My incredible neighbor...

Beth is the best neighbor anyone could ever ask for. She is always offering to help me, watch the girls, etc.. My girls ADORE her (especially Cloey). Beth and Cloey have a very special bond. The other day Beth came over and gave me a card with a portrait she had drawn of Cloey. I couldn't believe it!!! Another talent that I was not aware of. I'm telling you...she is AMAZING!! Anyways, on the inside of the card she had typed up the following poem (you may want to get a tissue to wipe tears before you read this)...

When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you hang up my first painting on the refrigerator, and I wanted to paint another one.
When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you feed a stray cat, and I thought it was good to be kind to animals.
When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you make my favorite cake for me, and I knew that little things are special things.
When you thought I wasn't looking, I heard you say a prayer, and I believed there is a God I could always talk to.
When you thought I wasn't looking, I felt you kiss me goodnight, and I felt loved.
When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw that you cared, and I wanted to be everything that I could be.
When you thought I wasn't looking, I LOOKED...and wanted to say thanks for all the things I saw when you thought I wasn't looking.

Growing Up

Andrea wrote in her blog today about how quickly Abby is growing up. Well, my girls still love cartoons, but they are growing up way too quickly as well. Cloey is into EVERYTHING these days. Somedays she is potty trained and then other days she doesn't want to have anything to do with it. Anytime she burps or farts (thanks to Katelund it is known as "barping" in our family), she says, "Excuse you me." It is ADORABLE!!! Her favorite thing to do is push her stroller around and take care of her baby dolls and "Rarr" (the name she gave her tiger).

Katelund and I have been working really hard on writing her letters. She can now write her name really well, just not always in the right order. She is a great student!!! :) I am loving it. I have really tried to be careful not to push school stuff on her, but she is showing interest and desire so I am all about it!

Random Thoughts

I was reading a book this morning and I came upon the following quote;

"So many people in the world are looking for the way to happiness, when all the time HAPPINESS is the way."

Isn't that a great quote? It is so incredibly true! The times in my life when I have been the happiest is when I have made an effort and intentionally chosen to be happy. In the scriptures, Mormon says that there never was a happier people than those that were living right after the Savior ascended back up to heaven. Why is that? Because they chose to follow Him in righteousness, they lived their lives after the pattern of happiness which in turn made them happy.

Further on in the book it says,

"In Webster's New World Thesaurus, the first antonym given for "worry" is "happy." Perhaps that is because when we liberate ourselves from worry, we have the power to be happy."

I think that sometimes, I waste too much time and energy worrying. I am going to make a goal with myself to focus more energy on being happy and less time on worrying. Ultimately, worry doesn't do a whole lot of good anyway, unless there is is something you can do that will take the worry away, otherwise, I think prayer and faith are the best remedies.

Fireflies

Yesterday evening I was feeling so tense and irritable (partially because it's that time of month) so I decided to go for a run. I was thinking about my long week of 2 days.....it started Monday after Katelund colored all over the wall, fought with Cloey all day long, and then while we were having ice cream cones at McDonalds for family night, Katelund pooped all in her pants (it was EVERYWHERE!!). Yesterday, I woke up with a horrible stomach ache. I started babysitting at about 10 am for the Hobson kids. By about 10:30 am, the 5 kids had destroyed the house. The kids fought almost the entire day (even at the swimming pool) and then for lunch I had to make every possible version of pb and jelly sandwhiches(the Hobson kids are picky eaters) , only to hear the older boy complaining the whole time about not liking sandwiches or the chips I gave them. The oven almost burst into flames while cooking dinner (which turned out to be a flop), then we went and looked at 3 different possibilites for houses; they were all horrible, and then when we got home, Cory said to me, "I wish the house was clean".

So...I went running. On my way home I was feeling so much better. I stopped to pray for some peace and serenity, and then as I was getting up, something caught my eye. I looked up at the huge trees on the side of the road. There were fireflies everywhere. The trees looked as if they had flashing Christmas lights all throughout them. It was the most beautiful thing ever!! It looked magical. For some reason, little things like that seem to be exactly what I need to put things into perspective and realize that the hard times are what make the good times so wonderful . In order for us to have joy in this life, we must experience the bitter in order to recognize and appreciate the sweet, and oh how sweet were those fireflies! :)

SURVIVORS!!!

I had SOOO much fun at girls camp!! Our ward definitely had the CUTEST girls! It was so cute because all of our girls just wanted to hang out together as a ward. In fact, we were given two 8 man tents, but instead we all squeezed ourselves into 1 tent so that we could be together. I grew to love each girl so much!!! I didn't want to send them home to their parents at the end because I wanted to take them all home with me. This was my first REAL girls camp experience because we slept in tents, cooked our own meals, built our own fires, etc. The theme of the camp was "Survivor", which was perfect because in the end we all really were survivors of the mountains. Now I just hope that the girls grew spiritually and will be one step closer to becoming survivors of this world and all of the temptations that surround them.

"I Love You"

I don't know what it is about those three words, but for whatever reason they bring such comfort, joy, peace, and healing.
I have been going through a really rough time in my life. I have had to face a couple of difficult challenges that have been really stretching me thin. I am on the uphill side of things, but I still have bad days. This morning, as I was talking to Andrea on the phone, she said those three words to me. It meant the world to me. I don't know why, because we usually always say I love you at the end of our phone conversations, but there was just something about the way that she said it. It was so sincere and exactly what I needed to hear.

Father's Day

I made a little book for Cory to take to work and put on his desk. It is a little 6x6 scrapbook filled with pictures of him and the girls, poems, letters from the girls, etc. It turned out really cute! Cory's favorite page had the following poem with the pictures above.

Walk a little slower, Daddy,
Said a little child so small.
I'm following in your footsteps
And I don't want to fall.
Sometimes your steps are very fast,
Sometimes they are hard to see;
So, walk a little slower, Daddy,
For they are leading me.
Someday when I'm all grown up,
You're what I want to be;
Then I will have a little child
Who'll want to follow me.
And I would want to lead just right,
And know that I was true;
So walk a little slower, Daddy,
For I must follow you.

Spiritual Maturity Quiz

I just finished an incredible book called 12 Keys to Developing Spiritual Maturity. It was INCREDIBLE!!! I would recommend it to anyone and everyone. Near the end of the book, it gives a Spiritual Maturity Quiz. It really helped me to see where I am at and where I need to improve. It was a very self-reflective activity and so I thought I would share it with all of you. So here it goes...

1. Have you ever read the entire Book of Mormon?
2. Have you received a personal witness by the Spirit of the truthfulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ?
3. Do you have daily personal prayer?
4. Do you study the scriptures daily?
5. Do you live worthy of having a temple recommend?
6. Do you attend the temple regularly?
7. Do you obey the commandments to the best of your ability?
8. Have you ever fasted for a full twenty-four hours without food or liquid?
9. Do you magnify your Church callings, including that of home teacher or visiting teacher?
10. Do you have regular family home evenings?
11. Are you more interested in receiving the Lord's approval than you are in earning the praise, wealth, and glory of the world?
12. Do you avoid contention, harsh feelings, and anger?
13. Do you resist being critical of others, especially family members and those in authority?
14. Do you keep your mind and actions clean and pure?
15. Is your language appropriate for a person who has made a covenant with God?
16. Do you faithfully keep the Word of Wisdom?
17. Have you truly repented of your sins?
18. Do you serve others?
19. Do you love your family? Are you faithful to your spouse, both physically and emotionally?
20. Do you receive promptings from the Spirit? And do you follow those promptings?

"All She Wants to Do is Dance"

Wednesday and Thursday nights bring me so much joy this time of year because my all time favorite show is on TV....So You Think You Can Dance. If you know me, you know that it is my ultimate dream to be a dancer. In fact, one of these days (when my kids are in school), I am determined to take adult dance classes. I am such a dancer at heart. I know that I don't have a whole lot of rhythm, good moves, flexibility, or technique, BUT I do have passion. Doesn't that count for something? I know that most people laugh at me when I say that I want to be a ballerina someday, but a girl can dream, right?

After watching Cory play basketball last night, I quickly drove home, put the girls to bed and sat down to watch the show. I was so giddy I could hardly stand it!! It is so funny because as I sit and watch everyone dance, I can't help but move around myself. In fact, sometimes I have to control myself from just getting up, turning on music, and dancing my own dance. Cory thinks that it is hilarious, but I just can't help it....I LOVE IT!!! I really hope that rhythm is something I can learn, but if not I guess I will just have to wait to be a dancer when I have a perfected resurrected body with rhythm (it could happen, right?). :)

As a little girl, my Dad would play the song "All She Wants to Do is Dance" by Don Henley. He would tell me that it was "my song". Little did he know that it would still be the song of my heart as a 26-year-old girl.

Bedtime

The other night Cory and I told the girls to go get ready for bed. They both ran into their room to get on their pajamas. Meanwhile, Cory and I were in the other room playing some Tiger Woods golf on the X-box (WE LOVE IT!). About 10 minutes later, Katelund and Cloey both came running out of the room giggling. As they came into our view, we began to laugh hysterically because....well, I guess the picture says it all....

WE DID IT!!!

Yesterday evening, Cory and I raced our first 5k together. It was so much more fun to race with him than it was when I did my first race by myself. We had such a great time!!!! It was actually down pouring about 1/2 an hour before the race. It was drizzling during the first part of our run and then it stopped, but it did leave a cold front and overcast skies (perfect for running). Since 3/4 of the race was uphill, Cory and I knew that we would have to pace ourselves, especially at the beginning. It is very easy to get on an adrenalin rush at the beginning and go at full speed too early (there is just something incredible about having the whistle blow and all the people running in this big group with friends and family on the side cheering everyone on).

During the first HUGE "hill" (I think it should be called Death Mountain), I almost stopped to walk for a couple of seconds near the top, but Cory turned around, motioned me on, and said, "Come on, keep running with me, you can do it". So I kept going. As we were getting close to the half way, Cory wanted to take a walk break, but I encouraged him along just as he had done previously for me. It continued on like this for almost all of the race. It is funny how at times that I was weak, he was strong, and vice versa.

It just seems so symbolic to me of marriage. There have been times in our marriage when Cory had to take the lead and encourage me onward and there have been other times where I had to be the leader. Sometimes we have even had to slow down and wait for the other to catch up a little, but it is all part of "running" the race as a pair. We did endure to the end, and together we finished the race under 28 minutes (we met our goal). Hopefully, someday when we finish the "race" of life together, we will have endured to the end and triumphantly reached our goals of an eternal nature.

Since we were running as members of the Chamber of Commerce, we had to run in teams. Our team, the CBL team, consisted of Jeff (the general manager), Cory, Robyn (the marketing director), and me (they needed another runner). Jeff finished first and then Cory and I came in right after him. Robyn finished the race at 38 minutes. We were all waiting for her to round the last bend and when she did we were all cheering her on and then Cory said, "Come on everyone, we need to run with Robyn and finish this race as a team." So we all ran the last 1/4 of a mile with Robyn and crossed the finish line together. It was such a great memory, one that I will never forget.