Happy Birthday Taylor!

I can not believe you are 14 years old. Where has the time gone? I will never forget the feelings I had when we brought you home from the hospital that first day. You were so small. Now look at you.... Amazing! What a handsome young man you are. You teach me new things every day. May life just get better and better for you. I love you my "Taylor Bug".

Merry Christmas

So I didnt throw in the towel on it all. I am so glad I didnt. I got everything done that I needed to and it was all wonderful. I will try harder next year to make it easier on myself the week before Christmas. It will be a new year and a new day to start over. I love that we celebrate Christmas in winter. I love that we woke up this morning to a blanket of 6 inches of snow. It kind of forces me to stop and listen and the world becomes quiet. When it snows like this you cant hear the traffic on the streets and everything seems to be more reverent. I love to relish in the glow of Christmas after everything is done. I am so thankful for traditions that are kept alive and people in my life to help keep those traditions with.

BAH HUMBUG!

Right now all I can think of is BAH HUMBUG. I am so sick of the stress of the deadline of Christmas that I am totally stressing out. I tell myself every year that I am going to start in July but when July comes around I dont even want to think about Christmas because its so fun to be in summer mode. So here I am same thing same time every year... down to the wire....only 3 days left and I am ready to throw the towel in on it all.
What ever happened to the old fashioned Christmas where you just made things with the stuff you had. And put fruit and nuts in the stockings and called it good. I want that back. I totally understand now why my dad used to bah humbug around this time of year. Dont get me wrong...I love Christmas and everything it stands for and all that....I just do this to myself every year... dont know why I do it but I do. I love breaking out the Christmas music in November and dreaming of the majic of Christmas ... thats when I should be stressing about getting gifts done ....not 3 days before. UGH! Anyway thanks for reading. Letting me wig out a little or writing my thoughts always helps me figure stuff out in my head.

Happy Christmas!

Stormy Seas

"I have heard it said that sometimes the Lord calms the storm, and sometims he lets the storm rage and calms His child."

"So often in life we think that because we have done things in a certain way, certain results should follow. But life is like the ocean. Sometimes we get caught in squalls and storms and things dont go the way we think they should, even when we think we have done right. But God can find us in the eye of the storm and give us courage to swim in rough water. We learn lessons from storms that we cannot learn from calm seas."

"When we find ourselves in these squalls or storms, we should remember we don't have enough energy to complain and still keep our head above water. Our duty is to swim, not wonder or complain. We need to get to shore and must leave the reasons for the storm with the Lord. If all the effort we put into asking 'why' were used in swimming, a lot more of us, with help would reach the shore."

John H. Groberg, In the Eye of the Storm


I am learning to be thankful for my rough seas because I know that I am learning lessons from them that I would not otherwise learn in calm seas. I love how Elder Groberg describes this. Oh to be that wise.