The most impactful lesson we learned as a software development company was this: In the world of software systems, less can be a whole heck of a lot more, and more can often lead to a heck of a lot less. This point can best be illustrated by a personal example: While serving as the […]

“Before you act, listen. Before you react, think. Before you spend, earn. Before you criticize, wait. Before you pray, forgive. Before you quit, try.”                                       -Ernest Hemingway I love the message of that quote.  It’s such a […]

Security is something we all long for.  Security in our job.  Security in our financial state.  Security in our relationships.  We look for security in certainty – in knowing what to expect each day, in knowing what our tomorrow will look like, in knowing what future we are securing for ourselves. But if you really […]

This past week my cousin returned from a 20 month stint working in Afghanistan to come home to his beautiful family that lives on the east coast.  His wife and their nine children had been anticipating his return with such excitement.  I noticed his wife posted a darling message on her Facebook page last week […]

Happy Halloween Everyone!  I love seeing all the cute little kids in their fun Halloween costumes on Halloween going door to door in search of candy.  And according to a news report I saw on TV this morning those cute little kids should be hiding their candy stashes when they get home tonight – they […]

“Pride is to relationships as cyanide is to health.”  I came across an amazing article today about pride and there was a section that was so powerful I had to share it. “A pride contest has no winner because nobody likes the winner. Humans don’t respond well to being put down, and pride gives others that […]

Anyway People are often unreasonable, illogical and self-centered; Forgive them anyway. If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; Be kind anyway. If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies; Succeed anyway. If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you; Be honest and […]

Today I spoke to a large group of students at BYU.  I love speaking to the students.  They have so much energy and enthusiasm and joy for the future.  They are so young and full of promise for their life ahead. In preparing to speak to them I really tried to consider the messages I […]

Living a life focused on accomplishing is a good thing, except when you are trying to accomplish so much, so fast, that you forget to appreciate and enjoy the right now. I have been a driven person since I was a little girl.  I have always been a goal setter and I have always been […]

“Here’s to strong women.  May we know them, may we be them, may we raise them.” Tonight the University of Utah held a Women Alumni event at our REES Capital offices and they asked me to hold a Q&A forum with the women where they could ask me questions about my past experiences and life […]

Do you ever have those moments when life’s deepest lessons suddenly click and you say to yourself “Ahhhh, now I get it!”    The older I get the more I seem to have those “Ahhhh…” moments where things I have struggled for years to understand suddenly become completely clear and I think to myself “Dang I […]

Today I heard about one of the coolest ideas ever so I couldn’t help but share it with all of you. In 2012, a woman decided that for her birthday, rather than having anyone give her gifts, she instead challenged all her friends to perform a random act of kindness for someone else on her […]

“It’s just a bad day, not a bad life.” Some days are just blah days.  Nothing great, but nothing bad either…just blah.  That was how today was.  It seems like when the weather gets cold the blah days come with it…unfortunately.  So today I decided to gather ideas on how to best handle a blah […]

“It’s the greatest poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish.” – Mother Teresa This weekend I was invited to an event and at the event the speaker shared his story that was a sharp reminder to me that we should never forget that there are so […]

Hug O’ War I will not play at tug o’ war. I’d rather play at hug o’ war, Where everyone hugs Instead of tugs, Where everyone giggles And rolls on the rug, Where everyone kisses, And everyone grins, And everyone cuddles, And everyone wins. – Shel Silverstein When someone tries to pick a fight with […]

“Courage is not the absence of fear, but the mastery of it.” -Victor Hugo Do you remember back to when you were a kid? When you blew out the birthday candles to make a wish with the belief that it would actually come true? Or when you pinned a towel to your shoulders and played […]

“The best antidote I know for worry is work. The best cure for weariness is the challenge of helping someone who is even more tired.  One of the greatest ironies of life is this:  He or she who serves almost always benefits more than he or she who is served.”       -Gordon B. Hinckley I absolutely […]

Do you ever have those days where you sit down to work on the computer and you literally find yourself so entrenched in what you are doing that you cannot move, you cannot look away, you can’t even get up to run to the restroom because you refuse to break your focus from what you […]

“Give a girl the right shoes and she can conquer the world”. -Marilyn Monroe Before I explain the title of today’s blog, let me give you a quick recap of last Friday.  Last Friday I was asked to be a speaker for Senator Hatch’s Women’s Conference.  Senator Hatch has been a long-time friend that I […]

I came across a story today that really touched me.  This story is an amazing reminder for all of us to express our love to our families and friends.  Life is full of uncertainty and we should never let a day pass without having those in our lives know how much we love them. The […]

It is a fact of life that we cannot control what other people do.  We can’t make someone else act with integrity, or make someone else do the right thing, and we can’t make someone else be a good person.  All we can really control in life is ourselves. When someone else does something bad […]

Several weeks ago I was sitting with a group of male friends who are all married and we were discussing their frustration with not being able to understand women very well.  One of the men had been in a disagreement with his wife and he was explaining to me why his wife’s side of the […]

We make hundreds if not thousands of little tiny decisions every single day: whether to hit the snooze button, what to eat for breakfast, what to wear, what emails or calls to answer…and the list goes on and on, and usually we can make most of these decisions without having to put much thought into […]

This weekend I spent, and this is no joke, 10 hours over the course of two days watching inspirational and motivational talks.  These talks were broadcast as part of a General Conference that is done by the LDS Church every six months.  I look forward to Conference weekend every October and every April because it […]

A few years ago I was invited to hear a talk being given by author Virginia Hinckley Pearce. In her talk she shared with us an experiment that she did that led her to write her book called “A Heart Like His: Making Space for God`s Love in Your Life”. It was awesome. And as […]

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will, When the road you’re trudging seems all uphill, When the funds are low and the debts are high, And you want to smile, but you have to sigh, When care is pressing you down a bit- Rest if you must, but don’t you quit.   Life is […]

“Your imagination is your preview of life’s coming attractions.”  – Albert Einstein Do you look at a blank page and see a story full of adventure coming to life?  Do you look at a blank canvas and see the colors of a beautiful picture appear?  Can you walk into an empty room and picture it […]

“Being humble means recognizing that we are not on earth to see how important we can become, but to see how much difference we can make in the life of others.”    -Gordon Hinckley Recently I was interviewed by Shauna Lake on KUTV news.  During the interview she asked me if the success of my last […]

Very little is more inspiring then a group of our youth today coming together to spread a positive message in the world.  In a world so full of trashiness and negativity, it takes courage to stand up for good morals and values today – especially for our young people!  The peer pressures they face are […]

Tonight I attended a dinner for the board I serve on at Utah Valley University.  It was a western BBQ with cowboy hats and boots and sweet belt buckles!  They had a banjo player and a yodeler and they did some cowboy poetry.  It was a great evening and it reminded me of when we […]