Less Weighty Things

Max is grateful for Rock Band, hot dogs, and "Claudy"
Mae is grateful for breast milk, pretty dresses, and fuzzy blankets
Jeff is grateful for High Definition, less lawn to mow, and the DVR
Emily is grateful for Mom's Day Out/ Preschool, her laptop, and jello sugar free Boston creme pie pudding cups.

Yes, we are grateful for all our blessings which are many, but I thought I would focus on some little things.

Stupidest Post Ever

Tithing Settlement last night. Our temple recommends expired last July and in August we went in for renewal. I signed mine in the wrong place and haven't dealt with it until last night. So I haven't been to the temple in the last 6 months. (sad, but I am fine with this.) Now a friend of mine had the bishopric over to her house a few months ago and she was all but chewed out for not going to the temple monthly and then for going to the Dallas Temple instead of the Oklahoma City Temple (Because our stake is crazy obsessive about going to our temple, because according to them the only reason to attend the temple at all is so that our attendance numbers are up therefore earning us our own temple. Screw personal edification or service for the dead, its about numbers people.) Now here's the thing that has been bothering me (and the part where most of you will roll your eyes and think this the stupidest post ever), why didn't the Bishop hold Jeff and I to the same standard as my friend. Are we such loser slackers that he's just happy we come to church? He told me to come back Sunday and we would resign it then. There is a ward temple trip this Saturday! He didn't even ask if we were planning on going. He just assumed we weren't and he was apparently fine with that! Maybe he didn't want to see us there. Crazy as this sounds I kinda want to be held to a higher standard. Maybe it would encourage me to do better. I do better when someone else holds me accountable, not just myself. My real guess is that the Bishop is tired of me, I am usually bugging him about something, like nursery gates, and he doesn't want to talk to me more then he has to. So I leave this thought with a song my sister, Krista made up that has become a theme song for me lately. Take the tune from the Primary song, "Genealogy, I Am Doing It." Mediocrity, I am doing it! Mediocracy!

Something tells me its all happening at the Zoo.

This last weekend we went down to Little Rock to attend my cousin Grace's wedding. We got a great deal at the Courtyard by Marriott that included the room, breakfast, and zoo tickets. Room was fine, super comfy mattress, the food was fine, and the zoo was fine. I consider myself a huge zoo fan, I've done San Diego, Omaha, and many others. The Little Rock Zoo was fine, it had some nice features but looks like it needs some TLC. The one thing that made it stand out was the carousel. It was amazing. Wooden and from the 1920's, it was very pretty and super fun. The horses didn't go up and down on poles but up and down on a track. I went with Max, but kinda wish I could have gone on a horse myself. The wedding reception was lovely. Grace looked like a queen in her white gown. It it always great to see my family in Little Rock, it is such a comfort to have them so close. Good Weekend.

Happy Thanksgiving

I had two lovely girls over at my house today while their mom was at work and I thought this project would be just the thing to keep them busy and amused. The turkeys are a bit over the top, but mostly they just give me a good chuckle for their ridiculousness.

Limits

I limit myself. This could possibly be my biggest problem in life. My life is pretty fantastic; I have a wonderful family, Jeff has a great job, everyone is healthy, my calling is not to taxing, my mother-in-law never gives me unwanted advice on how to raise my kids; life is really good. But everyone must have trials, and I give myself mine. Instead of pushing myself to serve and strive for perfection, I sit back and say, "I don't want to get in over my head." If this is all seeming a bit fuzzy, I'll share an example. I have always thought I could volunteer at a local retirement community, but then I think, "I don't have time," (yes, I do, I have lots of time)or I think "I don't want to catch a disease to bring home to my kids," (Kids get sick you can't avoid everything.) I have lots of lame limiting excuses. There was a position open on the city recreation committee and I really wanted to apply but was too scared to commit to possibly spending time away from home. (I was actually really close to doing this one, but then realized they probably wouldn't pick me cause I owe back POA dues on my new house.) Would it really hurt my family to be gone one night a week for a good cause? Wouldn't the Lord bless and strengthen my family if I did a good thing?
Teaching about the pioneers in primary I tend to think yeah, it was sucky hard physically, but at least it was a yes or no, do or die, decision to make. Things were so black and white. My testimony in Christ is the one strong thing I have, and I feel like I can say I would have crossed the plains. The big decisions seem to be the easiest ones for me. It is the everyday little decisions of how to use my time wisely and how to love and be kind, that are the killers for me.
This has all comes about because of a recent experience I have had. I was really being lazy with my primary calling and before Mae came I wasn't sure what I was going to do about juggling her and the class, and also finding a sub while I was on maternity leave. At times I wished they would just release me even though I really do still love Primary. I kept complaining that couldn't find a sub, but honestly I didn't really try. I feel pretty bad that I just dumped that on the presidency. After I felt better, I kept not going with the excuse that I didn't want her to catch anything, and what was I going to do with my class if I had to go nurse? I was complaining about this to everyone, (sounding pretty whining I am sure.)
One day my lovely visiting teacher came over and after I had complained to her, something in her message hit me, I honestly can't remember what exactly it was, but I realized that I was the one with the problem here, and it was up to me to fix it. Instead of waiting for the ward to change things to fit the way I wanted it, I needed to ask the Lord to help me solve the problems. So I prayed that Mae would not need to nurse during class time and for two weeks now, she hasn't. She has slept and been good. I also prayed that we wouldn't get sick, and aside from a small cold, we have been enjoying remarkable health. I know that neither of these are always going to last, but I have faith that The Lord has made it possible for me to teach my class because I found the correct way to ask for help. I also have faith that things will continue to work out someway in the future, as long as I work at it and stop limiting myself.
If I really want to follow Christ and gain eternal salvation I need to stop setting limits and push myself to do better. So this is my new goal,(a bit early for a resolution but hey, no limitations right?) I am not going to live in fear of the unknown anymore. I am going to have faith that if I am pursuing worthy things that The Lord will bless me and help things to work out.

Hmm... bet you all weren't expecting that. Thanks for sticking with it. I promise more light hearted fun with the next post as a reward for your fortitude.

Whaaaa? Really?

I have been a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints for my entire lifespan. Even longer if you consider that I come from some serious pioneer stock. I went to BYU, and feel like I have paid fairly good attention in church, for the most part. Now maybe it is because I have been in primary for the last 2 years, but I seem to have missed some stuff lately. The first item I missed was that you need to have a current temple recommend, or bishopric approval, to stand in a blessing circle. Okay, didn't have to do that with Max, but fair enough, I got no problem with this. Then today they called to ask Jeff to give the opening prayer in sacrament meeting, I asked if he could do the closing cause we've been a bit tardy lately. This would apparently cause a problem because you need a Melchizedek Priesthood Holder to say the opening prayer. Whaaaa? Really? Why? I get the whole priesthood saying the sacrament prayer, ordinance and all. But the opening prayer? Is Jeff's prayer more spiritual then mine? I really want to know? What about all of you? Have you heard anything new lately, or something you have just now learned? Is this all just my wacky Stake?

Well, at least there aren't popsicles sticking out of my mouth.

Max was invited to a birthday party for a girl in his Mom's Day Out class on Halloween. It was held at Fast Lane, a new arcade/bowling alley/ go cart, family fun arena. The party was a blast, tons of food, games, and they even had pony rides. (Was this a bit much for a 3 year olds party? Perhaps, but we did find out that her parents actually owned the place. Wouldn't you throw the party there if you owned it?) Any who, Max loved the pony ride, he was really cute and we got pictures. Unfortunately because Max was so small he needed me to escort him on the horse and I ended up in all the pictures. Uploading the pictures this week I noticed that I looked huge. Yes, I did have a baby 8 weeks ago, but really how long can I use that excuse. The picture looks like the before pictures on the weight loss commercials,(the pictures usually have a fat lady with a cute kid both eating Popsicles or cake or something,) in the commercial the house wife didn't realize how big she was until some shameful incident happened forcing her to reevaluate her life and drop 50-100 lbs. Well I am ready to go. I can't afford weight watchers until we sell our house and pay off debts, so it will have to be old fashioned self control and exercise. I am posting this as a way of holding myself accountable. That is really the most important part for me. I need accountability. If you see me at a relief society thing shoving a dessert into my cake hole, tell me to drop it! I need help, look at the picture, sure the hair is long and pretty, but I am so big now that it really doesn't hide anything. My ultimate goal is to be 130 by my 30th birthday. I have 2.5 years to make that happen, (I need to lose 50 lbs to get there.) I have been okay with the diet part, (super hard to start a diet right after Halloween) but I am happy to say I have started working out again. So occasionally look for fitness updates and goals. My goal this week is to continue to watch what I eat and workout for 30 min. Mon.-Fri. (I do plan to splurge a bit with wedding cake next Saturday at my cousins wedding.)

She Smiles

Lovely little Mae smiles now, and coos for her daddy. Her biggest smiles are reserved for when she has finished a meal. With closed eyes she slips into huge grins of satisfaction.

Things that Must Go VIII

#1. Springdale, Ar.: This city is a waste of space, it has nothing of use to me. It has badly designed and congested intersections. It is an eyesore along I-540 and is an extra 10 min. seperating us from Fayetteville. I wish it would just sink into the earth and that Rogers and Fayetteville would come together.

#2. People who do not vaccinate their kids: I recently found out that there are a few families in my ward that do not vaccinate their kids, and I am not talking about the swine or regular flu- I am talking TB/MMR! You are not just making a decision that effects you, you are making a decision that effects me! When you don't vaccinate your kids you can bring these diseases back into society. I get really mad when people do this because they are driven to fear by right wing/anti-government politicos who prey on the fears of people to strengthen their numbers. I don't always agree with the government, (in fact I don't agree with an awful lot of it,) but I really don't believe that it is so messed up yet, that they are trying to poison us. I will get my medical advice from the CDC and the WHO (doctors and scientists) before I get it from some crack pot political blog with an agenda.

#3. Dish Network Free Preview Selections: When I first got dish network service a few years ago we used to get a free weekend of movie channels every few months or so. The rest of the time we would get month long previews of good channels like Bravo, TCM, AMC, Animal Planet. A whole variety. Now for the last year plus there have been no movie channel weekends and only sport channel previews. Seriously only the Versus channel for 2 months. I realize that this is a free preview and therefore I don't really have the right to complain, but it was just really nice before.

#4. A 2 Hour Life: I am not a fan of breastfeeding. I do it first cause I want to give my daughter the nutrition she needs, and then cause I don't want to spend money on formula. But I don't feel bonded to my kids through breastfeeding. I find it uncomfortable at best, messy (I have so much excess milk I could feed and entire village), and I really hate having to pull over every two hours to feed. I hate that my life is sectioned out into two hours increments. It makes the day feel longer, and the nights shorter.

#5. The Mother's Lounge: On the same note as the last annoyance, I hate the mother's lounge. How can a church that actively promotes child rearing not provide an adequate space for the kids to be taken care of. Our chapel is about 4 years old and the design is typical for stake centers everywhere in the country. The lounge is smaller then my dinning room. For an area with lots of young families that means the mothers lounge is always packed. When I was nursing Max and we had 4 wards in there it was often standing room only. Some women went to their cars cause there was no where else to go. It also has such bad ventilation that it requires a space heater in winter, and fan in the summer. The lounge can only be accessed by the ladies bathroom so if you need your spouse or they need you, female messengers must be found and sent. Lastly on a smaller note the walls are depressingly bare, (as most of you know I am hugely fond of artwork.) and this is probably just my ward, but the light is always off. This last complaint is just for the ladies in my building. As if the place wasn't depressing enough, everyone always keeps the light off, I feel like a bad person waking up their babies or disturbing the peace if I turn it on.

Safari

I went on safari this weekend and bagged myself a giraffe and lion!