Coupon Class

I will be hosting a Coupon Class taught by Jodi Gardner this Friday at 7 pm. Anyone interested in attending just drop me a note! I have already saved quite a bit using this system...it is free and only requires the Sunday coupons you get in the paper. If you don't get the paper, you can have the chance to subscribe at the Class. Hope to see you there!

Sometimes It's All Worth While

I had one of the moments that mothers dream about having tonight.

I was in the car with Taylor and I took the opportunity to bring up something that has been bothering me. She and her sister have been having such a hard time getting along lately and I've been trying to think of a way to help bring some peace between them. I think I mentioned before that I've also been trying to yell less and parent the way the Lord would want me to do, which isn't always easy for me because my first reaction is to get mad and then think of the right thing to do usually after the damage has been done. ANYWAY...

I told her I wanted her opinion on something and asked her why she thought that we call each other Brother and Sister in the church when in 'real life" brothers and sisters usually have a really hard time getting along. I told her that I thought Heavenly Father must think being a brother or sister is a pretty high station in life if that's what he wants His children to call each other and that I think that we ought to show our families at least as much respect as we do to the people in our life that we call Brother and Sister. Then I asked what she thought of my little lecture...

She thought for a minute and then said, "I think that Heavenly Father is talking to me through you" (can you picture my heart melting and dripping out my eyes?)She told me that she has been thinking lately that she needs to treat Shaylie more like her friend and we talked about some of the great qualities that Shay has and how Taylor could help her in so many ways.

The best part is when we got home Shaylie was giving Tay a hard time about drinking all the orange juice and Taylor got about 4 words of a scathing retort out of her mouth, stopped abruptly and said, "I love you Shaylie!" To which Shaylie responded, "I love you, too."

Aren't my children amazing! I'm so grateful for this blessing and for my family!

Mom's OUT of Time

Whoa Nelly! It seems like things have been going warp speed the last few weeks. I just claim victory over one accomplishment when I'm sprinting toward the next goal line (figuratively, of course...I don't run and you wouldn't want to see me doing it anyway.) Somehow, I'm staying on top of things...but barely.

The thing that made me realize really how much time I'm losing is the huge stack of books sitting next to my chair. In normal time warp, I go around picking up books I'd like to read either while shopping or at the library or wherever and usually I read it/them within a day or two. Well, I'm still picking up the books, but I haven't read anything in about two months. Can you imagine? I'm especially burning to read the one I picked up at Time Out.

The other thing I noticed is that when I was trying to organize my calendar and get my act together...that 94.8% of all the agenda items I've been racing to do are my daughters' activities. I imagine this is how it is for all moms, right? (Please don't tell me I'm the only one!) At least when I was reading, I could claim a bit larger slice of the time pie...since reading a book definitely qualifies as my big fat piece of dutch apple pie a la mode!

Unfortunately, I require quite a bit of down time to remain a tolerable member of society and avoid medication...and for me this time comes after the girls (and sometimes Scott) go to bed and I can unwind, relax, READ, or just watch TV...no demands, no schedule, no nuffin! Since this time lately has been filled with work, catching up, cleaning and other necessary stuff, I'm running low on the recharge.

Since my motto depending on the situation is "This too shall pass!" or "It can't last forever." or "Don't do dumb stuff!"...I'm hopeful that things will slow down again eventually. Right now, I'm really grateful that my husband is patient with me, that I am appreciated at my job/church job, and that my kids don't yell at me more than 99 times a day. Now if I can manage to read a book...I'd know everything will be okay!

Mom's Time Out

I had the best time today! My friends Stephanie Sabaitis and Melanie Hancock and I went to Las Vegas to the Deseret Book Time Out for Women Conference. I had heard a lot about this from friends who had gone in the past and I've always wanted to go. The speakers were Virginia H. Pearce (President Hinckley's daughter), Hillary Weeks (singer/songwriter), Michael Wilcox (U of U Institute of Religion Instructor), Pam Hansen (author, Running with Angels), Amanda Dickson (KSL Radio, Grant & Amanda Show), and Chris Stewart (author, The Great and Terrible).

All of them were so inspirational and talented. These were some of the noteworty moments. **Warning...this is a long post! I couldn't help myself.**

Sis. Pearce spoke about the universal power of prayer. She talked about how sometimes we don't recieve definite answers to our prayers but if we do our best to do God's will, He will honor our decisions. Even if we make mistakes, He will turn our folly to our good, which is very comforting since we all make errors in judgments sometimes despite our best intentions. It is good to remember that all the Lord expects of us is to try to do our best to honor Him and do His will. My other favorite thing she said was: the Lord is waiting to bless us if we will exercise our free will and ask Him for the things we need. In other words, He respects our agency so much that He can't give us blessings unless we choose to ask for them. I had never thought of this in quite that way before.


Michael Wilcox took his theme from the Primary song Tell me the Stories of Jesus, which 3rd verse begins "Tell me in accents of wonder..." He spoke about the many wonderous creations, talents, and promises the Lord has given us. My favorite part was when he talked about the temple and how it is a refuge from life's battles and reminded us that the Lord will always keep the promise He made to Adam and Even in the Garden that Satan will be crushed and that the righteous will always prevail. He talked about forgiveness & how most of us think of ourselves as "pink people"...we forget that the Lord promised us that through Jesus Christ, "though our sins be as scarlet, they will be made white as snow." We need to forgive as He would and not make ourselves a higher judge than He is...even for our own sins. He talked about how he loved playing chess as a child and how the Queen must lead the offensive if you want to win the game. He told us that he believes Heavenly Father is leading with His queens...the mothers and daughters of Zion and that it is through us that He builds the kingdom on earth.

Pam Hansen gave a very heartfelt talk on "Finding Joy in the Mirror." She shared her experiences of trying to learn to see herself as Heavenly Father sees her and not focus on every wrinkle or extra pound she sees. It made me think of my Taylor and how sometimes she gets so focused on one red dot on her face or one flaw she sees and forgets to look at herself as a whole...not just the physical whole but with her personality, talents, attitude, and spirit added in. I have told her many times, "I wish you could see what I see when I look at you." I'm sure our Heavenly Father wishes the same thing about us. Pam told us that only 2% of women surveyed said they were happy with the way they looked. I think more of us would see our true beauty if we could look at ourselves through Heavenly Father's eyes.

Amanda Dickson was so funny! She was the most entertaining of all the speakers. She gave a great presentation on letting go of our faults and failures. She talked about how so many of us crave things in life and when we don't get them, we blame and give oursleves a really hard time. What we should be doing, however, is giving away the thing we want most...give love and love will come back to you, give money and money will come, give service and you will find caring, loving friends to help you when you need it. I really believe this is true...Karma, the Secret, the Law of the Harvest...whatever you want to call it. This is a universal principle that really works!

Chris Stewart talked about how trials help us discover the gifts the Lord has given us in our premortal life to help us and guide us while we are here earth. That He wants us to be happy and that happiness comes through testimony and life experience. Every trial is for our growth and development. One of my favorite quotes was this: "You can't make any mistakes that the Lord can't fix."

My favorite of all the presenters was Hillary Weeks. I'd heard of her, but I had never heard her sing or speak before. She was so witty and fun...and a beautiful voice. I had to buy one of her CDs so I can listen to it and feel the same Spirit I felt when she sang at the conference today. I could really tell that she wanted all of her music to reflect Heavenly Father's messages to us and she feels like she is the instrument by which the Lord sends His love to us.

A few more nuggets from the day-- Concerning Fear: 2 Timothy 1:7 "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and a sound mind."

Concerning Guilt-- Let it go. The Spirit of the Lord is peace. Do all you can do then let the Lord have His victory.

Concerning Daily Work-- There is no mundane task. Every job can bring spiritual gifts. Trust that you are doing your part in the Lord's plan.

These were just the highlights. I was truly fed spiritually today...and I'm so glad I got to share it with some of my friends. I wish we could have taken a big group down to experience it. Next year, they are holding an event on Nov. 6-7 in St. George. I've already got it on my calendar. If anyone is thinking of going, I would highly recommend it! Next year, I want to do the Couples session, and the Girls session and the Concert and everything. If you want to see more details of the event, you can click here!

Isn't She Beautiful?

I said the same thing when she was born...I've always thought my daughters are the most beautiful in the world and here's the proof:

Making Cents

I have never been one to save a few cents with a coupon. They always seemed like way more trouble than they are worth. If I ever found a deal inspiring enough to move me to clip it out before it hit the trash, it would sit in my purse until months past the expiration date and when I would finally pull it out, the only purpose it served was to make me feel guilty that I missed out on the big savings.

BUT...

Lately, many of my friends have been talking about how they are saving a fortune with this new coupon clipping website, so I decided to take on the challenge. The website is www.grocerysmarts.com and the passport is g84rcm. Jodi Gardner taught the class and she was so cute! She got so excited talking about how much money she is saving...I hope it works as well for me. I ordered 4 subscriptions to the Sunday papers so we can have four times the coupons. It supposedly pays for itself very quickly and my only real regret is that I joined too late to get the big deal of the week...Electasol gel paks for .09 cents a box. Oh well, something to look forward to I guess. There are many free items and really great deals...wish me luck and let me know if you hear about any great deals!

Shaylie's Baptism

Xtreme Yoga Volleyball

I let my family talk me into joining our Ward volleyball team. It's been at least 16 years since I played my last game, in college I'm sure. I thought I knew the game well enough, even though my "remembery" is very short these days...according to my mom, I was the star player on my high school team after all. :)

But the game we played was a very strange mixture of extreme ballet, yoga, tag team kid chasing, with a little volleyball poured over the top. I'm sure I struck the "dog flies over the moon" pose at least once in my many valiant efforts to save a ball from bonking a toddler on the head...and if we scored a point, all the better.

Anyway, it was fun! I can't move now...in fact, I'm writing this post from a traction rig I set up in my living room. But if I take plenty of Tylenol, set up my physical therapy schedule, and drink lots of water...I should be ready to play again next week. (If you don't hear from me soon, call for help...I'm probably stuck in traction!!!)

My New Calling

I was called yesterday to be the, and I quote, "Ward Bulletin, Ward Newsletter, Ward Website Person." I accepted the call gladly, but I would like to humbly request an official title change. Whenever I am asked what I do now, by the time I finish saying it, they don't care anymore or they know more than they really wanted to in the first place. I think Ward Communications Liasion would be good. Or Ward Public Relations Facilitator.

Either that or everyone else should change their titles to be more along the lines of mine: the Bishop could be " the Ward In-charge of Everything Person" and the Elders Quorum President can be the "Ward Mover & Orchard Assignment Person." The Ward Chorister can be the "Ward Song Singer and Arm Waver Person." And, of course, the Primary President can be the "Ward Run Around Like a Crazy-Person Person." And don't forget the Relief Society President or the "Ward Really In Charge of Everything Person."

Anyway, I'm excited to take on this new challenge. It's a good job for me since I have the SKILLS and I enjoy working on my computer. It is going to require me to know more than I usually do about everything going on in the Ward. This could be a good thing, since I usually am pretty oblivious. Hopefully, I won't have to chase down too many people for filler. I've already had a couple people email me with info. So, Yay! Unfortunately, Julianne (my predecessor) did an AWESOME job and is leaving me with high expectations...but I'm okay. Everything will be All Right! And now she gets to be the Ward Leader of Song Singers in Very Small Numbers Person...!

Blog at you later...and feel free to tell me what your calling is...