Tag Archives: hero

#BelieveInPeople

Today my friend and mentor, Charles Koch (Chairman and CEO of one of the largest privately held companies in the country, Koch Industries), released his brand new book titled “Believe in People” which he co-authored with Brian Hooks, CEO of philanthropic group Stand Together (which my husband and I are a part of).  Charles and […]

An Exemplary Life. Proof That One Man Can Change The World.

Tomorrow morning is the funeral of one of my heroes. My first interactions with Thomas S. Monson (whom I will refer to from now on as President Monson out of respect as at the time of his passing he was serving in the positon of the President and Prophet of The Church of Jesus Christ […]

Living a life of fulfillment

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 […]

One Nation Formed Under God. That is what makes America great

The Declaration of Independence was approved by our Founding Fathers on July 4, 1776.  Today I was contemplating this amazing occurrence and I decided to read from some history books to gain a greater appreciation of the events that took place and the people involved.  Reading of the tremendous faith that these Founding Fathers had […]

Sharing a little about one of my Heroes

21 years ago today I gave birth to the most amazing little girl in the world. Ashley made her entrance in the world in the same epic fashion as she has done everything else since she was born – she came out bottom first! That made for an amazingly difficult labor and delivery for me, […]

She was really here and she really lived

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 […]

Because That’s Who You Are

“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 […]

“All that is necessary for evil to succeed is for good men to do nothing.”

“All that is necessary for evil to succeed is for good men to do nothing.”-Edmund Burke I have been thinking about that quote a lot as of late. I think we sometimes let ourselves think that if we aren’t doing anything bad, that we are therefore, good enough. But in this world where so many […]

Dads. Our First Love and our Forever Heroes.

Happy Father’s Day to all the Fathers out there! How do we even begin to pay tribute to all the men out there who grew up to be amazing Dads?! I have come to learn that any man can make a baby, but it takes a true man to raise a child. A Dad isn’t defined […]

Heroes will always outshine the villains. Addressing today’s tragedy in Belgium.

Waking up this morning to the horrific news of the bombings in Belgium was heartbreaking. Hearing that three of the people injured were from Utah (one from my same town) and were missionaries for the LDS Church serving in Belgium was even more devastating. As a mother of a daughter who is currently away serving […]

I’m Not Saying I’m Wonder Woman…Or Am I?

“I’m not saying I’m Wonder Woman, I’m just saying that I’m a princess with indestructible bracelets and an invisible plane.” Anyone who knows me knows that I have a serious love of all things Wonder Woman. My love for Wonder Woman started when I was a young entrepreneur just starting out in business. I was only […]

I was really here and I really lived

“I don’t want to drive up to the pearly gates in a shiny sports car, wearing beautifully tailored clothes, my hair expertly coiffed, and with long, perfectly manicured fingernails. I want to drive up in a station wagon that has mud on the wheels from taking kids to scout camp. I want to be there […]

PUT ON YOUR CAPE!

“There is a superhero inside all of us. We just need the courage to put on a cape.” Today I saw a documentary at Sundance that showed the story of normal man who had the courage to put on his cape and become a superhero to many children who were being abused and taken advantage […]

Always Act Like You Are Wearing An Invisible Crown

I love that! Maybe because I am a girl and every little girl is born thinking she is a princess, so the crown just seems natural to us 🙂 Today was my daughter Ashley’s farewell talk that she gave in our church meeting in preparation to leave on her mission. The subject of her talk […]

“Choose to be a Hero”

Today, former republican presidential candidate, Mitt Romney came to speak to 15,000 students down at Brigham Young University (BYU). I wasn’t able to make it down for the talk but both of my kids did and they came home this evening to go to a Utah Jazz basketball game with my husband and I and […]

“Any man can be a Father, but it takes a special person to be a Dad”

I want to start this week by paying a special tribute to all of the great dad’s out there.  Like the title said, any man can be a father, but it truly does take a special person to be a dad. I have learned that lesson firsthand in my own life with my children – […]

Live your life, love your life, and leave this life with no regrets

“So live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart. Trouble no one about their religion; respect others in their view, and demand that they respect yours. Love your life, perfect your life, beautify all things in your life. Seek to make your life long and its purpose in the service […]

“Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear.”

Single parents carry an incredible burden. Only those who have been a single parent can truly understand just how heavy that burden is. For a period of ten years I was a single mother myself, trying to raise my two children who were around 2 and 5 years old when I got divorced. When I […]

Heroes are Ordinary People Who Do Extraordinary Things

September 11th is always a tough day to write my blog because there is so much emotion when I think back to that day in 2001.  I can remember exactly where I was standing when I saw the news station as it showed the tower that the first airplane had flown into, and I remember […]

Grateful For Her Example

There is huge power in the examples set by the people we surround ourselves with.  Tonight I want to share a story of one of the great examples in my life.  My daughter Ashley is 17 years old.  For those of you who have followed my blog for a time, you are aware that last […]

The Wisdom of Lessons Others Have Learned

As I was looking through some old files tonight I came across a document that contained life lessons that were shared from different people – the document doesn’t show the names of the people that shared these so I can’t list them for you, but the lessons shared were awesome lessons and very inspiring to […]

Channel Your Inner SuperHero – Expand Your Self-Concept

Our self-concept is made up of two things.  The picture of ourselves performing today, and the picture of our ideal self – the person we want to become.   The beautiful thing about our self-concept is that we can choose to replace the current picture of ourselves with the picture of who we want to be […]