quote of the week...

"A consecrated life is filled with work. Sometimes repetitive, sometimes menial, sometimes unappreciated...but always work that improves, orders, sustains, lifts, ministers, aspires."

--D. Todd Christofferson

quote of the week...

"I think you may need to hear something. You may be at odds with God right now. You're not happy with the way your life is turning out. You may be praying and pleading with God...or not. But it is possible that you don't really want God? Is it possible that you just want what you think God can give you?

One of the things I believe God is teaching me in my life these days is that at times we want our dreams more than we want God. We want what God does for us, instead of just God."


--Pete Wilson, Plan B

quote of the week...

"It's a small world, but I wouldn't want to paint it."


--Steven Wright

I do stuff, part 2

I never met a good idea that I didn't want to steal, so when I saw a young women's leader in another ward (congregation) make a treat for her girls with this attached poem, I totally knew I wanted to make them for ours.

I made homemade oreo cookies. over 80. Two things kept me from going completely insane while I made them. 1) I love those girls! and 2) 'Date Night' was on pay per view and kept me entertained while I baked and cooled and frosted.


So, I guess the girls have Steve Carell to thank for these.

I do stuff...

Sometimes I just lay in bed at night and think, "I am exhausted...what the heck did I do all day?"


It's after about a month of saying that when I finally decide to take on an overdue project, or just fix an area of my house that drives me crazy. When you stay at home and work, it feels good to have something concrete to point to that's been accomplished. This time around it was the office shelves.

Before

After

quote of the week...

“When you’re safe at home you wish you were having an adventure; when you’re having an adventure you wish you were safe at home.”

--Thornton Wilder*



*I got this from Andrea Merriman's blog. She has an amazing story, and if you ever find yourself with some time, you should read about her experiences.

quote of the week...

"To forgive is to set a prisoner free, and then discover that the prisoner was you."

--Lewis B. Smedes

I got something pretty...

How fun is this? I have been a fan of these stamped disc necklaces for awhile now, but never could decide what kind I wanted. Kids names, The Hubby and I's names, a scripture or quote...I never could set my heart on one.

Then I saw the above over at The Rusted Chain and fell in love.

quote of the week...

"It is one of the most beautiful compensations of this life that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself."

---Ralph Waldo Emerson

tagging...

I have had several people ask me to tag my quote posts so they are easier to find. I finally got around it...so when you click on the "quotes" tag, it should bring up every quote of the week and a few posts that have quotes in them.

Thanks for liking them!

quote of the week...

"When you judge people, you have no time to love them."

--Mother Theresa

love, logic, and a little 70s rock...

Teenager: So...I want to go out with my friends tonight.
Me: Uh huh. That's nice.
Teenager: Sooo...can I?
Me: Here's the thing: if you are going to rock and roll all night, you gotta party every day. And, to me, 'partying every day' does not mean 'sleep on the couch for 6 hours'. Do you see where I am going with this?
Teenager: I...think so. You want me to do more around the house during the day if I am going to stay out late with my friends?
Me: See those brains? You get those from me.
Teenager: Okay. And Mom? That KISS reference? Was. Totally. Awesome.

solid evidence that facebook is not a tool of the Devil...

I had a really, really bad day on Tuesday. I'm not going to elaborate, because it'll just bring back painful memories and I am trying very hard to get out of the bitter barn and play in the hay.

Anyway, i updated my status on facebook to reflect said day of suckage, and guess what happened?

This.

A very sweet, very funny, and entirely too busy to be worried about me woman came to my house and brought me Moose Tracks. EXTREME Moose Tracks, thank you very much.

And I do. Thank her. Very, very much.

quote of the week...

"The easiest way to destroy people is to give them exactly what they want. You might not realize it at the time, but the struggle to achieve something is, in many ways, much more satisfying than actually getting it."

--Patrick Swayze

it's "someday"...

Throughout all of The Hubby and I's parenting years, we have always looked ahead and talked about what life would be like on certain "somedays". You know what I mean. "Someday, this 6 year old will be a teenager, can you even believe it?" or "Someday, we won't have to change diapers anymore!" or 'Someday, the older kids will drive and can take the younger kids and go for little outings together."

One particular someday we have always talked about was the someday that our last child would go into kindergarten. For the last 20 years, I have always had at least 1 child home with me during the day. There were days in these last 20 years that the idea that they would ever NOT be with me seemed a forever away. In the thick of raising all these little people, I couldn't even picture a time when I might have an empty house on a regular basis.

Well, you know what I am going to say. It's here. This past week, The Hubby and I got to experience the bitter sweetness of that little goodbye...goodbye to the toddler years, that we have loved so very much. Goodbye to knowing that even though the bigger kids were gone and we were missing them, we still had a little one to cuddle at home. Goodbye to the little boy, and hello to the big kindergartner!

Hello, Someday. You got here so much faster than I ever thought you would.

small and simple reminders...

I think it's really important to create an atmosphere in our homes that reflects and reminds us of what we believe and what is important to us. I have tried to have items around our home that serve as visual reminders of what matters to me, and to my family.

So, now and then on my blog I am going to share a small and simple thing I have done in my home as a reminder, and maybe it will encourage you to find a way do the same.

This is in a corner of the window seat in our front room, a room I probably pass through 30 times a day. The sign is an old metal gas station pricing sign, and the quote is one of my recent favorites. The 2 of them together remind me of this: I never would have thought in a million years that having 7 children and all that entails would be the path my life would take...but I love it so much. So the number and the quote remind me that even though life will surely continue to have its twists and turns and complications, and it may not happen the way I pictured it would, so far those twists and turns have been pretty amazing and most of all--better than anything I could have come up with on my own.

quote of the week...

"If I keep more of what I have than what I need, then I have taken something that isn't mine."

--Hugh Nibley

why do I have a smile on my face?

Because I spent the week here...

hanging out with these wonderful people!!

I love each one of them SO much. Thanks for a FANTASTIC experience this year, girls!

quote of the week...

"That which we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: 'tis dearness only that gives everything its value."

--Thomas Paine

i've got the blues...

I've been re-thinking my house lately. Up until now, I have pretty much had a simple color palette--red, cream, and black...with a little soft yellow thrown in. My walls are a neutral, creamy tan. I love it, and still do. But then this little pretty came along...

I bought this a while back, and the blue color has really grown on me.

But it was lonely, being the only blue thing in my house.

So sad. Until...

...this little guy, who know keeps the pretty window company in my kitchen/family room area. I like how the two of them together make a lot more sense. And they are a lovely contrast to all the deep reds and blacks. It makes the whole feel more light and clean. Loving this as much as I did, I figured, why not try some more?

I found these in the dollar (!!) section at Target, added the number rub-ons because I am a tad obsessed with numbers right now, and they now hold toys under a bench in the front room.

Then, my talented daughter was kind enough to paint a little beauty for me that had the blue in it...which I gave a place of importance on our bookshelves.

Now that the blue is here, it's like it always belonged.

What color might be missing from your house?

quote of the week...

"It's difficult to think anything other than pleasant thoughts while eating a homegrown tomato."

--Lewis Grizzard

kimi & matt...

I had a crazy busy and fun weekend away. Thank you for including me.

I wish both of you a life full of wonderful.

quote of the week...

"Great minds talk about ideas; average minds talk about events; and small minds talk about people."

--unknown

quote of the week...

"It is simply futile to try to change another if we do so in a critical spirit. We influence others most profoundly when we do not seek to change them at all, but simply go about straight-forwardly doing the right and loving thing."


--C. Terry Warner, The Bonds That Make Us Free

quote of the week...

"Our rewards in life will always be in exact proportion to the amount of consideration we show towards others."


--Earl Nightingale

quote of the week...

"The world has enough women who are tough; we need women who are tender. There are enough women who are coarse; we need women who are kind. There are enough women who are rude; we need women who are refined. We have enough women of fame and fortune; we need more women of faith. We have enough greed; we need more goodness. We have enough vanity; we need more virtue. We have enough popularity; we need more purity."


--Mararget D. Nadauld

that's just good comedy...

Sometimes our dinner table rivals any open mic night at Comedy Works. We have this deal where we pull questions from the "family conversation jar" on Sunday nights during dinner. In the jar are little strips with questions on them that we all take turns answering. It's a lot of fun, and occasionally? Pee your pants funny.


Tonight's question:


"If you could go back to any time period, what time period would it be?"


6 year old: "Hmmmm...I am going to have to say...10:30."




I love my life.

quote of the week...

"What you do speaks so loud that I cannot hear what you say."


--attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson

I love this woman...

I have read Stephanie's blog for a long time now. She never ceases to bring a tear to my eye and a smile to my heart.

learning curves...

There have been a lot of changes in my life in the last few months.


And with change, comes learning. So I find myself in the midst of lots of learning curves...and feeling some growing pains as a result. Some changes are sweet, some are bitter, all are necessary and I welcome each one.


The biggest change has been watching our daughter become a wife, and welcoming a son-in-law. This one is solidly in the "sweet" change category. The Hubby's grandmother once told me she preferred the term "in-love" rather than "in-law" and I have to say, I agree with her. This young man is now our son in love. We love him because our daughter does, and we love him because he loves our daughter. A dear friend said to me, "When you see your child loved, the way you always hoped they would be loved, the person who loves them that way becomes irresistible to you." This rings true to me.


Another change has been my calling to head the young women's organization in our church congregation. This means that I am responsible for running a program for 35+ young women from the ages of 12-18. We have Sunday classes, weekly activities, and summer camp...among other things. Since I was called, I have had many moments that I have felt overwhelmed and under qualified. However, in His typical fashion, God let me know several months before I was called to this position that my heart needed to be turned towards the young women, so I have also felt such peace. And an intense love and concern for each of the girls that honestly makes me ache to serve them, and to improve my knowledge so that I can be the leader that they deserve and need me to be.


There have been other changes, some that I don't feel right about sharing the details about. I can say that I have found myself in a learning curve with people that I thought we had good, respectful relationships with and it turns out...we don't. It has caused me to once again look inward to determine how the woman I wish to be would behave. The more I live life, the more clear it becomes to me that the only power I have lies in thoughtfully controlling what I say and do. I cannot EVER hope to change a situation by changing someone else. And I cannot EVER hope to be a person of influence unless I show myself to be "a doer of the word, and not hearer only." Even when I feel wronged and misunderstood, all that matters is that I control what I can--how I respond.


And although all these learning curves stretch my mind, my energy, and my patience...I am grateful.

quote of the week...

“Humility does not mean thinking less of yourself than of other people, nor does it mean having a low opinion of your own gifts. It means freedom from thinking about yourself at all.”
—William Temple

quote of the week...

“Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, "I will try again tomorrow.”

quote of the week...

"Not being able to govern events, I govern myself."


--Michel de Montaigne

getting out of the bitter barn...

I had a rough week. Could you tell from my quote? Yeah. I'm transparent like that.


More root canals, more abscesses, more allergic reactions...same stuff, different year.


I am feeling better now! What an interesting thing it always is to me...how good it feels to feel better. How much I take waking up pain free and full of energy for granted. Whenever I am sick or in pain, I always think, "What if I always felt this way?"


I am SO glad I don't have to know. So:


3 cheers for antibiotics! (specifically, the ones that do NOT make me break out in hives)


3 cheers for Percocet, Darvocet, and all the lovely "cets"!


3 cheers for the ability to chew!


And 3 cheers for The Hubby, who held it all together while I fell apart.

quote of the week...

"The greatest evil is physical pain."

--Saint Augustine

quote of the week...

"A man wrapped up in himself makes a very small bundle."

--Benjamin Franklin

i bore his fruit 7 times...

...and he builds me stuff.

such a terrific arrangement.

quote of the week...

"Think about your particular assignment at this time in your life. It may be to get an education, it may be to rear children, it may be to be a grandparent, it may be to care for and relieve the suffering of someone you love, it may be to do a job in the most excellent way possible, it may be to support someone who has a difficult assignment of their own. Our assignments are varied and they change from time to time. Don't take them lightly. Give them your full heart and energy. Do them with enthusiasm. Do whatever you have to do this week with your whole heart and soul. To do less than this will leave you with an empty feeling."


--Marjorie Pay Hinckley

tori and chris.

I've known this sweet girl since she was a baby.

It was so fun to be asked to shoot her engagement photos for her.

Congratulations, Tori and Chris!

quote of the week...

"Be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid only of standing still."

--Chinese Proverb

quote of the week...

"You are educated when you have the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or self-confidence."

--Robert Frost

quote of the week...

“I like living. I have sometimes been wildly, despairingly, acutely miserable, racked with sorrow, but through it all I still know quite certainly that just to be alive is a grand thing.”
—Agatha Christie

best thing I ever heard on a talk show:

"What your problem is, is, that you got no self-respect for yourself."

quote of the week...

"There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want."

--Bill Watterson

credit where credit is due...

To those of you who asked if I took Bri and Jordan's engagement photos:

I wish.

Two of Bri's roommates at school this past semester were sisters. Their mom is Rebecca Frazier, a very talented photographer, who was kind enough to do their shoot for them while she was in town for her daughter's graduation.

We love her. A lot. As you might guess.

See more of her work HERE.

and so it begins...

These two wonderful young people will be married on April 10th, 2010.

It is a joy to see our daughter so happy and in love.

We are so grateful to be a part of watching them create their own family!

We love you, Jordan and Brianne!

quote of the week...

"People become attached to their burdens. Sometimes more than the burdens are attached to them."

--George Bernard Shaw

books read, 2009

Here's the breakdown:

I read 43 books.

20 were biographies/autobiographies. I used the strictest criteria on this, meaning that if it was non-fiction about a person's life, I counted it as a biography. Some books could have really gone into "humor" or plain "non-fiction" because while they were real stories about a real person's life, they couldn't really be considered a definitive account of the person's entire life.

4 were non-fiction/educational. Which means I supposedly learned something from them. We'll just have to see about that.

10 were non-fiction/brain candy. This is what I call the category of books that really just let me
have a simple, enjoyable little read. I don't expect much from them, and so they never let me down. Like a Twix...only you don't have to brush your teeth afterward.

9 were just plain non-fiction. These are ones that while non-fiction, still would challenge me a bit as a reader.

Most favorite: I pick Three Cups of Tea. I read it early in the year, and still found myself considering the life and work of Greg Mortenson as the year went on. His passion and drive to educate the women of Pakistan and Afganistan is amazing. His conclusion that "if you educate women you can change a culture" resonates with me. Women have a role that is so much more than simply an equality with men...they are the primary educators of their children, and I felt like Greg Mortenson really understands that.

Least favorite: I hate to say this...but I have to go with The Lovely Bones. I absolutely loved Alice Sebold's writing, but I really thought that the ending turned the book into something it hadn't started out to be. It felt like the book had been building up to something completely different...and I felt kind of cheated.

What were the best books you read last year? Any suggestions for what I should read this year?

quote of the week...

"Opportunity is missed by most because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work."
--Thomas Edison

happy new year...

I wish for everyone a year full of love and peace. My hope is to accept and embrace all of the year's coming challenges with grace and humor...and I hope that you are able to do the same!