Tag Archives: sacrifice

Common Traits of Highly Intelligent People

The other day I attended a meeting where I was able to able to meet with several companies that had all been started under one umbrella where they began in think tank full of really intelligent people who all worked on different ideas until their best ideas rose to the top to become actual companies. […]

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 […]

The true essence of Christmas

The week of Christmas is upon us and my heart can’t help but think about the true essence of Christmas – to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ and the sacrifice he willingly made out of his infinite love for each one of us. It reminds me of a story I try to read each […]

Love Them All The Way To The End

I love the holiday season – I love the decorations and the holiday goodies and that extra feeling of love in the air. And I especially love Hallmark Christmas Movies!!! For those who don’t know what I am talking about, the Hallmark channel on TV puts out a bunch of original Christmas movies every year […]

What would you do?

Here is an interesting story I came across: A letter was found in a baking powder can wired to the handle of an old pump that offered the only hope of drinking water in a very long, seldom-used trail across the Armagosa Desert. The letter read: “This pump was all right as of June 1932. […]

What appears to be a sacrifice now will prove to be your best investment later

We live in a world where the options seem to be endless, but instead of making life easier, sometimes that make our lives more difficult. For example – when someone asks you where you want to go to lunch it isn’t just a choice of hamburgers or pizza….noooooo…there are literally hundreds of places to eat […]

What Will Matter?

Given the recent passing of a loved one my thoughts have been turned toward each of our own lives and what will matter to each of us as we face our time to pass from this life. I’ve thought about what we take with us, what we leave behind, and what will truly matter. I came […]

The best thing in life isn’t things

The best thing in life isn’t things…its family. Family is a pretty amazing thing. First and foremost it is made up of our own immediate family, then our extended family, and then our friends that we love as family. Last week was a wonderful week. My own family was able to host several other families […]

Land of the Free and Home of the Brave (Happy Fourth of July!)

In 1776, after the Second Continental Congress adopted the Lee Resolution that “these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent,” John Adams wrote the following to his wife: “You will think me transported with enthusiasm, but I am not. I am well aware of the toil and blood and treasure […]

Get Ready For Father’s Day – a public service reminder

Sunday it will be Father’s Day and so as a public service I thought it would be good for me to remind everyone who has a Father themselves, as well as any Wives who have a Husband of children to GET ON TOP OF IT PEOPLE!! Don’t forget to prepare something to honor those Fathers!!! […]

We Do Not Forget

I have to say that there is something especially great about the Memorial Day Holiday weekend. For one thing it signifies the start of the Summer season and I don’t know about all of you, but I am SO READY for summer! I feel like it has been an especially cold and rainy Spring this […]

Successful Mothers (and Happy Mother’s Day!)

“Successful Mothers are not the ones that have never struggled, they are the ones that never give up, despite the struggles.” This weekend we will be celebrating Mother’s Day. It’s a time we all take a moment to think about all the things our Mothers do for us in life. It’s also a time when […]

Don’t think of it as a Sacrifice, think of it as an Investment

Sacrifice – the act of giving up something valued for the sake of something else regarded as more important or worthy. Sacrificing isn’t easy and it sure as heck isn’t always a whole lot of fun. But we make sacrifices because deep down in our hearts we recognize that there is a greater cause at […]

Living A Life Of Honor

Winning. It’s something that everyone wants because let’s face it, it is far more fun to win than it is to lose. But there is something that should mean more to all of us than winning does, and that is living a life of honor. In the world today it too often feels that people […]

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 […]

Instant Gratification Is Beginning To Feel Like Not Soon Enough

The speed at which we expect everything today is almost unbelievable. We as a society want everything RIGHT NOW! We want our food instantly, we want our internet speed to be instantaneous, we want answers to questions to be given immediately, we want the news the instant it happens…. We want everything right here, right […]

Sometimes you need to stop and remember the WHY

We often start things with a very good reason behind why we are doing it. There is typically a motivation that is driving us forward. But sometimes we can get so busy doing something that we totally lose sight of WHY we started doing it in the first place! It’s so critical for each of […]

The Character of an Honest Man

As President’s Day comes to an end I wanted to take a minute to pay tribute to George Washington, the man President’s Day holiday was originally setup to honor. His story is an amazing one and the things he accomplished with his life are truly incredible. He was a man of integrity who didn’t seek […]

What will your mark on this world be?

We all come into this world for a time, not knowing how short or long the time we have in this life will be. We go about our lives being busy, getting things done, and hopefully having some fun along the way. But when is the last time we really sat down and thought about […]

“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 […]

Life Is Better With Friends

I have learned through the years that family isn’t just made up of blood…it is made up of those people in your life who build you up while giving you input on how you can improve, those who help put a smile on your face, those who pick you up when you’re feeling down, those […]

You Reap What You Sow

I am a big believer in the fact that we reap what we sow.  Not always do we get to sow our rewards as quickly as we would like, and by the same token other people who do bad things often don’t sow the punishments as quickly as we wish they would. But regardless of […]

A Child Who Treats Their Parents With Respect Is An Employee Any Boss Would Be Thrilled To Hire (Forbes Article)

As a child I was taught the importance of respect – we were taught showing respect for other people, showing respect for other’s cultures, showing respect for people’s position of authority, showing respect for a venue, showing respect for an event, etc. This principle was emphasized greatly in my home and it is something I […]

You Never Know the Impact You Can Have On Someone

I have to start tonight’s blog off by saying I am the luckiest mom in the world and here’s why – Today I was asked to give two keynote presentations for two different groups down at Brigham Young University. The groups I spoke to were both awesome and amazing and I loved every minute of […]

Enduring Love of a Father (Happy Father’s Day)

Father’s Day holds an incredibly special place in my heart each year. Not only because I was blessed with an amazing Father of my own and an equally amazing Father-in-law, but also because I have been blessed with an incredible husband who came into my life 7 1/2 years ago and became the Father to my two children. […]

The Toughest CEO Position In The World (Forbes Article)

I was a CEO of a high-growth technology company for many years and so believe me when I say that I don’t make this next statement lightly: There is no tougher CEO position in the world than that of the CEO of a home. As CEO of a home you are not just the Chief […]

“It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.”

Tomorrow early morning we send our daughter off to go and serve a voluntary 18 month long mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  For the next 18 months she will be sacrificing time away from her family, home, friends, cell phones, Facebook, Instagram, college, vacations, trips to Lake Powell, movies, etc […]

“To care for those who once cared for us is one of the highest honors.”

We grow up looking at our parents as the strongest people in our world. They handle everything, they take care of everything, and they can do everything.  Then you grow up and as you grow older, unfortunately so do they. Then one day you wake up and realize that your parents can no longer handle […]

You were born with the ability to change someone’s life

“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 […]

Help them see their unlimited potential

Today I had the BYU (Brigham Young University) Founders Board Meeting. The Founder’s Board consists of people from all over the country who travel in for the board meeting each year.  The day started with me hosting the women’s luncheon at my home.  We had about 60 women attend and we all had a fabulous […]