Fundraiser Success

This year I once again had the opportunity to assist with the Manchester / Clover HIll Young Women's fundraiser. It gets easier and easier every year. This year we were able to raise over $1800 for the girls to go to camp. We followed the same format as in years past: a 4 course dinner with live entertainment and I think it was another success! I really enjoyed workign with the girls and we actually had plenty of food this year. We were also able to get things out of the kitchen faster and be more efficient. I am always amazed and how well the girls worked when the time came to make it a great event. We were able to get a couple of Jazz Musicians from VCU to come and play and I think it was awesome! Thanks to everyone who supported the girls to make it such a great success - we had over 150 people support the event!

Basketball Officiating

You saw that right - Basketball OFFICIATING! And that's Diane, not Nate! This year since I was not busy coaching the YW they let me officiate! This is coming a long way from three years prior when I didn't even know most of the rules. I loved it. I learned a heck of a lot more about how Basketball works. I also gained a totally new appreciation for the refs. It is not as cut and dry as I thought it would be, and there is a lot of multitasking going on. Although I wasn't great at first and I'm still not the best, I think I improved quite a bit and hope they let me do it again next year! (Also as a side note, Kye's team, the Manchester YM, were once again the Stake Champions! Hooray for Kye!)

First Snow

I can't help it...I JUST LOVE SNOW! I woke up and looked out my window at 5:45 this morning to find to my extreme joy that it was snowing, and sticking! It made my last day of seminary in 2010 that much more awesome. We read a beautiful story told by President Monson, then played White Elephant Scripture Chase. Afterwards, I was so excited about the snow that I couldn't even take my usual 30 minute nap before work...so instead I walked outside in it. Now as I sit in my living room (obviously working hard from home) looking at the beautiful winter wonder land I can't help but be greatful for this wonderful blessing from my Heavenly Father to start off my week so well.

Just for good measure (excuse the pun), I did check to see how much we got so I can start tracking this winter from the first snowfall forward(the pittance of snow last week didn't count)!! Here were the results:

(Just in case you can't see, it says 2 inches on the button! Not too shabby for Virginia.)


Anyway, I hope your week's are off to the fabulous start that mine is! Merry Christmas!

Love,
Diane

Gingerbread Villiage

So after 5 hours of baking, we had the pleasure of creating beautiful "gingerbread" masterpieces on Saturday. Nate, Chase, Shelly, Mom and I participated in the festivities this year...We had a TON!!! of breakage, but it just made it that much more challenging!

Here is one of the whole village:


Now can you guess who made each house?!?!? (Diane, Nate, Shelly, Chase, or Mom)

1. Before it came crashing down from the weight of Santa's Sleigh!


2.

3.

4.

5.

Halloween 2010

Halloween, Halloween,
A holiday that I love so!
Filled with candy, pumpikins and cookies,
Ghouls and goblins on the go!





While not my very favorite Holiday, there are many traditions of halloween that are near and dear to my heart! We started with carving pumpkins and making carmel corn with Sherise. I admit I used a stencil, but still exciting, none the less. The baby one was so hard (as in tough skinned) I was glad to get any shape into it without loosing a finger! And Nate's wolf is AMAZING if I do say so my self.




Then it was on to decorating cookies. I think Halloween cookies are my favorite kind! They are just so much fun.

Saturday we tackled carmel/candy apples. The first go made great hard candy, but you couldn't bite into them without breaking all your teeth! The second go was better, but perhaps a little soft. Hopefully next time I will find a happy medium.

We spent actual Halloween eating snack food for dinner (lil smokies and wings) and watching Corpse Bride while the tricker treaters came a knocking. All in all we had a wonderful weekend! I hope you did too!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

How to say thank you...

So I turned 25 on Tuesday. I'm not sure if you know this or not, but I like to make a big deal out of birthdays. Especially landmark birthdays. So this year I threw myself a party and it was a BLAST but I made a mistake...I threw it before my actual birthday. Four days before. Then we had my family party on Sunday, so by the time my actual birthday rolled around I was already a little skeptical that it was going to be a bust. It started off with seminary at 6:10...which was fine. Somehow I thought it would magically be a super fantastic lesson, but it was average (no doubt due to my lack of preparation, but I just can't spare more than two hours a day, one for teaching and one for prep). Then had a terrible dream during my morning nap (from 7-7:40) at which point I woke up to realize Nate had already left and I did not remember him saying goodbye (although I"m sure he did...I just sleep heavy). So I got ready for work and as I was leaving found a lovely pile of puppy business in the bathroom...gross. So after cleaning that up and scolding her I was running late and feeling completely bummed. Work did not improve my mood with urgent requests and the like all morning. Needless to say that by the afternoon I was ready to declare my birthday over and just move on. Then I got on facebook and found that not one, not two, not ten, but FORTY-THREE people had taken the time to wish me happy birthday. I was shocked! And surprised! It made me smile for pretty much the first time that day. Work kept me busy till well after five keeping me mildly bummed, but on my way home some of my favorite little ones (and their amazing mom) had left me an ADORABLE voicemail with a happy birthday song. Upon arriving home I found a few cards, a spotless home, and a wonderful (although terrible) homemade "Happy Birthday" banner with a gift underneath. I must admit, I teared up. All in all, it turned out to be great. The small acts of love and kindness made me feel truly loved and appreciated, despite my skepticism.

So how do I say thank you to all of these people that helped me feel special on a day when I really need it? I'm not sure...so THANK YOU!!! I am truly blessed to have such amazingly wonderful people in my lives! The small acts are the things that truly matter in life. I guess I will just have to try and pay it forward to others.

So thanks you to everyone for a surprisingly wonderful Birthday!

Long time no see...

Well, it seems it has been a long time since I blogged. I guess part of it is my crazy life right now. Work has been super busy (in a good way). And then with seminary on top of that I just haven't gotten around to much blogging, but I'll try and turn over a new leaf. It also probably has to do with the fact that my camera is MIA, so you won't get any good picutres until it is located and I always feel my blog is boring without pictures...

So what have we been up to lately? Not much of anything exciting, but I will share one fun thing. Nate and I are playing fantasy football this fall with my sister, her husband and friends. I admit I didn't put much effort into the draft (other than the 5 minutes before) and based many of my picks on looks but.....after 5 games I am currenlty #1 in the league!!! It really has all to do with luck, but it's been kind of fun all the same! Oh, and my team name is DianeRocks! That's right, I am just that awesome.

So what have you been up to? Any fun fall adventures?

Love,
Diane

Suprise Suprise

Well, there's never a dull moment at the Walker house. Last week we had a wonderful new Bishop called in our ward. Nate and I were both so excited! Then on Wednesday he set up a meeting with me. I knew what was coming, but was hoping that I was wrong....but sure enough I was right (as always!). On Sunday it was made official that I will be serving as one of the Manchester Ward Seminary Teachers for the kids attending Manchester High School.

Yep, you heard me right, I'll be teaching SEMINARY! Yep, that means getting up before 6 AM EVERYDAY. I'm so excited and yet so terrified all at the same time (with my primary fear being that I won't be able to wake up in the mornings....). {For those of you who aren't LDS, Seminary is an early morning scripture study class that the high school students attend before school each day. I will be teaching it at my home as a volunteer. If you have more questions please ask me!!}

I know that I have lots of other updates to post (vacations, trips, family events, garden, etc.) and maybe I'll get to that today or tomorrow, but for now I'm still reelling at the news.

Wish me luck!

Love,
Diane

Fun or flop?

This past week I have been experimenting. I am in charge of the activities and food on the Fourth of July with all of Nate's Family this year and I want everything to be awesome. The Menu and Games have been pretty easy to come up with, but dessert was eluding me. I wanted it to be BBQ friendly and fun for the kids...but also festive (not to mention something I haven't done before because where is the fun it that?!?). So I decided to try making red white and blue pinwheel cookies on sticks. This way the kind of look like the whimsical suckers you get at carnivals, but instead they are cookies! Here's how the test run turned out:

What do you think? Cute enough to be served as dessert on the 4th? ( I will also have the firecracker popsicles to help cool everyone down).



Oh, and someone decided to try and help me while I was holding the sifter full of powdered sugar....she sure smelled good!

Sorrow and Joy

To all of my more than avid fans I must apologize for my lack of blogging. The craziness of the past two months are hard for me to explain. And difficult. So instead I have chosen not to.

Things have been all over the place with family, pets, vacations, work and just life in general. I do not want to go into details, but to save confusion I will provide a little information.

Last month our beloved Norman was hit by a car and we had to put her down. It was a terrible tragedy and one I would not like to talk about anymore. Enough said.

So at this point you are wondering where the Joy comes in. Well, I am please to announce that after a very tough fight with Parvo Virus at only 6 weeks old, we have added this very sweet little one to our family. Introducing Finn Carolina Walker!




She is absolutely wonderful and we LOVE LOVE LOVE her. She loves chewing on anything and everything (especially pants while I am WEARING them!). She is doing very well with her crate training, okay with her potty training, and will sit for treats!

Nate and I are grateful to have Cami living with us for now because it means Finn spends her days terrorizing Aunt Cami instead of in her kennel.

Speaking of which, Nate is now spending his days as an intern for Dominion Power! I am so excited that he is working in his field! If you want the details you'll have to ask him. I have about a million times but never seem to retain them.....

Anyway, we've had lots of other crazy things going on, but this is all I have time for (blogging at work...oops). Hope all is well with you and yours!

Love,
Diane

Back to Books

So over the course of my 3 1/2 years at BYU I read hundreds of books. This is not an exaggeration. One of my classes 30+ books in one semester! While I loved all of the stories and content, being forced to read really burned me out. I have only picked up a few books since finishing school. I used to have a book I was reading at all times, but after all that required reading I just lost my desire to pick up a book for fun. This week I finally picked one up. Since I picked it up on Tuesday, I have finished it and another. I forgot how much I LOVE reading! (No, I have not spent all my time reading, I just am a very fast reader!). Anyway, I am happy to say that I am looking for another book to read, and in the mean time I will be re-reading some of my favorites. They are girly YA books, but they resonated with me when I read them, and every time I read them again I feel the same way. (Keeping the Moon, This Lullaby, Snow White and Rose Red, Wuthering Heights, and a few others.)

Anyway...I am on the hunt for new books to read. That is where you, my readers and friends come in. I am looking for books to read and would like your suggestions. What are your favorites? What would you suggest that I read....at the pace I'm reading I'm going to need quite a list!

Love,
Diane

They really are FLOWERS!!

I know I already posted about this, but those were just little baby plants...these are real live beautiful flowers! I love them, they make me smile every time I see my house! I am still amazed how much flowers brighten my mood. Guess it's time to start thinking about what flowers I will be planting for the summer :)

4th Annual Walker Easter Egg Hunt

Every year Nate and I host an Easter Egg Hunt. It is a wonderful tradition, and I can only imagine how fun it will be once we have our own kids to enjoy it too! This year we held it at my parents house (their yard is much bigger and better than ours) and had about 20 children attend. It was super fun! The kids did their hunt in the front yard, the adults in the back, and the babies on the deck! My favorite moment was how excited the parents were when their kids found the Golden Eggs! (One at each level). Anyway, it was really fun...definitely one of my favorite traditions!!

Visiting Walkers

Last weekend we had the pleasure of hosting Nate's parents. This is the first opportunity they have had to visit us since we got married, so I wanted everything to be perfect (this translated into staying up until two in the morning the night before to finish all those odds and ends I've been meaning to do around the house for months - meaning all my pictures are framed and on the walls, the guest room is set up, and you can now find the floor in my study).

It was a great visit! Friday we took them downtown to see VCU. I wanted them to know that Nate was going to a real University and not one we made up! After a nice tour of all of campus, we hit the bookstore for T-shirts and other paraphernalia! Then it was down to the Capitol to experience a little Richmond History. We also showed them Monument Avenue and Hollywood Cemetery. It was a really nice day.



Saturday we had the 4th annual Walker Easter Egg Hunt (Details will follow in another post). Sunday was a nice Easter at home with the Family and General Conference. Sunday we had a fun Bowling outing...as it turns out I'm not very good, but I did improve significantly when I moved over to the bumper lane with Kye! Then they took us out to a DELICIOUS dinner at Bonefish Grill. All in all it was a very nice visit!

Another DC Adventure

A couple weeks ago we had the wonderful opportunity to head up to DC and watch the Wizards play the Jazz (Thanks Ralph and Brad!). I still cannot believe how much I LOVE the NBA!!! IT is amazing!

We started the evening off with a nice dinner at a fancy Mexican (I know, it sounded like an oxymoron to me too) there in China town right across from the Verizon Center. I am happy to report that I am successfully over my aversion to Guacamole...this stuff was great! They made it table-side and I loved it. I'm going to have to attempt making it at home sometime!



The game itself was great. It was really fun for me to see the Jazz play in person. For those of you who do not know, while I worked at Flemming's in SLC I got the opportunity to serve and meet most of the Jazz players, but I had yet to see them. It was AWESOME!! Now I just need to see The King play in person and I'm good to go!

Fortune Cookie Fortune

Has anyone else noticed that lately fortune cookies have been going down hill? I have noticed this trend over the past few months...it's almost like they are fortune statements rather than actual fortunes. Well, this past week I got possibly the BEST two fortunes I've ever had.



Yep, looks like things in the fortune cookie world are looking up! Happy Fortune cookie eating!

New Settee

Well, we decided we wanted a little more sitting room out on the back deck and after a bunch of searching we found this:



Now we just need the Spring Weather to stay this beautiful so we can continue to enjoy it. Oh, and I think one of my favoite parts of this particular purchase is that it is called a Settee rather than a love seat! It just sounds more grown up! (And I know that using the word grown up negates its use, but we can ignore that.)

Springtime Success!!

I love Daffodils. I love how bright and happy they are, showing the beauty of spring right there at the beginning!! It was something I loved about BYU, all of the Daffodils EVERYWHERE in the spring time (I was even known on occasion to go and cut a few for myself from an obliging flower patch when no campus police were looking...)

Well, this winter I decided that I wanted to see daffodils this spring, and I found a great deal online...a whole bushel of bulbs for $20!!! (I've had a really hard time justifying a more expensive purchase as we are just renting the house. You know, the whole improving other people's property thing......) When I ordered them it was 60 degrees and sunny...then what happened that weekend? Nothing other than a record breaking snowstorm (guess I forgot to mention that I put this off until December....but that was why they were so cheap!). Anyway, when it finally warmed up for a week or so in January and the ground was soft, Kye and Nate helped me plant them. I had very little hope in them coming up this year because we waited to long but as you can see....





Yes, these are only tiny sprouts and Yes, only the ones that Kye planted have started to come up, but I have high hopes that come Easter Weekend I will have hundreds of beautiful flowers lining the front of our house!! Hooray for Springtime!!

Disney Princesses - A Horrible Gender Sterotype? - Beware LONG POST

I was reading a blog post I found at a friends blog that really bothered me. (See her post here: http://www.phdinparenting.com/2010/03/09/all-i-think-about-is-princesses/ )

I take huge issue with this post. Let me preface this with a few things. 1) I am NOT a feminist, however, I would not say I take the role of a traditional woman either. Currently I work full time so my husband can focus on school. We split the chores, with him often doing dishes and laundry while I work in the yard. 2) I have see EVERY DISNEY PRINCESS MOVIE many times. 3. I am not a mom, so perhaps I will change my mind when I have kids and reserve the right to do so. 3) I strongly believe in gender roles. Being a woman is part of who I am, and in the "The Family: A Proclamation to the World" it talks about how beautiful and special our gender roles are. That being said, I don't think that women should be seen as prizes or men loved for thier money, I'm just saying that we need to recognize that as men an women we are different and not try to ignore that fact.

I feel like some of the people fighting Disney so hard about thier horrible stereotypes have not done their research. To prove my point I plan on walking you through the "Major" Disney Princesses.

1. Snow White - Alright, I will give you the fact that she is a princess through and through. Dainty, soft spoken, and kind. I dont' know about you, but those aren't necessarily bad traits...and everyone has a personality, that just happens to be hers. She is also a hard worker. When she is forced to flee from her evil stepmother (who by the way is also a woman!!!) she doesn't just mope about it, she finds a place to live and does her best to earn her keep. Yes, she is cooking and cleaning, but more importantly she is recognizing a need and fillign it. I hope my girls have that skill. Her only major fault is trusting a stranger, and it turns out terrible, but that is another lesson I want my girls to learn, so in this case I think it carries a strong message. The happily ever after is the end of the story, not the journey itself.
2. Ariel - Okay, I'll give you this one, she is terrible. As far as princesses go she is the worst. Disobedient, disrespectful, and defiant. She makes a deal with the devil and it works out in the end for her anyway. She is NOT a good role model for little girls, and I hope my daughter does not fall in love with her. That's one for the bad examples, however, she is STILL not portraying the lazy girl who doesn't want to do anything. She doesn't let life happen to her or want to marry a prince. Instead she falls in love with a guy, without knowing who he was. She makes things happen, rather than waiting for them to happen for her. Even though I do not like her, she is still not the "stereotypical" pretty face-empty headed princess.
3. Belle - Possibly the best princess of all time. Belle is smart, driven, and caring. She loves her father and does everything she knows how to protect him. She sees beyond images to the person underneath and finds what really matters. I want my daughters to emulate her. Good things happen to her because she is a good person who works hard and is kind and loving. She even makes the right choices in tough situations. She never sits at home to be rescued, but does the rescuing herself. She is so far from the "princess" stereotype I don't she should even be included.
5. Cinderella - She is the hardest worker I know. And she is EXTREMELY respectful. She is kind to her step-sisters and step mother, even when they torture her. She leaves the prince not wanting marriage, but humming about love. She did not even know he was the prince! She was only looking for happiness, and the message is that her happy ending comes from her being a good person, not wanting to marry a prince.
4. Sleeping Beauty - Yes, she is a princess, and yes she is my favorite, but that is besides the point. She is raised to work and help out around the house, not even knowing she was a princess. In fact, when she learns she is supposed to marry a prince, she is mortified, because it is not what she wanted. She wanted to marry for love, not riches. It is only due to sheer luck that the prince and her love were one in the same, otherwise it would not have happened. Again, a message and example I want my girls to follow: Love and hapiness are one in the same, not love and wealth/royalty.
5. Jasmine - Again, she is a princess to start, but a strong and independent one. She tries to run away from being forced to marry for riches or title. She takes life by her own hands and refuses to be forced into anything. Clearly she is not looking at image, but a person who makes her happy.
6. Tiana - Anyone who actually watched this adorable movie would never even bucket her in the "princess" category. She is one of the hardest working characters ever displayed. Her prince is shown as selfish, and is the one who needs to change before things work. When he is a selfish prince she is not interested. It boils down them falling in love while they work hard to overcome a difficult situation. She was happy with him as a frog....a FROG!!! Clearly they both learned to see past images! Another great example for girls.

Okay, so perhaps this not the best writing, but I think the argument above is solid. So based on these examples, here is my conclusion. This is not mean to be a personal attack, rather a comment in general. If you have a little girl who is obsessed with being a princess based on disney's empire, and she thinks being beautiful and marrying rich are the only things that matter, it is not disney teaching this message. It is lack of parenting. Disney has provided some great learning opportunities here for us to teach children about what is really important. If children walk away from these movies thinking that the gender roles of being "beautiful and finding a rich guy to marry" are what these movies are about, then perhaps it is the parents who are not teaching because that is certainly not the message of these films.....

So there you have it....what are your thoughts on gender roles as portrayed by Disney.

Locks of Love

I always have long hair. I'm not even sure why, that's just how I've always done it. Part of it is that I love to pull my hair up in a bun and go, and I love when I actually take the time to curl it, because I think it looks really good that way. However, I also tend to get sick of my long hair and cut it off to my shoulder every 6-9 months in a cycle (my hair grows REALLY fast) cropping 6-8 inches each time. Every time I do this, I think "I really should donate my hair, I have a lot and I'm cutting almost that much anyway". Well, last fall I had this thought BEFORE I cut my hair, so I decided to do it. On Friday I went in and cut of 10-11 inches of hair off, then had a style from there (making the cut in the front closer to 14 inches!!!). It was really intense for me to cut off that much hair, especially because my hair is just under my chin now, and it hasn't been that short since junior high. I'm glad that I did it. It's exciting to know that a cancer patient out there will have a real wig because I cut off my hair.All in all I do like the cut, it's just very short for me. I'm not sure I'll ever have the patience to do this again, but I'm glad I did it at least one time. Anyway, here's a picture of my new short hair! So now the question is, do you like it short better than long on me? I'm still deciding......