Tag Archives: happiness

Perspective and Gratitude

Several years ago my family and I were down visiting the small town of Bicknell, Utah with our dear friends.  We went to a church meeting down in Bicknell back then and a very humble young man got up and gave a talk on perspective and gratitude that was awesome.  In his talk he shared […]

The Key to a Good Marriage is Finding Someone With a Good Heart

Relationships are a tricky thing.  Men and women are so drastically different in so many ways that it is a serious miracle that we actually end up together in many ways.  We communicate differently, we show love differently, we have different expectations, we have different emotional responses…we are just plain different. And is if our […]

The Healing Power of Human Connection

Today started out rough.  I had to deal with a situation related to someone from the past that I once considered to be a friend, but who turned out to be an incredibly dishonest person who did a lot of horrible things that caused a lot of damage to a lot of people. Not exactly […]

Never be afraid to fall apart

“Never be afraid to fall apart because it is an opportunity to rebuild yourself the way you wish you had been all along.” – Rae Smith Ya know every now and then you just have to have that momentary break down…that day when you break down and cry…when you fall apart just a little bit…it […]

Get Candy, Get Candy, Get Candy!

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 […]

Anyway

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 […]

Appreciate and Enjoy the Right Now

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

“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 […]

Kindness on Purpose Day

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 […]

Conquering Blah Days

“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 […]

The Best Antidote for Worry Is Work

“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 […]

“Don’t Let Behavior of Others Destroy Your Inner Peace” – Dalai Lama

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 […]

The difference between the fight you think you’re having and the fight you’re actually having

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 […]

Be a Satisficer, not a Maximizer!

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 […]

Don’t Quit

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 […]

One Person Can Make A Difference With a Little Determination and Hope!

I was down sick again today, but I wanted to share a story with you that I came across a few years ago that touched my life in a major way.  I shared the story years ago in a company blog, but I am reposting it again today for all of you to read as […]

The First Day of the Rest of Your Life

Yesterday was my 42nd birthday, which means that today is the first day of the rest of my life!  And if you think about it, for every one of your reading this blog, today is the first day of the rest of your life as well – and you didn’t even have to have a […]

People Who Add To Your Fun Jar

Today was an exciting, whirlwind of a day.  First I attended my board meeting for the Governor’s Economic Development Board that I serve on for the State of Utah, and then I ran over to attend the Women’s Tech Awards where I was humbled to receive their Impact Award at a large luncheon.  Next I […]

When In Doubt Just Add Glitter

You are probably reading the title of today’s blog and thinking – “What the heck is she talking about?  Just add glitter?”   Well for anyone who has ever done an arts and crafts project in life you know that when your craft isn’t turning out exactly the way you hoped you simply add a little […]

The Power of Words

Words are a powerful thing. Words can build and lift, comfort and calm, teach and inspire.  To the opposite, words can destroy and demolish, incite and enrage, berate and criticize, embarrass and demean.  It has been said that in an average day a person will speak somewhere between 10 and 20,000 words. Which means we […]

Live in Your Parade!

When is the last time you were in a parade?  Like actually in the parade itself?  Marching down the street smiling and waving at the crowds along the route as you enjoy the music of the marching band… For me it was today as I drove the homecoming royalty (which included my daughter) in the back […]

Handsome Is As Handsome Does

I first read the saying “Handsome is as handsome does” in a book I was reading during my teenage years.  For some reason the phrase impacted me and stuck with me over the years.  It was a reminder that true beauty is something that emulates from the inside out… To prove this fact one can […]

Get Your Sparkle On!

I have a great story to share with you today – it is a story that was shared with me tonight and it totally inspired me to want to GET MY SPARKLE ON!  Hopefully sharing it with you will inspire you to GET YOUR SPARKLE ON too! Going into this school year my daughter set a goal for herself […]

Just because its stormy now doesn’t mean you aren’t headed for sunshine

I am sitting in a chair wrapped up in a blanket and watching an amazing rainstorm through my window.  Lightning is shooting through the sky every few seconds followed by the constant cracking of thunder.  I have to say that there is something really magical about watching a storm like this.  Perhaps it’s the beauty […]

Sometimes You Just Need To Take a Time-Out in the “Happy Chair”

When my kids were little time-out at our house consisted of sending the kids to sit in the “happy chair” where they would have to stay until they were able to be happy again.  Our “happy chair” was a bright yellow chair with a sunshine and happy kids painted on it – all designed to […]

Remember All The Good

No matter what ups and downs we have experienced in our lives, there have always been a million blessings.  Sometimes we forget to acknowledge or even recognize those blessings because there are so many other things to easily get distracted by.  And when you have always had certain blessings in your life, it’s easy to take […]

Make Someone Happy

“Make Just One Someone Happy.  And You Will Be Happy To.” – Jimmy Durante.  I love that song btw.  If you haven’t listened to it in a while you totally should listen to it again. It’s fabulous. This last week I have been so grateful to all of my daughter’s dear friends who have come by […]

There’s Nothing A Little Ice Cream Can’t Cure

Growing up at my house, the love of ice cream was an inherited trait.  The entire Rees family, from my father to his father to his father’s father and so on, the love of ice cream was passed from one generation to the next.  The fact was that if you didn’t love ice cream then […]

Make The Best Of The Way Things Turn Out

As I sit here at the hospital tonight, following my daughters second ACL surgery that took place earlier today, I am trying to reflect on what lessons I have learned in my life today so I can share those thoughts with all of you.  It’s funny how just sitting around in a hospital waiting room […]

Some days you’re the dog, some days you’re the hydrant.

Today felt more like a hydrant day then a dog day!  Building our dream home is quickly starting to feel like more of a nightmare lately.  I won’t bore everyone with the details of all the problems that have happened over this last week other than to say that there comes a point that all […]