Gratitude

Steve and I try to read the scriptures together at breakfast every day. We miss some days but we try.  We always read one conference talk a week, usually on Monday.  I am always amazed at how it is just what I need.  The other day I saw one that I thought we should read, but I felt like I should let Steve choose.  He chose the one I had thought would be good.  It was one I really needed.  After we got done, I shared some concerns I had about somethings in my life with Steve and because of the talk. We had a really good discussion that I really needed.  We wouldn't have had that discussion if it weren't for that talk.

I have been pretty petty, about one of my coworkers, it was a problem.  Sunday at our Stake conference, I got the words I needed to hear!  I love that about the Lord, if you want to do what is right, and put yourself in a place to get the answers He will give them to you!

Hope you are all well!  Love you all!

Primary and Exercise

After reading everyone's comments on Primary I had to blog.

Primary is supposed to be Spiritual in a fun way!!!!  The handbook, "Teaching No Greater Call", and our sharing time outline talks about FUN!!! Sharing time should be spiritual, but active.  Singing time should be FUN!! and active!!!  Reverence is "showing respect and love for Heavenly Father, the Savior and others. Reverence is not about being QUIET!!!!  Children cannot be still.  Adults do not sit completely still in their meetings nor do they sit quietly the entire time.  In our primary, we have one "Cop", ME, that was a suggestion from our stake leaders.  I do not expect them to to be quiet and still at all times.  Part of singing time is learning new songs, but that should not be all of primary singnig time.  Do I bear my testimony and be serious, yes.  I feel bad if your primaries are overly serious, it is not church policy.  Now for Sunbeams and Elles age,  it is hard for them to focus on what is being said and to understand it for most of the meeting.  It's just the way it is.  You are trying to teach kids from 3-8 in that group.  Tough to keep everyone entertained.  Plus Maddie is used to playing most of the time.  We don't "play" in Primary.  I take my kids on a walk almost every week in the 10 minute break.  I feel badly if your primaries are too serious.  But also remember kids want to be entertained, and church is not about being entertained.  Well enough of that!

This has been an interesting year.  I turned 58 and I felt a change in how much energy I had.  It was very depressing to me.  Then when I got hired back on to WW's, I was very motivated to get back to goal.  Sooo I started weight resistance DVD's and walking every day no matter what.  I was amazed at how my energy came back.  I was also amazed at my strength.  Now am I the same as I was 5 or 10 years ago, no.  But my energy level is very different than it was several months ago.

I also didn't eat  treats or bread for almost 3 months.  It was an interesting experience. It caused me to think about why and when I eat treats.  I eat them to run away from my problems.  I also watch TV for that reason also.  Before I quit being a WW leader I hardly watched TV. Then I got sick and couldn't do anything and started watching LOTS of TV.  I got very addicted.  One thing I also hate is how easy it is to fall back to bad habits.  I started to eat treats and made some bread.  At the first sign of  frustration back to the TV with a treat or bread with jam, cinnamon sugar, or honey.  Ugh....  So should I never eat treats or watch TV?  I don't think that is the answer.  I am going to try to follow my schedule j(which keeps me busy and feeling good about myself), and try to eat treats only on the weekend and not ALL weekend.  If I am busy doing my list and projects, I don't have time to eat.  Boy aren't you grateful we don't drink alcohol?

On a lighter note, my bedroom closet is looking amazingly great!  I am going out to the greenhouse more often, bought a ton of seeds.  And am back to making a list every night for the next day.  I am very excited about expanding my plans to get projects done!  I truly believe they are going to happen.  Will keep you posted  as I go along.

Oh I want a new camera, mine is not working, ideas?

Love you  all!

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!

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

Couldn't resist this sunset tonight !

Well my goals are going pretty good.  I have put up 2 pictures, lost 4.4 pounds, turned down an offer to have us go out for dinner, going VT tomorrow will get all 4 ladies, got one of  my plant starting shelves ready to go, did better on Sunday, prepared my Sharing time lesson on Sunday for this coming week, changed some things in my greenhouse to make it more productive, fixed yummy breakfast  for Steve last Saturday, have had grains in the fridge and beans right now, have exercised most days!  Whew!  It will be interesting to see how well I do as we go along!  I'm doing better with TV watching but could do better.  I'm making progress!

I think I am going to have to buy a new camera, :-(  I would just use my phone, but I have learned there are things the phone won't do, so probably will break down and buy a new one.

We have had amazing weather, I know we probably need rain, but I sure have been enjoying the sun.  I know there was something more I wanted to say, but Steve is watching TV and it is distracting.  While I was trying to restore the my blog pics I ran across this pic. I love it!  Love you all!

New Year

Last year was a great year and a hard year.  I learned that being sick is not fun.  I cannot remember a time when I was that sick, for that long of a period of time.  About 2 months ago I woke up one morning and felt like myself for the first time in a bout a year.  I remember waking up one morning and saying to myself, "something is different I felt like me.  I thought the old me was gone and that I was going to have to accept forgetting things to the point of fear, and just not having the energy I was used to.

I've been thinking about my life, deep I know, but seriously, I have been thinking about what I want to accomplish this year.  I like Aliese have thought a lot about Danielle's goals last year.  They were aggressive.  The thing that moved me more than anything was that even thought she didn't achieve all of d goals, she accomplished soooo much. I think there were things she definitely wouldn't have done at all if she hadn't made those goals.  Then today as I was thinking about this I felt prompted to read the 1st Pres Message.  It was great and gave me even more courage and hope about setting the goals I wanted.  Sooooo I am going to do what Danielle did and list my goals and give you a report of my success at the end of each month.  I still have to figure out my plan to implement them but the goals are going to be set today!

Goals for 2014 (random order"
1.  Paint at least one Painting project
2.  Make at least one dress for me
3.  Get all pictures up by January 31st
4.  Get completely unpacked by Feb28th
5.  Reach 155 lbs and maintain it for 6 weeks
6.  keep the Sabbath more  Holy (kind of vague, but I will know if I am moving forward)
7.  Procrastinate less
9.  Go the the temple once a month
10.  clean and organize my greenhouse
11.  Plant or have something growing every month but December (to little light for things to grow)
12.  Start my own plants from seed
13.  Plan ahead on my Sharing time lessons-one month ahead
14.  100 % visiting teaching
15.  More patience with certain people
16.  Fix yummy Breakfast at least once a week
17.  Have grains or beans in the fridge at all times
18.  eat out 2 meals or less a week
19.  walk or elliptical 6 times a week
20.  weights 3 times a week (if I don't find them within 3 weeks I will go buy new ones)
21.  blog once a week.

I am sure you thought I always did some of those, and there are some I used to do that and got out of the habit when I got sick and know need to get back to my habits.

If you read Pres Ucdorfs talk you will see why I had the courage to put down so many and some pretty tough to accomplish.

I think I am going to post random pictures off and on because I am so far behind and have some beautiful and fun pics.

Christmas was great!  We went to Rebecca's first and got to listen to the girls sing a How Great Thou Art in harmony.  Absolutely beautiful!!  Got to hear Rebecca accompany...ohhh always a treata. Aliese and Anna also sang in a stake choir.  Decorated a cute Gingerbread cake mold that Danielle and Clay  had given to me for Christmas.  She said "she thought I desperately needed it"  She was right!  It was tasty also. Aliese and I did the ones below the girls.

 It was great to see cute little Jason again.

  
This is Jason in his new coat from us.  We got to eat at MotorDogs!  That was fun and tasty.  Anna had this Jersey accent going on while she was waiting on us, it was great! I told her I thought she should talk like that when it is her turn to wait on people.  It reminded me of when Lorali and and Rory subbed for Lukd.   Then off to Lizzie's, made the gingerbread cake with them too.  Tanner couldn't get more candy on his if he tried, but I have to say it was really cool looking.  (the boys always put more sprinkiles and candy on

I think it is amazing how good Elles turned out and how different they all are.  Loved it!

Well I have a cold and and am tired.  I am excited to make this a part of my life again.  Love you all!

I am so excited!  My Son-in-Law Clay, Danielle's husband wrote a book!  I loved it!  As I read it I was so amazed at how good it was.  I found myself stopping several times and saying to myself, "that was in his mind?"  It was a page turner and very hard to put down  It is only 2.99 on amazon Kindle.  I have the link below.  Check it out!!  If you love it as much as me, and I know you will! make sure and write a review on Amazon!