Today I’ve got a fun guest post from my 21 year-old daughter Ashley to share with you called “The Power of Jimmy Johns”: For those of you who don’t know… I have a borderline OBSESSION with Jimmy Johns Gourmet Sandwiches. And when I say obsession… I mean I found 12 Jimmy Johns wrappers in my […]
I LOVE JULY! The month of July is literally one of my very favorite times of the year. The weather is amazing, the BBQs are fired up, the swimming pool is open, summer vacation is in full force, there are fireworks galore, we watch fun parades, our families get together, there’s rodeos and picnics and […]
“Be strong enough to let go, and wise enough to wait for what you deserve.” – unknown Letting go of something you have cared about, but recognize is hurting you, is never easy. Whether it’s a toxic relationship (or just a relationship that is keeping you from moving forward), or a bad habit (especially an […]
Many years ago I wrote about something called “The Open Your Heart Experiment”. This experiment stemmed from a challenge suggested by an author named Virginia Hinckley Pearce, who wrote the book, “A Heart Like His: Making Space for God`s Love in Your Life”. Here is what I shared about The Open Your Heart Experiment: “The […]
I realize that not everyone out there is a country music fan, although I have a hard time understanding why they aren’t, because country music is awesome! But as I was driving in my car the other day this song came on and I sat listening to the lyrics and they were so fantastic that […]
I don’t know about you but I am more than ready to say goodbye to those April Showers and hello to those May Flowers! I am SO READY for warm spring weather and sunshine! Plus May is full of fun reasons for all of us to celebrate – for example: Not only is May National […]
I am a person who likes to have a plan so I know what needs to get done and when I need to do it. Having a plan in place is great and it definitely allows me to get much more accomplished. But when something happens to make a plan go sideways, well that is […]
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 […]
Peace…We can’t turn on the TV news or listen to the radio without hearing daily reports of worldwide tragedies, of acts of hatred and terror, of wars and rumors of wars. There is not much peace to be found in those reports. And on top of that we are all going through our own personal […]
“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 […]
Since mid-December I have been traveling non-stop. First to Idaho, then to Hawaii, then to Washington DC, then to California, and then to Cabo San Lucas…each trip coming back to Utah for a few days in between and then heading right back out again on the next trip. I feel like I have literally lived […]
Keeping exciting news a secret is not something I enjoy. When I buy someone a gift it’s all I can do not to tell them the moment I buy it. It makes keeping Christmas presents a surprise incredibly difficult. But today I am proud of myself because for the last two months I have been […]
Over the weekend I was involved in putting on a big event for a Board I serve on. One night of the event we held a big dinner with a talent show and then after the talent show we had a dance party. The group involved spans a big age range of couples from in […]
“Whether we like it or not, God intends to give us what we need, not what we now think we want.” C.S.Lewis I was recently talking with a friend who had a plan they had made for themselves and they had done all in their power to make it happen. But despite their best efforts […]
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, […]
As I began to love myself I found that anguish and emotional suffering are only warning signs that I was living against my own truth. Today, I know, this is “AUTHENTICITY”. As I began to love myself I understood how much it can offend somebody As I try to force my desires on this person, […]
There is little better in life than spending time with the people we love. And this year we were especially lucky because we had an extended Christmas holiday break off from the kids colleges – they had an extra week off this year because of the way the holiday dates fell so they were off […]
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 […]
2016 is almost over. As I look back at some of the milestones that have happened this past year I think about the trip my husband and I took to New Zealand and Australia, I think about my daughter Ashley coming home after completing an 18 month service mission for the LDS Church, I think […]
I hope everyone had an amazing Christmas! I was able to celebrate Christmas several times last week – we celebrated mid-week with my son and his wife and my daughter in an early Christmas celebration since my son and his wife were heading to spend the actual holiday with her family this year, then my […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
When I left to work this morning there wasn’t a drop of snow on the ground, so imagine my surprise when I go to leave work tonight at 6:30pm only to find that it had been dumping down snow leaving my car covered in snow and the roads home a snowy mess. …And of course […]
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 […]
When we lose something in life, such as losing a job or losing a relationship, we run the real risk of getting stuck. Stuck looking back at what we had, stuck overanalyzing why we lost it, and stuck feeling sad about it being gone. If we allow ourselves to get stuck spending all of our […]
“If you’ve forgotten the language of gratitude, you’ll never be on speaking terms with happiness.” Over the years there have been numerous studies conducted which have shown that the expression of gratitude has profound positive effects on our health and our moods. One study performed by Robert Emmons, PhD and Mike McCullough randomly assigned participants […]
I love a great motivational speaker. Zig Ziglar has always been a personal favorite because he is always so amazingly positive, so when I came across this excerpt from the book “Attitude is Everything: 10 Rules For Staying Positive” by author Vicki Hitzges, which shares a story about Zig I had to share it with […]
Disappointments are just God’s way of saying “I’ve got something better” Be patient…live life… I love that quote because all of us have had those moments of disappointment…those moments when we had things all planned out in our heads so perfectly as to how they should go and then something unexpected happens and our perfect […]
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