Heavenward New Years!

I love love love these great men and prophets of our age. Both are individuals I greatly admire and look up to. As we move into a new year I ponder what and who I want to become more of this year and goals I would like to strive to accomplish. There are many! Being a more patient and happy mommy, having more dates and time with my Mister, getting my blog more views and an Etsy shop made, having my home feel more organized and peaceful, exercise and eating goals....the list goes on and I really feel strongly about all of them. But one of the biggest and most important, I feel, is to have less complaining and more joy.

I love these two quotes about positivity and looking upward to heaven. Life is truly meant to be filled to the brim with joy and it can be! There is always something we can complain about, cause hey, life's hard. However there is so much more to rejoice about and you know what, it makes life SO much happier when you have a positive and grateful attitude. You can serve others more faithfully, you are healthier in body and mind, there are so many benefits to this lifestyle. I pray that this year even though I'm still working really hard at becoming a better me, getting my home in order, exhausted with youngins, feel far from family, and sometimes have those low moments that I will rise and shine and see the good in all things! That is my desire and a deep motto within my life already and this year I hope to make it dominate this girls attitude!! Here's to a positive and grateful year full of service, love, joy and seeing all things with a heavenly perspective!

Gratitude #10

Gratitude #10. Good neighbors and IV's.

This last evening I had one of the scariest most humbling experiences of my life!!! The sickness bug hit our home Saturday with James being sick, then it hit HARD Sunday morning when Jane threw up all over her bedroom. Then Monday morning William was throwing up. Needless to say I was really tired of bodily fluids running around our home, and was quite kapooed. Then the beast of beasts hit. We had got the kids down and I laid in bed after getting dishes going and I felt awful. Stomach churning and cramping like their was a bear in there. I had one small boat of the runs and came back to bed. Then it hit me like a steamengine. I jumped out of bed ran to the bathroom and had constant flow for 5 minutes and throw up. I started to shiver uncontrollably and was breathing way too fast. James even got the blow dryer out real quick to warm me up. Really funny looking back now at how crazy our tiny bathroom was probably looking. Then the scariest thing I've ever had happen to me happened: my hands began to get tingly and numb and froze in a horrid position. I literally could not move my hands!!! It was scaring me half to death and James. As we tried to deal with it on our own we realized this was bigger than just a bit of the runs.

We called my best friend and neighbor to come to the rescue and sit at our home with our sleeping children. This dear friend has seen me in my hardest most difficult moments of my life! She was the one who came over while I was in labor with William and took care of Jane for us and then she saw me when I was frozen and frightened and lethargic with this sickness. She truly is a Bosem Friend that I treasure so much!!

James helped me into a coat and we drove to the ER. I have never been to the ER in my life and have never really been cared for in a hospital before. Having had my children naturally and never having got hurt or sick enough to go. So this was quite the event. In the waiting area James asked me as I was buckled over, "what are you thinking about?" And my quick response was, "I don't want to be here, and my babies!" Soon they got me in a room and James and I struggled to figure out the hospital gown ;), it was quite funny. Then they began the questions and getting my arm ready for an IV. The nurse asked me "are you a hard poke?" And I probably looked like a little child cause I had no idea what he was taking about, then we realized it was for the IV. Well, that was another first! I've never had an IV put into me before. He was shocked. And by the way he had the coolest curly mustache :). They poked about for the IV and blood work and were off.

My body was so freezing from the IV and beings so sick. They piled 4 blankets on me and I scored some hospital socks. We listened to Elder Hollands talk from this past conference on Mothers, I slept, and James was my hero at my side! They came back and said the blood work was very interesting and different which had me worried. But then learned that this was a reallllly bad flu bug case that hit me quick and hard. And my white blood cell count was skyrocketed! So there you have our late night at the ER. I am so grateful for the rehydrating abilities of an IV and the best neighbor a girl could ask for!! 

Learning Tid-bit: Don't hyperventilate, it can lock your hands and make your limbs tingly! Get that classic brown bag and breath away! It's interesting how this sickness came on so suddenly and affected me SO strongly. As we left the ER early this morning I told James that it probably HAD to happen that way in order to slow me down and force myself to take care of me. Just minutes before I'd been doing dishes and all those other things that are on mommy to do lists. I am one who tries to push through no matter what. And I think this was a good reminder to take care of me. Moms can have a hard time doing that :). But it's oh so important!

Back to the Future

At church this last week we had a wonderful lesson by my favorite teacher. She always invites the spirit to her lessons and asks great questions that inspire thoughts. Our topic this last lesson was on the importance of marriage and family. The part of the lesson I loved most was when she had each of us close our eyes and think back on 3 things;

1. Your earliest memory.

2. The first time you were comforted.

And 

3. Something your mom/dad taught you.

It was really neat to think about what memories came to my mind of my early years of life. It's wild how much we forget as humans. I can barely remember a thing from my childhood in Utah. We moved when I was so young and my life in Washington is so much more clear. But I thought back and tried to really recollect my earliest memories of my life.

1. Finding a praying mantis with my brother, Spencer, on our swing set is the earliest memory I can recollect.

As I think about this very early memory it's really special to me. Spencer is one of my dearest friends and favorite people on this earth. He is the one who went on adventures with me, included me, pretended with me, grew up with me and was friends with James and now thanks to him he's now my husband. Spencer is an amazing person and I am so grateful he's my brother! How ironic that one of my earliest memories I can really recollect is with him. Yep, he's pretty special!

A few other hazy early memories are:

The huge sprinklers turned on at our school in Utah.

Playing with a childhood friend in a fort built with blankets and chairs.

2. The first time I can really remember being comforted was when I wanted my parents to get home and I was at a friends/neighbors home. I remember, hazily, praying in their backyard by a gate that they would come home soon. And I felt the comforting feeling of the Holy Ghost assure me they would be soon. And then they arrived minutes later.

This is also a special thing for me to remember and recollect because the Holy Ghost truly is a powerful comforter. There have been many instances in my life that I have needed his care. How grateful I am that I can have someone with me at all times, as long as I am worthy, to give me strength when I am feeling small or comfort me when I am lonely. That is a great blessing!

3. My parents taught me a lot. But the thing I feel that stands out the most is my dads respect and care for money. It has been ingrained in me to not spend money unless I have to. To not be frivolous with my earnings. And to be responsible with my $'s. Sometimes this learning was annoying and sometimes I still feel it's ok to splurge sometimes, but it really has been an important one in my life. I was able to go to college and pay for 1/2 my mission without debt. I have been able to help my husband earn extra money with little things I do. We have strived to be wise as a couple to not buy everything we want and to sacrifice things we desire to make sure we are being wise.

When my dad danced with me at my wedding that was his topic of conversation to. He advised me to be wise with money and to be smart with talking about it with James. At the time I thought, "oh boy, here goes dad on his money rant." But it truly is something he holds in great importance and I have a great respect for that. We as a family learned the importance of being thrifty, doing without and working hard for things that matter because of him.

I am grateful that our sweet teacher made us think about our pasts. Because looking back makes us realize our future. Each one of these specific memories has shaped me and has carried into the things I care about and do in my adult years. You learn good and bad from your past and both have a big impact on your futures. I am thankful for the times of the past that influence us for good in the future!

 

Rhodes Rolls

Oh you cannot go wrong with cinnamon and bread and breakfast food! Tonight I go to host my second #tryazon parties and it was a blast. The company I showcased was Rhodes. I got coupons for #rhodesbread rolls and a link to recipes galore! I had no idea there were so many things you could make them into. I was drooling over all the recipes. Something I really love about the company #tryazon is that the parties are in person. There are so many things like this nowadays that are just online parties where nobody sees each other and it's just a big huge group chatting in text through the Internet. It is a marvelous world we live in and it has provided great opportunities for companies and individuals. However, I'm a bit old fashioned I guess. I really enjoy preparing my home to gather people together face to face. It is something out society is forgetting about. Being with people, having social interaction, talking in person  with each other, and just enjoying time together. This is a great reason why I really enjoy Tryazon. It is an opportunity to gather! 

For my recipe contribution I decided to make my moms famous breakfast cinnamon ring. This gooey treat was always made each Christmas morning for our annual Christmas Day brunch. Each year my mom would invite a family or two and an older single woman to brunch and there was always a sticky ring adorning the table. She made a beautiful spread of food and it taught me so much about gathering others together for good food and company. It is an important aspect of life to gather. I am very thankful that she taught me that important social skill and that I have followed (in a small way) in her footsteps.

To thank the wonderful women/families who came and supported me and participated in the evening they each got some Rhodes coupons and a new spatula. It was a lot of fun putting these little take homes together for my awesome guests. I always think it's important to thank those who you love and those who support you. Miss Jane often accompanies me to drop off thank you's I take to others. I hope I'll be able to instill that thanking nature in each of my children. Each family brought a dish to share as well in the feast. And I got to showcase the new microwave cinnamon rolls that Rhodes just put out. They are pretty quick and fabulous. It's an easy way to enjoy one roll and not eat ten at a time :), cause let's face it we all do that!

The Great Cinnamon Ring

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter (1 cube)

3/4 cup brown sugar

1tsp cinnamon

Nuts/Raisins

Butterscotch Cook'n Serve Pudding (1/2 of a 3 oz. packet)

14-16 frozen Rhodes Rolls (enough to zigzag the bottom of a bundt pan)

Instructions:

1. Heat and melt first three ingredients on the stove until all incorporated into a caramely texture.

2. Spray your bundt pan and line the bottom with your rolls. Just covering the base of the pan.

3. Sprinkle with desired nuts and raisins. And then sprinkle half of your butterscotch packet over them.

4. Drizzle your warm caramel mixture evenly over the rolls and then cover with a sprayed piece of suran wrap. 

5. Let rise till rolls are risen to the top of the pan, about 4-6 hours depending on the heat of your home.

6. Cook at 350 for roughly 30 minutes. If the tops getting too brown put a piece of tin foil on it the last 10 minutes of cooking.

7. Let set for about 10 minutes in pan and then flip over onto a serving platter.

8. Enjoy snarfing this one up, it's finger lickin' good!

We ended our evening with an outdoor movie! It was a blast. My cute Mister James set up a projector and we hung a white sheet on the back of the house and  it was so much fun to all cozy together in the crisp Autumn weather. We watched a short cartoon based off of a book called "Room on the Broom" and it was really adorable. We will definitely be doing backyard shows much more next year! So there you have the sum up of a wonderfully fun Tryazon party.

Mothers, Remember

Motherhood is hard. Period. It is not for wimps. It is not a contest. It is not a simple task. It is not a thing to be judged. It is not understood. Motherhood is beautiful. It is not glamorous. It is under thanked. It is the best privilege ever given. It is the most tiring position on earth. As I have been journeying on my motherhood trip for a few short under two years I have learned so much! There truly is nothing quite like taking on the role of motherhood.

As you step into the position you've received little to no "training" on how it all works, you have just gone through one of the most trying physical experiences on this earth, and you now have a little human being who needs you constantly. There is nothing that compares. It's overwhelming, honoring, humbling and daunting. As I became a mother of two many things happened. My love for my first child grew immensely and an added deep love for my second blew me away. But I also began to have advice, judgments and comments I never thought I'd hear from other women. 

My sweet Mister told me it's the "Remember Complex." We as humans (especially in this era I think) tend to forget and forget quickly. Sometimes forgetting is good. How can a mother want to go back and do child labor again? Because she forgets, in part, the pain and the struggle it is. But there is also the forgetting that it was hard for you to when you judge another mothers parenting or coping skills. We forget so quickly and can judge so swiftly.

During my whirlwind recovery after my second natural birth I have had endless comments made to me or behind my back that have overwhelmed and frustrated me. I would have women say (some who had met me seconds before) "you need to feed your baby" or "he's hungry" when little did they know I fed him only minutes before they are telling me this! No wonder people give up on breastfeeding these days. It's hard enough being your child's constant food source but then to have women tell you, like they know, that your child is hungry when they just ate can be extremely daunting and exhausting. Don't step in and be mom! Especially if you've had a baby, shame on you, babies cry about all sorts of things, it's not always hunger. Let the mom qualm and help her child in the way she knows best don't overwhelm her with what you think her baby needs. Be supportive and helpful to a mom of a new infant they are already going through a lot, they don't need you adding to the feelings of inadequacy they probably already feel.

Another frequent thing has been the overwhelming amount of people who will sit and complain about their stressful lives as you sit there running on maybe three hours of sleep, no shower for days, needing to feed your baby again, and not having a minute to be by yourself. Yes we all need vent moments and yes we are all busy in this life. But a new mother does not want to sit and hear someone talk about that. Instead it would be great if you asked them about their life and how the new babies doing or talk about positive things that will bring some happiness to a sleep deprived new mom and yourself! Talking about stress doesn't lesson stress and talking about your busy schedule doesn't make it less busy. Be in the moment when you are with someone, care about them and don't talk about yourself constantly. Step into others shoes and be a little more selfless.

A mothers job is the most demanding and important one. The most shocking comments I've had are ones that make it sound like I am incapable or that I should be able to do more. I serve in a presidency for the women's organization of my church which requires a lot of time and I give it a lot of thought, I am head over the activities for that group as well which is something I take very seriously, there are women I strive to go and visit each month for another church calling, I support my husband, make meals, mow the lawn, care for two small infants, clean my home, write articles for a cooking company to help earn extra money in our home and more. I do not need to hear through gossip that I am not doing enough or handling things well. There was a great quote a while back from a great man who stated the importance that we don't busy our lives so much that we forget the things of most importance. And that we seem to want to wear Badges of Busyness. It's not an accomplishment to be busy. Again women forget that the first few months of having a new baby is exhausting, stressful and SO important. I need support, rest and to have time with my sweet children. It is not about being busy, it's about doing the the things that matter and need your time and attention.

I write this to say, remember mothers!!!! Stop judging one another and help new mothers feel confident in their new addition. Don't provide more stress to another's already stressful life. We all need to remember more how to bring joy to another's life, to focus outside of our own selfie world and to never gossip about another. Remember to love! Remember to be compassionate! Remember mothers!

Two articles that helped me smile and know I'm not alone through all this;

http://news.yahoo.com/mum-diary-stop-telling-me-the-housework-can-wait-090231496.html

http://wearethatfamily.com/2015/09/parenting-is-hard-especially-when-youre-doing-it-right/

The Golden Birthday

The Golden Birthday was very different than I pictured it would be for so many years. It was a little less gold colored and themed, and more filled with golden kids and family. William gifted me the grossest spit up he's had yet and right down my shirt. Jane was/is teething really bad and so she was needing a bit of extra love. Needless to say by kiddos bedtime I was very ready. We shared some really special times throughout the day. I made breakfast, then we took daddy out for Thai food for lunch, then Jane and I painted feathers and her toenails!!

Our dinner was leftovers and salmon with asparagus. It was delicious. We ate by our new TP that my mom helped me finish while she was here. It was such a fun and magical setting. Here's to 28!!! I am thankful for all that's gotten me to this golden year and what's in store for me in the next 28!

28 Years of Life

Today marks my Golden Birthday and so I have decided that I need to recognize the many treasures I've been blessed with these 28 years of life! I have a tradition I've started to write letters to others, for how old I am. So, this year I would need to write 28 letters. Instead of all of them being handwritten I did some via Internet which I'd not done before. It's been fun and special to keep this lovely little tradition each year.

Highlights of Gold:

- My mission to PA

- Singing in front of my High School and getting a standing ovation 

- rolling down hills

- my college years

- pretending with my brother Spencer and neighbor friends!

- Making cookies with my mom

- riding the Ferries in Seattle and feeding the seagulls!

- sleeping under the stars

- seeing fireflies for the first time!

- watching sunrises and sunsets

- going down the river in Moab with Janes, Spencer and Molly

- having one on one trips: WaDC with Spencer, Leavenworth with Andrea, Portland with Molly, PA with mom, Nickel Creek with Matt and Time out for Women with Lara.

Golden Moments:

- Being married in the temple to Mister James for time & all eternity. He's my partner in crime though it all and I couldn't imagine a better companion.

- Having my children! There is not a moment in life that compared to finally meeting the child you carried for 9 months. It's golden!

- Going through the temple for my mission, and preparing to be worthy of the great blessings and promises given there.

My Gold:

- My Faith, God and the knowledge of who I am!

- My husband, Mister James. He's my golden boy.

- My children, they mean the world to me!

- Family. They are the most important treasure on this earth.

I know there is much more gold I could recognize in my life, but there's a little fleck of it. There really are tiny flecks that really do add up. I'm so thankful for the 28 years I've been blessed with and for the joy that all the golden things have given me. Here's to 28!!!

My Newest Hairdo and a Greater Respect For Moms!

I just got to watch four adorable kids full time for a full week! This was one favorite moment; getting my hair done by a 3 year old. We had so much fun together. We made cakeballs, a huge fort, green macaroni, leprechaun traps, messes. We went to see a troll, got muddy, ran around lots, saw trees wearing sweaters, made crafts and rode horses. We laughed lots. We ate lots. We didn’t sleep lots. We had a chandelier fall from the ceiling. Nobody died. And we got everything back to normal for mom and dad before they came in from Hawaii. We had a GREAT week.

I want to hand it out there to all MOMS!!! It is a lot of work to keep schedules organized, be a taxi, a constant restaurant, a fixer of fights, a kisser of owies and a nightly tucker-in-er. I had so much fun watching these kids and it gave me even more respect for the role of a mother. I am grateful for my own mother and her incredible example! And for a good sister to look up to as a mother to our nephew. There are so many great mothers in this world!!

THANKS to MOMS!

New Beginnings

We are so excited to be starting a new chapter in our lives!

The story begins with a boy and girl. Both a little shy. The boy loves to “geek out” the girl like to have “pretend time.” The stage was set and the two lived their lives practically right next door to one another. But their hearts did not know yet how close they would become.

Years have gone by and the boy is now a man, the girl a woman. Each lived out their young adult lives active and involved in many things. The woman went to college and studied the arts. The man worked hard and took great care of his family. Each served a mission for the Lord. Adventures were had. Then the two began to take notice of one another. Letters upon letters were written between the two. Rivers were run. Swings were swung on. And love began.

The dating chapter was short but sweet. The man was ready the woman needed time. But not too much. Soon the man knelt and a ring was given. WOW. The years do fly and the short story book soon becomes a chapter book. In just a manner of a few days (52 to be exact) this boy and this girl will be married in the Salt Lake City Temple. To bring the love that lasts forever into each others lives.