Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Relief Society/ Priesthood Manuals

                                                                           
Every time I get out my iPad to study the lesson for the week for RS I never am disappointed or never cease to be amazed at how the same subject can be taught in RS, Sunday School, Primary, every year and I still learn something new.  One day in Primary one of the kids said, "well I have already heard this before".  I then said "but there is always something new to learn if you are looking for it" I have now been reading them long enough that I can't wait to see what "this " prophet has to say about it.  I love it!!  There is always a new quote or new perspective that I hadn't thought of before or heard before.  

The lesson this week is all about the family.  I loved it!  It opened up my mind to things I had never thought of as well confirmed some things I had always believed but couldn't remember if I had heard it before or made it up!  It answered some questions I have been pondering.  I felt like it was one more answer about my fast I had this month. If there was one thing I would love to convert you all to do, it would be to read your manual even if you get to go to RS.  There are things that won't be discussed because of time.  Plus if you have read it you can bring up parts that maybe you want some enlightenment about. I have done that before in RS and Sunday School.  I was curious as to how others interpreted the quote or scripture. Lest you think that I started this when I had no kids at home, I started doing this back when I was teaching young women's  and couldn't go to RS.  You also learn more and so RS and Sunday School become more meaningful.  And it is the words of a Prophet so it counts as Scripture Study!! Okay, I'm done pleading.  :-)

Today has been a good day, haven't crashed in front of the TV yet.  That feels good.  I am going to put up some pics on the wall!  Will instagram them and blog them.  Love you all!

Sunday, February 9, 2014

Couple of weeks behind

Well, I missed a week.
I have learned some interesting things about myself these last couple of weeks.  First I am very glad I put my goals out publicly.  The second is that when I don't feel comfortable or capable of doing something I need to do, I watch TV and eat.  For the last year I have watched more than probably all the other years of my life added together.  That is probably an exaggeration, but not much.  We didn't get a lot of channels or selection when I was little. When I was a teenager I was far to busy to watch TV.  When I was first married we didn't have a TV for the basically the first 8 years of our marriage.  Then I as too busy raising kids to watch TV during the day. So that left at night after everyone was in bed, so not a lot of TV.  So I'm not too far off of this last year watching more TV than all my life put together.  I have had a harder time getting my weight off this year also.  This last week I knew that my week was coming to an end and I still didn't have the pictures up.  The more I thought about the pictures the more TV I watched and the more unhealthy foods I ate. So Yesterday I finally bit the bullet got up early read my scriptures, went on a walk in the rain, ate breakfast and read scriptures with Steve, listened to him for a while, ate lunch while I watched a couple of shows.  Then turned off the TV and made myself get up and put up pictures.  The rest of the day was very productive.  I couldn't believe everything I did.  I am not done with the pics But I am on my way.  Yesterday I hung up 3 more pictures.  I will put pics up when I get my new entry dresser.  Right now it looks like the pictures are floating in the air to me.  But I think they will look really good when there is a piece of furniture with a vase of flowers in it underneath the pics.

So  Here goes this last months accounting:
Goals for 2014 (random order"
1.  Paint at least one Painting project - nothing here yet, sewing room is still a mess
2.  Make at least one dress for me - Same as above
3.  Get all pictures up by January 31st- not done but making progress, totally excited about my                  Sand dollars, I have to put them up in different frames the old ones dim't look right
4.  Get completely unpacked by Feb28th  This may not be realistic, but I am going to work towards it.  I actually have all the boxes open, and out, but not organized.  So maybe that should be the real goal and that will take some time, but I know the disorganization is holding me back in so many other ways!!!! So it needs to take priority after the pics are up.
5.  Reach 155 lbs and maintain it for 6 weeks I was doing really well in this area but then started thinking about hanging pics and you know what happened,  still trying.
6.  keep the Sabbath more  Holy (kind of vague, but I will know if I am moving forward) definitly progress
7.  Procrastinate less Progress but long ways to go, but still I feel realy good about the progress made!
9.  Go the the temple once a month did that 
10.  clean and organize my greenhouse worked on it, still got a ways to go. 
11.  Plant or have something growing every month but December (to little light for things to grow) got my plant table ready to go, just need to get some seeds going, this week for sure!!!!
12.  Start my own plants from seed same as above
13.  Plan ahead on my Sharing time lessons-one month ahead wow, just realized that means this month!  i better get going on that!!
14.  100 % visiting teaching Yay!!!  did that!
15.  More patience with certain people progress
16.  Fix yummy Breakfast at least once a week I think I did it twice
17.  Have grains or beans in the fridge at all times  Almost always, missed a few days
18.  eat out 2 meals or less a week I think we did this
19.  walk or elliptical 6 times a week can't believe it, I didn't do it 6 days a week, I thought that would be a no brainer.  Did it most of the days though.
20.  weights 3 times a week (if I don't find them within 3 weeks I will go buy new ones)  Oops
21.  blog once a week. two out of the 4 weeks, I'm getting better!  

So all in all I feel pretty good about the above.  I just am getting nervous about the plants.  I need to get out there.

I have been taking more pics with my camera.  As good as the IPhone is, it still isn't as good as my regular camera.  You cannot take a pic like this with your phone, I've tried.


I have decided what I want for Mother's day from everyone every year, a family pic.  I don't care if it is the neighbor that took it and I don't care if I have to download it and print it myself, I just want updated pids for my wall once a year.

I watched the most moving movie today.  It was called 33 postcards.  It was about a girl in China that was taken to an orphanage when she was very little.  A man from Australia sponsored her so she could go to school.  When she was 16 she got to go with her singing group and perform in Australia.  The man portrayed himself in postcards to her that he was living on the ocean with a family.  When in reality he was in jail.  Long story short it ended really sweet and I thought about how petty we can be.  I know that wasn't a true story, but it could have been and those two people had a very hard life, nothing like ours, and we sit around and whine sometimes because life didn't always treat us like we would have liked it too. The little girl in the story was so very grateful to the man because without him she wouldn't have had a nice orphanage to live in and she wouldn't have been able to go to school. I know I haven't done it justice, it just made me think about how we could be a lot more grateful in this life.

Well I feel like there was something else I was going to say, but can't remember it right now.  I do know I am soooo grateful for our Relief Society/Priesthood books, my Ipad which lets me study RS and Sunday School lessons so easily. I can't imagine life without reading those lessons.  They fill me up.  Well, I hope this week I will keep moving forward.

I have thought a lot this last week about being kinder to myself.  I was reading the RS lesson and other scriptures and I realized that I have been to harsh on myself.  I was noticing how hard it has been for prophets, and their wives to always have good attitudes (Lehi, Sariah) I thought about the Savior and how he asked to not do the atonement if he didn't have too.  All the examples I was reading made me think about why they reacted the way they did, it was because they were mortal.  Now the Savior wasn't mortal in the same way as us, but none the less was half mortal so he had to work with that mortal body.  He did it perfectly of course, but it was hard to do the atonement I believe partly because he was half mortal.  I was reminded of Brigham Young when he said we will be surprised when we leave this life at how much our bodies held us back and how much easier it is without them. I am sure the best of course is our resurrected immortal body.  Thinking about these things made me realize that I can only do so much, and that Heavenly Father knows that even better than I do.  I also think it is prideful of me to expect me to do things the way I think I should be able too.  I would never expect anyone else to do that.  Soooo who is doing the talking in my head when I am not being nice to me?  Satan! So I am working on recognizing when I really do need to pull myself up by the boot straps, and when I need to cut myself some slack and say "hey you are doing better!"  Love you all