This is ME Monday (Hahahahaha! I am doing it on MONDAY!)

Week 12: When have you helped brighten someone's day, and how did it make you feel?

In all honesty I can't pinpoint when I have truly brightened someone's day, but latey I am trying to serve more and be mindful of others.  I know that when I do find a way ti serve someone and I follow through, I feel better about myself.  I often will forget the problems I was having or realize that it could be a whole lot worse, or I recognize the blessings I have.  I also feel as if I am helping to move the work of the Lord further, especially in the right direction.  I once gave a talk on the topic "Have I Done Any Good in the World Today?"  I really enjoyed this topic and I spent a whole lot of time pondering this whole idea.  A lot of times we feel that we need to do something big to serve, but I honestly feel that it is in the everyday things that we do the most good in the world.  There is a song that I love by Steven Curtis Chapman that has a line that says:

Little stuff

Big stuff

In between stuff

God sees it all the same

While I may not know you

I bet I know you

Wonder sometimes, does it matter at all?

Well let me remind you, it all matters just as long

As you do everything you do to the glory of the One who made you, 

Cause he made you

To do

Every little thing that you do 

To bring a smile to His face

Tell the story of grace

With every move that you make

And everything you do

The song is "Do Everything" You can listen to it here

This reminds me that it is in the things that I do that matter.  I need to make sure that the world knows who I am and that I am a daughter of God through the things that I do and say.  I want everything I do to be in His name.  I made a covenant to stand as a witness to Him at all times and in all things and in all places.  I know that the days that I remember this principle, the better my day goes and the more empowered I feel as a woman and as a daughter of God.   

This is ME-Week 11

Week 11: What are Your Many Blessings?

Okay seriously!?!  How broad of a topic can we get here!?!  I am not going to sit and llist all of my blessing because I would be here all night, and as you can tell, I barely have enough time to write once a week for a few minutes.  I will tell you though that I have been working on turning my focus outward and trying to be a blessing to others.  I will admit that I get pretty negative about myself sometimes.  I will whine and complain about how things just aren't going the way that I think they should and it snowballs into this giant pity party!  It really is pathetic.  Well, I started thinking about how destructive this behavior really is.  I don't want to drag myself down, the world does a good enough job of that already and I don't want to add to it.  Anyway, I have been trying to look at how I can be a blessing to others.  I have been praying sincerely to know each day how I can bless someone that I come in contact with.  I have to admit that I have really been impressed by the answers to my prayers.  I have had more opportunities to serve, listen, honor, respect, cherish and value people than I have had in a while.  I also find increased capacity to be able to bless others.  I want to be the kind of person that emulates the love of the Savior.  I want to be His hands.  I want to build up the kingdom of God and not just worry about my own part, but help others along the path too.  This is my goal.  I know i am not perfect and I know that sometimes I serve because I am supposed to, and not because I really want to.  However, my reasoning is that I will serve until I feel like serving.  Like the saying 'If you don't feel like praying, pray until you do" well, this is my idea with serving others right now.  I may not always have the purest thoughts or intentions, but darn it, I will do it until I get it right.  I lead a very blessed life.  I have three wonderful children (I can say that because they are sleeping an no longer making me crazy) and the most amazing husband ever.  I don't know what I did to deserve them, but I want to make my Heavenly Father proud of me and I want Him to know that I am grateful for them and I will strive to keep my blessings.

This is ME-Week 10

Week 10: What is your favorite Book of Mormon scripture? Why?

I honestly can't think of ONE Book of Mormon scripture that I love above the rest.  I must admit that this reminds me of when I was a freshman in high school and attending seminary in Sparks, Nevada.  My boyfriend at the time always joked that his favorite scripture in the Book of Mormon was:

 1 Nephi 2:15: And my father dwelt in a tent.  

This was always funny to us and we would always giggle when he told our teacher this.  One day she asked him why he thought it was importatnt that Nephi told us that he dwelt in a tent.  Then, without missing a beat he gave and elaborate explanation of the insight he had received from this scripture.  pI can still remember this experience vividly...I wonder if he does.  Anyway, back on topic.  I can't really think of a specific scripture that is my favorite in the Book of Mormon, but I really love the book of Enos.  It is very short, but to me very powerful.  I have most of the book highlighted.  My favorite verse, I think, out of the book of Enos is:

 Enos 1:4 And my soul hungered; and I kneeled down before my Maker, and I cried unto him in mighty prayer and supplication for mine own soul; and all the day long did I cry unto him; yea, and when the night came I did still raise my voice high that it reached the heavens.

I think that Enos is a perfect example of prayer.  In my patriarchal blessing I was told over 5 times to become a "Woman of Prayer".  I have strived to do so and I find myself leaning on the power of prayer more often than not.  I have a firm testimony of prayer.  I know my prayers are heard and I know they are answered.  I am definitely not pateint and I struggle at times waiting, but I have a firm faith that the answer will come.  I need communication with my Father in heaven.  I crave it, and without it, I am lost.  I pray endlessly at times and I feel that my burdens are lighter once I hand them to the Lord.

There is a scripture that echos through my mind lately.  It is in Doctrine and Covenants.  It reads:

D&C 84:88  And whoso receiveth you, there I will be also, for I will go before your face.  I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up.

There is a song on the radio that I LOVE right now, and in all honesty, I sing it REALLY loud when it comes on.  You can listen to it here.  It is called "Whom Shall I Fear" by Chris Tomlin.  According to him, he got inspiration from a scripture in 2 Kings chapter 6.  Here is the interview with him on the writing of this song. 

I have told my husband lately that I am trying to put the Lord in control of my situation.  I am struggling with a whole lot of feelings of inadequacy.  I am desperate for our home to sell so that I can move forward in life with a new home and restore some normalcy back into my children's lives.  I have grown up with the teaching that if you aren't moving forward, then you are sliding backwards.  I have had to continually remember to give this to Him.  He knows what is before me, He knows where I have been, and He knows where I am now.  He loves me and He knows that I can do hard things as long as I hold on tight to Him and to my faith.  

Counting the Blessings (Even If I Don't Want To)

So, as I mentioned in my last post, the sickness has been running rampant in our household for the past two weeks.  It started with me catching this vicious virus that was like a sinus infection/head cold/flu thingy and it was TERRIBLE.  I hadn't been that sick in a VERY long time.  I ran a high fever and was literally useless.  Then my poor baby girl caught it!  Finally I get over it and she gets over it and not even a full two days later my oldest get s a stomach virus that was intense!  The poor kid threw up for days!  He is still not back up to 100%, but at least the puking stopped.  Then my baby caught that too!  Luckily she only had it for 24 hours...Thank you Heavenly Father.  So, you might be wondering why I am telling you all these disgusting details...really I do have a point to all of this.

On Monday we had been vomit free for 24 hours, so I decided that we would make it to the gym so that I could meet with my trainer and get a good workout in.  I hadn't been able to work out for over a week and a half and I was dying to get there.  Well, everything was going dandy.  We loaded into the car and off we went.  Then, my oldest started puking all over the car!  First of all, I really don't handle people throwing up.  It usually leads to me throwing up.  Well, after I convinced my stomach that it should really hold on to the breakfast I gave it and I opened the windows because the smell was beyond gross, I turned the car around.  I will admit I was MAD.  I was frustrated and irritated beyond belief!  I was mad that he hadn't said anything about feeling sick, even though I had asked him how he was feeling at least a dozen times that morning.  Each time he answered, "I'm good."  Well, apparently "good" is another term for "I am going to blow chunks all over the car".  I was also frustrated because I was missing an appointment.  I HATE missing appointments.  It is one of the biggest pet peeves I have and it was happening and there was nothing I could do about it.  When I got home I yelled at Alex (I know, really nice and compassionate Mom right?!?) to get in the house and to take a shower.  Once he was in the shower I calmed down long enough to get the baby situated with some toys and bribed (oh yes, bribed, with money) my middle child to play with her long enough so that I could figure out how to clean the car.  Alex got out of the shower and into his pajamas and I went out to the car armed with Clorox wipes, paper towels, a plastic bag, Lysol, Febreeze, a bucket of water with a towel...and any other cleaning supply I could get my hands on.  Like I said, I don't do throw up.    Well, as I was trying to figure out how I was going to do this and why this was happening to me and all these other unpleasant thoughts I started to think about what would happen if I posted what was going on in my life at this moment on Facebook.  Yes, I am that much into Facebook that I think of such things.  Then the thoughts of what the comments would be started to flow...this is how it looked in my mind...

Me: Cleaning up puke out of the car...not how I wanted to spend my Monday morning...kids!
Comment 1: Eww, I can sympathize
Comment 2: TMI
Comment 3: Poor kiddo, hope he feels better soon
Comment 4: Oh, I remember those days
Comment 5: It could be worse
Comment 6: Try to look at the bright side
etc, etc, etc...you see where I am going with this right?

So, here is what I started thinking.  People will want me to be thankful for what I have and probably make me feel like a really crappy mom for not being grateful and more nurturing, so fine, I will count my blessings...all of them...no matter how tongue and cheek they may be...here it goes.

*I am  thankful that I have a son (even if he does puke all over the car)
*I am thankful that I have a Chrysler Town and Country with Stow and Go seats so that I can fold the seats into the floor and wipe the disgusting puke off of the van that went between the seat and the window.
*I am thankful for cleaning supplies
*I am thankful to be able to afford good cleaning supplies
*I am thankful it is not raining even though it is 90 degrees and humid as heck!
*I am thankful for paper towels because man this is gross!
*I am thankful for the goldfish crackers crammed between the seats as it means that my kids get enough to eat that there are still some left to leave on the floor.
*I am thankful for the bee that came and chased me out of the van as I am now very well aware that my heart is beating
*I am thankful for the chihuahuas that my neighbors insist on letting roam free, without their barking at me I would be quite lonely out here.
*I am thankful for the trees that are literally pollinating on my head, without them I may question whether or not allergy season is a real thing.
*I am thankful for a washing machine as I would really not like to wash these towels by hand.
*I am thankful for having kids that kept me from eating a decent sized breakfast, had I eaten more, I am sure it would have come up by now.
*I am thankful for being young so that I can climb all over my van and sit in really awkward positions just to get the last bit of gunk out of that cup holder that is in the weirdest place.
*I am thankful that thoughts are only heard by me and my Heavenly Father, cause right now, they aren't the nicest things.
*I am thankful that Eric has come out for the third time asking fir a various food item, without that I may have wondered if he was still doing his job of watching his sister.
*I am thankful that carseats are easier to wash as kids get older.
*I am thankful that I have a lot of hair on my head, so that when I pull it out by the handfuls, nobody really notices.
*I am thankful for text messaging, without it my trainer would hear me crying over a pile of puke and realize that I am a highly emotional woman.
*I am thankful for a home, if I didn't have one I would have to be stuck inside a cardboard bow with three kids for the 5th day in a row, and that would be unbearable.
*I am thankful for second chances, as I know I need them a whole lot.
*I am just thankful.

I must admit, after saying these things to myself for over 30 minutes, I wasn't near as cranky as I went in the house.  I apologized to Alex for yelling at him.  I paid Eric for his job mostly done, I scooped up the baby and calmed her down as she was sure I had abandoned her.  I turned on the tv and sat and watched Phineas and Ferb with my kids.  Not once did I think about what I should have been doing, or could have been doing.  It was too late, and there was nothing I could do to change what had happened, so I sat back, ate a piece of chocolate and endured it.  No, I am not the perfect Mom, and most of the time I don't think I am even a very good Mom.  But this time, I am not sorry for a single thing I felt that morning.  I needed to feel those things and I needed to experience it.  I NEVER want to repeat such a series of events, but I will never regret it.

This is ME: Week 9 (I'm a bit behind)

Week 9: What are some of your favorite messages from the last General Conference and why?

Okay, so I am WAY behind.  I missed last week due to being sick and spring break.  I missed this week because I had sick kids and a REALLY rough Monday, so cut a girl some slack, I am getting to it now.

I think the last General Conference was amazing.  I am so excited for the one coming up it is ridiculous!  I have been planning a really fun sharing time activity revolving completely around getting the children excited about conference!  I literally rack my brain and have ideas floating all around.  I really hope the lesson is as big of a success as I am praying and planning it to be.

I had many favorite talks in the last conference, but the one that tops my list was President Dieter F. Uchtdorf's "Of Regrets and Resolutions".  First of all, I seriously just love listening to this man!  His voice is so calming to me.  I figure it is because of my German heritage that I find the rough German accent soothing, but I really do!  Anyway, in this talk I really gave a lot of time for studying and reflecting.  I really needed the message and it is a message I wish all parents would listen to and take to heart.  I really try to not have any regrets.  I often think that if I could change something in the past, what would it be.  Most of the time I wouldn't change a thing.  However, I want to make sure that when that time does come that I am looking back on my entire life, I feel the same way.  I encourage you to take a minute or so and read this talk.  You can read it here.  Here are a few excerpts from his talk that really impacted me.

Declaring our testimony of the gospel is good, but being a living example of the restored gospel is better. Wishing to be more faithful to our covenants is good; actually being faithful to sacred covenants—including living a virtuous life, paying our tithes and offerings, keeping the Word of Wisdom, and serving those in need—is much better. Announcing that we will dedicate more time for family prayer, scripture study, and wholesome family activities is good; but actually doing all these things steadily will bring heavenly blessings to our lives.Discipleship is the pursuit of holiness and happiness. It is the path to our best and happiest self.Let us resolve to follow the Savior and work with diligence to become the person we were designed to become. Let us listen to and obey the promptings of the Holy Spirit. As we do so, Heavenly Father will reveal to us things we never knew about ourselves. He will illuminate the path ahead and open our eyes to see our unknown and perhaps unimagined talents.

The more we devote ourselves to the pursuit of holiness and happiness, the less likely we will be on a path to regrets. The more we rely on the Savior’s grace, the more we will feel that we are on the track our Father in Heaven has intended for us.

We shouldn’t wait to be happy until we reach some future point, only to discover that happiness was already available—all the time! Life is not meant to be appreciated only in retrospect. “This is the day which the Lord hath made … ,” the Psalmist wrote. “Rejoice and be glad in it.

I encourage you to go back and read over the previous conference talks before this upcoming conference. It is a great way to prepare yourself for the abundance of personal revelation you can receive through the mouths of the holy prophets. You can read through them here.
I also invite any of my readers who have never taken advantage of General Conference to come and hear a prophet's voice. General Conference will be held on Saturday, April 6th and Sunday April 7th. You can listen to a live stream on LDS.org and you can find more information about what General Conference is and what it means to us as latter day saints here. I know I will be listening intently and with an open heart.

Oh My Eric!

Many of you know that my boys are VERY different from each other.  I have no idea what is "normal" as both of them are like night and day and I often don't know which end is up.  Well, my grandma found this on facebook and shared it with me.  Often times when I am on the phone with her she hears at least one of my children yell out about something.  Nine times out of ten...it is Eric.  Often times we aren't sure why he is so upset, he just is.  I love my Eric with all my heart.  He is so full of joy and excitement about life, but with that comes great emotions on the other side of the spectrum.  I often refer to him as "highly emotional"...meaning that whatever emotion he is having, it is displayed at a high level.  He is never mildly irritated or content...he is either really excited and happy or really unhappy and frustrated.  I can't say much as I am often the same way.  Sometimes I struggle with Eric, but I think it is because we are so much alike.  We often joke around that it is a good thing that he is so darn cute, otherwise I might have lost my marbles completely by now.  Anyway, here is the list...and even though it says it is for 3 year olds...well, my Eric is 4 and this describes him to a T.  I have BOLDED the ones that we have experienced...

46 Reasons My Three Year Old Might be Freaking Out

DECEMBER 13, 2012

Some of these are total guesses. Educated guesses, but guesses nonetheless. Seems like it’s hard being a kid.

His sock is on wrong.

His lip tastes salty. (well, buttery after eating popcorn)

His shirt has a tag on it.

The car seat is weird.

He’s hungry, but can’t remember the word “hungry.”

Someone touched his knee.

He’s not allowed in the oven.

I picked out the wrong pants.

His brother looked at him.

His brother didn’t look at him.

His hair is heavy.

We don’t understand what he said.

He doesn’t want to get out of the car.

He wants to get out of the car by himself.

The iPad has a password.

His sleeve is touching his thumb.

He doesn’t understand how popsicles are made.

The inside of his nose stinks.

Chicken is gross.

A balloon he got six months ago is missing.

A puzzle piece won’t fit in upside down.

I gave him the wrong blue crayon.

The gummi vitamin is too firm.

Netflix is slow.

He jumped off the sofa and we weren’t watching.

He’s not allowed to touch fire.

Everything is wrong with his coat.

There’s a dog within a 70 mile radius.

A shoe should fit either foot.

I asked him a question.

His brother is talking.

He can’t lift a pumpkin.

He can’t have my keys.

The cat is in his way.

The cat won’t let him touch its eyeball.

The inside of his cheek feels rough.

Things take too long to cook.

He has too much food in his mouth.

He sneezed.

He doesn’t know how to type.

The DustBuster is going to eat him.

His mom is taking a shower.

Someone knocked over his tower.

He got powdered sugar on his pants.

The yogurt won’t stay on his spoon.

EVERYTHING IS TOO HOT.

Click here to view the original post.

Now when I say that I have heard these, I don't mean that he has mentioned them or even whined a bit about them...he has SCREAMED, CRIED, WAILED, and let the world be well aware of his despair and discomfort.  So, if you have a child as fun as my Eric, you have my sympathies...isn't it fun!  The good thing is when he is happy, the whole world seems happier.

This is ME-Week 8 (oh yeah, it is MONDAY!)

Week 8: How do you study your scriptures?

I seriously LOVE reading my scriptures.  I used to think of it as a chore, but now it has become something I NEED to do, or my day just doesn't start off right.  Monday-Friday I study my scriptures at the kitchen table with my boys over breakfast.  We read a chapter in the scriptures and discuss it as they slurp down their cereal.  I read while they listen.  We stop to discuss certain verses that I feel are important and if we are in the middle of a story, we do a little recap and start to guess what might happen next.  This has become a wonderful habit for us.

My husband goes to a religion class once a week.  When he gets home we discuss things that were talked about in his class.  We talk about the things we have learned from the scriptures that week and how they have helped us through our personal trials and questions.

My new goal is to be more regular when reading the Ensign.  I often only pick it up to read the Visiting Teaching Message.  I want to read it cover to cover as I do my fun magazines.  These are words from our prophet that I get in my mailbox every month and I need to take advantage of it.  Also, I want to make sure that I share the home teaching message with my kids since our home teachers don't come over to share the message with us.  These things are important to our family's spirituality and I want to make sure we fully utilize the Lord's blessings in our lives.

The scriptures have become an amazing tool in my life and I often find that I go to them for answers and I seek them out.

2 Nephi 31:20
     Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men.  Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father:  Ye shall have eternal life.