Saturday, April 30, 2011

Women's Superpower Conference

This weekend I joined my mom and 18,000 of my closest friends for BYU Women's Conference! Talk about re-charching the batteries! I'm on a spiritual high--not to be confused with a BYU mint brownie high.
No longer am I going to be the crabby mean mom, the naggy complaining wife, the slacker visiting teacher. Heck no! I've returned a new woman. That 2 days of inspired counsel and motivation--and mint brownies-- were just what I needed to become the amazing woman I was meant to be.

Here are some of the notes I took:
Keep it Small. Keep it simple. Give it Time. During adverse growing conditions, trees slow down and FOCUS on the ESSENTIALS. (Virginia Hinckley Pearce)
When you look at others with their lands and gold, Think that Christ has promised you his wealth untold. Count your many blessings money cannot buy. Your reward in heaven nor your home on high. ..Count your many blessings see what God hath done. (Hymn #241)
The only person I need to be better than is the person I was yesterday. (Barbara Thompson)
Live the "As If" principle. Treat everyone "As If" they are your best friend (Kathy K. Clayton)
Nurturing, Teaching, Influencing; These are our SACRED DUTIES as mothers that can't be delegated.
Mine is a home where every hour is blessed by the strength of Priesthood power.(Julie B. Beck)
Besides motherhood, visiting teaching can have the greatest influence for good. Be a friend, visit often, be prepared to make sacrifices, and don't let the "mists of busyness" distract you. A good home teacher brings a toolbox because no woman will turn away a man with a toolbox in hand. (Bridgette B. Server and Mary Ellen Edmunds)
Some lesser known phrases from the church manual's definition of abuse: constant criticizing, belittling, inducing feelings of guilt. (Lolly and Russell T. Osguthorpe)
Retire early, wake up early, get adequate nutrition, exercise, scriptures and prayers.
We could learn a lot from a drip irrigation system: steadiness in small things done consistently is the key (Susan and David A. Bednar)




During breaks we walked around campus and inhaled fresh blossomy air! (except on that day we had to wear coats--and darn it I was wearing such a cute shirt underneath)
This is my dream backyard. Isn't it lovely? I think if I could just pick up my house and put it in the neighborhood across the street I could totally live here. BD could ride his bike over to campus counsel stressed-out students and teach a class or two. I could skip over and audit all the classes I wanted. We'd go to plays and concerts and ball games. You could park at our house for women's conference (cuz it's CRAZY in those parking lots) and when your kids went to college they could rent a room in the basement! You could fund all our BYU study abroad trips! Just a thought??!!!

Thursday night we were THOROUGHLY entertained with a stellar line-up. Performances were by David Osmond, Hillary Weeks, Jenny Oaks Baker (never knew the violin could be played like THAT!) Josh Wright (never knew the PIANO could be played like THAT!) Cherie Call, April Meservy, Vocal Point, Kirby Heybourne emceed and said we all smelled so good.

And I know this is getting lengthy! You've probably given up but I just have to mention this one FREAKY moment and ask if this has happened to anyone else. I looked over a few rows and saw my TWIN! Seriously this girl had my same hair, cut and color, same profile and was wearing my same jacket. I kept staring, bewildered, and in a moment of pure freakiness I felt like I was out of my body WATCHING me from a distance. Hoooooly weird-- What is in those brownies?? Shouldn't we have taken our pictures together??? Yeah, that would have been pretty freaky for HER! (Plus she'd probably think SHE was the cute one.)

Anyway, it was a great time and I'm just going to throw in this photo of my nephew (aka little brother) and his little guy,both of whom we haven't seen in years! They weren't at women's conference ! Phew! No! They were back at mom's house and visiting from AZ, My other nephew was visiting from NYC. Too bad I didn't get a photo of him. Just picture a totally handsome, totally available good Mormon guy who just graduated with his MBA and just landed a great job in Manhattan. Woohoo. (Call if interested and I can totally hook you up.)




It's great to be a mom and wife again!!

Monday, April 25, 2011

Easterfest

Easter Sunday was not at all relaxing but it earned an A for fun and busy. The girls woke up to dresses and candy. Some of them almost didn't wake up to anything...but more on that later. Brandon led the choir for our Sunday Easter program and taught the EQ lesson. I led the kids musical number and the congregation, and taught a roudy class of 6-7 year olds. Between the music and primary gear, I think I broke some kind of church record (and almost my clavicle) for heaviest bag. Next time I'm bringing a wheeled suitcase! Scratch that--next time I'm going to say NO to something. (I'll practice it this week.)

We had neighbors over for ham and potatoes after church and our old neighbor friend came over later in the day for re-heats. All added to the festivities of the day.


Cannon sporting his Easter accessories and some Attitude.

Of course, the annual family egg hunt was a blast. The pictures say it all.




COUSINS!!!



Random shots taken by Kate


Candy, chocolate, and new clothes aside, we tried to incorporate the REAL meaning of Easter by reading and sometimes acting out the events of Jesus' last week.

Palm Sunday: Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem
Monday: Jesus cleansing the temple and overthrowing the tables of the money-changers.
Tuesday: Parables. We talked about the Widow's Mite
Wednesday: No record for this day. We talked about the Parable of the Ten Virgins
Thursday: Last Supper, Garden of Gethsemane
Friday: Crucifixion
Saturday: Jesus Teaches in the Spirit World
Sunday: RESURRECTION

Doesn't it sound like the perfect agenda for family togetherness and love? Maybe, in your house, but in ours every time we'd break out the scriptures, that's when the fighting would start. Most of the kids had their turn for time out during one lesson or another. By the end of the week, Dad said the Easter bunny wouldn't be bringing baskets until we all learned the REAL reason for Easter.... Some of them had to make up some reading on their own time. It worked, or at least the Easter bunny erred on the side of generosity. We extended the movie, Narnia:Lion Witch and the Wardrobe over a couple of nights and watched it as a family. This may be our new Easter tradition because there is no better way to explain the Atonement and Resurrection so vividly... and best of all there was more snuggling than fighting!!
Happy Easter 2011!





Sunday, April 17, 2011

Ready, Set, Hunt





The 1st annual neighborhood Easter egg hunt was underway this weekend.












Eggs were found-- high and low.












Friendships were forged.






Outdoor games were in full swing.






With the lovely weather, it was a recipe for a perfect afternoon.


Sunday, April 10, 2011

Living the Dream, Baby.

My neighbor was recently surprised to find out that I blogged.
"You have a blog?" he asked.
"Yes." I said.
" What do you write about?"
"My AWESOME LIFE!" (obviously)

Here's what's been happening recently in my awesome life.

My 3-year old who potty trained himself? Easy come. Easy go.
That boy completely UN-potty trained himself. As of the last week he has marked his territory at our neighbor's house down the street, our neighbor's across the street, and several areas of our own house, with a high-traffic area of the kitchen being his favorite.

I went to a free seminar on how to make money at home. I figured I spend enough time on the computer that I might as well make some money, right? Medical transcription sounded like the perfect job for me to do while Bud's over peeing at the neighbor's. And, I already know a lot of lingo. BD says we have other ways to fund our vacation fund.

Friday, we rented, Unstoppable. While we're watching the train run away, he turned to me and asked, "Could you please stop gripping my clavicle." (Looks like he'd be good at medical transcription too :)

BD spent a day home dividing his time between the bed and and the toilet. Adrie had her sick day, and mine is today. I don't have any oils for that ailment but I think Gatorade is awesome.

In better news, I had an awesome dream. I must have been in a Zumba class because there I was in front of a big mirror in a class of people in all shapes and sizes, and even ethnicities. (I guess I have multi--racial dreams.) Anyway, I was surprised to look in the mirror and notice that I had a CUTE TUSH! It was so hot I thought, I better watch out. This is in stark contrast to some of my other body-image dreams where I look in the mirror and discover that I'm horribly obese. "How did it get to this and how come nobody told meeee....," I wake up screaming. I'll take the cute tush dream any day--or night.

Actually, I did go to Zumba class. (My behind was almost as cute as in my dream.) That was a super fun, sweat drippin' down my neck--eww, party! I'll be signing up for more of that.

To complete our awesome week BD and I went to comedian/performer Jason Hewlitt. I laughed like a drunk. I'm sure all the prom dates sitting by us were like, "Sheesh, this lady needs to get out more often." But, man, when somebody does a perfect impression of SLOTH from Goonies, or of Stevie Wonder, or Michael Jackson or any 80's rock band, that just strikes my funnybone. Ahhh, it felt good to laugh. You can check watch his promo oh YouTube. here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENwmxThIfkI

Okay, I'm going back to bed.

Sunday, April 3, 2011

AMEN!

Hallelujah! What a wonderful weekend of feasting on "the word" (and on treats.) We watched the 181st LDS General Conference with family in Salt Lake City. It was Spring green when we drove up and Winter white when we drove home. Such is April in Utah. Here's the good news...
  • The church has grown to 14 million members across the world.
  • 160 Temples dot the earth with 3 more announced in ID, CO, and CANADA.
  • LDS Humanitarian services sent 70 tons of supplies to Japan after the earthquake.
  • Over 50, 000 missionaries serve all over the world (Wohoo to Mom and Dad C. in MASS)
A sprinkling of notes I took from 2 days of inspired counsel...

Use the Sabbath Day to worship, take the Sacrament, rest from labors, minister to others and do some personal introspection to repent and correct our faults. * Look to children as our examples; they are the first to love and the first to forgive. Don't just casually observe them, BEHOLD your little ones * Turn feelings of sympathy into ACTION * Death is part of life * Do not let our fears displace our faith * Answers to prayers do not always come when we're on our knees, they come when we're on our feet. Tithing will keep your name on the rolls of heaven * Happiness = a Christ-centered home; selfishness, greed, and pornography are destroyers of families * When sheep are lost, lambs will follow * DESIRES dictate PRIORITIES which shape our CHOICES which determine our ACTIONS * Kindness is the essence of greatness * Hearken to the promptings of the Spirit then heed them * It is usually through others that God meets our needs * If we handle them right, our afflictions will be consecrated for our good * Be kind to the poor. Visit the captive, minister to the sick, comfort those that mourn * The spirit of revelation is available to all who seek it. ASK in FAITH, BELIEVING and ye shall receive * Make whatever sacrifices are necessary to attend the temple regularly.
And lastly, I love this one:
Preach the Gospel at all times and if necessary use words.
--St. Francis of Assisi