Throughout this month I will try to share some of my favorite Christmas stories and poems that inspire me. This story below is one I heard when I was growing up and I still remember the way it struck me as I heard it. It has a great message that inspires you to want to […]
“The secret to change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.” – Socrates A lot of things are changing in our world right now, and whenever there are times of major change, it often results in feelings of uncertainty, fear, and sometimes even dread. But […]
“In ancient Persia there was a man by the name of Ali Hafid who owned orchards, gardens, and fields of grain. Ali Hafid was rich. He was contented because he was wealthy, and he was wealthy because he was contented. One day a Buddhist priest came by Ali Hafid’s home, and together they sat by […]
I cannot believe it is the middle of October already! Holy cats people, it’s time to bust out those hoodies and pass the candy corn because Fall is officially in season and Halloween is only a few weeks away! That means we get to carve pumpkins for the front porch, we get to bust out […]
Late Friday night my husband and I began our drive home from Idaho where we had attended our Aunt’s funeral, back home in Utah. We had intended to get an earlier start home but we had spent the day scanning in all of our Aunt’s photos and papers so the family members could have digital […]
Given the recent passing of a loved one my thoughts have been turned toward each of our own lives and what will matter to each of us as we face our time to pass from this life. I’ve thought about what we take with us, what we leave behind, and what will truly matter. I came […]
Today I want to pay tribute to an amazing woman named Iris who happens to be my Aunt. Aunt Iris would have celebrated her 98th birthday this week, but sadly on Friday we got word that Iris had passed away. On the one hand I am incredibly sad to see Iris pass from this life because she was such a […]
“If you don’t believe in miracles perhaps you’ve forgotten you are one.” I’m sure there are those who wonder if miracles are real, but I love the quote that says “We live on a blue planet that circles around a ball of fire next to a moon that moves the sea, and you don’t believe […]
Happy Labor Day everyone! I hope you had an awesome holiday today. For those who are wondering what Labor Day is about, don’t feel bad…I myself have celebrated Labor Day holiday my entire life but never really thought about why we had the holiday or what the holiday was about. I always just thought of […]
The last day of August really is like the Sunday of Summer….it’s like the night before you have to go back to real life again…summer vacations are over, school has started, and we are no longer able to lose all track of what day of the week it is….darn it! Yes, having August come to […]
Our first three stops on the cruise were all locations in Italy. I happen to LOVE Italy. A few years back my brother and his family were living in Rome and we had come to stay with them for several weeks and we absolutely fell in love with the country…after all, they do food better […]
The next life lesson I learned on my European Adventure came about the day we boarded our Disney Cruise ship in Barcelona. I have taken many other cruises before but never have I gone on a Disney cruise. For one they charge significantly more than other cruise lines so I have always opted for the […]
I promised this week I would share some life lessons I learned during my families recent European Adventure. Today I want to start by sharing my experience in Spain, specifically, during my visit to the Lladro factory in Valencia, Spain. First I need to explain my love for Lladro porcelain statues. My Mother once received […]
A philosophy professor stood before his class with some items on the table in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with rocks, about 2 inches in diameter. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They […]
“It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see” – Henry David Thoreau You could take a group of people and have them all look at the very same situation and yet later if you asked each person what they saw they will likely describe having seen different things. That’s because everyone’s […]
Last weekend my family and I headed up to Idaho to visit my husband Rollin’s family for the Anderson family reunion. My husband comes from the most amazing parents – I truly lucked out getting his parents as my in-laws when we got married. Rollin’s family is awesome. His family has eleven children and they […]
Last week I shared five blogs that each gave clips from different emails we had received from our daughter during her 18 month mission. I hope you all enjoyed hearing the life lessons she shared in those emails. Today was the final event of her 18 month journey – she gave a homecoming talk at […]
Back in 2011, as a Christmas gift, my son Dalton who was a freshman in college at the time, decided to write a blog for me one night so I could take a night off from writing. It was posted back when my blog was only for my employees so none of you got to […]
In a recent blog I wrote about how we need to stop being so hard on ourselves and how we need to like ourselves if we ever want to succeed in life. On that same note I wanted to share the words of a darling children’s book that is written by Karen Beaumont called “I Like […]
Years ago when my daughter Ashley was in high school she tore her ACL playing basketball and had to have surgery. We rented a hospital bed for her recovery so she could be out in the family room where everyone hung out and watched TV together. One day my husband and I came in the […]
“She’s banged up, mentally and emotionally. Literally and metaphorically. But every day she walks outside with a smile on her face because that’s who she is.” I cannot tell you how much that quote has inspired me during times in my life that I have been struggling. Part of the reason I love it is […]
“Change is not a four letter word…but often your reaction to it is!” – Jeffrey Gitomer Change is scary..it’s trading the known for the unknown. It’s leaving something behind without knowing if what lies ahead. It’s wondering “Will I like it as much?” “Will it ever be as good as it was?” “What if it’s […]
I have always had an incredible drive to work hard. When I am at work I genuinely work my tail off. I am motivated and driven and focused on getting a tremendous amount done, and all of that is positive, but my problem lies in that I often don’t know how to put things down […]
Have you smiled yet today? We don’t have to have a perfect life to have a reason to smile. Smiling is just a way to show God that we appreciate all He has given us. And each of us reading this has at least one thing to be appreciative of because the very fact we […]
It is finally starting to feel like spring outside with sunshine and warm weather and blossoms and flowers cropping up everywhere. I LOVE it! And with Spring comes Spring Cleaning. Yep, it’s time for all of us to wash our windows so the sunlight can come through. And it’s finally warm enough to open those […]
Today was AWESOME! First of all it was Mother’s Day! And as the Mother of two of my own and one daughter-in-law, I want to say that I love being a Mom! It’s the most amazing blessing ever, but let’s admit it, sometimes it can feel like all the effort and sacrifice goes unnoticed. So […]
For years and years I worked on drawing a floor plan for my dream home and then a few years ago I was able to build that house and see those drawings become a reality. It was really exciting to see something you had worked so hard on come to fruition. We are the architects […]
The Oyster Story There once was an oyster whose story I tell, Who found that some sand had got into his shell. It was only a grain, but it gave him great pain. For oysters have feelings although they’re so plain. Now, did he berate the harsh working of fate Which had brought him to […]
I woke up this morning so excited to go out into the warm spring sunshine…I put on my short sleeved shirt and sandals, and I opened my door to find ridiculously cold wind and rain! NOOOOOO!!!…. Back inside I went to change my sandals for winter shoes and put on my warmest sweater. I was […]
“Once a wise old botany teacher was speaking to a group of young and eager students. He gave them an assignment to go out by the side of some lonely road and find a small, unnoticed flower. He asked them to study the flower for a long time. “Get a magnifying glass and study the […]
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