Author Archives: Amy Rees Anderson

“Sometimes the most ordinary things could be made extraordinary…”

“Sometimes the most ordinary things could be made extraordinary, simply by doing them with the right people.”  -Elizabeth Green How true that quote is!  Today was another rough day for me…sick again…arghhhh….not fun.  I woke up thinking if I jumped in the shower that it would somehow magically make me feel all better today…nice try, […]

Sick Days…

I do NOT like being sick! I make the worst sick person EVER!  I am not good at holding still and I am not good at staying in bed….I can’t stand having a day go by when I cannot be productive!  For me, feeling unproductive hurts almost worse than the aches and pains of being […]

You Can Accomplish Just About Anything…

The last two weeks have been crazy for me and my family!  Let me backup and explain.  My family’s favorite place on the planet is Lake Powell.  Lake Powell is our heaven on earth.  We started going there when my kids were just little at the invitation of some good friends.  They invited me down […]

What Do You Want To Do Before You Die?

Life is hectic.  We go go go and we are way too busy and we can’t seem to keep up with the ever growing to do lists we have.  We spend most days just trying to make it through our day and hope to get one or two items done on our list.  And this […]

Better Than Exercise, and Far More Fun!

I hate to exercise. I really do.  I admit fully and openly.  I realize it is good for us and I realize it is necessary, but I definitely don’t enjoy it.  Not even a little bit. So when I find out that there is an alternative to exercise that has the same effect, only better, […]

A Good Life

“A good life is when you assume nothing, do more, need less, smile often, dream big, laugh a lot, and realize how blessed you are.”  – Anonymous Is it really that simple to have a good life?  In many ways I actually believe it is.  I really think that so much of our level of […]

Before You Assume…

“Before you “assume”, try this crazy method called asking.” Wow….that is a powerful quote.  When I first read it, it really hit me.  It is so true!  So often in life we just assume we know…we assume we know what someone thinks, we assume they did something just because someone else said they did, we […]

What We Reflect to Others

“We Judge Ourselves by our Intentions Others Judge us based on our Behavior.” How true is that?  I think many of us tend to justify our actions by what our intensions were.  Even if in our hearts we know that our behavior was wrong.  It is a trap that is easy to fall into. But […]

It’ll 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 not in the front.  For the first few years of his life I kept him in little baseball caps to disguise the fact that […]

I Try To Take One Day at a Time

“I try to take one day at a time, but lately several days have attacked me at once.” How often do we feel like that lady looks!  Way too often!!! Taking one thing at a time feels impossible most days.  Life doesn’t throw things at you one at a time with a nice little time […]

Thanks for Waiting Up

Growing up I wasn’t always the easiest teenager.  I was stubborn, fiercely independent and ridiculously tenacious.  I thought I knew everything. I thought I didn’t need anyone to watch out for me.  And even though my parents were aware I didn’t want anyone watching out for me, every night I went out I would come […]

Sometimes you just have to…

“Sometimes you just have to close your eyes, count to ten, take a deep breath, remind yourself that you wouldn’t look good in prison stripes and just smile and walk away.”  – Unknown Unfortunately we have all been in situations where someone misled us or let us down, and frankly it sucks.  It is hard […]

It’s a Daily Effort

Becoming the person you want to become is a daily effort and one that extends a lifetime.  It’s not as though one day you wake up and go “I’ve arrived! I am now the perfect person.  My work here is done.”  And if you do wake up thinking that you have a whole other set […]

Happy Fourth of July Everyone!

Since it is a holiday I don’t normally post my blog but I wanted to take just a few minutes to wish everyone a fabulous Fourth of July holiday with their loved ones and friends, and I wanted to personally express my thanks to all of those men and women who serve our country today […]

“It’s kind of fun to do the Impossible”

“Never tell a young person that anything cannot be done. God may have been waiting centuries for someone ignorant enough of the impossible to do that very thing.” – G. M. Trevelyan So many things in life can either feel impossible or appear impossible.  Our immediate reaction to something difficult is often to tell ourselves “that’s […]

Radio Interview Broadcast on Erin Stewart Show

I was recently interviewed for the Erin Stewart Radio Show. We did the interview over the phone so I was curious as to how it would go but she asked me some really great questions during the interview and I appreciated what a good job she did as the host of the show. The interview […]

Mental issues: we all have them, so now go fix them!

Mental Illness is something everyone deals with in one form or another – whether they deal with it personally, whether they are living with someone who has a genuine mental illness, or whether they have a friend who is suffering from it. It touches all our lives in one form or fashion. And I personally […]

“Life is to be enjoyed, not just endured.”

In all of living, have much of fun and laughter. Life is to be enjoyed, not just endured.  –Gordon B. Hinckley What an important reminder.  You would think it would be a no-brainer that life is meant to be enjoyed, but I think the reality is that it is not.  It is so easy to […]

Swimming with Sharks

Yesterday I was invited by a good friend to come to the set of the TV Show Shark Tank. Shark Tank happens to be one of my favorite shows on television today because I absolutely love it from an educational standpoint on all the lessons it can teach entrepreneurs.  Each week as I watch the […]

Do it Anyway

“People are often unreasonable and self-centered. Forgive them anyway. If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives. Be kind anyway. If you are honest, people may cheat you. Be honest anyway. If you find happiness, people may be jealous. Be happy anyway. The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do […]

Put Your Whole Soul Into It

“Enthusiasm is one of the most powerful engines of success. When you do a thing, do it with all your might. Put your whole soul into it. Stamp it with your own personality. Be active, be energetic, be enthusiastic and faithful. . . . Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.” Ralph Waldo Emerson My […]

Life Isn’t About Avoiding the Storms, It’s About Learning to Dance in the Rain

Life is full of storms and always will be. Some days are a heavy rain, other days a light drizzle, and other days are torrential floods. And the fact is that these stormy days will come and go throughout our entire life because no matter how much we wish it could be all sunshine and […]

Make The Choice To Be An Optimist, Not a Pessimist

“A pessimist is one who makes difficulties of his opportunities and an optimist is one who makes opportunities of his difficulties.”  – Harry Truman Pessimism: Pessimism is defined as a state of mind in which one perceives life negatively.  It is always expecting the worst possible outcome.  It is living with a lack of faith.  […]

“I want all the cultures of all the lands to be blown about my house as freely as possible”

“I do not want my house to be walled in on all sides and my windows to be stifled.  I want all the cultures of all lands to be blown about my house as freely as possible.”   – Mohandas K. Gandhi I absolutely enjoy learning about other cultures.  I love learning about different traditions people […]

Teaser Clip of American Gnuity

As those of you who follow my blog know I was recently asked to be a judge on the new TV Series American Gnuity.  We have wrapped episode one an attached you can watch a two minute teaser clip of the show with scenes from our first episode: There is nothing more exciting than supporting […]

Do Something Worthwhile with the Life We Have Been Given

I heard a news story today about someone who was been killed in a car accident. It made me stop and think a lot about how fragile life is. The person in that car woke up thinking that today would be a day like any other day, with absolutely no idea that today would be […]

THE WORDS WE SAY

“Whatever words we utter should be chosen with care for people will hear them and be influenced by them for good or ill.” -Buddha Words are such a powerful thing. Especially the words we speak. They can build up or tear down, hurt or heal, uplift or destroy. I personally believe that words, when unkind, […]

“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 – […]

Six Core Values that Help me Succeed

Several years ago when I was posting my daily blog for my employees of my company I invited them to give me subjects they wanted me to blog about.  Several of them asked me to post about what I think has helped me in my life to be a more successful person and mother, aside […]

The Most Beautiful People

“The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not […]