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 […]
“Today before you think of saying an unkind word– think of someone who can’t speak. Before you complain about the taste of your food– think of someone who has nothing to eat. Before you complain about your husband or wife– think of someone who is crying out to God for a companion. Today before you […]
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 […]
I happen to have two of the most adorable dogs in the universe. They are super tiny and so so cute and our family loves those two dogs tremendously. Not only are they adorable, but if you observe dogs in general them they will teach you so many great life lessons. I found this list […]
Last week my family and I went down to Lake Powell for the week to host our kids and their college friends for a welcome home celebration trip for our daughter Ashley. We knew she had missed Lake Powell vacations tremendously while she had been serving her mission for 18 months so we made it […]
Gratitude Deficit Disorder is an ailment that far too many people suffer from. I don’t personally think that people intentionally catch this ailment…I think people catch it as a result of getting too busy and letting life drive them instead of them driving their life. It’s an easy trap to fall into, but the good […]
“If you want to appreciate what you have, imagine your life without it.” It’s an unfortunate thing, but it is all too often the case – In life it is so easy to fall into the trap of not appreciating all that we have. Whether it’s a person, or an experience, or a material possession, […]
I LOVE McDonald’s. Yep it’s true…so there…I’ve said it…and I will not feel any shame for having admitted it because as far as I am concerned a McDonald’s Happy Meal is truly the happiest meal in the world. Perhaps its because it not only comes with the perfect size meal to fill you up wihtout […]
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 […]
Today is a continuation of yesterday’s blog sharing some favorite snippets of my daughter Ashley’s emails she has sent home over the course of her 18 month mission with the valuable life lesons she was learning along the way – these lessons are such relevant lessons for all of our lives and I hope you […]
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 […]
“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 […]
Today when my weekly email arrived from my daughter Ashley who is out serving a mission the subject line “I GOT HIT BY A CAR”. My heart dropped! I opened the email to find that she had been riding her bike with her companion and as she crossed the road an elderly man was entering […]
“If people sat outside and looked at the stars each night, I’ll bet they’d live a lot differently.” – Bill Waterson I LOVE that quote! My son, who is a huge Calvin and Hobbes fan, sent it to me once right before we were heading on a trip to Lake Powell (our favorite place on earth!), […]
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 […]
IF I HAD MY LIFE TO LIVE OVER (by Erma Bombeck) I would have talked less and listened more. I would have invited friends over to dinner even if the carpet was stained and the sofa faded. I would have eaten the popcorn in the “good” living room and worried much less about the dirt […]
“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” -Albert Einstein There is so much truth to that. When we look for miracles in life we can find them everywhere. Some miracles manifest as a mere “coincidence” when […]
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 desire to be happy. It’s a desire shared universally. It is one thing in life we all have in common – the desire for happiness. Some people wait for happiness to find them, only to learn that this kind of happiness is temporary and it goes as quickly as it comes. Other people have […]
Each day we go through life making choices. Sometimes they are carefully thought through choices and sometimes they are impulsive. Sometimes we make them based on what we want for the future and sometimes we make them based on what we want right now. And while we all get to make our own choices, we […]
Sacrifice – the act of giving up something valued for the sake of something else regarded as more important or worthy. Sacrificing isn’t easy and it sure as heck isn’t always a whole lot of fun. But we make sacrifices because deep down in our hearts we recognize that there is a greater cause at […]
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 […]
Happy Easter everyone! I love Easter Sunday. I remember as a little girl how excited we would get to wake up and find that the Easter Bunny had left each of us a basket of brightly colored eggs and candy. I also remember how excited I was to receive a new spring Easter dress to […]
I love that there is an international day dedicated to being happy! And the fact it falls on the first day of Spring is perfect because Springtime makes me happy! In honor of the holiday I felt it only appropriate to talk about being happy. Did you know that research has shown that happy people: […]
My daughter Ashley who is still out serving her mission shared a story from a talk she attended on her mission that has such a simple, yet powerful message, that I had to share it with all of you. She was attending a meeting where a leader was speaking and in the letter Ashley is […]
Given that this Thursday is St. Patrick’s Day I figure this is the perfect week to talk about luck. We have all heard of the four leaf clover. It`s also sometimes referred to as a shamrock. They are said to bring good luck to anyone who can find one of them. According to legend, each […]
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