Sunshine Sunday!

My relief society lesson was so great today, I couldn't help but share a little with you. The whole talk is seriously amazing and will make you feel 1000x better about yourself, I promise. These excerpts come from the talk Forget Me Not by Dieter F. Uchtdorf. You can click on the link to read the whole talk.


Elder Uchdtorf first talks about the tiniest of flowers called the Forget Me Nots. He explains they are often overlooked because there are many more larger and more vibrant flowers. But the Forget Me Not is just as beautiful.

He goes on to use the Forget Me Not and its five petals as a metaphor for five things that we would be wise not to forget.

First, forget not to be patient with yourself.

"We spend so much time and energy comparing ourselves to others-usually comparing our weaknesses to their strengths. This drives us to create expectations fr ourselves that are impossible to meet. As a result, we never celebrate our good efforts because they seem to be less than what someone else does...

Be thankful for all the small successes in your home, your family relationships, your education, and livelihood, your Church participation and personal improvement. Like the forget-me-nots, these successes may seem tiny to you and may go unnoticed by others, but God notices them and they are not small to Him. If you consider success to be only the most perfect rose or dazzling orchid, you may miss some of life's sweetest experiences."

Second, forget not the difference between a good sacrifice and foolish sacrifice.

"Giving up a little sleep to help a child who is having a nightmare is a good sacrifice. We all know this. Staying up all night, jeopardizing our own health, to make the perfect accessory for a daughter's Sunday outfit may not be such a good sacrifice.

Dedicating some of our time to studying scriptures or preparing to teach a lesson is a good sacrifice. Spending many hourse stitching the title of the lesson into homemade pot holders for each member of your class perhaps may not be.

There are so many good things to do, but we can't do them all. Our Heavenly Father is most pleased when we sacrifice something good for something far greater with an eternal perspective. Sometimes this may even mean nurturing small but beautiful forget-me-not flowers instead of a large garden of exotic blooms."

Third, forget not to be happy now.

In this section of the talk he relys heavily of the classic story of Charly and the Chocolate Factory.

"In this classic children's story, people all over the world desperately yearn to find a golden ticket. Some feel that their entire future hapiness depends on whether or not a golden ticket falls into their hands. In their anxiousness, people begin to forget the simple joy they used to find in a candy bar. The candy bar itself becomes an utter dissapointment if it does not contain a golden ticket.

So many people today are waiting for their own golden ticket-the ticket that they believe holds the key to the happiness they have always dreamed about. For some, the golden ticket may be a perfect marriage; for others, a magazine-cover home or perhaps freedom from stress or worry."

There is a great quote that I have always loved by Marjorie Hinckley. It goes something like this. "Don't waste away your days waiting for better ones ahead." I think this is so true! It's not saying we can't have dreams and hopes for the future, just simply making sure we are happy in the here and now, as we strive to future endeavors.

Fourth, forget not the "why" of the gospel.

"Let us not walk the path of discipleship with our eyes on the ground, thinking only of the tasks and abligations before us. Let us not walk unaware of the beauty of the glorious earthly and spiritual landscapes that surround us.

My dear sisters, seek out the majesty, the beauty and the exhilarating joy of the "why" of the gospel of Jesus Christ."

Fifth, forget not that the Lord loves you.

"You are not forgotten. Sisters, wherever you are, whatever your circumstances may be, you are not forgotten. No matter how dark your days may seem, no matter how insignificant you may feel, no matter how overshadowed you think you may be, your Heavenly Father has not forgotten you. In fact, He loves you with an infinite love."

"Sisters, there is something inspiring and sublime about the little forget-me-not flower. I hope it will be a symbol of the little things that make your lives joyful and sweet. Please never forget that you must be patient and compassionate with yourselves, that some sacrifices are better than others, that you need not wait for a golden ticket to be happy. Please never forget that the "why" of the gospel of Jesus Christ will inspire and uplift you. And never forget that your Heavenly Father knows, loves and cherishes you.

I hope that put a little Sunshine in your Sunday! :)

Sunshine Sunday!

I got this idea from another blogger and thought how cool! I have never actually met this blogger in real life, but stumbled upon her blog from another friend. She has some really fun posts and often makes me laugh, feel free to check her out here. Anyways, every Sunday she posts an inspirational quote, or blurb. I am going to try to remember to do this every Sunday too, key word is try.

We would do well to

slow down a little.

Focus on the significant &

truly see the things that

matter most.

-Dieter F. Uchtdorf

You can refer to the talk that it came from here. If you have some free time, I highly suggest you read it, it is a great message.

Fitting In

*Note this is mostly for journaling purposes, so if for some reason it bores you or you think I am in a pity party, I'm not. I just feel the need to write down my thoughts at this moment before I explode :) Feel free to scroll down as you need, I won't be offended :)*


I have been lucky in my life. I have always found a place to fit in. I have always had at least one best friend, that I could go to at any moment and share my good and bad times with. I have had a few really close friends, and for reasons which are unknown to me, we have grown apart. That happens, I think it is part of life. I am thankful to be able to have fit in, I can't imagine being without friends, because there were some moments in my life where just hanging out with friends was all I needed in order to cheer me up. There have, however been a few times that I have felt like I didn't fit in. Let me tell you it is a hard stage to be in, and not fun.

The first time I remember really not fitting in was the crazy time in my life when I got married. Let me give you just a little background on how my church works in order to help you better understand this story. When teenagers graduate from high school and up until they get married, they are able to go to what is called a singles ward. It is a church service meant only for young single adults, in order for you to meet and mingle, and give kids in that weird gap a place to have friends and basically a place to fit in. If you do not go to a singles ward, then there is the basic family ward, which you probably guessed, is meant for all those who don't fall into the young single adult category. Ok back to my post. So when Kenny and I got married, he was home for 2 weeks before he was deployed to Iraq. So here I was a non-single (but technically single) young women, living with her parents attending a family ward. Man was that a hard time in my life. I felt like nobody understood what I was going through. I couldn't hang out with my single's ward friends anymore because they all went on group dates, and were looking to find marriage companions (which I definitely didn't fit into), and I didn't fit in with the family ward because here I was a (semi)single young adult surrounded with people in their middle ages with kids. Hard as I tried, it just never really worked. We had nothing in common, and I struggled with finding a place in which I felt comfortable. Thankfully, after many tearful phone calls with my dear husband he finally convinced me to get together with his best friend's (who was deployed with him) fiancee because they were both sure that we would get along great. Luckily Carissa and I set up a time to meet (which let me tell you is super scary considering you don't know the person from Adam) and we never looked back from there. Finally, someone who knew what I was going through, someone who had much in common with me, and actually we didn't realize it, but we had gone to elementary and high school together but never really met until years after high school. How Crazy is that!? She definitely was the answer to my heartfelt prayers as I asked my Heavenly Father to help me find somewhere to fit in.

Many years later, 2 deployments and a baby later, I find myself in the same place. Struggling to fit in. No my husband isn't deployed, and no I don't live with my parents, but I now have a (soon to be) one year old, and several friends who don't have kids. As much as they try, and I try to explain, it is just hard to understand having a child unless you actually have one. Whether you like it or not your life now revolves around this child. They have feedings, diaper changes, nap times (or else they are totally grumpy), schedules, don't do well in public places (let me tell you going out to dinner is definitely an adventure), now that she can walk she feels the need to walk everywhere and doesn't like to be held, which also narrows down the things that we can do, and so on and so forth... Is any of this making sense?? Maybe I am just rambling. Oh well it is for my purposes anyway. So here I am trying to explain to friends why we can't hang out at a certain time, why we can't go to a movie, why we can't go to that restaurant or why sometimes just keeping baby girl at home is best. I also feel bad when she cries at all. Sometimes I feel like if you don't have kids the crying and fusiness can get annoying super fast. But sometimes there is nothing I can do about it. She is a baby and sometimes she just gets uncomfortable, tired, irritable etc, in fact most adults have these issues to. So then I find myself frustrated and continually apologizing because she is not smiling and happy, but then I think to myself why am I apologizing for her being a baby? There is no need to apologize. So here I am again, feeling like I don't fit in, where do I find friends who will understand, who will know what it is like? I know you are probably saying find people who have kids, but then sometimes I feel like they are too old, and they will find me too immature. Here I am praying again, for that chance to fit in, and I know sooner or later Heavenly Father will answer my prayers, as I try everything I can to find my place.

This is what happens, when Daddy does baby girl's hair

I think he may need a little more practice before our sweet little girl leaves the house... What do you think?

Blog Link Up

I am definitely a blog stalker. I am always looking for new blogs to follow and new fun ideas for blogs. Well my awesome friend Carissa wrote this little ditty about a blog link up that was going on and I thought why not follow the crowd, get my blog out there and find more friends! The original link up is through:

So here is a little bit about me!

I originally started blogging as a way to keep my family in the loop. I had quite a few friends that were doing it and thought it was a neat idea! I love being able to express my feelings through writing and sometimes it is the only way that I can clear my head. I am going to make this sort of short and sweet so here it goes.



This is me and my husband Kenny. We will have been married 5 years in May. He has been on two year long deployments to Iraq during our four year marriage. The hardest thing I have ever done, is having to say goodbye and sending my husband away to a foriegn country not knowing if you will ever see him again. But with much faith and support from family and friends, we made it through.



This is our beautiful daughter. She is the light of our lives and is so much fun! She definitely keeps us on our toes and keeps me exhausted. I would not trade it for anything in the world. She grows too fast and I wish time would slow down a little.

Since you now know the basic facts, I decided I would do a little random info about me. Here it goes:

*I love Disneyland. It holds a special place in my heart. If I was well off, I would definitely have an annual pass and a vacation house in Cali.



* I love Hot Chocolate. But I am very picky about the kind. Quick Trip has the best Hot Chocolate, followed in second by Dunkin Donuts. Starbucks has quite possibly the grossest Hot Chocolate. I know, I am picky.

*I love popcorn, and my husband hates it. Which creates a little problem. When we go to the movies, I have to have popcorn, but am the only one that will eat it.

*I have a B.A. in Psychology from Arizona State University, but secretly wish I would have gone into some sort of design degree. I want to design websites, digital scrapbook pages, greeting cards etc. Who knows maybe later in my life I will go back to school for this.

*I love my family more than anything, and cannot imagine life without them.

*Writing is therapuetic for me, and I have this weird thing about people watching me write. Sometimes my husband tries to read as I am writing blogs, I can't stand that. It messes up my mojo. I have to be alone while writing, or it messes me up. Weird I know.

Well there is a little about me! Hope to get to know more of you!

Life's About Moments and How They Affect Our Lives

So like probably about 90% of the rest of the population tonight in celebration of Valentines Day my hubby and I went to dinner and then to see the movie The Vow. The story line is a very fascinating one. Imagine being in a car accident and enduring a head trauma that caused you to loose your memory, more specifically to loose memory of a specific period of time. In this case, the main character Paige, looses the period of memory involving her current husband. She has no recollection of them meeting, marrying and spending the past together. Can you imagine your husband or wife having no recollection of you? Of your past? Of the time you have spent together? The movie is based off of true events, and I cannot even imagine this happening to me. What struck me the most though, was a line in the movie where Paige, in trying to remember her past, asks her "supposed" husband if she might have kept a journal in order to help her memory come back. His response was no, not to his recollection.

One reason why this hit me so hard was because I have been a terrible journal keeper. It is something that is highly emphasized in my church. We believe it is important to keep your history in writing, for future generations. I always thought the idea of a journal was nice, but to actually keep a journal? How boring. I mean somedays I don't feel like I do anything interesting enough to write about. While I know this specific memory loss case is probably rare, that is not the point. I keep thinking, of all the important moments, that have affected my life, I feel like I should be writing them down, for future generations to read. I mean what if by some awful circumstance I pass before my children grow, I want them to have something to remember me by. I want them to be able to go back and read this blog (which you can print out into a book by the way) and other journal entries I have written in past years, in order to get a feel of what I was like. When reading someone's writing you can definitely get a feel of their personality, everyone has a specific writing style. Just last month I went back and read all my blog posts from when I very first started, it was fun to read my moments and experiences and how they have effected my life.

This post was not meant to be a debbie downer post. It was simply my jumbled thoughts that I was trying to convey in writing. If you are not a blogger or journal writer, I encourage you to start. Whether it is scrapbooking your pictures which are your "moments" or just simply keeping a journal by your bed, or blogging for the world to read, anything counts and trust me, your future generations will greatly appreciate the chance to peek into the "moments" in your lives, because the majority of your "moments" have made an affect on your live.

Future Ms. Fix-it

Today I caught girlfriend helping her dad install the child locks on the cabinets. The first two pictures are girlfriend crying because her daddy told her no, the rest of them are just snap shots of her feeling like she is helping. She is definitely going to be a big helper for her dad.

Our Love Story Link Up

I was tagged in a love story link up by the wonderful Tyah Haro, you can see her post as well as the link to the original post here.

Unfortunately I am not smart enough to figure out how to copy the cut original button that Tyah had so you will have to see it on her blog. So here is a little summary of our love story in honor of Valentines Day!

1. How long have you and your significant other been together?

We have been together about 5 years

2. How did you meet? {What's your "love" story?}

Kenny and I grew up together. We were in the same stake through church most pretty much all of our lives. We became best friends in high school and had a little bit of a confusing relationship from there.

3. If married, how long have you been married?

We will have been married 5 years in May! Crazy how fast the time flies!

4. If you are married, where did you get married at? Big or small wedding?

We were married and sealed in the Mesa Arizona Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. We had our reception at a local church and it was beautiful! Due to some crazy circumstances our wedding was smaller than anticipated, but we appreciate everyone who changed their schedules to be there. To make a long story short, the day after we sent out our wedding invitations, Kenny got the dreaded call (while we were in getting our marriage license no less) that he was being deployed in a very short time period. In fact he was to deploy before our original marriage date. So we had to call all those we sent invitations to, move up the wedding and get new napkins printed out with the new date of our wedding. It was a very stressful time let me tell you.

5. Do you have any nick-names that you call one another?

Babe is pretty much what we call each other, sometimes you get a dorkface or nerdtron in there too.

6. Name 3 things you love most about your honey.

Just three things, that is super hard, but let's see.

1.) My husband is hardworking! I love his work ethic and his willingness to do anything that needs to be done. He works hard to support our family and I am so thankful for that.

2.) He makes me laugh. No matter what is going on he can make me laugh. Sometimes all he has to do is look at me a certain way and I laugh.

3.) He is a priesthood holder. He is spiritual and has a relationship with our father in heaven. Without that our marriage could not withstand the craziness of this world. I am so thankful for his wonderful spirit.

7. Is he a flowers and teddy bear kind of guy for v-day, or strawberries, champagne, and rose petals?

He is definitely a flowers and teddy bear kind of guy. Although he is doing better at being more romantic. :)

8. Tell us how he proposed?

I was attending BYU-Idaho at the time and had asked my mom if I could come home for the weekend to refuel. I was having a difficult time and my mom agreed. One night while I was home Kenny said he wanted to take a drive, to talk about things, but he had to stop at his house first. He was acting funny and I had a feeling something was up. He went to his room and got something, put it in his hat to hide it and off we went. He took me out to a spot where we had star gazed many times before. He first turned on the song that he had used to ask me to our sophmore homecoming. Then as I got out of the car and came around to the drivers side I was admiring the beautiful sky when I turned around to see him on one knee with the ring ready. It was everything I ever dreamed of. It still gives me goosebumps thinking about it. I then went back to BYU-I where I finished a semester and planned a wedding at the same time. :)

9. Are you a sunset dinner on the beach kind of girl, or pop a movie in and relax on the couch?

Pop in a movie, and relax on the couch.

10. Tell us one thing you'd like to do with your significant one day. If you could do anything? Go anywhere?

We would love to go to Hawaii! We have talked about it for a long time now. Eventually we WILL get there. I would also love to visit the Czech Republic and see the city of Prague. Of course any kind of travel would be great for me!

11. Tell us what you plan on doing this Valentine's Day.
Nothing. Kenny has scouts so I will be sitting at home with baby girl.

12. Are you asking for anything this Valentine's Day?

Just a date night with the hubby, dinner and a movie is good enough for me!

13. Give us one piece of advice of keeping a relationship strong and full of love.

Communication and patience. Without communication, your relationship will fall apart, and patience is a must. When you are putting two different people in a marriage where lots of time is spent together, patience is important.
14. Show us a picture of what love means to you.

Real Life Law and Order

This past week I participated in a real life version of Law & Order. No I wasn't a detective investigating a crime, no I was not a prosecutor or defense attorney showing evidence to prove/disprove a crime. But I was a member of the jury. I have been summoned to jury duty many times but have always defferred due to school, or previously planned vacation. This is the first time I have ever participated in the complete process. I did not realize how intense and detailed the process really was.

We started out in a big waiting room of sorts, with probably 30-40 people. After waiting for what seemed like forever (probably an hour or so) they finally came in and read off about 20 peoples names. Those names were the lucky (or unlucky depending on how you look at it) ones who got to stay and the rest were realized from jury duty. The remaining people were taken in to the court in front of the defense team and prosecutor and were asked to state various things to better identify themselves and a little bit about them. After this round of questioning we were brought back in to the waiting room and a few of the jurors (me being one of them) were called back in, one by one, to sit on the witness stand while the prosecutor and defense attorney ask you questions in order to better explain the answers you gave in a group setting. After this we were brought back into the waiting room, where we waited for them to decide who would be on the actual jury. There were 7 of us picked, again lucky or unlucky depending on your opinon in the matter. We began the jury selection at 8:15 and did not finish until about 12:30. Not to put the situation lightly but my goodness it is an intense process, I never realized how serious the business of jury picking was.

The actual trial was boring and interesting at the same time. We had to listen to a DUI case. Let me tell you, I learned more about NHTSA cues and impaired driving tests than I will probably even need to know in my lifetime. I definitely give law enforcement props for risking their lives and keeping us safe, but man the rules and speciality testing they have to learn and train for is amazing. There are 24 total NHTSA cues to look for if you are suspicious of someone driving impaired. 24! Can you imagine trying to remember all 24 cues. It just blew my mind. Sometimes I don't think Law Enforcement gets enough credit.

The second major piece of information that was testified to over and over again is the BAC levels and how blood is actually tested. My goodness what a process that is. In just one reading the criminologist had to test 43 samples of blood! 43 samples in one round, I cannot imagine doing this on a daily basis. They are very exact and precise when testing someones blood as well. Everyone who has blood drawn has 2 samples taken. Then they have a control sample, a validity sample, and a random mix sample that the lab has created in order to make sure that the machine is calibrated right and taking the right measurements. I have to admit there was much more to the criminologists testimony but the terms used were way more technical that I could understand. What an interesting experience it is, to listen to a Criminologist and take a step into her everyday work experience.

It is very intimidating to sit in a jury, with the defendant sitting across the court room, looking at you and your every emotion. It is nervewracking to have to judge the decision that someone has made, knowing that your desicion will have an impact on their life pretty strongly. Although I know the evidence and facts were overwhelmingly pointing to one verdict, it is still such a nervewracking thing. Then being in the courtroom while the verdict is read. Super intimidating.

Overall I think serving on the jury was a fun and interesting experience. It is nice to see how our judicial system works and to get a better understand of the law, more than just what I see on Law & Order. :)

Another month older

Can you believe my little baby is now 11 months old!? Time has flown by and I can't believe that she will be a year next month. She is doing all sorts of fun things. I wanted to record them for journaling purposes, so forgive me if some of this stuff is boring. At 11 months she can:
*Walk and almost run
*Wave bye almost on command, sometimes its a lot of work to get her to wave haha
*Plays independantly with her toys, giggles and has lots of fun
*Loves to eat, preferrably real food but she likes baby food as well
*Hates peas and green beans (we think it may be the color she doesn't like as well)
*Can suck out of a straw (which totally ruins us having drinks)
*Can drink out of a sippy cup
*Makes lots of sounds and babbles
*She LOVES baby dolls and carries them around with her
*She is VERY determined and has a one track mind


Here are some fun pictures and a video I finally got of her laughing. I just love her laugh it is definitely infectious.

Yuma

My mom, baby girl and I recently took a trip to Yuma to visit my grandma and her husband. Baby girl had just started walking and grandma was anxious to see her walking. Unfortunately the weather ended up being extremely windy and we couldn't really leave the trailer. Baby girl was a little grumpy and not feeling well so we ended up going up Friday and going home Saturday. But I am thankful for all the moments that we get to spend with my grandma. She lives in Utah and is a snowbird, so it is not that often that we get to see her. I have always had a special relationship with my grandma, maybe because she really is the only one I really had. Or maybe because it always seemed like when we did visit, we spent lots of time together. I even spent a couple weeks in Yuma with her during my spring break one year. There is not much to do in Yuma (aka olf folks town) but I remember we didn't do much but that didn't matter. The quality time I spent with her those two weeks are ones that I will never forget. I want Kenzi to have a relationship with my grandma, afterall she is named after her. Here are some pictures from that weekend.

This last picture is just a random one. But I thought it was cute so I posted it. :)

Life is rough...

Have I ever mentioned that baby girl is a daddy's girl? If you haven't read my previous post on this subject you can read it here. Well lately when Kenny comes home from work, girlfriends face lights up and she giggles as she sees her dad walk in the house. And when he walks out of the room without her, this is the reaction that we get....

(Please daddy, take me with you, I have my jacket on and I'm all ready!)


And this is what happend when daddy can't take that sad face and the cry. Yep, baby girl gets her way and out she goes to work in the garage with dad. When daddy gets home, I become invisible. Some days, after Kenny comes home and then goes outside, she will stand in the hallway and cry until he comes back in (or I end up taking her out to him), and there is nothing I can do to comfort her. What a stinker!