Refresh and Renew

One thing in life that helps me refresh and renew is seeing my best friend!  Having those people in your life that generally love you, as much as you love them, those people who lift you up and encourage you to be the best you! Those people you couldn't imagine your life without!  

I recently had a visit from two of those people!

Lorie and David have been such a big part of our lives for several years! We love them so much, and are so glad we were able to visit with them, and get these cousins together! Lorie is always such an inspiring person.  She has, so many times, been one of those encouraging people for me.  She always encourages me to be the best me!  We think the world of them, and we're so glad they are part of our family! <3 

  We always say that we need a very large piece of property, so that we could just move some of these people on it with us! This way, we are never without the people we love! 

It had been 2 years since I saw my best friend, and I still remember the day I drove away with West Point in my rear view mirror.  It seriously broke my heart to drive away, and leave her behind. She had been such a HUGE part of my life, that it was weird to think she wouldn't be there for the holidays, for every birthday, and every baptism.  That she wouldn't have surprise visits, where we just sit around the kitchen bar top and chat for hours, or lounge around in jammies, watching whatever is on TV or take naps! Or the Epic Nerf battles or Hide and Seek in the dark with all these kiddos... Her and Joe truly love our children, as much as we do, which I never knew was even possible! These are the moments I knew I would miss, even though I knew she was always just a phone call or text message away!  This last minute visit from her, was just what we BOTH needed! I love this lady! She is my soul sister!

These visits helped refresh and renew my soul!  It was exactly what I needed! <3

Planning

Planning is my thing...

I love working through a good plan... you know, making list... checking stuff off... etc.
I think I like the planning part because I have to think ahead, I have to methodical.

I plan meals
I plan parties
I work through the budget
I plan the schedules for the Cub Scouts
If it has a list, I make one!  If it can be planned, I plan it!  That's just me, it's who I am!

With that bring said, What things do you like to plan?
 Part of planning is having a good calendar!  I love these:

http://yesmissy.com/2018-free-printable-calendar-roundup/

To my fellow travelers...

Judgment:

One lesson I have learned is that, you never know what other's are going through, you don't know their struggle, either internal or external.  Love all, wholeheartedly, not for what they can give you, or what they can bring to the table, but for them! 

Thomas S. Monson, our beloved Prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Passed away yesterday at the age of 90.  He joins his eternal partner in heaven, and I know with that, he is rejoicing.  I can not imagine one day without my eternal partner.  As I pray for his remaining family here, I can't help but rejoice for him.  

Learning the Plan of Salvation has helped me deal with death.  It has given me the peace in knowing what happens when we return to live with our father in heaven.  The gospel is seriously what brings me so much peace in this life.

To my fellow travelers in this life, I see you, I love you!

A New Year

     As we closed in on 2017, I realized though there was so many bad things that happened, there, in the darkness, we could see blessings as well.  I was Baptized in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints on February 2, 2004.  Since then, we've always been told that blessings come from trials.  It took me many years to really see this.  I have face so many trials in my life, and always Focused on the bad, not the good that could come after.

Every year I give myself a word to work into my life the next year.  

Some people do resolutions, set goals, etc. 

I give myself ONE WORD...

This year, that word is FOCUS...

I will FOCUS on me, on my relationships, on my spirituality, on my health.

We set goals all year, every year, but this year, we FOCUS!

First goal this year is to be sealed as an eternal family, in the temple. <3 This is for us!

I am so happy to have such an amazing other half, to FOCUS on this funny little world with.  He truly grounds me, he sees the best in me, he see's beyond what others see, and he truly understands the person with in, that I don't share with the world.  He makes me, be the best me!

Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.Colossians 3:22

If you had to give yourself one word to work on this year, what would that word be?

The Girl Behind the Smile

Just Me Standing There

Have you ever laid your head down to rest at night, and have a million thoughts race through your head, and no way to sort them?

I do... Every night... This is my way!

What is with the title of this blog?  Well, let me tell you.. There are so many days where I choose to put on a smile for those around me, but inside tells a different story.  Some days the girl is overjoyed, some days she is frantically trying to make sense of everything, and some days, she is sad.  Why do I choose to put on that smile, when that is not how I truly feel?  For those around me.  As a mother, I do things for those around me.  As a wife, I do things for others, Always have!  Here's the funny thing about a smile, IT'S CONTAGIOUS!  You do it, other's will to.  There are a million reasons to be happy today!  

What are your reasons?

My Husband

My Children

Friends

Extended family, even if they all are a little crazy

Knowing that my baby is getting baptized by his own agency

Having the gospel in our life

Food, good ole' southern cooking that makes you happy when you eat it

Today, Chocolate, because I need that little handful of chocolate chips (don't judge me)

Cool breeze hitting my face, while the sun shines perfectly through the trees overhead

Housework... because this is how I de-stress (that's normal right?)

Laughter coming from the other room, because that means my kids are in our home

Text messages

Crazy little phone calls

This list may not be a million things, but to me, it is what I need to get through today, keeps me smiling and it lets me know I am not alone.  Today the girl behind the smile, feels like she has a hundred people speaking to me, and she can't keep up.