Spiritual Thought Sunday

Well- today was a great day.  We were able to spend the day in Rifle, Colorado to participate in the baby blessing our our niece Reagan!  What a fun time we had.

My spiritual thought comes from the feelings and blessings that family bring.  It was such a joy to be with family this weekend.  We laughed, talked, joked, ate, and visited with each other.  Mostly we laughed... which is a good thing.  It was a great thing to be in the company of those we love.  The newest addition to our family has just stolen our hearts.  We love her.

Jordan (Harrison's brother) gave a beautiful blessing in church.  I am so thankful that we were able to be a part of it.

I am so thankful for family.  Both my own, and the family I married into 7 years ago.  I am thankful for their support and the relationships that we have with each other.

I am thankful for the knowledge of being a part of my family forever!  What an amazing blessing that is.  I am thankful to our Heavenly Father for the blessings of being sealed for time and ALL eternity.  I know without a single doubt that I will be married to my husband forever into the eternities.  I know that our own family (when they decide to come) will be my own family forever!

Thankful Thursday

Well friends- I really do have a lot to be thankful for this week.  I have had some huge ups and downs but overall... I shouldn't complain too much.

Best Friends:
I love her!  Jane.  She is amazing.  She and her husband made a last minute trip down our way and we were able to have dinner and play tour guide for the evening.  It was really really good to see her and Rodger.  We get really silly when we get together.

Like- this silly!

I feel like we should be freakin' comedians when we get together!  We are so funny!  We had a good time!

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My Church Girls:
Yeah- I know that I talk about them a lot... but it is because they are fabulous and they keep me feeling really really young!  Seriously- those girls have so much energy and I love it!  We went and got our make up done last weekend at the MAC counter.  We decided to call ourselves the MAC PACK!  It was a hoot!  I was also able to introduce most of the girls to Judith Leiber clutches.  That was super fun too!

Last night we had a swim party for our weekly activity.  I showed up a bit late and it was to the point that all the people in regular clothes (including leaders) were getting thrown into the pool!  I made sure to keep my phone in hand so that I would not be one of those getting dumped into the water.  It worked.  Here is a picture of the clothed girls getting dumped and after they swam to the surface:

This is seriously one of the most rewarding and satisfying parts of my life.  To have these girls in my life! They are so much fun!  I really love spending time with them and getting to know them!

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Harrison:
Yeah- he has been a life saver this week.  I had a couple of emotionally horrific things happen this week and he was there to give me a hug, a pep talk, and take me away for a day.  I sure love that guy.  Like a lot.

Tapas Dinner at Cosmo

POOL DAY at Mandalay Bay Beach

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Stay-cations:
We finally made it to Mandalay Bay this year!  We usually go the week of our anniversary, but we were on a tight budget that weekend and room rates were sky high- so we decided to wait to find a good deal.  We did.  We got a screaming deal which included our room, 2 for 1 breakfast, 2 for 1 VIP seating at the Beach, and free admission into the adult only pool (which we opted out of).  It was super fun!  We love the pool!  We loved the VIP seating we had too!  The chairs were so comfy and we were pampered!  Here is our view from our seats (click on it to make it bigger):

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I am very thankful for the life I have.  I have a wonderful marriage which includes a pretty amazing husband.  I have a very nice home complete with air conditioning and two funny cats.  I have a great family both from my side and Harrison's side who are there to lend support when we need it most.  I have a job (which right now I am not in love with... but you know... it could be worse).  I belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints which brings me so much joy, stability, and overall happiness.  

What are you thankful for this week??

Pinterest Review!

Well- time for another Pinterest review.  Fun.  Here are some things that I have done lately and either loved, hated, or somewhere in between.

Gold Gradient Mani

My Review: 10 out of 10.  This mani was super easy and went off without a hitch.  Instead of the purple underneath, I used a green.  Anyway!  It was great.  I painted my nails with the green and then used an opaque gold polish and painted about 3/4 of the way down.  After that dried, I used the big gold glitter polish just like in the picture (it is Sephora by OPI... but I can't remember what the color is).  The mani looked great.  I will definitely be doing this again with a different colors for sure!

Cloud Mani

My Review: 7 out of 10.  The idea is super great, but without a steady hand and nails at least the length of the ones in the tutorial... it doesn't look that great.  I used different colors but the same technique.  It looked more like big blobs rather than awesome scallops.  Maybe when I grow my nails out a little longer I will try this again and see if it comes out any better.

Peep Pops

My Review: 10 out of 10.  This was super easy and really cute!  I made these for a Sunday lesson right around Easter.  The girls thought it was amazing!  Even though I do not like Peeps at all, I loved making and looking at these!  I might make these for Easter baskets in the future as well!

Crock Pot Pizza Casserole

My Review: 8 out of 10.  We really liked this.  It was super easy to put together.  Instead of putting it into the crock pot and waiting hours, I made it and put it into the oven for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.  I did add almost double the sauce that was recommended and I feel like there should have been even more than that.  I will add more next time.  Also- I will omit the red bell pepper and add some black olives instead (maybe even some green chilies).  Harrison loved this too and the huge recipe made enough for me to freeze half (which froze beautifully).

Sock Bun Curls

My Review: mixed actually.  As far as the sock bun goes for a hair style in just the bun... 10 out of 10!  I love wearing my hair in the bun.  It stays quite secure with just a couple of extra bobby pins.  I get compliments on it every time I wear it up.  Now for the actual curling of my hair... 4 out of 10.  I don't get much curl.  The ends of my hair curls but that is it.  I had a friend tell me that her curls are much better if she does two buns on either side of her head.  I might try that next time.  The one single bun does nothing for curl for me.

Spiritual Thought Sunday- Finally

Hi friends!  It has been a while.  I am sorry I had a meltdown and then you never heard from me again.  I needed a while to adjust my attitude and get back to what was important.

I don't feel like I am running quite as fast these days.  I also feel like I am finally beginning to get my 3 major "life responsibilities" into a good rhythm (those three things being a wife, employee, and young women's leader).

Not even two days after my blog meltdown I knelt down and prayed my little heart out.  I have not prayed that long or so intently in a while.  It felt good.  I felt like I was just kneeling at my Father in Heaven's feet and pouring my heart out to him.  I talked about how tired I was, how stressed I was, how "done" I was.  I cried.  I talked some more.  I asked him to help me.  I asked that my burdens be lightened because I felt like I was being crushed.

Well- my burdens were not lifted, but my prayers were answered.  I somehow have found more strength.  It seems that there has been more energy put into my life.  I had to laugh actually... I wanted to have things TAKEN from my plate and instead... I had about 4-5 things added to my plate at work (kind of major things too).  So- that was pretty interesting.  But- I have found energy to go faster and father without feeling overwhelmed and tired.

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OK- now... onto my Spiritual Thought.

Yesterday was great at church.  I felt really inspired in all three of my meetings.  My thought today comes from the lesson we had in Sunday School.  We were studying in the last few chapters in Mosiah.  We read Mosiah 26:30 and it really stuck with me.  The scripture reads:

30 Yea, and ^aas often as my people ^brepent will I forgive them their trespasses against me.

How wonderful are the words AS OFTEN?  I really had a confirmation at that moment that the words in that passage were true.  

We all make mistakes.  We all sin.  We do it every single day.  It is so amazing to know that we can repent as often as we need.  Heavenly Father will forgive us a million times if we need it!  Satan is very good at weaseling his lies into our mind... especially the one that makes us think that when we sin we are not worthy to approach our Heavenly Father.  NOT TRUE!  Our Heavenly Father is a loving God.  He wants us to be happy.  He does not want us to suffer or be sad.  He definitely wants us to return to live with him in the Celestial Kingdom someday.  


It made me so happy to read that scripture.  

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It feels good to blog again!  I am thankful for the blessings in my life.  I am thankful for the power of prayer and for the answers that I receive when I pray.  GOD IS GOOD.