Becoming a Better Me: Update

I have to apologize to those of you who enjoy reading my blog for the crafts or family updates. I am almost done with our kitchen table...still not exactly sure how I feel about the outcome yet. Regardless expect a post on that soon. As for our family, well as sad as it is we haven't done much worthy of a blog post lately. Eric has still been traveling every week and weekends have been packed with trying to get things done for the new house, clean and pack the one we're living in and other "not to exciting" things. However, next week I am flying with my mom to visit my sister in Oregon and am literally counting down the days! I feel like I've lost a best friend since she has left as well as getting to see that adorable little girl of her's.

In the mean time you get another post about my ramblings. Choose to continue on or just come back in the near future when I post some recent family pictures we had done :) Here's a little preview...

So a couple weeks ago I wrote a post where I made some goals to help me become a better me. Not everything went according to planned. The night after writing that post was the night Livy started officially sleeping through the night. I'm talking 9 PM and around 8 AM! I have no complaints about a full nights rest, but my 6:30 alarm clock was not longer waking up. No matter though because that was also the day Mia decided to start waking up an hour earlier at 7. It's like they can sense mom has made some changes based off their schedules so they should change it instantly. So instead, I get up when Mia gets up, take her to the bathroom and have her play in her room while I take a shower. After breakfast we all finish getting ready and are set for the day around 8:30. I then do my daily cleaning according to the cleaning chart I posted. I have LOVED this cleaning schedule! I feel like I am able to keep the house cleaned so much better and it doesn't seem like an overwhelming task. I get finished with that by 10 and have the rest of the morning to play with the girls until naptime in the afternoon where I can then have some "me" time. I'm amazed at how much more I'm accomplishing but still feel like I have the same, if not more, time than I did before.

For example, I take Mia to story hour at the library at 10:30 once a week and before, getting ready and out of the house by 10 even 11 was a struggle. Now we are all up and dressed with the house cleaned well before we need to go. This has definitely made me a happier mother!

Now that I have started to get my "every-day" life in order I have started focusing more on some inward goals. And the other night I came across something interesting. I actually read my real, hard copy scriptures instead of off my Iphone and I opened up to a post-it note of some goals I made when I was in high school. I found it interesting to look at the things I wanted to work on then, to how I improved on some of those things and what I am still working on. Here's the list:

- Do not say ANY mean things!! Ok, so I'm still working on this one. It's something I struggle with, but it's a dream of mine to one day leave this world being remembered as someone who was very nice and kind. Hopefully in the next 60 years I can make that happen!

-Be a better friend and sister. Now I would add wife and mother to this list as well. All things I am still working at daily as well!

-Work harder in school. If I only knew what little work high school entailed compared to college. Much to my dismay this is still something I am working on.

-Have positive thoughts!! This goal has taken on a whole new meaning to me today. Back then this had to do with my self image. As most teenagers are, I was very self-conscious about my body and looks. I put a lot of effort into becoming comfortable with my body. It's funny that after having 2 kids and weighing more then I did in high school I am a lot more confident in my body then I was then. Today I am always striving to have more positive thoughts on daily situations instead of trying to find all the bad things that happen.

And in lou of sharing my high school goals here's an oldie picture of me "back in the day". I'm not sure I'm old enough yet for terms like that but I like to think I am :)

I loved learning that I am not alone in my quest to be a better me through your comments! Your comments have been a great support to me! Thank you for them! And if you're reading this thank you for making it to the end of this post!

What's Your Parenting Style on Discipline

I know this post is treading on controversial ground among professionals as well as mothers, but with a fully active toddler discipline is a subject I'm constantly being faced with and something I'd like to throw out there for conversation.

So what do you do when your toddler throws their whole dinner on the ground because they don't want to eat it? When they hit you or throw a loud, screaming tantrum in the middle of the store because they aren't getting what they want? When are they old enough to start really understanding that something is wrong and at what age should disciplinary actions be taken to enforce what we are trying to teach them?

Shortly after Mia turned 1 and was becoming more mobile and talkative, these were the sorts of questions running through my mind. Since then I have learned from my studies and through watching other mothers that there are a lot of different views and opinions on the subject of disciplining children as they are taught right from wrong. Here's my two cents on the matter:

First off I'll just state this up front...I am pro discipline.Now I'm not talking spankings or yell even though I will admit there have been times when I have lost my cool and have ended up yelling at my kids. Saying this I would like to put out there that I recognize that I am not a perfect mother and that I am still learning. I also recognize that each child is different and reacts to things differently. Therefore, take this as merely my stance on the subject and my views on what has worked for me so far.

A quote from THIS address given by President James E. Faust states my views on the subject of discipline perfectly! "Direction and discipline are certainly an indispensable part of child rearing. If parents do not discipline their children, then the public will discipline them in a way the parents do not like. Without discipline, children will not respect either the rules of the home or of society."

So that being said, I think there comes a time in a child's age when there needs to be a consequence for their actions for them to learn that something is wrong rather then just stating that it's a "no-no". For Mia it was between 18-24 months. I learned that starting earlier rather then later is best. My method was putting her in timeout facing a designated corner after firmly explaining to her why she was now in timeout. Let me tell you how much I hate this stage of disciplining! Although I tried to be consistent, I felt like Mia wasn't grasping a thing I was teaching her even after some days feeling like I spent most of my time putting Mia in timeout. Just when I was loosing hope and thinking I was going to be the worst mother at trying to raise a decent and well behaved child (while trying to keep in mind that she was only 2) Mia finally started making the connection between her actions and the consequences. I think because we started a little earlier with trying to help her learn the consequence of her actions rather then thinking she was too young to grasp what we were doing gave her the chance to learn as she developed and began to understand new things quicker then if we started later. Granted she still is not a perfect child in always obeying nor do I expect her to be, but I do get that "proud mommy" moment when I see Mia obeying me and doing as she should. 

To sum up what I've learned thus far:

- Read books, study up and seek advice on the topic of disciplining children but most importantly do what will work best for your child that will still be effective since you know them best.

- Start at a young age even if they don't seem to quite understand. I think it's better for them to grow to make the connect instead of trying to teach them later when in the past there has been no consequence tied to their actions.

-Try to really point out when they make progress however big or small. It warms my heart when I tell Mia how proud I am of her for being such a good girl and listening to Mommy and she gets all giddy with a big smile and yells, "Hooray, I did it!".

- Be consistent and push through!!! It's NO fun to discipline my kids, but I do it out of love in hopes that they can grow up to be respectful and obedient adults.

-Seek support. One day when I was feeling tired out on disciplining Mia and wondering if I was even doing it right I read a friends blog on the subject of disciplining her kids and it make me grateful that I wasn't the only one out there who was struggling with it and hated it.

-Something I am always having to remind myself...they're still just kids that are still learning and growing. Give them a break on the not so important things and try to just stress the things that matter most to you.

Do you believe in disciplining your children? At what age? And what are some things you've done that have worked to teach your children right from wrong? I would love to hear your answers and advice!

Linked To:
http://www.muchadoaboutsomethin.blogspot.com/2013/09/tell-us-tuesday-8.html
http://www.homestoriesatoz.com/tutorials/tutorials-tips-link-party-128.html

A New Beginning: Becoming a Better Me

Lately I've been feeling like I've stopped taking charge of my life and somehow stopped participating in the things around me. I've let my role as a single mother during the weeks swallow me up where I feel like it's given me an excuse to sit around to do nothing because of how exhausting it can be sometimes. Most days, unless we have somewhere to be, neither me or the girls are dressed. I lazy around in my pajama's and unwashed hair hoping that no one decides to knock on the door. I've also become so immersed in the world of social networks and Pinterest that I often find myself jumping on the computer to send/answer an email and end up spending at least on hour more checking other things all the while leaving Mia and Livy to entertain themselves. I'm feeling overwhelmed by how far behind I am in housework, like I have no energy and will to want to do much not to mention Mia is at the fun age where she is learning so much and likes to discover and experience new things. Things which I should be taking more time to show her and help her learn.

Just so people don't get a completely wrong idea of me and think I'm the worst mother, it's not this ALL the time, but I feel like it's happening more often then I would like. With the start of fall and the beginning of September it's always seemed to mark a "new" year or a new start for me. When I was in school it would be a time to make new goals and a start to a new routine for my new semester. So I thought this would be the perfect time to think about what makes me happy and feel more energetic as well as what are the things that are most important to me that I should be spending my time on. This has led to a list of new goals I would like to set and you're welcome to come along as well as join in my journey of becoming a better me.

The Goals:

- Get the girls and myself dressed and ready for the day first thing in the morning after breakfast.

- Early to bed, early to rise: I've been going to bed WAY to late and therefore wake up tired when the girls get up. So I plan to start going to bed earlier so when Livy gets up around 6:30 to eat I'll just stay up and use that as some "me" time to blog, exercise and shower.

- No computer or cell phone while the girls are awake.

- Do some kind of developmental/creative activity with Mia every day how ever big or small.

- Create a weekly cleaning and organization schedule for the housework and stick to it. I found this one on Pinterest the other day that I really liked.

- Strengthen a relationship every week whether it be my spouse, one of my girls, a friend, family member or neighbor.

Wish me luck on my first week with my new goals! Hope everyone has a great Monday!

Friday's Favorite Finds #1

I'm always discovering new things that I want to share with all of you so I thought I would start a regular, weekly post titled "Friday's Favorite Finds" where I share my recent finds that I'm loving. So here's the line up for this week...

1. My findings at the Allergist. That's right, I went to the Allergist the other week and after multiple tests we have concluded that I am NO longer allergic to peanuts! He said I was one of the rarest cases he had ever seen of something like this happening and that it must have definitely been the blood transfusions and weirdly it wasn't out of my system yet when I had my first testings. Yay for me!!! Although I think this experience has somewhat killed my love for peanuts and nuts.

2. This unbelievably adorable chambray shirt I found for Mia for our family pictures we're having done next month! I got it HERE from Macy's. They are having a sale on toddler clothes right now!

3. This house we're in the beginning process of buying! More details on this to come!

4. "The Words We Speak" by Rosemary M. Wixom. I re-read this talk give in the last General Conference last night and was reminded what an amazing gift I have been given to raise two of God's children and teach them to be confident and have faith in the Lord. She lays out some great points on how we can achieve this for our children. I loved it!


5. This cute blog I came across by Thalita called "The Learner Obverser". For those of you who like diy, decorating and reading very entertaining posts you'll love it too. She's celebrating her 1 year blogging and doing a fun giveaway on some graphic design prints. Definitely have to check it out HERE!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

The Traveling Man's Wife: Survival Guide

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As many of you know, I'm the wife of a husband who flies out every week for work. When he first started I was always looking for mother's in similar situations for any advice and just someone who knew the life to relate to. Come to find out there are so many families out there in the same situation. That's just how a lot of businesses work these days. So after over a year at this job here's my two cents on how to survive with no husband for the week and 2 kids at home.

1. Just learn to expect looks of pity when people find out your husband travels each week or make. It is tough having your husband gone a lot, but there are ways of making it work and still be a close and happy family regardless of what some people may think.

2. Friends keep you sane! I don't know what I would do without friends to talk to, do things with and rely on when Eric's away. Especially since we don't have the good fortune of living super close to family.

3. The kids ALWAYS get sick when dads gone. This has rung true just about every time one of my girls have been sick. Luckily Eric is home by the time I catch it.

4. The meaning of bedtime will take on a whole new meaning! Some days its all I can do to put the girls to bed with a final push of patience and then go sit on the couch with a bowl of cereal and a guilty pleasure show and not move for a couple hours and convince myself I can make it through another day. Don't we all have those days as mother's regardless of it our husbands travel or not?!

5. Take some "ME" time! Going week after week taking care of someone else's needs 24/7 it's important to take some time and do something the rejuvenates you. The other night when Eric was home for the weekend I grabbed my stuff and headed to Barns and Noble to do some studying for some classes I'm taking. Normally studying isn't something I jump for joy in terms of doing, but being able to have some time to do something for me without Mia whining for a drink of water while Livy is crying because she is hungry was so rejuvenating!

6. It's ok to ask for help. This is something I've really had to work on as I like to be Miss Independent and would only ask for help in extreme circumstances. Like when I was 7 months pregnent with Livy and had been throwing up for 6 hours with Mia on her 3rd movie until I finally called my sister for help. She was a pure saint and drove a hour with her own baby to come take care of mine.

7. When it come to having younger kids, forget having a schedule and just go day to day. Some days I get a lot done and some days, depending on how things are going, we just chill around the house in our pj's.

8. Find different ways to keep in touch with your traveling spouse. Eric and I try really hard to keep each other involved in each other's day regardless of how far away he is. For example, we made a goal to send each other at least a picture daily, we send texts throughout the day and then video chat in the evening with the girls.

9. It gets easier and becomes a normal lifestyle over time. Confession...the first week or two are probably the roughest and is a tiring adjustment, but I learned that after getting into a routine and getting use to it, it gets a lot easier and becomes the norm.

10. Find joy in the situation. Eric loves his job and I even love some aspects about it too however as with any job there are always downside and being away from your husband is one of them. I've found that it's made Eric being gone so much better when I go about it with a good and supportive attitude. Of course, he feels bad that he has to leave a lot and it makes him feel even worse when I sit and complain about how hard it is sometimes. So for both our sakes I try to have a positive and happy attitude about it and Eric comes home ready to take care of the kids and help me when he gets that chance.

Linked To:
http://www.create-with-joy.com/2013/08/inspire-me-monday-week-85.html
http://www.keepingitsimplecrafts.com/2013/08/motivate-me-monday-187.html
http://www.sumossweetstuff.com/2013/08/market-yourself-monday_18.html
http://www.amamasstory.com/2013/08/mama-moments-mondays-link-up_19.html
http://www.thebettermom.com/
http://saynotsweetanne.com/2013/sweet-sharing-monday-66/
http://joleneengle.com/8-things-you-must-know-about-ministry/

Instilling Creativity in Children

A couple weeks ago Mia went to her little friend's birthday party who had just gotten a cute Little People Disney Princess Castle. Mia's eyes grew about 2 times bigger after setting eyes on it and just loved it! It made me want to buy one for her on the spot. I'll admit I even went as far as actually looking on Amazon to see what it cost. After coming to my senses and reminding myself that buying Mia a huge toy for that price for no reason was crazy so I decided to think of some other options.

I started thinking about all the hours my sister and I spent building just about anything we could imagine out of things we found around the house when we were young. This made me realize how little I let Mia express her very creative side, especially since I am always crafting around her and how little I spend my time crafting on something she can benefit from as well.

So the next day I grabbed a cardboard box and we went to work creating a fun, little "princess" castle for Mia. As I was cutting out the castle I let Mia play with all my scrap papers and some scissors (yes, I'm a little too trusting of a mother, but luckily she did great!). It was so fun watching all the things she was imagining up. She started making houses out of some papers, a slide and even thought one looked like a car. Once the actual castle was done she had fun coloring the sides and then making a bed and a blanket for her little Cinderella to sleep with.

This experience has just helped me remember how important it is to let our children be creative and to give our time helping them to develop their creative side no matter the age. To also let them get a little messy doing it and to make a mess! Creative play is so very important to help children learn how to solve problems and come up with solutions. Not to mention it's just so stinkin' cute watching them!

Linked To:
http://www.muchadoaboutsomethin.blogspot.com/search/label/tell%20us%20tuesday
http://www.create-with-joy.com/2013/08/inspire-me-monday-week-84.html
http://www.keepingitsimplecrafts.com/2013/08/motivate-me-monday-186.html
http://carolynshomework.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-inspiration-board-creative-party-115.html

The Things I've Learn From Being Married

Today marks our four year anniversary. Four years is hardly that long at all, but I feel like in just these few years we have been through a lot and I have learned so much. Here are some of those things...

1. To get married and then "live happily ever after" takes hard work and effort! The first year Eric and I were married was the hardest year of our marriage. We were still learning a lot about each other and how to make our marriage work. Over time we were able to get in a groove and pull together our strengthens and weaknesses to work together. However, even now our marriage is still something we are always working on to strengthen and keep strong so we can continue to live happily ever after.

2. I married my best friend and didn't even know it. When I married Eric I was totally in love with him like a silly school girl, but I don't know if at the time I considered him my best friend. After all we had only known each other for about a year and only actually dated for about 6 months of that year. Since then Eric has been there to help me through every challenge and heart ache I've had to face, helped and supported me through every accomplishment, knows what terrifies me (even if some of those things he can't help but laugh at) and what makes me happy. Basically he's the only one who knows me inside and out and will always be there for me.

3. The love just continues to grow with time and the experiences shared. As I mentioned before I thought I really loved Eric the day we got married, but it's nothing compared to the love I have for him now. I remember how much my love for Eric grew while seeing each of our girls for the first time in Eric's arms and thinking how they looked just like him. My love and appreciation grew even more after working hard and supporting each other through school and watching Eric graduate from BYU from the stands in the Marriot Center. And so on through all our moves and achievements and even after loosing our twins. It's crazy to think it will just continue to grow as our lives unfold.

Although we've had our fair share of arguments, I have never regretted my decision to marry this amazing husband of mine! It has been a wonderful and life changing 4 years and I hope it continues that way for years to come!

If you Just Smile

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This week has had some highs and some lows. The highs...finally getting to have a date night with the hubby! We went and just hit some golf balls (I think I missed more then I hit) and then had some dessert. It was SO nice to get out just the two of us, enjoy the nice weather and talk. Some other highs were that I was quite productive this week around the house compared to the past weeks, I got to do a little shopping and grab some yummy dinner with my twin sister, I got to do some much loved reading, and we are going home for Memorial weekend to spend some time with the family!

The lows...I got my first medical bill and it wasn't pretty and that was just first of many to come! Oh how I dread getting the rest of them and most likely being on the phone with the insurance all summer. Another low was while Eric and I were watching the Office (we decided to watch all the seasons over) there was a part were Angela buys Dwight a Baby Ruth candy bar. This made us both really want one and luckily I had just discovered one in the kitchen a few days ago! As we were about to open it we realized it had peanuts in it :( It was a sad moment to realize I could possibly never have a Baby Ruth or Payday again! Also I was extremely irritable and grumpy the last couple of days. I had no reason to be, but I would just wake up feeling that way. This equated into constantly loosing my patience with Mia and sometimes Eric...to my shame it wasn't my best moments as mother or a wife.

Original source

On top of my bad mood, Eric informed me that his work finally put him on another project which will have him traveling every week. At the sound of this I wanted to just cry at the thought of again making the adjustment to handling things on my own during the weekdays with two small girls and not seeing Eric as much. In my self pity, I said a simple prayer in my heart asking the Lord to help me be strong and find a way to be happy regardless the situation. I suddenly got the idea that I should smile. So at 11 PM at night as I was sitting there by myself rocking Livy I started to smile and didn't stop until she fell asleep. My bad mood finally seemed to disappear and I felt happy...about everything. I once again felt strong and ready to take on the challenge of having a husband that travels while still having a close relationship with him and our family as a whole. The lesson that I learn and something I am going to try to work on more is to smile more and be happy!

So on a happy note and another high of the week; one of my favorite etsy shops Livy Love Design is having a 50% off sale so I just had to share! Not only do I love the name ;) but I love all her fun graphic art prints. These prints make me happy and I kind of want them all!

Have a happy weekend!

5 Ways To Read Blogs and Come Away Feeling Confident

I was talking to a close friend the other day and she mentioned how she read this article about why a woman stopped reading "mom" blogs. One reason I agreed with was that she thought reading all those blogs took time away from her family and left her constantly thinking about someone else's family. Yes, too much of something can become a bad thing! However, one of her main reasons for ceasing to read blogs was because she felt she came away feeling less confident about herself and her role as a mother,wife, decorator, etc. I believe blogs are a great way for women to get inspiration and ideas on just about anything as well as have that social connection and support we don't always get when we're home with the kids all day and/or out working.

The point I'm trying to get at ladies and something that we all need reminding of from time to time is that we all have our strengths and weakness and there will always be someone out there who is skinnier, craftier, more productive or richer than us, but that doesn't mean that we should feel any less about ourselves! So for my sake and who ever else's out there here are 5 ways to still interact with other women and mothers, especially in the blog word and still come away feeling confident about ourselves and our situations!

1. Embrace other's successes and strengths and learn from them. It's so easy to look at someone else's situation in life (especially those "picture" perfect blogs) and not get a little jealous or wish something like that could happen to us. What I've learned when I see something like that one a blog and feel myself starting to have "wishful" thinking, I just say "That's great for them!" and then see how I can learn from that person's success or strength to improve myself and situation if it's that important to me.

2. It's not all as it seems. Awhile back I did a post about struggling with always see blogs where everything looks perfect and not being able to relate to that. (You can read that post HERE if you missed it). When reading blogs we need to remember that there is a whole other side to that "picture perfect" post with things most people choose to leave out.  Ex. The fact that they just got dressed into something cute for a fashion post even though they've been wearing sweats all day, all the bumps that came up during a projects, or what they're house really looks like on a daily basics rather than in that picture they took of their newly decorated room after spending the last hour cleaning it. Confession...I have totally done this last one. Remember THIS post of Mia's bed reveal and that clean room? Well, this is what her room normally looks like and even worst most days when she decides to take all the clothes out of her drawers. But who wants to see pictures of that mess!

                        

3. Remember the damaging effects of comparing ourselves to others can affect the ones we love. When I start comparing myself to others I get whiny and grumpy and end up complaining a lot more. My bad mood always seems to reflect on my family and let's me honest...I'm sure Eric doesn't appreciate coming home from work to that, in fact I know he doesn't. Instead why don't we greet them with "Guess what I learned today or what inspired me from this blog today!?...Let's try it!

4. Be you and stop trying to be something you're not. For example...I always seem to be attracted to blogs where these women are super high energy and manage to get SO much done in a day and barely seem to sit down and take a breather. So I decide that I need to try and be more productive and I start packing my day with ton's of different things I need and want to do. In the end I get burnt out and grumpy because truth is it's just not me! I'm not a really high energy person and I love sitting down and doing absolutely nothing sometimes! It rejuvenates me and I end up getting more done that way believe it or not. I've definitely gotten some great ideas to help me be more productive or do things more efficiently, but I still try to remember the main things that work for me.

5. Know your strengths and be forgiving of your weaknesses. I'll be honest just writing this post it was hard to sit here and think of my strengths and not all my weaknesses. Anything I would come up with for a strength of mine I would then start thinking about all the times I wasn't so good in that strength or how someone was better at that strength than me. However, if we already know our strengths as we read blogs we can then use what we read to gain inspiration on how to improve our strengths. On the flip side, knowing the areas we would like work on we can also us blogs to help us improve our weaknesses to and also even find support from another blogger who maybe wrote about a similar weakness.

If these steps haven't inspired you at all then let the following quote do so! I couldn't have put it better myself!

I would love to hear any other advice or tips you've used to feel confident and stop comparing yourself to others! Happy blog reading! 

Linked Up To:

http://www.mercyinkblog.com/2013/04/art-for-your-space-heart-home.html

http://ceoofmeinc.com/motivating-monday-motivation-link-up-for-the-week-of-4-8-13/

http://www.create-with-joy.com/2013/04/inspire-me-monday-week-67.html

A New Discovery

Last week was packed with family and fun! Among this week of fun we made a new discovery that was fun for the whole family that I just had to share!

Eric's grandparents and his little brother were out for some doctor's appointments at the beginning of last week. They invited us to join them in going to the Discovery Gateway Children's Museum located in the Gateway Mall in Salt Lake City. I had never heard of it and at first hearing the word "museum" it made me think that this was not something for Mia since she doesn't really like to just sit still and is VERY hands on. Turns out this is the perfect place for children like that...meaning pretty much every kid out there!

What I loved most about this place is that it has SO many things for children to explore and learn from that it will keep them entertained for many hours. It encourages discovery, creativity and pretend play; all important things for a child's development. They also have something for children of all ages as well as the whole family.

A Monday afternoon was the perfect time to go since it wasn't crowded with other kids and it gave Mia lot's of room to run around and explore. It was so cute to see her play pretend as well as discover new things.

Mia making herself a sandwich. I was impressed with how well she knew how to put one together  from just watching me every day. (We both like out daily turkey and swiss sandwiches for lunch!)

I would highly recommend a trip there with the kiddos! You can even find a coupon on their website HERE for $5 admission per person Fridays and Saturdays after 5pm. Plan on being there for a couple of hours of fun as there is a lot to do!

The rest of the week my sister Sara and her daughter Addie came and stayed with us. In the few days that she was here we went shopping (mostly for Sara since I can't fit in anything obviously), went to a movie, visited with friends and went to lunch, got dessert a couple of times, watched some TV shows, and worked on a joined birthday party we are going to have for Mia and Addie. It was fun to have them here, especially since they recently moved to Ely about a month ago so I don't get to see Sara as much anymore.

This is quick picture Eric snapped of the two girls playing. Addie was very tolerant of all of Mia's "tackling" hugs and kisses. I think these girls are going to have some good times together!

Happiness Is...

Recently I read "The Happiness Project" by Gretchen Rubin. After realizing that she was going day to day without really making the "most" of life she started to wonder if there were things she could do that would make her even happier. The book is basically her experience through a 1 year happiness project she created for herself by first coming up with a number of things she wanted to work on the would make her happier and then having monthly resolutions to work towards that.

Although I haven't committed to a "happiness" project of my own, since reading this book I have started to think more upon the things that make me happy and what I could do that would make me even more happier. Here are some things I came up with:

1.) Spending time with my hubby :) I've learned a lot over the last year of being a wife of a traveling husband and am still learning! Since Eric started traveling I became so use to entertaining myself and started almost distancing myself from Eric when he was home on the weekends so I wouldn't mind so much when he would leave again as well as not making my best efforts to stay close to Eric when he was away either. However, after the last month of getting to have Eric home I started realizing my huge mistake and how much I missed spending genuine time with him! I feel like we've really been able to reconnect as a couple and especially as friends.



When Eric starts traveling again I want to make a real effort to connect with him everyday. To take time to text or write Eric an email for him to get during a long day at work, to not just video chat for a couple minutes so Mia can see him, but after she goes to bed so we can really talk or maybe even play a game or read together and lastly, make the most of the time we do have together when he is home... especially making time for weekly dates! It's tough sometimes to have a husband that travels a lot, but that doesn't mean you can't be happy and make the most of the situation.

2.) Being a mom! Now anyone who is a mother knows that some days being a mom can be really hard and "happiness" would not be my first word to describe how I feel at that moment. However, at the end of even those long days when I go in to check on Mia at night, my heart still melts as I watch her peacefully sleep and I come out with a smile on my face feeling so lucky to be her mom.

I want to start making an effort finding ways to enjoy being a mother everyday, by letting some things go and remembering that Mia is not even 2 yet and she shouldn't be expected to do everything right, by doing the things necessary for me to be more patient throughout the day, such as getting more sleep and not being afraid to step in a quiet room for a minute and take a breather and to be better about spending some time everyday where Mia can have my full attention so she doesn't feel like she has to compete for it.

3.) Connecting with others and creating things. Eric is always teasing me about how much I like to "visit". I could sit for hours just visiting with people. Whether it's with an old friend, a new friend, family or just someone random I love it and I always come away feeling happier. I feel equally as happy after I finish a project I have been working on and get to step back and admire what I was able to create. Creating things has a number of different forms for me as well, it could include some kind of craft, a family portrait, mastering something on blogger (usually after hours of working at it) or building something.

One thing in particular that fulfills both of those "happiness" things for me is blogging. As you can probably tell I have really come to love blogging. I love having a place to share updates, my thoughts and experiences and connect with you other mothers and wives.

This has led me to my recent thought about starting another blog or taking this one to the next level. I'm not really looking into with money purposes in mind, but a place to put my major of Family Studies to use and share more about where my passion really lies which is families, family life, marriage and children. I would be combining the things I have studies with my own experiences. I would also like to do this to have the opportunity to connect with even more women and hopefully give, as well as get, inspiration and uplifting when needed.

I would love to hear opinions or advice on my idea. Whether it's a good idea; something that others would find helpful and interesting to read. Whether I should start another blog or use this one. Or if I should bother changing something I love and makes me happy already and just stick to my family blog with updates?

I would also LOVE to hear some things that you have thought of that has improved your happiness in your daily lives

Thanks to all my readers for all your support and uplifting comments/blogs which I love reading as well!

Trying New Things

Now this is something that you don't often hear from me since I am a person that does NOT like change very much. I also don't tend to try new things just because of the excuses I make for myself sometimes. A few being that I'm afraid that I could fail, it would be too hard or the "unexpected" that comes from stepping out of our daily routines can be scary.

Honestly, most of these new things didn't take a huge leap to do. For example, this week I decided to try doing more "crafty" things with Mia. She gets so bored around the house sometimes, doing the same old thing day after day. However, for those of you who have toddlers also know that doing crafts with children mean more messes to clean up besides all the messes they already make on a daily basis along with all the other things that need to get done. So the other day I sucked up the fact of having a little more to do that day and sat Mia up to the table for some painting.

I saw this picture floating around pinterest of taking a empty roll of toilet paper and shaping it like a heart using that as a stamp with some paint. It looked simple enough for Mia to try and perfect for making some homemade valentines for friends and family. For Mia not always being the best listener and loving to make bigger messes the necessary, this project was quite the success. She managed to keep most of the paint off her (even though I stripped her down to her diaper just in case) and between the heart stamp and using paint brushes she stayed entertained with it for almost an hour.

The results...

After the painting project and Mia deciding not to take a nap, I got a little more ambitious and decided to have Mia help me make heart-shaped sugar cookies and decorate them. Mia have recently started to love helping out in the kitchen. She has a stool that she drags around the kitchen and get's up to try and help me. This project took a little more time and definitely was more messy, but I must say it's kind of fun/cute to have a little helper in the kitchen to help me bake. We didn't get to decorating the cookies until later that evening and by then I must say I was worn out from the day so I might have taken over decorating the cookies a little once I saw that Mia was basically just eating all the frosting and toppings, but she did help with a few. Sorry, I didn't get any pictures of the whole process, but here is a picture of a little surprise we left out for Eric since he wasn't getting back until really late from being away on business. We also made up some cookie Valentines for Mia's friends. I'm sure their mother's appreciated me giving their kids a cookie the size of their heads :)



Lesson learned from these "crafting" experiences with Mia? Even though it makes more for me to do, as a mother is was so fun seeing Mia's creativity come out and watching her try something new that she was enjoying. So maybe not an everyday occurrence, but something that I will try to do more often.

That night offered another first for me. I had signed up to clean the Oquirrh Mountain Temple with some of other ladies from the ward. Although I was very willing to serve when I first signed up, after a long day of tending Mia and not getting much sleep lately due to the pregnancy, I was beat and the thought of staying up late to clean wasn't sounding all the appealing. However, I was so impressed with how those hired to clean the temple made it such a peaceful and spiritual experience for the volunteers even as we cleaned. This really made me appreciate Eric's grandma much more, who cleans the Vernal, Utah temple each night. I always wondered how and why she did that every night with everything else on her plate she has. I now know that it hardly seems like a "chore" at all, but a blessing to be able to do. After everyone was done cleaning they let us spend the next 10 minutes going where ever we wanted in the temple. I spend most of mine sitting and pondering on the beauty of the temple and on how blessed I am to have the gospel in my life and to have something to live for that is meant to make me eternally happy.

Lesson learned from this experience? After a long day this is just what I needed to rejuvenate me spiritually and physically and I would do it again in a heart beat. If any of you ever get the chance to volunteer to clean the temple DO IT!

My last first for the week...embracing the unknown and stop worrying about always having a plan for the future. I thought this one would be hard one for me since I live for having plans for the future and knowing exactly where I'm going. A couple weeks ago Eric informed me that he was going to be put on another project so he would no longer be going to California and it looked like the new project would be in Virginia. Normally, I would have a mental freak out with the new change and all the unknowns that this new assignment would bring. Surprisingly I was quite calm about it and after sitting on it for a week or so and still not knowing much more all I feel is peace instead of my usual worry and stressing. All I know is that I'm having a baby in April and after that who knows...maybe we'll be adventurous and move to Virginia to be closer to Eric!

Lesson learned? I am SO much happier when I stop worrying all the time about things I can't control and when I'm more light heart about unknowns and dare I say change!? And even though Eric would never admit this, I am probably much more pleasant to be around. Needless to say for once I am heavily relying on faith that the Lord will direct us where is best for our family and not making my own plans first.

Oh and one more other kind of new thing...Annelise, Sara and I have decided to go the Arts in the Park fair in Ely this August again! There were difficult times last time we did it and I'm sure there will plenty of those times this time around as well, but in the end it was a great experience last time, even though it's scary to put yourself out there by trying to sell the things you enjoy making. Hopefully this year is a success!

Anyway, here are a few more pics of Mia that Eric took on his phone that I meant to get on the last post.

Mia has such a good daddy that will play out in the cold snow with her. She loves it!

Mia's face after she gets done with her "moo-mee" (smoothie). We have one about every day now.

Note her crazy morning hair along with an adorable cheesy smile

Having faith is hard....but rewarding

One of the big things that we believe in being a member in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Saints is that we are able to receive revelations for ourselves and those we have stewardship's over; such as our family and that if we have faith the Lord will lead us along the way down the path that will make us eternally happy. Knowing this has always been a comfort to me; however I feel that it has also been a struggle to learn to align my will with the Lords.

Having faith sometimes means being led into the dark where we can't see where we are going, but only the one guiding us knows. This is the part that is most hard for me and the one lesson I seem to constantly keep getting humbled about by the Lord. My plans in life hardly seem to be the plan the Lord has for me and is not the direction I should really go in life. In the moment of my decision I can see a clear path of where I'm headed, but after praying to receive guidance from the Lord I know that it is not the right one. In these times in my life (which have seemed to be many) I sadly must admit that it sometimes takes a lot of humbling on my part to change directions and have faith that the Lord is guiding me down a better path.

Looking back on some of these experiences at those moments where I walked away from what I had planned and tried to align my will with the Lords I can now clearly see the Lord was leading me down the path that has made me more happy then I could know. One is putting me in the right place and situation to meet Eric. I can tell you that it was definitely not my plan to get married at age 19 and in fact I had already except to go to BYU Hawaii the next fall which had always been something I wanted to do. As much as I loved Eric I will admit that it was a decision I prayed often about if continuing to date him and ultimately marry him was the right thing since it didn't really align with other things I had planned and we were so different is our personalities. I kept feeling peace from the Lord that it was definitely the right thing and turns out that the Lord knew me better then I knew myself because marrying Eric has been the BEST choice I ever made!

I have seen the Lord's hand in so many other experience like this since then and as hard as it is to walk away from things we want in the moment and think are right, I keep just holding to the fact that the Lord has a plan for me and is leading me along to what will make me a better person and to what will make me eternally happy which is His promise to all His children who have faith in Him and follow Him. It's not always an easy task, but it's definitely worth it if it means doing something hard and going through trials for but a moment to ultimately be truly happy with the ones we love.

Lastly, I want to thank all of those people who have been great examples in my life of having faith in and following the Lord's promptings. It has helped build my faith and has strengthened me greatly.

And for those of you who thought this was some cute update about our family and ended up reading this, many thanks. This was really just something I wanted to document and remind myself of after a difficult week.

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye are ^alittle children, and ye have not as yet understood how great blessings the Father hath in his own hands and prepared for you;

 And ye cannot ^abear all things now; nevertheless, be of good^bcheer, for I will ^clead you along. The kingdom is yours and the blessings thereof are yours, and the ^driches of ^eeternity are yours.

And he who receiveth all things with ^athankfulness shall be made glorious; and the things of this earth shall be added unto him, even an ^bhundred fold, yea, more." D&C 78: 17-19

Behold Your Little Ones

I got a package from my Grandma this week that was the nursery manual and an article about it from the March 2012 Ensign. I was really excited about this and wanted to share it with the rest of you!

Lately, I've been pondering and praying about how I can teach Mia about the gospel so as she grows she will be able to understand the principles and apply them into her life and know that her Heavenly Father loves her and is always there to guide her. I've also been thinking about how I can teach Mia during Family Home Evening and do it in a way the will involve her and help her learn. I don't know about you, but as a young/new parent it sometimes seems like a daunting task and sometimes I worry I won't do it right! This package was an answer to my prayers!

While reading the Ensign article, a mother talked about how her 18-month old daughter could already identify colors, animals and famous animated characters, but she didn't recognize pictures of the Savior. This got me thinking of how much young children really do pick up on and if they are learning all these other things they could also be learning simple things about the gospel. Here is a quote that really touched me while reading the Ensign article.

"Parents, look into the eyes of your young children - their minds are receptive. They are ready to learn pure and simple gospel truths. Don't wait; teach them now! Behold Your Little Ones is a valuable resource to assist you."

Even though it might be a slow process and sometime seem ineffective, I am excited to start teaching Mia from this nursery manual. One of the greatest blessing my parents ever gave me was teaching me how to rely on my Heavenly Father and understand the principles and doctrine of the gospel at an early age so I could gain a testimony of my own. Because of that I was able to cling to that through my teenage years and even now to get me through the challenging times.

Here is the link to the Ensign article, which also tells you how you can order Behold Your Little Ones!

A Year of Homemade Gifts

When it comes to buying "toys" for ourselves the conversation between Eric and I usually evolves into a debate to who's toys cost more. In the process of this conversation Eric on multiple occasions has brought up my sewing machine and crafts. I rebuttal with something along the lines that those are things that I can actually make things with that benefit us or others. Even if that statement did win me the debate, which is normally doesn't, my sewing and crafting has been seriously lacking the last several months!

Anyway, my point to all this is that I want to start putting the things that I have to use, not to mention the next step Eric and I hope to take in "real" life is buying a house. Obviously this is nothing that's going to happen tomorrow or maybe not even within the next year but you have to start somewhere, which for us is saving for a down payment! With all of this said I have been thinking about doing a year of homemade gifts. My sister-in-law did this for Christmas last year which gave me the inspiration. Not only can doing this save a lot of money, but it gives that chance to make gifts personal and makes you put some thought into the gifts, not to mention with pinterest at my fingertips there are SO many cute ideas and inspiration for handcrafted gifts out there!

Some examples...

Adorable Fabric Dollhouse that folds up!

Colorful Painted Wood Bead Necklace

And apparently no more examples because blogger won't let me at the moment!

So I'm running this idea over in my mind and wanted to know what you guys think? Sure it would be more work, but I think more satisfying in the long run. Plus, the fact that I'm thinking about this now gives me plenty of time to plan for Christmas!