Thankful to be a visiting teacher

Throughout my married life, I have had a hard time with being a visiting teacher. I have not ever gained a testimony of it. I really did not see the importance of it. I have had a hard time making new friends and opening up to people that I just didn't know. I must say that I have  had a bad attitude about it all. Than, I would feel guilty every month for only putting half effort out there and would sometimes find myself dodging the district supervisors call. I just did not want to report once again of my failure to come through. 

When we moved to this new ward, I decided that it was time that I change my attitude, the way I think about it and approach it. The ladies that I had been assigned to were all women I had never met before. I was scared. I did not know them and they did not know me. But, I was going to overcome my fear and make friends with them. After all, isn't that what most of us want anyway a friend? So tonight I finished up all my visiting teaching. It ended up being a great experience. My companion could not go. So, I took Haylee as my companion. She helped break the ice too. 

The message that I gave was one that I needed to hear, especially because of the recent death of my dad. I love our prophet and his inspired words.. So, I will leave you with his words.

  
Stresses in our lives come regardless of our circumstances. We must deal with them the best we can. But we should not let them get in the way of what is most important—and what is most important almost always involves the people around us. Often we assume that they must know how much we love them. But we should never assume; we should let them know. Wrote William Shakespeare, “They do not love that do not show their love.” We will never regret the kind words spoken or the affection shown. Rather, our regrets will come if such things are omitted from our relationships with those who mean the most to us.
Send that note to the friend you’ve been neglecting; give your child a hug; give your parents a hug; say “I love you” more; always express your thanks. Never let a problem to be solved become more important than a person to be loved. Friends move away, children grow up, loved ones pass on. It’s so easy to take others for granted, until that day when they’re gone from our lives and we are left with feelings of “what if” and “if only.” Said author Harriet Beecher Stowe, “The bitterest tears shed over graves are for words left unsaid and deeds left undone.”

Thank you for being in my life, either through allowing me to read your blog or spend time with you or  talking to me on the phone. I love my family and Friends. You truly do enrich my life!

A treasured find

Last night I was up late. Jonathan was working and I was keeping him company. There are a few boxes that have not been unpacked yet, mostly because I have no idea where to put things. There was an open box in his office with some books in it. On top of these books there was a brown folder looking book. It has been with me for quite awhile. My mom gave it to me a few years ago with all the genealogy she had in her home. So, I decided to grab it last night and look through it. To my amazement, it was my dads personal history and a list of important events in his life. There was so much information listed in there that I did not know. For instance, he was actually baptized in the Catholic church as an infant. I never knew that fact about him. It only covers the first 24 years of his life but it was full of things I never knew about my dad. It also has the original certificate of birth from Mercy Hospital in Durango Colorado and the certificate of baptism and confirmation. I love this... I don't know why I have never looked at it before but I am so glad I found it, especially now...

I think I am solar

This past week has been cloudy and rainy all week. The sun peeked out of the clouds yesterday for a bit. My energy level has been completely depleted and I am DREADING winter. It is still Fall and I find myself wishing that the sun would just come shine on me and charge my solar batteries.

Plus, it just sort of brings on the blues. I guess they have a name for it. The acronym is S.A.D.

Seasonal Affective Disorder. That is a very fitting acronym because that is how I feel. I just want the sun to shine. At these times, I really want to live in a state with sunshine and warm weather...

I think San Diego sounds very nice right now. 

8 things

I was tagged by my Aunt Melanie. Doesn't she have the best name ever? I think so...

So here is a list..

8 TV shows I watch

1. Medium (love this show when it is on. The new season hasn't even started)

2. House

3. The Office

4. Supernatural

5. Biggest Loser

6. American Idol

Thats all I can think of. Not to much of a tv watcher

8 things I did yesterday

1. Took the kids to Liberty Academy 

2. Taught the computer class at Liberty academy 

3. Went to the bank

4. Grocery shopping at Wal Mart

5. made my amazing hot cocoa

6. started preparing my talk that I am giving on Sunday

7. talked with Adrienne (my dads wife.)

8. watched a Tom Hanks marathon on TV.

8 favorite restaurants

1. Thai Ruby- best Thai food in utah...

2. Cafe Rio - I love their pork salad!

3. Lonestar- yummmy steaks and sweet potatoes.

4. Johnny Carinos- not a big Italian food lover but this place is amazing!

5. Asuka- Great sushi and miso soup.

6. Magleby's- just all around good american home cooked food.

7. McGrath's- love their coconut shrimp with orange marmalade sauce.

8. Blue Iguana- spicy, authentic mexican food almost as good as New Mexico food.

8 things on my wish list

1. To have my dad back.

2. To be financially free.

3. To have politicians that truly understood the proper roll of government and upheld the constitution as it was written.

4. To be a body talk therapist.

5. I want season tickets to the Utah Jazz with lower bowl seats.

6. A 10 day European cruise with my husband.

7. The energy that I had as a youth. 

8. To eat and drink whatever I want and not worry about gaining weight, like when I was young.

Holy Cow! That took forever.. It is hard to think of 8 things. 

I am tagging Amy B., Audrie, and Abbie

things you may not know about me

I have actually been tagged for two different things. I will post one today and one tomorrow. My friend Chanel tagged me about 6 things that you may not know about me.

1. I have a phobia of large crowds. I am not sure when this started but I realized how bad it was when I enrolled in college for the first time. Just thinking of going to school with so many people gave me anxiety. I purposely enrolled mostly in evening classes as to avoid the larger crowds. There was a class that I enrolled in that had about 200 people in it. I made it through a couple of weeks before I dropped it and elected to take it online instead. I love sporting events but have a hard time going because of the crowds. The same with concerts. I try to analyze what it is all about but come up empty handed with that one.

2. If I am not good at something or don't think I will be, than I just am not interested. I know this is very limiting. For instance, Jonathan likes to bowl. I really stink at it. So, I don't want to bowl. I don't enjoy going bowling. I am a competitive person and if I think that I can't win, than I won't try. This is something that I would like to work on though. I feel like I have gotten better as I have gotten older. I am not as rigid as I used to be.

3. I love to read. I have atleast 4 or 5 book that I am reading at once. I go through phases though. Right now I am in a phase of self-help books. How can I improve myself? How can I improve my relationships? and everything else in between that is good for me. I miss the time I once had for reading though. When I was young I remember spending hours reading. I loved all the Nancy Drew books and wanted more than anything to find a hidden staircase or secret room.. When I was a teenager I read all the Dean R. Koontz books. I was always reading. I really have a love for learning.

4. I love to try new and unique foods. I will try anything atleast once. My two favorite foods are Thai food, really anything Thai and Sushi. A good Unagi sushi roll, when prepared right, is just a bit of heaven. All of my children love these things too so I am glad that my taste for unique food has rubbed off on them a bit.

5. I have a gift to recognize truth. When something is true, it just resonates in me very strong. So much so, that I do everything in my power to find out about it, study it, teach it and speak about it. I want others to know what I have learned. But, I have learned to be very careful with my words. I have learned that we all learn different things at different times in our lives. I believe that I will know when and who to share these truths with.

6. Before I referee a game of basketball, I have got to talk myself into doing it. I get great anxiety when I think to much about it. I have to tell myself over and over again that "I am an amazing referee." The idea of people scrutinizing my every call is sometimes overwhelming. Last season I did pretty good. I only backed out of two games because my fear really became paralyzing. After the game is over and I know that I did a great job, than the feeling is exhilirating. I think "why was I even worried?" Than, the next games comes and I do it all over again.

WOW! that was so hard.. Now, maybe you know a little bit more about me.

Now I tag Amber, Kristy and Amy O.

Election results

I have been contemplating on blogging about this. I know that so many people have different views about politics. I have started and erased and than started again. I have been listening to different things. One of the things I read was a transcript of a conversation between Senator Orrin Hatch and Glenn Beck. It was very good. One of the people that Glenn Beck quoted was President Reagan. 
"No generation in the history of Earth has ever tasted freedom, lost it, and then tasted it again." We are so close to losing our Constitution. We are so close to losing what we have, and people aren't thinking. The next generation, our children will look to us and say, "You sold my freedom for what?"

Is that the problem? People are not thinking... I have heard lots of people say they want change.. Do they want to change to Socialism? That is the road we are barreling down. 

In the 1960's Ezra Taft Benson, than secretary of Agriculture had a conversation with 

Kruschev. He said "Kruschev told me that Americans are so naive, we'll spoon socialism down their throat, you know, and over the years; before you know it, you'll raise the red flag." Here we are, we're at a point to where our country and our Constitution is slipping through our fingers.

There is hope for me in that I do know the end of the story.. 

I do know that Christ will come again.
Brigham Young says
"Will the Constitution be destroyed? No: it will be held inviolate by this people; and, as Joseph Smith said, "The time will come when the destiny of the nation will hang upon a single thread. At that critical juncture, this people will step forth and save it from the threatened destruction."

These prophecies are what bring me peace. Hopefully, I will be one of the people that help save it from threatened destruction by turning my brain on and learning about the constitution and also teaching my children the same.

Phew!! There... Now I feel better.