Tuesday, November 17, 2009

This I Believe

I work with the young women at church ages 12-18 and more specifically the 14-15 year olds. This year, the church-wide theme for the youth is from 1 Timothy 4:12 - "Be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity." I was looking for a theme for a particularly important activity that was based on being a believer. My good friend Karli inspired me with what her young women group did in Oregon by having women in their ward come in once a month and read a This I Believe statement , based off of a 1950s radio series hosted by acclaimed journalist, Edward R. Murrow, which was revived by NPR in 2005. I asked three women in our ward to read what they believed. I also asked the young women leaders and the young women to write a This I Believe statement to display that night. It was amazing to see how we are all so different yet we have many of the same values (beyond the obvious religious associations) like education, being your best self, and having courage. Karli posted her This I Believe statement on her blog and I always want to be like Karli so I'm posting mine too. Oh! Check out her statement here - http://www.wintersteam.org/winterskids/2009_05_01_archive.html

Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear – not absence of fear. – Mark Twain

A girl from my high school once said to me, and I can still see her saying it clearly because it has stuck with me, “I don’t try anything unless I know I’m going to be good at it.” I felt sorry for her then and I feel even sorrier for her now because the best experiences in my life have come from trying things I wasn’t sure I could do.

I played Little League baseball with boys because there wasn’t a girls’ league. My mom was worried I would get hurt but I wanted to do it anyway. I was teased, called a tomboy, scraped knees and elbows, and got knocked unconscious. Other parents complained that a girl shouldn’t be playing with boys. I learned that I could do anything boys could do and sometimes I could do it better. But first I had to try.

Sports continued to play an important part in my life and frequently tested my courage. I tried out for a select basketball team to travel to a national tournament. I made it. But first I had to try.

I wanted to play college volleyball but no colleges offered me a scholarship. If I was going to play I was going to have to walk on a team. And I did. But first I had to try.

At a young age I discovered a love of music. Music lifted my soul and expressed emotions that words could never describe. As much as I loved to sing, my voice did not match the feelings I wanted to communicate. In college I took a voice class with ten other students. I discovered that with some instruction and practice I could change my voice. After several years of lessons and hours of practice, my voice finally began to reflect the feelings my soul had longed to express. But first I had to try.

At twenty years old I made plans to either serve a mission or attend graduate school. However, I met a young man that I knew I wanted to marry. But marriage would mean changing my after-graduation goals. After much prayer and fasting, I knew what the Lord wanted of me. I worried about giving up on my goals for marriage and a family. I had to try the Lord’s plan for me.

Having the courage try also means having the courage to fail. When it happens it’s hard and heart breaking but I’ve learned far more about myself and other people through failure than success. I have survived a 2-18 basketball season. I ran track for four years and the only race I ever won was when there was one other girl and she had a crooked leg. I applied for scholarships I didn’t get. I have auditioned for the Sound of Music three times and never gotten a part. I made my college volleyball team as a freshman only to be cut as a junior. But I had to try.

I have tried sewing, crocheting, dance, racquetball, horseback riding, painting, student government, Spanish, art history, sociology, hiking, camping, water skiing, video games, FFA, Jr. Miss, and half a dozen other activities, organizations, and crafts. I have liked some and hated others. I am good at some and horrible at others. Looking back I have found I do not regret the times I tried. I regret when I did not find the courage, when I let fear govern my actions. The semester I didn’t study abroad, the girl I didn’t sit next to because she was different, the time I didn’t share the gospel with a friend, or when I simply made a wrong choice.

This I Believe…the courage to try enriches our lives and makes us a better version of ourselves. Having courage doesn’t mean we’re not afraid but that we don’t let fear dictate who we are and who we will become. Sometimes I succumb to fear but I continue to strive for courage. But first I have to try.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

What I Didn't Know

I love my two girls. They are smart, funny, confident, and cute. But anyone who spent much time with us six months after each of their births might understand why I say I am not a baby person. I have two beautiful girls that screamed their guts out for the first six months of their lives (for various reasons, some we know about some we've never figured out). So...the point of my post is to tell you what I didn't know about babies until I had Garrett.


- Babies can stop crying when you pick them up
- Babies can like to cuddle
- Babies know who their mom is (this may seem odd but I remember telling my mom that I didn't think Madilyn even liked me when she was three months old because she cried constantly)
- Babies can stop crying when you change their diaper
- Babies can stop crying when you feed them
- Babies can be happy for periods longer than half an hour
- Babies can sleep in 4 to 6 hour periods at night before they are 8 months old
I'd heard rumors about all of these but wasn't sure whether to believe them or if people were teasing me. I'm sure there are going to be more along way but it's taken me three children to see what I didn't know.

Monday, November 9, 2009

FHE

For family home evening tonight I wanted to teach the girls how to answer the telephone since we had an incident when a man from church called and got to hear me yelling at the kids to talk into the phone since they had answered it (I was nursing the baby). Anyway, Madilyn did great but Emma was hilarious. I called the home phone from my cell phone so they could practice. I'm going to try to recreate my conversation with Emma (I'm going to try to do Emma speak but just imagine everything said like Elmer Fudd if you don't know what I mean).

"Hewow?" (Emma)
"Hello? May I speak to your Daddy?" (Me)
"No." (Emma)
"Uh" (Me)
"Mama is that you?" (Emma)
"Well yes but do you want to take a message?" (Me)
"No. I bwing you the phone." (Emma)
"No don't bring me the phone." (Me)
"Its foy you." (Emma)
"Honey I'm on the phone." (Me)
"But its foy you." (Emma)

That's the gist of it anyway. I don't think she quite got it but anyone that calls and she answers is going to be entertained.

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Cindy Lauper Meets Sunday School


We had an interesting day at church. Long story short, store throwing away new clothes that hadn't sold, instead they gave it to our congregation. After the adults had gone through, my own little fashion models went shopping and came up with some beautiful outfits. The best part was when I walked into the gym and Emma had already picked out a pink shirt for me. She wanted to give it to me for my birthday. You never know what you're going to find at church.
Oh and that's a sun visor on Madilyn's head. She wouldn't listen to me when I told her that's not how you are supposed to wear it.

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Mmmmm.....Cake


Oh boy. Uh, I don't really have any appropriate comments for this picture other than its the only one I have of my birthday except for a couple of the cake. It was good cake. Confetti cake with confetti frosting, yum.

Friday, November 6, 2009

What do 2 Princesses, a Queen, a Penguin, and an Air Freshener have in Common?


Absolutely nothing except that's what our family dressed up as for Halloween. Can I just say that the only reason I was a queen was to keep my kids from fighting. No, I'm actually serious. Madilyn told me weeks ago that she didn't want to be a princess, she wanted to be a queen because, and I quote, "They rule over all the land and get to tell everyone what to do." If that's the criteria for a queen you better believe its going to be me with my quarreling princesses. To keep Madilyn from bossing everyone around, which she does anyway, I was the queen for the night.
So our church party was Friday night and the girls wore one costume, the next night, Halloween, they got to wear a different one to go trick or treating. It worked out great because we have at least ten princess dresses in our home and yet Emma chose to wear one of her church dresses with a crown. Go figure.
My costume was a birthday present made for me by my talented sister-in-law Celeste. She did an awesome job and can I tell you all that it had something like 163 grommets on it. Yeah. For my own insecurities this isn't a great picture of me. I look schlumpy but it didn't really look schlumpy in person.
My favorite costume of the night was Jeremy's vanillaroma car air freshener complete with the wonderful aroma of vanillaroma . It was supposed to be a simple costume but in the end he had to put a lot of work into it. Now the problem is what do we do with it? It's too cool of a costume to throw away but I'm telling you right now that I can't stand having it hanging in my hallway much longer.
Anyone want a Vanillaroma?

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Pumpkin Carving

We went to a friend's house for family home evening and carved pumpkins last week. Highlights of the evening - singing around the piano (my girls who are constantly singing at home were curiously mute), one minute lesson (in which I think we lost all four kids at various points), and the carving of the pumpkins which held their attention for all of ten minutes. We adults realized after that period of time that all the kids were gone playing upstairs and we were all carving their pumpkins. But alas, it was fun and the kids had a great time.

Explanation of pictures - Madilyn and Tavin (they are great little friends), Emma and Oliver (they never did come carve anything), and of course our finished products.

Spooner Farms


I wanted to blog about all our pumpkin related activities on one post but as it turns out I am having a hard time getting the time to do it so I'll have to do them as I can.
Spooner Farms. Wow, its like a mini-carnival, complete with Carnies and a pony ride. We went to get our pumpkins at Spooner Farms because some friends had told us it was fun for the kids. They weren't kidding. We chose our pumpkins, which thankfully Garrett slept through in the car seat (therefore he could ride in the wheelbarrow), and then got to play around a bit.
My only complaint, the corn maze would have cost us $25 to take our family through. No thanks. I'll just run through someone else's muddy field for free.
Oh, and the girls picked white pumpkins because they looked like something a princess would chose. Surprise, surprise.