Conference Weekend!

This weekend is General Conference. I am very excited. Conference weekend is one of my favorite weekends for a lot of reasons....

1. Church in pjs! You can't beat that.

2. There are always special talks that I feel were given just for me or those I love.

3. After I read The Work and the Glory I can't help but picture in my mind saints everywhere gathering together with their families and friends to listen to the prophet's voice!

4. Living in Utah and everywhere you go people seem to be listening to conference.

5. Spending time with my family.

6. Yummy food.

Well the list could go on and on. So excited to hear what the Lord wants me to know this time : )

Happy Friday!

Just so you know.....

I thought that the Hunger Games was PERFECT! I loved ALL the actors chosen to portray the characters BUT I especially loved Katniss, Peeta, Prim, Rue, Cinna, Haymitch, Effie Trinket,Caesar Flickerman & Seneca Crane. I thought they were all exactly the right choice and just how I pictured them. I loved how the behind the scenes manipulation in the games was such a big part of the movie! I am so excited for the others and I think I will go see this one again soon : )

So if you haven't yet go see it as soon as you can!

Happy Thursday!

Stress!!

Okay so normally I don't stress about things! I really don't believe in it. My view is probably a little on the extreme side and maybe I take it a bit too far. There are probably times that a little stress can be good. But I just figure that whatever is going to happen is going to happen, things usually work out in the end and stress only makes things worse.

BUT....

recently there have been a couple of days that I was feeling some stress. My girls can attest to this because it was not pretty. The most annoying part was that I wasn't completely sure what my problem was and why I was having such a hard time. Maybe because it was an unconscious thing I couldn't consciously tell myself not to stress about it:) Well this weekend after a semi-meltdown I seemed to have figured out my problem or
problem(s).

1)I am turning 45! Usually birthdays are my favorite! My age rarely bothers me, I don't feel my age and sometimes people tell me I don't look it so I have never really worried about it. I figured that I would grow old gracefully someday when the time came. Well this year it was feeling like the time has come! Yikes!

LUCKILY...

I love to watch series on Netflix and Sarah got me hooked on a new one called "Brothers & Sisters" so I was watching it and Nora, who is the mother on the show and played by Sally Field, turned 60 and she is still super cute and very young looking. I know it is just a tv show but for some reason it really helped! I guess there is life after 45;)

2) I thought I had my internship all lined up and felt really good about it and then got a call from the top spot that I would want to intern at (my passion would be working with and helping women and this place is exactly where I could get that experience). I know you would think this is a good thing but this whole internship thing is a little overwhelming as I have mentioned before and it felt really good to have it all taken care of. This phone call changed all that. After a little bit of stress (okay alot) I am happy to say I have an interview with them on Friday! We will see how I feel about it when I go. I am just praying that I will know what I need to do then so that no more stress will be involved in this process.

Anyway that is my rant :) It's my birthday, I am going to Hunger Games tonight and it is beautiful outside so I have a feeling this will be a GREAT day!

Happy Wednesday!

Once upon a time....

on Glee Finn sang an unusual version of the song which is the namesake of this blog. Thought I would share it...



It's different but I kind of like it : )

Happy Weekend!

What a beautiful day....

Today would be a great day to be outside, maybe enjoying a hike in the mountains, going on a walk, visiting Disneyland or any number of things. They say it is going to be in the 70s for the next four days! That should make for a really great weekend! But for now I am stuck inside all day, for the most part without even a window : ( Oh well I will just look at this picture of Lexi & Brecken at Disneyland and plan for a sunny and warm weekend : )

Happy Thursday!

Family Counseling

I just started my last class on Thursday. Yay! It is Marriage, Child & Family Counseling. Thank goodness it is an interesting class because let's face it at this point it can be difficult to focus. One of the books we have to read is the Family Crucible. I am excited about this class and the book so far is very interesting. It is the story of a family going through the counseling process. It was written in the 70's so some of the techniques are a little bit outdated but it is interesting to look closer at family dynamics and the idea that family problems can have so many dimensions.

Vampire Diaries

I probably shouldn't admit this but I love this show! It is my main guilty pleasure :) At the end of the last episode something very disturbing happened that I would love to talk to someone about BUT because everyone else is so far behind me and doesn't seem to like spoilers it is leaving me completely frustrated!

I mean really....we all love vampires, right?! Especially gorgeous ones :)

A letter to my son...

Dear Jason,

It has been five years since I have seen you other than in my dreams. I can not believe that time goes by so fast. I remember that night like it was yesterday. Even though I try not to think about it that often, on days like today I have no choice.

I think back to the time before I knew what had happened and how I was going on with life, laughing and talking with co-workers, eating candy and having fun with the girls, never realizing that you had taken your last breath, never knowing that your sweet wife was fighting for her life. And then came the call. At first I wouldn't believe it, couldn't believe it. This must be some kind of sick joke. There must be a mistake. Not my son. If he was in trouble I would have known. It seemed to me that my connection to my children was so strong. I always thought that if something happened to one of them my own heart would stop. But it isn't true you keep going for the rest, you have to, it is all you can do. They keep you going.

We made the long drive to Nephi so that we could know the truth. Still with the hope that there had been some sort of mistake. But when I saw you I knew the truth. The Spirit filled the room and suddenly I knew that you had the answers, that all the questions that you had were in the process of being answered. I felt your joy. I felt your spirit and I knew that you would be okay, already were. At that moment I found my strength.

It wasn't that much later that I dreamt of you. We were all there waiting for you to come. Waiting and waiting. It seemed like forever. Finally you were there. Every detail about you was so vivid. "I've missed you" I said as I hugged you so tightly. I didn't ever want to let go.

Some day we will meet again. To me it seems like it will be a long, long time. But I know to you it is only a moment and we will all be together again. Our family will be whole. Remember our family picture from the Thanksgiving before you died? I remember telling someone that my family never felt more complete than in the moment that this picture caught. Little did I know that we would never all be together on this earth. But we will be someday.

I love you Jason. I am grateful that I am your mother. Just as all my children, you have taught me so much about life and love and what's important. I know that you are watching out for us, that you are really still with us. But I can not wait for the day when I can hug your neck and whisper, "I've missed you."

Mom

Am I Ready??!!

I am scheduled to begin my practicum April 26th. This is when, after two years of study, I will actually begin to work with clients.

Trying to find a site to complete my practicum and internship has been a little stressful and for a while I thought that I would have to push my start date back because every place seemed to already have all their interns set up for summer. This would have meant leaving the school group I have been with for two years and starting with a new group in Murray. This idea, to say the least, did not appeal to me! But I am happy to say that yesterday I was accepted to a site in Orem starting the end of April.

Two years is a long time but it still seems like this part of my education is coming up VERY fast. I am nervous and excited all at the same time! It will be difficult because I will continue to work my full time job but add an additional 10 hours a week for my practicum and 20 hours a week for my internships. This will last for another year. (Luckily I have great bosses and an amazing family who are all very supportive)

That part is stressful but the part about actually working with clients...well let's just say that is just a little intimidating!

I guess it is really true....when you start a hard thing it feels like it will last forever and then before you know it you are there : )

Hunger Games

The Hunger Games Movie is coming out March 23rd! Perfectly timed for my birthday!

Isn't he adorable?! This picture is exactly how I pictured it!
Here is a little sneak peak....



If you haven't read the book there is still time but HURRY!

Graduation 2011

Just trying to get caught up....

Last year Lauren graduated from Pleasant Grove High School.

Wesley and Lauren both graduated. It's kind of fun going to school with your cousin :)

Emily

Emily, Sarah's baby girl, who was born September 1, 2011 is such a sweetie. She is one of the happiest babies that I know. Here are a couple of her newborn pictures taken by the amazing Meg Hall Photography. Find out more here.

Updated Blog

It has been so long since we have done anything with this blog. So many exciting things have happened and are happening in our lives, we can't wait to share them.

I have recently developed a fascination with blogging. I have found some really fun blogs that I enjoy following. (I will add these to my list of friends soon so that you can all enjoy them too.) But they have inspired me to be a better blogger and encourage the girls to also.

BUT before I could get started I needed to redesign my blog. Obviously I am still working on that, it still looks pretty plain but I did accomplish something that I wanted to share. There were several backgrounds that we had added to the blog over the course of the years. Everytime I looked at it they would all load on top of each other. SO I decided I wanted to get rid of them all and start fresh. Little did I know this would not be an easy task (I have been working on it for a few days). But you know that craziness you feel when something is bugging you and you can't seem to figure it out and you just can't rest until you do?! Well that is were I was at with this issue.
I googled it.
I ask others for help.
But I still couldn't seem to figure out the problem. FINALLY this morning I found an answer and was able to find where those old backgrounds were hiding and get rid of them. I know it is a little thing but I still felt a bit accomplished after all of that and wanted to share :) So if any of you need help finding and getting rid of old backgrounds I have figured out some tricks!

I hope that you are as excited for our new blog as we are! We can't wait to share with all of you what is going on in our lives and to begin creating a real history that will last forever!