Saturday, July 30, 2011

Enjoying being a mom

I quit my job.

At first I was having mixed feelings about it. But now I am ENJOYING my kids SO MUCH! So much in fact, that I haven't blogged in a while. Sorry about that.  :) I think tomorrow I will blog something amazingly awesome about how wonderful life is. But right now, I am going to go soak in a nice bath and read my book :)

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Sweet and sticky Chicken

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoon brown sugar
  • 4 tablespoons honey
  • 1 cup soy sauce
  • 2 teaspoons chopped fresh ginger root
  • 2 teaspoons chopped garlic
  • pepper to taste
  • 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into 1/2 inch strips
  • 1 tablespoon sesame oil
  • 2 tablespoons Cornstarch
  • 2 tablespoons water

Directions

  1. Mix corn starch and water in a small bowl. 
  2. Add brown sugar, honey, soy sauce, ginger and garlic.
  3. Lightly pepper the chicken strips.
  4. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add chicken strips and brown on both sides, about 1 minute per side. Pour the sauce over the chicken. Simmer uncovered until the sauce thickens, 8 to 10 minutes.


Complements


This week has been a crazy week. Between Dave’s work, my work (the last of my “two weeks notice”), worrying about where those DARN library books went, what is for dinner in this insanely hot and humid weather (HUMID?!?! I thought I lived in a desert!?!), getting pulled over, and finding money to get the car registered so we won’t get pulled over again. 
BUT
I haven’t COMPLETELY fallen off the face of the planet. 

After coming home from an AMAZING bridal shower for my soon-to-be sister-in-law my cousins car broke down in my driveway (really it started smoking and we found some coolant and then it was better) my neighbor from across the street came over and asked me if I have lost weight (which I haven’t). BUT IT FELT SO GOOD. 

BACK IN THE DAY…

Someone said to me something that STUCK.  "You should never keep a complement to yourself." Even if it’s for a person you’ve never met. Complements were meant to be given.  You never know how good you will make someone feel.  If a pregnant women looks like a glowing soon-to-be mother of awesomeness, then TELL HER.  If you’re child is doing an EXCELLENT JOB AT ANYTHING, let him or her KNOW.  Good food, cute shoes, nice haircut, lost weight, clean house, beautiful yard, even the smallest complement can mean the world to someone.  Life is hard enough, let’s help each other out and make each other feel good!

THE WINNER'S!!!

I've always wanted to do a giveaway!! YAY! I am posting the "winners" a bit early, because I think all the "hype" has died down. I know I know I know, I'm jumping the gun here, but I was SO excited to use random.org .  So I DID and HERE are the RESULTS:

...

 ...

 ...

 

List Randomizer

  1. Chrissy Roecker -- "The Way to Be" By Gordon B. Hinckley
  2. Jessica Wells -- "How to Be Totally Miserable" By John Bytheway
Timestamp: 2011-07-20 02:45:05 UTC

I thought they were FUNNY results!! Seeing as how BOTH OF YOU ARE MY SISTERS!! HAHAHA!!! ANYWAY, I need your addresses to send you YOUR PRIZES!! :) 

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

GIVEAWAY!!

We all love a good giveaway.  SO HERE'S MY VERY FIRST ONE!! YAY!!!

The first book is "Way to Be" By President Gordan B. Hinckley.  It's a great book and it is a wonderful way to help feel good about yourself.  

 The second book is by John Bytheway, a "classic" Mormon Self-esteem booster comedian.  Basically I thought this book embodied the "theme" of my blog.

TO ENTER: REPOST a LINK TO my BLOG ON FACEBOOK and FOLLOW MY BLOG! AND THEN LEAVE A MESSAGE ON THIS BLOG! I will randomly choose TWO winners! YAY!!! Don't forget to leave your email address so I can get a hold of you if you win! Stay TUNED FOR MORE GIVEAWAYS!! It always feels good to win SOMETHING! :D


The WINNERS will be announced FRIDAY JULY 22! :D

Honesty DOES NOT equal Truth.


Honesty: free of deceit and untruthfulness; sincere : I haven't been totally honest with you.
• morally correct or virtuous : I did the only right and honest thing.
• [ attrib. ] fairly earned, esp. through hard work : struggling to make an honest living.
• (of an action) blameless or well intentioned even if unsuccessful or misguided : he'd made an honest mistake.
• [ attrib. ] simple, unpretentious, and unsophisticated : good honest food with no gimmicks.

Truth: the quality or state of being true : he had to accept the truth of her accusation.
• (also the truth) that which is true or in accordance with fact or reality : tell me the truth | she found out the truth about him.
• a fact or belief that is accepted as true : the emergence of scientific truths | the fundamental truths about mankind.

Just because you are being HONEST to someone about something it does not mean it is the TRUTH.  Someone once said to me that I am an inconsistent mother and that I am horrible at communicating.  She was “just being honest"
When a wife asks her husband “Do I look fat in these jeans?” it is a loaded question. Only because he isn’t sure if she wants the truth or his honesty.  He may think she looks like a billion dollars in those jeans; they show off her curves and accentuate those sexy thighs (she refers to them as “hams”).  BUT HE LIKES THE CURVES, SHE DOESN’T.  He may honestly be telling her she looks fabulous. But truthfully, those jeans are too small and she should change.
The first day of Mr. Crane’s sociology class my senior year, we defined truth as a class. My teacher pointed out that EVERYONE comes from a different background; we have different lenses through which we view the world.  SO to make sure we were all on the same page we came up with a class wide definition. 


Spinach tooth
Truth is not only “fact or reality” (You have some spinach in your teeth. Would be an example of reality.  Utah’s state flower is the Sego-Lilly. Would be a fact.)  Truth is also accurate and without change.  
Sego-Lilly
So as a reader of my blog I want YOU to understand what MY DEFINITION OF TRUTH is. 

Truth |troōθ|: NOUN. A fact and/or reality that is accurate and without change.

When I say that I believe without a doubt that the Gospel is TRUE, I mean that I know it to be a fact that is accurate, it does not change. 
http://www.mormonchurch.com/11/book-of-mormon

NOW Let’s talk about HONESTY.  Believe it or not, but I think our DEAR FRIEND Wikipedia does a FABULOUS job defining honesty:  “[honesty] refers to a facet of moral character and denotes positive, virtuous attributes such as integrity, truthfulness, and straightforwardness along with the absence of lying, cheating, or theft.

Being honest in a conversation with someone does not mean it is the TRUTH. Someone may HONESTLY see inconsistencies in my parenting, and HONESTLY think I am bad at communicating, but in TRUTH, that is opinion. 

Opinion: a view or judgment formed about something, not necessarily based on fact or knowledge. 

As a daughter of God it is important to be able to distinguish between honesty, truth and opinion.  It can be EXHAUSTING to constantly be trying to PLEASE EVERYONE.  When truth is defined, it is easier to see who we should REALLY being pleasing.  

3 things...

I am amazing.
I am good at diapering  :)
I am good at loving my husband.

Nothing Clever.

Nothing clever or inspiring to say today. So I am posting this talk, because it makes me feel good every time I read it.

LDS Women Are Incredible

Saturday, July 9, 2011

I Am Borg.


I quit my job. Well, I gave them my two weeks notice.  I thought I would have this feeling of complete elated liberation. But it was really hard.  When I told my boss I had some bad news for him, his fight or flight instinct started to kick in, and then a look of panic spread across his face as I explained to him what my situation was. This would be the second time I’ve had to quit a job I love, for the good of the collective. Sometimes being a mom can feel like being  Borg; not even a hot and sexy Seven-of-nine Borg, an ugly part-of-the-collective Borg Drone. 
Hot and sexy, not part of the collective Seven-of-Nine.
It seems that every decision that is made as a mother is weighted by how it effects everyone else in the family.  The question "What should I do today?" will greatly determine the outcome of EVERYONE ELSE'S DAY.  Should I go grocery shopping or watch tv? Clean house or paint my nails? Take a long luxurious bath or a short shower and do a quick load of laundry? When making decisions strictly based on my stress level we generally have no food and piles of dirty clothes.  If it weren't for SLAVERY SATURDAY we would be living in filth...*
Me. Borg Drone.
Even deciding to take a day off of being cheerful will effect the mood of the house. Here's some math to prove my point: 
Grumpy + Mom = Grumpy household

 However, putting the kids to bed is an awful lot like being the Borg queen, “Resistance is futile” and she is a somewhat sexy Borg… but only after her head has attached to her body, the floating head thing is a bit creeping if you ask me. 

Borg Queen. 

*well maybe not, Mr. R is really good at stepping in when I need a bath, pedicure, and some "me" time.  

What We Want

Friday, July 8, 2011

3 things...

I TOTALLY MADE DINNER IN 20 minutes TODAY!! (thought it up and MADE)
           it was just spaghetti, but HEY everyone is FULL.
I quit my job today. It sucked. But I did it.
I am good at crocheting. In fact I am in the middle of a project.

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Also....

Also you should leave a comment. If you want. I do like to feel validated. :) And I will probably comment on your comment therefore leaving us to be better friends then we were before your comment :D

Bad Day Redirect.

In Special Education or even Behavioral Studies one of the FIRST things you learn about negative behavior is the "redirect".  For example, if your five year old wants the toy your three year old has, you offer him something bigger and better than the "sister toy". Another example would be if your client really really really really wants the COKE sitting on the table you MOVE THE COKE or  MOVE the client. If you're a mother you've been using the "redirect" for years, possibly without even know it.  
FOR ME Today has been...


But I'm sure we ALL have days like today. SO my REDIRECT has been:


AND




And SOME OF THIS


Right now and I feel a much better :)

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Quote of the Day

"I find that we as women need to be empowered for the women we are and not the women who we "think" we need to "see" ourselves as."
--Jessica

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Today. July 3rd. Thank goodness it's almost over.


“Go eat breakfast.”
“Go eat breakfast.”
“Go eat breakfast.”
“Go eat breakfast.”

“Go get dressed.”
“Go get dressed.”
“Go get dressed.”
“Go get dressed. No it’s Sunday. You need SUNDAY clothes.”


“Get your shoes on.”
“Get your shoes on.”
“Get your shoes on.”
“Get your shoes on. No SUNDAY SHOES.”

I don’t know if it was because today was FAST Sunday or because I am getting sick or because of a MILLION other excuses, but today was not my day for patience.
            After an epic fit during sacrament meeting that resulted in a monumental bloody nose because of a fight over who gets to sit by MOM I lost it.
            I LOVE MY CHILDREN. In fact, I adore this three-day weekend because I get to smother (and mother… see what I did there?) with attention.  I miss my kids because I HAVE to WORK but also I feel GUILTY that I need a break from them. 
            Some days are rough. I know my life can’t possibly be the MOST difficult one in the world. 
            So instead of complaining I am going to list a few things I am grateful for (in no particular order).
                        Good friends
                        Apples to Apples (combined with the previous)
                        The Atonement
My Dear sweet Mr. R                       
CHILDREN to clean up after
MY MOMMY (and getting to sit by her)
Neighbors who bring me cookies J
HOA’s that throw 4th of July parties
Music
My home
Tutus
Cowboy boots
Blueberry pie
                        My Heavenly Father


3 things...

I am curvy and my husband likes it.
I am frugal.
My toenails are super cute.

Greatness

President Howard W. Hunter


What Is True Greatness?

Howard W. Hunter 1987

       Many Latter-day Saints are happy and enjoying the opportunities life offers. Yet I am concerned that some among us are unhappy. Some of us feel that we are falling short of our expected ideals. I have particular concern for those who have lived righteously but think—because they haven’t achieved in the world or in the Church what others have achieved—that they have failed. Each of us desires to achieve a measure of greatness in this life. And why shouldn’t we? As someone once noted, there is within each of us a giant struggling with celestial homesickness. (See Heb. 11:13–16; D&C 45:11–14.)
Realizing who we are and what we may become assures us that with God nothing is really impossible. From the time we learn that Jesus wants us for a Sunbeam through the time we learn more fully the basic principles of the gospel, we are taught to strive for perfection. It is not new to us, then, to talk of the importance of achievement. The difficulty arises when inflated expectations of the world alter the definition of greatness.
What is true greatness? What is it that makes a person great?
We live in a world that seems to worship its own kind of greatness and to produce its own kind of heroes. A recent survey of young people ages eighteen through twenty-four revealed that today’s youth prefer the “strong, go-it-alone, conquer-against-all-odds” individuals and that they clearly seek to pattern their lives after the glamorous and “boundlessly rich.” During the 1950s, heroes included Winston Churchill, Albert Schweitzer, President Harry Truman, Queen Elizabeth, and Helen Keller—the blind and deaf writer-lecturer. These were figures who either helped shape history or were noted for their inspiring lives. Today, many of the top ten heroes are movie stars and other entertainers, which suggests something of a shift in our attitudes. (See U. S. News & World Report, 22 Apr. 1985, pp. 44–48.)
It’s true that most of the world’s heroes don’t last very long in the public mind; but, nevertheless, there is never a lack of champions and great achievers. We hear almost daily of athletes breaking records; scientists inventing marvelous new devices, machines, and processes; and doctors saving lives in new ways. We are constantly being exposed to exceptionally gifted musicians and entertainers and to unusually talented artists, architects, and builders. Magazines, billboards, and television commercials bombard us with pictures of individuals with perfect teeth and flawless features, wearing stylish clothes and doing whatever it is that “successful” people do.
Because we are being constantly exposed to the world’s definition of greatness, it is understandable that we might make comparisons between what we are and what others are—or seem to be—and also between what we have and what others have. Although it is true that making comparisons can be beneficial and may motivate us to accomplish much good and to improve our lives, we often allow unfair and improper comparisons to destroy our happiness when they cause us to feel unfulfilled or inadequate or unsuccessful. Sometimes, because of these feelings, we are led into error and dwell on our failures while ignoring aspects of our lives that may contain elements of true greatness.
In 1905, President Joseph F. Smith made this most profound statement about true greatness:
“Those things which we call extraordinary, remarkable, or unusual may make history, but they do not make real life.
“After all, to do well those things which God ordained to be the common lot of all mankind, is the truest greatness. To be a successful father or a successful mother is greater than to be a successful general or a successful statesman.” (Juvenile Instructor, 15 Dec. 1905, p. 752.)
This statement raises a query: What are the things God has ordained to be “the common lot of all mankind”? Surely they include the things that must be done in order to be a good father or a good mother, a good son or a good daughter, a good student or a good roommate or a good neighbor.
Pablo Casals, the great cellist, spent the morning on the day he died—at the age of ninety-five—practicing scales on his cello. Giving consistent effort in the little things in day-to-day life leads to true greatness. Specifically, it is the thousands of little deeds and tasks of service and sacrifice that constitute the giving, or losing, of one’s life for others and for the Lord. They include gaining a knowledge of our Father in Heaven and the gospel. They also include bringing others into the faith and fellowship of his kingdom. These things do not usually receive the attention or the adulation of the world.
Joseph Smith is not generally remembered as a general, mayor, architect, editor, or presidential candidate. We remember him as the prophet of the Restoration, a man committed to the love of God and the furthering of His work. The Prophet Joseph was an everyday Christian. He was concerned about the small things, the daily tasks of service and caring for others. As a thirteen-year-old boy, Lyman O. Littlefield accompanied the camp of Zion, which went up to Missouri. He later narrated this incident of a small yet personally significant act of service in the life of the Prophet:
“The journey was extremely toilsome for all, and the physical suffering, coupled with the knowledge of the persecutions endured by our brethren whom we were traveling to succor, caused me to lapse one day into a state of melancholy. As the camp was making ready to depart I sat tired and brooding by the roadside. The Prophet was the busiest man of the camp; and yet when he saw me, he turned from the great press of other duties to say a word of comfort to a child. Placing his hand upon my head, he said, ‘Is there no place for you, my boy? If not, we must make one.’ This circumstance made an impression upon my mind which long lapse of time and cares of riper years have not effaced.” (In George Q. Cannon, Life of Joseph Smith the Prophet, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1986, p. 344.)
On another occasion, when Governor Carlin of Illinois sent Sheriff Thomas King of Adams County and several others as a posse to apprehend the Prophet and deliver him to the emissaries of Governor Boggs of Missouri, Sheriff King became deathly ill. At Nauvoo the Prophet took the sheriff to his home and nursed him like a brother for four days. (Ibid., p. 372.) Small, kind, and yet significant acts of service were not occasional for the Prophet.
Writing about the opening of the store in Nauvoo, Elder George Q. Cannon recorded:
“The Prophet himself did not hesitate to engage in mercantile and industrial pursuits; the gospel which he preached was one of temporal salvation as well as spiritual exaltation; and he was willing to perform his share of the practical labor. This he did with no thought of personal gain.” (Ibid., p. 385.)
And in a letter, the Prophet wrote:
“The store has been filled to overflowing and I have stood behind the counter all day, distributing goods as steadily as any clerk you ever saw, to oblige those who were compelled to go without their Christmas and New Year’s dinners for the want of a little sugar, molasses, raisins, etc.; and to please myself also, for I love to wait upon the Saints and to be a servant to all, hoping that I may be exalted in the due time of the Lord.” (Ibid., p. 386.)