Losing Myself

Alright, I'll admit it, I've been a little stressed/emotional/crazy lately.  My husband has been working some seriously insane hours, meaning we hardly see each other & we don't get any breaks, which is hard when you don't have family nearby to help out.  Also, my baby has been teething, and she's a loud baby when she's upset.  Due to her teething she's been taking super short naps, which throws everything off, and she also started the I-only-want-mommy-and-I-want-her-all-the-time stage.  Basically, when you add everything up, I'm a little on edge.

Here's what I've decided to do about it.
NOT complain, (contrary to the previous paragraph which wasn't complaining, it was... relaying the facts ).  For one thing my poor husband has it worse than I do.  He has to work summer hours which is from the crack of dawn till late at night- he worked 22 hours in one day last week, plus he has to come home to our craziness.  So hat's off to him. 

Anyways, I have decided to lose myself in service.  Helping others helps me forget my troubles, and creates happiness, which is exactly what I need!  It is kind of hard when you have to work around an infants schedule, but we'll see how it goes.  So far we have decided to bake cookies and deliver them to people, and then make a dinner for a family in our congregation that just had a baby.  Not going to burn myself out, or spread myself thinner, just trying to create some happiness! 

A little laughter goes a long way

We all eventually have a hard day right?  A day that never ends, that make us want to pull out our hair and stomp our feet.  We find ourselves up at the middle of the night when we want to be asleep, but for one reason or another cannot, and so, we watch t.v. 

And thank Heavens, an episode of  the Office (or insert your favorite shows name) is on!

And we laugh. 

And that laughter is SO needed!  (notice that SO was underlined, in italic, and bolded!)
That laughter has the power to make us actually feel happy and forget of our earlier ills.
That miraculous laughter can allow us to fall asleep. 

I am thankful for shows like the Office, who are on late at night, every night, and their ability to make me laugh when I need to.  They save me from sleepless nights, which are my nemesis. 

Dwight, Michael, Jim, Pam, thank you.  I love your show.  Thank you. 

PS- on a side note, I am also thankful for pacifiers and their heroic powers. 

Where's the drive?

Last month we celebrated Independence Day and Pioneer Day, which got me thinking....those holidays are important because of the sacrifice so many made for a greater cause.  People were courageous, unwavering, filled with purpose.  Where has that gone?  When was the last time I was passionate about something?

A lot of work has been done for us by our ancestors, and as a result we are pretty casual and laid back.  Shouldn't we follow their example and have the same type of enthusiasm?  Don't you feel better when you have a purpose, or goal to work toward?  I'm not inferring that I am going to go out and save dolphins, but I think my life would be better if I had an inner goal that I was passionate about and worked toward.  And I suppose it's not that we need to go out and do "important" things, but maybe we should re-evaluate, and put some more "important" things on the list.

Anyways, I have just been thinking about the differences between our generation and the generations before us.  I like the kindness and purpose that I imagine life had long ago.  Not that I want to go back to churning butter.

Agree or disagree?  Let me know your thoughts/opinion.

An Observation

This morning I woke up refreshed, and excited to start the day.  Here's my observation as to why that might be.  You know the phrase "Do good things and good things will happen"?  Well, I've noticed those days that I wake up and do the good things that I am supposed to do; read, pray, clean, give my children quality attention, etc. I feel good.  My spirits are lifted.  Especially when I say my prayers, and in them ask for general everyday help.  I always wake up in a better mood, and feel an abundance of gratitude, and most importantly I am blessed with patience!  Good things happen.

In contrast, frequently I have days like this, I wake up exhausted and unprepared because I didn't read my scriptures the night before, and fight to get through the day. 

So here's what I think, it's my Pride that keeps me from doing the good things.  Pridefully not wanting to admit that I can't do it all myself, and needing to ask for daily help from the Lord.  Knowing that if I say my prayers and read my scriptures He will bless me with help, because that's what he does.  Sometimes the perfectionist in me thinks "I don't need help, I CAN DO EVERYTHING".  Oh how wrong I am! 

Then there are days like today, where it is so apparent how much easier life would be to handle if I did it the right way. 
I don't know?  Just a thought. What do you think?

The Big Day

It Happened.  I turned 29 + 1.  (I think that's how I will refer to it from now on)  My birthday wish was to go back and visit our family and friends, and my husband was nice enough to take 2 days off of work to grant it.  So, we said goodbye to our cool climate, and hello to the HOT and humid!  Luckily we stayed with family that had a swimming pool, and we swam every day :-) 

Let me tell you about all the fun things we did on my birthday adventure.  We visited all our wonderful family and friends.  My family had a surprise birthday party for me.  They had my favorite cake, ice cream cake, that said "Happy 29+1 Birthday!"  which is hilarious, and I am going to use from now on.  We had yummy Mexican food.  We went to a cool aquarium with the kids.  But the best part was spending the afternoon with my bestest friend!

 We got pedicures

(my foot is the extra white one)

We went to

(my most favorite place with my most favorite friend)

Then we had Papa Johns Pizza.  (We do not have one in my little town, and I have been craving it for about 2 years)

What a great birthday!  To top it all off, I am content with my age (mostly because I realized I don't look like this anymore - thanks to aging)

So, yay for being 30!