New Year, New Goals, New ME...

I saw this list on Facebook and it sums up everything I strive to do daily... If only we were perfect!

Here are 20 things to let go of in order to reach unlimited happiness.

1. Let go of all thoughts that don't make you feel empowered and strong.

2. Let go of feeling guilty for doing what you truly want to do.

3. Let go of the fear of the unknown; take one small step and watch the path reveal itself.

4. Let go of regrets; at one point in your life, that “whatever” was exactly what you wanted.

5. Let go of worrying; worrying is like praying for what you don’t want.

6. Let go of blaming anyone for anything; be accountable for your own life. If you don’t like something, you have two choices, accept it or change it.

7. Let go of thinking you are damaged; you matter, and the world needs you just as you are.

8. Let go of thinking your dreams are not important; always follow your heart.

9. Let go of being the “go-to person” for everyone, all the time; stop blowing yourself off and take care of yourself first … because you matter.

10. Let go of thinking everyone else is happier, more successful or better off than you. You are right where you need to be. Your journey is unfolding perfectly for you.

11. Let go of thinking there's a right and wrong way to do things or to see the world. Enjoy the contrast and celebrate the diversity and richness of life.

12. Let go of cheating on your future with your past. It’s time to move on and tell a new story.

13. Let go of thinking you are not where you should be. You are right where you need to be to get to where you want to go, so start asking yourself where you want to go.

14. Let go of anger toward ex lovers and family. We all deserve happiness and love; just because it is over doesn’t mean the love was wrong.

15. Let go of the need to do more and be more; for today, you've done the best you can, and that's enough.

16. Let go of thinking you have to know how to make it happen; we learn the way on the way.

17. Let go of your money woes — make a plan to pay off debt and focus on your abundance.

18. Let go of trying to save or change people. Everyone has her own path, and the best thing you can do is work on yourself and stop focusing on others.

19. Let go of trying to fit in and be accepted by everyone. Your uniqueness is what makes you outstanding.

20. Let go of self-hate. You are not the shape of your body or the number on the scale. Who you are matters, and the world needs you as you are. Celebrate you!

CHRISTmas!

I have reflected on the year we have just had and I am overwhelmed with emotion.  Kaebrie and Owen have grown so much this year.  We are learning so much about life.  I am one lucky mother.  I have learned how to be positive this year.  Our thoughts guide us to the places we go and the people placed in our lives.  I have been so grateful for being led to many wonderful places to raise our kids.  The people in my life are here for a reason.  It truly takes a village to raise children.  Kaebrie is a spirited child. She has more energy, more creativity, more spunk than anyone I've encountered before.  She entered this earth with eyes wide open and an anxious body. I knew she'd teach me a lot.  And she has! I've learned how to be more patient and more forgiving than I ever thought I would be able to be. She teaches me true compassion and how to serve.  I'd be lying though, if I didn't admit I wish some times I didn't need to learn those lessons. It's hard work. It ta long hours and lots of energy I don't always feel I have. And I'm not always so willing to learn. And I don't always learn with grace. There are plenty of days when I need to ask her forgiveness and compassion. Days when I snap at her. Days when I forget that she's still little and expect more of her than she's ready to learn or able to do. Days when I forget that she brings gifts as well as challenges.  I'm so thankful for the wise mothers I've encountered over the years through therapy and among the many neighbors and examples placed before us. Women who trust. Women who know their babies and their children. Women who are willing to learn from their children as well as teach their children. Women of faith - both in a higher power, their children, and themselves. These mentors have supported me and encouraged me. Many of them before I even knew I'd need that support.  You don't know how your examples teach others. You have no idea what gifts you have to share with others. Your gifts of patience, love, compassion, charity, kindness, trust, and faith - all these have blessed my life abundantly.  Merry Christmas to you all and a heartfelt thanks to each of you and your families for touching our lives!

My precious angel girl...

My dearest little Kaebrie girl,

Mommy loves you so much!  You are five years old and that makes mommy smile.  We have had an eventful five years with you.  I know that Heavenly Father has special plans for you while you are here on earth.  You are one special girl and can bring life to any person or situation.  I want you to know that you are loved by many.  You have the potential to be anyone you want to be.  You are one determined spirit.  You know what you want and do what you can until you get it.  I am so grateful that Heavenly Father sent you to me.  I need you in my life to complete our family.  I want you to know that mommy will be with you always and I will always be your number one fan.  

 We went to Las Vegas and stayed at the Sunset Station.  We took you to Build-A-Bear and Popovich's Pet Show at Planet Hollywood.  We love spending time together and we love to vacation.  It was such a fun weekend to celebrate five years with you in our life.  Love you so much Kaebrie!

Gratitude

Today my heart if full of so much gratitude...  I have been blessed with so much throughout my life.  I was born into a wonderful family who have always loved me and been there for me.  I am grateful for the trials that my Heavenly Father has blessed me to have.  It shows His true love for me as his daughter.  He knows me and He teaches me daily on how to become who He wants me to become.  I am here to share His love and His work so that all can return to His presence.  What a gift that is.

I have been able to study the anatomy and physiology of the human body in my foot zoning classes.  The body is a true gift.  It is fascinating how everything works and has its own purpose.  It has been a testimony to me of valuing my body and its functions.  I am so grateful that Heavenly Father knew I was ready for this next step in my life so that I can bless the lives that He needs me to bless.  I love people and I love the inspiration that each of us bounce off of each other.  What a huge blessing our bodies, minds, and people in our lives can be.

I am grateful for a husband who supports me in everything that I want to do.  He never complains and always supports me no matter what.  He gets a bit frustrated when I break down and feel like I want to give up on myself but he pushes me to try and finish everything I start.  I am so blessed to have him there rooting me on.  He has taught me so much about what love is and what it should be.  He helped me bring in to this world the most beautiful children.  Owen and Kaebrie are two of my favorite people. Looking back at the last few years of stress, worry, and fear I can honestly laugh a little about how uptight I was.  I have been able to release some issues in my life that have put to rest my worry and fears.  Yes, it is ok to worry about their well being.  But it is not His way to worry so much that you cry yourself to sleep every night because your child will not listen, obey, or do what I want them to do.  This is their journey. I am a part of it and my duty is to lead them, guide them, and walk beside them, so they can find their way.  It's that simple.

I am grateful for my Savior, Jesus Christ.  He atoned for my wrong doings.  He never complained and continued to bless and teach those around Him.  He is who I want to be like.  I don't care about the weight of the world and what they expect me to do with what I have.  It doesn't matter in the eternal perspective.  What matters is that I wake up each day and I live according to His will for me, not the worlds way for me.  I am indeed feeling a great amount of love and blessing because my eyes see differently than they ever have.  I have been able to conquer my fears of failure. I will not fail because I know that I am fulfilling my purpose on earth and I am doing the things that my Father in Heaven expect me to do.  I will keep Christ as the center of my life.  I want to uplift, inspire, and help those who are struggling with the weight of the world..  Once it is lifted, amazing things happen.

I am so grateful for ME!

Halloween 2013

 Owen wanted to be Dracula and Kaebrie wanted to be a candy corn witch.  They were adorable.  Owen pulled out his second bottom tooth on Halloween eve.  The kids both had school on Halloween which made for a crazy evening scrambling to get everyone put together.  It was so fun and the kids were so excited!  We went to the ward trunk-or-treat at the church and then off to visit Grandma Camille, GG and Grandpa Dave, and Grandma and Grandpa Bowen.

Kaebrie was a bit disturbed by an individual at the church that was dressed in a blue skintight body suit.  She sat and stared at them and couldn't stop saying "Why are they wearing that?"  She hated it.  I am not sure why the scary stuff didn't bother her but this blue tight suit had her all shaken up...

 Grandpa Bowen was the highlight of Halloween.  He was a dancing chicken!  

HILARIOUS...

Heavenly Hawaii

Before I post any pictures, I wanted to share my thoughts about this vacation.  Jeff and I needed this time away more than I realized.  We savored every second and took in so much beauty.  Hawaii is so gorgeous.  We left on Friday, October 11th and were scheduled to be home on Friday, October 18th.  However, when we got to the airport  Thursday night, the airplane had some mechanical issues and we were put up in a hotel for two extra nights on the airlines tab.  I was a bit frustrated because when I set my mind to something, it happens.  This was out of my control and I am here to say that those few extra days were the best part of my trip.  Jeff and I were able to go to a few more places and spend more time together relaxing.  I had several moments of pure reflections on my life at home.  I missed my kids terribly but I knew they were begin taken care of.  My parents came to stay with them while we were away.  They had obstacles with  things but took care of everything.  I'm so grateful for their help and love always.

Camille was so generous to invite us!  This was a trip I will always hold precious to my heart for many reasons.   Life has a funny way of showing us its true meaning.  I am grateful for each person in my life.  Hawaii was AMAZING!  I told Jeff several times while we were there that we WILL live there someday.  What's a dream when you don't express it and work towards it anyway?

It was great to spend quality time with GG and Grandpa Dave too.  They are such a cute couple.  They were troopers to be out in the hot Hawaii sun and humidity during the triathlon.  They are so supportive of their children and I admire their spirited nature.

The Ironman Triathlon was empowering.  I learned so much about life in that one day.  Watching and rooting on Dan through the race was an adrenalin rush.  They swim 2.4 miles, bike 112, and then run a full 26.2 marathon.  Watching each contestant was mind blowing.  Especially knowing Dan personally and his personal struggles going on in his life right now.  He dedicated his race to his darling wife, Michelle, who is battling breast cancer.  I am grateful to have such inspiring and uplifting people around me to help me try to be better.  Dan finished in 13 hrs and 22 minutes.  His goal was to finish in 13 hrs and 15 minutes.  He was pretty darn close.  He did the entire thing with a sprained ankle too!  Then there were the men I saw who didn't have legs who did the entire triathlon with their arms.  AMAZING!  I'm sorry but there is just no excuse why any human can't do something they dream of doing.  Anything is possible with passion, endurance, and a steady determination to reach your goals and make your dreams a reality.

Where's Waldo? 

I got a kick out of this funny man dressed up like Waldo. 

This was the perfect place to dress up and be spotted!

Owen loves Where's Waldo books and he looks in the books

almost every night with daddy. 

 



This photo of Michelle and Dan was taken immediately after Dan finished.  He looked exhausted!  And he had every reason to.  After having done a full marathon myself, I still cannot imagine the endurance required for these athletes to swim, bike, and run. 

That is something that will always amaze me. I loved spending time with them. 

We stayed at the Hilton Waikoloa in Kona, HI.  It was a very nice and spacious resort.  I believe they said it was 67 acres.  That is huge!  This Hawaii trip was way more relaxing than any other vacation I have ever had.  I loved being able to spend quality time with Jeff's family.  It seems like whenever we have a family get together I am always chasing kids or there just isn't enough time. 

Family is a true blessing.  

The resort had dolphins that you could pay to swim with.  We opted out but were able to get a (horrible) picture of them.  There was a new baby dolphins that was just a few days old.  It was tiny and cute.  One day, we are going to take our kids to swim with dolphins..  I think Kaebrie would absolutely LOVE it!

The water slide was fun for all, but me... I decided to take photos instead;)

Everywhere we went there were these cute little birds.  They were super friendly and not shy to come for food near you.

This picture has a story!  Camille wanted to take Sam and Abby beach combing before we headed to the airport on Thursday.  It is bad karma to take stuff from the beach.  We thought it was pretty funny when we talked about the events after her taking stuff from the beach.  She almost hit a cat in the parking lot, our airplane broke, and she was sleeping on bench in the airport terminal and a sprinkler turned on and got her wet.  We laughed about the bad karma... 

I loved spending time with Dan and Michelle and their adorable kids.  Abby and Sam have one of the sweetest brother-sister relationships I have ever seen.  They were so fun to watch! 

Dan and Michelle went to the Ironman banquet one night and the kids stayed at the house.  I was listening to them make a plan to jump in the swimming pool with their clothes on.  They were giggling together and daring each other.  Then they jumped in the pool together and laughed hysterically for jumping in the pool fully clothed.  Now that is living right there!  I loved seeing that a brother-sister can get along and show love to each other.  My hope is that Owen and Kaebrie will have a special bond like that always.



 

There was a father and son out fishing in the ocean with a plastic cup and fishing line.  Yes, a cup.  It is hard to describe their strategy but they were catching tons of fish and filling a bucket with them.  Who needs a fishing pole when you have a cup?

On Saturday, we went snorkeling at a private beach in a residential estate area.  It was a black sand beach.  I have a fear of the ocean but I went out and snorkeled for awhile.  I was very proud of myself for letting go and making a memory.  I haven't laughed so hard in a long time though.  The tide was coming in very strong so it was hard to put the snorkeling gear on and get out to the water without getting washed up on the beach.  Camille and I grabbed onto each other and we both got swept up on the beach several times in a row.  It was a rocky beach so we got scraped up and had tons of treasures in our bathing suits.  Made for a hilarious ending to our trip... I am grateful to have such a spirited mother-in-law.  She is the best!

This is Camille and her friend LeeAnn.  They were quite the duo.  We had such a fun time with everyone and highly recommend to anyone everywhere to go to Hawaii at least once in their lifetime to experience the beauty, fresh ocean breezes, the sunset, and the laid back atmosphere.  We live in Utah where the air is so congested and icky.  When we got back to Salt Lake and drove through Bountiful, I could smell and taste the pollution. I LOVE Hawaii!!!