Absolutely Beautiful

If you don't read cjane {i think you should, i'm just sayin'} than you missed something incredibly awesome today.

So I'm going to share it with you.

From a lucky girl

a small moment

It's been a long January.

Trials and tribulations have been unwelcome but abundant. Nothing life altering, just your run of the mill 'what else could possibly go wrong' kind of stuff.  I found myself thinking why!?! And saying things like 'We Pay Our Tithing!' (is that blasphamous? I hope not. I was frustrated. I also had a fever of 103 for 7 days of it so.....)

Then I decided I was being tested. Duh. What was I supposed to be learning from all this! I'm slow y'all. Really. Dumb as rocks? I feel like it sometimes. The lord must have those eye rolling, bang your head against the wall, long deep sigh kind of moments a lot when he is trying to teach me something.  I know because I have them a lot with my own kids and what goes around comes around, right?

It seemed I must need to learn something more about finances. (Which has been our huge trial the last 2 years. I feel like we are just about to rise above and then we get hit again.) But that wasn't it.  Was it to teach me to accept the help, charity and kindness of others? Maybe. And then I figured it out.

It was definetly a trial of faith. Plain and simple. Did I have enough faith to trust in the Lord? After I knew we had done everything we could, did I trust that he would provide for us?

It took me a few days to figure it out. It took me a few days of wavering faith. It took me  a few days to realize that yes, I did trust him. I did have the faith that it would all work out. I didn't know how, but I didn't get that crazy anxiety that sends me spinning into doubt and anger, I just knew it would be ok.

Our Bishop just happened to call Barry about something else and he just knew.  My parents (like they always do because they are saints) just give with no questions asks. Some friends just knew I needed a girls lunch out. Another friend just knew to take my kids for a few afternoons. My sister always knows just what to say to put it all into perspective. My husband is always my rock of faith and never wavers. I read D&C 121:7-9 and felt peace.

So it's been a long January.
In fact, it's been a long 2010.
Long.
Hard.
Frustrating.

It's also been my most faith building year for 10 years or so.
A learning year.
A year of prayer and tears.
A year of anger and peace.
A year of asking why more than any 3 year old could ever compete with.
A testimony building year.

And yet through it all I have learned something amazing. Something I didn't realize until the last few months.

I Am Blessed Beyond Measure!

I'm not a big crier. (emotions are for sissy's you know)  But to think about all the ways in which I am blessed is incredibly overwhelming. In fact I don't believe our human minds can really comprehend it all.  Maybe it's just my mind. Remember how I'm slow? ummm, yeah.

So I never thought I would feel this way, but 2010 was a pretty good year for me.

From a lucky girl

great related article here.

you are magnificent

Today nothing out of the orndinary happened. In fact it was an absolutely normal day. So why was it so hard? Does anyone else ever feel like a broken record as a mother? Some days the repetion of teaching my children what I feel they must have learned by now but clearly have not just pushes me over that ledge. You know the one I'm talking about.
And then I find this-



And I put down the spoon of whip cream that I am feeding to my emotions (no joke) and cry.  I am so incredibly blessed and greatful to have The Gospel in my life and to know that The Lord is blessing me at my most difficult times.

Jacob's Blessing

We Blessed Jake on April 4th. It was in the midst of all the other wedding and funeral craziness! We did it at home on Conference weekend since all of our family was here already. Plus is was Jena, Teri, Michelle and Richards birthdays. um, yeah. I can't believe how big he's getting! I bought his outfit before he was born and it probably wouldn't have fit him a week later. Jake and Daddy. Waving Hello! ;) Love those toes all scrunched up! I wish I had a picture of everyone that was there but I couldn't find my camera until almost everyone was gone.  Does anyone see a pattern there? I'm telling you, I have daily occurrences that re-confirm that I am done have children! I'd probably forget to brush my teeth if I didn't have it on my 'to do list'! We sure are happy we have this little guy though! He gets more love than I'm sure he wants from his brother and sisters! We Love You Jacob!

It's been a long year

Something rare happened today.
We were sitting in church, all of us lined up on our pew, and it hit me.
I was actually listening to the speakers and enjoying church.

Were my children sitting quietly, arms folded, hands to themselves, whine free, listening with me?

HA! HA!

More like they were coloring and eating fishy's (or whatever was in the church bag from last week) and miraculously not fighting, not talking so loud you can hear them in the hall, not rolling around under the seats, not sprawled out on the bench kicking each other, not going in and out 90 times claiming they MUST pee again.

Instead of pondering how this miracle was occuring, i mean we were in church, i decided to continue actually enjoying church.

The speakers were a new couple that just moved in down the street.  They both started out their talks by singing a solo. ummm, yeah.  All I'm gonna say about that, beside the fact that they were great, is.....
a. I wish I could sing
b. I wish I dared stand in front of people and not want to pee my pants and then run and hide and
c. I wish I could sing.

You know now that I think about it I can't remember what the topic of her talk was but she just said several things that really hit me.  She spoke about leading a goal oriented, focused life and using our own spiritual gifts and those of others close to us to keep us on track. And then she talked about how last year she somehow 'lost focus'. So much in fact that she really couldn't tell you much about the months of February to May except maybe the TV shows she watched.  She didn't really go into details of why or how she pulled herself out of it.  But it really hit home for me.

Many people close to me know that I have struggled with Depression for several years now. I'm pretty open about it, because I think it helps not only me but others to talk about it.

The past year has been especially hard for me and I haven't really even been able to figure out exactly why.  I'm sure it's the combination of many things...moving (which has been a hugely uncomfortable experience for me) financial stress which has caused Barry to work loads of overtime and therefore not home with the family, (unexpectedly) pregnant, gaining weight...just to name a few.  I didn't really realize it for a long time but all of these things built up over the year really began to get to me.  And at some point I sort of gave up.  I gave up exercising which is huge because it helps me so much emotionally.  I gave up trying to get to know knew people which is hard for me anyway.  I gave up emotionally, physically and spiritually. I just gave up.

In fact I've had 2 theme songs that have really hit home for me this year.  








So hearing from someone else that seemed to have it all together that they have been down that same road recently and found their way out, really brightened my outlook.  It was an instant ray of light for me. It's funny because it seems so simple.  But I think it goes back to why I'm perfectly fine talking about my own depression.  It really does help other people to hear it's not just them.

I look back at last fall and winter, actually it started last summer if I really am honest about it, and I don't see that I accomplished much at all and I know I just felt like crap.  Toward the end of summer I quit taking my kids to the pool, I quit exercising, I quit being social at all.  By fall I was eating nothing but sweets, which is a huge sign of not doing well for me. I quit doing any quilting or crafting or building or painting. I quit reading. I quit blogging. I no longer enjoyed church, I quit praying, reading my scriptures and really just didn't even want to be at church when I was there.  I know all the things I quit but I couldn't tell you how I spent my time.  Napping and TV pretty much sums it up.  Which explains Sara's begging to get out of the house at all times this spring.

I'm not entirely sure what my point is.  I suppose it was just really nice to have that eye opening experience today.  To have that switch flip in my head, to know that I need to make some changes and that I CAN. To have the desire to go run again is so...exciting! I'm reading again, cleaning my house again :) (I'm not sure I'm excited about that one, but it sure needs to be cleaned.)  I'm just starting to feel better and it's just so nice!

One very interesting thing for me is that while I was going down hill all winter, Barry was trying his hardest to encourage me and I was just completely ignoring him.  He was growing leaps and bounds spiritually and I was just standing back and watching him go.  Thinking about that has made me very thankful that he has been there to step up for our kids when I was clearly not.  It's an incredible blessing to be married to such a good man.  There has never been a moment since I met him that he hasn't been pushing us forward spiritually and keeping us on that straight path.

It's just nice to see myself having focus in my life again.  Focus on anything is good at this point and I seem to be wanted to go gang busters and focus on everything at once.  That can be a bit frustrating too and I'm having to force myself to be content with one thing at a time, especially considering I have an 8 week old to keep me constantly juggling.

Well, I'm not sure if any of that made sense or was cohesive at all. In fact I know it didn't...welcome to the inside of my head lately! ;)  But it sure is nice to have a better outlook on life lately!

The Big Picture

Do any of you start dreading Sunday by Saturday afternoon? I do. Not such a great attitude for what should be a spiritual filled day of faith and learning and renewal, I know. But I think if you have kids you probably know what I'm talking about.

Also, this is one the big reasons I don't want any more girls! Two little heads of hair is enough for me, the Lord knows I can't just let them go to church looking all shaggy, it's just against my laws of public appearance and I certainly can't take doing any more hair.

Any way, (Wow, I almost just typed 'any-who'! I hate, hate, hate when people say that!) Sunday's for me start out with the fact that I often stayed up too late on Saturday night. And generally everyone needs a shower because I forgot to do that last night too. Then it's a fight with Jena over what she will where to church that day. Generally it's all about the shoes. She has like 10 pairs and she puts on every pair except the ones that match. I swears she knows and just does it to see me unravel.

Next is the fact that Ryan can dress himself perfectly on his own every other day of the week but Sunday. He needs help buttoning his pants, his shirt, his clip on tie, he can't put on his socks or his shoes. Essentially he becomes a 1 year old on Sunday mornings.

Sara of course is the same old, same old but lately her little hand has become attached to my leg and by darned if I can get anything done in a timely manner with a 3rd appendage on my lower half. Add in the fact that she feels the need to scream at everyone lately and I feel like my head is going to spin off my body.

The screaming thing has me thinking too. When Ry and Jena were little I was a bit of a yeller. Looking back now I'm sure I had some Post-Pardom Depression issues, but working full time with 2 kids under 20 months I was just coping. Anyway, I always thought Ry and Jena became yellers because they of course learned it from me. Now with a bit of counseling under my belt I was able to recognize that after Sara was born I was quickly loosing control by the day and I was not about to become the screaming lunatic I was a few years back. Thankfully the Anti-depressant my OB/GYN put me on has been so great with pretty much no bad side effects. The point being, I'm not a yeller anymore. Don't get me wrong I have my moments and my days, but sometimes I'm so darn calm I surprise myself. That said, where did Sara get this yelling/screaming thing from? So maybe they all just came with it? All 3 kids, that's their personality? All of them have such a temper! This is so off the subject of which I intended, sorry.

So, Sunday's right. You might be asking, Where is the significant other during all of this morning rush for 9am church? Well, generally he's in bed or in the shower. See he doesn't really function before he showers and he showers for seriously like 20 minutes. It's sort of ridiculous. But after 8 years, I know that there is no changing it. So in the unlikely event that he is up and showered before me on Sunday morning, I'm pretty much on my own.

Add to Sunday the fact that Sara takes her screaming to church with her and I'm to the point where I wonder why I even go. We spend most of Sacrament meeting in the foyer so she isn't hyping up the other 2 kiddos. And the next 2 hours of Sunday School I spend trying to keep her out of other ladies purses and out from under everyones chairs or I'm chasing her to the front of the room while she giggles hysterically. And so we spend most of the next 2 hours in the hall. Barry teaches the 5-6 year olds so he's no help there. But I have to say, I'm glad I'm not teaching the 5-6 year olds!

So here is my sad but true confession. Sara and I come home after the 1st hour. I put Sara down for her nap and I play Mario Galaxy on the Wii. Yup, the Nintendo is providing my weekly spiritual enlightenment. I know I should be reading my scriptures or something, anything else, but my frustration from not being able to stay at church brings out a bit of a stubborn streak in me and so I play the Wii. And drink lots of Pepsi. Then I go take a nap with Sara. By the time I wake up I'm in a better mood but it's got to change people.

Unfortunately, I'm a person who easily looses sight of the big picture. I find myself just going from day to day just trying to get through. I'm focused on the kids, Barry's school, the fact that I've got to go back to work soon, the laundry, dinner, whatever. But not enough about the Gospel. I've let family prayers slack, scripture study is not happening as often as it should, Family Home Evening is not even a thought in the week.

So here is to re-evaluating, re-focusing, and re-commitmenting to keep myself and my family on track and focused on the big picture and what really matters in life!

Wish me luck!

My Babies

Laying in bed this morning at 6:30 with my eyes closed but wide awake, I was listening to Sara cry. Well, not really cry, more like growl and whimper, then yell mama, Dada! She wanted out. This is the bad thing about having her in our room. She knows we are there, if we are not there she will just lay down and go back to sleep. I sit up and she is instantly happy, grinning from ear to ear, she starts to wave at me, 'Hi' she says. It is very hard to be grumpy when this is the first thing you open your eyes to.

I suppose we can say she is officially walking now. Just this weekend she has gotten very brave and started to walk all over without stopping to grab the closest pair of legs and instead of crawling she will stand and walk to where she wants to go. She is very proud of herself and her mama gets a little choked up when I see how excited she is.

Where did my baby go? A man in church today told me that in his expert grandpa opinion she seems much older than 13 months. I sighed, It's true. Each week she is trying to say new things, 'was dat' is my personal favorite. This is one Ryan used to say about a trillion times a day. It reminds me of him and then I wonder when it was that he stopped saying that and turned into this handsome, smart little man. He is practically a first grader, I can't stand it! Sara is taking after Ry in her fiestiness. She makes her wants and wishes known in a way that you have no choice but to accommodate her. She also hugs you and pats you and loves you enough that it makes up for all her demands.

When Jena was little she was a charmer right from the start. She charmed me by sleeping 8-10 hours by week 2 of her life! She used to make the greatest faces, still does really. She is such a performer and has the best laugh on the planet. One of her first faces was the surprised face with the 'oh' mouth. This is also Sara's favorite face to make and it reminds me of Jena. It also reminds me of how much I have forgotten about when Jena was little. She is officially a middle child stuck in between 2 more demanding siblings. Maybe this is why she does so much to demand our attention now. I called Jena my little Angel Baby when she was little. She slept which was something Ry didn't do till he was 3. She was just content to sit on the floor, play with a toy and be happy. I don't think I have a picture of her when she is not smiling and happy. Well, that is until she was about 4 1/2, now I have lots of them. You know I think it is a myth that girls hormones kick in around 11 or 12, Jena is only 5 and hers kicked in 6 months ago. Maybe we have a medical miracle on our hands.

I've been feeling so overwhelmed lately that I forget to just enjoy my children. There are days I think I can not take another little person climbing on my, tucking at my pants, stepping on my toes, trying to do my hair, fingers up the nose (yes, Sara thinks this is very funny). And then as I push someone off me I hear 'mom, I just wanted to give you a hug' and then I feel very bad. All my children are so loving! They must have gotten this from Barry because I have a hug phobia. I'm not sure where I got it from, but I'm not very touchy, freely. I am grateful that my my children are and I do my best to hug and kiss them a million times a day because I know that soon, Ryan will be 7 and maybe he won't let me walk him to school and kiss him goodbye. Maybe he won't hold my hand when we go places or lay his head on my lap when we are at church. Jena is now 5 and maybe she will stop doing my hair and kissing me 10 times while doing so. She may not want me to kiss and hug her as long when she goes to kindergarten this fall, because she lets me squeeze her as long as I want at preschool. Soon Sara will have no fear, walking all over and then running away from me in the stores instead of clinging to my arms and neck, one of the few people in the world she trusts. Lately she likes daddy more than mommy and as adorable as this is, my heart is a little jealous. Then she will be 18 months and off to nursery she will go. Don't we wait for this forever! I don't want her to go, it's the only time I have with just her and me.

I'm starting to understand why you are always a mother. The role will never leave you even when you are 80 and your children are 60. My heart beats for them. I will always feel their little hands in mine. I will always see their little baby faces looking into my eyes and I am their whole world. I will always cry when they are hurting and sick and wish it was me not them.

I think that by coming to this understanding it allows me to better understand Christ and his atonement for us. How could one suffer so much for another? So much that we can not comprehend it. How as mothers do we go through not only the pains of birth but the pains of watching our children grow and learn in this cruel world? We do all we can for them, only wishing we could do it all. Christ is no different in his love for all of us, only he was able to take it all away for us if we allow him to. This kind of love, this realization helps me sleep when I lay at night, fearing for my children to grow up and all they will have to face. Christ is there for them too. I must teach them, that is my responsibility, but he is and always will be there for them. Just as I will try to be.

Things I Love About Sunday

1. 1. Attending Church.
   2. The privilege and Opportunity to take the Sacrament.
      
   3. Afternoon Naps.
   4. My Children all Dressed up in their Best.
   5. Quite.
   6. Sunday Dinner and Eating Too Much.
   7. Seeing Teri, Grandpa Nielsen and Matt. (Matt lives here but you hardly see him)
   8. How Excited the kids get to see Teri and fight over who gets to sit by her.
      
   9. Evenings just enjoying the family together.
   10. Board Games.
   11. Masterpiece-Jane Austin.
   12. Teri's Air popped Pop Corn.
   13. Putting the kids to bed and having actual adult conversation. Ahhh.
       
   14. Going to Bed at a Decent Time.
       

Charlie Cooper

If you read Mel's blog you may already know about little Charlie Cooper. He is the most adorable little boy who contracted Meningitis in January and is now in Primary Children's Medical Center.

He has won a huge piece of my heart! I tune in several times a day to see how he is doing and I don't even know him or his family. This adorable little man has me in tears at one moment and my heart jumping for joy the next. I just had to share because he is in my thoughts and prayers daily. I can't imagine the heartache watching my own child going through these struggles.

Tune in, you will fall in love too!

http://www.charliecooperjackjack.blogspot.com/

It seems like I might have posted this before, If I did it just goes to show how much his is in my thoughts.

I Stand Corrected

So apparently Blogger spell check does not check the title. Oops. My previous post was titled Stikes and Ranting, it is now corrected to Strikes and Ranting. I think I have invited the spell check police to my blog. And now I'm all paranoid about it. I liked it better back when I didn't care. :)

Thanks for all the compliments on the quilt! It turned out so cute and I really enjoy making them, I just don't really need them. I think I might try to sell them on etsy, but we'll see. My mom did the machine quilting on it and it looked great, she needed an excuse to buy the walking foot for her machine anyway. Wow, if any of you own a Bernina sewing machine those parts are over the top expensive! But now I can start Jena's quilt that she has been begging me for since I made Ryan's a few years back. Because I really wanted to machine quilt Jena's. My mom and I hand stitched Ry's. That seems to be the pattern, I make the quilt top and then my mom helps me quilt it because I have no patience.

Here is what Ry's quilt looks like. You can click on it to make it bigger. And here is a link to the album with more detailed pictures. Ry's Quilt Album

It was so fun to make because it has a lot of different textures and of course the baseball theme with stars and star quilting, since I love stars. I had only made one applique quilt before this for my cousin-in-law Andrea so I finally had the technique down for this one. Hopefully Andrea's didn't fall apart, I've always had a fear it would!

Here is sort of what Jena's quilt will look like. I saw this book years ago and fell in love with this pattern. I'm not feeling creative enough to make hers up so I'm using this but I'm going to have to alter the pattern because this is baby quilt size and I want twin size. Plus Jena wants her name on it like Ry's. Once again, you gotta love the stars, plus it's totally girly just for Jena.


Oh and by the way, the talk in sacrament meeting is OVER! Halleluia! I was being all brave thinking I wasn't really nervous and shocked by that too and then I stood up and all the shaking started. Wishful thinking I guess! But can you believe my talk lasted almost 20 minutes! And I didn't pass out or cry or mess up to bad. Did I mention I'm so relieved it's OVER!

Wowzer!

Ok, so I really didn't expect that kind of response to the baby food! 7 people emailed me and wanted it. So to be fair, I'll give it to the first to email.
And the winner is Melanie!

By the way, I think Barry is try to get me to leave him...
He has apparently told our Bishop that I will speak in church in 3 weeks.
While I won't be leaving him, I may make his life miserable! :)

Big Wheel Derby

We consolidated storage units today, ours, mom and dads and Matt's. What a pain! The kids had a great time with the Big Wheel. Do they still call them Big Wheels? Jena found the snowmobile helmet first and then the bike. I think the helmet weighs more than they do. Sara also thought this was great fun but she wouldn't stay sitting, she wanted to stand on the bike. Good Times!

I attended Stake Women's Conference today. The main speaker was our Bishop, Bishop Steve Bednar. He has such a gift for speaking. It was just incredible to sit and learn from him for 1 1/2 hours. I could have sat there all day! When I was getting ready to go this morning I just dressed in my normal jeans and white t-shirt. My mom came up all dressed up in a dress and asked, 'Aren't you going?' I groaned like a teenager and shuffled down the hall to put a dress on. I don't think I'm ever going to grow up. So grey cotton skirt and white t-shirt. :)

By the way, I'm still reading Sense and Sensibility. I have to read it so slow to understand the language. It is driving me crazy. It is such a great story, I just can't wrap my head around they way they spoke. I'm so blessed to have been born in 1978 America instead of 1878 England. I am so grateful for running water, flushing toilets, the fridge and freezer, cars, central air and heat, TV and all the other things I could technically live without even though I don't think I could.

Mommy Emotion

It is amazing the perspective you get when you are away from your children. Sometimes it takes a weekend trip, other times just a few hours. I stayed home from Church yesterday because I wasn't feeling well and I kept thinking to myself how fast that 3 hours was going, it was so nice to be home in the peace and quite, I didn't want it to end. Right on schedule I heard the car pull up and the back door open and in comes the family.

I was surprisingly struck with such an overwhelming amount of emotion. As my children came through the door one by one I could not believe how big they were. As if it were possible for them to age a year in the 3 hours they were away at church. Ry has lost all hope of looking like a little boy anymore. He had bonked his head on a door at church and was still a little sad about it. I pulled him in for a hug and just couldn't let go until he started to wiggle, "Mooooom! Let me go!" And Jena came dancing and singing in the door like usual but I couldn't believe how thin she seemed and beautiful. She has changed the most to me in the last year, grown up so much I can't believe the pictures of her only 1 year ago and how small she was. Jena however will let me hug her as long as I want. And sweet Sara, she is changing by the day, I just can't keep up! It seems every day she is getting braver, trying new things. She watches you and you see that she has a whole new understanding on the world. She is starting to really try and play with the older kids and her laugh is so wonderful.

I think we I just go from day to day going through all the motions and forget to really see my family. I need to slow down and enjoy all the little things, all the pictures they draw just for me, all the questions they ask 10 times, all the things that are so exciting to them. My family is so Wonderful, I am truly blessed, and I don't know what I would do without them!

What Mother could be prouder!

(Click on picture to enlarge.)

New Years Resolutions

Seek learning, even by study and also by faith. D&C 88:118

So I'm not much for New Years Goals. Giving it a try this year anyway. We've decided to read the Book of Mormon as a family. We have started and stopped this several times and I'm hoping the use of some charts will help us along.

I plan to use this one for the kids.
I wanted one they could just put a sticker on, I though it would be simplier than having to color it. After much searching I finally found one online that will work. I'm glad too, because once I open up Adobe Illustrator to make something like this I'm there for a really long time obsessing over it.

This is also a good one for kids here.

I think I'll use this one for me.

I love the quote at the bottom of this chart.

"If you don't have time to pray and read your scriptures, you are busier than God ever intended you to be."

Where the Angels Sit

Yesterday Barry stayed home from church because he was sick, he also kept Sara home with him since her and I usually end up home about and hour after it starts anyway. Sara has decided to rebel early in life and refuses to sit in any church related event for more than 1/2 hour. This ended up being really great because I actually enjoyed church and felt I learned something for the first time in about 10 months! (Sara is only 8 1/2 months but you can't enjoy church 9 months pregnant either.)

Sitting in sacrament meeting, I'm doing my best to keep Jena from breaking into spontaneous Song and Dance as she does on a regular basis. She can hardly contain herself. As the man sitting behind us said at the end of the meeting, "Boy, she's Dramatic isn't she." At least she is entertaining people! And trying to get Ryan to put his feet down, he is laying on the bench holding one straight in the air and kicking the bench in front of us with the other. "It just wants to do that" he tells me. With Ryan there is always a "I just, it just, we just..." for every conversation.

I'm just happy we aren't having the typical whining for drinks and treats. Ry's usual: "Mom, I want a sippy cup", Me: "Ryan, you don't even get sippy cups at home, I haven't let you or Jena use them for almost 2 years", Ryan: "But Moooom, that kid has a sippy cup, why can't I bring one?" Me: "Ryan that little boy is 2!"

In the midst of this, Jena says to me pointing to the front of the chapel, behind the choir seats where there are 2 very tall & skinny windows on each side of the room but they are hidden behind the corner of a small wall and all you can see is the sun shinning in. "Mom, is that where the angels sit?" Aren't kids great! I love when my kids say these kinds of things! "I think it's just the windows Jen." "No, I'm pretty sure those are the shinny Angels Mom" I didn't argue, what do I know, maybe it is the angels!

Church Ads

I ran into these new ads the church is starting to run. I think they are great, they really sparked emotion in me. I also learned that when people go to www.mormon.org they can go to a live chat page and ask their questions about the church and receive immediate answers. How great is that! I think that gives members such a great place to send people, people like me who feel inadequate answering questions on my own. Just thought I'd share!





They also have new print ads out too, check them out here.

Inspiring

So there are a lot of you out there who have fabulous blogs. I read them and I am inspired to try new things. Other peoples lives always seem so much more interesting! It seems since Sara was born I have stopped doing much of anything and just focused on surviving. My friend Allison has 2 little boys under 1 year and she has so much going on, she Is Super Mom! So I am inspired to read more, learn more and stop complaining about my lack of sleep. Hopefully I will share some of the things I have planned.

I attended Women's Conference last night and it was great. A little embarrassed, but that was actually the first time I've ever attended, watch or read it. Actually a lot embarrassed, hence the state of my spirituality. I was really surprised when Pres. Monson encouraged women to 'Study Hard, to educate ourselves and continue our learning'. Why was I surprised? Not sure, I know we are encouraged to pursue and education. I guess somewhere along the way I just figured, 'I'm married, with kids and I don't have the time." Well, now that Ry is starting Kindergarten, I have discovered I have no clue what all the 'Rules' are to teach him to read. It's a bit frightening actually.

Something else Pres Monson mentioned was Prayer. I have this cycle in my life, pray regularly...somehow get out of the habit...feel bad about it for a long time, but still don't pray...begin to pray again and see so much more in my life...wonder why I ever stopped in the first place. I'm at the begin again stage right now, feels a lot better.