Happy Easter

On this most sacred day in which we celebrate the Life, the Atonement, and the Resurrection of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ I wanted to share this gift with you. It's a 7 minute video about the life and sacrifice of Jesus Christ. I know that he lived and died for each of us. I am filled with deep abiding gratitude for His Love, His Example, and His Atonement. May you each have joy and peace on this very special day.

Attitude of Gratitude

I've had this thought that's been constantly running through my head ever since I heard it. I'm sorry I can't remember exactly where I heard it or saw it but I do remember how it affected me.

"Blessings Come to Those that NOTICE!"

It caused me to be more mindful and reflective about my life and how blessed I feel to have a sweet and dear husband whom I love with a love that knows no end, a family that means everything to me, Children and Grandchildren who are priceless, Freedom that is a gift I cherish, a Faith that guides me, a Heavenly Father that Loves me, and a Savior that has Atoned for my sins.

I wanted to take a moment tonight to express my gratitude for each of you and for the blessings I see all around me. I have so much to be grateful for even when I feel overwhelmed by the challenges that are mine. Lately, I can't keep up with all that needs doing and I'm practicing patience and a positive attitude and trying to ignore the things that I can't get done at the moment I just want it done. I have little piles everywhere and I can't seem to take care of all of them. So, I have to remind myself. . . Just a pile at a time. It will eventually get done!

We recently had a little flood in the basement and that has set off a chain of events that requires a lot of cleaning, organizing, fixing, and painting. But out of that effort has come blessings. Like new carpet, new paint, and a fresh clean sewing/craft room.

We're still in a HUGE mess and it's just 2 days before my daughter comes home for Thanksgiving Break. I guess I better hurry and clear a space in her room since that's where I put everything from my sewing/craft room so we could paint and put in new flooring.

Anyway, I just wanted to check in and let you know that I'm still alive and doing well despite my little and big messes. I also, have some fun big news coming up that I'll be able to share the first part of December. I have been able to do a bit of sewing and designing this past fall while I wasn't blogging. I can't wait to share some of it with you.

Have a Wonderful and Blessed Thanksgiving Week with your LOVED ONES! I know I will.

Quilt Lover's Heart Winner

And the Winner is. . .

Anne from Anne Writes Here said:

"What wonderful women they were. My late mother was much like yours. She was always helping people. She loved children and the elderly. My mom died in 1995 at the age of 63. I miss her every day.

I phoned my sister and my dear mother-in-law and told them how much they mean to me!

Thanks for hosting such a wonderful giveaway."

Anne just send me an email and let me know your mailing address. Congrats!!!!

I want to THANK everyone for entering the giveaway and tell you how much I enjoyed reading all of the comments about your mothers, your sisters, your aunts, your friends, and those that you love. It especially touched my heart how many of you who have lost your mother's and how much you miss your mother's. They will always have a place in our hearts and I'm grateful for the women in my life who provide a shoulder to cry on, a kind word, and a comforting hug whenever I need it. They are always there!

We as women have the privilege and capability of comforting and lifting and blessing each other's lives through serving our families and those in the circle of our day to day lives.

Since every day is Mother's Day I wanted to share this heart warming video of young people talking about their mother's and wishing them a Happy Mother's Day.

Here's another video on Marriage called:

"Expressions of Love"

I really enjoyed watching this video!

The Best Gift Ever!

If I could give each of you a gift for Christmas this year it would be the "Spirit of Christmas." If you watch the attached video you will understand my thoughts and feelings at this special time of year.

Get some tissue before you watch it though, it's a touching message and a sweet reminder of the meaning of Christmas. I also, want to send my love and best wishes for each of you. You have inspired me, taught me, made me laugh, given me comfort, encouraged me, supported me, and I have felt your friendship through the comments you leave. Thank you for always being positive and sharing your goodness. I strongly believe that we can help each other and support each other through our kind words and our kind deeds.

I was talking with a few co-workers today and I shared a few life experiences that have helped me become a better person (I'm still becoming). We were talking about life and not being judgemental. I believe that we all have enough challenges in our lives and so instead of passing judgement on one another we should take the higher road and give each other a hall pass and ask how can we help instead of turning our heads in judgement.

This is how I see it in my head . . .

Envision yourself standing on the edge of a cliff

You look over the edge and it's so far down that you know you wouldn't live if you were to fall.

Now imagine feeling the panic that would come as you feel yourself teetering on that edge.

You SCREAM for help and are relieved when you see someone coming to your aid.

Then suddenly, the person that comes to help you actually tries to push you off the cliff instead of pulling you away.

Have any of you ever felt this way? I have and it's so sad to feel someone judge you incorrectly instead of seeing past your differences and loving you anyway.

Well, I've told myself and reminded myself that I want to be the one that pulls a person away from the edge not the person who pushes a person over the edge. This holiday season let's all try to be more mindful of what we can do to help each other along our journey in life because as we go along the path we will find ourselves and others that may be hanging in the balance.

Remember there are. . .

Those that need a word of encouragement, not judgment.

Those that need a hug, not a shove.

Those that need lifting, not dropping.

Those that need a bit of sunshine, not a sour attitude.

Those that need a kind word, not criticism.

Those that need LOVE not HATE!!

Let us all be more Christlike this Christmas Season and into the New Year. Let's see how it can change our lives and the lives of those around us. May you have a joyous Christmas and Holiday Season with your family and loved ones.







P.S. Life has had me near the edge of late (too busy) and I'm managing my stress by hardly blogging and doing very little sewing. Just keeping things in perspective and enjoying the season. I hope you all understand my pathetic blogging lately and I hope to be able to make a few other posts before next week when we head off for the holidays with our family. I'm looking forward to the time away with my husband and my kids!!!

Finding HOPE 9/11

In Remembrance of those that gave their lives on 9/11 and for those survivors that are living their lives after 9/11. Enjoy this touching new Mormon Messages video, "Finding Hope," in which a man describes his journey from tragedy and trauma to hope, healing, and renewal through Jesus Christ.

Pack to School

My dear friend Rae Ann started the Shadow Light Foundation over 19 years ago now and I've been involved in one way or another for the majority of the years I've known her. She does so much for the community and for those that have great need both at Christmas time and during the beginning of the school year. She calls this program "PACK to SCHOOL" where children in need are provided with a Backpack filled with school supplies and a new school outfit. It's been a wonderful blessing to me and my family to be involved in helping her each year.

Here are a few pictures that I took that day. You can see the entire article printed in our local newspaper on August 15th. Just click HERE to read it.

Lots of Donated Backpacks.

More Backpacks!

My dear Friend Rae Ann is giving direction to the girls who came to help put the backpacks together. There were about 18-20 of us helping and when the service project was done over a 100 kids were given a backpack for school along with an outfit, socks, underwear, and a pair of shoes.

Brand New Donated Clothing for Children in our Community.

Here are the lists of school supplies broken down by grade.

Here's Kenna & Olivia.
They were both so excited to be helping.

Look at all the wonderful donations from friends and neighbors in our community.

What a great way to give back to our community!

Thanks Rae Ann for being my friend!
You INSPIRE ME!

Anxiety!

Please notice the time of my post. Yes, it's very LATE and I'm very TIRED. I'm sorry if this get's too long for you. I'm okay if you stop here but, who knows, maybe this will inspire you. I hope so.

I'm going to share one of my personal challenges in hopes that it may help you to know that we are not alone in our trials. We have each other. We can lift each other and support each other in times of illness, sadness, grief, and pain. We can also share in the joyous moments, too.

I'm a firm believer that "We are the Creators of Our Own Happiness" which means when faced with adversity we can choose to be happy or choose to be miserable. This doesn't mean we can't be sad or mad but, we need to snap out of it as fast as we can and see the blessings in our lives and even ask for divine guidance and understanding. I'm grateful for the happiness, the faith, the love, the joy, the peace, the strength and the courage that comes to me through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. My faith defines who I am and I'm a better person because of my beliefs.

So, here's what's been keeping me up LATE. . .

Kenna is having 3 baby teeth pulled (the teeth are hanging on tight) and she needs 2 fillings. She's going to be put out for the procedure. Read on and you will understand.

First off, my husband has anxiety and had his first anxiety attack when he was in his early 30's and his father has anxiety and coped with it by drinking. It consumed his life and he became an alcoholic (good news: he is now a recovered alcoholic). Even my husband's grandmother had anxiety. So you can see that anxiety is a part of my children's genetics. I don't think we realized that our kids would be affected by anxiety (most kids have fears) until our youngest was diagnosed two years ago with GAD also known as Generalized Anxiety Disorder and then I looked back and realized oh yes, all my kids have experienced different anxieties in their lives but it wasn't as debilitating as it's been for Kenna. It's too the point where she can't function at times.

Now that Kenna's a little older she usually copes pretty well but at times it turns into a full blown anxiety attack like tonight. She's deathly (ha ha) afraid of dying and so being put out for her dental procedure or flying in an airplane or getting lost or the fear of a car crash causes her extreme anxiety. Sometimes I get impatient and tell her to just STOP it and then we go into the let's manage your fear mode where we talk about it, that usually helps. Now that she's 10 years old she's really starting to recognize that she's different. She gets mad at herself and tells me she hates anxiety and wishes she didn't have it. My responsibility as her loving mother is to make sure she FACES her FEARS. That is one of the best things I can do for her. She's quite a dare devil which is really funny. She loves to ride horses, participate in gymnastics, softball, soccer, skiing and rock climbing too. She's very athletic so I keep her busy and focused on her talents.

It can be hard as a parent to see your kids suffer with any kind of debilitating circumstances whether physical or emotional. Often, I feel like it's a silent disability that many people don't understand and people can be very judgmental and critical. Most people have been pretty supportive but it makes it hard for her to function and she WORRIES (chronically) about everything, especially what people think about her. Often, I'm her voice of reason.

I remember at the end of 3rd grade her teacher was telling me how much she enjoyed Kenna and that she hoped that she would GROW OUT OF HER ANXIETY. I kind of laughed and corrected her by saying that she would never really GROW OUT OF IT but that she would learn how to better COPE with it and then it would seem like she had GROWN OUT OF IT!

It's very late now (2:37am) and I better get to bed. I'm sorry to ramble on a bit and I hope you don't mind my sharing but it will help you understand what keeps me from posting regularly on my blog. I really appreciate all of you that follow my blog and leave comments. I've had a great time visiting, emailing, and getting to know many of you.

I'm so grateful for all the love and support!

Thank You!

Easter Message

On this Easter Sunday I wanted to stand as a witness of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I'm so grateful for HIS life, HIS example, and the sacrifice and atonement HE made for me, my family and for ALL of US.

This 4+ minute video is a wonderful message about the Savior's Atonement. You can read the entire message given at LDS General Conference on April 5, 2009 by Apostle, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, his talk was entitled "None Were With Him" (click on the title to read more).