The beginning of the end

Normally I would post classic quotes from my kids into my sidebar, but this one deserved its own blog post.  Now, if Leah discovers that I have made this post then I will probably never hear the end of how much I embarrass her.  But.....oh well!  I'm a parent and that's what I do ;>) .

So, yesterday I picked Leah up early from school so that we could have some family fun(blog post on this is yet to come).  I let her ride in the front seat with me for the mile drive home and she turns to me very seriously and says:

"Okay, Mama, I have three reasons why I think that that boy "A" loves me.

Reason 1:  In P.E. he said, "But I didn't get a chance to race Leah yet??!!"

Reason 2:  He stared at me for more than like 20 seconds!

and lastly

Reason 3:  I heard from a friend who heard from another friend who heard "A" say:  "Leah is just like an angel."  "

Oh boy!  What's a parent to do????  I love that girl so much and it saddens me to think that I only have a few more years before the "crazy" hits her.  I hope that they will be a good few years.

Negligence and Procrastination

Wow!  It seems as though it has been forever since I posted on here!  It's been in the back of my mind constantly but I just haven't found a good time to sit and blog.  I haven't even had time lately to sit down and take care of our emails.  You know, all of those lovely emails that I intend to read sometime but never actually do.  It finally got to over 200 emails this morning and I decided that I had to take action.  Now, 200 emails may not sound extreme to some people but I'll just say that we try to keep our emails to a bare minimum and that's usually less that 10.  So, our emails were overloaded, our DVR has such a backlog that I feel like when I do finally have the time to sit and watch any of the shows that I wind up falling asleep right in the middle of the episode, and I haven't been able to sit down and read for several weeks; at least not recreationally.  Then I realized that withdrawing myself from all of this media has not necessarily been a negative in my life.  Have I been able to sit down and zone out with mindless drivel?  Not really.  Have I felt lost without it?  Nope!  Have I been able to take the time to accomplish more of the things that are potentially enriching and edifying?  Yup.

Family

Our church held its General Conference a little over a week ago.  For those that are unaware of this semi-annual event, it is when the leaders of our church speak and offer counsel and inspiration to anyone willing to hear their messages.  During this last General Conference, President Uchtdorf, a Counselor in the First Presidency of the church, touched on many things but what I felt was most applicable to me was his mention of time management.  Have I been busy?  Yes.  Have I been focusing more on things that really truly matter?  I like to think that I have.  I am trying to focus more on the truly important things and steer away from the things that just seem more enticing.  In the past it's seemed relatively easy to tell the kids, "I'll be there in just a minute.  Just wait until I'm done with [insert meaningless internet site or other frivolous task]".  It's so easy to find other things to do that seem so much easier than tending to the things that really should be priorities in my life.  This may mean less frequent blog posts and it may mean fewer deals found online, but are those the things that are vital?  Not really.  I feel good about the things that I have began to make improvements upon.  I have felt more organized in my life.  I have had a greater sense of accomplishment and hope to continue on with this for as long as possible.  Here's hoping.....

Picture post

It's been a little while since I've posted pics on here since my camera melted(it's a long story, but I'll just say that there was some sort of weird reaction between my camera and the rechargeable batteries that I had just put in and the camera got so hot that it melted). But, fortunately Leah got a camera for her birthday and she has been nice enough to let us borrow it from time to time. Here are a few updated pics:

The kids on 8/31/10


Leah on her first day of the Second grade - 8/9/10

Burdens

Yesterday, while at an establishment, I overheard the conversation between two men. At first their conversation seemed light enough as they spoke of their children and some of their accomplishments, then as their words turned direction I felt a sense of sadness for them. It seemed that they had both been active members of the LDS church at some point in their lives but were now very inactive and attending other churches. It wasn't that information that necessarily saddened me the most, rather it was what they had said about the church that had more of an impact. They began talking about all of the callings and so-called obligations that they had while they were active members and how burdensome it all had felt. One man continued to say, "I just want to go to church and worship and then be able to go home or go out to eat if I want and enjoy my time and my day without being expected to help out all of the time." Now, I wish that I could say that I never felt burdened by a calling but I cannot. I was and am fortunate enough to be able to realize that the problem is not with the calling nor the church but rather within myself and my own attitude and once I am able to recognize that I know that I have the power to change it. Citing Doctrine and Covenants 121:7-8 and a quote by Elder L. Whitney Clayton:

7 My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment;

8 And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes.

"Our own mistakes and shortcomings produce many of our problems and can place heavy burdens on our own shoulders. The most onerous burden we impose upon ourselves is the burden of sin. We have all known the remorse and pain which inevitably follow our failure to keep the commandments."[he also includes that burdens may be natural products of the conditions of the world, or can be imposed on us by the misconduct of others.]

I could go on and on but I will just say that I hope that those two men will come to the realization that though the churches which they are currently attending may try to spread good messages, they do not have the fullness of the gospel. We can go to school or church every day and listen to the messages that are shared with us but we will never truly learn or understand those principles and practices until we begin to apply them and use them in our lives. I am grateful to those men for helping to remind me of my love of the church and Christ and for helping me strengthen my testimony.

I know that if we keep His commandments that He helps us with our burdens and offers us the strength and ability to overcome all. If we are obedient to Him we will be richly blessed. We can strengthen and grow our faith and testimony by doing His works. I leave these words with you in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Problem solved

This is a follow-up post to my last entry. Last time I wrote that I was desperately seeking suggestions on what I could do to get fit without the aid of my "precious" gym membership which I begrudgingly parted with when we moved to Arizona. Well, since then, I have rethought that cry for help because it turns out that I got what I asked for and then some as my aching body is now the one making the cry for help.

I have begun walking/jogging nearly five days per week with a superb partner(who will remain unnamed, though I must say he has been a truly wonderful support for the past 10 years ;) ). Then, this past week, I spoke with one of my neighbors who was just getting done working out with another woman from our neighborhood/ward and invited me to join them to work out three days per week. I am very thankful to these amazing women for allowing me to join them and am even more thankful that they don't outwardly laugh at me while I make a fool of myself doing certain exercises. Well, I must go and play Little People with Jake because I was just informed that if I did it "right now" then I could get a hug-and-kiss from him. Soooo.....bye!

Desperately Seeking Suggestions

Ok. So, now that I am finally done nursing I am ready to get back in shape, since I have one of those body types that actually holds on to all fat while nursing.

Well, I've gotta be honest, the desire is there but I'm going to need some help from those of you(if anyone) that reads my blog. Those of you that have known me for a while are probably aware that I'm not exactly in my peak physical shape like I was before Noah. Before our move to Arizona I was pretty good about going to the gym three days a week and getting some light exercise in on other days(I would typically run on average 25 miles and do my kickboxing/tae bo class three days per week) . I LOVED having a gym membership that enabled me to physically and mentally remove myself from my at-home distractions and I found it pretty easy to get some exercise in on other days since we were biking, walking, or running distance to numerous city ammenities(library, zoo, park, farmer's market, Riverwalk, etc....), and having those things so close to home made it so much easier to get out of the house on a consistent basis. Maybe it's just because I'm still not totally used to being in Arizona, maybe it's my attitude, or both, but I just can't find anything appealing around here to make me want to just get out of the house, at least not that isn't a 10-15 minute drive first, not to mention that I have a phobia of snakes. I don't want to feel as though I have to drive somewhere first before I can enjoy the outdoors. I'm pretty comfortable biking to get to where I want to go but there are a lot of busy, fast-moving roads near our home that make me very uneasy. Also, I have initiated a Couch-to-5k plan and mapped my routes, though they are just between our boring old subdivision and the boring old subdivision across the street, but it's just not motivating me. I was always so good about staying self-motivated and self-disciplined before, now I'm more like self-sabotaging. Ho-hum.

I need any advice I can get to get myself motivated around here and I need suggestions on what I can do and where I can go. I would love to have a gym membership again but it's not exactly in the budget right now. So, with that being said; HELP!!!!

Time flies

Not only do we now have a Jake that's 4-years-old(this past Monday) but, as of today, Jason and I have been married for 9 years!

Our Jake is getting so big! He had fun on his big day by getting hourly gifts and taking a trip over to Chuck e. Cheese to play some games then finished up the day back at home having dinner with us and his Grandpa Osborn, Uncle Donny, and Aunts Carrie and Jessica. As usual, he got spoiled. He received numerous new dinosaurs(as if he really needed more!), a VeggieTales dvd, his big Sister's old GameBoy Advance, a Leapster game, Madagascar Sorry, and much more. We sure love that little guy and are glad that we were able to have so much fun for his special day.

Well, it's been a full nine years! Over this time we have : had three kids, moved three times, gained and lost friends and family, started and ended jobs, gained a college degree for Jason, learned many new skills and arts, just essentially grown up together. We are a work-in-progress and will always continue to be. We are ever growing, changing, and learning and are looking forward to being a forever family. I just want Jason to know that I love him very much and hope that he knows that he is my best friend and am so grateful for him.

It's been nearly 16 months since our Noah was born and he's changed so much during that time but seems to have been growing and changing at light speed over the past month. Not only is he eating regular meals and sleeping through the night(thank goodness!), but he is now done nursing and has left his poor old mom in the dust. I had been trying to wean him for several months and was beginning to think that he was never going to be done, but today is THE day. I visualized and practically dreamed of this day for a few months but it's not exactly as it seemed in my mind. I feel a sadness as I think of and realize that my baby doesn't depend on me in the same way anymore. Don't worry though, I am still VERY happy. I feel as though my body is just that; MINE! I can now eat as much broccoli and hot sauce as I want without having to worry about upsetting his tiny tummy, though I do still keep my tummy in mind. Jason and I could actually go away for a night or ten and not have to worry(yippee!). I love that little guy so much and am so happy(maybe a touch sad) about his new independence.