Tag Archives: appreciation

What 50 Years Have Taught Me

Tomorrow I’m turning 50 years old and knowing that has caused me to be introspective about a few of the things those 50 years have taught me: *They’ve taught me that happiness comes when we put God first, family second, and everything else third. *They’ve taught me that excelling in the things of righteousness is […]

Kindred Spirits You’re Destined To Meet

“When you encounter someone you were destined to meet the conversation will take flight as if it were on the wings of angels, complete strangers confiding in each other as if you were lifelong friends.” – Kevin Hall Have you ever had the experience of meeting someone for the first time, but having that feeling […]

Customer Service is EVERYTHING!

As I left the Chick-fil-a drive through window today after grabbing lunch to take to my husband, who was working furiously on our office remodel, I couldn’t help but wonder, “Why can’t every company be as good at customer service as Chick-fil-a is?? From the moment you pull up to their building they are waiting […]

Talents In You Just Waiting To Be Discovered

There are powers inside of you which, if you could discover and use, would make of you everything you ever dreamed or imagined you could become.” – Orison Swett Marden Deep within each of us lies talents, abilities, and powers that go so far beyond anything we could begin to imagine. Too often in life we […]

Wish Flower Or Weed?

One day my husband and I were walking along a riverbank when I looked over and saw an awesome Wish Flower. I used to see them all the time when I was a little girl living in Puyallup, Washington. They were all over our backyard and as kids we would go out and pick the […]

These Days The Little Moments Mean A Whole Lot More

Fourth of July has always been one of our family’s favorite holidays. And one of our favorite family traditions for Fourth of July is attending the Stadium of Fire celebration held in Utah.  Stadium of Fire boasts a huge headline musical performer each year (past years have included Carrie Underwood, One Republic, Keith Urban, Journey, […]

Dare To Be!

When a new day begins, dare to smile gratefully. When there is darkness, dare to be the first to shine a light. When there is injustice, dare to be the first to condemn it. When something seems difficult, dare to do it anyway. When life seems to beat you down, dare to fight back. When […]

Mothers Deserve To Be Celebrated Every Day

There are no words to adequately express the tender feelings I have toward my Mother on Mother’s Day. She gave birth to and raised ten children, doing so much of the time alone because my Dad’s job required him to travel significantly. Not only that but my Dads work required our family be moved every […]

Appreciate The Time We Have Left In Lockdown, And Stretchy Pants

Living in the Washington D.C. area in high school I was all about music groups like Erasure, The Cure, O.M.D., Depeche Mode, and the Smith’s.  Then my family moved to the Nashville Tennessee area during my Junior year of high school and I couldn’t help but fall in love with country too. I still remember […]

A Great Way To Boost Your Emotional Well-Being and Happiness Level

Today as I was going through cabinets and organizing things I pulled out my box I keep of handwritten notes and cards people have written to me over the years and I began reading a few of them.  What an awesome way to boost your emotional well-being! Let’s face it – if someone asked you […]

Why Me?

I started reading through things I’d written in past years Aprils to try and remind myself of what my Aprils used to be like before this pandemic. Ironically, the first thing I flipped to was an article I’d written back in April of 2013 that was published in Forbes, and when you read what I’d […]

A Trip to Cabo, an 80s Prom Murder Party, and a Board Meeting

My week last week was completely insane. I started the week off down in Cabo San Lucas at the invite of some dear friends who’d asked my husband and I to join them for a few days at the beautiful Montage Resort in Cabo. You are probably thinking “oh , boo hoo…really rough life going […]

There’s No Kill Switch On AWESOME

“There’s no kill switch on AWESOME.”  – Dilbert A woman who worked with terminally ill patients often asked them what their biggest regrets were from their life.  One of the regrets shared was that they wish they had let themselves be happier.  Note the phrase “let themselves be happier”, which was them acknowledging that they […]

You May Be The Very Person That Can Do It

“You were born with the ability to change someone’s life. Don’t ever waste it.” We often hear that we must help ourselves before we can help someone else, and to some extent I believe that to be true.  But I also find it to be true that one of the best ways to help ourselves […]

We Never Really Grow Up, We Just Learn How To Act In Public

“We never really grow up, we just learn how to act in public.” The other day my adult daughter commented she’s noticed that me being a grandmother has really brought out the little kid in me.  She said it’s been fun for her to watch me getting down on the floor and playing with my […]

A Parent’s Letter To Santa

Last week we took our children and grandchildren to go ride the Polar Express train for Christmas. As I was watching my daughter-in-law getting her two year old son and her four month old daughter ready to go it reminded me of how utterly exhausting it can be to a mother with small children. The […]

The Importance Of Saying Thank You

My two year old grandson came barreling in the door of the house calling out “Grandma…Grandma” as he ran over to me to give me a hug.  I’m telling ya….that is seriously just about THE GREATEST thing in the entire world! As I sat with him playing it made me long for the days when […]

Changing The World For The Better

Today was a really big day – it was the groundbreaking for the new Scott C. Keller Business School Building at Utah Valley University.  This is a project our Woodbury School of Business National Advisory Board I’m Chairing has been working on for years so it was fantastic to see it actually happening. And I’m […]

Beautiful People Don’t Just Happen

“The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not […]

Speak The Truth

Years ago I wrote an article for Forbes called Speak The Truth Even If Your Voice Shakes which talked about the importance of giving people honest feedback in a respectful way, even at times it feels uncomfortable or  intimidating to do so.  In the article I shared seven lessons I’d learned about giving feedback and […]

Stand And Be Celebrated

As I sat Friday night in the BYU Marriott Center (with its seating capacity of around 19,000 people), and they flashed my photo onto the jumbotron screens and had me stand and be recognized by the audience for receiving BYU’s Honorary Alumni Award it was completely surreal. That’s how they started the BYU Spectacular event […]

“Does Anyone Here Have A Sister Named Bambi?”

Back in my twenties I was invited on a trip with a group of people that didn’t know each other.  When the group arrived, one of the young men in the group started sharing his thoughts on a controversial political subject, speaking in a manner that assumed everyone else in the group shared his same […]

To A Footstool A Chair Is Everything

Every Sunday our family has a tradition that as we sit around the kitchen table for dinner together we always go around the table and each take a turn sharing something that touched us in church that day. Then we discuss the thoughts shared.  This tradition is something we value tremendously because it’s a time […]

It Only Takes Three Words To Strengthen Any Relationship

Years ago someone shared an article with me titled “Only 3 Words” that reads as follows: “There are many things that you can do to strengthen your relationships. Often the most effective thing you can do involves saying just three words…The following three-word phrases can be tools to help develop every relationship. 1.Let me help […]

A Day In One Another’s Shoes

Last night my I went and saw the musical Freaky Friday with my daughter. I would guess all of you are familiar with the storyline from the Disney movie Freaky Friday already, but just in case your not, it’s about a mother and her teenage daughter who have been struggling to get along (as many […]

Some Words Of Advice Are Timeless

Some words of advice are timeless…the words in this poem qualify as such… Wear Sunscreen  -by Mary Schmich Wear sunscreen.  If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than […]

Gift Ideas For Mothers’ Day That Show Appreciation

Nothing can choke people up faster than talk about their love for their Mothers. That’s because its really overwhelming to consider the tremendous sacrifice that our Mothers make for us. They bring us into this world at a huge cost to their physical bodies and then they literally care for our every need in life […]

All You Can Do Is Your Best

I’ve always been someone who pushes myself. I set big goals and I go after them. I don’t let myself settle for mediocrity because nothing about the word mediocre appeals to me. I believe if you are going to do something you ought to do it 100% and do it the very best you can. […]

It’s Not The Places We Go, It’s The People We Are With

My husband and I spent most of last week in New York City with the Hale Center Theater Founders Board. The Hale Center Theater is an incredible community theater in Utah that has plays of the caliber of any Broadway show I’ve seen. Each year this board takes a trip together to go and see […]