“Every song begins with a blank page.” – Pasek & Paul This evening I had the incredible opportunity to go and hear Pasek & Paul, songwriters of The Greatest Showman movie, speak and perform at Utah Valley University ( UVU ). Now I was a HUGE fan of The Greatest Showman movie and soundtrack already, […]
Forever people have said, “Feed a cold, starve a fever.” So all I want to know is what the heck you are supposed to do when you have both?! Being sick is the pits! And according to the news there are a whole bunch of people painfully aware of how miserable it is to be […]
22 years ago today, February 5th , my baby girl Ashley was born. Ashley was as beautiful as any baby could be. You see, most babies come out with their heads looking a bit odd shaped and their faces a little swollen, but not Ashley. That’s because while I was in labor giving birth to her, […]
Tonight I was reading through some of my Grandmother’s old papers and I came across a talk she had written long ago. In this talk she discusses how people (especially young people) commonly say “What I do with my life is my own business and concerns no one else.” She points out that those who […]
“The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place, and I don’t care how tough you are, it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard […]
Just as 2017 passed us by in a flash, 2018 will do the same if we don’t take control of our calendar right now…BEFORE it starts filling up all on its own. And believe me when I say that Calendars have a funny way of doing that. They start out looking fresh and full of […]
Tonight my husband and I were able to go and see Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol at the new (and amazing) Hale Center Theater. I’ve heard the story a million times but it still gets to me every time. It’s impossible to watch the play without thinking about your own life and where the ghosts […]
All I Need To Know I Learned From Santa (written by unknown) *Encourage people to believe in you. *Always remember who’s naughty and who’s nice. *Don’t pout. *It’s as much fun to give as it is to receive. *Some days it’s ok to feel a little chubby. *Make your presents known. *Always ask for […]
C.S. Lewis once said that “Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny.” I’ll freely admit that sometimes it can take serious effort on our part to remember that our extraordinary destiny will someday come to fruition if we just hang in there and we don’t let the hardships stop us. These last few months it’s taken me more effort than […]
One of my very favorite speakers is Dieter F. Uchtdorf. He has a way of using stories to help teach messages in a way that resonates so clearly. In one of his talks, “Your Potential, Your Privileges” he shares the following story: Here is the text of the story itself for those who are unable […]
Today I was honored to introduce one of my personal heroes, Alan Hall, for a speech he gave at Utah Valley University’s Executive Lecture Series. Alan Hall is someone I have had the honor of knowing for many years and he has been a significant influence in my life and is an incredible example to […]
The other day someone sent me a survival tip on what to do if you encounter an Anaconda, the largest snake in the world – here is what they sent to me: The US Peace Corps train their workers to deal with any kind of eventuality they might meet in the field, and since they […]
“Promise Yourself To be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind. To talk health, happiness, and prosperity to every person you meet. To make all your friends feel that there is something in them To look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true. To think only the […]
I mean really…you gotta love Labor Day – it’s the day we celebrate work by doing absolutely no work at all!!! YAY for Labor Day! I love holiday weekends. I love holidays period. I love that everyone else is willing to stop working at the same time so you don’t have to have guilt that […]
These last few months have been a roller coaster for me. Between my family and both our extended families we have experienced some of life’s highest highs and some of its lowest lows all within a matter of just a few months. In those months there have been days of being happier than I could […]
“Don’t stop dreaming just because you had a nightmare.” Some days I come across a quote like that one and instantly know it’s what I need to write about in that day’s blog, and for whatever reason when I saw that one I knew it had to share it… We all go through our own […]
This morning while getting ready for the day I was listening to a show with inspirational music and thoughts called Music and the Spoken Word. There is something really fabulous about starting your day off with beautiful music and inspiring words. It definitely helps you get into the right frame of mind to face the […]
“For a long time it has seemed to me that life was about to begin; Real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be got through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me […]
I found this the other day and absolutely loved it! I have no idea who wrote it but it is awesome! For those who can’t load the image let me repeat the 8 things to remember when going through tough times: 1. Everything can – and will – change 2. You’ve overcome challenges before 3. […]
“You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness. You […]
I’m just going to put it out there – I do NOT like waking up in the mornings. I tend to be more of a night owl which makes it really hard for me to wake up early, yet most days I’ve got things scheduled all day long which means I end up being grumpy […]
I love summertime. I love the sun and the water and everything about summertime. The only thing that is hard about summer is that for every week you take off and every trip you go on you have to carry the stress of coming back home and facing all the work that has piled up […]
“The glory of friendship is not in the outstretched hand, nor the kindly smile, nor the joy of companionship; it is in the spiritual inspiration that comes to one when he discovers that someone else believes in him and is willing to trust him.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson When someone believes in you and trusts you […]
“I have learned that the head does not hear anything until the heart has listened, and that what the heart knows today the head will understand tomorrow.” – Jones Stephens Communication. It sounds like such a simple word but the reality is that communication is one of the most complicated things we do in life. […]
Sunshine, warm weather, birds chirping…I LOVE Springtime and for the first time all year we have finally gotten warm, spring weather here and that just makes me HAPPY! However, with the warm weather finally beginning I am reminded that it is also time to do our Spring Cleaning! And the truth is that I don’t […]
Did you know that being nostalgic can make you a happier person? Well studies show it can! Recalling happy memories from the past can literally make you happier. At the end of an incredibly busy day when I was feeling a bit stressed out and slightly grumpy, I sat down to finish one last to-do […]
“Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string. Insist on yourself; never imitate. That which each can do best, none but his Maker can teach him. There is a time in every man’s education when he arrives at the conviction that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better, for worse, as […]
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 […]
“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 […]
Get every new post delivered to your Inbox
Join other followers
