Spin Class

So I have been going to a spin class as of late. It has actually been really fun and I enjoy the time to myself for myself. Hopefully it will help get this thyroid thing back to normal:) The only problem is that bike seat is not very comfortable. Hopefully soon, I won't notice or have so much discomfort.

Pray Always....

Recently new meaning has come to me with the phrase "Pray Always. " For Family Home Evenings for the past month or two we have been trying to teach our little guy how to pray. (We pray over our food and begin and end each day as a family in prayer- so it's not like there aren't enough opportunities:)) Well he is getting a lot of it, especially the folding his arms part and he says "puh" for prayer. Lately however he will randomly and VERY often get my attention and with his little arms folded will say "puh." Now keep in mind this has happened SEVERAL times in Target, Walmart, Publix, while we are eating, when we are playing with a toy, when we are at the park, when we get in and out of the car, and when Bryan and I are having conversations. Sometimes he will get really upset if we don't stop and say a small prayer:) It is extremely cute, but it has also got me thinking about how when Jesus Christ was on the earth and he put such great importance on children (see here) and he told the people to "behold your little ones" when he had gathered the children around Him to bless them. And I am starting to realize that I could improve on praying always. I can pray more often to myself ( or in my head) when I see a car accident on the road, or when people are kind enough to let me over on the highway, and all those other little, but big tender mercies that makes my day run somewhat smoothly. I am grateful for a child who continues to teach and remind me how I can improve and what he has to teach me. 
I read a really good speech by Sister Jean A. Stephens on this subject, see here. And I really like a quote that she quotes by Elder M. Russell Ballard in regards to when Christ said to "behold your little ones." Elder Ballard said “Notice that He didn’t say ‘glance at them’ or ‘casually observe them’ or ‘occasionally take a look in their general direction.’ He said to behold them. To me that means that we should embrace them with our eyes and with our hearts; we should see and appreciate them for who they really are: spirit children of our Heavenly Father, with divine attributes."
I am truly grateful for a child who is now my constant reminder to "pray always."

It's That Time Again...

I know that most of my friends and old roomies are anticipating or lamenting the school year for their little ones, I am having both sets of feelings but not towards my little one but my husband. Bryan started class last night and so we begin!
We have a year down and hopefully just over a year left and he will have an MBA in his possession! He took off the second half of summer semester to help me help my family and  to help us when my sister got sick. And I must admit that I really enjoyed having him home at night and not having homework to do. We got so many things done around the apartment: closets cleaned, bedroom redecorated, furniture rearranged, and the best part: I didn't have to do all the chores by myself- I had help ( even with the laundry!). That doesn't even mention the emotional and parenting support he provided.
But alas that little season is gone and we have moved into another one. There will be days when I feel like a single mom without a car, but there will also be days when I will be very grateful for others who are so willing to help me, as if angels are there to bear me up. And while there will be nights and weekends full of class and homework, there will be moments of joy and appreciation for the time we do get to spend together. At least there is an end in sight- I do much better when I can at least guestimate the end to things in life:)
So to my wonderful husband- go forward and your wife and little dude will be your favorite cheerleaders!:)

Deals galore!!!

As always, I am a happy consignment shopper:) Saturday morning I walked away with 42 outfits, a couple of toys, sippy cups ( practically new),  and toddler dish ware ( the cool kind that sticks to the highchair:)) for $100. Pretty good in my book! Not to mention that most of the clothes were from Children's Place and Baby Gap. I'm so grateful that other people shop there for their kids:)
There is another sale coming up in about a week- I'm hoping to find a wagon for Taz for Christmas...wish me luck!

'Tis the Season....

....not Christmas ( which don't worry I will soon be preparing for) but for Kids Consignment Sales! The first one in our area starts this week and then there are several more though September and October.  Why do I love them so much you ask? Well I can find basically any outfit, pair of shoes, toys etc that are barely used ( because let's face it kids grow so fast- especially the little ones) for so cheap. I can walk out with 40+ outfits, shoes, and toys all for under $50 and most of them are name brand clothing lines. Pretty cool in my book. So tomorrow begins the season....frugal shopping season- with a smile plastered on my face!!!! I am off with some old and new found friends! Wish me luck!!!!!

In Commemoration of the 400th Anniversary of the King James Bible...

Here Comes the Weekend!!!!

I am so excited for this weekend! Bryan is taking tomorrow off from work and we are making it an official Family Vacation Day! We are going to take our little guy to the local zoo in the morning and then in the afternoon go to a local kids fun museum. I have a coupon for a free pizza, which will be our dinner for the day and the best part is their is a new rule in force for the entire day: No doing chores of any kind! That's what I call a vacation!
We were originally going to be in DisneyWorld this week, just Bryan and I (my mom was going to watch the little dude) but life got turned upside down quite a bit when Katelyn was diagnosed with Leukemia about a month ago. So we decided to make tomorrow a mini vacation- just for a much needed break! No homework, no studying, no work!!! Then on Saturday we are headed to the Atlanta Temple in the morning! A perfect weekend! We hope to post the pics on our other blog. So be looking for updates!

Expressions of Love

Gratitude Versus Entitlement

Something that has been on my mind a lot lately is gratitude and what i feel like is it's opposite: entitlement. Sometimes I find myself falling into the trap of entitlement versus being grateful for all that i have and am experiencing. It is very easy to feel entitled. Maybe some of you, like me, have done this before: "I'm doing everything right, why does this have to be so wrong?", "I don't deserve this to happen to me", "I deserve a better( fill in blank) because I did this", and "My peers and parents have it, so I should to."
I have found for me, that a sense of entitlement comes from comparison to something or someone. Which has never been a good thing for me to do. Which often tends to happen when I am struggling with something, big or small.
But I have been trying lately to focus on those who have gone before me, whether it be my ancestors through my family tree or those who lived in the 1500's all the way back to the days of Adam and Eve. And I have found that by focusing ( or remembering) them and their lives and sacrifices; the sense of entitlement easily leaves.
There were so many of them, that had to work for a lot more than I do. They didn't have any of the modern conveniences that I have and take for granted: running water, plumbing, food that I can go to a store and get etc. Some lost children and loved ones through the lack of today's modern medicine. Some gave up their families and even their lives to be a Christian, thus blessing numerous lives through their sacrifice and struggles. Some of which they never saw the fruits of.
I believe that we live in a world full of instant results, or instant fruits per say: We email someone and we get a response back. We cook something in the microwave and it is done in a short matter of time. We flip a light switch and it turns on the light. So with this instantaneous society, I have found that when I have to wait months or even a few years for something that I really want, or want to happen I struggle with patience, and the trap of entitlement tries to make my faith and hope dwindle.  I wonder sometimes if we feel so entitled to things because we are used to always getting certain things so easily? Or if it is because we know how possible it is to easily get something based on prior experiences or the experiences we see in other's lives?
Those who had to live in such different times, didn't always know that things could come so easily or that they could even exist. Although there were probably several times when that was their greatest struggle and challenge, it proved to be, I believe, one of their greatest blessings.
They found extreme gratitude and love in what they had, not in what they didn't. They were grateful for  their experiences, no matter how hard or easy, and because of that they didn't seem to take very much for granted. They relied on faith, hope and charity.
I am so grateful for those who have gone before me. For those I have never met and that I may never know their names, but who have paved a legacy of truly living and focusing on what really matters in life.  I am grateful that when I struggle with feeling entitled to something, that I have them to look to and be taught from, so that I can get my priorities straightened again. I am grateful for the small and large sacrifices that they made, many that I don't even know of, so that I can live in a world with so many choices and conveniences. I feel very blesses to have their examples and lives to look to and remember so that I can make sure that my life can be one worth being remembered as well. It is through their lives and examples, I can more easily count my blessings.

Things Take Time.....

"Triple T" is what I was taught when I was preparing to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, when I was 21 and a 1/2 years old.
My Dad had always told me growing up "time is on your side" but I know that I didn't really put much thought into it, as I impatiently went through life as a teenager always wanting life to hurry up to the next best thing. I began to pay attention to what he taught me as I was in my undergrad years at Brigham Young University- Idaho. There is just something about being on your own away from home that makes you wake up and pay attention to some things whether it was having so many roommates over  a 4 year period or just having to grow up a little.
But when I entered the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah (where missionaries for our church go to learn how to be better teachers and/ or learn a foreign language) and I sat in huge auditorium the words of the speaker rang loud and clear in my ears " Things Take Time." He had told the story of the Currant Bush, as told by Elder Hugh B. Brown and I began to understand.
It has taken me a long time to say this, but I am extremely grateful that God allows " Things [ to] Take Time."
*I am grateful for the blessing I had to grow up in an area with so many different faiths around me, because I was able to really learn to rely on my Heavenly Father for help and strength. I was blessed through time to learn how to communicate with others through love.
*I am grateful that I had to come home from my mission with a parasite and have only time ( a long time) heal me, because modern medicine couldn't kill the parasite I had:) There is such joy in the process of healing, but I would never have learned that if it hadn't taken time.
*I am grateful for the fact that I didn't have the opportunity to marry until I was 24 years old because, with all the heartache from past experiences aside, I married an amazing man and literally my best friend. I had time teach me what and who I was really looking for and who I could become.
*I am grateful that it took 3 years for our little boy to come into our family, because it made his entrance so much sweeter and appreciated, somehow making the heartache from before much less painful and much more full of gratitude.
*I am grateful for the current thyroid problem my body continues to battle with, because it is teaching me to be more kind to myself and not compare myself to others quite as much, but to see more of who my Heavenly Father sees me to be and to become.
*I am grateful for the job that Bryan has been blessed with for almost 3years, because it is employment, it allows him to easily go to grad school, and continues to teach us to be wise stewards with our money, regardless if the job is ideal in our minds at this stage in life.
And I am grateful for all the other little and small things that have and  continue to teach me and comfort me that God is the Gardner in our lives.
I am grateful that He hasn't always helped me understand in the midst of the trial the "why?" but has allowed me to grow in faith over long periods of time, where  a lot of the time the end could not be seen. And then, and only then He allowed me to understand a piece of what He wants for me.  It doesn't mean I am always happy about this process especially in the process, my stubborn nature makes sure it doesn't come that easy for me. But I am happy that it happens this way.
I am grateful for the precious gift that as we turn our wills more to His, and our timing more to His timing, we begin to understand line upon line, little by little that " Time is [really] on our side."Because we are trying to make sure that we are evermore day by day on God's side.
I truly believe and know that time can heal all wounds and teach all things through relying on God, our loving Heavenly Father and our Savior Jesus Christ.