This is a Longish story, but worth sharing.
Once upon a time the Missionaries were over for dinner. We were talking about reading. If you know me well, you know that I do no allow myself to read because I get too involved in books and I forget important things like feeding my kids and sleeping. This was exactly what I was explaining to the Elders. Then one of the said, "imagine if you read the Book of Mormon the same way." I replied, "I could probably do it in a week." And that's how it all started....
HOWEVER, you also know that I am the queen of procrastination. A long, long time went by. We challenged the young women to read the Book of Mormon by the end of 2013. I failed completely, and by failed I mean never even started. Yeah, not proud of that.
Anyways, new year, new start, I've got this. I committed myself to the task. Yes friends, you read the title correctly. I read the Book of Mormon in 11. Honestly, it was a good experience, but I will never ever do it again.
Most of it is a blur to me. I remember a few things here and there. I remember the familiar stories: Alma the younger, Nephi's adventures on land and sea, Ammon, the brother of Jared. A few verses here and there stood out to me. There was one that made me not feel bad about not understanding all the Isiah chapters. There were several mentions of pride and focusing on worldly treasures. I was impressed by the enthusiasm Ammon had as a missionary.
The events at the very end of the Book of Mormon really made me think. The Jaredites went to war and fought until EVERYBODY died. It made me so sad to read that. The Nephites and Lamanites also fought until the only righteous person left was Moroni. I cannot even imagine what life was like for him. Then I realized that as wicked and scary as the world is today, it's not quite yet the end. I worry for my children and what the future holds for them.
But the thing that stuck with me the absolute most was Moroni 10:32
"Yea, acome unto Christ, and be bperfected in him, and cdeny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and dlove God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be eperfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God."
There are only two verses after this in the entire Book of Mormon, and it also happens to be this year's theme for the youth of the church. I know that this verse specifically was written for us, today.
Showing posts with label tennessee. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tennessee. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 26, 2014
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Personal Progress: Good Works #2
Food planning and prep (yeah, that is what this one is all about)
Ok, so as a teenager this experience would have been the death of me. Now, it's just part of my everyday life, so I shall list what I have learned about this through my mothering experiences.
#1 Learn to cook before you get married, or have a patient husband. (Ask Jerry about the experimental chickens of our newly wed days)
#2 Learn what food costs, so you aren't shocked on your first trip to the grocery store as a grown up. It also helps you know what really is a good "sale" price and what isn't.
#3 Plan a menu and make a shopping list of what you will need to make those meals. Stick to the list, so you don't go over budget.
#4 Never go to the grocery store hungry.
#5 Always read the label of what you are buying. I have made this fail too many times: jalepeno olives, beef bacon, no sugar added nesquick
#6 Set a timer (I often get distracted and remember something was in the oven only when I smell it burning)
#7 Sometimes it is best to just walk away. What I mean is that you can't hover over hashbrowns if you want them to be brown.
#8 Don't be afraid to try a new recipe. This is where I have found some of my favorite dinners.
#9 Eat together as a family at the table. You talk, you laugh, you learn manners, your living room floor stays much cleaner, you are more likely to pray....good things
#10 Teach manners to your children young. It's harder to teach them when they get older.
Ok, so as a teenager this experience would have been the death of me. Now, it's just part of my everyday life, so I shall list what I have learned about this through my mothering experiences.
#1 Learn to cook before you get married, or have a patient husband. (Ask Jerry about the experimental chickens of our newly wed days)
#2 Learn what food costs, so you aren't shocked on your first trip to the grocery store as a grown up. It also helps you know what really is a good "sale" price and what isn't.
#3 Plan a menu and make a shopping list of what you will need to make those meals. Stick to the list, so you don't go over budget.
#4 Never go to the grocery store hungry.
#5 Always read the label of what you are buying. I have made this fail too many times: jalepeno olives, beef bacon, no sugar added nesquick
#6 Set a timer (I often get distracted and remember something was in the oven only when I smell it burning)
#7 Sometimes it is best to just walk away. What I mean is that you can't hover over hashbrowns if you want them to be brown.
#8 Don't be afraid to try a new recipe. This is where I have found some of my favorite dinners.
#9 Eat together as a family at the table. You talk, you laugh, you learn manners, your living room floor stays much cleaner, you are more likely to pray....good things
#10 Teach manners to your children young. It's harder to teach them when they get older.
Personal Progress: Good Works #6
This is an easy one. 2hours of service outside of your home, and then tell y'all how awesome it is to serve.....
Some how service is easier as an adult, or atleast it seems easier. My absolute most favorite service to do is feeding the missionaries. It gives me an excuse to make extra fancy things for dinner, and I love the spirit they bring into my home. On Halloween, I fed them navajo tacos. The missionaires are always happy to be fed, but for some reason they were extra excited about navajo tacos. It turned into a how many can you eat contest between one of the Elders and my husband.
Anyways, feeding the missionaries is a fun easy service. If you haven't done it recently, you should.
Some how service is easier as an adult, or atleast it seems easier. My absolute most favorite service to do is feeding the missionaries. It gives me an excuse to make extra fancy things for dinner, and I love the spirit they bring into my home. On Halloween, I fed them navajo tacos. The missionaires are always happy to be fed, but for some reason they were extra excited about navajo tacos. It turned into a how many can you eat contest between one of the Elders and my husband.
Anyways, feeding the missionaries is a fun easy service. If you haven't done it recently, you should.
Monday, November 12, 2012
Personal Progress: Knowledge #2
This one was all about talents.
Step 1: I have talents. It's true I do. I can sew. I can cook. I can craft. I can braid and braid and braid and braid. I can write. I can listen. I can forgive. See, I have talents.
Step 2: Read the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30 in case you were wondering): As Polly Bottema once told me, "Don't hide you talents under a bushel"
Step 3: (the actual story part) Pick a talent you want to develop.
I decided to expand upon my hair doing skills, because you can never know enough hair styles.....to the pinterest....
I learned a 5 strand braid and a 7 strand braid. I tried new things with Kadence's hair. I did a waterfall braid. I put braids in braids. And then there was the hairstyle of failure. I would show you the picture from pintrest, but it isn't on my board anymore. Anyways, I tried this hair style 3 different times and failed it 3 different times. Which brings me to the what I learned in this adventure....
Some hairstyles I picked up quickly and easily. Others, like the fancy braids, took multiple tries. Just because you have a talent for something, doesn't mean it's going to be easy to do every time. You still have to put time and effort into making it work.
Step 1: I have talents. It's true I do. I can sew. I can cook. I can craft. I can braid and braid and braid and braid. I can write. I can listen. I can forgive. See, I have talents.
Step 2: Read the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30 in case you were wondering): As Polly Bottema once told me, "Don't hide you talents under a bushel"
Step 3: (the actual story part) Pick a talent you want to develop.
I decided to expand upon my hair doing skills, because you can never know enough hair styles.....to the pinterest....
I learned a 5 strand braid and a 7 strand braid. I tried new things with Kadence's hair. I did a waterfall braid. I put braids in braids. And then there was the hairstyle of failure. I would show you the picture from pintrest, but it isn't on my board anymore. Anyways, I tried this hair style 3 different times and failed it 3 different times. Which brings me to the what I learned in this adventure....
Some hairstyles I picked up quickly and easily. Others, like the fancy braids, took multiple tries. Just because you have a talent for something, doesn't mean it's going to be easy to do every time. You still have to put time and effort into making it work.
Personal Progress: the explanation of this label
Remember how I used to be in the primary a year ago when I was actually posting....yeah, not so much anymore. I am now in Young Women's. :)
In case I have any nonmormon readers, Young Women's is an organization in our church where all the girls age 12-18 go. As a young women's leader, I teach lessons on sundays sometimes and attend wednessday night activities. It's fun stuff.
One thing we do in young women's is personal progress. It's a program of goal setting that encourages the girls to build a closer relationship with their Heaven Father and Jesus Christ, discover who they are, use their talents, and various other wonderfully awesome things. I actually did finish the program when I was a teenager, and received my young women's medallion. However, since then the program has been changed and as a leader I am allowed to do the program with the girls and earn it again :)
The new program involves alot of journaling. Since this is my journal, it only made since to me to put that stuff here.
So....if you see the label Personal Progress that is what I am talking about.
In case I have any nonmormon readers, Young Women's is an organization in our church where all the girls age 12-18 go. As a young women's leader, I teach lessons on sundays sometimes and attend wednessday night activities. It's fun stuff.
One thing we do in young women's is personal progress. It's a program of goal setting that encourages the girls to build a closer relationship with their Heaven Father and Jesus Christ, discover who they are, use their talents, and various other wonderfully awesome things. I actually did finish the program when I was a teenager, and received my young women's medallion. However, since then the program has been changed and as a leader I am allowed to do the program with the girls and earn it again :)
The new program involves alot of journaling. Since this is my journal, it only made since to me to put that stuff here.
So....if you see the label Personal Progress that is what I am talking about.
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
The Lost dog adventure
Ok, since I haven't posted in a year my story needs back story:
In aprilish we bought a dog. The little white fluffiness in the picture is him. (and the baby with the toothbrush...that's the evil beaver) He is a peek-a-poo. We named him peek-a-boo.
Ok back story done.
So sunday afternoon I took peek-a-boo out to go potty. The next door neighbor's dog Corona was out, and he folllowed her out into the forest. 10 minutes later Corona comes back, but peek-a-boo does not. We walked all over the neighborhood and through the forest looking for him. I even called animal control to see if they had seen him.We even made signs. No peek-a-boo. BTW, people think you are kindof weird when you walk around the neighborhood yelling peek-a-boo.
Tuesday morning, animal control called me back to see if he was still missing and I said he was. Then I returned the brand new bag of dog food I bought last Friday because I was almost out. Less than an hour later there was a knock on my door. A neighbor had found my dog behind her back yard. His ears had gotten tangled in a barbed wire fence. I went to pick him up, but she was gone, so I left a note.
A few hours later she finally called me back. Because he had the barbed wire stuck between his ears she had taken him to animal control, so they could take him to the vet. So I went over to animal control and picked him up. They seemed surprised to see me. I was surprised that they hadn't called me. After all, I was on their list of missing dogs. Anyways....they all liked my dog alot and seemed kindof bummed out that I was going to bail him out, but I think they will be ok.
And that is how our dog got lost and found.
Ok back story done.
So sunday afternoon I took peek-a-boo out to go potty. The next door neighbor's dog Corona was out, and he folllowed her out into the forest. 10 minutes later Corona comes back, but peek-a-boo does not. We walked all over the neighborhood and through the forest looking for him. I even called animal control to see if they had seen him.We even made signs. No peek-a-boo. BTW, people think you are kindof weird when you walk around the neighborhood yelling peek-a-boo.
Tuesday morning, animal control called me back to see if he was still missing and I said he was. Then I returned the brand new bag of dog food I bought last Friday because I was almost out. Less than an hour later there was a knock on my door. A neighbor had found my dog behind her back yard. His ears had gotten tangled in a barbed wire fence. I went to pick him up, but she was gone, so I left a note.
A few hours later she finally called me back. Because he had the barbed wire stuck between his ears she had taken him to animal control, so they could take him to the vet. So I went over to animal control and picked him up. They seemed surprised to see me. I was surprised that they hadn't called me. After all, I was on their list of missing dogs. Anyways....they all liked my dog alot and seemed kindof bummed out that I was going to bail him out, but I think they will be ok.
And that is how our dog got lost and found.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Why I haven't been blogging
I forget that not all of y'all do the facebook thing, so incase you have been wondering this is why I haven't been blogging lately:
Well, that and a bunch of other stuff I didn't take pictures of.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
In the forest.....
Caibo: Mom I looked and looked all through the forest, but I couldn't find Jade.
Me: Did you find the bear? (He thinks there is a bear in our 100 ft strip of forest)
Caibo: No
Me: Did you find bigfoot?
Caibo: No Mom!!! Bigfoot likes the water. We don't have water in the forest, not even in the ditch.
So, just in case you were wondering, if you are looking for bigfoot, check near the water.
Me: Did you find the bear? (He thinks there is a bear in our 100 ft strip of forest)
Caibo: No
Me: Did you find bigfoot?
Caibo: No Mom!!! Bigfoot likes the water. We don't have water in the forest, not even in the ditch.
So, just in case you were wondering, if you are looking for bigfoot, check near the water.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
R&R Story #2--The snow
So Monday morning came, and I am a mean mom, so I made my kids go to school, and did what I do best. Yes, I went back to bed. I woke up a while later to the sound of my from ringing. School was getting out early. I looked out the window and what did I see? No, no popcorn, but it was white. It was snowing. We spent the day watching the snow and packing to go on our trip to Florida.
Tuesday morning we got up, loaded the van up and were on our way. The snow was gone by the time we hit nashville. I guess that wasn't the end of the snow in Clarksville though. Every night for our first week, we got a call from the school saying there would be no school. Normally, I would protest this many snow days, but this time it worked to our advantage.
You see, CMCSS (or whatever they are) has a pretty strict attendence policy, and my kids had already missed 5 days a piece. I went into to the school to find out what I needed to do to excuse the absences for our trip to Florida. After much research they found out that the policy is to only excuse 5 days for R&R. LAME!!! We had planned to be gone for 10.
So eventhough my friends back in Clarksville we terribly annoyed at the snow, this is the snow storm that saved me from going to truancy court.
Tuesday morning we got up, loaded the van up and were on our way. The snow was gone by the time we hit nashville. I guess that wasn't the end of the snow in Clarksville though. Every night for our first week, we got a call from the school saying there would be no school. Normally, I would protest this many snow days, but this time it worked to our advantage.
You see, CMCSS (or whatever they are) has a pretty strict attendence policy, and my kids had already missed 5 days a piece. I went into to the school to find out what I needed to do to excuse the absences for our trip to Florida. After much research they found out that the policy is to only excuse 5 days for R&R. LAME!!! We had planned to be gone for 10.
So eventhough my friends back in Clarksville we terribly annoyed at the snow, this is the snow storm that saved me from going to truancy court.
Saturday, January 15, 2011
the photo thingy week 2
We are 2 weeks into the year now right? Yeah and this coming week I would do week 3.
So, this is what a snow day look like in Clarksville. Actually the kids got 2 snow days for this. Ummmm, yeah not sure how that works exactly, but we made a snowman and he was cute and then the kids stomped on him until he was flat. The End.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
battling the backyard forest
Warning in advance: This post might end up a being whole lot of randomness
I'm sure somehow it is karma coming back to get me. That's what it has to be. I will probably be raking and bagging leaves until it snows. I am figuring 1 bag of leaves for everytime I bragged about how beautiful and green it is here in Tennessee. So far, I am at.....well I don't know how many bags, but I had to stop because I ran out of empty leaf bags. Maybe someday I will take and post a picture of my leaf bag tower for you all to see. Yeah, we all know how my picture taking promises usually end. But I do have some leaf raking thoughts for your amusement:
Confession, for a minute a thought it would be really fun to move all the leaves to the middle of the road and drive a car through them. You have to admit, it would look really cool. Don't worry, this is a thought I didn't act upon.
Today I am grateful for whoever came up with the brillian idea to put an mp3 player on a cell phone. This makes it possible for me to sing "Save a Horse Ride a Cowboy" really loud and off key for all my neighbors to hear. I'm sure they love it.
I am also greatful that my dad instilled in me a diverse taste in music, because naturally after "Save a Horse Ride a Cowboy" you must sing a John Denver song. That's just the way it is done.
Well, covers everything you need to know about me and the battle with the backyard forest. I will let you know who wins.
I'm sure somehow it is karma coming back to get me. That's what it has to be. I will probably be raking and bagging leaves until it snows. I am figuring 1 bag of leaves for everytime I bragged about how beautiful and green it is here in Tennessee. So far, I am at.....well I don't know how many bags, but I had to stop because I ran out of empty leaf bags. Maybe someday I will take and post a picture of my leaf bag tower for you all to see. Yeah, we all know how my picture taking promises usually end. But I do have some leaf raking thoughts for your amusement:
Confession, for a minute a thought it would be really fun to move all the leaves to the middle of the road and drive a car through them. You have to admit, it would look really cool. Don't worry, this is a thought I didn't act upon.
Today I am grateful for whoever came up with the brillian idea to put an mp3 player on a cell phone. This makes it possible for me to sing "Save a Horse Ride a Cowboy" really loud and off key for all my neighbors to hear. I'm sure they love it.
I am also greatful that my dad instilled in me a diverse taste in music, because naturally after "Save a Horse Ride a Cowboy" you must sing a John Denver song. That's just the way it is done.
Well, covers everything you need to know about me and the battle with the backyard forest. I will let you know who wins.
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Pictures of the river
This is the Cumberland river. It is less than a block from our hotel. Right now it is above flood stage. It is expected to continue rising for atleast another day. It hasn't reached the road yet. I'm not sure if it will or not.
Storm Chasers
Back in the day when I used to have cable (I know it sounds crazy, but quitting cable was one of the best things I ever did), I enjoyed watching storm chasers. Somehow the science of where tornadoes come from is very interesting to me.
When I was informed that Tennessee has the potential to get tornadoes, I was both intrigued and worried. Most people assured me that tornadoes in Clarksville are rare. The man that showed me the house friday claims that the last tornado here was like 12 years ago.
It started RAINING (it has to be all caps, because I have never seen that much rain) yesterday. Weather.com says it has rained almost 6.5 inches in the last 24 hours. The kids think it is gloriously fun. The people in the walmart parking lot hiding under their umbrellas probably thought they were crazy as the merrily danced through the puddles.
Where is all this water going? To the river across the street from our hotel. Clarksville has this really cool river walk thingy. Someday, I will have to go check it out, but not today. It's under water. All you can see is the tops of the little lights sticking out of the water. I will have to take a picture later.
Also, we have been and still are under tornado watch. Not to worry though. Kristy says you really don't need to worry until the town blows the siren, and that a warning is worse than a watch She lives in Iowa. I trust her judgement.
Yep, were are totally fine. We get to hang out in the hotel for one more day. Tomorrow, we sign our lease and start moving into our new house.
When I was informed that Tennessee has the potential to get tornadoes, I was both intrigued and worried. Most people assured me that tornadoes in Clarksville are rare. The man that showed me the house friday claims that the last tornado here was like 12 years ago.
It started RAINING (it has to be all caps, because I have never seen that much rain) yesterday. Weather.com says it has rained almost 6.5 inches in the last 24 hours. The kids think it is gloriously fun. The people in the walmart parking lot hiding under their umbrellas probably thought they were crazy as the merrily danced through the puddles.
Where is all this water going? To the river across the street from our hotel. Clarksville has this really cool river walk thingy. Someday, I will have to go check it out, but not today. It's under water. All you can see is the tops of the little lights sticking out of the water. I will have to take a picture later.
Also, we have been and still are under tornado watch. Not to worry though. Kristy says you really don't need to worry until the town blows the siren, and that a warning is worse than a watch She lives in Iowa. I trust her judgement.
Yep, were are totally fine. We get to hang out in the hotel for one more day. Tomorrow, we sign our lease and start moving into our new house.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Because I know you are dieing to know.......
Well, we packed up are stuff and have safely arrived in Clarksville (that's in Tennessee in case you were wondering). We found a hotel. The kids are swimming happily. Guess where my swimsuit is!?! Yep, the very back of the moving truck. My choices were not swimming or braving the traffic to go buy a swim suit. (Always remember: Never go any where within 20 miles of a military base at 4pm)
Clarksville is gorgeuos. It is very very green, and everyone has a lawn. There is a river that goes through the middle of town. There is a cute little park by the river. That is all I know about this town, but so far I like it.
We went this morning and looked at a house out in Woodlawn (the Sticks as Jerry calls it). It was on a huge lot and had a pond in the back yard. Sadly, we didn't get it.
This afternoon I went and looked at a house I found on the internet about a week ago. It is a 4 bed 2 bath cape cod in clarksville. It is super cute, and is in a neighborhood full of kids. I saw 2 potential Jade friends in the short time I was there. We move in monday morning.
So for now, we live in a hotel. The kids are good, they did really good on the drive, and like I said before they are happily swimming. They should sleep well tonight ;)
Oh! For those of you who voted, if nothing changes before monday, we will be living in Tennessee.
Clarksville is gorgeuos. It is very very green, and everyone has a lawn. There is a river that goes through the middle of town. There is a cute little park by the river. That is all I know about this town, but so far I like it.
We went this morning and looked at a house out in Woodlawn (the Sticks as Jerry calls it). It was on a huge lot and had a pond in the back yard. Sadly, we didn't get it.
This afternoon I went and looked at a house I found on the internet about a week ago. It is a 4 bed 2 bath cape cod in clarksville. It is super cute, and is in a neighborhood full of kids. I saw 2 potential Jade friends in the short time I was there. We move in monday morning.
So for now, we live in a hotel. The kids are good, they did really good on the drive, and like I said before they are happily swimming. They should sleep well tonight ;)
Oh! For those of you who voted, if nothing changes before monday, we will be living in Tennessee.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
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