Seven things I love about my home

1. My bath tub. Where I can lock the door, and just relax:)

2. My mudroom: where everything has a place and

everything is in it's place(most of the time)

3. The view from our back window. No, we do not have a river that runs through. This was the result of 30 minutes of monsoonal rains this past summer.

4. My patio where we enjoy many summer meals.

5. Location, location, location. I just love that my home is 15 minutes from almost anything (to many this may seem way out). We are far enought out of town - in "the country". I just love the fact that when I walk outside it is peaceful and quite. I love to be able to look up into the night sky and see millions of stars. I love it here.

6. That my children have their own rooms and they can escape when they need down time.

7. My fireplace. It is a replica of one I saw in one of the old Nauvoo Homes. I love to just cuddle up with a good book or before the kids go to bed. Great way to end a long day.

Solid Gold

Today Bruce and I taught a class on color characteristics. No, we are not qualified, just willing to say yes to others. Our youth had their youth conference today at a local college. We were one of the instructors. The focus was learning leadership skills. The class we instructed was about learning your personality types and how they can serve as a tool for discussing and understanding True Colors. Orange represents "active," Gold "structured," Green "independent, " Blue "interactive." The saying is true that the one presenting always learns the most.

This project was very insightful. Bruce and I learned why we cannot cook together in the kitchen (i might add here that Bruce is also gold but not as intense I scored 20 while Bruce was a 16). The reason we don't work so well together is that one of the gold characteristics is being in control. It works best if he cooks the turkey and I make the pies. Each in control of our own project.

As a gold person my needs are: stability, consistency, organization (this one I knew..I hate a messy home), appreciation (so tell me how much you appreciate my daily blogs), and time (I think this means my eight hours a day of uninterrupted, whatever i feel like doing time. I must have at least 8: from 8am when I drop the kids off to 3pm when I pick my sweet children up).

My stress and frustrations come from: lack of control (if every one does it my way we will all be happy), change (i might add i do ok with this i think), disloyalty (yes, always be loyal to me or just don't let me find out), Financial insecurity (refer back to my five blog about what would I would do with a million dollars: invest, invest, invest) and inconsistency(probably why I do not care for Hillary Clinton).

Finally the things gold characteristics value: loyalty, dependability, perfection(which is not always the best thing), responsibility, honesty. I'm revealing a lot about my self but i might add that GOLD describes me to a "T". It was fun learning the different color characteristics. It would be fun to know what color all of you are.

Have a great night, sweet dreams.

Change

This is a tribute to Katie...for introducing me to new music. I'm always open for new ideas and open enough to add them to my oldies but goodies. Change is good

""If we don't change, we don't grow. If we don't grow, we aren't really living."
-Gail Sheehy

So sicne I am trying to LIVE, i'm venturing out. First blogging (which i'm addicted, thanks katie and annie) and now music. What's next? Thanks for keeping me in the know. Have a fabulous day:)

Post Note: I tried Kelly Clarkson katie and it's just not me so i chose an oldie James Taylor. still up for more suggestions.

Five Things

5 things I was doing 10 years ago:

*Chasing three little ones (8 months old) and a toddler around (Parker was 2)
*really i don't remember much except Tuesday and Friday getting a full nights sleep thanks to Katie (Annie too) and Nancy coming and staying up with the girls.
*being sleep deprived
*changing 16 diapers a day
*enjoying the pictures of Halloween when Parker was the big bad wolf and the girls were the 3 little pigs.

5 things on my to-do list today:

*Blog
*Go to the temple
*scrapbook anniversary pages
*all four parent teacher conferences
*enrichment

5 snacks I enjoy:

*frozen berries with cool-whip
*clementines
*popcorn
*any kind of fruit
*edmames

5 songs I know the lyrics to:

*I am a Child of God
*Just about anything The Carpenters (I know I was born in the wrong era)
* I Belong to the Church of Jesus Christ
*Count Your many blessing
*Jesus Want Me for a Sunbeam
(can you guess where my current calling is)

5 things I would do if I were a millionaire:
*pay off my house
*invest
*invest
*invest
*invest

5 Bad Habits:
*Eating too much of a good thing
*letting my bathrooms go too long before cleaning
*Staying up too late
*pointing out the obvious

5 things I'd never wear again:
*leg warmers (ditto)
*pegged leg pants
*stirrup pants
*big big bangs
*blue eye shadow

5 Favorite Toys:
*My blog
*scrapbooking
*my camera
*my DVR to watch any show in half time
*my skies

Live

Bruce and I were returning home last night after being out and we passed 3 mule deer, 1 angry bull trying to be herded off the road and back home by two anxious police cars (lights flashing and all), and one buck. Only in Montana:) To note we were only 15 minutes from home.

This morning i have been trying as President Hinckley said, "Try a little harder to be a little better."

I thought that this quote from his wife echos his comment.

"I don't want to drive up to the pearly gates in a shiny sports car, wearing beautifully tailored clothes, my hair expertly coiffed, and with long, perfectly manicured fingernails. I want to drive up in a station wagon (i might add a mini-van)that has mud on the wheels from taking kids to scout camp. I want to be there with grass stains on my shoes from mowing Mrs. Schenk's lawn. I want to be there with a smudge of peanut butter on my shirt from making sandwiches for a sick neighbor's children. I want to be there with a little dirt under my fingernails from helping to weed someone's garden. I want to be there with children's sticky kisses on my cheeks and the tears of a friend on my shoulder. I want the Lord to know I was really here and I really lived." (Marjorie Pay Hinckley)

Have a great day! and get out there and LIVE!

Visit with a friend

Today I visited with a friend on the phone. It was one of those conversations that was exactly what I needed. One that made me want to be better. An epiphany - that life is as good as you make it. Parker brought home a quote from church on Sunday by Elder Joseph B. Writhlin (Nov. 1990)

"So many of us are always waiting to be happy. 'If only I could graduate, if only I could afford a car, If only I could get married ...' For too many, happiness is just over the horizon, never reachable. Every time we climb one hill, happiness beckons just beyond the next.


It is a terrible thing always to be waiting for tomorrow, always depending on tomorrow, always excusing our todays because we are sure that only in the future will we possess the tings that will fulfill us.

Don't wait for tomorrow. Don't wait for the right job, the right house, the right salary, the right dress size. Be happy today. Be happy now."


My friend that I had this conversation with was having a great day. Her weekend had been up and down and, over the weekend, she was trying to get back on the upside. She said that through much studying and praying she had realized that she was responsible for herself and that as a mother she was there to help her children and teach her children but not take away their agency so that they could make and learn from their choice - She was not there to save them but to help them and let them learn. She was there to make her choice and live the best that she can.


This was an eye opener for me. Me, who wants everything to be perfect and my kids to never mess up and live life perfectly. My job is just to love my kids and I am doing this one day at a time. I love these sweet souls.