Tag Archives: parents

Life is Like A Journey On A Train

Today I received the sweetest email from a dear friend of mine with a message that made me tear up.  It read “thanks for being on my train” with the following message attached: “Life is like a journey on a train… with its stations… with changes of routes… and with accidents!  At birth we boarded […]

Today I #GiveThanks for my Parents

Today is Day #4 of the seven day #GiveThanks challenge. You can read all about the challenge in yesterday’s blog post I shared, but the gist of it is that each day for seven days you post pictures and a blurb about something you are thankful for on social media. I’ve been posting them on […]

While You Are Growing Up, They Are Growing Old

Today I was really bummed out because it was my Mother’s 78th birthday and we couldn’t be with her even though she lives only fifteen minutes away.  With the quarantine we could only stand on her front porch singing Happy Birthday to her through the glass and then leave a cake an balloons on her […]

I Stand All Amazed

This past weekend began with my family joining in on the worldwide day of fasting and prayer held on Good Friday where people of all faiths around the world came together to unite their prayers around the issues the world is facing with this pandemic.  It was such a beautiful way to kick-off the Easter […]

Never Take Loved Ones Or Hugs For Granted

A news story talked of individuals found to be sick with Coronavirus and how they have to be immediately quarantined away from their families. When they have to be hospitalized they do so without their families by their side. And those die do so without having gotten a chance to hug their loved ones goodbye. […]

Conversations It Would Be Irresponsible Not To Have

One of the most difficult conversations to hold with people is the one where you ask them to walk you through their desires in the event of their passing away. It’s especially difficult to have that conversation with your aging parents at a time you know they are already feeling concerns about the dangers of […]

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 […]

Just When You Thought You Had Things Under Control

As I shared in yesterdays blog, last week was nuts for me with my big University board conference I was in charge of.  By the time the weekend came I was completely exhausted but was feeling super relieved that the conference was done and I’d get to focus on catching up on all the other […]

The Greatest Forces In The World Are Babies

“When God wants a great work done in the world or a great wrong righted, he goes about it in a very unusual way.  He doesn’t stir up his earthquakes or send forth his thunderbolts.  Instead, he has a helpless baby born, perhaps in a simple home of some obscure mother.  And then God puts […]

Overcoming Challenges Changes Us

“And once the storm is over you won’t remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won’t even be sure, in fact, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what […]

We Are The Rememberers

I was in a meeting the other day at the Family History Library, which has the largest shared family tree database in the world, when someone giving a presentation surprised the person with me by playing an audio file for her that they’d located in the database.  Watching the immediate reaction of her hands shooting […]

In Pursuit Of Perfection

Around the time I sold my company I started a foundation called the IPOP Foundation, which stands for In Pursuit Of Perfection. I was recently asked why I chose that name. Here’s my answer: Perfection.  It is an intimidating word for sure.  One which can be the cause of discouragement and anxiety for many who […]

All Kids Really Want Is A Cardboard Box. Perhaps We Adults Would Be Happier With That Too.

I’ll admit it – I love buying the latest toys out for my grandchild the same way I used to love buying the latest toy out for my own children when they were little kids.  I mean, what parent doesn’t get excited to buy the coolest new toy for their child? Obviously there are lots […]

Loyalty Is Returned

“Respect is earned. Honesty is appreciated. Trust is gained. Loyalty is returned.” Loyalty. Over the years I have learned so much about how vital loyalty is in our relationships. Whether it’s a relationship in business, a relationship with a family member, a relationship with a friend, a relationship with a spouse, a relationship with a […]

Learning From Others Mistakes Is A Great Way To Save Yourself A Whole Lot Of Time, Money, And Pain

“Don’t touch that hot stove – you’ll burn yourself.” We’ve all heard that advice before. Some of us headed the advice and some of us didn’t. Those who did were able to avoid a painful burn and its subsequent scarring, and those who didn’t…well, we all know what happened to them. They learned the hard way. […]

Stop and think of all the people to whom your actions have special significance

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 […]

“You’ll Shoot Your Eye Out, Kid.”

Awww yes…we have entered the fabulous month of December and the fabulous season of Christmas (and Hanukkah, Ramadan , Kwanza, and all the other fabulous December holidays being celebrated). And as should be done every December, it’s time to whip out that classic movie from 1983, “A Christmas Story” to watch little Ralphie ask Santa […]

Don’t let your emotions overpower your intelligence

“Never let what you feel make you forget what’s real. Facts over feelings. Don’t let your emotions overpower your intelligence.”  -unknown Learning the lesson shared in that quote is something that took me making a few really bad personal life choices in my early adult life and going through the horrible pain that resulted from […]

Moments That Matter Most

Rather than writing much tonight I wanted to share a really short 3 minute video that has a message that is sure to inspire you today: And that says it all….perfectly…. Have a great day everyone! ~Amy Rees Anderson

What I’ve learned over the last 46 years

Tomorrow I will turn 46 years old. 46…why does that sound SO old?  I suppose its because I remember as a child looking at adults who were 46 years old and thinking “they are SO OLD” 😉 Most past birthdays I have dreaded getting another year older, and I suppose there is a big part […]

If something is not impossible, there must be a way of doing it

“If something is not impossible there must be a way of doing it” was the motto a man named Nicholas Winton worked by. If you don’t know who Nicholas Winton is, you ought to. We all ought to because Nicholas Winton was a real life hero. Nicholas Winton was 29 years old in 1938, working […]

The Countdown to WONDER WOMAN has begun! Why You Too Should Be Excited About That.

Look I am not even going to try and hide my excitement here – and anyone that knows me well won’t be surprised when I say that I am SO EXCITED for the Wonder Woman movie premier! So excited, in fact, that me and my friend Jacki (who I became immediate BFF’s with when we […]

Simpler Times. Maybe we should having them a little more often.

My mother sent me a copy of a posting put on Facebook by a gal named Christy Dickson that my sister and I were friends with back in the elementary and junior high years growing up in Washington. Here is her post: “I grew up in a little town…On Sundays you didn’t ask if you […]

“The essence of honesty and integrity is not the words you use, it’s the message you convey.”

Honesty. It’s something that has always been of extreme importance to me in life. Perhaps being raised by a father who was in the FBI and who valued absolute honesty without exception had something to do with that, but I know that I was raised to value honesty and integrity above all else. I tried […]

The Link Between Traditions and Happiness

This weekend marked the beginning of my family’s holiday season traditions beginning. Each year in October my parents and siblings and their families who are in the area all come together and we go to a place called Rowley’s Red Barn where we start by enjoying their homemade donuts and apple cider for breakfast and […]

Learning the Hard Way

The older we get the more we realize how much better life is if we are just willing to learn things the easy way – like by listening to those who have been there and done it and who have the experience to give us advice on avoiding pitfalls we will face. In the early […]

You’re Never Too Old To Wish Upon A Star

This week I have been sharing life lessons I learned during my family trip through the Mediterranean on the Disney Magic cruise ship where we visited Spain, Italy, France, and Monaco. To wrap up my posts for this week I will share the biggest life lesson I gleaned from my trip – “Where there is […]

Rediscover the joy, excitement, and mystery of the world we live in

As we age we grow wiser from life experience, which is a good thing. But sometimes as we grow older we also become a little bit jaded…almost too realistic…we often lose that sense of wonder and excitement we had as a child, and that is a not such a good thing… Now that I am […]

A Letter To Santa From Mom

I came across this today (no idea who wrote this but it is genius!) and decided it should be shared in honor of all the parents dealing with little children this holiday season: Dear Santa, I’ve been a good mom all year. I’ve fed, cleaned and cuddled my two children on demand, visited the doctor’s […]

“The highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them”

“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.”   ~John Fitzgerald Kennedy I love Thanksgiving because it is such an amazing reminder for all of us to focus on our blessings and to remember to appreciate all that we have in […]