Lots and Lots to catch up on...

In fact, I don't think I am ever going to truly catch up on what turned out to be a very eventful 2010. But I can sure try! Here goes. A snapshot of the Tilton Bunch's 2010... the good, the bad, and the extremely ugly!! Heehee:

The year started out with my new job working for the best company in the world, NuSkin Enterprises.



We had fun as Gavin got a fish hook in his foot and ended up in the ER:


We celebrated Peyton's 2nd Birthday:


We experienced the "Dog at Large" incident with Butch and Angel...


...Where they alledgedly attacked a horse. This led to our family having to get rid of our beloved animals. Sadly, we missed our Butchie the very most! We were very happy that he could go stay with Shalecia's Dad in Delta, and didn't have to be put down.

We really miss this big 'ole Teddy Bear!!

I made the Dean's list after successfully completing Spring 2010 semester!

This also helped me receive a Dean's Merit Scholarship for the 2010-2011 school year.

We celebrated Mariah and Alex's Birthday with a really exciting Luau. Unfortunately, our camera had broken at that time, and we don't have any pics from that awesome day. But we had a ball. Sorry to any of you whom missed it!

Shortly after we celebrated the kids' Birthday's, we were forced to move from our home and began our adventure of moving from house to house, while we lived out of our car for the summer. It wasn't as bad as it sounds, and we got to spend some great time with family and friends!

We stayed with Aunt Christy, Jan, and Lukas:


We celebrated Mikayla's Birthday with our good friend Kim, and her daughter Kloe!!




We got to enjoy a few different Parades. Here's my crazy kids standing on the sidelines, with my friend Dustin hanging out in the background.


We spent some afternoons playing at an amazing park in Pleasant Grove called Discovery Park!






We got to spend some time down at Aunt Catherine's House:


...Where Gavin decided to use Uncle Cade's beard trimmer and give himself a haircut!


Around this same time, Grandma Judy had surgery and we took the kids for a visit while she was in the hospital. She was on quarantine, so our required attire looked something like this:


I continued school throughout the summer. As a project for my Psychology class, I cut my hair and donated it to Locks of Love. Here was my hair before:


And here is my hair after...



And then again after, when I dyed it red:

I think the all over color makes me look older, and I am working on getting some highlights back in this hair 'o mine. We'll see what it ends up looking like.

Fall semester started, and we were FINALLY able to get ourselves into our own home once again.


Along with the new house, came a new addition to our family! Jenna is our new Nanny and we LOVE HER!!!


Mika and Laura got their new house finished in September, and shortly after that, Mom and Dad got to move into their "Master Suite" built just for them.


We had the opportunity to get the kids dressed up on a couple of different days to celebrate Halloween. The first time was at Spanish Oaks Elementary for the Costume Parade:


The second time was on the Saturday before Halloween, since it fell on a Sunday this year. Here's the whole gang, including Isabel and her little peeps!


As we marched into winter, snow fell, and kids played...


and snow fell and kids got buried...


as snow fell, and Fell and F.E.L.L.!!


The Holidays approached and the kids decorated Cookies with Jenna:


And NuSkin gave us the BEST Christmas Party Ever. They had Comedian Brian Regan come and perform for us, which was AWESOME!!


Then came Christmas Night. I happened to wake up after Santa had made his visit and I snapped a couple of photos. Here are the stockings:


And here is the Christmas tree surrounded by presents. It seems like a ton, but if you consider that I have a whole gaggle of kids all by myself, well, ya know...


Now we have come upon the end of the year. The Ball has dropped in Times Square and it is well beyond midnight in my little home in Spanish Fork, Utah. I am excited for what the New Year may bring. I am hopeful that things will be Amazing.

I wish you all my Blessings and Joys to you and your families in this time of new beginnings.

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2011!!! ;)

It's been a while!

Sorry to the like four people who sometimes read my blog! I truly did not intend to abandon you! I have been crazy busy and dealing with all of the excitement of life! I am happy to report that we are officially in our own place and the kids even got to stay in the same school. There has been a huge series of events in my family, but I won't go into detail here. All I want to say is that I can't believe that we are so quickly approaching Christmas. And does that FREAK anyone else out like it does me? Just curious.

Here's my Hair!

So here is what I ended up doing with my hair. It has been about a month or so since I cut it, but I think I am liking this length.
In other news, lots of things are still going on in the lives of the Tilton Bunch. We are still looking for a home for the kids and I to move into, but now, school has started for the kids and I, as well as my work becoming more frequent.
One good thing that happened through this chaotic summer was that I still completed my Summer semester classes. And I even did well! Here's my final grades:

Self Defense: A
Psychology: A
History: A
Career Major & Exploration: A-

Woohoo!!
This just goes to show that no matter how herd things are, or how difficult the struggle, I CAN DO IT!! Exciting.

I'll give a better update later. See y'all later!!

Locks of Love

I recently did something some people would consider absolutely CRAZY! I had been thinking about cutting my hair short and possibly donating it to Locks of Love. In order to do that, you must be donating at least 10" of hair. So one night last week, sort of on a whim, and for lack of any professional around to do it for me, I cut all of my hair off.
This was my hair before.



I cut off about 13 inches. All. By. MYSELF! Sort of scary actually, but in an empowering sort of way.



SO, how many people do you know that can say they cut their own hair off. At least I didn't do a famous shave off of all my hair. Just a trim... right...



Well that was my end result. My apologies for being in such a beautiful state when I took this photo. I had just finished moving, my allergies were going crazy, and I had just gotten over some fat lip issues from another allergic reaction.

Lovely, right!!

Now to get it professionally cut and figure out what I want to do with it...

Where, oh where?

Where have I gone? Sometimes I don't even know. Just hanging out in limbo somewhere. Don't you hate limbo? I would almost rather something negative (not that I am asking for negativity... Positive thoughts, positive thoughts, positive thoughts...) than just to be stuck in limbo regarding a decision, a task, or where we go next. I. HATE. it!

At the moment, however; we are not-so-much in limbo. Myself and my children are working feverishly (well, not exactly feverishly, more like, as often as I can get the kidlets to help me!...) to get our house all packed up and ready to move this weekend. Ummm, yeah. That's like tomorrow. I know.

"Moving Where?" you may ask. Well, nowhere really. All of our things except the bare necessities are going into a storage unit here in Spanish Fork, and then the kids and I are going to stay off and on at my sister's house in Elsinore, and sometimes (when I have to work up here) at my parent's right next door to the home we are currently moving out of.

This amazing adventure and more will be ours to live throughout the next couple of months. Once school starts again at UVU and I get my financial aid, we will find a suitable housing situation and once again move all of our things. Only this time, out of storage and into whatever home we have acquired.

You wanna know the MOST exciting part of it all?!?! This place will only be temporary as well. I will have to make sure we move into a place that will allow us to rent on a month-to-month basis so that when our Housing Assistance comes through, (some time in the next several months) we can move out ONCE AGAIN and move everything AGAIN! Did I mention that we would get to move ALL of our furniture and ALL of our belongings AGAIN?!

Come on! You can say it! You are all totally jealous of me. You know you wanna be living my life, right?!

Deans List

Here's a photo of the certificate I got.

Drum roll please....



Okay! So I am not the best photographer, but there it is.
I found out that I can qualify for this honor in the Fall and the Spring, provided I am enrolled Full-Time and achieve a 3.7 GPA or better.

My plan now... To get one of these each semester from here on out!!

Guess What?!?!?!

Today, I received the following letter in my UVU email box:


Dear Samantha,

Congratulations!

I received the Spring 2010 grade report and I am please to inform you of your place of honor on the Dean's List in University College at Utah Valley University. I take great pleasure recognizing you for your hard work to achieve academic excellence.

By attaining this honor, you have shown dedication, perseverance, commitment, and intellectual capability. But, more importantly, you have demonstrated a desire to learn.

If you would like a certificate to mark this accomplishment, please stop by the dean's suite during regular campus office hours by September 1, 2010, and we will be happy to provide that for you. The dean's suite is located in room 210 of the Liberal Arts building. If there is anything else the dean's staff may assist you with, please let us know.

Best Wishes,

Bonnie G. Henrie, Ph.D.
Dean, University College


I was so excited when I read this. I am DEFINITELY going to get a certificate to celebrate this occasion. I am guessing this may not be that big of a deal to some students, but to me; a Single-Mother to five children who is working, and struggling, and fighting all sorts of challenges each and every day, AND going to school; this is a MOMENTOUS occasion.
In this moment I am happy! At this crossroads, I know I have chosen the correct path and am moving into my amazing future. YEAH!!!

A Bucket Worthy Event!!

This morning the kids and I went up to the Strawberry Days Parade in Pleasant Grove. It was a good parade filled with all of the good stuff. Lots of people. Lots of candy. Lots of freebies and coupons. Lots of kids running around everywhere hopped up on sugar and excitement. It was a good morning adventure, and something that I will have to make sure gets put on our bucket list for next year.
The day is still young and we have more adventures to experience today. Talk to you all later!!!

Summer Bucket List

So I have an AWESOME blogger friend and she created a post wherein she described her family's bucket list for the summer and how they work it all out. She took her list and cut the items into strips and they got placed in a bucket and are drawn out to create a plan for their day. I think the is the the BEST idea ever.

So forgive me Lola, for stealing your idea, and for using quite a few things that you had on your Summer Bucket List. Here is what I have come up with for my family. I think that I am going to wait to officially start doing things on our list until I have decided if there are any other things I would like to add.

Here it is...

The Tilton’s Summer Bucket List:

Go to the zoo
Visit an Aquarium
Go Fishing
Go to the Utah County Fair
Go to Seven Peaks Water Park
Go visit Family far away
Volunteer Service Project
Go “caroling” patriotic songs to the neighbors near 4th of July
Have a neighborhood Cookie exchange
Plan a potluck picnic with the neighbors
Go Bowling
Drive the Nebo Loop
Go on a picnic
Go to an outdoor movie
Go for ice cream
Visit a playground
Go to the Art City Museum
Go to a concert in the park
Go to an activity day at the library
Visit Krispy Kreme
Fire Station Tour
Complete 4-H projects for the fair
Go to yard sales
Go Camping
Go Feed Ducks
Have an art party
Have a Karaoke Party
Roast marshmallows
Have a backyard campout
Make popsicles
Make s’mores
Make treats to take to neighbors
Go to the Reservoir
Go to a fun Swimming Pool

I know some of these things may be used multiple times, but that is Perfect! As I work to create a rigid structure in my home, I am also working to create better and happier memories for my children. And I am a Need-to-plan-things-out sort of girl.
Please, please, PLEASE, let me know of any other FUN and FAMILY FRIENDLY activities my family can enjoy. Just remember we are on an extremely limited budget, so we gotta get a bit creative here!

There's always a message!

I went visiting teaching this past weekend and was so grateful for the opportunity, as well as for the lesson that my incredible VT companion shared with our Sister. It was very meaningful and touched my heart. Along with that great message, I was reminded of another message that was written upon the wall of the home in which I was visiting. I can't remember the exact words, but I have heard it many times before.
It is something like,

"It's not about waiting for the storm to pass, but about learning how to dance in the rain."

I love this statement and completely agree with it. As my head is becoming more and more clear each day, I had a moment in which this message came streaming into my thoughts.
This is where I am. This is how I feel...

...And for just a moment, the storm ceased, the clouds parted, and the delicate rays of sunshine revealed a fresh beginning. All manner of plants perked up as they stretched and reached for the life giving light and warmth those beams brought forth... and She was there.
She was all alone and surrounded on nearly every side by what appeared to be great darkness, overwhelming hardship, and intense sadness; yet She remained. With a gleam of determination in her eyes, and a ring of Faith surrounding her soul, she was joyously Dancing. Through both rain and shine, her graceful movements continued. In her mind, she knew nothing could hold her back, and in her heart, she knew the hurt would eventually fall away, and she would again be complete.
Life is truly Amazing! Even in those times when it leaves you a little bit wet!

With a Little Help From My Friends...

I am dancing my way (sometimes not so graciously) through a tremendous life transition. A few things I know for sure: I am determined to dance, to sing, to play, to write, to learn, and to love (especially myself) throughout the entire process.

Some friends of mine have recently posted some great thoughts on Facebook and this post is the perfect place for me to keep them while I grow, as I change, and move towards true acceptance of myself and my life.

A few days ago, my amazing friend Rachel put the following words as her status: "Saying goodbye to a toxic person frees us to nurture so many other beautiful and healthy relationships....and I think once we (as graciously as possible) can let go of that person, we'll find that we aren't brokenhearted, but may even feel profound relief! I know I have..... :)"

In response to Rachel's post, her friend Diana said:
"There is so much happiness in my life that it made the path to forgiveness and let go a lot easier to get through. I can never thank my sunshine and my sweet children enough for giving me the gift of happiness. I have been thinking about the process that has taken place and I am amazed at how little room there is in my heart for sadness. I feel peace and tremendous love that comes to me in so many perfect ways, so pure, selfless and full of charity."

The sentiments from these two incredible women were absolutely what my heart was yearning to hear, to believe, and to understand; and somewhere deep within, already knew.

In response to these inspired words, I commented the following to Rachel's original status:
"Oh, my, my! This is so immensely profound and an absolute truth! Those of us who have a tendency to try to "fix" broken things are all too often enveloped so deeply within our loved one's toxic and deathly world that it becomes our own, we lose our selves, Our REAL, TRUE, DIVINE selves. And even more devastatingly, (and on our part, selfishly) those little, precious, prefect and pure spirits who dwell among this sickness, can also become sick themselves. In that moment, a tragedy occurs. In that moment, a cycle continues.
I am overjoyed to say for myself and for the special spirits over whom I hold charge, that though this road may seem treacherous, and lonely, and often overwhelming, I am moving forward, step be step, in Faith, and in the knowledge that I will soon feel the sunshine upon my cheeks.
So regardless of how it looks, to myself or to anyone else, I am walking hand-in-hand with my sweet babies, into a brighter and limitless future."

Then again today, my brilliant Rachel posted a very interesting piece of information as her status:
"A Howard Gardners Study on the genius level in society found that at 4yrs old, nearly 100% were at genius level, at 20 yrs old it went down significantly to 10%, and at 25yrs old, down to 2%!! This proves that we LET authority figures, self image and environment dictate us and take the genuis out of us. Thats a problem!"

Because I am in complete agreement with her, and because of some other truths I believe, I commented back to her the following:
"That is pretty much how it works with one being their true self. From the moment the first person said or did something hurtful to us as a child, we built a wall,then the next person, and more wall, and so on, and so on. Sometimes we ourselves are even the one creating the hurt that moves us away from our true self. We live in a Mad, mad world!..."

I am ready to truly live and create the Amazing life my children AND I deserve! Look out world, here we come!!!

Needing a little reminder...

So as I continue through my life and endure the inevitable trials that come along with mortality, I often forget about myself and about who I am. I came across a statement I created several years ago and I think it is time to give myself a little reminder of just who I really am!...

I am a RADIANT, BEAUTIFUL, LOVING, PASSIONATE Woman of Light. Through being that, I bring forth Enthusiasm, Peace, and Purity; creating a world where all of God's children are surrounded by Joy, Acceptance, and Freedom.

I have also decided to add another line that came to mind tonight and I think it is one of my new favorite things!...

My Influence has no Limit, and no Limitation can stop my Influence!

I am truly thankful for the days when I can remember my true worth. I appreciate the days in which I am reminded that I am a Divine Spark of my Heavenly Father and was lovingly created in his image.
And as I recall a saying I heard when I was young, "...Cause God don't make no Junk!"
I can only smile to myself, embrace my children, and offer up complete appreciation for the opportunities I have been given, and the lessons I am learning in my life.

And the Results Are...

My Spring 2010 Final Grades are up! Yeah! I am so happy that I FINALLY get to know how I did in all of my classes.

So here's the Basic Rundown

BIOL 1010 General Biology... B

ENGL 1010 Introduction to Writing... A

HLTH 1200 First Aid... A

MAT 1010 Intermediate Algebra... A-

PES 1300 Swimming I... A


I am so HAPPY! The only way I could be happier is if the A- was actually an A and the B was an A. But really, I am totally OK with these grades. I did struggle a bit with Math and was truly afraid I would end up with a lower grade than I got. Biology, was my own little torture. Because it was a self-paced class, that meant I could put it off until the end of the semester (not a wise thing to do AT ALL!!) I hadn't intended to do so, but it was really easy to tell myself I could just do it later. A B in a Biology class where I didn't watch hardly any of the 32 hour long episodes, and did all of the assignments and studying within the last two weeks of the semester is nothing to complain about. I am just glad it wasn't any lower than that.
Now, that I have officially gotten my Spring 2010 grades, Summer 2010 semester classes start TODAY! I don't actually have a class until tomorrow, but, hey... Gotta love my 5 day summer vaca!!

Green Smoothies... My Newest Adventure!

So I was recently introduced to green smoothies.
A green smoothie is one that consists of a greens base with your choice of fruits.



Even though they are green, these pictures make them look somewhat appealing, right?!
They really aren't that bad. Especially if you put your favorite fruits in them.



When I was told the greens that are recommended for you to put in, I was like, "WHAT? I have never even tried three of those four veggies!"

The greens that I include are:

CHARD... both red and green

KALE

COLLARD GREENS

SPINACH

... Now that last one, I am familiar with. Not my favorite thing, but I have eaten it before.

So here is what I have done with my smoothie:

I put between 5 or 6 cups of those greens listed above (smashed and crammed into the blender as much as I can) in two cups of liquid. I say liquid because I was told to use water, but I used a cup of water and a cup of G3 Juice (a super fruit drink from NuSkin/Pharmanex) I also added a couple of tablespoons of flax seed (for those happy Omega-3's) I pureed that up for about a minute or so. The liquid and greens mixture now fills the blender between three and four cups. I added 2 bananas (cause they mask the not-so-yummy flavors pretty well) frozen berries (I used strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and cherries)
I blended that for a bit and then filled whatever room I had left in the blender with a cut up apple and a broken apart tangelo. (You can use whatever fruit you like, but it needs to have seeds. SEEDS = LIFE... or so they say)

I think it tastes pretty good for all of the interesting things that it has in it. The berries are supposed to help change the color from green to purple, making it a bit more appetizing. Mine hasn't really hit the purple stage. It looks a bit more like this...



I don't know if this looks any more appetizing than the green does. Well, to be honest, it is a bit less appetizing in my book, but I can just close my eyes.

I have already noticed a marked difference in my energy level. I drink mine at night so it can digest as I sleep (or whatever... that's just what I heard) There's so many options as to what you could put in this smoothie. One of the cool benefits of my newest adventure is that each glass that I drink contains an entire days worth of fruits and vegetable servings. So if I don't eat very well during the day, this has me covered! (OK, I know. Not really, but I can dream, right?)

I'll keep you posted as I progress through my adventure!

PeyPey's Robot Shoes!

A while back, we took Peyton to an orthopedic specialist and discovered that the reason he is so pigeon toed, is because his tibia bones in both legs are turned inward. To correct this, he gets to wear braces on his legs at night-time. The braces go from his toes, to his upper thigh. They place his legs into a bent position. One like his legs would be in if her were sitting down on a chair.




The braces work because they hold his feet and legs in the correct position and eventually train the muscles to naturally hold his legs that way. As the months progress, they will adjust the braces so that they turn his feet to a more outward position.



He got fitted for his braces this past Tuesday and has been wearing them each night. Yes, those are tights he is wearing. He has to have something thin underneath the braces and after a couple of nights with Matt's trouser socks, we decided this was a better option.



After Peyton struggled through the first night, Matt joked around with him that his braces were robot shoes. This made him laugh and so even though he does not like them while they are on, and he can't walk, he gets excited to put on his "robot shoes" before bedtime.

Mariah's First Choir Concert

Tonight was the 1st Annual Maple Mountain Music Festival. Mariah got her first taste of a "big-time" Choir performance. She had fun and the kids loved watching her on stage. Her Choir sang We Are the Champions/We Will Rock You by Queen. It ROCKED!!
Here's a smidge of their performance...



They had choirs come from Spanish Oaks Elementary, Mapleton Elementary, two Choirs from Mapleton Junior High, a Mens and a Womens Choir from Maple Mountain High School, and the Mapleton Chorale. The finale was all of the choirs joining together and singing together as one HUGE Chorus. I just caught the tail end of this song...



Despite my extremely cruddy camera skills, the whole performance was awesome! I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Especially after Matt took the kids outside to play and I got to enjoy the remaining performances in peace... Did I really say that out loud?... Oh well! I will teach my children proper audience etiquette, well, hopefully...

someday!

Storm's a Comin'!

The other day, a storm was rolling in. All of us were outside in the backyard when we realized that we should get some pictures of how cool the sky looked. Here goes a cloud photo extravaganza!

I started out taking photos from the backyard...



But they just weren't...



Capturing what I had wanted to capture...



So after I took this one...



I decided that I needed to get to higher ground. Now me being a big fat scaredy cat, and not having a ladder of my won, I had no intention of trying to climb onto my roof. Luckily, Matt was there and hopped right up there and took some photos for me.

He took this series of photos and then handed the camera down to me to see what I thought...





And though I thought these were some awesome photos...





I wanted some that showed more of the sky and less of the ground below. So Matt went back up and took some more for me. I think these clouds just look so interesting. I love cloudy sky shots!









Now, I don't know about anybody else, but I can see an eye in these clouds, like the eye of an Eagle. What do you think?



I love these pics! I just had to share.