Boys will be Boys!

I'm looking for rascally stories of mischievous little boys for a story I'm compiling whether they be your boys, brothers, cousins ages 0-30. No names need to be used or details, I'm just researching the funniest, craziest moments in boyhood. Add multiple comments or send me e-mails (melissaturney@hotmail.com) with the best stories you have of the misadventures of boys. Thanks!

So I've been having cravings...

I have the strangest craving. I wonder if it will go away if I satisfy the cravings... I don't know. All I know is that I have been dying for a frosted cake. My close friend Danielle is going to make this dream come true for me when my brother in law Addison comes for his birthday in two weeks. Tonight I found this on one of my favorite sites crazibeautiful.com and in a way it satisfied my craving...I'll be making these on Friday...who wants to come share with me?

1) Bake a cake from box or scratch

2) Let it cool completly

3) Mash all the cake in a large bowl (you can use a potato masher)

4) Add one whole can of cream cheese frosting to the mashed cake and mix mix mix!

5) Roll into 1.5' balls

6) Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for several hours

7) While they are chilling, heat up chocolate bark

8) Insert stick into chilled ball and dip and twist in chocolate bark mixture

9) Decorate with sprinkles!

10) Satisfy craving...mmm

I'll post pictures and results in a few days! Thanks Crazibeautiful!

Sorry Ladies...its Official...

I have the best husband in the world ;)

I hope every wife feels this way about their husband, I know my Mom does. However all these women would be wrong...lol just kidding!

So today I get home after class and Adam is on his computer with several tabs open that say something to the affect of "nutrition for pregnant women" or "fetal nutrition." In front of him he has a note pad and is making a shopping list. When I saw what he was doing he started explaining his research telling me that eggs are one of the most nutritional things to eat during pregnancy because it contains this and that and telling me what not to eat. It made me feel so good that he would involve himself in taking care of me and the baby by shopping for things that are healthy for his family and doing the research.

Adam has been so wonderful. I haven't cooked in three months I haven't shopped in three months (the sights and smells are just too much). Hopefully now that I'm in my second trimester I can be able to help out more, I'll have more energy and the morning sickness has started to go away. I feel so awful for not taking care of him and he always just says not to worry about it, that he needs to take care of me.

I hate taking my vitamins because they make me gag...but every night Adam makes sure that I take them, even tonight I went to eat an apple and in his research he read that you need to wash your fruit really well and he was asking if I made sure I washed it lol. What a sweetheart.

I'm grateful for someone who is so loving to his wife, who never complains about taking care of her, who is already thinking about the health and well being of his growing baby.

Adam thank you so much for everything you do! I couldn't ask for a more loving companion or a better friend. I love you forever.

What makes me Happy Pt. 2

True Happiness

1) The Atonement

2) Going to the Temple with Sean

3) The smell of new scriptures and finding all my favorite scriptures again.

4) The three hours I had alone when I found out I was pregnant and I was the only one in the whole world that knew

5) Watching Seans face as he went to the MTC

6) My Grandparents, their diversity and the fact that I still have all four Grandparents and they all love me

8) PPIs Personal Pappa Interviews each Sunday as I grew up where my parents took the time to talk to each of us individually.

9) The GREATEST parents in the whole world

10) Talking on the phone to my mom every day

11) Adam never missing an opportunity to tell me he loves me, even when we are furious with each other, no matter what he tells me several times a day

12) Holding Adams hand in church...I hear we have to enjoy this while we are childless

13) Praying and knowing someone is listening

14) Having a Sister, knowing its Megan

15) Traditions

16) Being 13 weeks pregnant

17) Having the most AMAZING husband because I haven't had to make any meals for 13 weeks

18) Teaching YW lessons

19) Accomplishing a personal goal

20) Finishing the Book of Mormon

21) Attending a Temple only 30-45 minutes away

22) Having the priesthood in my home

23) Christlike examples in my life

24) Recalling Adam's face the moment we were pronounced "married"

25) Having the opportunity to gain a formal education

26) Staying debt free

What makes me Happy Pt. 1

I have been thinking about all the things that make me happy and decided to do a two part series on things that make me happy. The first one are things that make me happy superficially, or temporally, the second will be the thing that creates, or generates happiness in my life. So here we go, things that make me happy:

1) The quilt my Granma made me when I went to college

2) The Office

3) Blogging

4) Writing in General

5) Getting Compliments

6) Sitting by a friend in class and laughing with them about random things

7) Brother Hanson (my Institute teacher)

8) When Adam and I talk like we are rich people and we can afford anything in front of people (ex. When we were charged 15 dollars to take our luggage on the plane to Utah and I said "Oh its only 15 dollars and people are treating it like its a hundred, I only wish it were one hundred cause then I can take a load off my wallet." OR "The house is only 4.5 million dollars, I don't think we want our kids growing up in such a shabby, poor area of town."

9) That moment when you know your body is done throwing up...I know that is gross but I have found much joy in those moments the last three months :)

10) Watching kids settle a score with Rock Paper Scissors.

11) Clean sheets on my comfy cozy bed

12) Cleaning/Organizing my house

13) Being able to do Christmas shopping from the Internet because I hate hate hate shopping

14) Smoothies

15) Being able to Drive Adam to work every day

16) When Adam thinks I'm asleep and he kisses me and snuggles into me

17) When I am asleep and Adam kisses with me and snuggles with me and so doing wakes me up

18) Waking up to breakfast every morning because Adam is trying to take care of my morning sickness

19) Coming up with AWESOME baby names as we drive down the street like Maverick, Smith, Wally, Johanna, and my personal fave Crazy Horse.

20) Trips to Utah and California every couple of months to see family

21) Hanging out with Sean and Megan on one of our beds

22) Movie nights with my young women

23) Finding retro toys from my childhood like cupcake girls, quints, puppy surprise, etc

24) Disney Movies

25) Working out to awesome music

26) Making fun of my Dads use of words with my sibs (and my mom enjoys it too)

27) My moms attempt at accents

28) Lesley's Christmas Party

29) Uncle David's Song

30) My Sweet Lady

31) Smokey/Lizzy the Cats

32) The Cabin

33) Getting Packages in the mail

34) My box of love letters from Adam

Elder Marsden's Blog...

Is no longer private. Too many people were losing the invitation in junk mail and so I modified it a little so that info is protected so enjoy!

My Brother is an Elder

Last night my little brother was set apart as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was an extremley wonderful, emotional experience to be with him this weekend and watch him speak and act like a man. I am so proud of his decision to go on a mission and I am so happy the goodbyes are over with!

President Keller commented that the reaction of Sean's sisters said a lot about what kind of brother he was. Its so true. Sean is an amazing brother, very loving and kind to us both. I was impressed because my Mom held up better than Dad, Megan and I.

It was a fantastic weekend and I'm grateful we now have a missionary!

Presenting: President Barack Obama

Author: Adam Turney
Today I had the privilege of witnessing the Presidential Inauguration of Barack Obama, the 44th President of the United States of America. This will forever be a moment I hold close to my heart and I look forward to the day when I can tell my children what it was like when the first black man became the President. I anxiously await the changes that our country has to look forward to and I hope and pray that President Obama and his administration are capable of bringing to pass the greatness that this wonderful country has been destined for. I take pride knowing that I had a hand in selecting the new President and helping revive the idea that anything is possible for all people in America. As a teacher I have found this ideal to be especially significant as I attempt to instill the ideal that my students are capable of achieving their wildest dreams, so long as they are willing to put forth the hard work and sacrifice that is required of them.

The Joys of Economic Woes and People That Don't Respect Educators and All They Provide For Society

Authors: Melissa and Adam Turney
Last night, Governor Jim Gibbons proposed a state budget which would greatly affect the Turney's. Due to the state of the economy at this time, Nevada has suffered huge budget cuts in the Education Department. This year alone, the state is paying less per student for education, cutting down on school budgets (Adam's school went from a budget of $120k a year to $40k a year) and programs and teachers are being cut. Let alone the fact that class sizes are getting larger with a growing need for teachers (Clark County estimated a need for over 900 teachers they couldn't hire because of Gibbons budget cuts so that's over 900 classrooms approx 27,000 students are being taught by substitute teachers or a surplus in the classroom). This is only the tip of the iceburg. Think about the students with special needs who are not receiving the education and resources they need. Nevada is currently at a 44 percent graduation rate, which means 56 percent of the population are not graduating from high school. Nevada is currently ranked 48th or 49th in the United States for Education.

Now money shouldn't be a factor in a good education or good teacher but it is. Gov. Gibbons is proposing a 6% cut on salary for all state workers, including teachers and a freeze on all the salary increase for teachers. People may look at the 6% and think that's not a huge deal, but with the freeze on increase included it turns out to be more than that. For Adam it will be an 18% decrease. For many it is over 20%. This will not help ANYTHING. Perhaps the state will have more money to build those great hotel/casinos but the education of the children will continue to decline. Teachers will leave. Teachers will not be recruited. Grades K-5 classroom will see an increase to 35-45 kids per class.

Gov. Gibbons has now asked all teachers to "do their part" to help the economy. What he doesn't realize is he is asking all of Nevada to sacrifice the education of the state.

Teachers are underpaid and under appreciated. For those of you who may say, "Teachers shouldn't complain about their pay...they have summers off, they have weekends off," you don't realize that even if teachers worked year round the average salary would increase to $35-40k a year which is far less than what most people who graduate with a bachelors degree make in their first year. They also don't see the teachers work from 7:30 AM until late into the evening correcting papers, preparing lessons, buying their own supplies, calling parents, sacrificing their lunch and preparation time for kids, spending their summers writing lesson plans, buying supplies, and working extra jobs just to survive.

It is unfortunate as a teacher with a pure heart and desire to make a difference in the lives of children receive such undeserved disdain. According to Barbara Buckley, democratic speaker of the House, she has spoken to many people throughout the state of Nevada that are outraged by what Gov. Gibbons has proposed. Gibbons wanted to seem like he was being noble by explaining he would also be taking a pay cut of 6%, but he has a home provided by the state (we are paying for it), his transportation is provided by the state, his food and medical insurance is provided by the state. So for him to say he is also taking a cut is a joke because he not only makes 4x the salary of most teachers but he also doesn't have the expense worries that teachers do.

Teachers can only hope that enough people will finally stand up and have their voices heard. Certainly balancing a state budget is important, but taking money from state employees, which make up about 10% of the state employment force, is not the most rational way of handling the situation. We will continue to pray that things will work out in our favor because this year we must continue paying for school, we will have a baby joining our family in August, and we would like to have the material needs to provide for a happy living situation. We do understand that economic times are challenging and we are willing to make sacrifices. However, it is unfair to just attack teachers, spit in their face, and tell them they are not worth the already low wages they work for.

Unfortunately....

Author: Adam Turney
Melissa recently posted that I had gotten into an additional class this semester which would enable me to graduate a semester early. Even though the professor allowed me to join his class, even without meeting the prerequisites, the Education Leadership department denied my request for a credit overload. I contacted the head of the department and explained that I could manage the load easily enough but she still refused my petition for the additional class. This means that I will not be able to graduate with my second Master's degree until the Spring of 2010.

When I received the letter declining my request I was pretty crushed because I really had my heart set on proving myself capable of dealing with the large load of 15 graduate credits and teaching full-time...oh and helping my pregnant wife and also having a little part-time job. I was excited at the thought of graduating twice this year and being able to walk at graduation with Melissa. I enjoyed hearing how people thought I was crazy for taking so much on at once, but I just want to get it done with so I can move past the education portion of my life (I still plan to pursue a Ph.D. later in life). There were numerous reasons I wanted this class, but it was not meant to be.

"It is not meant to be," is a thought I had to contemplate throughout the day and night upon learning I would not be allowed to take the additional course. I was reminded of the plan that the Lord has for our lives and I was assured that things will all work out in the end. I understood better that we make plans for ourselves but those plans will often change. Heck, I never planned to start back to college until a couple years of teaching. However, life presented itself different and the opportunity for me to enroll in a graduate program was provided and our plans changed. Then during the end of my current Master's degree I realized I could take more classes and I began my second Master's degree with two semester still remaining in my current degree. Life has a weird way of making things exciting and challenging. This realization, combined with the purchase of an entertainment center, matching end table, and new couches, helped easy the frustration I had been experiencing.

If there is one thing I have learned during my short experiences through life, it is that things always work out for me. I may have to wait longer for some things but I have patience and will manage to get through it all. At least I am not pregnant, teaching full-time, and going to graduate school as a full-time student too...that would be too much for me. So I admire Melissa for sticking with her education and keeping that desire to finish strong. I just hope I can continue to be supportive of her throughout the remaining year of her education.

W-O-W

So this semester is going to be insane! Although I feel that the work load is manageable (I've gone to all my classes at this point and feel fine about them) the physical toll it will take on me will be interesting. Lots of moving around lots of driving. It is 100 percent better that we only have one car, but the problem is...I am stuck driving back and forth all the time! Mondays I drive Adam to work and stay with him as my first class occurs at his school. I'm in my first practicum out of two which means I spend six hours a week at a school, observe, and teach two lessons. The awesome part is that I get to hang out with Adam and eat lunch with him every Monday and Wednesday :) Then I drive back home for a few hours, then I go to school at UNLV, then I drive back up to Adam's school to pick him up from work, then we drive home. I repeat this Wednesday as well.

On Tuesday Adam and I have to stretch our smiles real wide and try to stay positive. Adam decided he's going to graduate with his second masters degree in December 2009 along with me. This will be awesome and in the long run it will save us a lot of grief, however, right now Adam has to deal with a lot of stress and working hard. He now has 15 credits which is virtually unheard of for a masters degree and is working full time. He had to get special permission to enter into his Tuesday class and since he is maintaining a 3.95 they let him do it. So on Tuesday I wake up and drive the seven miles to Adams school, then I drive back, then I Drive to UNLV. I have three classes from 10-2:30. Then I drive back to Adam's school and pick him up, then we drive back to UNLV, then I wait for him for three hours while he does his class...then Adam waits for me for three hours while I go to class from 7:00 to 10:00. Then I drive home and crash. Adam doesn't believe that being pregnant makes you tired. He things I'm just tired for no reason lol. I really can't complain because its such a blessing he got into that class and that we are both going to be DONE by December.

I almost want to keep pushing and just get into a masters program next fall but the reality is, I'd be burned out. I think I'm going to wait until we end up in Utah and I can get my Masters from a school in Utah. AHHHH I can't even think about that right now...

One More Thing...

IF the baby is a boy and...

IF he is born July 31st...

I may have no choice but to give him the middle name Potter.

Alright so I wouldn't but still if he is born on July 31st then that will be AWESOME lol.

Also, no matter what I have for Halloween I'm dressing it up as The Boy who Lived with little glasses and a scar.

New Ultrasound

Wow my baby is actually starting to look like a...living thing. I had another ultrasound today which unfortunately Adam couldn't be at. The baby was all curled up inside looking like a little peanut with a little arm lying across its forehead. Dr. H said he was saluting me for all the nausea. He assured me that everything was growing properly and that little bumpy still has a strong heartbeat.

Caitlin and I spent about thirty minutes trying to find a cute name-mainly boy because most of the pregnant women I know are having or have had boys and Adam thinks its a boys. Names I've absolutely ruled out include: Magnus, Superman, Adolf, and Glen Learner (for those of you outside Las Vegas he's an annoying TV personality- a lawyer who has a mullet). Some of the names I liked include: Landon, Joshua, Jonah, Eli and Bryce. Also The Hulk. The for short. Lets go ahead and move Jonah up to first place for today.

If its a girl I always said I love Brooklyn Elizabeth. We also love Sydney as Adam served his mission there. Sean will probably have a baby Adelaide (Adi). Recently however my brain has come to really like Elizabeth alone. Baby Lizzy or Libby. Today I liked the names Ainsley and Paisley which are pretty unique and I don't think I would ever do but in my emotional state who knows.

As I said I know many people who in 2008 had boys or found out they were having boys:

Mindy: Carson
Stephanie: Ethan
Kelsea: Ty
Breanna: Greyson and Harrison
Joy: Cyle
Becky: Baby Boy to Be
Heather: William
Danelle: Kent
Stacie: Baby Boy to Be

On Adams side of the family the Great Grandchild count will be 7 with one girl, four boys and two TBDs. On my side the Great Grandchild count will be six with four boys one girl and one TBD. So I'm surrounded by little baby boys. I even took a Chinese gender prediction test with 90 percent accuracy (yeah right hahahaha) which told me I would have a boy.

In any case...I should find out within the next seven to ten weeks which will put me around March 1st-20th ish. I'll put up a poll until then for people to guess :)

Color Code

Some of you may know a little about the color code. Last night for Family Night, Adam and I took the Color Code test. We'd taken it before long ago but things change and we have forgotten our results. Here is what we got:

Adam:
Yellow-13
Blue-12
White-11
Red-9

Melissa:
Yellow-16
Blue- 11
White- 11
Red- 7

As you can see, Adam is practically perfect with a great balance. I on the other hand have a little too much yellow and not enough red.

RED (Motive: POWER)—These are the power wielders. Power: the ability to move from point A to point B and get things done, is what motivates and drives these people. They bring great gifts of vision and leadership and generally are responsible, decisive, proactive and assertive. 

BLUE (Motive: INTIMACY)—These are the do-gooders. Intimacy: connecting, creating quality relationships and having purpose, is what motivates and drives these people. They bring great gifts of quality and service and are generally loyal, sincere, and thoughtful.

WHITE (Motive: PEACE)—These are the peacekeepers. Peace: the ability to stay calm and balanced even in the midst of conflict, is what motivates and drives these people. They bring great gifts of clarity and tolerance and are generally kind, adaptable, and good-listeners.

YELLOW (Motive: Fun)—These are the fun lovers. Fun: the joy of living life “in the moment”, is what motivates and drives these people. They bring great gifts of enthusiasm and optimism and are generally charismatic, spontaneous, and sociable.


If you also want to take the test you can visit: www.colorcode.com

Looking Forward to 2009

I'm more excited for the events of this new year more than any other year since 2006 when Adam and I got engaged. I plan on keeping the few resolutions that I've been working on for a little while and those include:

1) Graduating with my Bachelors Degree in Elementary Education by December

2) Continue to try and hold my food down so that...

3) I can get really fat around the middle and then finally

4) Lose about 8 pounds of belly around August 5th

We had an ultrasound the other day. They told us the baby is progressing perfectly, about the size of a Gummy Bear :) I wish I could have captured Adams reactions on camera because he just looked so elated to see our little gummy. it now has arms and legs and we heard a beautiful heart beat which the technician told us was beating perfectly as well. She said it looked like a very healthy pregnancy which made us both happy. After a few minutes of the little wand thingy pushing on my tummy the baby woke up and we got to see it move it's little arms and legs. Adams eyes about popped out of his head!

We have many things to look forward to this year starting with Sean's mission, Our Trip to New York, Adams Graduation, The baby, and then my graduation! We feel so blessed and humbled :)