so if I wanted more plants they were going to have to hang, and though I haven't always thought hanging plants were so wonderful, I just adore them now. There is just not enough green around. I even spend time admiring my plants, especially the ones which I have grown from just little things. I am probably most proud of my Christmas Cactus b/c it was on the verge of death, but I was able to bring it back to life by simply changing it's location.

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Up Date

Currently we are:
eddie: in summer classes and working at the UVSC testing center
andy: looking for a job to support his wife through classes ; )
lula: shedding, of course it's spring
frostbite: limping. we arn't sure why. the vet says if he is still doing it in a week or so, we'll get an x-ray

Currently we feel:
eddie: burnt out and not wanting to take her next two classes, but overall happy
andy: frustrated he hasn't gotten a job yet, but enjoying the free time
lula: impatient-- waiting for mom and dad to get home
frostbite: just great--ahhh I love sleeping on the couch when mom and dad aren't home

Currently we wish:
eddie: that we had hard wood floors
andy: that I had a bike that was actually my size
lula: that we could go to the park (but we can't b/c frostbite has a limp-- "boooo!")
frostbite: that mom would leave me alone ("stop trying to brush me")

To the reader: thanks for reading, whoever you are

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Mother's Day Switch.

In our house there is a switch
it determines what we do and how we do it.
It decides if we live in peace or in discontent,
It helps us know if we are living with a life in order or disarray.
It is not a switch we want to play with,
and we always want it to be on.
To know that I am the one that switched it off,
well there is nothing worse.
This switch is that switch that goes to my mother's mood,
and for her sake more than mine,
I hope that it will stay on.

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?
So has any one graduated lately and received that big fancy blank folder after walking through the big ceremony and such. I did recently I expected the blank folder but even still I was a little disappointed to see such a blank page and I couldn't help but wonder if it was a sign of things to come.
I am glad I did it but some ceremonies are a real let down.
I will post the happy pictures soon.

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LDS Quote a Day on Facebook Rocks!

"Will prayers that do not demand much of your thought merit much attention from our Heavenly Father? When you find yourself getting into a routine with your prayers, step back and think. Meditate for a while on the things for which you really are grateful. Look for them. They don't have to be grand or glorious. Sometimes we should express our gratitude for the small and simple things like the scent of the rain, the taste of your favorite food, or the sound of a loved one's voice. Thinking of things we are grateful for is a healing balm. It helps us get outside ourselves. It changes our focus from our pains and our trials to the abundance of this beautiful world we live in."
--Joseph B. Wirthlin, "Improving Our Prayers," Liahona, Aug. 2004, 18

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And that was that.

Andy's art reception went well. It was fun to be there with Jess Smiley (andy and he showed their art together). Jess is very creative and interactive; Andy is a little more reserved. So having them together made the reception very diverse. The wonderfull thing is that they both think the other is great at what they do. I think they are both proud of each other.

Someday, soon I hope, we will try and post the peices so that out of towners can see them. On another note, Andy got two peices in the UVSC spring art show. YEA!!! One peice I thought Andy was kind of crazy for submitting, but it was actually accepted. I mean I like the peice, but I am biased b/c it was inspired by one of my silly life happenings. Way to go Andy!! I adore you.

THANK YOU SOOO MUCH TO ALL WHO HAVE VISITED THE SHOW. It's been a great support to us.

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a bit of wisdom

"We should not be discouraged or depressed by our shortcomings. No one is without weakness. As part of the divine plan, we are tested to see whether we master weakness or let weakness master us. Proper diagnosis is essential to proper treatment. The Lord gave us this remarkable assurance: “Because thou hast seen thy weakness thou shalt be made strong” (Ether 12:37). But wishing for strength won’t make us strong. It takes faith and work to shore up a weakened cord of integrity." --Russell M. Nelson, "Integrity of Heart", Ensign, Aug. 1995, 19

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Officially....

boring. Yes folks, Andy and I always knew we were pretty boring, but I think these last few weeks have been incredibly dull for anyone looking from the outside.
1. we had spring break. YEA!! it was great to get time off. But what did we do you ask? Well Andy worked on his art and I did my home work and went to work. We watched an episode or two of Monk season 3 every night.

2. This week was the same, I nagged Andy to do his art, he doesn't complain, and then he works on it. Andy and I didn't go see Jose Gonzales on Saturday becuase Andy really needed to work on his art and we realized it was Tom and Alysha's anniversary date and that would have been kinda weird. I avoided cleaning the house, which I totally regret now since that is ALL I'll be doing this week as a result. I colored nursery stuff and Andy worked on home work.

Boring, Boring, Boring.
but you are visiting this site anyway. Thank you.

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saturday was a busy day

We started the day going to school and then we went to see Joel's soon to be new place. We then went to Sam's B-day party via my Mom's lap top. We ended the day at a Colby Stead show.

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OH DEER!

This is our neighbor's backyard. (we took these pictures on Feb. 23 before the snow melted)

This deer is about 5 feet away from the passenger side of our car. This is one deer of a group of three. They have come the last 3 weekends to nest in our neighbor's backyard. It's kinda cool and kinda sad.

This is Eddie. She, Tallulah and Frostbite are having a good time in what might be the last snow of the year. We took the dogs up Provo Canyon to play. We really enjoy going up the Canyon. We are lucky it is so close.

This is Andy. Well his feet anyway. You can see from this photo that the snowfall last night was really only a light dusting. It was melted by the time we got out of church at noon.

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