Tag Archives: gift

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 […]

Come What May And Love It

Joseph B. Worthlin shared the following story that has had a huge impact on my life: “When I was young I loved playing sports, and I have many fond memories of those days. But not all of them are pleasant. I remember one day after my football team lost a tough game, I came home […]

Focus On What You Can Control

“One of the happiest moments ever, is when you find the courage to let go of what you can’t change.” There are a million aspects to life that are out of our control. And focusing on things you can’t control is absolutely pointless…no matter how much you focus on them you can’t control them so […]

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 […]

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 […]

Happier Giving Or Getting? That is the question…

We’ve all heard the saying “tis better to give than to receive”, but did you realize that’s actually a scientifically proven fact?  Cause it is!  In an article was posted in Psychology Today titled “Giving really is better than receiving: Does giving to others (vs. the self) promote happiness?” they explain it: “Research by social […]

The Magnetic Power Of Gratitude

“What if you gave someone a gift, and they neglected to thank you for it–would you be likely to give them another? Life is the same way. In order to attract more of the blessings that life has to offer, you must truly appreciate what you already have.” ~ Ralph Marston It was Henry Ward Beecher […]

Best Birthday Present In The World!

Tonight I came home to find my children had come together to write a blog post for my birthday present – best birthday present in the world! Here it is: To the Woman who Does it All, Happy Birthday! Often our mom dedicates a special blog to each of us on our birthdays, and we […]

I Never Knew

When I became a parent I never knew I could love another human being so much. I still remember the way I felt when I became pregnant with my second child – I remember wondering how I could ever love another person as much as I loved my first child. But then 23 years ago […]

How Will You Use Your Opportunity To Influence Others?

Each of us will have an opportunity to influence an untold number of people during our lifetime. So the question we must ask ourselves is, “When we have opportunities to influence others how are we going to use them?  What will we do when we are given a moment in the sun?  What impact do […]

Thank You For Your Service

November 11th is US holiday dedicated to honoring military veterans and celebrating their service. And I believe its also a day we should honor and celebrate the families of the veterans who are as much the heroes as those who serve. I am so grateful to veterans and their families for affording me a great nation of freedom […]

Only 90 Days Left In 2018! LET’S DO THIS!

WHAT??!! Only 90 days are left in this year?? How is that even possible?! It’s October 1st people – that’s how!  I can hardly believe it’s October already. But the good news is it’s October! And October starts off all the fall and winter holidays! First comes Halloween…then Thanksgiving…and then Christmas…Oh how I love all […]

Welcome To The Year Of EXTRAORDINARY!

Welcome to 2018 everyone! Isn’t it just so exciting?!  A brand new year, a clean slate, a fresh chapter…2018 is the beginning of something extraordinary! Hopefully everyone found time to go through their 2018 calendar and block out all the days they want for their vacations etc that I wrote about here, and hopefully everyone […]

The words you needed to hear in the moment you needed to hear them

Some days someone sends you the perfect quote at just the right time in your life when you needed it most, or you come across a poem that applies perfectly to a situation you are going through, or you hear just the right song on the radio at just the right moment for you to […]

They may be myths but they are still a lot of fun

Myths, old wives tales, superstitions, legends…they are all kinds of fun to read about even if they turn out not to be true. We are 20 weeks in to the 40 weeks it will take to have our very first grandchild come into this world. Since the moment we found out our daughter-in-law was pregnant […]

Your Presence Is My Present

When my 21 year-old daughter wants to get my attention she will utter the phrase, “Your presence is my present.” That quote is a very effective way to remind someone to put away the distractions and focus on the moment you are sharing together. Spending quality time with someone gets harder and harder with all […]

What you fill your mind with

“You are the books you read, the films you watch, the music you listen to, the people you meet, the dreams you have, the conversations you engage in. You are what you take from these. You are the sound of the ocean, the breath of fresh air, the brightest light and the darkest corner. You […]

Everything Can Change In A Single Second

Saturday morning I awoke to a phone call alerting me that my son Dalton and his pregnant wife Alexis had been in a car accident on the freeway. Getting that phone call was one of the most terrifying moments of my life. I rushed to the Hospital Emergency Room where I spent the rest of […]

Letting The Men In On A Secret About Women

Valentine’s Day is almost upon us and for those men out there with a significant other in your life this is your friendly reminder to do something special for that love in your life! Because you do NOT want to be that guy who finds himself at the drug store last minute picking from the […]

Learn from yesterday, live for today, look to tomorrow, rest this afternoon.

Remember when we were kids and the thing we hated most in the world was nap time?? Remember trying to negotiate with your parents to get out of it? Repeatedly yelling, “BUT I’M NOT TIRED!!!” Then you hit adulthood and all you can think of is that you really wish those childhood nap days you […]

‘You belong where you believe you belong. Where is that for you?’

“Sometimes the place you’re used to is not the place where you belong.” That is am amazing quote from the Disney movie Queen of Katwe.  If you have not seen this movie yet you have to trust me when I tell you that you have GOT to see it! It is such an inspiring movie […]

Anything Can Happen, Anything Can Be

Listen to the mustn’ts child. Listen to the don’ts. Listen to the shouldn’ts, the impossibles, the won’ts, Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me… ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN, CHILD. ANYTHING CAN BE. -Shel Silverstein First I have to say that I LOVE Shel Silverstein’s poetry!  He teaches so many incredible lessons through his […]

My Christmas Gift To You

Given that this blog is the last one you will read before you celebrate Christmas Day I felt it only appropriate that in today’s blog I should give you your Christmas Gift from me. As I thought through what I could possibly give that would be meaningful to each of you and that could have […]

Look to the Light

36 years ago today one of the greatest Christmas movies of all time was released. The movie stars one of my favorite actors of all time – Jimmy Stewart, which alone tells you the movie is amazing. The movie is called Mr. Krueger’s Christmas. For me Christmas isn’t Christmas if I don’t watch this movie […]

A Powerful Story About Peace On Earth

One of the most powerful and touching real-life Christmas stories is the story of the events that took place in December 1914, during World War I.  It was Christmas Eve and the German and British troops were out on the battlefield down in the trenches.  Then suddenly in the dark of night the British soldiers […]

The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.

Of all the things I do with my time, one of the things I enjoy the absolute most is the opportunities I have to speak to groups of college students and to pass on to them as much knowledge as I can on all the life lessons I have learned in my journey from being […]

#LIGHTtheWORLD In 25 Ways. Over 25 Days.

Today I learned about an awesome challenge for all of us to “light the world” in 25 ways over 25 days as we lead up to Christmas. It’s a challenge meant to help us focus on incorporating more Christ-like attitudes and behaviors in honor of this Christmas season and over 800,000 people have already joined […]

Tis the Season To Make Life Magical

I hope everyone had an amazing Thanksgiving Holiday weekend filled with good food and great moments with your loved ones.  And hopefully all of you are finding it easier to fit into your jeans today a little easier than I am…truth be told, I may have taken eating leftover pie a bit too far this […]

A Gift of 86,400 Seconds Today. Have you used one to say Thank You?

“God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today.  Have you used one to say ‘thank you?’”  ~William A. Ward There are many ways to say “thank you” to others. One of those ways is to give people compliments. Someone once told me that holding in a compliment that someone else deserves is like buying […]

Doing our part to be deserving of their sacrifice

November 11th we honor people who sacrificed of themselves so that a Nation could protect the sacred gift of freedom for its citizens. I stand in awe of the amazing Veterans who so selflessly served, as well as those who continue to serve, for such an important cause. These veterans willingly chose to leave their homes and […]