As the Years Go By…

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They keep getting sweeter and sweeter. :)

For our Anniversary (Mar 3) Clark and I went out to a restaurant we save for very special occasions because it is muy expensivo! We went to Outback Steakhouse! SO yummy!!! We both got steaks that just melted in your mouth, it was SO delicious!

Fancy drinks in fancy glasses is another special thing we do and this night I got a (NA) Pina Colada! Mmm… before our main course we got a bloom’n onion and a salad. It was a perfect night!

After dinner we took a walk in the rain and then went to a bookstore and had ice cream. We then came home and cuddled while we watched LOST.

At the end of the day we both agreed that this night was as fun and romantic as our honeymoon. :) I LOVE this man of mine!!! I am so happy!

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Posted in Family, Relationships Tagged food, love |

Helping My Surroundings Feel Better About Themselves

Another change of large proportion! Since lately I have been feeling 10x better about myself I have been inspired and motivated to help our Sophia laughing to the sunapartment feel better about itself. Basically helping my surroundings look more like how I feel. So, Clark and I have been switching up our place, getting rid of A LOT of STUFF. We have decided to take each room one at a time and re-style it with new fix’n’s. We started with the Bedroom, and will move on to the main room and then the kitchen. Having removed so much in our bedroom, we have condensed our closet space to half, and moved the food-storage to the empty half of the closet, saved A LOT of room in our bedroom. Now we don’t have to go to bed dreaming of food. haha! ;)

WOW! Big changes, and it feels sooooo good to have a clean and organized house. It’s so symbolic this change. Removing all this ‘junk’ in my head, my mind feeling so FREE and clear and more organized. It’s so true that your surroundings affect how you feel about yourself. Clean house – clean mind, filled with joy! I literally feel the spirit growing in our home and it feels wonderful. :)

That is mainly what we have been working on this week besides – just working. One new habit we applied to our daily life is removing TV from Monday through Thursday. I’m so grateful for DVR :D So we party it up big time on the weekends, movies and TV & going out and having fun at the Beach. But MY-OH-MY does a simple act of moving TV – time to only weekends make a HUGE difference! Clark and I never realized how long days can be when you do that. We find ourselves doing so much more work, or hobbies that we always felt we didn’t have time for, etc etc. I think this will be a permanent change to our daily lifestyle. It helps in so many ways to make you feel like you have LOTS more time in a day to get things done.

Work has been really busy lately, but still fun. We’re meeting deadlines for this upcoming week – releasing new website themes and a new company site. I have been making video tutorials, written tutorials and keeping up with the customer support. A lot of people out there in the world can’t wait until 5pm to stop working, I feel that way too – except, since there is SO many things on my work ‘to – do’ list, it’s hard for me to actually physically STOP working. Clark has been helping me to breathe – stand up and walk away from the computer or get out of the house. Then I can switch off my ‘working’ mindset and let go and leave it until tomorrow. It’s hard, but my life is getting less rigid and more relaxed and flexible and spontaneous. :D

I know I might sound like a ’seriously so blessed’ person lately, but I can’t help but shout out to the world of what a difference Charity makes in renewing your life. That life doesn’t have to be taken so seriously. If someone is mean to you, or you have a hard time understanding why he/she did that or chose to make that decision in life or – whatever – it doesn’t matter. When you’re in the mindset of what’s in it for them, and you make the best choice: to LOVE, it makes ALLLLL the difference in their world and yours! There is so much beauty and love and happiness in the world, that there is no reason to doubt that God will help you in whatever struggle you may have in your life. Give it time, have patience, God will send you angels – pay attention to the subtle messages He sends you and you will find your life slowly but surely becoming brighter and better each day! You will feel stronger and more confident!

I still have down days, but they are not nearly as bad as they used to be. I’m still growing, still learning and building up my strength, but I see success and further joy closer down the road and it’s exciting!

I hope for everyone who reads this, whatever you might be thinking – that you always seek for ways to remove the critical thoughts, or judgment or assumptions you might have for people in your life – and replace these ‘beliefs’ with loving thoughts. Ask yourself  “What’s in it for them, if I have this belief about them? Does it help them become a better person? Does it help me feel more love for them and myself?” . It takes practice, but believe you me – you’ll find your life much more happy by working on this little by little each day. You might be shocked at how active your mind may be, in its negative beliefs, whether they be about yourself or others. Replacing negativity with positivity is ALWAYS a good thing. :)

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Posted in Faith, Note to Self Tagged depression, love, self-image, thoughts |

A Little Bit of This, A Little Bit of That

Big Sur - Into The SunYes, yes – we are still alive. ;) Our life as of late has been filled with Working, Exercising (and losing weight :D ) , and enjoying the sunny State of California. Clark just made it official for him as a California Resident with his brand new flashy yellow Cali Drivers License and I can’t wait to receive mine within the next few weeks! :) We love our home and as we’re settling here officially, we are overcome with new love for this area. It has always been a little confusing  – “Do we stay, or do we move?” We’re still a little bit unsure of where we make our home ‘for good’, but settling here and registering has caused us to move a little more on the ’stay’ side than on the moving. Clark was SO excited to hold his brand new Cali license and he can’t wait to register the car. Which is unusual for him because he always is a bit nervous (and so am I) about how much it’ll cost. California is known for being a more expensive place to live. So it was shocking for us both to feel excited about being “Cali Residents”. We love the sunshine, the beach, and the star-struck atmosphere of our Hollywood home. We’re happy that we’re making things more official. Extra cost and all, we make it work – and have fun doing it at the same time. :)

We’ve been successful in making each Saturday more fun and relaxing by doing activities we aren’t able to fit in during the week. Clark just had a REALLY fun job last Thursday shooting Green Screen for a digitally animated Museum tour for a fancy museum for New York. If I am correct, this was the first time he shot on Green Screen, and he said it was easier than he thought, and also a fun creative experience. He had to visualize the scene in his head and light the actors as if the surrounding elements were present. He loved it! He also just barely applied for a video job for a touring family who has a show on the travel channel. Their concept of their show is to “find the perfect place to live”. They high-light popular cities all across the U.S. It would take him away for 3 months, which we are a little bummed about, but he would make some great money, have a lot of fun and gain a lot of experience, so we can’t be too sad about that. :) I’m so proud of him!

Things have been going really well for us this year. I knew from the moment 2010 hit that this year would be a year filled with GOOD things for our little family. Monumental changes for us physically and mentally, a prosperous year and an overall memorable year. Only good things happening for this Cooper Family and we’re loving every minute of it! We are so blessed!

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Posted in Family Tagged cool stuff, work |

Motorola Droid Review


My husband and I have now had our Motorola Droids for a few months now, and we are constantly raving about HOW COOL they are! However, with ALLLLLL the cool features, there are a few items that could be better. Here are our Pro’s and Con’s:

PRO’S

  • The Applications
  • Google/gmail & Facebook contact integration
  • Google Maps – Navigation
  • Call Filter
  • Three Home screens
  • 3G Internet (unlimited)
  • Wi-Fi
  • GPS Locator 
  • 16GB SD card = LOTS ‘o Memory!
  • Google Voice
  • Text Messaging
  • 5MP Camera
  • DVD-quality Video
  • Rubber no slip back, NICE!
  • Open source APPS = greater possibility of REALLY COOL APPS!

CON’S

  • Battery life – not terribly inconvenient, but could be better
  • Back of phone battery cover slips off easily
  • Touch Screen = dirty screen
  • Touch sensitivity is hard to get used to, and on screen keyboard, small buttons – easily touch wrong letter. Also, you can easily touch wrong action and end up doing something you didn’t want to. grrr . It took awhile to get use to this, but after awhile you adapt and it gets easier.
  • Phone does not come with Car Charger… bummer…
  • Qwerty, pull out keyboard – small keys, have to learn a new way from old LG Env large keyboard
  • Open Source Apps = greater possibility of phone virus

I can’t tell you HOW COOL this phone is. You dream of a phone doing something – this phone does it! I am constantly surprised at its capabilities and am SO HAPPY that I secretly purchased these Motorola Droids as a surprise for Clark for Christmas :D


My Favorite Apps:

  • Google Voice – WOW! SO COOL, you get a text transcript of the voice message, so you don’t have to call into your voice mail to hear the message, you can read it on your phone!
  • Zedge – Huge selection of Wallpaper and Ringtones
  • WeatherBug – No complaints, accurate weather. It’s nice that the temperature stays in the top left corner of your phone. It’s connected to GPS so wherever you go, the temp and weather reports/warnings are current and up to date!
  • Google Voice Recorder – NICE! If you need to make a quick verbal note, it’s there to do the job well.
  • USA Today – I’m not a newspaper reading kind of girl, so I depend on this little App to keep me up to date with headlines for politics and current events. Also, good Weather app too.
  • Twidroid – No complaints, does all that I need it to. Great organization for @replies, and Attachments.
  • Tube Downloader – COOL COOL COOL! A fantastic way to find your favorite Google Video, or YouTube videos, and actually download them to your Droid! Don’t have to search for them, you have a hard copy on your phone! I instantly downloaded all my favorite Dave Matthews Music videos! :)
  • SitOrSquat - LOL! So cool! If you drink A LOT of water, or just have a weak bladder in general – this is a MUST! It provides a Google map of all your local reported public bathrooms. Comes in handy in an emergency!
  • Scan2PDF – If you don’t have a scanner handy and need to email a document to someone, this is a handy App to have. Take a picture of your document, convert it to PDF and send it via email!
  • Photoshop.com Mobile – Provides very basic photo editing settings, but is nice.
  • Robo Defense – FUN game!
  • Reveal – Free LDS Scriptures, Ensigns, Church Gospel Sunday School manuals, and even Free Classic Novels (like Jane Austen Novels!)
  • My Days – Every woman who still goes through PMS, download this App. MUST HAVE! SO cool!
  • My Coupons – Doesn’t provide a HUGE selection, but its cool and does provide some local coupons for places like Target, etc
  • Movies – No complaints, has local Movie Time Listings, and reviews
  • Mobisle Notes – Awesome app for keeping notes and shopping lists. Love it!
  • iMusic – Free Music Downloads… ’nuff said. ;)
  • Google Translate – Different from other Translating Apps that I’ve come across, because you can use the voice feature to say (not type) what you’d like translated into nearly almost any language. It will then provide an option to speak back the translated text so you can hear how its pronounced. Very cool
  • FxCamera – My Favorite way to take pictures! Provides photo effects like Polaroid, Toy Camera, etc. Really neat.
  • Calorie Counter – Really really really cool if you’re trying to lose weight and keep track of your calories. This app even goes as far as to provide an option for you to scan the bar code of your food so you don’t have to search or input the nutritional information. You’ll scan it and up pops up all the nutritional information with serving size and you click ’save’ and it adds to your Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner or Snack. Then when you’re done inputting your food for the day and any exercise you did – you can sync with your free account on FatSecret.com online! You don’t have to use the free account online, you can just keep everything local to your Droid. Oh yeah, you can weigh in too. It calculates your RDI (Recommended Daily Intake for your diet plan of losing x per week). Pretty much has everything you need for keeping track of your daily exercise and food intake. A MUST HAVE!
  • Buzz Off – Ever went to the movies, turned off your ringer and forgot to turn it back on after the 2 hour movie? No more worrying, set the timer on this app to vibrate/go silent for 2 hours and let it take care of turning back on your ringer afterwards! AWESOME!
  • Call Filter – Block those annoying telemarketers/Unknown Calls, or for a specific number. Nice to have.
  • Call Location – Find out where a certain number you are unfamiliar with/ or are familiar with is calling from. Utah? New York? Virginia? This App will tell you as each number calls you.
  • Bump It – Did your other Droid or iPhone buddy just take a really cool picture you want to have on your phone too?  Or how about inserting their contact information into your phone? Don’t go through the hassle of emailing or IMing it to your friend, or opening up a new contact card -  BUMP it! Both of you open up your Bump It app and select whether you want to share a file or contact information then bump your phones together and wa ‘la , there you go! SO cool!
  • BMI Calculator – Nice to have to keep track of your Ideal Weight and current Body Mass Index.
  • AndroBlogger – If you have a blogger blog, this will provide a quick basic way to blog from your phone!
  • Wordpress – If you have a Wordpress blog on Wordpress.com or self-hosted (wordpress.org), this is a must have! Basic settings, but all you need to blog from your phone. You can even edit your pages!

What are your thoughts on the Motorola Droid?

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Posted in Review Tagged blogger, cool stuff, movies, music, news, thoughts, work |

A True Gift – Put to an Inspiring Use

This little girl helps remind me of where we all truly receive our talents, and how we should use them. To help others feel good and feel the Love that God wants us to so badly feel, and remind us all where we come from. :) I love it!

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Posted in Faith, Note to Self Tagged Artwork, cool stuff, Inspiration, love, self-image, videos |

The Most Handsome Man In The World

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… was born this week. You’re all invited to celebrate throughout this week with us. Make every day a party!

I love you my knight in shining armour!

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Posted in Family, Relationships Tagged cool stuff, love |
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