I have always been impressed with David Archuleta and my respect for him grew even more when I read a blog he wrote the other day.  It truly touched me and I appreciated his honesty.  He is true to himself.  I am sure there is great pressure out there for him to use his talent in so many different ways.  I truly appreciate that he uses his talent to bless others lives.  I love this video:  Glorious.  There are melodies in each one of us. . . 

For Christmas we got the "old" version of Annie.  My boys had never seen it, but I always loved it.  Tonight my boys put it in to watch and I had to join in and watch it.  I loved watching it with my boys and really liked that they loved it!  I love the song Tomorrow.  A perfect Friday night.

I have been reading lots of comments and quotes lately on Facebook about how some people portray the perfect life or the perfect children and that the reality isn't that.  I know that I have had people ask me how I have it all together.  I get the comments about how wonderful my children are, it appears our life is all together and I have even had people ask me if we ever have problems / challenges in our family.  I just have to laugh when I am asked this.  Yes, we do have challenges, my children are not perfect, I am by no means a perfect parent and the list goes on. 

Was it wrong for me to strive to live up to the image and portray that we were happy and life was great when things weren't?  I would say no.  

I look back at those times and I am so grateful that my parent's taught us hard work, to serve the community, to spend time together as a family, to work for good grades and take education seriously and the list goes on.  

Was I mad at my parent's at times because I didn't get to go hang out with my friends instead of planting trees?  Yes.  
Did I fight with my siblings and even think that I hated some of them growing up?  Yes.  
Did I fight with my parent's and think they were wrong at times?  Yes.  
Did I treat others with disrespect because I was mad and thought they were wrong?  Yes.  
Did I cause my parent's worry and heartbreak growing up?  Yes.  
Do I hope that my children don't do some of the things that I did to my parent's?  Yes.  
Did I feel the spirit and enjoy giving service when all was said and done?  Yes.  
Do I have utmost respect for my parent's for all that they taught me?  Yes.  
Do I think it was easy for them to be parent's?  No
Do I think they felt like they were failing at times?  Yes.  
Am I blessed because people thought highly of me and I worked at living up to that image when things weren't really as they seemed?  Yes.

I saw the video below tonight and LOVED it!!!  I can't help but smile and it takes me back to my missionary days.  So, I had to go take a look at my missionary album.  So fun!!!  I thought I would share some of my pics from my mission.  Serving an LDS mission in Arizona for 18 months blessed my life.  That time of my life blesses my life daily.  I often reflect on lessons learned, friendships made, those I met and their life experiences and the life changes that came into my life.  It was a huge turning point for me.  I haven't kept in touch with everyone, but I think of all of the dear people I loved during that time and changed my life forever.  I hope I made a difference in their lives.  It's been 20 years in February since I returned from my mission.  

I have my hands into a lot of things and that means a lot of meetings and places to be most days.  The days that I don't have anything I find myself not getting ready for the day, sitting in my bed and working on my computer.  There were days that I didn't leave my room at all.  I am pretty productive on these days, but by the end of 2014 I was noticing that those were the days that by the end of the day I felt a little more down, life was a little hard and I felt a little lonely in life.  It wasn't bad, but those were also the days I didn't interact with my kids as much, the house didn't get picked up, blinds didn't get opened and I didn't get some fresh air.

I decided that I would make a point each morning to get ready first thing in the day regardless of what I had going on.  I would leave my room and work at the kitchen table or comfortably on the couch with my laptop.  It wasn't a big change, but decided it would be good emotionally.

I also decided that when I came downstairs the first thing I would do downstairs is spend 10 - 15 minutes picking up shoes, clothes, garbage, etc.  It definitely didn't clean the house, but instead of going straight to my computer and getting things done I made my house a quick priority.  With that I would open the blinds and enjoy the gray overcast weather, snow or the sun (whatever it was I was going to enjoy it).     

I also decided that when I started feeling tired or got on the phone I would walk around.  I would go outside regardless of how cold it was.  Just stand on my porch or go for a walk down the driveway.  Sometimes it's just for a few minutes, but sometimes it is for 10 - 15 minutes several times a day.

These are just small and simple things, but I am now 14 days into the year and I am amazed at how much better I am feeling emotionally.  It's feeling more like a habit and it's easy to do. 

I would love to set more lofty goals or set my vision of the things I will get done around my house much more, but one simple step at a time and it doesn't feel overwhelming or hard.  It's doable.  Even the days I don't feel like I can or want to I think in short time frames and it is much easier.

I believe that each of us can do that one simple thing that can make our lives better and then add one more thing on as we continue each day.  It's exciting to see positive progress in our lives and when times get hard we then have something to lean on - the great progress in our lives :).             

or are you one of the Cool Moms?  I saw this last night and LOVED IT!!!!  How often do we compare our weaknesses to other mom's strengths?  Or we perceive someone else's life as perfect or all put together.  Maybe we are too hard on ourselves when the laundry is undone or the dishes are sitting on the counter dirty.  Like they say in the video - it really is the love we show our children.  I hope you enjoy the video as much as I did.        .  

Here is a great article about this video:  http://www.today.com/parents/cool-moms-new-song-parody-explores-mom-cliques-insecurity-1D80409160

Last May I was diagnosed with Diabetes and I had to go on insulin.  There were many things going on and I knew I had to take it serious.  I made eating changes, took my insulin faithfully and other medication and was amazed at how much better I felt.  I was excited about the changes that I was seeing in my life.  Then in December I got out of routine, my favorite holiday treats were all around and I pretty much went back to all of my old habits.  No insulin and , other medication and lots of sugars and you get a bad combination :).  

I am amazed at how much different I feel.  When you live the stressful, bad eating habits, not taking care of yourself life for so long and have a taste of feeling so much better, energy and even the emotional side of things it's amazing.  I feel like I can't get back to the healthy side fast enough.  

It's an awesome thing that we can get up each day and start new.  Make the changes that are necessary knowing that the other side is so much better.  So, today is definitely a Rainy Day & Monday get me down kindof day, but each day keeps getting better.  

My boys LOVE Studio C and this is one of their favorites as they have watched me go through Diabetes this last year.  It's fun to watch and get a good laugh as a family.   

My posts lately have been a little more on the serious side, but we do have a lot of laughs in our home.  Today I was thinking about a You Tube video that I watched a long time ago and wanted to share it.  It's pretty funny.  Lucky for me my boys are pretty good about going to the store (since I hate going to the store :).  

Last September we were in Bear Lake and I needed to find a receipt of a purchase that was going to determine which way we went home.  If I didn't find the receipt we would go through Wyoming and if I found it we would go back up through Logan and stop at the store to exchange a birthday gift that had been purchased for my son and didn't work.

It wasn't a huge deal, but with getting in and out with luggage, pillows, blankets, wet sand, seashells, etc. I was thinking it could have easily been lost in the shuffle.  I had the thought to look in a very specific place that seemed weird and totally didn't make sense, but there it was.  We didn't have to waste much time looking for it which I was glad.  I get a little impatient when things are missing and can quickly change the mood of our family.  

At that moment I had the thought very clearly that if I listened more closely and acted and didn't question I would recognize many more promptings that came into my life daily.  I definitely receive promptings and can think of many over the years, but since that time I have strived to live closer to the spirit.  Not only when it pertains to the gospel or church callings or my children, but in my daily life.  In my daily interactions.  How I treat people, how can I help someone, the thought to visit with someone or just send a simple text, tell someone I love them, give a simple compliment, leave a thank you card or a treat, etc.  Before this experience I did think about these things and acted on some of them, but I knew that day that if I acted on each prompting that it would make a greater difference in my life.  I would find the time to do these things - it didn't need to be hard or time consuming.

11 Short Days Ago the New Year rang in.  I found myself feeling so blessed for the amazing December we had as a family, with our friends, extended family and thousands of those we didn't know.  I thought through the month and could think of many miracles that had happened throughout the month.  The joy, peace and happiness that I found throughout the month.  

Last Sunday we went to Church with my heart feeling so full.  I was excited for a new year, but just had this feeling that there was something coming in my life that would teach me more - you know those growing pains.  As we sang "I Know That My Redeemer Lives" as the closing hymn the following lines REALLY jumped out at me - love this song, but these lines spoke to me deeper and stronger than ever before:
"He lives to comfort me when faint
He lives to hear my soul's complaint.
He lives to silence all my fears.
He lives to wipe away my tears.
He lives to calm my troubled heart.
He lives all blessings to impart.

Oh, sweet the joy this sentence gives: "I know that my Redeemer lives!"

I am not one that cries very often, but this week brought some challenges that brought me to my knees to take a deeper look at how I am as a parent.  I felt a heartbreak pain that I hadn't ever felt before.  I honestly hadn't shed more tears in a long time.  I had much to learn and felt the atonement acting in my life.  The love I feel for my children and the desire I have in my heart for the very best for them weighed very heavy on my heart.  There was a time in a short few hours that I felt alone.  Then I thought of where I would want my children to turn with their heavy hearts and the Lord lifted my burdens to where they were made very light.  

Over the last few days I have found that even in times of trial, hardships and heart break that there is light, happiness, strength and a spiritual growth that can't even be explained.  Relationships can be strengthened, laughter is a part of our home and through the atonement we can continue to grow and be made whole. 

I am so grateful for the small promptings along the way, that I recognize so much more in my life, that prepare me for the hard times and give me something to lean on and know that I am not alone.  In fact, I don't have to carry the weight, but focus on being a better person, doing good things and finding true happiness in each hour of each day of my life.           

  
   

After sending everyone off to school and work on Monday I was so happy to gather everyone back home at the end of the day.  I loved having FHE together, and as everyone went to bed I found myself laying in bed thinking about each of my children.  I was thinking through the relationship I have with each of them, the fun times, the hard times, the blessings of a family, their personalities, the things they love to do, their individual challenges, their talents and interests, their role in our family, their friends, what I hope for each of them, what I can do better for each of them, their happiness, etc.  

As I thought about my oldest it hit me that this August could be his last birthday at home before his mission.  With that, I thought back to the AMAZING miracle he was when I found out I was pregnant with him.  The doctors weren't so sure I would have any children.  I was deathly ill through the pregnancy with only so many hours I could be up, but going to college and working.  I thought about the emotions of holding this new baby in my arms and the joy he has brought me over the years.  There was a flood of emotions and I found myself crying as I thought about this coming year and the blessing of being a mom to 4 amazing boys.  I thought about all of the things I want to do to make memories and how I need to cherish each day.

This morning I was listening to the radio and the song by Trace Adkins "You're Gonna Miss This" came on.  It really struck me how we need to enjoy each day and not look to the future to find joy.  Cherish each moment with our children - the good and the bad.  They will both end up being memories that we learn from and make us stronger, closer and better.