Tag Archives: smile

Including Lost Loved Ones In Your Holiday Celebration

Losing a loved one hurts a lot. It’s a pain that never really goes away, it just becomes a little more bearable as time goes on. And while I am grateful that my religious beliefs are that we will see our loved ones again someday in the eternities, there is still the hurts of missing […]

Want To Be Happy? Try A Dose Of Nostalgia

If you want to be happy try a good old dose of nostalgia. For those not familiar with that term it is defined in the dictionary as, “a sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations.” With all the madness in 2020 I’ve thought quite […]

My Gift To You On National Trail Mix Day

Every summer we go and spend time on our houseboat down at Lake Powell.  And each trip we like to bring down yummy treats to share with our guests we host on these trips. Many years ago as I was trying to come up with different goodies to make I had made a batch of […]

Come What May And Love It

Joseph B. Worthlin shared the following story that has had a huge impact on my life: “When I was young I loved playing sports, and I have many fond memories of those days. But not all of them are pleasant. I remember one day after my football team lost a tough game, I came home […]

Wish Flower Or Weed?

One day my husband and I were walking along a riverbank when I looked over and saw an awesome Wish Flower. I used to see them all the time when I was a little girl living in Puyallup, Washington. They were all over our backyard and as kids we would go out and pick the […]

Focus On What You Can Control

All of us have a life filled with a ridiculous number of unexpected twists and turns this year. Between handling all that “unexpected” and still having to face a sea of “uncertain” ahead it really starts to feel disconcerting. And the only way I’ve found to help myself feel better at times like this is […]

Dare To Be!

When a new day begins, dare to smile gratefully. When there is darkness, dare to be the first to shine a light. When there is injustice, dare to be the first to condemn it. When something seems difficult, dare to do it anyway. When life seems to beat you down, dare to fight back. When […]

A Parents Thoughts To Their Child On Graduation

In yesterday’s blog I shared that my daughter Ashley graduates from BYU tomorrow (Friday April 24th 2020).  I also shared the thoughts she wrote about the things she learned from her college experience. Today I thought it fitting for me to share a parent’s thoughts to a child that’s graduating, so here are my thoughts: […]

Bad Things Happen To Good People

“That moment when you pour a bowl of cereal and realize there’s no milk so you sit there wondering why bad things happen to good people.” (tee hee) It’s so easy in life to think that because you are trying to live your life right and do good things that therefore nothing bad should happen […]

7 UP-Lifting ways to start your week of right

7 UP-lifting Ways To Start This Week off right: 1. Wake UP – and Decide to have a good day. 2. Dress UP – The best way to dress up is to put on a smile! 3. Cheer UP – say nice things and have a positive attitude. 4. Stand UP – For what you […]

Some Words Of Advice Are Timeless

Some words of advice are timeless…the words in this poem qualify as such… Wear Sunscreen  -by Mary Schmich Wear sunscreen.  If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than […]

Lessons Learned From The Easter Bunny

I hope everyone had a marvelous Easter weekend. I don’t know about you all, but I ate far too many jellybeans over the weekend – I’m about as sugar-rushed as a person can be as I head into this week ahead, which may prove to be a good thing because I’ve got all kinds of […]

April Fool’s Day Funny Advertising Pranks Today

Today was April Fools and as always, pranksters were out in full force.  Some of the funnier pranks I saw today that at least gave me a good laugh were in the form of funny advertisements that were put out today.  Here are a few of the ones that gave me a good laugh: Pizza […]

What A Genuine Smile Will Do For You

Did you know that the habit of smiling can make you happier in life?  Well it can!  Here is an excerpt from an article that was published back in 2009 that proves it! (I’m not sure who wrote it but it’s awesome!): “A recent study found that a habit of genuine smiling may contribute to […]

Jesus Will Make It Grow Back

When my son Dalton was a little boy, for some reason he could not grow bangs.  His hair would grow on top and on the sides and in the back, but it just wouldn’t grow in the front.  So for the first few years of his life I kept him in baseball caps to disguise […]

The Big Difference A Little Kindness Can Make

To say it has been a rough week this week wouldn’t quite do it justice. We’ve spent the week in hospitals with a very sick little grandbaby. We are all going on almost no sleep this week and we’ve been sick with worry, but through all of it there has been something truly amazing that […]

Insanely Exciting News – Bust out the pink bling and sparkles!

Several months ago the day after we’d spent time together as a family (with my two kids and their spouses and our grandbaby) my husband said, “I think we are going to be grandparents again.”  “Of course we will be” I replied with certainty given all the incentives I’ve thrown out to bribe my children […]

Want To Know What’s Scary?

Want to know what’s scary? For me, it’s the thought of having the doorbell ring over and over again all night on Halloween and having to get up and done and up and down to answer it over and over to give out candy to kids that often seem way too old to still be […]

Leave Your Troubles On The Trouble Tree

I hadn’t thought about the story of The Trouble Tree for along time. But I was reminded of tonight as I came home from a long day of work. I was worn out and feeling overwhelmed by how much I still needed to get done and when I pulled in the garage and walked through […]

You Can Only Be Young Once. But You Can Always Be Immature

“You can only be young once. But you can always be immature.” -Dave Berry My sister Jen and my niece Rachel came into town this week to visit from California. It’s been a while since I’ve gotten to spend time with the two of them but 17 years ago my niece Rachel actually lived with […]

Traveling For Business Is Not Exactly The Glamorous Lifestyle You Envisioned

I remember a time when I was growing up and I would hear about someone who traveled for business and I would think to myself, “they are so lucky to have such a glamorous job that they get to travel.” Oh, how little I understood back then. I could not have been more wrong about […]

Promise Yourself

“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 […]

Keep On Keepin’ On

The weekend is just around the corner, which in and of itself is something to get excited about.  Some days things go fantastic and other days can be a struggle just to make it through. When times are tough the best thing to do is remind yourself to just keep on keepin’ on: Keep on Keepin’ […]

Am I The Only One Who Finds It Hard To Focus The Day Before A Holiday?

Have I mentioned how much I LOVE HOLIDAYS?! I love everything about them. Great food, fun, friends, family….how could I not love holidays??  In fact, I get so excited about holidays that I start celebrating them in my mind the day before they even arrive…the closer we get to the actual holiday the more antsy […]

Life’s Little Instructions

“Life’s Little Instructions -Every so often you push your luck. -Never underestimate the power of a kind word or deed. -Never give up on anybody — miracles happen every day. -Become the most positive and enthusiastic person you know. -Learn to listen. -Think big thoughts, but relish small pleasures. -Don’t expect others to listen to […]

Blessed Are The Flexible For They Will Not Be Bent Out Of Shape

Plans change. Things come up. Stuff happens…that’s just life…and when they do we can either get angry or upset or sad and allow it to ruin our day, or we can decide we are going to go with the flow and make the best of the situation even when its not what we had planned. […]

The Person Who Says Something Is Impossible Should Not Interrupt The Person Who Is Doing It

“The person who says something is impossible should not interrupt the person who is doing it.”  -unknown This weekend I was heads down working my guts out on my daughter Ashley’s upcoming wedding. I’ve been working on planning her wedding for months but it’s getting down to the wire with only a few weeks left […]

What Are Men Really Thinking?

“Women spend more time thinking about what men think than men actually spend thinking.”  -unknown There is no question that as a woman when you ask a man what he is thinking and he responds, “Nothing” it seems like an impossible answer. How in the world could he actually be thinking about nothing?? I still […]

It’s the things that take the most effort in life that end up meaning the very most

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, […]

Don’t let the backlog of work ruin this week!

Can I just put it out there that facing the real world after a long holiday is seriously terr-i-fying! Really though…there is far little more daunting then having to actually face up to the fact that for the last month you have completely ignored all your incoming emails, phone calls, most of your paper mail, […]